There was a shocked silence.
Maggie said, ‘But she never got involved with Shirley’s campaign to clear Gerald Lace’s name. On the contrary. She fell out with both her mother and her brother.’
‘She didn’t go to their funerals, either,’ Hannah said. ‘Jade Hughes told me she never met her. I presumed that Sandi was desperate to forget the past.’
‘But?’
‘I’m beginning to wonder if the truth is just the opposite. Suppose Sandi was hell-bent on vengeance and thought Shirley and Darren were far too soft.’
‘Let’s assume she killed Ben and got away with it,’ Les said slowly. ‘That should have satisfied her thirst for revenge. Why did the obsession began to eat away at her again?’
‘Daniel’s book about murder has been widely publicised,’ Hannah said. ‘And she’s been following his career ever since Ben told her about the son he lost touch with. With his kids both settled here, coming back to the Lake District gave her the chance to get close to them. What happened to her father wrecked Darren’s life and may have done her untold damage.’
‘There was a lot of mental instability in that family,’ Maggie said. ‘Both parents and Darren.’
‘What if Alex is the most disturbed of the lot?’ Bunny said.
‘Despite the rift with her mother and brother,’ Hannah said, ‘it’s possible that their deaths were the last straw. If she’s so bitter and twisted, visiting Ben’s perceived sins on his offspring must seem tempting.’
‘You said she was an actor.’
‘Yeah, she’s been putting on quite a performance. She even saved Louise’s life.’
Les stared. ‘How come?’
Hannah told the story. ‘When you look at it, the coincidence of her moving to the village where Louise lives, and just happening to be on the spot when Louise fell into the Rothay is hard to swallow.’
‘You think it was a set-up?’ Bunny asked. ‘That actually Alex was stalking Louise?’
‘It explains a good deal. If she tossed a stick into the river to encourage the dog to jump in … or maybe she just took advantage of a lucky chance to worm her way into Louise’s affections. Knowing Louise’s taste for the dramatic, I’d guess she was so grateful to her rescuer, she exaggerated the danger she was in. She’d probably have got out of the water unaided, who knows? The upshot was that Alex disarmed any suspicion and inveigled her way into the Kinds’ lives.’
‘Pretending to be Daniel’s greatest fan?’ Bunny said.
Hannah gritted her teeth. ‘Too right.’
‘What do you think she’s got in mind?’ Maggie asked.
‘No idea, but I want to find out.’
‘We have no evidence that she’s committed any offence.’
‘True.’
Hannah had wrestled with conflicting emotions ever since she’d discovered Alex Samaras’s identity. What if she poked her nose in and proved to have misjudged the woman’s motives? Was she guilty of wishful thinking, was she jealous because Daniel had taken a fancy to a younger woman? What if Alex, having lost her father, mother, and brother, was simply reaching out to Louise and Daniel because she’d known Ben, and felt some sort of strange connection with them? A shared sense of grieving or loss. Or even just because she’d discovered they were delightful people?
Get this wrong, and Hannah had no doubt about the consequences. She would destroy her relationship with Daniel.
‘Listen.’ Les got to his feet. ‘Suppose you’re right.’
‘Go on.’
‘If she ran over Ben Kind, then Louise and Daniel are in danger.’
‘That’s right,’ Bunny said.
‘No time to waste,’ Les said. ‘We need to talk to this woman and find out what game she’s playing.’
‘I won’t ask if you’re both comfy,’ Alex Samaras said. ‘I can see that you’re not.’
She’d heaved Daniel into a black nylon body bag before shoving him into the back of the van. Louise was there, gagged and bound and bagged. Her only movement was in the eyes. They flickered with terror and pain.
‘How are your heads? Swimming, I hope, but not so much that you can’t take things in. You need to understand what’s happening to you. I’ve been practising for days on end, trying to get just the right amount of force to stun you both without killing you outright. That would be far too easy. A real anticlimax.’
With a gleeful smile, she climbed into the van and began to mimic Louise. ‘But we thought you were our friend! Why are you doing this to us?’
The accuracy of the impersonation was uncanny, its cruelty grotesque. Alex Samaras really could act, Daniel thought. She’d hoodwinked them both.
‘Simple, Louise.’ Alex reverted to her usual voice. ‘My father was Gerald Lace and your father murdered him, just as surely as if he’d put a bullet through his brain. He might as well have killed the rest of us while he was at it. I’m not saying it was a perfect family, but we got by. Ben Kind destroyed all that. My mum lost the plot and so did my pathetic brother. They wasted their lives, dreaming of justice. But there isn’t proper justice in this country. To get anything done, you have to take the law in your own hands.’
‘You mean you ran my father over?’ Now Alex deepened her voice to become Daniel, her performance a cruel parody of his television persona, enthusiastic and enquiring.
‘Well done, Daniel! The wannabe detective strikes again. If not for me, you and he would’ve reunited. He might have found some happiness, and that would never do. Aren’t I the naughty one? A real party-pooper!’
She laughed and resumed her squealy imitation of his sister. ‘But you saved my life!’
‘Well, Louise, that night I was sorely tempted to let you drown. Not that it would have worked. You’d have saved yourself. Anyway, I didn’t want to be denied the chance to enjoy myself in your company. Flirting madly with both of you. I’m surprised you managed to keep your hands off. If I’d given you any more encouragement … but no, I had to focus. Keep my eye on the big prize.’
‘The big prize?’ Louise’s voice again.
While she talked, Daniel was trying to wriggle free of his bonds, but she’d done too good a job. There was no escape.
‘Promised to take you sailing on Crummock Water, didn’t I? Just as I took a vow years ago, to make your father suffer for what he’d done. I always keep my word.’
‘Tell us more!’ Now she was Daniel, eager for information.
‘When Ben Kind heard my old van revving up behind him that night, he glanced over his shoulder. Saw me behind the wheel. For a few seconds he relaxed, until he saw I was bearing down on him. That look of betrayal … I’ll never forget it as long as I live.’
She became Louise again. ‘That’s horrid! And why take it out on us?’
‘Killing you two was an afterthought, to be honest, but I’m grateful for getting a second chance. Aren’t I lucky? The one mistake I made with your father was not giving myself the opportunity to make him understand why he had to die. This time it’s different. Working out my plan has kept me going. Made me feel alive again, which really doesn’t happen as much as it should. How will I cope after tonight, when there’s nothing more to look forward to? I suppose it will be like mowing your father down, feeling his body flailing under my wheels. A memory to cherish, to replay in my mind, again and again.’
As Daniel, she mimicked a theatrical flash of enlightenment during a televised interview with a fellow expert. ‘What you’re saying puts a whole new complexion on things! You’re going to shove us in the dinghy, weight us down, sail us out into the lake, and then push us over the side?’
‘Brilliant deduction!’ Alex stamped on his ankle. ‘You’ll be a huge loss to the ranks of amateur sleuthing, not to mention academe, telly, and publishing. Thanks for inscribing those books, incidentally. Each time I look at them, I’ll remember you both, just as I last saw you. The sickness in your stomachs, the horror in your eyes, as you slide into that ice-cold water, one after the other, kno
wing your fate in advance, wondering precisely how long it will take you to die.’
CHAPTER THIRTY
‘No answer from Louise or Daniel, home landline numbers or mobiles,’ Hannah said, putting down her phone. ‘I’ve texted warning messages, sent emails, all the obvious stuff. No response.’
‘Is that so unusual?’ Bunny asked. ‘Two busy people …’
‘She’s on sabbatical, and he works from home.’
Les cupped his ear. There was a steady beat of rain against the window. ‘If they ignored the forecast and went walking the fells, they’re going to get sodden.’
‘We’ve nothing to go on except supposition,’ Hannah said. ‘But Ben was a smart guy who knew how to look after himself. I never understood how he managed to drop his guard so far that someone could run him over, even if he’d had a couple of drinks. To be honest, I’m worried sick.’
‘Me too,’ Les said. ‘We’d best go hunting for Daniel and Louise. And this woman Samaras.’
‘Time to go,’ Alex told her captives.
Daniel could hear the rain outside. The heavens were opening. If only he could move, if only he could do something to save the two of them.
Alex kicked him. ‘It won’t be a pleasant trip, but make the most of it. You won’t have another. Crummock Water isn’t my favourite lake for sailing, but I’ve found the perfect spot for launching you on your last boat ride together. The light will be fading by the time we get there, you won’t have much chance to enjoy your last view of the Lakes.’
She stamped on his ankle. ‘This weather is a nuisance, but I’m a glass-half-full girl. Even less risk of prying eyes in the middle of a downpour. You can’t make an omelette without breaking an egg, and you can’t hope to drown two people without getting wet.’
In his dazed state, Daniel asked himself why she kept talking. A means of nerving herself to the double murder? Or did it simply give her a kick to prolong their agony?
Louise was staring straight at him. He thought he could read her mind.
I’m so sorry. This is my fault. I got it all wrong.
‘Are you ready?’ Alex jumped out of the back of the van and seized hold of the doors. ‘Let’s hit the road.’
‘You drive,’ Hannah told Maggie as they dashed through the storm towards the car park. ‘I’ll keep trying to make contact with one or other of them.’
Les and Bunny had set off for Grasmere. Hannah and Maggie were heading for Tarn Cottage. In terms of miles, it wasn’t far from Kendal, but given the way the rain was bouncing off the tarmac and blurring their vision, the last leg of their journey through Brackdale’s twisting lanes would be tortuous.
‘Did Daniel mention anything that might give us a clue about what he’s up to? Or this Alex Samaras?’
Hannah trawled through her memory. ‘She’s a fitness fanatic. Climbing, sailing. Louise wants them to go on a boat trip together.’
‘Outdoor pursuits,’ Maggie grunted as they jumped into the car. ‘Same as her father and brother.’
‘Yeah, I should have thought on.’
‘We could never have foreseen this. Nobody suggested Sandi was a threat. Or even that she was bothered about getting justice for her father.’
They strapped themselves in. Outside the rain was redoubling in intensity.
Hannah said grimly, ‘Perhaps she has her own ideas about what constitutes justice.’
The van’s interior was dark. The driver’s compartment was separate, and Daniel couldn’t see Alex Samaras. Louise had shut her eyes. She suffered from mild claustrophobia and lying here, trussed up and helpless, must be the worst kind of torment. How he wished he could squeeze her hand and whisper words of comfort. But even if he were able to speak, what could he say?
Alex put the van into gear and it jolted forward as she shifted vehicle and trailer in the confined space outside the gate to the cottage. He guessed that she’d scouted out a lonely section of the northern lakes where she felt she could offload the bodies with little or no risk of being seen.
A vague memory rose to the surface of his brain, a murder case he’d read about years ago. A Yorkshireman had killed his wife and driven her to Crummock Water one night to dispose of her corpse. He botched the job and was soon found out. No doubt Alex had studied the case while working out how to kill two victims and get away with it.
If she cared about getting away with it. Everything about her frightened him. The scariest thing was her intensity. She’d murdered their father and never paid a price. Not even that had been enough to slake her thirst for vengeance.
The van jerked as Alex slammed on the brakes. She embarked on a stop-start manoeuvre, trying to turn round. Outside, the rain was lashing down.
A loud bang. Daniel guessed that Alex had clipped the side of the pack horse bridge. The van stalled and his head smacked against the floor again. Tears of pain and misery stung his eyes.
The engine revved. The van began to move. He felt it picking up speed.
Maggie was a nerveless driver. She’d learnt how to handle vehicles on the family farm. The rain was torrential, and the slashing windscreen wipers could barely cope, but her concentration was intense, their progress rapid. The lanes were narrow, the bends tight, but there wasn’t a shortcut that she didn’t know.
Hannah’s heart was thumping. Still no joy on the phone.
‘Pick up,’ she muttered under her breath, dialling Daniel’s number yet again. But he didn’t.
Thankfully, Brackdale wasn’t far from the town. They reached the valley in record time. Steep crags concealed it from the outside world. There was no through road. Daniel had chosen to make his home here at a time when he was desperate to escape the rat race. He’d wanted nothing but solitude.
They raced through the small village, past church and pub, and over a cattle grid, squeezing along the lane between tall hedgerows and deep ditches. Ahead of them were long-abandoned quarry workings.
‘Look!’
Maggie’s sharp eyes had picked up the shape of a large vehicle through the murk. It was coming towards them from the direction of Tarn Fold.
‘A van with a trailer,’ Hannah said. ‘I reckon that’s her.’
Their headlights were on full beam. The van gathered speed. Time for the blue light and siren.
Daniel heard the siren just as he was realised Alex was putting her foot down. Driving in the Lakes was testing at the best of times. In bad weather, the narrow lanes were a death trap.
What was happening, was she trying to get them all killed?
It was his last conscious thought.
‘She’s coming straight at us,’ Maggie said.
‘She’ll cut us in half!’ Hannah cried. ‘Get out of her way!’
Maggie wrenched the steering wheel and the car swung wildly as the van roared towards them.
Tory Reece-Taylor’s words leapt into Hannah’s head.
I’d rather be dead in a ditch.
She closed her eyes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
‘Another fine mess you got me into,’ Daniel said.
He and Hannah were sitting next to Louise’s bed in the hospital, and she’d just opened her eyes. Seventy-two hours after the crash, she was recovering from her injuries.
As arranged, she’d turned up at Alex’s rented cottage, tucked away behind the trees on the outskirts of Grasmere. Alex knocked her out with a blow to the side of the head, and she’d cracked her temple against a stone wall. The buffeting she’d received when Alex’s van had come off the road and ploughed through a hedge hadn’t helped.
The paramedics who were first on the scene had worried about possible brain damage, but Hannah and Daniel had just spent ten minutes with a doctor and nurse, and the prognosis was optimistic. Louise remained extremely weak, but she was no longer confused, and the scans revealed nothing terrifying. Her face was badly cut and bruised, but the gory wounds would heal.
‘Sorry.’ Her croaky voice was scarcely recognisable.
He took her
hand. ‘No problem. The medics reckon you’ll be running around and causing mayhem in no time.’
A weary attempt at a smile.
‘Might take … a day or two.’ Her bloodshot eyes took in the plaster on his head and the bruising of his cheek and jaw. ‘How are you?’
‘Where there’s no sense, there’s no feeling,’ Hannah said. ‘He’s been checked over thoroughly. You were both knocked around, so the medics haven’t taken any chances. He was kept in overnight for observation, but then released.’
‘What … happened?’
‘Hannah came to the rescue,’ Daniel said. ‘She figured out that Alex was the Laces’ daughter, thank God. Maggie drove her to Brackdale. We’d already had one narrow escape when Alex clipped the pack horse bridge and nearly ended up in the beck. Not easy to drive with a trailer when you’re losing the plot and a downpour has made the road surfaces slippery. She saw the police car heading towards her and panicked. Seems she was trying to crash into Maggie and Hannah, but she slewed off the lane instead.’
‘Same as us,’ Hannah said. ‘We finished up in a ditch on the other side of the lane.’
‘How are you?’ Louise asked.
‘Fine. I managed to fracture a couple of ribs, but Maggie saved us from much worse. Smart woman, she scrambled free without a scratch. Then she helped me on to my feet and we found the van had crashed into a tree. The back doors had broken open, so pulling the pair of you was easy.’
‘Alex wanted to go out in a blaze of glory,’ Daniel said. ‘Luckily, she came off worst.’
‘Is she dead?’
‘In a coma. Because she’s young and fit, there’s an outside chance she may pull through. What shape she’ll be in afterwards is anyone’s guess.’
‘I liked her,’ Louise said in a small voice.
‘So did Dad.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘And she killed him.’
A choked sob. ‘Oh, God. The hit and run …’
‘She fooled everyone,’ Hannah said. ‘Nobody’s to blame but her.’
‘I messed up,’ Louise said. ‘I should never …’
The Crooked Shore Page 28