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

sat mute. Beside him was a duty solicitor. Bob Lewis was an affable person but a poor solicitor. A capable man, he gave what advice he could and did no more. He was a realist, and if his client was playing silly beggars, he’d tell them as much and then do the bare minimum necessary to protect them.

If given the choice, every detective in the county would want him sitting beside their suspects as he rarely went out of his way to put up a strong defence. On the other hand, if he had a genuine belief that his client was innocent, or the victim of unfounded allegations, then he’d be tenacious and would argue every point, however minor.

‘First let me say, that my client denies the sexual assault on DC Young. He was merely resisting arrest at the time. This he will plead guilty to.’

The bored tone in the solicitor’s voice pleased Beth. It meant he wasn’t interested in this case and therefore wouldn’t put up too much of a fight.

‘Of course he’s pleading guilty to that, it’d be impossible for him to wriggle off that hook. For the record, DC Young has been examined by a police doctor and the injuries to her chest have been recorded. I’ve also given a written statement about what I witnessed. Mr Gracie will be in court for that assault one day soon. It’s a dab on and you know it. As we’re involved in that crime, we won’t be the ones to investigate it; that’ll be done by another team. Fortunately, we have experts in such matters.’ O’Dowd licked her lips as she stared at Lewis. ‘I know you’re using today’s events as a stalling tactic, that you’re trying to deflect from the reason we had an arrest warrant for Gracie.’

‘Really, Inspector, do you think I consider you so foolish as to fall for such an obvious tactic?’

Beth cut in before O’Dowd and Lewis could develop the bickering into a spat. ‘It doesn’t matter what we think your opinion of us is. Mr Gracie was in the vicinity of an abduction which resulted in a violent rape and murder. He gave a statement to the police investigating the original abduction.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with that. He was being a good citizen.’

‘Indeed he was. His statement was that he didn’t see anything. However, he did chat about birdwatching with the officer who took his statement.’

‘So he shared a common interest with someone. I see no reason to accuse him of multiple rapes and murders.’

Beth wanted to massage the pain in her breast away but there was no way she was going to do so in front of Gracie. To prevent her subconscious from stepping in she laid her hands on the table.

‘Mr Gracie may or may not remember the conversation, but the officer he spoke to recorded it.’ Beth shifted her focus from Lewis to Gracie. ‘You recommended some good birdwatching sites to him. I still have his notes. The bodies of Christine Peterson, Joanne Armstrong and Harriet Quantrell were dumped at Barrow beach, Buttermere and Rockcliffe Marsh respectively. During Sunday night, Felicia Evans’s body was dumped at the side of Lake Ullswater. Every one of those locations was on the list of places you recommended.’

‘So I happen to know Cumbria, that’s not a crime. I have never killed or raped anyone. This is a coincidence and nothing more. Tell me, how many places were on that list?’

‘Nine.’ Beth didn’t like the conviction in Gracie’s voice. He didn’t sound defensive or afraid, to her he had the tone of someone who believed their innocence would be proven.

‘You mentioned four names. That’s slightly more than one third of the places my client suggested to one of your colleagues. I’d hardly call that conclusive, would you?’

‘Perhaps indicative would be a better word than conclusive.’ Beth folded her right arm over her chest and pressed inwards as she scratched an imaginary itch on her neck. The action relieving a spike of pain in her chest. ‘And your maths is off if you think four places out of nine is only slightly more than a third, because I make it almost a half.’

‘These places that were mentioned. Were they out of the way locations or had you heard of them yourself?’

Beth didn’t like the way that Lewis was perking up. He was paying more interest to the case and it was only a matter of time before he’d be giving his best efforts to protect Gracie. His question was a good one that needed to be answered with care.

‘I’d heard of most of them, although if I’m honest with you, I’ve only been to about half the locations mentioned.’

‘I see. Had you heard of the deposition sites before investigating this case?’

This question was even tougher to answer than the previous one. The lawyer would be proud of this question, because if Beth said no, it would make it seem as if she didn’t know the area she was paid to police, whereas if she said yes, Lewis would undoubtedly pounce and claim the deposition sites were well known to locals and that they would have to produce evidence tying Gracie to the crimes or release him.

‘Mr Lewis, I think you’re rather forgetting how this works.’ O’Dowd’s voice was soft, but there was no mistaking the steel in her tone. ‘We ask the questions, not you.’

‘Then ask a question, but you better have evidence to back up your claims because this is seeming more and more like a fishing trip than a proper interview.’

O’Dowd was right back, asking Gracie to account for his whereabouts on the dates the first three women were abducted.

Gracie’s tone was apologetic with a hint of condescension. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t remember where I was on any of those dates. They were years ago.’

‘Fair enough. What about Sunday night? Can you remember where you were then?’

‘I was at home. Watched a bit of telly and then went to bed.’ A cocky grin. ‘Wanted