THE LALLYBROCH MURDERS

CHAPTER 18

Meanwhile, Barry continued working his way through the list of names he had collected but so far nothing of use had come up. He had a couple more slightly different versions of the same account but essentially, they all backed up the story Jennifer had told him. Although, one or two, had suggested that the teasing and picking on Clair had even escalated into full scale bullying.

But sadly nothing that would require further investigation. Barry let out a sigh as he made his way back to the station, hoping that Liam and Hank were having more luck with Larry.

45 minutes after leaving the station, Liam and Hank pulled into the parking lot at Dynamic Engineering and headed straight to the office where they were greeted by Ed Didi Nammio, company CEO and father of the third victim.

‘Good afternoon detectives, is this about my daughter?’ He was smiling but the pain was still clear to see in his face.

‘We’re not sure yet,’ Liam told him. ‘We’re looking at every possibility and we’ve come to speak to one of your employees, a Larry Fisher?’

Ed’s eyes opened wide, trying to get the words out, ‘Is he…’ He kept trying to ask, not really wanting to finish the question.

‘He is not being considered a suspect at this time,’ Liam reassured him. ‘He phoned our helpline offering some information and we’re keen to follow up on that. Rest assured now Mr Didi Nammio.’

‘Thank you,’ Ed told them, the relief on his face palpable. ‘Would you like me to go and get him and you can talk to him here? Or would you like a separate office?’

‘Yes, somewhere a little more private would be preferable, Thank You,’ Liam told him. He nodded and led them down the corridor to the same office they were in on their previous visit here.

‘Here you go officers this is or meeting room…’

Ed stopped suddenly, putting his hand over his mouth fighting back the tears. ‘Sorry, but this was going to be Katherine’s office you know?’ he said, finally his eyes panning around the room in front of them.

‘Don’t worry sir, we will catch whoever did this,’ Hank told him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Ed nodded his approval, seemingly unable to speak before taking a deep breath and composing himself.

‘I’ll tell Larry you’re waiting for him.’

He then turned and disappeared down the corridor towards the main workshop. A few moments later Larry entered the room.

‘Good afternoon detectives,’ he told them as he walked further in.

‘Good afternoon, thank you for seeing us again. Now we know you told the helpline what you know but could you tell us exactly what you told them please?’ Hank asked him, taking a seat and motioning for Larry to do the same.

‘Sure, that girl that was in the paper,’ Larry began.

‘You mean this one?’ Liam interrupted, putting the same photo of Clair Buchan that had been released to the media onto the table.

‘Yes that’s the one,’ Larry confirmed. ‘That’s the one that was down at the park, she’s the one that Travis was flirting with.’

‘You mean Travis Peterson?’ Liam queried.

‘Yes, that day when we were playing football down at the park. That was the one he was flirting with. Definitely,’ Larry confirmed.

‘Ok and this was in the afternoon? Or in the evening?’ Hank asked, glancing at Liam.

‘Oh evening for sure. I would have been working until five so would have met Travis around six, probably spent about an hour or so working on his paper. We wouldn’t have even started playing until seven at least.’

‘Sorry, no,’ Larry said, shaking his head. ‘As I think we discussed before, I went home early and left them to it.’

Liam and Hank looked at each other; they both knew what this meant. If the flirting, or anything else, had continued after the game then Clair Buchan would have been the last person to have seen Travis Peterson alive. And with the time of death being confirmed at around one am, there were potentially only a couple of hours remaining until the attack had taken place. Still nothing they could use as evidence in court, of course but added further credence to their theory that she was the person responsible.

‘Well, thank you Larry,’ Liam said, ‘Unless there’s anything else you can think of?’

‘No that was it. The paper said any info I just thought…’ he trailed off not knowing what little bit it could help, but maybe it was something.

‘You’re absolutely right, we’re very glad you came forward and thank you,’ Liam told him with a smile. Larry got up from his chair and walked to the door before pausing.

‘Oh how were the sneakers?’ Larry asked, looking at Liam.

‘Sorry?’ Liam frowned, not entirely sure what he meant by this.

‘The sneakers,’ Larry repeated. ‘The last time you were here you were looking for some sneakers. For your son I think it was?’

‘Oh, yes I remember,’ Liam answered, as the coin finally dropped.

‘They were perfect, thank you, he loved them.’

‘Glad I could have been a help. Good day detectives.’ Larry left the office with a smile and Hank laughed at his partner.

‘Wow, he nearly had you there buddy,’ Hank laughed, clamping his hand on Liam’s shoulder. In truth Liam didn’t even have a son, it was just a line he had used on Larry to get the information he needed at the time. Liam smiled back at his partner and they both chuckled as they left the company.

Once they returned to the station, they got the good news that Tania Richards had awakened from her coma, somewhat of a miracle in and of itself.

Although this was slightly tinged by the news that she had yet to regain the ability of speech and was currently communicating via a hand held tablet.

Slightly more concerning was the fact that she had, or so it appeared, absolutely no memory of the last four months whatsoever and had even asked why there were no Christmas decorations up.