A Measure of Trouble (Alex Warren Murder Mysteries Book 2) Page 5

  “I think it was George, actually.”

  “Okay, there's nothing more we can do about it just now. We need to concentrate on today's investigation. Time's slipping by and we need to make progress. As we all know, the first few hours are always the most important, so I'm particularly pleased Sandra is now available. I've a number of things to clear back at the office, not least this Abdallah situation, so I'll need to be off early. Let's compare notes, see where we're up to and make a plan of action.”

  The next few minutes were spent bringing each other up to date on developments and information gleaned from the investigation and interviews so far.

  Sanjay volunteered to brief Anne Dixon's team about the tunnel and to organise a search for Hector's car. It was decided that Sandra and Phil would go to find and interview Daniel, the victim's father-in-law, and Alex thought it time to speak to Quentin. He said he wanted ten minutes to get some fresh air and go through a few matters with Sandra, and meanwhile, Mary was instructed to wait until his return and then to fetch Quentin.

  Alex and Sandra walked out through the security gate and followed a footpath which skirted the edge of a mixed woodland, just outside the perimeter fence of the distillery.

  They took the opportunity to examine the integrity of the security arrangements as they went.

  The day was bright with wisps of cloud interrupting an otherwise blue sky. The air was fresh and the ground still wet from the previous night's downpour. The branches on many of the trees were bare but there was a greenness from the sprinkling of conifers and a distinct clawing aroma of pine in the air.

  Broken twigs and leaves from the previous autumn still carpeted the path, and their shoes scuffed over the top. The ground was sodden and the mulch squelched underfoot as they walked, with the occasional snapping sound when they trod on dried out twigs. Where the path was broad enough to permit it, they walked side by side, but as the path narrowed their hands made contact and without thinking their fingers entwined. They stopped in a small clearing and turned to look at each other.

  “So, tell me about the flat,” Alex enquired.

  “It was the first one I went to view and it was just perfect. It's a first floor on Thornwood Avenue in Partick. It's newly decorated, magnolia and white, as you'd expect from a rental flat, but it's fresh and clean. It's in a red sandstone building and has double glazing and central heating with a combi boiler so it should be cheap to run. There's a full-sized kitchen with loads of storage, a cooker, fridge-freezer, washing machine, microwave and even a small dishwasher. There's a lounge and a double bedroom and the bathroom has a bath and an over-bath power-shower. Oh, and it has a security entry phone and there's on-street parking.”

  “It sounds just what you were looking for. It ticks all the boxes.”

  “The owner bought it to live in herself, but she was made redundant from her job and had to take a lower paying one. She couldn't afford to live in it and has moved back home with her parents. So she needs to rent it out.”

  “It's a shame for her but good news for you.”

  “It gets better. When the agent heard I was a police detective, he was really pleased. He admitted they've had a problem letting the flat because there's a tenant on the second floor who's been causing bother. There have been a number of moans about him but they've not been able to do much because nobody would make their complaint formal. He's been causing a noise nuisance and he's let his dog foul the back court, the pavement and even in the close. All the neighbours are up in arms about it, but they've been a bit scared of him and none of them would go official.

  “Obviously, I'd have no problem dealing with it and I'm bound to have the other neighbours backing when I do. So we'll make sure he either cleans up his act or we'll get him out with an ASBO. The agents' offered me a short assured tenancy for twelve months at a third less than the normal rent and with no deposit. It suits him and the owner as it will get the flat rented right away and it's bound to solve their neighbour problem.”

  “That sounds terrific but are you sure you want to be dealing with these problems when you're off duty?”

  “No, but you can deal with it for me,” Sandra added with a laugh. “No, seriously, the guy's not a problem. I checked his record and he's just a petty thug and a bully. I'm sure I can scare the shit out of him. He'll be a lot more scared of me than I ever will be of him. As I said before, I get the keys tomorrow and can move in right away. You can be sure I won't be wasting any time getting to know the neighbours. Oh, and one other thing, if it all works out, then I will be given first option if I want to buy it.”

  “It sounds absolutely perfect.”

  They turned and walked back, hand in hand, until the path became more visible, then they adopted a more professional demeanour as they moved back towards the offices.

  Chapter 6

  Alex was already seated at the table when Mary returned followed by Quentin. He strode into the room, and whether it was to try to assert himself or purely from force of habit, he took the seat behind his desk.

  Alex showed no reaction and didn't even look across. Instead, he called over, “If you'd like to join us at the table, please. We have all the equipment set up to work from here.”

  Quentin was nonplussed. Here he was, a director and part-owner of the business, in his own office and being instructed what to do by an outsider. He didn't know how much authority the police had under the circumstances and he was torn between complying with the request or making a stand and risking having to make a humiliating climb-down. At least none of his staff were close-by to hear or see what was going on.

  “Of course, of course, just a moment,” Quentin relented. He lifted and shuffled some papers on his desk, then placed a couple of items into a drawer. It was done as a face saver, to indicate he'd sat at the desk for a purpose. He then stood, walked across to the table and sat down facing Alex but was unable to meet his gaze.

  “Good afternoon, Mr Burns. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long, but I'm sure you must understand these are exceptional circumstances. We need to speak to potential witnesses first and, of course, also the widow, your sister.”

  Although the apology was half-hearted, Quentin took it with good grace and acknowledged with a nod.

  “You've seen Georgina? How was she?” he enquired, trying to sound sincere and showing concern for his sibling.

  “Probably what you'd expect, shocked by the news but holding up fairly well.” Alex lied but was curious to see Quentin's reaction; however, he showed none.

  “Now how can I help you, Officers?”

  “If I can start with the formalities and then by asking where you were last night and up until we met you this morning.”

  Quentin provided his personal details and confirmed he was at home the previous evening with his wife and children. As was his habit, he departed from his house at seven-fifty this morning, arriving just after eight o'clock, then was alerted by Sandy to what had been discovered.

  “Will we be able to corroborate what you've told us?”

  “Yes, I'm sure Fiona, my wife can confirm what I've said. I was working in the office on a new promotion for a `Whisky Live' event in London. I didn't leave until about seven and then went straight home. Security will have a note of when I left. The boys were out and I dined with Fiona at about eight. We watched some television and then went to bed. I was up at seven and, as I said, drove in around eight. I brought Sam in with me.”

  “You said the boys were out. What time did they get home?”

  “They were both out with friends. Frank was home at about eleven; I saw him come in. Sam was later, after I went to bed. I think it was about half past one. I heard the door close.”

  “A bit late wasn't it when he was to be up early for work the next day.”

  “Not a bit of it. He's a young man and full of energy. He regularly stays up late and is still up, full of beans, the next day. It doesn't affect his performance. Frank's just the same.”

  Alex c
onsidered how Sandy had described Sam's ability. Maybe it was just sour grapes, resenting the privileged classes, but maybe he was right and Sam's performance could hardly have deteriorated.

  “Do you know where the boys were?”

  “Yes, Frank had gone to the cinema and Sam was round at his friend's house, a lad by the name of Billy Farquarson. He lives quite close-by. I believe they were playing cards.”

  “Okay, we can check on all of that. I'd like you to tell us a bit more about Hector. I take it you first met him through your sister?”

  “No, that's not right, quite the reverse actually.”

  “What? You mean you introduced them?”

  “Not exactly. I first came across Hector back when I was at University. We met at the student union. I was at Strathclyde doing a BA at the Business School. Hector was at the Caly, Caledonian University, but it was a while back before it had university status. Glasgow Polytechnic it was then. He was doing an HNC or an HND or something like that. I don't think he ever completed it.

  “We met in the bar and at gigs on a few occasions. I wouldn't say we were close friends but we got on okay.

  “After that I didn't see him for a number of years. Again it was in a bar, strangely enough. I was hosting a dinner at Minsky's restaurant at the Hilton. I was there early, in the Connich bar with some business contacts and Hector was there too; he was waiting to meet up with someone. We got talking and he told me he had a company which made specialist packaging and he had a product line for the whisky trade. I told him he should come and talk to us and I took his number and set up a meeting for him to see me along with Callum McPherson. Callum has responsibility for buying and I look after the marketing so it made sense to see us at the same time.

  “Anyway, he seemed to have some good ideas and we gave him a trial order and it worked well so we kept him on. As it turned out, his products and ideas were really good but his organisational skills were a mess and he kept letting us down.

  “I didn't realise at the time that he'd met Georgina in the office and they'd started dating. If only I'd known, I'd have warned her off, but the first I knew was when I heard she was pregnant.”

  “How do you mean `warned her off'?”

  “Hector was okay as one of the lads but he didn't have any respect for women. He treated them like crap. He was fun to be with and he was fortunate enough to be quite good looking and had the gift of the gab. He never seemed short of a bob or two either so he had no problem picking up the girls or finding a new one when he'd let the last one down.

  “The chances are Georgina wouldn't have listened to me anyhow, but I didn't get the chance. She was smitten by his charm and the result was she got pregnant. She trusted him. She was young, wasn't on the pill and she was inexperienced. Hector had claimed to use protection but I'm not so sure. I think he might have baited her. Well, when she found out she was expecting, he claimed to be delighted and he offered to marry her and that was that.”

  “I gather your father wasn't too happy.”

  “That's a bit of an understatement. He was furious. At one stage, I thought he was going to disown Georgina, but gradually he came round. I don't think he ever liked Hector but he brought him into the business after Hector's company went bust. He paid off his creditors, I think it cost him about thirty grand to do it, and he let Hector take over running the office, which had been Georgina's job. I say running the office but he didn't have much idea. Fortunately, we had Patrick Gillespie to keep things right.”

  “I gather that Georgina and Hector had a serious falling out some years ago.”

  “Ah, you know about that then?”

  “We'd like to hear what you can tell us about it.”

  “I've already told you what Hector was like. He treated women like shit, but he claimed he was a changed man after he met Georgina. He kept up the pretence for a while but not that long. He'd have all sorts of excuses to be away from the house, meetings with friends, family, or there were Clubs he attended. In reality, he was away chasing skirt. I had a pretty good idea what he was up to, but he was fairly discreet and there was no evidence. Of course, Georgina had her head in the sand. She would hear nothing said against him, not to begin with at least.”

  “But that all changed?”

  “Yes, that all changed. I thought it a bit strange at the time. He seemed to become bolder with his dalliances, almost as if he wanted to be caught. The crunch came when he asked Georgina to get involved in some of his sordid activities. He wanted her to join him in an orgy; he was as blatant as that.

  “She was shocked and, of course, refused. Only then did she start to believe the rumours and check into them. She was horrified and she wanted to throw him out. I tried to support her and get rid of the bastard and I expected my father would have done the same. If anything, I was worried he'd have taken a gun to him. Not that I'd have been unhappy to see it, but I wouldn't have wanted him to go to prison as a result. Father surprised us all; he supported Hector. He told Georgina she'd just have to accept it. Since then, they've lived separate lives but stayed together in the same house. That must have been more than ten years ago now.”

  “Not a very comfortable way to live?”

  “No, but I suppose they got used to it.”

  “And how did you get on with Hector? You had to keep working with him.”

  “To start with it wasn't very pleasant and there was a lot of hostility, but fortunately I didn't have much to do with him. What I do is pretty independent of admin as we have our own inside sales staff. There is the export documentation and currency planning, but I usually spoke to Patrick about that. Hector wouldn't have dealt with it himself, anyway. Over the years, we learned to accept each other and work together.”

  “And what about Georgina?”

  “She had been dreadfully hurt and she became very bitter because of it. I tried to be supportive, but when she wasn't able to throw Hector out, she didn't want to know. She sort of climbed into a shell and blamed everyone else for everything. It was months before she'd even talk to me. Gradually, she came back into the real world.”

  “What happened when your father took ill?”

  “You mean when he had his stroke three years ago? It was terrible. He was devastated by it. It affected his speech and his mobility. We thought we'd lost him. He was in hospital for weeks, but gradually, he clawed his way back. He was never the same, of course, but he got back his movement. At first he needed help to get about but now he can walk by himself with a zimmer or a stick. He has his speech back too, a little slow and a bit slurred, but he's so determined and he's managed it by sheer willpower.”

  “And what about the business?”

  “That was so nearly a disaster. The old man liked to control everything himself and kept it all under wraps. When he went down, nobody else knew what to do or what was happening. It took quite a while to get to grips with it.”

  “What happened about control?”

  “The investors wanted a managing director to be announced and both Georgina and Stanley supported Hector so that's what happened.” Quentin tried to keep a relaxed tone but he was clearly agitated to be talking about this. He was blinking rapidly and there was a nervous twitch to the side of his eye.

  “Wouldn't you have wanted the job?”

  “I was prepared to do it but the others chose Hector. We all wanted what was best for the company.”

  “Weren't you surprised that Georgina had chosen to support Hector after what they'd been through?”

  “No, not really. Over time they'd formed a working relationship for the sake of their children, and I suppose she thought it was in their best interests if Hector had the position.”

  “Maybe so, but I thought their children didn't get involved in the business.”

  “They're still young. There's plenty of time for them to change their minds.”

  “Yes, but isn't your son Samuel already involved?”

  “You know he is, so why are you wasting my time wi
th stupid questions?” Quentin was getting rattled.

  “Okay, we don't need to pursue that just now. But can you tell us why Stanley would support Hector instead of you?”

  “Wouldn't you be better asking Stanley and not me?”

  “Don't worry, we will do. But for the moment we're asking you.”

  “Stanley and I haven't seen eye to eye for a number of years. That's all there is to it.”

  “And the reason?”

  “There doesn't have to be a reason. Can you truly tell me that every family you know all get along?”

  “Is it because you think he's gay?”

  “How dare you! This has nothing to do with your enquiry. I'll be making a complaint about you.”

  “Complain all you like. We're investigating a suspected murder. You have a close relationship to the victim, and by your own admission, there was a lot of animosity between you. You've just told us about `misunderstandings,' shall we say, you've had with other members of your family. I think we're entitled to ask for more information to determine why you've had those problems and ascertain what you're capable of doing to deal with them”

  Quentin looked deflated. “I didn't kill Hector, if that's what you want to know. I don't have a problem with Stanley being gay, but I did have a problem with some of the friends he brought home. This was way before I was married when we all lived together in my parents' house. One of the bohemian friends Stanley brought home showed no respect for me, my family or the house. We had a big argument and I threw him out. Stanley was upset, claiming I had no right as he was his guest, and he's held it against me ever since. Is that what you wanted to know?” Quentin asked, angrily.

  “That answer will do for just now.” Alex remained calm and composed. He knew his lack of emotion was the best way to keep Quentin riled, and when he was riled, he was more likely to impart useful information.

  “What involvement does Stanley have in the business now?”

  “Practically none, nothing on a day to day basis. He doesn't have any executive duties. He is a director, in name, and he turns up at most of the monthly board meetings. On an odd occasion, he'll even read the briefing papers before he arrives, and when he does, it saves us having to explain every last detail to him. One thing he is diligent at, he draws his salary and he claims his expenses and his dividends. He never fails to be around when there's money being handed out.”