Stop Dead (DI Geraldine Steel)

responsibility. It was obvious there was something not quite right with her. But the psychiatric report came back saying she showed no signs of mental disorder or disturbance of any kind. Linda Harrison had known exactly what she was doing when she took her husband’s life, they decided. There was nothing we could do for her. To be honest, she didn’t exactly help herself. It was as though she wanted everyone to put the worst possible construction on what she’d done, and even that fact didn’t sway the jury into believing she was unbalanced. Or the judge for that matter. In his summing up he described her as a genuinely evil character. But is there such a thing? Still, if there is, she came closer than anyone else I’ve ever encountered. “A cold-blooded killer,” that’s how the papers described her.’

     
    As they talked through the details of the case, Melissa let it slip that the only reason she could come up with to account for the defendant’s change of heart was that she didn’t want her niece to be questioned.
    ‘Her niece?’
    Geraldine sat forward, alert.
    ‘What niece? I didn’t know she had a niece.’
    Melissa shrugged.
    ‘There was a niece. Linda’s sister had a daughter. The niece went to live with Linda when her mother died. We never found out who the father was. He disappeared before the child was born. I’m not sure Linda’s sister even knew who he was. Linda didn’t, at any rate. So when the sister died – I can’t remember what it was, leukaemia or something – the child went to live with Linda. There were no grandparents by then. They’d died years before.’
    ‘How old was she?’
    ‘Linda’s sister?’
    ‘No, the niece.’
    ‘I can’t remember exactly. She was about twelve or thirteen when the murder took place, maybe fourteen. There were some questions raised about her being cared for by her nineteen-year-old aunt, but social services thought it was best for the child, to be with family.’

     
    Geraldine felt the skin on the back of her neck prickling with excitement.
    ‘You said Linda confessed to killing her husband to protect her niece from being questioned in court?’
    ‘That was one theory we came up with, just between ourselves. We were trying to understand why she changed her mind.’
    ‘What made her think her niece would be questioned?’
    ‘The child was in the house when Linda killed her husband, so she could have been called as a witness. But then Linda confessed and it wasn’t felt necessary to put the youngster through the ordeal.’

     
    Geraldine could barely phrase her next question; she already knew the answer.
    ‘How was he killed?’
    Melissa shrugged.
    ‘He was battered to death. It was a violent assault.’
    ‘What do you mean, violent?’
    ‘He was knocked out and then beaten to death –’
    ‘Beaten where exactly?’
    Melissa threw Geraldine a shrewd glance. After a brief hesitation, she answered.
    ‘You could check the records – he was beaten in his genitals.’
    ‘What was the niece’s name?’
    Melissa shook her head.
    ‘I’m afraid I can’t remember. We never saw her. Social services had taken her away by the time the case came to us.’

     
    ‘So you’re telling me Linda confessed to protect her niece from being questioned?’
    ‘That’s one possibility. It’s what I believed at the time, because nothing else seemed to make sense. She realised that questioning the girl would only confirm her guilt, so there was no point putting the girl through it. Quicker and better all round for her to confess, and the outcome was the same anyway, even without the niece’s corroboration.’
    ‘There is another possibility,’ Geraldine said quietly.

     
    The solicitor shook her head, her expression suddenly tense. She stood up and when she answered, her voice was sharp.
    ‘Linda Harrison confessed to murder. There was no doubt about the woman’s guilt. No doubt at all. Now, I’ve taken up too much of your time already, and I’ve told you all I know, so I won’t keep you any longer.’
    Geraldine thanked her, pleased that she had taken the time to question Melissa face to face. The retired solicitor’s uneasy expression had confirmed what Geraldine already suspected. She too had realised that there was another possibility.

CHAPTER 57
     
    G eraldine struggled to contain her excitement on hearing that Linda Harrison had a niece. This had to be the answer to the conundrum of the DNA found in Patrick’s car. The