‘Stop it,’ Daniel said. ‘No point in harking back. We all need to look to the future.’
Hannah shot him a glance.
‘Speaking of which …’ she said.
‘Oh, yes.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Actually, Hannah and I have got some news. We wanted you to be the first to know.’
AFTERWARDS, CONTINUED
‘All right, you win,’ Tory Reece-Taylor said. ‘Let me explain why Ramona Smith had to die.’
She and Hannah were sitting in an interview room at Divisional HQ. Tory’s lawyer, the most expensive and formidable criminal law solicitor in the county, was at her side. Hannah was accompanied by Bunny Cohen.
Tory had offered to make a voluntary statement. Cumbria Constabulary’s legal advisers reckoned it was a smart move, designed to focus on damage limitation. In her designer dress, she looked as elegant as ever. Her face gave nothing away. If the deaths of Kingsley Melton and Logan Prentice preyed on her conscience, Hannah saw no sign of it. There was no likelihood of proving that she’d stage-managed the double tragedy at Strandbeck Manor.
‘You must understand the turmoil Ramona was in. Her life was in pieces.’
Hannah nodded. Tory insisted on speaking about Ramona as if she were a completely different person. Someone who was gone forever. A coping mechanism, or something more profound? She couldn’t guess the answer.
‘Ramona was never close to her mother,’ Tory said, ‘but watching her eaten away by cancer until there was almost nothing left was appalling. Her beloved grandmother’s mind disintegrated, making her an utterly different person. Her whole life was going wrong. She’d always dreamt of escape. Not from the Lakes so much as from her dreary existence. When Gerry Lace refused to take no for an answer, and forced himself on her in that grubby storeroom, it was the last straw. Life no longer seemed worth living. But she wasn’t weak, like Lace; she would never abandon hope.’
There was a long pause. ‘And so?’ Hannah prompted.
‘And so the vague idea she’d cherished for years needed to become a reality. She must get away, start all over again, somewhere different.’
‘I understand. However, to do what she did …’
‘It seemed like the only way. So that nobody would go after her. Not Thakor, not Lace, not … well, you get the picture. People had to believe she was dead.’
‘But to frame Lace for a murder he didn’t commit …’
Tory’s eyes were glazed, her mind apparently far away. ‘I don’t expect Nadine Bosman was his first victim, and I’m absolutely certain Ramona wouldn’t have been the last. His outbursts of rage were terrible. His wife was almost as bad, because she knew what he was like, and didn’t care, as long as he stayed with her. The next woman he attacked would probably have wound up dead. But Ramona knew that if she complained to the police, she’d be made to feel that she was the criminal. She had to die, there was no choice.’
Another silence.
‘An idea came to her. For once, she could do something worthwhile. In dying, she could save other women from suffering at Lace’s hands.’ Tory gave a rueful smile. ‘Ramona wasn’t given to altruism. Just like me. It took many years for me to choose to do something selfless, to help someone else survive. That didn’t end well either, did it?’
‘We can talk about the deaths at Strandbeck Manor shortly,’ Hannah said. ‘See if you can help us to understand exactly what happened there on the day you came to see us.’
‘An inexplicable and dreadful mystery,’ Tory said calmly. ‘As for Ramona Smith, she has no grave. No headstone, no epitaph. Trust me, though, she is dead.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Oh, yes. I am someone else entirely. And trust me on this as well. Whatever you and your colleagues do, Chief Inspector, one thing is certain. I will survive.’
AUTHOR’S NOTE
As in previous Lake District Mysteries, I’ve made a few changes to Cumbrian topography to avoid confusion between the real world and its fictional counterpart. Strandbeck and the Crooked Shore don’t exist, and the characters, events, organisations, and businesses which play a part in the story are fictitious. As regards Cumbria Constabulary, my version of that body and the people who work for it, portrays an imaginary equivalent of the real force; Hannah and her colleagues do not represent real life people in comparable roles. Similarly, although I read about a number of actual cases while planning the book and thinking about the psychological make-up of characters such as Logan Prentice, the crimes in this story are not intended as fictionalisations of real life murders.
When researching the story, I was helped by a number of people, including fellow novelist Zosia Wand, who took me on a tour of Hoad Hill and the surrounding area, while Helen May, David Whiteley, and family kindly shared their local knowledge with me. Michael Fowler, a crime novelist and former police officer, made helpful suggestions about the police investigation in the story. The inspiration for Strandbeck Manor and its setting came from a trip to North Wales and a tour of a similar estate conducted by Nora Bartley, from whom I also gained information about the practical effects of a sudden cardiac arrest. Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Jane Kennedy gave me invaluable insight into the nature of the role of PCC. In writing about suicide, I tried to keep in mind guidelines from the Society of Authors and the Samaritans. As always, I’m grateful to all those who have made editorial comments on the manuscript, my agent, and my publishers.
A special thank you to my readers. A great deal has happened in my writing career since I wrote the last Lake District Mystery, The Dungeon House, but amid all the excitement surrounding my other projects, I have been heartened by reaction from people who enjoy this series. The number of times people attending my events have asked when the eighth Lake District book is coming out, and the volume of emails I’ve received from all over the world asking what is next for Hannah and Daniel, indicates an interest in and an enthusiasm for the stories that is very precious. I’m indebted to everyone who has encouraged me to return to the Lakes, and I hope that this latest instalment keeps them wanting more.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Martin Edwards received the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in UK crime writing, in 2020. The author of twenty novels, he has received various other awards including the Edgar from Mystery Writers of America and the CWA Dagger in the Library, judged by British librarians. He has twice been nominated for CWA Gold Daggers and was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize for best crime novel of the year for The Coffin Trail. The Arsenic Labyrinth was shortlisted for Lakeland Book of the Year. He is a former chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and since 2015, he has been President of the Detection Club.
By Martin Edwards
Lake District Mysteries
The Coffin Trail
The Cipher Garden
The Arsenic Labyrinth
The Serpent Pool
The Hanging Wood
The Frozen Shroud
The Dungeon House
The Crooked Shore
Harry Devlin Novels
Waterloo Sunset
COPYRIGHT
Allison & Busby Limited
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This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2021.
Copyright © 2021 by Martin Edwards
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in acc
ordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–2791–9
The Crooked Shore Page 29