‘Aidan Power has worked for Todd Publishing for three years, before that he worked with Oisin Publishing for ten. He left after falling out with the owner with whom he’d had a seven-year relationship. From all accounts,’ he looked around the room, ‘and there are multiple, it wasn’t an amicable split. Power arrived home to find his partner in bed with a woman.’
‘Finding out your partner of seven years is a lesbian might make him a little bitter,’ Andrews said.
Baxter grinned. ‘No, you have it wrong. Power’s partner was Oisin O’Leary. Power is homosexual. The insult was that O’Leary strayed with a woman, not another man.’
‘Ah,’ West and Andrews said in unison.
‘So it isn’t me he doesn’t like,’ Kelly said, drawing three pairs of eyes toward her. ‘I couldn’t understand why he disliked me so much; it’s women in general he doesn’t like. Although,’ she frowned, ‘he made it seem personal.’
‘Maybe you look like her,’ Andrews suggested, ‘maybe you’ve the same colouring. It might have brought it back to him.’
‘It might be worth while checking to see if he ever enacted any form of revenge on the woman O’Leary was with.’
Andrews nodded. ‘I’ll look into it.’
Baxter shuffled on the desk. ‘I’m not finished,’ he said with a grin, ‘in fact, I’ve left the best to last.’
‘Well,’ West said.
‘Guess who Owen Grady is related to,’ Baxter said, and then getting a warning glance from Andrews to stop playing games, he hurried on. ‘He’s Amanda Pratt’s brother.’ He glanced over at Kelly. He didn’t have to spell it out; they all knew who she was. The widow of Cyril Pratt aka Simon Johnson, the man Kelly still thought of as her late-husband. Andrews gave a low whistle. He’d interviewed Amanda Pratt; she was a piece of work.
Kelly looked shocked, her face even paler than it had been. She turned wide eyes to West but said nothing.
He was checking the time. Five o’clock. If they were in luck they might catch both men. Giving Andrews a nod, he said, ‘Ring Power and Grady, ask them to come in. If they refuse, tell them we’ll send uniformed gardai to their offices in the morning with a warrant.’
Andrews didn’t need to be told twice. He left and seconds later they heard his deep voice in conversation.
Baxter with a quick look at West and Kelly, shuffled to his feet, murmured something inaudible and left the room kicking the make-shift door-stop out as he past to allow the door close after him.
West knew there was no point in asking Kelly to go home, she wouldn’t go and they’d end up having a row. He was about to suggest that she stay in his office until after they’d interviewed the men when she turned sad eyes on him.
‘Amanda Pratt’s brother,’ she said, and shook her head. ‘It seems I’m never going to be able to put that whole terrible ordeal behind me.’ Standing, she walked a few steps, turned and walked back. ‘The whole situation was explained to her, wasn’t it? She knows it wasn’t my fault, doesn’t she?’
He nodded. ‘A family liaison officer went and explained. You know, Peter said that there was little love lost between the pair and a very healthy life insurance policy has left her and her two children well cared for.’
‘So you don’t think she bears a grudge?’ she said, sitting back in her chair.
West shrugged. ‘I don’t see why she should,’ he said, trying to reassure her. But the one thing he’d learned from working with the public was that there was no accounting for what they did. Perceived grievances could be held for a long time by some people. Maybe Grady held a grudge on his sister’s behalf.
Andrews knocked, and stuck his head around the door. ‘It took a bit of persuading,’ he said, ‘and a heavy emphasis on uniformed gardai in squad cars arriving with sirens blazing to escort them in tomorrow morning. But finally, our two law-abiding, upstanding gentlemen saw sense and agreed to come of their own accord.’
‘Good. Show them into separate interview rooms, we’ll conduct them one at a time.’
Once Andrews had gone, he turned to Kelly. ‘Before they get here, I’d like you to make an official statement. It will just make our lives a little easier and ensure that there’ll be no room for them to wriggle out of any charges.’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘of course.’
‘Good,’ he slipped a few sheets of paper across the desk. ‘Just write exactly what happened, starting with the phone call you had from Hugh Todd and finishing when you came into us today. Take your time.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll get you some coffee; we’re going to be here for a while.’
He left her to write her statement, and sat in the office with Andrews and Baxter. ‘Any word from Jarvis regarding that friend of Ollie Fearon’s?’ he asked.
Andrews shook his head. ‘They’ve had no luck chasing him down as yet. They’re still looking.’
It was the way the job went. ‘Slowly, slowly catchy monkey,’ he muttered.
‘Never understood that expression myself,’ Andrews said, ‘why would anyone want to catch a monkey anyway?’
‘To chop off the top of their heads and eat their brains,’ Baxter suggested. He grinned when they both looked at him. ‘It was in that Indiana Jones movie.’
Just then, the phone rang. Andrews, answering it, gave the other two a thumbs-up. ‘Show him into the Big One.’ He hung up. ‘Aidan Power has just arrived. Sergeant Blunt says he doesn’t appear too happy.’
‘Let’s give him a few minutes to settle into his new accommodation,’ West said, picking up his mug and sipping his coffee. ‘Some day,’ he said conversationally, ‘we’re going to invest in some decent coffee.’
They waited five minutes. Baxter sat in the observation room while the other two went to speak to an obviously annoyed Aidan Power. They took the two seats opposite him and West introduced himself and Andrews and warned Power that the interview was being recorded.
‘Just a formality, you understand,’ he said looking at the face of the man who sat opposite, lips and eyes narrowed, a frown on his forehead. ‘Thank you for coming in to help with our enquiries.’
Power’s lips curved into an unattractive sneer. ‘It didn’t look as if I had much choice. Come in now or be dragged here in a blaze of publicity tomorrow. Now,’ he snapped, ‘tell me why I’m here.’
‘You know about the photographs purporting to be Kelly Johnson that were delivered to Mr Todd and Mr Mannion.’
‘Is this is what this is about?’ he said, sitting back with wide eyes. ‘Has that stupid cow said it was my doing?’ He slammed his hands on the table. ‘I told her it was nothing to do with me.’ Crossing his arms, he sneered. ‘She said they weren’t photographs of her. Well, it looked bloody like her to me.’
West took a deep breath. ‘No, Mr Power, they’re not of her. The photographs have been forensically examined and have been proven to be composites. Now,’ he said, looking him in the eye, ‘if you are, as you claim, innocent of any wrong-doing in this regard, can you explain your obvious antagonism toward Ms Johnson.’
Power looked down his nose at him. ‘Antagonism? I just don’t like the woman. So sue me.’
West and Andrews stayed silent. It was obvious there was something more to it than that. They could wait.
‘Oh for goodness sake,’ Power said, uncrossing his arms and resting his hands on the table. ‘If you must know, although why it’s any of your business I don’t know, but if you must, I’ll tell you.’ He ran a hand over his face. ‘Once upon a time,’ he started, ‘there was an enthusiastic young man who fell in love with an older man and was happy for many years. One day, this innocent young man came home and found him in bed with a woman. A woman,’ he repeated with disgust. ‘He was devastated.
‘Many years later, this now cynical man fell in love again. When he started to hear his new love talk about a woman they both knew, he began to suspect the same thing might happen again. And he was angry.’ He stopped and looked from West to Andrews. ‘The end.’
‘Th
e first older man, that was Oisin O’Leary, I assume,’ West said, letting the man know they’d already done some digging.
Power gave a sad smile. All anger was gone. Gripping one of his hands in the other, he said, ‘It took me a couple of years to come to terms with what happened. And then I met Owen and thought, maybe, I was getting a second chance.
West and Andrews resisted the temptation to look at one another. Power and Grady were a couple?
‘That’s Owen Grady, isn’t it,’ West said, going for it.
He nodded. ‘Stupidly, I’m the one who suggested him to her. He’s trying to build his client base. She looked to be going places and I thought I’d be doing him a favour.’
‘What happened,’ West nudged when he didn’t speak for a while.
‘He met her, and then it was all Kelly this and Kelly that until I could hardly bear it. I accused him of having feelings for her but he just laughed and told me I was getting paranoid.’
‘So you sent the photographs to destroy her professionally?’
Power, who’d drifted off into his own little world, looked up sharply. ‘What? No, I tell you, I didn’t send the damn photographs. I wouldn’t destroy anyone professionally, and certainly not personally. I’ve been there; I wouldn’t inflict that kind of pain on anyone.’
The two detectives exchanged glances. They believed him.
‘One last question,’ West asked. ‘Why did you lie to Ms Johnson when she asked you if you knew Owen Grady?’
‘I wasn’t getting into a discussion about Owen with her,’ he said simply.
West saw the truth in his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to get into discussion with her about the man he loved, because he was afraid she’d admit to having an affair with him.
He pushed back from the table and stood. ‘This interview is terminated,’ he said for the benefit of the tape, stating the time and date. He looked down at the still seated man. ‘We’ve no further questions for you, Mr Power. Thank you for coming to assist with our enquiries.’
Power stood. All the fight had left him during the recounting of his story. Without a glance at either of the detectives, he left the room.
21
West and Andrews joined Baxter in the observation room.
‘Power and Grady,’ Baxter said when they sat down. ‘That was a bit of a surprise, wasn’t it? They’ve kept that quiet, nothing on social media about their being an item.’
‘What did you make of his story,’ West asked him.
Baxter ran a hand through his ginger hair, making it stand on end. ‘He went from confrontational to pathetic very quickly. I think his bravado is all front and that the innocent boy that was so hurt by O’Leary is never very far away.
West blinked. He hadn’t expected such a thoughtful reply. He agreed with him.
‘Any word on Grady?’
‘He’s waiting in the Other One,’ Baxter said. He moved to the water cooler in the corner and filled a tumbler for each of them.
‘Right,’ West said. He drained the glass, before scrunching it and throwing it into the wire rubbish bin. ‘Let’s go and see what Grady has to say for himself. If Power didn’t send the photographs, then maybe he did.’
Owen Grady looked up and smiled when they came into the room. West introduced them and they sat down.
‘This interview is being recorded, Mr Grady,’ he said before stating the date and time and the names of those present.
When he’d finished, to the surprise of both detectives, Grady laughed and said, ‘This is great, really great.’
West and Andrews exchanged glances. Was he on something?
‘You seem to be unusually happy about being here, Mr Grady.’
Grady laughed. ‘I am, and I’ll tell you why, shall I?’
‘Well, if it saves us having to go and get the police doctor to certify that you haven’t taken any mood-altering drugs, that would be of benefit,’ West said caustically.
‘No, I’m on a natural high. You see, after years of watching authors have their novels published, I decided to write one myself. A crime novel, sergeant, set in Dublin. This,’ he waved his hands around the room, ‘will allow me to give it veracity.’
‘We’re happy to be of use,’ West said, wondering if the day would come when people stopped surprising him. He certainly hoped not. ‘Perhaps you can return the favour and answer some questions for us.’
‘Fire away,’ Grady said, ‘I’ve nothing to hide.’
‘Not even your relationship with Aidan Power?’
Grady’s smile faded a little. ‘Keeping it quiet was his idea, not mine.’ He shrugged. ‘He has trust issues.’ He looked from one detective to the other. ‘You’ve hardly brought me here to ask about my relationship with Aide, have you?’
‘No, West said, ‘you’re here to assist in our investigation into the photographs that were sent to Todd’s and Books Inc purporting to be of ...’
‘Kelly Johnson,’ Grady interrupted him. ‘Is that what this is all about? She was in with me earlier today. You can’t think I’ve anything to do with sending them?’
‘During your conversation you mentioned her partner’s name, but she maintains she never told you about him.’
He laughed. ‘I know her partner’s name and therefore I’m the guilty party. Seriously?’ He shrugged dismissively. ‘I must have heard the name somewhere.’
‘From your sister, Amanda, maybe?’
All trace of good humour left Grady’s face. ‘I should have guessed she’d come into this somewhere. Yes, ok, I probably heard his name from her. She told me all about what happened to that piece of shit she married. For a while, she became obsessed with the other life he’d led and tried to find out everything she could about it, especially about Kelly Johnson, where she moved to what she worked at etcetera. She knew about her relationship with some garda who was involved in her husband’s case.’ He stopped and closed his eyes briefly. ‘Of course,’ he said, staring at West. ‘Mike West. I’d forgotten your surname until now. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
‘Would that obsession have led Amanda to send those photographs? Trying to destroy Kelly personally and professionally to get revenge?’
Grady shook his head firmly. ‘She’s over that. Cyril was an idiot but at least he had the wit to have good life insurance. Money is a good balm, you know.’ He smiled. ‘As is the new man in her life, he must be good for her, she looks happier than I’ve seen her in years. The past is behind her, she’s moved on.’
They’d have to follow it up, but if he was right it looked like Amanda Pratt was out of the picture.
But he wasn’t giving up on Grady yet. ‘Why did you take Kelly on as a client?’
He held up his hands. ‘I swear, I didn’t know who she was until I met her and then I recognised her from photographs Amanda had shown me during her obsessive phase.’ He frowned. ‘I would have assumed she’d go back to using her maiden name. Why did she hang on to the surname Johnson? It wasn’t as if she was ever legally married to the lying toe rag.’
Andrews glanced side-ways at West. It was something he’d wondered himself but it never felt right to ask.
West looked as if he were going to ignore the question, and then with a sigh, said, ‘Cyril stole Simon Johnson’s identity and as a result, he was killed. Kelly made a promise to his sister that she’d keep the surname in his memory.’
‘She’s a pretty decent sort, isn’t she? I watched her walk away from the office both times she came to see me, wondering what she ever saw in the likes of Cyril. He was a waster. A total dick. I never knew what Amanda saw in him, but, much as I love my sister, I’d be the first to acknowledge, she’s a bit rough. Kelly is in a different league, good-looking, very classy and intelligent. I’ll never understand why she fell for him.’
‘He was a good liar,’ West said, ‘and the truth is, people generally see what they want to.’
Grady nodded and then he looked West straight in the eye. ‘I can see why you might have thou
ght we had something to do with those photographs, but I swear we didn’t.’ He shrugged. ‘Amanda has the capability, don’t get me wrong, but if she’d been going to do something, she’d have done it a long time ago.’
West catching Andrews’ quick look nodded. There was nothing here. ‘We had Mr Power in earlier,’ he said, watching Grady’s eyes widen in surprise.
‘Aide? You can’t think he’d had anything to do with this?’ His voice became high-pitched and he blinked rapidly. ‘Seriously, Aide isn’t capable of inflicting that kind of harm.’
‘No, maybe not,’ West conceded. ‘He has, however shown a level of animosity toward Ms Johnson that warranted looking into.’
‘Animosity?’ Grady’s forehead creased. ‘I thought they got on ok.’
‘Perhaps you should stop talking about her in such an admiring fashion. I gather Mr Power had an unfortunate experience with Oisin O’Leary.’
Both detectives watched as the penny dropped with a resounding clunk. Grady slapped his forehead with his hand. ‘He’s jealous of her?’ He crinkled his nose. ‘No disrespect, Kelly’s lovely but she’s a woman.’ He stood up. ‘I assume I can go? It looks as if I have some explaining to do.’
At West’s nod, he smiled. ‘Thank you,’ he said, reaching out his hand. ‘If you ever get tired of being a policeman, a role as relationship counsellor might suit you.’
On that note, he left with a cheery wave.
‘Well,’ Andrews said, crossing his arms. ‘We went pretty rapidly from three potential suspects to none.’
‘Get someone in Cork to check out Amanda Pratt, will you? I think Grady is telling us the truth but we’d better dot that i.’ He ran both hands through his hair. ‘Kelly is not going to be happy.
It was an under-statement. Kelly was furious. ‘It had to have been one of them,’ she said when he told her what had happened. She paced his small office, her arms wrapped around her waist as if trying to hold herself together.
‘They had reasonable explanations for everything,’ he said, keeping his voice calm.
She dropped down into the chair and rubbed her face. Everything he’d said sounded reasonable. ‘Aidan was jealous of me?’
Death in Foxrock (A Garda West Crime novel Book 4) Page 16
