Separated at Death (The Lakeland Murders) (23 page)

‘But what’s the motive here? Are we really suggesting that Simon hated his brother so much that he would murder his daughter in order to frame him for the killing?’

‘There might be some other motive.’

‘Child abuse?’

‘The thought had crossed my mind, historic maybe. Perhaps Amy was threatening to tell her parents, and so Simon killed her.’

‘But why plant the phone?’

‘Maybe he just saw an opportunity to bring his brother down. Two birds with one stone so to speak.’

Robinson made a careful note on his pad with his silver propelling pencil.

‘Can we prove he planted the phone?’

‘Doubtful.’

‘So how do you think he’ll play it? Stick to his story?’

‘I doubt it. He’s not stupid, and he’ll know that the town is well covered by CCTV. If not his brief will remind him of it. So if I were him I’d be vague about the time, and give us his exact route. From his point of view it just proves he was near the scene at the time of Amy’s death. So at worst all he loses is his alibi, at least for now.’

Robinson nodded. He hadn’t questioned a suspect in years, but he remembered how they’d try to stretch the truth as far as they could. It could be frustrating, but Hall was patient and careful. He wasn’t the grandstanding type, and Robinson liked that.

‘So how will you play it?’ he asked.

‘Just let him know that we’re on to him, and see how he reacts. But the wife is a different matter. If we convict him then she’s going to do jail time too, so I’ll let her know what that entails.’

‘OK Andy. But one thing. Don’t ever open a fresh line of enquiry in a major case without informing me first. Is that quite clear?’

‘It is sir.’

Based on the actual time that Simon’s car left the motorway it was a quick and simple job to find him on the key CCTV cameras. He came into town at just after quarter to nine, didn’t stop, and was heading up Beast Banks at a few minutes before the hour. So he could easily have met Amy at nine or soon after, but even if he hadn’t stopped and had just carried on along Queen’s Road he couldn’t possibly have been home before nine fifteen, and more likely after that.

Hall couldn’t yet be certain that the car hadn’t stopped, because they didn’t have it in continuous line of sight, but he was confident. Not least because in fact the car that Hamilton had followed into town turned right at the town hall, immediately before he turned left up Beast Banks. And the CCTV from outside the pub half way up the hill, and well beyond the take away, had him still heading north.

So Hall hoped that he’d stick to the part of the story about the take away, because either way Hamilton had a problem. If he did stick to it, then the CCTV would almost certainly prove him to be a liar, because even without 100% coverage of the area the fact that he followed another car through town proved that he hadn’t stopped between Kirkland and the town hall. And if he said that he hadn’t stopped, just as he hadn’t gone to an ATM, then Hamilton would have to explain why, at the end of a long day, he’d taken a detour through town. It wasn’t insuperable, he could just say that he’d intended to stop and changed his mind, but it would be yet another shift in position.

The Hamiltons and their solicitor, a local man called Charles Jenkins who Hall knew slightly, did arrive at noon, and Hall and Mann had already decided to start with Mrs Hamilton.

But the solicitor spoke as soon as they sat down and the recorder was on.

‘I have a statement here for you, which both my clients are willing to sign, confirming the time range between which Mr Hamilton returned home. On reflection, neither of my clients can recall the exact time, but estimate that it was in the range of eight thirty to nine thirty pm. No doubt CCTV evidence will show at what time the car was in Kendal.’ Hall thought he caught the hint of a smirk on the solicitor’s face. ‘Do you wish to ask my client anything else? I should like to put on record that we’re most anxious to help in any way that we can, and hope that my clients’ earlier statements have not hampered your investigation. As you will appreciate the death of their much-loved niece has placed both of my clients under very considerable strain.’

The solicitor started to get up, but Hall gestured for him to sit down.

‘We do have questions for your client.’

‘I’m most surprised. I thought that this statement covered your areas of concern.’

‘Not all of them’, said Hall. He looked squarely at Mrs Hamilton. ‘But while we’re on the subject of last Wednesday evening can I ask what you were doing that evening, earlier on I mean?’

‘I ate at about seven, and then read until my husband came home. I do tend to lose track of time.’

‘So you can’t pin the time down any more accurately?’

‘You have my client’s statement.’

Mann was always impressed by Hall’s faultless manners. It must be down to him being a southerner.

‘I do, but you are now quite certain that your husband didn’t come back any later than nine thirty, Mrs Hamilton?’

‘Inspector, my client has already given you a written statement to that effect.’

Hall smiled, nodded, and paused. It was a long pause.

‘Does your husband often come back later in the evening?’

‘Oh yes, very often. He works incredibly hard.’ 

‘And does he sometimes stop in Kendal for something to eat?’

‘Sometimes, yes. Sometimes he picks up something in Bowness too. A take away for us both perhaps.’

‘But not last Wednesday?’

‘No. As I said, I’d already eaten.’

‘So did your husband eat on the way home last Wednesday?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Well did he make something when he got home? A little snack or something?’

‘I don’t remember.’

‘Can you think carefully for me, Mrs Hamilton. What happened for the rest of the evening, after your husband came home?’

‘Nothing. He called hello, got changed out of his work things, and came down to the living room. We watched the ten o’clock news together.’

‘So he might have made a snack?’

‘You’ll have to ask him.’

‘And one last thing,Mrs Hamilton. What was your husband wearing when he returned from work?’

‘I didn’t see him, I told you.’

‘Well, what was he wearing when he left home in the morning?’

‘A shirt, blue I think, a sports jacket, jeans and black shoes.’

‘And did he have a coat?’

‘Yes, I expect he was wearing a waxed jacket. He’s worn one since he was a lad. This must be about his fifth one.’

‘So it’s dark green?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘Thanks Mrs Hamilton, that’s all for now. Our enquiries are ongoing, and I’m sure that Mr Jenkins here has explained that we might need to talk you again, if there are other matters that we need to check. But before we get that statement typed up for you to sign, is there anything you’d like to say? Anything that you think might help us?’

Sarah Hamilton shook her head slowly.

‘That’s fine. Well, you know where we are if you need us. Your solicitor will no doubt have explained what the implications are if anyone who gives us a statement in these circumstances turns out to have lied to us.’

Sarah Hamilton shook her head, and Hall spoke before Jenkins could. It was almost rude, thought Mann.

‘Well they face the risk of being charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, and in a case like this one I would expect a custodial sentence to be handed down upon conviction. Wouldn’t you agree?’ Hall smiled at the solicitor.

‘My client has been entirely truthful at all times, so that question is entirely hypothetical.’

Hall suggested that they interview Mr Hamilton while his wife’s statement was being typed up. Simon Hamilton looked a good deal more relaxed than his wife. When the tape was running Jenkins repeated that the couple both agreed that Simon had arrived home between half-past eight and half past nine, and that he had with him a statement to that effect.

Hall looked as if he’d heard it all before, which of course he had. Then he leaned forward.

‘Tell us what route you followed from the motorway to your house.’

‘As I said before, I drove through Kendal, then turned left up the hill, and then right to the west of the town. Then I took the Crook Road home.’

‘And did you stop anywhere during that part of the journey, from the time you entered Kendal until you reached home.’

‘No, actually I didn’t.’

‘When we spoke earlier you said that you’d stopped at a take-away.’

‘I know, but that was a different evening. I didn’t stop. I was going to, but I changed my mind.’

‘So you just drove straight through Kendal, and straight home from there without stopping?’

‘Yes.’

‘What kind of driver are you, Mr Hamilton?’

‘I’m not sure I follow.’

‘Fast, slow, medium? How would you describe your driving?’

‘I keep to the speed limits.’

‘And how long would you say it takes you to drive from the centre of Kendal to your home, obeying the speed limits?’

‘Half an hour, perhaps a little less. It depends on the traffic.’

‘And what was the traffic like on that section of your journey last week?’

‘I don’t remember exactly.’

‘But not unusually busy?’

‘No, probably not.’

‘I ask, because we have you turning left at the town hall at three minutes to nine last Wednesday. A little while ago I asked a colleague to do the drive from there to your house, via Queen’s Road, in an unmarked car, keeping strictly to the speed limits. And do you know how long it took?’

‘This isn’t a guessing game Inspector’ said the solicitor.

‘Quite right. It took twenty three minutes. So that puts you back at home at twenty past nine, just inside your revised recollection of your arrival time.’

‘You see. That’s what I said all along.’

‘It’s not really been all along, has it Mr Hamilton? Until today you were claiming to have been home by half eight, the better part of an hour before you can possibly have actually reached home. And please don’t think we’re being petty Mr Hamilton, because you see that time difference really is important. Would you like to know why? Sorry, Mr Jenkins doesn’t like guessing games, and quite right he is too. So I’ll tell you why it’s important. You see if you were at home at eight thirty last Wednesday then you couldn’t possibly have murdered Amy, that’s for definite, but if you didn’t get home until an hour later; well then your alibi is gone I’m afraid.’

‘But I don’t need an alibi.’

Hall let Hamilton’s words hang for a long moment.

‘And for the record you are absolutely certain that you didn’t see your niece anywhere in Kendal that evening?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘And you didn’t stop, or leave your car at any time between the time that you turned left at the town hall, and when you reached Plumgarths roundabout?’

Hamilton didn’t hesitate.

‘No, I didn’t stop the car, except at junctions obviously.’

‘So you’re quite sure that you never parked or got out of your car in or around Kendal last Wednesday?’

‘Yes, I’m certain. I do sometimes, but I didn’t last Wednesday.’

Hall asked what Hamilton had been wearing. His account tallied closely with his wife’s. ‘Have you been in or near Serpentine Woods in the recent past?’

‘No. But we often go for walks, all round the area. Some of those are in woods.’

‘When you return to your house after this interview would it be possible for us to remove any black pairs of shoes for examination?’

Hamilton looked at his solicitor.

‘We can get a warrant if you prefer.’

The solicitor nodded. Then Mann spoke for the first time.

‘Could we see the shoes you’re wearing now sir?’

Hamilton stood up. They were black Oxfords, as shiny as Mann’s old Major’s dress boots.

‘Would you leave those with us? If you tell me the size I’ll arrange for a new pair for you to wear. Of course these will be returned to you.’

Hamilton hesitated, and looked at his solicitor again. He nodded assent.

‘And one last thing’ said Hall. ‘I need you to reconfirm, for the record, what happened when you visited your brother to pay your respects last Thursday. Specifically, which rooms were you were in, and whether you were in any of them alone.’

‘Like I told you before, I was in the kitchen and the living room. There were people there the whole time. And I went to the loo as well.’

‘But that was downstairs?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you go upstairs at any point?’