The question remained unanswered. The SIO realized that everyone in the room had to be thinking about the implications of what he’d said.
Cragg sat down, an expression of defeat on his face. “Don’t tell me that Gary is involved in all of this as well.”
“I’m not saying he is Maurice, but it doesn’t look very promising, does it? I’d like a history of all Gary’s calls to and from his mobile in the last month. And I also want a list of calls made to and from the hardware shop for the same period.”
Gardener could tell the case was beginning to affect Cragg personally. He felt as if he had physically kicked the desk sergeant in the stomach. Two people that he must have thought were pretty solid, reliable characters for quite some time, were now involved in a pretty vicious serial killing.
The door opened and Colin Sharp rolled in. He greeted everyone and took a cold drink from the tray. He threw a file on the table, and quickly munched on a biscuit.
“You go easy with them, mind,” said Reilly.
“Surprised we have any left,” retorted Sharp.
Gardener smiled. Whatever happened, the team remained solid, and still had a sense of humour.
“What have you got, Colin?”
“Quite a lot.” He stood next to his senior officer, consulting his notes.
“I won’t bore you with a lot of the details but Robert Sinclair is quite an achiever. His work mostly involves mending nerves damaged in accidents – severed limbs, digits, that sort of thing. He operates on backs in patients with chronic back pain and collapsed discs.
“He also had a hand in the pioneering of a new machine, something you attach to the outside of a patient’s arm to stimulate the motor nerves with small electrical impulses. Apparently, it’s designed to make the muscles twitch, to test whether the nerve-muscle path is complete.
“He’s a keep-fit fanatic, sees his body as a temple. Come rain or shine, he’s always jogging along the river and through the town near where he lives. He has a gymnasium in his house. He only drinks green tea, and eats very healthy foods.”
“Another nail in the old coffin, there?” said Reilly.
“What else did his parents have to say about him?” asked Gardener.
“Apart from working for Walker’s, his mother compiles crosswords for newspapers and magazines. She’s very intelligent.
“She says that Robert loves puzzles. Plays cards, particularly Bridge, but he loves word games.”
“Was there any mention of the tarot?” asked Reilly.
“Tarot?” repeated Sharp, “No, nothing about that.”
“Maybe the use of the tarot cards was a way of implicating someone else,” said Gardener, “namely Ross. After all, Ross was in the town on Monday morning, seeing to Christine Close.”
“And a mix up on the computer files at the hospital,” added Reilly, “another way of implicating his colleague.”
Sharp finished his drink and then said, “Apparently, he has OCD pretty bad.”
“What did I tell you?” said Reilly. “Light switches.”
“When he was young, his fascination with puzzles mixed with his OCD in such a way that when he earned money, he bought two copies of everything he wanted. One to play, and one to keep in pristine condition, unopened. Naturally, she got him all the stuff that Walker’s brought out. His mother’s really nice, but I reckon she’s in denial.”
“What do you mean?” asked Gardener.
“She reads the papers, listens to the news. I think she suspects what’s happening, but doesn’t want to admit it.”
&nb
sp; “You think she knows her son is behind the murders?”
“Suspects, maybe. She didn’t say it in so many words, but it’s the impression I got.”
“What about his father?”