by D. E. White
‘If you come down to Big Water today, Ava Cole, you’ll find a big surprise…’
Was that right? She was very rusty, but she was sure that was right. Please God, this didn’t have anything to do with the girls from Tough Love. Quickly she tried to ring the unfamiliar number, but as before, the line was dead.
She yanked on her running gear from the pile on the floor, fingers fumbling with her laces. It would take a good half an hour to run down to Big Water, it was maybe four miles from the village. But who to call? Huw had a Land Rover, but would he lend it? Yeah right. Rhodri didn’t appear to have any transport, despite living at the garage. She phoned Penny, but there was no answer at the farm. They were probably out lugging hay around the hills for the sheep.
Ava was out the door before Leo answered her call.
‘Ava? Are you all right?’ His voice was sharp. ‘Have the police got back to you?’
She had sent him a courtesy text last night after her call to Cadrington. ‘I’m fine. Are you at home?’
Leo’s vast modern house, perched just above the village, with huge windows overlooking the valley, popped into her mind. Could he see as far as Big Water from there?
‘No. I stayed the night at one of the camps in the end. We found two of the girls. They just went off course. They’re a bit cold and hungry, but they’re fine. We got some great footage. Bethan and Cerys are still missing. The papers are all over it already, so some bastard has leaked the story.’
‘I’m thrilled for you. Did they say where Bethan and the other girl, Cerys, are?’
She heard the sigh in his voice. ‘They had a row and went and split up. Every series, I forget how much they all hate each other. Helen is still saying Cerys or Bethan pushed her off the hill and she’s winding up Stephen.’
‘Is he okay?’ Ava asked quickly.
‘Of course. I have a team on site offering counselling and help to the contestants whilst they are being filmed. It’s bloody hard trying to keep them from sneaking in phones and leaking things onto social media, though.’
‘It’s your show, Leo, you should be used to it. Anyway, I need your help. Have you been down to Big Water this morning?’
‘No chance, we’re right on the other side, over near Caban Valley.’
‘Shit. I got another weird text that told me to go to Big Water. I’ll have to run… Leo, you haven’t mentioned anything to the others about me going to the police, have you?’
‘No. We agreed not to. Give me some credit.’
‘Right. I need to go then.’
‘Ava! Don’t go by yourself. Look, I can meet you there if you take old man Birtley’s truck,’ Leo suggested.
‘He’s got a truck?’
‘In the outbuildings. It still runs and he takes it into town every week to get prescriptions and stuff. Just tell him it’s an emergency. I’m sure you can drive it.’
‘So am I.’ She ended the call and went in search of Mr Birtley.
* * *
The truck was an old black affair and seemed to be held together by mud and rust, but it bumped, sure-footed, out of the village and along the track to Big Water.
Ava yanked the wheel, ground through the gears, and stamped on the brake pedal, slowing to a crawl as she navigated around the last few potholes. Coming out of the woods, and the heady smell of frosted pine, the five-bar gate to Big Water was shut and looped round with a padlocked chain. Fuck, she should have thought of that. After a second of chewing her thumbnail in frustration she abandoned the truck and vaulted over the gate, phone in hand.
The stillness of the cold morning, combined with vastness of the grey water, was eerie. A few delicate rays of sunshine hardly warmed the frosted grass, and the clouds were already rolling in from the west.
She didn’t see it at first, instead taking her time to search around the field and Portakabins, her shoes crunching in the iced grass. An engine roared in the gloom, making her jump, stomach clenching. She turned to see Leo bumping down the hill to her left in a Land Rover packed with men in orange tabards. She scanned the silent Portakabins again, noting the locks still in place, the lack of fresh tyre marks.
There were signs of vehicles, footprints, and a stack of wooden crates covered in a green tarpaulin, but these were all frozen solid. The cluster of trees at the very bottom of the hill, where the land rose steeply upwards in a series of uneven steps, might be worth a look. It was the only other cover this side of Big Water. It would take ages to search the banks, but hopefully Leo’s search team could help out with that. Or perhaps she had translated the Welsh into something quite different, and it actually said ‘Go to the pub’ or something.
She scanned the still water, heart jerking painfully as a bird flew down from the clouds and landed with a splash and a squawk. The zip line was still in place, ready for the grand finale but something was wrong. Her eyes followed it back up towards the starting point on the hill. Fuck.
Ava gripped her phone, her hand once again going automatically to a gun holster that wasn’t there, reaching for a weapon. Someone was hanging on the wire, but they seemed to have got stuck halfway. The body swayed gently, as tension was picked up then released in the light breeze, and the odd sunbeam illuminated, and then cast a dark shadow, on the waters beneath.
Ava shouted, squinting into brightness, but the person on the wire made no attempt to shout back, or wave at her, merely bobbing in the breeze, legs swinging.
Leo must have seen it too and had already dispatched a few members of his security crew, their bright orange tabards now dotting the icy whiteness of the bank. They were pointing and shouting instructions, but he headed straight for Ava.
‘What the hell is going on? Who is that up there?’
‘I don’t know, Leo. Can we get out there in that boat?’
‘Well… yes, but it would be easier just to reel them in. We’ve got a safety mechanism if anyone gets stuck, and it will just wind the handle back up to the top of the hill. They might need medical help… unless it’s Bethan and Cerys pulling some stunt. I can’t see in this light.’ He was squinting at the figure on the zip line. ‘Looks like a man though…’
One of the security crew panted up to them, his medical bag on his back. ‘It isn’t one of the contestants, or any of our lot. But, whoever it is, well…’ The man wiped beads of sweat from his brow. He was still breathing deeply. ‘It’s a man and as far as we can make out he’s dead. Better get the police in, Leo.’
‘Fucking hell!’ Leo hauled his phone out. ‘This is just great. We’ve still got another five days’ filming to go. They’ll shut us down, and the insurance people will go ballistic.’
‘Leo, I hate to point out the obvious, but if this is a murder scene, you’re going to have far more problems than just a delay in filming,’ Ava snapped at him. ‘Aren’t you worried it might be someone we know?’
The expression on his face said that hadn’t occurred to him.
‘Let me call the police.’ Ava was glad to feel her professional self kicking in. ‘We need to get out in that boat and have a look at the victim close up. Nobody is to contaminate the scene. Don’t move anything, or wind your zip line, and don’t start telling anyone else, or you will have the press here before the police. Get someone to open the gate to this field. The bloody thing is padlocked.’
Leo, looking mutinous, muttered that the keys should be in the production office, and hurried off across the field. This time Ava called 999, giving her location quickly. She added that they would need an ambulance, but that they had medics as part of the film production team already on scene. Wincing slightly, she also informed the man on the other end of the line that she was a detective with LAPD and finished the call by giving as much detail as possible about the body.
‘I know this is a bit out of order, but if DI Sophie Miles does attend, I have a few things to tell her that are definitely relevant.’ Ava tried to quit panicking. ‘No, I don’t know who the victim is. We can only see from a distance, but we�
��re going out in the boat now.’
‘You ready?’ It was one of the crew, standing on the bank, ready to launch the boat. ‘Is Leo coming?’
‘No. He’s gone to unlock the gate for the police and ambulance.’
‘Don’t reckon there’ll be much the paramedics can do for that poor bloke,’ the other man said, shivering in his wax jacket. He pulled the collar higher, his face pale.
The inflatable cut a swathe of white froth through the grey water, splashing freezing droplets onto the occupants. As they got closer, Ava was able to make out the features, and her heart began to thump so hard it actually hurt her ribcage. The face was grey and frozen, but it was unmistakable.
‘Here, I’ve got some binoculars if you want to take a closer look? He’s up pretty high, and it’s going to be hard seeing anything from this angle.’ One of the crew thrust them into her numb hands.
The binoculars confirmed what she already knew. The body hanging pathetically, strung out for all to see, was the private investigator who had been so sure he had cracked Ellen’s case. Alex Jennington had assured her that there was nothing new in his investigation, hadn’t he? So what had he discovered last night that had deserved this? She remembered Pen’s message. Paul had thrown him off the farm about four o’clock, and she hadn’t bumped into Alex at the B&B later or when she’d popped down to the shop for supplies. Where had he gone then?
They were still out in the boat when the police 4x4s bounced over the icy ruts towards Big Water. Ava was still studying the victim, trying hard to be objective. There was a straight cut to his jugular. He must have bled out before he was hoisted onto the zip line, because although his clothing was stained, it wasn’t the dramatic amount she would have expected from an arterial spray. The wire was clean. His white hands were roped firmly to the handles of the pulley, and his head lolled in a grotesque fashion.
He appeared to be fully clothed, but without a jacket, boots or socks. Did the murderer remove them, or had he been killed inside, and moved down here? His grey eyes were wide open, and his long skinny feet were bare. Shoving emotion away, she slammed a fist against the hard rubber side of the boat. ‘Fuck! How could this have happened?’
She said it more to stop herself throwing up than to get an answer, and the two men in the boat with her looked fairly green themselves.
‘Do you know who it is?’ one of them asked.
‘Yes. His name is Alex Jennington, and he is, or was, a private investigator.’ Ava studied their faces as she spoke. ‘He’s only been in the village a couple of days, and I believe he was leaving tomorrow.’
‘Oh, him. He was down on set the other day. Talking to Leo, I think. They had a bit of a row about something. Leo’s a right grumpy git when we’ve got a job on – everything has to be perfect,’ the other man volunteered. ‘The police are here, so do you want to go back now?’
Ava nodded, her mind whirring, hands clenched on the rope handles on the side of the boat as they powered back to the shore. So Alex had discovered the truth about Ellen, and somebody had taken care that he didn’t get a chance to pass on his discovery. It seemed logical. It also seemed ironic, that today was the day she would be speaking to the police about Ellen herself.
Back on dry land, Ava introduced herself to the police contingent. There were two uniformed cops, and she was unimpressed.
‘We’ve put out an alert for the Major Crime Team, and they’ll send a DI out, but that’ll take a while. Are you the person who made the 999 call?’
‘Yes. The victim is Alex Jennington, a private investigator. He was staying at the same B&B as me,’ Ava said, her gaze still fixed on the body.
‘Okay, if you wouldn’t mind coming over here with me, I’ll take a statement whilst we wait for backup.’ The elder of the two was courteous, but his eyes were red and tired. Both eyed Ava warily. It was clear that they were slightly overwhelmed by the scene.
Glancing across the field, she could see Leo being interviewed by the other officer.
Half an hour later more vehicles struggled through the gate, and the ambulance crew trudged off with another uniformed officer, presumably to pronounce that life was extremely extinct. Another team started to cordon off the crime scene.
Ava, sitting in the police car, watched with a surreal feeling. This couldn’t be happening. A tall woman in grey trousers and a red jacket was clearly receiving a briefing. The officer pointed at Ava, and the woman swung round to stare at her.
Ava left the warmth of her seat and walked over, ducking back under the cordon.
‘You must be Ava Cole. I’m DI Sophie Miles. I believe you found the body?’
The DI was probably over six foot, and she carried it well. Her face was gaunt, and her grey hair spiked out from under a red ski hat. Her eyes, frank and expressive, were dark green, and she didn’t smile. Her words rattled out like machine-gun fire.
Ava found herself stumbling over her own words, and when Leo came over, urging everyone to help themselves to coffee, she grabbed a cup and wrapped her frozen hands around it. It was a bit tricky, introducing herself as probably both a suspect and a colleague, but the DI took it well, her expression neither accepting nor showing any coldness.
Her team still seemed slightly wary of Ava, watching her like curious cats as the introductions were made, but they were quickly dispatched onto the lake, and up the hill to where the zip line started. The uniformed officers had moved on to interviewing some of Leo’s crew.
DI Miles took a few quick notes from the officer with Ava, and nodded at her again, before striding off to confer with the paramedics. The zip line, with its grisly cargo, had been slowly winched back up the hill.
It felt extremely odd to be on the other side of the fence, observing a crime scene through the eyes of a witness, and Ava was glad when Leo finally came over to sit with her.
‘What do you think then?’ Leo asked. His face was pale and he looked exhausted.
‘About Alex? No idea, but it obviously leads back to what we were saying the other day.’ She sighed. ‘I’m going to get DI Miles’ number and see if I can speak to her later, or tomorrow, about all the other stuff. I only gave uniform a basic witness statement so far, mainly about my drink being spiked, the photographs, and their connection to an old case. I’ve not even mentioned Ellen’s name to them yet. Any news on Bethan and Cerys?’
‘No. I thought… I really thought for a moment that the body was going to be one of them. This is going to create a bit of drama at the camp, when they get to hear what’s happened,’ Leo said. He was turning his phone over and over in his hands, biting his lip. ‘My PR team are going to put out a statement. I know you don’t want to hear it, and I am sorry that the PI has been murdered, but I need to focus on the production. I’ve got a lot riding on this, and I need to get my side across before I start getting investors pulling out.’
Ava nodded. She couldn’t blame him for putting his business first. Her mind was spinning with suspects, but she didn’t have the energy to start a discussion with Leo. She still needed to ring Jack too, her mom probably, and oh God, she’d need to try and see Jackie and Peter before the additional news broke. Her limbs were weak and she closed her eyes for a second, blotting out the activity, blotting out Ellen’s screams for help that she had never heard. Deep inside, she also felt stirrings of panic. That fluttering tightness in her chest that could build and build until she couldn’t breathe, and her hands were left curled like claws, desperate to hang on to something.
She hadn’t had panic attacks for years – not since she had left Wales and spent three years recovering with her parents in Florida. The therapy had been tough at first, and progress slow, but gradually she had made her way out of the darkness. The first time she managed to drive herself to the local store had been a major triumph. She forced herself to remember the triumph, the return of a tiny glow of confidence she had felt at the achievement.
There were other achievements, but she could list them later, each one was emb
lazoned on her memory to help combat the bad times, and, she supposed, to atone for the way she had treated Ellen and Stephen.
They sat in silence for a long while, watching the police working. It was thorough and methodical, and for Ava so familiar and yet strange. Leo was smoking one cigarette after another.
A temporary command centre was soon established in Leo’s office. She felt herself relaxing slightly, despite the fact that the really bad stuff was yet to come. It would be okay, and she could do this. She could finally untangle the past and leave it behind. For Ellen and for herself. And now for Alex too…
A muscular blond man, with a ruddy wind-blasted complexion strode up to them. ‘I know you’ve given a statement already, Miss Cole, but I just have a couple more questions. I’m DS Dave Sharon, and I work directly with DI Miles.’
‘I would say nice to meet you. Call me Ava. Would it be possible to leave a number for DI Miles to give me a call a bit later? Or I can ring her?’
He studied her quizzically. ‘You can say anything to me that you would say to the DI, Ava, and as you know it’s all confidential. Shall we go back into this office? It’ll be warmer.’
‘Sorry, yes I know. It’s just that I think I have information on another case she worked on previously that may be relevant to this one.’ Ava shot a last look at Leo as he snagged another coffee off the table. The big hot water tank was steaming gently in the icy air, and someone had left a tin of biscuits.
DS Sharon shrugged. ‘No worries. Here’s her card and one of mine. You’re with the LAPD, one of the boys was saying?’
‘That’s right. Do you mind if I call my boss back home? As I mentioned, there has been some other stuff happening that could be connected, and as well as the text messages sent to me, he was sent an email.’
‘Yes, go ahead,’ the man told her, dumping his iPad on the table, and carefully moving Leo’s neat piles of paperwork. ‘And that was Leo Evans wasn’t it? I’ve seen the show. It’s very interesting, almost a psychological experiment really. One of the PCs has already taken a preliminary statement from him, but we’ll need more of course.’