A Killing Karma (11 page)

‘Any
witnesses?’

‘Amanda
Meredith claims her husband was at home, too, working in his home office at the
top of the house.’

‘Easy enough
for her to slip out then. Mrs Garrett and Ms Brown were both home alone?’

Catt confirmed
it.

‘That's a
shame. It would have been good to remove some of these women from the suspect
list early on.’

'Mmm. By the
way, I thought it might interest you to know that Carole Brown's partner is Max
Fallon — no connection to the couple at the commune who did a bunk — you know,
the bloke who owns King's nightclub in the town, along with several more nightspots
round and about. He flags up on the system as having a tendency to violence,
though he's only been charged with the odd petty offence. And, talking of women,
let's not forget Mrs Oliver herself. She had even more reason to be jealous
than the members of Oliver's harem and their partners. And she's got one hell
of a motive. We know she was home alone, too.’

‘True. But he'd
been unfaithful many times over it seems. Probably for a number of years, too.
Why would she suddenly decide to do something about it, particularly something
as violent as this particular murder? It would make more sense for her to sue
for divorce and take him  to the cleaners financially.’

‘Perhaps the
quantity of extramarital activities became too much to bear and she just
flipped.’

Casey shook
his head. ‘No. it doesn't feel right. Besides, taking him for a large chunk of
his fortune in a divorce sounds like a far better revenge to me: each time you
spent some of it you could enjoy the revenge all over again. And I think, in
her case, there would need to be something else other than his women friends to
persuade her to murder. Anyway, Tom, good work.’ Casey handed Catt the latest
additions to the list of Oliver's lovers. ‘You've done so well I'd like you to
check out these ladies also.’

‘No hardship
if they're anything like the first lot of lovelies.’ Catt took the list and put
it in his pocket.

‘And I'll need
to speak to all three of Oliver's so far un-alibied harem, of course. Set up
appointments for me, please.’

Catt nodded.
‘What about their husbands or partners? They would have a strong motive for
wanting Oliver dead. The partners of the women with alibis will also need to be
checked out. I wasn't able to speak to any of them as they all work in London
and commute. But if I make the first appointments for mid-evening this week,
hopefully most of them will be home.’

Casey nodded.
‘Do that.’

Casey rang
Moon again that evening. He was alone in his office; Catt had still not
returned from interviewing the latest batch of Oliver's lovers.

‘Anything
happened?’ he asked Moon once they'd exchanged the usual greetings.

‘Not a lot,’
Moon replied. ‘Apart from the fact that one of the kids has been sent home from
school with suspected mumps.’

Casey
swallowed his irritation with this inconsequential information as Moon went on.
‘We're waiting for the doctor to call.’ In spite of her current predicament,
Moon managed a laugh. ‘You should see the carry on of the men here,’ she told
Casey. ‘They insisted Billy was confined to his room. Apart from Dylan, who’s
got other things on his mind since he lost DaisyMay, they’re all terrified
they’ll lose their libido, even Star, who lost his a long time ago.’

Too much
information, mum, Rafferty felt like saying. Instead, he said, ‘Understandable,
I suppose,’ realizing he would have to humour her if she was to supply anything
useful. Moon was not a woman to be rushed. ‘Mumps can have an unfortunate affect
on a grown man's fertility.’ He edged the conversation around to the area he
did want to discuss. ‘Are the local police still there?’

‘Only a
solitary constable. And the forensics people are still working on the apple
orchard where DaisyMay was found, but I expect they'll finish for the night
shortly.’ Moon gave another sly chuckle. 'I think maybe the mumps frightened
the rest off.’

‘Have there
been any more arguments in the house?’ When he had last spoken to her, Moon had
told him that everyone at the smallholding was blaming each other for the
deaths.

‘You could say
that. There's been nothing but rows. So much for brotherly love, hey hon? The
atmosphere is so lacking in the spiritual that if we were allowed to leave here
me and Star would invite ourselves to your place for a bit of peace and love.’

Casey thanked
God for the rigorous restrictions of a police investigation: his home had
barely recovered from their last visit. It wasn't that he didn't love his
parents; he just preferred to save himself potential career embarrassment by
keeping them well-distanced from his colleagues. He was aware that he had been
lucky so far, in that only ThomCatt knew of the drugged-up hippie parents. He
wanted it to stay that way.

Casey told
Moon to stay calm, bid her goodbye and rang off after reminding her that he
would ring again the next evening.

At least she
hadn't managed to misplace the mobile, which was a minor miracle in itself. But
they were still making little progress in the murders at the commune. Hardly
surprising, given that ThomCatt was kept busy on the official enquiry. But Catt
had at least managed to remove Callender's main drug dealer, Tony Magann, from
the list of suspects. He still had feelers out with various of his contacts and
Casey was hopeful that something might be shaken loose. Meanwhile, he awaited
Catt's return from interviewing Gus Oliver's other girlfriends.

Gus Oliver
really had turned out to be something of a local Lothario Catt confirmed on his
return. And since a copy of the photo Alice Oliver had produced had been
released, the number of ladies ringing the incident room claiming to be his
girlfriend had crept into double figures.

‘So, what have
you got, Tom?’ Casey enquired. ‘Not too many more decent suspects, I hope?’

‘Your hope is
fulfilled, oh master. All of these latest women that I was able to see were
able to provide alibis that were verified by more than one person.’

Casey was
relieved to learn they were beginning to reduce numbers.

‘I've got
another few yet to see. I'll do that tomorrow.’

Someone had
started a book on how many girlfriends would eventually claim the dead man as
their lover. Catt had placed a bet before the likely numbers increased still
further. Not having gained his 'ThomCatt' nickname for his sense of curiosity
alone, he was moved to observe, ‘Better make sure I never end up dead in an
alley, boss, or you'll all be doing eighteen-hour days.’

Casey smiled. ‘True.
But, I suppose, given my knowledge of your habits, I might have the best chance
of winning the pot.’

‘You might if
you actually gambled. No, to avoid you losing out, I'll just have to stay out
of dark alleys.’

‘Good of you.’

'I aim to
please.’

By late
afternoon the next day, Catt had interviewed the rest of Gus Oliver's lovers
and their partners. The latest additions had all managed to provide alibis that
had, so far, checked out, as had their partners'. That left the original three
to be re-interviewed.

‘Even with
this latest batch of females seemingly out of the running, we've no shortage of
suspects,’ ThomCatt remarked laconically. ‘We've still got three jealous,
cheated on husbands, ditto girlfriends jealous of each other, or women spurned,
the betrayed wife, ruthless business rivals. Seems like we've got ourselves the
full clutch.’

Casey nodded.
‘There's also the possibility that we're on the wrong tack altogether. This
killing could be a mugging gone wrong and the cutting an attempt to suggest
otherwise, especially with the victim's wallet missing.’

According to
Mrs Oliver, whom Casey had telephoned, the wealthy victim had been known to
habitually carry large sums of cash in his wallet. ‘Probably didn't want to
risk his wife checking his bank and credit card statements for fancy hotel
interludes,’ Catt commented before he added, ‘though the mugging gone wrong
scenario wouldn't surprise me. Our Mr Oliver strikes me as having been one of
life's takers. I don't suppose he'd relish handing over his fat wallet to some
thug. Maybe he would have kept his life if he'd been a giver rather than a
taker.’

‘Maybe so.
Still, if that's what happened, it's odd that the body was moved.’ But Casey
put that niggle aside for the moment. He would think about it later. ‘Before we
conduct a second interview of Oliver’s lovers and their partners, we should
question his wife again. It will be interesting to discover whether she admits
to knowing about some of these ladies. Let's get ourselves around there to
speak to her. Now that we know more about his love life, Mrs Oliver might be
more forthcoming. Find Shazia Khan to take with us, will you, Tom?’

Casey was
surprised, when they rang the Olivers' doorbell, that Mrs Oliver herself opened
the door. Even though she had laid claim to no family, friends or helpful
neighbours, Casey was surprised she hadn't managed to rustle someone up. He
decided he would insist on leaving Shazia Khan with her so she wasn't bothered
by reporters. Casey, thinking again of the number of women who had rung in to
say it was Gus Oliver's body which had been found in the alleyway, waited till
they were seated once again in the large, plain drawing room before he
attempted to ask any questions. He soon began to feel over-heated by the fires
burning in the grates at either end of the room.

Mrs Oliver
apologized for the furnace heat. 'I can't seem to get warm since my visit to
the mortuary.’

Casey nodded
understandingly. It was something that often affected him similarly: Catt
seemed impervious to the chill factor of such places. ‘We're quite all right,’
he assured her. He paused, and was wondering how best to broach the subject of
her husband’s infidelities, when she saved him the trouble.

After
directing a sad smile at him, she said bluntly, ‘As I imagine you've already
discovered, Chief Inspector, since you issued his photograph to the media, my
husband was a very popular man. Perhaps I should clarify that statement? He was
popular with one gender. The female one. He had a lot of lady friends. I
imagine that, by now, you must have heard from a number of them?’

Casey simply
nodded and lowered his head in embarrassed acknowledgement.

‘There's no
need to be uncomfortable, Chief Inspector. I've known about my husband's
weakness for a long time. Not that I could be sure with which of his various
lady friends he was disporting himself at any one time.’

'I see.’ Casey
glanced at Catt, who raised his eyebrows. Possible motive? the raised eyebrows
asked in repetition of his earlier theory. Casey gave a slight shrug of the
shoulders that said: Wait and see.

Now Alice
Oliver changed tack and went off in a different direction. It was as if she
dismissed her husband's women as no more than his shallow playthings and
unlikely to feature on their suspect list. ‘You asked before about possible
business enemies. And although my husband never said anything, there must have
been some. After all, when a man repeatedly cheats on his wife he's likely also
to cheat others. That he had a whole host of enemies seems a likely
possibility.’ She frowned then and, as if she regretted her earlier easy
dismissal of them, added, ‘Including women he dumped or otherwise treated
badly.’

‘And do you
know the names of any of these ladies?’

'I can give
you some of them. But there are likely to be a few with whom I am unfamiliar.’

She reached
across to the desk beside her armchair, pulled out a pad and pen and proceeded
to jot down names and addresses.

There were
half a dozen women on the list. Casey had to admire Gus Oliver's energy and his
financial well-being; keeping so many women satisfied on the sexual and
spending fronts must be costly in both. Several of the women already featured
on their latest lists and had been exonerated.

‘There's also
his illegitimate daughter, of course. Caitlin Osborne. She was adopted and
lived in Liverpool until about two weeks ago. When I rang Caitlin's adoptive
parents so they could break the news of her father's death, I learned that
Caitlin had left home around then. They have no idea where she might be. I'm
afraid she had become rather fixated with Gus. When she was eighteen she
managed to trace him. But he didn't want anything to do with her and refused to
see her or answer any of her letters. She's something of a sad case. In and out
of psychiatric hospitals since her early teens according to her adoptive
parents. She's had a few psychotic episodes owing to her drug-taking.’

Casey, already
too familiar with drugs’ unfortunate side effects, nodded sagely and asked, ‘Do
you have Ms Osborne's address?’

She nodded and
gave it. Catt noted it down. ‘Though as I said, you won't find her there.’

‘Tell me, Mrs
Oliver,’ Casey asked, ‘how did you find out the identities of your husband's
women friends?’

'I make — made
— it my business to know who they were, Chief Inspector, and what kind of
threat they pose —-' again she quickly corrected herself — ‘posed to my
marriage.’ She found a smile; it was bittersweet with the pain of her knowledge.
‘I had the advantage over his other women. I knew that Gus was commitment-phobic.
Once any of them became clingy and demanding, Gus dropped them. It was strange
that he committed sufficiently to marry me. But then, I imagine he sensed that
I would be the sort of wife who would put up with his extramarital activities.
And having a wife already provides a fine excuse for a man like Gus to avoid
deeper entanglements.’ Her voice became even more pained as she admitted, 'I
suppose you could say that I was perfect for him. As to how I found out about
these women, I hired a private detective, Chief Inspector. I thought, as his
wife, I was entitled to know what my husband was doing. Still, it was a shock
to discover the extent of his infidelity. I've been planning to divorce him
since I received the private detective's report. My husband, of course, had no
idea I knew of his doings. He carried on with his infidelities in blissful
ignorance that I was aware of them.’