Challis - 04 - Chain of Evidence (37 page)

Well?

Last night. Late evening. I cant
be more specific than that.

Thanks, Ellen said. She paused,
then muttered to Scobie, I want you to bring Laurie Jarrett in for questioning.
Meanwhile Ill see if I can find Vans witness.

If he exists, said Scobie
heatedly. Van Alphen was probably trying to divert attention away from the
Jarrett shooting. Trying to make himself look good.

Even so.

Ill come with you.

Ellen cocked her head. Was he hoping
to find a diary or journal in which van Alphen described the true circumstances
of the Jarrett shooting? Before she could reply, a voice called from the front
of the house, a womans cigarettes-and-whisky voice, full of outrage. What are
you lot doin here? I live here, you bastard, take your hands off me.

They heard her pounding through the
house. She burst in on them, shouting, You got a warrant?

Then she spotted the gore, and went
white, rocking on her feet. Ellen guided her back to the sitting room at the
front of the house. The newcomer was about forty, dressed in high heels, a
black, short-sleeved beaded top, a knee-length tan skirt and dark stockings.
Thick, dirty-blonde hair. Plenty of gold on her slim fingers. Slim legs and
ankles, Ellen noticed, but a bit heftier around the bum and chest. A
good-looking woman, a woman who liked the nightlife.

Rosemary McIntyre?

Who wants to know? Was someone
hurt? Whats going on?

Ellen introduced herself and then
Scobie. First, can you tell us where you were last night?

Not so belligerent now, Rosemary McIntyre
gazed about her sitting room, which was dominated by a home entertainment unit,
huge white leather armchairs facing it. There were a couple of pewter photo
frames and very little else. Out, she said.

Where?

I work up in the city.

Where?

Rosemary McIntyre folded her arms
stubbornly. Siren Call.

The brothel?

Legal
brothel.

Im not making judgements. Were you
there all evening?

Since six yesterday afternoon. Im
exhausted, and come home to this.

Ellen didnt doubt that her alibi
would check out. Does the name Sergeant van Alphen mean anything to you?

Course it does.

Ellen regarded her for a moment. Thats
his blood on your floor and wall.

Rosemary McIntyre screwed up her
face tightly, then relaxed it, breathed out, looking bewildered. Dont know
anything about that. I mean, what was he doing here?

Well, youre the one who says his
name means something to you.

Well, duh.

Explain, please. Are you having a
relationship with Sergeant van Alphen?

The woman flushed angrily. Are you
having a go at me? Are you? Fucking bitch.

No, I am not having a go at you. Im
trying to piece together what happened here.

Van Alphen, said Rosemary McIntyre
heavily, is one of the bastards that shot Nick.

You knew Nick Jarrett?

Hes my second cousin, said
Rosemary McIntyre, as if Ellen and the whole world should have known that.

* * * *

47

Leaving
Scobie to finish up, Ellen drove to van Alphens house. The kid who opened the
door looked about eighteen but he could have been as young as thirteen. Dark
clothes, untidy, a little grubby-looking. Music was blaring behind him, and she
had to lip read him say, Yeah?

My name is Sergeant Destry, from
the Waterloo police station, she said. Im a colleague of Sergeant van Alphens.

His face was blank for quite a while
and then it screwed up and she saw him cup one ear and shout, What?

She repeated her name. A light
seemed to go on in his head and he held up a finger and ducked through an
archway into the sitting room. He turned the music down. Then, as though having
second thoughts, he turned it off. By then Ellen was in the room with him, a
room that gave her an insight into an arid life. Van Alphen owned few books or
CDs. Some four-wheel-drive and camping magazines,
TV Week
and the
Bulletin
on a cheap plywood coffee table. The TV set was small, a portable tucked
away in a corner. Through a further archway was a dining-room table, manila
folders and a computer heaped at one endreminding her of Larrayne, taking over
Challiss table. But with Larrayne it was temporary; Ellen guessed that van
Alphen had lived like this since his wife and daughter had left him.

Or maybe theyd been driven out
because he lived like this.

She turned to the kid. May I have
your name?

Er, Billy. Billy DaCosta.

Either hes nervous about giving his
name to a police officer or he uses a false name, Ellen thought. She had to be
sure who he was. Billy. Are you Sergeant van Alphens witness? You were abused
by certain men when you were younger, and have been able to identify them from
photographs?

Er, yep.

Ill have to ask you to come to the
station with me, Billy. We need a formal statement and you may be asked to
attend identity parades.

She had her doubts about the latter,
thinking that a defence lawyer could claim the identification had been tainted
because Billy had already been shown photographs, by a man now dead, and not in
a formal context.

Er, Mr Alphens not here.

Ellen cocked an eye. Van Alphen was
always called Van, or Sarge. Then, taking in Billys curly hair and delicate
features, she wondered if theyd been lovers. Did that account for van Alphens
secretiveness and evasions? Was that why his marriage had failed? How old was
Billy? If he was underage, that would help to account for van Alphens recent
behaviour. What, finally, would it do to Billy to learn that van Alphen had
been shot dead?

Do you know where he is?

He got a phone call, said Billy,
not looking at her and apparently concentrating furiously. Last night. He went
out straight after.

Last night. You werent worried
when he didnt come back?

Nup.

She needed to get the kid into safe
custody. She needed the controllable environment of the police station in which
to break the news to him. If she told him here and now, he might bolt.

Well, wed been expecting him to
bring you in to make a statement this morning, she said. Perhaps we can do
that now. Its all right, hes a colleague.

Billy looked hunted. Ill get my
things.

Ellen knew enough to follow him. He
went to the main bedroom. All of the intermediate doors were open. There were
signs she didnt like: drawers open, cupboards ajar, papers spilled here and
there. Had Billy been searching through Vans things? Was he the kind of young
male prostitute who liked to set up house with an older man, then do a midnight
flit with the guys valuables?

This way, Billy, she said, taking
him to her car.

They drove in silence to the
station, where she set him up in the artificial comfort of the Victim Suite,
with its DVD player, armchairs and fridge stocked with soft drinks and
chocolate bars. Ill be in to see you shortly, okay?

Sure, said Billy, putting his feet
up. Spotless new trainers, Ellen noticed, at odds with the grimy black jeans.

She encountered Scobie Sutton in the
corridor. Did you bring in Laurie Jarrett?

Yes.

Lets go.

Jarrett was in one of the interview
rooms, arms folded, at peace with the world. Ellen was faintly alarmed to
realise that she could smell him. It wasnt unpleasant. His eyes were clear,
his manner taut but not threatening, the narrow planes of his neat head
inclined toward her half mockingly. Ellen.

Mr Jarrett.

Good to see you again.

Cut the crap, Laurie. Tell us about
Rosie McIntyre.

Rosies a cousin.

Quite a clan, Scobie said.

Jarrett ignored him.

Are you close, said Ellen, you
and your cousin?

Not really.

But youd know her general habits,
Scobie asserted. After all, youre cousins and you live on the estate.

Its a big estate, Jarrett said,
addressing Ellen.

It is, she thought, and getting
bigger. She cleared her throat. Youd know that Rosie works in Siren Call, up
in the city. Know she puts in long hours there.

Is that a question?

Did you call her in the past day or
two? Landline or mobile? Or go around to see her?

She looked after Alysha a couple of
weeks ago. That was the last time I saw her. Whats this about?

Did she tell you her work schedule
this week, specifically yesterday?

Like I said, havent seen her for a
couple of weeks. She in trouble? She hurt?

Scobie said, Where were
you
last
night, Laurie?

Jarrett turned at last to Scobie and
snarled,
Mr
Jarrett to you, arsehole.

Scobie flushed. Theres no need for
that.

With you, Jarrett said, there is.

Ellen privately agreed. Please
answer the question.

He smiled.
You
can call me
Laurie. To answer your question, I was at home with Alysha until about ten.
Then she started fitting and I took her to the hospital. Check it out, if you
dont believe me.

Ellen felt an unaccountable sadness.
Fitting?

Shes epileptic. Its manageable,
except last night it was worse than usual.

Is she okay?

He cocked his neat head at her. I
think you genuinely care. Yes, thank you for asking.

Witnesses? demanded Scobie Sutton.

Oh, its you again. Witnesses?
Other than Alysha? I didnt know Id be needing witnesses, but there will be
plenty at the hospital. We were there until long after midnight.

Well be checking it out, Scobie
said.

Go your hardest.

Ellen thought of the girl with a
pang. She thought of Larrayne then, and had an overwhelming urge to phone her,
to see that she was all right. She gave in to it. Excuse me, she said.

Scobie, startled, stopped the tape.
Ellen slipped out into the corridor and flipped open her mobile phone. Its
only me.

Mum, Im trying to study.

There had never been anything so
welcome as her daughters brattiness just then. Everything okay? Know where
everything is?

Well, Mum, I havent searched
through all of the cupboards and drawers yet.

Ellen had sometimes longed to search
Challiss house. She wondered if shed find letters or diaries that would help
to explain who he was. His wife, jailed for trying to have him shot, had stayed
in touch until she committed suicide. She used to phone him from prison. Had
she also written? Would he have kept her letters? Ellens mind flashed down
this unwelcome and irrelevant path.

Mum! shouted Larrayne. Is there
anything else?

Ellen jumped. Sorry, no, see you
later. Dont wait up.

She went back to the interview room,
where Scobie turned on the tape again, and she said at once, Sergeant van
Alphen was shot dead in your cousins house last night. We believe he was lured
there by a phone call. You have made several threats to kill him. Did you kill
him, Laurieor order it done?

Laurie Jarrett swallowed, the only
sign, and said levelly, I wont say Im sorry hes dead, but I swear to you
that I did not kill the prick.

Then he asked for a lawyer.

Scobie tried to be matey. Lawyer?
They just charge the earth and complicate matters.

Jarrett stared at Ellen, jerked his
head at Scobie Sutton. Get him out of here.

Ellen stared back consideringly. All
right, but the tape keeps rolling.

Fair enough.

Ellen! Scobie said.

Ill be fine. You can listen in.

He went out grumbling. Ellen said, What
do you want to say, Laurie?

Nothing about van Alphen. Like I said,
I dont know nothing about that.

Okay, she said slowly.

Alysha.

What about her? Ellen said,
sounding harsher than shed intended.

There are things shes not telling
me.

All kids do that.

Do you think she needs to see
someone?

You mean a therapist? It couldnt
hurt. Do you have a family doctor who can refer you?

Laurie Jarrett shrugged.

Ellen said, In the meantime, maybe
its
how
youve been trying to get her to talk thats holding her back.

What do you mean?

She needs to know shes loved and
wanted.

She is, said Jarrett emphatically.

At the same time, she needs to know
shes not being accused of anything. That she didnt do anything bad, or wrong.
That you dont think shes a bad person. That none of its her fault.