NEVER CAME HOME an addictive crime thriller with a twist you won't see coming (Detective Inspector Siv Drummond Book 2)

by Gretta Mulrooney

  ‘I’m on it.’

  ‘Good. Tell me as soon as Dimas and Aston are in the building.’

  Her phone rang as he trailed out of the room.

  ‘Guv, it’s reception. A Dr Scott Darnley phoned in about half an hour ago, asking to speak to you. Said he’s got important information about Lyn Dimas.’

  She took the number and tried it, but it went to voicemail. She left a message and then googled the name. Scott Darnley was an anaesthetist at Berminster General. His Facebook page had a profile photo of a hypodermic needle, and the most recent posts were of his holiday in Barcelona. Lots of photos of two men in tiny swimming trunks on beaches. She tried his friends list but it was protected. She wondered if Darnley knew Monty Barnwell and googled him. He wasn’t on Facebook or other social media. She rang the hospital and was informed that Dr Darnley wasn’t on shift until 2 p.m. She left another message for him and then nipped upstairs to update Mortimer.

  She found him cleaning the glass on his pictures with a cloth. A pleasant lemony smell met her as she stepped through the door and told him of the pending arrests.

  ‘Sounds very odd but promising,’ he said. ‘It’s hard to see why a couple like the Dimases would be in a run-down place like Steiner’s, but perhaps slumming it was a way of trying to keep the marriage going. Keep me updated — it would be good to get this one cleared from the books. Bring me evidence, DI Drummond, hard evidence.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Oh, by the way, there’ll be an email invitation to all staff tomorrow for my Halloween party, on my yacht. I don’t go in much for this kind of thing but it’s become a bit of a tradition. It’s a chance to get everyone together.’

  ‘Thanks, sir. Ali told me about the party.’ Mortimer appeared less wizened than usual and his hair was different. A bit longer and a lighter colour. He’d got new glasses, too, round tortoiseshell frames. Very on trend.

  ‘Ah, yes. The sergeant’s a great one for a party. He has that tremendous Irish sense of bonhomie. It’s in his DNA!’

  She’d have to remember to tell Ali that and watch his eyes narrow. ‘That picture’s familiar, sir. I’m sure I’ve seen that lake before somewhere.’

  ‘Really? It was a present from a friend. It’s a little forbidding, but the colours are lovely. If that’s all for now, I’m expecting a visit from HR.’

  Back in her office, she tried Darnley’s number again, but it went to voicemail once more. She reread records of interviews with Dimas and Aston and printed off the forensics. She was ready with ammunition.

  * * *

  They started with Theo Dimas. He’d opted for a duty solicitor, a young woman with a tight expression. Her lips compressed even more when Siv gave her vague disclosure about evidence, mentioning only forensics. Dimas had a startled manner and was perspiring.

  Siv poured him some water. ‘Mr Dimas, you’ve been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of your wife.’

  ‘It’s absolutely untrue. I had nothing to do with it.’

  His solicitor shifted in her chair. She’d have advised him to say, ‘No comment,’ but from what she’d seen of him, Siv expected Dimas would find that difficult.

  ‘Where were you on the evening of the twenty-eighth of July 2013?’

  ‘Mr Dimas has already told the police that on two occasions, in 2013 and recently,’ the solicitor said.

  ‘I’d like him to tell me again.’

  Dimas was wearing bright green-and-yellow braces today. They brought a discordant air of jollity to the tension in the room. He fingered one strap. ‘I was at home with my partner, Monty Barnwell.’

  ‘In Mr Barnwell’s flat?’

  ‘That’s right. We had a meal and watched football.’

  ‘Did you contact your wife that day?’

  The solicitor leaned towards him but he shrugged at her. ‘I’ve nothing to hide. I’m telling the truth.’ He sounded defiant. ‘I didn’t talk to or see my wife. The first I heard about a problem was when Mr Downey rang me.’

  ‘Mr Dimas, I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about how vicious your wife was to you after you went to live with Mr Barnwell. She was bad-mouthing you, telling your children, your family and friends that you had AIDS. She went to the hospital and was verbally abusive to Mr Barnwell in front of staff and patients. That’s correct, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Siv injected warmth into her voice. ‘You must have been very angry when Lyn acted like that. Those were terrible slanders that she heaped on you.’

  He responded to her caring tone. ‘I admit I was angry. Who wouldn’t be, faced with that kind of onslaught? I was worried for my kids and I missed them. Surely you can understand that?’

  Suspects who appealed for sympathy were usually the easiest ones to crack. ‘You hadn’t seen your children for months, had you? Lyn wouldn’t let you. Lily was old enough to be a law unto herself but you must have been dreading divorce proceedings, and the fight that Lyn might put up to keep you from Adam.’

  ‘That’s right.’ He rubbed his eyes.

  Siv’s tone grew stern. ‘And then when Lyn went missing, you were able to live back in your own home with your son and eventually your partner moved in. Her disappearance solved quite a few problems for you, and let you forge ahead with a new life without ongoing harassment and the perils of the divorce court. Some might think that was a neat outcome.’

  Dimas jolted in his chair and grimaced at the solicitor. She gave him an ‘I told you’ stare before she glared at Siv. ‘Inspector Drummond, I object to your implications. My client moved back into the family home in very difficult circumstances in order to care for his son. That was his duty as a father.’

  ‘Okay. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t handy, though.’

  Dimas dug deep and found some bottle. ‘I resent what you’re saying, what you’re implying. I was doing my best for Adam and I tell you again, I had nothing to do with Lyn’s death.’

  Siv switched to a conversational style. ‘Mr Dimas, have you ever been to Steiner’s, the premises at Orford End where your wife’s body was found?’

  ‘No, never. I’ve told you that.’ He sipped water thirstily.

  ‘Do you drink wine?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Wine. Do you drink it?’

  ‘I suppose . . . Yes . . . I drink wine. Why?’

  ‘What kind of wine do you like?’

  ‘I don’t understand . . .’

  ‘You don’t have to answer,’ the solicitor reminded him.

  ‘Red. I drink red.’

  Siv sat back. Ali opened his folder, took out a photo of the wine bottle and passed it across the table. ‘Do you recognise this?’

  Dimas picked the photo up. ‘Why should I recognise a wine bottle?’

  ‘Examine the label. Take your time.’

  Dimas scrutinised it pensively and passed it to the solicitor.

  ‘What’s your point?’ she snapped.

  Ali ignored her. ‘Any ideas about that bottle, Mr Dimas?’

  ‘Pass. The label says “Hermandad Malbec.”’

  ‘And is that a wine you drink?’

  ‘Sometimes.’

  ‘Okay. You see, Mr Dimas, that bottle was found in Steiner’s. It bears your fingerprints, and yet you say you’ve never been there.’

  Dimas reeled as if he’d been smacked. He snatched up the photo again. ‘I haven’t. I’ve never been there.’

  ‘So you say. You see our difficulty, though — that bottle was there with your prints on. It’s a hard one to square.’ Ali sat back and sighed.

  Siv tapped the photo with her pen. ‘I need to ask you again. Have you ever been to Steiner’s premises?’

  He was frightened now. ‘No comment.’

  ‘Mr Dimas, we’re just trying to work out what happened to your wife. We have evidence that she might have been at Steiner’s before the night she was killed. When I visited you, I explained that we’ve found her DNA there. That included on a mattress. One possibility is that she might have agree
d to sex with someone. Of course, she might have been kept there forcibly. She also drank wine there, including from a mug.’

  ‘A mattress . . . What? I still can’t believe that Lyn would go to a place like that.’

  ‘She did, either willingly, or because she was forced. I’m sure you want us to find who murdered her. You might have been at Steiner’s for some other reason. It would be best for you to tell us.’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘For example, did you go there to find a man to have sex with? You must have been seeking relationships before you met up with Mr Barnwell, or even after you did.’

  He sounded offended. ‘Absolutely not.’

  ‘This puts us in a difficult situation, given the forensics . . .’

  ‘Christ’s sake!’ He put his head in his hands. ‘This is madness! Are you saying that I went to Steiner’s to drink wine and have sex with Lyn? Why on earth would I do that?’

  Siv poured more water for him and offered some to the solicitor, who appeared to be sucking lemons. ‘This is hard, Mr Dimas. If you can try to help us understand what’s been going on here . . . Did you go to Steiner’s at some point with your wife and perhaps Pearce Aston, too?’

  ‘Aston? That waste of space? What are you talking about?’

  ‘I’m talking about forensic evidence. Did you, Lyn and Aston have some kind of involvement there?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘When did you first meet Pearce Aston?’

  ‘First? I’ve only met him once and that was enough for me.’

  ‘When did you meet him?’

  He held his braces tightly in clenched hands like a man clutching a lifebelt. His face had gone puce. ‘It was in the spring after I’d moved out. I can’t tell you when, exactly. I was in Sainsbury’s in Bere Place and he and Lily were coming towards me. I reckon Lily would have ignored me if she could have, but it was difficult, because we were face on in the aisle. I said hello and they both muttered back, and then he pushed the trolley on fast and they were gone.’

  ‘That’s it?’

  ‘Yes, that’s it! I’d never seen him before that, and I’ve never met or seen him again, except in some of the photos that Adam brought home from the wedding. You know full well that there’s no contact between us!’ He stared hard at her and then back at the photo. ‘Hang on, hang on!’ He picked it up again. There was a long pause. ‘I belong to a wine club. I’ve ordered a dozen bottles of this one from time to time. I’d have touched the bottles when I was taking them out of the case. That means my fingerprints would be on them, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘How do you explain the bottle being at Steiner’s if you’ve never been there?’ But he had a point. Lyn Dimas could have taken the bottle from home.

  The solicitor had scented the problem. ‘I’d say that’s for you to establish, Inspector. If this is all of your forensics, then after what my client has freely told you, it’s not much. That bottle could have been in his home and if so, he’d have handled it, therefore his fingerprints would be on it. Anyone could have taken it to Steiner’s, maybe even when it was empty. Someone could have taken it out of his rubbish bin!’ She threw her pen on the table and folded her arms.

  It was best to cut her losses. Siv ended the interview and asked them to wait. She and Ali went out into the little courtyard garden and he immediately lit up.

  ‘Hell’s bells, guv!’

  ‘Well, it was always a possible explanation and a likely one. We’ve no other forensics placing him at Steiner’s. Lyn could have taken the bottle from their supply. I checked out the label on the other bottle. It’s a cheaper Spanish red, possibly Aston’s contribution. We can examine Dimas’s wine club history, but we’re stymied with him for now. Thing is, I believe him. He was lying about something in there, but not about Steiner’s.’

  Ali blew out a gust of blue smoke. ‘Aye, I agree. It’s unlikely that he killed her but there’s something sneaky about him.’

  ‘We’ll bail him pending further enquiries and let him get home to Adam. Best crack on with Aston now.’

  ‘He and his solicitor are preparing a statement. A weaselly wee move and, having met him, it doesn’t surprise me. He must have realised that forensic evidence from Steiner’s would include him.’

  Siv wrinkled her nose. A prepared statement could make questioning trickier, because the suspect could just refer back to the written account. ‘Well, he’ll be pressured because he doesn’t know any details about what we’ve got. Let’s see if we can raise his temperature.’

  Chapter 15

  Pearce Aston wore his peaked cap at a jaunty angle. He sat so close to his solicitor, Nicci Cornlow, that he was almost in her lap. She’d agreed to read out his statement for the tape.

  Siv held up her hand. ‘Just before you do that, could I ask you to remove your cap, Mr Aston?’

  He gaped at her, flashing gleaming white teeth. ‘What for?’

  ‘Call me old-fashioned if I say courtesy.’

  He shrugged, flicked the peak and removed it, fluffing up his waves. ‘That okay for you?’

  ‘Thank you.’ Siv didn’t care about the cap, but it was a small initial victory, putting him in his place and marking that she owned the room.

  Nicci Cornlow had a slow, flat delivery as she read out the statement. Given whom Aston was married to, it held potentially explosive content but she might have been reading a shopping list.

  ‘I had a brief affair with Lyn Dimas between April and August 2012. It started when we met at the gym. I was living in a flat with two other people and she was married, so we either made love in one of our cars or we met up at Steiner’s, on a Sunday afternoon. I knew the premises was empty because I’d seen a story in the local paper about the place, saying it was dreadful that it had been left abandoned. I bought a cheap mattress and took it there to make it a bit more comfortable. We’d spend an hour or so, having sex and chatting. That’s why police will have found forensic evidence relating to me there. I finished the affair in August 2012, because Lyn’s marriage was in poor shape and she’d started to get clingy. She was lonely and wanted us to see more of each other. That wasn’t a good idea and I didn’t want a long-term relationship with her. She was upset about me ending things, but she didn’t try to stay in touch.

  ‘In March 2013, I met Lily Dimas when I was upgrading the computers at her school. I didn’t realise at first that she was Lyn’s daughter and by the time I did, I was in love with her. I phoned Lyn to tell her before she found out. She was furious and she wanted me to stop seeing Lily, but I said I couldn’t and I wanted to marry her. That’s why Lyn was so against our relationship. I just tried to keep out of Lyn’s way after that.

  ‘I had nothing to do with Lyn’s disappearance or her death, and I had no contact with her in the weeks before she vanished. I was with Lily at the prom the night of the twenty-eighth of July 2013, from 7.45 p.m.’

  Aston seemed satisfied when she finished reading, as if that wrapped everything up nicely.

  ‘If your statement is true, you’ve been lying a lot, Mr Aston,’ Siv said. ‘You lied in 2013 and when Sergeant Carlin interviewed you recently.’

  ‘It is true now. Every word. Cross my heart and hope to die.’ He spoke emphatically, making a cross on his chest.

  She wondered if his flippancy was down to crassness or because he was innocent. ‘As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. When you were at Steiner’s with Lyn Dimas, was anyone else with you?’

  ‘No, come off it . . . Why would anyone else be with us?’

  ‘More than two can get together for sex and there is evidence that a number of people used the place.’

  He raised his brows. ‘Maybe you like that kinky stuff. Not my thing.’ He seemed pleased with his riposte.

  ‘But your thing is taking the woman you’re romancing to a squalid dump and your idea of luxury is a cheap mattress on the floor.’

  ‘In my opinion, it was handy and a safe, anonymous place to go. At least we could stretch
out. Have you ever tried having sex in a car? It’s very hard to get comfortable. Lyn was well up for it when I told her about Steiner’s.’

  ‘Did you see anyone else when you were there?’

  ‘No — although I can’t swear there was never anyone else around because we’d be a bit absorbed. Lyn found it exciting, going there. She got off on being a bit of a rebel.’

  ‘Every woman’s dream.’

  He stiffened a little. ‘Sneer if you like, but that’s just the way it was, okay? That’s the truth of it, whether you like it or not.’

  ‘Thing is, when people are caught out in a lie, it’s hard for us to tell when they’ve switched to the truth, however much they cross their hearts.’

  ‘Mr Aston had his reasons for not speaking the truth, Inspector, as you must realise,’ Ms Cornlow said. ‘He hadn’t expected to fall in love with Ms Dimas’s daughter. He didn’t want Lily to find out about his previous relationship with her mother. He didn’t want her upset.’

  ‘Very touching. Very gallant. I’m not sure I buy that.’

  ‘There’s no need to be sarky,’ Aston said. ‘I’d never have had the fling with Lyn if I’d known I was going to meet Lily. I’m not some kind of dirty perv.’

  ‘Mr Aston, would you say that your wife has been upset during the years since 2013, wondering what had happened to her mother?’

  He fiddled with his cap. ‘Yeah. Course she has.’

  ‘So you’ve been happy to sit back and let her and her family suffer.’

  ‘No, I have not! In my opinion, I’ve done everything I can to help Lily through it. You ask her. She’s always saying she couldn’t have done it without me.’

  ‘I’m sure Lily does say that. But then, she’s been unaware of your previous romance and the information you’ve been hiding from her.’

  Ms Cornlow leaned in. ‘We’ve dealt with that, Inspector. Mr Aston was protecting his wife.’

  ‘And yet he was adding to her torment and prolonging the agony, as far as I can see. If that statement is true.’