As Jade dressed, Maddie could see she was near tears several times. Not her usual self. Obviously conflicted. She dithered; fussed with her hair; couldn’t find her favourite shoes. Maddie didn’t want to push her, but if they wanted to collect the phone and clothes, they had to do it soon. After all, Donald had told Jade he was off to New York today.
“Come on, darling. There’s a certain safety in being a twosome,” Maddie said. “I won’t leave you.”
They set out to drive the short distance to the Dymock house, both now silent.
As they drove up, they spotted Donald in front of his house busy fitting several suitcases into his boot. He had not yet left but it looked as if he was close to doing so.
Maddie slowed the car as she drew her car up alongside his. She lowered her window. “Hello, Donald. Glad we caught you.”
Donald looked momentarily startled, then relaxed into his usual smile.
“Jade’s left some things here. She needs them, if that’s all right.” Maddie squirmed at her own middle-class politeness.
“Ah, Madeleine.” He gave a self-assured smile. “I’m just off to New York. And a plane waits for no man, at least, no ordinary man.” He smiled at Jade. “Your clothes are still upstairs. I’ll pop up to get them.”
“She can do it, Donald.” Maddie smiled but she knew her smile was steely.
“I’ll just be a minute.” Jade managed a wobbly smile, opened the car door and scooted towards the house.
“Tell me, Donald, what are your plans for the rest of the summer? Your term wouldn’t start until September, I presume?” She prattled on, hoping Jade would grab her things and rescue her. Trying to control her anger at this man. This man she had trusted.
Donald answered her in desultory tones, also watching for Jade’s reappearance. He obviously felt as awkward as Maddie, if not more so. Definitely he should feel more awkward given what had transpired.
Maddie stayed double parked with the engine purring. Donald couldn’t drive away until she did and she was not going to give this muscular man an opportunity to do anything untoward. She decided to play it cool and they switched topics just to keep up the pretence of being sort of friends. The barbecue, the people there and his plans for his new job in New York.
Time passed. And Maddie was rapidly running out of topics. Donald was looking increasingly twitchy.
Still no Jade.
Jade had grabbed her clothes from Freya’s room immediately. Where was her phone? She remembered putting it on the bed beside her clothes. Had it dropped onto the floor? She searched in the vicinity and also under the bed in case she’d inadvertently kicked it there.
But no. Where was it? She stood, her clothes in one hand, her eyes searching every surface. She put the clothes back onto the bed and sorted through all pockets and rummaged through her backpack. No phone anywhere.
Jade wandered out into the corridor and stood listening. Thinking. She could barely hear murmuring voices through the open door below.
The phone wasn’t where she left it. Definitely. So, where would he have put it? She cautiously opened a door. A cupboard for clean laundry, extra bedding and other stuff. She closed it and walked to the door opposite. A bedroom. A large bedroom. She spotted a carry-on bag. It had several outside pockets. Would he? She reached inside first one then a second pocket. Yes. Two mobile phones. She made a quick decision.
“Jade?” Her mother’s voice. Not outside. Coming up the stairs.
Jade scurried out of the room and into Freya’s bedroom, shoving the phones to the bottom of her bag. She jammed her clothes on top and swung the backpack in place.
“Ready to go?” her mother asked.
Jade didn’t reply, just pushed past her mother and headed down the stairs as Donald came out of his bedroom, his carry-on bag in one hand.
“Stop.” Donald said in his teacher’s voice bellow. His voice quietened. “I believe you have something of mine.”
Now at the half way point, Jade stopped and glanced up.
Her mother was at the top of the stairs, Donald in the corridor, coming up behind her. “What?” Jade asked. Things were deteriorating.
“Give it back. It’s not yours.”
Still at the top of the stairs, Maddie half turned to Donald. “What are you talking about?”
Jade saw his chest heaving. Emotion poured out of him. Anger.
“She knows what.”
Jade turned a defiant face towards him. Her mother must have recognised what was going on inside her. She gave a slight shake of her head. But no way was Jade going to give up on this. Never. This was a stand-off and she could run faster than he could. She’d already proved it.
“I said, give it back. Put it down on the stairs.”
Her mother frowned. “For heaven’s sake, what are you two talking about?”
At that point, Donald grabbed Maddie from behind, his thick forearm around her throat, choking her. “Put it down, Jade, and nobody will get hurt.”
Maddie struggled, panicking. She couldn’t breathe. Donald was cutting off her air supply. She arched her back, instinctively grabbing his arm, trying to loosen it so she could breathe. He shifted slightly and that allowed her to grab half a breath.
“I said, put it down. Now.” His voice was too loud, her ears too close for the volume. “You don’t want your mother hurt, do you, little Jade?” He glanced over the balustrade to the floor below. “That’s a stone floor down there. Pure and hard. Look at it.”
Donald pushed Maddie against the railing of the bannister. She knew that floor and she felt faint with terror. Cold and dark. Right below where they stood. Fashionable slate. She’d noticed it the first time she’d been in the house.
Jade said nothing. Maddie knew Jade understood the threat. She would think he wouldn’t dare. Think it was intimidation with no substance behind it. Maddie knew better. Donald Dymock was a murderer. Her heart thumped inside her chest; she could feel her face reddening with lack of blood flow. She had to do something. Or she’d black out.
“You’ll be responsible. It’s up to you. Well, Jade?” He pushed Maddie onto the railing again, tightening then loosening his arm for a second or two. Cat and mouse. But it allowed her to grab half a lungful this time.
What could she do? What? Think.
First, calm down.
He straightened. Tightened his hold on her and she fought panic again.
Think.
She’d had been taught plenty of self-defence courses over the years. Never had to use the techniques. Rusty. Out of practice.
Think.
“I can upend her in two seconds. A floor like that will do the rest.” He shifted again. “You know what hitting a slate floor does to a head? It explodes, Jade. Picture those brains splattered all over the walls. You want that, Jade?”
Maddie’s training came surging back: First attack the weak points.
Eyes.
No go. Her arms could hardly move and she could reach nowhere near his eyes.
Groin.
Also no. She was facing away so she couldn’t knee him where it hurts.
His thick thighs were pushing against her again. She could no longer breathe. She could feel giddiness coming and going. She didn’t have much time.
What did that last self-defence guru say? ‘Never be a victim.’
Too late.
No, not too late. She was not a victim. Never.
‘Hit hard.’ Can’t with that arm around her throat. Donald shifted a bit again and she got a little air out, some in. Playing with her. Two stories here – number one was Jade. Number two was Maddie’s air supply.
‘Only use techniques your muscles remember.’ The only thing left is, what muscles?
Oh.
The roll. Yes, the roll.
Energy surged back through her body. Did her muscles remember? They’d better.
She’d practised and practised it way back when.
Jade? Could she get out of the way? She had to trust she would.
Donald straightened again. Adjusted his forearm. Maddie grabbed a little air.
Now or never.
She suddenly dug her fingers hard into Donald’s forearm. He jerked back. Not much but enough to get another breath. Her thoughts swirled: squat, shove the hips back and pull. All at once. Squat, hips back and pull with all her might.
She squatted, shoving her bottom hard into his groin and at the same time she put her whole weight onto his arm to roll him over her head.
Yes!
Up and over he went, bumping on his back down the stairs. Screaming, his arms flailing. Past Jade who scrambled out of the way.
Got him!
“Let’s go,” she yelled at Jade who nimbly jumped over her groaning tormentor, closely followed by her mother. They raced out the door to the car. Maddie had hastily turned off the engine when Donald had decided to investigate why Jade was taking so much time. And she’d left the car double-parked. No way would she have allowed him alone with her daughter.
Now they were at the car.
In it.
Engine started and she pulled away.
“Have a good trip, Donald. Tada,” Maddie called out as they drove off, as if Donald could hear. “Give my love to Sharon and Freya.”
Jade glanced at her mother and grinned.
That did it.
“Bumpity, bump, bump,” Maddie squealed.
“Ooooow,” Jade cried, grabbing her head just as Donald had done.
They broke down in uncontrollable giggles that lasted the whole way home.
Chapter Thirty-four
Maddie slowed outside of their Surbiton house and looked over at Jade. She was well aware the giggling was generated by the intense tension to which they’d both been subjected. As it subsided she caught a glimpse of her daughter’s face. Fallen. Full of anxiety.
“It’s not finished yet, baby girl. We need to see my cop friend. Are you up to it?”
Jade hiccoughed then nodded. “Yeah, okay. Better go now before I chicken out.”
Maddie grabbed her phone from its holder on the dash and asked Jade to look up ‘Ethan’. “Ring him. Identify yourself as my daughter and tell him we’re on our way with some vital information. No time for anything else or someone will get away with murder.”
Maddie listened to Jade speaking to Ethan. He promised he’d be at the kerb in five minutes outside the High Street police station in Kingston.
Which he was. He let himself into the back seat of Maddie’s car. “We can talk easier here. What’s the rush?”
“I’m about 90% certain Donald Dymock, gym teacher at Horscliffe, raped and murdered little Linsey Benton,” she said, twisting so she could talk to him face to face. She didn’t mention Geneva’s rape. That would come when the moment was right. “And he’s about to get on a plane to the United States. Leaving today.”
“Okay, give me more. We’ve interviewed all the teachers at the school, by the way. Nobody was unaccounted for that morning. Why finger Dymock?”
Maddie took a deep breath. “First, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Jade. She was rung by Donald Dymock this morning asking her to come to his house. Something about taking some clothes to his daughter Freya, Jade’s great friend, now in New York. Jade knows Dymock both from school and as Freya’s father. She didn’t hesitate. But he was alone and something happened.”
Ethan looked uncomfortable. “Look, there are protocols when there’s any hint of impropriety. I can set it up.”
“No time, Ethan. Dymock is probably on his way to Heathrow now. Although he might have a headache.”
“Mum threw him down the stairs,” Jade said with some pride in her voice.
“He threatened to kill me, Ethan. He had me around the throat. Choking me.”
“He said he’d throw her head first onto a stone floor a full storey below them,” Jade said, emotion clogging her voice. “All because he wanted his stupid phone back. But I figured you’d see when he rang me if I had his phone. Proof. So I nicked it when I found where he’d put the phones, mine and his.”
“What?”
“Forget it. Just that I have his phone. It’s here.” She handed it to Ethan. “Turn it on, please. But first you’ll see a text which has come in from British Airways.”
He frowned but poked the bottom button. “Okay.” He tried to open the phone but it was password protected. “British Airways. I presume it’s a courtesy notification for his flight.”
“See? We said he was going out of the country. And, by the way, nothing happened to me, okay? Just that he came onto me. I shouldn’t have had a swim in their pool when I saw he was swimming too. Except it was hot.”
He frowned. “You’re not making much sense, young lady.”
“I know. Sorry. Tell him, Mum.”
“Dymock is a murderer, Ethan.” Her voice was calm. Confident.
“Come on, Maddie. Why Dymock?”
“First, do you agree that the person who orally raped Geneva Hopworth also raped and murdered Linsey Benton?”
“Yes. Well, 90% likely. No, probably 98% likely.”
Maddie went over her tale, including the bit about a man identified as a Mr Timmig by a hard-of-hearing secretary of the genealogy society. “It looks as if Mr Timmig offered a free ticket overseas to the one person who can corroborate Henry Macgregor’s time in the charity shop when buying his fancy clothes for the luncheon with his daughter. An eye witness – looking from afar, I must admit – described him as muscular, tanned and fair haired and appearing as if he was fresh off the veldt.”
“So, a semi-deaf person heard ‘Timmig’ instead of ‘Dymock’?” He looked sceptical.
“It’s possible. Only probable when you hear the rest of it.” Maddie kept her voice even. No good rising to the bait.
“Go on, then.”
“So Dymock is a gym teacher who is, what? Muscular, tanned and fair haired and looks like a South African Boer. And Timmig or Dymock made sure a vital witness is now head-down doing genealogical research half the world away. A witness who can exonerate your favoured suspect. Unfortunately, she’s a self-proclaimed Luddite about modern technology and essentially out of contact.”
“Don’t forget Donald knows a lot about genealogy, Mum,” Jade said. She turned to look over her seat in front to the policeman seated in the back. “He’s into it. He brags that he’s descended from one of William the Conqueror’s knights.”
“So Dymock could have been at the genealogy meeting, is that what you’re saying?”
“That’s certainly one aspect of it,” Maddie said.
“How did he know to go to the genealogy meeting, where, presumably the witness was speaking?”
“He was a member. Look, the meeting took place several days before the murder. The Chair, who is the woman who eventually witnessed the purchase of clothes at the charity shop, spoke about long lost relatives in South Africa. Donald Dymock is quick witted. He saw an opportunity and grabbed it.”
“Had Dymock any connection with South Africa?”
Maddie sighed. “No.” She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice. “Look, you lot grabbed Henry Macgregor and that suited Dymock mightily. Then there was word of a witness who could corroborate Macgregor’s alibi for the time. Dymock just ran with the cards he was dealt and took advantage of the situation. He put two and two together. And the result was within a day or so your star witness was winging her way as far south as it’s possible to get.”
“Okay,” Ethan said. “But how did he hear about the witness?”
“Probably through me, I’m sorry to say,” Maddie said. “I talked about finding a witness at the charity shop who can give an alibi for Henry Macgregor. She’s a lovely lady but a talkative soul. All who attend the genealogy meetings know she volunteers at the charity shop because she talks about it to all and sundry. Dymock heard her mention South Africa at the genealogy meeting and created the Grand Fantasy.”
“Actually, it was all through me.” Jade looke
d again at Ethan. “Probably. I told Freya because Mum found that one of her guys had told the truth about his alibi. And that was interesting and I like it when she figures out that sort of thing. Anyway, Freya’s dad could have been there when I told the story. We were in the kitchen. I know Freya’s mum was there.”
Ethan scratched his head. “I don’t know. It’s all a mad jumble of semi-connected details.”
“If it’s a jumble, it’s my fault,” Maddie said. “Sorry it’s coming out so fast. It’s just that Dymock is leaving and I’m trying to bring you up to date on way too much, way too fast.” She went on to tell him about meeting Geneva and how her story had changed since she was a twelve-year-old. Telling him that Geneva is willing to make a statement describing the darkness of the cleaning cupboard, the stretchy cleaning rag which was pulled over her head and what the rapist said to her. Jade’s eyes were fixed on her mother.
“And Dymock often walks to school along the tow path,” Jade said. “Or runs.”
Ethan turned to her. “Gym teacher who runs, that right?” Just a bit of sarcasm.
Jade nodded. “Whenever he can. He’s a fitness freak.”
“He works at the school. In fact his office is right by the gym which is right by the changing rooms,” Maddie said. She had heard the sarcasm even if Jade had not. “And don’t forget Geneva has always claimed no other car was in the carpark but Henry Macgregor’s, but that does not mean nobody other than Macgregor was in the school.”
“Of course, but…”
“One last thing, Ethan,” Maddie said. “I want you to hear what Jade told me earlier.” She swivelled to Jade. “Tell him what he said to you when he was pushing you again and again under the water this morning. What did he say to you?”
“Underwater?” Ethan asked. “Look, in the evidential interview, we can go over….”
“Yes, yes. But I want you to hear just this one thing. Something he said to her.” She turned to her daughter.
Jade looked at Ethan. “The same thing as Geneva heard when she was …,” Jade gulped. “I didn’t know that about her until now. Right this minute – I’m hearing it at the same time as you. But I see why Mum’s mentioning it, because…. Anyway, when he was pushing me under and sort of groping me, he said, ‘Isn’t this fun!’, all enthusiastic-like. Except I wasn’t having fun. Not at all. But it’s sort of crazy the rapist used the same words when he was with Geneva.”
Death in Cold Waters Page 18