Girls Of The Dark (16 page)

Chapter 41

‘T
hanks so much for coming over. I didn’t fancy going into the department just yet.’ Dani stood back to allow her friend to enter.

              ‘Dour Douglas is right, you need to stay away for a bit, have a proper rest,’ Andy replied cheerfully.

              They headed straight to the kitchen. ‘Is it too early for wine?’

              ‘It is for me. Carol’s mum is due to come round for tea. I don’t want her smelling alcohol on my breath.’

              ‘Fair enough.’ Dani filled the kettle instead. ‘How’s the atmosphere at work?’

              ‘Fine. Once Douglas has given you a bollocking he doesn’t seem to hold a grudge. I really think he tried to stand up for you. I bet they never had any intention of giving you the superintendent position. Phil says they’ve got a DCI on the shortlist from Central Division. He’s the DCC’s
nephew
for Christ’s sake! I reckon they used this Tulloch business to bump you off the list, so it didn’t look too much like sexist nepotism when this other guy waltzed into the job.’

              ‘Are you sure you don’t want anything stronger?’

              Andy chuckled, shaking his head. ‘It’s always been the same, Ma’am. Bloody office politics. You go ahead.’

              Dani poured herself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. ‘I’ve got an unusual request.’

              ‘Oh aye?’

              ‘I’ve been looking into an old case involving a client of Rhodri Morgan’s. I want to see if I can find where the case evidence was stored.’

              ‘It shouldn’t be too difficult, not if you’ve got the case number. What year was it filed?’

              ‘December 1975.’

              Andy nearly spat out his coffee. ‘I’m taking it the case was handled by the Strathclyde Police? Otherwise we haven’t got a hope in hell.’

              ‘It was. The evidence gathering was done by the Kilmarnock Station but the case was so big all the trial evidence went to Glasgow.’

              ‘Fine, I’ll look into it first thing tomorrow.’

              Dani took a swig of wine. ‘There’s a problem, though.’

              ‘You mean other than the fact you’re investigating a forty year old cold case when you’re supposed to be on holiday?’

              ‘One of the pieces of evidence is a car.’

              ‘A
car
?’

              ‘Yes, there was a private hire mini cab that the defendant was supposed to have used to transport his victims to the place where he raped, tortured and murdered them. I’m hoping there may still be some forensic evidence in it.’

              Andy led her over to the table, indicating they should sit down. ‘Describe this car to me.’

              ‘It was a 1960s Ford Anglia, they were totally ubiquitous back then, but this one was unusual because of its colour. This was why it got noticed by witnesses near to the spots where the perp picked up his victims.’

              ‘Was it powder blue?’

              ‘I don’t know the specific factory colour but it was a light blue, yes. How do you know?’

              ‘Because I took down the description of a powder blue, 1969 Ford Anglia this afternoon. It was destroyed in one of the garage fires I’ve been investigating.’

              ‘You’d better start from the beginning. Tell me absolutely everything.’

*

When Dani glanced around her kitchen, she noted what an eclectic bunch they made. James was home from work and had volunteered to prepare the food.

              Andy was pacing about irritably, wanting to stay but worried about getting into hot water with his mother-in-law. Sally was seated at the kitchen table with Rhodri Morgan, both of them enjoying a lively discussion about the sentencing of psychopaths.

              Dani called for silence by tapping her wine glass with a teaspoon. ‘Thanks for coming. Look, we’ve all been given the outline of this. Now we need to come up with some proper theories.’

              ‘The man who visited the garage in Sighthill and checked out the Ford Anglia, we’re
certain
he wasn’t Afro-Caribbean?’ Sally asked.

              ‘I’ve got two witness statements,’ Andy replied. ‘They both describe the man as a late sixties well-spoken Scotsman with a pale, rugged complexion.’

              ‘It’s a shame,’ the lawyer continued, ‘because it would make sense if Calvin Suter wanted to get rid of that car. He knows the police could try and get forensic evidence off it now and perform a DNA test, which wasn’t available at the time of his trial. His guilt would be proved once and for all.’

              ‘
Or
his innocence,’ Rhodri put in. ‘It makes greater sense to me that someone on the outside got nervous at the idea of Suter’s release. The man was hell bent on writing his memoirs and raising the profile of the original murder case once again. I wouldn’t be surprised if Suter’s legal team weren’t looking to locate that car too. Now none of us can lift the evidence that would have been on it. When did these garages holding classic cars start burning to the ground?’

              ‘The first reported arson was at the end of September,’ Andy supplied.

             
‘Before
Suter was even released from prison,’ Rhodri stressed.

              ‘It
is
possible that Suter got an associate to do it.’ Sally helped herself to more wine. ‘We should keep that in mind.’

              Andy took a step forward. ‘We weren’t meant to know that these fires were targeting that specific car. It was a clever plan. Four garages have been burnt, dozens of cars destroyed, but only one was really the target. It’s a scheme that required organisation and manpower. I’d be amazed if a single individual could have pulled it off, especially from prison.’

              ‘If there’s one thing I know about Calvin, it’s that he’s a loner. The man doesn’t have
associates
, he never has.’

              Sally said nothing. Her expression was sceptical.

              Dani furrowed her brow. ‘How did they find out where the car was?’

              ‘I checked the vehicle’s history on the system today,’ Andy explained. ‘After the trial, it was kept at the police compound in Paisley for six months. Then it got auctioned off to a private owner. This purchaser was the registered keeper until the early eighties. It’s been in and out of private car lots since then, turning up at the garage in Sighthill a year ago. The owner thought it was a turkey. He couldn’t imagine being able to shift it. That was why the test drive last week really stuck in their minds.’

              ‘How would you find that out if you didn’t have access to the police database and the DVLA files?’ It was James who asked this question.

              ‘All you need to do is bribe the correct person.’ Sally’s tone was impatient. ‘My investigators have been doing it for years.’

              ‘It’s not easy to organise if you’re a penniless convict,’ Dani retorted.

              ‘Calvin didn’t look penniless when I last met him,’ Rhodri admitted. ‘He’s received an advance from a publisher and a hefty payment from a Sunday newspaper.’

              Andy put a hand up to halt the debate. ‘I’ve really got to go, but I’ll just say this. Somebody out there is trying to destroy evidence from a major crime committed forty years ago. Calvin Suter has already served his time. Every bugger in Scotland believes he did it. He can’t get convicted twice over. Why on earth would he want to get rid of that car?’ He shook his head vigorously. ‘No, it’s got to be somebody else. A person who’s worried their guilt might be uncovered now that Suter’s out and the episode is being re-investigated. If my years as a detective have taught me anything, it’s that this bastard is well-connected. He’s got access to privileged information
and
money.’

              ‘Which makes him very dangerous,’ Dani added, handing him his jacket.

              ‘Exactly,’ Andy replied, leaving them to contemplate his words.

Chapter 42

I
f there was one person who had pre-occupied Calvin Suter’s thoughts during the many hours he lay awake on his hard bunk in prison, it was Rick Hunter. On countless occasions, he’d imagined punching his face to a bloody pulp or noisily shagging his wife in front of him, none of which made Calvin feel much better about the terrible betrayal the man had committed.  

              He and Rick had been friends. Rick had shown him the ropes when he first came to work at Princely Cars in ’71. Calvin didn’t make friends easily. He was a quiet, reserved person. But Rick was different. He was easy going and never judgemental. Or so he’d thought.

              Then the girls started going missing and the police were asking the drivers endless questions. He didn’t find out until the evidence was read during his trial that it was Hunter who’d told the police Calvin had a preference for driving the light blue Ford Anglia.

              The words were like a dagger through his heart. It was total bullshit. None of the drivers liked being assigned it. Never mind the ridiculous colour, it kept breaking down. More often than not it was locked up in the firm’s garage gathering dust. No one gave a crap about where it was or what it was doing the majority of the time. But this piece of sophistry provided a vital chain in the evidence link. Many members of the jury were convinced of Calvin’s guilt based on his ‘so-called’ connection to that rust bucket.

              Calvin gazed down at the earth beneath his feet. ‘So, this is where you are now, Rick.’ He kicked at the soil with his boot. ‘It’s the one thing I never understood, in all these years. Why did you lie? You were my only friend. Why the hell did you lie?’

              He stepped forward and stamped his boot down hard onto the fresh bunch of flowers that had been laid at the foot of the headstone. With all his strength he ground the delicate petals into the dirt.                

*

One thing Andy had noticed since DCS Nicholson had retired through ill health was how deathly subdued the serious crime floor now was.

              Heads were bent over laptops and the atmosphere was strictly business-like. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t worked hard before DCS Douglas came along, but there had always been a relaxed atmosphere of joking and camaraderie. No one dared toss a gag at a colleague across a workstation any longer for fear of discovering dour Douglas hovering at their shoulder, ready to slap them with a disciplinary notice.

              With the DCI on leave, the place felt even more like a morgue. Calder moved across to Alice Mann’s workstation and pulled up a chair. ‘How is your investigation into the Abbot woman going?’

              ‘She met with a man yesterday at the St Enoch Centre. I think it may have been Matt Tulloch. Hang on, I took a photo of him on my phone.’ Alice showed the screen shot to her colleague.

              ‘Yep, that’s him. It must have really shaken him up when the boss and I paid him a visit.’

              ‘The discussion between them didn’t look friendly. He left an envelope for Abbot. I’m sure it contained money.’

              ‘She’s definitely got a hold over the family.’

              ‘But she’s getting weaker with every day, Andy. I’m wondering if the Tullochs know how ill she is. Abbot wore a big coat to the meeting. It covered up her emaciated body completely. Can the woman really be such a threat to them when she’s dead?’

              ‘It depends on what the blackmail is about.’ Andy dragged a hand through his hair, suddenly deciding to share with Alice the discoveries that Bevan had made about the Suter case and its connection to the recent spate of arson attacks in the city.

              The DS leaned back in her seat and whistled. ‘You need to track down the man who visited the garage in Sighthill a few days before the fire.’

              ‘All I’ve got is a description from the garage employees. He gave them a name and address.  When I checked it out, the guy looked nothing like the man described and was decades younger. He’d been at work with witnesses when the test drive took place.’

              Alice sat up straight again. ‘Don’t you need a driving licence to take a car out for a test drive?’

              Andy nodded slowly. ‘It must have been a forgery.’

              Alice frowned. ‘It’s bloody difficult to get hold of a convincing false driving licence, no matter how well connected you are. Especially if you’re showing it to someone who handles licences regularly. It would have to be incredibly authentic.’

              ‘What are you suggesting?’

              ‘The licence might have been real. Maybe the man borrowed it from this guy whose name and address he used. I know there’s a photo on it, but as long as the picture showed someone who was male and vaguely human the garage owner wasn’t going to question it. He just wanted a sale.’

              Andy nodded slowly. ‘It might be a good idea to go back and speak with this man. Our arsonist must have chosen his name for a reason. Perhaps there’s a connection between the two of them.’

              Alice picked up her jacket. ‘Do you want me to tag along?’

              ‘Of course. You can help me suss him out.’