Chapter 46
FIFE
Brodie was outside in the station car park. Next to him was Keith Farmington.
‘Sorry about all the fuss, DCI Brodie,’ the older man said. ‘I’m running for the Scottish Parliament, not to be the first man on Mars, as my father might think.’
‘I apologise for the way I spoke to your father. I was just keen to get your viewpoint from back then.’
Keith laughed. ‘Don’t apologise. I just wanted to walk out here because I don’t want to be seen talking to you on camera. Things that get recorded have a habit of getting out, even in dear old Fife.’
‘Understandable.’
‘When my father called, he once again spoke to me like I was fucking five. He forgets I turned sixty last year.’ He held up a hand.
‘I know, I know, it’s a bit old to be running for MSP, but I feel that I have a lot to offer.
I’m a lawyer and I’ve decided to retire.
And when I see how this country is going sometimes, I want to do something to shape its future for the better. Does that make sense?’
‘Perfectly.’
‘Now, you wanted to ask me about 1987. Ask away. Anything you like.’
Brodie stopped for a moment. ‘Did you know your father was having a long-term affair with Margaret Wallace?’
Keith smiled. ‘Yes. My sister didn’t know, or at least, if she did, she never said anything.
I heard him and Margaret talking about the boy one time.
I was surprised, but my father was a bit of a lad, and he seemed to care for Margaret more than he cared for my mother.
There was no love lost between my parents. ’
They started walking again. ‘Margaret said she couldn’t get pregnant, but she did with your father,’ Brodie said.
‘I know. He told me when I was an adult. He and Margaret had talked about whether she should keep him or terminate the pregnancy. But Margaret was delighted she was going to have her own baby, even if it wasn’t her husband’s.
She told my father that she loved him and to have his child made their love complete.
It’s a cliché of course, but she loved their son. ’
‘I heard that when he got a bit older, he would run away,’ Brodie said.
‘Which would be a good cover story for whoever murdered him. Make it look like he had just taken off, never to return,’ Keith said.
‘Toby Wallace committed suicide, I believe,’ Brodie said.
‘He did. Bottle of pills and a bottle of whisky. Classic move when you want to go out quietly.’
‘It’s the old adage, but a policeman doesn’t believe in coincidences.
There we have Marcus, missing, later to be found to have been murdered, then Toby Wallace is found after committing suicide on the same day that Marcus was last seen.
I’m paid to be suspicious of things, and that makes me question things. ’
‘You mean, did somebody help Wallace on his way?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Are you suggesting my father might have wanted Wallace out of the picture?’ Keith smiled.
‘That’s what I would think if I was you.
But you would be wrong. At the time Wallace died, my father was visiting America.
He wasn’t even in the country. Besides, Wallace didn’t know about his wife and my father.
And let’s face it, even if he found out, my father could have bought him off.
The man would have been glad of the money.
There would have been no need to kill him. ’
‘Margaret Wallace might have seen things differently.’
‘No. She and my father talked. She didn’t want to break up his marriage.
I know that for a fact because my father told me this.
After we had argued one night, I mentioned that I knew.
He assured me that his marriage was safe.
It wouldn’t benefit his political career to be seen having an affair, and Margaret was simply happy to have him in her life.
Neither of them would have anything to gain from killing Toby Wallace. ’
‘Did your father ever stop seeing Margaret?’ Brodie asked.
‘Never. Even after my mother died, he still saw her. They’ve been friends ever since. More than friends, but as they got older, I imagine just friends.’
They walked back to Keith’s car.
‘Thank you for talking with me,’ Brodie said.
‘Just don’t tell the old man, eh? He’s a moaning bastard as it is. But he still has influence, so I don’t want to rock the boat.’
‘You got it.’