Above Suspicion (33 page)

‘We have a set of teeth marks. It really isn’t anything directly to do with you. It is to do with us eliminating you from the enquiry.’

‘My God, I am stunned.’

‘Which we now have done, as your teeth don’t match.’

‘Well, of course they don’t. It’s just mind-blowing to me that I was even under suspicion. I am surprised you agreed to come out with me.’

‘You are not under suspicion,’ she said, sipping her champagne.

‘But that is why you went to LA?’

‘Yes, one of the reasons. And San Francisco and Chicago. Alan, I really shouldn’t be telling you this. You know it’s privileged information.’

‘Rubbish! You’ve just said I’ve been eliminated. Unless you’re lying.’

‘I’m not.’

He ate for a few moments and then put his fork down. ‘So go on, what else did you do in LA?’

‘There was a murder victim called Maria Courtney; she had the same MO as our victim here in London.’

‘What does MO mean? I can’t remember.’

‘Modus operandi; means the same pattern.’

‘Good heavens! And you think whoever killed the girl here also murdered someone in the States?’

‘Yes.’

Anna now began to move her script up another notch. Her instructions were to draw him out, this time flattering not his professional actor’s ego, but his other side: the sociopath. She began to describe how clever and cunning their killer was and how they were unable to find any clues anywhere. He listened attentively, sometimes shaking his head as if in awe.

She giggled. ‘I must be getting tiddly — I really shouldn’t be telling you all this. I’d get in such trouble, you know. We are not supposed to ever discuss the cases we are working on with anyone outside the station.’

‘I won’t tell anyone,’ he said softly, reaching over to take her hand. ‘You can trust me, Anna; I would never repeat what you have told me, not to a soul. But it is fascinating. I find it hard to believe that this man has got away with it and even harder to believe you don’t have any clues to his identity. That said, it is really terrifying to think you actually had me questioned and for a while even contemplated that I could be involved. This man must be a monster.’

She nodded and leaned closer. ‘He is, but he’s also incredibly clever. He never leaves any DNA; no fingerprints, nothing. Not that I’m privy to all the details. My chief is a bit of a loner, you know he has a big ego trip going on.’

‘But he took you to America.’

‘Well, yes, but I was more or less just his driver.’

‘So did he get any result from there? You said you’d also been in San Francisco and Chicago.’

She shook her head and then leaned close. ‘If we don’t get something soon they’ll disband the team.’

‘No? You’re kidding me?’

‘It’s true.’

His beautiful eyes blinked in astonishment. ‘How many women has he killed?’

Anna placed her knife and fork on her plate. ‘This is very confidential. We haven’t really allowed the press to know just how dangerous this man is.’

Daniels had hardly touched his food. He neatly placed his knife and fork together on the plate and indicated the waiter should remove them. When the table was cleared, he leaned both elbows close to her.

‘How many?’ he asked in a whisper.

‘We think it’s ten.’

‘Ten?’

‘Yes, which is another reason you were questioned.’

‘Me?’

‘Yes, because you were in the States at the same time as the murders. The gov has been opening up what they call the dead files, here and in the US.’

‘Dead files?’ He frowned, leaning even closer, but making no reference to the fact that he was actually in the three cities she mentioned.

‘Yes, some of the women murdered here knew your mother; they were all prostitutes and may have lived at the same house you were living in when you were a child.’

‘No!’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh my God! Now I understand. It was all so confusing when I was questioned; half the time I couldn’t pick up on what they wanted from me.’

Anna looked at him enquiringly. ‘What?’

‘I understand now why they questioned me about my childhood.’

She leaned close. ‘Please, Alan, if they were to bring you in for questioning again, you won’t tell them we discussed any of this? Please. I could get in terrible trouble. They might even fire me.’

He took hold of her hand. ‘Of course I wouldn’t repeat this, not to anyone, but why do you say they may want to question me again? What on earth can they want from me?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘But you must know! I mean, if this was to get in the press it would ruin my life, my career.’

Anna nodded. ‘That’s why the enquiry is being so diplomatic. As I said, if we don’t get a result, it could all be disbanded and put on open files. They may not even question you again.’

Daniels signalled for the waiter. He ordered two coffees, then said quietly: ‘You are right, we shouldn’t discuss this. I don’t want to get you in any trouble, but you can understand why I am so interested; it’s pretty obvious and to be honest it really freaks me out.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—’

‘But you have. I am just amazed. How can they even suspect me? And I can’t think of anything I could do or say that would help you. I mean, I will really think about it.’

He sat in silence. Anna looked around the restaurant crowd, which was starting to thin out. It was by this time after half past eleven.

She drank her coffee; Daniels swirled the spoon round and round in his cup. He tapped the side. ‘You know, it’s made me really depressed. I hate to go back to that time in my life — it’s like a chasm opens up inside me and it’s dark, a terrible place to return to. But there must be some connection if, as you say, these women knew each other and they were all murdered.’

‘Yes.’

‘But are the women in the States all connected to them as well?’

‘No, not that we have discovered.’ Anna sipped the dregs of her coffee. ‘But whatever made the killer begin his rampage—’

‘It’s not exactly a rampage,’ he said curtly.

‘Well no, there are years in between the UK murders, but if you add the American victims, it is a pattern of killing that shows the killer to be moving from perhaps some kind of revenge to being unable to curb his hatred of a certain type of woman.’

‘Prostitutes,’ said Daniels, staring into his cup.

‘Yes, but he may have made a mistake with Melissa.’

He leaned back, his eyes expressionless.

‘Mistake?’

Anna nodded and told him they had two witnesses, the Cuban waiter and the husky-voiced call girl.

‘They saw him?’ he said incredulously.

‘Yes.’

‘But that’s - that’s good news, surely?’

It wasn’t enough of a response to be useful. If he was their killer, he was playing his cards very close to his chest. Anna was tired and she felt they had reached a dead end. She stood up, saying she needed to go to the ladies. Alan stood, allowing her to pass him.

‘I should be going home soon, Alan. I have to work in the morning.’

‘I promise, we won’t discuss this topic for another second. Now you go and powder your nose and I’ll sort out the bill. Unless — would you like a brandy?’

‘No, nothing else. Thank you.’

Anna felt totally drained. She had done her best, letting information out that, in actual fact, he could have discovered from press releases. But Daniels had not slipped up or, in Michael Parks’s words, given her the ‘leakage’ she was hoping for. By the time she returned to the table, he stood waiting for her, holding her wrap. He gently placed it around her shoulders.

‘You don’t think the reason I asked you out was to pump you for information? Please, don’t think that. Because it isn’t true.’

She said softly, ‘No, I don’t. I’ve enjoyed being with you very much.’

He drew her closer. ‘You’re very special, Anna.’

As they drove away from the Ivy, Anna began to wonder about the next stage of the evening, but Daniels was ahead of her. He instructed the driver to take Miss Travis back to her flat, adding, ‘As I’m on the way, he can drop me off first, if you don’t mind?’

‘No, not at all.’

They drove in silence for a few minutes, though he sat some distance from her, his face in the shadows.

His free hand sought hers out in the darkness. ‘When I first came to the station you work at, I can’t tell you how scared I was. It brought back the time they found her body.’

‘Your mother’s?’

He sighed. ‘I was just a teenager, so they held me in the cells overnight and interrogated me for hours and hours. I had no one to turn to. And now — I feel like it’s happening again, but this time, with even more to lose. You saw the press calling out for me. Can you imagine what they would do if it was to be made public that I was even being questioned? You have to help me. Make them understand: I am innocent. How can I still be a suspect? Why are they doing this to me?’

‘It’s just the connection, Alan.’

‘That I was brought up in a stinking brothel, with a bunch of whores? What does that mean?’ he said, angrily. ‘I wouldn’t remember a single one of them. I’ve tried my hardest to obliterate them from my mind.’ She was perplexed to see tears begin to stream down his cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his hand, sniffing. ‘Sorry. I’m sorry, need that handkerchief of yours.’

She went to open her bag, when he shook his head. ‘No, no - I’m alright now.’

‘Alan, the reality is you are not under arrest and they have no evidence against you but circumstantial. If they had anything, you’d have been arrested by now. You have to believe me that I wouldn’t have agreed to see you this evening if I thought for one moment that you were involved.’

He squeezed her hand. ‘Do you mean that?’

‘Of course I do.’

He rested back. ‘Thank God. Because I need you, Anna. I’m going to rely on you to get me through this. Come here; rest your head on my shoulder.’ He closed his eyes.

Uneasily, she slid towards him. He wrapped his arm round her. She could smell his delicate aftershave, feel the softness of the velvet jacket against her cheek. Her heart was thudding as he tilted her face towards his and kissed her lips: a delicate, sweet kiss. He gently touched her hair. ‘You are already very special to me and I am sure, in time, we can mean a lot more to each other.’ He was tracing her cheek with his finger.

From the front seat, the driver interrupted. ‘Queen’s Gate, sir.’

‘Goodnight, Anna.’ Daniels kissed her hand as the driver opened the rear door to let him out. She watched as he walked to the front steps, turning back to wave.

She was trembling as the car drove away. When it reached her flat, she thanked the driver, insisting there was no need for him to see her to her front door. She was fumbling for her key when Langton opened the door.

‘How did it go?’ he asked.

Anna slumped on to the sofa, kicking off her shoes. The lounge was strewn with coffee cups and half-eaten cheese sandwiches. Even his newspaper was in pieces, pages left on the floor by the overflowing ashtray.

‘Did you get anything?’

‘Not much.’

‘Fuck. How come? You were out late enough.’

She shook her head, unable to speak. He could tell she was upset, but he had waited all night for some information and the evening had cost a bloody fortune in overtime.

‘What is it, Travis? Did he try it on in the car?’

She started to sob. She searched in her bag for her handkerchief and then began tipping everything out as she frantically searched.

‘Daddy’s cufflinks!’ She was distraught. “They were in the zip-up pocket.’

Langton looked at her, puzzled. With her new hairstyle standing on end and her tear-stained face, she looked about ten years old.

‘Shush, it’s OK. You’re safe now.’

He knew he shouldn’t, but he moved to sit beside her and put his arm round her. She started to sob uncontrollably against his chest.

‘Shush. Just take deep breaths and try and relax. Then go and mop yourself up and get some sleep.’

She pulled away from him. ‘Stop telling me what to do. Just leave me alone.’

Langton took a deep breath. ‘Fine, I’ll do that. But in the morning, I want a report, Travis.’

She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

‘Just tell me one thing. Is it him?’

She sniffed.

‘Is it him?’

‘I don’t know.’

He stared after her as she headed for the bedroom. ‘Well, that’s fucking terrific,’ he muttered.

Underneath the duvet which she pulled over her head, Anna cried her heart out. She was a failure. Worse, she had allowed her emotions to overrule her logic. She had found herself liking Alan Daniels; the memory of him softly kissing her lips still lingered. She was confused by her feelings for him. How was she going to face everyone in the incident room in a few hours’ time?

Chapter Fifteen

Langton listened from the sofa. He had been woken by an odd, scraping sound in the kitchen. He pulled on his trousers and opened the door. There was Anna, clad in her kimono, scribbling away in a notebook, oblivious to the sound that the stool’s legs made on the tiled floor.

She shot up from the stool in alarm. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘It’s six o’clock in the morning,’ he said lamely. ‘Sorry if I scared you. I just heard a noise.’

She drew her kimono closer, embarrassed. ‘I was just writing notes for my report. I couldn’t sleep any longer and I didn’t want to forget anything.’

‘Do you want a coffee?’

She covered her notes with her hand. ‘Yes, please. There’s some freshly made.’

‘Got a bit of a hangover?’

‘No, I have not!’ she said angrily.

‘Did you find the cufflinks?’

‘No. I’ll call the restaurant. I was thinking I may have dropped them in the car.’

Langton poured two cups of black coffee and put one down in front of her. He glanced at the notebook.

‘You want to talk about it?’

‘No. I’ll wait for the briefing.’

‘OK. By the way, Michael Parks is coming in to see how you dealt with Daniels.’

Anna wrapped her kimono tighter. ‘I’ll go and have a shower. Do you need one?’