Too Good to Be True

14 The Confession

At the hotel, Perez managed to get to his room without being seen by the nosy landlady, Elspeth. He would have struggled to explain the torn trousers and the muddy footprints left on the lobby floor. Jimmy jumped into the shower and changed into clean clothes and at last he stopped feeling cold. Then he phoned Robert Anderson, the local cop, with whom he’d worked in Aberdeen.

‘Is there any chance you could get over to Stonebridge this evening?’

‘You think you’ve solved the case for me, do you, Jimmy?’ Anderson’s voice made the question sound like a joke.

Perez answered seriously though. ‘I think so.’

Now Anderson sounded surprised. ‘You’re telling me you’ve got enough evidence to make an arrest?’

‘No physical evidence yet, but I’m sure there’ll be fingerprints on the note I found in Anna’s bedroom.’ Perez paused. ‘Besides, I think the culprit might be ready to confess.’

Then he remembered the car hurtling towards him in the dark forest and he wasn’t so sure.

They arranged for Anderson to join him at the hotel. ‘As soon as you can, Robbie,’ Perez said. ‘Our culprit is desperate now. We don’t want them running away.’

Jimmy didn’t bother looking out of his window when he was waiting for Anderson to arrive. He knew that the watcher would no longer be there.

They drove in Anderson’s car to the Kerrs’ farm. ‘This is my patch, Jimmy,’ Anderson had said when Perez had offered to drive. ‘Besides, look at the state of you, man. You’re in no fit state to be behind a wheel.’

In the farmyard, a blue VW was parked beside Gail’s Land Rover. There were lights on in the house. Perez realised it must be time for the family’s dinner. He wondered if they should have waited until they could be sure Grace would be in bed. He didn’t want to talk to Gail and her brother in front of the little girl.

Gail opened the door to them. ‘Inspector,’ she said. She might have been surprised to see them, but her voice was as cool as it always was. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Is Sandy in?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He’s not long got back from work.’

‘And Grace?’

‘Oh, she’s in her onesie in the living room watching her favourite DVD. That’s her pre-bedtime routine.’ Gail smiled and stood aside to let them in.

Sandy was in the kitchen with the remains of a meal in front of him. It seemed he hadn’t been very hungry. Perez saw straightaway that he was the strange watcher, the man he’d followed into the woods. Sandy shifted in his seat but gave no other sign that he knew the inspector.

‘We have to talk,’ Perez said.

Gail took her place at the table and Anderson joined them. Perez remained standing.

‘What’s going on?’ Gail said. ‘I don’t understand.’

Perez ignored her and directed his question at Sandy. ‘Were you in love with Anna Blackwell, Mr Kerr?’

‘Don’t be stupid, Inspector,’ Gail said. ‘Sandy’s engaged to Emma Watt, who lives in the village. The wedding’s planned for the spring.’

‘Please answer, Mr Kerr.’ Perez kept his voice quiet.

‘I adored Anna,’ Sandy said. ‘I fell for her the moment I saw her.’

‘How did you meet?’

‘I often help out with Grace.’ Sandy was leaning forward across the table. He was eager to explain now. ‘My hours with the forestry aren’t fixed. I picked her up from school one day. Anna had a message for Gail and we chatted for a while.’

‘Were you helping out with Grace on the night that Anna Blackwell died?’ Perez asked.

Sandy shifted in his seat and didn’t answer.

‘Did you look after Grace and Lucy for Gail on the night that Anna died?’ This time the question was louder, more forceful. When there was still no reply, Perez went on. ‘You’d have known Lucy, after all, if you’d been spending time with her mother. Both girls would have been happy to stay with you.’

When Sandy spoke it was almost in a whisper. ‘Yes, I was babysitting that night. Gail said she needed to go out. There was something she needed to sort out, she said. Something urgent. I wanted to tell you.’ His eyes were pleading.

‘That’s why you were waiting outside the hotel?’

Sandy nodded. ‘But then I thought Gail had been so good to me, and she’d just lost her husband. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. How could I accuse her of murder when she’s been through so much?’

Gail started to whimper. The noise wasn’t loud enough to disturb the child in the next room, but it was piercing. It seemed to cut through Perez’s skin to his bone.

He turned to the woman. ‘You set up a meeting with Anna Blackwell and you killed her. And this afternoon you tried to kill me. You were worried your brother would pluck up the courage to tell me what was going on, and you drove straight at me in your Land Rover. You must have had Grace with you. How could you do that?’

Gail didn’t answer. She was sitting with her head in her hands and tears ran down her cheeks.