Woman in the Water

by Katerina Diamond

  ‘Are we fighting?’ Imogen said after twenty minutes of silence, arms folded.

  ‘No. I’ve just got a headache,’ he lied.

  They weren’t fighting, but he was annoyed. He didn’t need to be babysat. He wasn’t blowing this out of proportion. If Imogen had been the one who pulled Angela out of the river, then she might have been reacting in this way, too. Sometimes in the second before he woke, he saw Angela’s bright blue eye swollen and surrounded in blood. He felt her hand on his ankle. That one moment would never leave him.

  ‘You should follow my lead when we get there,’ Imogen said.

  ‘You don’t trust me?’

  ‘Corrigan’s one of those people who finds people’s buttons and pushes them. You’ve got more than a few buttons.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Adrian said.

  ‘After what you did to Jarvis, I don’t see how you can disagree with me.’

  ‘I don’t disagree. It would be nice if you had my back, though.’

  ‘I do. Always. Please don’t ever doubt that. This is me having your back. Who else is going to make sure you don’t get yourself fired?’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘It means you’re a sensitive guy. That’s one of the great things about you, but it’s landed you in hot water more than once. If the DCI hears about what happened with Jarvis, you will get a serious bollocking. I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it, either, but you can’t just let people wind you up like that. You make it too easy for them. It’s reckless and it’s going to get you into shit with the DCI.

  ‘Even bloody Jarvis had the sense to turn his camera off before threatening the guy. We just need to make sure we don’t give Corrigan the rope to hang us with.’

  Adrian thought about what she was saying and felt his perspective flip. She was right. If he carried on this way, then Corrigan would get off and they would be left dealing with career-altering disciplinary actions. Imogen was also right about Adrian having a lot of buttons to push. He did need to be smart about this, but could he? Probably not. He reached over and put his hand on Imogen’s, squeezing hard. Imogen wasn’t the enemy here.

  ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. I will get my shit together. I promise I will. Some things just get under your skin, you know?’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I’ll let you take the lead in this interview with Corrigan.’

  ‘No. I’ll see if I can get anything useful out of one of his employees or something. I’m now thinking maybe your seething hatred will keep Corrigan distracted. Divide and conquer and all that,’ she said, smiling.

  They pulled into the construction site and saw Corrigan standing with Chilton; he rolled his eyes when he saw them. Chilton was obviously one of Corrigan’s confidants; maybe Chilton would be the path to breaking Corrigan.

  Adrian got out of the car and walked over to the two men. Corrigan’s smile broadened as they approached.

  ‘Detective … Miles, wasn’t it?’ Reece said, not looking at Imogen once.

  ‘Mr Corrigan,’ Adrian replied.

  ‘How can I help you?’

  ‘We need to speak to you again about a couple of former employees of yours.’

  ‘Come over to the office; it’s a bit noisy out here.’

  Imogen nodded to Adrian that he should go. Maybe he could distract Corrigan for long enough for Imogen to get something out of Chilton. He gave her the nod and then followed Reece into a Portakabin.

  ‘Haven’t we discussed this already? I told Ruby to send you over the personnel file. Beyond that, I don’t know what else to tell you. I heard you have been asking around. I haven’t seen those boys for a while.’ Corrigan gestured for Adrian to sit in the chair opposite his desk.

  ‘You were close with Glover.’

  ‘Who told you that?’

  ‘Quick did, just before he killed himself in front of us,’ Adrian said, watching, waiting for Corrigan to react.

  But he didn’t; he was eerily calm for a man at the centre of a police investigation.

  ‘That must have been quite upsetting. Did he tell you why he did it?’

  ‘No. No, he didn’t. I don’t suppose you have any idea?’ Adrian said.

  ‘Sorry, no. I didn’t know Leon that well.’

  ‘But you knew Simon Glover.’

  ‘I did. Nice guy. Really awful what happened to him. Do you know who did it?’ Corrigan said, the tone of his voice suggesting he was playing some kind of game.

  ‘What about the call your wife made to the police six weeks ago?’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘It was the one where you threatened a uniformed officer. Ringing any bells, now?’

  ‘That was all a misunderstanding; my wife was just messing around. The matter is resolved.’

  ‘Let’s cut the shit, shall we? I don’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth. I’m sure you have people around you who hang on everything you say, but they don’t do it because they respect you. They do it because they are afraid of you. I have met plenty of men like you over the years and you’re all the same,’ Adrian said.

  ‘I doubt you’ve met anyone like me.’

  ‘That’s what they all say. You think you’re something special? You think you’re untouchable? You’re not. You’ll get caught. You know why?’

  ‘Why, Detective?’ Corrigan smiled and leaned back in his chair, amused more than anything.

  ‘Because you’re complacent and you rely on other people to do your dirty work for you. Not only that, but you also don’t understand that as soon as they all realise you’re going down and they don’t need to be afraid of you anymore, they’ll talk. Once we find those people and get one of them to open up, it will be like dominoes. One by one, they will flip on you.’

  ‘I don’t know who you think I am, Detective Miles.’

  ‘I think you’re so insecure that you need to beat up your wife to feel like you matter, but you don’t. You don’t matter, Mr Corrigan.’

  ‘Big words from a nobody. You should be careful how you speak to people, Detective Miles. I could contact your superior officer and tell him you’re being unreasonable.’

  ‘Her, and go ahead.’

  The amused look had disappeared from Corrigan’s face. His eyes had narrowed and he was studying Adrian, sizing him up. Adrian was well and truly in Corrigan’s crosshairs now and in a way that’s where he wanted to be. Much like when he was a kid, he now wanted to draw Corrigan’s fire away from Angela. The same way he would anger his father to get his attention away from his mother.

  Adrian stood. He was surprised by how familiar this feeling of satisfaction with himself was. It would probably seem strange to anyone who hadn’t grown up the way Adrian had, but to him, this was a victory. Corrigan was gunning for him now and that was exactly the way Adrian wanted it.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Adrian was sitting in the incident room waiting for DCI Kapoor; she had asked him to meet her a few minutes before the briefing started. Getting in trouble came naturally to Adrian.

  DCI Kapoor walked into the room and sat opposite Adrian.

  ‘I’m sure you know what I am about to say to you, DS Miles.’

  ‘Corrigan called you?’

  ‘No, Corrigan’s solicitor did. He said if you continue to harass his client then you will have to take the consequences.’

  ‘So, investigating someone is considered harassment now, is it?’

  ‘It’s a fine line and it’s not one I am sure you know how to walk.’ She raised her eyebrow at him.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Your instincts are rarely wrong, but that’s not enough. We have to follow the law. If we don’t, the system breaks and then where would we be? That’s a rhetorical question; you don’t need to answer. You need to learn to colour inside the lines.’

  ‘Corrigan is bad,’ Adrian said. ‘I pulled his wife’s broken and bloodied body from the water; I watched his employee drive a knife into his
own heart rather than speak out against him. What kind of man instils that kind of fear in people? Who else has he hurt? What other hideous things has he done?’

  ‘Let’s pull his life apart: legally, financially, any way we can. If he is doing something bad, we will find it. You are not a stupid man, Adrian. You must know that going at this all gung-ho isn’t going to help. Every time you have done that before it’s landed you in trouble. Learn from your mistakes.’

  ‘I know. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Don’t make me regret trusting you,’ Kapoor said.

  Imogen, DI Walsh and Gary walked in. Gary linked his computer to the magic whiteboard display screen and started typing, pulling up reports too fast for anyone to read them. Imogen sat next to Adrian.

  ‘I have some information,’ Gary said.

  ‘Don’t keep us in suspense, Tunney,’ DCI Kapoor said.

  ‘Fiona Merton’s DNA sample confirms that without doubt, the body recovered from the River Exe is in fact Simon Glover, so that’s one question off the list. Forensics went through his flat and said that it was most likely the crime scene. They got no evidence from it, not even Glover’s fingerprints, which is highly irregular. As you suggested, it’s been cleaned, but the black light showed some trace blood in the creases of the laminate floor. Not enough to test, but enough to signify that it was there. After looking at Glover’s financials we found that he removed all of his savings from the bank three days before we found him.’

  ‘How much was that?’ Adrian asked.

  ‘Seventeen grand; he had been saving that since he was a teenager by the looks of it. Probably for a deposit on a place; his flat was rented.’

  ‘Angela Corrigan said he was trying to help her. We didn’t recover any money at the scene, so where do you think that might be?’ DCI Kapoor said.

  ‘Either whoever physically assaulted them took it, or Glover had it stashed somewhere,’ DI Walsh said.

  ‘Well, it wasn’t in his flat. That place was cleaner than a hospital. Karen Bell said there was no trace DNA at all. Nothing. That’s very difficult to achieve,’ Gary said.

  ‘Corrigan has swathes of employees and plenty of money to boot. We know he can get people to do what he wants. We also know that people are literally terrified of him. He has more than means – he also has plenty of opportunity. I think Glover’s death was a message to anyone thinking about crossing him,’ Adrian said.

  ‘Or, specifically, anyone thinking about helping his wife,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Do you think you could speak to Angela Corrigan again, DS Miles and DS Grey? If you go when he is out, then a confrontation should be avoidable. He has already started to make some unpleasant noises about being investigated, so we need to tread carefully. I think if we keep pushing gently, we might be able to get her in to make a statement. We absolutely need to get her to cooperate. If we don’t, then there is only one other way this ends and I don’t think any of us want that. I’ve seen enough domestic assault cases that end with a dead wife to last a lifetime. Speak to her again before it gets to that; we have to keep trying. Gently is the key, though. She’s scared and she doesn’t trust us.’

  ‘Thanks to PC Jarvis,’ Adrian said.

  ‘I looked at the BWV content and Jarvis did everything he was supposed to do,’ DCI Kapoor said.

  ‘And not a single thing more,’ Adrian said. He wanted to tell the DCI that Jarvis had switched off the camera and dropped the matter, but you didn’t win any points for grassing on your colleagues, especially without evidence.

  ‘I also looked into Leon Quick,’ Gary said. ‘He had money saved up, too – more than Glover – and I spoke to his former landlady in Exeter, who said he was a model tenant. Always paid the rent on time, kept the place spotless, even did some odd jobs around the building for her. When he told her he was leaving, she offered him a reduction in rent to stay on. He told her his mother was gravely ill and he needed to be home with her.’

  ‘Is his mother ill?’ DCI Kapoor asked.

  ‘Nope, she’s fine. He lied. The landlady said he didn’t even serve out his notice, but he paid until the end of the month of November. She said it was like he couldn’t get away from the place fast enough. We know his motive for leaving wasn’t financial, either, because he had some savings.’

  ‘I cornered Jimmy Chilton for five minutes while DS Miles was speaking to Corrigan and I think he might be softening,’ Imogen said. ‘He didn’t give me anything except the same old flannel, but there was something about his demeanour that was different. He confirmed Corrigan’s alibi, so they are both covered. But I don’t think we should cross him off as completely unhelpful just yet.’

  ‘So, to summarise,’ DCI Kapoor said. ‘We have no idea why Simon Glover was killed, but we think it was because he helped Mrs Corrigan, who possibly may have been trying to escape her husband. Then we have Leon Quick, who, to all intents and purposes, took his own life to stop us from learning the truth about something that happened at that bloody construction company – except we have no idea of what it was or who was involved. Then, of course, we have Angela Corrigan herself, who is less than cooperative. Are you following me so far?’

  They all nodded and a few murmured yeses lingered in the air.

  ‘Our biggest problem is why. Saving Angela Corrigan is nice and all, but I just feel like there is more to it. Why do we think she went back to her husband?’

  ‘She could be scared of him, or she might feel the lifestyle she’s got used to isn’t worth jeopardising,’ Imogen said, raising her eyebrow.

  ‘She genuinely seemed scared of him when we spoke to her,’ Adrian said, annoyed at what Imogen was implying.

  ‘Unfortunately, your perception of the situation doesn’t really matter, Detective Miles. We need evidence. We need sworn testimony. Hunches don’t work in cases like this.’

  ‘Yes, Ma’am,’ Adrian said.

  ‘Miles and Grey? Take another run at the wife, see if you can get her to open up about what’s going on there. Tread carefully, please. DI Walsh, I would like you to coordinate with Tunney. Go through the construction company’s financials and any public information that could be of use to the investigation. Feel free to delegate.’

  ‘Thank you, Ma’am,’ DI Walsh said.

  ‘Let’s get this bastard and let’s make sure that once we have him, he is going nowhere. I have seen too many domestic abuse cases in my career where the victim goes back to the perpetrator, only to be found dead later down the line. Chop-chop.’ DCI Kapoor clapped them into action.

  Adrian got up and walked out, feeling a little personally attacked, as if everyone thought he couldn’t hold his temper and be professional about this. Like he somehow needed a babysitter.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  If there was one thing Imogen appreciated about Adrian, it was that he was an open book. She rarely had to try to guess what he was thinking; he didn’t play games like that. He just came out and said what was on his mind.

  His current brooding mood was frustrating for many reasons and she knew that this case was closer to the bone than most of the other ones they had been on. Whenever Adrian had talked about his past he would focus on his father’s addiction and not the violence he witnessed as a result. It was only when cases like this came up, when there was male-on-female violence, that he ever really mentioned it. Not that he would need to, because it was written all over his face. He had no poker face; his emotions were always on display.

  Today, however, she was getting the cold shoulder. He was annoyed with her about something – it was mild, but it was there. The fact that they were driving in silence was a clear indication that something was wrong.

  ‘Have I upset you in some way?’ Imogen said.

  ‘What?’ Adrian said.

  ‘You just seem to be a little off with me.’

  Imogen felt needy for even asking. This wasn’t how they did things. They were upfront with each other, weren’t they?

  ‘Would you care if I was?�
� Adrian said, folding his arms.

  ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean? Of course I would care.’

  ‘It’s nothing, anyway. My problem, I expect.’

  ‘So, there is a problem?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘You think I’m going to drop it? You’re wrong. Don’t you know me at all? What is up with you?’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘I’m not the one with a cob on. Just tell me what the problem is,’ Imogen persisted.

  He wasn’t going to get away with it this easy. She knew if she let it go then it would grow. They needed to talk about it right now.

  ‘Just those snidey remarks you made about Angela Corrigan. I didn’t like it.’

  ‘Snidey remarks? What are you talking about?’

  ‘Like how she’s in it for the money and stuff like that.’

  ‘It’s our job to ask these questions. The woman hasn’t made a complaint herself and we have to ask ourselves why. I am not passing judgement on her. I just wonder what her angle is, that’s all.’

  ‘Why does there have to be an angle? Maybe she’s just scared.’

  ‘Of course. Maybe she’s not, though. We just have to keep an open mind and investigate the facts without speculating as to why or who is doing what and for what reason. It is literally our job to find enough evidence to take this to court, where someone else can make the big, complicated decisions on morality and intent.’

  ‘It’s funny how you are the only one asking those questions, though,’ Adrian scoffed.

  ‘Well, I like to think I am thorough.’

  She smiled, but he wasn’t paying attention, still annoyed. There was a heaviness in the air – something bad was going to happen. They were headed for a fight, she could tell.