Cold Justice

by Lee Weeks

  ‘What are you giving Lauren to do?’

  ‘We’ve driven around. She has an Ordnance Survey map and makes notes on it, thoughts really. Any updates from your side?’

  ‘We got no new information about Toby except we can be pretty sure he spent the missing time in the music shop. I quizzed the assistant again and it seems they got on so well, time just slipped by.’

  ‘Any sightings of Kensa at the tube stations or at the small Tesco in Greenwich?’

  ‘Not so far, but that Tesco bag could have been from anywhere.’

  Lauren came back into the house and Willis came off the phone to Jeanie.

  ‘I’m going to lie down, Ebony.’

  ‘Okay, Lauren, did you get through to Toby?’

  ‘No. I left another message.’

  ‘I’m going out for a while, okay?’

  ‘Yes, I’ll phone you if I need you.’

  Willis phoned Carter but there was no reply and it went straight to answer machine. She got into the detectives’ pool car left for her by Pascoe and drove towards Stokes farm. She wanted to speak to Mawgan about Kensa. She thought she could do it better on her own, woman to woman. As she drove up the farm lane she could see no lights coming from the cottages on the left. The air was heavy and damp as the sea mist covered everything. The sky was full of squawking gulls and she could hear the cows lowing from the barn as she drew into the farm. She parked up and the collie came bounding over to see her. Mawgan emerged from the house. In the light of day Willis could see that even though her jaw was square and her hair short and red, her face had a delicate look about it, smaller than average features, and her eyes were a piercing turquoise. Even though Mawgan was twenty-seven, she had a baby face.

  ‘I need to talk to you.’

  ‘You’ll have to follow me, I have chores.’

  As they walked past the pig pens, the sow jumped up and rested her front legs upon the wall of her pen.

  ‘Mind she doesn’t bite you,’ said Mawgan. ‘She has young ones in the back.’

  Willis walked side-on past the big sow that managed to still come within an inch of her. Past the pens the field opened up and it was dotted with corrugated round shelters for the pigs to live free-range.

  ‘They won’t hurt you,’ Mawgan shouted back to Willis, who hovered by the gate and waited for Mawgan to finish her feeding chores and check on the pigs inside their huts.

  ‘Are you coming back?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then I’ll wait here for you.’ Willis looked around her. The field rose steeply so that she couldn’t see over the brow. To her left was a hedge and the glimpse of another field. To the right was the rest of the field and a section that was recovering from the onslaught of pigs foraging in the mud every day. Further down was the sea; she knew it was there but only the smell and the direction of the cold mist as it came across her face in icy draughts gave it away.

  ‘All done?’ she asked Mawgan as she came back to Willis at the gate.

  ‘Pigs, yes, not the others.’ She marched back, her wellingtons flapping as she strode. There was a mended section on the one the sow had bitten. Megan wore combat trousers for work clothes and a washed-out green fleece beneath her Barbour.

  ‘You’re a friend of Kensa’s, aren’t you?’

  Megan nodded. ‘Grew up together.’

  ‘Here on this farm?’

  ‘Here and all around. We knew every burrow in every field for a good two miles around.’

  ‘Sounds like an idyllic childhood.’

  ‘Does it?’

  ‘Did Kensa live with you?’

  ‘No, her family had a van on Cam’s land, the farm next door. It’s owned by us now.’

  ‘Your dad has been very successful with buying up land here.’

  ‘Yeah, he’s a canny old sod. He bought at the right time. People wanted to sell, it’s not so easy to make money from the land.’ They went inside the food store and Mawgan began measuring out cups of food and adding it to buckets.

  ‘I’ve heard of Cam and his sister Ella – are they still around?’

  ‘Cam is, Ella left. Cam has the café on the beach.’

  ‘Do you keep in touch with Ella?’

  ‘No.’ Mawgan paused to look on the wall and check the proportions, make sure she was putting the right things into the right buckets.

  ‘You were very good friends, weren’t you?’

  ‘She was like a sister to me.’

  ‘Where did she go?’ Mawgan shrugged. ‘Do you remember Toby Forbes-Wright, Mawgan?’

  ‘Just about – it was a long time ago when he came down.’

  ‘It was the five of you then, wasn’t it, on the Saturday night in June when you all went back to Kellis House?’

  ‘I don’t remember that.’

  They walked to the field around the outside.

  ‘And you’re a good friend of Kensa’s?’

  ‘Yes, I try to be.’ Mawgan opened the gate and Willis followed into a small penned-off area that had the imprint of hooves in the churned-up soil.

  ‘Kensa was at the funeral, wasn’t she?’ Mawgan nodded. ‘What was she doing there?’ She shrugged but didn’t reply. ‘Why did you feel you had to lie about it before?’

  ‘I didn’t think she should be there.’

  ‘How did she get there?’

  ‘She borrowed my car.’

  ‘Where is it now?’

  ‘She says she left it in Penhaligon somewhere but she can’t remember where. I need to go and look for it.’

  ‘Has she done that before? Borrowed your car and then left it somewhere?’

  ‘All the time.’

  ‘What did you say to her at the funeral?’

  ‘I told her to wait there and we’d come home together.’

  ‘Did she do that?’

  Mawgan nodded.

  ‘So you didn’t come back on the train?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why did you lie about it?’

  ‘Because I panicked, I suppose.’

  ‘Did she have Samuel with her?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Is there any way she could have had him in the car?’

  ‘No. I didn’t see what happened. She took my car and drove away when we got back here.’

  ‘Why did you lie to us about how you got home? You must have felt that there was a chance Kensa would be involved in Samuel’s abduction?’

  ‘I lied because we stick together, I knew she’d be the chief suspect. People would jump to conclusions. I don’t think people understand how fragile she is. She told me she only wanted to talk to Toby and she should be allowed to do that. It’s Raymonds’ fault if anyone’s. He didn’t listen to her. He knew it meant a lot to her but he chose to ignore it. You should ask him about the missing child. It’s his fault all of this happened. He controls everything in this village. He wanted that house for himself. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and stitch Kensa up for it. He knew she wanted to talk to Toby so badly she’d risk anything.’

  ‘And, did she talk to him?’

  ‘No. She says not.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘She couldn’t approach him at the funeral so she gave up and we drove home.’

  ‘So why lie to us?’

  She shrugged. ‘It’s the way it is here.’

  ‘I could do you for perverting the course of justice. Make sure that everything you tell me is the truth now. Tell me how you really got to the funeral. You didn’t pay twenty pounds for a ticket.’

  ‘Yes I did. I bought it in advance. I may have left a bit earlier than I said, could have been eight.’

  Willis texted Pascoe to put out an alert and find the yellow Fiat. ‘When you saw her at the funeral, was she upset?’

  ‘Yes. She wanted to talk to Toby. She drove all the way to speak to him.’

  ‘And you didn’t think she should? You didn’t want her to?’

  ‘No, it wouldn’t have done her any good.’

  ‘Sh
e needs more support than she gets, doesn’t she?’

  ‘The whole town should do more to help her but they look the other way.’

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘They’re all frightened to go against Raymonds.’ She looked at Willis and shook her head. ‘And you call my childhood idyllic? You have no idea.’

  ‘Did something happen to you, Mawgan, something you want to tell me about? Maybe I can help?’

  Mawgan stopped. Looked round. Martin Stokes was calling her.

  ‘My dad wants me. I’ll be back.’

  Willis watched her walk over to the gate and then disappear from sight, then she heard the creaking of barn doors and heard bellowing and the thunder of hooves and saw the steam coming off the cattle as they pushed and jostled one another, riding on each other’s backs to get through the narrow gap and into the small pen where Willis stood. She looked back towards the gate and realized she was cut off. She started walking – now a hundred were in a pen meant for twenty. She was squashed and jostled as they pushed at her. Willis waved her arms in the air and the bullocks reared, frightened. The noise of their bellowing was deafening, the dust and dirt they churned was creating a cloud around them. Willis tried to climb over the fence but there was nothing to grip on. She tried to get a foothold on one of the posts positioned every eight feet or so. She heaved herself up and tried to kick a space for her feet to stay in the wire, but she fell back down and felt the pushing and the weight of the bullocks.

  ‘Use me to pull yourself over!’

  Mawgan was on the other side of the fence. Willis put her right hand on the top of the post and gripped Mawgan’s shoulder, holding fast to her coat as she jumped as high as she could, pushing off the top of the post and hauling herself over the fence with Mawgan’s help.

  ‘Wanker. Towan let the bullocks out while he cleaned their pen – stupid bastard.’

  Willis looked towards the entrance to the covered barn where the bullocks sat out their winter. Towan was laughing to himself.

  ‘Christ – I thought they were going to crush me.’ Willis bent over, trying to catch her breath.

  ‘They could have killed you. They wouldn’t have meant it – but there’s nowhere to go and those horns get in the way. I would offer to have a word, but Dad wouldn’t take notice. Towan’s stupid. He’s just like my dad – always joking about.’

  Willis walked around the outside of the pen and called Towan over. He was grinning at his feet as he walked.

  ‘You jumped over that fence like a proper bunny rabbit.’ He looked at her and laughed.

  ‘The attempted murder of a police officer will get you twenty years.’

  ‘Harmless mistake. You townies don’t have a clue, do you?’

  ‘I am cautioning you, Towan – I don’t know whether you think you live by a different set of rules here but you can get a place in prison just as easily as anyone else. One more trick like that and I’ll make it my job to put you away.’

  Towan laughed as he turned and started walking away. As she went to get back in the car she saw Misty tethered by the house.

  ‘Is that Kensa’s horse?’ she called to Mawgan.

  ‘Yeah – Towan said he was seen limping. He brought him up. The vet will be coming this afternoon. We have our stallion Brutus that’s going to cover one of our mares. We’ll get the vet to check him out then.’

  ‘Kensa’s worried about him.’

  ‘I know. I’ll make sure he’s okay.’ They walked back to the car.

  ‘Mawgan, I need to understand what’s going on in this village, what’s under the surface.’

  ‘Everyone has secrets here,’ said Mawgan.

  ‘You have to explain.’

  ‘Mawgan!’

  Towan came across and glared at Willis as he put his arm around his sister. Mawgan bowed her head as she shrugged him off and muttered that she had to get on.

  Willis drove down and parked in the gateway to Kensa’s field. She walked across to the line of vans. Kensa was standing at the top of the field clenching her fists as she called Misty’s name.

  ‘Kensa?’ Kensa didn’t move; she waited for Willis to climb the steep field to get to her. ‘Kensa, it’s okay. Misty is up at the Stokes farm. Mawgan says to tell you the vet is going to look at his leg.’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with his leg. He’s just old, that’s all. Why did they take him?’

  ‘I’m sorry; I don’t know any more than that.’

  Kensa pulled her blanket around herself and turned from Willis without another word. She marched back across the top of the hill to the gate into the next field. Willis watched her go, then she returned to her car.

  Chapter 31

  Mawgan went across to Misty after Willis had left and picked up each hoof in turn to see how Misty stood. She went to get a currycomb to give the animal a brush. Towan walked across to her.

  ‘Misty isn’t lame. What’s going on?’ she asked.

  ‘He was limping in the field,’ said Towan. ‘Anyway, you tell me what’s going on. I saw you sneaking around with that Cam. You and Kensa. You’re going to get yourselves in big trouble if you don’t watch it.’

  ‘Mind your own business.’

  ‘But it is my business. It’ll be everybody’s by the time you finish. Cam’s always been as weak as water. You want a man in your life, you better choose someone else. He ain’t no man.’

  Mawgan felt down each of Misty’s legs. ‘Feels solid. Kensa’s going mad looking for her horse. Take him back.’

  ‘I will, I said. But are you listening to me?’

  ‘Yes,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Dad wants you in the house.’

  ‘Where is he? What does he want?’

  ‘Down in the cellar. He needs help with the apple storage – some of the rats have got in there and it all needs separating up and re-boxing.’

  Mawgan put down the brush and walked towards the house. The air was damp; the cold clung to her face. She looked back to see Towan staring after her.

  ‘Dad?’ she called out as she walked through the kitchen, running her hand along the Aga rail to warm her fingers up as she passed on her way through to the stairs to the cellar.

  ‘Dad, are you down there?’ She glanced back up as she heard footsteps in the kitchen.

  ‘Dad, what is it you want me to do?’

  There was no reply as she looked down into the darkness of the cellar and the smell of fermenting apples. She flicked on the lights and saw the scurry of a sleek fat rat as it scarpered between the barrels of cider.

  She turned to make her way back up the stairs when the cellar door banged shut and was locked from the outside. It went dark.

  ‘Towan, open this door!’ She felt her way back up the stairs and banged on the door. ‘Dad!’ she called, but there was only the sound of the rats moving about.

  Towan went back to Misty. Martin Stokes had already undone the horse’s rope and was leading him away from the house.

  ‘Better make it quick before the vet gets here,’ Stokes said. ‘This’ll get Brutus going. Come on, Misty, old fella.’

  Stokes led Misty into the small paddock while Towan went to fetch Bluebell the mare. He tethered her just outside the gate. Misty whinnied as he caught a whiff of her scent, but then turned back to eating grass. Brutus was dancing on his strong legs as Towan held him tightly and led him through to the paddock.

  Kensa had only flip-flops on her feet as she wrapped the blanket around her and marched up the hill in the direction of Stokes’ farm. The sharp cold air grated in her windpipe from the low mist and the cold. She could not see more than ten feet in front of her but she heard the sound of Misty as he whinnied and she felt her heart leap in her chest. She was within half a mile of the farm now, she quickened her pace. She jogged along the main road until she came to the lane that led to the farm. She turned her head to listen to the sounds; above the beating of her heart and the breath that rasped from her throat she heard the snorting of a stallion. She heard the
squeals of fear and pain and the stamping of hooves.

  Mawgan banged on the door. She kicked at it and felt it give a little but not enough. Her hard boots splintered the wooden door but it didn’t break. She raged and smashed the door with her fists until her knuckles cracked on the wood. She heard the squeals of pain. They were coming from her own lungs, her own strangled fear.

  Marky was just parking up his jeep next to his cottage when Kensa ran past him. He opened his door and called to her but she didn’t stop. She was barefoot now. The blanket was gone. Her thin nightdress was flapping around her bare legs.

  Marky heard the sound of the horses. He ran to catch Kensa up as she pelted into the yard and towards the paddocks beyond. Bluebell stood terrified, tied to the gate, as Kensa passed her and ran straight into the paddock to protect Misty. Stokes yelled at her to get back as Brutus reared again and stamped down onto Misty’s head as he lay on the ground. Kensa stood over her horse as Brutus reared again. Then the stallion was blasted back as Marky aimed the power washer from the yard at Brutus.

  ‘You fucking psycho!’ Marky said to Towan. ‘This had to be your idea.’ He opened the gate and went to catch Brutus. ‘Get the vet.’

  ‘We meant no harm,’ Stokes said as Towan slipped away.

  Kensa lay across Misty’s neck and clung to him as sobs racked from her.

  Towan opened the cellar door and Mawgan lunged at him. Her fists were bloody. All she wanted to do was get out of there. Towan stood in her way.

  ‘Move, Towan.’ She was shaking violently, but she couldn’t look in his eyes.

  ‘Say please.’

  ‘Move or I’ll kill you.’

  ‘Yeah – like you could?’ he hissed in her face. ‘You just do as you’re told.’

  Towan was dragged backwards from behind before he had a chance to say more. Marky threw him out of the way as Mawgan made a run for it, and Marky landed a few punches into Towan’s head that forced them crashing into the kitchen table. Mawgan grabbed the cast-iron kettle from the Aga and swung it in the direction of Towan. It hit his back, bounced and then smashed into the cabinet and sent china crashing to the floor. Martin Stokes bellowed for them to stop as he stood in the doorway.