Murder In The Academy : A chilling murder mystery set in Belfast (Alice Fox Murder Mysteries Book 1)

by Maggie Feeley

  Jackson Bell politely acknowledged the presence of his superior. “Professor Hartnett has asked to attend this meeting to demonstrate her solidarity with DePRec staff at this time.” Eyebrows raised, brows furrowed and questioning expressions settled on the faces of those gathered. Bell carried on with apparent reluctance. “I will not beat about the bush. I have asked you all here to share some shocking news with you.”

  By now, a total hush filled the room as all eyes fixed even more firmly on Bell.

  “The remains of our colleague Dr Helen Breen were discovered by a member of the Marine Biology staff yesterday in another campus of the college.”

  There was a sharp, collective intake of breath.

  “I had the unhappy duty last night of identifying her remains.”

  At this point he paused and Alice watched as he summoned sufficient self-possession to continue.

  “The police were called and a murder investigation is already under way. I have very little detail other than this and am advised that it would be inappropriate anyway to share what I know with you at this moment. When you have had time to think about this you will understand why that is the case.” He quelled a potential outburst of comments with a raised hand and a particularly stern look. “I will shortly ask the senior Murder Squad detective and one of her team to join us here when she will outline what we need to do to help this inquiry. But, first of all, I must say that despite this unspeakable reality, we must endeavour to continue business as usual. Classes must continue and students too must be supported at this time. There will be those in the media who will want to talk about Helen Breen with a view to sensationalising what for her family and friends and we, her colleagues, is an out and out tragedy. I hope that no one present here will choose to be part of that circus.”

  He paused at this point and looked meaningfully around the room. He sighed deeply and continued.

  “We must support one another in dealing with this. I will prepare an announcement that can be shared with students and others who need to know what has happened. Mr Doyle, our student representative, will undoubtedly contribute to dealing with any issues that arise in the student body. Otherwise, we must somehow learn to come to terms with this most heinous truth and in whatever way possible assist the police with their investigation. There will be time in the days and weeks to come to pay fitting tribute to Helen Breen but for the moment we must do what the authorities require of us. Both Professor Hartnett and myself will be available to you if needed and will try our best to answer questions or find someone who can. I imagine,” he faltered here a little, “that to some of those questions there may be no answer at this time.”

  At this point he signalled to one of the admin staff who left the room and returned with Mairéad Walsh and the two police officers.

  Alice had a better chance now to observe DI Caroline Paton than when she had passed by her in the office next door on her way to the meeting. She was of medium height and looked as if she kept herself physically fit. Alice knew this could be a challenge in the life of a busy detective and she admired those who resisted the temptation to give way to sloth. In her experience they were the minority. Paton exuded confidence and while Bell did the introductions she scanned the room carefully much as Alice Fox herself was doing. In her easy composure she managed to convey the impression of competence and determination and Alice decided on the spot that Caroline Paton was probably excellent at her job.

  “This is Detective Inspector Caroline Paton of the PSNI Murder Squad and Detective Constable Ian McVeigh. Detective Sergeant William Burrows will join them later today. Please now give your full attention to DI Paton.”

  Bell stood aside for the detectives and took his place beside Janet Hartnett. She nodded encouragingly to him and allowed her hand to rest gently on his arm for a moment.

  Caroline Paton surveyed the room which held about twenty-five people who had clearly absorbed something of a shock on hearing the news of Helen Breen’s death. For her, the idea that potentially one person present was less shocked than the others was to the forefront of her thoughts.

  “Good morning, staff of DePRec. I would like to begin by sympathising with you on the loss of your colleague and to assure you that we will do everything we can to solve this crime as rapidly as possible.”

  Alice saw that Mairéad Walsh was looking towards Ralph Wilson with obvious concern.

  “I will be brief and to the point as I know some of you must shortly return to your classes. My fellow detectives and I have established an incident room in the boardroom on this floor. In the next few days we will be interviewing all department staff and gathering evidence that we hope will lead to the discovery of those responsible for the violent murder of your colleague, Helen Breen. A schedule of interviews has been drawn up with the kind assistance of Mrs Walsh and has already been emailed to all of you. A copy has also been posted on the noticeboard in the office next door. We have taken your lecturing commitments into account and want to disrupt the departmental business as little as possible. However,” she paused and looked gravely around the room, “our concern is entirely focused on solving a murder and that takes precedence, for us, over other matters. Someone has committed a brutal and fatal attack and our task is to find that person before further harm is done. I put it to you, that it is absolutely in everyone’s interest to help us in that task.”

  The sudden implication that there might be further killing tangibly chilled the room and those within it. Paton had succeeded in getting her audience on track.

  DI Paton nodded to McVeigh who looked at his watch and said, “It is now eleven twenty. The first interview will begin at eleven thirty. When our colleague, Sergeant Burrows, joins us later we will be able to have two interviews happening simultaneously. You will see this is reflected in the schedule. Thank you all for your ongoing cooperation.”

  There followed a short exchange between Bell, Hartnett and the detectives after which they all left the room.

  The admin staff and technicians left immediately and those remaining moved from stunned silence to whispered expletives and then noisier processing of the most unexpected of events. People consulted their phones and laptops for the email of the interview schedule and those at the top of the list experienced a flurry of nerves at the unknown situation into which they faced. While some moved reluctantly toward their eleven-thirty lecture, others sat semi-stupefied and tried to process what they had just heard. DePRec had all of a sudden taken on the characteristics of a film set in which they were all now actors.

  Alice had watched with close interest the reaction to Jackson Bell’s announcement. With the benefit of forewarning she had not experienced the same thunderbolt as the others present. Ralph Wilson had been standing, pipe in hand, beside the door to the outside deck area, as if ready for a quick getaway. He had blanched as Jackson had uttered the words, “the remains of our colleague Helen Breen”. Wilson had initially looked incredulous and then, perhaps conscious of his well-known acrimonious relationship with Breen, he had appeared anxious and begun shaking his head from side to side as if rejecting the message altogether. By the time the DI had taken the floor he had assumed the blank expression of one who cannot locate any suitable response and affects an unconvincing concerned expression. He quickly became visibly anxious and Alice could see that the days ahead could get tough for him.

  As soon as the meeting broke up, Wilson headed out immediately for a smoke and Alice observed carefully that others were watching his reaction and commenting under their breaths and behind hands. She really hoped he was able to account for himself over the period when the killing had taken place. Despite her interest in her colleagues’ response to the news of Helen Breen’s killing she too left the room as quickly as possible, almost colliding with Liam Doyle on the threshold. His shoulder-length Titian-red hair contrasted sharply with his uncharacteristic pallor. Alice was used to the easy, capable approach he took to his daily lot of looking after student interests and his distres
sed appearance startled her. Doyle had met her and acted as guide the first time she had visited the EXIT project which was located near his home in the west of the city. He told her that he had done some of his Master’s research project there and knew the youth leader, Hugo. However, she was happy that he had not interfered in her meeting, leaving her at the door and heading off about his own business. Alice was aware that Liam Doyle was close to Helen Breen and had overheard him speak up on her behalf in staff-room conversations. That had surprised her a little and she had briefly wondered if there was something between them beyond the demands of work and student welfare.

  “Terrible news,” he gasped.

  But Alice wasn’t feeling like having that discussion just at that moment. In her view, there were definitely times when it was best to say nothing and, with a nod, she continued on towards her office next door.

  “Will I bring you a cup of tea?” she asked Mairéad who was looking deeply shell-shocked behind her desk.

  “No thanks, lovey,” she replied. “I’ve just eaten a whole packet of ceiling tiles and I’m feeling a bit bloated.” She had a pile of handwritten papers beside her and was clearly embroiled in preparing Jackson Bell’s announcement to students and organising the many additional things that having a murder inquiry on the premises brought with it.

  Alice retired to her own room and consulted her emails to see when she would be meeting the detectives face to face. She was scheduled for three o’clock that afternoon so she wouldn’t have long to wait. She was in an interesting position in relation to this new turn-up for the books. It felt as if all her worlds were colliding here in this most interesting of places.

  19

  The interviewing process was under way and Bill Burrows reported, as planned, to the fifth floor of the college. He collected keys from Mairéad Walsh in the admin office and went first of all to Breen’s office. He put on a pair of latex gloves from his jacket pocket and carefully opened the door. The office was at the end of a small, ill-lit corridor off the main quadrangle but as the door opened inwards the light from the glass corner space flooded the room. The panoramic view was of the Belfast cityscape with the Cave Hill in the background and an ice-blue winter sky that was breathtaking. Bill paused and passed his enquiring eyes over the office that had been the workplace of Dr Helen Breen. At first glance, everything appeared ordered. The desk facing a glass wall was empty except for a telephone, a blank pad of paper and a pen. Maybe the desk is too empty, Bill mused, and inhaling deeply was struck by the distinct odour of cleaning products. The polished wooden floor was gleaming and there was the faint outline of pictures that had been removed from the central concrete pillar. A still shot of images splattered with brain matter flashed through Burrow’s mind and he grimaced. He relocked the office and returned to the admin office, apologising for disturbing Mrs Walsh a second time.

  “Can I ask you, Mrs Walsh, if these offices have been industrially cleaned over the holiday period?”

  “They have not, Detective Sergeant Burrows,” she responded without hesitation. “Dr Breen was inclined towards a minimalist décor and was always reasonably tidy, and there has been no special cleaning over the break. Of that I am certain.”

  “In that case I would like now to seal that office until such time as we can do a deep forensic examination. I will hold on to the keys and see if I can get forensics in after close of business this evening. They will cause less fuss if they come after hours.” He was heading out of the room when he turned back. “Did Dr Breen work on a laptop and would she normally have carried a briefcase or a handbag?”

  “Oh, Detective Sergeant, Helen Breen was a statement- bag carrier. Something large and very expensive. That and her mobile phone were permanently in her presence.”

  Burrows thanked her and he headed off towards the boardroom to make a call into Forensics at HQ and report this new development to DI Paton.

  In her inside space Alice Fox was processing all she had overheard and concluding that DS Burrows had just identified the possible place of death of Helen Breen. Through the thin dividing wall between herself and Mairéad Walsh she could sense the impact of this latest development on the older woman.

  For now, they both decided to keep their responses to themselves.

  Caroline Paton and McVeigh were doing a double act and between interviews Bill Burrows briefly let them know what had emerged from the postmortem and from his examination of Breen’s office. He knew they would have a lengthy meeting at the end of the day to pool their findings and plan the next stages so he kept the detail for then. Today would be a long day, as DI Paton liked to cover as much ground as possible at the outset of an inquiry. They knew now that they had lost valuable time over the holiday period when the college buildings had been closed for two weeks and this added to the urgency to make rapid advances now.

  After a short interlude they regrouped and Burrows and McVeigh took one list and Paton began on a second group of names in a small vacant office space beside the boardroom. By close of play tomorrow they planned that they would have done an initial trawl of all DePRec staff.

  20

  At two-fifty Alice Fox headed towards the boardroom for her scheduled interview with Caroline Paton. The door of the small adjoining office was open. Alice knocked and looked around the door. Caroline, engrossed in her notes, beckoned to her to come in and sit down. Alice admired the moss-green shade of the other woman’s eyes and internally scolded herself for mixing business and pleasure.

  “I’m Alice Fox,” she said quietly and extended her hand to the DI. “I am a visiting scholar from the City University New York. Prior to becoming an academic I was a detective in the Lowell Police Department in Massachusetts. I am saying that to explain that I understand what is happening here. This is unfortunately a familiar scenario for me.”

  Paton’s stern expression softened and she smiled tiredly. “We have a lot of ground to cover, Dr Fox, so there will not be much time for the friendly personal exchange that we would both enjoy now, I think.” The senior detective paused momentarily here and then brought herself back to the purpose of the meeting. “I am interested to hear your views on the current situation, Alice.” She smiled to acknowledge her relaxation of the formalities. “It is valuable for us to have another professional in situ. Perhaps we can call on you for context clarification if need be?”

  Alice nodded. “For sure, Detective Inspector. Anything I can do, although I am still something of a rookie here in Belfast.” She had already thoroughly evaluated Paton and decided that she could like and respect her. The woman was direct and did not prevaricate or play games in her search for information. Her ego was definitely not blocking out the important aspects of the situation as could be the case with those who were near the top of the police career structure. Paton’s sharp focus was something that Alice identified with and she could see that she and Caroline Paton would have much in common were they ever to meet outside of the workplace.

  In response to Paton’s inquiry about her involvement in end-of-term activities, Alice was happy to recount that she had been at a conference in Dublin, after which she had spent the holidays hillwalking in Wicklow. She had not been present for the end-of-term drinks in Janet Hartnett’s Crawfordsburn home and indeed she had heard little or nothing about how that event had gone.

  She explained that her return had been very much affected by the storm and the days of exceptional closure. She recounted in some detail the puzzle posed for Bell and others when Helen Breen did not appear for work as planned on the first day of term. Paton asked her how she would interpret Professor Bell’s reactions on that first day. Was he surprised or annoyed? Was his reaction excessive in any way? Alice replied honestly that she had judged his response to be a little disproportionate at the time. At the same time she had rationalised it by acknowledging that the first day of a term could be stressful for people. Often people had made resolutions for the New Year and had unrealistic expectations of what they could achieve.
At that point she had smiled and beat her breast saying, “Mea culpa!” and they had both laughed.

  The interview held no surprises for Alice and she found Paton to be as able and astute in her work as she had initially judged. She shared all she could about her limited contact with Helen Breen and was honest about what she had observed about the level of contempt with which some of her colleagues had regarded Dr Breen. The expected battle for the new professorship did not appear to be news to the DI. The acrimony between Ralph Wilson and Breen was publicly known in DePRec and Alice had no doubt that information would have been passed on to the detectives by some if not all of her colleagues. Alice was cautious in not disclosing details of conversations overheard between Mairéad Walsh and Wilson. Paton was good at her job and she would glean those items for herself without Alice betraying the camaraderie Mairéad Walsh had shared with her. Paton asked her about Breen’s life outside of work and Alice realised she knew nothing whatsoever about the woman.

  As the exchange drew to a finishing point, Caroline Paton held Alice in her steady gaze. She was clearly judging whether to trust her and take their conversation to a deeper level.

  “I’m going to share some stuff here that is just between us – colleague to colleague,” she said. “We are undoubtedly dealing with extremes of rage in the case of the killing of Helen Breen. This was not a simple bit of competition over a promoted post but rather a deep-rooted enmity that unleashed a level of brutality I would not like to see repeated. We want to catch this perpetrator quickly before someone else gets hurt.”