Against a Dark Sky (11 page)

Chapter Twenty Four

‘W
hy wasn’t the body discovered first time around?’ DCS Nicholson demanded, with a clipped tone which revealed his frustration and anger.

              ‘We took the advice of Central Scotland Mountain Rescue when we drew up the original search parameters, Sir. They focused us on the Ben Lomond National Park. It was only as a result of Mr Wallace thinking outside the box, that we even considered searching the banks of Loch Lomond itself. We’re talking about hundreds of miles of terrain.’ Dani felt herself shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She knew Nicholson hailed from the Highlands and just hoped he understood the limitless nature of the task.

              ‘Okay. I’ll emphasise to the press that we’re extremely lucky to have located Goff’s body at all.’ The DCS’s voice had noticeably softened. ‘What condition is the corpse in Danielle?’

              ‘We’ve not got the PM results yet. The pathologist performed a preliminary examination at the scene. Thankfully, the water in the loch is very cold. This has helped to preserve the body to a certain extent. The man had definitely been dead for several days at the very least. The pathologist would guess a week or more but after this long, it isn’t going to be possible for him to give us an absolute on the time of death.’

              Nicholson sighed heavily. ‘Just make sure you’re a hundred percent sure it’s Goff before notifying the next of kin. This development will mean a complete change of tack for the investigation. Send me an update on fresh strategies by end of play today.’

              Dani only just had the chance to answer before her boss abruptly ended the call.

              Bevan took a deep breath and straightened her suit jacket. She strode confidently out of the little office and into the Town Hall, where her team were gathered around expectantly, talking in excited whispers, waiting for her to tell them what on earth to do next. Dani was aware that not all of the men had taken part in the search. Many were hearing the news about the recovery of the body second hand. She knew this needed to be remedied, fast.

              ‘At 11.45am, the body of an adult male was discovered on the banks of Loch Lomond, two and a half miles west of the Ptarmigan ridge, at Rubha Curraichd. The cadaver had been in the water for a few days at the very least. I’m betting it’s been there since Goff went missing. The body was in a fairly advanced state of decay. The PM will take place tonight. We should have an identification and a cause of death by first thing tomorrow morning.’

              Hands began to shoot up around the hall. She glanced over at her DC. ‘Andy.’

              ‘Do we still have Goff in the frame for Joanna Endicott’s murder?’

              ‘It depends on the time of death, which, unfortunately, the pathologist isn’t confident that he can pin-point with any great accuracy.’

              DS Driscoll spoke next. ‘It’s conceivable that Goff killed Joanna and then got into difficulties himself. I had a long chat with Stuart Wallace this morning. When he heard where the body had washed up, he suggested that if Goff had continued following the Ptarmigan ridge around from the point where we found Joanna, it would have eventually led him into the forest. If it was dark, or the visibility was bad, the man could have stumbled straight off the side of a cliff into the water. It’s possible to completely lose your bearings out there at night.’

              Andy furrowed his brow. ‘How come Bill Hutchison knew exactly where to look, Ma’am. He deliberately led you along the eastern banks of the loch, didn’t he?’

              Dani had been expecting this question. ‘Hutchison had lived most of his life in Ardyle, just like Mr and Mrs Wallace. Bill told me he had a feeling that Goff may have fallen off one of the rocky outcrops into the loch. The man certainly didn’t have a motive to kill Daniel Goff, if that’s what you’re driving at.’

              ‘It’s just that he’s your textbook psychopath, Ma’am. The first opportunity he gets to be involved in the investigation, he discovers a body. The guy gives me the heebie-jeebies.’ Andy shivered theatrically, earning a few sniggers from his fellow officers.

              DC Sammy Reid stepped forward. ‘Bill and Joy Hutchison always claimed the children who died up on Ben Lomond thirty years ago spoke to them from beyond the grave; particularly their son, Neil. They said the kids told them if someone was lost or injured on the mountain and where to find them.’

              The room fell absolutely silent, with no one knowing quite what to say. Some of the men stared resolutely at their shoes.

              ‘Are you suggesting this was how Bill knew where Daniel Goff was?’ Dani asked levelly.

              Sammy smiled and shook his head. ‘No, of course not. I just meant that people handle their grief in odd ways. The fantasy that the Hutchisons have created, where the dead children act as guardian angels for folk out on the mountain, is very important to them. It’s crucial for the couple to be able to maintain it. I reckon Bill must have studied the maps for hours on end and racked his brain to think of all the places where a body might have wound up. Then, when he steered you in the right direction during the search, it seemed to prove his story correct.’

              ‘I can see exactly what you mean,’ Dani added. ‘It makes perfect sense.’

              Andy still looked concerned. ‘Yes, I can totally buy that theory, but now I’m wondering just how far Bill Hutchison would go to prove that these spirits from the dead really are communicating with him and his wife. Would he go to the lengths of killing Goff and dumping the body in a place that only he could locate?’

              Dani sighed. ‘Okay, I don’t think we can discount Bill as a suspect. Let’s find out when he and Joy arrived in Ardyle and check their alibis for the 12 hour window in which Joanna Endicott was killed and Daniel Goff went missing. Andy, you can handle that.’

              Sammy Reid raised his hand. ‘I know we’ve got to investigate them, but just for the record, I don’t believe the Hutchisons could do something like this. They might be delusional and weird, but they’re both pretty harmless.’

              Dani nodded. ‘Point taken and duly noted, Constable.’

              Then she turned on her heels and headed purposefully back towards the wee office, where she needed to draft a new strategy proposal for the Detective Chief Superintendent, perfectly aware it had to be one that didn’t make it appear as if she’d completely taken leave of her senses.

Chapter Twenty Five

T
he body laid out on the slab had a recognisably human form. The arms, legs and head were all intact. To Detective Sergeant Phil Boag, this made the state of the cadaver even more disturbing.

              The face and stomach were horribly bloated, with a criss-crossing of thick blue veins clearly visible beneath the paper-thin skin. Decomposition was evident in a number of areas, along with several gruesome indications of where water-borne creatures had been feeding off the corpse.

              Phil automatically put a hand up to the mask attached to his face, just to make sure it remained firmly in position. ‘Can you extract a DNA sample?’ He asked.

              Dr Culdrew grimaced. ‘It’s going to be tricky after the amount of time he spent in the water. I’ll try, but it won’t stand up in a court of law. There are too many expert witnesses out there now who will testify to the ambiguity of DNA evidence extracted after this long in fresh water.’

              Boag nodded. ‘Would it be enough to satisfy us that this is Goff?’

              ‘I believe we can be pretty sure of that already.’ The doctor pulled back the lips to reveal a set of yellowed but thoroughly intact teeth. ‘I examined Daniel Goff’s dental records and compared them to the set we have here. It’s definitely Goff. I’m a hundred percent certain of that.’

              ‘Good, that’s something to tell the boss. What about cause of death?’

              ‘I can’t be quite so unequivocal there, I’m afraid.’ Dr Culdrew gently shifted the head to one side. ‘There’s a nasty wound to the base of the skull just here. It damaged a significant amount of the man’s brain tissue. My opinion would be that this is what killed him. However, the blow could have been received when his head hit a rock on the way down. Goff was certainly dead when his body went into the water. There are no signs of defensive wounds, so either this was accidental or as a result of being hit from behind without warning.’              

              ‘Can you give me a time of death?’

              Dr Culdrew sucked the putrid air in through his teeth. ‘Goff’s been in the water for a week at the very most. I can’t give you a more specific time frame than that. The core body temperature has been completely distorted by the coldness of the water. But then you knew I was going to say that.’

              Boag nodded again. ‘What would your opinion be, Dr Culdrew, entirely off the record, of how this man died?’ Phil knew that this particular pathologist was a keen theoriser and wasn’t absolutely slavish about sticking to the scientific evidence.

              Culdrew stood back and placed a hand on his chin. ‘I very rarely have a body on my slab recovered from a remote loch that hadn’t been dumped there deliberately. Goff wasn’t weighted down, which precludes pre-meditation in the act. There’s a slim possibility the man fell in by accident. But most likely he was killed and the body deposited in the water by his murderer. The loch was the nearest available disposal site. The killer cannot have had the time or the necessary equipment to dig a grave, which would have been a more thorough method of disposal. This is either a crime of passion or a spur of the moment thing.’

              Boag thought this was an interesting choice of words. ‘Might Goff have been murdered by a woman?’

              ‘As he was attacked from behind and no attempt was made to shift the body away from the murder scene, I’d say yes. This person was either physically unable to do it or didn’t have the time. However, Goff was tall and the blow delivered with considerable force, so I’d say the woman would have to be 5’7’’ or over.’

              ‘Could Goff have been killed by the same person as Joanna Endicott?’

              ‘Don’t push your luck Sergeant,’ Culdrew chuckled. ‘I couldn’t say one way or the other. The methods of killing are quite different, yet neither appeared to have been pre-planned. The murder weapon in each case was either bare hands or something found nearby, like a rock or a tree branch. Yet two people are dead, within close proximity and during a similar time frame. If I were you, I would certainly be looking for one killer.’

Dani read through Phil’s report in silence. The logs were crackling in the grate and the warmth from the flames made her sleepy. Andy sat in the armchair opposite, a glass of whisky cradled in his hands.

              ‘So it’s definitely Goff.’ She declared.

              ‘Which puts us pretty much back at square one. It also begs the question who it was that tried to break into the bothy that night, if Goff was already swimming with the fishes by then.’

              ‘I still believe we’ve made some progress.’ She shifted up straighter in her seat. ‘I think we’re forming a better picture of the killer. This wasn’t planned. Something happened out there on the mountain to trigger these deaths. Nobody deliberately brought along a murder weapon.’

              ‘I know that Dr Culdrew suggests there was only one killer, but I can’t help thinking the two victims were treated really quite differently. Joanna was left out in the open, with no attempt made to cover her up or even obscure her body. Yet the killer disposed of Daniel Goff very carefully. He was placed in the Loch. We weren’t supposed to discover that he was dead at all.’

              Dani thought about this for a moment. ‘Perhaps the murderer was being clever. With Joanna dead and Daniel Goff unaccounted for, the police would single in on Goff as their chief suspect, which is exactly what we did. This has given our man a full week to cover his tracks.’

              ‘So has our killer got anything at all to do with the death of Amit Batra?’

              Dani shook her head in frustration. ‘I don’t know, Andy, I just don’t know.’

Chapter Twenty Six

D
ani Bevan had pretty much discounted James Irving as a suspect in the murders of Joanna Endicott and Daniel Goff. So she didn’t feel too concerned about agreeing to meet with him in Edinburgh the following day.

              Irving was visiting his parents for a weekend and had called Dani late the previous evening to suggest they get together whilst he was in Scotland. Bevan needed to stop in Falkirk anyway, to question the Hutchisons’ neighbours, so it didn’t seem like much of a diversion.

              Andy had confirmed that Bill and Joy Hutchison arrived in Ardyle two days after Joanna Endicott’s body was found. Dani wanted to check the Hutchisons were actually at home in Falkirk before that time. The couple’s house was exactly as Dani would have envisaged. It was a new-build, detached but small. The front garden was immaculate, even though the Hutchisons’ had been away for several days. Dani wondered if someone came over to tend it.

              Luckily, this was the kind of estate populated by stay-at-home mums and retired folk. Bevan was guaranteed to find somebody at home in the middle of the day. She tried the Hutchisons’ closest neighbour first. There was no reply, so she walked across to another house which stood on the corner of a quiet junction. She spotted an elderly lady at the kitchen window as she strode up the driveway.

              Dani showed the woman her warrant card and encouraged her to look at it closely, pointing out the details which indicated it was genuine. The DCI knew full well that many ladies of this age would open the door to any old chancer flashing a photo driving licence.

              Dani allowed the lady, who introduced herself as Rita McCulloch, to make them both a cup of tea. She didn’t particularly want one but sensed that Rita was keen to make an occasion of it. The living room was spacious and warm. Dani removed her rain jacket and folded it neatly on the sofa next to her. She glanced at the photographs lining the mantelpiece and noted that Rita was a grandmother several times over.

              ‘I wanted to ask you some questions about the Hutchisons, Mrs McCulloch. Do you know the family well?’ Dani took the cup from Rita’s tray and winced at how hot it was.

              ‘Are Joy and Bill alright? There’s been no one at home the last few days,’ the woman asked with alarm, lowering herself into an armchair.

              ‘They’re absolutely fine, don’t worry. Mr and Mrs Hutchison are in Ardyle, consulting with us in the Joanna Endicott murder inquiry. Their knowledge of the local area has proved to be extremely valuable.’

              Rita shook her head and tutted. ‘I’m really not sure that’s a very good idea, Detective Chief Inspector.’

              Dani was intrigued. ‘Why not?’

              ‘Because Bill and Joy haven’t really been able to move on from the death of their son. This whole business will bring it all back up again.’

              ‘The Hutchisons came to us voluntarily. They wanted to help.’ Dani took a tentative sip of tea, wondering if it would ever cool down.

              Rita sighed. ‘Aye, I expect they did. It’s such a shame. Their eldest daughter Louise has a couple of wee boys herself. They live in Glenrothes. I’ve told Joy countless times that they need to move up there to be closer to her. See the grandchildren every day and be a proper part of their lives, that’s the only way to get over it.’

              Dani nodded, thinking this was sensible advice. ‘When was the last time you saw Joy and Bill?’

              ‘It would have been Wednesday morning of last week, because Bill brings my wheelie bins back up the drive after collection. I waved at him from the window.’

              ‘Do the Hutchisons ever talk to you much about what happened to their son?’

              Rita gave a wry smile. ‘I’ve had to work hard to
stop
them talking about him over the years.’ The lady gestured towards a photograph of a handsome young man, taking pride of place on the mantelpiece. ‘My grandson Chris was killed in Afghanistan a couple of years ago. Joy and Bill got me through it. I had to be strong for my son and daughter-in-law you see, but when I came home I would collapse with grief. Joy recognised the state I was in straight away. They took care of me for months. During that time, they talked about wee Neil a great deal. I talked about Chris too, mind, but once I’d passed through the worst of the grief I knew I needed to stop. I had to let the lad go. Bill and Joy have never been able to do that with their Neil.’

              ‘Do you think there’s a reason why they haven’t been able to let him go?’

              ‘He still haunts them.’ Rita smiled a little and explained, ‘I know my Christopher was killed serving his country, doing the job he always wanted to do. He knew the risks and still decided to follow his dream. I’m quite aware Chris is at peace. That knowledge allows me to move forward with my life, even at my age. But Joy and Bill think Neil’s still got something to tell them. They believe the wee bairns’ spirits are still out there on that mountain. I’ve tried for twenty years to get the pair to see reason, but it hasn’t worked. So now we tend to avoid the subject altogether. But I know Joy and Bill still think about him and the other children regularly. They probably will right up until the day they die.’

              Dani raised the cup to her lips and flinched; finding it was suddenly stone cold. ‘Thank you for the tea, Mrs McCulloch, you’ve been very helpful indeed.’

Bevan was still feeling unsettled as she located a parking space in central Edinburgh and squeezed her car into it. Dani didn’t know the city very well, so had arranged to meet James at the coffee shop in Jenner’s Department Store on Princes Street, a place she used to visit with her father when they first moved to Scotland.

              When she stepped out of the cramped, antiquated lift which had deposited her on the top floor, Dani immediately saw her friend seated by the window. It looked as if he’d already ordered for her. Irving’s face broke into a wide grin as he caught sight of her approaching. He leapt up and placed a kiss on each of her cheeks.

              ‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said, sliding onto the seat opposite. ‘I was interviewing a witness.’

              James looked at little sheepish. ‘I hope you don’t mind, I ordered for the both of us.’

              Dani glanced down at a huge slice of strawberry gateau, oozing with whipped cream and wedges of fruit and the bath-sized mug of milky coffee next to it.

              ‘I realise that’s the kind of cake no woman would ever select for herself. But for some reason, I thought you might be in need of it.’

              ‘Actually, I didn’t have time for lunch and I really am.’ Dani found herself tucking into the gateau, which was perfectly light and not at all sickly, simply allowing James to talk. She watched his face closely as he detailed his journey to Edinburgh. He then described the hysteria he encountered upon arriving at his parents’ home, where they were busy preparing for his father’s seventieth birthday party the following evening.

              Dani felt James possessed a kind face, which was expressive and open. Dani sensed she came across as quite the opposite, her expression being often guarded and closed. It was a hazard of the job, she’d always supposed. She was trained to give nothing away. Dani took a gulp of the milky coffee, feeling it warm and comfort her, immediately deciding she would always associate that pleasant sensation with the man seated before her.

              ‘I got your card. It was kind of you to send it. You must have been busy.’

              ‘It only took a moment. I appreciated the flowers, too. It’s been a difficult week for the both of us. You realise I can’t discuss the details of the case, don’t you?’

              James nodded. ‘Of course, but I know you found Daniel Goff, it’s all over the news. I really believed he’d killed Jo.’

              ‘Are you still in contact with Philippa Graves?’

              ‘God, no. I couldn’t bear the woman before all of this stuff happened, so I’m unlikely to be friends with her
now
.’

              ‘How tall is she, would you say?’

              James considered this carefully. ‘Well, like almost all young ladies these days, she tottered about for most of the time in impossible heels. Padding about the bothy, however, I’d say she was 5’4’’ maybe? She was a good few inches shorter than Jo. Sorry, I would have taken more notice of Philippa’s height if I’d fancied her.’

              Dani laughed. ‘Don’t worry, that’s very helpful.’

              As they stood up to leave, James fished an incredibly elaborate printed card out of his jacket pocket. ‘It’s an invite, to Dad’s party tomorrow night. I know its short notice and you’re probably madly busy with the case, I just didn’t want you to be able to claim I’d left you out.’

              Dani was momentarily stymied. ‘Oh, thanks. I’ll try my best. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to make it.’

              ‘Sure,’ James said with an easy going smile, ‘but if it turns out you’re free after all, it might just be fun.’