Silent Graves

by Sally Rigby

  ‘Have you seen Martin recently?’ Whitney always asked about Ross, so she remembered to do the same.

  ‘We text and phone regularly, but I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks. After our last case I spent some time with him in London and had a lovely time.’

  ‘Would you say you’re in a relationship?’ She took her eyes off the road for a moment and glanced at Whitney.

  ‘I don’t know what you’d call it. It’s certainly more than friends with benefits but a relationship … I’m not sure.’

  ‘Friends with benefits?’

  ‘Haven’t you heard of that term? It means not in a relationship but still having the benefit of sex.’

  ‘Interesting. What about Tiffany? Have you given her any indication you’re seeing him yet?’

  ‘No. It’s not the sort of thing you can discuss when she’s over the other side of the world. Oh, by the way, I’m seeing your father. She’d freak. I’m going to wait until she’s home when we can sit down together and have a long chat about it. He wants to meet her, but if she doesn’t want to meet him … I’m not going to think about it until she’s back here. Whenever that’s going to be.’

  ‘But you’re hoping for Christmas, although she doesn’t have much time to make up her mind if she does wish to come home. Flights at this time of year are expensive, although we could contribute.’

  George had given Tiffany an early twenty-first birthday present of money before she’d left for Australia. She was more than happy to help fund the flight back.

  ‘She hasn’t asked me to help financially so maybe that means she isn’t going to come home after all. I’ve just been kidding myself. I keep thinking she’s planning this massive surprise, but …’ Whitney’s voice tailed off. George hadn’t meant to upset her.

  ‘What about your mum and brother, have you told them about Martin?’ she asked, deciding to move the subject away from Tiffany.

  ‘I haven’t mentioned him yet as I’m not sure how, or what, to tell them. He’s got his work in London and I’m based here, so it’s not like I can move to be with him. I’m not prepared to leave Lenchester and be away from them.’

  ‘He could live here with you and commute to work, plenty of people do from here.’

  ‘Stop jumping the gun. I’ve already said I’m not sure whether we’re in a relationship, and even if we are, there are many barriers to overcome. Not least explaining to Tiffany, which is the most important.’

  ‘But surely if you like him, she will, too.’

  ‘Your view is too simplistic. I kept him hidden for twenty-one years, how would you feel if that had happened to you? Actually, scrap that. You’re way too rational to be upset by it.’ She shook her head.

  ‘I do understand and I’m sure Tiffany will if you explain exactly what happened. Tell it to her like you told me.’

  ‘We’ll see,’ Whitney said. ‘Conversation over. We must nearly be there.’

  George was glad to leave the subject. She hadn’t realised it was going to cause such an issue.

  ‘Yes, it’s on the left.’

  George pulled up outside a modern semi-detached house, with a dark blue door.

  ‘I hope she’s in. I didn’t want to phone first in case it gave her time to concoct a story, or for her to tell us what she thinks we want to hear. If she’s out, we’ll come back later, if that’s okay with you?’

  ‘Yes, that’s fine,’ George said, happy for the excuse to do as much driving as possible.

  They walked to the door and Whitney rang the bell. After thirty seconds she tried again, but still no reply.

  ‘Damn. Okay, let’s go,’ Whitney said.

  They headed back to the car and were just about to get in when a car pulled into the driveway. A woman in her fifties, with short blonde hair, rolled down the window. ‘Are you here to see me?’ she asked.

  ‘We’re looking for Kathleen Henderson,’ Whitney said.

  ‘That’s me.’

  ‘I’m Detective Chief Inspector Walker and this is Dr Cavendish. We’d like to come in and have a chat with you, if we may.’

  ‘What’s it about? Has something happened?’ She opened the car door and stepped out, hurrying towards them.

  ‘Everything’s fine. We’d like to talk to you about something which happened when you were at St Paul’s school.’

  ‘I left years ago, when I was sixteen. What on earth do you want to know?’

  ‘We’re investigating the disappearance of Jayne Kennedy and Anita Bailey.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘I’ve just got back from work, come on inside and we can talk there.’

  She rushed past them, pulling her key out of her handbag, and they followed her down the drive, waiting while she unlocked the door and let them in. The door opened up onto a combined lounge and dining area. The room wasn’t very large and was furnished sparsely, with a two-seater oat coloured sofa and a dark brown chair both facing the television in the corner which was up on the wall. The family photos mounted on the wall were the only really personal items George observed.

  ‘Where do you work?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I’m a part-time administrator for a firm of solicitors in town. I work mornings so I can visit my mother in the afternoons. She’s in her eighties, but still lives alone, around the corner. Can I get you something to drink?’

  ‘Coffee would be lovely, milk, no sugar,’ Whitney said.

  George gave a tiny smile. Some things never changed. In all the time she’d known Whitney, she’d never refused one.

  ‘Same for me, please,’ she said.

  They waited while Kathleen went into the kitchen. After a few minutes she returned with three mugs on a tray which she placed on the small table. She handed one to each of them.

  ‘When did you move from Lenchester?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘My parents moved to Kettering with my father’s job, just over thirty years ago. My husband and I moved over here to be close to my mother after he died.’

  ‘What about your family?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I have two grown-up children. My son works in London as a dentist and my daughter lives locally with her husband and two children. I’m enjoying being a grandparent, it’s so much easier than being a parent.’

  ‘I’m sure it’s fun,’ Whitney said.

  ‘What do you want to know about Anita and Jayne?’ Kathleen asked.

  ‘We’ve reopened the case because we now believe they didn’t run away as previously thought. The remains of two bodies were recently found and they have been identified as theirs.’

  Kathleen’s hand shot up to her mouth. ‘That’s awful. So, all this time they were actually dead? Their poor families must be devastated.’

  The woman’s shock was certainly genuine.

  ‘According to our records, you were interviewed at the time. Can you tell me why you were specifically singled out?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘After they’d gone missing, the police came into our class and spoke to all of form 5F together.’

  ‘Did they speak to the other forms?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I don’t think so, but I can’t be certain. We’d been together as a form from when we joined the school at thirteen, so I assume they thought we’d be the best ones to speak to. They asked if we’d seen anything that might be useful and, if so, to speak to them. I spoke up because I’d seen Anita and Jayne outside the front gate talking to a man on the day they disappeared.’

  ‘Yes, we have that on the record. Had you seen this man before?’

  ‘No, I hadn’t, but …’ She hesitated. ‘I think he might have been a drug dealer.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’ Whitney asked, exchanging a quick glance with George. There had been no mention of drugs in the files.

  Kathleen bit down on her bottom lip. ‘I don’t like to say anything bad about Jayne and Anita, especially now you’ve told me that they’ve been dead all this time. But to be honest, they weren’t nice girls, they were bullies, and they picked on pe
ople. Anita was a lot worse than Jayne, but they both did it.’

  ‘Did they pick on you?’

  ‘Yes, they did. They would call me names because I was a bit overweight. But it’s not just that they were bullies. They …’ Her voice fell away.

  ‘Go on,’ Whitney said, gently.

  ‘They used to sell drugs. The man they were with was older and had some distinctive tattoos. I thought maybe he was their dealer.’

  ‘What sort of drugs did they sell?’

  ‘I think it was mainly speed. I didn’t buy anything from them.’

  ‘But you knew they sold them.’

  ‘Everybody knew.’

  ‘The teachers, too?’ George asked.

  ‘No, obviously not.’ The woman glanced at George, an incredulous expression on her face.

  She acknowledged that it wasn’t a well-considered question.

  ‘You didn’t mention this to the police. All you said was you saw them talking to this man and described him. Why didn’t you say anything about the drugs?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I was too scared.’

  ‘Okay, I understand,’ Whitney said. ‘Is there anything else you can think of that might help with our enquiries?’

  ‘No. It all happened so long ago, and I haven’t thought about Anita and Jayne since they left.’

  ‘Do you have any photos from your school days?’

  ‘We weren’t friends, so none including them, although come to think of it … I might have an old form photo. I’ll check.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Kathleen hurried over to the oak sideboard situated along the wall behind the dining table. She opened a drawer and pulled out an album.

  ‘This is from when I was at school. Once Jayne and Anita had run away, our form changed for the remainder of the school year. There wasn’t any bullying, and everyone was kind and friendly to each other. I still keep in touch with some people from school, even now. It’s so easy with social media.’ She opened the album and pulled out a photo. ‘This is the school photo taken at the start of our fifth form year. That’s me, and there are Jayne and Anita.’ She pointed at the back row.

  ‘I’d like to take this with me, if I may. I’ll make sure it’s returned to you once the investigation is over,’ Whitney said.

  Kathleen pulled out the photo from the album and handed it to Whitney. ‘You can keep it, I have others.’

  After finishing their coffee, they left the house and returned to the car.

  ‘If only she’d spoken up sooner, the previous officers could have checked out the drug connection, and maybe the girls would still be alive,’ Whitney said.

  ‘We can’t be sure, although certainly their bodies might have been found sooner. She can’t be blamed, though. At sixteen she was bound to be scared of any repercussions,’ George said.

  ‘True, although there’s not a lot of point in going over that. But we do have a potential motive. Maybe the girls ripped off their drug dealer or did something that upset him enough to cause him to murder them. How did you rate Kathleen Henderson? Was she telling the truth? Was she hiding anything?’

  ‘There was nothing in her manner, or the way in which she spoke to us to indicate she wasn’t telling the truth. I don’t believe she was hiding anything from us, either. And her shock at finding out they’d been dead for all that time was evident, in the way she stiffened involuntarily, and her hand shot up to her mouth.’

  ‘That’s good to know. Let’s go back to the station and get the team on to it.’

  ‘I’ve got to go back to work, so I’ll drop you off there.’

  ‘That’s fine. I need to see the super as she wants to be kept up to date on the investigation.’

  ‘How’s your relationship with her going?’

  ‘It’s early days, and this is our first case together, so I’m reserving judgement. So far, so good. She certainly seemed okay when we had our initial chat, but she’s no pushover. She wants to be kept in the loop, but I can live with that if she treats me fairly and not like Jamieson did.’

  ‘Let’s hope so.’ Although knowing Whitney as she did, she anticipated there would be some issues.

  George wasn’t totally convinced it was only males the officer had issues with. She believed it could be authority figures in general. They would find out soon enough if Whitney did something her new super didn’t agree with.

  Chapter 12

  The new super’s office was on the floor below Whitney’s, so she took the stairs. On the door, in gold lettering, was the name Detective Superintendent Clyde. She knocked and waited.

  ‘Come in.’

  ‘I’m here to give you an update on the case, ma’am,’ Whitney said as she stood in the doorway.

  ‘Good to see you, Whitney.’ Clyde smiled and gestured for her to enter. ‘Take a seat.’ She indicated for Whitney to sit in front of her desk.

  On the wall behind where the super sat there were no certificates from Oxford University, like Jamieson used to have for everybody to see, but instead a nice painting of a country scene.

  ‘Ma’am, we’ve just returned from visiting—’

  ‘One moment,’ Clyde said, interrupting. ‘First, I want to know how everything’s going with the new team.’

  ‘Three of the team I know well, as you’re aware, and the other two seem to be settling in. Obviously, it’s going to take time for us all to gel, and get used to working in different ways, but I have high hopes for it being a success.’

  ‘We’re lucky to have recruited Brian Chapman. He was highly thought of at Willsden, and there were others here who wanted him on their team, DCI Masters for one. Did you know Chapman trained at the Met?’

  She’d reserve judgement on the lucky bit as they hadn’t worked together long enough.

  ‘Yes, ma’am, he has informed us of that on several occasions.’ Damn, she hadn’t meant it to sound like that.

  ‘Is there an issue?’ the super asked, her eyes locking with Whitney.

  Clearly nothing got past her. Whitney would have to be mindful of that.

  ‘No, not at all. Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that, he’s already proving his worth.’

  ‘Good. Chapman only moved for family issues, otherwise, he would probably still be in London. Keep an eye on him, he should be due to take his Inspectors’ exam soon. We want to make sure he has a good experience here so we can hang on to him. I was part of his interview panel and was extremely impressed. So, I repeat, we’re very lucky to have him.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. Back to the case, we’ve identified the remains as belonging to two teenage girls, Anita Bailey and Jayne Kennedy. They were classed as runaways when they went missing in 1980. Unfortunately, the investigation wasn’t run as tightly as it should have been, or they might have been found sooner.’

  ‘Please explain.’

  ‘We interviewed a woman who was at school with them. She’d actually seen the girls talking to an older man outside the school gates on the day they disappeared. She did report it, but it wasn’t followed up. She believed the man might have been a drug dealer as the girls were known for selling drugs at school.’

  ‘And none of this was recorded?’ the super frowned.

  ‘No, although in the officers’ defence, the woman didn’t mention they were selling drugs because she was too scared of any repercussions.’

  ‘At age sixteen that’s understandable. But you’re right, the sighting of the girls with this man should have been pursued further. What are your next steps?’

  ‘I’ll ask Ellie, Constable Naylor, to investigate. If anyone can find this drug dealer it’s her. We know he had a distinguishing tattoo on his neck and others on his hands.’

  ‘We need to be mindful of the resource implications, in respect of the time allowed to investigate this case, as it dates back so many years ago. We’ll give it two weeks, and then reassess as we may have other, more pressing, cases. I will arrange a press conference as we need the public’s input. I don’t kn
ow how you ran them with Superintendent Jamieson, but I do like mine to run in a specific fashion,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘I will be doing the speaking and you will be there as support if I need you.’

  Whitney bit back a smile. The super operated in a similar way to her, it was good to find something they had in common. It was certainly different from Jamieson, who couldn’t hand over to her quickly enough if he’d believed something was getting too tricky and there was the possibility that he could look ineffective.

  ‘Yes, ma’am. Understood.’

  ‘I’ll let you know when I’ve arranged it, which I’m hoping might be later today.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. Whenever you’re ready is fine. Is that all, as I do need to get back to speak to DC Naylor.’

  Clyde couldn’t quite meet her eyes. What was going on? Surely, they didn’t have a problem already.

  ‘One more thing.’ And here it was. ‘I’m not sure how you’re going to take this, but it shouldn’t be an issue.’

  Whitney frowned. She didn’t like the sound of this. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’ve just been informed that Chief Superintendent Douglas is being transferred to the Lenchester force.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’ she blurted out, clenching her fists and banging them on her legs.

  The one person in the whole world who she never wanted to see again was going to be around. All the bloody time.

  ‘Now, Whitney,’ Clyde said calmly. ‘This isn’t going to affect you because he’s going to be my immediate boss, not yours. I know you’ve had issues in the past, but he won’t be interfering in the running of your team, I can promise you that.’

  ‘If you say so, ma’am.’

  ‘I’d like to know exactly why you have a problem with him.’

  Should she tell her? At least if she did, then she would know and hopefully understand. It wouldn’t change the fact he was now going to be around, but it might ease the pressure.

  ‘I don’t wish this to go any further, ma’am.’