did they give it to? Some twat who’d taken a
picture of a Highland cow in the snow. That sums up this bloody
industry. Do you know what the biggest problem is with newspapers
today? Tyrants. There aren’t enough tyrants who want to be
proprietors any more. It’s all shareholders wanting their slice of
the profits now. But newspapers are about gut instinct – not
playing the market.’
‘And what,’
interrupted April, ‘does that have to do with Selina and
Martin?’
‘Well, they’re in the
fashion business. Again, something you need to have a feel for.
That needs a tyrant at the top, too. So who was the tyrant of the
duo – Martin? I don’t think so. It was Selina. Tyrants make
great captains of industry but they also make great enemies. Find
Selina’s enemies and we’ll find who snapped her neck.’
April sighed. ‘But
where do we begin? I remember a wee lassie from Selina’s office
came to see me a few years back. Charelle or Chantal or
something?’
‘Chantal Cameron. She
was the office dog’s body. Like Selina’s shadow for a while. Went
everywhere with her,’ Connor replied.
‘That’s the one.
Selina fired her and she came into see me bumping her gums, hinting
at all sorts. But she wanted £10,000 up front to tell her story and
the same again on publication.
‘Well, we weren’t
going to pay that sort of money. I managed to haggle her down to a
grand. Then she changed her mind and that was the end of that.
‘But Chantal was just
one of several. Selina’s sacked so many staff she needed to fit a
revolving door. They’ll all be bearing grudges.’ April
reckoned.
‘‘Nah, too obvious.
The ones who were still working for her bear even bigger grudges.
She was a total nightmare. But they’re all women and there’s no way
a woman killed Selina.
‘Maybe there’s
someone who sees himself as Selina’s equal but who’s been crossed
by her. A previous lover? Although I don’t think even the Daily
Herald has enough resources to track them all down. You should
trawl through cutts, mainly the business papers, and see if there
were any lawsuits against Seth International that may have slipped
under the radar.’
‘Oh no,’ screeched
April, ‘you know I’m useless with Factiva.’ Factiva was the new
online newspaper archive system – known as ‘cutts’ – that
had replaced the old Telnet system which had been in place for
fifteen years. ‘The bastards only went and changed Telnet just as
I’d learned to master it,’ she added with no hint of a joke.
Connor laughed. ‘They
can upgrade the system but they can’t upgrade our April
Lavender.’
Apart from
establishing a timeline of Martin Seth’s movements on the day of
his wife’s murder, the formal interview had been unproductive.
Crosbie had asked him directly if he’d killed his wife. Martin had
replied with a firm ‘No’ before his lawyer had intervened. He was
still a suspect, but as this was such a high-profile active case,
Crosbie would have to pursue all other lines of inquiry.
Crosbie was thinking
along the same lines as Connor. He reckoned that Selina Seth’s
sacked office junior was unlikely to have been involved in murder,
but he still had to send a couple of detectives to interview the
former staff member about her whereabouts when her ex-boss was
brutally killed. Crosbie knew it would be a dead end.
He also wanted to
find another disgruntled business associate with a major grudge. He
could take his pick. Then there was the second case of the murdered
prostitute Jackie McIvor, which Crosbie was determined to keep
separate from the Selina investigation. The man who’d killed Jackie
was likely to be a known user of street workers. He’d most likely
have previous for assault and possibly had killed before.
Crosbie hoped that by
morning forensics would confirm that he was indeed after two
different murders, even if the newspapers were determined there was
only one. He afforded
picture of a Highland cow in the snow. That sums up this bloody
industry. Do you know what the biggest problem is with newspapers
today? Tyrants. There aren’t enough tyrants who want to be
proprietors any more. It’s all shareholders wanting their slice of
the profits now. But newspapers are about gut instinct – not
playing the market.’
‘And what,’
interrupted April, ‘does that have to do with Selina and
Martin?’
‘Well, they’re in the
fashion business. Again, something you need to have a feel for.
That needs a tyrant at the top, too. So who was the tyrant of the
duo – Martin? I don’t think so. It was Selina. Tyrants make
great captains of industry but they also make great enemies. Find
Selina’s enemies and we’ll find who snapped her neck.’
April sighed. ‘But
where do we begin? I remember a wee lassie from Selina’s office
came to see me a few years back. Charelle or Chantal or
something?’
‘Chantal Cameron. She
was the office dog’s body. Like Selina’s shadow for a while. Went
everywhere with her,’ Connor replied.
‘That’s the one.
Selina fired her and she came into see me bumping her gums, hinting
at all sorts. But she wanted £10,000 up front to tell her story and
the same again on publication.
‘Well, we weren’t
going to pay that sort of money. I managed to haggle her down to a
grand. Then she changed her mind and that was the end of that.
‘But Chantal was just
one of several. Selina’s sacked so many staff she needed to fit a
revolving door. They’ll all be bearing grudges.’ April
reckoned.
‘‘Nah, too obvious.
The ones who were still working for her bear even bigger grudges.
She was a total nightmare. But they’re all women and there’s no way
a woman killed Selina.
‘Maybe there’s
someone who sees himself as Selina’s equal but who’s been crossed
by her. A previous lover? Although I don’t think even the Daily
Herald has enough resources to track them all down. You should
trawl through cutts, mainly the business papers, and see if there
were any lawsuits against Seth International that may have slipped
under the radar.’
‘Oh no,’ screeched
April, ‘you know I’m useless with Factiva.’ Factiva was the new
online newspaper archive system – known as ‘cutts’ – that
had replaced the old Telnet system which had been in place for
fifteen years. ‘The bastards only went and changed Telnet just as
I’d learned to master it,’ she added with no hint of a joke.
Connor laughed. ‘They
can upgrade the system but they can’t upgrade our April
Lavender.’
Apart from
establishing a timeline of Martin Seth’s movements on the day of
his wife’s murder, the formal interview had been unproductive.
Crosbie had asked him directly if he’d killed his wife. Martin had
replied with a firm ‘No’ before his lawyer had intervened. He was
still a suspect, but as this was such a high-profile active case,
Crosbie would have to pursue all other lines of inquiry.
Crosbie was thinking
along the same lines as Connor. He reckoned that Selina Seth’s
sacked office junior was unlikely to have been involved in murder,
but he still had to send a couple of detectives to interview the
former staff member about her whereabouts when her ex-boss was
brutally killed. Crosbie knew it would be a dead end.
He also wanted to
find another disgruntled business associate with a major grudge. He
could take his pick. Then there was the second case of the murdered
prostitute Jackie McIvor, which Crosbie was determined to keep
separate from the Selina investigation. The man who’d killed Jackie
was likely to be a known user of street workers. He’d most likely
have previous for assault and possibly had killed before.
Crosbie hoped that by
morning forensics would confirm that he was indeed after two
different murders, even if the newspapers were determined there was
only one. He afforded
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