The Ardmore Inheritance, Rob Wyllie [best novels for students TXT] 📗

right sir,' she said, smiling. 'The way they're arranged, it's like a brick wall. I could stay hidden behind them for days if I wanted to. But I was surprised to see them back so quickly sir, after what you had said might happen to them.'

'Right, well I decided a wee bit of proactivity was required, if there's such a word. So I got my gaffer DCI Jill Smart to make a wee phone call to a woman called Marion Black. She goes under the impressive title of Police Investigations and Review Commissioner for Scotland, or so I'm told.'

'I can't say I've heard of her,' Lexy said. 'Should I have?'

'No don't worry, not many people have. But her job is to keep the cops on the straight and narrow and get them banged up if they stray from the path of righteousness. Chief Constables hate them as a breed, and our Ms. Black in particular seems to be a right wee terrier. Keen to make a name for herself is what I've heard.'

'I see sir,' she said, although she wasn't sure that she did.

'You see the thing was, she didn't even know about these question-marks surrounding the Ardmore murders,' Frank said. 'The police are supposed to inform the commissioner about anything as significant as this, but somehow it seemed to have slipped their mind.'

'I wonder why,' Lexy said.

'Aye, exactly,' Frank said. 'But anyway, I'm sure she had a wee word in the right ears and we've got them back now. So I just want to make sure you're clear what the job is.'

'Yes sir. At least I think I am sir. I've to check the files and see if anything's gone missing since the last time I looked. That's it, isn't it?'

'That's it. Sounds simple, but believe me I'm not underestimating how hard this'll be, especially since the Tulliallan crew only had them back for two days. They would have pulled a lot of stuff I'll bet, just to be on the safe side. So it's going to be hard to see the wood from the trees I'm afraid. In fact, I wouldn't put it past them to have pulled some irrelevant stuff to deliberately make our job more difficult.'

'No I understand sir,' she said, absent-mindedly opening the cover of the uppermost file. 'I'll do my best sir.'

'I know you will. But the thing is, you've only got today to do it. It's really important that they still think I want this to be a tick-in-the-box exercise as much as they do. So as soon as we're done, I'm going to call your Sergeant Muir and tell him that we're just giving it one day and then we're closing it down. So good luck, and give me a call if you think you've found something. But be discreet, ok?'

◆◆◆

The question was, where to start? The box files were conveniently numbered one to fourteen, so that would probably be as good as any method to go at them. Glancing at the descriptions written on the spines, it looked like the first few covered the evidence that had formed the basis of the case against Lieutenant McKay, probably the stuff Pollock and his team had assembled for the Procurator Fiscal's office, the stuff that persuaded them there was a solid case against the accused. Means, motive and opportunity. She'd covered all of that during her basic training, where she'd learnt it was just as important to establish all three in real-life investigations as it was in crime fiction. In fact, she remembered there was a brief two-page summary in the file that laid out how McKay ticked every one of these boxes. The means and opportunity bits were complete no-brainers as far as the case was concerned. With regard to means, he'd stabbed his wife and slashed the throat of his wee girl with one of his own kitchen knives, and as for opportunity, he'd just walked up the road from the base and in through his own front door. It was all so neat and tidy, except for one thing, and she had to keep reminding herself of the fact. He hadn't done it.

Sifting through box one, she found the document still in place. She glanced down it to the section that covered motive.

1. According to the base commander, the accused has a history of mental health problems and had sought help for these in recent months. A circle had been drawn around 'base commander' and a few words scrawled underneath. Commodore Macallan RN to testify.

2. The accused had been having marital problems as witnessed by the email exchanges whilst at sea, to be submitted in evidence. Accused has denied sending or receiving correspondence. Communications Officer Daniel Clarkson RN to testify.

This last guy was presumably being called to the stand to refute the frankly crazy suggestion that somehow the email exchange between McKay and his wife was fake. The more Lexy thought about it, the more she became convinced that this more than any other factor would have sealed his conviction. She tried to put herself inside the head of a man who knew that he was innocent, but who also knew that the case against him was overwhelming. A man who had been caught red-handed at the scene, holding the blood-soaked murder weapon. Simply saying it wasn't me just wasn't going to cut it when all of that was against you. So obviously he'd decided on a different tack. Challenging the motive.

I loved my wife and daughter more than anything in the world, why would I want to kill them?, that's what he would have said. Yes, but what about these emails? the police would have said in response. I didn't send them. I've never seen them before in my life.

As a defence it was dumb beyond belief, and Lexy had no doubt that the navy's expert witness, this Daniel Clarkson guy whoever he was, would have had no trouble in demolishing his frankly ridiculous assertion. Poor McKay, and with