Ghost in the Machine (30 page)

"How's he been recently?"

"Busy," said Aitchison. "I mean, that Kidd boy of yours has been keeping him on his toes for the last couple of days."

"And before that?"

"He's always been one to throw himself into his work," said Aitchison. "He's always looking into the security protocols we've got and adjusting them if needs be."

"How's his mood been over the last few days?" said Cullen.

"Look, what is this?"

"Mr Wilson supplied some additional information that may prove crucial to the case," said Cullen. "I just wanted to get some background to his character."

"Right, well, he's been quite upbeat over the last few days. Walking round like he owns the place."

"Okay," said Cullen, "thanks for your time. I'll be in touch."

*
*
*

Another hour later, Cullen had just about finished his portion of the list. It was proving difficult to track down the last couple of friends. He was almost ready to go out and visit their homes.

He tried Wilson again, the fourth time since they'd got back. It rang and rang. He was about to give up when it was finally answered. "This is Duncan." It sounded like he was driving.

"Mr Wilson, this is DC Scott Cullen of Lothian & Borders."

"And?"

"You've been dealing with a colleague of mine, PC Caldwell, about some alleged death threats made by a suspect in our murder inquiry. Have you managed to remember who told you about those death threats yet?"

"Hasn't anybody else told you yet?"

"No," said Cullen. "We need you to try and remember who it was told you."

Wilson gave a deep sigh. "Okay. I've been thinking this through, trying to remember. I was just about to give your colleague a call." There was a lengthy pause. "It was Kim Milne who told me."

Cullen noted it down. "Kim Milne?"

"Yes," said Wilson. "I think she's Rob Thomson's girlfriend."

"And how do you know her?"

There was another pause. "We worked together a few years ago," said Wilson. "We were good friends."

"Where was this?"

"At Alba Bank."

Cullen was confused. "You worked at Alba Bank?"

"Yeah, till May last year," said Wilson. "That was before I went contracting."

"I see," said Cullen. "And you're sure this came from Kim."

"Yes, I'd stake my life on it."

"Is there anyone else who may have told you?"

Another pause. "Now you mention it, there was someone else. Can't quite think who."

If they were in the same room, someone would have to hold Cullen back. "Mr Wilson, I want you to report to Leith Walk station at eight am tomorrow to give a formal statement, otherwise I'll be bringing you in for questioning regarding wasting police time."

"Okay, okay," said Wilson. "I'll be there."

Cullen ended the call. He was in half a mind to get him in that evening but wanted him to fester overnight, figuring a sleepless night could work wonders.

He picked up his phone and called Miller to tell him he could come back in or go home. No answer.

He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the air conditioning units dotting the ceiling at irregular intervals. He needed to speak to Kim Milne. She might have been covering for Thomson when they interviewed her. It threw the validity of her alibis into doubt. Maybe Bain was right.

He felt a hand grip his shoulder.

"Sundance, Sundance, Sundance." Bain had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"What?"

"Case closed," said Bain. "Caught Rob Thomson red-handed. He's killed again."

"Who?"

Bain's grin widened. "Kim Milne."

Cullen walked up the stairs ahead of Bain's entourage, finding McNeill on the second floor landing. The flat door was smashed in and loosely propped up against the wall. There were already SOCOs milling around.

"What happened?" said Cullen.

McNeill nodded recognition at him. "Anonymous 999 call. Someone heard banging and shouting from the flat and called it in. Some uniform from Gayfield Square ran round, burst open the door and caught him in the bedroom with the body. She had her throat cut with a knife, just like the others. She was already dead."

"Holy shit." Cullen entered the flat and signed into the outer locus on the clipboard and put on a SOCO suit. "So Thomson did it?"

"Certainly looks that way," said McNeill.

"Bain seemed pleased," said Cullen.

"Of course he is. He's just solved four murders. Better get used to calling him DCI Bain. Where is he?"

"He's speaking to Wilkinson and Irvine downstairs," said Cullen.

They heard a call from behind - they turned to face Bain, with the other two following in his wake. "Butch, Sundance, come with me. Wilko, have a peek in the bedroom."

Cullen and McNeill followed Bain through to the living room, while Wilkinson and Irvine followed their orders. An officer in full jumpsuit stood outside the bedroom holding a clipboard.

Thomson was on the red leather sofa, his head in his hands, wearing the same business suit as when Cullen met him the previous Friday. A uniformed officer sat on either side of him, both wearing full protective uniform under their jumpsuits.
 

Bain snorted. "Care to bring me up to speed?"
 

One of them got up - his hair was dark brown and cut in the same style Paul Weller and Johnny Marr had adhered to since the eighties. "DI Bain, is it?" He had a London accent. "PC Simon Buxton." He held out his hand.

Bain shook his hand. "Hall." He thumbed behind him. "Cullen, with me. McNeill, keep an eye on the suspect."

They went back out into the hall and slipped into the recess just outside the box room, out of the way of the officers milling around.

"So then, PC Buxton," said Bain, "tell me what happened here?"

"We got a call into the station of a domestic in progress at this address," said Buxton. "It was flagged on HOLMES in a murder inquiry."

Cullen thought of Miller keying all the information into the system, everyone else treating it as a frivolity, a piece of procedure to be delegated to a junior officer.

"We're based in Gayfield Square, so this is just round the corner," said Buxton. "Me and Tommy ran round. The first floor tenant let us in. We came up to the flat, tried the door. Nobody answered so we broke it down. We found the suspect in the bedroom, bent over the body with a knife in his hands."

"He was just standing there?" said Bain.

"Yeah," said Buxton.

"Was she dead?"

"She was by that point, yeah."

"Did he put up much of a fight?" said Cullen.

"Not at all," said Buxton. "I was surprised. Tommy grabbed him and I disarmed him. He just let us. He was crying."

"Guilt." Bain grinned. "Did you get your prints on the knife?"

"No, I was careful," said Buxton. "It's with Jimmy Anderson now. He'll get the prints done quick smart, I'd expect."

"Was there anything else?" said Cullen.

"There was a blue rope round her throat," said Buxton. "Like you'd use camping, you know? Jimmy's sent it off to the lab as well."

Bain nodded at Cullen. "Same as the others. Oh ye of little faith."

"Did Thomson say anything when you grabbed him?" said Cullen.

"Nothing," said Buxton.

"A sure sign," said Bain.

Cullen looked around the flat at the busy crime scene, thinking hard. Something nagged at his brain. "You said you came up to the flat. Did the 999 specify which flat it was?"

Buxton frowned. "Think so, yeah. I mean I didn't take it. Someone out in Bilston got it from the OAC in Inverness. They'd flagged it with your murder inquiry on HOLMES but it got put through to us as well, being the nearest station."

"They specified the flat?" said Cullen.

"Yeah," said Buxton.

"Have you been round the flats here?" said Cullen.

"Not yet," said Buxton, "we wanted to secure the suspect and wait for you guys to arrive."

"Good work."

Buxton headed back through.

Cullen thought it was odd the call identified the specific flat, but wasn't going to press it with Bain just yet.

"Guess who's going to be doing the flats," said Bain.

Cullen rubbed his face. "Will do."

"Right, let's get in and about Mr Thomson then, shall we?" Bain led through to the living room. He pulled over a chair from the other side of the room - checking the nearest SOCO was finished with it - and sat right in front of Thomson.

Cullen hovered beside him. Buxton returned to his position beside Thomson on the sofa and McNeill was now leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"Mr Thomson," said Bain. "Can you hear me?"

Thomson looked up. "Yes, I can." His voice was deep and staccato, but he appeared lucid enough.

"Can you explain what happened here?" said Bain.

"I've no idea."

"Come on, Mr Thomson, you need to try harder than that," said Bain. "Your bird's dead, you've got her blood all over you and your prints are all over the knife. It's not looking good for you, is it?"

"She was dead when I found her," said Thomson.

"Oh, you
found
her, did you?" said Bain.

"Came back from work," said Thomson. "When I got in, I couldn't find Kim. She was in the bedroom. Dead."

"Can you tell me why you didn't phone the police when you found her?" said Bain.

"I don't know," said Thomson. "I was going to. They just turned up, didn't they?"

Bain leaned forward, right into Thomson's face. "You're not getting away with this. That's you proper fucked now. Four murders - that makes you a serial killer. You'll be away for a long, long time. They'll write books about you."

He got up, looked at Buxton. "Constable, can you read him his rights then take him to Leith Walk for questioning, please?"

He looked at Cullen and McNeill and pointed out of the room. "You two, come with me." He led them from the room, back into the alcove in the hall by the box room door. "I think we've finally cracked it."
 

McNeill shrugged. "Looks that way."

"It does, it does," said Bain. "Butch - can you go to his work and find out when this fucker left this evening."

"And me?" said Cullen.

"Like I said, Sundance, visit the other flats in this stairwell. I want to speak to whoever called this in."

Cullen walked into a packed Incident Room an hour and a half later. He stood at the back and leaned against the wall.

Bain was at the front, leading the briefing with the same grin he wore earlier. He pointed at Cullen. "So, just to recap for DC Cullen's benefit, we've charged Rob Thomson with the murders of Caroline Adamson, Debi Curtis and Kim Milne. DS McNeill has managed to ascertain that Mr Thomson left the Alba Bank office at the back of seven, which fits with the timeline we've established. The initial round of questioning by DI Wilkinson and DS Irvine has yielded no further information, as you would expect."
 

Cullen couldn't tell if the comment referred to Thomson's reticence or Wilkinson's incompetence.

"Jimmy Deeley's initial findings show the murder of Kim Milne follows a similar pattern to the others, but this is still to be fully confirmed. We haven't charged Thomson with Gail McBride's murder yet but that's a mere formality I'll iron out with the Procurator Fiscal tomorrow morning."

In Cullen's mind, Gail was the most tenuous connection. The others were definitely linked to each other - Caroline and Debi by the Schoolbook identity of Martin Webb, Kim to Rob's presence. They were all apparently linked by the method of execution. But the only connection between Rob and Gail was they both worked at Alba Bank.

Bain held up an envelope. "I've just got the forensic report on the threads found in the wounds of both Caroline and Debi. They were from the very same rope. The strands from Debi's body had traces of Caroline's blood on them."

He paused for a moment then grinned. "At the scene, we found the actual rope around Kim Milne's neck along with the knife that killed her. Forensics should confirm the same knife was used in all four murders." He took a sip from a mug of coffee. "Now, Cullen, can you give us an update on the 999 call?"

Every officer in the room turned to face Cullen. He felt himself redden slightly. He moved away from the wall and cleared his throat. "I visited every flat in the stairwell and the two adjacent stairs. Where there was no-one present, I managed to get a contact number from neighbours, or I crossed them off if they were away on holiday. I've not found anyone who'll own up to making the call."

Bain scowled. "Typical."

"It's allowed to be anonymous," said Cullen.

Bain laughed. "Looks like it was a passer-by then."

"How could a passer-by point us to a specific flat?" said Cullen.

Bain shook his head. "Anyway, DCI Turnbull has offered to buy everyone a drink across the road. We've agreed to a late start tomorrow - turn up at nine rather than the usual. We're not finished with this case, but we're on the home straight." He clapped his hands together. "Right, off you go to the pub."

The room emptied, accompanied by a bustle of chatter.

Cullen made a beeline for Bain.
 

"So you found nothing then, Sundance?" Bain stroked his moustache. "Still leaves a hole in this bloody case."

"Just the one?"

"Leave it out, Sundance," said Bain. "How's it going with the guy who told us about the death threats? We need that nailed down soon."

"He was through in Glasgow when the murder happened tonight, according to him and his neighbour," said Cullen.

"See, there you go," said Bain, "he's got an alibi. Stop looking."

"Nobody's actually confirmed the death threats yet," said Cullen.

Bain shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. We've nailed Thomson to these murders."

"I'm not one hundred per cent convinced," said Cullen.

Bain raised his arms. "You need to lighten up, Sundance. This is a big moment. This'll look good on your record, you know, playing a key role in solving a multiple murder."

"Do you honestly think this will get a conviction?" said Cullen. "Our evidence linking the crimes together is circumstantial at best."