A Body in the Lakes by Graham Smith (great books of all time .TXT) 📕

Beth had read the reports of the officers who’d interviewed all of Forster’s mayoral staff. None of them had raised any suspicions, and all had been aghast at the idea that the mayor had been implicated in such a way.

The woman who’d acknowledged her a moment ago was ending her call, when the mayor came into the office. Beth saw the flash of recognition in his eyes when she turned. As was so often the way with strangers, his gaze fixed on the scar on her cheek before moving away.

Beth held out her hand. ‘Mr Mayor, it’s very good of you to spare me some of your precious time.’

Forster gave her the full election-winning smile as he took her hand. ‘It’s no trouble at all. I’m eager to help.’ He released her grip and gestured to a doorway at the back of the office. ‘If you’d like to follow me.’

The mayor’s handshake had been firm, although the skin of his hands had been soft. Like so much about him, his handshake was a statement. Firm to provide confidence, but not so hard as to be a challenge or inflict pain. It spoke of reassurance, of power and of consideration. It told her that he was giving the impression of a man who could be trusted.

After shaking his hand, Beth trusted him even less than she had before.

The mayor closed the door of his mini office behind her and offered her a seat. His office was a smaller version of the main one, although she could see he had a few photos of himself at various events on the spare wall space.

Beth found it interesting that he had an ego wall. It told her even more about the real him than his handshake.

Businessmen had ego walls to provide confidence to other businessmen who came to their office, to show off their successes, and on the bad days, remind themselves of the good times.

The mayor had no need of an ego wall in this office. Any non-mayoral business he conducted wouldn’t happen here, it would take place on a golf course or a flash restaurant. This office was a place of work, functional rather than decorative, which meant there was nobody to impress beyond himself.

The pictures on the wall were nothing more than a back rub for his ego. Derek Forster was at the peak of his achievements: he was mayor of Carlisle and on an upward trajectory. He’d made a fortune selling his business and was always being named as an eligible bachelor. That he needed to massage his ego in this way gave Beth an insight into the man’s psyche. To some, the collection of photos might suggest that regardless of his achievements and successes, he could be insecure and used the wall as a way to bolster himself against the rigours of the office, but Beth didn’t think he was insecure.

When arrested for rape and murder on Monday Forster had been calm, assured, and even in the face of everything she’d thrown at him, he’d never lost his cool. He’d retained enough surety to overcome their accusations and never once had his confidence wavered. If anything, the more she pressed him, the stronger he got.

Beth took the seat she was offered, and a deep breath, before opening her mouth.

‘First of all, I’d like to apologise to you if you thought I was overly harsh the other day. Rape and murder cases are very serious and I’m afraid I let my emotions get the better of me. It was unprofessional for me to do that.’

Forster leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together across his chest. ‘Well, I have to say I wasn’t expecting that. I’m sorry, but I don’t accept your apology because I feel there’s no need to apologise. I knew I was innocent, just as you knew you were doing your best to prove me guilty. Circumstances made us adversaries and the truth ended the war. As a citizen of Cumbria, let alone the mayor of Carlisle, I support a determined, impassioned police force, who’re doing everything in their power to apprehend criminals.’

‘That’s very gracious of you.’ Beth meant it. There was something about Forster’s manner and the way he spoke that exuded charm and engendered belief. She recognised that she was being charmed by him, so she pressed on with the reason O’Dowd had sent her. ‘I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I say next.’

‘Try me.’ There was a quiet confidence in Forster’s tone.

‘When the guys from Digital Forensics were looking at your home computer, they found over a thousand illegal images of child abuse.’

‘That’s absurd.’ All the colour had drained from the mayor’s face. ‘Utterly ridiculous. I would never do such a thing. I never look at any porn, let alone kiddie porn.’

‘I know.’ Beth spread her hands wide. ‘I’m here on my own; there’s no arrest team with me today. The times and dates that the files were added to your computer matched with times you were at civic functions. What you said about not looking at any porn is also backed up by your search history. We don’t think you looked at those images and videos, but we do think that someone wants us to believe you did.’

‘You mean you’re not here to arrest me again?’

‘Not at all. I’m here to try to find out who planted those images on your computer and who left your credit card beside the body that was found yesterday morning.’

‘That poor woman.’ The mayor’s face lost some of its colour. ‘How did my card end up so close to her? I’ve checked, and since I lost it, nobody has tried to use it. Why steal a card only to toss it away?’

Beth kept her tone soft and her eyes on the mayor. ‘We’re actually working on the theory that the card was deliberately placed near Felicia