After a very satisfying Full English he caught Andy and Toni in the corridor of the police station as they were on their way out.
‘You’re looking much better today,’ Andy said.
‘I’m feeling much better too. It’s wonderful what a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast can do for you.’
‘Just as well, two of the team are out with flu today and we’ve had another spate of burglaries last night. Unfortunately one of them was at the house of a county councillor so there’ll be hell to pay if we don’t start making some real progress. I’ve got my best people on it but I could do with wrapping this case up as soon as possible. So for lots of reasons I’m really glad you’re okay.’
‘Thanks. I take it you’re on your way to Ginny Hocking’s?’ Mac asked.
‘Yes, I just rang her and she’s happy to see us now. Are you going to do some digging on Diane Caversham?’
‘That’s the plan. Want to compare notes when you get back?’ Mac suggested.
‘Absolutely, see you later.’
Mac had no problem finding a free desk and computer, Andy’s team really were thin on the ground. By the time Leigh arrived Mac had already found the answer to something that had been bugging him since his interview with Diane.
‘Do you remember me asking Diane if she’d ever heard about thallium?’
‘Yes and I remember you looked at her in quite a strange way when she said she’d never heard of it.’
‘That’s because I knew she was lying. I didn’t know just how much of a lie it was until just now though.’
‘What have you found?’ she asked.
Mac pointed to the screen.
‘Google is a truly wonderful thing if you’re a policeman. Years ago it would have taken a hell of a lot of shoe leather to find this out.’
Leigh peered at the screen.
‘This is a Wikipedia article about Simon Alders Caversham. Who’s he?’ she asked.
‘He founded the Caversham Chemical Company.’
‘Never heard of them,’ Leigh said.
‘You might know them better as 3C.’
‘God, they’re massive aren’t they? I see their lorries all over the place. I take that this Simon Caversham is something to Diane then?’
‘He was her father, he died six years ago. Here I’ll just scroll down a bit, here’s another photo with someone in it who you might recognise.’
Leigh peered at the photo.
‘God, yes that’s definitely Diane standing next to him. She’s really young there but what’s she doing in a white coat and why is she holding a test tube?’
‘It wasn’t just for show. Here’s something else I found.’
Mac opened another window.
‘It’s one of the Cambridge alumni associations,’ Leigh said with some surprise. She read it out loud, ‘Diane Caversham, Secretary, Trinity Gas Group. What does that mean?’ she asked.
‘The Trinity Gas Group is for people who got degrees in Chemistry at Trinity College. Apparently Diane left with a first class degree.’
‘And she said that she hadn’t heard of thallium!’ Leigh exclaimed. ‘I must admit that I’m surprised though. Looking at her I’d have guessed at something fluffy like History of Art or something. A first at Chemistry though. God she wasn’t just lying, she was lying through her teeth.’
‘The question now is why? Before we ask her that question let’s do a little more digging. I’ve just started looking at the information that Companies House has on 3C. Let’s see what they’ve got.’
They both peered at the screen together.
‘Look,’ Leigh said excitedly. ‘Here.’
She pointed at the screen.
‘It says here that Diane Caversham is a Director of 3C. I wonder if we can find out if she owns any shares?’
‘I think that might be a bit difficult to find on the internet but I know a man who can,’ Mac said.
While he made his call Leigh continued wading through Google. She found that thallium is mostly used in photo-electric cells and the specialist glass industry. She wasn’t at all surprised to learn that one of the biggest manufacturers of thallium sulphide and thallium oxide in the UK was a company called 3C.
Mac came back with a look of surprise on his face.
‘I know a financial journalist and he knew the figures off the top of his head. Diane owns about fifteen per cent of the company, so at the current share price she’s worth well over a hundred and fifty million.’
Leigh raised her eyebrows.
‘That’s a serious amount of money.’
‘There’s more. He also said that there’s a takeover by an even bigger US company in the wind and Diane’s shares are the key as to whether it succeeds or not. If she sells she might get two or even three times the current share price.’
Mac heard a low rumbling sound coming from outside and noticed that some members of the team were gravitating towards the windows overlooking the car park. He joined them and watched Diane as she expertly parked the Ferrari 458. As she walked away a small crowd gathered around the car, all gazing admiringly down at its glossy red paintwork.
He turned to Leigh, ‘You can see now why I asked Diane if she had access to any other cars. If she drove that in the middle of the night to murder Catherine she’d have woken most of Willian up. Come on let’s see what she wants.’
Mac intercepted Diane in the lobby.
‘Do you want to speak to me formally?’ he asked.
After a pause she nodded her head.
Mac spoke to the police constable manning reception who pointed him towards an empty interview room.
He ushered Diane into the room and a few seconds later they were joined by Leigh. Mac turned on the recorder and stated the time and date.
‘Civilian consultant Mac Maguire and DC Marston are interviewing…’ Mac paused and looked at Diane. ‘Please state your full name and address.’
Diane did so.
‘Okay before we start how would you like me to address you?’
‘Diane will be fine.’
‘I would like to state here that Diane Caversham has come to the police station by her own volition and has stated that she wished to attend a formal interview.’
Mac thought he might as well cut to the chase.
‘Okay Diane, do you recall that in an informal interview yesterday I asked if you’d ever heard of thallium?’
Diane nodded.
‘Sorry, can you say yes or no, we’re only recording the sound.’
‘Sorry, yes, yes I remember you asking me,’ Diane said a little too loudly.
‘And how did you answer?’
She paused before answering. Mac gave her time as he felt she was making some sort of a final decision. Her shoulders relaxed and Mac knew she’d made a choice.
‘I said that I’d never heard of it.’
‘That was a lie wasn’t it?’
‘Yes it was a lie. I could tell you quite a lot about thallium, its position in the periodic table, eighty one, and that it’s a post-transition metal. It’s incredibly toxic and only used nowadays in glass manufacturing and electronics. The biggest manufacturer of thallium derivatives is the company my father founded and in which I’m a director. And yes I could lay my hands on enough thallium to kill half of England if I wanted. Is that enough for now?’
‘More than enough. Why did you lie, Diane?’
Another pause for thought, then she got her phone out of her handbag and turned it on.
‘Because I know I’m probably already suspect number one and even more so after you see this. It came yesterday morning.’
She passed the phone to Mac, a video was playing. It was night and the video was being taken by someone sitting in a car. Diane opened the door of ‘The Earl Lewin’ pub and walked down the road towards Catherine’s house. Whoever was taking the video also got out of their car and followed her on the other side of the road. She walked down a drive and the camera followed her. She stopped
in front of a house and a sign with ‘The Old Alms House Anno Domini 1641’ was clearly visible. Diane then walked up to the front door and at that point the video stopped.
‘Look at the time stamp,’ Diane said.
Mac did. It was nine thirty in the evening, the night before Catherine had been found dead.
‘Someone’s blackmailing you,’ Mac stated.
Diane nodded, she looked close to tears.
‘It’s this stupid bloody takeover. They’re trying everything to get me to sell my shares but I know what they’ll do if I sell. They’ll asset strip the company and close most of it down. Yes I could make a nice chunk of money but my father spent his whole life building that company up and I’ll be damned…anyway that’s why I lied. I was so scared, what is it I hear on the TV in the police shows…motive, means and opportunity? Well I have all those in spades, don’t I?’
‘I take it that they’ve had people following you?’
Diane nodded.
‘Why didn’t you tell me this yesterday?’ Mac asked.
‘I was in a bit of a panic and I suppose, if I’m honest, that’s why I mentioned my conversation with Ginny. That was really beneath me. Ginny did say those words but she was drunk and she didn’t mean it. I suppose I was being bloody naïve too, hoping somehow that it would all just go away. Then after we spoke, when I’d calmed down a bit, I thought of how easy it would be to find out about 3C, the chemistry degree and other things. I knew that it wasn’t going to go away after all.’
‘Did you poison Catherine Gascoigne?’
‘No, no I didn’t, although I must admit that the thought had crossed my mind more than once. I know it looks bad for me but I need you to believe that.’
Mac did. He’d already figured that, with all her knowledge, she’d at least get the dosage right and wouldn’t need several goes at it. He said nothing though.
‘What were you doing at Catherine’s house the night before she died?’
Diane heaved a huge sigh.
‘No-one will believe it but I wanted to make peace. I wanted to bury the hatchet and, for once, not in her head. I needed to end the war, for the sake of 3C.’
‘What did Catherine have to do with 3C?’
‘She owned just under one per cent of the company, the shares were originally bought by her husband some time ago. They’re good solid performers, a lot of the pension funds and the like have bought into the company for which I’m eternally grateful. If they hadn’t we’d have lost the company by now.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because they’re in it for the long term, they’re not so interested in a quick kill now but in providing income for pensioners thirty years from now. If AMMI get their hands on it the company won’t last long.’
‘Who or what are AMMI?’ Mac asked.
‘Sorry, they’re a company, the Alaskan Mining and Manufacturing Industries Corporation. They started out in mining but they’ve got interests in just about everything now and they’re incredibly cash-rich at the moment. Unfortunately they’ve chosen 3C to throw some of their money at. Anyway, things are so evenly balanced that Catherine’s holdings, small as they are, could well make the difference.’
‘Of course you realise that if we find that Catherine was thinking of selling her shares to AMMI then this gives you yet another motive for killing her?’
She grimaced.
‘It’s not looking good for me, is it?’
‘The video ends with you at Catherine’s door. What happened after that?’
Diane shrugged.
‘Nothing, she never answered the door so I went back home.’
‘Good. I noticed when I was there that the pub has CCTV cameras on the front entrance and the car park and they might help to confirm your story. Who do you think is behind this blackmail attempt?’
‘It’s going to be one of the underlings at AMMI but which one is anyone’s guess.’
Mac gave this some thought.
‘Who sent it? I mean was there an email address or something?’
‘It was sent from a social site by someone called ‘3C or not 3C’. Some joke,’ she said, getting almost tearful again.
‘Is there anything else you can tell me that might be relevant to Catherine Gascoigne’s murder?’
Diane shook her head.
‘No, I’m sorry and I’m being absolutely truthful this time.’
Mac stood up and held out his hand.
‘Diane, thanks for coming to see us today. You’ve been most helpful.’
She looked quite puzzled as she shook his hand.
‘Is that it? I half thought I’d be, oh what do they call it on the TV? Yes ‘banged up’. Aren’t you even going to tell me not to leave the country?’
‘You’re not thinking of leaving the country are you?’
‘Well no but…’
‘Well that’s fine then. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.’
He watched Diane as she walked away from him down the hall. For all her money, intelligence and good looks she was a bit of a sad case.
‘Do you think she did it?’ Leigh asked.
Mac shook his head.
‘No, I don’t think it’s her but it’s given me an idea of who it might be though. Can we wait until Andy and Toni get back? I just need to think it through a bit. Let’s see if we can find out a bit more about this AMMI though.’
It didn’t take them long. It was clear that the American company was both incredibly rich and powerful. Then they hit gold dust when they stumbled upon an article from the New York Times. The article described the divorce proceedings between one of AMMI’s major shareholders, Alix Stefanovic, and his wife Diane. It was Leigh who spotted the photo.
‘Look it’s her!’ she said excitedly.
The photo showed a woman walking up the steps to an old building, a court house Mac guessed. Although she was wearing sunglasses it was definitely Diane.
From the article they learnt that the couple had only been married for two years when Diane had started divorce proceedings. The hearings had all taken place in the US and it seemed to have been quite acrimonious. Mac could understand why as it came out during the hearings that the reason Diane wanted out of her marriage was that she’d caught her husband in bed with her best friend. Apparently he’d been cheating on her since before they were married.
‘It just gets more interesting doesn’t it?’ Mac said. ‘Perhaps Philippa Hatch had nothing to do with it after all.’
Andy and Toni came in the room.
‘Did you get anything from Ginny Hocking?’ Mac asked.
Andy shook his head.
‘She was quite honest about her dislike of Catherine Gascoigne and she also admitted that she may have discussed murdering her with Diane Caversham. She said she was quite drunk at the time and they were just having a bit of fun. Fortunately for her she has a cast iron alibi for around the time Catherine died. She was on holiday in Morocco and she’s got the videos to prove it. I hope you did a bit better?’
‘I think we did. We found out quite a bit about Diane Caversham from the internet and even more from Diane herself.’
‘She was here?’ Andy said looking surprised.
‘Yes, she came in voluntarily. She admitted lying to me yesterday but I can understand it in a way. She’s got a first in Chemistry and she’s also a director of 3C, the chemical company. Through them she has access to enough thallium, in her own words, ‘to poison half of England’.’
‘Yet I get the strange feeling that you don’t fancy her for the murder,’ Andy said.
‘No, I don’t. The main reasons are that she would have known the lethal dosage and got it right first time and again, like Molly Etherington, why wait such a long time to get revenge?’
‘But you do fancy someone, don’t you?’ Andy ventured.
‘Perhaps I do. The use of thallium really had me flummoxed if I’m honest. Why use a poison that’s so hard to get? Then I remembered a case from only
a few years ago in America where a man died and thallium was finally identified as the cause. His wife was a chemist and was convicted of his murder because it could only have been her, all too obvious really. Anyway it made quite a stir in the US and this set me thinking. What if Catherine wasn’t killed for anything she’d done or said, what if she was killed just to put Diane in the frame?’
Andy leant forward, ‘Go on.’
‘3C was founded by Diane’s father and, as I said, she’s a director. We found out that its future is threatened as an American company called Alaskan Mining and Manufacturing is trying to engineer a hostile takeover. Now it would be all too easy for anyone to put together the facts that Diane hated Catherine and that she also had access to thallium. So, if you wanted Diane out of the way, poison Catherine and Diane has to be the obvious suspect.’
‘What makes you think this mining company might be involved?’ Tony asked.
‘I think Leigh’s got a bigger phone. Has it come though yet?’ Mac asked.
‘Yes, here.’
Leigh held up her phone and played the short video.
‘That was sent to Diane on the morning of the day I interviewed her. I can well believe that it might have rattled her which is probably why she lied.’
Andy watched the short video twice.
‘So she’s got a motive, access to the poison used and this video proves she was on Catherine Gascoigne’s door step the night before was found dead. It’s really neat isn’t it?’
‘Bit too neat for my liking. It looks like someone from this American company is trying to blackmail Diane into selling 3C but would they stoop to murder? I think it’s worth looking into.’
Andy didn’t look convinced.
‘Yes but it’s a bit unlikely, isn’t it?’
‘I’d agree, corporations and takeovers can be seen to be a bit impersonal and murders are usually very personal acts. However I forgot to add that one of the directors of this American company is Diane’s ex-husband, in fact it seems that he’s the one who’s leading the takeover bid. Apparently the divorce was quite the three ring circus, him being one of the world’s richest men, and it all became quite acrimonious.’
The Dead Squirrel (The Mac Maguire detective mysteries Book 2) Page 11
