Page 7 of The Truth Will Out (DI Sam Cobbs #18)

Lucy sat upright, and her cheeks coloured up.

“He was a colleague.” She wagged a finger.

“No, don’t even suggest that we were more than that.

God, the thought of it. I’m not that type of girl.

For a start, he’s a married man, and I’ve got a steady boyfriend.

Nothing could be further from the truth, I assure you.

I’m just shocked because someone I know has been murdered.

That’s never happened to me before. How am I supposed to react to the news?

You probably deal with these types of crimes on a weekly or daily basis.

I don’t. This is a first for me. I swear, there’s nothing more to it than that. Do you know who killed him or why?”

“Not yet. Our investigation is still in the preliminary stages; hence, we have come here today to see what you and your colleagues can tell us about him.”

“Wow. Who’d have thought it? I know he could be a bit mardy at times, but for someone to go after him and kill him, well, that’s below the belt, isn’t it? I take it that’s what has happened? ”

“We don’t know. Any idea why his body was found at the abandoned clinic in Workington?”

“Me? How would I know? Hey, you don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you?

First of all, you sit there accusing me of knowing him better, and then you’re asking me why his body was found at the clinic.

This is all news to me. You’re going to have to take my word for it.

Christ, if you dig hard enough, I bet you come up with a bucketload of people who’d like nothing more than to bump him off. ”

Sam cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Care to give us some idea of who you might be talking about?”

“There you go again, reading something into it—not that I meant anything by it. No doubt you’re aware of his reputation by now, after speaking to Ruth.”

“We are. How did you get on with him?”

“Hard to say, really. I suppose you’d call it an ultra-professional relationship. I knew where I stood with him. He made that clear the second I joined the surgery.”

“When was that?”

“Eighteen months ago. The other two doctors are more relaxed. I can have a laugh with them. Everyone knew they had to be on their best behaviour with Robert, though. I tried to play a trick on him once. I put salt in his coffee instead of sugar as an April Fool’s prank.

He went ballistic and told me I was a juvenile little girl who should know better.

Actually, he issued me with a written warning.

I was in tears and threatened to walk out.

Doctor Hagan stepped in. She spoke up for me and forced Robert to back down.

He withdrew the warning and mumbled a half-hearted apology.

From that day, I was always wary of him. ”

“Wary that he would carry out his threat and issue another warning?”

“Yes. It’s always good to keep your guard up with some people. My mum told me that when I started applying for jobs after I’d left sixth form. I thought she was winding me up to be honest with you. That was until I felt the mighty wrath of Robert Morgan.”

“Sorry you had to go through that. We’ve heard from Ruth that he’d had several complaints against him. Can you tell us more about those?”

“No, it’s none of my business. Ruth needs to tell you about those.”

Which she had. This was Sam trying to find out if Ruth could be trusted. “No problem. Can you tell us if you’ve ever seen Doctor Morgan get into any spats or fights with anyone, either at the surgery or perhaps in an altercation outside, in the car park?”

“No, I haven’t. You think someone killed him because of a fight or because they’d had a disagreement with him?”

“I don’t know. It just seems a logical question for me to ask.” Sam inhaled a large breath, disappointed at the outcome of the interviews so far. “What about his wife, Melinda? Do you know anything about her?”

“No, not really. I think I’ve only spoken to her once or twice over the phone and only seen her once when she popped in to visit Robert. I seem to recall it was some kind of an emergency. I never really found out what it was about. He was very secretive in that respect.”

“Thanks. Okay, if you can’t tell us anything else, you’re free to go back to work.”

“Phew, thanks. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. When will you find out who has killed him?”

Sam smiled. “How long is that proverbial piece of string we all go on about? There’s no time limit on these things. It’s usually dependent on what information comes our way. As it is, we’ve got very little to go on—only that he was a grumpy doctor who tended to keep himself to himself.”

Lucy pointed at Sam. “I’d say that sums him up perfectly. Sorry I haven’t been much help. I hope some useful information comes your way soon. It must be awful for Melinda, going through what she’s dealing with right now.”

“It’s never easy for the relatives who are left behind.”

“I can only imagine what nightmares she’s going to have to deal with. ”

Lucy left the room. “What do you make of that?” Bob asked. “She seemed a touch defensive to me.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong. We’ll bear it in mind, though I’m not sure I would go so far as to note her as a person of interest. I think she’s probably just a snippy cow.”

With that, Ruth entered the office.

“Hi, again. I’ve had a chat with Doctor Attle and Doctor Hagan, and they’ve both said they can fit you in within the next half an hour or so, if that’s any good?”

“That would be brilliant. Thanks for accommodating us. The sooner we can interview everyone at the surgery, the quicker we can get on with the investigation.”

“That’s what I told them. They were both shocked to hear the news of Robert’s passing. I hope I did the right thing in telling them. I needed to get across how important it was for you to speak with them today.”

“That’s fine. You did the right thing.”

“What about a drink now, while you’re waiting?”

“Thank you. Two coffees, both white, one with one sugar and the other with two.”

“I think I can guess which is which. My husband has a sweet tooth, too.” She chuckled and left the room.

“Who’s the predictable one now?” Sam leaned in and whispered.

“Get a life. I’ve got a feeling our visit here today isn’t going to amount to much.”

Sam tutted and ran her tongue over her dry lips. “I was thinking the same thing. Doreen was right; he was a mardy bloody doctor.”

“Yeah, sounds like he made the wrong career move, right?”

“Not half. I wonder if something had changed over the last few months to make him worse.”

“I suppose only Mrs Morgan will be able to tell us that, if he was the secretive sort, and she never mentioned anything to us this morning. There seems to be more to this case than first meets the eye.”

“Yeah, that’s the frustrating part. We know there’s something amiss, but it’s finding a clue to lead us to that nugget of information—that’s always the key factor that eludes us.”

Sam stopped talking when Ruth entered the room with their drinks. “Here you are. Two sugars for you, Sergeant.” Ruth handed Bob a mug decorated with sunflowers.

“Thanks. We really appreciate it. It’s been a while since the boss has let me have a break to replenish my caffeine levels.”

Ruth smiled. “She looks a hard taskmaster. And here’s yours, Inspector. Doctor Attle should be free in ten minutes, just enough time for you to enjoy your drinks.”

Sam reached for her plain mug and asked, “Wonderful. Thanks ever so much, Ruth. Is Lucy all right?”

Ruth frowned. “Why? Did she get upset?”

“A little to begin with. She couldn’t really tell us much.”

“Like all of us, I suspect.” Ruth exited the room.

“We’ve seen it before, either the doc was neck-deep in debt after gambling on the sly, or he’s done something in his past that has caught up with him,” Bob said. He blew on his coffee and took a sip.

Sam paused to mull over his suggestion and then rang the station. “Claire, it’s me. Have the financial reports for the victim come back yet?”

“Funny you should say that. I’m just going through them now.”

“Anything untoward in there?”

“I haven’t spotted anything so far. He’s got over a hundred grand in a savings account and around three thousand in his current one.”

“The hundred grand—is that down as a one-off payment, or has it been drip-fed into that account over the years?”

“The latter. Like I said, I haven’t seen anything suspicious that has caught my attention so far.”

“Hmm… okay, keep digging. Can you get one of the boys to check the archives and see if there has been any scandal written about him over the years, or if he has ever been caught up in anything that could be classed as damning to his reputation?”

“I’ll get Nick on it. I take it the people at the surgery couldn’t shed any light on anything. ”

“We’ve only spoken to the two members of staff. We’re waiting to talk to the other two doctors. They’re currently making video calls to some of their patients. So far, just like you, we’ve drawn a complete blank.”

“We’ll crack on with things at this end. Good luck.”

“Thanks. You too, Claire.” Sam ended the call and took a sip from her mug. “I’m sensing this is going to be one of those cases that has ‘frustrating for the investigation team’ written all over it.”

“Nothing new there then. What can we do to combat that?”

Sam shrugged. “I wish I knew. Feel free to throw some inspirational tips my way.”

Bob grinned. “You’ll be the first to know if I come up with anything.”

Ruth entered the room again. “Doctor Attle is free now, if you’d like to see her.”

“That would be great. In here?”

“She’s asked if you can hold the meeting or interview in her office. It would be more convenient for her, as she has another call to make in fifteen minutes, and moving between the two rooms would take up too much of her time.” Ruth bit her lip.

Sam wondered if that decision had been Ruth’s and not the doctor’s. She took another sip from her mug and got to her feet. “That’s fine by us. Are you ready, Sergeant?”