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Bodies of Evidence - Chapter 6 |
| Written by Philip Neale | |
| Tuesday, 20 May 2008 | |
 At the age of forty and an ex-boxer, John Fraser was a fine figure of a man who had earned his living in the brutal field of the professional arm of the sport for a period of fifteen years. A heart murmur had forced his retirement just when he appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough, albeit at the relatively late age of thirty-two and he had been forced into a career change. He had used his former earnings to finance a legitimate coaching course in the sport, and now ran the largest of the town’s three ‘stables’. In the eight years since retirement he had built up a very successful business and would have no dealings with the shadier side of the game. To date there had been no-one either brave or stupid enough to challenge those principals. Marks was intrigued by the allegation of a relationship with the Thorpes and wondered whether this could have provided him with a motive for dealing with the problem of Miles Thomas. “Come in inspector, I’ve been expecting you. No doubt Mr Thornton has pointed you in my direction – a strange man with the irritating habit of minding other peoples’ business, but he’s harmless enough really.” “Thank you Mr Fraser and yes we have. If we could take a little of your time, there are one or two things we’d like to clear up. I gather you’ve heard by now about Miles Thomas.” “Yes I have. Not a pretty sight I understand. He was involved in some dirty stuff, and the world is better off without him, although I am very sorry for his parents. Please feel free to ask anything you wish, and no, it wasn’t me who beat him up.” “We already have an admission from Leroy Randall to that, but we’d like to discuss your relationship with Carol Thorpe please.” Fraser went on at length to elaborate upon Carol Thorpe’s account of the break up of her marriage to Peter. The man was a gambler, and although he provided a stable home background for their son, he was the cause of the family’s chronic cash shortage. When he left, fleeing from his creditors, Carol was forced into supporting herself and Martin by going back to work. She had politely refused all Fraser’s offers of financial help, and although a kind of understanding had been building up between them, he hadn’t wanted to move too quickly into asking her to marry him. There was also the added complication of Martin, and the boy had gone off the rails since the departure of his father. When Miles Thomas started to take an interest, Fraser’s first thought was that he was making a move on Carol, but when it became apparent that the boy had started taking an interest in drugs, Thomas’ motives became clear. Without mentioning anything to Carol, he had lain in wait for Miles the evening before last when the dealer had returned from one of his periodic ‘sales’ meetings. Pulling him into any alleyway, Fraser made his feelings and intentions plain to the man. It was a waste of time, as Thomas was obviously high on something at the time, and any physical punishment would have had very little effect. Not to be thwarted, when their paths crossed the following day, a quiet reminder of the previous evening and the consequences of ignoring any advice were laid before Thomas, and this time Fraser ensured that his warnings were not misunderstood. The discovery of the state of the flat together with the body on the roof would have made him a prime suspect. There were no secrets in the apartment building, and he was sure that someone would have mentioned it to the detectives in the course of the day. “Surprisingly not Mr Fraser” said Marks “But together with Mrs Thorpe’s threats to Thomas and your involvement with her, it does tend to put you into the spotlight. We do not yet have a definite time of death, but when we do, I will be returning to re-interview both of you.” “I was not responsible for his death, Inspector. I spend virtually all of my day at the gymnasium and have many witnesses to that effect. In the evenings there are intensive coaching sessions for a number of our brighter prospects, and I am always there. Carol has complained about it in the past few weeks when I have stood her up.” “Have there been any unusual visitors to Mr Thomas’ flat in the recent past?” It was Spencer this time, using a tactic that he and Marks had developed to unsettle a confident suspect. Interruptions have the habit of surprising people into injudicious remarks which they would not ordinarily have made. It was not successful with Fraser, and was clearly not hiding anything. “A number of women, rarely the same ones twice – he had stamina I’ll give him that. There was one man though, a six-footer and slim, always wearing sun glasses and a hat. He looked out of place, and I never heard him speak. He looked like he could be trouble.” “Did you ever go into Thomas’ flat?” It was Marks this time, switching the point of the question. “No, by the time I got involved with Martin’s problems I think Thomas was wary of being anywhere alone with me. If you’re thinking that there’ll be any trace of me in there, you’re wrong.” “Well we will need to take samples of your fingerprints and DNA in order to eliminate you, but it’s just routine at this stage.” “That’s alright with me, I’ve got nothing to hide. The man’s gone and I’m pleased. Maybe now Carol can get her problems sorted out.” Marks and Spencer left the flat, and with only one more tenant to see they were no closer to an initial suspect than they had been right at the start. Their next call was at Flat 2 the home of George Carlton-Smythe, a retired colonel in the Green Howards. Copyright 2008 Philip Neale |
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