Taunting the Dead (32 page)

‘The night Mrs Ryder was murdered, you said you were out of town. You got back at half past nine the following morning.’

‘That’s correct.’

‘I have a witness who says otherwise.’

Terry’s eyes went from one woman to another. ‘I very much doubt that,’ he replied.

‘I have someone who can put you in Brooke Lane at midnight.’

Terry shook his head. ‘That’s impossible.’

‘What makes you so certain?’

‘What makes you so certain that your witness is more credible than I am?’

Allie shuffled in her seat. She glanced at Sam uncomfortably. Terry was right. They had no evidence yet.

‘We spoke to Carole Morrison and she said –’

Terry laughed before she’d finished the sentence.

‘Do you have to be so rude?’ Allie refrained from reaching across the table and slapping him. God, the arrogance of the man!

Terry put a hand up. ‘I’m sorry but you said a
credible
witness. Not some bunny boiler that can’t leave me alone since my wife died.’ He pointed to his temple. ‘Sick she is. She’s got it into her head that she can waltz into my life and take over from my wife. In her bed, if you catch my drift. You’ve seen her, Detective Sergeant, haven’t you? Did she always seem rational to you?’

Allie paused before she said something that would damn her. She couldn’t let him get the upper hand.

‘Were you aware that she had been attacked?’

‘No. I saw her early yesterday – we both did – and she was fine then. I hope she isn’t too badly hurt?’

‘Oh, just scared about saying the wrong thing about the attacker and getting further repercussions.’

‘That is a shame. She and her husband were good friends of ours – are good friends of mine. For some reason she’s got the wrong end of the stick. Thinks I need looking after, but I don’t. Does she really need to be here?’

Allie looked up to see him staring at Sam.

‘Yes, she does. Why, do you object?’

‘She doesn’t say anything.’

‘She doesn’t need to say anything.’

Terry shook his head. ‘Waste of public money, two of you being here. I prefer it when you come alone, Allie.’

‘As you’ve already told me several times.’ Allie knew he was trying to wind her up. Truth be told, he was winning. But she’d be damned if she would show her hand. She, too, could play games.

‘Carole was attacked after I last saw you and her together,’ she continued. ‘Shortly after I left your property. You’re certain you didn’t have anything to do with it? She had some horrific injuries.’

‘Of course it was nothing to do with me.’ Terry frowned. ‘Maybe I should send her some flowers. Flowers always cheer a lady up, don’t they, Sergeant?’

Another stare in her direction. Then Terry held up his hands. ‘Okay, I’ll come clean. But only because I’m here and being questioned about something I haven’t done and I need to clear my name.’

‘Go on,’ said Allie.

‘Carole Morrison has had a crush on me for years. I wasn’t going to tell her husband – we’re all really close friends but it was an embarrassment the way she threw herself at me before Steph was killed. It got to the point that Steph actually thought there was something going on and got quite angry about it.’ Terry raised his eyebrows. ‘Now that was a time when I had to pay for damages. Steph went ballistic in The Orange Grove when she saw Carole try to kiss me.’

Allie hadn’t heard that before. She wondered if it was true and made a mental note to check it with Carole when she visited her later. She closed her eyes for a long second and squeezed the bridge of her nose. ‘Let me get this straight. Carole Morrison tried to kiss you.’

Terry nodded. ‘We – Steph and I – we laughed it off. But she was becoming a bit of a liability. Carole was becoming so obvious that Shaun started to put two and two together, coming up with five.’

‘And you chose to do nothing about this little… obsession she had with you?’ Allie looked at Sam long enough for her eyes to ask do you believe this shit he
’
s coming out with
?

‘I didn’t want anyone to get hurt,’ Terry explained. ‘But since Steph was killed, Carole has called every day. You saw her, didn’t you, dolled up to the nines? If you hadn’t shown up when you did, she’d have stayed for ages. Of course I could put it down to grief but, well, if I thought it was obvious, then what the hell might Shaun think?’

‘So you punched her in the face and threatened her, to get her off your back?’

‘Of course not.’ Terry shook his head. ‘That day you visited, you brought with you some of Steph’s belongings. Well, Carole went mad once you’d left. She accused me of having an affair with you, can you believe that?’

Sam cleared her throat as Allie felt the heat rise to her face.

‘I had to put things straight, no matter how much it was going to hurt her. I couldn’t let things continue this way. I told her that whatever she thought was happening wasn’t and that she should leave me alone to grieve in peace. That was when she lashed out at me and lost her footing. She fell over and caught her face on the coffee table. There was blood everywhere.’

Blood
. Damn that man, Allie groaned silently. If they found blood now, it would be his word against Carole’s. With no witnesses, there would be no proof.

‘Why didn’t you ring Shaun Morrison and let him know what had happened?’

‘Are you crazy? I’ve already told you that the guy’s a good friend of mine. I wasn’t about to tell him that his wife is obsessed with me. I thought if I kept quiet about things then Carole would come to her senses, make up a story about how she had got hurt and hopefully the nightmare would be over. I told her, once I’d cleaned her up, that if she didn’t stop coming around I would tell Shaun everything.’

‘Nice try, Mr Ryder.’ Allie had to stop from applauding him. She knew he was lying.

‘It’s Terry to you, Detective Sergeant. It always has been.’

She stared at him pointedly. ‘I suppose you’ve had enough time to get things straight in your head,’ she told him. ‘Now, let me tell you what I think happened. Carole Morrison told me that you attacked her. Carole Morrison also told me that you texted her last Friday night and asked to meet her in Brooke Lane. At approximately eleven thirty she said you met and you had sex. Now there’s quite some difference between the two stories, wouldn’t you agree?’

Terry nodded. ‘Absolutely. Do you have any evidence to back up her alleged story?’

The room dropped into silence for a moment.

‘Or any proof that Carole didn’t have a hand in what happened?’

‘You seem very calm about the situation, Mr Ryder,’ Sam tried to get into the conversation, ‘if you don’t mind me saying so.’

‘Yeah, I do mind,’ Terry snapped.

‘Why did you tell us that you stayed at The Bartley Hotel?’ Allie questioned. ‘We checked. You didn’t.’

Terry let out a defeated sigh. ‘Look, I really didn’t want to do this. I wanted to keep her out of the investigation. But now, I’m afraid you leave me no choice but to tell you who I was really with the night my wife died.’

Allie raised her eyes to his. Internally, she shuddered at his stare. Externally, she held his eye. But she could read nothing.

‘On the night Steph was murdered, I was out of town,’ Terry acknowledged. ‘I had a meeting in Derby and afterwards I took my business partner and a couple of clients out to dinner at Carlito’s Way. One of the guests was Cathryn Mountford. Once the dinner had been consumed we went back to Cathryn’s apartment and I stayed the night with her.’

Allie sighed. No, no, no. Please don’t say any more.

‘I stayed the night at her apartment, Detective Sergeant.’ Terry looked at her triumphantly. ‘The woman I’m having an affair with is Cathryn Mountford.’

At her desk, Allie tried not to flop over it with weary resignation. She had to hand it to him. Terry Ryder was a cunning bastard. Not once had she thought he’d have an alibi after all this time. And another woman? Jesus, how many women did this man control?

While Sam tried to contact Cathryn Mountford, she spoke to Nick.

‘I don’t know what to think now.’ She sighed loudly. ‘I wasn’t expecting him to say there was another woman involved.’

‘Terry Ryder’s a player, with the ladies as well as the men,’ Nick reasoned. ‘There must be crimes he’s committed that have been covered up. He has an army of blokes that will do anything for him. Do you really think he’d let someone like Carole Morrison get the better of him? He would have covered his tracks.’

Allie nodded in agreement, realising again that she had jumped to conclusions. She really was losing a grip on this case. ‘I’ll get off to Derby as soon as possible. See what this Cathryn Mountford has to say – although I can guess already.’

‘Allie.’ Nick looked directly at her. ‘Why do you think he had anything to do with his wife’s death?’

Allie paused. What could she say? Because she had fallen under his spell too? Because he had manipulated her into thinking she was wrong? Because he was charm personified and could talk his way out of anything?

No, it was the way he had dismissed Carole Morrison when she had clearly been upset by the attention he was giving over to her. But she couldn’t tell him that either.

She looked up at the inspector. ‘Maybe he didn’t have anything to do with it, sir,’ she replied unhappily.

‘Exactly,’ said Nick.

Allie frowned.

‘Go and see what you can find out in Derby. Other than that, we wait it out until forensics come back with whose blood is on the knife. I doubt it will be Steph Ryder’s and if it is, we can’t link it to her murder anyway.’

‘It’s someone’s blood, sir,’ said Allie.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

It took Allie and Sam forty minutes to get to Derby and a further ten minutes to park somewhere near to the address they were after. Hargate Court was situated in a residential area, a few minutes from the city centre. Although the street alongside it was full of cars, they were upmarket vehicles. Top-of-the-range Porsches, four-by-fours, convertibles. The whole row was worth a small fortune. Allie wondered which of the cars in allocated parking spaces within the court railings belonged to Cathryn Mountford. Even though she’d yet to meet her, her eyes rested on a year-old BMW convertible in bullet grey.

‘Weren’t you surprised that he didn’t tell us about his other woman earlier?’ Sam asked as they crossed the road towards the entrance. ‘It would have made things a lot smoother for him. And it would have saved us a lot of time.’

‘That’s Terry Ryder for you,’ Allie said sharply. A little too sharply, as she saw Sam scuttle off in front of her.

‘Nice place.’ Allie tried to change the subject. ‘Must cost a bob or two. I bet he pays for it all.’

Sam spun round to face her, a look of bewilderment etched on her face. ‘What is it with you and him?’

‘What?’

‘What Ryder was implying? It’s none of my business but –’

‘You’re right. It is none of your business.’

Allie sighed. It was only because she knew what Sam was going to say that she’d interrupted her. But Sam continued regardless.

‘It’s… well, you light up at the mention of his name.’

‘That’s absurd!’ Allie pressed a buzzer with Ms Mountford’s name on a tiny brass plaque by the side of it.

‘And you denying the fact makes it even more obvious that you have feelings for him.’ Sam continued as Allie tried to speak again. ‘Hang on a minute. I know you won’t act on them, but all the same, don’t you think that it might cloud your judgment?’

‘Look, whatever I’ve done has been purely on a professional basis. And you were there when Nick told me to get close enough to find out the truth.’

‘Yes, but we all know Terry Ryder’s a smooth operator. I did blush when he first spoke to me and I –’

‘I did what I had to do,’ Allie insisted. ‘You’re a good-looking woman, Sam. Don’t tell me you haven’t flirted that little bit extra to get someone to tell you more?’

A female voice spoke through the system.

‘Come on up, Detectives.’

Allie yanked open the door, determined to get in the last word with Sam. ‘The thing you don’t get about Terry Ryder, is that he likes to play games,’ she said.

Leaving behind the icy atmosphere, they entered a lobby and took the lift to the third floor. The young woman waiting for them as they emerged took them both by surprise. She was tall, with long blonde hair, straightened and neat. A heavy fringe framed the deepest of blue eyes. She wore the best of clothes on her tanned, toned body. Apart from the ageing of time, she was virtually the image of Steph Ryder.

‘Cathryn Mountford,’ Allie held up her ID. ‘I’m Detective Sergeant Allie Shenton, and this is Detective Constable Sam Markham. I’d like to ask you a few questions about Terry Ryder.’

Cathryn Mountford indicated the way with her hand. They were shown into a room suitable for any interior design brochure. Two white leather settees set up in an L-shape stood in the middle of a large room; there was a deep red wool rug on top of the dark wooden floor. A fire and television were sunk into the far wall; a huge artwork in pink, red and purple swirls hung to the right. Allie wondered what went on in here after hours. Was it all parties and razzmatazz or cosy dinners for two? A pang of jealousy alarmed her.

‘Would you like coffee?’ Cathryn offered. ‘I expect you’re thirsty after your journey.’

Allie nodded. ‘Thanks.’ She and Sam perched on the same pristine settee as if scared to contaminate its whiteness. Despite their disagreement minutes earlier, both women smiled as they realised they shared the same thought.

‘I assume you know why I’m here?’ Allie started when they were all settled.

Cathryn nodded. ‘Yes, I’ve been expecting you. Things often have a way of getting out, although we had tried to keep things quiet as long as possible.’

‘We?’

‘Terry and I.’ Cathryn paused for a moment to clear her throat. ‘I assume you’re here about me being his mistress?’

Allie thought the word
mistress
was so antiquated. Then again, what was worse?
Whore
?
Tart
?
Bit on the side
? Yet glancing at Cathryn, it was hard to imagine that she would take second place to anyone. She certainly seemed as though she could handle her own. But then again, Allie surmised, Terry could easily have used his charms on her too.