by M A Comley
“She’ll cope. I’ll ensure that happens. Don’t you worry,” Yvette snapped, as if Sally had questioned the family’s ability to care for the grieving child.
“I’m sorry. It was merely a question. It wasn’t meant to cast any aspersions as to anyone’s inabilities to combat the stressful situation.”
“We’ll cope. We’re a close-knit family who has overcome far more than this over the years and come out the other side unscathed.”
“Glad to hear it. When you’re feeling up to it, I’d like you to make a statement. Is that okay?”
“Yes, can you leave it a few days? Let me get over the shock of losing Kathy.”
“Of course. One last question before we wrap this up. How was Mark and Kathy’s relationship? Sorry, how long have they been married?”
“One month to the day. They were newlyweds; how do you think their relationship was?” she retorted harshly, almost as if Sally had asked an insulting question, which couldn’t have been farther from the truth.
“How terrible. Now your son has to go through the grieving process all over again.”
“He’ll do it. He has a very strong resolve, Inspector.”
“Tell me, as a matter of interest, have you seen much of Colin lately?”
She gasped. “Colin? You think he did this?”
“Whoa, no, I said nothing of the sort. Only six months ago, I turned up here and had to separate the fighting brothers. I was just enquiring, in a roundabout way, if the brothers had made amends with each other after they fell out.”
“I see. Yes, he came to the wedding. We haven’t really seen anything of him since then. He was very distant at the wedding. I think he and Leona are going through a tough time right now.”
“Any reason why? The fertility problems, maybe?” Sally suggested.
“In a way, yes. Leona found out that Gemma was expecting Colin’s child, and she went ballistic.”
“Did someone let that fact slip intentionally?” Sally asked, with one eyebrow raised.
“Certainly not! At least I don’t think so.”
“Are you going to tell me who that someone was, Yvette?”
Her eyes narrowed as their gazes met. “It was Kathy who let it slip. Are you suggesting that you think Leona might have killed Kathy now?”
“The idea never even occurred to me, but now you’ve mentioned it, it would be unwise for me to ignore. We’ll definitely be broadening our nets because of the information you have provided.”
“Is that all, Inspector? I’d like to get back to caring for my distressed grandchild now.”
“Yes, that’s all. We’ll need you to give us a statement in the next day or two, though.”
Yvette nodded, rose from the table and left the room without saying another word.
Jack leaned closer and whispered, “What is it with this family? Looks like everyone has the knives out and is willing to embed them into each other’s backs.”
“That’s an excellent assessment, Jack. One that I fear is going to make our job very difficult over the coming days or weeks.”
“What’s your initial take on what you’ve heard so far?”
“Let’s discuss that when we leave here,” Sally said, winking.
Mark returned to the kitchen as Sally and Jack were tucking their chairs back under the table. “Are you leaving now?”
“Yes, we’re going to head over to Kathy’s parents. Before we go, something is puzzling me, Mark.”
His brow furrowed. “What’s that, Inspector?”
“The fact you married so soon after losing Gemma.”
He shrugged. “Because I was lonely, I guess.”
“Did you love Kathy?”
His eyes widened. “Of course I loved Kathy. I hope you find the person who killed her soon.”
“I have a feeling we will this time, Mr. Whiting. We’ll be in the area for the next few days, conducting house-to-house enquiries with your neighbours.”
“You say that as though I should be worried about what you obtain from my neighbours.”
“Not at all. Just informing you of what is going to take place within your area. We’ll be in touch soon. In the meantime, if you can compile a list of what you think the burglar took, we’d appreciate it.”
“I’ve had a quick look around and couldn’t see that anything is missing. Maybe Kathy disturbed the burglar before he had a chance to get his hands on any of our possessions.”
Sally nodded, and Mark led them into the lounge. The scene was sickening, even to Sally. Blood covered every surface from the walls to the ceiling. There wasn’t a clean surface in sight. Mark showed them out of the house. Walking back up the drive, Jack muttered, “Yeah, and maybe there wasn’t a burglar after all, mate.”
“I think you’ve got it in one, partner. The problem we have now is proving or disproving that theory,” Sally agreed in a hushed voice as she looked back at the house. Mark was standing on the threshold, hands deep in his pockets, watching them.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sally parked the car in Kathy’s parents’ drive in a quiet cul-de-sac ten minutes’ drive from the Whitings’ home. A woman with curly silver hair opened the front door to them. “Hello, Mrs. Cleeves? I’m DI Sally Parker, and this is my partner, DS Jack Blackman. May we speak to you for a moment about your daughter, Kathy?”
She heaved a large sigh and nodded. “Come in.”
They followed her through the house to a country-style kitchen at the rear of the property, where a man of similar age was sitting, wringing his hands, at the table.
“It’s the police, Dave,” Mrs. Cleeves explained.
“What happened? How did my daughter lose her life last night?”
“Is it all right if we sit down?” Sally asked.
The couple nodded, and Sally and Jack settled into two of the pine chairs around the matching table.
“I’m sorry, but at this early stage, I can’t really answer that, Mr. Cleeves. Did you go to the hospital last night?”
“Yes. That idiot son-in-law of mine rang us a few hours after Kathy was taken to hospital.”
“Now, Dave, that’s not fair. He must have been worried sick and not thinking straight. We must be thankful that he rang us at all, in the circumstances,” Mrs. Cleeves stated compassionately.
Her husband huffed a breath in response and shook his head.
“I wondered if you could give me a little background information about Kathy. What I mean is, I know that she and Mark haven’t been married long, but do you think a spurned ex-partner is capable of doing this to Kathy?” Sally asked tentatively.
“But we were told that a burglar broke into the house and attacked our daughter. Are you telling us that was a blatant lie, Inspector?” Mrs. Cleeves asked.
“No. We’ve yet to confirm that. I was merely covering all angles from the outset rather than discover the information a few weeks further down the line.”
“I see. In that case, no. Our daughter has never really parted with any of her former partners on bad terms. We still can’t believe that we’ll never see her beautiful smile and experience her zest for life again. And after what we’ve just been through with her brother, too.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss. Mark told us about you losing Kathy’s brother recently. I hope we’ll be able to share some positive news about the enquiry with you soon. Are you comfortable answering these questions now?” Sally asked.
“There’s little else we can do. As next of kin, the funeral arrangements, when the time comes to make them, will be down to Mark to carry out,” Mr. Cleeves said.
“I’m sure he’ll be grateful for your input,” Sally replied, wondering if there was a message buried in his statement. “Do you and Mark get along?”
Both of Kathy’s parents nodded.
“And as far as you know, their marriage was a happy one?”
Mrs. Cleeves nodded vehemently. “Yes, they loved and cared for each other very deeply. I know they had a whirlwind ro
mance and tied the knot within a few months of meeting each other, but they were true soulmates. Kathy loved Samantha as if she were her own. She knew from day one how much Mark thought of his daughter. It was never an issue between them. In fact, she told me only the other day that she intended to go part-time at work so she could care for Samantha properly after school, to help relieve the pressure on Yvette, Mark’s mother.”
“That’s very admirable. A very inopportune moment for this incident to happen for all concerned then.”
Mrs. Cleeves started to sob. Her husband placed a gentle arm around his wife’s shoulders and hugged her to his chest. “There, there, love. Let it all out.”
Sally watched the touching scene until finally Mrs. Cleeves sat upright and blew her nose on a hanky that she’d produced from the sleeve of her jumper.
“I’m sorry. I’m trying hard not to break down all the time. The thought of never seeing my daughter or my grandchild just becomes unbearable and starts me off again.”
Sally reached across the table and patted the woman’s hand. “I’m sure Mark won’t prevent you from seeing Samantha in the future.”
Mrs. Cleeves gasped, trying to catch her breath, as fresh tears trickled down her cheeks. “I know we’ll still stay in touch with Samantha. But we’ll never have the opportunity to say hello or cuddle our own grandchild now that Kathy has gone.”
Sally turned to face Jack. He appeared as puzzled as she was by Mrs. Cleeves’s statement. “Mrs. Cleeves, are you saying what I think you’re saying… that Kathy was pregnant?”
“Yes, about four weeks. She told me the same time she mentioned that she was going part-time. So you see, we’ve not only been robbed of our beautiful daughter but also our darling grandchild.”
Sally felt her heart miss several beats. She shook her head. “How devastating for you both. I was unaware of that fact. I really don’t know what to say. Words don’t seem appropriate in the circumstances. Look, why don’t we leave this for now. Give you time to grieve and take stock of the situation.”
Mr. Cleeves stood up. “Maybe that would be for the best, Inspector. Thank you for your consideration at this sorrowful time for us.”
Sally and Jack smiled at Mrs. Cleeves and retraced their steps through the house, with Mr. Cleeves leading the way. “I appreciate you seeing us, Mr. Cleeves. Here’s my card. Feel free to contact me night or day, should the need arise.”
He took it and placed the card on the hall table close to the front door. “Thank you. Sorry we couldn’t be more helpful.”
“There’s no need to apologise. Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch soon.”
Sally heard the door close behind her and upped her pace to reach the car.
In the car, Jack let out a long whistle. “Wow! Coincidence or what?”
“Too much of a bloody coincidence for us to ignore, that’s for sure. I’m going to have to run this past the chief when we get back. I think we’ve got enough to arrest Mark Whiting now, don’t you?”
“Either him or someone else in the family who wasn’t happy to hear that snippet of news.”
Sally sharply turned to look at him. “Come on, let’s hear it. Who do you think did it?”
“Take your pick. The husband, the brother-in-law, even the sister-in-law comes into the equation for me after hearing about the pregnancy.”
“Really? Leona? Now that’s one person I hadn’t even thought about. Let’s get back to the station and start thrashing things out before I bring the chief in on this. You’ve certainly got the cogs turning with that notion, Jack.” Sally pointed to her forehead with one hand and started the engine with the other.
Walking through the doors to the incident room, Sally clapped to gain the team’s attention. “Gather around, people. Some interesting information has come our way that we’d like to share and tear apart.”
The team shuffled their chairs into position and either sat forward in the seats or armed themselves with their notebooks, ready to listen.
Sally and Jack stood on either side of the whiteboard. Jack noted down the details as Sally spoke.
“So, we turned up at Mark Whiting’s house to find him, his mother, and his daughter all looking pretty shaken up by what had happened to Mark’s new wife Kathy. The scene of the crime was like a clip from a horror movie. The girl never really stood a chance.”
“Are you still putting this down to a burglary gone wrong, boss?” Joanna asked, tilting her head and raising a questioning eyebrow.
“The honest answer to that is, we’re going to have to for now. But that’s likely to change once I give the DCI the heads-up on what we’ve learnt from our informal chat with the members of the family and Kathy’s parents.
“Okay, after we’ve completed this meeting, I want Stuart and Jordan to conduct house-to-house enquiries, see if anyone either heard or saw anything suspicious, like a man leaving the Whitings’ premises covered in blood. There’d be no possibility of escaping the blood spray, if the spatter in the lounge was anything to go by. SOCO are on their way over there now, so we’ll be awaiting their report on any evidence found. I have my doubts that they will find anything, though. Here’s where things get interesting: I find it incredible to believe that Mrs. Whiting and Samantha were in the house while the burglar was attacking Kathy. How many burglaries do we come across where someone is at home to confront the intruder? Most burglars tend to cherry-pick empty homes.”
The team nodded their agreement. Everyone’s attention turned to the door of the incident room as DCI Mick Green entered, an unidentifiable expression creasing his features. “Update meeting, is this, Inspector?”
“Yes, sir. I was just filling in the team and allocating tasks before I came to bring you up to speed on matters.”
“Saved you the bother then, haven’t I? Carry on. I’m all ears.” He planted his backside on the edge of one of the spare desks close to Sally and folded his arms. His eyes drifted over to the board, where Jack continued to make notes.
Sally swallowed the anxious knot that had suddenly developed in her throat. “So I’m inclined to disbelieve all this rubbish about a burglar and look at a family member committing the crime.”
“And your reason for pointing the finger in that direction is?” the chief asked.
“Apart from the nonsensical angle of the burglary, we also learned that Kathy Whiting was pregnant. I’ve yet to get that fact confirmed by the pathologist, but I’m pretty sure we can believe Kathy’s mother.”
The chief seemed puzzled. “And what does that lead you to assume?”
“Well, considering Gemma Whiting died in similar circumstances, it leads me to think that Kathy was intentionally killed because of her pregnancy. I have very little else to go on.”
The chief inclined his head and brought a hand up to toy with the stubble of his chin. “Interesting. It’s definitely a motive. For the husband, you think?”
“Up until about half an hour ago, I would have said yes to that, sir.”
“What has altered your opinion?” the chief asked.
“My partner. He raised a fair point in the car—maybe the same member of the family who killed Gemma also killed Kathy because she had just announced that she was pregnant. Seems strange that both women were killed within four weeks of conceiving. What are the odds on that?”
“What do you intend doing about it, Inspector?”
“I was going to ask you to issue an arrest warrant for Mark when I returned to the station. However, with this new information thrown into the mix, I’m in a quandary how to proceed.”
“I’d yank them all in. Don’t question the family at home, put them under pressure by ordering them to come to the station for an interview.” The chief shrugged. “He or she who hesitates will highlight themselves as a genuine suspect.”
Sally thought over his suggestion for a few more seconds before she nodded. “You might be right, sir. I’ll get on the phone straight away. Ask them to come in today.”
&nbs
p; “Okay, maybe give them at least twenty-four hours to make the arrangements. Don’t be too keen to point the finger at first.”
“Will do. I’ll ring the pathologist, see what he can tell me about the victim after we’ve finished. Best to have the facts in place before I start bombarding the suspects with questions.”
“Always advisable.” The chief stood up. “It’s a shame I had to come and find you to get an update on the investigation, Inspector. See to it that doesn’t happen again.”
Sally seethed as she watched him walk out of the room. “See what I’m up against, you guys. Now you know why I come down hard on you now and again. Maybe you’ll give me some slack on that in the future.”
The team stared back at her, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
She waved her hand in front of her face. “Never mind.”
Jack cleared his throat. “So shall I draw up a list of suspects we’re going to want to talk to in the next twenty-four hours?”
“Do that. I’m looking at inviting Mark, Colin, and Leona Whiting. Can anyone think of anyone else?” They all shook their heads. “Very well, let’s look into all the suspects’ backgrounds again, specifically pinpointing the last six months, see if anything strange crops up that we can tackle each of them with. I’ll ring Simon in the meantime.” Sally dismissed the team and rushed into her office to make the call. Simon’s assistant answered the phone in his office and informed her that it would be another thirty minutes before he could respond to her call. Sally tackled some important paperwork while she awaited his return call.
“Inspector, how can I help?”
“Thanks for calling back, Simon. Have you had a chance to carry out the PM on Kathy Whiting yet?”
“The hospital hasn’t released the body as yet. Some bureaucratic claptrap that I told them to get sorted ASAP. I have a feeling my disapproval will only make them dig their heels in even more. Why?”
“I dropped by to see Kathy’s parents this morning, and they told me that their daughter had just found out she was pregnant.”