And then there was an article about the retirement party of a Roald Mackenzie, who had been a DCS at the Met. Curious, she clicked on it to find any reference to Andrew, and read a brief interview with “Roald’s nephew, schoolteacher Andrew Mackenzie.”
“Jesus,” she said under her breath. So Mackenzie had been well connected with the police. No wonder he’d been deliberately missed.
She found it difficult not to jump up and tell Lightman straightaway. But she could see that he was focused on his screen, a small frown on his face. And it was Sheens she needed to be telling this to really.
So she sat and reread the article, her foot jiggling with impatience as she waited for the chief to reappear.
* * *
—
JONAH LEFT THE interview suite full of the uncomfortable buzzing that filled him when he’d brought out the harsh questions. It was like the feeling when he’d had too much coffee. A tetchy restlessness that started to look for another target.
It was at times like this—and only at times like this—that he thought he began to understand his father. He was filled with a sort of righteous fury at the lies suspects told, and with an urge to beat them down until they admitted the truth.
What he’d said to Connor had been mild. He could go a lot further, though he didn’t like himself a lot when he did. And that was difficult when it was one of the things that made him really good at his job.
It almost helped that Connor couldn’t quite seem to remember what he’d done. It was an uncomfortable echo from Jonah’s own past. He wanted to attack Connor for it, perhaps because he was tired of attacking himself.
“I don’t know whether I believe him,” O’Malley said, catching up with him at the door to CID. “Part of me thinks that’s how I’d react if someone said that to me. And part of me thinks it’s how a guilty man would react.”
“It’s a hard one to call,” Jonah agreed. “I want to give him some time to worry. And we need time to find further evidence. That’s got to be the priority now. If he got up and raped her, there must be some way of proving it beyond Coralie’s testimony.”
He caught the swift movement of Hanson’s head and her scramble to rise as he walked back into CID.
“What have you got?” he asked her.
“Andrew Mackenzie,” she said with what was almost a smile. “He was only interviewed once, during which he provided an alibi. He explained that he’d camped overnight with his girlfriend, and never left her side.”
“Did she agree?”
“They never checked with her,” Hanson said with a note of triumph. “Which seems breathtakingly bad investigative work, but, in fact, may be worse than that. Mackenzie’s uncle was a DCS in the Met at the time.”
“You’re serious?”
“I am.” Her expression broke through into a full smile. “Good thing he gave an interview at the super’s retirement do, or I might not have got the connection.”
He couldn’t share her excitement. Aside from the anger that he was still struggling to pack away, he’d seen enough corruption investigations to last a lifetime. They’d damaged both individual officers and the reputation of the force. If it turned out that there was a huge apology to be made for a killer remaining free for thirty years, Jonah did not want to be in the middle of it.
But what he wanted didn’t really feature. There was no question that they needed to interview Mackenzie.
“Did you find out where he is now?”
“Yeah, he’s head of department at a private school in Bristol.”
“Call the school, and tell them we need to speak to him,” he said. “Today.”
He glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost two. Lunchtime had vanished somewhere into the cycle of interviews.
“And can you please apologize to Jojo Magos, and ask if I can see her either this evening or tomorrow? Ben can come with me and talk to this teacher.”
Lightman raised his head and gave an impassive nod. “Are we shelving the briefing, then?” The sergeant unplugged his iPad from his desktop machine and stood.
“Yup, I’m moving it till later. If we’ve got to get to Bristol, I want to go now. I’ll update you on a few things from this morning and let the other two know later on. Oh, and we need to tell Connor Dooley he’s free to go.”
“I’ll do that,” O’Malley offered.
“Good.”
“What shall I do after I’ve talked to the school?” Hanson asked. He could sense her disappointment. She’d been eager to go and interview another suspect. But he generally found it better to pull rank at expensive schools. A DCI and a DS were a good combination.
“Follow up with McCullough on any new forensics, and update us while we’re driving. I want evidence against Connor Dooley if it exists. We’ll talk to Mackenzie and see if that one’s a runner.”
She sat at her desk silently.
“That was good work connecting him to the detective chief super,” he said. It was a slightly clumsy attempt to console her.
She gave a small nod, and focused on her screen.
* * *
—
THE RAIN WAS starting as they left the station, and it had become a real storm before they hit the M3, a wall of water battering the car roof. He’d grabbed a sandwich from the canteen to wolf on the way, but it was hard to control the car and eat, so he gave up and left it till later.
He thought about talking through the case so far with Lightman, but it seemed like a mess at the moment. There were so many inconsistencies between all the statements that he didn’t know where to start.
All they could be certain they had was a group of drugged-up, drunk fifteen-to-eighteen-year-olds and an innocent fourteen-year-old who had gone to sleep at some distance away. Plus one schoolteacher a few miles off and camping with a girlfriend. And a huge stash of Dexedrine.
Aurora may or may not have been drunk. They all may or may not have been high. Some of the drugs had been removed later, maybe by arrangement, and maybe not.
There were many apparently insignificant lies being told. The friends were trying to protect themselves. But they might well be masking the truth of what happened behind their lies. There might be more about Connor, for one. Coralie had waited thirty years to tell them about seeing him by the fire. It all needed breaking down, lie by lie.
At that point, he remembered how Topaz had hidden her meeting with Mackenzie. Together with the failure to investigate him, there were clearly grounds for looking at Mackenzie.