Luke Delaney - Redemption of the Dead

‘I’m going to show her the polaroids from the Harter scene and ask her if she thinks it could be the same killer as Rebecca Fordham’s. If she says no then I’ll know she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. If she says yes then we’ll find out if she’s brave enough to admit she’s wrong about Ian McCaig.’

‘And undermine her own career and standing,’ Sean told him, ‘I don’t think so.’

‘We’ll see,’ Bannan replied, still not looking up. A sudden, loud knock at the door made Sean jump and set his heart racing. ‘Come in,’ Bannan called out.

The door yawned open revealing a tall, strong-looking uniformed sergeant in his fifties — greying beard matching his grey hair. ‘A Doctor Patricia Hooper here to see you, sir.’ The sergeant stepped aside and allowed a slim woman in her late forties wearing a tailored suit to walk past him and into the office. As soon as she had, the sergeant closed the door on her just like he’d closed the cell door on hundreds of prisoners before, leaving her alone in the room with Sean and Bannan. After she’d cleared her throat she crossed the room to Bannan’s desk and stretched out a hand. Bannan leaned forward and accepted it, but didn’t get up, gripping Hooper’s hand firmly, but more gently than he would have a man’s hand. Eventually he released her and pointed to a chair.

‘Please, take a seat.’ Hooper sat looking awkward and placed her old brown satchel by the side of the chair while glancing at Sean from the corner of her eye. Bannan noticed it. ‘This is PC Sean Corrigan. He’s assisting me with … certain elements of this case.’ Sean neither moved nor spoke — he just stared at the woman with barely-concealed mistrust.

‘I take it you know why you’re here?’ Bannan asked.

‘Yes. Yes I do,’ Hooper answered, beginning to feel more comfortable — feeling maybe she was about to be invited on to another high-profile investigation. ‘The Assistant Commissioner filled me in on the background of the case, although obviously I’ll need full access to the case file, the scene, photographs etc.’

‘Of course. Of course,’ Bannan told him, nodding his head sagely. ‘I understand you helped the team investigating the Rebecca Fordham murder.’

‘I did,’ Hooper answered slightly nervously.

‘Gave them the profile that lead to the arrest of Ian McCaig.’

‘That’s right,’ Hooper answered. ‘Just my thoughts, based on historical cases — nothing more. It was your colleagues who caught McCaig.’

‘That’s very modest of you, Doctor Hooper,’ Bannan smiled.

‘It’s the truth, that’s all.’

‘Indeed,’ Bannan said through the gritted teeth of his false smile. ‘Have a look at these,’ he told Hooper, throwing the polaroids from the Harter scene across his desk to her, making sure Hooper would have to lean forward to collect them. Hooper gathered them up and winced as she looked at the first of the starkly colourful pictures — a scene of abject cruelty and horror. Bannan let her study them for a few minutes in silence before speaking again, occasionally looking across at Sean who sat like a statue that threatened to burst into life and wreak havoc. ‘Seen anything like this before?’

It took a second or two before Hooper realized she was being spoken to. ‘Uhmm. Sorry, you said something?’

‘I said, have you seen anything like this before?’

‘Possibly,’ Hooper admitted, ‘but not the same — not exactly the same. I can tell you whoever did this is clearly in a state of rage. It’s early days, but I would say you are looking for a white male, between thirty and forty years old, probably local and …’

‘Slow down there a second,’ Bannan interrupted her. ‘I didn’t ask you to profile him, and just for the record you’re not telling me anything one of my DCs couldn’t. Now, I want you to think again — does this scene remind you of anything you’ve seen before?’

‘And I told you — similar, but not the same,’ Hooper insisted.

‘Similar to what — the Fordham murder scene?’

‘Yes, but not the same.’

‘In what way not the same?’ Bannan pushed.

‘This latest murder involved a child — the Fordham case did not.’

‘But apart from that?’

Hooper took a deep breath and answered with half-closed eyes. ‘Apart from that they are clearly very similar,’ she admitted.

‘Similar enough to have been committed by the same man?’ Bannan continued.

‘In my opinion, yes.’

‘Have you told anyone else about your opinion? ’

‘No, Superintendent. This is the first chance I’ve had to compare the two cases properly.’

‘Then would you agree with me that Ian McCaig could have been an innocent man?’

‘I don’t know about that.’

‘But if these crimes were committed by the same man then he must be innocent,’ Bannan explained.

‘I wouldn’t know about that,’ Hooper replied.

‘But you told the Fordham Team McCaig was their man and now you need to admit that could have been a mistake.’

‘You don’t understand,’ Hooper pleaded.

‘Then explain it to me,’ Bannan demanded.

‘Look,’ Hooper began after a long pause, ‘I had an interest in history and an interest in criminology. I thought it would be fascinating to combine the two and compare famous cases from history to modern crimes. Before I knew it my work was being acclaimed as groundbreaking and I was even offered a publishing deal. Then I was approached by the police to assist in the Fordham case — offer what help I could.’

‘And so you agreed to?’

‘With strong reservations, yes.’

‘Reservations?’

‘My work — my theories — had never been subjected to a real investigation before. I was cautious.’

‘But you gave them McCaig’s profile? You told them he was the killer?’

‘No,’ Hooper insisted. ‘No I didn’t. I just gave them a profile of the type of person I thought they should be looking for. I never gave them a name.’

‘And once they started homing in on McCaig?’

‘They showed me his profile and I told them that in my opinion he was a viable suspect — that’s all.’

‘The Fordham Team say different. They say you told them McCaig was their man.’

‘Not true. I would never have done that. I never wanted that level of responsibility. I was just trying to help.’

Bannan studied her for a long time before speaking again. ‘Not a very pleasant experience, is it, Doctor Hooper, being caught out of your depth?’ She didn’t answer. ‘In the future I’d stick to clinical papers and books. You don’t belong in this world — in my world. Here, mistakes can lead to death. I don’t think you’d like to be responsible for that — would you, Doctor Hooper?’

Hooper stood and lifted her briefcase, heading towards the door. She turned back before leaving. ‘I was only trying to help,’ she told them, but neither man answered as they watched her disappear through the doorway.

Bannan exhaled deeply and sank back into his chair. ‘She wasn’t quite what I’d expected,’ he told Sean.

‘Why? What were you expecting?’ Sean asked.

‘A lot more arrogance and a lot less fear.’

‘She should still be answerable for her mistakes.’

‘Weren’t you listening, son? She never gave them McCaig as a suspect, she just didn’t say he wasn’t.’

‘So she says.’

‘Either way it doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done. McCaig is dead and no one wants to open that particular Pandora’s Box. Without some indisputable evidence to the contrary that case will stay closed.’

‘But we can find that evidence,’ Sean insisted. ‘There’s still time.’