Daisy in Chains(19)

He shakes his head. ‘Didn’t hear a phone ring.’

‘I made the call.’

‘While a nosy copper is in your downstairs loo? And, you know what, it really didn’t sound like someone on the phone. The pitch of a voice is completely different. Raised. Clearer. Designed to carry. You were talking to someone in the room.’

‘And if I was?’

He gives up. ‘Whatever. I have no right to ask. It’s in the job description to pry.’

‘How about I tell you when I know you better? Does that sound fair?’

‘OK.’

‘Now it’s my turn. I’ve been doing some reading about the case. Not because I’ve decided to take it on – I’m still pretty certain I won’t – but it does interest me, I’ll admit. There was something I found a reference to. Twice. But it wasn’t explained. I wondered whether you might fill me in.’

‘Try me.’

‘What’s “Daisy in Chains”?’

He feels the stiffening in his spine and hopes she hasn’t seen it. ‘Where’d you hear about that?’

‘There was a reference in a book about Wolfe. Trashy piece of work, so I’m not sure how seriously to take it. But you’ve obviously heard of it too, so go on, what was it?’

‘To be honest, we don’t know. It was only ever a rumoured piece of evidence. We never found it.’

‘Found what though?’

‘When Wolfe was on remand and we were building our case, we spoke to people who’d known him when he was younger.’

Maggie has leaned forward across the table, removing her gloves to reveal small, pale hands and pink painted nails.

‘We were trying to get an idea of his character. Some signs that he had a history of violence. Or, at any rate, disturbed behaviour.’

‘Torturing animals, that sort of thing?’

‘Exactly. Or girlfriends presenting at A & E rather too frequently for comfort.’

‘Did you find anything?’

He shakes his head. ‘Nothing in terms of violence. What we did uncover was a lot of talk about his – how shall I put it – sexual preferences.’

‘Is this about his fondness for plus-sized females?’

‘There was a club, when he was at university, allegedly. Called themselves the Fat Club. A group of four or five male students who dated fat women and – this is the interesting part – made sex tapes with them.’

Her black eyelashes tighten. ‘With the women’s knowledge?’

Pete shakes his head. ‘No. The sessions were filmed secretly. Trouble is, the men who supposedly were involved, the so-called Fat Club themselves, have stayed tight-lipped about it. We had them in countless times. Nothing. It was a couple of people on the periphery who told us about it. A bloke on the same course, one of the women who supposedly was one of the victims. Trouble was, it was all just hearsay. No proof.’

‘What was the hearsay?’

‘That these five guys deliberately targeted large women, quite often plying them with drink, maybe recreational drugs too, getting them into a state where their inhibitions were pretty relaxed, and then taping the sexual encounters.

‘Charming.’

‘Exactly. But it gets worse. Because these tapes weren’t intended just for private viewing. Rumour has it they were sold, via some backstreet distribution channel, under the brand name Fat Girls Get Fucked. According to hearsay, they sold a lot of copies, made a lot of money.’

‘And there’s no proof of any of this?’

‘It was almost twenty years ago. Backstreet video outlets closed down long ago. And something happened. We don’t know exactly what, but my guess is that some of the women found out about it and complained to the university. Maybe some parents got involved. Anyway, the game came to an end and the footage was destroyed. There’s no trace of it left. Just rumour and supposition.’

‘And Daisy in Chains was one of the videos?’

‘By all accounts. One of the dodgier ones.’

‘How so?’

‘It starred Hamish and a young student called Daisy, who apparently had very ample charms.’

‘And chains?’

‘Yeah, they figured too. Allegedly. Some people claimed it was heavy-duty S & M stuff, that Daisy got hurt. One guy even went further and speculated it was an actual snuff movie; that Daisy ended up dead. This was all very unreliable evidence because it was so long ago, the boys were always drunk when they watched the tapes, and it was never clear whether they’d actually seen it or just talked to someone else who had. What we do know is that the Daisy in question – sorry, can’t remember her last name – left the university when this all kicked off and no one knows where she went. She vanished.’

Maggie appears to think for a second. ‘You think she could have been his first victim?’

‘Who knows?’ Pete says. ‘Ask me, I think something went wrong during the making of the Daisy in Chains video. Maybe there was an accident, maybe he got carried away. I think Daisy ended up dead and he managed to cover it up. With or without the help of his friends. I think, initially, he was mortified by what he’d done, vowed never to do it again, tried to put it behind him and concentrate on building a career as a brilliant surgeon.’