The Art of Murder

Chapter 34

The Riverwell Psychiatric Hospital was a small, private establishment three miles inland from the coastal town of Maldon. At any one time it accommodated no more than thirty-four patients, and according to the hospital's website offered exclusive pastoral care for those with chronic conditions.

Jez Turner was reading through the hospital's glossy brochure as Pendragon pulled the car up before a guarded gate set in ten-foot-high ornate iron railings enclosing the hospital grounds. Turner whistled suddenly, making Pendragon glance away from the uniformed gateman who was examining his ID through the open window.

'Get this, guv,' the sergeant said. 'Riverwell is world renowned as a centre of excellence for the care and comfort of patients with medium to severe conditions. Annual full board and treatment fees come in at just under seventy-two grand.'

Pendragon raised an eyebrow. 'More than I earn in a week,' he responded dryly, nodding to the guard and driving forward as the barrier was raised.

The building ahead of them looked more like a boutique hotel than a psychiatric hospital. It was brick-built with high gables in a steeply sloping roof, topped off with a stocky chimney placed roughly in the centre of the roof. Pendragon guessed the original building had gone up in the first decade of the twentieth century, but he noticed that there had been many newer additions over the years and it had been extended so much these now made up the majority of the floor space. The grounds were pristine, and white with a hard frost.

They were met at the main door by a rotund man in his mid-fifties. He was wearing a pin-stripe suit, waistcoat and grey tie. He had a neatly trimmed white beard, small dark eyes and narrow lips. At first glance he looked like Santa after a make-over. 'Welcome,' he said in a rich baritone. 'I'm Professor Martins… Nigel Martins.' He stepped forward to offer his hand first to Pendragon and then to Turner. 'Good journey, I hope. It's not too far from the sound of Bow Bells, is it, Inspector?' His face creased into a smile.

He led them through a reception area where a pretty blonde at a flat-screen Mac ignored the new arrivals. They followed the professor along a wide corridor. It was softly lit, the floor covered with a sumptuous, pale green carpet. The walls were hung with what looked like expensive paper. A cream dado rail ran along them at waist-height, and there was elaborate ceiling cornicing overhead. They passed an open door and saw half a dozen patients sitting bunched together on a pair of sofas, facing a bulky old TV set high up on a shelf on the far side of the room. At the end of the corridor, they took a right, then a left, and Martins stopped before a heavy oak door with an engraved brass plaque bearing his name. The professor removed a bunch of keys from his jacket pocket, unlocked the door and held it open, gesturing to the two policemen to enter. Martins bustled in after them and indicated a pair of leather chairs. 'Gentlemen, please.' He turned as an elderly lady in a black skirt and white frilly blouse appeared in the doorway.

'Ah, Madeline,' Martins said. He looked enquiringly at Pendragon and Turner. 'Tea?'

Turner glanced at the DCI who was nodding. 'That would be very welcome,' Pendragon said. 'Milk, no sugar.'

'Same for me,' Turner said.

'Okay, that's the essentials out of the way,' Martins commented, lowering himself into his chair. 'Now… could you just run through what it is you're here for, Inspector? My secretary gave me a brief summary, but…'

'We're following a lead in a multiple homicide,' Pendragon replied, coming straight to the point.

'I see. Well,' Martins sighed, 'I'll obviously do everything I can to help, but what possible connection can there be with Riverwell?'

'Did your secretary mention that we were particularly interested in a patient who was here in the mid-nineties, a young woman named Juliette Kinnear?'

'No, she didn't. Good Lord, Juliette Kinnear! Now that's a name I haven't heard for a long time.'

'You were working here then?'

'Yes, I was. I transferred from Luton in 1993. Juliette arrived in… I think it was 'ninety-five. I'll get her file.' Martins touched a button on his desk phone. 'Selina, could you track down the file on Juliette Kinnear, please? She was a patient here in the mid-nineties. She'll be under Archive K. If you could print out two copies and bring them in ASAP. Thanks.' He turned back to Pendragon. 'You'll know, of course, that Juliette is dead.'

'It happened on an excursion from the hospital, didn't it?' Turner put in.

Martins turned to the sergeant and sat back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. 'Yes,' he said. 'It was a terrible tragedy. We thought we were getting somewhere with Juliette. We still have no idea what really happened down at the jetty.'

'Can you talk us through it?' Pendragon asked.

Martins looked at the DCI for a moment and screwed up his mouth. 'Well, yes,' he said. 'It was quite a day. Certainly not one I'll easily forget.'

There was a short rap on the door then and the tea arrived. Madeline passed around the cups and withdrew without a word.

'It was a warm spring day in April 'ninety-six. Juliette had been here for about a year. When she first arrived, she was in a terrible state. We kept her away from the other patients for the first three months. She was anorexic, belligerent, never spoke. But gradually we got her to eat, and she slowly began to accept where she was. She was on some pretty strong medications, but was improving in herself. At least, we thought she was.'

'It seems she had come a long way… from when she was first admitted to the hospital. Being trusted to go on an excursion, even if was only to Maldon,' Pendragon remarked.

'Well, as I said, Juliette did make a fairly rapid improvement and we were feeling confident about her.'

'This trip to the town,' the DCI asked. 'What was the reason for it exactly?'

Martins shrugged. 'We believe it's important for our residents to leave the confines of Riverwell when they are able. As part of the rehabilitation process.'

'But surely Ms Kinnear was still a long way from leaving here permanently?'

'Yes, of course, but she was supervised and it was only a small group.'

'How many people were in it?' Turner asked.

Martins thought for a moment. 'Let's think… There were six patients and three staff.'

'Can you recall any names?'

He recited a list of staff members and Turner jotted them down in his notebook. 'I'm not sure of all six patient names,' the professor continued. 'But I can check and get back to you on that.'

Pendragon glanced at the list Turner had written down. 'Are all three members of staff still here?'

'No. Stacy Franklin is a senior nurse now, in London. Dr Roger Napier – who was supervising that day – left in 'ninety-eight. Last I heard, he was working in Melbourne. The other man on the list… Nick Compton… was a junior nurse. Sadly, he passed away a few months after Juliette's death.'

The two policemen looked startled to hear this. 'What happened?' Pendragon asked.

'Suicide. Poor Nick hanged himself.'

'Can you give us some further details, Professor?'

'It compounded the tragedy. Nick Compton always blamed himself for the accident. He was with Juliette, you see. Had been left alone with her for a few minutes when…'

'There must have been an investigation into the incident?'

'Of course there was, Inspector,' the professor responded, a little testily. 'A very thorough investigation, as a matter of fact. I can get you full documentation.'

'That would be useful.'

'Obviously Dr Napier too came under close scrutiny. He was the most senior staff member present and Juliette was his patient. He was investigated for any possible negligence, and fully exonerated. He gave a very detailed account of the lead-up to the accident. One of the patients… Helen Weatherington, I seem to recall… had felt sick. The two nurses were otherwise occupied, and Napier had taken the girl to a washroom. Nick Compton had been supervising Juliette who decided she wanted to take a walk along the jetty. It was getting late and had started to rain. Nick tried to dissuade her from going, but the whole excursion seems to have fallen into chaos by that point. Nick was inexperienced and easily persuaded by Juliette, who was a very forthright and intelligent girl.'

'She went over the railings?'

'Yes. The police were called. Nick went into the water to try and find her and was almost drowned himself. There was no sign of her.'

'But the body was found some time later?' Turner commented.

'Yes.' Professor Martins looked ashen. 'Severely decomposed.'

There was a gentle tap on the door and they all looked up. Selina came over to the desk with a sheaf of papers. 'Thanks,' Martins said, without looking at the blonde girl, and she retreated. The professor handed Pendragon a dozen printed pages. There was a picture of Juliette Kinnear, taken probably a year before her death. She looked thinner than in the picture Turner had found. The DCI glanced through the material with Turner reading over his shoulder.

'Juliette was rather an exceptional girl,' Martins said after a moment. 'She had been a promising young artist and also dabbled in writing and music. An all-rounder.'

'Do you have any idea what precipitated her mental collapse, or was it simply a gradual process?'

'Well, Inspector, it's a complex matter, as you'll appreciate. In Juliette's case, her breakdown appears to have been brewing for a while unnoticed. Then, you could say, the dam burst. It's a fairly common scenario.'

'Can you elaborate?'

'Juliette was a talented artist, there's no doubt about that, but probably not as good as she thought she was. Consequently she was not receiving the recognition she thought she "deserved". She experimented with drugs – we got some of the details out of her during group therapy. She believed she could enhance her artistic abilities and achieve success by taking the right cocktail of stimulants. When that failed, her mental stability began to slide, a decline exacerbated by the narcotics she continued to use. She was living with her father, John Kinnear, at Ashcombe Manor, near Braintree – about ten miles from here. He's dead now. Mrs Kinnear had died a few years before when Juliette was fourteen or fifteen. John hadn't remarried.' Martins paused for a moment then added, 'The family were biscuit manufacturers.'

'Yes, I know,' Pendragon commented.

'When I interviewed Mr Kinnear on Juliette's admission he recalled the way his daughter would lock herself away for days. She wouldn't eat, talked to no one, painted and painted and then destroyed the canvases in a fit of rage. She caused a small fire in the house while trying to burn her latest collection in her bedroom studio.'

'And no one thought this odd?' Turner asked.

'Well, yes, they did, Sergeant. But John Kinnear feared the embarrassment of Juliette's condition becoming public knowledge. He was worried about his business interests.'

The DCI raised his eyebrows. 'Naturally,' he said with a weary sigh.

'The tipping point came when she attacked the gardener.'

Pendragon had just reached the part of the report which described the incident, so was not too surprised. He looked up, scrutinising the professor's face. 'How serious was the attack?'

Martins swallowed and looked away for a second. 'The poor man was stabbed, Inspector.'

Pendragon glanced down, looking for a police report.

'There was no investigation.' Martins anticipated his question. 'John Kinnear managed to keep it quiet.'

Turner glanced at Pendragon. The DCI was staring blankly at the professor.

'Money talks,' Martins said matter-of-factly.

'He paid off the gardener?'

The professor nodded and shrugged. 'But Kinnear realised his daughter was seriously ill and she was sectioned.'

'And the gardener?'

'Macintyre, Jimmy Macintyre. He was a patient here for a short time after he was attacked. He's still alive, lives alone – in a housing estate in Braintree, a short distance from Ashcombe Manor.'

'We would like his address before we leave, if you have it?'

Martins nodded and leaned forward on the desk, hands clasped together over the report. 'Inspector, I fail to see the connection between Juliette Kinnear and your current investigation.'

'Well, we'll keep you informed of any developments there, Professor,' Pendragon said crisply, and stood up. 'Thank you for your time and co-operation. I take it we can have this,' he added, waving the report, and before Martins could say another word, had turned towards the door. 'The address for Mr Macintyre… I imagine your secretary would have that on file?'