‘You know, at one point in the appeal, I really thought we were getting somewhere.’ Coultaine looked keenly at Jac for a moment before his gaze drifted again across the marina and the river beyond; inspiration for distant thoughts, the steady timeless surge of the Mississippi pushing them on. ‘Truelle the pyschiatrist’s testimony, and everything surrounding Durrant’s initial confession, was starting to look shaky. I mean, he still had gaps in his memory about so many other things after his car accident — so how could anyone be sure that his recall about what happened that night was accurate? But his depth of detail of the events that night with Jessica Roche — things that only the killer could possibly have known — killed it, if you’ll excuse the expression.’ Coultaine forced an awkward smile. ‘That and the DNA evidence.’
Jac nodded. Before meeting Coultaine, he’d gone through the trial bundle again to get the sequence clear in his mind: the police working a general suspect list which didn’t include Durrant, his car accident four months after the murder and his resultant partial amnesia and ‘recovered memory’ sessions with Truelle in which details of the murder emerged; then the final damning DNA evidence. ‘Pretty conclusive from what I saw in the trial papers.’
‘Yep. Four blood spots on one of Durrant’s jackets with a hundred per cent match with Jessica Roche’s DNA, found at his house straight after his confession. And on top, witness identification — even though it was from a hundred yards away at night.’ Coultaine shrugged. ‘So however much we might have cast doubt on Durrant’s confession due to the fractured state of his memory at the time — we were never able to shift from the jury’s or the appeal judge’s mind the fact that Durrant must have been there.’ Coultaine looked at Jac with his head lowered, eyes lifted — the look a judge might give above his pince-nez. ‘And if you don’t mind me saying, I think you’ll find exactly the same. But if you want to give it a shot because of the promise you’ve made to Durrant, or whatever — I’ll gladly give you some names and pointers.’
‘Thanks, that’d be helpful.’ Though Jac wasn’t sure what he was thanking him for; it looked a hopeless quest. Jac started making notes as Coultaine related the key points and contact names, his memory at times stretched as it leapt the eleven-year gap.
‘Lieutenant Patrick, “Pat”, Coyne… that’s it. He headed the investigation. He’s probably long retired by now, he was over fifty at the time. But he had a bright-eyed assistant — Frier or Friar — something like that. Good chance he’d still be around. Truelle you’ve already got, and we had a psychiatrist countering for defence whose name for the moment escapes me. I’ll have to phone you later with that.’ As Coultaine finished, he asked, ‘What’s Durrant given you that might help fight his corner?’
‘He said that he can’t imagine he’d have broken the promise to his wife not to re-offend, especially with their son just born.’
‘That old turkey.’
‘And he has doubts about the jacket with Jessica Roche’s bloodstains. Says almost certainly he’d have worn one of two other jackets for a “job”. Oh, and the gun used — he’s pretty sure it wasn’t one of his. Doesn’t recall it at all.’
‘The jacket he’s mentioned before, except then he just “wasn’t sure”. But the gun’s something new. At the time, he simply didn’t recognize it — but then he didn’t have recall of any gun he’d had with him on past robberies. So at least his memory appears to be freeing up some. Makes a change. Most people’s memories fade with the years. His seems to be getting clearer.’ Coultaine grimaced. ‘But it’s still all supposition: Larry thinks this, Larry believes that. If Durrant’s memory reached the stage where he could actually remember where he was that fateful night apart from at the Roche residence — drinking, playing pool, seeing a mistress, whatever — because all his wife remembers was that he was “out” — then you’d be getting somewhere.’
Jac nodded pensively. ‘Anything you remember from the investigation whereby there might have been another eye-witness that never came forward?’
‘No, not that I recall. But that’s something you could ask Coyne or his side-kick when you speak to them. I suppose it’s possible that if someone else was seen, say by the woman walking her dog, but never came forward — it might not have featured in the police report if they decided it wasn’t relevant. But it’s unlikely.’ Coultaine shrugged, then looked at Jac more keenly. ‘Why do you ask?’
I was there at the time. Jac passed across the best of the three photos from the twelve enhancements Souchelle had sent him; and as Coultaine examined them, at moments turning them as if for a better angle, Jac explained about the e-mails, his close call with catching up with the sender at Internet-ional, and the thought processes he’d run through with Langfranc.
Coultaine pursed his lips, shaking his head after a moment. ‘No, can’t think of anything from the police reports that might fit in with that.’ He handed the photos back. ‘And can’t say the face rings any bells either, from what little I can see there.’
‘I know. Best I could get.’ Jac sighed, his disappointment when the photos first arrived mirrored in Coultaine’s face in that moment. A hundred per cent improvement from the cam shots, but still far from enough for identification; not even worth trying for an ‘Anyone recognize this man?’ posting with local newspapers.
Coultaine was lost in thought for a moment, his gaze drifting again across the river. ‘For what it’s worth, I’d throw my bet in with you and John Langfranc there: hoaxer, friend or anti-capital punishment campaigner without doubt look the prime suspects. But the murderer himself, there’s a thought.’ Coultaine raised a brow. ‘Have you told Durrant yet?’
‘Yeah, but just the other day. I stressed that it could well be a hoaxer, so as not to falsely build up his hopes. And for the same reason, I didn’t show Durrant the photos or mention the possibility that it could be the murderer. Thought that might be just too confusing for him at this stage; not to mention cruel, if they didn’t finally come forward.’
‘Yeah.’ Coultaine nodded, grimacing tautly. ‘Confusing and cruel — pretty apt words given that Durrant’s starting to have doubts as to whether he actually committed the murder. And still can’t clearly recall half his life from that time.’
A heavier mood suddenly hung over them, a cooler breeze for a moment drifting in off the Mississippi, as if in sympathy. Though Jac couldn’t tell whether the same thoughts had gripped Coultaine in that instant: Durrant confused, memory fractured, and as the days wound rapidly down towards his execution and his doubts grew about his guilt, a bolt comes out of the blue from someone claiming that he didn’t do it; though, cruellest fate of all, even if they were real, they might well not reveal themselves in time to save his life.
Coultaine introduced a fresh tone. ‘But, you know, with Durrant now remembering more — that could well be the key. He’d started to recall more even by the time of the appeal. I checked out a couple of pool buddies then he’d suddenly recalled that might have been able to give him an alibi.’ Coultaine held up one palm. ‘Didn’t head anywhere in the end — but now, who knows? If you could find that one person to corroborate that he was somewhere else that night — then you’d have struck gold. You’d have something solid to counter the DNA evidence.’
‘True.’ Jac cast his eyes down for a second before looking up absently at half a dozen geese flurrying briefly in mid-river before taking flight again. DNA. Whatever else he might come up with, they were always going to be facing that final stone wall.
‘But, hey, DNA these days,’ Coultaine said as he caught Jac’s expression, ‘Million miles from where it was then — practically its first days. Now with a bit more analysis and tweaking here and there, you could easily get lucky and be able to cast doubt on the original findings. And that’s probably all you’d need to do — cast doubt.’