Peter Robinson - Friend of the Devil

“Now, now, Ginger. Claws.”

“Well…”

“So neither of them will admit to telling anyone Karen Drew’s real identity?”

“Of course not. Lips sealed tighter than a Scotsman’s sphincter, if you’ll excuse my language.”

“Anything interesting in the background checks?”

“Nothing yet. The usual university stuff. I do believe Constance Wells was a member of the Marxist Society when she was a student, mind you. I’ll bet she wouldn’t want that to get around the firm.”

Annie smiled. “You wouldn’t, would you?”

Ginger gave a mischievous grin. “I might. You never know.” She finished her beer. “I’m glad that had no calories in it.”

“Anything else? Pudding, maybe?”

Ginger patted her stomach. “No, that’s me done, guv. There was one thing struck me as interesting in all my digging around. Hardly relevant, mind you, but interesting.”

“Oh?” said Annie. “What’s that?”

“Well, Julia Ford was a late starter. She didn’t go to uni till she was in her early twenties.”

“So?”

“Most people go straight from school, that’s all. Law, medicine, what have you. Want to get the education over with and start earning the big money and pay off their student loans as soon as they can.”

“Okay,” said Annie. “That makes sense. I think they had grants back then, though, not loans. Still, it’s an interesting point. If there’s a chance that Maggie Forrest is really Kirsten Farrow, there’s also a chance that Julia Ford is, too, isn’t there?”

Ginger looked surprised. “That’s not where I was—”

“Hold on a minute, though,” Annie went on. “There is, isn’t there? She’s about the right age, she’s slight enough in build, and if she hid her hair under a hat, downplayed the fancy clothes and the makeup… It could be her, couldn’t it?”

“Julia Ford? Bloody hell! But she defended Lucy Payne.”

“She also knew her identity and where she was. Okay, so we’ve got a bit of a problem with motive. There seems to be a conflict there. But perhaps there was a reason for that. Something we don’t know about.”

“I suppose you could have a point,” said Ginger. “Want me to do a bit more digging into her background?”

Annie nodded. “Yes. See if you can find out where she was between 1985, which was when Kirsten would have started uni, and 1991 or 1992, which is about the last sighting of her. But be careful.”

“What about alibis?”

“It’ll be tricky without her knowing, but if you could find out where she was at the times Lucy and Templeton were murdered, it would be a big help.”

“I’ll see what I can do. But what I was going to tell you…”

“Yes?”

“Julia Ford did another degree before her law one. Not English Lit. Psychology. At Liverpool.”

“It still doesn’t let her out of the picture. And the law degree?”

“Bristol.”

“Kirsten Farrow was from Bath. It’s very close.”

“Our Ms. Ford shared a flat while she was there. First and second year.”

“Students often do.”

“It’s just that I happened to get connected with a very chatty and helpful young woman from student housing, had all the records going back years. Anyway, Julia Ford shared the flat with Elizabeth Wallace, who was studying medicine at the time. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Elizabeth Wallace your pathologist back in Western Area?”

“She is, indeed,” said Annie. “Dr. Elizabeth Wallace.”

“Just a point of interest, that’s all,” Ginger said. “They were mates, her and Julia Ford. And…”

“And what?”

“I did a bit more checking, and they both live in Harrogate now.”

“Big place.”

“Both members of the local golf club, too.”

“Fellow professionals. Makes sense. But you’re right, Ginger, it is interesting. Are you thinking Julia Ford might have told Dr. Wallace…?”

“And Dr. Wallace might have let it slip elsewhere? Well, it’s possible, isn’t it? That is, if Julia Ford isn’t the one we’re looking for.”

“I wonder if Dr. Wallace can tell us anything?”

“She’s hardly any more likely to spill the beans than Julia Ford, is she?” said Ginger. “I mean, doctors . They’re worse than lawyers. That’s if there are any beans to spill.”

“Perhaps not,” said Annie. “But when we get back to the station, keep digging into Julia Ford’s background. Discreetly, of course. Get back to your friend at Bristol and see if she can dig up any more names from around that time. Others who might have shared the flat, been members of the same societies, that sort of thing. It might be worth my having a word with Dr. Wallace later if you do come up with anything. I’ve met her a couple of times. She seems okay.”

“What are you thinking?”

Annie grabbed her briefcase and stood up. They walked out onto Flowergate and joined the flow of people. “I’m thinking, you know, a couple of drinks at the nineteenth hole — there’s been some decent enough weather for golf recently — the tongue loosens. ‘Guess who’s our client and what we’ve done with her,’ says Julia. ‘Oh?’ says Dr. Wallace. And so on.”

“Girl talk?”

“Something like that. And Dr. Wallace lets it slip somewhere else, another old uni friend or… Who knows? What’s Maggie Forrest’s psychiatrist’s name?”

“Simms. Dr. Susan Simms.”

“Where did she get her education?”

“Dunno.”

“Find out. Has she ever done any forensic psychiatry?”

“I’ll check.”

“Good. That could link her to Julia Ford through the courts. She may have had to give evidence while Julia was appearing as a barrister at some time or another. Dr. Simms is already linked with Maggie Forrest. So many possibilities.”

“Right, guv,” said Ginger.

“I don’t know where all this gets us,” Annie said, “but we might just be on to something here.” She took out her mobile. “I should probably let Alan know, too.”

“If you think so.”

“And, Ginger?”

“Yes, guv?”

“Tread very carefully indeed on this one. Not only are we sniffing around the super’s favorite kinds of people — doctors and lawyers — there’s also a killer on the loose somewhere, and the last thing you want to do is step on her tail and disturb her without knowing you’ve done so.”

Banks walked over from Western Area Headquarters to the Fountain late that afternoon mulling over what he had just heard from Annie on his mobile. Julia Ford and Elizabeth Wallace, old flatmates and golf buddies. Well, it made sense. If they’d known each other from their university days, and if both were professional single women living in Harrogate, they would probably be friends, and members of the same golf club.

The Maggie Forrest connection was the one that really interested him, though. According to Annie, she used Constance Wells in Julia Ford’s firm for her legal work, and she also knew Julia Ford slightly, so she might easily have overheard something about Karen Drew when she was in their office once, or seen a revealing document. Julia Ford had been Lucy Payne’s lawyer, and Maggie had been her champion and her stooge. It had all gone haywire, of course, but there was a connection.

Then there was the hair. Annie had told him that their expert, Famke Larsen, had matched one of Kirsten Farrow’s hairs, found in Greg Eastcote’s house in 1989, with a hair on the blanket Lucy Payne had on when she was killed. It wasn’t conclusive, of course, but it was enough to confirm their suspicions that Kirsten had somehow reappeared and was involved in Lucy’s murder. Who she was remained a mystery. The hair on the blanket, Annie had also said, would reveal a mitochondrial DNA profile which could further help them identify the killer. That would take a few days, though, and they would need samples from all their suspects for comparison. Still, it was definitely progress.