Nine
Humphrey walked into the station to find Fidel snoozing in his chair. "Morning Fidel. Unearth anything last night?" he asked as he went to pour some coffee and handed it to Fidel.
Fidel blinked. "urm yes sir. Actually I did. Well Theo's internet history has been cleared but I used a few tricks and managed to get it back up and as suspected the formula for changing wood alcohol into formaldehyde came up as a web search. Also Felix and Theo's fingerprints are the only ones on the laptop. As for the evidence, the report has only just come through and I haven't had time to check it yet but once I have I will let you know," Fidel said before taking a sip of coffee.
"So it is beginning to look as bit like Felix could be our culprit. Phone logs?" Humphrey asked.
"Oh yeah, they came through and as suspected, one person had been calling a local resident. I phoned the number and it went through the crafty Nick. The one person known to cause accidents to let insurance companies pay out," Fidel said.
"But would he kill?" Humphrey asked. "Ok, I'll get Dwayne down there once he gets in to talk to him. I'm guessing it was Felix's phone that called though?" Humphrey said.
Fidel shook his head. "Nope. Theo's but remember they are brothers. It might not have been him that called. Felix could have used his phone to put us off the scent. But Theo is the one who gave us a description of the vehicle and the person who ran Alice over," Fidel explained.
"Right well, once Dwayne has spoken to Nick hopefully it will enlighten us a bit more as to which it is. Well done. Do you want to go home and get some sleep?" Humphrey asked.
"No thanks sir. I'll start on the forensic report," he said. Humphrey frowned.
"Ok. Any issues with Meg?" Humphrey asked. Fidel shook his head.
"Good as gold that one," he said. Humphrey smiled and headed into the back.
"Morning Megan," he said unlocking the door and handing her a slice of toast and a glass of water. "I am sorry to keep you here."
Megan shrugged. "Times ticking out though before you have to release me. 24 hours unless you want to convict me. See I pay attention to you when you're at work. How's it going?"
"I can't answer that Meg. You know that. Anything else you want to say on record?" Humphrey asked. Meg shook her head. "Alright. We'll get you released on bail as soon as we can." He closed the cell and headed back to the office where Dwayne and Florence had finally turned up. "Excellent. Dwayne can you pop down to see crafty Nick. Ask which brother he had a call from, how much they offered him and if he would kill for it?" Humphrey said.
Dwayne looked confused. "Theo's mobile. It called Nick three times over two weeks." Fidel explained. Dwayne nodded, grabbed his hat and left the office.
Florence smiled sadly. "Did any of them turn up last night?" Florence asked.
Humphrey nodded. "Alex and Theo. Theo just wanted to spend some time out the house where his friend and cousin had been murdered and arrested. Alex to threaten that if I came near them again, he would sue. I think he's got something to hide. Either that or he believes it Megan and is just protecting the other two."
"Sir," Fidel said suddenly. Florence and Humphrey both turned around to face him. "We've got a few partial matches and all of them are to Felix, except the wood alcohol which is Megan and Felix. The lab coat and rubber gloves both contain traces of the alcohol, gloves and cloth contain traces of formaldehyde. The water is all clean though which suggests Alice was the intended victim as its only her water that was contaminated."
"Indeed. Well I suppose we best go pick up our chemist and bring him to the station for a chat. Fidel ask Megan why her fingerprints are on the alcohol," Humphrey said. He turned to Florence. "let's go." They hurried out the station and drove up the hill to the villa.
"Felix we know you are in there. Let us in," Humphrey shouted through the door. Felix answered the door. "Care to come to the station with us and answer a few questions?"
"Not really," Felix said.
"We can make this official and arrest you or you can come of your own free will," Florence explained.
"Fine," he said closing the door and getting into the jeep with them. The drive was a silent one and everyone was relieved to get out at the station. Felix sat in the offered chair.
"Formaldehyde. Is formed from wood alcohol. It is covered in a-level chemistry. We seized Theo's laptop and found that the process of creating it on his internet history. But Theo doesn't do chemistry so why he would be interested in it is a mystery. Until you realise, both of your fingerprints are on the laptop. Did you distil formaldehyde?" Humphrey asked.
"No comment," Felix said sullenly.
"Ok, did you poison Alice's water?" Humphrey asked. There was no answer. "Ok. Easier question. Who brought the water for the villa?"
"Me," Felix said.
"Ok. Who put one in each person's rucksack the morning of Alice's murder?" Humphrey asked. No answer. "Fine. Felix Luke Hazelhurst I'm arresting you on suspicion of poisoning Alice Elizabeth Waters. You do not need to say anything but anything you do say may be given as evidence should your require in court," Humphrey said. Felix glared but stood up as Fidel instructed. "you should know, she was dying anyway. Terminal leukaemia. Ask Megan. You'll be joining her in the cell next door." Humphrey said. He let Felix be led away.
Dwayne came through the door. "It was Theo. Nick said it was Theo. I showed him an image of the boys and he said that Theo saw him last night to pay him part of the money. He recognised him and not Felix. He was offered 800 to kill her. And he would have done it too."
"Wait so Theo organised the hit and run?" Florence asked.
"Yes but it wasn't supposed to be a hit and run. It was supposed to be a murder made to look like an accident. But that's not all chief. Alex was in town so I followed him for a bit. He was trying to sell a meat knife to the stall holders down there," Dwayne explained.
"A meat knife. Like the one that killed Alice. Like the one with his fingerprints on from washing up and…" Humphrey spun round to face the board and started mumbling to himself. He turned back and grinned.
"You've got it right?" Dwayne asked.
"Yep. Dwayne, go pick up the knife he sold," Humphrey said, "and meet us all at the villa. Fidel go get the cousins," he added.
