‘Mr Jackson, why did you leave your wife and guests and head to the pub?’
‘I just remember that we were arguing for some reason?’
‘Who are “we”, Mr Jackson?’
‘Dani and I.’
‘Mr Jackson, why did you quarrel last evening?’
‘I don’t remember.’
‘Or you don’t want to tell us.’
‘I’m sorry, but it’s true, I don’t remember anything.’
‘Did you often clash with your wife?’
‘No, not often, we were very busy at work, there was no time to argue.’
‘Did you love her?’
‘Of course, I still love her now, we got married for love.’
‘Mr Jackson, what did you argue about last night?’
‘Nothing, I cannot even say.’
‘Mr Jackson, what time did you leave home?’
‘Approximately nine, I do not remember exactly.’
‘How long were you at “The Abbey”? When did you leave the pub?’
‘I do not remember; I drank a lot.’
The conversation is interrupted by an unexpected knock on the entrance door, which opens immediately to reveal two women and a man standing in the threshold.
Chief Inspector Steve Duke looked at the incoming faces and immediately realized that they were the parents of the murdered woman.
A man with a lifeless face walks up to Mr Jackson and says, ‘James, say that everything is fine with my Dani?’
Everything blurred before James’s eyes, his hands trembled, he could not look Peter and Karen Henderson in the eye. He wanted to shout, ‘I’m tired… I don’t understand anything. Leave me.’ He only, however, guiltily lowered his eyes and muttered so softly that he could hardly be heard, ‘Forgive me, I could not save her.’
‘No, that’s not true, Peter. My girl is alive. James killed her! It’s you… it’s all your fault!’ Karen Henderson shouted hysterically. ‘Poor Dani… my poor girl… Why Dani?’
Jennifer Davidson and Peter hugged the pale, heartbroken Karen Henderson, helped her to sit down on the chair and Inspector Tanner brought her a glass of water. Jennifer Davidson took her mother’s hand and said, ‘Mom, how are you? Would you like some water?’
Karen Henderson says nothing, just slowly shakes her head and broken-hearted, she cries, cries, and cries in anguish.
Chief Inspector Steve Duke approached Peter Henderson and said, ‘Mr Henderson, I think you’d better go home. If you do not mind, tomorrow morning at eleven, you and your wife can come to the police station to identify the body.’
‘Yes, I understand you,’ said Peter Henderson in a dead voice.
‘Mr Henderson, your daughter can accompany you,’ said Duke and turned to Jennifer Davidson. ‘Can we meet you and your spouse today at half past five?’
‘Yeah, I think that he will be at home then,’ answered Jennifer, sobbing.
Peter Henderson gently hugged his crying wife and said quietly, ‘My dear, we’d better go home.’
‘Why is my girl…? Why?’ says Karen Henderson with a groan.
Jennifer Davidson approached James, put an arm around his shoulders, quietly cried and said, ‘I’ll come back a little later.’
‘Thanks,’ James answered in a weak, exhausted voice.
When the Henderson’s and their daughter left, Duke went upstairs to the bedroom where the forensic experts had just completed their work.
‘Have you finished your inspection? What do you have that’s interesting?’ asked Duke in a tired voice.
‘So far, nothing conclusive, but we can present our main conclusions in around an hour, maybe three at the outside. By the way, we found a doctor’s letter confirming that the deceased was about three weeks into a pregnancy,’ responded expert, Dan Bolton.
‘She was pregnant?’
‘Yes…’
‘So two human lives were taken,’ said Duke, sadly.
Ten minutes later, when the experts left the house, Duke approached James and said dryly, ‘We are also going to leave, however, if you do not mind, I would like to see you at the police station tomorrow at ten a.m. to identify the body and give a statement.’
‘Certainly, I do not mind,’ James agreed, wearily.
‘Then, see you soon, Mr Jackson,’ said Chief Inspector Steve Duke and he headed for the door.
‘See you soon, Mr Jackson,’ repeated Inspector Tanner.
‘See you,’ answered James.
Suddenly, the door flew open and the two policemen froze in surprise when they saw Kristin Smith on the threshold.
‘Kristin? What are you doing here?’ asked Inspector Tanner.
‘I… came to Mr… Jackson, he is my doctor,’ said Kristin in a concerned voice. ‘When I found out that the husband of the murdered Danielle Jackson is my doctor, I decided to come to offer my condolences and help.’
Chief Inspector Steve Duke looked suspiciously at Kristin and asked James, ‘Mr Jackson, do you know this woman? Is she your patient?’
James, puzzled and with a tired expression, looked at them and could not understand what these people wanted from him. A terrible migraine did not allow him to concentrate on anything except this terrible pulsation in his head. Who is this woman? Looking into Kristin’s bewitching brown eyes, he saw in them the reflection of his soul and for a moment, it seemed to him that she emanated some sort of peace and calm.
‘Yeah, she’s my patient,’ James said, quietly.
Chief Inspector Steve Duke, disbelieving of this strange acquaintance, looked sternly at Tanner, who stood half open-mouthed as he enthusiastically watched Kristin. He turned to James and said dryly, ‘Mr Jackson, we will leave you in the company of Madame Smith, but tomorrow morning at ten, we will be waiting for you in the police station. Bye.’
When they returned to the car, Duke, in an exasperated voice, tells the inspector, ‘Tanner, when will you learn to shut your mouth when you meet women?’
‘Boss, when I meet beautiful women,’ Tanner replied, sarcastically.
‘Enough, I’m tired! Since you love to communicate, let’s go and talk to the neighbors,’ said Duke, wearily.
Mixed Emotions
‘Hi, Mr Jackson! I’m Kristin! Forgive my lies and thank you. It was me, that is, my friend and I, who found the body of your wife! I… could not come to you before.’
‘Where’s your friend?’
‘She has an urgent business meeting.’
‘Do you have a migraine, Mr Jackson? Can I get you some medicine?’
‘The patient treats the doctor. How ironic,’ said James.
‘The patient does not treat the doctor, but only can offer her help?’ replied Kristin.
‘Thank you, but there are certain maladies that medicines cannot cure and patients don’t save the lives of doctors,’ said James in an exhausted voice.
‘Maybe I can help you with something?’ Kristin offered, seeing all the chaos in the house. ‘Your dog whines and does not find peace.’
‘Apollo, come to me. Yes, his mistress is not here and he understands this well. Of course, this messy house also disturbs him. Animals are amazing creatures, he loves cleanliness.’
The Labrador reluctantly and slowly goes to his owner… how much sadness and sorrow, nevertheless, he held himself with such inconceivable dignity.
‘Did you have a party?’ Kristin asked, naively.
‘Yes, it was to celebrate our wedding anniversary, ten years. Yesterday, I had a wife and today, I am a widower… You will forgive me, but I want to be alone and by myself,’ James said, sadly.
‘Yes, of course, I understand you perfectly, Mr Jackson. Can I visit you tomorrow?’ Kristin asked.
‘Yes, if you wish, thank you, Kristin, and please just call me James,’ said James.
Kristin did not have time to say goodbye as the door opened. A man and woman of advanced age entered with rapid strides, approached James and hugged him.
‘Son, what a horror! My po
or boy,’ said the woman who had similar facial features to James.
‘James, you look exhausted,’ his father said, guiltily. ‘Can you go and lie down for a while?’
‘Yes, son, Dad and I will tidy up the house a little. We will clean up some of this mess,’ said Fiona Jackson, who then suddenly noticed that there was an unfamiliar woman in the house.
‘Good afternoon…’ said Fiona Jackson in surprise.
‘Kristin, these are my parents, Fiona and Richard Jackson. Mom and Dad — Kristin…’ James said, exhaustedly.
‘Smith. I am Kristin Smith,’ answered Kristin, feeling embarrassed.
‘Are you James’s colleague?’ asked Richard Jackson.
‘No, I… I…’ Kristin stammered.
‘Kristin is my friend,’ James stated.
After a moment of silence from this awkward situation, Kristin said, ‘I have to go. See you soon.’
‘Yes, see you soon!’ the father and son said in unison.
‘Let me walk you to the door,’ offered Fiona Jackson in a refined voice.
‘Thank you,’ answered Kristin.
When Kristin opened the front door, Fiona Jackson said in a warm voice, ‘Kristin, thank you for supporting my boy. I’m glad to meet you. My very good friend is also French.’
‘Thank you, Fiona. It’s so nice of you to say. You know James has a terrible migraine? Certainly, having learned about the death of his wife, this is such a tragedy for him.’
‘Yes, my poor boy. Danielle was not the best wife my son could have had, but we would not wish anyone such a terrible fate. See you later, Kristin.’
‘See you soon, Fiona.’
When the door closed behind her, Kristin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the sunbeam breaking through the clouds. She then headed for home to offer her husband his usual warm welcome after a day at work.
Cameron Smith loved to return home, which was always filled with the marvelous aroma of freshly prepared coffee and the sound of beautiful classical music, a tradition that began with the appearance of Kristin in his life. Hearing Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni, however, Cameron Smith realized that Kristin was today suffering some kind of confusion. He found his wife over a cup of aromatic black coffee and her thoughts dwelt somewhere far away.
‘Hi, my dear!’ said Cameron in a low and warm voice.
‘Hi, darling! Did you return long ago?’ Kristin shuddered from the unexpected appearance of her husband.
‘No, I’ve just arrived. The aroma of delicious coffee brought me back to you.’
Smiling, Kristin approached him and offered her husband his traditional welcome home hug and kiss. ‘Will you drink coffee now or after dinner? We have your favorite fettuccine pasta,’ she said in a low voice.
‘Such temptations — a terrible force!’ Cameron said, smiling and hugged his wife. ‘I think it is wise to start with pasta. Your phone is bleeping, your friends are texting you.’
‘Yes, I think these are my girls, they are discussing today’s incident,’ answered Kristin.
‘What incident is that?’ Cameron asked.
‘Today, Martina and I found the body of a woman on a hill near the sea,’ replied Kristin.
‘You found a dead body! That must have been shocking. How did you cope?’ Cameron asked in bewilderment.
‘As in many films, my dear. We experienced such horror that words cannot convey,’ said Kristin, sadly.
‘Forgive me for not being with you,’ Cameron said and embraced his wife tightly. ‘Now I understand why you are listening to Albinoni.’
‘Yes, this is a sad work, but the melody of the violin and organ fascinates me greatly. This is the source of an inspiring force, which has the highest limit of human feelings. It is no coincidence that the role of the “queen of the orchestra” was given to the violin.’
Cameron, embracing his wife, said in a soft and gentle voice, ‘I am proud of you, my darling.’
Vague Ideas
‘Ben, what can you say to me that might stimulate my interest?’ Chief Inspector Duke asks wearily.
Ben Robertson sighed heavily, looked lengthily at the corpse and said, ‘She was four weeks pregnant. The first strong blow struck her on the back of the head. It looks like the weapon was an umbrella with a wooden handle, in the form of a cane. After this initial, unexpected blow, she fell to the ground and was immediately struck again on the forehead with the same object. A third strike to the head was then made by something heavy, like a stone and that killed her. She died on the evening of the seventeenth of September, in the time period eleven thirty to eleven forty-five p.m. The killer was average height, right-handed and physically strong.’
‘Where does such inhumanity come from? Sometimes it seems to me that it is born in human blood,’ said Duke.
‘Look carefully at her neck, there are traces of a necklace or chain, but we did not find it near the body. Perhaps if fell or was ripped off. By the way, she was a well-groomed woman, one can say that she spent a lot of time and a lot of money on self-care,’ said Ben.
‘Ben, that’s an amazing deduction about the umbrella: we’ve already found a broken umbrella showing traces of Danielle Jackson’s blood, although we haven’t located a chain as yet.’
‘I will send you a detailed report on my findings in the morning,’ said Ben.
‘Thank you, Ben.’
‘Steve, you look all-in. Go home, have a beer and watch some football on the TV. There are a few interesting matches on tonight.’
‘Unfortunately, we still need to visit the victim’s sister, Jennifer Davidson. Thanks, and bye,’ said Duke and left the pathologist’s office.
When Duke entered the incident room, Dave Tanner was reviewing information about the Davidson, Henderson and Jackson families. Duke walked at a slow pace to his desk, sat down in his chair and began thoughtfully to consider the documents in the case. Fifteen minutes later, he silently got up from his chair, walked over to the cupboard, took out two cups and set them on the table. Putting coffee in the cups, he turned on the kettle and said in an exhausted voice, ‘Dave, do you have news on the Davidson family? We must leave soon.’
Dave Tanner, getting up from his chair, said in a positive voice, ‘Yes, I have prepared the necessary information.’
‘Thanks.’
Picking up the electric kettle, Inspector Dave Tanner poured water into both cups and replied, ‘I’ll start with the Davidson family. Jennifer Davidson, younger sister of Danielle Jackson, is thirty-seven years old. She is of medium height and works as a primary school teacher. Her colleagues speak very respectfully of her and she is also engaged in charitable activities to help seriously ill children. She graduated from the University of Dundee twelve years ago. She has two sons, one who is eleven years old and the other is eight. The younger son has cerebral palsy. Spouse is Craig, a forty-year-old property assistant. Craig Davidson was born and lived in Dundee and doesn’t have a higher education. After the wedding, the Davidson couple moved to live in St Andrews. He is a pub lover and not the most reputable husband or best father.’
‘He has a bad reputation?’ asked Duke.
‘They say that he likes to spend more time in pubs than at home and consorts with other women. He seems to be an unfaithful spouse and irresponsible father. A man who lives only for his own pleasure,’ outlined Dave Tanner.
‘Not a happy fate for Jennifer Davidson,’ said Steve Duke.
‘Yes, it’s hard to live with such a person, but without the strong support of her family and James Jackson it would be much worse. James Jackson is the physiotherapist who helps her sick child,’ noted Dave Tanner.
‘Dave, do you have any material on James Jackson?’ asked Steve Duke, dryly.
‘James Jackson, thirty-eight years old, was born into an intelligent family and graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Patients and colleagues speak positively about him. He is the latest successor in the family dynasty of doctors — his mother, grandfather and great-g
randfather preceded him. James Jackson is fond of golf and collects coins. He is also characterized as a decent son and husband,’ reported Tanner.
‘I do not like people who are too perfect. It is these “too good to be true” people who have the most skeletons in the closet,’ declared Steve Duke. ‘And check James Jackson’s alibi in The Abbey pub, if he has one.’
‘Okay, will do. It seems to me that the information about his wife will interest you more,’ continues Tanner. ‘Danielle Jackson, thirty-nine, graduated with a BSc in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh. She worked as a pharmacist in Boots for almost eight years. She loved good company, was a good daughter and sister, and often conflicted with her sister’s husband.’
‘Dave, conflicts are already a feature in this tragedy.’
‘Boss, she didn’t have a soft temper like her sister’s. I would also like to note that her colleagues respected her as a good specialist, but did not like her. Perhaps this is female jealousy.’
‘Women’s jealousy?’
‘Yes, she was always a bright woman and at the center of attention, even gossiping about her infidelity to her husband. Colleagues and neighbors presented her as an arrogant woman and a bitch.’
‘Tanner, we have a new suspect — the spouse,’ said Steve Duke, happily. ‘Although he had a difficult life with such a wife, that would not justify him taking such terrible retribution.’
‘Boss, but do not forget about the other potential suspects — a jealous wife or lover,’ added Dave Tanner.
‘By the way, Dave, the parents of Danielle Jackson blame James, although it is obvious that her father respects his son-in-law.’
‘Danielle Jackson was her father’s favorite, was considered beautiful and the most headstrong member of the family, while Jennifer grew up as a more reasonable and responsible character. The parents tried to give their daughters a good education and dote on their grandchildren. They are retired. In the past, Peter Henderson was a driver and his wife, Karen, worked as a saleswoman,’ Dave Tanner reported.
Trap for a Goose Page 4