Now, sitting in the lounge of the Howards’ home, Sophie recalled the conversation. Sophie looked at her grandfather. ‘How is Florence really, Grandad? Is it just aches and pains or is there something more serious? I’m your next of kin, remember, and I’d take it really hard if you were keeping me in the dark.’
‘Well, I’m a wee bit worried about her, if you must know. There’s something not right, even if they can’t pin it down yet. She’s not sleeping well and gets up in the middle of the night for a cup of tea. And she was really upset last week, but won’t tell me why.’
‘It might be the wedding. It’s probably brought up old memories. For my mum especially. She still bears the scars of what happened to Graham. It’ll be the same for both of you, but you have each other. Florence will be reliving feelings she thought she’d left behind. While I was talking Mum into this marriage, I felt that somehow I was betraying both of you. It’s not easy for any of us.’
They heard Jade and Florence’s voices, and stopped talking.
‘What are you working on at the moment, dear?’ Florence came through to the lounge, followed by Jade, carrying a tray of coffee cups.
‘It’s a strange one. A death that might be a murder, but then again might not be. Several suicides that might or might not be down to coercion. All linked to a strange young woman, who I suspect to be schizophrenic. I haven’t told you this, by the way. Let’s get on to more pleasant things. What are you planning to wear, Gran? For the wedding, I mean.’
‘Susan suggested green with flowers. What do you think?’
Sophie shrugged. ‘Sounds fine. What are you wearing, Jade? The same sort of thing?’
Jade rolled her eyes. ‘Not quite, no. Gran wants Hannah and me to be sort of bridesmaids but wear something edgy. Apparently Hannah spotted just the thing in a London store a couple of days ago, so next weekend I’m going to have a look with her. Hannah’s up to something, Mum. She wouldn’t give any details over the phone, and why didn’t she take a photo and send it to me? I’m suspicious that it’ll suit her colouring but not mine.’
‘That’s hardly likely, Jade. This is Hannah we’re talking about, not some thoughtless person on an ego trip.’
‘Point taken. But what does Gran mean by edgy? What’s edgy to her isn’t edgy at all to me. The two are entirely different.’
‘Yes, I can see that. I expect she didn’t have some barely decent clubbing outfit in mind, all lace and sequins.’
Jade was indignant. ‘Mum! I don’t own such a thing and I don’t intend to. You know that.’ She paused. ‘You’re teasing me again, aren’t you? Anyway, what are you wearing? And you haven’t told us what your role will be. You must have one. Gran wouldn’t have left you out. She wouldn’t dare. If Hannah and I are bridesmaids, it doesn’t leave much, does it?’
Sophie fidgeted on her seat. ‘Um. If you must know, she mentioned something about me being a bridesmaid too.’
Jade started to speak but turned it into a cough. Sophie looked at her levelly. ‘So whatever this “edgy” outfit is that Hannah’s found, it needs to suit me as well. How come I haven’t been included in this trip to London next weekend? I’m beginning to feel unwanted.’
‘She probably knows how busy you are, Mum. Anyway, if it suits Hannah it’ll suit you. You’re like peas in a pod.’
‘Ha. Only if you discount my worry lines, and the floppy bits that have appeared around my bum. And this conversation has just added another worry line, I’m certain.’ She yawned again. ‘I think these yawns are trying to tell me something. Time for bed?’
* * *
The following morning, just as they were all sitting down to breakfast, the news came in. An event that shifted the whole nature of the investigation. From being worryingly vague it suddenly became a bona fide case with an obvious victim and a ready-made list of suspects. Sophie picked her chirruping mobile phone out of her bag and glanced at the caller display. It was from Rae, who should be back from Exeter by now.
Sophie frowned. Calls at this time on a Sunday morning usually meant trouble. ‘Hi, Rae.’
‘Ma’am, you may need to get down here. Hattie’s in hospital, in a coma. She’s critical, according to the doctor. She was fished out of the water down at the quayside in the early hours. It looks as though she was assaulted first before ending up in the river. She has serious head injuries and she’s in a really bad way.’
Sophie frowned, thinking fast. ‘Okay. Where are you? You sound as if you’re still in Exeter. I thought you were due to head back home late yesterday?’
‘I was uneasy about the state she was in, so I stayed on. I’ll explain when I see you.’
‘Fine. It should take me about an hour and a half to get to you. Can you clear access for me with the local squad? I’ll call our chief now and get her to smooth my way. See you at the Exeter cop-shop.’
She ended the call and looked up. Four pairs of eyes were fixed on her. ‘Sorry, everyone, I have to go. Our young target has herself become the victim of a possible murder attempt. I need the car, Martin. Can you get a hire car to get you and Jade home?’
‘There’s no need,’ James said. ‘Martin is very welcome to use ours.’
Sophie collected her things and was out of the house within twenty minutes of receiving Rae’s call. Ten of those had been spent talking to her chief constable, asking for permission to join the Exeter investigation into the previous night’s assault.
What on earth had been going on in Exeter? Had she seriously misjudged how vulnerable Hattie Imber was? She bit her lip, started the engine and pulled out of her grandparents’ driveway. Thank goodness it was relatively early on a Sunday morning. The motorway should be quiet.
Chapter 26: Bruises and Scratches
So who were the suspects? The list seemed worryingly long. It included close family members of Hattie Imber’s suspected victims, as well as the people Hattie had upset. Rae reported four relationships that might have turned sour. The professor, Paul Murey, seemed to have been angered by Hattie’s erratic and moody behaviour. Could she have also upset her supposed protector, George Markham, the visiting lecturer from Canada? Rae also reported on the apparent break-up of her relationship with Maria, the Greek student, who may have been more than just a close friend. Then Hattie herself had mentioned a new boyfriend, someone who didn’t live locally and wasn’t a student. But there were few details about this person. If he existed, was he a jealous type who might react violently when he discovered the truth about Hattie?
Sophie ran these thoughts over in her mind on the journey south. Had she been too relaxed in her approach to the investigation? But it was difficult to see how she could have justified putting more resources into it. After all, there was no direct evidence of any crime having been committed. They were just three apparent suicides. And now the case was a tangled mess with far too many suspects, and Sophie herself wouldn’t even be in charge, not technically. She might well be allocated observer status only, and have to stand by and watch the case being handled by a less experienced detective from Devon. Why had Rae decided to remain in Exeter for an extra night? She was obviously worried about Hattie. Had the young student been in danger? If so, she may have been going about this in entirely the wrong way, and her team would become the focus of an internal enquiry. Sophie finally turned her car into the Exeter police station car park. She hurried across to the entrance. Rae was waiting in reception and led her to the CID offices where a local officer, DS Steve Gulliver, was waiting for her. Gulliver was a casually dressed and rugged-looking man in his thirties who had acted as Rae’s local liaison. Sophie had been impressed with his precise, objective manner when she’d met him earlier in the week.
‘Information is still coming in, ma’am,’ he said. ‘They’ve had a team out searching the quayside for anything suspicious but they finished an hour ago without finding anything. We’ve got them knocking on doors now, starting with the commercial premises, although some of them haven’t opened yet. There are s
ome residential flats on the opposite bank but the chances of the residents being able to see anything would be almost non-existent. They’re all too far away from the area with the bars and cafés.’
‘So what happened? Have you been able to piece anything together?’ Sophie asked.
‘It was about midnight, give or take a couple of minutes. A guy passing by heard a splash and decided to investigate. He was walking from a pizza place to one of the bars. The sound came from a darker spot further on. Most people would have ignored it, in which case she’d now be dead, but he decided to have a look. He saw her floating, face down. There was a set of steps down to a ferry landing stage nearby, and a lifebelt. He grabbed it and went in. He got hold of her and pulled her back to the stage. It was only later, when the ambulance arrived, that they spotted her head wounds.’
‘Anyone else around?’
Gulliver ran his fingers through his dark hair. ‘The guy was in a group of three. They didn’t see anyone, but it was pretty dark at the time. There weren’t many people about because of the rain, but from what we can tell, that area seemed particularly quiet at the time it happened.’
‘You’re aware of why Rae was here? That we think the student in question may have played a part in three possible suspicious deaths in our neck of the woods? I was here earlier in the week and spoke to one of your bosses.’
‘I remembered that. I realised that the victim was the person you had under surveillance when I came on shift first thing this morning. That’s when we tried to get hold of your DC here to see if she was still around.’
‘Can we visit the victim? I spoke to her on Wednesday while I was here, and I remember her well. I know she’s in a coma, but it would confirm to you that she is who you think she is. I’ve also been thinking through a list of some of her possible assailants. It’s a long one. That girl has managed to upset the world and his dog, as far as I can tell. I met her mother a few days ago, and she was prickly in the extreme. My guess is that something’s been worrying her for a long time. Have you contacted her yet?’
‘Yes, but she has no way of getting here. She said that her daughter had the car, and it was here in Exeter. She was going to phone me back when she’d managed to arrange a lift from someone but there’s been no word from her. Yet she has my direct number.’ He shook his head.
‘We might be able to help,’ Sophie replied. ‘I can probably get my DS, Barry Marsh, to bring her down. Give me a couple of minutes to make the arrangements. Maybe she’ll open up a bit more on the drive here. To say she was uncooperative when we saw her a couple of days ago would be a major understatement.’
* * *
Hattie Imber was in a small room in the intensive care unit at Exeter Hospital, wired up to a bank of monitoring equipment. The top of her head was partly shrouded in a dressing, but enough of her face was showing to make her recognisable. Sophie turned to the doctor standing beside her.
‘Yes, she’s Harriet Imber. How is she?’
The doctor shook her head. ‘Still critical. Even if she does pull through, we don’t know how she’ll be. There was bleeding on her brain, so there could be permanent damage. Someone gave her a really hard blow.’
‘Has she been scanned? X-rayed? Are there any clues as to what caused the injury?’
‘She’d been hit by a bottle, hard enough to shatter the glass. We’re not sure whether the damage was compounded by her spell in the water. It’s difficult to say.’
‘It may have saved her life. The splash made enough noise to draw attention to her plight and she was pulled out pretty quickly, apparently. Her mother will be arriving in about an hour. One of my officers is bringing her down from Dorchester.’ Sophie paused. ‘I don’t know whether it will be useful to you, but we were wondering if she’s mildly schizophrenic, just from her erratic behaviour over the past few days. Was she on medication do you know?’
‘We haven’t found any, and nothing showed up in the blood tests, so I wouldn’t have said so. What makes you suspect schizophrenia?’
‘I interviewed her briefly on Wednesday but cut it short because she was clearly getting stressed. The way she reacted to some of my questions made me wonder. I eased off at that point. I’ll see what the local police have found in her room and let you know.’
‘That would be helpful. We’ve already tried to contact the university medical centre, and someone’s due to phone us back. It’s Sunday morning, so there’ll only be a skeleton staff.’
Sophie left Hattie’s room and returned to Rae who was waiting with Gulliver in the reception area.
‘It’s her,’ she said. ‘Apparently she was struck with a bottle, so your forensics team should have the fragments. Is that right?’
Gulliver nodded. ‘As I said earlier, we’ve finished searching the quayside. My guess is that the rest of the bottle is lying twenty feet under. Wouldn’t you chuck it into the water? Get rid of the evidence?’
‘When you searched her room on campus, did you find any prescription medication?’
He shook his head. ‘Not yet as far as I know. My boss is there now. Let me ask her.’ Gulliver disappeared out of the reception office and shut the door behind him.
Sophie turned to Rae. ‘How are they? The local team, I mean?’
Rae pursed her lips. ‘Okay, I guess. I don’t think the unit boss has much imagination, so things are a bit slow. They still don’t know whether to reclassify it as attempted murder. It was originally logged as assault, and that still applies at the moment. I don’t have the clout to influence them, ma’am, but you do.’
Sophie frowned. ‘I’ve got to tread carefully, Rae. I was hoping it was going to be Tommy Milburn in charge, but apparently he’s on a boating holiday on the Norfolk Broads. In bloody November! Needs his head examined. Anyway, I don’t know his second, so I’ve got to be cautious. If she has any sense she’ll make use of us since we’re here and we know some of the background, but you know provincial cops. Prickly buggers, some of them. Me, for example. I’m at a loose end. I’d like to start seeing all these people Hattie’s upset recently but we can’t do anything till we’ve got clearance from the SIO here. Maybe we should pay a quick visit to the campus and see her. I’ll let Gulliver know. I didn’t like the way he shut the door on us to make his call. Don’t they trust us?’ She glanced at her watch. ‘We’ve got an hour before Barry gets here with Hattie’s mother. I don’t want to waste any more time so we might as well get over there.’
* * *
The local detectives, along with two forensic officers, had almost finished their search of Hattie’s room when Sophie and Rae arrived. Groups of students were watching, and whispering to each other. Rae pointed Maria out to Sophie.
The local detective inspector, Sue Wilding, came out of the door.
‘Hi,’ said Sophie. ‘I hope your DS told you we were coming up here. DI Wilding, isn’t it?’
DI Wilding smiled warily. She was a tall, slim woman, with her long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. ‘We’re just finishing off. Not that there’s much of interest. Just the usual student stuff, as far as we can tell.’ Her voice was flat, and she sounded indifferent.
‘You do know that we’re interested in her, don’t you? And that I’ve had one of my officers here for the past few days carrying out a low-level investigation?’
‘So Steve told me. I don’t know much about it because DCI Milburn made all the arrangements. I can’t really see how we can help you.’
‘We’ve got the go-ahead for full cooperation from your chief constable, so I’d like a look around in there if possible.’
Sue Wilding shrugged. ‘Be my guest. It’s a bit of a tip.’
‘Fine. Thanks. Two things, though. I’d like to know if you found any medication. And we’re keen to talk to one of her closest friends, Maria. She’s the spiky-haired young woman standing over near the doorway. That’s all at the moment. Harriet’s mother’s on her way from Dorchester and should be here before long. I want to be at the hospit
al when she arrives, so I need to be quick. Have you arranged for the room to be secured once we’ve finished here?’
‘We’ve got a key, so we can just lock it up.’
Sophie frowned. ‘I’m worried that one of the other students might have a copy of her key. Can you keep someone here until we get an extra lock put on the door? Maybe security can help. We can arrange that, if you like. Rae, my DC, has been working with them since Thursday, so it shouldn’t be difficult.’
‘Is it really that serious? She probably got caught up in some minor scuffle. It got out of hand and she got whacked and ended up in the water. You sound as if you think it’s something far worse. That’s hardly likely.’
Sophie looked at her coolly. Was she really so unimaginative? ‘I think it was probably attempted murder. And if she doesn’t make it, then it’ll be the real thing. And on your patch, while you’re in charge. My advice would be to assume that’s the case right now and go through all the right procedures. If you don’t, Tommy Milburn will have your guts when he gets back, take my word for it. Maybe I know him better than you do.’
Sophie suited herself up and entered Hattie’s flat, along with one of the forensic team members. Despite what Wilding had said, Sophie found several items of interest which she insisted were logged and bagged up.
* * *
Maria was clearly nervous and upset. Sophie and Rae took her into a small lounge area and closed the door. They all sat down.
‘How did you get that bruise on your face, Maria?’ Sophie asked.
Maria shrugged and looked at the floor.
‘Did you have a fight with Hattie?’
Maria burst into tears. ‘She hasn’t been her normal self for days. She’s been really horrible, not just to me but to all her friends. I don’t know why.’ She looked up at Sophie. ‘I thought she loved me and that we would have a future together. That’s what she always said. And then yesterday she said she didn’t want me anymore and that I annoyed her. I hit her and then she pushed me, and I fell over. I grazed my arm as well.’ She raised her arm, and showed them the red mark.
EVIL CRIMES a gripping crime thriller full of twists Page 14