Poisoned Cherries

Chapter 25

Badenoch did agree with me, though. Once Morrow had let him read the lab report and had played him what was on the tape, he knew what the score was, and he advised his client to face the facts.

I wasn’t there when they had that conversation, but he told me later that when she protested her innocence, he had said straight out that if he found it hard to believe, any jury was going to find it impossible.

He didn’t let her make a formal statement to the police, but they didn’t expect that. Instead, Charlie went to the fiscal and told her what the defence would be if she proceeded with a murder charge. She weighed the cost of a full-scale trial, took an educated guess at the likely verdict and agreed to take a plea to culpable homicide.

She even told the police not to oppose bail, which they had been inclined to do. He’s some operator, that Charlie Badenoch.

Once the deal had been cut, they let me in to see Alison again, to deliver her some clothes for next day. She had to make a formal court appearance next morning, and she had opted for a night in the cells rather than the alternative, which was still open, of going back to Ricky’s place. I hoped that, to quote the King, one night of sin was all he’d been praying for, because I reckoned, sure as hell, that was all he was going to get after his trick with the tape.

I saw her in the usual interview room in the Gayfield Square office; a constable stood on guard outside the door, but they gave us privacy, after they had checked what was in the bag I’d brought. The police had still been at her house when I’d got there, and they had watched me pack it, then it had been searched again at the police station. I thought that in the circumstances, a cake with a file in it was an unlikely find, but they’d given the stuff a going-over nonetheless.

She was calm, even if she still seemed slightly stunned by what had happened. ‘Do you really think I’ll get probation?’ she asked me, quietly.

‘I don’t know,’ I told her, honestly. ‘There are plenty of precedents, but it still comes down to what the judge thinks is the punishment that fits the crime. There are a couple of women on the bench now; maybe you’ll get lucky and draw one of them.’

‘But I could go to prison?’

I had to tell her the truth; I mean, I could only jolly her along so far, couldn’t I. ‘Yes, you could.’

‘Even though I didn’t do it?’

I sighed. ‘Okay. If that’s the way you want it, plead not guilty; go back on Charlie’s deal with the fiscal. But if it goes to trial and you’re convicted, even if it’s only of culpable homicide, the judge’ll throw the book at you. You fancy ten years?’

‘No,’ she whispered; her eyes glistening again. ‘That’s why I’ve agreed to do as Mr Badenoch said. But it still doesn’t make me guilty, Oz. Please,’ she begged, ‘believe me.’

I have always been a sucker for a crying woman; plus, she had agreed to the plea. She was going to get off lightly, so why keep up the pretence now? ‘Suppose I do,’ I said, grudgingly. ‘What difference does it make?’

‘It’ll make a big difference to me; it’ll mean that there’s someone in the world, other than my dizzy old mother, who’s on my side.’

‘I’ve never been against you. I’ve never thought you killed him in cold blood. I was prepared to accept that you did it in a flash of blind rage at his deceit and his threats to destroy your business, just as you’re going to admit to in court. But if you promise me on your heart’s blood that you didn’t, then I’ll believe you.’

‘I swear,’ she burst out, in a voice loaded with relief. ‘Even if I have to go away for a while, it’ll make it easier just knowing that. Even though I’ll have nothing when I come out, and I’ll have the bank on my neck, I’ll get through it somehow.’

‘When you get out tomorrow, and go back to the office, you might find that you’re suddenly in good standing with your bank.’

‘What do you mean?’

I told her about my meeting with James Torrent, and about his clearing her outstanding invoices. ‘He did that?’ she gasped. ‘How did you manage it?’

‘I take my responsibilities as a director seriously. He also told me that you’d taken him too literally when he asked you to get Ewan Capperauld for his ceremony. He said he didn’t mean it to sound like that, and he apologised.’

‘Well it did sound like that,’ she insisted. ‘How did you manage all this, Oz? How did you get him to pay, especially? Did you threaten him, or something?’

‘I don’t think it would be a great idea to threaten that man. He may have been impressed by my connection with Susie. Whatever it was, I just mentioned your bills, sort of in passing, and he whistled up payment on the spot. The money’s probably there by now.’

Her face brightened; there’s nothing like cash for cheering you up. ‘That’s great. I was going to have to pay someone off at the end of the month; now I won’t.’

Time for a reality reminder, I thought. ‘Don’t be so sure. You’re going to be in court tomorrow, and the charge will go public, even if the press can’t report any details. You’re going to have a hell of a job holding your clients in those circumstances.’

Her sudden burst of optimism was hard to suppress, though. ‘Most of them will stick by me; I’m sure of that. And if I can announce that you’ve become a director, that’ll convince people too, won’t it?’

‘Jesus, Alison, it wouldn’t even convince me. What are my skills? I’m a ham actor, that’s all.’

‘But they’ll assume you’re investing in the business.’ She paused. ‘You wouldn’t, Oz, would you?’

That was a shot I hadn’t been expecting. I did some quick thinking. ‘What are Capperauld’s shares worth?’

‘The auditor valued them at a quarter of a million.’

‘Fine, but now he’s dead, and the business is in trouble. Offer his estate fifty grand, on my behalf, and I’ll pick them up, with a formal agreement that you or the company itself will buy them from me at valuation in three years’ time.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You could make a tidy profit on that. When did you pick up the business brain?’

‘Along the way.’

‘Why three years?’

‘If you do go away, I reckon you’ll be out in a year, eighteen months at the most. You draw no pay, other than what it takes to cover your mortgage, and we appoint a manager to run things during that period. I’ll supervise from a distance, and keep an eye on the cash. When you come out, you pick up the reins again, and at the agreed time, I get paid off.’

‘What about the bank? My manager’s a grim-looking man; he frightens me a bit.’

‘No problem; I’ll tell them to give you someone who doesn’t.’

‘How can you do that?’

‘I’m not without influence. By that I mean money; it’s the only language these guys understand. I still do most of my banking in Edinburgh; I’ll fix it for my guy to take over your account.’

She looked at me as if she’d never known me. ‘First Torrent, now this; is there anything you couldn’t fix?’

‘I can’t fix your problem with your late ex-fiance.’

‘I’ll bet you could if you put your mind to it.’ There was a crafty gleam in her eye now.

‘Listen, I am here to make a movie. I am being paid a hell of a lot of money for it, I’m still new to the game and it needs my one-hundred-percent attention. You want that problem solved, hire a detective.’

‘I don’t know any detectives.’

‘You fucked one last night,’ I pointed out.

Alison did not appreciate that reminder. ‘Him!’ she exploded. ‘Ricky! After what he did, I wouldn’t employ him if he was. .’

‘. . the last private eye on earth? Okay, do your time, if you have to. Ross might be a slippery bastard, but he is very good. You don’t get to be a Lothian and Borders detective superintendent without being shit hot at the job. Okay, he set you up today and maybe he shouldn’t have. But he took it hard when he got kicked off the force. I reckon he was trying to prove a point. Still, if you want help and he’ll take it on, he’s the man.’

‘It’ll stick in my throat.’

‘An unfortunate remark, in the circumstances.’

She giggled, then suppressed it, ‘Well, if you’ll talk to him for me, I’ll consider it. But where would he begin?’

‘With the murder weapon. If you didn’t do it, someone planted it in your flat. You didn’t see any signs of a breakin, last Thursday or later, did you?’

‘No; and I would have. All my windows secure from the inside, and I always double-lock my door when I go out.’

‘So how was it done?’

‘David had a key.’

‘Didn’t you ask for it back when he chucked you?’

‘Yes, but he still had it. The killer must have found it and used it.’

‘Could be.’

‘Will that help?’ she asked brightly.

‘Who knows? But at least, it’s a place to start.’