A Dark Shadow Falls (11 page)

              ‘Have you been on the Murphys’ estate in recent weeks, Tommy? We’ve got a photograph of your van. We’ll be showing it to the neighbours.’

              ‘I wired up an extension for a friend of mine on Falcon Road. That was at the end of January. Some of the residents might have seen my van parked up then. But I swear I’ve not been back since.’

              ‘Do you give permission for a swab of your DNA to be taken for forensic comparison?’

              Tommy Galt looked wary. ‘I was in and out of that house for months. I had sex with Morna in their bed. How are you going to know if my DNA is present there simply because of what we did together all those months ago?’

              Alexander laid his hands on the table so that the palms faced upwards. ‘Our technicians have a way of working that kind of thing out,’ he explained reasonably.

              ‘Okay,’ Tommy replied, although he still looked nervous. ‘I’ll give you a sample.’

              The DI sat back and smiled.

              But Dani felt uncomfortable too. She wasn’t actually sure if the techies could do anything of the sort.

Chapter 18

G
ordon Alexander led Dani up a flight of stairs to his desk in the corner of an open-plan office floor. It was neat and tidy and nicely positioned to take advantage of the view of the Tay Bridge visible through the large windows.

              Alexander pulled out a chair for her, in a gesture which Dani thought was touchingly old-fashioned.

              ‘Would you like a coffee?’ He asked with concern. ‘You’ve had a long drive today.’

              ‘I’m fine, thank you.’ Dani waited until the man was seated before enquiring, ‘will you be looking to charge Galt?’

              ‘One of my DCs is taking the DNA swab now. We’ve already got his fingerprints. It will all depend on what we can get back on those from the lab.’ Alexander glanced at his watch. ‘I can only keep him for another six hours. Most likely they’ll be no charges brought just yet.’

              ‘Why do you think Galt admitted so quickly to having a sexual relationship with Morna?’

              ‘I believe that Tommy must know we’ll find his DNA all over that house. If he admits to having had sex with Morna in there – especially in the bedroom – then Galt can claim it was from the time he was having a relationship with her.’

              Dani nodded. ‘It’s definitely a possibility. Were the details of Morna’s death reported in the press?’

              The DI shook his head. ‘No, we kept all information to a minimum. If this guy is innocent, he won’t be aware that Morna was murdered in the bedroom.’

              ‘Has he got any previous convictions?’

              ‘A few, but they’re related to driving violations, nothing involving violence against women or house-breaking.’

              ‘What did Morna Murphy’s
post mortem
throw up? Was there any evidence of recent sexual activity?’

              ‘No, Morna hadn’t had sex in the twelve hours before her murder. Lyle told us they’d not slept together for several days before she was killed.’

              ‘Which doesn’t mean she wasn’t sleeping with somebody else,’ Dani added. ‘If Morna really did split up with Tommy Galt last Christmas, there could have been another man on the scene by now. If there was no sexual violence, what do you think Galt’s motive would have been – was the intention always to rob the Murphys’ place?’

              Alexander shrugged his shoulders. ‘Maybe he found out there
was
another boyfriend. Sexual jealousy perhaps?’

              Dani frowned. ‘But then I would expect a sexual assault of some description, as Galt tried to reassert his claim over her.’

              ‘Wasn’t the frenzied stabbing a kind of violation?’

              Dani could see where the man was coming from, but the psychology didn’t quite wash with her. ‘If the knife was aimed at her breasts and genitals I might agree with you, but the wounds were predominantly to her back and shoulders. I’d run the theory past Dr McAllister, but in my opinion, this wasn’t a sexually motivated crime.’

              The DI smiled, seemingly content to defer to her greater experience in homicide cases. He glanced out of the window as the lights on the bridge flickered into life. The sky was rapidly darkening. Alexander’s face creased with concern. ‘Are you driving back to Glasgow tonight?’

              ‘I’m going to stay with some friends on the way. In fact, I’d better make tracks.’ Dani pushed back her chair and stood up.

              ‘Thank you so much for your input, DCI Bevan. I’m finding your advice extremely valuable.’

              The detective smiled broadly. ‘Not at all. Do let me know about the forensic results.’ She paused for a moment, ‘and please call me Dani.’

*

The Hutchisons’ house in Falkirk was warm and welcoming. Joy was re-heating a plate of food for their guest. The aroma hit Dani as she came downstairs after freshening up. The DCI took a seat at the kitchen table.

              ‘It smells great,’ she said, suddenly ravenous.

              ‘Oh, it’s nothing much,’ the lady replied.

              Bill strode into the room, a broad smile on his face. ‘That was Louise on the phone. She says the builders are making good progress.’

              Dani looked puzzled.

              ‘Our daughter and son-in-law are having an extension built onto their wee house in Glenrothes, Detective Inspector. You can’t begin to imagine how difficult it’s been to pin a contractor down to do the job. You’d think these people didn’t want the work.’ Bill accepted a glass of wine from his wife and sat opposite Dani whilst she ate.

              ‘Does much building work go on in
your
estate?’ The detective asked casually.

              ‘The houses are larger here. Most have a generously sized fourth bedroom. It doesn’t stop folk putting on a conservatory or adding an attic room, we’ve had a fair bit of that in recent years.’

              Dani nodded, absorbing this piece of information.

              Bill leant forward. ‘Are you asking that because it has something to do with the case in Dundee? Do the police believe the murder was committed by a local tradesperson? I suppose it would make sense. These folk get to know the layout of properties very well.’

              Bevan couldn’t help but smile. There was no point in trying to sneak anything past Bill. ‘The SIO is thinking along those lines, yes. Did Rita have any work done on her place recently?’

              Bill considered this and then shook his head.

              Joy padded back in from the utility room. ‘She had her downstairs carpets cleaned, if that’s the kind of thing you mean. The doctor recommended it, if you can believe that. Apparently, he thought that removing some of the dust mites would help her emphysema. I told Rita it was pure nonsense. The chemicals these machines pump out would be far worse for her, but of course, the doctor’s word is always sacrosanct to folk of her age. Remember, Bill? We joked at the time that perhaps the surgery had shares in the cleaning company.’

              ‘Oh yes, I do recall now. It was about a month ago.’

              Dani took a final mouthful and pushed aside her empty plate. ‘That was lovely, Joy, thanks.’

              Bill put down his glass with a flourish. ‘Of course! The company had that totally ridiculous slogan plastered across the side of the van – ‘
we
pamper your piles’
– I suppose it gets them noticed.’

              Dani chuckled. ‘They weren’t making any attempt to be inconspicuous then.’

              ‘Do you think those carpet men can have had something to do with Rita’s burglary?’

              Bevan shrugged her shoulders. ‘It’s a line of inquiry worth pursuing. The police could try to identify a pattern in the area.  A certain tradesperson may have carried out work at all the houses that were broken into, for example. If I were the SIO, I’d put a couple of DCs on the task.’

              Joy’s expression suddenly darkened. ‘Should we be concerned about Louise and the boys - in the house for all that time with the men building their extension?’

              Dani put out her hand and rested it on the woman’s arm. ‘Not at all. I shouldn’t really have mentioned anything about it. I’m certainly not suggesting that all building contractors are dangerous. Louise is using a reputable local firm, isn’t she?’

              ‘Oh yes,’ Bill added with feeling. ‘We insisted upon it.’

              ‘Then there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.’

Chapter 19

T
he sun was just emerging from behind the clouds as Huw Bevan proceeded towards the front door of his bungalow. He could see his neighbour, Jilly O’Keefe, standing on the other side of the glass.

              ‘I’m sorry to bother you, Huw. But I’d like to beg your assistance for a moment,’ she said matter-of-factly, after he’d opened up.

              ‘Of course.’ Huw lifted his padded jacket off the hook and slipped his feet into a pair of wellington boots.

              The retired headmaster allowed his friend to lead the way along the narrow path at the top of the beach, until they reached the stone wall which marked out the boundary of Jilly’s windswept garden.

              But Jilly bypassed her own property, taking Huw instead towards the wee bothy which lay another quarter of a mile up the hill. As they grew closer, Huw could see the extent of the earthworks that were being constructed in order to make the cottage larger. For the moment, the machinery was at a standstill and there were no workmen in sight.

              ‘Come and look at this,’ the woman entreated.

              Jilly was heading purposefully towards a small mound, on top of which was one of Colonsay’s historical cairns; a monument constructed out of stones, which was said to have been there since one of the clan battles of the seventeenth century. According to legend, the army of ordinary clansfolk would each place a stone on the cairn at the start of the battle. The ones who survived would return to the cairn and remove their stone, leaving the rest as a memorial to the men who’d been killed.

              Huw Bevan could see that a large proportion of this particular cairn had already started to subside, as the foundations being built for the bothy extension had undermined the hill upon which it had stood for many hundreds of years.

              ‘I told the workmen they’d have to stop,’ Jilly pronounced. ‘I pointed out that they were damaging an important historical monument. The foreman looked at me as if I’d just come down in a spacecraft. To them, it’s clearly just a pile of stones.’

              Huw shook his head solemnly and tutted. ‘We’ll need to call a meeting at the Town Hall. I’d like to ask Kenny McKinley how the plans for this work ever got approved.’

              Jilly adopted an aggressive stance, with her sturdy legs in brightly patterned woollen tights positioned wide apart, as if she were about to challenge someone to fisty-cuffs. ‘Obviously, the planners have received some kind of
incentive
. I objected to the plans. The new building will be far too close to my place. Of course, the council took no notice.’

              ‘That’s a serious allegation, Jilly. We need to approach this issue calmly and through the correct channels. Who owns the land, do you know?’

              ‘Ronald Cross sold the bothy to that English chap, the academic. He came here on holiday for a good few years – do you remember? Then he got Parkinson’s disease and couldn’t travel this far north. I believe he finally died last year. The family quickly passed on the bothy to developers. It’s some faceless organisation that we’re dealing with now. Bryant’s Construction, it’s called.’

              Huw nodded, thinking about the visit that he and Dani had received from the well-dressed lawyer woman. He immediately wondered if this construction company was as faceless as Jilly feared.

*

Louise felt as if she’d done nothing except make endless cups of tea for the past week. Dust seemed to lie thickly on every surface in the house. As soon as she cleared it up, another layer soon settled in its place. But worse than this, Ben’s asthma was playing up, what with all the particles floating about in the atmosphere. He’d been told to stay home from school, although his mother knew this wasn’t the best place for him to be. She’d set the lad up in her and Fergus’ room, which was situated at the front of the property. He had the portable TV set in there and the window wide open, to let in some fresh air.

              She lowered herself onto a kitchen chair with a heavy sigh, as Davy Burns strutted in with his empty mug.

              ‘Is everything okay, Mrs Keene?’ He immediately asked, observing her hunched posture.

              To her great embarrassment, Louise began to cry. The tears leaked down her cheeks in what felt like an unsightly torrent. The man carefully placed his cup on the draining board, pulled out a seat and sat down, just inches away from her. ‘Come on, love, what’s the matter?’

              Davy’s tone was so kind and gentle, Louise thought the sobs would never subside, but eventually, they did. ‘I’m just so tired. My husband is always at work and the boys never stop, you know?’

              He nodded. ‘My brothers and I were like that when we were little. We gave my poor mum one hell of a run around. But before long, she was having a battle to get us out of bed. It doesn’t last forever.’

              Louise looked up, examining his clear green eyes. ‘I know this extension will make things easier in the end, but it’s bloody hard whilst it’s going on.’ She managed a weak smile.

              Davy rummaged in his pocket for a handkerchief, which he proceeded to use to gently dab at the watery streaks on her cheeks. With his other hand, he cradled her head, running Louise’s soft, silky hair through his fingers. She closed her eyes, allowing him to place his lips over hers. The reassuring sensation that the warmth of his touch gave her made Louise want to cry again, but she didn’t. The woman slipped her arm around his broad back instead and pulled him closer. ‘My eldest is just upstairs,’ she murmured.