I said I thought he had seemed a bit ambivalent, and he nodded. “I couldn’t look at her in that dock without thinking about all the help she’d been to me. I felt awful about it all.” His voice cracked, and I looked up. He was staring absently at his glass, looking vacant and old. A dark opening gaped in his trousers. He still hadn’t noticed. “They made me give evidence against her. I liked Susan.” He was talking about her as if she were dead.
“What about Gow? Did you like him?”
He snorted joylessly. “He was a psychopath.”
“Did Susie spend a lot of time with him?”
He put his glass down and looked straight at me, saddened by what he had to say. “An inordinate amount of time,” he said softly. “Inordinate. Hours at a time. We questioned her about it. Sinclair knew there was something wrong. He brought it up at a case conference, and she got very defensive. Said she was concerned about the wedding and wanted to make sure nothing was going to happen. Sinclair said that if she thought there was a security risk, she should report it immediately. It wasn’t that at all, we all knew that. We all knew and none of us did anything about it. If we had done something, none of this would have happened. Sinclair wanted to ask Donna McGovern what was going on, but I and a social worker convinced him it would be unprofessional to go behind Susan’s back. None of the people who were at that case conference can look at each other now.” His chin sank to his chest; a string of hair fell over his forehead, and he caught it between his thumb and forefinger, placing it back. “It’s a terrible thing to have happened,” he whispered. “Just terrible.”
“How would Donna know?”
“Eh?”
“What would the point be in Sinky speaking to Donna about it? How would she know what was going on?”
“Well, Susan spent a lot of time with Donna as well, didn’t you know?”
I shook my head. There was very little I did know.
“Yes, Susan spent a lot of time with Donna, more time than Gow did, technically. Trying to convince Donna not to marry him, I suppose. Have you found the files?”
I shrugged. I could hardly admit to myself that Susie was a liar, much less to a stranger.
“The files Susie took from the office?” continued Tucker. “They should be returned. They’re Prison Department property. You haven’t come across them?” He took a drink, watching me over the rim of his glass.
“Tell me what it is you’re looking for, and I’ll keep my eyes open.”
“A disk with a table of Gow’s correspondents over the past two years. Susan deleted all the copies, but I was rather hoping she kept one on a disk. We were writing an article together. Because of the Human Rights Act, we’re not supposed to read prisoners’ mail anymore. We won’t be able to collate that sort of information ever again. It could be a unique bit of research.”
It would have been Susie’s idea, we both knew that. She’d have read ahead and anticipated the change in the law, thought about it, and drawn up the research outline, and Harvey was hoping to get all the credit now that Susie was in prison.
“I’ll look out for it,” I said, swirling the last of my drink and swallowing it.
“Please phone me if you find it. It’s Prison Department property.”
I don’t think he had anything to do with that research at all.
Tucker watched me drive away. I think he wanted to make sure I actually left. He stood on the step of his dark, empty home and saw me off like a visiting relative, waving for too long, making sure I was out of sight before he went back in.
I stopped the car around the corner and dropped my head to the steering wheel, concentrating on breathing in and out. My head was bursting. My chest ached. I opened the car door and threw up into the street.
They’ve been right about her all along. They were right and I was wrong.
chapter twelve
A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE DAY. I’M SITTING HERE IN FRONT OF THE computer with this document from Gow’s files, and I can’t even be bothered to read it:
Box 1 Document 3 Note of Circumstances 1994
1. This note of circumstances represents the Secretary of State’s understanding of the circumstances surrounding the offense for which Mr. Gow is serving a life sentence. The information in it has been obtained from a number of sources. If Mr. Gow disagrees with any of the details in the note, he should record the disagreement on the form provided for written representations.
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE
2. At the High Court, Glasgow, on March 4, 1994, Mr. Andrew Alfred Gow was convicted of murder by a unanimous verdict and given five consecutive life sentences. There was no appeal against conviction.
INDICTMENT
3. The indictment bore that Mr. Andrew Gow did:
3.1 On March 23, 1993, while acting along with people or person unknown, assault Mrs. Elizabeth MacCorronah, then residing at Flat 3/1, 6 Ochil Place, Milton, Glasgow, push her bodily, repeatedly punch her on the head and body, knock her to the ground, forcibly detain her in motor vehicle registered number B513 DSF, and abduct her from Mitchell Road, Anderston, Glasgow, and there, or elsewhere in Scotland, repeatedly strike her on the head and body with a hammer or similar instrument, repeatedly strike or slash her in the chest with a knife or similar instrument, all to her severe injury, and in Ferry Road, Yorkhill Quay, Glasgow, did remove said Elizabeth MacCorronah from that motor vehicle and abandon her there, whereby she died of her injuries there, and did murder her.
3.2 On May 19, 1993, did assault Karen Dempsey, then residing at 46 Glen Tanar Street, Lambhill, Glasgow, repeatedly punch her on the head and body, repeatedly strike her on the head and body with a hammer or similar instrument, abduct her from Waterloo Street, Anderston, Glasgow, abandon her at the Netherton canal bank, Temple, all to her severe injury, whereby she died of her injuries there, and did murder her.
3.3 On June 12, 1993, while acting along with people or person unknown, did assault Martine Pashtan, then residing at Flat 1/1, 236 Saltmarket, Glasgow, repeatedly punch her on the head and body, knock her to the ground, forcibly detain her in motor vehicle registered number B513 DSF, and abduct her from the bus station at Anderston, Glasgow, and there, or elsewhere in Scotland, repeatedly strike her on the head and body with a hammer or similar instrument, repeatedly strike or slash her in the chest and face with a knife or similar instrument, all to her severe injury, and in Water Row, Govan, Glasgow, did remove said Martine Pashtan from that motor vehicle and abandon her there, whereby she died of her injuries there, and did murder her.
3.4 On July 28, 1993, did assault Alice Thomson, then residing at Flat 16/3, 5 Calder Street, Polmadie, Glasgow, repeatedly punch her on the head and body, and there repeatedly strike her on the head and body with a hammer or similar instrument, forcibly detain her in motor vehicle registered number B513 DSF, and abduct her from Dundas Street, Glasgow, all to her severe injury, and in Millerfield Road, Dalmarnock, Glasgow, did remove said Alice Thomson from that motor vehicle and abandon her there, whereby she died of her injuries there, and did murder her.
3.5 On October 1, 1993, did assault Mary-Ann Roberts, then residing at Flat 1/2, 38 Langa Street, High Carntyne, Glasgow, repeatedly punch her on the head and body, and there repeatedly strike her on the head and body with a hammer or similar instrument, forcibly detain her in motor vehicle registered number B513 DSF, and abduct her from the Broomielaw Road, Glasgow, and repeatedly strike or slash her in the chest and face with a knife or similar instrument, all to her severe injury, and at the Garden Festival site, Govan, Glasgow, did remove said Mary-Ann Roberts from that motor vehicle and abandon her there, whereby she died of her injuries there, and did murder her.