He pulled the Merc into the car park at Glenrothes HQ at 9.50, in plenty of time for their ten o’clock appointment.
Chief Super Whyte welcomed Gilchrist like a long-lost friend. A tall man with white hair cut as short as bristle, Whyte looked all of his fifty-plus years. Folds of flesh as loose as chicken wattles were tucked into the neck of his shirt, evidence of the five stone he had lost over the past two years.
Once introduced to Jessie, Whyte said, ‘DI Logan has been warned but, as she pointed out, she is involved in an investigation of her own.’
Gilchrist gave a smile of reassurance. ‘The past is the past.’
Whyte raised his eyebrows, then said, ‘Right. This way.’
Gilchrist and Jessie followed Whyte into an office that overlooked the car park. Two detectives were seated at a centre table – Logan and a man Gilchrist did not recognise.
Whyte announced Gilchrist and Jessie by their titles, then introduced his team as ‘DI Carol Logan and DI Mac Smith, assisting in the investigation of Mr Thomas Magner.’
Gilchrist reached forward, shook Logan’s meaty hand, then Smith’s. Jessie did likewise. Then they all took their seats.
‘Right,’ Whyte said to Gilchrist. ‘You asked for this meeting.’
Gilchrist placed both hands flat on the table, then eyed Whyte, Smith and Logan, one by one, his gaze lingering on Logan a tad longer than the others. But if he was searching for any sign of discomfort or forgiveness, they were nowhere to be seen.
‘Yesterday,’ Gilchrist began, ‘as you are no doubt aware, we found the bodies of the McCulloch family. The father, Brian, was the business partner of Thomas Magner. We know that the mother, Amy, and her daughters, Eilish and Siobhan, were murdered. But the jury is still out on Brian. His death may or may not have been suicide.’
Gilchrist went on to explain the history and business relationship between Magner and McCulloch, the fact that Stratheden had an unusually high number of contentious billings, and his assumption that the company was in financial difficulty. He talked of the deepening rift between the two directors, the fallout with staff and the threat of dismissal, but chose not to mention Magner’s alleged sexual relationship with Amy McCulloch’s sister, Janice. In conclusion, he gave details of their interview with Magner, and of his seemingly watertight alibi.
‘Got a transcript?’ Logan asked.
Gilchrist knew that Logan did not want or need the transcript, only for Gilchrist to spin his wheels. ‘I do.’
‘Let’s have it.’
‘It’ll be uploaded on to the Command and Control STORM system soon.’
‘When?’
‘This afternoon.’
‘What’s wrong with this morning?’
‘Nothing’s wrong with this morning. But it’ll be available this afternoon.’ He waited until Logan slumped back into her chair, then held Chief Super Whyte’s enquiring gaze. ‘The reason why we’re here is to ask if, in the course of your investigation, you’ve come across anything that could conceivably be a motive for Magner to murder Amy and her-’
‘Sounds like you’re looking for straws to clutch,’ Logan said.
‘Exploring all avenues is how I’d prefer to put it.’
‘All avenues? What are you now? Traffic Division?’
‘From the look of things,’ Jessie cut in, ‘we wouldn’t catch you speeding.’
‘That cuts both ways, Slim.’
Whyte raised a hand like a referee.
Logan sat back, tried a smile, but the fire in her eyes gave away her true feelings.
Whyte said, ‘The short answer to your question, Andy, is: no, we haven’t.’ He eyed Smith, who shook his head. Then he gave Logan a warning glance. ‘You’re welcome to have a look through our files, of course, but we’re still building our case and I’d ask you not to use anything relating to it without checking with me first. Does that work for you?’
In front of Logan and Smith, Whyte was playing it by the book. But if Gilchrist came across anything critical to his investigation, he knew that Whyte would assist him in any way he could.
‘That works perfectly.’
DI Smith cleared his throat. ‘Do you mind if I ask a few questions, sir?’
Gilchrist was aware that Smith was putting the request to Chief Super Whyte, not himself, so he waited for Whyte’s nod of approval before answering, ‘Sure.’
‘Do you have anything concrete that leads you to suspect Magner?’ Smith asked.
‘No. But until we identify a prime suspect, we’re suspicious of everyone.’
‘From what you’ve said so far, it seems highly unlikely that Magner would have had the means to commit the crime, in terms of time and place, sir.’
Gilchrist found it hard to disagree. Jessie’s journey to Stirling yesterday afternoon to check the Highland Hotel’s CCTV records had confirmed Magner’s story. He had arrived at the conference a few minutes after seven and taken an aisle seat – verified by Gilchrist during a short five minute review of the tapes, with Magner powering down his mobile before entering the conference hall. The room number also checked out with Magner’s car registration, and his account had been settled with an RBS debit card in his name. The bank confirmed that the number and account did indeed belong to Magner.
‘We’re not ruling out that Magner could have hired someone to carry out the killings for him.’
‘Get real.’ Logan again. ‘Brian McCulloch did in his family, then topped himself. Plain and simple. It’s an open and shut case. You’re barking up the wrong tree again. It’s not Magner’s style. He’s innocent… at least of murdering his business partner’s family.’
Gilchrist could sense Jessie stiffening next to him, so he lifted a hand off the table, just a touch, to signal that she should keep quiet. It pleased him that they had kept the brutal details of the murder out of the public domain, and from those in the constabulary not directly involved in the investigation. The tidiness of McCulloch’s clothes, and the absence of blood on his body and in his car, strongly suggested that he was not the murderer. But few people were privy to those facts.
‘You’re probably correct,’ Gilchrist conceded, ‘but we’d still like to review your files. Just to be thorough.’
‘What’re you up to?’ asked Logan.
‘I thought we’d explained that,’ Gilchrist said, and rose to his feet. He was through trying to reason with her.
Logan jerked to her feet. ‘I don’t like it, Billy,’ she said. ‘He’s fishing. I know him. I wouldn’t put it past him to slip something into our files to make us look like pricks and-’
Whyte raised a hand to silence Logan, then he eyed Gilchrist. ‘Are you fishing?’
‘Only trying to find a possible motive.’
Whyte turned to Smith. ‘Show DCI Gilchrist and DS Janes our files.’
‘I’m telling you, Billy, I’ve seen this guy at work. He’s up to-’
‘I hear you, DI Logan.’ Whyte’s sudden formality sent a message to Logan, who pursed her lips as if to stifle a curse. ‘But I’ve made my decision.’ He walked round the table and held out his hand. ‘If you need anything else, Andy, let me know.’ Then he faced Jessie. ‘DS Janes. A pleasure,’ he said, and shook her hand. Then, ignoring Logan, he said to Smith, ‘They’re all yours, Mac.’
Smith looked embarrassed as Logan walked from the room without a word.
‘And then there were four,’ Jessie said.
‘Quite,’ Whyte said. ‘The less said the better.’
From what Gilchrist and Jessie could ascertain, Chief Super Whyte and his team had left no stone unturned in their investigation of Magner. They’d even gone all the way back to his primary school records at St Cyrus – about fifty miles north of St Andrews – where he was brought up as a single child to churchgoing, disciplinarian parents. He completed his secondary education in Mearns Academy in Laurencekirk, leaving at the age of sixteen with just two Highers – an A in Art and a C in English.