Picture Her Dead (Rhona Macleod)

by Lin Anderson

  ‘So someone could have borrowed the van?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Is the van always parked up outside?’

  ‘Occasionally Jimmy takes it home if he has an early collection.’

  ‘Do you have a note of when that happens?’

  ‘No. That’s Angus’s department.’

  ‘What happens to the furniture you can’t sell?’

  ‘We give some bits to homeless charities. If it’s in poor condition we take it to the dump.’

  ‘How often do you use the dump?’

  ‘Once a week on average.’

  Carol was working out what was behind all the questions. ‘You don’t think someone from the shop was involved in this, do you?’

  ‘Someone locked the door to the projection room. I’d like to know who that was.’

  Carol shook her head in bafflement. ‘I have no idea, Detective Inspector.’

  Bill left her then, feeling troubled. He’d planted a seed of suspicion in Carol’s head about her staff and she wasn’t happy about it. Bill knew the feeling well.

  Suspicion was the only thing occupying his own mind at the moment.

  He got into the car, although he was really too tired to drive, or to think clearly. He called DS Clark and told her he was headed home to catch up on some sleep.

  ‘But if anything comes up, I want to know about it. Right away, please. Got that?’

  Bill opened the front door to a silent house and realised both Margaret and the kids would be at school. He climbed the stairs wearily and lay down on top of the bed, his mobile close by where he would hear it if it rang.

  56

  Rhona eased her mask out a little in order to get a better sense of the smell emanating from the base of the black canvas bag. If what she suspected was true, the bag had been in close proximity to the liquid she’d sampled in the cupboard.

  Decomposition would have begun minutes after Jude’s death. Soon after that enzymes would have begun to dissolve her cells from the inside out, causing them to rupture and release nutrient-rich fluids, blistering the skin. Hence the seepage.

  Rhona doubted whether Jude had lain in the cupboard for long after the initial stage. Even if the corpse was wrapped, putrefaction would have left more of an impact in that enclosed space. Someone, she would guess, had shifted the body as soon as possible and certainly within forty-eight hours.

  It followed that Jason had lied about the backpack. It couldn’t have picked up a deposit such as this from the foyer or the locker. It had to have been in contact with the body or hidden in the cupboard.

  Bill’s voice was bleary when he finally answered his mobile.

  ‘Did I wake you?’ said Rhona apologetically.

  ‘No problem. What is it?’

  ‘The same fluid was on the bag as in the cupboard.’

  ‘So Jason was lying about where he found the bag?’

  ‘It looks like it.’

  Bill made an exasperated noise. ‘I’ve had it with that pair.’

  ‘You think they’re both involved?’

  ‘I think Angus has been covering for him all along.’

  Bill had a quick shower and fixed himself a sandwich, then wrote a note for Margaret and left it on the kitchen table.

  He’d already called DS Clark and asked her to organise the arrest warrants, one for Jason and one for Angus. Gradually everything was coming into focus. The way Angus had avoided admitting his connection to Jason, although they lived in the same house. The changing stories, always, Bill suspected, concocted by Angus. Angus’s blatant admission that he looked out for Jason, even to the point of lying for him.

  Bill drew up in front of the semi-detached house from the previous night. There was no van there now, but the sitting-room light was on, as was a light in an upper room. Bill walked up the path and rang the doorbell. It was Angus who answered.

  ‘DI Wilson.’

  ‘Can I come in?’

  ‘Of course.’

  Angus led him into the sitting room. Bill was reminded of Carol’s house. This time the suite was leather and still too big for the room. Angus waved him to a seat.

  ‘What’s up now?’

  Bill decided to be blunt. ‘A forensic examination has shown Jude’s bag was in contact with a dead body, probably hers.’

  ‘What?’ Angus looked bewildered. ‘I don’t understand. Jason said he found it in the foyer.’

  ‘I know. I have to ask you, Angus. Did you help Jason remove Jude’s body from the cinema?’

  Angus looked at him in horror. ‘You really believe he harmed that lassie?’

  ‘It looks that way.’

  Angus buried his head in his hands. When he emerged, he looked a broken man.

  ‘I thought he was OK. After the last time, he promised he would …’ He stuttered to a halt. When he spoke again, his voice was almost too low for Bill to hear. ‘Jason asked for the van keys last Wednesday night. When I asked why, he said a mate had bought a stereo from the shop. He wanted to deliver it himself. I gave him the keys.’ The pain of what he was saying showed on Angus’s face.

  ‘Is Jason here?’

  ‘Upstairs.’

  When he appeared Jason looked flushed, like an embarrassed teenager called to face his elders. Bill told him to sit down.

  ‘Where did you find the bag, Jason?’

  He looked surprised. ‘I told you. In the foyer.’

  ‘Tell the truth now, boy,’ Angus ordered, sharply.

  ‘It is the truth.’ Jason’s eyes darted from Angus to Bill and back again.

  ‘The bag has been in contact with a dead body,’ Bill said. ‘Jude’s.’

  ‘What? Jason shook his head wildly. ‘No way! It was sitting in the foyer. Abi saw it first—’ he stopped dead.

  ‘Abi?’ Bill said.

  Jason visibly cringed under Angus’s furious glare.

  ‘The wee lassie from the coffee shop? Jesus, boy, she’s only thirteen.’

  ‘She’s fourteen and we didn’t do anything. I just took her in to show her the balcony.’

  ‘You were with a girl?’ Bill said.

  Jason nodded. ‘It was Abi who noticed the bag first.’

  ‘Where was the bag exactly?’

  ‘At the door to the basement. I had a look inside and saw the camera. I told Abi a girl had been there photographing the cinema and she must have forgotten it.’

  ‘You never saw this bag on Tuesday night?’

  Jason shook his head.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before, Jason?’

  ‘Why d’you think?’ Jason looked at Angus.

  ‘What about the van?’ Bill said.

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘You borrowed it on Wednesday night. Why?’

  Jason shrugged as though giving up on the fight. ‘I took Abi out for a run.’

  ‘What?’ Angus exploded from the sidelines. ‘You said—’

  ‘We only went as far as Victoria Park. Parked up and listened to Radio One.’

  ‘And Abi will vouch for that?’

  ‘I told her not to say anything.’

  ‘I’ll need Abi’s address,’ Bill said.

  ‘Her mother runs the coffee place across the road from the shop,’ Angus told him. ‘Her name’s Joanne Fisher.’

  57

  Bill pushed open the coffee shop door.

  ‘Back again?’ Joanne flashed him a smile. ‘The usual?’

  ‘Just tea. Can you spare a few minutes to talk to me?’

  ‘OK.’ She looked intrigued. ‘I’ll tell Abi to keep an eye on the counter.’ She disappeared into the back and re-emerged with a young girl in tow. Dressed in school uniform, she looked younger than fourteen, despite the make-up. A grumpy look on her face, she settled herself on a stool and produced a magazine, which she proceeded to flick through.

  Bill wondered how he was going to play this. He hadn’t expected Abi to be there, although it might prove easier in the long run.

  Joanne
brought his order to the table along with a cup for herself.

  ‘Right. How can I help?’

  ‘I wondered if you knew Jason Donald. The lad that works across in the storeroom of the charity shop?’

  Joanne’s eyes flicked between Bill and her daughter. ‘Why d’you want to know?’

  ‘Jason says he’s been seeing your daughter, Abi. I wondered if that was true?’

  Joanne was silent for a moment. ‘He’s too old for her. She’s only just turned fourteen.’

  ‘So she knows him?’

  Joanne nodded.

  ‘Could I speak to Abi?’

  She looked guarded. ‘I don’t know about that.’

  ‘It’s important, or I wouldn’t ask.’

  Joanne crossed to the counter and spoke quietly to Abi, who shot Bill a frightened look. Her mother brought her across and they both sat down at the table.

  ‘Abi, I’m Bill Wilson. I’m trying to find out what happened to a girl a little older than you who disappeared from the cinema across the road last Tuesday night. You heard about that?’

  She nodded.

  ‘And you know Jason Donald?’

  Abi tried to avoid her mother’s eye.

  ‘He works across in the storeroom.’

  ‘You’re friends?’

  She considered whether she could admit that much. ‘I know him,’ she conceded.

  ‘Have you ever gone into the old cinema building with him?’

  ‘No!’ She sounded shocked, but she could be a good actress.

  ‘So you weren’t in the cinema with him last Wednesday night?’

  Abi shook her head vehemently.

  ‘Did you go out in the van for a run with him on the same night?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Then Jason is lying?’

  Now she looked unsure.

  ‘Because he said you did and he told you not to tell anyone.’

  Joanne intervened. ‘I want you to tell the Detective Inspector the truth, Abi. I won’t be mad at you.’

  Abi didn’t look convinced.

  ‘But I will be mad if you lie,’ Joanne continued sternly.

  Abi shrugged. ‘I wanted to see the old cinema. Jason took me in.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘You want to know about the bag, don’t you?’

  ‘What bag?’ said her mother.

  Abi looked uncertain again, then made up her mind. ‘There was a backpack with camera stuff in it lying in the foyer.’

  ‘Did Jason say anything about the bag?’

  ‘He thought it belonged to the girl who’d been there taking photos. He said she’d come back for it.’

  ‘Then what happened?’

  ‘He showed me the old balcony,’ she flushed, ‘then we went in the van to Victoria Park and listened to Radio One. Then I came home.’

  Joanne Fisher looked at Bill. ‘Is that what you wanted to know?’

  ‘It is.’

  Joanne took her daughter’s hand and squeezed it.

  58

  ‘His name is actually Philip Matheson,’ said Janice. ‘He maintains he never knew Dominic McGeehan, just stole his identity. He was in debt, a lot of it. Started running it up when he was a student, and added some more via gambling as he tried to repay the original sum. Eighty grand in total. It was easier to leave that behind.’

  ‘And his story checks out?’

  ‘It does, Sir.’

  ‘OK, back to Nelson. What about the material you took from his yacht?’

  ‘The team are still working through it, but the opinion is we can charge him under Section 34.’

  It was something, but not yet enough for Bill. ‘And no sign of the reel of film?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘I want Nelson brought back in and detained on suspicion of being in possession of extreme pornography.’ Bill rose. ‘I’m going to speak to the Super.’

  ‘You’re confident that the material viewed can be prosecuted under Section 34?’

  ‘A number of the moving images realistically depict an act which takes or threatens a person’s life. Even if the person consented—’

  The Super cut him off. ‘I don’t need to be reminded what Section 34 says.’

  ‘There’s more than just that, Sir. Nelson has a library of extreme images. He used to manage the charity shop and had access to the old cinema around the time of the killing. Dr MacLeod has identified Gavin Maclean’s DNA on the corpse. I believe there is a strong possibility that MacLean and Nelson were known to one another.’

  ‘What has that to do with the missing girl?’

  ‘The film Jude Evans discovered in the Olympia was in a similar vein to Nelson’s material. On the night she disappeared, Jude had arranged to meet Nelson about that film.’

  ‘This will reopen the MacLean case?’

  ‘Gavin MacLean’s semen was on the cinema victim.’

  Sutherland made an exasperated noise.

  ‘I sincerely hope you’re not going to hound members of the public who have already been cleared in the MacLean case?’

  ‘Not unless their image appears in any of the captured material, Sir.’

  ‘I want any such evidence run past me before you act on it, Detective Inspector.’

  ‘Of course, Sir.’

  Bill left then, thinking to himself that if Dalrymple was identified as an onlooker or participant in any of the material taken from Nelson’s library – or for that matter in the older film – he would take great delight in going straight to Sutherland to tell him.

  ‘Nelson’s here, Sir.’

  ‘Any word from the lab on his car?’

  DS Clark shook her head. ‘Not yet. Shall I give them a call?’

  ‘Get Campbell to do that. Tell him to break in on us if we get a result. You come with me.’

  While Bill waited outside the interview room for Janice to catch him up, he observed the suspect through the glass. Nelson already had a lawyer with him, and judging by the smart cut of his suit, an expensive one.

  Clark arrived. ‘Dr MacLeod will get a message to us as soon as they have anything.’

  Bill had to be content with that.

  They entered and took seats opposite Nelson. Bill’s first thought was that the old bugger looked pleased with himself.

  Bill started the ball rolling. ‘Are you aware of Section 34?’ When Nelson didn’t reply, Bill quoted him its contents and said, ‘It is under this section that we plan to charge you.’

  Nelson didn’t look perturbed; in fact, Bill could have sworn he made out a smothered smile.

  ‘No comment.’

  Bill felt his hackles rise. He would be lucky to get anything out of Nelson, especially with his lawyer present to tell him when to keep quiet. Bill longed for the day, only just recently, when he could have had Nelson all to himself for six hours.

  ‘Where were you last Tuesday evening?’

  ‘At home.’

  ‘Can anyone vouch for that?’

  ‘I live alone, as you well know, Inspector.’

  ‘So you didn’t arrange to meet Jude Evans about an old film reel?’

  ‘I already told you, our arrangement was for Wednesday evening at six o’clock.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘At the Rosevale on Dumbarton Road.’

  ‘But she didn’t turn up?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘You waited for her? Where?’

  ‘On the side street.’

  ‘Was the shop’s van parked there?’

  ‘I don’t know. Yes, I think so.’

  ‘How long did you wait?’

  ‘Twenty minutes.’

  ‘There’s a CCTV camera nearby, so we should be able to check that.’

  Nelson’s confident expression slipped a little.

  ‘Your car had a lot of loose soil on the pedals and the mudguards. Care to tell me why?’

  ‘It’s muddy down where the yacht’s moored.’

  ‘The soil came from there?’

  �
��Yes.’

  ‘Soil is unique to location. So we’ll be checking that too.’

  The mask of confidence slipped some more. Nelson looked to his lawyer, who shook his head.

  ‘As I understand it, Jude was taking photographs of derelict Glasgow cinemas for her Art School project. In the Olympia Bridgeton she found an old film reel. She contacted people online to try to find out more about the film, and was given your name. You were keen to see the film. Am I right so far?’

  Nelson nodded reluctantly.

  ‘For the benefit of the tape, Mr Nelson has nodded. Jude arrived at the Rosevale at four thirty on Tuesday evening. She re-emerged around five thirty only to discover she’d left her recorder inside. The storeman let her back in to look for it.’

  Nelson sat back, looking bored.

  ‘When she hadn’t reappeared an hour later, Jason Donald was sent to check on her. Both men believed she’d left, and Angus locked up.’

  ‘If you say so, Inspector. As I say, I wasn’t there.’

  ‘Do you have a set of keys for the charity shop?’

  ‘I do not,’ Nelson said firmly.

  ‘And you weren’t in the Rosevale cinema on Tuesday night?’

  ‘Most definitely not. I never went into the old cinema, even when I worked in the shop.’ Nelson seemed adamant.

  ‘What about the basement?’

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘Were you ever in the basement of the old cinema?’

  ‘No. Why would I be?’

  ‘Did you ever meet Jude Evans?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘She did not give you the film reel?’

  ‘I never met her, I told you.’

  ‘When you heard she’d gone missing, why didn’t you come forward?’

  ‘It wasn’t my business. I didn’t know the girl.’

  The lawyer intervened. ‘Can we get to the reason my client was brought here? The material removed from his yacht.’

  ‘Did you know what Jude’s film reel contained, Mr Nelson?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Jude didn’t describe what was on it?’

  ‘She just said it was old and where she’d found it.’

  ‘Are you familiar with the Olympia Bridgeton?’

  ‘In its heyday, yes.’

  ‘Did you know the projectionist there, a man called Brian Foster?’

  Nelson visibly started, something noted by his lawyer, who quickly intervened.