Cross, Ottey and Mackenzie went over to see Swift in his office – which he insisted on calling his lab – first thing Monday morning. He’d pulled a couple of all-nighters and looked like a vampire from an independent horror movie, whose budget was so low all the actors were doing their own make-up. The venetian blinds were, as always, closed, as if to keep sunlight from getting in and killing him. Cross had never been to the office before, unlike the others. He was taken aback by the sheer number of small plastic comic book superhero figurines which not only populated the shelves, but were also suspended mid-flight from the ceiling. But the object that actually stopped him in his tracks was a large stuffed black crow glowering down on them from a corner of the room, its large wings outstretched, as if about to swoop down on them all. Its cold black eyes stared challengingly at anyone who dared enter the room.
Cross took one look at the crow and turned to Swift.
‘Yes, it is a Michael Ribble original. I paid full price. I didn’t use my position as a forensic investigator to influence him in any way. Ribble was also no longer a person of interest in the Frampton case when I commissioned him,’ said Swift.
He was referring to the taxidermist in Portsmouth who had briefly been a person of interest in a previous case. Swift had been unprofessionally entranced by the taxidermist’s studio when they’d paid him a visit, in Cross’s opinion.
Cross made no comment. Ottey and Mackenzie had both seen the crow before and didn’t have the heart to tell Cross that Swift had given the bird a name. George. He’d probably find out in good time, and they hoped not to be around when he did.
‘So, the headlines are – the cottage on the Coxton Hall estate is definitely the site of Brother Dominic’s murder scene. It took place in the kitchen. He was secured to a wooden chair with duct tape attached to his wrists and ankles. A roll of duct tape which matches the tape used was found in the kitchen. The chair Dominic was secured to is also identical to three others found in the cottage. There is significant blood on the floor of the kitchen. It is Dominic’s. After he was tortured, the chair Dominic was secured to was dragged to the back door. The lack of blood leading to the door suggests this was done post mortem. He was loaded onto the trailer and driven off.’
‘Murder weapon?’ asked Cross.
‘By that do you mean the implement that delivered the fatal blow to the head?’
‘I do.’
‘As yet unfound at the scene.’
‘We should do a fingertip search in the surrounding area,’ suggested Ottey. ‘Extend it to the deposition site. The accident implies that probably wasn’t the intended location, doesn’t it?’
‘Good question,’ replied Cross. ‘Alice, can you have a look at the map again and see where that quad bike might have been on the way to? It can’t have been far as it was avoiding main roads.’
*
They were all called in to a meeting with Carson when Cross received a message that someone was waiting to talk to him in reception. When he saw who it was, he chose to go down to reception rather than obey the summons to Carson’s office. Sir Patrick Murphy and his aide de camp Martin Bates were sitting there, like a couple of guilty schoolboys outside the headmaster’s office. He walked up to them.
‘Sergeant,’ Murphy began.
‘You wished to see me?’ Cross replied.
‘Could we perhaps go somewhere more private?’ asked Bates.
Cross checked to see if the Voluntary Assistance suite was free, and then took the two men up to it. As Ottey wasn’t with him, he checked his notebook once they got there, for some guidance. He found it, then looked up and said, almost reading out loud, ‘Would you like something to drink?’
Thankfully they declined. They sat.
‘We’re here because we read that Nicholas Cubitt is now wanted in connection with Brother Dominic’s murder. Although how that makes sense is still a mystery to me,’ began Murphy.
Cross said nothing.
‘You’ve asked for any information that people might think is relevant to the case and Martin has something I believe to be exactly that. Martin?’ Murphy finished.
‘Many years ago, before it collapsed, I worked for Cubitt’s bank. I was in their marketing department,’ Bates began.
‘Did you know Alex Mount?’ asked Cross.
‘No, he was after my time.’
‘But you know the name,’ Cross observed.
‘Of course.’
‘It’s how we met,’ explained Murphy. ‘Cubitt’s. I banked there for years before it went belly up.’
‘I know I should’ve mentioned this before, it just didn’t occur to me. Or maybe it was out of a sense of misguided loyalty. I don’t know. But I didn’t make the link, I’m afraid. Why would I?’ he began. ‘Nick Cubitt approached me after the television interview with Brother Dominic was broadcast on Newsnight.’
‘What did he want?’ asked Cross.
‘He wanted to know where the abbey Dominic lived in, was,’ Bates replied.
‘And did you tell him?’
‘I’d worked for his father for years,’ Bates insisted.
‘Did you tell him?’ Cross repeated.
‘I didn’t see any harm in it.’
‘Even though Dominic had told you at the time of the interview that his location was to be kept confidential?’
‘I was unaware of that stipulation, or else I would obviously have abided by it.’
‘Did you ask Cubitt why he wanted the information?’ Cross went on.
‘It wasn’t a long conversation.’
‘So, you told him?’ asked Cross.
‘Yes, and obviously I now deeply regret that as it seems to have been part of this tragic narrative.’
‘There is no “seems” about it, Mr Bates. Without that information it is unlikely that Brother Dominic would be dead. Did you have any further communication with him?’ Cross asked.
‘I did not.’
‘Anything else I should know?’ Cross asked.
‘No.’
As Cross showed them out, Murphy turned to him.
‘Thank you for your time,’ he said. ‘I’m obviously deeply upset about this whole business. If I hadn’t challenged Brother Dominic’s opinion in the first place, perhaps none of it would’ve happened.’
Cross saw no need to offer his agreement to this sentiment.
‘Father Magnus tells me you’ve been restoring the organ at the abbey,’ Murphy went on.
‘I have,’ replied Cross.
‘That’s very commendable of you.’
‘It’s a purely self-interested venture.’
‘I doubt that somehow. I just wanted to say that if there’s anything you need help with, just let me know.’
Cross thought for a moment.
‘Actually, now that you mention it, do you know what regulating an organ means?’ Cross began.