BURIED CRIMES: a gripping detective thriller full of twists and turns
Page 25
Rae shook her head. ‘Not yet. But once we get her financial records sent through, we should find out, one way or the other. But if it did happen that way, ma’am, shouldn’t something have turned up at one of the flats, either Wethergill’s or Dorothy’s? Or even at both? I mean something that suggests murder rather than suicide?’
Sophie nodded. ‘So let’s go back over everything to see if we’ve overlooked something vital.’ Her phone rang. It was Dave Nash. She listened to his message with barely concealed excitement.
‘Thanks, Dave. Very timely.’
She sat back in her chair, eyes closed, making the most of the warm glow of satisfaction that spread through her body.
‘Don’t keep it to yourself, ma’am. You look like the cat that’s got the cream,’ Marsh said.
‘That’s exactly what it feels like. Those bank notes? The ones that Wethergill supposedly set out for his cleaner’s wages? They’ve got Dorothy Kitson’s prints all over them. Do we have a list of all her cleaning jobs somewhere?’
Marsh nodded. ‘I think it’s complete. She worked in about half a dozen places.’
‘Okay. We have some checking to do. One of the fivers is defaced with a "Free Palestine" message. It’s fairly noticeable, according to Nash. Let’s go through the list and check to see if any of Ms Kitson’s employers remember it.’
It was almost inevitable that it would be Tony Younger, the vicar of St Paul’s, who could identify the banknote in question. He knew the banknote instantly when Rae phoned him about it.
‘It was the only five pound note I had available at the time,’ he said. ‘I felt a bit guilty about passing it on like that but decided not to tell her in case she made a fuss about it. She can be a bit awkward at times. I’d have changed it later if she’d had any trouble using it. Is she alright, by the way? I’m a bit concerned about her heading off like that. She seemed very anxious about something when she told me about her break on Monday, but she wouldn’t offer me any explanation.’
‘She’s safe, Mr Younger. I think you’ll have to speak to the DCI for more information about her. It’s all a bit sensitive at the moment. Shall I ask her to call you?’
Rae then put a call through to the IT forensic team, asking for the examination of Dorothy’s laptop to be upgraded to top priority. Things were beginning to come together rather nicely, she thought.
Chapter 37: Funeral
Friday, week 4
St Paul’s Church was packed. Sitting silently in the pews were neighbours, current and past, medical staff, police officers, past Finch Cottage residents, staff from the school the twins had attended all those years ago, and Dorchester residents, confused and ashamed that such a thing had happened in their town. The two small coffins, layered with wreaths of every colour, were carried in and set down in front of the altar. The Freeman family sat in the front left row. The front right seats were occupied by Pauline Stopley, sitting alongside Sophie, Barry Marsh, Rae and Theresa. It was rare for police officers to find themselves so prominently on display at a victim’s funeral, but the twin’s stepmother had insisted. She had no one else to sit with her.
Tony Younger looked around him as he spoke, seeming to fix his eyes momentarily on each person in the audience as if he acknowledged the part each had played in uncovering the tragic story. This included at George Bramshaw, during the introduction to one of the music items chosen: an extract from Mozart’s flute sonata in C Major, the very piece played by the twins in that school assembly of so many years earlier.
* * *
The drive to the local crematorium, situated ten miles away in Weymouth, passed in silence. Only Pauline, Sophie and Tony Younger were in the official car. As they entered the reception hall they were unexpectedly joined by a fourth figure who’d driven, unseen, behind them on the short journey from Dorchester. She slipped into the seat beside Pauline and held her arm tightly during the committal, then led her outside once the short ceremony was over. Sophie saw Jill Freeman embrace her ex-lover, weeping openly as she pulled Pauline’s head close. Tony Younger stood by, looking awkward as he waited for his lift back to Dorchester.
Sophie stepped forward and touched Pauline’s arm. ‘Time to go,’ she said.
Pauline stood back, and then smiled at Jill. ‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘You should go back to your family. They need you.’
Once Jill Freeman had left, Pauline breathed deeply, then turned and slipped her arm through Tony Younger’s. ‘That was a wonderful ceremony,’ she said. ‘You judged it just perfectly.’ She paused. ‘Do you fancy a meal out this evening? I just couldn’t bear to be alone, not after this.’
The minister nodded, a look of mild surprise on his face. ‘That’s understandable. Why don’t you come over? I cook pretty good casseroles.’
‘I’d prefer to be out, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to brood inside a house, even if it’s yours. Maybe you can cook for me next week? When I’m feeling a bit more human? It’ll be my treat tonight.’
He smiled gently. ‘Of course. Whatever you prefer.’
Sophie was dumbfounded. Pauline was just amazing. Would a mere vicar be able to cope with what might be in store? Then again, maybe he could provide some stability, an answer to the actress’s constant emotional restlessness.
Chapter 38: Licked Lips
Friday, week 5
The atmosphere at Finch Cottage was tense. Jill had told Philip about her short, torrid affair with Pauline Stopley. He’d been shocked at first, but once he’d taken the time to think things through he’d decided to stick by her, to give their marriage another chance. Both knew that it wouldn’t be easy. From Philip’s point of view he’d been made painfully aware that there was a side to his wife’s sexuality that he could never satisfy. Jill was now aware of a hitherto unknown kind of pleasure. Could she forget it? Only time would tell. Jill had also sat down with Karen and tried to explain something of the emotional whirlpool that had swept her along in its flow. The girl had claimed that she thought she understood some of what her mother was telling her, but Jill was doubtful. Jill didn’t fully understand it herself. The good thing was, though, that the family was still together, and there had been no vicious arguments. There was total family agreement about one thing: the need to move away from Finch Cottage.
* * *
Theresa Jackson relayed this information to the team of detectives while they were marking the closure of the case with a celebratory pub meal in Dorchester. The key investigators were joined by Matt Silver and Harry Turner, who had come from London for a second visit. The atmosphere was more muted than that of past celebrations. Sadness at the children’s fate still hung over the team.
‘Did you ever discover where the jar of cyanide came from?’ Turner asked.
‘It was decades old,’ Sophie replied.’ We think he had it in his possession for a long time, probably back before his time as a gardener at Finch Cottage. We don’t know how he’d avoided having it logged on a poison register somewhere. Clearly he’d obtained it illegally, but for what purpose we don’t know. What has become clearer is that our speculation about possible blackmail is looking stronger as each day goes by. We’ve got more evidence piling up that shows large sums of money leaving Dorothy’s account and being deposited in his.’
‘So she’s been living for twenty years in fear of discovery?’ Turner said. ‘No wonder she was a bag of nerves. And once you discovered the twins’ bodies, she knew that time was running out.’
‘Maybe he let slip at some time that he kept cyanide somewhere, or she spotted it.’ Rae added. ‘It gave her a neat solution to the problem, didn’t it? Removing her co-conspirator, her blackmailer and throwing suspicion onto him because it looked like suicide. All in one go. You’ve got to give it to her, she was clever. The only problem for her was that she’d left the record of her search history on her laptop. Loads of stuff on cyanide poisoning, telling her everything she needed to know. And us.’
‘Do we know how long it will take for t
he Bristol team to reinvestigate the hit and run that killed Li Hua?’ asked Marsh.
‘Don’t hold your breath,’ Sophie replied. ‘My guess is months rather than weeks. Polly phoned and said they were snowed under at the moment. She’d have pushed for an immediate start if it could provide vital evidence in our case, but now we’re largely wrapped up there’s less perceived need to hurry. I’m afraid it means that we haven’t seen the last of Pauline Stopley. There are still too many unknowns. But she’s out of our hair for a while. I hope.’
* * *
On the other side of town Pauline was ringing the doorbell of St Paul’s Church manse. Underneath her coat she was wearing a short black dress with a full-length gold zip up the front. Her shoulder bag was rather larger than might be expected for a simple evening visit. She breathed deeply, savouring the cool evening air. Tony Younger opened the door and invited her inside, the smell of venison and red wine casserole drifting out into the night air. Pauline licked her lips in anticipation.
THE END
Acknowledgements
The Beaumont Society (www.beaumontsociety.org.uk) is the UK’s leading support organisation for transgender people. The society has a network of voluntary "Regional Organisers" across the country who can help with problems. The author wishes to thank members of the society for their help with parts of this novel. Similarly, the author would like to thank Bailey at the NTPA (the National Trans Police Association) for her help in supplying background information about the experiences of police officers with gender identity issues.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still a serious problem throughout the world. For more information visit the websites of these three charities: 28 Too Many; The Orchid Project; Desert Flower. I would like to thank Alice Newton-Fenner for increasing my awareness of the mutilation of young girls from some ethnic communities living in Britain today, and for showing me where to look for information.
Thanks to Anne Derges for her painstaking editorial work.
THE FIRST THREE SOPHIE ALLEN BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE NOW:
Book1: DARK CRIMES
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http://www.amazon.com/CRIMES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01B1W9CIG
A young woman’s body is discovered on a deserted footpath in a Dorset seaside town late on a cold November night. She has been stabbed through the heart.
It seems like a simple crime for DCI Sophie Allen and her team to solve. But not when the victim’s mother is found strangled the next morning. The case grows more complex as DCI Sophie Allen discovers that the victims had secret histories, involving violence and intimidation. There’s an obvious suspect but Detective Allen isn't convinced. Could someone else be lurking in the shadows, someone savagely violent, looking for a warped revenge?
BOOK 2 DEADLY CRIMES
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A young man’s mutilated body is found on top of the Agglestone, a well-known local landmark on Studland Heath
It seems that he was involved in a human trafficking and prostitution gang. But why is DCI Sophie Allen keeping something back from her team? Is it linked to the extraordinary discovery of her own father's body at the bottom of a disused mineshaft, more than forty years after he disappeared?
Book 3: BURIED CRIMES
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Two women go away for the weekend, but only one comes back alive. Was it just the music they were into? And who was the man the victim met at the festival?
DCI Sophie Allen is back in charge after the emotional upheavals she suffered in 'Deadly Crimes,' but is she really in control? And Detective Constable Rae Gregson joins the team and immediately faces challenges that put her life in peril.
Glossary of English terms for US readers
ACC: assistant chief constable
Asian: someone who (or whose ancestors) originates from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Bladdered: drunk
Bob: money
Bod: person
Boffin: smart person, scientist
Boot: trunk, as in car trunk
Bother: as in bother, means in trouble
Charity Shop: thrift store
Caravan: camper or small motorhome
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chinwag: conversation
Ciggy: cigarette
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Copper: police officer (slang)
Cotton wool: raw cotton
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Coach: a bus, often used for travel, holidays or trips
Cos: because
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, body which decides whether cases go to criminal court
Council: local government
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Diary: appointment book
Dinner lady: lunch lady
Div: idiot (offensive)
Dodgy: not to be trusted, illegal
Dosh: money
Double glazing: insulated windows with two layers of glass
DC: detective constable
DI: detective inspector
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Fag: cigarette
Fancy: find attractive
FE: further education college
Freshers: Students in their first term/year at university
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gas people: company selling consumers gas for heating and hot water
Gobsmacked: surprised
Get off: make out
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Gran: grandmother
Guest house: a private house offering rooms to paying guests (in the days before Airbnb!)
Hard nut: tough guy
Hatchback: a car with an upwards-opening door across full width of back
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Home Office: UK government department in charge of domestic affairs
Inne: isn’t he
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Jobcentre: unemployment office
Jumper: sweater
Kosher: genuine or legal
Lad: young man
Lamped: hit
Lay-by: an area off a road where cars can pull in and stop
Lift: as in give a lift, drive someone somewhere
Loo: toilet
Lounge: living room
Lorry: a truck
Mobile phone: cell phone
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
Newsagents: shop selling newspapers, confectionery, cigarettes etc.
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
OCD: Obsessive-compulsive disorder
OS: Ordnance Survey, detailed map
Overalls: dungarees
Pants: underwear
PC:
police constable
PM: post-mortem
Petrol: gasoline
Petrol station: gas station
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
Plod: policeman
Posh: upper class
Punter: client of prostitute / can also mean gambler
Randy: horny
Ready meal: prepared food which only needs to be reheated
Rock: a sugary candy often on sale at the seaside
Semi: semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only
Skinful: enough alcohol to make you drunk
Skip: a large container for building rubbish
Services: Shops and gas station by highway
Sixth-former: student in the final two years of high school (16-18 years old)
Sod: an annoying person
Sod it: expression meaning you’ve decided not to give a damn
Solicitor: lawyer
Squaddies: soldiers
Tea: dinner (Northern English)
Till: cash register
Tipsy: a bit drunk
Toerag: loser (insulting)
Ton: a hundred pounds
Torch: flashlight
Tosspot: wanker, an idiot
Tutor: university teacher
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
Two-up two-down: house with two bedrooms upstairs, and two rooms downstairs
Uni: university/college
Uniform: a police officer wearing a uniform, usually a police constable