Fatal Act

by Leigh Russell

  ‘The method of killing is completely different,’ the detective chief inspector pointed out in his clipped voice. ‘So presumably we’re looking at different killers, but –’ he paused, frowning. ‘We can’t ignore the fact that both victims were involved with one man, Piers Trevelyan.’

  ‘And in both cases the killer vanished impossibly,’ Geraldine added. ‘Who the hell are we dealing with?’

  No one answered.

  Reg glared at her as though she was somehow responsible for the cases proving so tricky. He was never comfortable unless he felt in control of a situation. Confusion made him angry, and he hated anything that threatened to undermine morale and consequently his authority over the team. But the facts remained.

  ‘It makes no sense,’ Geraldine said.

  ‘Then we just have to work harder, and sort out this mess,’ Reg growled.

  He stomped from the room and the business of the day resumed in an atmosphere of quiet industry.

  Chapter 35

  IT WAS EASY TO see Bethany had inherited her good looks from her mother. Now middle-aged and running to fat, she must have been stunning when she was young. Her present appearance wasn’t improved by her eyes, which were puffy and swollen from crying. She stared blankly as Geraldine introduced herself.

  ‘We’ve done it,’ she replied, without moving to close the door. ‘It’s done.’

  ‘I’m sorry? What’s done?’

  ‘We’ve been to identify her – we’ve seen it –’

  She faltered, unable to complete the sentence, while her expression remained wooden. Geraldine guessed she must be sedated.

  ‘Mrs Marsden, I’m here to ask you a few questions about Bethany.’

  ‘What for? She’s not coming back.’

  ‘We don’t believe your daughter’s death was an accident.’

  ‘I know that. I saw her.’

  After a momentary flash of anguish the grieving woman’s eyes glazed over once more. Geraldine pressed on.

  ‘We need to find out who’s responsible for Bethany’s death.’

  Mrs Marsden shrugged.

  ‘What’s the point now? She’s dead. Nothing’s going to bring her back.’

  Geraldine sighed. This was so difficult.

  ‘Is your husband in?’

  ‘Gary? Huh. You’ll be wasting your time talking to him.’

  Despite her dismissal, she opened the door and gestured for Geraldine to enter.

  The living room was crammed: three armchairs, a two-seater settee, several footstools, every spare inch of the carpet hidden beneath occasional tables covered with china dogs, small bunches of silk flowers, glass ornaments, paper weights, and framed photographs, mostly of the dead girl. Among the assortment of colourful chintz furniture, flowery curtains and gaudy ornaments, at first Geraldine didn’t notice an elderly man hunched in an armchair. He didn’t stir when they walked in. Only when his wife called his name loudly did he raise his head. Seeing his face, Geraldine realised he was not as old as his bowed posture and white hair had led her to suppose, no more than sixty.

  ‘Mr Marsden?’

  His eyes slid past her to gaze helplessly at his wife.

  ‘Gary,’ she called him again, in a very loud voice. Geraldine wondered if he was deaf. ‘Gary, there’s someone here to see you.’

  ‘Both of you,’ Geraldine added. ‘I’m here to speak to you both.’

  Mrs Marsden dropped on to the sofa as though the effort of inviting Geraldine in had sapped her energy. Geraldine perched on an armchair and cleared her throat.

  ‘I’m so sorry for your loss.’

  Neither of them answered.

  ‘I’m sure you are as keen as we are to discover who carried out this terrible attack on your daughter.’

  Bethany’s mother dropped her head in her hands and wept silently. Her father didn’t respond.

  Geraldine decided she would have to be blunter. She turned to the woman.

  ‘Mrs Marsden, I’m sure you want to help us find Bethany’s killer, and bring him to justice.’

  ‘I told you, didn’t I?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I said there’s no point in talking to Gary. You can’t get much sense out of him at the best of times and now – since we lost Bethany – it’s like he’s –’

  She broke off with a helpless gesture, raising her eyebrows.

  ‘Of course the doctor’s put him on something. Both of us. It’s supposed to help, but look at him.’ She sighed. ‘It’s no life.’

  Geraldine muttered some sympathetic platitude about time, before guiding the conversation back to the investigation. At least Mrs Marsden seemed to know what was going on.

  ‘What can you tell me about Bethany’s friends, the company she kept?’

  ‘Friends?’

  ‘Did she have any particular friends?’

  ‘A boyfriend, you mean?’

  ‘That would be a good place to start.’

  Geraldine was surprised to see Mrs Marsden break into a smile.

  ‘Bethany always had a few admirers in tow.’

  ‘Not always youngsters,’ her husband chipped in unexpectedly.

  ‘That’s true enough,’ his wife agreed. ‘I was just the same when I was a girl. Lots of boys.’

  She sighed again, briefly transported away from the painful present. Geraldine waited.

  ‘Not like Bethany though,’ she resumed, sombre again. ‘She went for older men.’

  She paused again, a distant look in her eyes.

  ‘Older men?’ Geraldine prompted her quietly.

  Mrs Marsden glanced over at her husband who had sunk back into his lethargy and was no longer paying attention.

  ‘Yes. There was that Piers bloke. Do you remember him, Gary?’

  Mr Marsden grunted.

  ‘We only met him once, after one of her shows at the drama school. He’d been directing her. He was a smooth talker. But you wouldn’t trust him as far as you could throw him. Bethany seemed really smitten with him but the next minute it was someone else, that dark-haired chap. Do you remember him, Gary?’ She clearly wasn’t expecting a reply because she continued without pausing. ‘At least he wasn’t as old as Piers, but still too old for her.’

  ‘What was his name?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘I don’t know. Was it David? No, it’s gone. There were so many. He wasn’t anyone special. But nice enough.’

  ‘Can you describe him?’

  She screwed up her face with the effort of remembering.

  ‘I saw him once, although we never met as such. He was outside, in his car, waiting for her. He had dark hair, and looked very handsome, Italian or Spanish, I’d say. And he must have been fit, because Bethany said he was a –’

  Mr Marsden sat upright quite suddenly and looked around as though he was waking up.

  ‘That’s enough, Margery,’ he said firmly. ‘Enough.’

  ‘He doesn’t like talking about her,’ Mrs Marsden mumbled. ‘You’d better go. I don’t want to upset him.’

  On the doorstep, Geraldine tried one more time.

  ‘You were about to say something about Bethany’s last boyfriend?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘The man she was seeing after Piers Trevelyan?’

  Mrs Marsden looked confused.

  ‘Piers? Yes, there was a man called Piers. He was much older than her.’

  ‘And after that?’

  ‘I never met anyone else after that, no more boyfriends.’ She sighed and her expression grew distant again. ‘I used to have so many young men after me. You wouldn’t think it to look at me now.’

  She started to close the door. Geraldine spoke quickly.

  ‘Can you tell me anything else about Bethany? Did she seem worried?’

  ‘Worried? Bethany? No, Bethany wasn’t a worrier.’

  ‘Well, if you think of anything else, please let me know.’

  She thrust a card at Mrs Marsden before the door closed. It was unlikely s
he would keep it, if she even remembered Geraldine’s visit. There was no point in returning for at least a week. By then the bereaved parents might have recovered from their initial shock. Geraldine understood doctors might consider it necessary to prescribe sedatives in such cases, but she wished they wouldn’t issue drugs that dulled the thoughts and memories of people who might hold vital information. It didn’t help the investigation.

  Chapter 36

  NICK WAS OUT ON Monday morning. Sam sat down in Geraldine’s office while they went over possible links between the two victims. Both were in their early twenties, female and blonde. They were both involved with Piers, who was still under suspicion. He had probably been in relationships with them at the same time. Apart from that, they had studied together at drama school where they would have had many friends and acquaintances in common.

  ‘Two friends, similar in appearance and experience, both killed at around the same time. This is not a coincidence, however much Reg bangs on about car accidents not being the same as garrotting.’

  ‘But don’t multiple homicides usually follow similar patterns?’ Sam asked.

  ‘Not necessarily. The killer could be hoping we won’t make the connection between the victims.’

  ‘But the victims knew each other. They studied together and they were screwing the same man, for Christ’s sake. How much more closely could they be connected?’

  ‘Or,’ Geraldine continued, ignoring Sam’s interruption, ‘perhaps the killer was just using whatever came to hand.’

  She paused. Everything about Anna’s death pointed at Piers whose van had been used in the accident, although they hadn’t yet established he had been driving it at the time. The van had driven directly into the path of Anna’s oncoming car and she hadn’t stood a chance. Whoever had been driving the van must have been following her. Bethany’s death on the other hand could have been spontaneous, the killer taking advantage of the leather thong around her neck to throttle her, but it was also possible she had been followed from the theatre she had visited that evening.

  Apart from the question of whether both victims might have been pursued prior to their deaths, the manner of killing was different in just about every detail. But even that didn’t mean that a different person had been responsible for each murder. Geraldine decided to confront Piers about his relationships with both victims. He appeared amused by her accusation.

  ‘First of all, if you believe everything that’s written about me in the papers, you’re a fool, if you’ll pardon my bluntness. Secondly, Inspector, I’m over sixty. Do you really think I’d be carrying on with two women at the same time? I loved Anna,’ he added solemnly. ‘I know she was young, but I was hoping she’d stay with me. I genuinely loved her. As for Bethany, I directed her once at college, but that was the extent of our relationship. I barely knew the girl.’

  Geraldine wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. But his reference to his age could be an unconscious allusion to the young man who had been involved with Anna. Despatching Sam to quiz Dirk about Bethany, she went to look into another connection between the two victims: the drama school.

  The college was only a few minutes walk from Euston Square station, and parking wasn’t easy, being so central. It made more sense to take the tube. Geraldine didn’t have to wait long for a train, and was soon walking along Gower Street to the main entrance to the college. She explained the reason for her visit and a young girl on reception led her upstairs to a quiet office where a round-faced middle-aged woman was chatting on the phone. She looked up and nodded when the receptionist rapped on the open door.

  ‘Try not to worry about it, Lucy,’ she said briskly into the phone and hung up. ‘What is it?’

  ‘There’s a detective here to see you.’

  Gesturing to Geraldine to take a seat, she introduced herself as Sue.

  ‘I look after the students’ welfare, help them when they have trouble finding accommodation, and generally lend a listening ear when there are problems. Some of them are only eighteen, and away from home for the first time, and London can be a daunting place if you’re not used to life in a city. But I’m guessing it’s not any of our current students you want to talk about, although we are keeping a close eye on Dirk just now.’

  ‘Dirk is Anna’s ex-boyfriend?’ Geraldine asked, although she knew the answer.

  ‘Yes. He seems fine but he’s rehearsing a play about a suicide, and he’s playing the brother of the dead girl. They’re not the same thing of course, murder and suicide, but even so, we’re keeping an eye on him. Megan’s been great.’

  ‘Megan?’

  ‘Dirk’s girlfriend. It’s no secret that he and Anna split up soon after she graduated, when she met Piers. Of course she’d met him before, he comes here as a visiting director.’

  ‘I thought he was a casting director?’

  ‘Yes, that’s his work. But they all like directing here. It gives them freedom to experiment.’

  Sue was clearly knowledgeable about all the students in her care. Geraldine asked her about Dirk.

  ‘What would you like to know?’ Sue hedged. ‘He’s a real sweetheart. A bit of a lad, with an eye for a pretty girl.’ She smiled.

  Geraldine was silent, thinking that she had heard the same words used about Piers. Then again, with so many pretty girls studying acting, perhaps it was hardly surprising. For all she knew, it could be shorthand for establishing that a man was straight, in the entertainment world.

  ‘Dirk was living with Anna for about six months, I think, maybe longer, before she left here. And then not long after that we heard she’d been cast in Down and Out. It was a great boost for us, of course, having one of our students land such a high profile role so soon after graduating. Poor Anna, she could have been –’ She broke off with a sigh. ‘She was a brilliant talent. Such a loss.’

  Cautiously, Geraldine asked if Dirk and Anna had remained on good terms after she left. Sue’s brows lowered.

  ‘On good terms? I should think so. Why wouldn’t they? The students here are a close knit bunch and very supportive of each other, even if they aren’t in the same year group. There are so few of them, you see. And it’s a hard life, so they tend to stick together. They bond, you see. It happens every year.’

  ‘Dirk wouldn’t have been upset when she left him for a successful older man?’

  Geraldine was surprised when Sue broke into a smile.

  ‘Good lord no. He would have been delighted for her. We all were. So you’re thinking he might have killed her out of jealousy?’

  Her smile broadened, as though Geraldine had said something amusing.

  ‘We keep our melodramas for the stage, Inspector. Relationships breaking up is just part of the way of life for young actors, I’m afraid. He might not have been very happy about it, on a personal level, but he would have been pleased for her. And he certainly wasn’t pining for her.’

  Sue was clearly protective of her students’ reputations. Nevertheless, Geraldine thought she was probably a reliable witness.

  ‘What about Dirk and Bethany?’ she asked.

  Sue shook her head. ‘He didn’t make out with all the girls,’ she said. ‘I’m sure I would have known if there was anything going on between Dirk and Bethany.’

  ‘What about Piers and Bethany?’ Geraldine pressed her, although she could sense that Sue was beginning to worry she had already been indiscreet.

  ‘I saw that story in the paper,’ she said sharply. ‘We get used to the tabloids here. To be honest, the real scandal is how they get away with the stories they invent. Piers was with Anna,’ she concluded firmly.

  ‘So Piers wasn’t in a relationship with Bethany while Anna was living with him?’

  Sue stared at Geraldine sternly. ‘I suggest you ignore the tittle tattle in the tabloids, and concentrate on your work, as we do on ours. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Inspector, I have work to do.’

  Chapter 37

  IT WASN’T APPARENT how tall the principal of
the drama school was until he stood up to greet her, an imposing figure on his feet. He looked about sixty, slender and grey-haired. His lips curled into a slow smile, and he intoned his speech like a dirge, while his grey eyes remained wary. Geraldine wondered whether he always spoke like that, or if he felt this was an appropriate way to conduct an interview about a dead student. He formed a stark contrast to the woman who looked after the students’ welfare. Between her and the principal, the students appeared to be in safe hands. Except that two of them were dead.

  ‘How can I help?’ he asked as she sat down.

  ‘Mr Ellory –’

  He held up an elegant white hand.

  ‘Everyone calls me William.’

  ‘William, I need to know everything you can tell us about Anna and Bethany.’

  His expression grew even more solemn than before.

  ‘It goes without saying that I’ll help you in any way I can. This was a terrible tragedy for two very talented young women. They both had brilliant careers ahead of them. You must know that Anna was already carving out a name for herself on television. And Bethany –’

  Once again Geraldine felt as though he was preparing a funeral speech, or perhaps reprising the announcement he had made to the other students. He must have spoken to them about what had happened.

  ‘It would have been terrible for anyone,’ she interjected softly.

  ‘Indeed it would.’

  He inclined his greying head without saying anything else.

  ‘Is there anything you can think of that might help us to discover who is responsible for their deaths?’

  William sat forward in his chair and stared straight at Geraldine, his grey eyes steely.

  ‘Do you mean to say you don’t know who did this? I heard Piers Trevelyan had been arrested, but I suspected that was unfounded rumour.’