Craig Russell - Dead men and broken hearts

‘That’s odd, because I called round to your digs and Fiona White — and correct me if I’m wrong, but you and Mrs White have more than a contractual relationship — Fiona White told me you’ve quit your digs and she has no idea where you’ve moved to. Then there’s the under manager at the bank, who actually used the phrase “indecent haste” when describing you badgering him to speed up the transfer of money out of your savings account, as well as emptying your cash account there and then.’

‘Christ Jock, he’s a Scottish bank clerk. The Earth’s crust moves at “indecent haste” in comparison. I was just getting everything sorted out in advance, that’s all. I had to chase the bank or it would take forever.’

‘On its own, that might sound almost reasonable. But let’s go back to circumstantial proofs. Another is proof of concealment — if the accused had taken steps to hide himself. Where are you staying for the three or four weeks until you leave Bonnie Scotland?’

‘I already told Dunlop. The Paragon Hotel. In Garnethill.’

‘Yes,’ said Ferguson contemplatively. ‘We sent a couple of CID boys round to check it out. The rather attractive redhead there is another female under your spell it would seem. But there seems to be some confusion about your name — she swears blind that you are Mr Kelvin. Can you explain that?’

I felt my shoulders slump. ‘As a matter of fact, Jock, I can’t. Least not in a way that would make any sense.’

‘And then there’s the question as to why you have changed cars, less than a month before you return to Canada.’

‘I haven’t changed cars,’ I protested. ‘The Atlantic has been acting up and I’ve rented a car for a while. The garage that has the Atlantic is coming up with a price to buy it from me.’ It should have sounded more convincing, but it didn’t. ‘Are you seriously telling me that you think the Dewar deaths had anything to do with me? Everything I told you about him ’phoning me that day and the reason for his call

… all that was absolutely true. I didn’t tell you about my previous visit because it had nothing to do with whatever was going on between the Dewars. All I was doing was trying to keep things uncomplicated.’

‘Thing is,’ said Ferguson, ‘there’s a possible anomaly in the times of death of Sylvia and Thomas Dewar. Added to which there are no fingerprints on the ashtray. Now why would Thomas Dewar, knowing he was going to kill himself immediately after, wear gloves to murder his wife? And the pathologist’s guesses at timing suggest that she died sometime in the early afternoon, when Dewar was at work. So instead of a murder-suicide, what we could be looking at is Dewar, whose state of mind was pretty fragile because of his suspicions about his wife, coming home to find her murdered, decides he wants to join her and goes up to his room and strings himself up.’

‘But that puts me in the clear… I was there after Dewar hanged himself. Anyway, why would I then ’phone the police?’

‘Because you were there in the evening doesn’t mean you weren’t there earlier in the day. Maybe you forgot something, or maybe you were puzzled as to why there hadn’t been word of a murder in Drumchapel, and you went back to check it out. You get there and find a grief-stricken Dewar dangling from the ceiling and instantly you’ve got a patsy for his wife’s murder. It’s a godsend for you so you call it into the police.’

‘Or maybe it’s just the way I told it. Dewar is driven mad by his wife’s repeated infidelity, finally cracks and kills her, then himself.’

‘What about the delay between her death and his?’

‘I don’t know… maybe he’s in shock. Maybe he sits with her for a while or can’t make his mind up to do himself in too.’

‘And let me guess,’ chipped in Dunlop. ‘The day in the tearoom in Blythswood Street… he had the smacked-looking face because you had been slapping the idea of murder-suicide out of him, is that it?’

I ran through what had happened that day and how Dewar had tried to jump me in Sauchiehall Street Lane, and how it was all a huge misunderstanding because he thought I was one of his wife’s wrestling partners. Maybe it was the prison uniform I was wearing, but when I heard myself say it all out loud, even I didn’t believe it. Ferguson sat impassively, as did his fat friend, and made no comment when I was finished.

‘Let’s move on,’ he said. ‘Ellis’s murder. You say that you were originally hired by Andrew Ellis’s wife to investigate the possibility that he was having an affair?’

‘That’s right.’

‘So you followed Ellis about, and got Archie McClelland to do the same, because you were being paid to by Pamela Ellis?’

‘Yes’

Ferguson frowned. ‘Well, that gives us a bit of a problem. You see, Mrs Ellis told us not only that she never hired you, or any other private detective, but that she never had any suspicions whatsoever about her husband’s fidelity. She’s never heard of you, Lennox.’

‘And you believe her?

‘I have no reason not to believe her.’

‘She was in my office, Jock. And we spoke on the ’phone. How does she explain that?’

‘Archie confirmed that you had him follow Ellis’s car.’

‘Well then? I told you…’

‘All that proves is you told Archie to keep tabs on Ellis. And that you, for some reason, were following Ellis yourself. Archie would do anything for you, Lennox, except lie. He couldn’t tell me that he had been there when you were supposed to have met with Pamela Ellis. In fact, he’s never met or even seen Pamela Ellis.’

‘ Supposed to have met?’ I looked at Ferguson beseechingly. ‘For Christ’s sake, Jock, just tell me straight if you don’t believe me.’

‘This isn’t about what I believe or don’t believe. This is about what can be proved or disproved in court.’ He sighed. ‘And, call me picky, but my belief in you tends to get shaky when you tell me outright lies.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t front up about having had prior knowledge of the Dewars. It was just that the Dewar thing looked like a straightforward murder-suicide. I thought if I kept it simple all you would need would be a deposition and the inquest and paperwork wouldn’t get in the way of me getting back to Canada. And, if you must know, I felt pretty shitty about the whole thing. Dewar was in a hell of a state that day he jumped me and after that he badgered me to take on his case. The fact remains that I turned my back on a desperate man. And that is the extent of my responsibility for the Dewar deaths. And the extent of my lying. Everything else I’ve told you is true. Can I have another cigarette?’ I stubbed out what was left of the one I’d been smoking. Ferguson pushed the pack and lighter to me and I lit another.

‘Listen,’ I went on, blowing a jet of smoke towards the ceiling strip lights. ‘I’m not saying that I haven’t bent the truth on occasion — but if I were lying to you to cover up that I’d killed either of the Dewars or Andrew Ellis, I’d make it a hell of a lot more convincing and a hell of a lot less elaborate than this crap. Shit, Jock, it even sounds made up to me.’

‘But the fact remains that there is no evidence of you ever having met Pamela Ellis.’

‘Like I said, she was in my office and I ’phoned her. You can check her ’phone records.’

‘That’ll take both a warrant and an age.’

‘But it will at least prove we had a conversation.’

‘Okay. I’ll look into it. Can you give me a date and a rough time?’

My heart sank and the sinking must have shown on my face.

‘What is it?’ asked Ferguson.

‘I ’phoned her from the pub. The Horsehead. I don’t think I ’phoned from the office at all.’