Devil in the Detail (Scott Cullen Mysteries) (32 page)

"Did he do anything else to Mandy?"

"No," she said in a confident tone. "He was Thomas's pal. Thomas didn't like it when Jamie said that to Mandy but he never did anything."

"That's Thomas Gibson, yes?"

She nodded.
 

"Did Jamie ever bully Mandy at school?" asked Cullen.

She nodded. "He wasn't very nice to her at school."

Cullen frowned - according to Thomas Gibson, Cook had stuck up for Mandy eventually. "Did he ever help Mandy?"

"Just before he left," she said, nodding. "Mr Hulse's class used to get a lot of mickey-taking. Jamie and Thomas sorted a couple of boys out."

"What do you mean by sort out?"

"There was a big fight at the bike shed," she said. "The Head Teacher came out and broke it up."

"Did anything happen to the boys?"

"I think they got detention," she said. "Thomas and Jamie didn't get into trouble. It was because it was Mr Hulse's class."

"And this was just before Jamie left school?" asked Cullen.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Do you know Father Mulgrew?" asked Murray.

"I heard about what happened to him," she said. "It's a shame but I didn't like him."

"Why not?"

She paused for a few seconds. "The counselling," she said.
 

"Can you elaborate?" asked Murray.

"What does elaborate mean?"

"Expand further," he said. "Explain more."

She sighed. "I didn't like it," she said, after a while. "He used to ask really difficult questions. He used to make me say stuff I hadn't thought, just to make him stop."

"What sort of thing?" asked Cullen.

"Well, just about how I felt about boys," she said. "It was difficult, I didn't like it."

"Which boys?" asked Murray.

She blushed. "Thomas."

Murray grinned at her.

"Thomas doesn't seem to like me, though," she said.

"Isn't he four years older than you?" asked Murray.

"That doesn't mean anything, though," she said. "My parents are almost four years apart."

"It's quite important at your age," said Murray. "Thomas could get into a lot of trouble."

Cullen butted in. "Did Father Mulgrew ask you about which boys you liked?"

"Yes," she said after a pause.

"How did he ask the question?"

"Erm. It was sort of like 'which boys do you like, Susan?' and I said I didn't know and he said that I must have as I was a little girl and that things were happening to my body that he could see and that if I wasn't careful then I could let the devil in just like with Jamie and with Mandy."

"And did Mandy and all the other kids have these counselling sessions?" asked Cullen.

"I think so."

"Did you just go once a week?" asked Cullen.

"We all did," she said. "Well..." She tailed off.

Cullen recalled that Jamie Cook's twin siblings - both eleven - received the counselling once a month, whereas some of the other children were going once a week.

"Susan," said Cullen, "did Father Mulgrew have extra sessions with some children?"

"Jamie Cook," she said. "Father Mulgrew said Jamie was possessed by the devil, that's why he was so evil and he was trying to get rid of the devil."

"Did people believe him?"

She nodded her head vigorously. "Definitely. All of the parents didn't like Jamie. They tried to stop Malky and Thomas seeing him, so as they didn't get possessed too."

"How often did Mulgrew have these extra sessions with him?"

"It was at least a couple of extra ones a week," she said. "I only had one a week and that was too much."

"Was there anyone else that got this special treatment that you knew of?" asked Cullen.

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Mandy."

Cullen and Murray had just returned to the station. They had tracked Bain down - he had Lamb cornered in the Incident Room and was lecturing him.
 

"Say that again," said Bain, eyes blazing. He was up close and personal with Lamb, ignoring Cullen and Murray.

"I've decided to narrow down the search," said Lamb. "We're burning through manpower and Angela already found that he's got off at Tranent. I've left McCulloch in Haddington going through the tapes in case he's gone to Musselburgh or anywhere else. We've not got a great CCTV coverage in East Lothian, it's not like Edinburgh."

Bain stared at Lamb. "How the fuck do you solve crimes out here?" he asked.

"We don't generally have a lot of big crimes," said Lamb, "and those that we do get usually come with a DI who wants to run the show."

"Don't get fuckin' smart with me," said Bain.

"Brian, you wouldn't know smart if I showed you it," said Lamb, with a big smile on his face.

Bain glared at him for a few moments longer then turned to face Cullen. "Christ, it's Superman and Batman we've got here now," he said. "What the fuck have you pair been up to?"

"We've been speaking to Susan Russell," said Cullen.

"Covering your fuckin' tracks, eh, Cullen?" said Bain. "Thought you'd seen her yesterday."

"Aye, well," said Cullen. "She was pretty useful."

"How?"

"Jamie Cook and Mandy Gibson both had counselling from Mulgrew," said Cullen. "Cook has been away from the group for a few months but it turns out that Mandy and Jamie both received special counselling that the others didn't."

"We knew this, Cullen," said Bain. "For cryin' out loud."

"We knew that Mandy had been getting counselling related to this possession," said Cullen. "We didn't know exactly what it was."

"You didn't ask?"

"No," said Cullen.
 

"Jesus fuckin' Christ, Cullen," said Bain. "This is basic stuff."

"Listen to me," said Cullen. "I knew that the counselling was like a classic Catholic confession. It turns out that Mulgrew had selected Mandy and Jamie for special counselling."

"So what are you saying?"

"Mulgrew had been giving Mandy special counselling twice a week," said Cullen. "Trying to get the demon out."

Bain scowled. "Sounds like he was trying to get his fuckin' todger in," he said. He pulled his arm back, ready to punch the whiteboard, but managed to find the self-control from somewhere to resist it. "Fuckin' fuck!" he shouted instead.

Irvine appeared at that moment, noticeably not bringing Jamie Cook with him.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Cullen.

"I don't fuckin' know, do I?" shouted Bain.

Cullen went over to the board. "Do you think that Mulgrew killed Mandy?" he asked.

"Fuckin' looks like it," said Bain.

"What evidence do we have?" asked Cullen. "She had been abused according to the postmortem." He gestured to the writing on the board. "We've got two suspects and both of them had opportunity. Jamie Cook had stayed with the Gibsons on a few occasions, that was his opportunity. His history of child abuse is according to Mulgrew, so that's not exactly a reliable witness."

"Or even a witness any more," said Bain, "he's fuckin' deid."

"What about this Kirsty girl he was supposed to have raped?" asked Lamb. "Wasn't she under-age?"

"She wasn't when he was supposed to have raped her," said Cullen.

"Okay, but he likes fresh meat," said Lamb. "He was seeing her when she was fifteen."

Cullen threw his hands up in the air. "He's seventeen," he said. "Unless he's out getting snared by cougars in Edinburgh nightclubs, I would say that he's looking for girls roughly his own age."

"But he's fitting the profile," said Bain.
 

"Fine," said Cullen, shaking his head.

"Right, go on then, Sherlock," said Bain, nervously stroking his moustache. "You're in the fuckin' drawin' room and you're away to point the finger at Professor Plum."

Cullen bit his tongue. "Mulgrew had a history of paedophilia," he said. "We know that is why he was kicked out of the Catholic Church. He had a lot of access to Mandy at those one-on-one counselling sessions he had with her twice a week."

Bain scratched the back of his neck. "So what does that tell us?"

"The one possibility that I can think of is that Jamie Cook killed them both," said Cullen.
 

"That fits," said Bain.

"Okay," said Lamb. "How about Mulgrew killed Mandy, then Jamie Cook killed him?"

Cullen struggled to see a motive. "Why would he do it?" he asked. "How did he know what's happened? From everything that we've heard, he doesn't sound like some sort of vigilante, bumping off paedophile Priests."

"True," said Lamb. "Is there anyone we still need to speak to?"

"Jamie Cook," said Cullen.

"Don't fuckin' go there, Sundance," said Bain. "Cullen, Murray, Lamb, let's put our fuckin' heads together. We've got ten minutes to find something out, before I'm phonin' Jimmy Deeley and makin' a fuckin' nuisance of myself about Mulgrew's PM."

"So is there anyone else that could have done this?" asked Cullen. "Charles Gibson?"

Bain bit his bottom lip. "What's his motive?"

"It's difficult having a handicapped child?" suggested Cullen. "He's a religious nut, could be shame at having a demonic possession in the family."

"Murder is a sin, though," said Bain. "No way a training Minister is going to do something like that. Doesn't tally."

They stood in silence for a few moments, trying to think things through.
 

"What about if Gibson was abusing Mandy," said Lamb, "what if he told Mulgrew about it and Mulgrew was going to grass?"

"Seems quite far-fetched," said Bain. "He's not a suspect at present."

"Shouldn't he be, Brian?" asked Lamb. "It's easier for him to abuse his own daughter and then murder Mulgrew than it is for Jamie Cook to have done."

"The gaffer's got a point," said Murray.

Bain looked at Cullen. "Does Gibson have alibis for both murders?"

"Not really," said Cullen. "Both were with Mulgrew. The second one we couldn't check, obviously."

"Interesting," said Bain. He stroked his moustache. "This is pretty messy. If we had some evidence that pointed towards it then we might have a case. It'll be thrown out of court if we went with it."

"I could get one of my guys checking Gibson's alibi," said Lamb.

"Is it worth it?" asked Bain. "I'd like to have something more than a vague possibility."

Cullen was going to suggest that he didn't have much as it stood.

Lamb's Airwave radio crackled. "Lamb," he said, answering it, holding it to his ear. "You're kidding me."

"What is it?" asked Bain.

"They've found Jamie Cook's car."

Queen Charlotte Street uniformed officers had traced Jamie Cook's car to a flat in the Seafield area of Leith in Edinburgh, a row of decrepit Victorian flats beside the dying docks.
 

Bain's car powered along the A1, heading towards the city. Cullen sat in the passenger seat, gripping the handhold above the door tight as Bain continually swerved between the two lanes of traffic. Lamb was in the back seat, being thrown around. Had they been following protocol, the squad car carrying Murray, Law and Watson would have led the way, blue sirens blazing but Bain's Mondeo was a good half a mile ahead by the time they reached Musselburgh, ten or so miles closer to Edinburgh.
 

"Brian, this isn't a registered pursuit vehicle," called Lamb.

"Shove your health and safety up your arse," said Bain. "I'm not pursuing anybody, I'm just trying to drive into town and speak to a suspect."

"Then slow down," said Lamb, almost shouting.

"I'm not slowing down for anyone," said Bain. "We need to speak to this little bastard."

Lamb let out a loud sigh. "We still don't know where he is," he said.

"You not got hold of Buxton yet?" asked Bain, looking over at Cullen.

"Tried my phone and the Airwave," said Cullen, "he's not answering either."

Just then, Cullen's phone rang. He answered it, half expecting it to be another crank call.

"Cullen, it's Buxton."

Cullen had worked with PC Simon Buxton on a few cases during the previous six months and respected him. While he was young and English, Cullen thought he showed promise.

"Finally," said Cullen.

"Sorry, we've been busy running an obbo."

"Have you got Cook?" asked Cullen.

"I think we have," said Buxton, "based on that photo you sent."

"That was quick," said Cullen. "You just had his car the last I heard."

"We had two undercover officers check the local pubs," said Buxton. "They were doing the rounds anyway, so don't let Bain go off the bleedin' deep end about the cost. We found Cook in a pub called the Shore. We've just detained them."

"Just across from The Pond?"

"Yeah," said Buxton.

Cullen knew it. The Shore had been an old Docker's pub called the Fisherman's Arms, famous for opening at 5am - Cullen had been in there once on an all-night session as a student after they'd been kicked out of a club at 3am. The Shore bar was at least half a mile from the actual Shore area of Leith. Cullen mused that it would have been far too much of a coincidence if Cook had turned up in The Pond.
 

"What's he up to in there?" asked Cullen.

"Drinking heavily," said Buxton. "With some boy called Steven Young and another two locals."

"We'll be there in five minutes," said Cullen, and he ended the call.

They were driving along the last stretch of dual carriageway, just past The Jewel Asda, before the road turned left and slowed down on its meander to the centre of the city.

"Head to Leith," said Cullen. "They've got him in a pub on Seafield Road."

Bain quickly cut across the lanes to the sound of blaring horns - the lane they were in would have taken them into the city centre.
 

"Leith?" asked Lamb.

"Aye, Leith," said Cullen. "He might be pissed."

"That's all we need," said Bain.

Bain stopped at a complex set of traffic lights, the winter darkness congested with rush hour traffic. They slowly trundled forward, taking ages to get through the lights, thought Cullen.