The Solace Farm Killings: A Snowdonia Murder Mystery (A DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller Book 7)

by Simon McCleave

  ‘What? How have they allowed that to happen?’ Ruth asked angrily.

  ‘They think they’re harmless happy clappies up there,’ French explained.

  ‘Have they not heard of Waco? They were meant to be peaceful Christians before they had a four-week gun battle and siege with the FBI,’ Ruth growled. ‘What the hell are the local police thinking of?’

  I’ve got a horrible feeling about this.

  Nick’s phone rang. He signalled to Ruth as he took it and wandered away.

  ‘Did you talk to this Rachel?’ French asked.

  Ruth nodded. ‘She’s clearly in charge up there. Far more glamorous than I was expecting but very odd. I couldn’t work her out for one minute. And she claims that Callum left the farm a few weeks ago.’

  ‘But he was killed on a road about two or three miles from here?’ Sian asked.

  ‘Way too much of a coincidence,’ French said.

  ‘Let’s say that last Wednesday, Callum has a massive row with Rachel. He decides he’s going to leave the farm and The Family. He secretly rings his mum to tell her that he’s in trouble and needs somewhere to stay,’ Ruth thought aloud.

  ‘But Rachel tells Callum he cannot leave. She won’t let him,’ Sian continued.

  ‘Callum does a runner. Members of The Family chase him across the fields that way. They fire a gun in his direction and shout. They fire again and a bullet grazes his shoulder. Callum is terrified and runs out across the A5 where he is killed,’ Ruth said.

  The scenario just outlined seemed more than feasible.

  Nick wandered back over as he put his phone away. ‘Boss, the tech boys triangulated Callum Roper’s phone.’

  ‘They find anything?’ Ruth asked.

  Nick nodded. ‘He made a phone call to his mother’s mobile phone at four thirty from Solace Farm.’

  ‘Which means they were lying to our faces,’ Ruth said angrily.

  ‘And that means they’re covering something up,’ Nick said.

  ‘Yeah, and I want to know why.’

  CHAPTER 12

  Switching on the dishwasher, Ruth gazed out of the window into the darkness. Now that they knew Rachel Ryan was lying about Callum Roper, she wondered what else was going on at Solace Farm that they didn’t know about. Even though it wasn’t uncommon for people to have shotguns in North Wales, there weren’t many people with rifles. And Callum Roper had been shot by a rifle only a few miles from the farm.

  As Ruth turned and clicked on the kettle, she caught sight of a fridge magnet – Happiness Looks Gorgeous On You. Sian had bought it a few months before she had left. She thought about what had happened in the car last night. Sian had kissed her, not the other way round. What did that mean? It confirmed she still had feelings for Ruth. But that was never the issue.

  Taking the magnet from the fridge, Ruth looked at it for a moment. Maybe it was time to accept that Sian was going, and move on with her life. Pushing down the peddle bin lever with her foot, Ruth dropped the magnet into the bin. She eyed the bottle of Merlot that was still half full.

  Fuck it. A glass of wine and a ciggie is just what I need.

  As she pulled the cork from the bottle, she got a lovely whiff of the red wine – smooth, scented, spiced. She took a mouthful straight from the bottle.

  There was a knock at the door.

  I’m not expecting anyone.

  The only person who ever knocked at this time of night was her lovely neighbour, Mr Johnson. He took in packages for her during the day if she was out.

  Ruth opened the door and peered into the darkness outside.

  It was Sian.

  Ruth’s pulse rocketed.

  ‘Hi ...’ Sian said, looking embarrassed.

  ‘Erm ... hi,’ Ruth answered, and opened the door a little further. ‘Do you ... want to come in?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Sian’s chest heaved a little as she took a deep breath.

  God, it is so incredible to see you standing there.

  ‘Okay,’ Ruth said. ‘Shall I leave the door open then?’

  ‘Just for the record, I officially hate you,’ Sian said. Ruth could see that she was only half joking.

  ‘Yeah. I would hate me too.’

  ‘Why couldn’t you just let me go?’ Sian asked angrily.

  Ruth paused for a moment. ‘I don’t want you to go.’

  ‘What about me? What about what I want?’ Sian growled.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want to come in?’ Ruth asked.

  ‘Are you listening to me?’ Sian snapped.

  ‘Yes. Okay. So what do you want?’

  ‘I want to go to Swansea next week, start a new life, and put all this crap behind me!’

  Ruth frowned. ‘I though that’s what you were doing?’

  Please say that you’re not going.

  ‘Oh my God. You are so bloody frustrating!’ Sian hissed as she stepped into the house.

  Ruth took a step backwards – Is she going to hit me?

  Without turning, Sian pushed the front door closed with her back and then just glared at Ruth.

  ‘I thought you were going to punch me,’ Ruth said.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Are you?’

  ‘I don’t know yet,’ Sian said, but her face showed the slightest hint of a smirk.

  For a few seconds, they just looked at each other.

  Sian took a deep breath and put her hand to her chest. ‘My heart is banging.’

  Ruth smiled and nodded. ‘Mine too.’

  ‘If I collapse, how’s your CPR?’

  ‘Never had any complaints.’

  Sian took a step towards Ruth, ‘Fuck you, Ruth. I do hate you.’

  ‘So you said.’

  She grabbed Ruth and they kissed.

  Ruth ran her hands through Sian’s hair as they both gasped for breath.

  NICK WIGGLED HIS KEY into the door of his and Amanda’s home, and opened it. He then grabbed the heavy bags of shopping and made his way into the kitchen. Plonking them down on the kitchen table, he immediately got a waft of something that he recognised so well.

  Alcohol.

  His stomach plummeted. He could definitely smell alcohol in the air – if he had to make a guess, it was spirits. Vodka?

  Shit! What the hell is going on?

  Turning on his heels, Nick bounded up the stairs where everything seemed to be quiet and still. Poking his head into Megan’s room, he could see that she was asleep under a blanket that had been folded down.

  Thank God!

  For a few seconds, he just stood and looked at his daughter. Her tiny chest rising and falling almost imperceptibly. Her right arm and hand stretched out to one side. She was so fragile, so delicate. He would do anything to protect her.

  Then his thoughts turned to Amanda.

  Has she been drinking? Or is it just my imagination?

  As he turned, Nick saw Amanda standing in the shadows by the door. She looked like a small girl. Lost and confused.

  Taking a couple of strides, he went to her and hugged her. Part of him wanted to protect her as well. But part of him also wanted to smell if she had been drinking.

  ‘You okay?’ he asked her.

  ‘Yes. Sort of ...’ Amanda whispered.

  He couldn’t smell any booze. If she had been drinking, it would have been almost impossible for her to hide it from him given the distance they were from each other. He felt a sense of relief but was also confused. He was ninety-nine percent convinced that he had smelled alcohol downstairs.

  ‘Come on,’ Nick said as he led her by the hand and out onto the landing. The central heating had been on and, in his coat, he was feeling hot and uncomfortable.

  ‘Tough day?’ Amanda asked as they got to the top of the stairs.

  ‘No more than usual,’ he replied as they walked downstairs. He never really thought about if he’d had a tough day. Most days were challenging, but that was normal now.

  As they reached the kitchen, Nick turned to look at Amanda in
the light.

  ‘I could smell it, you know?’ Nick said quietly.

  She looked at him with a frown. ‘Sorry, I don’t ...’

  Nick looked at her and saw the anxiety in her face.

  ‘It’s me. And it’s fine, whatever’s happened you can tell me ... but I know I can smell booze in there,’ he said.

  Amanda touched her nose as she looked uncomfortable. That was her ‘tell’. Then she closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said as she screwed up her face. ‘I didn’t drink it. I poured it away.’

  Nick went and hugged her again as she sobbed. ‘It’s all right. We’re going to get through this as long as you’re honest.’

  ‘I poured it down the sink,’ Amanda said as she sniffed.

  ‘Good for you.’ Amanda was really struggling. It would have been a real effort for her to resist just pouring it down her throat. ‘Vodka?’

  Amanda nodded.

  ‘Any more?’ Nick asked. Amanda was an alcoholic. It was likely that she had bought a reserve bottle.

  Amanda went into the kitchen, opened the washing machine and pulled out a bottle of vodka. She handed it to him.

  Unscrewing the top, Nick was taken back to the time when just the very action of unscrewing a bottle of vodka would have been exciting.

  ‘More?’ Nick asked as he poured it away down the kitchen sink.

  Amanda shook her head. ‘No. I promise. That’s it.’

  RUTH SHIFTED HER HEAD on Sian’s shoulder in the darkened bedroom. They had just made love and Ruth was breathing heavily. She turned her face and nuzzled into Sian’s neck. She smelled amazing. She felt the damp of Sian’s sweat on the end of her nose.

  We officially do have great sex, Ruth thought as she took a deep breath. Every muscle in her body tingled and the feeling of calm, relaxation, and peace was overwhelmingly beautiful.

  I want to feel like this forever, she thought.

  Sian turned her face a few inches to look at her. ‘What are we doing here?’ she whispered.

  Oh God, I really hoped you weren’t going to ask that.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Ruth whispered back.

  They lay in each other’s arms in the delicate, wonderful silence.

  Sian reached over and ran her hand gently over Ruth’s face and neck. It made her quiver for a moment.

  ‘How can this ... us ... not be a good thing?’ Ruth said.

  Sian gazed at her thoughtfully.

  ‘But nothing has changed, has it?’ Sian asked, sounding confused.

  ‘I know that I love you and I want to be with you,’ Ruth said as she swallowed and took a deep breath. She could feel the tears coming. ‘I love you so much, it actually hurts ...’

  ‘And I love you. That’s not the issue is it?’ Sian said gently, and kissed her.

  ‘No. No, that isn’t the issue. But what if we never find anyone else who makes us feel like this? Shouldn’t we hold onto it?’

  Ruth could see the tears welling in Sian’s eyes. ‘This is so horrible because ... because I don’t trust you.’

  Ruth reached to Sian’s face and wiped a tear from the side of her eye. ‘I know. I’m so sorry ... And I hate myself for doing that to you.’

  ‘I’m not sure that can change,’ Sian said pursing her lips and blinking the tears away.

  ‘I can change,’ Ruth said, even though she knew it sounded false or like a cliché.

  ‘Can you though?’ Sian asked.

  Ruth nodded, and sniffed as the tears came. ‘I have to. I want you in my life.’

  ‘What about Sarah?’

  Ruth took a few seconds. She was about to say something she had never said before but she needed to compose herself.

  ‘She’s dead.’

  The comment hung in the air for a moment.

  ‘What?’ Sian asked with a confused expression.

  ‘Sarah has been missing for nearly seven years. I am a copper. I know that there is a ninety-nine percent chance that she is dead. And if she’s alive but hasn’t contacted me, then she might as well be dead,’ Ruth said, shocking herself that she had given a voice to these thoughts.

  Sian sat up in bed as her eyes widened. ‘I’ve never heard you say that before.’

  ‘That’s because I haven’t. But it came to me the other day,’ Ruth said as she sat up too.

  Am I saying this because it’s the right thing to say? Or because I actually feel it? How am I meant to know that?

  ‘How do I know you’re not just saying what I want to hear?’ Sian said, her forehead furrowed.

  ‘You don’t. And I don’t expect you to suddenly trust me,’ Ruth admitted. ‘But the thought of you going to start a new life in Swansea makes me feel sick to my stomach.’

  They looked at each other.

  ‘I want us to grow old together,’ Ruth whispered.

  Sian moved closer and they kissed.

  CHAPTER 13

  It was early and Ruth was updating Drake on the developments of the Callum Roper case and her concerns about Solace Farm.

  Drake smoothed his goatee, processing what she had told him.

  ‘This Solace Farm hasn’t been on our radar before, has it?’ he said finally.

  ‘I’m waiting to hear back from Social Services, but from what I can see there are no child protection orders connected to the farm. And according to the local police up there, they tend to keep themselves to themselves,’ Ruth explained.

  ‘But you think there’s cause for concern?’ Drake asked.

  ‘The post-mortem on Callum Roper revealed that he had circular scars on each palm and a scar on the right side,’ Ruth said.

  ‘Sorry, I’m lost,’ Drake said.

  ‘We think that the scars are symbolic of Christ’s crucifixion,’ Ruth explained.

  ‘What?’ Drake asked as his forehead became furrowed.

  ‘I know. It’s very strange.’

  ‘And you think they were made while Callum was living at the farm?’

  ‘I think it’s very likely, boss. We also know that Callum called his mother from Solace Farm saying that he was in some kind of trouble. An hour later he had been shot, then ran across the A5 into the path of an oncoming van and was killed. Nick and I thought that it looked like he was being chased. We had reports of shouting and gunshots about twenty minutes before the accident, although Ffestiniog plod have failed to find the person who made that call,’ Ruth said.

  ‘If Callum was being chased or shot at, then his death is manslaughter,’ Drake said.

  ‘Exactly, boss,’ Ruth agreed.

  ‘And you think he was being chased and shot at because he wanted to leave this religious community that lives on the farm?’ Drake asked.

  ‘It seems to fit in with what happened but we don’t have any evidence of that.’

  ‘Who did you speak to up there?’

  ‘Woman called Rachel Ryan. DC Garrow did some digging and says that she’s the leader of the group and they call themselves The Family. Rachel Ryan believes that she is a prophet and has been appointed to guide and prepare the community on the farm,’ Ruth said.

  ‘Bloody hell! Prepare for what exactly?’ Drake said.

  ‘For the Second Coming and the apocalypse of the world,’ Ruth answered.

  ‘Oh, is that all,’ Drake quipped sardonically.

  ‘Rachel Ryan flatly denied that Callum was at the farm on the day of his death. But a triangulation of his phone shows that he was on the farm when he called his mother,’ Ruth explained.

  ‘Okay. Get her in and ask her why she’s lying,’ Drake said sternly.

  ‘I’m not sure that’s the best move, boss. My instinct is that Callum is just the tip of the iceberg. There are children up there, and according to the Educational Welfare Officer, they are being home-schooled. I think they’re vulnerable, but I also think that as soon as we start snooping around, the shutters will come down and everything will stop,’ Ruth said.

  ‘So you want to car
ry out surveillance?’ Drake asked.

  ‘Read my mind, boss. I’d like to see who is coming and going at the farm. I’ve identified an empty cottage nearby. We can carry out a surveillance operation from there,’ Ruth suggested.

  ‘Surveillance is expensive, Ruth. Lots of overtime,’ Drake said raising an eyebrow.

  ‘I know, boss. A few days, that’s all I’m asking for. Just to see what’s really going on at Solace Farm, before they think we’re on to them and hide everything from view.’

  Drake nodded. ‘You’ve got seventy-two hours.’

  LLANCASTELL CID HAD moved operations into Incident Room 1 now that the investigation had escalated to manslaughter, with a wider surveillance on the farm as a whole.

  As Ruth grabbed her coffee, she could see that the incident boards had been hastily assembled and that detectives were sorting out files at the workstations around the room.

  Sian looked over as she moved her chair around – there was a moment between them. It reminded Ruth of when they had first got together. Was she getting her hopes up too much to think that they could just make it work? Ruth dared not to hope that Sian might actually change her mind about leaving.

  ‘Right, guys. Can you listen up for a second? Anyone seen Nick?’ Ruth asked, as she glanced around the room. She hadn’t seen him for a while. There were shakes of heads. ‘Okay. Sorry it’s been a bit of a kick bollock and scramble getting in here today,’ Ruth said, as she wandered towards the large map of North Wales. ‘We are expanding our investigation into Callum Roper’s death to include a wider focus on Solace Farm. We have access to this cottage here, from where we are going to carry out surveillance. Sian and Dan, you’re on first shift today.’

  ‘Really?’ Sian said pulling a face.

  ‘Charming,’ French said slightly defensively.

  ‘I love you Dan, but you snore like a baby fucking rhino,’ Sian retorted. There was laughter around the room.

  ‘I don’t snore,’ French protested.

  ‘Really? Last Christmas, remember when we were on surveillance in the car? That county lines thing? I went to get us fish and chips. By the time I got back, I heard this noise. I thought you had turned on the ignition and were revving the engine. I got in and saw it was you snoring,’ Sian said with a huge grin.