A Dark Shadow Falls (24 page)

              ‘I wonder if Eric always intended to kill the guy, or it was an accident, like he told Craig?’

              ‘Either way, Fisher was a murderer. He just didn’t happen to murder his wife and kids.’

              Dani turned to face her DC. ‘So we’re not looking for Mark Bannerman as our serial killer. Then who the hell is he, Andy, and how do we find him?’              

                   Webber looked up from his computer screen. ‘There’s a military base just north of Dunblane. It’s on the edge of the Trossachs National Park.’

    ‘What are we waiting for?’ Dani demanded. ‘Let’s go and check it out.’

*

The clouds had lifted, leaving a glorious late afternoon. The Larich Army Base was set right back from the road between Dunblane and Crieff. If it wasn’t for the tall fencing which enclosed this area of scrubland, you’d barely know that it was there.

    The base commander was expecting them. Calder stopped the car at a checkpoint and a man in uniform examined his ID, before directing them towards a series of pre-fabs scattered in the shadow of a hillside.

    Colonel Ross Parker emerged from one of the tatty buildings to greet them. ‘Welcome to Larich,’ he announced. ‘Please come inside.’

    Bevan and Calder followed him obediently.

   ‘So, what can I do to assist the City and Borders police?’ Parker sat behind his desk, leaning forward expectantly.

   Dani took a breath, knowing that what they had was thin. ‘We are investigating a series of murders that have taken place across eastern Scotland. We have reason to believe that these crimes have been committed by a single individual. Certain intelligence that we’ve gathered indicates this person may have a military connection. It’s also likely that our perpetrator lives somewhere within this region.’

  Parker lifted an eyebrow ironically. ‘Are you trying to suggest, DCI Bevan, that I have a serial killer on my base?’

   ‘Not necessarily.’ Dani sighed. ‘This person may not still be serving in the military. I really need to take a look through your records, sir. This man is incredibly dangerous and could kill again at any time.’

   Parker appeared to be considering this. ‘I can let you take a look through the personnel files. It should give you the men’s service history too. But I’ll tell you now that I’m very sceptical about your theory, which I suspect is all it is. We have psychologists here at the base whose job it is to assess the men on a regular basis. We would be able to pick up on any changes in behaviour. I’ll get Corporal Laing to assist you with the material. He’s my archivist.’

  ‘Thank you Colonel. I really appreciate it.’

Chapter 44

T
he boys were at school and the house was quiet. Louise padded around thoughtfully, picking up discarded pyjama bottoms and clearing away the mess left by breakfast.

                  She’d arranged to meet Laura for a coffee in town. Louise wasn’t that bothered about seeing her but she felt that it might keep her occupied for a few hours and prevent her from ringing Davy. The last time she met her lover, they’d agreed to cool things off for a while. Louise finally realised how much she had to lose by allowing the situation to carry on.

     Davy had seemed really upset, angry even. Louise had to promise him that they could hook up again whilst Fergus was away on a stag weekend. She had no intention of sleeping with him, but they could talk.

    After completing the housework, Louise pulled on her jacket and headed out of the door. She caught a bus into town. It stopped outside the place she was meeting her friend. Laura was already inside.

    Louise painted on an enthusiastic smile and pushed through the door to join her.

    ‘I can’t believe how much weight you’ve lost,’ Laura announced, by way of a greeting. ‘Are you doing some kind of keep fit at home?’

   ‘Something like that,’ Louise commented dryly.

   ‘Whatever it is, it’s bloody well working.’ The woman waved vigorously at the waitress. ‘I’m having a cake, how about you?’

   ‘Yeah, go on.’ Louise’s vision was drawn towards the bay window of the café. For a moment, she was sure she’d seen a man standing outside watching them. Now he’d gone.

   ‘Did you see the photo of us in the local paper? Dan thought we looked terrific, like real yummy mummies. I think he was quite proud. What did Fergus think?’

   ‘Yes, he said we looked nice.’ Louise absent-mindedly took a bite from the slice of Victoria Sponge that had been placed in front of her.

   Her companion shot her hand out and caught hold of Louise’s arm. ‘Hey, Lou, what’s going on here? You’ve been so distant the last few weeks. Are you sure things are okay at home?’

   Louise caught the eye of her friend, who she immediately sensed already knew everything. ‘I’ve been seeing someone.’

   ‘I bloody knew it.’

   ‘It’s over now. I’ve been totally insane. I was just so lonely, dealing with the boys all by myself. They were playing up badly back then and never went to bed when I asked them to. When this guy came along and was kind to me I was like putty in his hands.’

   Laura sat back and cradled her mug. ‘You don’t need to justify yourself to me. I did the same thing when Alice was a toddler.’

   ‘
Really
? I never had the slightest clue.’

   ‘He was a stay at home dad who I met at a soft play centre.’ She began to laugh heartily. ‘How sad is that?’

   ‘What was he like?’

   ‘He was lovely, still is I expect. We both needed the company – or comfort, more like. But after a while, you come to your senses.’

   ‘Did you ever tell Dan?’

   ‘Come on, how would that have helped? If I was running off with this other guy, I would have told him, otherwise, you keep it to yourself. Nobody has to get hurt.’

    Louise slowly sipped her cappuccino, wondering if she would be able to extricate herself quite so easily.

*

The sun was setting outside the Larich Barracks. There were a hundred and forty soldiers on the base and they’d been through the files of half of them. Dani had to disagree with Colonel Parker, she actually felt that at least a dozen of the men she was reading about were candidates for developing into a serial killer.

    There were plenty of incidences of broken relationships and post-traumatic stress amongst the personnel at the camp. But for many of these men, the dates of the murders simply didn’t fit. The soldiers were either fighting in the field or on duty here at the camp when the killings took place. The military life seemed far too regimented for one of these men to be able move around so freely.

   ‘I think our best bet is ex-army,’ Dani suggested. ‘Let’s concentrate on those men who’ve been pensioned off in the last ten years.’

   ‘Good idea,’ Calder agreed. ‘One of them may have decided to settle down nearby.’

   Dani went outside to stretch her legs. The air was crisp and cold. It was just possible to see the outline of the Trossachs mountain range in the distance, against the grey sky.

   The phone in the DCI’s pocket began to ring, she glanced at the screen. ‘Hi Phil.’

   ‘Evening, Ma’am. I’ve been trying to call you for the last few hours.’

   ‘There’s probably no reception inside these lead-lined bunkers we’re working in.’

    Phil chuckled. ‘I’m still working through the local papers for the eastern region. I’ve identified about fifteen folk featured who have names associated with the Macdonald clan.’

   ‘Great job. Can you e-mail them all through to me? I’ll pick up the details when I’m back at Fettes.’

   ‘There was something else, too. I thought it might be worth your while to get back in touch with DI Alexander, to assist you with your current lead.’

   ‘Why is that?’

   ‘Because Gordon was in the army before he joined the police. He’d signed up at sixteen, but when his dad died a few years later, he switched to the force. I think it was always his father’s idea that he become a soldier. It wasn’t really Gordon’s calling.’

   ‘Okay, that’s useful information, Phil. The DI may well be able to help us.’

Chapter 45

F
ergus Keene had taken the Friday off work and headed to the airport just after breakfast. The stag party were off to Stockholm for the weekend. Louise couldn’t quite understand why the men would want to visit a place that would be even colder than Scotland. Fergus informed her they would be inside bars and restaurants the whole time so it didn’t make much difference what the climate was like. Louise wanted to tell her husband not to go into any strip joints, but the hypocrisy would have been too much. She simply kissed him tenderly and told him to take care.

    The boys had been really good since she’d picked them up from school. They’d found themselves some tasks to do and got on with them quietly. There’d been no squabbling, even at teatime.

    Louise padded up the stairs and started running a bath. When she wandered into Jamie’s room to get his clean pyjamas from a drawer her mobile phone started to ring.

    ‘Hi Davy,’ she replied, without enthusiasm.

    ‘Lou, can I come over later? I really want to talk to you.’

    ‘I’m not sure what it’s going to achieve.’

    ‘Please. I’ve got a proposition for you. I just need you to hear me out.’

    She sighed. ‘I’ll have to get the kids to bed first. Wait until nine, when they’re sure to be asleep. Come round the back and tap on the kitchen window, okay?’

    ‘I will. And Louise, I love you.’

*

D
ani had left Andy Calder at the Barracks, going through the personnel files with Corporal Laing. The DCI had decided to drive up to Dundee. Phil’s tip seemed like a good one. No one in Bevan’s team really had much of an idea of how to get into the mind of a soldier. If they were going to second-guess this monster, they needed all the insights they could get. The Corporal assured Dani they’d find Andy a bed for the night.

   It was getting late by the time she reached the police headquarters. The lights on the bridge were being reflected back in the still waters of the River Tay. Bevan was hopeful that Gordon might still be at work. The guy had nothing to go home for.

   Dani showed her warrant card to the middle aged woman on the reception desk, who remembered her.    ‘I’m not sure where DI Alexander has been this afternoon, Ma’am. But he’s not clocked out just yet. Why don’t you go up to the department and wait. You know where it is?’

   The DCI nodded gratefully as the lady buzzed her though the security gate. Bevan took the lift to the serious crime floor. The lights had already been dimmed, the illuminations from the sprawling city itself being the only thing guiding Dani’s way to Gordon’s desk in the far corner.

   As she sat down in the man’s comfortable leather chair, Dani noted that only a couple of officers were still there, bent low over their desks, desperately trying to complete their paperwork and begin their Friday night.

   Bevan swivelled gently back and forth, admiring the neatness of the work surface before her. Then Dani’s gaze rested on a set of photographs. One was of a woman in her early thirties, her hair dark and sleek, an attractive smile on her face. The others were of two children. Dani caught her breath at how very young they looked. There were two girls, one in a summer dress, playing in a garden full of flowers, the other just a wee toddler, sat squarely on a picnic blanket, with a set of bricks lying discarded between her podgy thighs.

   Dani felt the tears welling up in her eyes once more, at the sight of these adorable youngsters. Then her vision was drawn to what lay beyond this pretty garden, to the dark outline of a distant mountain range, its peaks and troughs strangely familiar. Bevan snatched the frame off the desk and examined the scene more closely, reaching into her pocket for a mobile phone and rapidly starting to dial.

Chapter 46

L
ouise pulled the plug out, listening to the fierce gurgling of the murky water, as it span its way down the drain. She returned to Ben’s room to find that her wee boy had switched off the light of his own accord and was wriggling down under the covers.

   His mother moved silently across the room and bent over to kiss the top of his head.

   ‘Night, Mum,’ he murmured.

   Louise could have wept. Maybe her little boys were finally growing up. Jamie was already asleep. She knew he would be. He was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow - that was the expression her mother always used about her youngest grandson.

   Confident that the boys were settled, Louise made her way back downstairs. She glanced at the clock above the fireplace. It was half past eight. She didn’t have very long.

    The leftovers of a lasagne were covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. Louise went into the kitchen and dished some out, popping the plate in the microwave for five minutes. Before it pinged, she poured herself a glass of wine, hoping to be a bit tipsy by the time Davy showed up.              

   Fergus had called at the kids’ teatime to say they’d arrived safely. They were heading to a pub and then on to a nightclub. He claimed he wasn’t looking forward to it. Louise put the hot plate down on the table and sat in front of it, picking at the congealed tomato and meat sauce. She heard the rattling of the bins down by the side of the house. ‘For Christ’s sake,’ she muttered bitterly. ‘He’s bloody early.’

   Louise finished off her wine in one gulp, fortifying herself for the awkward encounter to come. Standing up to go and open the back door, she heard a noise from upstairs. It was one of the boys calling for her. ‘Shit, this is all I need.’