Helen Fields - Perfect Crime

In a bitter twist, Jenson had left him one single, poisonous inheritance. Callanach had been left to answer for his presence in Jenson’s room just hours before the man had died. How absolutely fucking typical. Once fate had decided that you were an apt target, it was as persistent as chewing gum on the bottom of your shoe.

‘How did he die?’ Callanach asked quietly.

‘Looks as if a cushion was held over his mouth. We won’t have confirmation until the fibres in his mouth have been inspected under a microscope, but there are teeth marks against the inside of his upper lip, which suggests that pressure was applied, and there’s no other obvious causes of death. No stroke, no cardiac event.’

Clear-cut murder then, and with the same cushion he’d been holding just a little while before. The possibility that it was a coincidence seemed ridiculous and yet the cushion was the most obvious weapon in the room. One that didn’t require you to get your hands dirty and which offered a silent death.

For a second he wondered if he hadn’t, perhaps, gone further than his memory was allowing him to recall. If he hadn’t pressed the square of material and stuffing into the bastard’s face and held it there just long enough for all the oxygen in Jenson’s lungs to be depleted. He deserved it. No question about it. As far as Callanach was concerned, Jenson had deserved that and a whole lot more. But it hadn’t happened at his hand. Callanach turned to look Ava straight in the eyes.

‘I didn’t do that to him,’ he said.

‘Of course you didn’t, you bloody idiot. If I thought you did we’d be in an interview room with the tape running and I’d have handed the case over to a different team. So really, no bullshit: why did you lie to me? And what the hell were you doing there anyway?’

‘Just visiting,’ Callanach said.

‘Yeah, well unfortunately for you, when the – and I quote – really, really good-looking French policeman goes for a visit somewhere, he doesn’t exactly blend in. The nurse who allowed you access virtually gave the uniformed officers who took her statement your inner leg measurement.’

‘It was a completely innocent visit …’ he mumbled.

‘Social?’ Ava clarified.

‘Yes,’ Callanach said.

‘That’s what I assumed, only you used your police ID to gain access rather than signing the visitors’ book, so it looks like official police business. Only for the life of me, given that you’re in my command, I cannot think what case we have running that Mr Jenson is in any way involved in. Please say you can enlighten me.’

Callanach reached into his pocket and withdrew a pack of Gauloises cigarettes. Shaking one loose, he stuck it between his lips unlit, tasting France and his youth. Actually, lighting a cigarette was a line he hadn’t crossed in years, but there were times he wished he wasn’t quite so disciplined.

‘I’ve got to tell you that’s not quite the reassuring response I was hoping for,’ Ava said. ‘Oh, Luc, for God’s sake, you’re going to have to tell me everything. You were the last person save for medical staff with access to that room. Bruce Jenson has a son. He’s demanding answers and is entitled to them. At the moment, there are only a handful of people who know what’s going on, but that won’t last long. You’ll have to be formally interviewed, so if this was police business you’d better write up some notes pretty damned quickly.’

‘It wasn’t,’ he said quietly. ‘It was personal. I didn’t want to leave my name in the visitors’ book for his family to see.’

‘So you lied to me about having been there and you lied to the nurse about the nature of your visit.’

‘I guess,’ Callanach said.

‘The nurse also said that you broke a vase while you were there, that you cleaned up after yourself and put it in the bin. Will your fingerprints be on it?’

Callanach thought back. He’d put gloves on to pluck the hair from Jenson’s head, but not to clean up the broken pottery. There hadn’t been any reason to at the time.

‘There’ll be plenty of prints,’ he said. ‘It was an accident.’

‘Think very carefully about this next question. Did you touch Bruce Jenson at all? Is there any possibility that you could have left skin cells or fingerprints on any part of his body?’

Callanach sat down, recalling the way he’d taken Jenson’s chin in his hand to direct his attention towards the photograph of his parents. He nodded affirmation at Ava.

‘Anywhere near his mouth?’ Ava asked, her voice hoarse with emotion.

He nodded again.

‘Holy shit,’ Ava said. She tapped the desk and stared blankly at the wall. ‘Okay, it’s not that bad. No one’s going to believe you were involved in a murder. You just need to present your reasons for being there and explain the sequence of events. They don’t have any sort of motive for you to have hurt him and that’s the most compelling evidence in cases like this. It’s probably someone who has day-to-day contact with him.’

‘You think it was a staff member who killed him?’ Callanach asked.

‘That would normally be the first consideration,’ Ava said. ‘It’s hard work looking after dementia patients and carers have been known to break down, either from the stress of the job or from a desire to end the suffering quickly. We’ll be checking the family too, of course …’ Her voice trailed off.

‘There’s a but,’ Callanach commented.

‘Actually, the “but” is broken glass in the lower section of a patio door. Scenes of Crime think the glass was broken potentially to allow an intruder to reach up inside and unlock the door. It explains why no one apart from you or staff members was seen in the corridors during the evening. That’s extremely helpful to you. Why risk being identified by the staff and then breaking the door? It makes no sense. Either that or it’s genius deflection.’ She gave a small smile.

‘Ava …’ Callanach whispered.

There was a knock at her door.

‘Come in,’ she called brusquely.

Pax Graham entered, keys in hand. ‘Oh,’ he said, looking from Ava to Callanach. ‘Am I interrupting?’

‘Not at all,’ Ava replied, back to businesslike. ‘I was just asking Callanach about the nursing home. He was there visiting Mr Jenson. I’ve asked him to go home now and write up a full statement to give you as much information as possible. Once that’s done, you’ll have to speak with him on a formal witness basis, of course. Usual procedures will apply. Make sure you keep a team with no overlap to DI Callanach on this matter. You can have DS Lively and DC Monroe. Let me know what other resources you’ll require.’

Graham looked uncomfortable.

‘Is something wrong, Detective Inspector?’ Ava asked.

‘Not that I’m unhappy about being given the case, ma’am, but should we not send this outside MIT? If there’s any question about DI Callanach’s involvement, it might be helpful for him to have it investigated and be cleared by an impartial team.’

‘He’s right,’ Callanach said. ‘You’re going to have to suspend me for the duration of the investigation, too.’

‘You’re both overreacting,’ Ava said. ‘Callanach’s a witness, nothing more. No one’s suggesting that he was involved in the commission of an offence. There’s been no complaint filed. It’s not as if you tried to conceal your presence at the nursing home. Graham, you might have the best possible witness. I suspect it’ll turn out to be extremely fortunate that a police officer was on the premises just before the murder happened. Callanach might well have noticed something that other people would have missed.’

Graham paused. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘That sounds right. I’ll be getting on then. Luc, you’ll forgive me if I don’t chat to you very much during the investigation? I don’t want anyone suggesting there was contamination.’