by Helen Cox
Earlier that day, on one of the quick breaks Kitt had taken during her library shift, the pair had engaged in a text message exchange in which they arranged a little scheme for extracting Grace from Selina’s house without raising suspicion. About half an hour after Kitt left Selina’s she was to call Grace’s mobile, pretending to be Grace’s parents and claiming she was late for a family dinner she had forgotten about. This little trick worked a treat and enabled her to make her excuses to Selina and leave without blowing her cover.
‘Anything to report from after I left?’ said Kitt, dialling a number on her phone. ‘I need to know before I ring Patrick.’
‘Patrick? Oh, no, you can’t ring him,’ Grace said, reaching for Kitt’s phone.
Kitt’s head jumped back in surprise and she stared at Grace. ‘What on earth is going on?’
Well, she’d managed to keep the truth from Kitt long enough to at least interrogate the main suspect on their list. Grace supposed, under the circumstances, she couldn’t have asked for any more than that. It was time to come clean.
‘Long story short? Patrick sort of . . . fired us.’
‘Fired us? Why?’
‘I – I don’t know exactly. He was acting really weird this morning when I—’
‘This morning?’
‘Yes. Oh, but no. No, it’s not like that. Nothing happened, we just fell asleep talking about the case – I think. If I’m totally honest, last night is a blur. Not so much a blur, actually, but a blank, and I haven’t been feeling quite right. I don’t know what was in those cocktails but Patrick couldn’t remember anything either and—’
‘Grace . . .’
‘Yes, all right. He seemed to get upset when I said we couldn’t strike Selina off the list of suspects without confirming her alibi. He asked if he was a suspect because he didn’t have an alibi.’
‘What did you say?’
‘I said I didn’t suspect him but he guessed that you did and he said we weren’t doing a good job and that he wanted us off the case.’
‘Not doing a good . . . the cheek of him,’ Kitt said, crossing her arms. The pair sat in silence for a moment. ‘And you’ve known this since this morning? Had me traipse up to Durham from York after a long shift at the library?’
‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to inconvenience you,’ Grace said, pushing her fingers into an awkward steeple. ‘I just, I didn’t want this to be the end of the case. I need to find justice for Jodie. If we give up it’s just going to haunt me. It feels like we’re the only ones who can help her and if we give up we’ll have failed her, or something.’
‘I know that feeling,’ Kitt said, her voice a little calmer.
‘I was going to tell you what Patrick said, I just thought it best that we question Selina first so you could pass any information to the police before we close down the operation completely.’
‘We’re doing nothing of the sort. Not doing a good job indeed. Wait till he hears that we’ve cracked the case in the space of a week. That’ll show him,’ said Kitt.
‘We . . . we have?’
‘Weren’t you paying attention to what was happening in there? Selina is without a doubt involved in Jodie’s expulsion and likely her disappearance.’
‘Really? I agree she was hostile at times but you’re really that sure that she’s the culprit?’
‘As sure as I can be at this stage. She mentioned she dabbled in drugs. She admitted she had secrets she needed to keep. She doesn’t have an alibi, she practically threatened me not to take it any further by referencing her lawyers, and don’t even get me started on that little chat about proving she’s got guts.’
‘You think she . . . made Jodie disappear just to prove she could, or something?’
‘I don’t know but I do know that a thrill-seeker with that amount of money will always look for bigger thrills and if they’re hungry enough for the rush, legalities don’t concern them too much. I don’t want to dismiss her claim that she was abused by her father outright and, in fact, her father’s abuse may actually be a causal factor here; it could have triggered her to lash out in some terrible way. But there’s still a chance she’s told us some convoluted version of the truth rather than the pure truth. That this talk about her sexuality is a smoke screen for the secret society, or something even bigger.’
‘So you think she’s saying she fought with Jodie about her sexuality when really it wasn’t about that at all?’
‘Exactly. Selina’s got her secrets. We may not know all of them. Jodie could have uncovered something we don’t yet know about. When it became clear that Jodie had dirt on her and she was going to tell the world about it, Selina might have taken it as an opportunity to experience a once in a lifetime thrill. The thrill of committing the perfect murder.’
‘But then why keep the photo of Jodie in her bottom drawer if she murdered her? Wouldn’t you get rid of all the evidence?’
‘It depends how much she enjoyed it,’ said Kitt. ‘Killers often keep mementos. If she really was going to do it just the once she perhaps wanted something to remember it by.’
‘I suppose that could be the case,’ said Grace with a little shiver. Why anyone would want to remember an act as profane as kidnap or murder was beyond her. All this discussion about memory, however, got her thinking about the gap in hers. ‘What happened to me last night, after I hid in Selina’s wardrobe? I really can’t remember anything much at all.’
‘If you want a report on what you did at the party, I’m probably not the best person to ask. I lost coms with you about ten minutes after you left Selina’s bedroom,’ said Kitt. ‘I heard you engaging in some small talk with a few other party guests and accept another drink. But that was it. After that, nothing.’
‘Nothing?’ said Grace. ‘I’m so sorry, you must have been worried.’
‘I would have been, if it hadn’t been for this,’ said Kitt, pressing a button on her phone and handing it to Grace.
Frowning, Grace accepted the phone and listened to an automated female voice. ‘You have one new voicemail, received at twenty-two forty-one on Thursday, twenty-second of October.’ The robotic voice disappeared and was replaced by Grace’s. Or at least, a version of Grace’s voice. She seemed to be slurring quite heavily and she was talking a lot more slowly than usual. ‘I’ve got three missed calls from you, Kitt, I know why. It’s because you love me. Now, now, now, don’t deny it. It’s all right to admit it because I love you too. I love your love for books. I love your trilby hat and I love your black cat.’ There was a pause. ‘Ha! Hat and cat rhyme! I never noticed that before.’ There was a shuffling sound and then a long beep sounded out. Grace ended the call.
‘Let me get this straight. From that message, you thought everything was OK with me?’
‘Well, you were alive, at least, which was my primary concern. I was going to give it another fifteen minutes and then knock on the door to say I was your Uber driver. But it wasn’t necessary. You and Patrick stumbled out about ten minutes later and after some serious honking of the horn you both made your way over to the car.’
‘Why don’t I remember?’ said Grace. ‘Even if I drank loads I should be able to recall some bits and pieces.’
‘Wait a minute,’ said Kitt. ‘You said Patrick didn’t remember anything either?’
‘No, it’s funny, actually, because he says he usually remembers everything when he gets drunk.’
‘You were behaving especially over the top when you got back to the car. But I just assumed the drink had hit you. Patrick was also in extremely high spirits but he seemed a little bit more with it than you did. He said he would walk you to your door but given how out of it you were I wasn’t going to leave you alone with him, so I watched until you were inside and then he walked away. I waited until he was out of sight before starting up the car and setting off back to York.’
‘Wait, you mean Patrick left?’ said Grace, shaking her head. ‘But when I woke up this morning he was in my room.’
‘All I can think is that he must have come back after I left,’ said Kitt.
‘Why?’ said Grace.
‘I have no idea,’ said Kitt. ‘Have you looked at your text messages to him last night? Did you text him and ask him to come back?’
‘No, I haven’t,’ said Grace, swiping the screen on her phone and scrolling. ‘No, the last message on here is me giving him the details of the party.’
‘And, when you woke up this morning was everything . . . OK? I mean, there were no signs that he’d taken advantage?’
‘No,’ said Grace. ‘No way. We were both fully clothed and both having difficulty remembering the night before.’
Kitt’s breath caught in her throat. ‘Were any of the drinks you had last night left unattended at any point?’
‘Uh . . . probably . . .’ said Grace. ‘I downed my first one pretty quick and don’t remember much after that.’
‘So someone could have slipped something in your drink when you were distracted?’
‘I . . . suppose so. Do you really think someone would do that?’
‘I’m sorry to say, it happens a lot, especially at student parties. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Selina drugged you. She did get those first drinks made up specially for you at the bar. She could have put anything in them,’ said Kitt.
‘Why would she do that?’
‘You know I was suspicious of her motives for inviting you to that party. What if she drugged you so she could get the truth about why you approached her in the academy bathroom? And if she did you wouldn’t remember?’
‘You think she suspected Patrick was in on it as well and drugged him too?’ said Grace.
‘The fact that neither of you can remember much of anything does suggest that there was more than just alcohol in those drinks.’
‘I hadn’t even thought of that,’ said Grace. ‘But, drugging someone, that’s a really big deal. Do you honestly think she’d do that?’
Kitt shrugged. ‘Given her attitude during that interview I can’t say for sure what she’s capable of.’
Twenty
Cynthia and Patrick Howard took a seat apiece on a table at the Sniffing Distance Bar and Restaurant. A chalk board by the door explained it had adopted this somewhat peculiar name because it stood on the cobbled street of Owengate just ‘sniffing distance’ from Durham Castle and Cathedral. Off the top of her head, Grace could think of about twenty other more appealing names for a bar in such a picturesque setting but decided just to be grateful that the owners hadn’t gone with ‘spitting distance’. Not an image anyone really needs from a venue that is trying to sell them food and drink. That said, the views from inside, even this late in the evening when the slender arched windows and blocky battlements of the castle were illuminated only by the glow of street lights and floodlights, were well worth ignoring the establishment’s dubious choice of name.
Patrick looked at Grace as he sat down at the table. She expected to see anger in his brown eyes but she saw only softness in them, and maybe a hint of remorse. Did he regret the argument they had this morning? Or was he just able to stay detached because he knew their short-lived partnership was over? For some reason she had a hard time reading him. Maybe that was part of his appeal.
‘Thank you so much for meeting us here,’ Kitt said to the Howards once they were both seated. ‘Even when an investigation’s cut short it’s important to do a proper debriefing.’
Kitt had ordered a bottle of wine for the table and Cynthia, without any prompting, helped herself. ‘Let’s just get on with it,’ she said. ‘This is not exactly my idea of a fun Friday evening and frankly, from the sound of things, I think you’ve put my son through enough already without putting him through any more.’
‘I’m sorry you feel that way,’ Kitt said.
‘Don’t deflect this onto me,’ said Cynthia. ‘Do you have any idea what this kid has been through in the past year? He’s only twenty. He’s not supposed to have to deal with stuff like this at his age. And you two were supposed to make things better, not worse.’
‘Mum,’ said Patrick. ‘Calm down. It’s done now.’
‘The last thing we wanted to do was make the ordeal any worse for either of you than it already has been,’ said Kitt. ‘We understand you don’t want us on the case any more, but I thought you should know that we think we’ve uncovered the culprit and we’re going to pass all information about them on to the police for further investigation.’
Patrick’s face froze. He stared at Kitt and then at Grace, as if searching her face would reveal the identity of whoever made Jodie disappear.
‘You’ve really found them?’ said Cynthia. ‘You’re not just clutching at straws because we’ve taken you off the case? You’d better not raise our hopes like this unless you can make good on your word.’
‘Without forensic evidence there is no absolute certainty, I’m afraid. But there’s enough circumstantial evidence against one of our suspects to warrant further investigation,’ said Kitt.
‘Who? Who is it?’ said Cynthia.
‘Following our conversation with Selina Grant it seems safe to say that she had some involvement with Jodie’s disappearance. It’s even possible that she was behind the whole thing.’
‘Selina Grant? Humphrey Grant’s daughter?’ said Cynthia with a frown. ‘So her falling-out with Jodie did have something to do with what happened. What have you found?’
‘As I say, nothing concrete, but we think with the police’s resources they could find more. She’s admitted not only to dabbling with drugs but she also said she’d tried to tempt Jodie into taking them.’
‘That doesn’t really prove anything though,’ said Patrick. ‘It’s not like drugs are uncommon among the super-rich, or for freshers to try and convince other freshers to live a little.’
‘Agreed, but that’s not all,’ Kitt said. ‘She made me very aware of how powerful and expensive her lawyers were in a way that suggested she was trying to scare me off the case. To my mind, that’s not something an innocent person would do.’
‘No, but it is something a millionaire might do as a force of habit. They probably have their lawyers on speed dial,’ said Patrick.
‘I agree, but in this instance there was something very peculiar about her manner,’ said Kitt. ‘There’s also the matter of Selina’s account of the fight she had with Jodie. It differs from the official report taken by the academy.’
‘But isn’t it obvious that she altered that to conceal her sexuality from the academy? If you’re trying to keep something like that a secret, putting it on official record is probably not a good idea,’ said Patrick.
‘Again, point taken,’ said Kitt. ‘But there’s also a chance that she’s just using that as an excuse to feed us a different story. She said she was bisexual, rather than identifying as gay. We don’t know for sure that she’s telling the truth about having feelings for Jodie. If she did harbour feelings for Patrick then she may have tried to get rid of Jodie.’
‘But she didn’t even contact me after Jodie disappeared,’ said Patrick.
‘I know, but that could have been because something went wrong. I can’t, for instance, think that it was part of Selina’s plan for Jodie to call into a student radio station and essentially disappear live on air. But even if the story about the feelings she had for Jodie is true, it’s clear that Selina has more than one secret to hide, one of which would undoubtedly result in her losing her family fortune.’
‘We know that Jodie was about to expose a secret about an influential person at the academy,’ said Grace. ‘If she was going to reveal the fact that Selina was in charge of a secret society, that would be the end of Selina’s tenure. The society would definitely get rid of someone who had managed to make their existence public knowledge in a matter of weeks when they’ve kept themselves a secret for decades. And assuming there are influential gains to being part of said society, she probably wanted to avoid that.
‘So wh
atever secret she’s hiding, she stood to lose a lot if Jodie exposed her. Selina’s got secrets to hide that could cost her big. And that’s what we’re looking for in a suspect here.’
‘Your theory works up to a point but there is one major flaw in your thinking,’ said Patrick.
‘What’s that?’ said Kitt.
‘If it was about Selina’s sexuality, Jodie wouldn’t do a thing like that,’ said Patrick. ‘She wouldn’t out someone publicly for her own gain.’
‘I know it’s hard to hear, love,’ Cynthia said, stroking Patrick’s arm. ‘But Jodie getting into a fight with this girl was very out of character for her. For whatever reason, she must have been really angry about something. It sounds as though Selina was blasé about her involvement with drugs, there may have been more to their relationship than Selina is letting on or than Jodie ever told you. And if something did go wrong, well, we’re all human. Jodie might have wanted payback. I’m not saying it was like her, but neither was disappearing the way she did. Something is going on here and from the sound of things Selina Grant knows what it is.’
‘There is also the possibility that she didn’t do it out of spite at all,’ said Grace. ‘She might have thought she was doing Selina a favour. Maybe she wasn’t really outing her, but her father. Exposing his outdated attitudes would be a terrible blow, publicity-wise. Perhaps she was going to reveal the way Selina was treated. Or, should we say, mistreated.’
‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Kitt. ‘His daughter’s online presence came up squeaky clean but we could do some more digging into Humphrey Grant. If what Selina says is true and he’s capable of abusing his own child there may be other less savoury things about him that point to his involvement. We could certainly take a look, find out if he’s got any indiscretions we should know about. If Selina tipped him off that Jodie was likely to expose them, he may have taken matters into his own hands.’
‘I’m not being funny, but I hope we’re not up against someone as powerful as that,’ said Cynthia, taking a sip from her glass of wine. Grace couldn’t help but notice the ‘we’ in that sentence. It seemed her initial hostility towards them was fading now that they’d offered up a suspect other than her son. ‘With his amount of money who knows what he could orchestrate?’