‘I guess you’re right. I can’t help worrying about him.’
‘You always were an overprotective brother. Anyway, Epworth will pay for what he’s done so it isn’t worth mentioning this to Rain. Are you going to charge him with the attack on Gwen and Bethan? There’s been a lot of talk about that too. It’s confusing for people. They don’t know which crime he’s been arrested for. Maybe you should make a statement.’
Meadows rolled his eyes. ‘I can’t make a statement in the middle of an investigation just to satisfy village gossips. We’re still trying to trace the boys he may have interfered with. As for Gwen and Bethan, we have no physical evidence against him. That’s why I am waiting to see if we get a match on his fingerprints and DNA.’
‘You think he did it?’
‘I don’t know. It’s odd, he admits to sending the threatening letter to Gwen but not cutting her brakes. I interviewed him again this morning, this time he had a solicitor. He still claims he lost Gwen in the quarry when he chased her and he hasn’t wavered from his version. There’s something I’m missing.’
‘You have a gift for discerning the truth. Trust your instincts, it’s never failed you before.’
‘Perhaps, but I just can’t think straight for some reason.’
‘Oh, I think you know the reason. Maybe you don’t want the investigation to come to an end.’ Fern’s eyes twinkled.
‘Of course I do, why would you think that?’
‘Because you won’t have an excuse to see Gwen.’
Meadows sighed. ‘There’s that, but I won’t let my feelings get in the way of my job. Anyway, who knows what will happen in the future? Besides, I don’t know if I’m ready to start another relationship. I would feel guilty betraying Imogen.’
‘Nonsense, Imogen has been gone for over two years, she wouldn’t want you to be alone. Don’t be afraid to fall in love again. When this investigation is over, you go and tell Gwen how you feel. From what you tell me her husband is a right prick, she’d be a fool not to leave him and come to you.’
Meadows smiled. ‘You certainly have a way with words.’ His mobile phone trilled in his pocket. He took it out and saw Edris’ name displayed. ‘What have you got?’
‘You better come in.’ Edris’ voice was tinged with excitement.
‘I’m on my way.’ He ended the call as he stood. ‘I’ve got to go.’ He bent over and placed a kiss on his mother’s cheek. ‘Stay away from the gossips.’
Meadows rushed to the station, where he found Edris hopping from foot to foot, a grin spread across his face.
‘I take it you have good news for me.’
‘Well, first I have to confess that I made a bit of a cock-up yesterday.’
‘That’s not what I was hoping to hear.’
‘No, wait, it’s good news.’ Edris held up his hand. ‘When you asked me to send off Epworth’s fingerprints for analysis against the original crime scene, I sent off the lot.’
‘The lot?’
‘All the prints that I collected from the Thomas family for elimination, obviously Gwen’s came back as a match but there was one other.’ He pointed to the screen.
‘Bloody hell.’ Meadows felt his skin prickle. ‘Are you sure, there’s no mistake?’
‘Yes, I doubled checked. Matt Thomas’ fingerprints are a match, and they were all over the shack.’
‘I better warn Gwen.’ Meadows took out his phone. He heard the dialling tone then it switched to voicemail. An uneasy feeling dropped like a stone in his stomach. ‘We’ll have to go up there make sure everything is alright.’
‘Maybe she’s asleep, it’s late.’
‘I don’t care. What if she had another flashback and remembered that Matt was at the shack? She could be in danger right now. If not then we’ll bring him in anyway.’
They hurried down the stairs and were heading for the door when Dyfan called them back.
‘I was just about to call you.’ He walked towards Meadows. ‘Gwen Thomas activated her panic alarm, I’ve sent a patrol car to check it out.’
‘When did this happen?’
‘Only a few minutes ago.’
Meadows ran for the car. He started the engine as Edris slid into the passenger seat and buckled his belt.
‘Keep trying her number,’ Meadows ordered as he swung the car out of the car park and accelerated. There was little traffic on the road but despite the speed he drove he felt the precious minutes slipping away, minutes in which Gwen could be fighting for her life.
‘Still no answer.’ Edris took hold of the grab handle to stop himself sliding into Meadows as the car rounded a bend and the back wheel skidded on the road. As they turned onto Gwen’s street they could see a police car outside her house, the blue lights illuminating the dark driveway.
‘What are they waiting for?’ Meadows yelled as he pulled up the car. Two uniformed officers hovered near the police car, one held a police radio to his mouth. Meadows jumped out of the car and ran towards the house.
‘Sir, we can’t get near the door,’ the officer shouted. ‘I’ve called for an animal control officer.’
Meadows swore under his breath as he saw Blue ramming his body against the door, emitting howls of distress.
‘Blue! Come here, boy.’ He approached the dog who growled and bared his teeth. ‘It’s OK.’ He knelt down and offered his hand in a peaceful gesture. Blue stopped snarling and Meadows could see dried blood around his muzzle and down his chest; he couldn’t tell if the dog was injured.
‘Come on, boy, it’s OK, no one’s going to hurt you,’ Meadows said as he slowly stood and approached Blue. The dog’s tail hung between his leg and large blue eyes stared with distrust at Meadows. Meadows reached out and gently stroked Blue’s head. ‘Good boy, come on, let’s go and find her.’ He reached for the door handle and turned, and the door sprang open. Blue rushed past him and bounded up the stairs.
Meadows could hear screams as he followed Blue, he shouted for Edris as he rushed up the stairs. Ahead he saw Blue crash through the bedroom door, he caught a glimpse of Matt straddling Gwen, his hand forcing her mouth open. Blue leapt on to Matt, knocking him off balance, and Gwen tried to scramble away.
Matt struggled against the weight of the dog, grabbed Gwen’s ankles, and pulled her towards him. Meadows lurched forward, grabbed Matt, and yanked him clear of Gwen. Matt scrambled to his feet, his eyes wild. He pulled back his arm and drove his fist into Meadows’ face.
Meadows felt the impact as his head reeled back with a crack. Matt took another swing but Meadows was ready; he ducked sideways and grabbed Matt’s wrist before twisting his arm behind his back and forcing him against the wall.
‘Edris, look for the kids,’ Meadows shouted.
‘They’re with my mother,’ Gwen croaked. She was still on the floor and her body trembled violently.
‘Get off me,’ Matt struggled. ‘You have no right breaking into my house and attacking me.’
‘We received a distress call from your wife. You didn’t know she carried a panic alarm, did you?’ Meadows hissed. He could feel the adrenalin pumping through his body and struggled against the urge to smash his fists into Matt. Edris handed him the cuffs and he clamped them onto Matt’s wrists before spinning him around. ‘Don’t move.’ He turned to Edris. ‘You’d better call for an ambulance.’
Blue stood in front of Matt, his hackles raised and teeth bared. ‘Good boy.’ Meadows patted the dog before turning to kneel beside Gwen. His eyes studied her face. Her lip was split and blood trickled down the side of her mouth; her hair was a wild tangle and imprints from Matt’s fingers could be seen on her face where he’d tried to hold her still. His eyes travelled down her body; her dress was torn and spattered with blood, and one shoe was missing. Pills dotted the floor around where she sat.
‘Are you OK?’ He touched her arm gently.
‘Yes,’ her voice trembled and tears leaked from her eyes.
‘Just stay where you are, an ambulance is on its w
ay.’
‘I don’t want to go to hospital, I’m not hurt.’
‘Well, let’s just get you checked out.’
‘I’m the one who’s fucking hurt,’ Matt bellowed as he lunged towards Meadows.
Edris stuck out his foot and Matt crashed to the ground, landing with a grunt.
‘Oops,’ Edris grinned.
‘I told you not to move,’ Meadows said.
‘Bastards!’ Matt wriggled on the floor.
Meadows turned and saw the two uniformed officers stood in the bedroom doorway. ‘Get him out of here. You better get his arm checked out, then lock him up.’
‘What for? This is between me and Gwen.’ Matt was hauled to his feet.
Meadows stood and moved within inches of Matt’s face. ‘Matthew Thomas, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Bethan Hopkins and the attempted murder of Gwen Collier on the twentieth of June, 1987.’
‘What? No! Gwen, tell them it isn’t true.’
Gwen shook her head, tears tracking down her face.
‘I am also arresting you for the attempted murder of your wife, for tampering with the brakes on her car with intent to cause injury or death.’
Matt screamed and shouted abuse as he was led away. The paramedics arrived and checked Gwen as Blue sat at her side, his head resting on her lap. She refused to go in the ambulance and they were satisfied that her injuries were only superficial. Then she sat on the bed and watched as Meadows snapped on latex gloves and collected the pills that had spilt from the bottle.
‘Diazepam. Did he really think he’d get away with forcing you to take these?’ Meadows shook his head.
‘He said he wanted me to forget.’
‘I’m sorry, Gwen, I didn’t suspect Matt.’
‘It’s OK, you had no reason to think he was involved. I married him and I didn’t have a clue. Why do you think he did that? I mean, marry me?’
‘I don’t know. I suspect he wanted to be close in case you remembered.’
‘So he could keep me quiet.’ Gwen wrapped her arms around her body.
‘Come on, Edris should have made a cup of tea by now.’
‘Just give me a few moments.’
Meadows found Edris in the kitchen. ‘See if you can find some brandy to put into that tea. She’s still shaken up, I wish she would go to the hospital.’
They sat in the sitting room, Gwen wrapped in a fluffy towelling robe on the sofa with Blue sat at her side. Edris and Meadows took the armchairs.
‘Is there someone who can come and stay with you?’ Meadows asked. ‘I don’t think you should be alone.’
‘No, there isn’t anyone. I don’t want to alarm my mother or the kids.’ She cradled her cup, her hand trembling. ‘I’ll be OK, honest. I’ll call my mother in the morning. I want to take Blue to the vet to make sure he’s OK. He tried so hard to help me, Matt kept punching him but he didn’t let go.’ She sank her hand into the dog’s fur. ‘Matt threatened to kill him if I didn’t put him outside. Poor Blue, he didn’t understand what was going on and why I put him outside. I could hear him howling and bashing the door.’
‘He’s quite the hero,’ Meadows smiled. ‘Do you feel up to telling us what happened tonight?’
‘I remembered Matt strangling Beth. I went into the shack and pulled his hands away. I should have kept quiet about what I remembered but I guess I was so shocked I wasn’t thinking straight. Then I tried to get to the panic alarm, I’d left it in my bag by the front door. Matt came after me, that’s when Blue bit him.’
‘What else do you remember about being in the shack?’
‘Nothing after that?’
‘Did Matt say why he had attacked Bethan?’
‘No, he denied killing her. He wanted me to take the Diazepam, said I needed to calm down. I think he was going to get me to take an overdose.’ She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.
‘OK, I think it’s best you try to get some rest now. We’ll take a formal statement from you tomorrow, there’s no hurry. You can come to the station when you’re feeling better.’
‘What will happen to Matt?’
‘We’ll question him in the morning, we’ve already matched his fingerprints to the ones taken from the shack. I’m fairly certain we have enough to charge him.’
‘So you will keep him at the station. You won’t let him out, will you?’
‘No, once he’s charged he’ll have to appear in court, and we will recommend that he is not granted bail. It’s likely he will be remanded in custody until the trial. Try not to worry, you’re safe now.’
‘Thank you.’
Meadows stood up. He felt reluctant to leave Gwen on her own, and if it hadn’t been for Edris he would have stayed with her. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
He dropped Edris at home before returning to the cottage. He sat in the darkness, his body felt heavy and his jaw ached from where Matt had hit him, but his mind was still turning over the events of the evening and he wanted to calm his thoughts before going to bed.
How could I have missed Matt Thomas? His insistence on dropping the case, and he wasn’t with the rest of the gang playing rugby that day. He rested his head against the back of the chair. Why marry Gwen? Was it just to make sure she never remembered that day? It’s hell of a risk. Maybe he never loved her. I could have given her so much more, kept her safe. He let his imagination wander and felt his body relax and his eyes grew heavy as images of Gwen filled his mind.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Meadows awoke feeling cold and stiff. He checked his watch; he had only slept for a couple of hours in the chair but his neck was sore and he groaned as he stood and stretched. In the shower he turned up the heat and let the jets of water ease his aching muscles. He felt tempted to let Matt stew in the cell for the day but was eager to face him. There were still questions that needed answering and on top of that he still had to deal with Epworth.
He took his time dressing and drank a strong black coffee before leaving the house. The caffeine awakened his senses and by the time he reached the station he felt alert.
Blackwell looked up from his desk when Meadows walked in. ‘You’ve been a busy boy, two suspects in custody. Having a few problems making up your mind who did it?’ he chuckled.
‘No, I actually solved two crimes at the same time, not a bad week’s work. There’s plenty to do on the Epworth case, you can give Edris a hand if you’re bored.’
Blackwell scowled and turned his head away.
‘Rowena, can I have a word?’ Meadows called across the office.
A pretty, slim brunette walked over to his desk, a pleasant smile on her face. ‘What can I do for you, sir?’
‘Gwen Thomas is coming in to make a statement today. I have a feeling I’ll be tied up in interviews most of the day and I think it would be good to have a woman officer take her statement.’
‘OK.’
‘Good, I’ll get Dyfan to let you know when she comes in.’
Edris walked into the office yawning. He smiled at Meadows.
‘Good time last night, was it?’ Blackwell sniggered.
Edris ignored him and walked up to Meadows’ desk. ‘Sorry I’m late.’
‘That’s OK, I didn’t expect you in until later. You’re owed a fair amount of overtime.’
‘No problem, I’ll take a few days off when we’ve tied up all the loose ends. You were right about Epworth, he didn’t do it and I was all ready to charge him.’
‘We’ll still be charging him, just with a different crime. You’ve done well, if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have had the match with Matt’s fingerprints and we could’ve been looking at another murder this morning.’
‘Well, I doubt Matt Thomas is going to be too happy about that. He didn’t want to give his prints in the first place, and I had to assure him that they were only for elimination purposes.’
‘Well, they were,’ Meadows grinned. ‘Give me an hour to update the case notes and email Lester, the
n we’ll interview Matt. He should have had enough time to cool off.’
When Meadows and Edris entered the interview room they found Matt sat next to the duty solicitor, a slender man in a dark double-breasted suit. His face displayed displeasure, and Meadows assumed that he wasn’t too pleased to be sat in the police station instead of at home eating his Sunday roast.
Meadows took a seat and surveyed Matt. His bandaged arm poked out from beneath a sling, his clothes were rumpled, and stubble covered his chin. He stared at Meadows with dark circled eyes.
Well, he can hardly call his wife to bring him a change of clothes. Meadows resisted the urge to chuckle. He recited the time and date together with the names of those present for the benefit of the recorder before conjuring a pleasant smile.
‘How is your arm?’
‘How do you think it is?’ Matt scowled. ‘I have five stitches, not to mention the damage you did when you cuffed me.’
‘We had no option but to restrain you. I’m sure if you want to make a formal complaint your solicitor will help you with the procedure.’
‘You’re damn right I want to make a formal complaint. You’ve been screwing my wife and the two of you have concocted a story to set me up.’
Meadows felt his temper flare. ‘I can assure you my relationship with your wife has been strictly professional, so unless you have any evidence to the contrary I suggest you refrain from making such wild allegations.’ Meadows opened a file and took out a copy of the finger print analysis.
‘Would you like to explain how your fingerprints came to be all over the crime scene?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I’m talking about the shack where the body of Bethan Hopkins was discovered.’
Matt leaned in close to the solicitor and whispered.
‘My client was under the impression that he consented to his fingerprints being taken for the purpose of elimination from his wife’s car.’
The Silent Quarry Page 20