Truth or Die

by Katerina Diamond

  ‘That’s where you’re wrong.’

  A hand on her shoulder and a punching feeling in her back distracted her momentarily as the strange sensation passed through Gillian’s stomach. She looked down and saw the end of a fireside poker; the harpoon-like hook had gone right through her. Blood had started to trickle out. She felt the man behind her grip onto her shoulder and she knew what he was planning to do next. He pulled hard, the speared end of the poker taking parts of her with it. The blood started to glug from her wound, destroying her linen suit, a strange consideration for her to have given the circumstances. But then Gillian had never been quite right in the head. That’s what had drawn her to study psychology in the first place – to learn why she was the way she was.

  She fell to her knees, hands trying to clamp the gaping hole in her stomach shut. She was aware that it was just as bad at the back and that this was probably the end of her.

  ‘Please …’ she whimpered, unsure what she was pleading for. In a way, she was intrigued by the situation, which she knew wasn’t the right way to feel.

  ‘I can make this last more or less time. It’s up to you.’

  ‘All things considered, I think I would like it to be over.’ She tried to play it cool, but the truth was, this hurt. She was done, this was the end of her fight, she had no reason to protect anyone else any more.

  ‘Then you have to give me something and it will be over in seconds.’

  ‘What is it you want?’

  ‘A name.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  Imogen stared down at the body of Gillian Mitchell. She lay with a pattern akin to blood-red wings spread out from her neck and waist, almost like a butterfly. Her stomach was an unholy mess. The rest of the room was untouched; this scene looked nothing like the scene of Hugh Norris’s murder. There was a calculated calm to it, a measured approach, confident. They would have to wait for the forensic evidence, but every part of Imogen knew that this was not the same killer. She was also completely convinced that this was no coincidence. Two killers? Both brutal, victims in the same building, the same department? What were the chances? What the hell was going on? She needed to find DCC Trevor Sneddon again and hurry him up. The sooner he wrapped up his investigation into the false rape allegation against her partner, the sooner things could return to normal. She needed Adrian.

  ‘What caused those injuries?’ she asked Karen Bell, the forensic tech standing next to her

  ‘Whatever it was, it went straight through her. In and out. There was no way she would survive it,’ Karen said.

  ‘Then why cut her throat?’

  ‘Well, maybe it was to shut her up, or even an act of mercy. It would take a bit longer to bleed out with that stomach wound.’

  ‘Mercy? Why?’

  ‘Don’t ask me. That’s your job.’ Karen bent down onto the ground and continued placing markers.

  She looked around as much as she could without disturbing the crime scene. DI Walsh was waiting outside on his mobile, talking to DCC Trevor Sneddon. Imogen folded her arms and waited patiently for his phone call to finish. She took the moment to really study Matt Walsh; with all that had been going on, she had forgotten about her initial curiosity. He had a lovely face really, not something she would normally think about someone, but there was something genuinely lovely about his features. He looked trustworthy. How does a person look trustworthy?

  It was always hard getting used to a new team member, deciding whether to put your life in their hands. With everything she had been through in the past with former colleagues who’d stabbed her in the back – and sometimes even the front – trust did not come easy.

  Matt hung up the phone and turned his attention to Imogen. ‘Well, what do you make of that then? Have you ever seen anything like it? I was just talking to her this morning.’

  Actually, Imogen thought, she had, and a lot worse besides. But she didn’t want to disappoint him with her answer. For some bizarre reason, she wanted to please him. There was no rhyme or reason to it, other than the fact that she genuinely wanted to like Matt Walsh.

  ‘No. It’s pretty horrible.’

  Matt Walsh’s phone beeped and he looked at the screen. ‘The DCI needs to see us, immediately.’

  DCI Kapoor had three empty coffee mugs in front of her. She looked somewhat harassed and rubbed her eyes before letting out a big sigh. They were all acutely aware of how little headway they had made in the investigation and no one would be feeling more pressure than the DCI. Imogen was glad that the responsibility for this mess of a case wasn’t falling to her.

  DCI Kapoor turned to them. ‘We don’t seem to be getting any closer to any kind of motive for these crimes and they appear to be getting worse. What with the allegations against Adrian as well, the press are having an absolute field day.’

  ‘As soon as we can figure out what the connection is, then we should make some headway. If only we could get Caitlin Watts to speak to us again,’ Imogen said.

  ‘That’s why I called you in. The uniformed officer stationed with her at the hospital called and asked to speak to you.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Imogen said, raising her eyebrow. After everything Caitlin had put Adrian through – not just Adrian but the entire station – Imogen thought if she had to sit in the same room as her she might lose it.

  ‘Apparently, Caitlin has asked for you specifically, Imogen. After they asked her if she knew anything about this, about Gillian Mitchell.’

  ‘What? Why would she ask for me?’

  ‘Go and find out. See if you can push her on the exact nature of her relationship with Gillian Mitchell and anything else she might know about Doctor Norris’ murder. It’s worth ascertaining if the information she gave us before was even accurate – did he really have an affair with a student?’

  ‘Has she given a statement to DCC Sneddon yet?’ Matt asked.

  ‘She wouldn’t agree to do it until after she has spoken to Imogen. So you had both better get over there now.’

  ‘Not just DS Grey?’ DI Walsh said.

  ‘I don’t think I want any of my detectives alone with her, given what we know about her propensity for lying.’

  ‘OK, Ma’am,’ Imogen said; the investigation had to take precedent over her personal feelings. The truth would come out eventually, she knew that much, she just had to hope that Adrian’s career wouldn’t be over before it did.

  DCI Kapoor nodded and they both stood up to leave. Imogen didn’t particularly ever want to see Caitlin Watts again, but if it meant getting a statement that could exonerate Adrian faster then she would just have to suck it up.

  Imogen noted that Caitlin’s face looked a lot better than it had the last time she had seen her. The bruising was fading and coming out, and there was no more swelling. Even knowing that the girl had lied, Imogen felt pity towards her. Whatever part she was playing in this mess, she was not the mastermind. She was sat up in bed, watching the television, when Imogen and DI Walsh opened the door.

  Caitlin looked instantly guilty as soon as she saw Imogen, and the tears started to flow. She picked up the TV remote and flicked off the telly. She scooched up a little in her bed, wincing and instinctively reaching for her side.

  ‘Miss Watts, I hear you wanted to speak to us. Do you wish to change your statement from earlier?’ DI Walsh said.

  ‘Please don’t be angry with me. I was only doing what I was told,’ Caitlin said.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Imogen.

  ‘That day, when you came to the university and you asked questions about Doctor Norris. Gillian was really angry about that. And then when she saw that I knew you both, she told me that I had to do something for her. She said she needed some time and that I was to derail your investigation. She told me that I had to get DS Miles alone; she wanted me to sleep with him. After I had slept with him, she wanted me to claim that he had raped me.’

  ‘Why would she do that?’ DI Walsh said.

  Caitlin just shook he
r head and looked down.

  ‘Why didn’t you have sex with him then? What went wrong with your plan?’ Imogen asked, trying to ignore that part of her that didn’t want to know the answer.

  ‘I tried. I flirted with him. I was attracted to him and I thought he was attracted to me. But when I asked him inside for a drink, he said no; he didn’t even hesitate. At that point I knew he wasn’t gonna take the bait. He was just being nice, and I fucked him over,’ Caitlin said, tears hovering at the corners of her eyes, the blue magnified under the glaze.

  Imogen found those tears annoying; after what Caitlin had put Adrian through, she didn’t have the right to be upset.

  ‘Do you know what Gillian Mitchell’s involvement was in Doctor Norris’s murder?’ DI Walsh asked.

  ‘I can’t talk to you about that. I shouldn’t have even said this much. I just wanted to make sure that DS Miles wasn’t still in trouble,’ Caitlin said.

  ‘What do you mean? Why shouldn’t you have said this much? What aren’t you telling us?’ DI Walsh said.

  ‘I’m already in deep shit for saying as much as I have. But, now that she’s gone, I just had to tell you the truth about DS Miles. He never touched me. I’ll tell whoever you want me to tell.’

  ‘Has someone been putting pressure on you to change your statement? Has DS Miles contacted you or threatened you in any way?’ DI Walsh said.

  Imogen shot DI Walsh a look. She knew he was only doing his job, but she hated every part of this investigation. The questions needed to be asked and she was glad that she didn’t have to do the asking. Just the thought of Adrian pressuring a vulnerable witness was making her angry on his behalf. It just wasn’t in him.

  ‘No, he hasn’t done anything wrong. I was lying before. He never touched me, I swear,’ Caitlin cried.

  ‘Do you have any idea what you’ve done?’ Imogen fumed. She was finally allowing some of her rage to surface. Now that DI Walsh had heard the statement she felt there was some room to express her anger.

  ‘I know and I’m sorry. If there is any way I could take it back, then I would!’

  ‘So, what did happen to you then? Who raped you?’ DI Walsh asked.

  ‘No one. I wasn’t raped. I phoned Gillian as soon as Adrian turned me down. She said she would sort it, but I had to do something too.’

  ‘What kind of something?’ DI Walsh asked.

  ‘I had to hurt myself … Down there. I had to make it look really bad.’

  ‘How was she making you do that?’ Imogen said. She was finding it hard to believe that anyone would tell someone else to do that, let alone a woman.

  ‘She said if I didn’t, then she would get someone else who would. She gets people to do things, that’s what she does.’

  ‘What about all your other injuries, they aren’t self-inflicted, someone else did that. Who hurt you?’ Imogen said.

  ‘I’m sorry, I can’t tell you. Please tell DS Miles how sorry I am.’

  ‘I don’t suppose he cares much how sorry you are. Do you have any idea the kind of damage you’ve caused? People like you disgust me. It’s hard enough for women and men who have been sexually assaulted to come forward. To use that as some kind of power play, to get what you want, to hurt others? How can you live with yourself? Every time a person reports a rape, there are plenty of people who call them liars. Not to mention the fact that false claims are investigated with the same attention. Attention that could be used elsewhere. What you have just done has made it ten times harder for the next person who walks through the door and says that they were raped.’

  Tears were streaming down Caitlin Watts’ face now, but Imogen didn’t really care. She could go on about this for hours.

  ‘OK, DS Grey, you’ve made your point,’ DI Walsh said. ‘How did you find out Gillian had died?’

  ‘I got a phone call, not long after you all left earlier. I didn’t recognise the voice. It was a man. Maybe he was part of it. I don’t know. But he told me I didn’t need to be afraid any more, that Gillian was dead and that I could tell the truth about DS Miles now.’

  ‘The person didn’t identify themselves?’ Matt Walsh asked.

  ‘No, they just told me what I’ve told you,’ Caitlin replied.

  ‘You’re going to have to make an official statement to the officer who is investigating DS Miles,’ Imogen said, a little calmer now that she had said her piece.

  ‘Of course, he was nice to me; he didn’t deserve any of this. Usually if I make a pass at someone, they don’t even think twice before accepting. It’s kind of my superpower.’ The words sounded like a guilty confession rather than a brag.

  ‘Is that what happened with Doctor Norris? Were you the student he had an affair with?’

  Tears started to form in Caitlin’s eyes once more; she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and exhaled deeply.

  Before she could answer Imogen, the door opened and two men stepped inside – an older man in clerical dress and a younger man in a suit. He looked like a lawyer. Caitlin seemed to be relieved that they had turned up, stopping her from carrying on talking. She composed herself before speaking again.

  ‘Am I in trouble?’ Caitlin asked.

  ‘Your grandfather has asked me to represent you, Miss Watts, and I’ll have to advise you not to say anything else at this point. Not without going over it with me first.’

  Imogen took one look at the girl and responded; she didn’t want to leave her hanging. ‘I suspect not. We tend not to pursue charges in cases of false rape claims. Right or wrong, it actually adds further damage to a situation that’s already complicated enough. You may have to have some counselling or something. We will have to see what our DCI wants to do.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Caitlin said, looking up at Imogen.

  ‘Don’t you dare thank me,’ Imogen said to Caitlin. As far as Imogen was concerned, she wanted nothing more to do with Caitlin, bar exonerating Adrian, and she certainly didn’t want her gratitude for not smacking her one. Imogen turned to DI Walsh. ‘I’ll be outside.’

  She left the room, wishing, not for the first time in recent days, that she hadn’t given up smoking. She would have to go outside and stand among the other habitual users and see if second-hand smoke made her feel any better. She hoped Caitlin’s statement would be enough to exonerate Adrian as quickly as it had implicated him. She hoped everyone in the station knew that Caitlin had lied about her partner. Imogen couldn’t imagine how horrible it must have been to be accused of that crime, to know that at least some of your friends thought there was a possibility that you did something as inhuman as that.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Adrian and Imogen were in the incident room, with pictures spread out over the walls and tables. They had photos from the Norris murder, the Mitchell murder and some of the images of the attack on Caitlin Watts. Adrian seemed to be fixating on the images of Caitlin’s bruised and battered body.

  ‘Snap out of it, Miley.’

  ‘People looked at these photos and thought that I did this, Imogen. People I work with.’

  ‘No one who mattered thought you did that.’

  ‘Tell that to Professional Standards,’ Adrian said.

  ‘That’s their job. The DCI has spoken to DCC Sneddon and he has taken a statement from Caitlin, so all charges against you have been dropped. Once the hospital gives Caitlin the all-clear they are going to videotape her testimony and that will be that.’

  ‘What are the hospital doing?’ Adrian said.

  ‘Her legal counsel wanted her to get a psychiatric evaluation before anyone else spoke to her; she only agreed to have one done if they let her speak to me first.’

  ‘What the hell was Gillian Mitchell playing at? Why would she tell Caitlin to do that to herself? That’s one of the most fucked-up things I have ever heard of and whoever went to town on her face wasn’t playing. She could have been killed,’ Adrian said.

  ‘You obviously made quite an impression on someone. They really wanted to take you down.�
�� Imogen tried to lighten the mood.

  ‘Don’t even joke about it.’

  ‘Do you think that’s why Gillian Mitchell was killed? Because of what happened with Caitlin?’ Imogen said. This was obviously much bigger than they could wrap their heads around. ‘Maybe it was revenge or retaliation.’

  ‘There’s no way it’s not connected, but who would do that for her? How does this tie in with Norris? Look how different the murders are. Mitchell’s is so clean and calculated, almost artistic, like something from a film. It just feels so—’

  ‘Familiar?’ Imogen finished the sentence; she knew what he meant.

  As if by magic, Gary entered the room with another stack of paperwork under his arm. He had that look on his face – the excited look that was going to blow their minds. He was about to show them something that would either open this case up or make everything a shitload more complicated. DCI Kapoor followed behind him; he had obviously called her to join them.

  ‘Tell me things,’ DCI Kapoor said to Adrian.

  ‘OK, so we have the bodies of the two professors, neither of whom seem to have been killed by the same person. One scene is frenzied, one is a lot more controlled. According to forensics, it’s possible this second murder, Gillian Mitchell, was committed by someone who had previous experience. Or maybe it was just far more premeditated and the Norris murder was a spontaneous decision. It’s not confirmed that its two different people,’ Adrian said.

  ‘Thank you, Adrian, it’s good to have you back,’ DCI Kapoor said. ‘You did everything PSD asked of you and you have been cleared, but still, we have to tread carefully as far as your involvement with this case goes. Please don’t give me a reason to take you off the case.’

  ‘We still don’t know how Caitlin Watts fits into all of this,’ Imogen said. ‘She said the professor told her that she had to falsely accuse Adrian to derail the investigation into Hugh Norris’s death. So, all three people are definitely connected, we just don’t know how.’