‘It wasn’t your fault, Brenda. It was a clever trap, and you just happened to be the person who fell into it. It could have been any woman out in Bath that night. Please don’t blame yourself.’
Chapter 9: On the Beach
Tuesday afternoon
Barry Marsh still checked up on Jimmy Melsom. Jimmy didn’t resent this. He was well aware that there were occasions when he fell into his slapdash ways of the previous year. His involvement with two high-stakes murder inquiries that winter should have brought about a change in the way he approached his work, but sometimes he couldn’t seem to help being careless. Thus, before leaving for the Portsmouth offices of Sarah Sheldon’s employer, Melsom sat down with his superior and they drew up a rough plan of the kind of questions he should be asking.
Jimmy kept the list firmly in his mind while he was being introduced to Sheldon’s boss. The middle-aged woman didn’t get out of her seat to greet him. He was forced to reach across the desk in order to shake her hand and then he could see why: she was grossly obese.
‘Could you confirm the type of work that Sarah did for you, Mrs O’Neill? I have a rough idea, but I just need to fill in the details.’ He sat down on the chair opposite her, assuming this was what her slight arm movement had meant.
‘We investigate possible fraudulent claims. There’s another team that scans all the claims, looking for the signs. If they find something suspicious we’re asked to find out the detail. We do the phoning and track back through the records. There are four of us, or there were when Sarah was here.’
Melsom was writing in his notebook while she spoke. He looked at what he’d written and pursed his lips.
‘What kind of claims?’
‘Car accidents. Household insurance. Travel. The whole lot, really.’
‘Does each person deal with everything, or do you allocate a particular type of claim to each person?’ Melsom felt pleased with the question. He thought it was the kind of thing his boss would ask.
‘Everything really. Requests come in from higher up and I just share out the jobs.’
‘Wouldn’t it be more efficient to have your people specialise?’
She gave a kind of minimal shrug. ‘Suppose. Hadn’t really thought of it.’
‘How long had Sarah worked for you?’
‘Just over a year.’
‘And what was her attitude to work? How did she fit in?’
‘She was okay. She got things done quickly. Too quickly, sometimes.’
‘What, in a slapdash way?’
Eileen O’Neill hesitated. ‘No . . . She was just quick.’
Melsom looked around at the three other workers in the office. The place wasn’t quite the hive of activity he’d expected, yet he could see a small stack of documents waiting in Eileen’s in-tray. Oh well, he thought, mine is not to reason why.
‘And how did she get on with you all?’
‘Okay, I suppose. It’s not as though we socialise or anything. We just work together.’
‘What time did she leave on Friday?’
‘Early. She’d worked late a couple of days last week and that meant she could finish mid-afternoon. I think it was about three.’
Melsom found it difficult to get much more out of Sarah’s boss, so he asked to see the dead woman’s desk and computer. He was surprised to be left alone at the workstation. Eileen wandered off down the corridor. One of the other workers came across to speak to him.
‘You won’t get much out of her. Really, she has no idea. And we did see Sarah sometimes after work, despite what Eileen told you. It’s just that she never came along, so we gave up inviting her. She’s a lazy so-and-so. From what I hear she won’t be around much longer.’ The speaker was a young woman in her mid-twenties. ‘I’m Becky Smith, by the way.’
Jimmy smiled at her. ‘Thanks. So what did you think of Sarah?’
‘I liked her. I think the others did too. She was a lot older than the rest of us, and she seemed to know what she was doing. She latched onto it pretty quick after she joined us. And she didn’t get on with old cantilever-buttocks at all.’
The young woman giggled at Melsom’s look of surprise.
‘That’s what we call her. She’s so lazy as well as being, well, that size. Rumour has it that she’s in for the high jump and that Sarah was going to be offered her job. We were all looking forward to the change, because Sarah was really organised and was so good at what she did. Eileen didn’t like her for that, and also because she was so attractive. Sarah could be really wicked too. It was her that thought up that name for Eileen when we were out in the pub one night. Cantilever-buttocks. It’s good, isn’t it? I could never have come up with a name like that. Wicked.’
‘A bit cruel though, isn’t it?’
‘It’s not really to do with her size. The real reason is she’s just not a very nice person. I’ve got a couple of podgy friends and I’d never call them names like that.’
‘Did Sarah ever talk about any friends? A boyfriend?’
‘Not really. I think she may have had an on-off relationship with someone but she didn’t talk about it much. I can’t remember his name.’
‘Could it have been John?’
Becky shook her head.
‘Brian? Derek?’
‘Derek. That was it. But she never mentioned a surname.’
‘What makes you think it was an on-off relationship?’
Becky thought for a while before replying. ‘She never actually said so, but I sort of put two and two together. You know, from little things that she did say, and the moods she was in sometimes.’
‘Before the weekend did she say anything about what she was going to do? The music festival?’
‘We knew she was going away for the weekend and she finished early on Friday. But she didn’t say much about it, just that she was going to Swanage.’
Becky walked away as Eileen came through the door, but the office senior merely returned to her own chair. Jimmy examined the contents of Sarah’s desk. Nothing out of the ordinary. He looked through a desk diary, but it only seemed to contain work-related entries. He kept it anyway.
He then logged on to her computer, using details the receptionist had given him when he’d first arrived. He had also arranged for someone from the IT Department to assist him. He began to look through Sarah’s stored work. There was nothing that stood out among the files, but he copied them all to a flash drive that he’d brought with him. The emails were more interesting. There were a number of private messages mixed with those related to work. He noticed a few emails that seemed to come from Sarah herself and realised that she must have had a separate web-based account. He attempted to log on to her web account and was pleasantly surprised when the system allowed him in. Sarah had saved her password to the computer. Jimmy scanned down the list of messages, and then he called Melissa, the technician from IT Support. She was there within a few minutes.
‘I want all of these messages copied,’ he said. ‘I know you can do it for her company email account, but these are on the web. Can you do that too?’
‘Difficult. There are about fifty messages here. Why don’t you select them all and forward them to your own email address? That might be the easiest way. While you’re doing that, I’ll get her company emails copied for you. It’ll probably take me about twenty minutes.’
‘Good idea,’ he said. ‘Is there any way I can get a copy of her browsing history?’
‘Yes, I can do that. Anything else I can do for you while I’m here? It’s just that I’m on my own this week, so I can’t afford to be away from my desk for too long.’
‘No, I don’t think so. Did you have many dealings with Sarah? I’m just trying to build up a picture of what she was like.’
Melissa shrugged. ‘Not really. Some of the people here are really useless at using computers, but she had a good idea of what she was doing. Once she’d settled in she hardly ever needed to call us for help. I liked her from what I saw of her. She picke
d things up quickly. I always wished there could be more like her here. We knew that if she called us it really was a problem, not something stupid she’d done wrong. And I remember that once, when I did sort out a problem for her, she brought me in a box of chocolates the next day. There’s not many that do that, I can tell you.’
‘Did she ever talk about her life to you? Friends? Relationships?’
The technician shook her head. ‘Sorry.’
Melsom followed her out and went to find the senior personnel manager.
‘Eileen O’Neill was Mrs Sheldon’s boss,’ he said. ‘I’ve already interviewed her and I got the impression that they didn’t get on. Was there a plan to reorganise their jobs?’
The woman facing him across the desk pursed her lips and clasped her fingers together. There was a silence.
‘I’m not sure I can discuss company plans in this way,’ she said eventually.
Jimmy tried to imagine what the DCI would say. He put on his most authoritative voice. ‘This is a murder inquiry. I’m afraid I must insist.’ He held his breath, but there was no response. ‘I picked up on some unhappiness within the team,’ he added.
Fleming nodded.
‘We did have some plans in place, yes. Ms O’Neill hasn’t, er, been drawing the best out of the team, so we’ve had some initial discussions to find her a suitable alternative position. Sarah Sheldon had been asked to take over for a three-month trial.’
‘When was this due to start?’
‘Next month.’
‘Both of them knew about it?’
She nodded.
‘Is there anything else I should know? Any other difficulties?’
She shook her head. ‘No. And I don’t for a moment think that Eileen had anything to do with Mrs Sheldon’s death. The idea is preposterous.’
‘We needed to know about it, though. Thanks. By the way, had she booked this week off?’
Fleming consulted her screen. ‘Yes. We expected her back this coming Monday. So she took five days off in total.’
‘Okay. Could you thank Melissa for me? She told me she was on her own this week but she still found time to be very helpful.’
‘Yes I will. She’s a great asset. She’s very highly qualified. Her boss came up through the ranks. He’s a nice guy, though. Also very helpful. He’s on holiday this week too.’
Her eyes held Jimmy’s for some time. She seemed to be trying to tell him something.
‘Umm . . . the same week as Sarah, you mean?’ Jimmy said eventually.
‘Exactly.’
‘You mean, you think they’d planned it?’
‘Who am I to say?’ she added. Her eyes went wide.
‘What’s his name?’ Jimmy asked.
‘Paul Derek. He’s our network manager. No one else knows this, but there’s a pattern of them booking days off at the same time. I suppose that it could all have an innocent explanation, but then I could be a secret princess from a faraway land, couldn’t I?’
Jimmy frowned. Derek . . .
‘And it was him who suggested she should apply for the job here. Again, that’s not on any official document, but I overheard them having a conversation about it shortly after she’d started. Good hearing is a real blessing in a job like mine, believe me.’
‘I think I need to see his file,’ Jimmy answered. He moved to a quiet corner of the room and phoned Sophie Allen.
* * *
It took Jimmy Melsom two hours to drive to Swanage in the heavy, late-afternoon traffic. When he finally arrived, Rae was alone in the incident room.
‘Where is everyone?’ he asked.
‘Another body’s been found washed up, further along the coast. No strong reason to link it to ours at the moment, but the boss is suspicious. They’ve gone across to take a look.’
‘Whereabouts?’
‘Burton Bradstock. I don’t know it. Do you?’ said Rae.
‘I think it’s somewhere near Bridport, but I can’t be sure. Was there any information about the body?’
‘Just that it was a male, probably middle-aged. That’s all.’
Rae turned back to her work. She looked up to see that Jimmy had sat down on the other side of the desk.
‘Things going okay, Rae?’ he asked.
‘Yes. I feel as if I’m settling in fine. Early days yet, though.’
‘You’ve got a hard act to follow, you know.’
‘Really? Who was that?’
‘Lydia. She was a fast-tracker. Joined up from university. She got on really well with the boss.’
‘Why did she leave?’
‘Dunno really,’ he shrugged. ‘We’re out in the sticks here. Maybe that was it. But she was nice as well as clever.’
‘Well, I hope I’m nice too, Jimmy . . . Even though I’m also a graduate.’
‘Oh. What subject?’
‘Marine engineering. But I found out that I don’t really like ships very much. This suits me much better.’
‘Unusual subject for a woman, wasn’t it?’
She smiled warily. ‘That’s a bit of a sexist comment, isn’t it?’
‘No, I didn’t mean it like that. One of my pals did engineering and he said there were only a few women on the course.’
‘Well I’m one of those few women. Even though I didn’t become an engineer, I’m still glad I did the degree.’
‘Do you fancy going out for a drink sometime? I mean when we’ve got the time, once this case is over?’
Rae hesitated for a few moments. ‘Yes . . . but can we make it a group thing? With the others?’
Melsom looked disappointed.
‘I’m not really into men, Jimmy. Sorry.’
‘Ah, I thought there was something about you.’
‘Could you keep it quiet, though? You’re the only person I’ve told, and I’d rather it wasn’t spread around.’
* * *
Burton Cliffs are world famous. The highly-layered sandstone of the cliffs glows gold when sunlight strikes it. It wasn’t glowing now. A force four westerly wind was driving dark rain clouds in from the Channel. Sophie and Barry Marsh were facing into the wind as they trudged along the shingle beach towards a forensic tent below the eastern end of the cliffs at Burton Bradstock. Sophie pointed to the top of the cliff.
‘It’s almost directly under the clifftop viewing area. There’s a lane that ends there. You can get a car close to the edge at that point.’
Marsh didn’t answer. He was trying to pull up the zip on his jacket, but it had reached its limit. He settled instead for sinking his hands deeper into his pockets. They reached the edge of the crime scene zone and identified themselves to the uniformed officers on duty. They made their way to the tent.
‘Hello, Benny,’ Sophie said. ‘Anything useful for us?’
‘As you can see, my dear lady, the body has been really bashed around. So there’s not much I can tell you just yet. This one’s going to have to wait until I do the post-mortem back at base.’
‘Can we have a look?’
‘Be my guest. But don’t complain to me if you don’t like what you see. It really isn’t a pretty sight.’
The face was shapeless and unrecognisable. Only the clothes retained any colour.
‘Any idea of how long it’s been here?’ Sophie asked.
‘For a few days, I’d guess, tangled up in this rubbish among the rocks. It’s spent some time in the water, but I can’t tell you how long at the moment.’
‘How could it lie here undiscovered for so long?’ Marsh mused.
‘It’s autumn and the weather hasn’t been particularly good, so there won’t have been a huge number of people along here. And since that tragic death under the rock fall recently, people are probably wary about walking along too close to the cliff edge. It happened just a few hundred yards further along,’ Sophie answered. ‘And Benny’s right. If it’s been tangled up in that bit of old fishing net and the sea-weed, people could have walked by and just not noticed it. The smell of
the sea-weed would have helped to mask the stink.’
‘Were you hoping for someone in particular?’ Benny asked.
‘Hoping but not expecting,’ Sophie replied. ‘That way I’m never disappointed.’
‘You have too wise a head on those slim shoulders, O golden-haired one. You are in danger of being set apart from the rest of the human race.’
‘Stop talking nonsense, Benny. I’m not in the mood.’
He shrugged. ‘Okay. I’ll send you a message about the post-mortem once I clear a slot for it.’
‘Sorry, Benny. I didn’t mean to be rude.’
‘I know. See you soon, then.’
‘But I do think it might be linked to our case.’
The pathologist stopped packing his bag. ‘Really?’
‘It’s the shirt, Benny. Red corduroy’s a bit uncommon, isn’t it?’
‘So I will be seeing you again soon. I’ll bear it in mind.’ He gave Sophie a hug, then left.
‘What is it between you two?’ Marsh asked.
‘We were at university together and shared a house with a couple of other students. It was Benny who introduced me to Martin. He always claims it was the worst mistake of his life but he’s just teasing when he says that. At least I hope he is. He was the best man at our wedding.’
‘Ah, I understand. It’s puzzled me for a long time. Should we take a look around while we’re here? I know the search team has already been over the area, but I’d like to get a feel for the place. We’ve only got about twenty minutes of daylight left.’
They spoke to the uniformed sergeant, and then walked beyond the scene. Sophie kept looking back at the cliff top, trying to judge the distance and angle.
‘He said it was almost directly under the car-turning area and viewpoint on the cliff top,’ she said. ‘I want to go up there. Let’s get back to the car.’
Several squad cars were parked at the end of the cliff top lane, with police tape barring access to the cliff edge. The constable on duty informed them that the area had been searched thoroughly, but nothing suspicious had been found. The two detectives looked down on the temporary tent below. Even though the sea was beginning to calm, the noise of the surf and grinding shingle carried up to them.
SECRET CRIMES a gripping crime thriller full of suspense Page 11