by Anita Waller
Jenny froze. She had called to check on Grace, not to hear Erin speaking to someone called Seb.
Trembling, she disconnected the call. Seb? Not a common name. Surely, it couldn’t be her Seb? But, he sure as hell wasn’t at home with her.
She picked up the telephone number book and checked for his office number.
She dialled, praying he would answer. There was no response.
All thoughts of an early night vanished. She would wait up until he returned home.
24
‘Where have you been?’
Sebastian walked into a potential thunderstorm. He guessed she hadn’t found out about Grace, this was some transgression he had made. She was angry, not upset.
‘Work. You know where I’ve been.’
‘Why didn’t you answer your office phone?’
He smiled at her. He felt relief flow through him. This he could talk his way through. ‘Our phones go straight to answerphone after 5.30 p.m. It doesn’t matter who’s there. Nobody answers a phone. Did you want something?’
She looked disgruntled. ‘Yes, you.’
Her verbal attack as he came through the door had completely thrown his own plans. On the way home, he had listened to the news, and it was now common knowledge it was Grace who had been found in the lake. He had decided to tell her what he had heard, and then, he didn’t have to mention knowing anyone. It had to be done; he didn’t want her hearing it on the television, or seeing it in a newspaper, but he needed her to calm down first.
‘Cup of tea, or something stronger?’ he asked. ‘I’ve got something to tell you, and it’s not good.’
She stared at him, a flash of fear in her eyes. ‘What …?’
He handed her a tot of whisky, and sat down by her side. ‘I had the news on the car radio while I was driving home. Jenny, I'm sorry, my love, it’s Grace.’
Her eyes opened wide. ‘What’s Grace? What do you mean?’
‘They've found a body …’
She stood and backed away from him, terror etched into her face.
‘No …’ The word came out of her mouth as a long low moan, and he saw her legs begin to buckle. He moved to hold her, curling her into his chest.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered, his mouth gently brushing the top of her head. ‘So sorry, my love.’
‘But …’
‘In the lake,’ he said gently, anticipating her next question. ‘I don’t know any more details, but it said they aren’t looking for anyone in connection with the death. It is being treated as accidental. However, they do still want to talk to you, and they’ve asked for information concerning your whereabouts.’
She was sobbing, and he wasn’t even sure she had heard any of what he had said. She leaned against him, and he heard her quietly say, ‘Not my Grace, no, not my Grace.’
Some minutes later, he managed to steer her back to the sofa.
‘You have decisions to make.’
‘I should ring Mark.’
‘Really? I’m not going to say don’t ring him, it’s your decision. But, these days, they can track anything, and if you want to stay free, you have to listen to me. I don’t think you can contact anyone. We are going to have to grieve for Grace on our own. I’m taking a break from work. You’re more important to me than work, and we’ll get through this. Do you trust me?’
She stared up at him, her beautiful eyes now red-rimmed. ‘Of course, I trust you.’
‘We take this one day at a time. I’m sure there will be more information released as the days go on, and I’ll see what I can find out.’
‘But, she’s my daughter, my little girl, Seb …’
‘I know. And I know how much you loved her, but it won’t help anything if you end up in prison, will it? It won’t bring Grace back to us …’
‘Us?’
‘If she’s part of you, she’s part of me.’ He would have to be more careful with his phrasing in future.
‘So, I can do nothing?’
‘Not tonight. As I said, let’s take each day as it comes, make decisions as we go along, but only after careful thought. I don’t want to lose you.’
‘But, I caused it. If I hadn’t taken her from that concert, none of this would have happened. And Adam … how will he be taking it? They were so close.’
‘Look, let’s get off to bed where I can hold you properly. It’s getting late, and we can think of a hundred what ifs, but it won’t change anything.’
She stood. He watched her walk to the stairs, her shoulders slumped, head down, and ached for her.
‘I’ll just lock up,’ he said, ‘and be up in a minute.’
She nodded without speaking, and slowly climbed the stairs.
He took out his phone and texted Erin. Hope everybody is okay. Take care, see you soon xxx.
After the text pinged off, he went upstairs.
Jenny was sitting up in bed, her head forward on to her raised knees.
‘Why are you supporting me?’ Her voice was muffled.
There was no hesitation. ‘Because I love you. And because I think all this has happened because you love your children. How can I turn away from you when you have done only what any other mother would have done? Okay, everything went wrong with the accident, but I suspect that was caused by panic on your part. It’s just love, Jenny,’ he said simply. ‘Just love – mine for you, and yours for your children.’
Erin looked at her phone a few seconds later, and knew it was over. Whatever had been between them was now gone. She picked up her bag and car keys, and headed for the door. She was going to have an hour with her father, and then head home, for some thinking time.
There was no change in Michael. He looked as grey as ever, and with just as many tubes feeding him drugs and sustenance.
Erin leaned over and kissed him, drawing the chair closer. She took hold of his hand, and sat for a while. She was half-tempted to tell him about Grace, but decided not to – if it was true patients could understand what was said, even in a sedated state, she didn’t want him to know; he had grown to love Grace deeply.
Jo Batchelor, Michael’s on-duty nurse for the night shift, was keeping busy checking medication and filling out forms. She had heard the news and didn’t know whether to say anything. It was only when she heard the sob that she turned around.
‘Erin?’
Erin looked up, drying her tears. ‘Sorry, Jo, it’s just all getting a bit too much. Have you heard …?’
‘About little Grace? Yes, I have. It was all the talk in the nurse’s rest room, until I told them to pack it in. Any one of Grace’s family could have heard them, and let’s face it, nobody knows the full story, do they?’
Erin shook her head. ‘No, they don’t. And thank you for that, for stopping the gossip. Mark, my half-brother, is in a terrible state, as you can imagine. We’ve had the doctor, and he’s given him some sleeping tablets, but whether he’ll take them is another issue.’
‘He should take them; they’ll take the edge off.’
‘I’m not sure he wants the edge taking off. He was feeling murderous towards Jenny. That’s Grace’s mum.’
Jo looked at the young woman in front of her and sighed. Families, never straightforward, always something to throw a curveball with them.
‘Well, something I’m not supposed to tell you, because it’s not official, is there’s a possibility they’re going to start and bring Michael round tomorrow. No decisions will be made until the morning, but if there are no major issues tonight, it’s a definite maybe.’
Erin squeezed his hand. ‘That’s good news for us, but will he want bringing round to be faced with losing Grace?’
Jo made a final note on the chart and turned once more to Erin. ‘You’ll be here for him, won’t you?’
Erin nodded.
‘Then, he’ll be fine. He’ll have you.’
25
DI Gainsborough was troubled. Finding the little girl dead in the lake had shocked him to the core; if he was hone
st, he expected to find her hiding in the trees, waiting to be rescued by her daddy. But, he couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right. Why this family? What was the connection between the death of a nine-year-old little girl, and the serial killer murders still unsolved after over a year? He had slept very little, going over and over in his mind the facts from fifteen months earlier when Ray Carbrook had been killed, along with two other Lincoln residents. He had finally got out of bed, determined to refresh his memory.
He was damned sure there was a connection; he didn’t believe in coincidence, he believed in fact. Okay, the facts weren’t overwhelming, but there were a few. He leaned forward and picked up his phone.
‘Stella, can you bring me the file on the triple murders, please?’
He knew he didn’t have to go into details. It didn’t sit easy with anyone at the station that justice hadn’t been seen to be served, and three people had lost their lives, with no clues other than the same person had committed all three crimes.
Stella brought in the file, sparse as it was, and as she went out he flashed her a smile.
‘Any chance of a coffee?’
‘Yes, sir,’ she said, and smiled back at him. She was quite startled. He wasn’t known for his conviviality; his default attitude was more sombre, quiet.
He opened the file to the first page. Somewhere in that file was something they had missed. It had to be there. No crime was totally clueless; this one just seemed to be. His almost sleepless night had left him surprisingly energised, and he didn’t want to waste that feeling.
As he began to read, his email flashed, and he saw that he had the post mortem report for Grace. He opened it with a deep feeling of sadness and saw it was as they had guessed. She had knocked herself unconscious and slid into the water. Death was by drowning – accidental drowning.
He even began to feel sorry for Jenny Carbrook; not only was she facing a lengthy prison sentence for almost killing Michael Groves, she had now lost her daughter. He knew how much love she had for the little girl. That was, without doubt, the reason she had taken Grace two nights ago from school.
He shook his head. Was it really only two nights ago? So much had happened since he’d received the call telling him of the hit and run.
Stella brought in his coffee. ‘Anything else, sir?’
‘No, thanks, Stella. Keep everybody out, unless they hold the rank of Chief Constable, will you?’
‘Certainly, sir,’ was her response, and shook her head. Who was this DI who had come to work this morning?
He took a sip of his coffee, going back to the file. His concentration was on the statements from the Carbrook section of the investigation. Instinct, he thought, had never let him down before.
He read carefully through Anna’s statement, alibied for the night of Ray Carbrook and James Oswoski’s murders, by three people. He had no reason to doubt her statement. Jenny Carbrook had been staying the night with her in Sheffield, and her neighbours, Melissa and Jonathan Price, had both confirmed that. Jenny Carbrook had been really ill, it seemed, and Mrs. Price had actually come to the flat in the middle of the night with medication for her. An alibi hadn’t been sought for the Hartsholme Park murder.
Jenny Carbrook’s statement was virtually the same. Again, she hadn’t been asked to provide an alibi for the Hartsholme Park murder. The one covering the double murder evening was considered sufficient, as there was absolutely no doubt all three deaths had been brought about by the same person.
Mark Carbrook had been in Derby when they had contacted him, and his statement established that. His hotel checkout receipt had confirmed he was telling the truth.
Ray Carbrook’s other two offspring were both out of the country.
He read through all the statements one more time, moving on. Nothing had screamed inconsistency at him.
He picked up the statement from Tracy Harcourt, the young mother who had come forward as a result of the Crimewatch programme. He read through it, and put it to one side, pausing.
Picking it up again, he re-read it – this time, with more care. She had seen someone walk up to a small car in the car park round the back of the playground. She couldn’t tell them the colour, only that it was a dark colour, maybe black, maybe dark blue, maybe dark brown. That person had changed their top before getting into the car and driving away. She hadn’t thought anything about it at the time, but then, had seen the Crimewatch programme. She had no idea of the registration plate, it had been too dark and too far away to see, likewise the driver.
He felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. Taking out his phone, he flicked through the photographs, until he found the one Mark Carbrook had forwarded to him – a picture of Jenny Carbrook’s small, black car.
‘Stella,’ he roared, not bothering with his phone. ‘Check with forensics, and see if we’ve got anything back on that black Fiesta, will you? If we haven’t, I want it within the hour!’
Despite having slept, deeply and undisturbed, thanks to tablets given to him by a doctor, Mark was keenly aware he wasn’t functioning. Tim had made him a bacon sandwich for breakfast, but he hadn’t touched it; he felt as if he didn’t have enough energy to chew anything.
Despair washed over him every time Grace crept behind and beneath the effects of the tablets, and he didn’t know how he was going to get through the next few days. Losing Anna had been monumental, but this … this was impossible.
He needed Adam with him; Adam would keep him sane. He would ring Tommy and Sally, tell them to bring him home. His head fell on to his arms, as he sat at the kitchen table. ‘Must ring Tommy,’ he mumbled to himself. He felt his eyes closing, and a gentle touch on his shoulder.
‘Mark,’ she whispered.
He lifted his head.
‘Lily. Oh my God, Lily.’ He began to cry; she sat on the chair by the side of him, and lowered his head to her shoulder.
She didn’t speak, just held him until the storm of tears was spent.
Eventually, when Mark seemed to be calmer, she spoke. ‘Tim rang me. Shall we share a pot of tea?’
‘Will it make me forget the last few days?’
‘No, but it might just comfort you a little. As I will, hopefully.’ She stroked his hair, and kissed the top of his head. ‘I have no words to express how deeply sorry the entire school is. Grace was a little girl who never fell out with anyone, never caused any trouble, and all her teachers spoke so highly of her. I can’t begin to imagine how you’re feeling, Mark, but I’m here, if you want to talk, share a meal, anything. Adam will need you to act normally, even if you don’t feel normal, so we’ll start with a cup of tea.’
Lily switched on the kettle. Her view was of Mark’s back, his shoulders slumped, as if admitting defeat. She ached for this man; she had seen the closeness of his family at first-hand, a family that didn’t need a mother in it to bind it tightly. The teapot stood on the work surface, so she went through cupboards to acquire teabags and mugs, unwilling to disturb his thoughts.
Tim came into the kitchen and smiled at her. ‘Found everything?’
She nodded. ‘Do you two want a tea?’
‘No, thanks. We’re off to the hospital, give Erin a break. They were talking about bringing Dad round this morning, but are leaving it a little while longer. It’s all on her shoulders, at the moment, I’m afraid, so, as you’ve arrived, we’ll take advantage of that, if that’s okay.’
Mark faced his brother. ‘If he does surface, for God’s sake, don’t tell him about Grace, not yet. And thank Erin for yesterday. She was a star.’
Tim acknowledged his words. ‘Will do. Take care, Mark, and ring if you need us. We’re only twenty minutes away. Good to meet you, Lily. Thank you for coming over.’
‘You were lucky to catch me. School finished for the year yesterday, and normally, I wouldn’t have been there, but the police wanted to check some things out, something to do with Mrs. Carbrook and where she was hidden. I’ll leave my home number and mobile with Mark. Th
en, we won’t rely on luck.’
She handed Mark his tea, and sat down once again, by his side. He was broken, and she had no experience of handling anything like this. She reached out and touched his hand, and he responded by clasping hers and squeezing it gently.
‘What do I do, Lily?’
‘I don’t know. Take everything one day at a time. Talk about her, remember her, all the lovely little things she did, her kindness. Nobody had a bad word to say about Grace Carbrook, always remember that.’
His sigh came from the heart. ‘I need Adam home. I’m running on half steam without my kids, and I’m going to ring his grandparents and get them all back here. I don’t want to be on my own.’
‘Ring them now. I imagine Adam wants to be with you – it was probably for the best yesterday, but now, he will need you. Have you been to identify Grace yet?’
He shook his head. ‘No, I have to go this afternoon.’
‘Would you like company, or would you prefer to be alone?’
He stared at Lily. ‘You would do that for me?’
She smiled. ‘Of course I would.’
Mark held tightly to Lily's hand, as he stared at the face of his daughter. He nodded.
‘Yes, that’s Grace,’ he said, his voice hoarse.
She squeezed his fingers in support.
Gainsborough led him gently away and thanked him for his bravery. He escorted them to the front door. They walked towards Lily’s red Mini.
Mark and Lily sat for a few minutes, thinking through what had just happened, not wanting to talk about it.
Finally, he turned to look at her. ‘What would you say if I wanted to go to Hartsholme Park?’
‘I’d say it’s very understandable, but not advisable. I imagine it still has crime scene tape around it, and will have for a couple more days. Don’t go there while you can see that, Mark. Wait until it becomes an unguarded territory again, and your mind can link to Grace’s mind in a place of calm.’