Spoilt (13 page)

“
She remembered Elle seemed interested in Matthews when they
were having lunch but she didn’t know whether or not he was her
mystery man.”

“
Perhaps we can bring him in for further questioning
now.”

“
I was thinking the same thing. Let’s go and pick him
up.”

They arrived at the café to find it half full, with mostly the
same faces Lucas had seen previously enjoying coffee or
brunch.

“
Hope he’s here,” Maggie said as they walked up to the
counter.

“
Good morning,” Lucas said, smiling at the girl manning the
bar. “Is Adrian Matthews in?’

“
Yes, I’ll get him for you.” She disappeared into the
kitchen.

A moment later Adrian Matthews strutted out but halted when he
saw the detectives.

“
What are you doing here, Detectives?”

“
We have some questions we would like to ask you at the
station. Could you come with us please?” Maggie asked
him.

“
Actually, no, I can’t. I’m busy and have some cakes baking.
You can ask me anything you need to right here,” he said without
budging.

“
I really don’t think you want us to ask the questions we’re
going to in front of your staff and customers,” Lucas said, giving
Matthews a steely- eyed scowl.

“
Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll come then. I have nothing to
hide.”

He threw his apron at the girl behind the counter and asked
her to watch his baking and then followed the detectives out to
their car.

Matthews initiated small talk on the drive to the precinct but
neither detective was interested in chatting with their suspect.
When they arrived, they showed him to the interrogation room and
offered him a drink, which he refused.

Maggie pointed to the chair across from where she sat at the
table. “Have a seat, Mr. Matthews.”

“
Please, call me Adrian. We don’t need to be
formal.”

“
Ok,
Adrian
,” Lucas said as came to stand behind his chair. “Where
were you Wednesday afternoon?”

“
Probably at the markets getting produce like I am every
Wednesday afternoon.”

“
And you were there last Wednesday?”

“
Yes I was.”

“
Do you know Lindsay Anderson?” Lucas asked as Maggie put her
photo on the table.

“
Yeah, I’m trying to bag that one.” He turned and looked at
Lucas conspiringly. “Didn’t I tell you this already?”

Maggie shot Lucas a look to calm him and took over the
questioning.

“
Mr. Matthews, this is no joking matter. Lindsay is
missing.”

“
Oh sorry, Ma’am, meant no disrespect.” He flashed a charming
smile.

“
What about Elle Sheridan?” she continued, putting down the
next photo.

“
I already told you this. I went out with her for a while then
moved on.”

“
Did she dump you? Did she piss you off somehow?” Lucas
asked.

“
No, I dumped her and moved onto the next lucky lady. Laura, I
think, from the café.”

“
What about Kate Miller and Libby Greene?” Maggie asked
him.

“
What about them?”

“
Did you know them Mr. Matthews?” she asked again pointing at
the photos on the table.

“
Yes, from the café. Why are we going over this
again?”

“
Did you go out with them?’

“
No, but not for lack of trying.”

His unoriginal lines were beginning to irk Lucas.

“
So they rejected you and you didn’t like this much, did you?”
Lucas asked.

He came around from behind the chair to stand over
Matthews.

“
No, not really, but plenty where they came from.” He
shrugged.

“
Mr. Matthews, do you know Chelsea Summerville?” Maggie placed
the photo of Chelsea on the table.

“
I’ve definitely seen her before. She’s hot.”

Lucas took a step forward and before he could grab his shirt
and heave him out of the chair, Maggie grabbed his arm.

“
Please, Mr Matthews, just answer the questions. Where have
you seen her before?” Maggie asked using her calming tone while
Lucas paced around the room, attempting to cool off.

“
She came in the café and ate lunch with Elle a couple
times.”

“
Have you been out with her?”

“
No, I was dating Elle at the time and I don’t like to have
too many going at once. Hard to keep up. I would love to have a go
though.”

“
You’re a real charmer aren’t you, mate,” shouted Lucas. He
grabbed Matthews by the collar and heaved him from the chair,
shoving him up against the wall, hard.

“
Detective Hudson,” Maggie said. “A word outside
please.”

He put Adrian down and stormed out of the room.

“
Please sit down, Mr. Matthews. I’ll be back in a moment,”
Maggie said as she shut the door.

She grabbed Lucas’ arm and dragged him down the
hall.

“
What are you doing?” she hissed.

“
That prick had it coming.”

“
Yeah, maybe he did, but you can’t man-handle the suspects. We
won’t get anything out of him now.”

“
We aren’t going to get anything out of him anyway. He’s
either not our guy, arrogant or stupid. I’m not sure which
yet.”

“
Look, I think you have too much personal interest in this
investigation. You need to chill out for a bit. Go walk it off and
I’ll finish up.”

“
Fine.”

He strode past her and slammed out the front doors. Maggie
went back into the interrogation room.

“
I’m sorry about that, Mr. Matthews.”

“
What’s his problem?” he said nonchalantly. “I haven’t done
anything and I don’t really know why I’m here.”

“
You’re here because you knew three women that ended up dead
and one that is missing. It is a bit more than a
coincidence.”

“
Well it has to be because I did not kidnap or kill anyone!”
He stood up.

“
Please sit down, Mr. Matthews.” After he did, she continued.
“So, you don’t know where Lindsay Anderson is?”

“
No, I don’t.”

“
Where were you Wednesday night?”

“
Out on a date”

“
You seem pretty sure about that. You don’t need to think
about it for a minute?”

“
No I don’t. I was out with this chick called Marissa. I know
it was Wednesday because we met at the market and went straight out
afterward.”

“
What time did your date finish?”

“
The next morning.” He grinned.

“
I’ll need to check your alibi. What is Marissa’s
surname?”

“
Don’t know. I won’t be seeing her again.”

“
That’s very convenient, Mr. Matthews.”

“
Is for me.” Again the grin.

“
Do you resent people with money?’

“
Um, no, I have plenty of my own.”

“
You’ve been in trouble with the police before, haven’t
you?”

“
It was a misunderstanding,” he said between gritted
teeth.

“
Violating a restraining order is a
misunderstanding?”

“
It was my ex-girlfriend. She thought I was stalking her. I
was just trying to win her back.” He gave her a look that made her
uneasy. “She dropped the order.”

“
Very convenient again, wouldn’t you say?”

He didn’t answer, so she went on. “Would you be willing to
have a DNA test?’

“
No.”

“
If you have nothing to hide, Mr. Matthews, it would clear you
of any suspicion.”

“
I know I didn’t do anything and I don’t have to prove it to
you. You have nothing tying me to these murders. I want a
lawyer.”

“
You don’t need one. You’re not under arrest, yet.”

“
Then I don’t have to stay?’

“
No, you’re free to go.”

“
Then I’m outta here. Let’s hope my day’s baking isn’t ruined.
Good day, Detective,” he said with a wink as he walked out the
door.

Lucas was sitting at his desk, brooding, when she
returned.

“
Have you cooled off yet?” she asked.

“
Yes, I’m sorry, Mags. I lost it.”

“
She’s more than a distraction, isn’t she?’

He shrugged.

“
I hope so. I’d like to see you happy.” He smiled.

Maggie was about to update Lucas on what he missed when
Captain Shaw strode up.

“
I hear we have a suspect in custody.”

“
No, Boss, we had to let him go. We didn’t have enough to hold
him and he refused a DNA test. When he wanted to lawyer up, I said
he didn’t need one, so he left.”

“
Keep on him but find other links too, in case he’s not our
guy.”

“
I don’t think he is,” Lucas piped up.

“
Why not?” Shaw and Maggie asked simultaneously.

“
He’s a player and I don’t think he holds a grudge. He just
moves on. I think he’s the dumper and not the dumpee. I really
don’t think rejection bothers him all that much. I wouldn’t write
him off completely but he just doesn’t seem right to me. He doesn’t
really come off as the shy type.”

“
Maybe he just said that to them so he didn’t have to meet
anyone, to draw suspicion away from him. He is very arrogant, and
someone who’d take the vics’ IDs and leaves them with the bodies
for us to find, to taunt us, would be pretty sure of himself,”
replied Maggie.

“
Whoever it is, he is making it easy for us to ID them, which
would suggest he thinks he’s smarter than us. He also somehow
manages to get his hands on the IDs undetected unless he makes them
bring it when he takes them. We found no fingerprints except those
of the vics themselves on both IDs and belongings. Anyway, I still
think Matthews is too loud and stands out too much. Everybody knows
he’s a player so it would be difficult for him to hide. I just
think our man would be inconspicuous.”

“
You could be onto something there,” Shaw said. “Anyway you
two keep at it but not this weekend. You’re both supposed to be off
and I don’t want to hear that either of you have been here or are
doing anything on this investigation. I want you to do whatever it
is you do on your time off and come back Monday revitalised.
Peterson and Stewart are on, so they can continue with interviews
and canvassing. I have also set up a hotline for calls and tips and
all the major news channels are running a story tonight. We are
working on this around the clock.”

“
Fine by me,” Maggie said.

“
But Captain, we’re not getting anywhere and with Lindsay
missing...” Lucas began.

“
That’s an order, Detective. No arguments.” He walked off
before Lucas could protest again.

“
Looks like I can catch up on some lovin’.” Maggie winked at
him.

“
Please spare me the details.”

“
Aw come on, don’t pretend like you don’t
remember.”

“
Hmm, we did have fun.”

She smiled at the memory.

“
Yeah, anyway, why don’t you ask Chelsea out and have some fun
too?”

“
I might do just that,” he said. “I need to see my sister and
her family as well.”

“
I know it’s probably not wise as far as protocol is
concerned, but I won’t tell.” She winked. “Wouldn’t be the first
time you broke the rules anyway.”

“
No it wouldn’t.” They shared a smile.

“
Shall we meet with Peterson and Stewart and go through what
we have?” Maggie said.

Lucas and Maggie located the detectives and they gathered
round the white board displaying Libby, Kate and Elle’s photos and
constructed a list of all the consistencies between the
cases:

Cause of death

Chest wounds

Similar dump spot (except Elle behind shop)

Flour transference

Coffee Break Café

Adrian Matthews

Mystery Man

Possessions left at premises

IDs on body - how and when is killer taking this?

Noted also was the blond hair found on Kate’s body, and that
the fingerprints found with no matches to the database were present
in all three of the victims’ houses.

The detectives also included the kidnapping of Lindsay in the
list, even though she had not been discovered dead yet. They all
hoped that they would find her and soon and that she wouldn’t be
moved over into the column with the other victims. However, the
longer it took to find her, the more likely it was that she would
turn up dead.

The similarities between Libby, Kate and Lindsay were also
discussed and listed. They then added Chelsea’s photo because she
could possibility be a target. The similarities between Chelsea and
the victims were strong and, until they knew for sure she wasn’t in
danger, they were taking them into consideration.