“To be honest, the team began to feel they were wasting valuable time, but then some of the interviews started to add up, especially from—”
Barolli interrupted her. “His family?”
“No. Both parents were deceased. It was a couple of fellow students and employers from before he opened his own company. One man in particular said he had never liked him and felt that Cameron was complicated and a compulsive liar, with a disturbing attitude toward women. This was also implied by everyone questioned. Apparently, he was brought up in South Africa, and his father was violent toward their servants. He was ex-military and strict with Cameron. His mother, however, was a beautiful ex-debutante type who married beneath her; we got all this from a student Cameron had been at university with. The other guy said he had liked Cameron at first but then got put off him as, when drinking, Cameron would become belligerent and often morose. From their conversations, it sounded as if Cameron’s mother had protected him from his father’s abuse, but when he was twelve, she ran off with a close friend of her husband, and this had a traumatic effect on the boy.”
“Some friend,” Barolli commented.
“Which one?”
“His university pal. Why did he do that to Cameron? Just dump him because he had problems.”
“Oh, right. In fact, it was nothing to do with that. They fell out due to Cameron making a pass at his girlfriend. She had become afraid of him, so the two boys argued about it — and Cameron ignored him from that time on.”
Anna recalled the interview when she had watched in amazement as Langton used the information he had gleaned about the mother-son relationship, embroidering on the facts, implying that the relationship had been an incestuous one. The suggestion had enraged Cameron, who, up until that point, had been controlled. For a moment he had looked as if he would explode, but then he had fought to control his anger. He did swear at Langton, insisting that the detective had no right to bring up his mother in connection with why he was being questioned. His face had distorted with rage, but yet again he managed to retain control, although his hands had been clenched the whole time. He maintained that he had no relationship whatsoever with his mother, and that he had not had any contact with her, even when she had begged to see him; nor had he gone to her funeral.
“It was a real lesson, watching Langton open Cameron up, because he switched from asking about his relationship with his mother to implying that he had subsequently become close to his father... which released more vitriol. He seemed unable to stop spewing out how much he had detested him, how he’d spent his formative years living in fear of him, in a country he hated, and it wasn’t until he had watched him dying of cancer that he felt free of his father’s domination, returning to live in England with his mother’s parents.”
However, although the grandparents had taken him in, Cameron’s trials were not over, for they showed him little or no affection. His grandmother had always been against her daughter’s marriage, and being forced into caring for the grandson she had never previously met had created difficulties.
During the interview, as Cameron went into lengthy detail about his background, he required hardly any prodding from Langton. What emerged was the supremely overconfident, egotistical side of the man’s character; he claimed that he had learned to hide his feelings and to portray himself as whatever his grandparents needed to form an attachment to him. They were never aware that he hated them as much as he hated his parents. When they died, Cameron had inherited a considerable amount of money, investments, and properties, and so careless was he in boasting about his wealth that it led to Langton gaining search warrants for two properties that, until Cameron had mentioned them, they had not been privy to his owning. As a result, they discovered the crucial evidence to eventually charge him with the murders.
Barolli was fast asleep, and Anna drove on in silence through the changing landscape, waking him only when they approached the Barfield prison boundary. They had to show their warrant cards and the fax from the prison to the officers at the gates and were instructed to park in the staff section of the car park.
Barfield was one of the few privately owned prisons. A modern build, it was a massive, sprawling place. They were met by an officer and led to the administration section and then through to the governor, who was waiting in his office to offer them tea or coffee. Both Anna and Barolli refused, saying they were eager to meet with Welsh as soon as possible. The governor, Jeremy Hardwick, turned out to be a tall, balding man with disconcertingly large ears, which he was overly fond of pulling at the lobes. He also had a fresh feel to him, as if he were athletic, rising to his feet and shaking their hands vigorously.
He read Anna’s letter of introduction and asked for more details, as to meet with Prisoner 6678905 would entail them crossing out of the main prison into the high-security smaller prison.
Anna outlined the reason why they were there, even though she had already given the details over the phone. However, it gave her the opportunity to ask about Cameron and his present behavior. The governor was not exactly evasive, but before saying anything, he suggested that Cameron remain in his cell throughout the interview and that they talk to him through the bars, as the cells in the secure unit did not have the usual cell doors.
“It’s just a precaution,” he added.
“Do you think he could be dangerous if the cell remained open?” Anna asked.
“I doubt it, but it is necessary we take every precaution. And as you are a very attractive woman, I want you protected.” Hardwick gave her a kindly smile.
“So you think he is dangerous?” Anna wanted to be clear about this.
“No. It is, as I said, just a precaution — and I will also have to request that the other inmates in the secure unit are locked in their cells. Usually, they have free access to their open spaces, and we do have some problematic inmates in there. There are four officers on duty at all times, and the security level is tight.”
“But you don’t think Mr. Welsh could be physically dangerous?” Anna repeated.
The governor hesitated and then shrugged. “To be honest, I wouldn’t put anything past him, and as he has written to you personally, Detective Travis, he may have some kind of ulterior motive in requesting you to be here in person. I sincerely doubt that he could have any information regarding your inquiry, and I feel this could simply be a ploy to have you meet with him. You have to understand the lengths inmates go to to relieve the day-to-day boredom.”
He tugged at his right earlobe. “It’s rather like working with children at school, but the prisoners have no lessons, just twenty-four hours of every day to think up schemes and ways to create problems of every possible kind to aggravate the officers, themselves, and other inmates.”
“Because they have nothing else to do?” Barolli asked.
“That is partly the reason, or one could call it bloody-mindedness. We try at Barfield to lessen that aggravation in any way we can, because obviously, these are not children, and their ‘games’ can have severe repercussions. The prisoners held in the inner secure prison are specifically the ones we have found difficult to control, or who refuse to take any of the many productive courses we have on offer.”
“Does Welsh have any other visitors?” Barolli asked.
“No, he has never requested a visitor’s order.”
“In five years?” Anna asked, surprised.