Be Sure Your Sins (DS Mel Cooper Series Book 1) by Harry Fisher

Author:Harry Fisher [Fisher, Harry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hobeck Books
Published: 2021-10-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifty-Two

‘We’re still checking Kim’s movements for later that evening, Jeff, so I don’t have all the answers yet. I need more time.’

My boss has called me to his office to discuss case priorities. One of the best things about working with Jeff is he always does his best to stop pressure from his lords and masters from filtering down to his team. But there’s a limit and I’m guessing we’ve just about reached it. He gave me the opportunity to prove my suspicions were correct and it’s time for me to come up with the goods. Knowing him like I do, I’ll only have one chance at this so I pick and choose my words carefully.

‘We’ve talked to a number of people and studied the evidence: forensic, digital and circumstantial, and in my opinion it does not prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that Kim Seung-Min raped Mandy Westbrook.’

Jeff steeples his fingers in his lap. ‘You believe DS Keown’s investigation was flawed?’

‘In certain areas, yes.’

‘I’m listening.’

‘A young woman, twenty-five, comes from Dundee to Edinburgh for the weekend. She has tentative plans to meet friends. Instead, she goes into a pub herself. Her friends aren’t in that pub, she hooks up with a guy, stays with him the whole evening and doesn’t contact these friends to explain why she didn’t meet them. Unfortunately, DS Keown didn’t check Mandy’s story with them. In fact, she didn’t speak to them at all.’

Jeff’s eyes widen but I don’t push the point. ‘Then, whether you believe his story or hers, she has sex with him either in Cuthbert’s Close or in the Airbnb. He rapes her, she calls 999 and still she doesn’t contact her friends. In fact, her mobile phone records show no telephone calls, SMS or emails – outgoing or incoming – from when she boarded the train in Dundee on Friday at 14:25, to when she returned there on Saturday at 16:05.’

‘None at all?’ Clearly Jeff considers this to be outlandish behaviour from a person under thirty.

‘Nothing.’ I let that sink in before continuing. ‘Now, to be absolutely fair to DS Keown, she and I are working this from completely different angles. She’s been led by forensic evidence, while I’m ignoring it for the moment. Or at least trying to work out how it could have been manufactured.’

‘And that’s because you think this is case number four in a series of set-ups that are all connected?’

‘I do.’

‘What would Ms Westbrook’s motive be for falsely accusing Kim of assault and rape?’

‘I don’t know.’ Then quickly, ‘Yet.’

I press on before he takes me further down that road. ‘Forensic evidence “suggests” Kim was in the Airbnb, “suggests” he had sex with her, and “suggests” he assaulted and raped her.’

‘And you’re “suggesting” he wasn’t, and he didn’t.’

‘Actually, no. It’s the lack of a solid chain of evidence that makes me believe he wasn’t there. Let’s think about this. The last CCTV sighting of the couple is them heading down the Royal Mile, before Cuthbert’s Close and therefore before the pub.

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