‘Will he live?’
‘According to the doctor, he will.’
‘He had phoned Sally; she phoned me. I wanted to see him after he killed Sue Christie.’
‘Why?’
‘He was my husband. I needed to know.’
‘What did he say?’
‘Yes, he admitted to killing her, as well as the others. He would have told me more, but I needed to complete my task.’
‘It was premeditated?’
‘He intended to kill Ed.’
‘What were his reasons?’
‘He thinks he and Sue had sold him out.’
‘Had they?’
‘Probably not, but with Ed, you can’t be sure.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They were having an affair.’
‘We suspected that. Do you have proof?’
‘A woman doesn’t need proof, she knows.’
‘Did your daughter know your plans?’
‘No.’
Isaac realised that the interview was not going well for Gwen Barrow. The woman was guilty, Malcolm Woolston was in the hospital, and the case was effectively closed. Although Woolston’s motives may have been idealistic, he had still committed murder.
‘Was this the first contact you had with your ex-husband?’
‘Yes.’
‘And Sally?’
‘You’ll have to ask her.’
‘We’d like to hear from you first.’
‘Sally had met him in the park.’
Isaac realised that the two women were guilty of not informing the police about Woolston, but it was probably not enforceable, and under the circumstances a conviction was unlikely.
‘Please tell Malcolm that I’m sorry,’ Gwen Barrow said.
***
DCS Goddard phoned not long after Isaac and Larry left the interview room. ‘Case is wrapped up, a definite conviction,’ he said.
‘I suppose you’re right,’ Isaac said. ‘The man’s not going anywhere, and his wife has admitted to attempted murder, but why?’
‘Isaac, you do this every time. Let sleeping dogs lie. If there’s something else it’s not our business. Just make sure the case for the prosecution is watertight.’
‘There’s more.’
‘You and your department have been mandated to solve homicides. And that’s what you’ve done. If Woolston is mad or whether they were justifiable killings, according to him, you’ve done your job. Just wrap this up and leave well alone.’
***
Sally had been distraught on learning that one of her parents, a self-confessed murderer, was in intensive care in a hospital and the other, her mother, had been charged with attempted murder. In spite of the circumstances of her father’s apparent suicide many years previously, she had led an untroubled life, apart from the usual rebelliousness during her teenage years. And now she had the conflict of divided loyalties for two people that she loved, and the need to recognise the fact that both were under arrest, and neither were likely to be free to walk the streets for a very long time, if ever.
‘Why, mother?’ Sally asked her in a secure room at Challis Street.
‘He intended to kill Ed. I had to stop him.’
‘But shooting my father?’
The two women were sitting on the small, uncomfortable bed. Neither woman was able to deal with the other. Gwen wanted her daughter to leave. If Malcolm had died, it would have been better for all concerned, but it appeared that he would live, which only complicated the situation.
‘He killed Sue Christie, did you know that?’
‘They told me upstairs.’
‘I just wanted it to stop. Your father was never mad, but what he did, disappearing like that, then returning to blight our lives.’
‘Did he explain why?’
‘He blames Ed, and he said Sue was worse. Whatever it is, it had to stop. Can’t you see that?’
‘Not at all. I’ve two parents, both murderers. How do you think this will affect Susie as she grows up, knowing that her grandparents are criminals?’
The two women held hands, not sure what else to say. After ten minutes, Sally left, leaving her mother lying on the bed, her face pressed into the pillow.
‘What did she say?’ Ed asked Sally on her return upstairs. He had grabbed a coffee out of an automatic vending machine. He realised the seriousness of the situation with regards to Gwen, a woman he cared about, and Malcolm, who had been a friend but was now a social leper. The man had killed Sue Christie, and whereas he had not been upset over the deaths of Arbuthnot and Hutton, he was of the woman that he had once loved, once proposed marriage to, made love to on a weekly basis.
Sure, he had known that she had been a smart woman, always playing one man off against another, using her beguiling nature to seduce and discard as she wanted, but she had been loyal to him, even when Malcolm had first been waylaid by Arbuthnot.
He remembered that she had been a softer soul then, concerned that what was happening to a friend in a remote location was wrong. It had taken all his charms to convince her of the necessity, but then he came to know that her concern was an affectation and that what convinced her was the potential money involved.
And then there was her and other men. He knew about the general, a man who should have known better, although he could not blame the old fool. The man and his brother were men who portrayed respectability, the best of British, yet they were always willing to strike a deal with anyone, if it was to the country’s benefit or theirs.
Sally felt guilt in that she had set up the meeting between her parents, hoping that it would resolve issues, not knowing that her mother, the one constant in her life, was contemplating a violent action. And now all she had was Ed, but he wasn’t her real father. That man was lying in a hospital bed.
‘I’d like to see my father,’ Sally said to Isaac when he spoke to her at the station.
‘I’ll need a statement first as to how you knew how to contact your father.’
‘And
