For Reasons Unknown (18 page)

Assistant Chief Constable Valerie Masterson did not enjoy being woken up at 7 a.m. but DS Sian Mills felt she didn’t have much choice in the matter.

As soon as it was established Jonathan wasn’t lying about his allegation an argument had erupted between Matilda and Ben. Eventually, Sian stepped in, literally, to stop them coming to blows. She told them both to calm down and move to other parts of the station, that she was going to phone the ACC and inform her of the latest developments and they were to do nothing until she arrived.

It was the first time she had raised her voice to her bosses, but this was an exceptional circumstance. The investigation was at risk of being compromised and it needed to get back on track. Also, if any uniformed officers saw what was happening and the gossip mongering began who knew where it would lead; suspensions, reports, dismissals. Sian did not want that to happen, not to Matilda, even Ben Hales didn’t deserve that.

Masterson laid down the law as soon as she arrived. She wanted a briefing of the whole team and bringing up to speed on the cases. She made it clear she was not happy with the situation and she wanted to see Ben and Matilda in her office when the briefing was over.

The Murder Room was full. The entire team was assembled, as were several uniformed officers, scene of crime officers, and the crime-scene manager. The atmosphere, like the sky outside, was grim and heavy.

‘Due to recent developments it has come to my attention that the investigation into the death of Matthew Harkness, and the cold case surrounding his brother and the murder of his parents, is in danger of getting out of control. I am sure all of you are aware how high profile the Harkness case is. The press watch us constantly due to the events in Rotherham and at the Hillsborough Inquiry, but add the Harkness case into the mix and they’ve practically moved into the area. We have to do this right. I want South Yorkshire Police to be shown in a positive light for once, and inform criminals in this county that no matter how long it takes you will not get away with your crimes. Now, DS Sian Mills is going to bring us all up to speed on the investigations and we will go from there. Sian.’

Masterson stepped to one side while Sian moved up to the front of the room. She looked ahead to her colleagues, and her bosses, and suddenly felt under intense scrutiny. She had never led a briefing before and had only conversed about an investigation on an informal level. Now here she was being made head girl and watched by two DCIs and an ACC.

‘Right, well, I’ve been speaking to Manchester police and they have given Matthew Harkness’s apartment the once-over and spoken to his colleagues and neighbours. Matthew was an accountant of some description and, although based in Manchester, went several times a month to head office in London. He was a hard worker and dedicated to his career, by all accounts. Obviously the brass at head office didn’t know him on a personal level, but they describe him as professional and diligent.

‘His colleagues in Manchester, however, have a different view on things altogether.’ Sian looked down at her large notepad and skipped a few pages to find the place she needed. She stumbled over her words. ‘The, er, the female members of his team refer to him as a tosser, while the male members call him a player. He was a friendly, chatty person in the office, often the loudest in the room, oozing confidence and never missed a day’s work. He was flirty and dated many members of staff. One member of staff said he had a narcissistic personality.

‘There was one male member of staff, a Timothy Lightfoot, who knew Matthew more than the others. They went to the gym together most evenings after work and often went on mountain bike holidays together. According to Tim, Matthew was bisexual and wasn’t shy about coming forward. He had plenty of money in the bank and enjoyed spending it on designer clothes, the latest in modern technology, and taking out women, or, indeed, men.’

‘Did Matthew ever talk about his parents’ murder or his brother?’ Masterson asked from the sidelines.

It was her interruption and questioning that caused Sian to falter. She stuttered a few times before getting back on track. ‘Well his colleagues all knew of his background. They knew who his parents were, and according to Tim he played on it quite often.’

‘In what way?’

‘Well Harkness isn’t a very common name and often when he introduced himself the obvious question came up; “any relation to the famous Harkness murders?” which Matthew answered with a yes and painted himself as a victim to gain sympathy and to get himself…well, you know…’

‘Laid.’ DC Rory Fleming completed her sentence for her.

‘Well quite. His neighbours have said he kept to himself and rarely chatted to any of them. He hardly stopped to speak to them though he did contribute heavily to the upkeep of the building and maintenance of the communal garden. He was the perfect neighbour. The only complaint was the loud noises coming from his apartment from time to time.’ She coughed and consulted her pad to avoid eye contact with anyone.

‘Loud noises?’

‘Shagging.’ DC Fleming called out to the merriment of the rest of the room.

‘Thank you DC Fleming.’ Masterson said above the murmur of giggles. ‘Your grasp on the English language is a joy to behold. Carry on DS Mills.’

‘I’ve tracked down the couple that Matthew went to live with after his parents were killed and Jonathan moved up to Newcastle.’

This piqued the interest of both Matilda and Ben, who were sitting at opposite sides of the room.

‘Matthew moved in with Robert and Judith Clayton and their son Philip. The family moved away from Sheffield when both Philip and Matthew grew up and left home. They now live in Skegness. Philip died in a car crash on the M1 three years ago. They had contact with Matthew but sometimes it was many months between phone calls. They were both shocked to hear of his death.

‘They described him, as a child, as being quiet and timid and he took a long time to come out of his shell once he’d moved in with them. They gave him a stable and supportive atmosphere to live in and he reacted positively to their warmth. Judith said that he was often left out at home. He was an only child until Jonathan came along and then he was left on the sidelines, so to speak. Judith believes Matthew resented Jonathan and agreed with their Aunt Clara that splitting them up was the best for both boys.

‘The Clayton’s gave him the stable upbringing and home life he desired and he thrived. All he wanted was a set of parents to take care of him, love him, and help him with his future, and they provided that. They helped him through exams, college, and even paid for his first year at Manchester University.’

‘I don’t think it takes Freud to tell us his lack of a stable parental authority figure in his formative years led to his lifestyle of casual sexual relationships and his rather narcissistic personality. Stefan and Miranda Harkness have a lot to answer for,’ Masterson said. ‘What about this Jonathan character; is it possible he killed his brother?’

‘Possible?’ Hales almost jumped out of his chair. ‘I think it’s a bloody certainty. Why aren’t we interrogating him?’

Masterson gave him an icy glare. ‘I think we can all agree that Jonathan is a rather fragile individual, which is why all contact
was
to go through DCI Darke. You, however, Acting DCI Hales, took it upon yourself to conduct an unlawful interview. I will admit that if you hadn’t done so we may not have found out about his sexual assault, but that does not mean I will condone your behaviour.

‘This is a team. I thought this team worked well together and got results by including all its members; obviously I was wrong. Now Jonathan Harkness will be interviewed again when I give permission. Where is he right now anyway?’ she asked Sian rather than anyone else in the room.

‘He’s in the family room. He witnessed his boss getting killed by a hit-and-run. Then he was dragged in here late last night. I’ve had Sergeant Taylor de-arrest him. Not that he should have been arrested in the first place.’ She said as an aside. ‘He hasn’t been to sleep yet so he’s getting some rest until we can take him back to his flat. We’re going to need a forensics team to go over it.’

‘Does Jonathan have anywhere to stay?’

‘I’m not sure. I’ll ask.’

Hales rolled his eyes at the soft treatment Jonathan seemed to be receiving. Under his breath he mumbled, ‘Fucking kid gloves.’

‘Is this hit-and-run linked, do we know?’

‘I don’t think so. Traffic are appealing for witnesses and there’s a team of uniforms going door to door in the area. They’re going to keep me informed.’

‘Good job Sian. Right we need to interview Jonathan’s neighbours; I want to know whether they heard or saw anything on the night he was attacked. Let’s give Jonathan a bit of time to calm down and get some rest, but we will need to interview him again in the next day or so. Sian, you’re in charge until I say otherwise and I’ll leave you to deal with duties. Ben, Matilda, I want you both in my office in five minutes.’

With that she marched out of the room. Everyone was silent until the door had fully closed. Matilda sat staring into space, her mind elsewhere. In five minutes her future within the police force would be decided.

Jonathan was curled up in the corner of a light green three-seat sofa. He was wearing a white paper forensic suit, as his clothes were taken from him during the examination. They weren’t the clothes he was wearing on the night of the attack but they did have blood on them from Stephen’s hit-and-run.

The room was stifling; the windows were sealed shut, and the single radiator beneath a large smeared mirror was giving out heat of nuclear proportions. Jonathan had barely been on the sofa a minute before his eyelids grew too heavy and he was enveloped by sleep.

Quietly, Sian entered the room and carefully roused him by shaking his shoulder. When he opened his eyes he thought he was in his own bed until his mind woke and he looked at his surroundings. The pale yellow wallpaper, the cream carpet, the fake pine coffee table; these did not belong to him. This was not his décor. Where the hell was he?

‘Jonathan, how are you feeling?’ Sian asked in the relaxed motherly tone she usually used when her children were ill.

‘What time is it?’

‘It’s coming up to nine o’clock.’

‘A.m. or p.m.?’

‘A.m.’ She smiled. She sat on the sofa next to him, taking care not to get too close. ‘Jonathan, we need to have a forensic team look around your flat, see if there is any trace evidence from the night you were attacked. We’ll also need the clothes that you were wearing on the night too. Is that all right?’

‘Yes. Fine,’ he said, almost incoherent. He was feeling groggy from the short amount of sleep he’d had. ‘Am I allowed to go home?’

‘Not at the moment. Do you have a place you can go?’

‘I’m not sure. I could ask Maun I suppose. I just want to have a shower and go to sleep.’

‘OK. Well, I’m going to drive you home to collect a few things and for you to give me your clothes, then I’ll take you to Maun’s. I’ll let you know when you’re able to go back into your flat. Do you understand?’

‘Yes I think so.’

‘Do you have any questions?’

‘I’m not sure.’ He seemed confused.

‘That’s fine, don’t worry about it. Any time you think of anything just give me a call. I’ll give you my number before I leave you.’

‘Do I have to go home in this?’ he asked, pulling at the extra-large paper suit.

‘No.’ She smiled. ‘I’ll find you something to wear.’

Jonathan took time standing up. He was shattered and he ached all over, even his hair hurt when he ran his fingers through it.

Sian led him out of the room by the elbow.

‘Who do you reckon is for the chop; Hales or Darke?’ Rory asked sitting back and spinning on his office chair.

‘Hales, definitely,’ Aaron chipped in straight away. ‘The ACC has never liked him and she’s always had Darke earmarked for her job when she retires. There’s no way she’ll send Matilda packing.’

‘I don’t know,’ Rory teased. ‘She seemed pretty pissed at the briefing.’

‘Of course she was pissed; Sian called her up at 7 a.m. Wouldn’t you be pissed?’

‘I think Matilda’ll be for the chop,’ DC Scott Andrews chimed in from the drinks station where he was making everyone a cup of tea. ‘Hales will call his father-in-law who’ll call Masterson and he’ll come out of this with Matilda’s job and a wage increase. Mark my words.’

‘The oracle has spoken,’ Aaron joked, which received a two-fingered reply from Scott.

Sitting quietly at her desk, Faith Easter was familiarizing herself, once again, with the Harkness case. She was fascinated by it. It took her back to her police training when she was given an imaginary cold case to go through and work on a series of questions to ask a new witness who had come forward.

‘When you’ve finished with your bets, can I ask a question?’ Faith asked, looking up from her notepad.

‘Shoot,’ Rory replied.

‘The murder weapon, the one used to stab Miranda and Stefan to death; where is it?’

‘What?’

‘According to this report, a large kitchen knife was used to kill them and there was one missing from a block in the kitchen, but there’s no mention of the knife anywhere else. What happened to it?’

Aaron frowned. ‘I’ve no idea. Rory, you were working on this with Matilda, did you come up with anything?’

‘No. According to a report by the DI, can’t remember his name, the weapon was never recovered.’

‘So let’s run through it then,’ Faith began. ‘There are two entrances to the Harkness house; the front and back door. Both of these are locked from the inside. Whoever killed them was obviously let in, which means they were known to the family…’

‘So how did they get out?’ Aaron interrupted. ‘If the doors are locked from the inside how does the killer escape?’

‘Logic dictates that he was still in the house or he escaped through a window.’

‘Were any of the windows open?’

They both looked to Rory who had been designated unofficial authority on the Harkness cold case having read the files several times.

‘Look, the files are very basic; there’s no mention of anything to do with the house, windows, doors, locks, nothing. There are no sketches and layouts, no photographs, apart from in the main bedroom where they were found. It’s like a huge chunk has been stolen or it was a half-arsed investigation in the first place.’

‘Probably why it was never solved,’ Scott muttered.

‘What kind of windows were there on the ground floor?’ Faith asked.

‘Now that I do know.’ Rory dug around in a folder and pulled out a copy of the local newspaper from a few days ago. ‘There’s a picture in the paper of the house in its glory days and sash windows are clearly shown throughout the house.’

‘Bugger. Sash windows are piss easy to open from the inside and outside.’

‘Unless they had locks on them,’ Faith said.

‘This was the 90s. I doubt they had locks on them. We didn’t start being scared until after 9/11,’ Scott said, handing out the teas. ‘So we know how they were killed but still not why and how the killer entered and left the scene.’

‘Another thing,’ Rory said, rummaging through Sian’s snack drawer and helping himself to a KitKat, ‘say the killer broke in, he didn’t obviously intend to kill them because he came unprepared. He used one of their knives. How did he know they’d have a block of knives in the first place?’

‘Everybody has knives in their kitchen. What we’re looking for is someone who knew how to gain entry to the house and how to leave without it being known,’ Faith said, thinking aloud.

‘My money is on Matthew Harkness.’

‘Mine too,’ Aaron agreed.

‘I’ll go with that as well,’ Scott added.

‘What is it with you three and betting on everything?’

‘Got to do something to pass the time. At the end of the day we’re still no further on than when the crimes were committed all those years ago. Stefan and Miranda Harkness were stabbed to death in their bedrooms; killer or killers unknown.’

‘The killer was obviously known to the Harkness family though,’ said Scott.

‘Why obviously?’

‘Because the second the news is released that the case is being reviewed, and the house demolition hits the papers, Matthew is bumped off too. The killer is still out there and wants to remain free, so he’s taking out those who can identify him.’

Scott was well known within the team for not saying much, but when he did, he often came up with something thought-provoking. The others looked at him with perplexed frowns.