‘Yes, that is correct. However, all the fingerprints taken during the course of this investigation were automatically checked against the original crime scene.’
Meadows glimpsed Edris shift in his seat before returning his attention to the solicitor. ‘Whatever reason the prints were taken for doesn’t detract from the fact that they were a match to those found at the crime scene. We also took DNA samples from your client last night, and we are awaiting the results. Scrapings were taken from under Bethan Hopkins’ fingernails. Gwen Thomas states she saw your client strangle Bethan and she scratched at his hands whilst fighting for her life.’ He paused and watched Matt’s face pale. ‘It’s only a matter of time before we get the results back, together with the fingerprints puts your client in the shack on the day of the murder.’
‘You bastard, you’re enjoying this,’ Matt hissed.
Meadows ignored the comment. ‘What was the nature of your relationship with Bethan?’
‘As you well know we went to school together.’
‘Were you having a sexual relationship with her?’
‘No.’
‘Did you know that Bethan was pregnant at the time of her murder? The DNA test will show if you were the father.’ Meadows leaned across the table. ‘Why prolong this, don’t you think it’s time Bethan’s mother knew the truth? And what about Gwen?’
‘Don’t talk to me about Gwen!’
‘Just tell us what happened, Matt. It’s over, there’s no point in lying.’
Meadows placed a picture of Bethan on the table and pushed it towards Matt; he saw the solicitor take a peek and turn away in disgust. ‘See the bruises around her neck? Details of these were not revealed to the press. How would Gwen know about these marks if she didn’t see you do it?’
‘Alright, yes, I was having sex with Bethan. We’d been seeing each other for a few months, but I didn’t kill her.’
‘You were with Bethan that day?’
‘I saw her on the Friday night. We didn’t talk for long, and she was in a funny mood. She told me to meet her at the shack on Saturday afternoon. I was supposed to be watching the game that day, I’d injured my knee so I couldn’t play. I thought I’d be on for a bit of fun so decided to bail on the game and go to the shack. It started to rain and I was soaked when I got there, she was waiting inside.’
‘You had sex?’
‘Yes. Afterwards she told me she was pregnant and asked what I was going to do about it. I told her I didn’t believe it was mine. You know what she was like, she’d screwed her way through half of the rugby team. She started getting hysterical, screaming that I’d ruined her life and I had to go with her to tell her parents. I freaked, her dad was really strict and I wasn’t about to be saddled with a baby. I only had another year before I went to university. I told her she could do what she wanted but she wasn’t going to ruin my life. I called her a slut. She started hitting me and trying to scratch my face. I lost it for a minute, I put my hands around her throat. I wouldn’t have killed her, I was just trying to frighten her, get her to back off. She clawed at my hands and drew blood. Gwen came in at that moment, she yanked my hands away as she screamed at me. Then I left.’
‘You left? Just walked away?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, excuse me if I find that a little hard to believe.’ Meadows pushed the photograph of Bethan closer to Matt. He took another photograph and placed it on the table; it showed Gwen lying at the bottom of the ravine.
‘Look again, Matt, is that what you call frightening someone? I’m sure those girls were terrified. The bruises on Bethan’s throat show your intent. I think if Gwen hadn’t come into the shack you would’ve kept squeezing until you killed her.’
‘No!’ Matt turned his head away from the photos. ‘I was angry. I didn’t mean to hurt her and I certainly didn’t kill her. They were both alive when I left the shack.’ Matt rubbed his hands over his face. ‘What sort of animal do you think I am?’
The worst kind. Meadows sat back in his seat. ‘I get that you were angry. You were young, just having some fun, and there’s Bethan telling you she’s pregnant and expecting you to take responsibility. What really happened? Did you hit Gwen? We know she sustained a head injury from the tools hanging on the wall, did she fall backwards? There must’ve been a lot of blood. Then Bethan started screaming, you had to keep her quiet. You panicked, it’s understandable.’
‘No! No! For fuck’s sake, I told you, they were both alive when I left them. Don’t you think someone would’ve noticed if I was walking around the village covered in blood?’
‘You could’ve easily cleaned yourself in the stream, got rid of your clothes when you got home. It’s not like we can search your home for the clothes you were wearing that day.’
Matt’s face twisted with anger. ‘You’re trying to set me up. You know that Epworth was after Gwen that day, you have him locked up. He must have found the girls after I left.’
‘Funny how there’s no trace of Epworth in the shack yet your prints are all over the scene. You admit to getting Bethan pregnant and putting your hands around her throat. It doesn’t look good.’
‘I’ve already explained all that, I was there so of course my bloody fingerprints are going to be all over the shack, that doesn’t mean I killed Bethan.’
‘You went to great lengths to hide the fact you’d been there that day, even persuading your friends to withhold information about Sam Morris.’
Matt shuffled in his seat. ‘I shouldn’t have done that but I was afraid. If anyone knew I was there I would’ve been accused of Bethan’s murder, no one would believe that I didn’t kill her. I thought if Sam Morris was the main suspect there would be no questions asked.’
‘So you were willing for an innocent man to go to prison in your place?’
‘No, I didn’t know about Epworth back then. Sam was with Gwen that day so he could’ve done it. Look, I was young and scared. What would you have done?’
‘You could have come forward and given the police the information.’
‘Yeah and get sent down for something I didn’t do.’
‘So you stayed around and married Gwen. Why did you do that?’
Matt scowled. ‘So you couldn’t have her.’
Meadows laughed. ‘Do you expect me to believe that?’
‘Yeah, well, that was a bonus. At first I wanted to stay close to her, see if her memory started to come back. I did fall in love with her despite the scars. Do you think I would have stayed with her all this time if I didn’t love her?’
‘Yet a week ago you tried to kill her by cutting the brakes on her car.’
‘No, I just wanted to frighten her.’
The solicitor put a warning hand on Matt’s arm and whispered in his ear.
‘I think it’s a little late for a “no comment” stand.’ Meadows glared at the solicitor. ‘You cut the brakes to keep her quiet, you knew she was close to remembering what happened that day.’
‘I just wanted her to stop with the investigation. She was supposed to go swimming, she should never have been driving down Turnpike Road. If she had gone the way she was supposed to she wouldn’t have been in any danger. There are no hills in that direction.’
‘It didn’t work, though. She still remembered you strangling Bethan so you had to try again to silence her. This time with a bottle of pills.’
‘No, this is what I was afraid of all along, that she would only remember part of what happened and jump to the wrong conclusion. I couldn’t let her run to you. I wanted her to take a couple of pills so she would calm down and I could reason with her. I wanted her to wait until she remembered everything but she became hysterical. I wasn’t trying to kill her.’
The solicitor looked at his watch and sighed. ‘Are you going to charge my client? So far all you have is fingerprints from a twenty-eight-year-old crime scene for which he has given a reasonable explanation.’
‘Missing out on your Sunday dinner, are you? As you are
aware I can hold your client for another twenty-four hours before I charge him. I’ll await the results from the DNA analysis but this is just a formality. Meanwhile your client can take some time to consider his position.’
‘Oh, fuck off, you pompous dickhead.’ Matt stood abruptly, knocking his chair to the floor.
Edris stepped forward poised to restrain him.
‘You’re going to look like a right prick when the truth comes out,’ Matt snarled.
Matt was led back to the cell as Edris and Meadows headed for the canteen. Most of the officers working the weekend had already eaten so they had a choice of tables. They each picked up a tray of food and sat at the back of the room where they wouldn’t be overheard by the staff.
‘Do you think it’s possible that Epworth could have come across the girls after Matt left?’ Edris asked as he forked a potato.
‘Don’t go there,’ Meadows sighed. ‘I think it’s unlikely but Matt could use it in his defence. It’ll cast doubt on the case even though there is no evidence of Epworth having been in the shack. The best chance we have is that Gwen remembers the actual attack.’
‘Do you think she will?’
‘She’s close, it just a matter of how long it will take. In the meantime I think we should charge Epworth with sexual assault. That will keep him locked up for a while. When the press get hold of it I doubt even he would want to apply for bail. We have Matt on attempted murder, he admitted cutting the breaks. Let’s give it another day to see what develops, I would rather be charging him with murder. We’ll interview him again in the morning see if he wants to change his story.’
Rowena had left the office for the day by the time Edris and Meadows returned to their desks but she had left a copy of Gwen’s statement. Meadows read through it and handed it to Edris.
‘It doesn’t tell us anything that we don’t already know.’ Edris placed the statement on Meadows’ desk.
‘I didn’t expect to see anything new but from this it’s quite clear that she thought Matt intended to kill her.’ He plonked himself down in his chair. ‘You get off home, you’ve had a long weekend. Have a good rest and I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘What about you?’
‘I won’t stay much longer, I just want to update the files.’
‘OK, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Edris put on his jacket and left Meadows at his desk.
Meadows sighed as his fingers flew over the keyboard. He was glad to be alone; he wanted time to think without Edris’ input, which only seemed to complicate the case. The euphoria he usually felt when a case was solved and the perpetrator in custody was missing. Doubts niggled his mind like gnats on a warm summer’s evening; no matter how many times you swotted them away they came back to nip at your skin.
When he arrived home he moved his stereo to the bedroom he slept in as a teenager. There was a single bed pushed up against the wall, covered with a green blanket. He had stripped off the old wallpaper but when he turned on the music and lay on the bed he could picture it as it had been. The sounds of Black Sabbath filled the room and vibrated through his body, he closed his eyes and let his mind drift back in time …
The bus pulled up in front of the school gates and Winter jumped off with Rain, hoping to get ahead of the crowd. Matt soon caught up to them and shoved him in the back.
‘Oops, I didn’t see you.’ The group of boys around him laughed.
‘Fuck off.’ Rain clenched his fists.
‘What did you say?’ Matt grabbed the front of Rain’s jumper and twisted it as he pulled him close. ‘I think you need to learn some manners, hippy boy.’
‘Leave him alone.’ Winter grabbed Matt’s wrist and yanked his hand free of Rain’s jumper.
Bethan sidled up to the group. ‘I love the smell of angry boys in the morning.’ She winked at Matt. ‘I hope you’re going to take your shirt off before you fight.’
Winter caught sight of Gwen, her eyes narrowed at Bethan. ‘Come on, we’ll be late for reg.’ She stepped forward, positioning herself between Matt and Winter and tugged on Bethan’s arm. ‘You two should go.’ She looked from Rain to Winter. ‘Epworth is looking out of the window.’
‘Come on.’ Winter turned to Rain and they walked away. He could hear the girls talking as they walked behind.
‘You’re such a spoilsport,’ Bethan whined. ‘I think you have a thing for Hippy Winter. You should ask him out, I bet he fucks like a wild boar. Yeah, a dirty beast, do you think they wash?’
‘Shut up,’ Gwen hissed. ‘You can be a real bitch sometimes.’
Meadows opened his eyes. He could still feel the humiliation of that day, hear Bethan’s words burn his skin. I wonder how many people she pissed off. She had a reputation with the boys. What if the DNA test results come back negative? Anyone could be the father of her baby. Meadows sat up and rubbed his hands through his hair. It doesn’t matter, Matt’s prints are still a match and there’s little doubt that the scrapings under Bethan’s fingernail will be a match. He tried to shrug off the feelings of doubt that unsettled his stomach and set his nerves tingling. I have the right man.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Meadows was dreaming. His body thrashing and twisting the sheets as images of Matt strangling Bethan tormented his mind. Bethan’s face morphed in to Gwen and Matt laughed as she struggled to breathe. Meadows pulled on Matt’s arm, his fingers digging into the flesh.
‘What do you think you’re doing? I was trying to stop her,’ Matt shouted.
Gwen ran from the shack and Meadows chased her. ‘Stop!’ he yelled but no sound came from his mouth.
Gwen turned and looked at him. ‘You were supposed to help me.’ She turned away and leapt off the edge of the ravine.
‘No!’ Meadows woke himself screaming. Perspiration covered his body and his tongue was dry and swollen. He took a sip of water from the glass on the bedside table then lay staring up at the ceiling waiting for his heartbeat to slow. This case is starting to get to me.
He jumped out of bed, showered, and dressed before heading for the station. It was still early so he had the luxury of sitting at his desk alone. Fragments from his dream kept intruding on his thoughts. I’m sure I’m missing something. He picked up the photographs and flicked through them until he came to the one of Gwen lying at the bottom of the ravine, her hand trailing in the water. There were no scrapings under her nails. They could have been washed away by the water but surely she would have fought with both hands. Bruising to her cheek but that could have come from the fall.
‘You’re in early.’
Meadows looked up from the photograph and saw Edris standing at his side. ‘So are you,’ he smiled.
‘Yeah, I wanted to have a head start as well as being here when the DNA results come in. Have you found anything of interest?’ He indicated the photo.
‘Not sure. According to the reports Bethan had blood from Gwen on her clothing, hair, and hands as well as the unknown DNA under her fingernails. From that we can assume that she was still alive when Gwen was thrown up against the wall.’
‘Unless she went to Bethan after she hit her head to try to help her.’
‘Then you would only see a splatter of blood, this is more wide spread. Gwen’s blood was also found on the floor but the only DNA found on Gwen was Bethan’s and Sam Morris’, which came from the coat she was wearing. Here, take a look at the footprint.’ Meadows handed Edris a photo.
Edris scrutinised the photo. ‘What am I looking at?’
‘There are clear prints outside the shack. The unidentified print is the right size for Matt, only we have no chance of matching it to his shoes. It doesn’t matter as he admits to being there. There’s only one set of prints at the edge of the ravine and they are Gwen’s.’
‘What are you getting at?’
‘If she was pushed there would be another set of prints. She would also have tried to grab the attacker to save herself but there were no DNA samples under her nails.’
‘She could
have grabbed onto clothing.’
‘What about the absence of a second set of footprints?’
‘I don’t know. You think she just ran off the edge?’
‘She went over backwards.’
‘So what do you think happened?’
‘I don’t know but something doesn’t add up. If you take Epworth and Matt out of the picture, what are you left with?’
‘You think Matt Thomas is telling the truth?’
‘It’s a possibility.’ The scenario running through Meadows mind made him feel nauseous. He didn’t want to share it with Edris, didn’t want to make it real. ‘I’m going to see Gwen. If the DNA results come back give me a call.’ He stood and glanced one more time at the photograph before leaving the station.
He drove slowly. Now that he had Matt in custody he didn’t know how he would react when he saw Gwen, didn’t know if he had the strength to fight his feelings. I have to keep it professional at least until the trial is over. Beneath these feelings lay an anxiety that gnawed at his stomach, a feeling of foreboding that he couldn’t shake.
He pulled up in front of Gwen’s house, expecting her to appear at the door. The door remained closed. He waited a few moment to clear his mind before getting out of the car and knocking on the door. Images of Blue, blood covering his mouth, filled his mind as he remembered the last time he had been in the house. Any longer and he would’ve killed her. The thought picked at the scar in his heart. I can’t lose her as well.
There was no answer to his knocking so he walked around the back and peered through the window. The house was quiet with no sign of Gwen or Blue. Probably out walking. He drove to the quarry; he had a sense that she would be at the shack trying to slot together the last pieces missing from her memory.
He got out of the car and put on his jacket. There was a gentle breeze blowing the fluffy clouds across the sky, they covered the sun blocking out the warmth. He walked through the gates, part of him expecting to see Gwen sat on the bank watching Blue splash around in the water. There was no one there, the water tumbled over the rocks and the breeze rustled the trees filling the silence. He walked further in, the eerie atmosphere making him quicken his pace as pieces of the puzzle slotted together and the scene played through his mind. It would be better if she doesn’t remember. I don’t want to do this. Icy fear coiled around his body as he reached the steps and hurried on.
The Silent Quarry Page 21