Dark as Night (5 page)

              ‘Then how did he wind up that way? You know as well as I do that men who die of unnatural causes have a weakness of some kind. It might be gambling, drugs or the lassies, but it’s something that places them in harm’s way.’ Dani returned Andy’s hard gaze.

              Calder tipped his head back so that he was staring up at the ceiling. ‘It was depression. Don had suffered from it on and off since he was a teenager.’

              ‘There’s nothing about it in the records.’

              ‘Don had never gone for formal treatment. We didn’t tell the investigating officer at the time he went missing.’

              ‘Why on earth not?’  Bevan was wide-eyed. ‘You were surely not concerned about the stigma?’

              Andy shook his head. ‘Of course we weren’t. Dad wanted to tell the police straight away. It was Mae who didn’t want the issue raised. She didn’t believe the depression had anything to do with Don going missing. Mae thought that if the police found out he had mental health problems, they’d write him off.’

              Bevan thought that sadly there might have been some truth in that fear. ‘Okay, well, we know about it now. Can I add this information to the file?’

              Andy straightened himself up. ‘Aye. It’s important that we find out the truth now. Attitudes on the force have changed a lot in the last ten years.’

              Bevan was surprised by Calder’s optimism. She sincerely hoped he was right.

Chapter 8

T
he park looked quite different to how it had at the weekend. The only folk to be seen now were the dog-walkers and the occasional jogger doing a circuit of the green. The grass was yellow and dry, despite the procession of sprinklers which were spinning water out onto its parched surface. DC Alice Mann noticed how these little fountains were creating a dozen mini rainbows in the strong morning sun.

              Phil Boag had arranged a meeting with Anthony Lomond, the chief coach at the University Boating Club, down at their headquarters by the river. There was a training session currently in progress and Mr Lomond suggested this would provide a good opportunity to ask their questions.

              A group of athletic-looking young men were hauling a boat up the jetty as they arrived. The sun was sparkling fiercely on the surface of the river, producing an almost blinding glare. Phil wished he’d brought his shades. An older man, although still no more than thirty, emerged from the wooden shed and approached the pair, putting out his hand and smiling broadly.

              ‘You must be DS Boag. I’m Tony Lomond. You’re in luck, the lads have just returned from a row. They’ll be taking some refreshments before going out again.’

              Tony led the police officers into the hut, which was pretty basic, but contained a kitchenette and a few tables and chairs. The walls were filled with framed photographs of sturdy young students holding aloft trophies. Lomond introduced them to the rowers, who were gathering in front of a serving hatch. He then led Phil and Alice towards one of the tables.

              Phil brought out a photograph of Nathan McLaren. ‘Do you recall having seen this man before?’

              Lomond took the picture from him and examined it closely. ‘Where might I have met him?’ He eventually said.

              ‘Nathan McLaren was seen talking to someone here at the boat sheds on Saturday, Mr Lomond. On the afternoon of the Glasgow Fair,’ Alice explained.

              He grimaced. ‘There were hundreds of people milling about that day.’ He looked at the face again. ‘But I do believe I recognise him.’

              ‘Do you mind if we show it around some of the lads?’ Phil asked, ‘whilst you consider where you might have seen this man before.’

              ‘Of course, go ahead.’

              Most of the rowers claimed never to have set eyes on McLaren. Then one young man paused for a moment, squinting hard at the image. ‘This was on Saturday, you say?’

              Phil nodded patiently.

              ‘I couldn’t swear to it, but I think this guy asked me about whether his son would be able to join the club, when he became an undergraduate at the university in September.’

              Alice became immediately alert. ‘What did you tell him?’

              The boy scratched his head. ‘I explained how I got involved in rowing and the kind of training we do, then I introduced him to Tony. I thought he’d know more about it than I would.’

              Phil gestured for Lomond to come and join them. ‘This lad says he directed Nathan McLaren to talk with you about his son maybe signing up to the rowing club. This was on Saturday afternoon.’

              Tony’s face seemed to light up with recognition. ‘Ah, that was it. Nice chap. He’d done some rowing himself as a younger man. I gave him one of our leaflets and told him to encourage his lad to come along one Saturday morning for a trial. I’m always keen for enthusiastic new members to join, especially when the fourth years are about to graduate and move on.’

              ‘Did he give you any indication of where he might be headed to after he spoke with you?’

              ‘No, I’m afraid not. Look, something hasn’t happened to the guy, has it? He seemed very pleasant.’

              ‘He’s gone missing. His family haven’t set eyes on him since Saturday evening,’ Phil replied flatly.

              ‘Bloody hell,’ Tony said with feeling. He watched silently as the pair of detectives left the hut, heading back across the arid green to their unmarked car, with a troubled expression on his face.

*

‘We’re beginning to create a timeline of sorts, for McLaren’s movements on Saturday afternoon.’ Dani pointed to her flip-chart. ‘Ewan went off with his friend at around 1pm. We assume that Nathan remained within the park for the next couple of hours, being sighted talking with Tony Lomond at the rowing club at ten past three. According to Cormac’s testimony, Nathan then left the park, exiting through the McLennan Arch, making his way into town. He met the boys again at Central Station at six, having bought some burgers from the van outside.’

              ‘We haven’t been able to get a sighting, either from witnesses or CCTV, of where he was in between,’ Phil added.

              ‘Have we had much response from the public?’ Alice Mann asked.

              ‘Nathan’s disappearance hasn’t had a great deal of publicity. It was mentioned briefly on the local news yesterday evening. The DCS is refusing to give me much of a budget on this. We’re talking about a non-vulnerable, fifty-two year old miss-per who’s only been gone a few days. He’s not used his cash card since Saturday but he withdrew a couple of hundred then. McLaren could easily still be surviving on that money, wherever he is.’

              Andy tutted loudly. ‘Remember the amount of resources the division threw at the Maisie Riddell case? It’s a bloody disgrace.’

              ‘That was entirely different,’ Phil responded swiftly, trying to keep his tone even. ‘Maisie was only fourteen years old. She went missing from
school,
let’s not forget.’

              DS Boag was now in a relationship with Maisie’s mother and his youngest daughter had been her best friend. Bevan hoped that Andy would be tactful and let the issue drop. It was clearly too close to home for Phil.

              Calder grunted. ‘I’m just sayin’’

              ‘The next course of action is to question his work colleagues. I’d like Alice and Dan to handle that please,’ the DCI said quickly, keen to wind up the briefing before a row broke out. ‘Andy, I’d like you to come along with me.’

              ‘Sure thing, Ma’am. I’ll just grab my jacket.’

Chapter 9

J
enny McLaren was perched on the edge of the sofa with her running gear on. Bevan noted how tanned and lean her legs were. ‘Are you still in training for the marathon?’ The DCI had endeavoured to keep the incredulity out of her voice but apparently failed.

              ‘What the bloody hell else am I supposed to do? If I sit around this house waiting for news it’ll drive me insane.’

              ‘Have the boys gone to school?’ Andy took the seat opposite her.

              Jenny dropped her gaze and looked guiltily at the carpet. ‘Ewan and his friend made up some missing person posters last night, with a photo of Nathan on. The boys have gone to stick them up around town - in the shop windows and on lamp posts. People have been very kind in their offers of help.’ The woman lifted her head defiantly. ‘You want to know why I’m not out there with them. Well, I’ll tell you, shall I? I’ve not slept since Saturday night, so it’s given me plenty of time to think. What I’m thinking is that Nathan has gone off someplace, with one of these
attractive women
he was encouraging
our
son to gawp at.’

              There was a brief silence before Jenny crumpled. She slipped off the sofa onto the carpet and crawled into a ball, her entire body shaking with heaving sobs.

              Dani got down onto her knees and placed her arms around the woman. ‘Put the kettle on would you, Andy?’

              Calder nodded and left the room.

              ‘Do you really believe that Jenny?’ She asked gently, when the woman’s crying had subsided.

              ‘I know I’m not beautiful, DCI Bevan. But I’m slim and well-toned. I thought that was enough for Nathan. I’ve tried to keep myself healthy for him. I don’t have the flab that other women of my age do. I wanted my husband to be proud of how I’d taken care of my body.’ Her face sagged again, tears leaking from her small eyes.

              ‘It may not be the case that your husband has absconded with another woman, Jenny. We found no suspicious messages on his e-mail or social media accounts. If he
had
left you for somebody else, he would very likely have informed you by now, or at least been in touch with one of the boys.’

              Jenny lifted herself up into a sitting position, leaning her weight on one arm. ‘What do you believe has happened then?’

              Dani took a deep breath. ‘Had you husband ever suffered from depression in the past?’

              The woman’s eyes widened in horror. ‘You believe he’s dead.’ A hand flew up to cover her mouth, as if this idea hadn’t occurred to her yet. Perhaps it really hadn’t.

              ‘Not necessarily, but we need to know everything about Nathan, so we can eliminate possibilities.’

              Dani anticipated more hysteria but instead Jenny hoisted herself back into the seat. ‘Nathan started going for therapy, a couple of years ago.’

              Andy re-entered the room at this moment. He placed a tray of cups on the coffee table and sat back down in the armchair.

              ‘We’d been having some, err… difficulties,’ she stuttered.

              Bevan remained crouched on the carpet in front of her. ‘Of what kind, Mrs McLaren?’

              ‘I didn’t want to have sex any more. I just didn’t enjoy it. Nathan was becoming frustrated with me. He wanted us to seek outside help. In the end, I agreed to see the counsellor with him, but the exercises she suggested were just too excruciating for me to handle. I couldn’t continue going.’

              ‘But Nathan
did
continue to visit the therapist, without you present?’

              Jenny nodded. ‘He said he found it beneficial to talk things through. It wasn’t a total disaster. Our sex life has been better since then. I realised how important it was to Nathan so I decided to provide him with what he wanted.’

              Dani could sense Calder bristling in his seat behind her, even though the officer hadn’t so much as moved a muscle during Jenny’s speech. Bevan reached across for a mug of tea and handed it to their host. ‘Here, have a sip of this.’

              ‘So, I suppose you could say he’d been unhappy,’ she continued. ‘But things had got better in the last few months. I swear I hadn’t seen anything like this coming.’

              Dani rested her hand on Jenny’s knee. ‘I’m sure you didn’t. But if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to take the contact details for the therapist your husband was seeing?’

              The woman nodded sombrely, clasping the steaming mug with both hands, as if it wasn’t hot at all. Bevan was seriously concerned she might scald herself so the detective prized the drink out of her vice-like grip, placing it carefully back on the table.

*

‘Christ! No wonder the guy took off,’ Andy declared, just as soon as Dani had closed the passenger door.

              ‘Yes, it does sound as if their relationship was a little strained.’

              ‘That’s the understatement of the bloody century. What did she say? ‘‘I decided I needed to give him what he wanted.’’ The man must have felt like he was forcing himself on her, every single time they made love. Jeez, she’s not exactly a looker to start with.’ He visibly shuddered.

              ‘Come on, Andy. Jenny McLaren is perfectly attractive. She’s certainly very fit for her age.’

              Andy shook his head. ‘Oh, no, don’t give me that one. Thin does
not
necessarily mean good-looking. That woman doesn’t possess any of the attributes that real men find sexually appealing.’

              Dani felt they’d stumbled into a discussion she didn’t wish to pursue. ‘Does it really matter, Andy? I’d rather not vilify the poor woman.’

              ‘But it means that this case is totally different from what happened to Uncle Don, don’t you see? Don was happily married to Mae, who was a real cracker. There’s no way Donny left my aunt for another lassie.’

              Dani shifted round in her seat. ‘It doesn’t work like that and you know it. Some of the world’s most notorious philanderers had beautiful wives. It’s about the excitement and the pursuit of a new experience. Whether or not a man will be unfaithful comes down to
his
character alone, not the attractiveness of his wife.’