I gasp. “That’s crazy, Ennis wouldn’t…”
“Just stop and think for a minute,” he says. “Try to take your emotions out of the equation and think with just logic.”
Well, logically speaking, yes, it’s a possibility but in reality, no, no way. “Ennis would never be involved in something like that.”
He sighs. “If I had a pound for every time someone had said something like that during an investigation about a friend or member of their family I’d be a very rich man. Do you realise what percentage of victims know their attacker? It’s a lot. Ennis is on the list of suspects,” he says with finality.
“That’s warped thinking,” I mutter unhappily.
“That’s investigating. Sorry but that’s how it works. Anyway, their alibis aren’t watertight so we have nothing to discount Ennis or Siobhan, for that matter, from the investigation. Not yet.”
A thought occurs to me. “Isn’t it a conflict of interest you staying here if you have Ennis on your list of suspects?”
Charlie shrugs. “No, it’s fine, makes perfect sense. The agency will be pleased because it saves them having to pay for a hotel for me. Plus, it means I’m in the best position to keep an eye on everything and on Ennis and Siobhan. Sometimes it pays to be on the inside of a case, so to speak.”
“No, no way. Forget it!” I say, realising something, figuring what he’s up to.
“No what?” He frowns at me as though I’m some mad woman.
“I’m not doing it.” I step back, pointing at him. “You want me to act like some kind of double agent for you don’t you? That’s why you had that sudden change of heart about letting me get involved in the case isn’t it? You think I’ll keep Ennis informed about what’s going on and at the same time I’ll bring back to you any little snippets he might say.”
Throwing my hands in the air I stomp around the room. “That’s why you said no when Ennis asked you, then waited till I showed up and said yes to me. You thought I’d be so pleased and relieved I’d tell you anything and everything. Ennis thinks you’ve agreed under duress but in reality you want me here as your little spy don’t you?”
“Plus, don’t forget as I mentioned before, your inside knowledge of the area, the locals and the McKarthys is invaluable to me too,” he replies, completely unruffled.
I have an almost overwhelming urge to flounce out like Siobhan did moments ago. But if I do that will I jeopardise my chance to work on this case and help Ennis? Probably. I look at Charlie and he holds my gaze steadily. I have to do this, for Ennis.
“OK,” I reluctantly agree. There’s nothing to worry about anyway. Ennis shouldn’t be on the list of suspects and I’m going to help prove his innocence.
CHAPTER SIX
“Did you get up to much today?” Debs, my best friend, asks between sipping a white wine and eating a bag of salt and vinegar crisps.
Crisps are Debs’ weakness. She works in the local coffee shop and says she gets so fed up of seeing cakes all the time that she opts for savoury treat foods rather than sweet ones. My weakness is custard slices. I know, I know. Good job I work in the pub and not the coffee shop.
When I’m not propping up the counter at the tearooms whilst Debs works, the situation is reversed - Debs props up the bar of The Quarryman whilst I work. The pub’s busy tonight as it’s darts night. The local team versus one from a pub a few villages away. These occasions are usually raucous and competitive, and tonight is no exception.
The Quarryman is nothing special. We’re talking old style pub here, not one of those modernised gastro pubs with fancy food from some trendy young chef who regularly features in the weekend newspaper lifestyle supplements. You wouldn’t find this décor being featured in the newspapers either. This place is more distressed décor than designer décor. The Quarryman has deep red carpet which has been here since the year dot, dark wood furniture, and there’s a real fire in the corner in an attempt to add a bit of atmosphere.
“No, didn’t do much at all really,” I answer aware I can’t say too much about my arrangement with Charlie. Not the official version anywhere. Only the girlfriend version and maybe not even that version yet. For the moment, I remind myself, as far as those who aren’t in the know are concerned, Charlie is here to investigate an attempted break-in and possible threats up at Ennis’ house.
“Nothing exciting?” she prompts. Debs eats another crisp before revealing her trump card. “Mrs Stafford dropped by the coffee shop and said she’d just seen you and some yummy guy driving in his car just outside the village, up near the quarry.”
I lean on the bar. “Mrs Stafford actually used the word yummy?”
“No.” Debs giggles, flicking her chestnut coloured hair back. She likes to change her hair colour on a regular basis and over the years has been all the usual hair shades plus pink, blue and once even yellow. “She described him as a rather handsome young man. Same difference though eh?”
Bloody village gossips. No wonder crime is, thankfully, normally a rare occurrence around these parts. People don’t stand much chance of getting away with anything dodgy in Palstone with Mrs Stafford on the case and telling all and sundry. Not that Charlie and I were doing anything dodgy in the car of course.
“She said he’d arrived in the village today. He’d been asking questions about Ennis. Here to investigate a break-in up at the big house or something. How come you were in a car with him?”
I fill up the bags of peanuts clipped to the board behind the bar to avoid looking at Debs as I reply. I hate fibbing but at the moment I don’t have any choice. “My car was playing up and Charlie happened to drive past and helped me out. Gave me a lift back to the village.”
“Amber!” Debs shouts. “You got into a car with strange guy? You know that’s crazy. Why didn’t you call me?”
“You were working.”
“I could have taken a quick break in the circumstances. Thankfully he wasn’t an axe murderer. Where’s your car now anyway? Did you get it fixed?”
And Charlie says I’m the one with all the questions! He hasn’t met Debs yet.
“Two pints of local beer and an orange juice please, Amber.”
Phew. Saved by a customer from trying to come up with more answers for Debs. I finish serving the drinks and hope she’ll have forgotten her earlier inquisition.
Debs turns on her barstool to look towards the darts teams over in the corner of the pub. “Liam looks in a good mood tonight.”
I watch Liam, his brother Ryan and the others all being loud, clapping and jeering as the game of darts gets going. It’s going to be a noisy and busy night.
“A pint of whatever the best lager is please.”
I turn to see Charlie leaning on the bar. He beams me a smile and a wink and I feel my cheeks flush. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Debs looking Charlie up and down.
“Hi, I’m Debs,” she says, turning towards him.
Charlie nods a greeting. “Good to meet you, Debs. I’m Charlie. A friend of Amber’s.”
“So I hear you’re investigating some goings on up at Ennis’ place,” she says to him. That’s Debs for you, straight in there, no preamble.
“That’s right,” he says pulling some money out of the back pocket of his jeans and handing it to me as I put his drink on the bar.
“Found anything interesting yet?” she asks, a hopeful expression on her face. “Poor Ennis, the locals love him to bits but he tends to keep a low profile thanks to all the hassle he gets from the media people wanting to catch him up to no good.”
“Does he usually get up to no good then?” Charlie asks and I can see he’s switched from pub customer into investigator mode.
“Amber could tell you that better than me,” she laughs. “So, what have you found out so far?”
Charlie smiles at her, shaking his head. “Sorry but I really can’t tell you anything about the case.” He taps the side of his nose. “All top secret stuff.”
I’m summoned to serve a few of t
he locals and when I return to the end of the bar where Debs and Charlie were standing I see that Debs has gone.
“Went off to talk to some friend,” he explains to me, unprompted. “Speaking of talking. Any chance you can slip away for a few minutes?”
Everyone is engrossed in watching the darts game now so I nod, beckoning him through the door at the side of the bar and into the storeroom. He closes the door behind us.
“I’ve had forensic results back. No sign of foul play,” he says quietly. He’s standing so close I’m suddenly aware of how small and cramped this storage area is.
“At least not recently,” he continues. “There are apparently some scars of battle on Joel’s body indicating he might have been in a fight with someone in the last few days but they’re older than last night so not relevant to his death. No bump on the head suggesting he was knocked out and pushed over the edge of the quarry or anything like that.”
“Was he drunk or high and fell over the edge then?” I ask.
Charlie shakes his head. “Surprisingly there was no trace of drugs or alcohol in his bloodstream.”
I chew at the side of my mouth, thinking before replying. “So he just lost his footing and it was all an accident not murder?”
“Could still be possible. It would help if we could ascertain why he was up there and if he was alone or not.”
“Could it be suicide do you think? From the stuff in the newspapers about him and the odd times Ennis has mentioned him I think Joel had what you could definitely call a troubled life.”
Charlie shrugs. “At the moment it could still be anything – murder, an accident or suicide. We’re not ruling anything out. Forensics suggest he wasn’t in a fight up on the edge of the quarry but there’s still a lot of questions unanswered. There was no note or anything signposting it as a suicide but not everyone leaves that kind of stuff to make it obvious they took their own lives.”
I step back to try and increase the distance between myself and Charlie and accidentally put my foot through a box of crisps. This storeroom combined with his close proximity is making me feel all claustrophobic, not to mention hot and bothered.
“Are you all right?” Charlie instantly closes the gap I just created, reaching for my arm to steady me as I try to pull my foot out of the box.
“I’m fine,” I huff, shaking off the crumpled box and pressing myself as far back from Charlie as I can.
“So far Ennis and Siobhan appear to be the only people in the area with motive but they didn’t have opportunity,” he continues. “The gates at the house have CCTV cameras. We’ve checked the footage now and no cars went through the gates going out on the night of Joel’s death other than Joel’s own car. Ennis and Siobhan both originally said, when first interviewed by the police, separately as well, that they spent a quiet night in together. He said he was watching some football on TV and she said she had a long soak in the bath. Now we know they didn’t leave the house, at least not in a car and not via the main gates. His security is pretty tight up there so there don’t appear to be any other entry or exit points besides the main gates.”
“So that’s why they’re still on the suspects list? Because, during the brief time they were apart, one of them could have climbed over a wall or something?” I ask incredulously.
“They’re still on the list because we don’t have anybody else at the moment and because they were technically out of sight of each other for a while which lessens their provision of an alibi for each other. That’s about the lot at the moment though. So far we don’t know of Joel having any contact with anybody else in the area since he arrived at his brother’s place. We also don’t have any reported sighting of Joel after he left Ennis’ house that night. Nobody saw him in a pub or restaurant. Not yet anyway. Questioning is still going on. Albeit in a discreet fashion. ”
“Ennis would never try to do away with his own brother, no matter how much aggro Joel caused him in the media,” I say indignantly.
“People can do strange things if they have a lot to lose. Joel might have been blackmailing Ennis, threatening to reveal some deep dark family secret that could ruin Ennis’ career for good, so he decides to push him off a cliff. Stranger things have happened.”
“No,” I say resolutely. “I know him and he wouldn’t do something like that.”
“Service!”
“I have to go,” I say, trying to squeeze past him in the narrow corridor between the boxes. “Somebody wants a drink.”
I walk back into the pub, closely followed by Charlie, acutely aware of how this must look, the two of us appearing out of a cupboard together. Liam, who must have been the one who shouted, is leaning on the bar. He sees me and smiles but it turns to a scowl when he notices Charlie exiting the store cupboard behind me. “Hey, Amber. Love that dress. Couple of pints please.”
I smile my thanks and sort out Liam’s drinks order.
Whilst he’s waiting he says, “So you got back safely after your visit to the quarry then?”
I feel myself tense. Charlie is within listening distance. Is Liam trying to make a point about the incident with the dumper truck by any chance? Why else would he ask if I got home safely? Was he the one who instructed the dumper truck driver to try to scare us off? If he was then he’s not being very discreet about it.
“Fine,” I reply, putting another pint onto a tray for him.
“Glad to hear it.” He leans in close and lowers his voice. “You and your little store cupboard friend won’t find anything amiss at Set In Stone about this dead body business no matter how much he digs.” He hands me the money and picks up his tray of drinks. “And you can tell him that from me. He’s wasting his time.”
I look at Charlie and raise my eyebrows questioning, checking if he heard all of that. He nods and takes a sip of his drink.
“So what now?” I whisper as we both watch the darts match.
“I think I’ll be doing more extensive checks on Liam Turston when I get back tonight.”
“And me?”
He winks at me. “I’ve already done my background check on you remember?”
Yes. I remember.
“I mean what do you need me to do next?”
“Not sure,” he says. “Leave it with me.”
As I tidy up the bar and wipe some glasses I can’t help thinking Charlie is up to something and he’s not telling me about it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I think I’ve figured out what Charlie might be up to. He left the pub about an hour ago and I have a feeling he’s going to go back to the quarry tonight for his aforementioned unofficial look around the offices.
He’s too impatient to leave it long before going for his little reconnaissance trip. Plus we need to solve this case as quickly as possible. Preferably before the police call ‘time’s up’ and make the announcement about Joel’s death. He’s planning to go up there alone. Excluding me, I imagine, because he thinks it’s too risky and I’m probably not insured for those kind of covert operations, despite having signed my life away on those CCIA forms he made me complete.
So, as soon as my shift finished at the pub, I borrowed Debs’ car to wait in the lay-by leading down to the lane which ends at the quarry. She lives within walking distance of the pub but I don’t. I’d made an excuse about my car playing up again and she was only too happy to lend me her keys.
I hate having to keep the truth from her about this investigation but I signed that piece of paper from the CCIA about keeping my mouth shut. I also promised Ennis I wouldn’t breathe a word about Joel. The next time I meet up with Debs for a chat I’ll casually drop it into the conversation about how Charlie and I have ‘hit it off’ and are spending some time together whilst he’s investigating the break-in threat up at Ennis’ house.
I glance at the clock. Am I too late or did I guess wrong? I’ve been waiting ages for Charlie’s car to go past. I’d been so sure he would try to visit the quarry again tonight but so far zilch and it’s now approaching midn
ight. Perhaps I should just give up and go home. Before the cold completely cuts off the circulation to my extremities.
The next moment I jump, heartbeat racing, as the driver’s door of Debs’ car is wrenched open. I scream, all manner of scary situations racing through my mind.
“Amber!”
Allowing myself to breathe again I look up into Charlie’s eyes.
“Where did you spring from?” I gasp.
“What are you doing?” He stands up looking annoyed. “No, scrub that. I know exactly what you’re doing. Waiting for me. I told you this time I was going back to the quarry alone.”
He rubs a hand across the back of his neck. “I knew you wouldn’t take no for an answer. Guessed you’d try something like this. When I saw the car parked up on the edge of the lane I thought it’s either a couple parked up for a bit of privacy or it’s you trying to spy on me. Again.”
“And what would you have done if you’d yanked the door open and found some young couple in a compromising position eh? Or some great scary thug intent on beating you up or something?”
He shrugs. “The point is I didn’t. I found you. Anyway I don’t think great scary thugs usually drive around in a beaten up old Corsa.” He stands back and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “I have to say your undercover surveillance skills are complete crap. What did you think you were doing?”
“I wasn’t waiting for you,” I say, deciding to brazen it out. “I couldn’t sleep and decided to go for a drive and then I thought I saw something up ahead on the road so I pulled over.”
“Where were you going for a drive to?” he asks with a knowing expression. “This lane only goes up to the quarry or the moor. As we both know. Where were you planning on going for this midnight drive of yours?”
Amber Reed Mysteries Volume One: Romantic Comedy Mystery Series Box Set (Amber Reed Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency Mystery Box Set Book 1) Page 5