She forced herself to concentrate…
‘I think Hannah was genuinely surprised, even though she was trying to cover up. Marc, I’m not so sure about.’
‘Even though he did clearly react?’
‘Perhaps a bit too clearly?’
‘Perhaps. Always difficult to judge with news as shocking as that.’
She went on, ‘There’s also the fact that he tried to make out that Craig was suicidal, after first pretending to say he wasn’t.’
‘That could be your interpretation…’
‘And you’d think, as a father himself, he’d pick up on the unlikeliness of Emma and Will leaving their baby like that.’
‘Yes, you would, wouldn’t you? But if he was the one who killed them, it would mean that, as a father, he’d leave another baby in that position. It’d make him pretty cold blooded, wouldn’t it?’
‘I think he is, rather,’ Rebecca said. ‘Although he’d have known about the woman from the shop calling in.’
After a pause, he nodded. ‘Shall we see the others tonight, or leave it till tomorrow? What d’you think?’
He was asking if she felt up to it.
‘Tonight,’ she said.
Chapter 25
Sophie came straight in and sat down before she was asked. She stared at Rebecca, a faint smile on her face.
‘Why am I not surprised?’
‘I don’t know. You tell me.’
She made a moue. ‘Because there’s always been a something a bit too – er – angel cake about you, I suppose.’
‘Were you surprised to be arrested?’ Brigg asked.
Her eyes snapped over to him. ‘Obviously. Prevention of Terrorism Act, I was told. I can’t wait to hear what I’ve been up to.’
Brigg told her about the bodies, the lab and the threat to release the virus. Rebecca studied her face. Her lips tightened, she blinked a few times then pulled out a handkerchief and blew her nose, although Rebecca could see no sign of tears. Brigg went on,
‘I’m sure you can appreciate our determination to find the virus before it can be released, so I need you to tell me everything you know about it.’
‘Would you believe me if I said I don’t know anything?’
‘Persuade me.’
She regarded him in silence for a few moments before saying, ‘I’m not sure I can. What virus is it by the way?’
‘I’m not at liberty to say.’
‘Are you making the assumption the virus is still out there?
‘We have to.’
‘In doing that, you’re also assuming that Craig and the others were murdered, aren’t you?’
‘Do you think he was the suicidal type?’
‘I take it you know his history?’
‘Tell us.’
She repeated, almost word for word, what Marc had told them.
‘Are you saying you do think he might kill himself in this way?’ Brigg asked. ‘You knew him fairly well, so Rebecca tells me.’
More thought, then, ‘The truthful answer is no – although you can never truly know a suicidal mind. There’s another thing, I can’t believe that Emma and Will would leave Sam like that.’
It was the first time anyone had referred to the baby by his name, Rebecca reflected. Brigg went on,
‘Even though all four of them were dedicated – committed – to your cause?’
‘Even so. I’m afraid you may be right about this virus being still out there, Commander.’
He nodded slowly at her. ‘Assuming, for the moment, that you’re telling us the truth, Ms Rene, can you think of any other member of BTA, or anyone at all, who might be behind this?’
She looked away, apparently giving the matter genuine thought. ‘Again, the answer is no. Hannah and Marc are the obvious ones – they’re here somewhere, I imagine? – but I’ve known them a number of years now and I simply don’t believe it.’
‘Both you and Hannah have records of violence against the police.’
She gave a mirthless smile. ‘I wondered when that would come up. Hannah always was a bit hot headed, although she’s grown up now. Me? Yes, I stamped on a policeman’s instep when he grabbed me – groped me – from behind. It hurt him a lot, I’m glad and I’d do it again. With any other kind of male, it would be considered a perfectly reasonable reaction. I don’t see why it should be different for a male police person.’
Rebecca found herself agreeing with her on this point. She had a thought –
‘D’you know Mary Broomfield?’
Sophie started, said carefully… ‘I’ve met her, yes. Why?’
‘How did you meet?’
‘At an Open Door meeting.’
‘Are you friends?’
‘We see each other sometimes.’
Rebecca left it, although she was sure from the reaction that there was more. ‘What about Alan and Ron?’
‘As suspects?’ Another pause. ‘Alan’s too conventional and, frankly, lacks the imagination for something like this. Ron, I’m not sure about.’ She looked at Rebecca. ‘As you discovered for yourself, he’s not what meets the eye.’
‘Why do you think he chooses to look like that?’
‘You’ve asked that before, and I don’t know.’
‘You’re a social worker, you meet a lot of people – speculate.’
A faint smile. ‘I’m not sure that qualifies me. OK. The obvious explanation would be that he’s compensating for some inadequacy.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t believe that. Don’t jump to conclusions, but I think he’s been deeply hurt at some stage in his life and he’s trying to hide.’
‘Like Craig?’
‘Same sort of thing perhaps, but different response.’
‘You don’t know how he was hurt?’ she asked.
A shake of the head. ‘Not even that he was. It’s guesswork.’
‘Could whatever it was have led him into something like this?’
She turned her head away for a moment. ‘For being part of it, maybe. But cold-bloodedly killing the others – I have great difficulty with that.’
‘But wouldn’t you have difficulty believing anybody capable of it?’
A wan smile. ‘I think you’re probably right there.’
‘He was a friend of Malcolm’s, wasn’t he?’
A nod. ‘Yes.’
‘Close?’
‘At the meetings, they always seemed to gravitate together. Outside, I don’t know.’
‘Are you surprised that Malcolm was part of this?’
She took a breath. ‘Perhaps not as much as with the others… there was always… What was that phrase? Something of the night about him.’
‘A cold person?’
‘Yes, you could say that – I’ve had a thought,’ she said suddenly…
They waited…
‘Is it possible that one of them decided they couldn’t go through with it, and killed the others along with themselves to stop them doing it?’
Rebecca decided to go along with it. ‘Who d’you have in mind?’
‘I’d think Craig more likely – in that particular scenario.’
‘But would he leave the baby, Sam, like that?’
‘He’d know Rose was coming in the morning, and besides, he’d be saving a lot of other lives by doing it.’
Brigg came in. ‘You’re talking as though you know this actually happened – do you, Ms Rene?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Your sidekick asked me to speculate, and that’s what I was doing. And it does seem the most obvious conclusion. Have you had another demand from anyone?’
‘No, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect one yet.’
Sophie shrugged and sank back into her seat. ‘Well, obviously you have to keep looking, but if it is what happened, it would get you off the hook, wouldn’t it?’
Brigg looked back at her almost lazily. ‘We’re not off the hook so long as there’s the slightest chance of the virus still being out there. Where were you on Wednesday night,
Ms Rene?’
‘The day before yesterday, you mean? I was with a friend. We spent the night together.’
‘Who?’
‘I can’t tell you that.’
Brigg studied her. ‘Not much of help if we don’t have a name.’
‘They’re married.’
‘We can be very discreet.’
‘I still can’t tell you.’
Brigg went on, ‘You see, it could have been you who put the cyanide in the bottle after you’d opened it and poured yourself a glass.’
‘Me?’ She sat bolt upright again…
‘And then afterwards you could have wiped the bottle and put Craig’s prints on it – they were the only ones we found –’
‘But why would –?’
‘Craig’s prints on the other glasses, message on –’
‘Then why weren’t mine on them as well?’
‘You wiped them clean, then put the others’ prints on. Then, message on computer, make sure you take your glass with you, and away.’
‘Oh, don’t be so ridiculous…’
Brigg went on, ‘Perhaps it was the other four who couldn’t go through with it - it’s as plausible an explanation as the one you offered. So you can see why we really do need your friend’s name. D’you want some time to think about it?’ He reached for the buzzer –
‘No. It’s all right, I’ll tell you.’
They waited.
‘Mary. Mary Broomfield.’
‘I thought you said your friend was married?’
‘She is. To another woman.’
‘Then why –?’
‘They went through a bad patch and her wife left. Now, she wants to come back. Mary can’t decide what to do. I promised her I wouldn’t muddy the waters.’
‘Will she confirm this?’
‘If absolutely necessary.’
‘It is.’ Now, he did press the buzzer.
As soon as she was gone, he phoned Naomi and told her to arrest Mary Broomfield. ‘Get Stella to come over and help you with the interview. Call me as soon as you’ve got Broomfield in custody.’
‘What do I tell her?’
‘Nothing – except that she’s being arrested under the Act. I’ll tell you what questions to ask.’
He finished and turned back to Rebecca. ‘What do you think?’
She took a breath. ‘I believed her at first – she was very plausible.’
‘Wasn’t she just? I’m afraid you might be right, Commander…’ he mimicked, ‘Beautiful… What about the all the stuff on Malcolm and Ron?’
‘I believed that at first – it made sense. Now… well, it all depends on what Mary Broomfield says, doesn’t it?’
‘Yeah, but do we believe that? They may have cooked it all up between them, including the reluctance to name each other…’
‘Why?’
‘Because she’s very, very cute, that’s why.’
Rebecca said slowly, ‘If – if – she’s telling the truth, her scenario would work, wouldn’t it?’
‘Which scenario?’
‘That one of the four poisoned all of them, to stop them going through with it. Which would, as she said, get us off the hook.’
‘And which makes it such a tempting bait to dangle in front of our noses… I think I prefer my scenario – they wanted to drop it and someone else disagreed.’ He let out a breath and slumped… ‘Let’s have a break, shall we?’
They were on their second coffee when the phone rang. It was Naomi. She’d arrested Mary and Stella was on her way. Brigg told her what had happened so far.
‘Tell her about the virus and the deaths, let her dig her own grave a bit, then hit her with what Sophie Rene told us. The shock might just make her come clean.’
Chapter 26
Alan was next. He blustered and demanded to know how long he was going to be kept there, although Rebecca sensed that the demand was half-hearted. The bluster fell away quickly enough as Brigg told him about the bodies, the lab and the threat to release the virus.
‘All of them, even the two kids?’ He was staring back at Brigg, who nodded slowly.
‘The baby?’
‘He was fine, although distressed. He’s in hospital now.’
‘Well, I suppose that’s something. What’ll happen to him?’
‘That’s up to Social Services. What I need from you Mr Streetly, is how much you knew about this.’
‘Nothing. I don’t know anything about it.’
Brigg threw down his pen – ‘It’s late, I’m tired and there’s a virus out there that could be released at any moment – this is not the time to mess us about.’
‘I’m not – if I knew, I’d tell you.’ Then, ‘What virus are we talking about, anyway?’
‘It’s dangerous, contagious, and that’s all you need to know – assuming you don’t already. Malcolm North was a friend of yours – right?’
‘We were friendly, although I didn’t see much of him outside BTA meetings. He was probably more Ron’s friend than mine.’
‘Did they see each other outside meetings?’
‘I think so. They both live in Tivvy, not far from each other.’
‘So you’re saying that Ron is more likely to be involved than you.’
Alan’s head snapped up. ‘No, that is not what I’m saying, and you know it. What I said was that Malcolm was closer to Ron than me, because they lived closer to each other.’
‘Are you surprised that Malcolm was involved with something like this?’
‘What do you think?’ he said in disgust. ‘I’m still trying to get my head round it…’
‘What I think is that you were a lot closer to him than you’re admitting.’
Alan threw out his hands. ‘OK. Think that if you must, I can’t help that. I certainly can’t prove otherwise.’
‘What did Ron and Malcolm have in common?’
Alan shrugged. ‘Well, they both did VSO.’
‘Anything else?’
He appeared to give this serious thought... ‘The only other thing I can think of is that they’re both widowed.’
Pause, then ‘Did you know that Craig Holland was also widowed?’
Alan looked up. ‘No. No, I didn’t know that.’
‘It seems to be a recurring theme. Have you ever been widowed?’
‘No.’
‘How come you know about Ron and Malcolm, but not about Craig?’
‘Because Craig chose not to tell me, I suppose. Why the hell should he?’
Brigg pressed the buzzer and Alan was taken back to his cell. Ron took his place.
Out of his natural element, Ron looked somehow pathetic, Rebecca thought. His bald pate glistened through the untidy grey skeins of hair and his jowls wobbled as Brigg attacked him.
‘We know that a fifth person poisoned them and tried to make it look like suicide, we know that you were close to Malcolm. They would have trusted you. That’s how you were able to do it.’
Ron gazed back at him slack mouthed… ‘You actually think I would do something like that?’ His voice, little more than a whisper, held astonishment rather than outrage.
‘If not you, then who?’
‘I don’t know. I find it hard to believe anyone would do that.’
‘Well, someone did. Marc, Hannah? Sophie? – she’s pretty cold.’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Come on, it must have been one of them. If not you, who?’
‘I don’t know.’
Rebecca came in. ‘Alan’s told us that you and Malcolm were close, closer to each other than to him. Why was that?’
‘Well, we would be, wouldn’t we? We lived in the same town.’
‘And you’d both done VSO, and you were both widowed.’
A shrug. ‘I suppose.’
‘Did you do VSO together?’
He shook his head. ‘Not me and Malcolm, I went out with Alan as a matter of fact, and a guy called Brian Love – they tended to send us out in threes. Malcolm d
id it with Craig and another guy – I can’t remember his name, only that he cracked up after a couple of months.’
‘Cracked up?’
‘Couldn’t take it, had a breakdown and they had to send him home.’
Brigg said, ‘We need to know his name.’
Ron thought, then – ‘It’s no good, I don’t think I ever did know it.’
‘Was he in BTA?’
‘No. Brian was for a while, but I never heard any more about this guy.’
They pressed him a bit more, but he couldn’t remember. They told him to let them know if he did, then Rebecca asked him what Malcolm did for a living.
‘Engineer. He was an engineer.’
Brigg’s mobile went, but he muted it and said, ‘What kind of engineer? Machines? Bridges?’
‘Infrastructure. He worked for a firm called Freshflow that installed and maintained air conditioning in hospitals, offices, that kind of thing.’
Rebecca and Brigg stared at each other, then…
‘Which sounds to me,’ Brigg said to Ron, ‘as good a way to spread a dangerous virus as any.’
Ron looked up at him, utterly drained. ‘You could be right. I wouldn’t know.’
‘D’you know what buildings he worked on?’
He shook his head. ‘The firm would know.’
They had him taken back to his cell.
‘The question is,’ Brigg said, ‘have they already done it? Infected one person, as they said - or gone the whole hog?’
‘Would they do that, without giving us another warning?’
Brigg shook his head in frustration. ‘I don’t know. But if one of those we’ve got here has done it, we need to know about it… We’d better get a list of the buildings North was working on and see which is most likely.’
‘Is it worth trying to do that now?’
Another shake of the head. ‘We’ll get Josh and Dan onto it first thing in the morning.’
‘And we need to find Brian Love and this other, nameless one.’
‘Yes… I wonder if the organisation that sent them out keeps records of them … Can’t do much about that till Monday…’ He made a note. ‘Are you up to questioning them again tonight?’
She shook her head. ‘Not really.’
‘Neither am I.’ He paused, then – ‘If it were one of the ones we’ve just seen, who would you go for?’
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