Concrete Evidence; Crime Book 6 (Detective Alec Ramsay Crime Mystery Suspense Series)

by Conrad Jones

  “I didn’t make any device,” he hissed angrily. “For God’s sake, you have to believe me.”

  “I told you that our tech guys are thorough. You’ll see what I mean here, Tod.” Stirling put two pieces of A4 on the table. “This was taken from your laptop’s deleted history,” he paused to let it sink in. “You searched and browsed three different sites for instructions on how to build an incendiary device.”

  Tod shook his head. “I looked, that’s all. A friend asked me to. I didn’t do anything about it. I was just looking!”

  “A friend?”

  “Yes.”

  “Which friend?”

  Tod hesitated. “I don’t remember.”

  “The same friend that was with you at the nightclub?”

  “I told you that I was on my own!”

  “Of course you were.” Annie smiled. “Do you think a jury will believe you?”

  “Am I fucking invisible!” Kate Bartlet snapped. Annie was taken aback by her outburst. “Firstly, if you don’t want to heed my advice then I cannot help you,” she said angrily to Tod, “and secondly, I am demanding a legal break to discuss the situation with my client.”

  “How can I say nothing when they’re trying to pin this on me?” Tod pointed to the photos. “This is madness, I didn’t do that!” Tod argued. He looked at Kate Bartlet but she couldn’t meet his gaze. His voice became louder and more urgent. “I am telling all three of you and anyone else that is listening, I didn’t do this!”

  “I really need to speak to my client,” Bartlet murmured. “Don’t say anything more, Tod. You’re making things worse!”

  “Worse?” he moaned. “How can it be worse?”

  “Trust me; it can get much worse if you don’t listen to me.”

  “But I didn’t do this!”

  “The evidence says that you did.” Stirling said gruffly.

  “I really need to speak to my client.”

  “And I really need to know what the hell these idiots are talking about,” Tod snapped. “I want to hear what they’ve got to say.” He glared at the detectives. “I didn’t do this.”

  “The evidence is irrefutable.”

  “Bullshit!” Tod shook his head. “What evidence?”

  “We have seminal DNA inside both victims,” Stirling said gruffly with a thin smile. Harris looked like he had been kicked in the face. “It’s yours, Tod.” Stirling shrugged. “Listen hard. The CCTV footage proves that you drove them home. We can prove that you bought Rohypnol from the internet and the seminal DNA proves that you raped them.” He shrugged again. “And the DVD at your mother’s house seals the deal.”

  “That is enough!” Bartlet slammed her hand on the desk.

  “I’m not a killer.”

  Stirling reached down and picked up a lever-arch file. He opened it and placed it on the table. “How do you explain this?” Tod Harris didn’t look confused anymore; he looked guilty. Stirling pointed to the open file and pushed it towards Bartlet. He turned several plastic sleeves that each displayed a pair of women’s knickers. She looked at the underwear and the colour drained from her face again. “This is quite a collection isn’t it, Tod?” Stirling prompted him. His face flushed red and he closed his eyes. Guilt, embarrassment, fear. “You seem to collect knickers, Tod. Did you take Jayne and Jackie’s knickers and put them in your collection?”

  “No comment,” Tod mumbled. His mind had gone blank, all the bravado gone. “That’s not mine.”

  “Are you telling us that you’ve never seen this collection of underwear?”

  “No comment.”

  “Which is it, Tod?” Annie smiled thinly. “It’s not yours so you haven’t seen this before or no comment?”

  Tod glanced at Bartlet and she shook her head. “You asked me how this could get worse, well this is worse, much worse,” she said harshly. “You shouldn’t say anymore.”

  Tod sighed and looked at Annie. He looked broken. “No comment.”

  “But you just said that this isn’t yours?” Annie frowned. She turned to Stirling. “He did just say that that wasn’t his didn’t he?”

  “He did.”

  “I thought so,” Annie turned back to Tod. “Your fingerprints are all over this, Tod, every page.”

  Silence.

  “You lied to us.”

  Silence.

  “This is yours isn’t it?”

  “No comment.”

  “Your mother was very upset about the search,” Annie said. “She was asking a lot of questions during the search.” She paused. The mention of his mother had visibly upset him. “Unfortunately she saw some of the evidence being removed. It was very upsetting for her.” Tod’s eyes seemed to glaze over. “She saw this collection, imagine what she was thinking. She was even more upset when we recovered the bloody knife.”

  “What knife?” he snapped. He sat bolt upright, his eyes wide like a startled deer.

  “This is ridiculous, Tod,” Bartlet spoke. “I’m advising you to say nothing more! I want a break.”

  “Shut up,” Tod said to her angrily. “I don’t want a fucking break!” Stirling smiled. “I don’t know anything about a knife so what are you talking about?”

  Annie pushed the image of a blood stained knife in front of Bartlet. “We conducted a search of your client’s home,” she tapped the photo. “The knife that was used to cut off Jayne Windsor’s head was found in a filing cabinet in your mother’s shed. It’s covered in her blood.”

  Tod looked at the ceiling and gritted his teeth. Annie could see that he was fighting to control his emotions. He was going into meltdown. His breathing was erratic as he spoke. “There is no way that you found that knife in my mother’s shed,” Tod said angrily. He tried to stand up but he was chained to an anchor between his feet and it clattered against the table. The sudden movement made Annie move back in her seat. His face was like thunder. “That knife has been planted. Will you please listen to what I’m saying? I did not do any of that!”

  His sudden lunge frightened her. Annie tried not to look as flustered as she felt. She felt the tiny muscles around her prosthetic eye twitching. The memories of losing it were still fresh in her mind. She cleared her throat and placed three more crime scene images on the table. “The evidence clearly says that you did it.”

  “No way,” he shook his head and a tear escaped from the corner of one eye. “I didn’t do this to them.”

  “So you keep on saying. I’m ready to listen to your explanation,” Annie shrugged. “If you didn’t do this, explain how your DNA was at both scenes?”

  “For the last time I’m advising you to say nothing more until we have spoken in private, Tod,” Bartlet snapped. “The evidence that you were there is irrefutable, Tod.” She turned to Annie. “I really must insist that we break while I speak to my client.”

  “Shut up,” Tod turned on her. “I am telling you that I didn’t do that. I didn’t kill anyone and if you don’t believe me then get out and I’ll find another lawyer!” He looked at Annie and shook his head. “I can see how this looks but I didn’t kill anyone.”

  “Then this is your opportunity to explain your side of the story,” Annie pointed to the photographs. “You see despite the fact that they’re dead, your victims have already told us their side through the evidence and at this moment in time, everything is pointing to you.” She sat back and smiled thinly.

  The brief stood up. “I can see that the evidence is overwhelming, Inspector, and my client hasn’t been a hundred percent forthcoming with me,” Bartlet said assertively. She had had enough. “At this point, I think it only right and proper for you to give me ten minutes alone with my client whether he wants it or not. I must insist!”

  Annie looked at Stirling and raised her eyebrows. He grunted and stood up. “You’ve got five minutes. Unless we hear something mind blowing, then we’re going to charge him with what we have.” Bartlet nodded and turned to Tod, her face a mixture of fear and anger. “DI Jones and DS Stirling are leavin
g the room for a five minute recess.”

  Annie and Stirling stepped out of the room and a uniformed officer stepped in to guard Harris, closing the door behind him. Annie looked at her watch and leaned her back against the wall. Alec spotted them and waved. “Why have you stopped?” He had a look of concern on his face. “What’s happened?”

  “Bartlet wants ten minutes with him alone,” Annie said. “It would appear that Harris hasn’t been totally honest with her.”

  “She looked like she was going to throw up when she saw the crime scene pics,” Stirling added.

  “No surprises there,” Alec said running his hands through his sandy hair. He held up a thin file. “Becky has been busy with the financials on Barton. We’ve cross referenced the phone records and found some very interesting connections.”

  “I’m listening,” Annie said calmly. Although she wanted to hear the news, deep inside she was concerned that it might muddy the waters.

  “Barton called Jackie Webb over a dozen times in the months leading up to Simon Barton’s abduction,” he paused to let the facts sink in. “The calls stopped while he was being investigated but then there’s another clutch of calls before the appeal hearing.”

  Annie sighed and folded her arms. “Sounds like he was a customer of hers. What do the financials tell us?”

  “Becky has found this,” Alec said holding up the file again. “Jackie Webb had a savings account with an online bank. A week after the appeal hearing, one hundred thousand pounds was paid into it from a firm of solicitors in Manchester. We contacted them and the money was part of the estate of ‘Graham’ Barton.”

  “Barton’s stepfather?” Stirling frowned.

  “Yes,” Alec nodded. “Jackie transferred half of the money to another firm of solicitors in Liverpool that were dealing with the conveyance of a property for Jayne Windsor.”

  “Bloody hell,” Annie sighed. “So they were bribed.”

  “It looks like it. I can’t see any other reason behind it.” Alec agreed. “The money trail is damaging to Peter Barton’s alibi and it gives him motive. They could have asked for more money or threatened to change their statements,” he mused. “Barton had a motive to shut them up, permanently.”

  “This doesn’t change where we are at with Harris,” Stirling pointed out. “The evidence is overwhelming.”

  “It doesn’t change anything but we should listen to what he has to say,” Annie said frowning. “Did you see his face when I showed him the crime scene photos?”

  “He looked scared.”

  “He looked genuinely shocked.”

  “Maybe he was,” Stirling grunted, “but there’s nothing that he can say that can explain away the DNA and the DVD. That’s without the knife! He’s as guilty as sin. Anything that he says to us in there from now on will be fabricated to dilute responsibility.”

  “No doubt but what could he dilute it with?” Alec raised his eyebrows and pointed to the file. “Peter Barton.”

  “An accomplice.” Stirling grunted.

  “My thoughts exactly.” Annie began. Her sentence was interrupted when the interview room door opened.

  Kate Bartlet poked her head around the door. “We’re ready, Inspector,” she said meekly. Annie could tell that her stomach wasn’t in the fight. She doubted that she would see the case through to court. Some defence lawyers could defend the devil himself but Bartlet wasn’t one of them. The detectives took their seats and studied their prime suspect. He was looking at the floor and biting his lip. Although she couldn’t see his legs, Annie could feel them trembling beneath the desk.

  “Interview resumed, DI Jones and DS Stirling have returned. Same persons present,” Annie said staring at Tod. “Do you want to explain your side of the story, Tod?”

  He sighed and rolled his eyes. “I admit that I had sex with both women,” he mumbled. “But I didn’t kill anyone.”

  “Is that the best that you can do?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “Fine,” Annie smiled thinly. “Then we’ll charge you with both murders.”

  “Just a minute, Inspector. Tell them what you told me,” Bartlet said coldly. “It’s your only chance.”

  “Five seconds, Tod and we’re out of here,” Annie snapped.

  “Wait a minute!” he turned to his brief but she didn’t offer any more advice. “Useless bitch!” he whined. “Okay, okay! I was working with someone else,” he sighed, “we drugged them but I had nothing to do with killing them!” he said pointing to the photographs. “He must have done that later. He’s a weirdo, a proper nutcase!” Tod shook his head as he rambled. “I’m sorry that I got involved with him. He scares the crap out of me. If he knew that I was talking to you like this, I’d probably end up like them.” He looked from the detectives to his brief and back again. Their baffled expressions told him that he wasn’t doing himself any favours. “I had sex with them. I took those pictures of them in bed and I took their underwear and that’s it,” he emphasised ‘that’s it’.

  “What is this man’s name?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “No!”

  “Charge him.”

  “Wait, wait, okay!” Tod went very pale. “He threatened to visit my mother if I said anything. His name is Rob something.”

  Annie shook her head in frustration. “Okay,” she took a deep breath. “Take me back to the beginning,” Annie said. “You said that you were ‘working’ with someone called Rob. What did you mean ‘working’?”

  Tod shrugged and shifted awkwardly. The chains on his wrists rattled beneath the table. “I mean that we were a team,” he blushed. “We planned to take two women back to their place and, you know,” he gestured with his head.

  “No, I don’t know,” Annie said flatly. “Enlighten me.”

  “We planned to take two women back from the club and have sex with them,” he shrugged, “and then swap them over so we both had a go with each.”

  “You drugged them?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you pick which women you attacked?”

  “He picked them,” Tod shrugged. “He always picked them.”

  “Randomly?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “I’m asking about this time,” Annie pushed the photos closer still. “Jackie Webb and Jayne Windsor. Were they picked at random?”

  No,” Tod shook his head. “He knew their names.”

  “How did he know them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Annie shook her head and looked at Kate Bartlet. She couldn’t hold Annie’s gaze for more than a moment. “So you admit to drugging Jayne Windsor and Jackie Webb, taking them back to Jayne Windsor’s house and raping both women?” Tod tilted his head sideways and nodded. “I need it for the tape please.”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes what?”

  “Yes!” Tod snapped. “I drugged them and raped them.” He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “When I left that house, they were alive. I swear they were alive.” His eyes darted from Annie to Stirling. “You have to believe me.”

  Annie steepled her hands and thought about her next words. “So you’re telling me that you last saw the women at Jayne Windsor’s house?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jayne Windsor was found in Jackie Webb’s flat with her head cut off,” Stirling interrupted him. “Are you telling us that you had nothing to do with that?”

  “Yes!” he stressed. “I don’t even know where you’re talking about. I have never been to her house. I certainly didn’t cut anyone’s bloody head off for God’s sake!” His eyes darted from one detective to the other. “I’ve slipped roofies to a few women,” he said gesturing to the file. “But I am not a killer.” He looked at them open mouthed. “I couldn’t do that!”

  Stirling sat back and sighed loudly. “This is getting boring,” he growled. He tapped the photos as he spoke. “You have a DVD of the dead women in your possession.” He p
aused and pointed to the image of the jawless woman. “Jackie Webb. After she was dead, Tod!” he picked up the image again. Tod looked flummoxed. “Explain that.”

  Silence.

  Stirling continued. “The knife that cut off Jayne Windsor’s head was found in your mother’s shed,” he paused to gauge the response.

  Silence.

  “Your thumbprint was on the mirror in Jackie’s bedroom, at the house you say that you have never been to,” he paused again.

  Silence.

  “Your DNA was inside her at that house.”

  Silence.

  “Yet you were never there?”

  “Yes. He’s framing me.” Tod looked down and tears ran from his eyes. “I had nothing to do with killing them.”

  “So your accomplice did all this once you had left?” Stirling pressed him. “He’s trying to set you up and all you can give us is that his name is Rob ‘something’.”

  “You need to explain that, Tod,” Annie added. “We need his name and we need it now!”

  “Rob Derry,” Tod sat back and sighed heavily, his head in his hands. “Rob Derry is his name.” he closed his eyes and Annie thought he looked almost relieved. “That’s who must have killed them. He did all this.” He nodded his head frantically. “I helped get them back to their house, I admit that.” He looked at the detectives, his eyes pleading. “I had sex with them while they were drugged but that is all that I did. When I left, Rob Derry was still busy. He had dropped a Viagra tablet. There was no talking to him, he’s nuts. I said that we should go but he wanted to stay.” He squeezed his eyes closed. “The last time that I saw him, he was still with those women and they were alive.”

  “Rob Derry?” Annie wrote the name down. She looked at Stirling and grimaced. “Where did you meet this Rob Derry?” she smiled sourly. “If we run his name, is he going to come up or is he another figment of your imagination?”