Fic: Tainted Flame (Inspector Lynley Mysteries)
Title: Tainted Flame
Author: Lullabymoon
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Barbara Havers, Thomas Lynley
Word Count: 5597
Summary: When a young woman goes missing, it's up to Barbara to find her.
A/N: Written for
medie for Yuletide 2010. Thanks to fringedweller for the beta. Set after "Know Thine Enemy".
Gemma’s foot splashed down into a puddle and she swore softly. She stood on one foot, shaking the wet one to get rid of the excess water. She nearly overbalanced and didn’t notice the person behind her until the shadow cast by the streetlight loomed large and pain blossomed in the back of her head.
Barbara blearily looked down at the pile of reports on her desk and sighed. “Tea first, definitely.”
“Morning Barbs.”
Barbara smiled a reply to Winston who merely shook his head in amusement.
“Listen, I’ve got something that could be doing with getting looked into, but I’ve got a full plate. D’you mind putting aside the paperwork?”
She clicked the kettle on to boil. “Anything to avoid the paperwork.” She threw a teabag into her cup. “What is it?”
“Jogger found a phone lying in the street this morning and handed it into lost property.”
“Wow, I can see why you need to pass it on.”
“I should’ve waited until you’d had your tea, shouldn’t I?”
Barbara snorted and started rummaging around for a teaspoon. “Go on then,”
“Well it turned into a Missing Persons this morning.” Barbara just looked at him funny. “The Sergeant manning the desk heard it ringing and thought he might get rid of something. Instead, there are about twenty missed calls and it’s a frantic woman on the other end trying to catch hold of the owner.” The kettle clicked off and she let her tea stew. “Turns out she hasn’t been seen since she left work day before yesterday, missed a big dinner and left her cat alone in her flat with no extra food or water.”
Barbara blew on her now ready tea and frowned. “Kay. What else have you got?” Winston handed her a sheet of paper. “Someone was in bright and early.”
“Well, it helped that I wasn’t out to all hours of the night celebrating a birthday.”
“An Indian takeaway doesn’t count as out all hours.” Barbara grumbled.
Winston smiled. “Anyway. Gemma Ramsden, 24 and lives alone. She’s a fitness instructor for a local gym, parents live out in Oxford and it was the girlfriend, Fiona Kemp, who reported her missing.”
“Right, I’ll take it.”
“Thanks, Barb, you’re a life saver.”
Barbara rolled her eyes and walked back to her desk, trying not to spill any of her still too hot tea. She booted up her computer and started to read the information Winston had given her. The couple had been together six months, no problems, Gemma seemed happy.
She drained her tea and opened the lost property file on the phone. Jogger had handed it in this morning at 6.15am, had found it at approximately 5.40am and the phone screen was cracked through the middle. A bit odd, but she would look into it.
Lynley chose this moment to walk in the door and she looked up from her computer to see he had wisely gone for coffee before going near his desk. “Morning,” He nodded in greeting, barely looking up from his mug. She shrugged and left him to his own devices.
She jotted down the girlfriend’s address, checked the missing persons report to see if there was anything she had missed and what she needed to find out. Satisfied, she knocked on Lynley’s door and stuck her head in. “Just nipping out to check up on a Missing Persons case.”
“Anything I can do?” The coffee had obviously worked.
“Nah, alright just now.” Barbara grinned. “I’ll leave you to your paperwork,” and she left before he could reply.
Barbara rang the doorbell and shifted from foot to foot as she waited. The door opened to reveal a tall man, not at all who she was expecting. She held up her warrant card. “DS Havers, I’m looking for Fiona Kemp?”
He nodded. “Of course, she’s just through this way.” He jerked his head in the direction of a doorway. She stepped inside and as he shut the door, introduced himself. “I’m George, George Blackburn, I’m a friend of Fiona’s.”
Barbara nodded. “How is she?”
“A bit frantic, but I guess that’s to be expected.”
“It can be a difficult time.” The first thing Barbara noticed was the living room was full of pictures of the couple, the second was a cat sitting in the corner, sizing her up. She wearily avoided it as she moved over to the other occupant of the room. “Miss Kemp?” The woman looked up at her and nodded. “I’m DS Havers and I’m looking into Gemma’s case. I just need to ask you a few questions about her.”
Fiona nodded and gesticulated towards a chair. “Of course, sit down.”
George butted in, “I’ll just go and put the kettle on.”
Barbara smiled and pulled out her notebook. “So when was the last time you spoke to her?”
“Her break on Tuesday. She phoned to check we were still on for last night.”
“Last night?”
“We were going to have my parents over for dinner. She wanted to know what she needed to get at Tesco’s.”
“Was she nervous about that at all?”
Fiona shook her head. “We have them over about once a fortnight. We’d swap where we were having dinner. It was Gemma’s turn.” Fiona shut her eyes and bit her lip. “We were talking about getting a flat together, joked about how we’d still take it in turns to make dinner.”
Barbara gave her a minute to settle again, checking her notepad. “The report you filled in said she didn’t turn up for work yesterday?”
“I phoned Tom when I couldn’t get a hold of her.”
“Tom Castle?” Barbara glanced at her notes.
Fiona nodded. “He’s a work friend. He said she hadn’t turned up or phoned in sick, he couldn’t get hold of her either.”
George walked back in with three mugs of tea on a tray and handed them out. It gave Fiona time to brush away tears and Barbara let her take a sip before she started again.
Barbara sighed as she read the bank statement in front of her.
“Not going well then?” Lynley perched himself on the desk beside her and she swiveled to face him.
“Nope. Bank statement shows she made it to Tesco’s on Tuesday but nothing else has shown up on it yet. There’s nothing on her phone bill since her call to Fiona, which was Tuesday as well. I’ve managed to get CCTV footage of her up until she left the retail park. After that she just vanishes. I walked her route home, nothing left behind that could be identified as hers.”
“Was the phone found near by?”
“Next street over.”
Lynley looked deep in thought. “What about the girlfriend?”
“Seems pretty upset.” She sighed again and pushed her hair back off her face. “They were thinking about moving in together, which friends confirm.”
“No one with any grudges?”
Barbara shook her head. “The only thing remotely like that was a few disappointed people on the dating site where they met. “ Lynley frowned. “No, neither had any problems with anyone on the site, just they each had a couple of other possibilities when they met.”
“It sounds like you’ve covered everything you can.”
“Yeah.” She reached for the cup of tea beside her and groaned when she discovered it was empty.
“Barbara,” She looked up at Lynley, “You’ve done everything you can.” He looked out the window. “Time to head home.”
She harrumphed but slowly started to gather her things.
The phone woke her from her lazy Sunday lie in. “Havers,”
“Havers, we’ve got a case,”
She threw back the quilt. “Where bouts?”
“Beside the river in Battersea Park,”
“Alright, I’ll be there shortly.” She said goodbye and cut the call and began rummaging around for something to wear.
She could tell by the look on Lynley’s face that it was bad. She walked over and he turned to face her, pulling her away from the scene slightly. “The body was found by a couple this morning. It looks like it had snagged on a shopping trolley and floated to the surface. Barbara,” He paused, “It looks like it’s Gemma Ramsden.”
She turned away from him and headed back towards the scene. “Barbara!” She ignored him and knelt beside the body, pulled back the blanket and closed her eyes.
The body was bloated and decomposition had started, but it was definitely Gemma Ramsden.
“Barbara,” She felt Lynley’s hand on her shoulder and she took a deep breath before standing up. “Yeah, it’s her.” She heard his intake of breath and then his hand was on her arm again.
“I’ll get Oxford to notify her parents. Give me the girlfriend’s address and I’ll drive.”
“I don’t need to be,” He cut her off with a squeeze to her arm.
“I know. Come on.”
The car journey was spent in silence. She stared out the window and Lynley left her in peace until he had had enough. “You did everything you could to find her.”
“It doesn’t feel that way.”
Lynley sighed. “I know.”
Silence ruled again until they had parked and Barbara had rung the doorbell.
It was Fiona Kemp who answered the door this time and her body crumpled when she saw the two of them at her door. “Miss Kemp, I’m sorry but…”
She was on the phone trying to get CCTV footage when Lynley appeared beside her desk. He waited until she had finished, perching himself on her desk again and trying not to twitch.
“CCTV?”
“They’re sending over the footage from the scene for the last 6 days.”
Lynley nodded. “Alright. Lafferty’s prelim is in, so we should be able to narrow it down.”
“What’s it say?”
Lynley shook his head. “I need a cup of tea.” He stood and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen.
Grumping out loud, she waited until it was clear he wasn’t coming back before she followed him. She tried to look less grumpy when he handed her a cup of tea.
“Thanks.”
He stood beside her as they both took a sip. “They’ve not managed to get any prints of the plastic sheet she was wrapped in and the river looks to have washed away most of the evidence.”
“Great.”
Lynley frowned over his tea again before looking back at her, angling slightly to face her properly. “Lafferty thinks she died sometime on Wednesday.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” She turned, faced the worktop and slammed her mug down. Lynley placed his mug down and moved even closer to her.
“No, but you need to understand there was nothing you could have done at all. She was dead before we got the report.” Barbara bowed her head, not saying a word.
“Barbara?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, fingers slowly moving and stroking in reassurance. Her body relaxed and she brought her head up again.
“I’ll be fine. Lafferty say when the results’ll be in?”
“The post-mortem should be finished by tomorrow morning, the other results will be a bit longer.”
Barbara nodded. “I’ll go and interview her workmate again. See if he remembers anything else.”
“I’ll do a little more digging while I wait on the CCTV.”
Barbara snorted. “You’ll be a while. They go slow on Sundays.”
“I’ll just have to nag them then.” He was rewarded with a small smile and she went to gather her coat.
“I might have a something.”
Lynley looked up from the CCTV footage. “Excellent.”
She sat down beside him, bringing out her notebook. “Tom reconfirmed everything between the two of them was going swimmingly. He also remembered a conversation he had with Gemma last week about George Blackburn.”
“The girlfriend’s friend?” He looked interested.
She nodded. “She joked that she might have to watch out for him as competition, but was a bit more serious when she said he was spending that much time with them that she was going to have to talk to him.”
“Talk to him?”
“Tom’s exact words were ‘She said it was kind of creepy the way he was always hanging about and seemed to know too much about Fiona.”
Lynley raised an eyebrow. “Creepy enough for us to look into?”
“Could be. Tom also said she was planning on talking with him on Tuesday night.”
“It could be just a coincidence.”
“Yeah, but we’ve not got much else at the minute.”
Lynley thought for a moment. “You look into him, I’ll finish the CCTV.”
She nodded. “Try not to get square eyes,” She managed a slight smile and he rolled his eyes as he turned back to the monitor.
Barbara stood up and moved away from her computer, eyes squinting as she readjusted from spending too long looking at the monitor. Lynley chose that moment to come out of the office. “I’ve found something on the CCTV.”
“Brilliant.” She followed him through to find the playback was paused. On the edge of the screen there was what looked to be a man putting something in the water. “That’s not too far from where we found her is it?”
“No. Of course, we’ll need to get it enhanced to see if it is actually the body dump.” She winced slightly at those words and Lynley quickly moved on. “What did you find out about Blackburn?”
“He moved to London about three months ago from Manchester, family’s still there. One speeding ticket but that’s all in our database. From what Tom said, he started being friendly with Fiona bout a month ago. Also, I checked and he phoned in sick to work on Wednesday.” She glanced down at her notes. “One interesting thing, he’s on the same dating site Gemma and Fiona were. I’ve asked for all three of their files.”
“You think he checked them out beforehand?”
“S’possible. Anyway, they said they’d get back to me.”
“When was that?”
“Bout an hour ago.”
Lynley looked at the various piles on his desk and sighed. “I think that’s all we can manage for tonight.” He looked at his watch. “Come on, I’ll drop you off.”
The pile of paperwork was bigger on her desk the next morning. Barbara checked for anything important and then turned to her email. There was one from the dating site that perked her up but the feeling quickly faded. They wouldn’t release the information without a court order, but would it help to know that George Blackburn had been in Fiona Kemp’s queue before she found success with Gemma Ramsden?
“Queue?” Lynley had arrived and was now reading over her shoulder.
“People send a message to the person they’re interested in and until they get a reply the site call it being in the queue.”
He nodded but was distracted from replying by his phone ringing. He dashed off to his office, leaving Barbara to check the rest of her emails.
She knocked on his door when she saw he was off the phone and entered. “That was Lafferty.”
“Got the full results?”
He nodded. “She definitely died sometime on Wednesday, before she went in the water. There was no trace of violence apart from a bump on the back of her head and a few bruises starting to form. Looked like she was dragged a little bit.”
“What killed her?”
“We have to wait for the tox screen for that. He found needle marks between her toes though, very fresh.”
“Any ideas of what sort of drugs?”
“Not really, just that it stopped her heart as there were no other obvious signs of damage.”
Barbara sighed. “Anything back from the CCTV?”
“Of course not, you know what they’re like.” He didn’t look happy at it though.
“Well, I’ll go talk to George on his own, see if he’ll tell me anything.”
“I’ll come with you.” He started to rise.
She shook her head. “S’probably best if I go on my own, he’s met me before and might be more talkative.”
Lynley sat down again. “Alright, just, just be careful.”
Barbara smiled. “I will.”
This time when George Blackburn opened the door to her, he let her straight into his flat. “Is there anything I can help with, Sergeant Havers?”
“I just wanted to ask a few questions, get a better picture of things.”
“Of course. Do have a seat.” He pointed to the chair opposite him. “Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee?”
“No, thanks.” She got her notebook out and was distracted by a cat jumping out from the kitchen. She must have looked surprised for George spoke up.
“Gemma’s cat. I’m cat sitting for Fiona. She’s finding it quite hard to cope with him around.”
Barbara nodded. “Perfectly understandable. So how long have you known Fiona and Gemma?”
“About a month. I met Fiona at a book group and we just hit it off. Then she introduced me to Gemma and it was like a ready made circle of friends.” He smiled widely at her.
“Have you noticed anything strange happening to them? Anybody acting funny?”
He looked shocked at the suggestion. “No, everybody loves, loved them.”
“Alright, we’re just trying to get an idea of who would do this to Gemma.”
He nodded. “Yes, yes of course.” He looked at his watch.
“Am I keeping you?”
George smiled again. “I was just wanting to get back to Fiona. She’s not coping well.”
Barbara nodded and stood to leave. “Just one thing,” He looked at her, “How did you end up at the same book group if you live three miles away? Surely in London…” She trailed off and to her satisfaction, his smile slipped.
“It was recommended to me.” His tone was clipped and he tried to usher her out the door. At that moment, the cat, perhaps sensing the door was about to be opened, jumped up and knocked over a pile washing sitting at the end of the couch. A woman’s handbag slid out and Barbara thought it odd, even odder when George shouted at the cat and he stood in front of the pile. She acted as if it was nothing out of the ordinary and smiled at him as she left.
Back at her desk, Barbara opened the case file and found the initial Missing Persons report. There it was, under Description (Last Seen), the description of Gemma’s handbag.
A perfect match for the one in George Blackburn’s flat.
Lynley was on the phone when she knocked but he gestured for her to take a seat. He put the phone down after a minute. “That was Lafferty with the tox screen results.”
“Already?” She was shocked.
“Apparently he’s got a new gadget,”
“Nice to know someone’s budget isn’t getting cut.”
Lynley smiled and carried on. “None of the usual suspects turned up. He’s sent a sample away for further analysis. “
“Well, I’ve got something that will cheer you up.”
“Oh?”
“George Blackburn has a woman’s handbag in his flat.”
“We can hardly arrest him for that, Barbara.”
She grinned. “It’s an exact match for the one Gemma was last seen with and he tried to hide it from me.”
“You went snooping?”
“Didn’t have too, the cat did all the work.” He grinned along with her.
“Well that should be enough for us to get a warrant for his bank statement.” He lifted the phone and began to dial.
“I’ll just get some lunch while you’re doing that.”
“Would you get me something while you’re out?”
“Of course, Sir.” She grinned on her way out.
The warrant came through not long after lunch, and the bank statement was not long following. They crowded round it and it was Lynley who noticed it first. “That payment there - no the one above it, yes, that one.”
Barbara found the payment. “Health food?”
“Doesn’t rhyme with the rest of his purchases.”
“He could just be turning over a new leaf.”
Lynley gave her a look. “Nah, I don’t really believe it either.”
She googled the vendor, and third link down found the website. She sighed. “You need to be registered to see the catalogue. Seems a bit iffy.”
“Can you create an email and register?”
“Yeah, give me ten minutes.”
Lynley nodded. “I’ll go make tea.”
He came back with two mugs just as she made it into the catalogue. He pulled a chair up and crowded her as she started to look through it. “They all seem to be health supplements.”
She scrunched her nose up in disgust. “Although who would want to take half of these?” She continued to scroll though. “How much d’he pay?”
“Fifty nine thirty.”
She narrowed the search by price. “Okay, I’m fairly sure these aren’t all health supplements.” She pointed one out in particular. “Pentobarbital?”
“That’s doesn’t sound good.”
Barbara typed some more. “It’s a prescription drug here. Used for seizures, short term hypnosis and as a sedative.”
“Also in euthanasia.”
“Is it enough to bring him in?”
Lynley paused for thought. “We should be able to question him about the purchase anyway. Go and bring him in, I’ll contact the company to see if they’ll release the receipt and phone Lafferty.”
Barbara nodded and grabbed her coat.
Luckily for Fiona, she caught George just as he was leaving his flat. She didn’t want the woman to know until they had definite answers. There was a flicker of surprise on his face when she arrested him but it quickly disappeared, replaced by a charming smile and protests. She felt her spirits drop as she realized this wasn’t going to be an easy interview.
She saw him settled with the custody Sergeant, and left to find Lynley while he got his phone call to his solicitor.
“Any luck?”
He shook his head. “Nothing yet, but they are based in Mexico apparently.”
She sat down opposite him and humphed.
“Come on, we’ve got a while before his solicitor turns up, let’s get a cup of tea.”
They returned to his office, looking over the file again as they drank. “Hold on, got an email back from the supplier.” He paused while he read. “It looks to be a standard email saying they are a health supplement supplier and don’t come under our jurisdiction.”
“Bugger.”
“Exactly.”
Barbara rubbed her face with her hands. “Just have to bluff it.”
“Will it work?”
“No idea. He’s a charmer.” She sank backwards into the chair. There was a knock at the door and at Lynley’s call, a young PC stuck his head in.
“Mr. Blackburn and his solicitor are ready. They’re in room 3.” Lynley nodded a thanks and the PC disappeared.
“Are you ready?” Lynley asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” She didn’t sound happy but walked to the interview room anyway. She paused and took a few deep breathes before she opened the door.
“Interview started,” Barbara glanced at her watch, “Sixteen fifty eight. DS Havers and DI Lynley interviewing George Blackburn on suspicion of murder.”
“Interviewed paused, seventeen twenty five.” Lynley interjected and Barbara tried to calm herself.
Lynley jerked his head towards the door and stood. She followed him into the corridor and stopped beside him.
“Barbara, you need to calm down.”
“I know, I just.” She shut her eyes and leaned against the wall. “He seemed right for it and now, now,” she trailed off. “He’s just so smarmy and has an answer for bloody everything.”
“You’re doubting yourself and getting frustrated.” He ran a calming hand down her arm. “Go for a walk. I’ll see if anyone can verify seeing him on Wednesday.” He waited patiently for her answer.
“Yeah, alright.” She pushed herself off the wall, forced a smile and walked off.
When she got back in, she could see Lynley was on the phone in his office so she sat down at her desk and reached for the file in order to reread it again. Instead she found a USB stick and she blinked confusedly. There was a post it note on the front with the words ‘Read me’ written on it. It was Lynley’s handwriting and thinking it was something to do with the case, she plugged it in.
She was wrong. What popped up was folder after folder of previous cases. Scrolling down the window, it looked like it was every case she’d ever worked with Lynley.
Confused, she stood and barged into his office, USB stick in hand. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again.
“It’s not too often I see you speechless.” He stood and came around his desk. He stopped in front of her and perched on the edge of his desk.
“I don’t understand,”
“Barbara, you’re doubting yourself. You need to see that you shouldn’t. All those cases are cases you solved.”
“But the Stevens case,”
He stood, took the quick step to stand close to her and placed a finger on her lips to cut her off. “We all make mistakes sometimes, Barbara, that’s why we’ve got partners.” She opened her mouth to argue but he kept his finger where it was and she stopped. They stood like that for a minute before he pulled away.
“You’re a brilliant police officer, Barbara, and your instincts are good. You just need to trust them again.” He sat down on his desk again. “There may be some similarities between the cases but you need to put that case out of your mind. We solved it. End of the story.”
She sank into one of his chairs and stared at her hands, quiet for a minute. “Yeah, I suppose.” She looked up at him and smiled, albeit somewhat weakly. “Thanks.”
He waited quiet for a minute before asking, “Are you ready to go back in?”
Barbara nodded. “Good. I checked his alibi, he did phone in sick but no one actually saw him that day.”
“So basically, everything’s circumstantial?”
Lynley sighed. “Yes.”
They stood and started to make their way back to the interview room. “We need to get Fiona involved.” Barbara seemed outwardly confident again.
“What do you want to do?”
“It might be circumstantial,“ she smiled, “but how would it look to Fiona?” Lynley grinned back at her and they stepped back into the interview room.
“Interview resuming at,” Barbara looked at her watch, “seventeen fifty nine.”
“Sergeant Havers, I really must protest on behalf of my client.”
“Mr. Jones,” Barbara cut him off, “We needed to check his alibi and of course, we fed your client.”
George spoke up. “A dry sandwich. How marvelous.”
“We do the best we can.” She resisted smirking. “The problem with your alibi is that you phoned in sick but no one saw you all day.”
“That’s because I was sick.”
Barbara changed track. “Mr. Blackburn, d’you have epilepsy?”
George looked confused. “No.”
“Problems sleeping?”
“No.”
“The need to be hypnotized?”
“No!”
“Well then what did you need pentobarbital for?”
“I, I don’t know what that is.” His smile slipped momentarily and Barbara’s confidence rose.
“It’s the drug you ordered, illegally I might add, online.” Lynley took over.
“How is this relevant to the charge my client is facing?” Mr. Jones spoke before George could.
“Because Gemma Ramsden was killed with a drug that had, what did the post mortem results say?” She turned to Lynley.
“Similar mode of action. Of course when the results come through…” Lynley trailed off.
“Have you proof I bought it?” George was back to being charming.
Barbara pulled out his bank statement. “Payment here.” She pointed to the highlighted charge.
“It just says Health supplement.” He sounded smug.
“Yes, but the company are being very helpful.”
Lynley took over again. “Does Fiona know you tried to contact her through the dating website?”
“I don’t think she did, but it didn’t matter anyway. We met purely by chance when I moved to London.”
Barbara picked up this time. “Why did you move to London? I mean, you took a paycut and a demotion in order to move.”
“I wanted a change.”
“Cut the crap,” Barbara leaned forward, “We know you were interested in Fiona, interested enough to move to London and creep out her girlfriend.”
“That’s enough,” Mr. Jones broke in as he stood up, “If you have nothing more than circumstantial evidence, then I demand you let my client go.”
“There is also the fact that your client has Miss Ramsden’s handbag in his possession.” Lynley’s tone was sharp.
Mr. Jones sat down and turned to George.
“Of course, all this circumstantial evidence would be enough to make Fiona suspicious.” She smiled at George. “How’d you think she would feel about her friend George then?”
George looked horrified but was saved from answering but a knock at the door.
“Interview paused, eighteen oh seven.” Lynley rose and talked briefly with whoever was at the door. He came back with a folder and a smile on his face.
“Did you know that the area where you dumped Gemma’s body is covered with CCTV cameras?”
George paled and Barbara tried not to smile as Lynley laid out the image enhancements on the table. “Doesn’t that look like Mr. Blackburn, Sergeant?”
“Certainly does, Sir.” George looked shell shocked and Barbara took great delight in looking him directly in the eye as she asked, “What will Fiona think of you now?”
George had to close his eyes and he no longer looked confident or smug. “Do you think she will forgive me?”
“You killed her girlfriend, lied to her, essentially stalked her and you want to know if she will forgive you?” Both Barbara and Lynley were incredulous.
George looked away and Mr. Jones jumped in. “I’d like a moment alone with my client.”
They reluctantly agreed and paused the interview again.
They stood outside in the corridor. They didn’t say anything but the mood was noticeably lighter than it was the last time they had stood there.
Another minute and the door opened again, Mr. Jones nodding to them. They resumed their places and the interview and Mr. Jones again jumped in before George could. “I must warn you my client is going ahead against my wishes.”
“Cooperating with us now with help him at trial. Besides if he confesses, he won’t have to put Fiona through a full trial.” Lynley directed this last bit at George and Barbara could see the small resistance he still had crumble.
“Alright. I killed Gemma.”
Barbara nodded. “We need to take a statement now. Start from the beginning.”
“I saw Fiona’s profile and I fell in love. She started dating Gemma but I knew if we became friends she would love me back. I took the job in London, found out where she lived and discovered the book group she went to. I introduced myself, and we became friends.” He paused for breath. “She was spending so much time with Gemma though, and then I saw a programme on the tv about grief and I thought that was the perfect answer. I did some research and thought if Gemma went missing then I would be the perfect person to comfort Fiona and there would be no one to come between us.”
“What happened next?”
“I ordered the pentobarbital online and covered my spare room in plastic. I followed Gemma from her work and when the street was empty, I hit her over the head with a brick. Then I managed to carry her back to my flat.”
“Did no one stop you?”
“Someone asked if she was okay but they backed off when I told him she had simply had too much to drink.”
“Why the pentobarbital?”
“I wanted to get some information out of her before I killed her. It’s used as a truth drug sometimes and I thought it would help me get to know Fiona even better.”
“Did it work?”
“She told me a lot of little things. She thought she was dreaming.”
“Then what happened?”
“When I was finished I gave her a bigger dose. She just, just stopped breathing.” He looked almost guilty for a moment. “Then I wrapped her in the plastic and got her into the car. I’d already picked the place out where I was going to put her in the river. She was supposed to sink and not be found, not catch on something and float.” His voice grew angry at these last few words. “Everything was going according to plan up until then.”
“Why did you keep Gemma’s handbag?”
“I was using her Blackberry to try and discover what she’d bought Fiona for Christmas and,”
“And?” Barbara prompted.
“It’s proof of how much I love Fiona.”
Barbara and Lynley exchanged a disbelieving look and it was Barbara who spoke next. “George Blackburn, I’m charging you with the murder of Gemma Ramsden.” She and Lynley stood. “Wait here until the paperwork organized.”
They left the room and she sagged against the wall again.
“”You did it.”
She turned her head to look at him. “I had help.”
Lynley shrugged. “You did most of the legwork.”
Barbara rolled her eyes and Lynley laughed softly.
“Come on, once we’ve got the paperwork sorted, we can notify Fiona. Then you can take me out for a drink to celebrate.”
“Should be the other way round if it was me that solved it.”
Lynley grinned and she couldn’t help but smile as well. “I’m sure I can stretch to that.”
The moment’s lightness quickly faded and she sighed. “Better get going. I’ll need that drink after we talk to Fiona.”
He nodded and followed her into the office.
Crossposted at dreamwidth.
Author: Lullabymoon
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Barbara Havers, Thomas Lynley
Word Count: 5597
Summary: When a young woman goes missing, it's up to Barbara to find her.
A/N: Written for
medie for Yuletide 2010. Thanks to fringedweller for the beta. Set after "Know Thine Enemy".
Gemma’s foot splashed down into a puddle and she swore softly. She stood on one foot, shaking the wet one to get rid of the excess water. She nearly overbalanced and didn’t notice the person behind her until the shadow cast by the streetlight loomed large and pain blossomed in the back of her head.
Barbara blearily looked down at the pile of reports on her desk and sighed. “Tea first, definitely.”
“Morning Barbs.”
Barbara smiled a reply to Winston who merely shook his head in amusement.
“Listen, I’ve got something that could be doing with getting looked into, but I’ve got a full plate. D’you mind putting aside the paperwork?”
She clicked the kettle on to boil. “Anything to avoid the paperwork.” She threw a teabag into her cup. “What is it?”
“Jogger found a phone lying in the street this morning and handed it into lost property.”
“Wow, I can see why you need to pass it on.”
“I should’ve waited until you’d had your tea, shouldn’t I?”
Barbara snorted and started rummaging around for a teaspoon. “Go on then,”
“Well it turned into a Missing Persons this morning.” Barbara just looked at him funny. “The Sergeant manning the desk heard it ringing and thought he might get rid of something. Instead, there are about twenty missed calls and it’s a frantic woman on the other end trying to catch hold of the owner.” The kettle clicked off and she let her tea stew. “Turns out she hasn’t been seen since she left work day before yesterday, missed a big dinner and left her cat alone in her flat with no extra food or water.”
Barbara blew on her now ready tea and frowned. “Kay. What else have you got?” Winston handed her a sheet of paper. “Someone was in bright and early.”
“Well, it helped that I wasn’t out to all hours of the night celebrating a birthday.”
“An Indian takeaway doesn’t count as out all hours.” Barbara grumbled.
Winston smiled. “Anyway. Gemma Ramsden, 24 and lives alone. She’s a fitness instructor for a local gym, parents live out in Oxford and it was the girlfriend, Fiona Kemp, who reported her missing.”
“Right, I’ll take it.”
“Thanks, Barb, you’re a life saver.”
Barbara rolled her eyes and walked back to her desk, trying not to spill any of her still too hot tea. She booted up her computer and started to read the information Winston had given her. The couple had been together six months, no problems, Gemma seemed happy.
She drained her tea and opened the lost property file on the phone. Jogger had handed it in this morning at 6.15am, had found it at approximately 5.40am and the phone screen was cracked through the middle. A bit odd, but she would look into it.
Lynley chose this moment to walk in the door and she looked up from her computer to see he had wisely gone for coffee before going near his desk. “Morning,” He nodded in greeting, barely looking up from his mug. She shrugged and left him to his own devices.
She jotted down the girlfriend’s address, checked the missing persons report to see if there was anything she had missed and what she needed to find out. Satisfied, she knocked on Lynley’s door and stuck her head in. “Just nipping out to check up on a Missing Persons case.”
“Anything I can do?” The coffee had obviously worked.
“Nah, alright just now.” Barbara grinned. “I’ll leave you to your paperwork,” and she left before he could reply.
Barbara rang the doorbell and shifted from foot to foot as she waited. The door opened to reveal a tall man, not at all who she was expecting. She held up her warrant card. “DS Havers, I’m looking for Fiona Kemp?”
He nodded. “Of course, she’s just through this way.” He jerked his head in the direction of a doorway. She stepped inside and as he shut the door, introduced himself. “I’m George, George Blackburn, I’m a friend of Fiona’s.”
Barbara nodded. “How is she?”
“A bit frantic, but I guess that’s to be expected.”
“It can be a difficult time.” The first thing Barbara noticed was the living room was full of pictures of the couple, the second was a cat sitting in the corner, sizing her up. She wearily avoided it as she moved over to the other occupant of the room. “Miss Kemp?” The woman looked up at her and nodded. “I’m DS Havers and I’m looking into Gemma’s case. I just need to ask you a few questions about her.”
Fiona nodded and gesticulated towards a chair. “Of course, sit down.”
George butted in, “I’ll just go and put the kettle on.”
Barbara smiled and pulled out her notebook. “So when was the last time you spoke to her?”
“Her break on Tuesday. She phoned to check we were still on for last night.”
“Last night?”
“We were going to have my parents over for dinner. She wanted to know what she needed to get at Tesco’s.”
“Was she nervous about that at all?”
Fiona shook her head. “We have them over about once a fortnight. We’d swap where we were having dinner. It was Gemma’s turn.” Fiona shut her eyes and bit her lip. “We were talking about getting a flat together, joked about how we’d still take it in turns to make dinner.”
Barbara gave her a minute to settle again, checking her notepad. “The report you filled in said she didn’t turn up for work yesterday?”
“I phoned Tom when I couldn’t get a hold of her.”
“Tom Castle?” Barbara glanced at her notes.
Fiona nodded. “He’s a work friend. He said she hadn’t turned up or phoned in sick, he couldn’t get hold of her either.”
George walked back in with three mugs of tea on a tray and handed them out. It gave Fiona time to brush away tears and Barbara let her take a sip before she started again.
Barbara sighed as she read the bank statement in front of her.
“Not going well then?” Lynley perched himself on the desk beside her and she swiveled to face him.
“Nope. Bank statement shows she made it to Tesco’s on Tuesday but nothing else has shown up on it yet. There’s nothing on her phone bill since her call to Fiona, which was Tuesday as well. I’ve managed to get CCTV footage of her up until she left the retail park. After that she just vanishes. I walked her route home, nothing left behind that could be identified as hers.”
“Was the phone found near by?”
“Next street over.”
Lynley looked deep in thought. “What about the girlfriend?”
“Seems pretty upset.” She sighed again and pushed her hair back off her face. “They were thinking about moving in together, which friends confirm.”
“No one with any grudges?”
Barbara shook her head. “The only thing remotely like that was a few disappointed people on the dating site where they met. “ Lynley frowned. “No, neither had any problems with anyone on the site, just they each had a couple of other possibilities when they met.”
“It sounds like you’ve covered everything you can.”
“Yeah.” She reached for the cup of tea beside her and groaned when she discovered it was empty.
“Barbara,” She looked up at Lynley, “You’ve done everything you can.” He looked out the window. “Time to head home.”
She harrumphed but slowly started to gather her things.
The phone woke her from her lazy Sunday lie in. “Havers,”
“Havers, we’ve got a case,”
She threw back the quilt. “Where bouts?”
“Beside the river in Battersea Park,”
“Alright, I’ll be there shortly.” She said goodbye and cut the call and began rummaging around for something to wear.
She could tell by the look on Lynley’s face that it was bad. She walked over and he turned to face her, pulling her away from the scene slightly. “The body was found by a couple this morning. It looks like it had snagged on a shopping trolley and floated to the surface. Barbara,” He paused, “It looks like it’s Gemma Ramsden.”
She turned away from him and headed back towards the scene. “Barbara!” She ignored him and knelt beside the body, pulled back the blanket and closed her eyes.
The body was bloated and decomposition had started, but it was definitely Gemma Ramsden.
“Barbara,” She felt Lynley’s hand on her shoulder and she took a deep breath before standing up. “Yeah, it’s her.” She heard his intake of breath and then his hand was on her arm again.
“I’ll get Oxford to notify her parents. Give me the girlfriend’s address and I’ll drive.”
“I don’t need to be,” He cut her off with a squeeze to her arm.
“I know. Come on.”
The car journey was spent in silence. She stared out the window and Lynley left her in peace until he had had enough. “You did everything you could to find her.”
“It doesn’t feel that way.”
Lynley sighed. “I know.”
Silence ruled again until they had parked and Barbara had rung the doorbell.
It was Fiona Kemp who answered the door this time and her body crumpled when she saw the two of them at her door. “Miss Kemp, I’m sorry but…”
She was on the phone trying to get CCTV footage when Lynley appeared beside her desk. He waited until she had finished, perching himself on her desk again and trying not to twitch.
“CCTV?”
“They’re sending over the footage from the scene for the last 6 days.”
Lynley nodded. “Alright. Lafferty’s prelim is in, so we should be able to narrow it down.”
“What’s it say?”
Lynley shook his head. “I need a cup of tea.” He stood and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen.
Grumping out loud, she waited until it was clear he wasn’t coming back before she followed him. She tried to look less grumpy when he handed her a cup of tea.
“Thanks.”
He stood beside her as they both took a sip. “They’ve not managed to get any prints of the plastic sheet she was wrapped in and the river looks to have washed away most of the evidence.”
“Great.”
Lynley frowned over his tea again before looking back at her, angling slightly to face her properly. “Lafferty thinks she died sometime on Wednesday.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” She turned, faced the worktop and slammed her mug down. Lynley placed his mug down and moved even closer to her.
“No, but you need to understand there was nothing you could have done at all. She was dead before we got the report.” Barbara bowed her head, not saying a word.
“Barbara?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, fingers slowly moving and stroking in reassurance. Her body relaxed and she brought her head up again.
“I’ll be fine. Lafferty say when the results’ll be in?”
“The post-mortem should be finished by tomorrow morning, the other results will be a bit longer.”
Barbara nodded. “I’ll go and interview her workmate again. See if he remembers anything else.”
“I’ll do a little more digging while I wait on the CCTV.”
Barbara snorted. “You’ll be a while. They go slow on Sundays.”
“I’ll just have to nag them then.” He was rewarded with a small smile and she went to gather her coat.
“I might have a something.”
Lynley looked up from the CCTV footage. “Excellent.”
She sat down beside him, bringing out her notebook. “Tom reconfirmed everything between the two of them was going swimmingly. He also remembered a conversation he had with Gemma last week about George Blackburn.”
“The girlfriend’s friend?” He looked interested.
She nodded. “She joked that she might have to watch out for him as competition, but was a bit more serious when she said he was spending that much time with them that she was going to have to talk to him.”
“Talk to him?”
“Tom’s exact words were ‘She said it was kind of creepy the way he was always hanging about and seemed to know too much about Fiona.”
Lynley raised an eyebrow. “Creepy enough for us to look into?”
“Could be. Tom also said she was planning on talking with him on Tuesday night.”
“It could be just a coincidence.”
“Yeah, but we’ve not got much else at the minute.”
Lynley thought for a moment. “You look into him, I’ll finish the CCTV.”
She nodded. “Try not to get square eyes,” She managed a slight smile and he rolled his eyes as he turned back to the monitor.
Barbara stood up and moved away from her computer, eyes squinting as she readjusted from spending too long looking at the monitor. Lynley chose that moment to come out of the office. “I’ve found something on the CCTV.”
“Brilliant.” She followed him through to find the playback was paused. On the edge of the screen there was what looked to be a man putting something in the water. “That’s not too far from where we found her is it?”
“No. Of course, we’ll need to get it enhanced to see if it is actually the body dump.” She winced slightly at those words and Lynley quickly moved on. “What did you find out about Blackburn?”
“He moved to London about three months ago from Manchester, family’s still there. One speeding ticket but that’s all in our database. From what Tom said, he started being friendly with Fiona bout a month ago. Also, I checked and he phoned in sick to work on Wednesday.” She glanced down at her notes. “One interesting thing, he’s on the same dating site Gemma and Fiona were. I’ve asked for all three of their files.”
“You think he checked them out beforehand?”
“S’possible. Anyway, they said they’d get back to me.”
“When was that?”
“Bout an hour ago.”
Lynley looked at the various piles on his desk and sighed. “I think that’s all we can manage for tonight.” He looked at his watch. “Come on, I’ll drop you off.”
The pile of paperwork was bigger on her desk the next morning. Barbara checked for anything important and then turned to her email. There was one from the dating site that perked her up but the feeling quickly faded. They wouldn’t release the information without a court order, but would it help to know that George Blackburn had been in Fiona Kemp’s queue before she found success with Gemma Ramsden?
“Queue?” Lynley had arrived and was now reading over her shoulder.
“People send a message to the person they’re interested in and until they get a reply the site call it being in the queue.”
He nodded but was distracted from replying by his phone ringing. He dashed off to his office, leaving Barbara to check the rest of her emails.
She knocked on his door when she saw he was off the phone and entered. “That was Lafferty.”
“Got the full results?”
He nodded. “She definitely died sometime on Wednesday, before she went in the water. There was no trace of violence apart from a bump on the back of her head and a few bruises starting to form. Looked like she was dragged a little bit.”
“What killed her?”
“We have to wait for the tox screen for that. He found needle marks between her toes though, very fresh.”
“Any ideas of what sort of drugs?”
“Not really, just that it stopped her heart as there were no other obvious signs of damage.”
Barbara sighed. “Anything back from the CCTV?”
“Of course not, you know what they’re like.” He didn’t look happy at it though.
“Well, I’ll go talk to George on his own, see if he’ll tell me anything.”
“I’ll come with you.” He started to rise.
She shook her head. “S’probably best if I go on my own, he’s met me before and might be more talkative.”
Lynley sat down again. “Alright, just, just be careful.”
Barbara smiled. “I will.”
This time when George Blackburn opened the door to her, he let her straight into his flat. “Is there anything I can help with, Sergeant Havers?”
“I just wanted to ask a few questions, get a better picture of things.”
“Of course. Do have a seat.” He pointed to the chair opposite him. “Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee?”
“No, thanks.” She got her notebook out and was distracted by a cat jumping out from the kitchen. She must have looked surprised for George spoke up.
“Gemma’s cat. I’m cat sitting for Fiona. She’s finding it quite hard to cope with him around.”
Barbara nodded. “Perfectly understandable. So how long have you known Fiona and Gemma?”
“About a month. I met Fiona at a book group and we just hit it off. Then she introduced me to Gemma and it was like a ready made circle of friends.” He smiled widely at her.
“Have you noticed anything strange happening to them? Anybody acting funny?”
He looked shocked at the suggestion. “No, everybody loves, loved them.”
“Alright, we’re just trying to get an idea of who would do this to Gemma.”
He nodded. “Yes, yes of course.” He looked at his watch.
“Am I keeping you?”
George smiled again. “I was just wanting to get back to Fiona. She’s not coping well.”
Barbara nodded and stood to leave. “Just one thing,” He looked at her, “How did you end up at the same book group if you live three miles away? Surely in London…” She trailed off and to her satisfaction, his smile slipped.
“It was recommended to me.” His tone was clipped and he tried to usher her out the door. At that moment, the cat, perhaps sensing the door was about to be opened, jumped up and knocked over a pile washing sitting at the end of the couch. A woman’s handbag slid out and Barbara thought it odd, even odder when George shouted at the cat and he stood in front of the pile. She acted as if it was nothing out of the ordinary and smiled at him as she left.
Back at her desk, Barbara opened the case file and found the initial Missing Persons report. There it was, under Description (Last Seen), the description of Gemma’s handbag.
A perfect match for the one in George Blackburn’s flat.
Lynley was on the phone when she knocked but he gestured for her to take a seat. He put the phone down after a minute. “That was Lafferty with the tox screen results.”
“Already?” She was shocked.
“Apparently he’s got a new gadget,”
“Nice to know someone’s budget isn’t getting cut.”
Lynley smiled and carried on. “None of the usual suspects turned up. He’s sent a sample away for further analysis. “
“Well, I’ve got something that will cheer you up.”
“Oh?”
“George Blackburn has a woman’s handbag in his flat.”
“We can hardly arrest him for that, Barbara.”
She grinned. “It’s an exact match for the one Gemma was last seen with and he tried to hide it from me.”
“You went snooping?”
“Didn’t have too, the cat did all the work.” He grinned along with her.
“Well that should be enough for us to get a warrant for his bank statement.” He lifted the phone and began to dial.
“I’ll just get some lunch while you’re doing that.”
“Would you get me something while you’re out?”
“Of course, Sir.” She grinned on her way out.
The warrant came through not long after lunch, and the bank statement was not long following. They crowded round it and it was Lynley who noticed it first. “That payment there - no the one above it, yes, that one.”
Barbara found the payment. “Health food?”
“Doesn’t rhyme with the rest of his purchases.”
“He could just be turning over a new leaf.”
Lynley gave her a look. “Nah, I don’t really believe it either.”
She googled the vendor, and third link down found the website. She sighed. “You need to be registered to see the catalogue. Seems a bit iffy.”
“Can you create an email and register?”
“Yeah, give me ten minutes.”
Lynley nodded. “I’ll go make tea.”
He came back with two mugs just as she made it into the catalogue. He pulled a chair up and crowded her as she started to look through it. “They all seem to be health supplements.”
She scrunched her nose up in disgust. “Although who would want to take half of these?” She continued to scroll though. “How much d’he pay?”
“Fifty nine thirty.”
She narrowed the search by price. “Okay, I’m fairly sure these aren’t all health supplements.” She pointed one out in particular. “Pentobarbital?”
“That’s doesn’t sound good.”
Barbara typed some more. “It’s a prescription drug here. Used for seizures, short term hypnosis and as a sedative.”
“Also in euthanasia.”
“Is it enough to bring him in?”
Lynley paused for thought. “We should be able to question him about the purchase anyway. Go and bring him in, I’ll contact the company to see if they’ll release the receipt and phone Lafferty.”
Barbara nodded and grabbed her coat.
Luckily for Fiona, she caught George just as he was leaving his flat. She didn’t want the woman to know until they had definite answers. There was a flicker of surprise on his face when she arrested him but it quickly disappeared, replaced by a charming smile and protests. She felt her spirits drop as she realized this wasn’t going to be an easy interview.
She saw him settled with the custody Sergeant, and left to find Lynley while he got his phone call to his solicitor.
“Any luck?”
He shook his head. “Nothing yet, but they are based in Mexico apparently.”
She sat down opposite him and humphed.
“Come on, we’ve got a while before his solicitor turns up, let’s get a cup of tea.”
They returned to his office, looking over the file again as they drank. “Hold on, got an email back from the supplier.” He paused while he read. “It looks to be a standard email saying they are a health supplement supplier and don’t come under our jurisdiction.”
“Bugger.”
“Exactly.”
Barbara rubbed her face with her hands. “Just have to bluff it.”
“Will it work?”
“No idea. He’s a charmer.” She sank backwards into the chair. There was a knock at the door and at Lynley’s call, a young PC stuck his head in.
“Mr. Blackburn and his solicitor are ready. They’re in room 3.” Lynley nodded a thanks and the PC disappeared.
“Are you ready?” Lynley asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” She didn’t sound happy but walked to the interview room anyway. She paused and took a few deep breathes before she opened the door.
“Interview started,” Barbara glanced at her watch, “Sixteen fifty eight. DS Havers and DI Lynley interviewing George Blackburn on suspicion of murder.”
“Interviewed paused, seventeen twenty five.” Lynley interjected and Barbara tried to calm herself.
Lynley jerked his head towards the door and stood. She followed him into the corridor and stopped beside him.
“Barbara, you need to calm down.”
“I know, I just.” She shut her eyes and leaned against the wall. “He seemed right for it and now, now,” she trailed off. “He’s just so smarmy and has an answer for bloody everything.”
“You’re doubting yourself and getting frustrated.” He ran a calming hand down her arm. “Go for a walk. I’ll see if anyone can verify seeing him on Wednesday.” He waited patiently for her answer.
“Yeah, alright.” She pushed herself off the wall, forced a smile and walked off.
When she got back in, she could see Lynley was on the phone in his office so she sat down at her desk and reached for the file in order to reread it again. Instead she found a USB stick and she blinked confusedly. There was a post it note on the front with the words ‘Read me’ written on it. It was Lynley’s handwriting and thinking it was something to do with the case, she plugged it in.
She was wrong. What popped up was folder after folder of previous cases. Scrolling down the window, it looked like it was every case she’d ever worked with Lynley.
Confused, she stood and barged into his office, USB stick in hand. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again.
“It’s not too often I see you speechless.” He stood and came around his desk. He stopped in front of her and perched on the edge of his desk.
“I don’t understand,”
“Barbara, you’re doubting yourself. You need to see that you shouldn’t. All those cases are cases you solved.”
“But the Stevens case,”
He stood, took the quick step to stand close to her and placed a finger on her lips to cut her off. “We all make mistakes sometimes, Barbara, that’s why we’ve got partners.” She opened her mouth to argue but he kept his finger where it was and she stopped. They stood like that for a minute before he pulled away.
“You’re a brilliant police officer, Barbara, and your instincts are good. You just need to trust them again.” He sat down on his desk again. “There may be some similarities between the cases but you need to put that case out of your mind. We solved it. End of the story.”
She sank into one of his chairs and stared at her hands, quiet for a minute. “Yeah, I suppose.” She looked up at him and smiled, albeit somewhat weakly. “Thanks.”
He waited quiet for a minute before asking, “Are you ready to go back in?”
Barbara nodded. “Good. I checked his alibi, he did phone in sick but no one actually saw him that day.”
“So basically, everything’s circumstantial?”
Lynley sighed. “Yes.”
They stood and started to make their way back to the interview room. “We need to get Fiona involved.” Barbara seemed outwardly confident again.
“What do you want to do?”
“It might be circumstantial,“ she smiled, “but how would it look to Fiona?” Lynley grinned back at her and they stepped back into the interview room.
“Interview resuming at,” Barbara looked at her watch, “seventeen fifty nine.”
“Sergeant Havers, I really must protest on behalf of my client.”
“Mr. Jones,” Barbara cut him off, “We needed to check his alibi and of course, we fed your client.”
George spoke up. “A dry sandwich. How marvelous.”
“We do the best we can.” She resisted smirking. “The problem with your alibi is that you phoned in sick but no one saw you all day.”
“That’s because I was sick.”
Barbara changed track. “Mr. Blackburn, d’you have epilepsy?”
George looked confused. “No.”
“Problems sleeping?”
“No.”
“The need to be hypnotized?”
“No!”
“Well then what did you need pentobarbital for?”
“I, I don’t know what that is.” His smile slipped momentarily and Barbara’s confidence rose.
“It’s the drug you ordered, illegally I might add, online.” Lynley took over.
“How is this relevant to the charge my client is facing?” Mr. Jones spoke before George could.
“Because Gemma Ramsden was killed with a drug that had, what did the post mortem results say?” She turned to Lynley.
“Similar mode of action. Of course when the results come through…” Lynley trailed off.
“Have you proof I bought it?” George was back to being charming.
Barbara pulled out his bank statement. “Payment here.” She pointed to the highlighted charge.
“It just says Health supplement.” He sounded smug.
“Yes, but the company are being very helpful.”
Lynley took over again. “Does Fiona know you tried to contact her through the dating website?”
“I don’t think she did, but it didn’t matter anyway. We met purely by chance when I moved to London.”
Barbara picked up this time. “Why did you move to London? I mean, you took a paycut and a demotion in order to move.”
“I wanted a change.”
“Cut the crap,” Barbara leaned forward, “We know you were interested in Fiona, interested enough to move to London and creep out her girlfriend.”
“That’s enough,” Mr. Jones broke in as he stood up, “If you have nothing more than circumstantial evidence, then I demand you let my client go.”
“There is also the fact that your client has Miss Ramsden’s handbag in his possession.” Lynley’s tone was sharp.
Mr. Jones sat down and turned to George.
“Of course, all this circumstantial evidence would be enough to make Fiona suspicious.” She smiled at George. “How’d you think she would feel about her friend George then?”
George looked horrified but was saved from answering but a knock at the door.
“Interview paused, eighteen oh seven.” Lynley rose and talked briefly with whoever was at the door. He came back with a folder and a smile on his face.
“Did you know that the area where you dumped Gemma’s body is covered with CCTV cameras?”
George paled and Barbara tried not to smile as Lynley laid out the image enhancements on the table. “Doesn’t that look like Mr. Blackburn, Sergeant?”
“Certainly does, Sir.” George looked shell shocked and Barbara took great delight in looking him directly in the eye as she asked, “What will Fiona think of you now?”
George had to close his eyes and he no longer looked confident or smug. “Do you think she will forgive me?”
“You killed her girlfriend, lied to her, essentially stalked her and you want to know if she will forgive you?” Both Barbara and Lynley were incredulous.
George looked away and Mr. Jones jumped in. “I’d like a moment alone with my client.”
They reluctantly agreed and paused the interview again.
They stood outside in the corridor. They didn’t say anything but the mood was noticeably lighter than it was the last time they had stood there.
Another minute and the door opened again, Mr. Jones nodding to them. They resumed their places and the interview and Mr. Jones again jumped in before George could. “I must warn you my client is going ahead against my wishes.”
“Cooperating with us now with help him at trial. Besides if he confesses, he won’t have to put Fiona through a full trial.” Lynley directed this last bit at George and Barbara could see the small resistance he still had crumble.
“Alright. I killed Gemma.”
Barbara nodded. “We need to take a statement now. Start from the beginning.”
“I saw Fiona’s profile and I fell in love. She started dating Gemma but I knew if we became friends she would love me back. I took the job in London, found out where she lived and discovered the book group she went to. I introduced myself, and we became friends.” He paused for breath. “She was spending so much time with Gemma though, and then I saw a programme on the tv about grief and I thought that was the perfect answer. I did some research and thought if Gemma went missing then I would be the perfect person to comfort Fiona and there would be no one to come between us.”
“What happened next?”
“I ordered the pentobarbital online and covered my spare room in plastic. I followed Gemma from her work and when the street was empty, I hit her over the head with a brick. Then I managed to carry her back to my flat.”
“Did no one stop you?”
“Someone asked if she was okay but they backed off when I told him she had simply had too much to drink.”
“Why the pentobarbital?”
“I wanted to get some information out of her before I killed her. It’s used as a truth drug sometimes and I thought it would help me get to know Fiona even better.”
“Did it work?”
“She told me a lot of little things. She thought she was dreaming.”
“Then what happened?”
“When I was finished I gave her a bigger dose. She just, just stopped breathing.” He looked almost guilty for a moment. “Then I wrapped her in the plastic and got her into the car. I’d already picked the place out where I was going to put her in the river. She was supposed to sink and not be found, not catch on something and float.” His voice grew angry at these last few words. “Everything was going according to plan up until then.”
“Why did you keep Gemma’s handbag?”
“I was using her Blackberry to try and discover what she’d bought Fiona for Christmas and,”
“And?” Barbara prompted.
“It’s proof of how much I love Fiona.”
Barbara and Lynley exchanged a disbelieving look and it was Barbara who spoke next. “George Blackburn, I’m charging you with the murder of Gemma Ramsden.” She and Lynley stood. “Wait here until the paperwork organized.”
They left the room and she sagged against the wall again.
“”You did it.”
She turned her head to look at him. “I had help.”
Lynley shrugged. “You did most of the legwork.”
Barbara rolled her eyes and Lynley laughed softly.
“Come on, once we’ve got the paperwork sorted, we can notify Fiona. Then you can take me out for a drink to celebrate.”
“Should be the other way round if it was me that solved it.”
Lynley grinned and she couldn’t help but smile as well. “I’m sure I can stretch to that.”
The moment’s lightness quickly faded and she sighed. “Better get going. I’ll need that drink after we talk to Fiona.”
He nodded and followed her into the office.
Crossposted at dreamwidth.