23 Cold Cases (The Mac Maguire detective mysteries Book 5)

by Patrick C Walsh

  Mac still said nothing. The doctor noticed he was sweating.

  ‘Yes fear will do that to you, make you sweat,’ she said.

  ‘So what’s in it?’ Mac eventually asked.

  ‘Something you know all too well. It’s Fentanyl but this is at a strength that will instantly cure all your ills Mr. Maguire.’

  ‘Well at least it’s not a hatchet.’

  ‘No it’s not. Oh that had to be done, Miss Whyte was talking about going see you people so she had to be stopped. However the surprising thing was how much I enjoyed it. It was like there was some mad animal spirit inside me that I just gave free rein to and it was quite exhilarating really,’ she said with a smile, ‘but this, now this is just business. I know you think you have something on me and right now I don’t care what it is, real or not, I believe in nipping opposition in the bud.’

  ‘You just don’t believe you can be beaten do you?’ Mac asked.

  The doctor smiled again, ‘No, at least not by the likes of you. The police have always been several steps behind and they still will be when they discover your body. It will, of course, look like suicide.’

  ‘And how do you think you’ll manage that? Bad back or not I guarantee that I’ll put up a fight.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ the doctor said as she pulled out a gun. She pulled out a silencer and screwed it on. ‘It’s your choice, you’ll either allow me to inject you and die a peaceful death or I’ll shoot you and then I’ll sit in the hallway and shoot the first person who comes through the front door. There’s a very good chance that it will be your daughter.’

  ‘I take it that if I allow you to inject me you’ll make it look like suicide?’

  ‘Of course, I take it that, like most people in pain, you have a stash of painkillers somewhere?’

  Mac involuntarily glanced at the chest of drawers.

  ‘Oh your sock drawer! God how unoriginal is that?’ the doctor said. ‘Yes I’ll take some of your patches and mix them with hot water and then leave the glass with its residue on the floor by your bed for your forensics people to find.’

  ‘What about the injection itself, won’t they notice that?’ Mac asked, the sweat now running down his face.

  ‘Oh no I’ll inject you in the armpit, that will be very difficult to find but, to be honest, even if they do find it so what? They’ll never be able to connect it with me,’ she said confidently.

  ‘They might if you shoot me.’

  ‘I doubt it. A professional hit on an ex-policeman and his daughter, I’d guess they’d start looking for people you’ve crossed, criminals with a grudge. With a career like yours I’m sure there must be lots of them.’

  ‘You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?’ Mac said.

  ‘Oh yes I always cover every eventuality. So what’s it to be then? A peaceful death or do I have to shoot you and then kill someone else too? I warn you that I always keep my word.’

  Mac gave this some thought.

  ‘Who are Hadya and Hussein?’

  ‘Oh you’ve heard about my beautiful children then. Hadya’s six and Hussein is eight, they’re wonderful little children,’ she said with that smile again.

  Mac was beginning to hate that smile.

  ‘They don’t exist, do they?’ he said.

  ‘No of course not but my little band of drug pushers don’t know that. I tell them that I’m a victim too, that the nasty Islamic fundamentalists have my lovely little children and they’ll kill them if they don’t do exactly what I tell them to do. Throw in a few tears and you’ve got them.’

  That explained Adeline’s ‘innocent victims’. She obviously believed in the doctor’s theatrics.

  ‘I expect you told them that the Islamic boogie men killed Ashley too?’ Mac asked.

  ‘Of course, I mean they do chop people’s heads off you know and all these big muscled Middle Eastern types wandering around the clinic, fundamentalists all of them,’ she said with a big smile.

  Mac went silent again.

  ‘No point in delaying anymore Mr. Maguire, the decision has to be made,’ the doctor said.

  She placed the gun on the chair and took the cap off the needle. She was now at least two paces away from the gun.

  ‘Aston Villa are playing a bit better these days, don’t you think?’ he said.

  The doctor’s face showed her total puzzlement. It was not what she’d expected him to say.

  ‘What?’ was all she could get out before the bedroom door crashed open.

  The doctor looked to her left and found that she was looking down the barrels of two semi-automatic rifles behind which were two police firearms officers.

  ‘Move away from the gun and place the syringe on the chest of drawers!’ one of the firearms officers shouted.

  The doctor looked dazed and froze like a statue.

  ‘MOVE NOW!’

  She did as she was ordered and robotically placed the syringe on the top of the chest of drawers.

  ‘Down on the floor, on your stomach, hands on the back of your head.’

  Again she couldn’t move. It was as though she was in shock.

  ‘On the floor NOW!’ the firearms officer shouted.

  She slowly lay down. The firearms officer pulled her arms down and cable tied them together at the wrists. He pulled her up on her feet and dragged her towards the door. She looked at Mac as she went out but it wasn’t the look he’d expected, a look of venomous hatred, instead it was the dazed look of someone who’s world had just suddenly fallen apart.

  She was someone who had always taken risks and always won, until now that is. Mac wondered how she’d cope with losing. Not well he reckoned.

  Another officer came in and checked that he was okay.

  ‘Oh never better actually,’ he replied, which was only the truth.

  When he’d originally had the idea he’d thought it would be a bit of a long shot and he wasn’t absolutely sure that the doctor would go for it. However, by presenting her with an immediate threat and then an immediate opportunity to deal with it, he felt that there was just a chance she just might bite. After all in her world she was always right and always would be, everyone else was stupid and there just to be used.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a man in a white suit carrying a big black case.

  ‘Mr. Maguire we meet again,’ Bob Yeardley said.

  ‘Yes we do. How are you?’

  ‘Well you lot are keeping me busy enough but then again that’s the way I like it. So what have we got then?’

  ‘Just the syringe on top of the chest of drawers and the gun on the chair over there. There won’t be any prints on them or in the house, she was wearing latex gloves,’ Mac explained.

  ‘A nice quick one for a change then,’ he said.

  He took a camera out of his case and took several photos of the room and then specifically of the syringe and the gun. He then carefully placed the syringe in one evidence bag and then placed the gun in another. He said his goodbyes to Mac.

  A few minutes later Dan Carter walked in with a smile as wide as a Cheshire cat.

  ‘Well that worked out okay. I must admit I was a bit surprised she went for it but you were right.’

  ‘I’m as surprised as you are really.’

  ‘I’ve given the go ahead for the team and the local police to raid the clinic. I’ve told Kate and Tommy the good news and they’re going to join the team there. We’ll hopefully turn up quite a bit more evidence although I’m not sure we’ll really need it after this.’

  ‘Yes and to think that she planted cameras all over the clinic and yet didn’t think that anyone else might be smart enough to do the same,’ Mac said. ‘It’s ironic really.’

  ‘You know I remember not long after I became a detective we had a case where we had a wire on someone. We needed a van full of technology and about four people to look after it, the sound quality was rubbish too. Now all you need is Martin’s little camera and a tiny microphone. We’ve been sit
ting in the car a street away watching it all happen in full colour with stereo sound on Martin’s laptop. Where is the camera by the way?’ Dan said as he looked around the room.

  ‘It’s there behind some boxes on top of the wardrobe,’ Mac replied.

  ‘Martin did a bloody good job of hiding it, didn’t he?’

  ‘Are you going to buy him one now you’ve seen it in action?’

  ‘No,’ Dan replied, ‘I’m going to buy him two. We’ll need one for back up.’

  ‘That will make him a happy man.’

  ‘Well it’s a really nice piece of kit and I can make a good case for it in terms of the man hours we’ll save doing observation duties. If anyone questions it I’ll just play them the video of what happened here, I’m sure that will convince them. Thanks Mac, I must admit when she pulled that gun I was a bit worried.’

  ‘Yes me too if I’m honest. Thankfully, when she placed it on the chair, it gave me an opportunity to safely say the code word.’

  ‘Yes Aston Villa, your favourite football team. You could see that you saying that really threw her.’

  ‘Well I suppose it did sound somewhat surreal,’ Mac admitted with a smile. ‘Oh, talking of guns,’ Mac said, ‘can you give me a hand?’

  Mac unbuttoned his pyjama top to reveal the black bulletproof body armour underneath.

  ‘The doctor thought I was sweating through fear. She may have been partly right but this definitely didn’t help.’

  Dan helped him get the armour off and then get his pyjama top back on. They’d just finished when Martin strolled in.

  ‘Hi Mac,’ he said, his face beaming. ‘That was absolutely brilliant!’

  ‘Thanks Martin,’ Mac said feeling ever so slightly embarrassed.

  ‘Oh sorry Mac I was talking about the camera. Great resolution and the wide angle lens was terrific, it caught absolutely everything. You were pretty good too though.’

  Mac and Dan exchanged looks and both burst out laughing.

  ‘I take it you’ve got it all backed up?’ Dan said once he’d calmed down.

  ‘Yes no problem with that,’ Martin said as he stood on a chair and retrieved his precious camera from the top of the wardrobe. He pulled out the jack lead that ran to a small microphone.

  ‘Great, well the doctor won’t interview herself. See you later Mac and thanks. Another win and a big one too,’ Dan said as he held out his hand.

  Mac shook it.

  Then he was alone but not for long. Two minutes later Amrit’s head appeared around the door.

  ‘A cup of tea?’ she suggested.

  ‘Oh yes please,’ Mac replied. ‘Get yourself one and I’ll tell you all about it.’

  ‘Oh goody!’ Amrit said with an expectant smile on her face. ‘The season finale at last.’

  Chapter Twenty One

  Amrit brought Mac his mid-morning cup of tea. She could see that he was studying some photographs on his laptop.

  ‘How did your weekend go, after all the excitement on Friday?’ she asked as she sat down.

  ‘It was okay, quiet really, but I suppose anything would be quiet after that. I had to make a statement of course and then Tim dropped by on Saturday to tell me at length all about his trip to Norfolk.’

  ‘Bit of a wild goose chase for him, was it?’

  ‘Well I did warn him to just go along with any offers he might get that would involve him leaving the area so he was prepared for a disappointment. Anyway while he was there he only noticed this poster saying that there was a sale on at a country house not far from Norwich and so he decided to give it a try. He reckons he’s got at least two real bargains so it all worked out for him in the end. I don’t know how he does it,’ Mac said with a smile.

  Amrit gave Mac a thoughtful look.

  ‘Why do you think she did it?’

  ‘Did what?’

  ‘That doctor, you’d have thought she’d have made enough money with what she charged for the clinic without having to sell drugs,’ Amrit asked.

  ‘Not forgetting the blackmail from what I’m hearing. I suppose that for some people they can never have enough money, they always want more but with the doctor I honestly don’t think it was just the money. I’ve come across people like her before, they like to manipulate and control others, it makes them feel superior I suppose. She’d created an environment in which her rich clients would be at their most vulnerable, having to deal with coming off drugs, while being totally cut off from any external support. She had them at her mercy and, if you want my best guess, I think she just couldn’t help herself.’

  ‘So what’s next now that you’ve solved the Whyte case?’ Amrit asked.

  ‘Well, we’ve still got the Bardolph case, if it really is a case that is.’

  Amrit smiled at Mac’s use of the word ‘we’.

  ‘Oh yes I was nearly forgetting about that,’ Amrit said. ‘Any luck so far?’

  Mac shook his head.

  ‘No nothing so far. I’ve decided to go through every single record and photo in the five candidate cases we’ve got left once again,’ Mac said as he took a sip from his travel mug. ‘After all I’ve still got almost four weeks to go until they let me out of here so there’s lots of time left unfortunately.’

  ‘You make it sound like a prison. It’s not that bad is it?’

  ‘No I suppose not but it would be so nice to get out for a bit and under my own steam at that.’

  ‘Personally I think you’ve done very well so far Mac. I know it’s difficult but you’re coping, well most of the time.’

  ‘Well I have to admit that if it wasn’t for Dan’s cases you’d be scraping me off the ceiling by now. By the way I’m going through the Maynard case again as well and I wondered if you’d managed to have a chat with your friend yet?’ Mac asked.

  ‘The Maynard case?’ Amrit said, her face crinkling in puzzlement.

  ‘Yes you said that you had a friend who worked at Papworth, Dr. Zaynab Teymouri I think her name was.’

  ‘Oh you mean Terri, the poor girl whose car broke down and who ended up with her throat cut, don’t you?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘Oh yes I had a long chat with Zaynab on the phone not long after I mentioned her name to you.’

  ‘And?’ Mac asked.

  ‘And not a lot really. She didn’t know Terri that well but she did remember all the investigations. It seemed to go on for months she said.’

  ‘So in the time since Terri’s murder there’ve been no rumours at the hospital or fingers pointed at anyone?’

  ‘Not from what Zaynab said. It still seems to be a complete mystery to everyone there.’

  Mac was expecting this but still felt a little pang of disappointment. It was one case he’d have loved to have cracked.

  ‘By the way the answer is yes,’ Amrit said as she got up to leave.

  ‘Yes?’ Mac’s face showed his puzzlement.

  ‘Bridget had a word with me before I started this morning and she said that you might want me permanently for a few days a week,’ she explained.

  ‘And you said yes?’

  ‘Of course, I’m like you in that I like to keep myself busy.’

  Mac felt hugely relieved. Of course it would be great to have some help around the house and the acupuncture would be a godsend when he was in real difficulties but he had to admit that he liked the company too.

  ‘Thanks Amrit, really,’ Mac said with feeling.

  ‘Oh, it’s nothing. I like to help and the fact that working here saves me the cost of a subscription to the True Crime channel has nothing to do with it whatsoever,’ she said with a wicked grin as she went out of the door.

  Mac laughed out loud.

  So the next few days were going to be spent going over the minutiae of the remaining case files once more. Mac summarised them –

  Terri Maynard, car breaks down, has her throat cut after being raped

  Marie Callaghan, head bashed in after leaving a nightclub, probably after ref
using to be raped

  Agniezka Coleman, stabbed several times on her way home from work, absolutely no clue why

  Edith Dickinson, pensioner, head bashed in with a blunt instrument. Burglary?

  Asma Rafiq, just seventeen years old, stabbed, possible honour killing

  He then once again played back the one sided conversation that Cassandra Bardolph had with herself –

  ‘What is it? There’s blood on your hands, what’s happened?’

  ‘You killed her? Oh my God, she’s dead and you’re saying it’s your fault? Tell me exactly what happened, every detail.’

  ‘We need to get you away, they’ll be looking for you and you could be in danger. Don’t worry I know just what to do.’

  The obvious implication of this was that whoever Cassandra was speaking to had admitted to killing a woman and, if ‘they’ were the police, then Cassandra herself seemed to be a willing accomplice after the fact.

  Mac suddenly remembered his request to Martin about getting some information about Cassandra Bardolph. In all the excitement of the Whyte case he’d forgotten all about it. He searched through his emails and there it was. Martin was as efficient as ever.

  Mac was still thinking about what he’d learnt when Amrit came in with lunch for the both of them. After making sure that Mac’s tray was set up just right she settled comfortably in the chair and started eating.

  ‘Those samosas were quite special,’ Mac said as he dabbed at his mouth with a tissue.

  ‘Oh they were just my everyday samosas,’ she replied.

  ‘I really find it hard to believe that they could be improved upon.’

  This brought a big smile from Amrit.

  ‘Anyway back to business. Martin sent me some information about Cassandra Bardolph a while back and in all the fuss I forgot about it. It makes interesting reading,’ Mac said.

  ‘Go on,’ Amrit prompted.

  ‘Okay first of all she was an only child, her father died when she was a young girl and her mother died when she was in her twenties. Her parents were also only children so no close relatives either. She received a modest amount of money regularly each month from some sort of trust fund, enough to pay her bills and other expenses. As there was no mortgage on the house I suppose she got by. Except for every now and then she’d buy herself a new car.’