The Glasgow Subway Murders by Will Cameron

Author:Will Cameron [Cameron, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Two Keys

The first question Patterson asked himself when he heard about the murder of Tommy Beaton was if it could be connected to that of Cheryl Kerr. It was possible his murder may be the result of an unrelated argument, a burglary, or god knows what. Yet, even as Patterson arrived where Tommy Beaton lived and walked up the tenement stairs in Cowcaddens, he couldn’t help but gravitate toward the idea there was indeed a connection between the two murders.

Suited and booted in crinkly white paper, Patterson entered the flat and was greeted by a nod from Pettigrew and Simpson.

‘He’s in there,’ said Pettigrew indicating a door on the left.

Patterson walked into the indicated room and saw Tommy Beaton lying face down between a green fabric settee and a small teak dining table. Beaton’s head lay towards the window, his feet towards the door, his left arm stretched out above his head while his right arm was slightly twisted behind his back. He was wearing light denim jeans but no shoes, only black socks. A dark patch of congealed blood on Beaton’s grey shirt had seeped through from the wound in his lower back. There was also a small pool of dark-stained blood on the light-coloured carpet. A broken cup lay near the body, with some liquid like spilt tea or coffee also staining the carpet.

Beside the body, Tasmina Rana was kneeling, lifting up the shirt and taking samples. She asked if the table could be moved and then, with better access, moved around the body to make some more calculations. As he waited for Tasmina to give her preliminary thoughts, Patterson walked out of the sitting room and into the hallway. It was small, tidy accommodation. A kitchenette faced onto the living room while there were only two other rooms, a bathroom and a bedroom leading off the short hallway.

Having a quick look around, there was no apparent sign of disturbance anywhere else. In the bedroom, the bed was made up with no clothes lying around. Beaton appeared to be a neat and orderly occupant for a man living alone. The bathroom had a sink and bath that could have starred in a cleaning advert. The kitchenette was the same, with surfaces clear of mess and wiped down. Opening the fridge, there was an assortment of healthy food, yoghurt drinks, orange juice, signs of a healthy life that would be cut violently short. Patterson walked back through to the living room and went up to Pettigrew.

‘How long have you been here?’

‘About an hour,’ Pettigrew replied. ‘I phoned the council to see where Beaton was working today and was informed he hadn’t turned up for work again. So while you were interviewing the flatmates, Jack and myself came here and found him like this.’

‘How did you get in?’

‘The door was open.’

Patterson nodded as the pathologist stood up.

‘Well, it looks like a well-placed knife in the back did the trick,’ said Tasmina Rana. ‘I’d say a three-inch, three-and-a-half-inch blade. One single entry wound.

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