by Kay Leitch
'The old bastard,' she growled, 'he told me…wrote me a letter, told me she had been to see him, she was trying to find me.'
'Your dad do you mean…she had been to see him?'
'Yes…she'd got his name from Julie…tracked him down, he wouldn't see her though, he told me…boasted to me about all the filthy names he'd called her…told her that she was a freak, a fucking bastard…cuntsporn, he was proud of that one, anyway he sent her away, so I didn't get the chance to see her, to try and explain…he even took that from me,' she finished bitterly.
'So you are telling me that you never met Louise…you didn't email her…text her?' Carla watched her carefully. Vanessa looked up bewildered.
'No…how could I, I had no idea where she lived, after my father kicked her out she disappeared again…' Vanessa started to look uncomfortable, 'So no I never met her, and now I think you are going to tell me that I never will aren't you?' her face began to crumple, she was obviously only just managing to keep a grip on her emotions.
'Vanessa we have reason to believe that the young girl found murdered in the woods was that baby girl…Louise…your daughter.' Vanessa seemed unable to speak she just nodded, silent tears rolled down her cheeks. 'What would you say, Vanessa, if I were to tell you that Louise had been getting emails from someone who identified themselves as her mother, this same person had arranged to meet Louise here in Kenley…that was why she was here…to meet you.'
Vanessa jumped up and started pacing the room again. 'That's impossible, I've never emailed her in my life…how could I, I didn't even know her name until after she died…' she came and stood in front of Carla. 'You have to believe me, I had nothing to do with her being here…oh god you think I killed her, don't you? No, no, no I could never do that…please you have to believe me, if I had known she was looking for me I would have met with her…just to see her…see how she turned out, you know.'
'What about the baby's father? Did you tell him about her…maybe he had seen her web appeal, maybe he was trying to get in touch?'
Vanessa went very still, 'No that's impossible…he wouldn't, it was all such a long time ago…no one knew.'
'Does Giles know about Louise, Vanessa…how much does he know about your past?
Vanessa turned and looked Carla straight in the eye. 'Nothing…Giles know nothing about my past, I've always kept that hidden from him.'
'Vanessa, I have a witness that saw you running away from where Louise was found, the day after her body was discovered. This witness said that you were in great distress…why were you there Vanessa?'
'They are mistaken…it wasn't me…they've made a mistake.'
'So you're saying you didn't go into the woods the day after the body was found…have you ever been there, just out of curiosity say?'
'No, I've never been there.' She seemed to have got control of herself once again; the calculating look was back in her eyes.
'Can you tell me why it was that you reacted so violently this afternoon when you saw Helen's painting, of the exact area where the murder took place, if you've never been there, how did you recognise it?'
'Look it was nothing to do with the painting, I just fainted ok…it was too overcrowded and hot in that hall…' she looked at Carla incredulously, 'you can't possibly think I fainted because I saw the scene of my daughter's death on a canvas, like I said, I have never been into that part of the woods, your 'witness' was mistaken.'
Carla looked at her for a long minute trying to read her expression, then she stood and said, 'Ok Vanessa, I think that's all I need for now…um I will need to take your computer, and you said your dad sent you a letter about Louise's visit, do you still have it, could you dig it out for me, oh and your mobile please, I'll get it back to you as soon as possible.' Vanessa seemed to be on auto-pilot as she collected everything to give to Carla who waited for her in the living room. As she looked about her Carla's eye fell upon the same photo that had caught her attention on her previous visit, she went over and picked it up, the resemblance to Louise's picture was uncanny she stared harder and felt a wave of excitement well up inside her, how had she not noticed it before…the earrings! Vanessa was wearing a beautiful pair of antique emerald earrings! She turned as Vanessa entered the room and gestured to the picture.
'Lovely earrings, emeralds aren't they?' Carla said, and for a second she thought she saw real panic in Vanessa's eyes, but all too soon it was gone to be replaced with the slightly bored look that Carla was becoming familiar with.
'Oh those…I wish, no they're just glass, cheap, copies, I don't think I even have them anymore, threw them out ages ago.'
Carla stared at her for a couple of minutes; letting the lie hang in the air between them, 'I may need to speak to you again Vanessa, so don't go anywhere will you,' she said eventually.
Vanessa let out a bitter laugh, 'Where the hell would I go? And like I said, I didn't kill her, so I have no reason to run do I?'
Carla went to leave, but Vanessa grabbed her arm, 'Carla, Giles doesn't have anything to do with this and he has enough to deal with at the moment with the assault charge…'
'I'm sorry Vanessa I will try and keep your secret but, if I need to I will have to talk to Giles…it might be better if you were to tell him first don't you think?'
Vanessa gave her a noncommittal look and Carla left her.
As she left the pub she bumped into Jed and his girlfriend Jools, who stopped to say hello, 'I'm glad I bumped into you Jools,' said Carla, 'what can you tell me about Derek Styles…he's one of yours isn't he, what do you make of him?'
'Well let me just say that we're all enjoying the fact that he is away at the moment,' said Jools with a laugh. 'He's not the easiest resident to deal with, although he's always been ok with me, but some of the other girls find him a trial.'
'Why's that?' Carla asked.
'Well he's what we would describe as a groper, you know he always tries to cop a feel any chance he gets, and he is incredibly anti-social, he doesn't mix with any of the other residents, seems to think he's better than them…but then having said that Vanessa doesn't help, he's always writing to her begging for a visit and most times she doesn't even reply, so I suppose there's some excuse for his miserable behaviour.'
'He had his granddaughter visit him not so long ago, Maggie was telling us…'
Jools held up a hand, 'Oh don't talk to me about that, he was awful to her…poor girl she couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen and she was so desperate to meet him…some of the names he called her, he was disgusting…she went off in tears, we all felt so sorry for her…horrible old man, imagine treating your granddaughter like that.'
'What was she like…the granddaughter?' asked Carla.
'Well like I said she was very young…but really trying to look older you know…far too much makeup and high heels, very confident though, you know for her age…why?'
'I'm afraid we think she was the girl that was murdered in the woods…um I'm going to have to come and talk with Mr Styles, when is he due back?'
Jools, who had turned white stuttered, 'Um…er…oh day after tomorrow I think, oh my god Carla that's so awful…but she came to see Derek quite a while ago, what was she doing back here, was she going to give it another go…oh poor girl that's just so horrible,' she looked so upset Carla gave her a hug.
'That's what I need to find out Jools, thanks for your help…see you soon…see ya Jed,' she called over to Jed who had got bored and was talking to Giles at the bar, he raised his hand in reply, and Carla went out to her car. Despite all that Vanessa had told her this afternoon, there were still huge gaps in her story, and no matter how much she denied it there was now no doubt in Carla's mind that Vanessa had been in the woods either at the time of the murder or soon after, somehow one of her earrings had ended up right next to her daughter's body, just how and when that had happened Carla still had to determine.
She had an address for Vanessa's sister Faye and for her school friend Julie, she decided to spe
ak to Julie first as she lived quite close by in Godstone.
The day had turned to night by the time Carla pulled up outside the 1970's house that supposedly belonged to Julie Spencer or Grant as she would have been when she knew Vanessa. It was quite dark already even though it wasn't quite 6 o clock. Carla got wearily out of the car, it had been a long day and it wasn't over yet. She could see light shining through the drawn curtains of the big picture window to the front of the house that was so typical of the architecture of that period. A dog started barking as she walked up the path to the glazed door…she rang the bell and saw a large black shadow run towards her panting and scrabbling as if trying to dig its way out, she stood back automatically.
'Hang on a sec,' came a voice from inside and the dark shadow was dragged away and shut behind another door. 'Sorry about that,' came the voice again and the door was eventually opened by a very large woman with short dark hair cut severely round her head a bit like a pudding basin.
'Hi,' said Carla with a smile, 'I'm Detective Inspector Right from the police force in Kenley and I'm looking for a Julie Spencer…um formally Grant, um… would that be you?'
The woman turned pale, 'Oh please don't tell me something's happened to my Gary,' she began, Carla quickly interrupted her.
'No, no nothing like that, I'm trying to find out as much as I can about a girl called Vanessa Pinner, I believe you may have known her Mrs Spencer?'
Julie's whole body relaxed and she smiled showing a mouthful of rotten teeth.
'Yes I knew her, we were best friends at school…um until she ran away that is…' she suddenly looked defensive again, 'is that what this is about, because I had nothing to do with that, I only gave her my sister's name because she was desperate…I can't be held respon…' Carla stopped her.
'Julie I'm only here to find out about Vanessa, nothing else…um could I come in…it won't take long.'
'Oh of course…sorry, please come in…go through to the lounge, I'll just put the dog outside, he can be a right nuisance when I've got visitors.'
Julie showed Carla into a sitting room and asked her to take a seat. The room would have been quite spacious if not for the piles of stuff taking up almost every surface. Magazines and newspapers were piled up high and there were at least ten black bin liners filled with what looked like old clothes on the sofa opposite the one Carla was sitting on. The coffee table could barely be seen for old plates and cups that littered its surface…which were probably responsible for the rather rank smell that filled the room, a mixture of old food and dog. Carla tried not to breathe in too deeply. After a few minutes Julie came back in.
'Sorry about that,' she said again and she perched herself on the very edge of the sofa opposite Carla, seemingly unconcerned about the dreadful mess all around her. Carla asked her about Vanessa, what had she been like at school, did she have any particular boyfriends, when had she told her friend about being pregnant, did she have any idea who could have been the child's father.
'It was a complete mystery,' said Julie, 'she hadn't even had a boyfriend as far as I knew, she was a really shy girl, didn't take if you know what I mean…not that she wasn't pretty it was just that she just didn't seem to be that interested…I was gobsmacked when she told me she was pregnant, I did ask her who it was, but she never told me.'
The picture Julie painted of Vanessa's family life was of a strict and domineering father and a meek shadow of a mother. Vanessa had seemed to be terrified of her father and when she had asked Julie for help in getting away that seemed to be the driving force behind her leaving, that and not bringing shame down upon her mother. Carla couldn't help but feel pity for the young Vanessa, with no one to turn to, going to a strange town and living with a complete stranger rather than telling her parents, what sort of a family was it, that she felt the only option she had was to run away.
'Were the police involved in trying to find Vanessa when she went missing, I'm assuming that her parents would have been frantic with worry about her, she was only 15 after all?' asked Carla.
Julie nodded enthusiastically making her whole body wobble like a jelly.
'Oh yes, they came to the school asking questions…um how well did we know Vanessa, was there anyone that she might go to, all of that stuff you know, but I kept quiet, I had promised her…she was my friend,' Julie shrugged as if that explained it all.
'What about her parents, they must have asked you about it all…they knew about your friendship with Vanessa didn't they?'
The question seemed to make her feel a bit uncomfortable; she stood and walked to the window.
'Well they did come round, but I pretended to be out…I was in the house alone and I saw him…her dad… coming up the path so I hid in my room. I never liked him at the best of times, gave me the creeps he did, always so smarmy and full of himself like he was god's gift, but I knew he had another side, you can just tell can't you and Vanessa was really scared of him, she seemed to hate being alone with him you know she'd always make me come in the car with her when he picked her up from school, even though I only lived 5 minutes away…so I didn't tell him anything. It was harder with her mum though, because I could see that she was heartbroken…but I had promised,' she finished quietly.
'Was it you that put Louise in touch with her grandfather Julie?' said Carla eventually, watching Julie as she seemed to finally notice the dirty cups and plates on the table and started gathering them together balancing cups on plates precariously, she carried on talking as she opened up the hatch that linked the lounge to the kitchen and piled them up on the other side closing the hatch to hide the mess.
'No sorry, I don't know anything about that…someone did email me on one of those sites where you find your old school friends, you know the ones, I was trying to get hold of someone I had known in school, not Vanessa as it happens, but then this woman comes on asking about Vanessa and her sister, I think it was someone from the care home that she was living in, the girl, Vanessa's girl I mean… I was able to give them Faye's address, so they must have got his whereabouts from her. Quite a surprise that I can tell you, hearing from someone who knew Vanessa's baby…I never knew you see what happened after she left home…I never saw her again. My sister she was convinced that she had run off with her boyfriend…but then that was Sandra all over, jealous as hell of everyone… and of course she didn't know what I knew, that Vanessa was pregnant. When I saw on the news about that little girl being abandoned outside the hospital…well I just knew it was Vanessa's baby,' Julie sighed. 'But then she just disappeared, I never knew what happened to her after that…so did she ever find her mum, the kid I mean…um Louise?'
'I'm afraid not, she was murdered before she had the chance to, which is why I'm asking all these questions,' said Carla quietly as she began to get her things together.
Julie looked shell shocked, 'Oh my lord how awful…oh poor Vanessa…that poor child oh my.'
Carla decided it was time to go, she thanked Julie for her time and left her card for her in case she could think of anything else that might be of interest, and thankfully made her way back to her car. She felt overwhelmed with sadness as she drove home, sadness for Vanessa, what a wasted childhood…when she should have been playing with her friends she was trying to look after herself and live with the terrible secret of her baby, and sadness for Louise who, after an awful start was on the brink of finding her mother…only to be brutally murdered. But still something was nagging at her. Carla felt that she was missing some vital piece in all this and if she could just find out what that was she would have her killer.
She drove home deep in thought, nothing made any sense…but she knew she needed to speak to Vanessa's dad.
As she neared home Ted's voice came over the radio, Richard Frampton had been found in a Holiday Inn near Dover, he had been booked on a ferry to Calais and had been staying in the hotel for a few days, when one of the staff had recognised his picture from the one in the local paper and called the police.
CHAPTER
40 - 2013
He couldn't breathe, strong hands encircled his neck squeezing the life out of him, he tried to pull them off but they just got tighter. He could hear his heart beating fast and loud in his ears, his eyes were bulging out of his head, he was flailing around fighting for his life with every ounce of strength left in his body…he could feel hot breath on his face, he smelt the stench of death.
This was no earthly being that threatened his very life, this was a shadowy monster sent by Lucifer himself to claim one of his own…his chest was exploding with lack of air, he tried to focus in on his killer, the view was becoming clearer, the ghoul turned towards him at last… he screamed, high pitched screams of terror…the creature had no face, just a mass of blood and putrefied brains in which a thousand maggots were crawling…he screamed again and again threshing around in sheer panic, his hand hit something hard…he woke up soaked with sweat, wrapped in a knot of bedclothes…he was alive…why was he still alive?
CHAPTER 41 - MAGGIE
Charles had stayed for a couple of days…for once Maggie hadn't minded having an intruder in her home, he was good company and he seemed to know not to crowd her. He'd even joined in a noisy footie game with Dom and Jed in the garden one afternoon when the sun had decided to shine, it had been strangely heart-warming to see the three of them skidding around in the muddy garden, they had all come in filthy but laughing and she had made them all hot chocolate, all very domestic which in itself was weird…Maggie didn't mix men and domestic, not anymore, but it had all felt very natural and not scary at all.
Then of course real life had intruded, Maggie had to go into the office and Charles was off on his travels again…Lisbon this time, for a week…that was yesterday…she was already bloody missing him!
That WAS scary…she had vowed never to get so involved with a man again that he had the power to hurt her, and up until now she had been content with her one or two night stands. She didn't need a man to look after her, she was independently wealthy, she loved her work and she had her boys to look after, even though they needed her less and less these days, but she definitely knew what she didn't need and that was a serious relationship with a man…maybe she should cool things off with Charles, oh god, even as she thought about it her heart was protesting, she just had to be aware of the situation and try and keep cool.