Devil in the Detail (Scott Cullen Mysteries) (19 page)

Lamb nodded. "I've got another team coming in who will be put on this as a priority," he said.

"DS Lamb and his team have been out interviewing friends of Jamie Cook for further leads," said Bain, his voice neutral as if insinuating that they hadn't done a very good job of it.

Lamb looked around the room. "We've initially been focusing on his friends from school and in the town," he said. "We've not found anything that hasn't already been captured."

"Hmm," grumbled Bain. "Irvine - can you give a précis of your activities?"

Irvine stood up. "I've had a request in to trace his mobile," he said, lips smacking together. He held up a few sheets of paper. "Early results look like he was in Haddington until just before 2 o'clock when the phone got switched off."

Cullen flicked through his notebook - that was when the crank phone calls had started.
 

"Obviously we'll get the nod if and when the moby goes back on," said Irvine. "The call will go to me and DS Lamb."

Cullen wondered what Irvine had actually been up to, because he couldn't quite work out where his hours of activity had actually been spent.

"Good work," said Bain. He held up a sheet of paper and read out actions from it. "Finally, the Edinburgh-based officers have a meeting with DCI Turnbull at seven to update him on our progress out here. Dismissed."

Cullen decided that it was probably best that he didn't point out that the reason for the update was to head back into town for the Burns Supper more than to update Turnbull.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face the thin, ratty Desk Sergeant who had been on duty when they arrived at lunchtime.
 

"Cullen is it?" asked the man, his voice gravelly.

"Aye," replied Cullen, eyes wide.

"Sergeant Inglis," he said. "Got a Scott Russell downstairs for you."

*

Cullen appropriated Caldwell and an interview room on the ground floor of the station.
 

Scott Russell was an athletic-looking man, in contrast to his wife. He had already changed from his work suit into a t-shirt, fleece and cargo pants - all North Face branded - with hill walking trainers on his feet.
 

"My wife told me that you were interested in speaking to me," said Russell, his eyes darting between Cullen and Caldwell. "I work in Edinburgh, so apologies for not getting across earlier. I had to cycle up from the train station at Drem."

Cullen smiled. "Thank you for coming in," he said. "Now, I want to ask you a few things about Mandy Gibson."

"Yes, yes," said Russell, quickly. "I've heard."

"I believe that Miss Gibson had a habit of turning up at your house in the middle of the night looking for your daughter, Susan," said Cullen. "Is that right?"

"It is," he said, slouching back in the chair.

"How often did this happen?" asked Cullen.

"Often," answered Russell.
 

"When did this start, to your knowledge?"

"You're probably talking the summer of 2010," said Russell.
 

Cullen scribbled it down - it tallied with everything he had been told so far.

"Can I ask if you and your wife are members of the God's Rainbow group?" asked Cullen.

Russell looked away from Cullen for the first time. "Yes, we are," he said, his voice quiet and fierce.

"And were you at the service yesterday?"

Russell looked back at Cullen. "Yes, I was," he said, his eyes on fire. "I've heard about you. Are you trying to persecute the entire town for its religious beliefs?"

Cullen held his hands out, trying to placate the man. "Not at all," he said. "What we are trying to do is to piece together the movements of a young girl who turned up dead this morning. We have it on good authority that Mandy was exorcised at the ceremony."

Russell folded his arms. "That's true."

"Were you involved?"

"No," said Russell, decisively. "Father Mulgrew performed the exorcism. Mandy's father and Robert Cook assisted."

"What were you doing at that point?" asked Cullen.

"I was just sitting with my wife and daughter, trying to not get involved," said Russell.

"I see," said Cullen. "Does this sort of thing happen often?"

"It's the first time I've seen it, certainly."

"Did you see or hear anything unusual before or after?" asked Cullen.

"I'm afraid not," said Russell. "It was like any other Sunday morning."

"You didn't hear anything between Father Mulgrew and Charles Gibson, for instance?" asked Cullen.

"No."

Cullen knew he wasn't getting anything more out of him on the exorcism. "When was the last time you spoke to Father Mulgrew?" he asked.

"Just before the ceremony yesterday," said Russell. "Can I ask why?"

"We're just checking up on a few things, that's all," said Cullen. He turned to a new page in his notebook. "What can you tell about the counselling that Father Mulgrew gives the children?"

"I would say that it is one of the best things that has ever happened to the community," said Russell. "In all honesty, I would say that it has certainly helped Susan to achieve top grades."

"Can I ask what particular trauma that Susan is overcoming?"

Russell didn't respond.

"Is there one?" asked Cullen, starting to lose patience.

"No."

Cullen shared a look with Caldwell. She looked uninterested in the interview.

"What can you tell me about Seamus Mulgrew?" asked Cullen.

"What do you want to know?" asked Russell. "You seem very interested in him."

"We're looking to verify a few statements."

Russell gave a deep sigh. "Seamus is a strong and kind man," he said. "He has taken what was once a broken community and turned it right around. It is no coincidence that this town has the top performing school in the Lothians."

"Are you sure?" asked Cullen.

"Absolutely."

Cullen leaned across the desk. "What if I told you that Seamus had been defrocked as a priest in Ireland?"

"I know that he was," said Russell. "He was an outspoken critic and thought that the Catholic Church and other mainstream Christian religions had lost their way. Quite rightly as well."

"Did he tell you the real reason?" asked Cullen.

"I'm telling you now," said Russell, "the real reason is that they removed him because of his words."

"What if I now told you that the public reason for his laicisation was that he had substantial gambling debts?" asked Cullen.

"I'd say that was a good cover story," answered Russell, looking tired and irritated.

"For who?" asked Cullen. "The church or Mulgrew?"

Russell smiled, though Cullen thought that it was more condescension than humour. "The church."

Cullen turned over a piece of paper on the table. "Did you know that the real reason he was laicised was that he had been abusing children?" he said.

Cullen spotted Russell's Adam's apple bob up and down quickly. He licked his lips slowly. "I'm sorry?" he asked, his eyes almost screwed up.

"On this piece of paper," said Cullen, pointing at the highlighted marks on the sheet, "are the results of Operation Stingray which relate to Seamus Mulgrew and a few other Priests. He had been investigated by the Garda in Ireland and their findings were presented to the Bishop in Cork."

"That seems like a slur on a perfectly good man," said Russell. "My faith in Seamus is resolute. I believe him and his word more than I do the Irish police or the Catholic Church. This fantasy you have that he was a paedophile, just so that you can get a quick result, is deplorable."

"He told Charles Gibson," said Cullen.

"Did he now?" Russell leaned back in his chair. Cullen thought that he seemed bored.

Cullen nodded slowly, trying to appear in control. He could feel that his shirt was damp from sweat again - it had only just dried. He had been pushing these people on their religious views all day, trying to find out what the hell was actually going on, but no-one had pushed back as strongly as Scott Russell, not even Charles Gibson.
 

"Do you know where he is?" asked Cullen.

"No," replied Russell. "I work in Edinburgh. I was on the half seven train this morning, and I've just got home. I'm hungry and I wouldn't mind seeing my family."

"Did Father Mulgrew speak to you about Jamie Cook?" he asked, trying to divert the questioning.

Russell sighed. "The whole town speaks of Jamie Cook," he said. "The boy is pure evil, a bad influence on all of the other kids in this town. We were glad when he left the group. I didn't want his poison affecting Susan." He picked up the sheet of paper and looked down it. "You know something? I just realised that Mandy's disappearances started up around the same time that Jamie left the group."

"What are you saying?" asked Caldwell, suddenly animated.

"That might have triggered Mandy's night wanders."

Cullen noted it down.

"Can I go?" asked Russell.

Cullen nodded. "For now."

"Well, if I were you," said Russell, "I would be looking at him as the prime suspect, not a good, honest man like Seamus."

Cullen had never been inside DCI Jim Turnbull's office before - their encounters were mainly at the front door, around Bain's desk or in one of the Incident Rooms. Turnbull had somehow managed to acquire a corner office on their floor in Leith Walk police station, the gleaming new building which regularly attracted strong criticism from the local press in these straitened times. The office looked down to the flow of red and white lights on Leith Walk and across to Brunswick Road, now slicked with rain in the early evening gloom. Cullen had worked for an insurance company before he joined the police and had spent three months in the Brunswick Road mailroom.

Turnbull, already in full Highland dress ahead of the Burns Supper, sat behind his large desk. It was decorated with pictures of his family and some rugby memorabilia. A large photograph of the Victorian bridge leading into Melrose filled the bulk of a wall, underneath sat a long thin panorama of Murrayfield stadium taken in the early evening. Bain sat immediately opposite Turnbull, flanked by Irvine and Cullen, with Caldwell sitting off to the side. They sat and listened as the two senior officers continued their seemingly endless battle of wills.

"Brian, Brian, Brian," said Turnbull, already weary of Bain's continual excuses. "We've been here before with you. You need to start squaring the circle with Lamb. He has a central role to play in this investigation. He knows the lay of the land."

"The circle is square enough," said Bain.

Turnbull screwed his eyes up. "Brian, that doesn't mean anything," he said. "You need to be able to work with officers like DS Lamb."

"I can work with him," said Bain. "It's him that has a problem with authority."

"Maybe your authority is what he has the problem with."

"Aye, well," said Bain, "it doesn't help either of us if we've got a loose cannon running around doing what he wants."

"Brian, you are fishing in the wrong pond here," said Turnbull. "I'm warning you now."

"I'm just sayin'," said Bain. "He's a loose cannon."

"Brian, I've been given operational command of DS Lamb and his officers for as long as it takes for you to secure an arrest in this case," said Turnbull. "I hope that is soon."

"If it's not soon, Jim," said Bain, "I'm warning you now, it'll be because of Lamb."

Turnbull shut his eyes and took a long breath. "Brian, in lieu of you being able to obtain the buy-in of the local CID," he said, his voice recovering the smooth calm, "can we do a deep dive on the case, in particular the two suspects you have?"

Bain gave him detailed outlines of Mulgrew and Jamie Cook, giving Cullen a chance to make some notes as he tuned Bain and Turnbull out. Cullen didn't know why Turnbull had them all in his office, rather than just Bain, but part of him was relishing watching Bain squirm at every answer that Turnbull forced out of him.

Cullen couldn't work out who the most likely suspect was - Mulgrew with his child abuse past, or Cook with his alleged fantasies and access to Mandy. Cook's continued absence was seriously hampering the investigation and the longer he evaded them, the guiltier Cullen thought he was - if you've nothing to hide, why hide? Cullen didn't want them to jump to conclusions about Mulgrew, either - he had seen before what would happen when Bain latched onto a suspect with insufficient evidence.

"Thanks," said Turnbull. "Okay, let's turn the hothouse around here. Which of the two suspects is your favourite?"

Cullen clocked that Bain was still frowning, most likely at the two phrases Cullen had never heard of - 'hothouse' and 'deep dive'. No doubt both would be added to the office bullshit bingo the senior officers played - Turnbull's mouth being the bingo caller.

"I'm currently edgin' more towards Jamie Cook," said Bain. "For the main part, Mulgrew has five or six character witnesses that we'd need to navigate."

"You do have the information from the Garda in your locker, Brian," said Turnbull. "If we have to mount a rearguard action then I'm prepared to, you know that."

"I will bear that one in mind," said Bain.

"What do you have on the Cook boy then?" asked Turnbull.

"A police record longer than your arm before he's 18 for starters," said Bain. "Plus we've got statements from Mulgrew alluding to some child abuse fantasies that he had."

"I'm not sure that's a particular path we want to walk down," said Turnbull, "offsetting one suspect against the other."

"Charles Gibson could back them up if pushed, I would suspect," said Bain.

"Brian, he's a grieving father," said Turnbull, "is that an avenue we should traverse?"

"We might have to," said Bain. "Cook had potential access to the child. He had sleepovers with Mandy's brother, Thomas."

"And Mulgrew?"

"We're working on that," said Bain.
 

"Have you obtained statements from the pair of them?" asked Turnbull.

Bain closed his eyes. "Both of them have gone to ground."

"Both?" said Turnbull. "Jesus Christ, Brian, are you seriously telling me that you've lost both of your suspects already?"