‘Do you know who my husband is?’ she shrieked.
‘Mrs. Parker, I wouldn’t care if your husband was the Chief Constable. I’m going to ask you just one more time. Can we please have your computer?’
Even Mac was shocked when she picked up the laptop, held it high over her head and smashed it hard on to the parquet wooden floor. She then jumped up and down on it several times.
‘There you are, you can have it now if you still want it.’
Bits of the laptop were spread across the floor.
‘Make sure she doesn’t touch anything,’ he told Leigh.
He went out into the hallway and made a call. He returned and stood silently by the smashed laptop looking steadily at Mrs. Parker without a flicker of emotion. She turned away and looked out of the window. A few minutes later a blue light could be seen flashing through the front windows. Mac answered the door and two uniformed police followed him in.
‘Mr. Maguire, what do you need?’ asked one of the policemen.
‘Can you put what’s left of this into a bag and take it to one of your forensic computer specialists. I take it you have some of those?’
‘Of course sir, they’re stationed in Welwyn,’ the officer replied.
‘Okay, the owner has agreed that we can have it so get the laptop to Welwyn as soon as possible. Tell the specialist we want everything that’s on the hard drive and to send the information to DI Andy Reid. Tell them it’s a murder investigation and top priority.’
Mac and Leigh stood by while the policemen picked up every bit of the smashed laptop and placed them into several large evidence bags which they then sealed.
When they’d gone Mrs. Parker said acidly, ‘I don’t know why you’re bothering, that won’t ever work again.’
Mac smiled and it seemed to unnerve her.
‘It doesn’t need to. I doubt you’ve done any real damage to the hard drive, that’s the computer’s memory. I’ve worked with a few of these specialists and the things they can do are magical. We once rescued a computer from a fire. Parts of it had actually melted but they still got all of the information it held, every key stroke made and of course every deleted document because nothing ever gets truly deleted on a hard drive. Thank you very much for your co-operation,’ he said with a straight face.
He glanced back on his way out to see a very worried looking woman watching them leave. Mac suddenly became quite interested in finding out what that hard drive might contain.
Chapter Five
‘Meeting her might paint a better picture of Catherine Gascoigne don’t you think?’ Mac asked as they got into the car. ‘Someone once said that you can judge a person by their friends.’
‘Well after meeting just one of them I think I can safely say that Catherine must have been a right cow,’ Leigh stated.
‘Come on, let’s see what this Penny Bathurst has got to say for herself.’
They pulled up outside a house even bigger that the one they’d just left. The door was answered by a young Filipino woman dressed as a maid in a black dress and frilly white apron. Mac showed her his warrant card.
‘Can you tell Mrs. Bathhurst we need to speak to her.’
The maid left without speaking, closing the door behind her. Mac glanced around at Leigh.
‘Are they filming a Poirot in there or something?’ she asked incredulously.
She gave him a smile as she said this. He thought it suited her.
A minute or so later the door opened a crack.
‘Go away, I don’t want to talk with you, I’m too upset.’
The door slammed shut again.
‘Mrs. Bathurst,’ Mac shouted loudly at the door. ‘There’s been a murder and I need to talk to you. If you refuse I’ll be forced to arrest you and we’ll talk at the station. It’s your decision.’
They waited over two minutes before the door opened and a very tall, thin woman in her late forties appeared.
She’d reconsidered and waved at them to follow her inside. Another forest of wood awaited them inside. Mrs. Bathurst was waiting for them in a room so big that they could have played a tennis match in it and still had room for the spectators. She stood next to a long dining table that could have accommodated at least twenty people but made no move to sit down. As she didn’t, neither did Mac or Leigh.
She had a dazed look on her face as she said, ‘Olivia just rang and she told me that Catherine was murdered. I just can’t believe it. I mean people don’t get murdered in Letchworth, at least not anyone I’m likely to know.’
Mac looked up to her. He had to as she must have been at least six inches taller than him.
‘Mrs. Bathurst, you’re the one who found Catherine Gascoigne dead. Don’t you want us to catch her murderer?’
She thought on this and then said, ‘Yes, yes of course I do. I’m sorry, I’m being a fool. Go on then, ask your questions.’
‘Have you any idea who might have wanted to kill Catherine Gascoigne?’
She shook her head.
‘I know some people didn’t get on with her but do I know anyone who hated her enough to kill her? No, I just can’t see it being one of the Janeites.’
‘What about ex-Janeites?’
‘Same there really, I know some of them disliked Catherine. I’ll admit that Catherine was…well a bit difficult at times. She definitely liked things her own way but as far as I was concerned her way was usually the right one. No-one knew her though like we did. We were all at boarding school together and she looked after Olivia and me. No-one bullied us when she was around. The Three Musketeers we used to call ourselves. I’ll really miss her.’
‘Yes, there’s a big difference between not getting on with someone and hatred, hatred is much more personal isn’t it? Is there anything else you can tell me that might give us a clue?’ Mac asked.
Penny shook her head again.
‘I’m sorry, nothing comes to mind.’
‘What about Philippa Hatch?’
‘What about her? You don’t think someone killed Catherine because of mousy little Pippa Hatch do you?’ Penny replied disdainfully. ‘Catherine was just mildly poking fun at her when the stupid girl burst into tears and ran off. Next thing we know she’s gone and killed herself. In my opinion whatever pushed her into doing such a mad thing had nothing to do with Catherine or any other Janeite come to that.’
‘So you can’t think of anything that might help us?’
‘That’s all I’ve been doing since Catherine died, thinking, thinking but there’s nothing…’
‘Did anything unusual happen over the past few weeks? Even the smallest thing might help.’
‘No, not really…well, I doubt it’s relevant, but Catherine did say that she ran into some woman when she out running. That’s all I can honestly remember.’
‘Tell me more,’ Mac said.
‘Well she was out running when she collided with this woman. It was all Catherine’s fault apparently, she said she’d been listening to music on her headphones and wasn’t really paying attention. Anyway the woman didn’t seem to be hurt so they brushed themselves off and left it at that.’
‘Did Catherine carry one of those water bottles you see runners with these days?’
Penny thought for a few seconds.
‘Yes, yes she did. A purple one if I remember rightly. I sometimes joined her but I couldn’t do it every other day like Catherine.’
‘Where and when did the collision take place?’
‘Somewhere on Letchworth Gate just before she turned right down Baldock Lane going back towards Willian. She pointed out the spot as we drove by last Monday. The collision happened the day before.’
‘Had Catherine ever collided with anyone else before when she’d been out running?’
‘Not as far as I know and I’m sure she’d have mentioned it if she had.’
‘Where were you going when Catherine pointed out where the collision took place?’ Mac asked.
‘We were going to look
at some decorations for the ball. I had to drop her home early though as she had a bad stomach. It had been bothering her for a while but she wouldn’t see a doctor, would she? She seemed so self-reliant but in reality she was scared stiff of medical people. We had this bitch of a nurse at school who… oh well, that’s another story.’
‘How long had Catherine had this bad stomach for?’
‘A couple of weeks on and off. After we pleaded with her she eventually went to a doctor and got something for it. It seemed to help and, for a while at least, she was back to her old self.’
‘Thank you Mrs. Bathurst, you’ve been really helpful.’
‘Have I? Well I hope you catch whoever did this soon, Olivia and I are afraid to leave the house.’
‘You should be. Whoever killed Catherine might be after you two as well. Stay indoors and be careful what you eat and drink, is that clear?’
Penny’s face went suddenly white.
‘Are you being serious Mr. Maguire?’
‘Never more so and make sure Olivia Parker gets the message too. Here’s my number, if either you or Mrs. Parker think of anything else please ring me immediately.’
Mac was thoughtful as he stood on the pavement. Leigh was surprised to see him turn and go back and once again knock on the door. The maid answered.
‘Please ask Mrs. Bathurst to come back to the door.’
A few seconds later she appeared.
‘Have you forgotten something Mr. Maguire?’
‘Just one more question. How hard would it be to get into Mrs. Gascoigne’s house?’
‘Well easy for me as I have a spare key. Otherwise it’s quite secure, locks on all the windows and it’s well protected with a burglar alarm.’
‘People sometimes leave a spare key under the mat or a flower pot. Did she ever do anything like that?’
‘Yes actually, she usually left a key under a stone, the cleaner was always misplacing hers and Catherine didn’t like her missing a day. She really couldn’t stand any mess at all.’
‘Did any of the Janeites know about this key?’ Mac asked.
‘Perhaps, let me think. Yes it was last year and Molly Etherington was looking for somewhere to store some of the decorations for the ball. I overheard Catherine tell her about the key. She said she’d be at work and Molly was to let herself in.’
‘I take it that Catherine also told her what the code was for the burglar alarm?’
‘Yes, I suppose she must have done.’
‘Do you know where this Molly Etherington lives?’
‘No I’m sorry, I don’t.’
‘I take it that you know the code to the burglar alarm?’
‘Yes of course, I’ve got it somewhere.’
She went inside and a minute later returned with a slip of paper. Mac looked at the paper and thought how stupid intelligent people could sometimes be. Mac thanked her and they left.
‘What was all that about?’ Leigh asked.
‘I’ll tell you in a minute. Let’s drive to Letchworth Gate.’
Letchworth Gate was the main road into the town from the A1 motorway. Mac told Leigh where to stop and told her to park the car half onto the grass verge. He got his crutch out of the back.
‘So what are we looking for?’ Leigh asked.
‘If I’m honest I’m not too sure, I just wanted to see the lay of the land that’s all.’
Mac stood and looked up and down the road. A thin strip of asphalt pavement ran next to the grass verge and beyond that were clumps of decorative bushes and trees.
‘I can see why Catherine wasn’t expecting to bump into anyone, there’s only the motorway at that end.’
‘But there‘s a pedestrian crossing not far away so someone must use it,’ Leigh observed.
‘Yes, if I remember right there’s a footpath that runs parallel to Baldock Lane. It’s mostly people from the estate over the other side of the road that use it for walking their dogs. Might be good for runners too I suppose as it’s away from traffic.’
Mac stood there for a few minutes as he looked up and down the road.
‘So what are we looking for?’ Leigh asked.
Mac thought she sounded a little exasperated.
‘I think there’s a good chance that the collision wasn’t an accident. It’s possible that the woman who Catherine collided with hid behind a bush or a tree and then jumped into her path. Of course Catherine would automatically think it was her fault.’
‘But what would that achieve?’
‘It would get more poison into Catherine, that’s what. Most running stuff I see these days seem to have the maker’s logo on it, it’s a status thing like designer labels isn’t it? If it were me I’d watch and take a photo in secret, then go online and buy a water bottle of exactly the same type and colour. Fill it up with water and the poison and then switch the bottles in the seconds after the collision.’
‘Clever,’ Leigh said, ‘but mightn’t the water levels in the two bottles be different?’
‘A good point,’ Mac replied, giving her a smile.
Leigh looked quite pleased with herself.
‘However, if you assume that she filled her bottle when she started her run you might be able to get it near enough. Didn’t Penny Bathurst say that Catherine turned back here towards Willian? That would make this around the halfway mark….mmm, I wonder.’
Mac fell silent for a quite a while. Leigh began to wonder what she’d been landed with.
‘Wonder what?’ she eventually asked.
Mac came back from wherever he’d been.
‘Sorry I was thinking about water levels. If this is around the half way mark then whoever poisoned Catherine could only put a little over half the liquid in the bottle. But what if Catherine didn’t drink it all? I’ve often thought that a lot of these runners who carry water bottles do it more for show. I was just wondering if that was how the murderer might have gotten the dose wrong again and that’s the reason why Catherine didn’t die straight away.’
‘Wrong dose again? What do you mean?’
‘From what Mrs. Bathurst said, and also from the forensics evidence, it’s likely that Catherine Gascoigne had been given multiple doses of poison over a period of a few weeks and this was the reason for her stomach problems. So either the killer wasn’t sure of the lethal dose or Toni was right when she said that the killer wanted her to suffer first. I’m not so sure about that last one though.’
‘Why? If someone hated her enough to kill her wouldn’t they have wanted her to suffer too?’ Leigh asked.
‘Possibly but it’s very risky, isn’t it? There’s an antidote to thallium and, if Catherine had been seen by a doctor who’d recognised the symptoms, then her life might have been saved. Not only that but an investigation into a case of attempted murder would automatically follow and there’d be a real risk that the poisoner might get caught. So if the poisoner wanted her dead why take that chance? By far the safest course would be to give her a lethal dose and hope that it gets put down to natural causes. That way there’s no investigation and no risk. Anyway it’s my bet that the poisoner came back again and made sure Catherine got the proper dose this time.’
It was now Leigh’s turn to be thoughtful.
‘I guess that’s why you asked about getting into Catherine’s house. You think the killer knew about the spare key.’
‘Spot on. Come on, let’s go there next and see what we can see.’
Catherine’s house was a large black and white half-timbered house near the crossroads in Willian. It stood at the end of a short drive and was at ninety degrees to the main road. A sign by the door said ‘The Old Alms House Anno Domini 1641’.
Mac asked Leigh to get some plastic evidence bags and a marker pen from the boot of the car.
‘Now you need to find a loose stone not far from the front door, one big enough to hide a key. If you don’t mind I’ll leave this one to you. I’m not so good at bending down these days.’
Leigh gave him a
long look.
‘Do you mind me asking why?’
‘No actually I don’t mind at all.’
In fact Mac was quite pleased she’d asked. Most people didn’t and Mac had a little theory about that.
‘I have a lower spinal condition that leaves me in constant pain. I have to be careful and make sure I don’t do too much or it just makes the pain worse. So bending over can be a major problem at times. A while back I dropped my keys, bent down to pick them up and ended up in bed for two days.’
‘Okay,’ she replied, apparently happy with Mac’s explanation.
It took Leigh less than five minutes to find the key. She carefully manoeuvred the stone into the plastic bag without touching it then she sealed the bag and wrote the date, time and the location of the find. He could see the key lying in the shallow indentation left by the stone. Leigh picked it up by using a pen then she placed the key into another plastic bag and wrote on that too. She handed both bags to Mac. He looked closely at the key and then placed both bags in his pocket.
Leigh was puzzled.
‘Why are you putting the key in your pocket? I thought we were going in the house for a look around?’
‘We are.’
‘Yes but it only means you’ll need to get the key out again to open the door.’
He gave her a mysterious smile.
They walked towards the front door. Mac removed the crime scene tape. Leigh stood behind him as he surreptitiously pulled out a bunch of lock picks from his jacket pocket. He inserted a couple of picks and no more than ten seconds later the door was open. Mac could hear electronic beeps as the alarm started counted down. He quickly found the burglar alarm terminal and entered the code. The beeping stopped.
‘So how did you do that?’ Leigh asked in some wonder.
‘Lock picks,’ Mac replied showing her the bunch of picks. ‘I like to keep in practice.’
‘How did you learn that then? I didn’t see any courses on lock picking when I was at Police College.’
‘An old copper taught me not long after I became a detective. I was the youngest in the team and seemed to spend most of my time making tea. This old copper told me to practice in my spare time as it would be a very useful skill to have and he was absolutely right.’
The Dead Squirrel (The Mac Maguire detective mysteries Book 2) Page 4
