William Carmichael

William Carmichael was a major character in ''After the Fall. ''He was an ex-convict hired by Lydia Hamilton to help her carry out a revenge plot against those she held accountable for her husband, Tony's wrongful murder conviction.

Biography
Carmichael was incarcerated at Redhill prison and shared a cell with Tony Hamilton, who had been imprisoned for the attempted murder of his pregnant lover, Suzie Banks (although he was innocent of the crime). Tony was a target in prison (presumably because the incident lead to Suzie miscarrying) and Carmichael looked out for him. After being released from prison, Carmichael came into contact with Lydia, Tony's ex-wife, who made a deal with him - she would pay him a substantial amount if he helped her get revenge on the people she blamed for Tony's conviction, including the lead investigator, DI Murray Porter, the defense's forensic pathologist Belinda Roach and, in particular, the prosecution's pathologist, Nikki Alexander. Carmichael, acting on Lydia's instructions, killed Porter and made it seem like a drowning accident. He also killed a terminal cancer patient, Irene Dawes, and made it seem like suicide - Nikki was the pathologist on the case and ruled it as suicide, not murder. At some point, he tracked down Belinda Roach and obtained a copy of her thumbprint from her garbage can.

After the Fall
Three months after Tony was released from prison, Carmichael killed Max Walsh, another cancer patient in remission and made it appear to be suicide. Nikki found it to be murder and, recognising the similarities between the two cases, realised she'd been mistaken and that Irene was actually murdered. Carmichael began stalking Nikki and broke into her flat on a number of occasions, terrorising her. He removed the batteries on her kitchen clock so that the hands stayed on the exact time Tony Hamilton's guilty verdict was passed and planted Professor Roach's thumbprint on it, knowing Nikki would find it and confront Roach. He also stole the torch from her forensic kit and, at some point, broke into Roach's house to plant evidence framing her for the murders of Irene and Max. Carmichael followed Nikki to Roach's house and made a noise outside to lure Roach into the garden. He attacked Roach from behind, choking her out and then carrying her further into the garden, before bludgeoning her to death with Nikki's torch to frame her.

Nikki, as per the plan, was released due to evidence pointing to another perpetrator. Carmichael broke into Nikki's flat again, shooting out the lock of her front door, in order to murder her, but Nikki fled the flat and escaped down a construction elevator. Carmichael gave chase, but Nikki was able to hide in the flat's basement. After losing sight of Nikki, Carmichael prepared to leave, but a police SWAT team arrived, having presumably been alerted by Jack Hodgson (whom Nikki had been speaking on the phone to moments before Carmichael attacked her). Knowing he would be sent back to jail if caught, Carmichael opened fire on the SWAT team and was shot dead. Lydia, too, was brought to justice for her organising the plot.

Victims

 * DI Murray Porter (drowned; made to look like an accident)
 * Irene Dawes (made to look like suicide)
 * Max Walsh (wrists slashed; made to look like suicide)
 * Belinda Roach (stalked, bludgeoned to death, framed for murder)
 * Nikki Alexander (stalked, framed for murder and attempted to shoot)