The History Suite (#9 - The Craig Modern Thriller Series) (15 page)

Craig shrugged. “Unlikely, but we’ve evidence still to gather, including an alibi.” His eyes narrowed in curiosity. “Why do you ask?”

“Because if it’s the Adrian Cooke I knew, he wouldn’t have hurt a fly. He was bullied by everyone at school, including our Sean, and he was his mate. What was the method?”

“Manual strangulation, but don’t mention that to Cooke.”

Karl shook his head again. “There’s no way he did that. I saw him playing with his dogs in the garden a few weeks back; he has two spaniels he dotes on. He was really gentle with them. If he turned out to be a killer I’d be shocked.”

Liam gave a sceptical snort. “I bet Ted Bundy’s mates thought the same.”

Craig looked thoughtful. “Thanks for the insight, Karl, and I’ll take it on board, but we could be talking high dose steroids and cocaine. It’s a violent mixture.”

Rimmins shrugged and headed for the door. “That’s my bit. I’ll find out what he was on and how much of it. You do the rest.”

***

The C.C.U. relatives’ room.

Annette considered the nurse in front of her and compared her demeanour to their earlier meeting. True, she’d been in a station interview room, with a whirring tape and tannoys booming out, and now she was sitting on a comfortable settee. But even so, Hannah Donard’s new found confidence was a stark contrast to her nervousness of two days before.

Donard tossed her long hair over her shoulder and sat straight-backed on the low slung couch, staring ahead with a glint in her eyes that said she was scared of nothing now. Annette narrowed her gaze, trying to work out why. OK, the station had been scary and yes, she had just found her friend dead, but the difference was more than that. Hannah Donard was acting as if she was protected, but protected from what and by whom?

Annette glanced at the transcript of their previous interview and prepared to start.

“Thank you for coming in again, Ms Donard. I have a few things that I’d like to check from our last encounter. You were very upset then.”

Donard smiled and Annette noticed her eyes flick towards a bracelet encircling her wrist. It was made of white metal so bright that it had to be new and the diamonds embedded in it added to the glint. Annette felt uneasy suddenly and decided to go straight to Donard’s most important words.

“Last time we met you said that when you found Eleanor Rudd’s body you screamed and Dr Cooke came to help you.”

Donard shook her head immediately and Annette’s heart sank. This was why she’d felt uneasy. Hannah Donard was about to lie. “It wasn’t Dr Cooke.”

“Oh? Who was it then?”

Donard shook her head. “I can’t remember. It was a man, maybe one of the porters. They’re often around there, bringing linen.” She stared at Annette unflinchingly, as if daring her to contradict.

Annette’s voice was firm. “I have you on tape as saying…” She glanced down at her papers. “When I asked you ‘What happened when you screamed?’ you answered, without any prompting ‘Someone came. I, I think it was Dr Cooke. He took me out of the room then someone must have called the police’.”

Donard’s gaze didn’t waver. “I said I thought it was Dr Cooke. I was wrong. I was in shock.”

Annette was equally immovable. “You then said ‘Oh God, it must have been awful for him’. To which I asked ‘What?’ and you answered ‘Seeing Ellie like that. They…’ with the clear implication that Dr Cooke and Eleanor Rudd had been close.”

A laugh rang through the room and Hannah Donard rose to her feet. “I implied nothing of the sort, Inspector. Dr Cooke wasn’t even on the ward that day, he was on holiday. And as far as him being close to Ellie, he has a girlfriend.” She turned towards the door. “If you’ve finished with me, I have to meet my mother in town. We’re going shopping.”

Annette was struck dumb. Hannah Donard had obviously been got at by someone, but there was no point asking anything more until she had her ducks in a row. She led the way to the exit in silence, partly from anger and partly because to say anything would have shown what was left of her cards.

***

The C.C.U. 3 p.m.

“Grab a coffee and let’s start.”

Liam scanned the group. “Where’s Jake?”

Craig shook his head. “Busy with other things.” He continued before Liam had a chance to ask more. “OK, I’m going to kick off with our interviews with William Rudd and Dr Cooke. Liam will step in as and when.”

He propped his chair against a desk, tilting it back precariously on two legs. Nicky’s husky voice echoed across the floor. “If you break that you’re filling in the forms.”

He waved a hand to show that he’d heard and continued. “Right. Rudd first. Billy Rudd is a wife-beater who’s been doing it for years. He thinks it’s his divine right and God’s will so I cut the interview short and he’s being remanded without bail.”

Liam chipped in. “Short wasn’t the word for it. The whole thing took sixty seconds; has to be a record.”

Craig shrugged at his exaggeration and Carmen interjected. “He didn’t just beat his wife.”

Annette turned to face her. “Eleanor Rudd had old scars.”

“The son has newer ones. Rudd’s been ruling that family with a strap for years.”

Craig nodded. A strap made sense and fitted some of the marks on Ellie Rudd. “Did you find it?”

Carmen shook her head. “The boy told us he used one. I’ll ask uniforms to do a search, but the son’s already agreed to testify against him.” She glanced at Annette for confirmation of Margie Rudd’s cooperation but Annette was a million miles away so she continued. “William Rudd thought his daughter was promiscuous.”

Liam interrupted. “Was she?”

Carmen’s face soured and her tone matched. “By whose standards? Yours? Let’s just say if she’d been a man she’d have been back-slapped in the pub, but because she was a woman she got called a whore.”

Liam was about to bite back but Craig waved him down. Carmen had a point; society had a double standard for men’s and women’s sexuality, but even if she’d been talking rubbish he needed Liam and her bickering like a hole in the head. Craig nodded Carmen on and she sniffed grudgingly, resentful that he’d curtailed their spat.

“Her brother gave me a list of her boyfriends.”

That was too much for Liam. “
Me?
Wasn’t Ken with you?”

Ken cheered inwardly and Carmen’s face soured even more.

“He gave
us
a list of her boyfriends then, OK?” Craig’s eyes warned Liam not to reply. “Eleanor Rudd lived at home and the nurses’ home, except for a year when she lived with a man.”

It was Craig’s turn to interrupt. “Adrian Cooke?”

Carmen smiled smugly and shook her head. “No. Tim Taylor. They lived together from 2007-2008, when Rudd was a student nurse.”

Craig leaned back heavily with a look that said that something had just slotted into place. He waved Carmen on but she’d finished so he picked up on their trip to High Street.

“Liam and I arrested Dr Cooke and he’s in High Street now being interviewed by Karl Rimmins…”

Just then Liam’s mobile rang and he went to Craig’s office to take the call. Craig was halfway through reporting when he returned.

“That was Karl. He’s just opened a can of worms.”

Craig leaned forward so quickly his chair banged on the floor and Nicky shook her fist at them both.

“Tell us the worst, Liam.”

“Aye well, it seems that our Dr Cooke was pumping steroids as often as he was pumping iron. He bought them from the gym he trained in: Get-Fit Gym. It’s that poncey one on the Lisburn Road. ”

“So Karl’s going after the dealer.”

It was a statement not a question and Liam nodded. He rubbed his hands gleefully at the thought of dark Drug Squad officers raiding one of Belfast’s glossiest gyms, but Craig could tell from his face that there was something more.

“What else?”

Liam grinned. “Aye well, that’s the really good news. Cocaine.”

“We already know Cooke’s a user.”

“Aye, but he might give up his dealer there too.”

Annette shook herself from her listening trance. “What? You’re sure?”

Liam furrowed his brow curiously. Annette had said nothing for the past ten minutes but now she was full of life.

“Aye, so Karl says. Cooke might give up both names in exchange for a deal.”

Craig shook his head. It was too damn convenient.

Annette’s voice was insistent. “Is Cooke denying the murder?”

Craig nodded. “Yes, he says he was halfway up the Mournes at the time. Why, what do you have?” He waved Liam down. “I’ll come back to you in a minute, Liam. Go on, Annette.”

Annette’s insistence changed to confusion. “Well…it might be nothing, sir, but…” She pulled out her notebook. “I interviewed Hannah Donard, the nurse who found the body, at High Street on Friday. She was very agitated so I thought I would check on her again today, here, in more pleasant surroundings.”

“And?”

Annette grimaced. “Well, I can’t be certain, but…I think she’s been bought off.”

“What’s changed?”

“On Friday she said that when she found Ellie Rudd’s body and screamed, Adrian Cooke came running. Now she’s saying that she was shocked and got it wrong. It wasn’t Cooke at all but some other man. She can’t remember who, probably a porter.”

“What makes you think she was lying rather than just recalling more accurately?”

“Her whole demeanour had changed; she was almost arrogant today. That plus the brand-new diamond bracelet on her wrist.”

Liam nodded. “Bought off. Sure as shit.”

Craig pressed Annette further. “Donard implied that Cooke was close to Ellie Rudd. What’s she saying now?”

Annette shook her head. “She’s denying that they were close at all. Says Cooke has a girlfriend.”

Craig nodded resignedly. “OK, so let’s look at Adrian Cooke. We were initially told he was close to Eleanor Rudd and Sister Gormley said he’d had a drug problem. Hannah Donard said Cooke was the one who came when she found Rudd’s body but she now denies that. Cooke admits that he and Eleanor Rudd dated but he says he was just one of her men, and that he knew nothing about her death until I informed him today, because he was on holiday when she died. Now, between Cooke and Donard, we have the good doctor alibied as forty miles away with his girlfriend and Donard denying that he and Ellie Rudd were ever close, contradicting her earlier statement, so we think Donard may have been bought off. So all we have for sure is that Cooke is a drug user and he admits to dating Ellie Rudd in the past.” He swung round suddenly. “Davy!”

Davy had been browsing his smart-pad throughout the briefing, glancing up the odd time something had caught his ear. On Craig’s sudden use of his name he jerked to attention like a squaddie caught dozing on parade. Ken smiled, remembering how often that had actually happened to him.

Davy’s eyes widened. “What?”

Craig knew that even when Davy seemed asleep he picked up more than most of them, but even so he allowed mild sarcasm to colour his words. “Sorry to bother you, but did you happen to find anything useful in your background scans?”

The analyst nodded and ran a silver-ringed forefinger down his pad. He tapped it twice and the E.M.U.’s floor plan appeared on the screen beside Nicky’s desk. She tutted, knowing that they would all gather round now and untidy her paperwork. Davy led the way across the floor and pointed at the diagram.

“OK. On the left is Newman, the acute w…ward, on the right the long-stay ward, Reilly Suite. In between is the area housing the clinical room, sluice and linen room; it’s an open area accessed from both parts of the E.M.U.” He glanced round the group, waiting for their nods.

Craig was the only one who spoke. “Yes. And?”

Davy tapped the screen again and a cross signifying Eleanor Rudd’s body appeared inside the linen room, a second tap brought up a series of multi-coloured dotted lines.

“The lines s…show the pathways of everyone I’ve been able to find on the CCTV.”

“Which one’s Adrian Cooke?”

Davy shook his head. “None of them. Cooke may have been there on Thursday but he managed not to appear on any of the CCTV feed.”

Craig raked his hair thoughtfully. “OK, if Cooke was there that day instead of being up some hill, someone must have seen him.” He turned to Liam. “Anyone mention him during the interviews?”

Liam shook his head. “No, but we didn’t ask about Cooke specifically. We were checking if anyone saw anything related to Rudd’s death.”

Craig made an unpopular decision. “Sorry, but everyone needs to be re-interviewed and specifically asked if they saw Cooke anywhere on the unit last Thursday.” Liam’s face was like thunder so Craig turned towards Annette. “Annette, take Ken, Jake and Carmen and you’ll get through them all in a day.” Before anyone could object he waved Davy on.

“There’s no sign of Cooke on the s…street or car park CCTVs either, but just because we can’t s…see him, it doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. I believe Hannah Donard’s original statement.”