The Diamond Rosary Murders (19 page)

‘After the murder, Meredith saw Paschal out of the house then phoned triple nine. However, a few days later, when Paschal found out King’s inheritance would go to his nephew, Vincent Fleming, he realized that he would not be paid the fortune
promised
and that he had been involved in a pointless murder. He may have threatened to go to the police if Meredith didn’t cough up. Who knows? But they must have had the most rancorous quarrel. So much so that it seemed necessary to Meredith to dispose of Paschal before he was betrayed by him. So he killed Paschal in the same way he killed Haydn King. Then, when he was dead, because Paschal looked so much like King, he hastily cut off his beard so that we would not notice the similarity. Then in the night, Meredith transferred the body … using the
wheelchair
again … into the boot of one of King’s cars and drove him to the canal and dumped him there. I expect to have
confirmation
shortly that the tread of one of the wheelchair tyres, which we thought was from a bicycle, matches the track left in the mud at the side of the canal where the body was tipped in, also that there are recent fingerprints of Meredith on the wheelchair. There are minute particles of a house brick in the skulls of both King and Paschal, the wounds are approximately in the centre of the
skulls, and they were both dumped in water after they had been killed. I believe that the case against Meredith for the murder of Paschal will then be conclusive, and, as the MO is exactly the same, the jury will bring in a verdict of guilty against Meredith for King’s murder as well.’

Harker nodded, then frowned and said, ‘How could Meredith be certain that King would be out of the house when I called?’

‘King had kept five consecutive weekly appointments at Mrs Lin’s on Tuesdays at 8, why wouldn’t he keep the sixth? There’s something else, sir. Haydn King was a proud man. He didn’t want it known that he had need to seek the services of a psychiatrist, and a woman psychiatrist at that. He didn’t even make an entry in his appointments diary for prying eyes to read. But he told one person, the one person he thought he could trust, his butler. King would have had to tell him, to avoid being locked out of the house and so that he knew what time to serve his bedtime cocoa or whatever.’

Harker nodded.

Angel continued. ‘So Meredith chose that date and time,
confident
that nobody knew he was consulting a psychiatrist. However, Haydn King phoned Mrs Lin on his mobile on Thursday, December 1st. We don’t know what the call was about, but if my team hadn’t followed up her number and I hadn’t interviewed the lady, we might never have discovered the truth.’

Harker held out his hands, his fingertips touching intermittently in a rhythm only he would have understood. His half-open eyes looked downward, but saw nothing. ‘You’d better get a warrant and get Meredith arrested,’ he said.

Angel looked up at him and said, ‘It’s in hand, sir. Got a warrant from Dr Leigh and I’ve sent a patrol car to pick him up.’

Harker blinked. ‘Mmm. I hope we are not going to be housing and feeding him for long.’

‘I completed the paperwork earlier this morning, sir. He can go up before the magistrates this morning and be away to Armley or Durham tomorrow.’

‘And he can stay there until the new year. Good riddance. What about Marcia Moore, when are we getting shot of her?’

‘GSL are collecting her anytime now, sir, for New Hall.’

Harker nodded approvingly. ‘All nice and tidy for Christmas. You’d better crack on, then, lad,’ he said.

Angel came out of the superintendent’s office and made his way down the corridor in time to hear the shrill sound of a female voice from the direction of the cells. It was Marcia Moore.

‘What’s all this?’ she was yelling. ‘I don’t want to wear
those
again. They hurt my bloody wrists. Don’t push. What’s happening?’

‘You’re being moved to New Hall,’ a female voice replied.

Angel recognized the voice was that of PC Leisha Baverstock.

‘What for? Where’s that?’ Marcia Moore said.

‘It’s a woman’s prison, about ten miles away.’

‘Oh. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go. I am not going.’

‘You have to go, Marcia. And you’ll be far better off. It’s in the countryside. You’ll be better off there, Marcia. They have far more facilities than there are here.’

‘Oh? I hope there’s a shop there. Anybody got a cigarette? I say, anybody got a cigarette?’

Angel reached his office. He closed the door and returned to his desk. He had just sat down when the phone rang.

It was Taylor. ‘You’ll be pleased to know, sir, that Meredith’s fingerprints were all over the wheelchair, and that the tread on the right-hand tyre matched exactly the track mark we found at the side of the canal.’

‘Great stuff, Don. Write it up and let me have it ASAP.’

He returned the phone to its holster and leaned back in the swivel chair, a warm smile on his face. He was thinking that he
would be able to pass on all the case notes to Mr Twelvetrees, the barrister, at the CPS on Wednesday, 21st, in two days’ time, and that would allow him Thursday and Friday to clear his desk of the accumulation of the paperwork of the past two weeks, leaving everything straight for Christmas. He would be able to rest easy and enjoy Christmas at home with Mary.

He looked at the pile of papers on the desk in front of him needing his attention. He leaned forward and pulled them towards him. He was about to start riffling through them when the phone rang. He reached out for it. It was Harker.

‘I’ve just had a triple nine, lad,’ he said. ‘A man has been found dead in a flat with what looks like a shotgun wound. The address is …’

Angel sighed and reached for his pen.

IN THE MIDST OF LIFE

CHOKER

THE MAN IN THE PINK SUIT

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HONEST

MANTRAP

SALAMANDER

SHAM

THE UMBRELLA MAN

THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LOSE

THE CURIOUS MIND OF INSPECTOR ANGEL

FIND THE LADY

THE WIG MAKER

MURDER IN BARE FEET

WILD ABOUT HARRY

THE SNUFFBOX MURDERS

THE CUCKOO CLOCK SCAM

THE DOG COLLAR MURDERS

THE BIG FIDDLE

THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS