The Infirmary (DCI Ryan Mysteries prequel)(65)

“Mr Draycott, you were arrested earlier today on charges of murder. Do you have anything you wish to tell us?”

“No comment.”

He had received a thorough briefing from his solicitor, but they were undeterred.

“Sebastien, in a statement dated 8th July 2014, you told us that you were at home on the evening of 20th June and did not leave until it was time to go to work the next morning. Is that correct?”

Draycott looked across at his solicitor, then gave a brief nod.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Is there anybody who can vouch for your whereabouts?”

“No, I live alone.”

“You didn’t speak to anybody on the telephone, or answer the door?”

“No, Chief Inspector, nobody happened to pass by at an opportune moment.”

Ryan turned to the next significant date.

“How about the morning of last Sunday 6th? In your previous statement, you told us that you were, once again, at home throughout the relevant time period. Can anybody vouch for that?”

“No, Chief Inspector, as I’ve already said, I don’t keep a lodger in the house for the express purpose of providing me with an ongoing alibi. The last time I checked, we don’t live in a police state. Citizens are usually free to go about their lives without fear of being arrested on trumped-up charges of murder.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow at that.

“So, in summary, you do not have an alibi for either of these dates?”

Draycott pressed his lips into a tight line.

“Turning to the most recent events of Tuesday 8th July, we already know you were at your workplace at the Royal Victoria Infirmary at the time Nicola Cassidy died. Can you tell us your whereabouts after your shift ended on Sunday 6th?”

“My client has already given his whereabouts in his statement dated 8th July,” his solicitor said.

“I’d like him to remind us,” Ryan said, politely.

“I was at work until nearly ten o’clock,” Draycott snapped. “I didn’t get home until more like eleven, at which time I collapsed into bed.” After taking a hit, to help him sleep.

Ryan said nothing, but both he and Phillips knew that the time recorded on the hospital’s CCTV camera confirmed Draycott’s story, at least on that day. He hadn’t left work until more like ten-fifteen, which put him outside the timescale for snatching Nicola Cassidy. It would have been too late.

But their faces revealed none of that.

“This afternoon, Sebastien, we found keys belonging to Nicola Cassidy hidden in the architrave above the window in your office. Can you tell us how they came to be there?”

“No comment.”

“Oh, and we were doing so well.”

“You already denied any knowledge of those keys,” Phillips said, reasonably. “You seemed to think somebody planted them there. Any idea who’d want to do that?”

“I have no idea.”

“Anybody hold a grudge against you? Anybody who’d want you out of the way?”

Draycott pulled a face.

“Leading a team won’t win you any popularity contests,” he said, then turned to Ryan. “I’m sure you know all about that.”

Ryan said nothing, but had to admit there was a grain of truth in it.

“You’re saying nobody stands out above the rest, nobody who springs to mind?”

“No.”

“How about this,” Ryan tried another tack. “If you were removed from office, who would be a shoo-in to replace you on the hospital committee?”

Draycott’s mouth turned down as he thought of that scenario, which would come soon enough once the committee and the GMC got wind of the drugs investigation.

“There are several suitable candidates,” he said. “Chowdhury, Edwards, O’Rourke,” he rattled off a few names. “They all have the authority, at a push.”

Ryan brought up their faces in his mind’s eye and agreed that, given the right circumstances, each of them had the gravitas to run a busy department.

The question was whether any of them had the inclination to kill.





CHAPTER 28


Heavy rain clouds were gathering in the sky by the time Ryan’s team gathered in the Incident Room at six o’ clock, reflecting their general mood. It had taken several hours to take statements from every member of the Emergency Medicine Department. The interview with the hospital’s senior pharmacist had elicited no real information; she was lawyered up to the hilt and prepared to give a ‘no comment’ interview despite their best efforts. It was another blow to their already strung-out nerves.

To counteract the gloom, Ryan flicked on the overhead lighting and looked at the assembly. It was a hotchpotch of stalwarts from his own division, plus a significant number of ‘new’ faces from Durham CID who had been working remotely until now. It was heartening to know that they had made the effort to be there, in solidarity as much as anything else.

“You’ve all seen the papers,” he began, coming to stand at the front of the room with his hands tucked in the back pockets of his jeans. “You’ve seen the headlines and you know our killer has a name, just not the one we’re looking for.”

Ryan looked around at their tired faces and wondered how much longer they could stand to work at the rate he was asking of them.