Nat Fraser trial: court hears of secret Hector Dick recording Published on Tuesday 1 May 2012 18:53 The man Nat Fraser claims could have been behind his wife's alleged murder referred to the missing woman in a secretly recorded conversation, a murder trial heard today. Hector Dick, 56, was taped, without his knowledge, talking to another man around nine months after Arlene Fraser vanished. During the conversation he referred to Mrs Fraser as a "silly bastard" and made a "rude comment" about a court, the High Court in Edinburgh heard. Mr Dick, a farmer from Mosstowie, Elgin, Moray, has been giving evidence since last Thursday at the trial of 53-year-old Fraser, his former friend and the best man at his wedding. Fraser denies acting with others to murder his wife and says that if the alleged offence was committed, then it could have been carried out by Mr Dick. Mother-of-two Mrs Fraser, 33, of New Elgin, Moray, vanished on April 28 1998 and has never been seen since. No body has ever been found. The court has heard she was separated from her husband at the time she disappeared. The trial, now in its second week, heard that Mr Dick was secretly recorded talking to Kevin Ritchie - the man he said he bought a car from at Fraser's request - on January 19 1999. During questioning by defence QC John Scott, the jury of eight women and seven men was read transcripts of their conversation. The court heard that Mr Ritchie stated: "I don't know nothing about f****** her, her car or nothing else. I f****** never heard of her until she disappeared. In response, Mr Dick replied: "I kent (knew) the silly bastard." Mr Scott asked whether that had been a reference to Mrs Fraser, to which the witness replied that it "could be." Pressed on the issue, he said: "I think it is. I was just checking to see whether I was speaking about Nat. It would be Arlene I was referring to. The jury heard how Mr Dick also referred to "the gullible bastard sitting there in the front bench" during the conversation. He said it was "just a term" he used to refer to court, and said it had been a "rude comment." "It's what you think about this court, isn't it?" said Mr Scott. "It is not," Mr Dick replied. mfl