Chapter 49
Forty-Nine
It was almost twelve by the time Bryant pulled up outside Russells Hall Hospital.
Kim jumped out of the car and began heading to the morgue. Bryant finally caught her just inside the main entrance.
‘Tell me again why we’re not going to speak to him straight away?’
‘Because I want to know exactly how incriminating that audio is before we interview him.’
Kim had felt just a few seconds of light-headedness when Penn had revealed that the man Nadine had met was none other than Joe Butler, the man who was allegedly cut up over losing his boys because Ashley Reynolds hadn’t tried hard enough to keep them. They already knew the man had a temper.
‘Why wouldn’t he have taken the recording after he killed her?’
‘Fingerprints,’ Kim said. ‘He may have acted in a fit of rage, or he might not have known about it. He might have thought the photos were the only proof, something he could try and get out of if he could silence Nadine.’ She pushed open the morgue door.
‘What a lovely surprise,’ Keats said, buzzing her through to his anteroom.
‘Not here to see you,’ she said, stepping around the open body bag on a gurney.
Two men in black moved out of her way.
Kim had walked in on this process before. When passing over a body to a funeral home, the pathologist would complete a form noting all the marks on the body at the point of handover. Any further damage done was not down to him.
Keats hadn’t been thrilled with her when she’d compared it to completing a hire car disclaimer, listing the dents and scratches to the bodywork before it went out on lease.
This must be the body of George Hubbard, released now the case was closed and Martha Stout had been charged with murder.
‘All done,’ Keats said, zipping up the body bag to cover the gunshot wound to the left temple.
A part of her wanted to ask Keats to put him back in the fridge, explain that there was more to this story. But that was sure to get back to Woody, and he’d made his feelings clear on the matter.
‘Is Mitch home?’ she asked as the undertakers wheeled the gurney out of the way.
Keats took mock offence. ‘Oh, Inspector, you don’t bring me flowers any more.’
‘I never did, and you ain’t Barbra Streisand, so I’ll take that as a yes.’
She headed through the anteroom and down the corridor to Mitch’s small lab at the end.
The majority of tech work was carried out at Ridgepoint House, Birmingham, but Mitch preferred his small office in the morgue.
‘Hey, Mitch, got the tape recorder?’ she asked once she entered.
He tipped his head at her lack of greeting. ‘Hey, Mitch, how are you doing? How’s the wife? You know, pleasantries and all that.’
Kim had met his wife and had no wish to ask after her health.
‘Hey, Mitch, got the tape recorder?’ she repeated.
He shook his head in despair and pushed a clear evidence bag towards her.
‘Anything on there?’
‘No prints other than hers. I haven’t listened as I knew you’d be along soon enough.’
She pressed the Play button through the plastic and placed the device back on the desk. They all listened as a woman’s voice filled the room.
Kim closed her eyes and mentally inserted Nadine and Joe into the description of events relayed by Rita Copson.
The two of them hug.
Nadine: Hey, Joe, glad you could make it.
Joe: Of course. I’ve been dying to meet you.
Nadine: Me too. Text messages aren’t very satisfying. You can’t say what’s really on your mind.
Joe: Oh, there are lots of things on my mind at the moment.
Nadine laughs.
Nadine: Easy, tiger, plenty of time for that. Let’s enjoy our drinks for a minute.
Joe: Okay, if that’s what you want.
Nadine: Where does your wife think you are right now?
Joe: Not exactly foreplay conversation.
Nadine: You can whisper in my ear if you’d like.
Joe: I don’t want to talk about Lucinda right now.
Nadine: She must be very trusting to let a man like you out on his own.
Joe: She believes every word I tell her.
Nadine: Tell me about her.
Joe: Why?
Nadine giggles.
Nadine: It turns me on. I enjoy messing with a married man.
Joe: She’s nice enough. Not sexy like you. She’s a good cook, and she takes good care of my boys, but she’s not exactly dynamite if you know what I mean.
Silence.
Joe: Are you listening?
Nadine: Oh yeah, sorry. What was that?
Photographer leaves. Nadine cools. Joe reaches under the table. Nadine jumps back.
Nadine: What the fuck, Joe?
Joe: Just getting a preview.
Nadine: You really think you can just do that? When the fuck did I give you permission for that?
Joe: Oh, come on. It’s what we’re both here for. Don’t go all coy on me now, sweetheart.
Nadine: I’m not your damn sweetheart. Where do you get off thinking you can just touch someone without their consent? You’re a fucking creep.
Joe: Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? I came here to get—
Nadine: I know what you came here to get, but seeing as you think sexual assault is okay, you’re getting nothing except a dose of the truth. It’s a sting, you filthy moron.
Joe: Wh… what are you…?
Nadine: It’s a setup. You’ve been caught. I’m a decoy. I’ve been sent to try and trap you, and you walked right into it, you piece of shit.
Joe: You’re lying. What kind of game—?
Nadine: The kind that sees photos of you all over me being given to your wife.
Silence.
Joe: Is this some kind of joke? Is this what turns you on?
Nadine: Nothing about you turns me on.
Joe: You want money? Is this a shakedown?
Nadine: Oh, I’ll get paid, but not by you. We have the proof that you’re a lying, filthy scumbag, and in a few hours’ time, your wife is going to know it too.
Joe stands up.
Joe: Give me the fucking photos.
Nadine: They already walked out the door, you arsehole.
Joe leans over the table and points in Nadine’s face.
Joe: You’re gonna regret this, you fucking bitch. You’re not going to get away with this. You wait and see.
Nadine: Bye, Joe. Happy life.
Joe: Drop dead, whore.
Silence.
Click.
‘He didn’t know about the recording – she never mentioned it,’ Kim said, feeling the excitement build.
‘Thanks, Mitch,’ she added, heading out of the morgue at speed.
She had wanted to know if the contents of the tape were bad enough to incite someone to murder.
Joe Butler had once again been blindingly angry at a woman whom he felt had done him wrong, and now she was dead.
Kim was pretty sure that was evidence enough.