THE LALLYBROCH MURDERS

CHAPTER 8

Three more days had passed by and no more bodies had been discovered and although everyone was happy about that, the fact that this had coincided with the detainment of the drunk driver Larry had not gone unnoticed by neither Hank nor Liam.

And now that he had been released on bail, pending a court hearing, they were apprehensive, to say the least.

Unfortunately, just a few small hours after Larry’s release, forensics had returned with the details of the ‘footprint’ found at the scene of the third victim. It would have been a very simple test to have compared his footwear against the details now being added to the file they were building on the mystery attacker. However, any potential match would have given them cause to investigate even further on Larry but sadly he was now amongst the public again and they would need to specific reason to speak to him or to bring him back in. Although, neither Hank nor Liam however could shake feeling that it wouldn’t be long before they were meeting with Larry again.

‘Ah good, glad you guys are back.’ Liam and Hank were not used to such a welcome so this could only be Good News, which was a Blessing to them.

‘What have you got for us Barry?’ Liam asked.

‘Possible lead, but could be nothing but quite a coincidence.’ This was music to Liam’s ears. In his years of experience coincidences, often turned into leads which then often provided vital clues or even in some cases, solid evidence.

‘While you were out, we got a positive ID on the third victim. Katherine Didi Nammio is a 21 year old local girl but residing in student accommodation at the college campus.’

‘Ok go on,’ Liam waved his hand for the younger man to continue.

‘We’re still running the background check on her but here’s the interesting bit. Her father is Ed Didi Nammio, current owner and CEO of Dynamic Engineering, a fairly modest but growing company on the outskirts of town. Currently they are holding a pay roster of 12 employees, one of which is a certain Mr Larry Fisher.’ Liam and Hank both looked at each other wide eyed, but a grin slowly over took their faces.

‘Ok, well it’s just about lunch time so they should all be there,’ Liam asked looking at his watch.

‘It’s always good to be seen following up on these things rather than let Larry know we’re watching him. Let’s head over there now and have a word with each of the employees on a one to one basis huh?’ Hank asked, following his partner’s line of thought so very well.

45 minutes later, they were wrapping the interviews with the staff, which had gone very well in fact. In truth, they had only really wanted to speak to Larry; the rest was merely an exercise in PR. As of yet, no one else had been aware that this was part of a serial killer investigation and they were keen to keep it that way for as long as possible.

They also needed Katherine’s family to know that they were taking the incident seriously, as her family was going to hear about the detectives coming in and questioning everyone. The best way to do that meant they had to be seen investigating everything that they could. So interviews with the company’s staff had been set up. While Katherine’s immediate family had been told the horrible truth regarding the discovery of her body, the employees were being questioned regarding what they were simply calling her ‘Disappearance..’

While speaking with some of the employees, a similar story had emerged amongst a few of them. There were strong rumours on the shop floor that Katherine had been due to graduate college and that she had been lined up to take over the company. One or two members of the staff had voiced strong opinions about this and Larry in particular had voiced his objections stating that, ‘While she may have had a good business head on her shoulders, she was not an Engineer and the idea of her taking over an Engineering company was absurd.’

Liam and Hank had deliberately left Larry until last, hoping that by the time they had interviewed him he would have changed out of his work wear and back into his regular clothing; a plan that had worked perfectly. As Larry entered the office that the detectives had been given to use to conduct the interviews, Liam gave him a knowing smile while tapping on the table, giving off the impression that he recognized him but couldn’t quite place him.

‘Mr Erm…’ Liam said, waiting for Larry to offer his name.

‘Fisher. Larry Fisher.’

‘Ah, yes I remember now. DUI wasn’t it?’

‘I’m afraid so, Larry replied rather sheepishly.

‘Don’t worry we’re not here about that, we’re here on a completely unrelated matter actually. You see, we’re investigating the disappearance of Katherine Didi Nammio.’

‘As in, oh, the Bosses Daughter?’ Larry asked, with a concerned look on his face.

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘Oh, Wow I wondered why the boss wasn’t in today. I knew OF her, of course, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually met her,’ Larry said as he thought it over.

‘So, you wouldn’t have any clues where she might have gone?’ Liam continued.

‘Not at all, sorry.’ Liam smiled, acknowledging Larry’s response.

‘Now, we have heard rumours about her taking over the company. Do you know anything about that, Larry?’ Hank asked him.

‘Well, I’ve heard the rumours but as far as I’m aware they are just that; rumours.’

‘You have no real feelings one way or the other on that?’ Hank pushed on the questioning.

‘I’ve not really given it a great deal of thought. We get so many rumours down here that if we reacted to all of them, we’d never get any work done,’ Larry said with a smile, joking about it as he looked between the two detectives.

‘Ok, it’s getting late, we’re sorry to have kept you.’ Larry got up and began to leave. ‘Hey,’ said Liam, ‘Nice Sneakers!!’

‘Sorry?’ Larry answered, appearing to be somewhat startled.

‘Your sneakers, I like them. Sorry this may sound strange but my son has asked me for a pair for his birthday and I wouldn’t know where to start looking. They look good though, what brand are they? And you might be a smaller size, what size are you? How do they feel on you?’

Hank laughed at Liam, ‘You ruin that boy you know,’ he said, appearing to be mocking his partner.

This seemed to have relaxed Larry a little and while he still looked rather confused by this line of questioning, he answered all the same, allowing Liam to get the info he was after, the size and make of the shoes he was wearing. They thanked him for his help and sent him on his way.

‘Well different brand,’ he said to his partner while packing things up. ‘Same size though.’

‘Yeah I spotted that,’ Hank replied, ‘Very interesting!’

15 minutes later they got back to the station to the usual swarm of reporters and journalists.

‘We have to give them something,’ Liam told his partner. ‘This is only going to get worse until they find out what’s going on. Or even better yet, they find out half of the story and then fill in the remaining gaps themselves.’

Hank nodded but neither of them was happy about it. But they knew it had to be done, so when they reached the main doors, they both turned around and gave them the impromptu press conference they were craving. Hank informing them as to what had happened in the vague amount of details as he could, while Liam tried to fend off the questions that were being hurled their way.

It was already late when they got back to their desk. They both groaned when they saw the ever growing pile of paperwork awaiting their attention.

‘Looks like a late one,’ Hank said miserably. They both knew the score, it wasn’t ideal but was part of the job and besides, it wasn’t anything a good night’s sleep wouldn’t sort out. Hank phoned his wife to tell her he’d be late coming home while Liam took out a menu from under his desk and ordered them a take out.

They weren’t to know it yet, but unfortunately a good night’s sleep was never in the cards. They were both awakened around 4AM by the phone call they knew was coming but dreaded all the same; the discovery of the fourth victim. This time, however, there was one starling difference; the victim was still alive.