Small Town Secrets (Some Very English Murders Book 2)

by Issy Brooke

  “She makes money from all this,” Taz said. “Your question should be: would she kill to keep her income?”

  “Oh my goodness. And if she was the murderer, of course she’d want to upset me. I need to talk to Cath. She said she was in court this morning…”

  “She is,” Taz said as she stood up and began to pack her things away. “I’m heading back up to the station now, and I’ll talk to Inspector Travis, and ask him, or Cath, to give you a ring. I think this looks like vital information, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely.”

  * * * *

  Secrets and false names, Penny thought later, as she sat down with her laptop and went through her newly-restored accounts. Taz had helped her out with the passwords and gave her some tips for better organisation, and she felt a lot more safe online now.

  She logged into Facebook and went into the urbex group. Something was nagging at her. Secrets?

  No, names, she realised. Lee and Blue. Both had fake-looking names online, but she knew that Lee was the caretaker at the academy. Drew had said so. She brought up Glenfield Academy’s website in a new tab, and checked the list of staff.

  Lee Machin.

  That was one person identified, she thought, and wrote it down.

  Now for Blue. Or ‘Blue Foryou’ as he went by online. Drew had said he didn’t work, and that he was one of life’s perpetual drop-outs. ‘Foryou’ was obviously fake, but what about his first name? Was it a nickname?

  She studied his Facebook profile. It was mostly locked down, but his friends list was visible. She noticed a recurring surname – Bailey – so she clicked onto the various profiles in turn, looking for someone who was more relaxed about what they had on show to the world.

  Someone had him listed as a cousin.

  That same someone had a greyed-out name listed as an uncle. The greying meant that that person wasn’t on Facebook, Penny understood. And she recognised the name.

  Reg Bailey was Blue Bailey’s father. Which meant that Blue’s real name was John.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Her ruminations were interrupted by a surprise phone call from Drew, and he was insisting that he must finally re-arrange the dinner date that he had cancelled all those weeks ago when Warren had been found dead. She agreed, and he called back a little later to confirm he’d scored a table in a restaurant by the Brayford Pool in Lincoln. She had a few hours to walk Kali and get ready. He collected her in his car, and they drove up just after the rush hour traffic had begun to die down.

  “Have you seen this area at night?” he asked once they were parked. He led her towards the pool. “It’s pretty.”

  And it was. They walked around the quayside, looking at the lights from the clubs and bars reflected in the still water. Students from the university staggered around, intent on cheap midweek drinks and loud laughs. It was a few weeks yet until the end of the term, and indeed the academic year. She supposed students were the same as when she’d been at university: drinking always won over revising. It was a warm and sultry night, and suddenly Lincoln didn’t feel like an abandoned and overlooked backwater at all.

  They had half an hour to fill before the table reservation, and they found a free bench to sit on and watch the world go by.

  “I went down Cuthbert Road and saw your handiwork for the CCTV,” she said. “Very nice. Bindweed?”

  “Thank you. Yes, a little of that. And his harassment has stopped, thank goodness.”

  “Oh, well done!”

  “Cheers, but no.” Drew shook his head. “It actually stopped before I put the camera up, but at least it hasn’t started up again. Hopefully it will be a deterrent against any further attacks, though.”

  Penny kicked her legs out and studied her sandals thoughtfully. “When, exactly, did the harassment stop?” she asked.

  Drew was silent for a moment. Then he said, “Well, it was around the time that Warren was killed. But surely you can’t be thinking…”

  “That Warren was harassing Reg? I can’t rule it out. We’re uncovering a lot of stuff we didn’t know about Warren.”

  Drew laughed. “No, not Warren. I can’t see him harassing anyone like that. Anyway, he has no connection with Reg as far as I know.”

  “Actually, he does,” she said. “Through the urban exploration group. Reg’s son is John – also known as Blue – and Blue did not like Warren at all.”

  “I’m not convinced.”

  “To be honest, neither am I,” Penny confessed. “I find it hard to imagine Warren conducting some kind of annoyance campaign against Reg and it’s even harder to imagine a reason why he might do so. However, if it wasn’t Warren … maybe it was the murderer.”

  Drew frowned. “I can’t follow all these what-ifs.”

  “I know! Come on. Shall we walk on? I think better when I’m moving.”

  “I don’t think at all when I’m walking,” Drew said as they wandered, choosing alleys at random. “I think that’s why I enjoy it so much. I can turn my brain off.”

  They passed a derelict warehouse and Penny couldn’t resist peeping through a broken window. “Wow. I bet this was something, back in the day when this was a bustling wharf.”

  “You’re really getting into this urban exploration thing, aren’t you?” he teased.

  “I am. I’m going to go out with the urbex group again. Partly it’s because I enjoy it and I took some photos that I was really pleased with, but also…”

  “Are you still suspicious of the guys in the group?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Hmm.” Drew went quiet and they walked on. It was nearly time for their table booking, and it wasn’t until they were seated in the upper level of the restaurant, overlooking the pool through large plate glass windows, that he brought the subject up again.

  “I did some asking around,” he said, as they tucked into their starters. “About Lee and Blue. Well, mostly about Lee. I told you he had a couple of kids, didn’t I?”

  “Yes. Two different mothers.”

  “That’s right. So, one of the kids is at university now, in London, and the other lives in Lincoln with her mum, and he is supposed to see her at weekends, but the kid has got to the age where she doesn’t really want to come and spend the weekend in Upper Glenfield. She’d rather be with her mates.”

  “I can understand that,” Penny said. “Do you know their names?”

  “No. Natalie, Natasha, something like that, I think, for one of them.”

  “But is there any link with Warren?” Penny asked.

  “Something happened between Lee and Warren a few years ago. And it’s to do with the eldest daughter, the one that is in London now.” Drew waved his fork in warning. “Now, look, a lot of this is gossip and I have no proof. But basically the daughter came to live with Lee when she was around fifteen or so. I dunno why. They said she was going off the rails but that could mean anything, depending on who is doing the judging.”

  Penny nodded. “Go on.”

  “So, she comes to Glenfield and something happened. I am pretty sure that Warren did not make a pass at her. She would have been underage, most likely, and no matter what anyone thinks of Warren, that was never his style.”

  “I absolutely agree,” Penny said. He was a creep, but he was a creep with some morals.

  “Nevertheless, Warren and Lee got into a fight. And she went back to her mum, and he had no contact with her at all until she turned eighteen, and he blamed Warren for that.”

  “Whew.” Penny sat back and the empty plate was collected by the vigilant waiting staff. “But there’s no way of knowing how true all this is,” she added dejectedly. “Not without asking Lee, or his daughters.”

  Drew nodded. “But it might be worth mentioning to Cath and asking her to follow it up. It gives Lee a motive.”

  “I wonder if he has an alibi for the time of the murder?” she said, and the waiter who had just reappeared with a fancy bit of chicken breast in white wine sauce looked startled. She smiled s
weetly. The waiter dumped the plate on the table and retreated hastily.

  “That’s something for Cath to find out,” Drew said. “But he certainly has access to tools and things, being a caretaker.”

  “Warren was strangled.”

  “I’m sure a caretaker’s store room has all manner of things you could strangle somebody with. And he’s a strong man.”

  Penny nodded. She sank into thought for a short while, until she realised she was being rude, and forced herself to pay attention to Drew again.

  He began to tell her about his courses, and she felt warmly proud about his activity. Even when he said it was time to go, because he had an early start, she didn’t mind.

  She was glad it was going well for him. And she had her own next move to plan, and she didn’t think that Drew would quite approve of what she had decided to do…

  Chapter Fifteen

  Drew dropped her at home, and refused her offer of a coffee, as she had expected that he would, and she was relieved. She went in and made a quick fuss of Kali, waiting for Drew to drive off.

  Once she was sure that the coast was clear, she slipped outside and into her own car. This was not the time to be thumping around on an old motorbike. She needed stealth and the security of a vehicle around her.

  She had a plan: she wanted to find out where Lee lived, and to discover a little more about him. The obvious way to do this was to go to the various local pubs in the town, and simply chat to the locals. She hadn’t been on a proper pub crawl for a long time. But first, she decided to drive up to Glenfield Academy. She’d never been past the high school properly.

  It was a typical late seventies sort of place, all great slabs of concrete with narrow vertical windows and cantilevered overhangs that made it look intimidating and drab and vaguely Communist. There was a small bungalow off to one side, but within the school grounds. As she cruised past, she noticed a figure crossing the driveway and getting into a small hatchback.

  Lee! She didn’t slow down. She drove normally but as soon as she was past the school, she pulled over. That made sense, she thought. As the caretaker, he possibly would live on site. She backed into a driveway and turned the car around. She knew she was going to follow him. It was too good a chance to miss. She hung back, but it was perfectly easy to keep track of him; there were few roads to Lincoln, and it was obvious that was where he was going.

  She focused on his red tail lights and drove carefully. He turned off the main road before he entered the urban sprawl of Lincoln, and instead made his way to a rather nice residential area. It reminded Penny of Cuthbert Road, although the houses were newer and slightly smaller. They were all detached houses, in red brick, with manicured lawns and hedges at the fronts.

  She noticed, just in time, that he was heading down a dead-end. She turned right and cruised past. The cul-de-sac he had gone into seemed to be bordered by a park rather than houses. She drove on, and parked up at the side of the road. She waited for a moment, straining her ears and eyes.

  Before she began to walk towards the cul-de-sac he’d disappeared down, a shadowy figure emerged from it, and she shrank back to stay out of sight, avoiding the pools of orange light cast by the street lamps.

  She felt far more furtive, skulking about in the shadows of a pleasant suburb, than she had done when she was urbexing with Lee and Blue. Maybe it was the sensation that she was inevitably being watched. She glanced around. The houses were set back from the road, and most of the curtains and blinds were drawn closed. Even so, all manner of eyes could be watching through cracks and gaps.

  When she turned back to the direction Lee had gone in, she realised with a jolt that he had disappeared. Had he entered one of the houses, in the split second that her attention was elsewhere?

  Look, get a grip, Penny May, she told herself firmly. She’d acted on impulse without thinking it through: none of this was in her plan at all. She should be in a pub right now, somewhere like the Green Man, sitting at the bar with a drink and chatting to the locals to get some background on him. Not stalking the poor guy. He was probably visiting a friend. That’s what blokes did, wasn’t it?

  She was going to learn nothing by creeping along a pavement. She sighed and turned to walk the few steps back to her car.

  But a movement in the hedge next to her startled her, and she jumped as a cat ran out, sending her heart rate hammering. She stifled her yelp, and then laughed at herself. Embarrassed at her own reaction, she glanced around again. It was surely a law of the universe that when you did something ridiculous, you would always be watched.

  Nothing. No – wait, she thought. There’s a man up there, she thought. He was behind her, the way Lee had gone. He was just standing there. She couldn’t tell from the outline whether he was facing her or if he was turned away.

  She couldn’t help it. She kept to the edge of the path, half in the hedges and flower borders, and took a few tentative steps in the direction of the figure.

  It was Lee, she thought, from the broad shoulders and beanie hat in spite of the warm night air. And as she got closer, she saw that he was turned away from her. He was peering through some bushes at a house where all the windows were lit up. He couldn’t be seen from the house, she thought.

  He was spying.

  She stopped, knowing she shouldn’t get any closer. But her elbow brushed a hedge and if it had been a conifer, she would have been fine.

  It wasn’t. She’d done enough field-craft with Drew now to recognise the tell-tale rustle of a beech hedge, and now she was so close, it was all it took to alert Lee. He whipped around and Penny froze.

  She spent too long trying to think of an exit strategy. If I were a proper spy, I’d know what to do now. Do I turn and run? Walk forward and act innocent? I have no cover story…

  And then it was too late, and Lee was three feet in front of her. “Penny May!” he said, loudly, and swore.

  Think of an explanation, think of an explanation, she begged her mind desperately.

  “Hi!” she blurted out. “What a pleasant night for a stroll! What are you doing here?”

  “Strolling, of course,” he spat back, suspiciously. “And you?”

  “I’ve just been visiting a friend,” she said, smiling fixedly. Look innocent and unthreatening, she ordered herself. Smile!

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Anyway. I had better be getting back to my car.” She turned around, relieved that she had got away with it.

  But his hand closed over her upper arm and he pulled her backwards, hissing into her ear, “Why were you walking this way, if your car is the other way?”

  “Oh,” she stammered, the panic rising up now as his fingers dug into her flesh. “Oh, like I said, I was just strolling.”

  “Down a cul-de-sac?”

  “I thought I saw something. Do I need a reason? Actually, do I need to justify anything to you? Or anyone?” Penny’s voice began to rise, and that was deliberate. She hoped that someone would look out of a window, or come out of their house, and disturb them. She pulled forward, trying to get away, but Lee’s grip was strong and he hauled her back.

  “You’re the one who asks a lot of questions. It’s not so nice when it happens to you, is it?”

  “Let me go!” She hollered it at the top of her voice, in full-blown panic now.

  He pulled at her, dragging her towards him, and slammed his hand over her mouth as he spun her around more fully so that her back was against his chest. His breath tickled her ear as he said, “Just shut up, woman! What are you hoping to achieve?”

  Around them, behind and to the side, doors and windows began to open and various footsteps approached.

  “Put her down,” said one deep voice.

  “What’s going on?” cried a woman.

  And then a slender figure ran around them, in the road, and a young girl’s voice cried out.

  “Dad?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Penny stared in horror as the teenage girl, who was all poker-s
traight hair and huge eyes, faced them.

  “Dad! What are you doing?”

  Lee kept a tight grip on Penny’s arm but dropped his hand from her mouth. “Natasha, go inside.”

  “Yeah but what are you doing?” she insisted. “Mum. Mum!”

  “Is that Lee? Oh my goodness. What’s going on? And what are you doing up here? Is something wrong? Has there been an accident?” An older version of Natasha, with shorter hair in a bob, came to join them. All around, people were hiding in their gardens and peeping out of windows at the show that was being put on. A camera flashed and Penny groaned.

  “No, no, everything is fine.” Lee finally relaxed his grip on Penny’s arm and she sprang free, taking a few steps away from him to get some distance. But she didn’t flee. She spun around to face him.

  “What’s going on?” Penny said, echoing his daughter.

  “It is none of your business,” Lee spat. “Go home.”

  “Dad, is this the person who has been watching the house?” Natasha asked, pointing at Penny. The older woman, obviously her mother, put her arm around her daughter and held her close to her side.

  Lee puffed out his cheeks and glared furiously from Natasha and her mother, to Penny, and back again. “It might be,” he said.

  “Absolutely not!” Penny flared. “I’ve never been here before. It was you that was hiding in the bushes – just up there!” She pointed towards the house that Natasha had emerged from.

  The mother spoke up. “Lee, is this true? What were you doing there? Why?”

  “I’m sorry.” He took a deep sighing breath. “Yes, I was watching the house.”

  “But … what?” Both Natasha and her mother asked in unison.

  “Yeah, why? Are you the stalker?” Penny demanded. “Of your own daughter?”

  He flung out his hand, pointing his finger at Penny. “Don’t you dare talk to the police about this. This is how it all went wrong last time. I won’t let that happen again.”