by JJ Franklin
‘I’m here, Mary.’
‘Vinny.’
‘He did this to you?’
Her voice was faint and he only just managed to hear her. ‘Yes.’
Matt swore to himself he would make Vinny James pay for both Mary and Dave, somehow, sometime. He bent forward as Mary spoke again.
‘He knows.’
‘What does he know, Mary?’
Mary gave a long sigh and it was obvious to Matt that her strength was failing. He became aware that the doctor was standing on the opposite side of the bed. ‘I think you had better wrap it up, Inspector.’
‘One more question. She is trying to tell me something.’
‘Just one then.’
Matt went as close to Mary as possible. ‘What does Vinny know, Mary?’
‘Who killed my boy.’
‘Who was it?’ Matt had to ask despite the glare from the doctor.
Matt bent close as Mary murmured, ‘Kathy…Harry.’
‘You really have to stop now, Inspector.’
‘Of course.’ Matt turned to Mary. ‘I’ll sort it all out. You just get well and I’ll come back and tell you all about it.’
Matt couldn’t tell if she had heard so brushed her hand again, frightened in case his touch hurt her. There was no response. Matt turned to the doctor. ‘Anything she needs. Keep me informed, please.’
He handed over his card and left, glad to be out in the corridor and ashamed of a tear that threatened. Mary James hadn’t had much of a life and she didn’t deserve it to end like this. Pushing down the sadness, he found it replaced with anger and the desperate need for action.
Chapter 74
By the time the rest of the team arrived, Matt had been hard at work for over an hour. Mary James’s brother was on his way from Sheffield. The hunt for Vinny James had intensified and his picture had been circulated to all surrounding forces, ports and airports. The owner of the narrowboat, a Joe Richard, would need a visit. SOCO had not been able to find any distinctive tyre tracks that hadn’t been trampled by the emergency vehicles. Uniform teams searching for Kathy and Harry were having no luck and Matt hoped they weren’t already in Vinny’s clutches. He felt impatient and wanted to be doing something active, but with tiredness threatening to overtake him, he took a break and called Eppie. She answered straight away and he guessed she had been anxious, so he tried to dispel her fears without giving any details of what was going on.
‘Hope I didn’t wake you.’
‘Hey, you needed the sleep more than me.’
‘Way it goes.’
‘Must be serious?’
Matt chose his words carefully. ‘Yes, but hopefully moving towards closure.’
‘That would be good.’
‘Must go. Team starting to arrive.’
‘Matt, please take care.’ She paused. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, that sounds like we’re in one of those old westerns, doesn’t it?’
Despite himself, Matt laughed. ‘Sure does, partner. Don’t worry, I’ll see you soon back at the ranch. But I may not make the concert, so say sorry to your mum and Ida.’
‘If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you planned this, Sheriff Turrell.’
‘Definitely not. Scout’s honour.’
Jane was the first to arrive, bringing with her the delicious smell of bacon baps and drinkable coffee. Sam followed soon after. Their presence and the welcome breakfast re-energised Matt and once again, he gave silent thanks for such a great team. He outlined what had been set in place and together they went over their plan of action. Sam would visit the owner of the narrowboat, and then try to track down Harry, while Matt and Jane went to look for Kathy.
The roads remained treacherous, the few cars cautious, provoking Matt’s sense of urgency and making him glad that Jane was driving.
‘Relax, Matt. It won’t help if we end up in a ditch.’
‘Sorry, didn’t realise it showed.’
‘Try taking a deep breath, and let it out slowly through your mouth. I learnt that in hospital. Seems to work for me.’
Matt did as she suggested and felt his muscles begin to unclench. It had been a pig of a week, with one thing after the other. No time to think about Grant and the issues around his death, issues he’d pushed to the back of his mind. No one blamed him but he still questioned his decision to leave Grant and seek help. How would it have turned out if he had stayed? Would he have ended up dead alongside Grant? He thought of Eppie and shivered.
Jane glanced at him. ‘We’ve got through worse than this.’
He nodded, thinking of Mary. She probably wouldn’t get through what Vinny had done to her. ‘I don’t want that bastard to harm anyone else.’
‘We’ll get him.’
Although Matt agreed, he was feeling far from certain and breathed a sigh of relief when they pulled into Kathy’s driveway. No lights were visible in the house. Matt jumped out of the car as soon as Jane eased it to a stop. Before he rang the bell, Matt put his ear to the door but could hear nothing. Jane joined him.
‘I’ll check the back.’
Matt waited until she had gone along the side passage before ringing to hear the sound reverberate through the house. He rang again while glancing at his watch. Eight fifteen – there was a chance that Kathy Wylde was still asleep but he doubted that, as uniform had called earlier and also received no answer.
A man came out of the house next door, car keys in his hand, stopping when he saw Matt. ‘Can I help you?’
‘You may be able to, sir. I am Detective Inspector Turrell.’ Matt paused to show his warrant card. ‘We are concerned for the safety of Mrs Wylde. Can you tell me when you last saw her?’
‘You need my wife, officer. I’ll just ask her.’ He stopped before going back indoors. ‘Although I did hear a couple of other people at her door earlier on, she could have left with one of them.’
‘Two different callers. At different times?’
‘Yes.’
‘Can you recall the time of those callers?’
‘First one was early, before the alarm clock went off, so about seven fifteen. The second about fifteen minutes later.’
‘Do you know if the door was answered on either of those occasions?’
‘Couldn’t say, officer, I don’t make a habit of listening to my neighbours’ comings and goings.’
‘Of course not, sir.’
Matt’s mind was racing. Vinny must have been the caller at seven fifteen, as the patrol car reported no answer at seven thirty. Was Kathy lying inside, beaten like Mary or worse? He had to get in there.
Chapter 75
Sam drove through the countryside towards Kineton, heading for the Richards’ farm. Passing Compton Verney art gallery on the right, he knew he wasn’t far away. He’d heard that the grounds of Compton Verney had been designed by Capability Brown and decided to take a look in the spring. Maybe Clare would enjoy it. Their first date had gone well but he was keeping the information to himself to avoid the inevitable ribbing.
Finding the Richards’ farm, he turned onto a winding dirt track leading through fields of wintergreens. He guessed sprouts as he could see pickers in the distance. Coming to some outbuildings next to a redbrick farmhouse, he parked in the muddy yard and headed for the house.
A voice called him back. ‘In here.’
Sam changed direction and headed towards one of the outbuildings, hoping it didn’t contain any cows. Since finding himself alone and terrified in the middle of a herd on a school trip, he’d been careful not to put himself in that situation again.
Adjusting his eyes after leaving the brightness outside, he looked around, surprised to see rows and rows of theatrical costumes.
‘You from the Snitterfield Players? I’ll have your costumes ready in about ten minutes.’ The speaker, a woman of about sixty adorned
with a tape measure and many pins, came from behind one of the rails, arms full of costumes that she dumped on a long wooden table.
Sam stepped forward to introduce himself. ‘DS Withers. Sorry to interrupt but I’m looking for a Mr Joe Richard.’
‘Someone rang. This about the boat?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘Well, you’re out of luck. I tried to tell them he wasn’t here. Here, hold that against yourself will you, love. You’re about five ten, aren’t you?’ She thrust a vivid pink flounced dress at him, leaving Sam little choice. ‘Pantomime season, always a nightmare,’ she explained while she checked the length.
Handing the dress back to her, he attempted to get back to the agenda. ‘Mr Richard?’
‘Father-in-law. He’s away with the darts team. Lives and breathes for it now he’s retired.’
‘Would your husband know anything about the Daisy Lou?’
‘Doubt it. It was Joe’s. Although he didn’t have much to do with it either.’
‘So you don’t know who rented it?’
‘Didn’t know anyone had. This is my sideline. Keeps me more than busy.’ She turned to a notebook and made a tick against the pink dress before putting it to one side.
‘Is your husband around?’
‘Gone to Cheltenham. Looking at some heifers.’
‘When is Joe back?’
‘Couple of days. You can leave a message?’
Seeing she was looking from him to a garish bonnet, Sam backed away, holding out his card. ‘If you could ask either your husband or father-in-law to call me, I’d be grateful. It is urgent.’
‘Will do. You couldn’t just—’
Sam missed the rest as he made his escape.
Chapter 76
While Matt stood imagining the damage Vinny could do, Jane came back.
‘All secure back there, Matt. Any luck?’ Matt shook his head.
The neighbour turned to re-enter his house. ‘I’ll just get my wife, officer. She may be able to tell you more.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’m pretty sure Vinny has been here, about fifteen minutes before uniform. We may have to break in. Let’s just see what the neighbour says.’
From next door, a woman in her late fifties appeared, tying a fluffy blue dressing gown around her and followed by her husband.
‘Mrs Smart, officer. What is happening? Is Kathy alright?’
‘There is nothing wrong as far as we know, ma’am, but we would like to establish that she is not at home. Do you know if she is away at the moment?’
‘She usually tells me. We have her key and she has ours, just so we can keep an eye on things.’
‘We really need to have a word with Mrs Wylde. Would it be possible for you to come inside with us, just to make sure she’s not there?’
The woman looked to her husband as if seeking his permission. He nodded and she went to go back inside. ‘I’ll just get the key.’
Matt reckoned once they had established that Kathy wasn’t inside, they’d head to Pam’s. They should be able to get there in less than ten minutes, although he thought it was unlikely she would be there at this hour.
Mrs Smart returned to open the door and went to step inside. Matt stopped her and indicated she let them go first, just in case. Entering someone’s home always felt like an invasion of privacy to Matt. Adding to this was the dread of what they might find and he suggested Mrs Smart remain in the hallway.
Matt was relieved downstairs was as he remembered, minus the smell of baking. Trying to take his mind off what they might find, he reflected on what a difference it made.
Full of foreboding, Matt took a deep breath and led the way upstairs. Finding each room empty, a surge of relief swept over him and it took a moment before he could gain control and go down to thank Mrs Smart.
‘She did go to her daughter-in-law’s yesterday, Inspector. There was some problem with one of the little ones. It would be very unusual but she could have stayed over.’
Matt nodded, hoping this was the answer. Pam’s home was the other side of the river, across the Clopton Bridge, but what Matt thought would be a short journey took nearly half an hour. Two minor prangs caused by the road conditions held them up and had Matt cursing. With no way around, there was nothing to do but wait while the damaged cars moved to the side of the road so that drivers could exchange details.
Arriving at Pam’s, he was disappointed when he couldn’t see Kathy’s car, either in the driveway or on the road. ‘Think you’d be best to tackle this one, Jane.’
She nodded. ‘I didn’t have much luck last time though.’
‘Give it a try.’ He watched as she approached the door. There appeared to be no response, but then he saw her bend down talking to someone through the letterbox, before scribbling something on the back of her card and pushing it through.
Returning to the car, she explained. ‘Sorry. Granny has left. I’ve said we need to speak to her urgently. Hopefully the message will be passed on.’
‘Damn.’ As he wondered what to do next, his phone rang. Hoping it wasn’t bad news, he put it on speaker. ‘Turrell.’
‘Thought you’d want to know, sir, Tilly Rowlands is asking to speak to you.’
‘Thanks, Wendy. Has she had the baby?’
‘Sorry, sir, they didn’t say.’
‘Don’t worry. We’re drawing a blank here, so I’ll head over there.’
Chapter 77
Although Dr Meredith was not worried about Amy, Kathy made regular checks on her throughout the night, only managing to doze in-between. At 6 am, she gave up trying to sleep, made herself a cup of coffee and watched the dawn begin to lighten the morning into brilliant clear light.
These cold, crisp days were her favourite. She and Bill loved to go for a walk down by the river, mingling with the dog walkers and joggers. They would wander along, past the bandstand, admiring Holy Trinity Church from the opposite side of the Avon, before passing the weir and crossing Lucy’s Mill Bridge to walk back through the old town. Sighing at the memories, she shook herself into action, hoping that Pam had retained her resolve overnight. Dr Meredith had said it was important for Pam to realise the children needed her as this would encourage her to work towards recovery.
Amy woke saying she was hungry and after checking she didn’t have a temperature and wasn’t in any pain, Kathy cooked the girls a treat of pancakes with some maple syrup she’d found in the back of a cupboard. They were Jack’s favourite and the girls wolfed them down. While they washed up, she took a cup of tea up to Pam, surprised to find her up and dressed. ‘Amy is fine this morning. How are you, Pam?’
‘Frightened, Kathy. I’m frightened.’
Again, Kathy felt the urge to hold her, tell her it would be alright. Instead, she grasped her hands. ‘It won’t be easy, but your girls are worth it.’
Pam nodded and sank onto the bed. Kathy sat beside her. ‘It’s okay to be scared.’
‘What if I can’t do it?’
‘You won’t be on your own. There will be help every step of the way.’ Even as she said the words, Kathy hoped they were true. Dr Meredith said she would do her best, but there were long waiting lists for psychological services. ‘Let’s see what the doctor says today, shall we?’
If the doctor’s visit went well, Kathy made up her mind she’d do the concert tonight. It would provide a good memory for her last night of freedom. First, she’d collect Pam’s prescription and stock the cupboards, freezer and fridge with plenty of easy meals and Christmas goodies.
Town was crowded with Christmas shoppers and it took Kathy nearly half an hour to reach the Maybird Centre. Clopton Bridge proved to be a bottleneck with traffic backed up along the Banbury and Shipston Roads. Phoebe and Zoe had come along so they could choose things they liked and were excited at the unexpected ou
ting.
An hour and a half later, Kathy manoeuvred the heavy trolley into a checkout queue that stretched halfway down one of the aisles. Phoebe and Zoe were enjoying themselves and it was brilliant to spend time with them. After wondering what Pam would say, Kathy had given way and let them choose a small artificial Christmas tree and decorations.
At Pam’s, Phoebe helped put the groceries away. Amy came into the kitchen and pulled at her skirt. Kathy bent down to hear her soft voice. ‘What is it, Amy?’
‘A lady came. Said I was to give you this.’
Taking the card, Kathy’s stomach somersaulted. ‘Thank you, Amy.’ The card was from DC Jane Meadows, the one who had visited her with DI Turrell. Were they on to her already? There was a note on the card asking Kathy to get in touch as soon as possible. Well, they could wait. She tucked the card in her bag and set about preparing lunch.
Dr Meredith arrived mid-afternoon. Kathy hung back as the doctor ushered Amy into the lounge. Pam hesitated, until Kathy indicated she should follow.
Moving into the kitchen, Kathy sat at the kitchen table, helping Phoebe work out menus. Phoebe wanted to take over and do everything until Kathy tried to explain that she should be her mum’s helper, as this would be more of a help to her. She displayed a practical quality that reminded Kathy of Jack.
As Dr Meredith left, Kathy went to let her out. ‘Mrs Wylde has given me permission to bring you up to speed. Amy is fine, there are no worries on that score. Did you collect Mrs Wylde’s prescription?’
‘Yes.’
‘That should give her some support. I’ve stressed she must take the tablets regularly. I’ve also managed to call in a favour or two and I’m hopeful there will be a place on a cognitive behavioural course starting in the New Year. These are hard to come by, so she mustn’t waste it.’
‘I’ll encourage her, but I may not be around as much as I would like.’
Although Dr Meredith gave her a quizzing look, she didn’t ask why. ‘Just do what you can.’
‘Thank you, Dr Meredith.’