The door re-opened and a plump woman pushed a tray holding a coffee pot and a set of cups to the end of the conference table. Hot on her heels entered a woman in her twenties, dressed in the Lomond Airlines cabin uniform. She smiled broadly at the detectives, as the canteen assistant slipped out behind her.
“You must be Kathy Brice?” Dani enquired, indicating the woman should take a seat.
“That’s right. My supervisor said you wanted to get hold of me? I’ve been in Florida for the last couple of days. I needed to wait until my scheduled flight back.”
“That’s okay,” Dani continued. “Did your supervisor tell you we wanted to talk to you about Autumn Carlisle?”
A shadow passed across Kathy’s painted features. “Yes, he said. But I already gave a statement to the lady detective last week?”
Nate leant forward. “Since then, new information has come to light. We believe Ms Carlisle may have been murdered. This means we need to speak to everyone again.”
Her mouth dropped open, revealing two rows of perfectly white, neat teeth. “Christ. That’s awful. I know her being found dead was bad, but to be murdered in your own bedroom.” She visibly shuddered.
Dani addressed her in a level tone. “DC Gifford got the impression you didn’t like Autumn Carlisle very much. She said you weren’t impressed with her as a cabin supervisor?”
She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “I had nothing against her personally. It’s just the management kept raving about how brilliant she was with the passengers and such. Except, I didn’t think she was so great.” Kathy leant forward conspiratorially. “On that last trip to Amsterdam, Miss Carlisle looked a mess. She was sweating heaps and her hands were shaking when she poured the drinks. I thought she was either badly hungover or had the flu. I nearly said something.”
“You are the only witness we’ve interviewed who has contradicted the assertion Miss Carlisle was extremely good at her job.” Nate narrowed his eyes as he casually assessed the woman seated before them.
Kathy shrugged. “Like I said, the management loved her. Particularly Mr Lomond.” A flicker of a smirk lifted the corners of her red lips.
Dani seized on the implication. “Are you suggesting there was something more to their relationship than the purely professional?”
“I couldn’t say for sure. But I watched them together in meetings, they seemed pretty friendly. I mean, I know they were both Scottish, but there was a closeness between them that went deeper than that, I could tell.”
Nate frowned. “How long have you worked for Lomond Airlines, Ms Brice?”
“Four years this October. I completed my travel and tourism degree at the uni in Bristol, got the job straight after.”
“And when the supervisor position came up at Lomond, did you apply?”
The woman’s defensive posture returned, she seemed to almost be hugging herself. “As a matter of fact, I did. I’m a graduate and I’d worked for Lomond for years. It didn’t make sense to me that Miss Carlisle was brought in from outside.”
“So, you had reason to feel resentful towards her, to feel the supervisory role should have been yours?”
Kathy seemed to suddenly realise the implication of her words. “No! I didn’t like her much; she was distant towards me and the other crew, we certainly knew she was the boss. But I’m not making any of this up! She was a basket case on that flight to Amsterdam, I swear it!”
Nate put up a hand to calm the situation down. “Okay, fine. We get the point. But I’m going to need to ask you about your movements on the night of the 3rd July and the early morning of the 4th. I’ll require as much detail as you can provide, please.”
The woman fell silent, wiping her tongue across her lips as if they had suddenly become dry. “Yeah, no problem. I was at my boyfriend’s place, I think. I’ll just need to check my diary.”
Dani stood. “That’s okay, as long as you email the information to DI Lawrence by the end of the day.”
The detectives left her looking shell-shocked, sitting very still in her chair. They emerged into the dingy corridor.
“You don’t really think she’s a suspect, do you?” Dani asked incredulously.
“No,” Nate replied. “I just really disliked her. Thought it might do her good to stew for a bit.”
Dani chuckled. “Yes, I didn’t warm to her either. But I still believe she was telling us the truth about Autumn.”
“Yeah, she annoyed the hell out of me, but I never said I didn’t believe her.”
*
The only hotel rooms available in the vicinity of the Hammersmith Police Station were in no-frills establishments designed for the use of passengers utilising the airport. This suited Dani well. The DCS was happy for her to liaise with the Met over the Carlisle case, particularly now it was looking like murder. But he’d not gone as far as to grant her a budget. She could always put in a claim with Lawrence and his team to cover her bill, but as it was her who shook things up in the first place, she felt reluctant to do so.
The room was clean and functional. There was even an armchair where she could sit and review her notes. The only distraction was the noise of the aircraft landing at nearby Heathrow which was discernible even through the thickly glazed hotel windows. Dani assumed you got used to it. But for tonight, she was prepared to use the spongy earplugs that were supplied with the free toiletries.
The file Trudy had given Dani was thin. Autumn appeared not to have kept many personal effects at her flat. She made a mental note to check with Mike and Betsy as to whether their daughter stored any items at their place after moving from the cottage in Sussex. The remainder of the woman’s belongings must have ended up somewhere.
A leather-bound diary slipped out onto Dani’s lap. A brief flick through the pages indicated Autumn used it to keep track of her schedule at the airport. There was also a list of names and addresses at the back. Dani noted the reference to the couple in Amsterdam mentioned by Noel Colbert. Trudy was planning to speak with them once the Dutch police gave her the green light.
The list seemed depressingly short; maybe forty people in total, of which a decent proportion looked like relatives living around the north east of Scotland. Dani assumed it was difficult to make connections when you spent most of your life in transit to other countries.
The detective sighed; every single one of these names would have to be checked and alibis gained for the night of Autumn’s murder. But Dani felt sure the woman’s murderer was not listed within these pages. If the killer was someone she knew, then it was a person Autumn would not have given respectability to by listing them in her address book. Dani’s experience told her that the sparsity of Autumn’s possessions indicated a person who kept secrets. There was no surface clutter in this woman’s life, which didn’t mean there wasn’t an almighty mess lurking beneath that surface.
Dani placed the diary back into its folder. She levered herself off the chair. It was still early, but she resolved to get a decent night’s sleep before the debriefing with DI Lawrence in the morning.
Chapter 12
When Dani finally awoke, in a groggy haze, twisted amongst the polyester sheets of the overheated hotel room, she automatically fumbled for her mobile phone. The screen notified her of a dozen missed calls. All from DI Lawrence.
“Shit,” she rasped, whilst dragging out the complimentary foam earplugs and hurling them across the bed. “Bloody things!” The phone buzzed again, this time she immediately accepted the call. “DCI Bevan.”
“Bevan, thank God you’ve picked up, I was starting to get worried about you.” Nate Lawrence’s tone was more curious than genuinely concerned.
“Sorry, I must have slept heavily and missed your calls. What’s the problem?”
“I’m at Heathrow, Terminal 1. You’d better come down and see for yourself. I’ll send a patrol car over to the hotel to pick you up.”
“I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”
*
The airport t
erminal was busy. Queues snaked in and out of the barriers herding passengers to the baggage desks. The concourse was packed with trollies and people standing, staring up at the myriad of screens suspended from the ceilings, as if in a trance.
When she finally arrived, Dani saw DI Lawrence amongst a group of airport police and security guards. Denny Lomond was discernible within the throng. It must be serious, she thought.
Nate stepped out of the group to intercept her. “I didn’t get an email back from Kathy Brice last night, so I called her home number. Her boyfriend said he was worried about her, as she’d not returned from work yet.”
“She was usually prompt home, then?”
“Yep, it would seem so. They share a flat in Kilburn. When she was in the country, Kathy got the tube straight there after her shift finished.”
Dani glanced at the throng of officials and felt a mounting sense of dread. “What did you do next?”
“I called Lomond Airlines to see if she was still there. Lomond’s PA, Diane Martin, the evasive one, did a sweep of the offices but couldn’t find her, she had stayed late to type up the minutes from Lomond’s meeting with the pilots’ union. It seems they’ve only got a few days to avert strike action. That’s when the airport security alarm went off and the place was evacuated. I realised then something was wrong, so I headed straight down here, that was around 10pm. I tried to call you to see if you wanted to tag along?”
Dani cleared her throat. “Sorry about that.”
“Not a problem. The airport was swarming with cops by the time I got here anyway. One of the cleaners found a body in the toilet cubicle near one of the departure lounges. They’ve closed off gate 52 and diverted flights to another gate for the time being. The anti-terrorist guys have assessed the situation. They decided there was no need to shut the entire airport.”
Dani felt the blood run icy in her veins. “Was it Kathy?”
Nate nodded solemnly. “She’d been strangled, possibly with a thin strap – a belt perhaps. The pathologist reckoned she died between 6pm and 9pm. Because it was beyond passport control, the ladies’ toilet she was found in tended to be quiet.”
“But still, this is a busy airport. The killer was taking one hell of a risk.” Dani shook her head in disbelief. “What was Kathy doing at the terminal gate at that time of day? Why wasn’t she in the Lomond Airlines offices?”
“We’ll know more when we can question all the staff. But Mr Lomond says it was a gate Kathy Brice often worked from. Perhaps she was picking up a personal item from the departure desk?”
Dani wrinkled her brow. “Or meeting someone?”
“Well, you’d need to be a staff member or have a boarding pass to be allowed in that area.”
Dani nodded. “We’ll require a list of all the passengers flying out through that gate yesterday afternoon.”
“Sure. I’ve got a couple of DCs questioning the staff at Lomond’s offices. We need to find the last person who saw her alive. It will help us to narrow down the time of death.”
“Let’s hope it wasn’t us,” Dani said with a grimace.
Nate sighed heavily. “We left before lunch, so I imagine not. But I do wonder if this happened because we talked to her yesterday.”
Dani didn’t reply. It was difficult to draw any other conclusion. “Is she still in situ?”
Nate shook his head. “The pathologist removed the body last night. But I’ll take you to view the scene.”
*
The corridor was empty, except for the security guards manning the gate. Nate flashed his warrant card and led Dani towards the police tape and plastic barriers cordoning off the entrance to the toilets. The SOCOs were still milling in and out.
“Can we go in?” Nate asked one of the techs who was holding a clip-board.
He pointed to a pile of pale blue shoe covers. “If you put those on and stick to the trays, sure. We’re nearly finished now, anyway.”
Dani surveyed the scene. The room had only four cubicles in it. From the positioning of the SOCO trays, the body of Kathy Brice had been found in the one furthest from the door. She stepped gingerly towards the entrance to the cubicle. Nate was at her shoulder.
“The door wasn’t locked, but the cleaner was having trouble opening it fully. She thought maybe someone had collapsed in there, so she gave it a shove.” Nate dipped his head. “The body was slumped on the toilet seat with the legs splayed out. A narrow, reddish bruise was evident around the neck. Scuffs to the walls indicate a minor scuffle, but it seems Kathy was quickly subdued. There was no other kind of assault; her clothes weren’t disturbed that we could identify. The PM will tell us more.”
“Do we think this was a male attacker?”
Nate shrugged. “Kathy had a slight build. I reckon a strong woman could have done it.”
Dani agreed. These days, the physical differences between men and women were negligible. A woman who regularly visited the gym would be perfectly capable of taking on a man of similar size and build. “And the killer used a garotte of some kind. That would reduce the amount of brute strength required to throttle her.”
Dani took a step outside the cubicle and glanced towards the window above the sinks. “Where does that lead?”
“I’m not sure, but I’ll check it out.”
“There must be CCTV all over this airport. Any covering the toilet door?”
Nate frowned to indicate the news wasn’t good. “I’ve already asked the airport guys. There’s a couple of cameras at the departure gate and a few at passport control, but none on this corridor.”
“Damn it. Do you think the killer knew that?”
“It’s possible.”
“But they will still be on camera somewhere at the airport. This place must have the tightest security in the country.”
“You’d have certainly thought so,” Nate added, with just the tiniest hint of irony to his tone.
Chapter 13
Betsy Carlisle tugged at the lead of the small white dog that was pulling her dangerously close to the edge of the towpath. The still waters of the Forth and Clyde Canal lay a few feet below.
“Come to heel, Dodie!” Betsy called in frustration. She turned to their companion. “I apologise for her behaviour, Rhodri. She’s still only a wee pup.”
“God knows why we made the decision to get her,” Mike muttered irritably. “These small dogs are a bugger to train.”
Betsy turned to her husband. “Dodie has been a great comfort to me since Autumn’s passing and she has to you, too, if you’re honest.”
The man grumbled under his breath but didn’t openly disagree.
“We had a lovely Lab when the boys were young. Once they’ve grown up a bit and calmed down, a dog can be a wonderful companion.” Rhodri bent over to pat the puppy on its fluffy head.
Betsy nodded. “We’ve had dogs for all the years we’ve been in Cumbernauld. Old Lilly died last year. Dodie is from the same breeder. We bought her before we got the dreadful news from London. I wonder now if we would have done so if we knew what was going to happen.”
The woman’s words hung in the warm afternoon air alongside the tiny flies that hovered just above the waterline.
There seemed to be no answer to this particular question. It was clear that Betsy didn’t expect one. Rhodri took the opportunity to steer the couple towards a bench by the side of the canal bank.
“I’ve got some information for you, from DCI Bevan.”
Betsy lifted the pup into her lap and clutched it tightly. The animal buried its head inside her jacket. “What is it?”
“The footprint found in your daughter’s bedroom meant that DI Lawrence was able to re-open his investigations. They were interviewing Autumn’s friends and colleagues once more.”
“That’s good news,” Mike responded firmly.
“Yes, but one of the girls they spoke to again was found dead yesterday evening. She’d been strangled.”
Betsy squeezed the dog so hard it let out a tiny yelp
. “Sweet Jesus in Heaven. What does this mean?”
Rhodri rested his hand on her arm. “Danielle doesn’t know just yet. The girl who was killed – a woman, really, was called Kathy. She was a bit younger than your daughter. She was in Autumn’s team at Lomond Airlines. She’d been more candid with the detectives in her interviews than the other witnesses.”
Mike’s body jerked to attention. “I think I recall Autumn talking about this woman. Was she a member of the cabin crew?”
Rhodri nodded. “That’s right.”
“Autumn complained about her when she stayed with us. She said there was a member of her team who was being awkward about taking orders from her. She suspected this Kathy girl had gone for the supervisor job herself, so there was an element of sour grapes. Autumn was thinking about giving her a formal warning. She said her behaviour was insubordinate.”
“Hmm,” Rhodri rubbed his snow-white beard. “I’ll pass that information onto Danielle.”
“Why would anyone want to kill her?” Betsy’s voice was shrill. “Was it the same person who killed Autumn?”
Mike got to his feet and indicated that Rhodri should follow him. They took a few steps away from the bench and stood by the bank of the waterway. A flock of geese had just landed on its surface, disturbing the calm and causing the canal boats to rock gently in their moorings. “I don’t think we should talk about this in front of Betsy. It’s best we get her home now.”
“Of course. I’m terribly sorry if I upset her. I just thought you would both want to know the latest developments.”
“Yes, yes, we do. But Betsy hasn’t always been well. She has a delicate nervous disposition. The death of Autumn had been bad enough, but at least she’s just about coping. I’m simply not sure how much more stress she can take.”
“I didn’t realise this.” Rhodri’s expression was solemn. “Is Betsy on a regime of care with her local health authority? I can suggest some very good practitioners in your area. She could even come to Glasgow for treatment.”
The Eye in the Dark Page 6
