by Ford, P. F.
‘What’s that?’
‘They build a defensive barrier with whatever comes to hand,’ she explained, matter-of-factly. ‘Mr Lawrence seems to be building a barrier across his desk. It’s the same sort of defensive behaviour as folding your arms.’
‘I didn’t know that,’ said Slater, happy to play along with Darling’s game. ‘So you mean you think he might be hiding something from us?’
‘It certainly looks that way. I wonder what it could be?’
‘You don’t think it might be something to do with what he told you the other day, do you?’
‘You don’t mean you think he might have given Clive Morrison a false alibi?’
Now Lawrence looked up at them.
‘You do realise his daughter went missing on Monday afternoon, don’t you?’ asked Darling.
‘And that she was found dead the next day,’ added Slater.
‘So you can see why we need to know where everyone was.’
‘You surely don’t think he did it, do you?’ asked Lawrence.
‘It doesn’t matter what we think,’ said Slater. ‘We have to know where people were so we can eliminate them from our enquiries. If you’re lying for him, what do you expect us to think?’
‘It’s not rocket science, Simon,’ said Darling. ‘Why did you lie for him?’
‘Am I in a lot of trouble?’
‘It’ll be up to our boss to decide whether you get prosecuted,’ said Slater. ‘But I wouldn’t make any holiday plans for next year if I was you.’
Lawrence looked as if he might burst into tears.
‘He was shagging one of the clients,’ he said, quietly.
‘He was what?’ said Darling.
‘He’s bit of a lad, you know? The ladies seem to like him. It’s not uncommon for him to go out to measure a kitchen and then call up to say he’s going the extra mile in the name of customer service.’
‘And you approve of this?’ Darling looked appalled.
‘He sells a lot of kitchens.’
‘Oh, right. So that makes it alright, does it? You do realise he could well be selling a lot of STDs if he’s putting it about all over the place like you say he is.’
‘He said if I didn’t lie for him, Tuffy might find out.’
‘Tuffy? Who’s Tuffy,’ said Slater.
‘My sister. He’s living with her.’
Darling was staring at Lawrence, her mouth hanging open.
‘So you know he’s cheating on your own sister, and you’re lying for him? Jesus, I don’t believe I’m hearing this.’
Slater put his hand on Darling’s arm.
‘Alright,’ he said, ‘that’s enough.’ He turned to Lawrence. ‘Is Morrison here?’
‘No,’ said Lawrence, looking at the clock. ‘He’s probably at home.’
‘Right. I want to know who that client was, and where she lives.’
Lawrence looked at him, uncertainly.
‘Now! Or would you like me to turn a blind eye while my colleague shows you what she really thinks of you?’
Lawrence looked at Darling.
‘No, no,’ he said, hastily. ‘I’ll get it for you right away.’
Darling sat in the driver’s seat, still clearly fuming.
‘Can you believe that? Her own bloody brother, and he’s lying for Clive Morrison so he can mess around behind her back!’
‘You know what they say,’ said Slater. ‘You can choose your friends, but you’re stuck with your family.’
‘That’s crap. You don’t have to be stuck with anyone. You just have to have the courage to walk away.’
‘Before that, you have to know they’re abusing your trust. I’m sure you’ll find Tuffy Lawrence has no idea everyone’s laughing behind her back.’
‘I said she had no bloody brains, didn’t I? Maybe someone needs to tell her.’
‘It’s none of our business,’ said Slater. ‘We can’t go around policing people’s sex lives. As long as it’s not illegal, it’s not our concern.’
‘That doesn’t make it right,’ Darling said.
‘I didn’t say it was right. I’m just saying we shouldn’t get involved. I think a child’s murder takes precedence, don’t you?’
‘But it’s just so wrong.’ She slapped the steering wheel in disgust. In the passenger seat, Slater turned and looked at her in anticipation. She turned to face him. ‘What?’
‘If you don’t get this car started we won’t be getting involved with anything,’ he said.
‘Oh, right. Yes, of course.’ She reached for the keys and started the car. ‘Where to?’
Slater looked at his watch, and then at the sheet of paper Simon Lawrence had given him.
‘I’ll let you choose. We have two people to see so we can go and see this Lucy Morgan first, or we can go and see Clive Morrison first.’
‘Let me at him,’ said Darling.
‘That’s definitely not going to happen. And you’re not going to say anything to his girlfriend either.’
She pouted her disappointment.
‘I mean it. You will keep hold of your temper and let me handle it. Okay?’
She sighed heavily.
‘Okay, okay,’ she agreed reluctantly.
‘In fact, in view of the fact you need to cool down a little, I suggest we go and see Mrs Morgan first.’ He handed her the sheet of paper. ‘Here’s the address.’
‘Mrs Morgan?’ asked Slater, as the front door opened to reveal a small, pale, mousey woman, who Slater guessed was probably not much older than he was.
‘Yes?’ she said, timidly.
Slater held up his warrant card.
‘My name’s DS Slater, and this is my colleague, DC Darling.’
‘Oh my God,’ she said. ‘Has something happened to my husband?’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘My husband. Has he been in an accident?’
‘Why do you ask that?’
‘I can’t imagine any other reason why two police officers would arrive on my doorstep.’
‘If that was the case it would be uniformed officers,’ he said. ‘We’re CID.’
This seemed to give her a bit more confidence, and she looked Slater in the eye.
‘So what do you want with me? I haven’t broken any laws, have I?’
‘Not that I’m aware of,’ said Slater. ‘We’d just like to ask you a few questions.’
‘What about?’
‘Do you know a Mr Clive Morrison?’
The confidence Lucy Morgan had managed to summon up seemed to immediately disappear, and her face turned even more pale. She took a step forward and pulled the door up close behind her.
‘What about him?’ she asked, quietly.
‘So you do know him?’
‘Of course I do, he’s just sold me a kitchen.’
‘We were wondering if he gave you anything else,’ muttered Darling.
‘I beg your pardon? What was that?’
‘Sorry,’ said Darling, innocently. ‘I was just thinking out loud. When my mum bought a new kitchen, a couple of years ago, she got a free gift. I was just wondering if Mr Morrison gave you one.’
Lucy Morgan looked hard at Darling, but the young officer just smiled back, pleasantly.
‘Was he here on Monday afternoon?’ asked Slater, shooting a warning glance at Darling.
‘Yes,’ Lucy Morgan said, nervously.
‘Can I ask why he was here?’
‘He came to get my signature on the contract.’
‘So he was here for just a few minutes, then? Can you tell me what time he arrived?’
‘I’m not sure. ‘Is it really important?’
Slater sighed impatiently.
‘Do you think we would be here if it wasn’t?’
‘A little girl went missing,’ said Darling. ‘Chrissy Morrison. You must have heard about it.’
Lucy Morgan’s hand shot to her mouth and her eyes widened.
‘She’s his daughter,’ said Slater. �
��We know Mr Morrison was here, but we need to know how long he was here.’
‘His daughter?’ she said. ‘I had no idea. I didn’t make the connection...’ She stared at them, her hand nervously stroking her throat.
‘Would you prefer it if we went inside?’ asked Slater.
Now her eyes widened even more.
‘Good heavens, no. I have two teenage children in there. There’s no need for them to know anything about this.’
‘Look,’ said Slater. ‘We’re really not interested in what you and Morrison were doing. We just need to know what time he arrived and what time he left.’
Now her pale face turned a vivid red.
‘He arrived at about 1.30,’ she said. ‘And he left at about 3.’
‘You must have a very long signature,’ said Darling, keeping a deadpan face and looking her straight in the eye.
Slater found he suddenly needed to turn away and have a small coughing fit.
‘You’re sure he wasn’t here later?’ asked Darling. ‘Say until about four?’
‘Definitely not. I had to make sure he was well out of the way, and get tidied up, before the children got home from school.’
‘That’s very responsible parenting,’ said Darling. ‘I’m sure your husband would approve.’
‘There’s no need for him to know, is there?’ There was panic in her voice now.
‘Not at the moment,’ said Slater, finding himself able to speak again, ‘but I can’t say what may become necessary as our investigation progresses.’
Lucy Morgan gulped hard and closed her eyes.
‘Well, thank you for your help,’ said Slater. ‘We may need you to make a full statement at a later date, but we’ll be on our way for now.’ He turned away from the front door, but Darling was still staring at the unfortunate Lucy Morgan’s discomfort. ‘Come along, Darling,’ he called.
Darling leaned forward and spoke quietly.
‘I hope it was worth all the worry.’ Then she turned to follow Slater, leaving Lucy Morgan standing alone on her doorstep.
‘Ah! Mr Morrison,’ said Slater, with a broad smile. ‘I’m so glad we found you at home.’
‘What do you two want now?’ said Morrison. ‘Do you know what time it is?’
Slater made a big deal of checking his watch.
‘It seems to be just coming up to six-thirty. Why? Is that a problem?’
‘I’ve just lost my daughter. Can’t I grieve in peace?’
‘Of course you can. Just as soon as you answer a few questions. Don’t you want to help us catch your daughter’s killer?’
‘What questions? Can’t you come back during the day?’
He stepped back to swing the front door shut, but Slater was used to that sort of thing, and he was far too quick for Morrison.
‘If you let us in and answer our questions we’ll be gone in a few minutes,’ he said, his hand on the door. ‘Or would you prefer us to cause a big scene on your doorstep and drag you down to the police station. I think my colleague might enjoy that, so I’d think carefully if I were you.’
Darling directed a smile at Morrison. Slater got the impression she was starting to enjoy working with him after their rocky start. He had to admit, it wasn’t so bad working with her either.
Morrison swung the door open and led the way inside.
‘This had better not take long,’ he said, once they were in his lounge. ‘I’m a busy man.’
‘Yes, so we’ve heard,’ said Slater.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Sorry, I’m the one who gets to ask the questions.’
A pretty blonde stuck her head round the door.
‘Tuffy, isn’t it?’ asked Slater. ‘Tuffy Lawrence?’
She looked delighted he had remembered her name.
‘Oh, you remembered,’ she said.
‘We were talking to your brother, earlier. He’s doing alright for himself, isn’t he?’
She pulled a face.
‘You mean daddy’s little hero,’ she said, scornfully. ‘He has a rather grand title on the door of his office, but he doesn’t actually “do” anything except spend my dad’s money. He’s only there so dad can keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble.’
‘Alright, Tuffy,’ said Morrison. ‘I can handle this. It’s about Chrissy. Why don’t you run along and cook dinner?’ She made a disappointed face, but did as she was told. Morrison walked over and shut the door behind her. ‘What’s this about?’ he said, turning back towards them. ‘Why have you been talking to Simon?’
‘Perverting the course of justice is a serious offence,’ said Slater.
Morrison raised an eyebrow, but Slater thought he detected a slight tremor in the man’s face.
‘What?’
‘Your alibi. It’s a pack of lies.’
‘Now wait a minute-’
‘We’ve been to see Lucy Morgan as well. According to her you weren’t at work at all.’
‘Keep your voice down,’ hissed Morrison. ‘There’s no need for Tuffy to hear any of this.’
‘My colleague doesn’t agree,’ said Slater. ‘She thinks Tuffy ought to hear every word.’
Morrison was silent for a moment. Slater could almost see the cogs whirring in his head.
‘Alright,’ he said, eventually. ‘I admit I was there. I went to get a signature.’
‘It took a long time for her to write her name didn’t it?’
‘Giving her a bit of aftersales service, were you?’ Darling cut in.
‘I don’t think that’s any of your business,’ snapped Morrison.
‘It is when your daughter’s been murdered!’
‘Alright, Darling, that’ll do,’ warned Slater. ‘We’re not here to advise Mr Morrison on his morals.’
Morrison smirked at Darling.
‘We’re here to try and find out how many lies he’s told us.’
Now it was Darling’s turn to smirk at Morrison.
‘I haven’t told you any lies,’ he protested.
‘But you told us you were in the office all afternoon, and you got Simon Lawrence to tell us the same story.’
‘Ah, right. Well, yeah. That was a little bit of a white lie, but I could hardly say what I was really doing, now could I? At work, at the office. It’s more or less the same thing, isn’t it?’
‘You think it’s the same thing, do you?’ asked Slater. ‘I see. So how long were you “at work”?’
‘All afternoon. Until I got home here.’
‘And what time was that?’
‘I’m not sure. Somewhere between half five and six I think. Tuffy will tell you. She was here when I got home.’
‘I’ll go and ask her, shall I?’ said Darling, not waiting for an answer and marching towards the door.
Slater thought about stopping her, but then changed his mind. He had no sympathy for Clive Morrison. The guy was obviously a devious liar who couldn’t be trusted as far as anyone could throw him. If Darling dropped him in the shit with Tuffy, it would be no more than he deserved. He watched as she left the room.
‘So you’re telling me you spent all afternoon with Lucy Morgan. You must be quite a stud.’
Morrison’s smile showed he was as vain as he was devious.
‘Well, you know,’ he said, happily. ‘I don’t get any complaints.’
‘I should think not,’ said Slater, admiringly. ‘You must have been at it for the best part of four hours.’
‘Yeah. I know how to keep ‘em happy.’
The door opened and Slater looked up quizzically as Darling came back in.
‘She says he came in at about five-forty.’
Morrison looked smug.
‘Well, there you go, then. Just like I said. Now perhaps you’d like to get back to chasing real criminals and stop hassling a grieving parent.’
‘I’m not so sure you’re not a real criminal,’ said Slater. ‘And I don’t see a great deal of grief in evidence. Anyway, there’s still a
big gap in your afternoon that’s not accounted for.’
‘How do you work that out?’ said Morrison, wearily. ‘I was with Lucy Morgan all afternoon, and then when I’d finished with her I came home, end of story.’
‘Except Lucy Morgan tells us you left her house well before three-thirty,’ said Darling.
‘She’s got that wrong,’ he said, hastily.
‘So you met her kids, then,’ said Darling.
‘What?’
‘She wanted you out of the way before her kids came home from school,’ said Slater. ‘If you were there all afternoon you would have met them. So, what do they look like?’
Now Morrison wasn’t looking so smug. He looked at both of them helplessly, but said nothing.
‘Not so sure of yourself now, are you?’ said Darling.
‘You can’t think I’d hurt my own daughter.’
‘Why not? ‘You’d be surprised how often it turns out to be a family member.’
‘But that’s crazy. I wouldn’t hurt Chrissy. I loved her.’
‘Yeah, we’ve seen how much you loved her.’ Darling shook her head.
‘So why don’t you tell us where you were?’ said Slater. ‘Then you’re off the hook.’
‘I can’t do that,’ said Morrison.
‘Oh dear. That’s a pity. It looks like Tuffy’s dinner’s going to go to waste.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Morrison, his eyes wild.
‘I mean a night in the cells might give you time to think about your position,’ said Slater.
‘You can’t do that.’
‘You really think so? Just watch me.’
‘Are we going to interview him tonight?’ asked Darling.
Slater yawned a great big expansive yawn.
‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘He’s no tough guy, is he? We’ll let him stew overnight in a cell. I think he’ll probably be quite talkative by morning.’
‘You mean you can’t be arsed,’ said Darling.
‘Something like that,’ said Slater.
‘Do you think he did it?’ she asked.
Slater chose to return the question.
‘Do you?’
‘I’d score him a nine plus,’ she said, ‘which makes him a major nobhead, and a total wanker, but I’m not sure I can see him as a psychopathic killer.’
Slater sighed.
‘No, me neither,’ he said. ‘Whatever it is he doesn’t want to tell us about, I’d be willing to bet a small fortune it’s more likely to be something to do with his extracurricular shagging than his daughter’s death.’