Free The Domino Killer by Neil White Page A

to protecting her children.
    Sam exchanged glances with Charlotte, who said, ‘Did Henry know a man called Keith Welsby?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Claire said. ‘He didn’t tell me everything.’
    ‘Do you know him?’
    Claire thought for a few seconds before shaking her head. ‘No, never heard of him. Who is he?’
    Present tense, Sam noticed. No slip-up at the dead teacher. If Claire had been somehow involved with Keith Welsby, she’d know he was dead. Sam didn’t think she could fake not knowing so soon after finding out about her husband.
    Unless, of course, she’d known about that too.
    ‘He worked at St Hilda’s Catholic School,’ Sam said. ‘He was murdered a month ago.’
    ‘What’s that got to do with us?’
    ‘It’s just something we need to find out.’
    She shook her head in exasperation. ‘No, no connection. We’re not Catholics, our children don’t go to that school, wherever it is. I’ve never heard of the man.’
    ‘Did your husband keep a diary or calendar?’
    ‘There’s one on the back of the kitchen door, but there’s not much on it.’
    Sam went through. It was hanging from a hook, hair appointments and school inset days scrawled on it in black ink. He turned the page to the month before, to the night of Keith Welsby’s murder. There was an entry:
H away, car show
.
    Sam took the calendar back into the living room. ‘Do you know where he went then?’
    Claire looked at it. ‘Something in Birmingham. A trade show or something. He goes every year.’
    And a good alibi, Sam thought. All he had to do was show up, check in and slip back to Manchester to kill Keith Welsby. The place would be busy, and a trade show and hotels means booze. Recollections get muddled, times get forgotten.
    ‘Where did he stay?’ Sam said.
    ‘A Travelodge somewhere. His boss sorted it; you’ll have to ask him.’
    A car pulled up outside, followed by a knock on the door. When Sam answered, it was Eddie, a detective from the squad.
    ‘Hi, Sam. How is it in there?’
    ‘Like you’d expect. You the FLO?’
    ‘Yes,’ Eddie said. ‘Brabham likes my soothing tones.’
    Sam was pleased. Quiet and unassuming, Eddie played the hand-holding role well, but he was sharp. Experienced, heading towards retirement, he’d spot anything untoward, any whispered telephone conversations. After all, a family liaison officer isn’t just there to comfort the bereaved. They’re looking for clues all the time, teasing out confidences.
    ‘Anything happening?’ Eddie said.
    ‘No,’ Sam said. ‘She’s defensive, so there are some secrets, but his death appeared to be a shock.’
    ‘But the secrets could be connected.’
    ‘Don’t let her speak to her sister. We’re heading there next. You know how it works with false alibis: they breakdown in the detail. Let’s see how her sister’s account squares up with Claire’s.’
    Sam went back into the living room and made the introductions. Charlotte got to her feet and lifted the large plastic sack containing Henry’s laptop and the family desktop computer. They’d seized them as Claire cried out her grief. If there were secrets to be found, the computers were the best place to start.
    Charlotte said her goodbyes, Sam too, as Eddie ushered them out, reassuring them both that he had it under control. If there was going to be a revelation that would solve the case, Eddie was the one who wanted to tell everyone.
    When they got back in the car, the computers on the back seat, Charlotte said, ‘What do you think?’
    ‘There’s something going on. Whether Claire Mason will say anything is a different thing. She’s tough. We need to go back to the Incident Room with something. At the moment, we’ve got two murders that are connected, but I can’t think of anything that connects them.’
    ‘So let’s get these computers dropped off at headquarters and see what big sister has to say.’

Thirteen
    Joe’s hands were balled into fists as he walked quickly along the