Make You Sorry

by Christine Rae-Jones

  Morgan shook his head. ‘Get the cuffs ready and stay here. If I shout, slam the door shut so he can’t get out.’ He marched ahead of her and disappeared through the open doorway. She waited and listened.

  ‘Hello again, Danny. I’m sure you remember me. DI Nick Morgan. Turn the radio off, please.’

  There was a click and the music stopped.

  ‘Face the wall and put your hands out behind you. Daniel Francis Easton, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Angus Maguire and Michael Maguire between the hours of 8pm on Monday 24th February and 6am on Tuesday 25th February this year. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Come and cuff him please, DC Smart.’

  Morgan stood to one side so that Smart could snap the cuffs on. Easton was standing in front of a wall, staring at a work schedule as if choosing a slot for a new task. He was a couple of inches shorter than Morgan and not quite as wide although his arm muscles bulged through the overalls. Smart looked relieved that he hadn’t resisted arrest and Morgan knew he should have waited for backup. It wasn’t like him to be reckless. ‘Are we going to need a van, Danny, or are you going to come with us?’ he asked.

  ‘I didn’t do anything,’ said Easton. ‘Why are you picking on me?’ Morgan thought there was a little boy inside this man’s body and he wasn’t surprised to see tears in his eyes. They led him to Morgan’s car and apart from Easton asking for the cuffs to be loosened, they completed the journey to custody in silence.

  Chapter 78

  Tuesday 3rd March

  It took three hours for Harriet Lees-Langham to arrive and take instructions from Danny Easton. By the time Morgan and Spence were ready to start the interview, street lights were dotted in the darkening sky. Descending the concrete steps to the cells, Spence asked his boss how the house renovations were progressing.

  He glowered. ‘They’re not. The windows are letting in a gale force wind that comes straight from Siberia and I’ve no idea when I’m going to get time to do something about it. I’ve got scaffolding coming this week and the rental on that would make a hole in the national debt.’ The conversation ended when they got to the door.

  Spence entered the interview room first and sat opposite the solicitor. Her floral perfume saturated the room. Morgan settled into his chair and opened his folder. He nodded at Spence who started the recording. After they had covered the preliminaries, Morgan repeated the caution. Before he could continue, the solicitor put out her right hand, palm upwards and said ‘Disclosure, please. I’ve seen nothing which justifies this arrest. This is harassment of my client.’ She turned to Easton. ‘They are obliged to tell me what they’ve got so I can advise you properly.’

  ‘I know what disclosure is,’ he mumbled.

  ‘There’s no disclosure for you today Ms Lees-Langham,’ Morgan replied before looking at Danny Easton. ‘During this interview I’m going to talk to you about the 24th and 25th of February this year. I’d like to start by you telling me where you were and what you were doing.’

  ‘I don’t even know what days of the week they were. I was probably at work,’ said Danny.

  ‘Please follow the advice I gave you, Danny.’ Lees-Langham spoke on autopilot and without looking up from her notepad.

  ‘As I said when I cautioned you at Silver Sands earlier, the 24th was a Monday and the 25th, a Tuesday. Where were you, Monday before last?’

  ‘Monday night is my darts night. I was probably there.’

  ‘And there will be witnesses to say you were there and when you left?’ Spence intervened. In the bright light of the oppressive little room, the first beads of sweat sparkled on Easton’s upper lip.

  Morgan and Spence fired a salvo of questions at Daniel Easton for the next fifteen minutes and were rewarded with the response of “No comment” to each round. Lees-Langham did not try to repress her smile as she continued her note taking. She intervened, ‘If I had some disclosure, I’m sure my client would be happy to provide a statement which would assist you with your enquiries. As far as I can tell from your questions, you are on some fishing expedition. I suggest you row to another part of the lake and try your luck there.’

  Morgan decided it was time to wipe the smile from her face.

  He started, his voice low, his eyes down on the papers in front of him. ‘It’s unfortunate that you’re unable or unwilling to account for your movements on those dates, Danny. We’ll certainly follow up with the darts club. You should know that I’m also applying for warrants for your home and any vehicles you have access to. I don’t need a warrant for your workshop, but we’ll be searching there too. Of course, it’ll be distressing and inconvenient for your mother who I believe is not long widowed. It’s correct that you’ve recently lost your father?’

  Easton shot to his feet. ‘You keep her out of this. She’s been through enough.’ His metamorphosis from sulky, uncommunicative boy to combat-ready warrior startled both officers who rose to their feet to restrain him.

  ‘Danny.’ Lees-Langham’s voice was almost tender. She stretched her hand out and held his arm, pulling him gently back down on to his chair. ‘How many more times? Please follow my advice.’

  The officers sat down again. Until that moment, Morgan had wondered if they might have the wrong man. His upper body strength was obvious, but his demeanour did not suggest he was capable of bludgeoning two men to death. This flash of passion in defence of his mother changed his opinion and he felt a frisson of excitement as he anticipated Easton’s reaction to the question he was building towards.

  ‘Well, just a couple more things and then we’ll take a break and we’ll get some tea for you.’

  It was one of Morgan’s signature techniques. Make the coming questions sound unthreatening. Promise a break and refreshments. Everyone fell for it, even battle hardened criminals. They anticipated the break and relaxed, them bam! The killer question. He kept his voice soft and calm. Under other circumstances, it might have been described as seductive. He locked his steely blue eyes on to Easton’s.

  ‘Can you tell us Danny, please... just how does it come about that your fingerprints are on the keys of the vehicle that Michael and Angus Maguire drove to the car park of the DIY outlet? The same car park they could not drive away from because they were both dead.’

  Lees-Langham’s jaw dropped open. She glanced at Easton before speaking. ‘DI Morgan, this is ...’

  Morgan’s gaze was still fixed on Easton. ‘And how come there is also one of your prints on the headlight switch for that vehicle? The lights were off when we found the bodies and I believe you turned them off. So we have you in that car park when those men were murdered and there’s no evidence that puts anyone else there at that time. Why did you kill them? Did you fall out over your share of the tools you were stealing?’

  ‘No!’ Danny Easton’s howled in outrage. ‘I’m not a thief.’

  ‘This is exactly why I wanted disclosure before you started your questioning, DI Morgan,’ shouted Lees-Langham, her cheeks flushed now. ‘I thought the days of pulling rabbits out of hats in police interviews had long gone.’

  ‘Is that what you thought, Ms Lees-Langham?’ Morgan smiled thinly at her. ‘We’ll take a break now and I’ll check on progress of the warrants. You may want to take further instructions from Mr Easton.’

  ‘Magistrates’ Court has finished for the day so I’m going through the out of hours procedure to get the warrants.’ DC Lynn Greenfield called across the office as Spence returned. ‘Is he giving us anything useful?’

  Spence was chewing on a cold sausage roll he’d got from the minimarket on the other side of the road. ‘Solicitor’s about to implode. She and the boss have taken a dislike to each other and I’m not sure that’s helping.’

  ‘Are you going to do the searches tonight while he’s still in custody?’

  ‘Up to the boss, I suppose, but I think s
o.’

  Two hours later, Morgan beckoned Spence and Greenfield into his office. His face was pale and there were dark shadows under his eyes.

  ‘We’ve got warrants for the home address, his bike, and the garage he keeps it in, and his mother’s car. Everything except the work vehicle,’ said Spence and pointed to Lynn Greenfield. ‘She’s done a grand job, sir.’

  Greenfield asked ‘Are you going in tonight, sir?’

  Morgan looked at his watch and took a moment to consider. ‘We can hold Easton until tomorrow afternoon so I think we should all go home and get some sleep. We’ll start with a briefing at seven tomorrow morning. I’ll try to rustle up a second team but if I can’t, we’ll do the home first and see where that gets us before we move on to the other sites.’

  ‘I’d like to be in on the searches,’ said Greenfield.

  ‘Speak to DI Patel and if she can spare you, I’m okay with that.’ He stood up slowly and stretched before packing a few loose papers into a blue wallet.

  Spence and Greenfield wished him goodnight before filing out of the office. ‘Do you think he’s okay?’ Greenfield spoke softly as they made their way down the echoing corridor.

  ‘No idea, and I’m not going to risk asking him. I think he’s pissed off that he can’t play with his DIY tools. Come on. Let’s get out of here before he changes his mind.’

  Chapter 79

  Wednesday 4th March

  Once the briefing was over it took less than an hour to get two teams together. Morgan was taking the first to search the Easton family home and car and the second one headed for the Silver Sands workshop and Danny’s motorbike and garage.

  Gillian Easton answered on the second ring of her doorbell. Her eyes were dead and she held a crumpled tissue in her hand. ‘He’s not here,’ she shouted and went to close the door. DS Dave Spence blocked her, handed her a copy of the search warrant, and explained the procedure. He also told her that her son was in custody. They stood to one side as a team of uniformed and plain clothed officers filed past them. DI Nick Morgan was last to enter.

  ‘You!’ Gillian Easton shouted and pushed at his chest. ‘I remember you from court. If this is about Kenny Wyatt, then Danny had nothing to do with it. I asked him.’

  Morgan stopped, unsure if he had heard correctly.

  Spence looked puzzled too. ‘Shall I contact DI Patel? he asked. ‘Wyatt is her case.’

  Morgan agreed. ‘Get her to join us,’ he said. ‘And we’ll need your car keys please, Mrs Easton,’ he called over his shoulder. ‘Constable Ferguson, please stay with Mrs Easton in the lounge.’

  From the kitchen, Morgan could hear Gillian Easton shouting at the constable. ‘How many of you are there? It’s a shame you weren’t so fuckin’ interested when we were burgled. Maybe if you had been, my husband would still be here.’

  He saw keys sitting on a breakfast bar and picked them up in gloved hands. On the ring was a gilded letter “G,” two house keys and a car key.

  He wanted the car searched by someone he knew and trusted. He called up the stairs to DC Greenfield.

  Her head appeared through a doorway. ‘Sir?’

  He held up the keys. ‘Can you search the car? Make sure that the one on the drive belongs to Mrs Easton. I don’t want any cock ups with us searching the wrong vehicle. The car park where we found the Maguires is about eight miles from here. Easton must have used some sort of transport to get there. I know he rides a motorbike, but it was a cold night and I’m fancying the car.’

  Spence went into the lounge where Gillian Easton was distracting the young constable from his search. He crossed to the settee and sat opposite her, waiting for a pause in the tirade. When she noticed him, she screwed up her face. ‘I remember you too. You were at court with that other one. Well, my Danny walked away a free man that day, and he’ll walk away from this. You’ll see.’

  Spence continued to look at her without speaking.

  ‘What?’ She was shouting again. ‘What are you lookin’ at? You gonna to accuse me too?’

  ‘What can you tell me about Danny?’ asked Spence with no real expectation of a reply.

  ‘What d’ you mean?’

  ‘From where I’m sitting, I see photos of him with awards and I see cups and medals in a cabinet. I see family photos of him with you and your husband on holidays and I know that until last week, we had never heard of him. So, I’m asking you... what can you tell me about Danny?’

  She glared at him and wrapped her thin cardigan tighter around herself. Spence looked up at Constable Ferguson who was shaking his head, indicating he’d not found anything in this room. Spence nodded and told him he should continue elsewhere.

  ‘Maybe Danny needs help,’ he said, his attention now returned to her.

  ‘Danny lost his dad six months ago. They were very close. Since it happened, he’s gone in on himself. Up in his room all the time. Hardly talks to me.’

  ‘Was it an accident?’ Spence waited patiently while she decided how much to tell him.

  ‘Danny’s father committed suicide,’ she paused, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.’

  ‘It’s Dave. DS Dave Spence.’

  ‘He killed himself, DS Spence, and Danny found him.’ She was crying quietly, dabbing at her eyes with a shredded tissue. ‘Danny hasn’t gotten over it. They promised him counselling, but they can’t get funding. I can’t afford private. I’m doing two and three jobs at a time just to pay the bills.’

  ‘Was there no insurance policy for your husband?’

  ‘They won’t pay for a suicide,’ she said.

  The door burst open and Morgan came in. ‘DS Spence, a moment please.’

  Spence was reluctant to go. He looked apologetic. ‘I’ll be back,’ he said but she was already out of her seat and shouting at Morgan. The moment had passed.

  DC Lynn Greenfield came back into the hallway through the open front door. ‘We’re starting to get a bit of attention from the neighbours,’ she told Morgan before holding up a crumpled supermarket carrier bag she’d brought in. ‘Found it in the boot inside a first aid kit which had a couple of sticking plasters and a roll of cotton bandage. I wanted a closer look without everyone watching. It’s worth mentioning that the front seats of the car are a bit grubby, but the back seat and the boot look as if they’ve been vacuumed to within an inch of their lives.’ She placed the bag on the table in the hallway and pulled it open with exaggerated care before peering inside. ‘That’s worth a look,’ she said to Morgan who leant over. He could see a small jumble of disposable gloves and a couple of single-use face masks. As Greenfield watched, he reached into the bag and produced a black permanent marker.

  ‘I know what I’m thinking, said Morgan, ‘What do you think?’

  ‘It’s not quite “bang to rights,” but it needs an explanation,’ said Spence who had been watching from a few steps away.

  ‘What did you get out of the mother?’

  ‘Son’s not been right since he found the father’s body. Suicide.’

  ‘Oh Christ,’ said Morgan. ‘What with that, and her comment about Councillor Wyatt, we should bring her in. Invite her to help with our enquiries. And good work DC Greenfield. The car’s going to need a closer look, so can you arrange to have it taken in please? Oh, and ring DI Patel again. If she hasn’t already left, ask her to wait. We’ll be bringing Mrs Easton to her.’

  Spence was frowning. ‘I don’t think she’ll give us anything in the state she’s got herself into at the moment.’

  Morgan was surprised. ‘And your reasons?’

  ‘We’ll get more out of her when she’s had time to think.

  Morgan disagreed, but didn’t show it. ‘Okay. Make arrangements for her to come in later today. You and DI Patel should speak to her. I want to know why Daniel Easton, who has no criminal record, has suddenly started killing people.’

  Chapter 80

  Wednesday 4th March

  Back in his office, Morgan rang to check on the progress of the
second search team. When he heard they were on their way back from Easton’s workshop he went to the briefing room and took a few minutes to consider his next move. The contents of the carrier bag from Gillian Easton’s car could be significant but they could also be completely innocent. Danny Easton worked in a building where surgical gloves and masks were used every day. Not uncommon for an employee to nick a few for personal use. The marker pen was generic. It was unlikely that the ink would tie it uniquely to the signs left with Wesley Crook and the Maguires, let alone to the stain on Abigail Slater’s wedding dress. He looked up in response to a knock on the open door. Sergeant Booth, who had led the second team, came in without invitation.

  ‘Anything?’ asked Morgan.

  ‘We bagged up some tools at his workshop behind Silver Sands, but nothing to get excited about. There aren’t any obvious blood stains or signs of cleaning up either at the workshop or the garage. There was a shredder at the workshop which we thought was unusual, so we’ve brought that in. I hope you don’t need to reassemble the contents because it was pretty full. There was also a planner. When we took it down, there were a couple of envelopes pinned up behind it.’

  Morgan frowned. ‘Containing...?’

  ‘The open one had a note from his dad. Looked like a suicide note. The other was sealed and addressed to a “Gill.” It was in the same handwriting.’

  ‘What about the bike and the garage?’

  ‘Nothing to report from there, sir.’ Sergeant Booth checked his notebook before snapping it closed. ‘Everything’s being booked into evidence and they’ll let you know when you can get hold of it.’

  ‘I don’t suppose anyone took pictures of the planner, and the letters, did they?’

  ‘No sir, they weren’t my instructions.’

  ‘Okay. Thank you Sergeant Booth.’

  Morgan was frustrated. His gut told him that those letters would seal Danny Easton’s fate, but he would have to wait for them. There was less than an hour left of relevant time on Easton’s custody clock. After that they would either have to release him, or apply to the superintendent for an extension. He set off to talk to Johnson.