Dark as Night (12 page)

              Bevan paused. ‘No, I’m afraid he’s been given leave for the duration of this investigation. He is too close to the situation, you see.’

              The woman gave a taut smile. ‘He won’t like that much.’

              Dani smiled back. ‘No, I expect he won’t like that at all.’

Chapter 22

O
n his second visit to the Pitt Street Headquarters, Bevan had decided to introduce Professor Morgan to the rest of the team. Dani felt the man had made a better attempt at smartening up his appearance for this consultation. The suit he was wearing looked like it might have been new. 

              ‘I’ve provided Professor Morgan with the case files and the evidence we’ve gathered so far. He has kindly agreed to provide us with some feedback on the type of perpetrator we may be looking for.’

              The Professor took a step forward. He was more comfortable standing in front of a packed lecture theatre than he was during one-to-one encounters. This type of situation suited him well. ‘When DCI Bevan first spoke to me about this case, I believed that the field was genuinely open as to who might have been Nathan’s killer. With the discovery of a second body, at the same dump site as the first and the bag full of ‘trophies’ from other victims, the crime takes on a whole new significance.’ He pointed to the photographs taken of the skeletal remains discovered at the bottom of Balgray Reservoir. ‘The DCI informs me that the skeleton recovered is that of a male in his late thirties to early forties, of roughly 5’11’’ in height. This person had at one time broken a nose and had it reset. They had also, pre-puberty, fractured the radius bone of the left arm. Using Donald Calder’s medical records, we can now confirm categorically that this is him.’

              One of the officers let out a gasp, muttering, ‘poor Andy.’

              Morgan nodded sympathetically. ‘Although in these cases, I usually find that the families are gratified to finally have a body to bury. After ten years with no attempt to make contact of any kind, even with his children, it was obvious that the man was dead.’

              Dani was glad that Andy wasn’t here to listen to such a clinical account of his uncle’s fate.

              ‘The connecting factor in these murders,’ Morgan continued, ‘was the men’s homosexuality. We cannot now ascertain a cause of death for Donald Calder, although amongst the bones was found his wedding ring. We cannot prove it, but it seems likely that it was swallowed by the victim, as in the case of Nathan McLaren. This is what we would call a ‘marker’. It is an unusual act by the perpetrator which gives us an insight into what makes them tick.’

              Alice put up her hand. ‘Do we
really
think it’s the same killer – after ten years have passed with no other murders in between?’

              ‘I would say there is a question mark over whether these are the only killings. That bag contained many items. It seems the Calder and McLaren families could not identify them all.’

              ‘Then where are the other bodies? Why haven’t these people been reported missing?’

              ‘This killer may have more than one dump site,’ Morgan counted points off on his fingers. ‘The other victims may have had no family or friends to report them missing.’

              ‘Or our perpetrator might move about from place to place,’ Bevan interrupted. ‘These murders both occurred during the Fair weekend. The man we are looking for may be itinerant and only resident in certain cities at certain times of the year. It’s something my officers are already looking into.’

              Morgan nodded cautiously. ‘I agree. That’s definitely an avenue you need to pursue. However…’ The man glanced over his shoulder at the photographs of the reservoir. ‘I can’t help but feel that this person knows the Glasgow area well. How would an outsider be aware that Balgray would make a good dump site?’

              ‘If our man examined the local maps carefully enough, it would simply be an obvious choice, wouldn’t it?’ Alice chipped in.

              Morgan spun on his heels to address her directly. ‘But that kind of intelligent pre-meditation doesn’t really fit with your profile of an itinerant fairground operative, does it? Crimes committed by those types of ill-educated offender are opportunist, brutal and the body dumps will be close to the murder scene, if they bother to hide the corpse at all.
This
person takes items from their victim, personal keepsakes, the bodies are carefully and intelligently disposed of.’

              ‘Then why dump his souvenirs in the reservoir too?’ Alice suddenly asked. ‘Why are we finding Calder’s belongings now, after all these years?’

              Morgan considered this for a moment. ‘You weren’t meant to find McLaren’s body. This would have made the killer uncomfortable. Perhaps it caused them to believe it wasn’t safe to keep these trophies at home any longer.’

              ‘Which suggests to me,’ Phil put in, ‘that this killer thinks someone might search their home.’

              ‘Or they live with a person who may get suspicious after having seen McLaren’s body dredged up on the news,’ Dan Clifton added, ‘and could start snooping around.’

              ‘Tony Lomond,’ Alice blurted out. ‘He knows he’s one of our main suspects. He certainly wouldn’t want to have any incriminating items hanging about in his flat. We could raise a warrant to search it at any time.’

              ‘What do you think, Professor? Could a man as young as twenty have killed Donald Calder and disposed of his body?’ Dani addressed the academic directly.

              He shook his head of shaggy grey hair. ‘It would be highly unlikely, but nothing is outside the realms of possibility. The lad would have needed significant body strength to overpower a well-built man of 41 years old.’

              ‘He
is
a rower, which requires building considerable upper body muscle,’ Alice put in. ‘I could find out if he started the sport when still at university in Aberdeen?’

              ‘It’s worth checking out,’ Bevan agreed.

              ‘Well, if you actually
want
my opinion, DCI Bevan, after inviting me all the way over here,’ the professor interrupted gruffly. ‘This Lomond character doesn’t fit the profile. You are looking for someone who would now be in their forties or fifties, but who is still physically fit. This man is reasonably well educated but not a perennial student. Their background would prohibit such a lifestyle. Your perpetrator may do a blue collar job, but nothing too high flying. They might be self-employed or semi-skilled. He’s the sort of chap who could slip under the radar easily during a police inquiry.’

              ‘Would you write that up into a report for me?’

              ‘Of course. My role as an expert advisor requires no less.’

              Dani noticed Alice Mann make a face at the man’s pomposity. She chose to ignore it. ‘Thank you very much for your input, Professor. You’ve really helped to move the investigation forward.’ She swiftly disbanded the meeting, instructing her officers to continue with their tasks and escorted Professor Morgan across the office floor towards the lift.  

Chapter 23

I
n his more rational moments, Calder was perfectly aware that he couldn’t continue to work on the case now that Don’s body had been found. But he was still as mad as hell.

              Carol had taken Amy out to the shops. Andy was prowling around the flat like a big cat denied access to its prey. He’d sifted through his Dad’s old photograph albums for hours already, finding no evidence or indication of what it was that had led his uncle into the situation that brought about his death.

              Suddenly, Andy made up his mind to do something more pro-active. He grabbed a jacket from the hallway and jogged down the steps to the communal car-park, jumping into his hatch-back and heading out of the city.

Calder thumped on the front door of the Mortimer residence, the noise causing the man working in his front garden next door to stand up straight and eye Andy suspiciously. The neighbour continued to glower at him as Mae allowed Andy to step inside.

              ‘I assume you’ve heard the news?’ He said bluntly.

              ‘Yes. DCI Bevan came to see me yesterday.’ Mae turned away from him and walked into the kitchen, not inviting her guest to follow, but resignedly expecting he would.

              Andy trailed along at her heels. ‘I expect the DCI was very kind and considerate when she told you. She’s good at all that empathetic shit.’

              ‘She was, and I believe she meant it.’ Mae filled the kettle and switched it on. ‘Look, Andy, I know you’re upset and angry.’

              Calder let out a hollow laugh. ‘I’ve just found out that my uncle was brutally murdered by a killer who targets gays. Then, the woman who begged me to make love to her, dug her nails into my back imploring for me not to stop, never to leave her, has cut me off without even a word, an explanation.’

              Mae raised her eyes to meet his. ‘I’m sorry. When you came back to see us again, on the Saturday evening of the Glasgow Fair, it was as if Don had walked in through that door once more.’ She reached out to touch his cheek. ‘You are so like him now, the resemblance was frightening. I wanted to feel his arms around me just that one last time. But the truth was that the sex was never like that with Don, not towards the end. He loved me, of course, but he lusted after men. I’d always know that, in my heart.’

              Andy shook his head violently. ‘That isn’t true. All relationships cool off, especially after the kids come along. It doesn’t mean Donny was a
homosexual
.’

              Mae stepped forward. ‘He’d had boyfriends, Andy. It was a side of his life he never discussed with your Dad, because he knew he wouldn’t understand and it would hurt him. Then, he decided to settle down with me, so it didn’t matter anymore. Or so we thought.’

              This time it was Andy who stumbled backwards. ‘And you didn’t think to tell the police about this fact when he went missing?’

              Mae sighed. ‘It was the
last
thing I wanted to tell anybody about at that time. Can you imagine how your dad would have reacted?’

              ‘It would have killed him,’ Andy muttered. 

              ‘I didn’t have any reason to believe Don’s sexuality was related to him going missing.’

              ‘The investigating officers need to know every detail.’ He sighed, ‘although, those numpties who were on Don’s case wouldn’t have known what to do with the information anyway. It would have given them even more reason to write him off.’

              ‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I really hope you and Carol can be happy. She’s a lovely person – not caught up in all this shit from our past. Set yourself free of it now, Andy. Get on with your life.’

              Calder abruptly looked up, as if he’d not listened to a word she’d just said. ‘Can you find a pad and pen?’

              Mae nodded.

              ‘I want you to list down all the places Don had been to in the days and weeks leading up to that Glasgow Fair weekend in 2005. I don’t care how trivial it might seem – trips to the supermarket, school concerts, any single damn thing that springs into your mind.’

              The woman did not reply but rushed off to do exactly as she was told.

*

When Dani entered the police station in Barrhead, she was impressed by how efficiently she was escorted up to the Criminal Investigation Department. A bald man, with a smile as wide as his belly greeted her.

              ‘Morning, Ma’am. I’m DI Matt Bonnar, we’ve spoken on the phone.’

              ‘Pleased to meet you, Matt. I want to begin by saying how impressed I am with your work so far on the McLaren case. The discovery of that bag in the weir has changed everything. I’m looking to expand the whole operation now.’

              Matt nodded. ‘I’ve got a great team here. But you should save your praise for DC Caitlin Hendry, she was the one who had the brainwave to go back and check the dam. This is only her first case out of uniform. The lass has certainly got herself noticed.’ Bonnar led the DCI over to a workstation, where a young woman was busily tapping the keys of her computer. As the girl looked up, Dani experienced a flash of recognition. She held out her hand and smiled. ‘Well done DC Hendry. A great job.’

              ‘Thank you, Ma’am.’

              ‘Have our paths crossed before?’ Bevan asked, tipping her head to one side curiously.

              ‘The lost wee girl at the Glasgow Fair, Ma’am - Lily. I brought her back to the parents.’

              ‘Of course.’ Dani was annoyed at herself for forgetting, but it felt like it happened years ago now. ‘If your DI can spare you Caitlin, I would very much appreciate seconding you to my team at Pitt Street for the duration of this investigation. I’m a good DC down and I’ve got a sense you might just fill his boots quite admirably.’

Chapter 24

DCI Bevan had brought the contents of the plastic bag dumped in the reservoir back to Pitt Street. They’d been fully examined by the forensic laboratory, who’d found no fingerprints or DNA traces. The items had been in the water for nearly a week. She felt she’d been foolish to imagine there’d be any human residue left on them.

              Nevertheless, Dani spread the various articles out across her desk. She looked at Donny Calder’s ring first. It was tarnished to the extent that you’d never know it was silver unless you found the hallmark on the underside. Andy had been correct, next to the hallmark was inlaid the date of the Twisted Sister concert in NYC; 26
^th
August 1984.