The Valley of Longing 35

‘Detective Inspector Lemark.’ He showed his warrant Card. ‘I’ve been asked to look into the murders that have taken place here in Doring Draad, and the two attempts on the life of the man your Sergeant Mitchell has identified as a suspect.; ‘Who’s asked you to do that? We don’t need you, we know who the killer is, Venter already figured it out, it’s that Wild bloke,’ Cecil said, not happy to hear that an outsider had been brought in to handle things he thought had been all but resolved. ’Venter told me he’s just waiting for some test results to come back to confirm that Wild’s the killer, once he get them, Wild’ll be going straight from hospital to jail.’ ‘I’m aware of what your sergeant believes, but fresh information suggests that Mr Wild may not be the killer,’ Lemark told him. ’My superiors are keen for this case to be resolved - three murders, a forth girl, your daughter, attacked, and two attempts on the like of the only person identified as a possible suspect - and they feel an independent investigator, me, would be better suited to do that. With a bit of luck, I’ll catch the killer in a couple of days and be out of the village’s hair, leaving everyone here free to go on with their lives.’ ‘So why’ve you arrested my son?’ Anger reddened Cecil’s face as he leaned across the counter. ’Don’t tell me you think he’s the murderer.’ ‘Your son has not been arrested, Mr Wright, he is simply here to help us with our inquiries.’ ‘Then I’m taking him home. I’m not having him dragged down here to be accused of murder by the likes of you.’ Cecil made to go around the counter so he could find his son, but he was defeated by the security door, which was there specifically to stop people doing what he was attempting. Frustrated, he banged on the door with his fist and kicked at it with a booted foot. ‘He could never have hurt any of those girls; one of them’s his sister, and another’s his girlfriend, for God’s sake.’ ‘Calm down, Mr Wright, I have not accused your son of murder, nor is that why I’ve brought him down here.’ Though he gave no indication of it, and couldn’t because doing so would have messed everything up, Lemark was pleased by the display of anger, it was just what he had been hoping for. ‘Kerwin is here because I wish to question him about the attempt on Mr Wild’s life on Sunday night, he will be released when, and if, he convinces me that he had nothing to do with it.’ ‘He didn’t’ A ghost of a smile touched Lemark’s lips at that. ‘You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it, but you are biased.’ ‘I tell you, he didn’t do it,’ Cecil said firmly. ‘I appreciate you don’t wish to believe your son is capable of such an act, Mr Wright,’ Lemark said compassionately. ‘But Kerwin has the means, he is the licensed owner of a shotgun; the motive, both his sister and his girlfriend are among those who have been attacked, and Mr Wild has been named as the person responsible for the attacks. He also had the opportunity, he lives just up the road from Mr Wild. ‘Unless you have something more than your belief, to convince me your son wasn’t involved in the attempt on Mr Wild’s life, you’ll have to wait ‘til I’ve spoken to him to take him, assuming I feel it appropriate to release him.’ He turned then and started back down the passage to the interview room. Cecil started to swear. ‘I know Kerwin didn’t try and kill Wild,’ he called out quickly before the DI disappeared into the interview room he had come from. ‘I know he didn’t, because I’m the one you’re looking for. I’m the one who shot Wild and his lawyer.’ Lemark stopped in the doorway of the interview room. ‘You’ll have to do better than that, Mr Wright,’ he said. ‘You Can’t just make a claim like that to try and save your son, that’s not how things work. Just standing there and saying you did what I’m about to question your son about isn’t going to help him, it’s only going to get you in trouble as well. I’m a busy, right man, right now, however, so I’ll give you a break.’ He paused for a moment before playing his trump card. ‘Withdraw your claim, or back it up with something, if you don’t do either, I’ll have no choice but to arrest you for obstruction of justice.’ Cecil didn’t hesitate. ‘Arrest me then, but I’m telling you I’m the one you’re after. I walked down the road after Venter called to say he was releasing Wild again and shot him through the living room window. I hit the lawyer first, I didn’t mean to do that, but she’s going to go around trying to get rapists and murderers off, she’s got to accept the consequences, then I got ‘im. I thought I’d killed him, but I guess not. If I’d know that, I’d’ve kicked the door in and gone inside to finish the job.’ Lemark considered what he had just heard for several moments before deciding what to do. ‘Okay,’ he said finally. ‘If you’re sure about this. Bring him through, constable.’ Turning to look through the doorway into the interview room he addressed Kerwin, ‘Looks like you’re free to go, Mr Wright, your father’s decided to confess to the attempt on Mr Wild’s life that I was going to question you about.’ Kerwin was too surprised by that news to react to it straight away. Once he got over his surprise, he rose and left the interview room, meeting his father in the doorway. ‘Why’d you say you did it?’ he wanted to know. ‘I couldn’t let them charge you for something I did,’ Cecil told his son. Kerwin shook his head. ‘They weren’t going to charge me with anything.’ he said. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong and they’d have realised that, sooner or later.’ ‘I couldn’t take that chance.’ At the prompting of inspector, he squeezed past Kerwin and into the interview room so she could take the seat previously occupied by his son. ‘Your sister’s gonna be worried when I don’t come back soon, so you need to reassure her, make sure she knows everything’s going to be alright.’ Lemark took the opportunity that was presented. ‘Maybe this will help make your sister feel better; I was at the hospital earlier, and the doctor in charge of your sister’s case told me she woke up his morning. It wasn’t for long, only a minute or so, but apparently it’s a good sign. The doctor thinks it’s only a matter of time before she wakes up properly it’ll be a while before she’s able to come home, but at least she’ll be able to tell us who attacked her.’ He watched Kerwin closely for a reason; he thought he saw something in his eyes but couldn’t be certain. ‘How did you know Cecil would confess if we brought Kerwin in?’ Melissa asked once they had finished interviewing the farmer and put him in a cell. ‘I was gambling,’ Lemark admitted. ‘Betting he wouldn’t want his son to be accused of something he’d done. It was a risk, but it’s paid off. Even if he hadn’t come in we’d have gotten a result; we were able to get that DNA sample from Kerwin Wright, which means we’ll be able to tell if he’s the killer we’re after.’ He offered a brief smile to the constable at his side. ‘If we’re lucky, we’ll catch the killer tonight, assuming you’re right about how quickly gossip gets round this village - in which case pretty much everyone who lives here should know by now - but if we’ve got the DNA samples to fall back on, and with a bit of pressure, the lab boys will take less than the usual two or three days to tell us if they match. Melissa wasn’t all that comfortable with the action the inspector had taken through the afternoon; she didn’t like the false hope he had offered to Amy’s family, even if she could understand why he had done what he had. Nor did she like the trickery he had employed - that was how she thought of it - in bringing Kerwin in for questioning simply to get his father to confess to the crime he had committed to save his son from a false accusation. She made no mention of what she was thinking and feeling, however, for she doubted it would make any difference, and she had no alternative to offer. Jack felt his stomach lurch into his throat as his car came to a sudden stop outside the village shop. Next to him in the driver’s seat, Sophie laughed at the look on his face. ‘Did you think I was going to lose control and crash your baby? She asked, amused by his reaction to her driving - she wasn’t about to admit it, but her own stomach had given a bit of a jolt when the car stopped more quickly than she expected; the brakes on the Mercedes were much more responsive than those on her own car. ‘You came close a few times,’ Jack said once his stomach had settled back into its usual location. ‘Rubbish,’ Sophie scoffed. ‘I was in complete control. I’m a very good driver.’