Deadly Alibi

by Leigh Russell

  That evening, Sam called her on Emma’s phone. With access to the database, she was able to call back in five minutes with the information Geraldine wanted.

  ‘Who is she?’ Sam asked.

  ‘Just someone I need to talk to, to settle something for myself.’

  ‘Do you want me to come with you?’

  ‘Better you don’t know anything about it,’ Geraldine answered. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not doing anything stupid or dangerous. It’s just a query I want to clear up. But if I do discover anything new pertaining to the case I will need to pass it on to someone. Adam’s told me I’m not to have anything more to do with it, so you’ll have to claim this was your line of enquiry. But let me see if it leads anywhere first. It’s probably nothing.’

  ‘I’m intrigued!’

  For the first time in days, Geraldine smiled.

  It was too late to make a visit, but first thing the following morning she went to see the woman whose address Sam had given her. Veronica lived in a block of flats off Hanger Lane in Ealing. It was not far from North Ealing station, and Geraldine thought she might be less conspicuous if she took the tube. Her car would be relatively easy to trace. Avoiding facing the cameras at the station, she made her way off the train and walked along a winding side street to her destination. It was a fairly narrow road, with cars parked on both sides. She was glad she had decided to take the train.

  Reaching the address Sam had given her, she rang the bell. No one came to the door. Rather than go all the way home and return in the evening, she walked back to a parade of shops by the station and took a seat towards the back of a café. She waited there for a couple of hours then moved to a large old pub a few doors along. No one took any notice of her as she waited for the day to pass. Ordinarily she would have questioned the sense of what she was doing, but now she had no other demands on her time. The hours passed until she began to feel uneasy and crossed the road to another café. When it closed at half past five, she returned to the pub for yet another coffee. At seven, she walked back up the road to Veronica’s house and rang the bell. This time the door opened almost straight away.

  ‘Veronica?’

  ‘Yes?’ The woman standing in the doorway eyed Geraldine suspiciously. ‘What do you want?’

  Aware that she had no identity card on her, Geraldine tried to sound confident as she introduced herself as a detective inspector. Technically she still was, although she had been suspended. To her relief, the other woman did not ask to see her ID.

  ‘I’m enquiring about your stepdaughter, Bethany.’

  Veronica’s face dropped. ‘Has something happened to her?’

  Geraldine was quick to reassure her. ‘As far as I know, Bethany’s fine. This is about her father, Daniel Greggs.’

  Veronica shook her head. ‘Daniel’s not here. Dan and I divorced years back, and I remarried a long time ago.’ She shook her head. ‘Dan was – is – a lovely guy, but – look, you were asking about Bethany. Perhaps you’d better come in and tell me what this is all about.’

  Under normal circumstances, Geraldine would have considered pointing out that Veronica hadn’t asked to see her ID. As it was, she followed her into the house without a word.

  ‘Like I told you, Dan’s a lovely man, but he’s got a problem with his daughter. The trouble started, I suppose, when his wife died. Bethany was barely six when it happened and it hit them both very hard, as you can imagine.’ She shook her head.

  ‘How sad.’

  ‘After that it was just the two of them for four years, so they grew very close. I didn’t realise just how close they were. When I met Dan I thought I could help. I mean, I was in love with him, but marrying him meant taking on the child as well, and Bethany was very difficult. But I thought I could win her round in time. I felt sorry for her. The poor child had lost her mother, after all. But eventually I had to accept that losing her mother wasn’t the real cause of her problems. It was Dan.’

  ‘What do you mean? If there’s any abuse…’

  ‘Oh no,’ Veronica interrupted quickly. ‘At least not in that way. There was nothing improper. It’s just that he indulged her in every way possible and she became completely wild – drugs, drink, men – you know. Really wild. He was desperate, but he never put his foot down, never said no. If she’d had a bit of discipline in her life, she might have managed it better, going through puberty without a mother. I tried, God knows I tried, but a stepmother isn’t the same, not after all that time. Maybe if I’d been more supportive of her it would have worked out, but, well, anyway, Dan and I split up over it.’

  ‘That must have been hard for all of you.’

  ‘It was, at the time. Oh, I’m not bitter about it any more. Far from it. I feel sorry for them both, especially poor Bethany. She was a victim in all this, a victim of his overbearing protectiveness. He wanted to know everything about her life – where she went, who she was seeing, what time she was leaving the house, where she was going, when she’d be back – this went on well into her twenties. She was twenty-three when we divorced, and he was still on at her all the time. ‘I’ve lost your mother, I couldn’t bear to lose you too,’ he used to say to her, as though letting her out of his sight meant risking her life. She tried telling him to mind his own business, and they had some terrible rows. So after a while she just lied to him about what she was doing. I didn’t blame her for that. If he’d had his way, she’d never have left the house.’

  She broke off. Geraldine nodded, doing her best to look sympathetic.

  ‘He was crazy,’ Veronica resumed. ‘He treated her like a six-year-old when she was twenty. In his head, he was stuck with her as a small child. I’m no psychiatrist, I can’t explain it, but somehow in his mind she never grew past the age she was when her mother died. And her emotional development was stunted by all his smothering. He wanted her to be totally reliant on him for everything. It was horrible to watch at close quarters. If I’d known how he was suffocating her, I never would have married him, but I had no idea how unhealthy their relationship was until I was there all the time, living with them. Once he married me, any pretence at normality slipped. He insisted I join in his insanity. Of course, I refused. She wasn’t my daughter, and in any case, it was no good for her, the way he carried on. I never thought she’d have enough spunk to walk away from him. But she did. In the end, she did.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘About three months ago she came to see me.’

  Veronica described how Bethany had begged for help to escape her father.

  She said she wanted to get right away, leave the country, but she couldn’t manage it alone. She was afraid her father would find out if she tried to book a flight out of the country. Veronica had agreed to do what she could to help Bethany, who wanted to go to New York. She said she had a friend there.

  ‘I didn’t ask too many questions. She’s twenty-seven. If she wanted to go to New York, she was perfectly entitled to go there, as far as I was concerned. I was only too pleased to help her get away and live her own life. It wasn’t an easy decision for her, but she told me if she didn’t escape soon, she would die enslaved to her father. And she was probably right. So I bought her ticket and she sorted out her documents and went. I drove her to the airport. She’s in New York now, as far as I know, and good luck to her. God knows how she’s coping, but at least she’s having a shot at growing up. It was a shabby thing for her to do to Dan, going off like that without a word, but I still think I did the right thing, helping her. She wouldn’t have got away from him otherwise. He would never have let her go. I’m telling you, where his daughter’s concerned, he’s completely insane. You’d think he was normal if you met him, but he’s not. He’s really not.’

  Geraldine listened carefully to Veronica’s account of her stepdaughter’s trip to America. She was not sure if this was relevant to the case she was investigating or not.

&n
bsp; ‘And her father has no idea where she is?’ she asked.

  Veronica shook her head emphatically. ‘She made me promise not to tell him. She’s afraid he’d follow her there and find her and try to drag her home.’

  ‘But in the meantime, he doesn’t know where she is.’

  ‘Don’t you see? This is the only way she can feel she’s free of him?’

  ‘What if he thinks she’s dead?’

  Veronica looked solemn. ‘I think that’s what she’s hoping. In a way, she wants to be dead to him. That’s the only way she can be free to live her own life.’

  Geraldine thought it sounded extreme, but she didn’t say so. When she asked where she could find Dan, Veronica insisted she first promise not to tell him where Bethany was.

  ‘I can’t make any promises like that,’ Geraldine replied. ‘If you refuse to give me his address, I can find out from the borough intelligence unit.’ Veronica didn’t know that Geraldine no longer had access to any information the police force could supply. ‘Either way, we’ll find him and contact him, so you might as well tell me where he is.’

  She made a note of his address and stood up to leave.

  ‘Or you might find him at the garage where he works,’ Veronica added.

  With a start, Geraldine heard her name the garage where Chris had taken his van for repairs.

  61

  Trying to make sense of what she had just heard, Geraldine left. In view of what Veronica had said, it seemed possible that Daniel had killed Jamie and framed Chris for the murder, in the mistaken belief that Chris had abducted and killed Bethany. He had committed the murder with the double satisfaction of knowing that Chris would not only lose his wife, but that he would be convicted of the murder himself. If Geraldine’s suspicion was true, he had exacted a terrible revenge on the man he believed had killed his daughter. And all the while, Bethany had been in New York.

  But Daniel couldn’t have killed Louise, because there was no way he could have known she was arriving at Euston station at seven fifteen on the night she disappeared – unless there was some connection between them that Geraldine knew nothing about. It was maddening that she was unable to question Chris to find out whether he or Louise had known Daniel. All Geraldine could do was prompt Sam to speak to the suspect for her. In the meantime, she wanted to find out as much as she could about the man who had accused Chris of abducting his daughter.

  It was too late to visit him at work, and she was reluctant to go to his home. Any hint of a complaint against her conduct right now might jeopardise any faint hope she still had of remaining on the force. Even though she tried to convince herself she no longer wanted to continue working as a detective, she was desperate not to scupper any chance that she might be allowed to stay. There was nothing more she could do that day. She hesitated to contact Sam again, but she had to pursue what could be a significant lead. Hoping she wasn’t pushing her luck too far, she called Emma’s number.

  Sam sounded wary when she came to the phone. ‘I can’t do any more copying,’ she began.

  ‘No, don’t worry about that. I mean, what you did was brilliant, and more than enough. I just called to thank you.’

  ‘That’s OK. How are you doing?’

  ‘Yes, I’m all right. Have there been any developments?’

  Sam told her that the case against Chris was being compiled and the suspect had become taciturn.

  ‘He hardly speaks to us now, but Adam doesn’t care. He thinks we’ve got enough evidence against him. To be honest, it all seems fairly cut and dried now. Chris isn’t even bothering to protest any more.’

  ‘Has he confessed?’

  ‘No, not in so many words, but he isn’t denying his guilt either.’

  Not denying guilt was not the same as confessing to it.

  ‘There is one thing I need you to do for me,’ Geraldine said.

  ‘I’m not sure I ought to be…’

  ‘Just this one last thing,’ Geraldine replied.

  She was counting on Sam appreciating how difficult it was for her to have to beg where previously she had been able to command. Predictably, Sam caved in straight away.

  ‘Oh, go on then. What is it?’

  Geraldine explained that she wanted Sam to question the suspect about a man called Daniel Saunders.

  ‘Daniel Saunders?’ Sam repeated.

  ‘Just ask him how well he knows him.’

  ‘How am I supposed to do that? I mean, I can’t just throw it in. Oh, and by the way, tell me about a man called Daniel Saunders. What if he doesn’t want to talk. I told you, he’s not being at all co-operative. I think his brief’s warned him he’s going down, and he’s in an almighty sulk. I’ll be lucky if I can get him to say two words.’

  ‘Try goading him. We have to find out if he knew Daniel Saunders.’

  ‘You need to give me a bit more than that, Geraldine. I need to know who this man is, and how he’s supposed to fit into the case. I mean, is he a witness? If so, you really need to share what you’ve found out. You can’t go carrying out an investigation on your own.’

  ‘Listen, Daniel Saunders is the man who accused Chris of abducting his daughter.’

  ‘Oh yes, I remember. It came to nothing though. There was no case to investigate.’

  ‘Not for us, but what if Daniel was convinced he was right in his suspicions? What if he went to Chris’s house to look for his daughter, only while he was there he killed Jamie and left Chris to take the blame for her murder? A wife for a daughter.’

  ‘OK, there’s motive, of a sort, I suppose, although it sounds pretty crazy.’

  ‘When is murder not crazy?’

  ‘But how is he supposed to have done it?’

  ‘This is where it all becomes interesting.’

  ‘Go on, I’m listening.’

  Aware that she didn’t have much time, Geraldine hurriedly explained that Daniel worked at the garage where Chris’s van had been taken in for repairs. ‘So it’s not a huge leap of imagination to suppose he might have spotted the van, recognised the registration number, and realised he had found the man he suspected of abducting his daughter. It could have been Daniel who drove the van on the night of the murder.’

  ‘But the van was back with Chris on the night of the murder.’

  ‘Only according to the paperwork in the garage, which could have been doctored after we left.’

  ‘OK, I’m following so far. So the idea is that Daniel killed Jamie and framed Chris, all in the name of revenge.’

  ‘Yes. It’s unlikely, I know, but it’s possible. Only then Louise turned up to give Chris an alibi so Daniel had to get rid of her.’ Geraldine paused. ‘That’s where I come unstuck.’

  ‘Because there’s no way Daniel could have known Louise was going to arrive at Euston when she did.’

  ‘Unless he knew Chris, or Louise. That’s why I want you to question Chris, without anyone realising what you’re up to – you’ll have to say it’s something you thought of. Whatever you do, don’t mention you were talking to me. And then you need to speak to Louise’s husband again, and find out if he knew Daniel. Perhaps he took his car to that garage. Somehow there has to be a link between Daniel and Louise which meant he knew she was expected at Euston on the seven fifteen train.’

  Sam was reluctant to follow up the lead. Adam was confident they had arrested the killer. They were hoping to get a confession out of Chris but, even without one, the case against him was more or less watertight, at least in terms of his wife’s death. Louise was more problematic.

  ‘That’s the point,’ Geraldine interrupted her friend. ‘Daniel Saunders might help us to clear up the second murder. It has to be worth a try. But I really need to know of any possible connection between him and Chris. Just ask him, Sam. Ask him how well he knew Daniel Saunders and let me know exactly how he responds, what he
says, how he looks…’

  ‘OK, I know how to question a suspect,’ Sam interrupted her irritably.

  Geraldine smiled. ‘Thank you. Call me tomorrow and let me know what he says. Please, Sam. This is really important.’

  Geraldine hardly slept that night. She waited all morning for the phone to ring. Sam wouldn’t be able to call her from work, but given how important this was, Geraldine hoped she would call her as soon as possible. By late morning she had still heard nothing, and was struggling to control her impatience. There was nothing she could do but wait. She made a few calls trying to trace what had happened to Helena, but could discover nothing. Everything in her life was conspiring to frustrate her.

  Finally her phone rang, at lunch time.

  ‘Did you speak to him?’

  ‘Yes, I tried,’ Sam replied, ‘but there was no point. He’s completely unresponsive. It’s like he’s given up. He knows he’s beaten.’

  ‘Did he react when you mentioned Daniel Saunders’ name?’

  ‘No. But, to be fair, he didn’t respond to any questioning.’

  Geraldine thanked Sam, but they had nothing more to say to one another.

  ‘I hope the situation gets resolved soon, one way or another,’ Sam said after an awkward pause. ‘All this waiting around in limbo must be driving you nuts.’

  Geraldine didn’t admit that she had been keeping herself busy studying the files Sam had given her.

  ‘There is one other thing you could do for me,’ Geraldine said. ‘Nothing to do with the case.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  Geraldine explained that she hadn’t seen her sister since Helena had voluntarily left the rehabilitation clinic. There was very little Sam could do to help, but she agreed to ask around and see what she could discover. Geraldine had to be content with that. With so much to worry about, and more enforced inactivity, she thought she might go stir crazy. It was a few weeks since she had last seen her adopted sister. In desperation, she picked up the phone.