A Date To Die For Page 6

  ‘Well, Harvey, I admire your conscientiousness, but murder is our business,’ Tessa said, ‘so that makes your business our business. Did you spend the night with your girlfriend?’

  ‘No.’

  Joe asked Harvey what time his girlfriend left.

  ‘I don’t know, about ten, I guess.’ Harvey stood. ‘I have to get back to work,’ he said again.

  ‘Give us your girlfriend’s details, then you can get back to work,’ Joe had said in a tone that made it clear to Harvey it would be in his best interest to co-operate.

  Joe and Tessa confirmed the next day that Harvey’s girlfriend was at his place until around nine-thirty. They had only been dating for a few weeks, so Joe and Tessa thought it was unlikely she’d lie to protect him. Particularly when murder was involved.

  ***

  Paul and Tessa returned with coffee, water, and a tray of cupcakes. Tessa shook Joe on the shoulder. ‘Are you sleeping?’

  Joe opened his eyes. ‘No, just thinking about the interview with Harvey Cosgrove.’

  Tessa reached for a cupcake. ‘I found these in the fridge. Looks like you’ve been baking again.’

  ‘Mum,’ Joe said.

  ‘So where are we with Harvey Cosgrove?’ Paul asked.

  ‘Harvey came across as a jealous colleague, but we’ve got him near the bottom of the list. The timeframe doesn’t work. Amber left home at seven. Harvey’s girlfriend left his apartment sometime between nine-thirty and ten. She was there about three hours. He wouldn’t have had time to meet with Amber.’

  ‘Mostly agree,’ Tessa said. ‘But there was something hinky about her. Maybe we should do more digging there.’

  ‘Hinky? You watch too much American TV,’ Joe laughed. ‘My mother would agree with Sam Gerard—don’t use words that have no meaning.’

  ‘Sam who?’

  ‘Sam Gerard. From The Fugitive, one of my all-time favourite movies,’ Joe said.

  ‘You love your nineteen-eighty something movies, don’t you,’ Tessa said.

  ‘This one was nineteen-ninety something. And yes, I love my old movies.’

  Joe took a sip of water. The bottle was empty. He debated about making a coffee, looked at his watch and decided it was too late for coffee and settled for another bottle of water.

  ‘So that brings us to one of our main suspects,’ Joe said. ‘Edward Kowalski.’

  10

  Joe passed his laptop to Paul. ‘These are the notes from our first interview with Kowalski.’

  While Paul read the notes Joe closed his eyes and as he did with Harvey replayed the interview with Edward Kowalski.

  Kowalski was tall, about the same height as Joe, in his mid-thirties, with fair to light brown hair and dark brown eyes. Joe and Tessa interviewed him in a meeting room situated in the corner of a large, open-planned office. Despite the room’s glass walls, the fifty or more staff scattered around the office appeared oblivious to the meeting, apparently used to the comings and goings of people they didn’t recognise. The meeting room, on level twenty-five, had extensive views of Sydney Harbour, its ferries, the Opera House, and Luna Park in the distance. Joe, Tessa, and Kowalski occupied three of the available twelve chairs around an oval conference table. A sixty-inch wall mounted monitor watched over the meeting room, and a teleconference phone resembling a flying saucer sat in the middle of the table.

  Kowalski said he was chairing a meeting in ten minutes and could only afford to spend two or three minutes. He was shocked of course to hear the news about Amber—yes, she was a clever, ambitious employee with a promising career ahead of her. Throughout the interview, he jiggled and twisted his wedding ring.

  Joe recalled Edward Kowalski’s reactions to their questions. His face flushed when Tessa asked him about having coffee with Amber. ‘Oh yes, well, um … I was helping her with her assignment for her law degree. As I said, she was smart and had a promising career.’ Another twist of the wedding ring.

  ‘Are you a lawyer, Ed?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘Edward,’ he corrected Tessa.

  ‘Are you a lawyer, Mr Kowalski?’ Joe asked.

  Kowalski reached for a tissue from the box at the end of the table, removed his glasses and started to polish them. ‘I studied law about ten years ago.’

  Joe leaned in closer. ‘Are you a lawyer, Mr Kowalski?’

  ‘No, I didn’t finish my law degree. I have a diploma in …’

  ‘Where were you on Sunday night?’ Joe interrupted.

  ‘Sunday, my wife and I were at a restaurant with my wife’s sister and her husband. We were celebrating my sister-in-law’s birthday.’

  ‘What time were you there?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘We had a late lunch. We left around three, three-thirty.’

  ‘So where were you Sunday night?’ Joe asked again.

  ‘At home.’

  ‘All night? Can your wife vouch for that?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘Well, not all night. My wife watches one of those annoying lifestyle home renovation shows on Sunday nights, and I went for a run.’ Kowalski’s mobile played the default iPhone ringtone. ‘Give my apologies, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Start the meeting.’ He stood to leave. ‘If that’s all, I have to go to my meeting. It’s important.’

  ‘Sit down, Ed,’ Tessa said. ‘We haven’t finished. So, you went for a run on a full stomach after a boozy lunch?’

  ‘My name is Edward. And I didn’t drink. I was designated driver and I’m in training for a half marathon. I really have to go.’

  Joe remembered the tobacco smell he noticed when they first met Kowalski and wondered how that affected his marathon performance. ‘We’re sorry for delaying you, Mr Kowalski, but we’re trying to find out who murdered Amber, a colleague and friend of yours. We’d appreciate any help you can give us. What time did you go for your run?’ Joe asked.

  Kowalski twisted his wedding ring, again. ‘She wasn’t a friend. She was a direct report.’

  ‘What time did you go for your run?’ Joe repeated.

  ‘Around seven, seven thirty.’

  ‘A little more detail,’ Joe said. ‘Where did you run? How long did you run?’

  Kowalski stood. ‘I’m getting a little tired of all these questions. I told you, I have an important meeting.’ He walked to the meeting room door.

  ‘Sit down, Mr Kowalski.’ Slowly articulating each word, Joe said, ‘We understand you are a busy man, and you have important meetings to attend. But as I said, we are investigating the murder of a young woman. A young woman who you worked with. I think a murder investigation trumps your meeting.’

  ‘Am I a suspect?’

  ‘We have to investigate all avenues, Ed,’ Tessa said. ‘Where did you run and what time did you get home?’

  ‘It’s Edward. And I drove to the local park where I run most times and came home around ten.’

  ‘Two and a half to three-hour run—late at night? Do you do that often?’ Joe asked.

  ‘I told you, I’m in training.’

  ‘Was there anybody else there? Can anybody vouch for you?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘There may have been one or two people walking their dogs, I don’t know, there often is. But maybe not at that time of night.’

  Joe asked, ‘Can your wife confirm what time you got home from your run?’

  ‘She was asleep.’

  ‘We’ll need to speak with your wife,’ Tessa said. ‘What’s her mobile number?’

  ‘There’s no need for you to speak with her. I’ve helped you all I can. She knows nothing.’

  ‘We’ll decide that,’ Joe said. ‘Now, can we have her contact details—please?’

  ‘That’s all for now. Thank you for your co-operation, Mr Kowalski,’ Joe said after Kowalski wrote his wife’s mobile number on a business card.

  Joe handed Kowalski his card. ‘And please contact us if you think of anything that will help us with our investigation into the murder of your colleague.’

  ‘Thanks, Ed,’ Tessa said as she handed him her card. ‘You better run along to your very important meeting now.’ Joe smirked as he gave Tessa a sideways glance. He always pretended to disapprove but was always secretly amused at her sarcastic sense of humour when she didn’t like somebody. And he had to admit, most times she had good reasons for not liking somebody. Tessa was the best he knew at reading people.

  Joe opened the meeting room door but stopped before exiting. ‘One more question, Mr Kowalski. Did you have romantic feelings for Amber?’

  Kowalski’s face flushed. ‘That’s absurd. I’m a married man.’

  ***

  ‘Ed Kowalski’s at the top of the list,’ Joe said when Paul finished reading the notes. ‘When we interviewed his wife, she said she was probably asleep when he came home—she was in a separate room because he snores when he’s been drinking. She agreed he was the designated driver at lunch, but he had a few drinks when they came home. And she thought it was odd that he would want to run with alcohol in his system. But he runs at strange hours, so she didn’t think any more of it. When we re-interviewed Kowalski, he admitted he may have had one or two drinks, but he was fit, and a bit of alcohol didn’t stop him from jogging. He said he’d forgotten about having a drink when we interviewed him the first time.’

  ‘And he denied his feelings for Amber,’ Tessa added. ‘I’m betting that’s a lie too. The way he kept twisting his wedding ring every time we mentioned Amber’s name during the first interview.’

  ‘And the increased blood flow to his face when we asked if he had romantic feelings about Amber was a bit of a giveaway,’ Joe said.

  Paul leaned on the table, steepled his hands. ‘I wonder what else our Ed Kowalski lied about.’

  ‘Mind your manners. Don’t you mean Edward?’ Tessa said. ‘Yep, there’s definitely something, can I say hinky, about our friend Ed. He’s right-handed. We confirmed that when he wrote his wife’s contact details on the card. And he doesn’t have an alibi he can prove. Ed is high on our current list of suspects, and I think Aaron Thompson is up there too.’

  Paul looked at his watch. ‘It’s still early. Tell me about Aaron Thompson.’

  11

  Aaron Thompson knew the second victim Isabel Reinhard. So Joe and Tessa spent the next fifteen minutes summarising Isabel Reinhard’s file for Paul.

  Isabel was age twenty-two, lived at home with her mother and stepfather. She had one older sister, single, also living at home. Isabel was close to her biological father and stayed with him at least once a month sometimes twice. Issy, as her friends called her, was in her third year of a veterinary science degree. She was petite, with long streaked blonde hair.

  Interviews with friends and relatives revealed similar attributes as Amber Thompson, victim number one. There was no reason anybody would want to harm her. Isabel was smart, studious, and good natured. But, unlike Amber who was outgoing and confident, friends described Isabel as a shy, private person. Joe and Tessa agreed that Isabel’s apparent reserved nature might explain her lack of social media presence.

  She had a few close girlfriends with whom she went to clubs or movies, mainly on Friday nights, because she dedicated her weekends to her studies. Isabel wasn’t in a serious romantic relationship, although she dated Aaron Thompson on and off for a few months until, according to her sister, she broke it off. Joe noted at the time that Aaron’s surname was the same as Amber’s, the first victim. Both had the initials A.T. Was Aaron related to Amber? Was he the link between the two girls? Or was the same surname just a coincidence?

  Aaron was interstate for a concert when Joe first contacted him. Joe and Tessa interviewed Aaron at his unit the following week. Research prior to the interview revealed that he reported directly to the head of sales and marketing at the same company as Amber.

  ‘So, tell me about the interview with Aaron Thompson,’ Paul said. ‘How did he react?’

  ***

  Tessa’s narration of the interview for Paul played like a movie in Joe’s mind.

  ‘Thank you for making the time to speak to us, Aaron,’ Tessa said as they entered the tiny, almost claustrophobic living area of Aaron’s unit. ‘We understand you went to Brisbane for a concert. That’s a long way to go to see a band.’

  ‘I couldn’t get tickets for Sydney. The concert was sold out and the band probably won’t be back in Australia for a year or two. And I was able to combine the trip with a business meeting.’

  ‘Handy,’ Tessa said. ‘A leisure trip paid for by the company.’

  ‘Lurks and perks,’ Aaron said. ‘You take ’em when you can.’

  ‘Is that the band playing on your iPad?’ Tessa said. ‘Do you mind turning it down?’

  ‘No, not down. Off.’ Joe walked to the small round dining table. A laptop sat on the table with a beer on a coaster to the right of it and a mouse to the left on a mouse pad with his company’s logo. ‘Take a seat Aaron, we have some questions.’

  Joe and Tessa sat with their backs to the balcony, which was just metres away from the next tall block of units obstructing any potential views of Sydney.

  ‘We don’t want to hold you up any longer than necessary, so we’ll get to the point,’ Joe said. ‘As you know, Issy was murdered last Sunday week. It must be hard for you. We understand you were close for a while.’

  ‘I’m not sure why you want to talk to me,’ Aaron said. ‘I don’t know anything. I haven’t seen Isabel for weeks.’

  ‘We’re talking to everyone who knew Issy, friends, relatives, even casual acquaintances,’ Joe said. ‘We need all the information about her we can gather so we can apprehend the person who murdered her. You were close to Issy. I’m sure you want us to find and arrest the person who did this to her. So we really appreciate your time and cooperation. Can you tell us more about your relationship with Issy?’

  ‘You’re wrong. We weren’t close. We were hanging out for a while, but I broke it off.’

  ‘When did you last see Issy?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘I saw Isabel at a coffee shop one morning, about eight, maybe ten weeks ago. That’s when we agreed to go our separate ways.’

  ‘You said you broke it off. Was it your decision or a mutual agreement?’ Joe asked Aaron.

  ‘Yes, mutual, I said I think we need a break. She agreed. We agreed.’

  ‘We understood it was Issy’s decision to break up,’ Tessa said.

  ‘No, you’re wrong, it was mutual. The relationship wasn’t going anywhere and she … I mean, we wanted to get on with our lives.’

  ‘You must have known Issy well. Do you know of any reason why anybody would want to harm her?’ Joe asked.

  Aaron slouched in his chair—his neck turtled into his shoulders. He bit his bottom lip and didn’t answer.

  ‘Sorry Aaron, I know this must be hard for you. But do you know why anybody would want to harm Issy?’ Joe repeated.

  Aaron sat up, hesitated, said ‘No, I can’t think of any reason.’

  Not wanting to discuss Isabel’s virginity with Aaron, Joe simply asked Aaron, ‘How close were you and Issy?’

  ‘We dated for a bit, that’s all. I told you, the relationship was, well, nothing was happening.’

  ‘So, you lost the bet,’ Tessa said.

  ‘What bet?’ Aaron’s face flushed. ‘What bet, what are you talking about?’

  ‘You know exactly what we’re talking about,’ Tessa said. ‘We’ve been talking to your and Issy’s mutual friends. According to them, you had a bet with your mates that you could get Issy into bed. And you’d video it as proof.’

  ‘No, that was a joke. A stupid joke. I wouldn’t do that.’

  ‘Where were you that Sunday night?’ Joe asked.

  ‘I, um … I’ll have to check my diary.’

  Aaron opened his laptop, checked the diary, and closed the laptop. ‘There’s nothing in my diary. Sunday nights I mostly stay in, watch TV, you know, some Netflix bingeing. There’s nothing in my diary, so I was home.’

  ‘Can anybody vouch for you?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘This is a secure building. There’ll be a video recording showing that my car didn’t leave the building.’

  ‘Did you leave the building?’ Joe asked.

  ‘No, I don’t go anywhere without my car. Check the videos.’

  ‘You don’t go out for the occasional walk?’ Tessa said.

  ‘No, not in this neighbourhood.’

  ‘We’ll check the videos,’ Joe said. ‘How well did you know Amber Thompson? We noticed she had the same last name and the same initials as you?’

  Aaron shook his head. ‘I … I don’t know her. Was she one of Isabel’s friends? I thought I knew them all.’

  ‘Where were you the first Sunday in April?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘Are you serious? You know, that always amuses me when the cops ask the same type of ridiculous question on TV. Where were you six months ago? Now I’ve got cops asking me the same silly question in real life.’ Aaron pointed at Tessa. ‘Do you know where you were on the first Sunday in April?’

  ‘If you value your index finger, you’ll stop pointing it at me.’ Tessa reached over and opened Aaron’s laptop. ‘Now, maybe if you check your diary again, you might find an answer to our silly question.’

  ‘Okay, okay. Keep your pants on.’ Aaron accessed his diary with not so gentle keystrokes. ‘There’s nothing in my diary for that day. Again, I probably stayed in. That’s my Sunday routine.’

  ‘You’re close to the city here, bars, restaurants. You didn’t go out for a drink or a meal?’ Tessa persisted.

  ‘No, no. How many times do I have to tell you? I …’

  Joe noticed Aaron’s knuckles turning white from clenched fists. ‘We just need to make sure we get our facts right. And as I said before, we really appreciate your co-operation, Aaron.’ Joe said in his quiet, liquid-gold voice. ‘You know what it’s like. You have to get your reports right for the boss, don’t you? Well, we do too. So, think carefully back to April. Around Easter. You might have altered your routine.’