Silent Graves

by Sally Rigby

  ‘Did anyone mention to the police about the girls selling drugs at school?’

  ‘I’ve no idea, it was something that was kept quiet, so most likely not.’

  ‘What were your movements the day the girls disappeared? It was the 7th of May 1980.’

  Elizabeth gave a small shrug. ‘I don’t know. All I remember is the police coming to see us the next day during class time.’

  ‘Are you sure you can’t remember what you were doing the day before,’ Whitney pushed.

  ‘I imagine I was at school during the day and at home after. I was still feeling lost because of Justin dying and I didn’t go anywhere other than to school and then straight home to my bedroom. I’m sorry, Chief Inspector, but you’re not only asking me to remember many years ago but you’re focusing on something I’ve tried very hard to forget.’

  ‘After Anita and Jayne disappeared and then didn’t return, did it affect you at all?’

  ‘To be truthful, I was the same as lots of others at school and very pleased they were no longer around because they weren’t nice girls, and they were a constant reminder of what had happened to Justin. After they left there was a different atmosphere in the form. It was more relaxed and less confrontational and there was no bullying going on.’

  That was the second time they’d heard that.

  ‘You must’ve felt something when they went missing that was more than just relief at how the form now was. Deep down, did you hold them responsible for Justin’s death?’

  ‘Why would I? They weren’t to know that he was going to react to the drug like that. It was unforeseen and I bear no malice towards them. Then or now.’

  ‘Yet you’ve just said that they were a constant reminder.’

  ‘Okay, they were. But I didn’t blame them.’

  ‘How long was it between Justin dying and the girls going missing?’ George asked.

  Whitney nodded her approval at the question George had asked. Yet she’d kicked back when Brian tried it. She needed to change her mindset towards him, it wasn’t fair.

  ‘Four weeks.’

  ‘Would you agree that at the time they went missing you were still in a state of grief?’ George said.

  ‘Undoubtably,’ she said, nodding.

  ‘And you’d gone back to school by then?’

  ‘Yes, I had. I couldn’t stay at home staring at the four walls of my bedroom. I needed something to take my mind off what had happened and going to lessons helped me do that.’

  ‘Did anyone else have a bad reaction to drugs Anita and Jayne sold?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘Not that I know of.’ Elizabeth shook her head.

  ‘Is there anything else you can tell us which might help with our enquiry?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I’m sorry, no. It was an awful time, obviously, when Justin died but, as I’ve told you, I didn’t hold them responsible, and I certainly wasn’t involved in their deaths.’

  Whitney’s ears pricked up. Elizabeth was already pre-empting a question linking her to the deaths, and it hadn’t even been mentioned.

  ‘But you don’t have an alibi for when they went missing?’

  ‘To repeat, I would have gone home after school because that’s what I always did. My parents are now old and in care, so they won’t be able to vouch for me. I’m sorry I can’t help you any further.’

  ‘According to Mr and Mrs Robertson, you stayed in contact with them until you left school and went to university. After that they didn’t see or hear from you. Why is that?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I wanted a clean break. The two years after Justin died were hard and the Robertsons acted as if he’d somehow return. They even kept his room untouched, apart from cleaning it every week. I couldn’t take that intensity and needed to get away from them.’ She plucked at the sleeve of her jacket, as if trying to remove fluff. There was none.

  ‘If you do think of anything, please let me know.’ Whitney handed her a card, and they all left the meeting room.

  Once they’d returned to the car, Whitney turned to George. ‘I don’t know if you agree, but it seemed a case of me thinks she doth protest too much when she said she doesn’t blame Anita and Jayne for Justin’s death.’

  ‘I did come to that conclusion, too. I’m impressed you used a quote from Shakespeare to illustrate your point.’

  ‘I didn’t know that’s where it came from.’ Whitney laughed. ‘But holding them responsible doesn’t mean she was involved in their deaths. She could have been covering her back because she was worried we might accuse her of being involved. When we get back to the station I’ll ask someone to take a more in-depth look at Elizabeth Franklin and see if anything comes up requiring further investigation.’

  Chapter 23

  Whitney called the team to attention when they got back to the incident room. ‘We’ve just interviewed Elizabeth Franklin. According to her, she doesn’t hold a grudge against our victims for selling Justin the drugs as it wasn’t their fault he’d had the fatal reaction. It was his decision to take them. Dr Cavendish and I both believe she was a little too insistent about this. Frank, I want you to do a thorough search into her, going back as far as you can.’

  ‘Yes, guv,’ Frank said.

  ‘I’m also getting twitchy about the way the previous investigation was conducted. Ellie, you’ve gone through the files. What’s your opinion?’

  ‘Well …’ she hesitated.

  ‘This won’t be held against you,’ she said, to reassure the officer.

  ‘It certainly wasn’t very thorough. They assumed the girls had run away and didn’t appear to follow up on any further leads. Like, the evidence from Kathleen Henderson, the girl who’d seen them talking to Reg Shaw outside the school. That was just ignored.’

  ‘It’s certainly strange. Who else was interviewed at the time?’

  ‘The parents of both girls, and that’s all, as far as I can tell,’ Ellie said. ‘Unless the interviews weren’t recorded in the files.’

  ‘You could be right. They may have carried out other interviews, including following up from what Kathleen Henderson had told them, but neglected to complete the paperwork. It was very different all those years ago. There were far less checks than there are for us now. They wouldn’t have been bombarded with metrics or have KPIs to work with. Was there any mention of drugs, or Justin Robertson in there?’

  ‘No, guv, but that’s not surprising as our investigation pointed to the police not knowing about them dealing,’ Ellie said.

  ‘Good point,’ she said.

  ‘I think you’re making allowances for them, guv,’ Brian said. ‘Surely there were protocols to follow, which would have meant the drugs business had been discovered. It wasn’t bloody rocket science. We found out quickly enough.’

  ‘You could be right. Who was the senior investigating officer on the case?’ She gave a frustrated sigh.

  ‘Inspector Malcolm Payne. He retired in 2005.’

  ‘I was in the force then, but his name doesn’t ring a bell,’ she said. ‘Ellie, find out where he lives, assuming he’s still alive. Hopefully he’s fairly local and we can have a chat with him about the investigation. He may be able to add something.’

  ‘I’ll look into it,’ Ellie said.

  ‘Brian, you can come with me.’

  ‘Do we need permission to visit an ex-officer?’ the sergeant asked.

  Who from … Dickhead?

  ‘This is my team and I decide,’ Whitney said, coldly.

  In her peripheral vision she caught sight of George frowning in her direction. She didn’t need the psychologist to tell her she shouldn’t have spoken like that to Brian.

  ‘Guv,’ Ellie called out, interrupting her thoughts. ‘Inspector Payne lives in Upper Moreton.’

  ‘That’s not too far away. Text me his address and phone number and I’ll give him a call. We can’t just descend on him unannounced.’

  She headed back to her office, and George followed.

  ‘I’m glad you d
ecided to take Brian and not me to see the inspector,’ George said.

  ‘It’s an internal police matter, and not appropriate for you to attend, otherwise I would have.’ Her phone pinged and she glanced at the screen. ‘That’s Ellie with the information I asked for. I’ll give the inspector a call.’

  ‘Would you like me to leave the room?’ George asked.

  ‘No, of course not. Just don’t start singing and shouting while I’m talking.’ She grinned.

  ‘I’ve never done that before, so I’m hardly going to start now.’

  ‘I realise that. I was attempting to lighten the mood.’

  She keyed in the number and waited while it rang several times. She was about to end the call when it was answered.

  ‘Hello.’

  ‘Is that Malcolm Payne?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker from Lenchester CID, I’d like to come and see you about a current police enquiry, if that’s okay.’

  ‘Can you tell me what it’s about?’ he asked.

  ‘We’re investigating the murder of two teenage girls who went missing in 1980. Their bodies were found recently. Your name is noted as being the officer in charge of the original enquiry into their disappearance. We’d really value your input and wondered if you could give us some background information.’

  She didn’t want him to think they were going to question his investigation. Not yet.

  ‘I remember that case and I’d love to help. I miss the old days, it can get very dull around here,’ he said, giving a chuckle.

  ‘Are you available this afternoon by any chance?’

  ‘Yes, we’re in all day today.’

  ‘I’ll be bringing my sergeant. We should be with you around three.’

  ‘Perfect. I’ll make sure to have the kettle on. See you later.’

  Whitney ended the call and turned to George. ‘That’s all set up. Hopefully he’ll have something we can use.’

  ‘How old is he?’ George asked.

  ‘I don’t know, but assuming he retired at sixty then that puts him at mid-seventies. Why?’

  ‘Just curious. I’m heading to work if you don’t need me,’ George said.

  ‘We’re all good here, thanks. I’ll let you know how it goes with Payne.’

  George left through the door leading to the corridor and Whitney returned to the incident room.

  ‘Brian, I’ve arranged for us to visit Inspector Payne later. Ellie, what can you tell me about him?’

  ‘I’ve accessed his police record and there’s nothing on file to indicate he had any issues. As far as I can tell, his career was unblemished.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  She returned to her office and dealt with the pile of admin on her desk, until two fifteen and then she returned to the incident room. Brian was at Ellie’s desk hovering over her.

  She walked over and could hear his voice booming out.

  ‘You’ll find that if you do use this database the results will come back much quicker and it will save you time. I’m an expert in it and can show you how it works.’

  ‘Brian, are you ready?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes. I was talking to Ellie about different databases she could use in her research. It might speed things up.’

  ‘Had you heard of these databases before, Ellie?’

  ‘Yes, I have. But I prefer the one I use because of its functionality.’

  ‘As long as we get the information in the end, that’s the main thing,’ Whitney said, trying to make light of it, but hoping Brian realised to leave Ellie to her own devices as she was the expert.

  They left the station and drove through the city until reaching the country roads which lead to Upper Moreton.

  ‘So you haven’t come across the inspector at all in the past,’ Brian said.

  ‘I would have been a PC when he retired, so he must have been here, but I don’t remember him. There are hundreds of officers in the force, and it’s not possible to know everyone. Although there are some who have gone down in force history for all sorts of reasons. Some they’d probably wished they could forget.’

  ‘True,’ Brian said, grinning.

  ‘We’ll go in very laid-back and wanting Payne’s help. I don’t want to accuse him of handling the investigation poorly because he’ll just clam up and we won’t get anything of use out of him.’

  ‘Got it.’

  Upper Moreton was a large village on the outskirts of Lenchester, and in its centre was a large, square green. Whitney remembered as a girl going with her parents to the annual fete which was held on there.

  When they reached Payne’s house, a small detached cottage with a thatched roof, Brian parked on the street. Before they’d even got to the front door, it was opened, and the inspector stood on the doorstep. He was tall, over six foot, and had a shock of white hair. He had a commanding presence. Weird that she didn’t remember him.

  ‘Mr Payne?’ she asked,

  ‘Yes. Come on in, Chief Inspector.’

  ‘Please, call me Whitney.’

  ‘And you must call me Malcolm.’ He smiled. ‘And you must be the sergeant,’ he added.

  ‘Yes, I’m Brian Chapman,’ he said, holding his hand out and shaking the inspector’s.

  ‘Come on in. Ivy, my wife, is in the kitchen. Tea or coffee?’

  ‘I’d love a coffee,’ Whitney said. ‘I have an absolute addiction to it.’ Brian glanced at her, a frown on his face. ‘Brian’s new to the team. He doesn’t know yet that I get exceedingly grumpy if I don’t have a caffeine fix every couple of hours.’

  ‘Ah ... so that explains it,’ her sergeant said, laughing.

  Good. They were putting Malcolm at ease. It was just what she wanted.

  ‘We’ll go into the sitting room.’ He held open the door for them to enter, but before following them, he called out, ‘Ivy our guests are here. Make it coffee all round, please.’

  ‘I won’t be a moment, dear,’ his wife called back.

  The sitting room was comfy and lived in. It had a traditional floral sofa and chairs, with matching curtains held open with dark red beaded tie-backs. There was a small fireplace with a beautifully patterned cast-iron surround. Piles of wood were stacked either side of it.

  ‘This is a lovely house, Malcolm,’ Whitney said. She’d love to be able to live somewhere like it.

  ‘Thank you. We moved out here once I retired. It’s a great village and the locals were very welcoming. We’ve made some great friends. Please, sit down and let me know how I can help you.’

  Brian and Whitney sat on the sofa and Malcolm on one of the chairs. He moved the newspaper that was on there and placed it on the coffee table in the centre of the room.

  ‘As I mentioned, we’re investigating the murder of two girls whose bodies were found on Oak Tree Farm recently. Their names are Anita Bailey and Jayne Kennedy and they disappeared from their homes in 1980. According to the police files it was recorded that they’d run away. I wondered what you remembered of the case.’

  He sighed and shook his head. ‘It was a huge shock when I saw on the news about their bodies having been dug up. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to feeling guilty, but at the time everything had pointed to them running away. If only we’d have known …’

  ‘I’m not surprised you came to that conclusion. They were wayward girls. According to our investigation, they were bullies who sold drugs at the school.’

  He frowned. ‘Drugs? I don’t recall that being mentioned, although it was a long time ago, and my memory isn’t as good as it used to be.’

  ‘It’s my guess it wasn’t recorded anywhere because the students at St Paul’s kept it from you. It’s only just come to light because the people we’re interviewing are now adults, and not afraid to tell us what went on when they were at school.’

  ‘If we’d have been informed, we’d definitely have investigated it.’

  ‘Of course. The girls didn’t leave notes for their family when t
hey disappeared, didn’t you think that was odd?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘Not at the time, no. We often found that runaways didn’t let their parents know what they were doing. In the case of these girls we believed they’d seen the bright lights of London and took off. They wouldn’t have been the first teenagers to do so.’

  ‘Except we know that wasn’t what happened.’

  ‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing,’ Malcolm said, sighing. ‘But if I recall correctly, it wasn’t the first time they’d run away.’

  Whitney exchanged a glance with Brian. ‘That’s the first we’ve heard of this. It would certainly explain why your investigation took the route it did.’

  Was she being too kind because she liked the man? She wasn’t a stranger to being on the receiving end of a reprimand when an investigation had turned to crap.

  ‘Indeed. It was why we assumed they’d run away and that they’d be back of their own accord.’

  ‘How did you find out they’d run away before? Who told you?’

  ‘You’ll have to check the records. That should tell you.’

  ‘That’s the problem, there’s hardly anything in there and certainly nothing pointing to them being habitual runaways.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t remember.’

  ‘Why didn’t you follow up to see if the girls had returned?’ Brian asked, his tone more accusatory than Whitney would have liked.

  ‘We were busy due to being ridiculously understaffed. But you must remember that, Whitney. Were you in the force before I retired fifteen years ago? Your face is familiar.’

  ‘I was, but our paths never crossed officially. I wasn’t aware of staffing issues in CID at the time, but that’s hardly surprising as I was only a PC.’

  ‘Well, it was a difficult time and unfortunately the girls’ disappearance was recorded as runaway and that’s how it was left. We know now that’s not what happened and—’

  The sitting room door opened, and Mrs Payne walked in carrying a tray with cups of coffee and a cake.

  ‘I made this yesterday,’ she said as she placed the tray on the coffee table. ‘I must’ve had a premonition you were coming. It’s a Victoria sponge, who’d like a piece?’ She picked up a knife from the tray and cut three slices, not waiting for their replies.