The Sixth Estate (The Craig Crime Series) (23 page)

The analyst puffed out his chest in pride. “She’ll be brilliant.”

“I’m sure she will and you can call her later to say so, but for now I’d like that blog shut down and secured. OK, thanks Liam.” He turned towards Annette. “Annette and Julia, tell everyone what you got from the cook, please.”

Julia seized the moment to redeem herself for Linda McCann’s earlier lies.

“OK, we re-interviewed Linda McCann and it turns out that her son, Richard, was the boyfriend that Oliver Bwye would have found unsuitable. He’s a master’s student with no money, hardly what daddy would have thought good enough for his daughter, the heiress. Anyway, Jane was with him and they’re both safe and well now in Derry station. We’re interviewing them after this.”

Craig interrupted. “How did Jane react when she I.D.ed her mother’s body?”

Annette answered. “Really badly. She cried for hours and she wasn’t faking it, sir. We’ll get more from her today but I’m convinced that she had nothing to do with Mrs Bwye’s death.”

“OK, you can tell us more at four o’clock. Thanks, both of you. Davy, what do you have?”

Julia shook her head firmly. “I hadn’t finished.” Her tone reminded Craig of when they’d dated and he’d done something wrong. He waved her on.

“Richard McCann and Jane Bwye are married. They got married in July and both mothers knew.”

Craig nodded, Annette had mentioned it when she’d called, but everyone else was shocked, including Liam and Carmen.

“Here, you forgot to mention that bit, boss.”

“Sorry, but it’s only relevant if we think they did it and we’ll find that out when Annette and Julia interview them.”

Liam shook his head emphatically and Andy joined in. “It’s also relevant if Oliver Bwye found out somehow. He could have threatened the boy with all sorts if he’d known. That has to add Linda McCann to the list of suspects for the murders.”

They were right and Craig was shocked that he’d missed the possibility. His head was elsewhere far too often these days. He conceded and parked the point for later, motioning Davy on. He was still grinning about Maggie’s promotion and Craig knew that as soon as the briefing was over he’d be on the phone. Davy rearranged his face to look serious.

“OK. Apart from the blog s…stuff, I’ve been digging into everyone on Lawton’s list and retrieving medical records. Records first. As we know, Jane and Diana Bwye attended the hospital ED regularly for bruises, cuts and broken bones. They’d been regulars there for years but it got w…worse about two months ago.”

Liam cut in. “That’s after Jane got married. Maybe Bwye had found out.”

Craig considered for a moment before shaking his head. “If he had done then Richard McCann would have been his first port of call not Jane.” He turned to Annette. “But check that out with McCann and Jane today.” He nodded Davy to continue.

“Anyway, the attendances at hospital got more frequent, especially Diana’s, and the s…severity of the injuries worsened. From the first of October she had four different attendances for broken ribs, the gash on her arm and black eyes.”

Julia interrupted. “Didn’t anyone report it to the police?”

Craig shook his head. “She refused to press charges. She probably just said she was clumsy, and without proof that Bwye had hit her, it would have been nearly impossible to proceed.”

Davy carried on. “I didn’t know Jane had married but I thought, w…what could have happened to make Bwye more violent two months ago? So I searched his finances, businesses, any law suits against him; I even got the name of his mistress, in case she knew anything.”

Liam cut in. “When the heck did you get the mistress’ name?”

Davy shrugged as if it was obvious. “While you were off chasing other s…stuff I called the escort agency. I told them that if they knew anything and w…withheld the information it would come out and they’d be liable for obstructing an investigation.” As he talked he pressed print and nodded Liam to lift the warm sheet. “They called me back this morning. The lady’s name is Mavis Brown. That’s her address. She’s not a mistress as much as s…someone that Bwye saw frequently at The Kasbah.”

Craig didn’t know which to laugh at first. Liam’s indignation or Davy’s show of cool. Instead he said. “Good work. Although strictly speaking that was more police work than analysis.”

Davy shrugged again, determined not to let anything dent his good mood at Maggie’s news. “W…Would you like the rest?”

Liam grabbed the print-out. “Here now, don’t get cocky, son.”

But Craig was interested in what he had to say.

“I couldn’t find anything w…wrong in Bwye’s share accounts or companies, although he wasn’t as wealthy as people thought, so I went back to his GP. From w…what he wouldn’t tell me I think there’s something there, more than Bwye’s past issues with skin cancer and his heart…” He stared at Liam pointedly. “…but I didn’t want to get cocky and overstep my boundaries, so I really think that one of you should get in touch.”

He pressed print again with his middle finger and the GP’s name and address popped out. This time Craig couldn’t stop himself from laughing, knowing that the middle finger had been purely for Liam’s benefit.

“Excellent work, Davy. OK, let’s see what happened to Oliver Bwye two months ago to make him even more violent. It could have been that he found out about Jane and McCann’s marriage but I’d like to rule out other possibilities first.”

He scanned the paper then passed it to Andy. “Andy, you and Gerry pay the GP a visit after we break. Now, what have you two got for us?”

Andy scanned the page, nodding Gerry on to report. Gerry shook his head in a way that said he was appalled by what he’d seen at the lake.

“Ach well, the divers were here last night until eight o’clock; they decided to keep going even though it was dark. They started again this morning at seven and that’s when they trawled the lake bed. It’s just as well they did or stone man would have been down there until the next drought.”

Andy interjected. “Those divers deserve a medal; it was Baltic out there last night. Even with those dry-suits.”

Craig nodded, reminding himself to say thanks. “We saw what they brought up. Mike says he’ll get it scanned in a way that will avoid damaging the body.”

Andy shook his head. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen, hey. What sort of bastard encases someone in concrete?”

“The sort who’s read about the Mexican cartels. They do it all the time.”

Liam joined the debate. “I thought concrete overcoats were the Mafia’s signature.”

“Usually only boots.”

Davy chipped in. “I blame the film distributors. Those Cosa Nostra movies get everywhere.”

“Does anyone know how fast that stuff dries?”

Craig answered. “Quick drying concrete takes less than an hour, maybe even faster in the cold. You just sprinkle water on it. I used some to fix my parents’ patio last year.”

Liam guffawed. “Brining a bag of concrete with them. What next? It gives a whole new meaning to ‘going equipped’.”

Craig waved Gerry on. “Anything else happening at the lake?”

“Well, they’re not finished yet, if that’s what you mean. They’ll keep going while it’s light to see if they can find Bwye’s gun and the dog.”

Davy swallowed a mouthful of coffee so quickly that it made him cough. Through his spluttering Craig heard an apology.

“S…Sorry. I meant to say about the dog; I located it last night with the GPS. A local farmer found it w…wandering in his field and took it in; it only had a cut on one paw. He didn’t know it belonged to the Bwyes’.”

“At least that’s someone the killer didn’t get. Let Jane know, please.”

Annette raised a finger tentatively, as if uncertain whether she should already know the answer to the question she was about to ask.

“Yes?”

“Well, it’s just a thought, sir, but has anyone found the boat yet?”

For a moment Craig was puzzled by the question, then he remembered. He’d asked Davy to make a list of local boat owners but had forgotten to follow it up. Liam didn’t have the sense not to show that he’d forgotten as well.

“What boat?”

Annette was still hesitant. “The boat…that the killer used to take the Bwyes out onto the lake.”

It still wasn’t ringing Liam’s bell. “The van took them to the lake.”

Craig cut in before they both looked more stupid. “Annette’s right and we discussed this before. The van would only have brought them to the shore; they had to have been put in a boat and taken out onto the lake to be dumped. Thanks, Annette, I’d completely forgotten about that.”

“So had I until just now. But that’s not the only question. How the heck did one man lift a concrete encased body onto a boat?”

Gerry grinned. “That’s obvious.”

Craig turned to him. “Enlighten us.”

“Well, didn’t we say that the van was adapted for disabled people, with a ramp so the Bwyes could be loaded into it by one person rolling them?”

“Yes.”

“Well OK then. Disabled vans also have hoists, I know because we had to move an obese prisoner to court once. Forty-two stone this guy was. The only way we could lift him was with a specially adapted hoist that the health service lent us.”

Annette nodded. “He could have covered Bwye’s body with concrete in the van, sealed the bag and then hoisted it into the boat. The same with Diana Bwye’s body. Hers would have been lighter but there were still stones with it.”

“Or he may have added the stones later, when she was in the boat. He could even have done the concrete there as well.”

Craig shook his head. “Unlikely. It was freezing cold. No-one would want to spend an hour on a lake waiting for concrete to dry.”

Liam was annoyed that he hadn’t thought of everything so he added petulantly. “OK. What about the boat then? All that weight would go right through a row boat and sink it.”

Annette retorted quickly. “Then it wasn’t a row boat.” She turned to Craig. “I noticed some boats on the opposite shore, we should check them out.”

Craig was thinking. If the killer had sailed out to the middle of the lake, dumped the bodies and returned to their van, then the boat would have been left on the Bwyes’ side of the lake. He turned to Davy.

“Davy, find out if the Bwyes had a boat or anyone local had their boat stolen a few days before the disappearance. Also, if anyone noticed a boat that wouldn’t normally have been on this side of the lake, on the tenth or eleventh.”

Davy shook his head. “I already checked. The Bwyes didn’t have a boat and no-one mentioned one when Bernadette Ross called the police.” He thought for a moment. “You think the killer had always planned to dump them in the lake?”

“I think they set up every contingency. If I’m right then they stole a boat before they kidnapped the Bwyes and moored it this side of the lake, just in case they needed it. If they didn’t need it someone would have noticed it and returned it to the owners with no harm done. But if they did then it was there waiting for them that Wednesday night. My guess is that after they dumped the bodies they left the boat unmoored, hoping that it would just float away.”

Liam looked pensive. “So you’re saying they brought the adapted van, the concrete and planted the boat, all just in case?”

“Yes.”

“Then what? They left the boat but no-one noticed it on the Thursday morning when Bernadette Ross called the police?”

Craig shook his head. “Or they saw it but no-one connected it with the disappearance because the lake is a distance from the house. Maybe they just thought it had drifted and returned it to its rightful owners, or perhaps the current had carried it so far out on the lake it wasn’t seen; it’s a big lake. If I’m right then someone who reported their boat missing will have got it back that Thursday. We need to find them; there could be valuable clues to our killer still on board. Liam, chase that today with Davy. When you find the boat I want the C.S.I.s all over it.”

The room was quiet for a moment while everyone thought. When Craig was sure there was no more to report he summed up.

“OK, Davy, keep going on everything, including the van. I want the names on Lawton’s list and everything you have on them ASAP. Carmen’s here to help you. Carmen, do anything Davy asks, please.”

He missed her rolling her eyes.

“Annette and Julia, interview Lauren Hayes with her parents and then take Jane Bwye and lover boy. Liam, follow up on the mistress.” He pushed on before Liam could make a joke. “When you’ve finished that I want you to focus on the boat. Gerry and Andy, tackle Bwye’s GP and go back to the golf-club…”

Annette looked embarrassed; they’d failed to get there again in the snow the day before.

“…we need more details about Bwye’s mood before he returned home last Wednesday night. I’ll be at the mortuary or here, keeping an eye on the lake operation and working on Cameron Lawton’s list. We’re nine days in with no real suspects and the Chief Constable will be looking for answers soon.”

As he was about to finish he remembered something. “Did Richard McCann’s prints match the ones on the decanter?”

Davy nodded. “I’ve given his voice s…sample to the linguists as well. Just for confirmation. They ruled out O’Hare and Gordon, by the way.”