Broken Girls: A totally addictive and unputdownable crime thriller (Detective Bernadette Noel Book 2)

by Joy Kluver

  ‘Maybe,’ he said.

  The clip was almost finished when the man turned his head and there was a clear shot of Rupert Fox’s face.

  ‘I think that settles it, don’t you, sir?’

  Worth paled. ‘Yes, it’s clearly him. Try and find out where that email came from. DI Noel, my office now, please.’

  Bernie’s stomach fizzed. She’d goaded Worth enough for a confrontation. He clearly didn’t want it to be public.

  She was barely through the door when Worth rounded on her.

  ‘Detective Inspector Noel, while I respect you as a colleague, I will not put up with these jibes and digs at me. If you have something to say, say it now.’

  Bernie clenched her hands into fists. She didn’t particularly want to air her suspicions but knew she had to. ‘I’m concerned you may personally know Rupert Fox and, if so, then that would jeopardise the case.’

  ‘And what evidence do you have for that?’

  ‘Fox said he heard you on the radio but you didn’t do a soundbite for the radio, only a clip for TV.’

  ‘So? He got it wrong, he meant the TV.’

  Bernie dug her fingernails into her palms. She shook her head. ‘No, sir, he said he recognised your voice. If he’d seen you, he would have said he recognised your face.’

  ‘Maybe he was out of the room but heard the sound.’

  Oh, you’ve got an answer for everything.

  ‘And what makes you think I know him?’

  ‘DS Allen had found the link with the Foxes but you chose to come along. You made the call to the family. You stayed behind to wait for Forensics. As the SIO, I would have expected you to have delegated that task to me or another officer.’

  ‘Surely if I knew Rupert Fox, I would have brought him back to headquarters to take his statement. And how do I know him, anyway?’

  Bernie stared at DCI Patrick Worth. She knew she had to choose her words carefully.

  She softened her tone slightly. ‘Perhaps you know him from a club?’

  Worth’s eyes narrowed. ‘A club? What sort of club?’

  ‘Maybe a… golf club.’

  Worth began tapping the pen again. As Bernie had thought, this action was stress-related – he was about to try and hide something.

  ‘I see. It’s come to this, has it? Are you so threatened by me and my authority that you’re reduced to throwing accusations around?’

  ‘Sir, I’m not accusing you—’

  ‘Oh but you are, DI Noel, you are. I’m tempted to throw you off the case right here and now but you’re a good officer when you put your mind to it. I think it would be good to canvass the local area in Salisbury tomorrow. See if any of the neighbours knew Rosa at all. Check out the clubs, bars, cafés, et cetera. I’m sure you can manage that with a few of the team.’

  ‘What? No, sir, I’m needed here. I have questions I want to ask Rosa’s grandparents, particularly about her time with the Fox family—’

  ‘I’ve made my decision. You can leave my office now, DI Noel. Feel free to go home.’

  Bernie gave a terse nod and walked out of the door, closing it behind her. She unclenched her fists and saw the nail indentations on her hand. It was only then she realised Worth had neither confirmed nor denied that he knew Rupert Fox personally.

  Bernie repeatedly kicked the toilet cubicle door.

  Kerry came into the loos and looked at Bernie.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Kicking the door.’

  ‘I can see that. Why?’

  ‘I’m pretending,’ Bernie said, her breath coming quickly, ‘that it’s Worth’s head.’

  ‘And do you feel better yet?’

  ‘No.’

  Kerry sighed. ‘Well, you may want to stop before you break your toes or the door or both. Come on, calm down and talk to me.’

  Bernie stopped and felt her toes throb. She looked at Kerry. Her clear blue eyes exuded calmness. Bernie took a deep breath.

  ‘He wants me to go to Salisbury tomorrow. Ask around about Rosa.’

  ‘And? That’s quite an important job to do.’

  ‘Yes, I know. But I want to be here, talking to the Italian police, maybe even Rosa’s grandparents. I have questions.’

  ‘Let me guess – Rupert Fox?’

  Bernie nodded.

  ‘Well then, write them down and give them to Anderson. He can ask them. In fact, it might seem less incendiary if he did it rather than you.’

  ‘Like he’s going to help me.’

  ‘Actually…’ Kerry paused.

  ‘You were going to say something about Anderson last night at the pub and then you stopped. Spit it out.’ Bernie folded her arms and leaned against the sink.

  Kerry wrinkled her nose. ‘I think maybe my source on the police grapevine I listened to was a bit biased against Anderson. He knew the other officer that Anderson had hit. I’ve heard some good things about him lately. Really good. You know me, I’m always the first to support women but maybe his ex-wife is the real manipulator here.’

  ‘Perhaps. But she sounded very convincing to me.’ Bernie rubbed her face. ‘Worth also told me to go home.’

  Kerry put her hand on Bernie’s arm. ‘Then go. Alex will be pleased to see you. Get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of walking to do tomorrow.’

  ‘We?’

  ‘I’m coming to Salisbury with you. And I am totally going to beat you on steps walked.’

  Bernie laughed. ‘How are you going to manage that then if we’re together?’

  ‘Short legs. I’m at least one and a half strides to your one.’

  They both laughed.

  ‘Oh, Kerry, you know how to cheer me up. Right, I’ll go home and see Alex. Poor guy – I’ve been neglecting him a bit recently. See you in the morning.’

  17

  Saturday

  Alex stirred next to her as the alarm went off.

  ‘What time is it?’ he murmured.

  ‘Six thirty. Sorry. I have to work today. Where were you last night?’

  The house had been in darkness when Bernie had returned home from headquarters.

  ‘Figured you’d be late so I went out with the lads. It got a bit manic and someone poured a beer over me. I had to shower when I got back.’

  ‘Thought I heard you in the bathroom.’

  ‘Sorry for disturbing you.’

  ‘It’s all right. I was too tired to talk.’

  Alex rolled onto his side to face Bernie. He reached out to stroke her arm. ‘I was quite tempted to wake you up properly last night. It’s been a while.’ His hand moved onto her breasts and then worked down. ‘Do we have time now?’ He kissed her neck.

  Bernie knew she ought to get into work early but she was enjoying what Alex was doing. ‘We have time.’

  Bernie stuffed the last piece of toast into her mouth. ‘Got to go. Oh, if you’ve got to wash last night’s clothes, can you stick the bedding in too, please?’

  ‘Yeah, sure. I’ve got football this morning so I’ll stick my kit in and do it all together afterwards.’

  ‘Great, thanks. I have no idea what time I’ll be home today. I’ll text you later.’

  Although it was good to spend time with Alex, Bernie was on the back foot going into work. She wanted to write some questions for the Contis that Anderson could pass on to the Italian police. In particular she wanted to know if Rosa had told her grandparents anything interesting about the Foxes. Or had she told anyone else? Getting access to her emails would be priority. She had her notepad and pen ready for the briefing but hoped to jot down a few ideas in between Worth’s comments.

  ‘Thank you all for coming in bright and early on a Saturday morning,’ said Worth. ‘Today, we need to do our best to find out as much as we possibly can about Rosa Conti. DS Anderson and myself will liaise with the police in Florence. We’ll be asking them to speak to Rosa’s grandparents and collect DNA samples and dental records. DS Anderson has already made initial contact.

  ‘I’ve
asked DI Noel to look into Rosa’s life in Salisbury. I’ve already spoken to Mrs Fox this morning. She’s still in shock but would like to help as much as she can. She’s willing to talk to you this morning so I suggest you go there first before asking around the town.’

  Bernie looked up in surprise. She couldn’t quite believe Worth was allowing her to go back to the Foxes after her comments the previous evening. ‘Really?’

  Worth nodded. ‘Yes. Having ruled out Rupert Fox, it’s important we get back to the essential task of finding out more about Rosa.’

  Bernie looked down at her notepad so Worth wouldn’t see her face. You might have ruled out Rupert Fox but I sure as hell haven’t.

  Worth glanced at his watch. ‘We need to get a move on as our Italian counterparts are an hour ahead and expecting us very soon. DC Hart – Rosa’s clothes. You’ve found out about the dress but what about the shoes?’

  Alice flushed. ‘I’m still working on the shoes. Forensics have come back to me and said they’re very good quality and likely to be expensive.’

  ‘Keep looking into it. DS Anderson, where did you get up to yesterday with the search?’

  Anderson coughed a little. ‘Other than plenty of tyre tracks, we didn’t find anything else of interest. I didn’t find out until nearly the end of yesterday that there had been a litter-picking session along the track last weekend. So any evidence may have already gone.’

  ‘How infuriating. Shame they didn’t venture into the woods as we might have found our victim a lot sooner.’ Worth looked at his watch again. ‘DI Noel, I’m going to leave you to divvy out the jobs for the rest of the team. DS Anderson, shall we go to my office?’

  ‘Yes, sir. I’ll be there in a few minutes.’

  ‘Right, the rest of you carry on and we’ll have a check-in at twelve hundred hours.’

  Bernie quickly scribbled down some of the questions she had for Rosa’s grandparents and the Italian police as Worth left the room.

  ‘Anderson, I’m sure you have it covered already but just a few thoughts.’

  He took the notepad, read it and smiled, before handing it back. ‘Great minds think alike. I’ll catch up with you later.’

  Bernie stood up. She was now regretting spending that time in bed with Alex as she hadn’t had a chance to prepare what tasks needed doing. Thinking on her feet was her only option.

  ‘Right. Alice – these shoes. Do we have a decent photo of them that could be shown to the grandparents? It’s more likely she bought the dress here but maybe she brought them with her.’

  ‘Yes. I can send it to the DCI.’

  ‘Good.’ Bernie looked at the others. ‘Matt and Mick, I guess you’re still drawing a blank on the motorbike on CCTV?’

  Matt nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am. We can keep trawling but we’re assuming he has some idea where the cameras are.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Bernie thought about the questions she’d written down for Anderson, and one in particular – how had Rosa stayed in touch with her grandparents? ‘I think what’s important here is not what we have, but what we don’t have. A mobile phone. An address for where Rosa went after she left the Foxes. She must have been living somewhere.’

  ‘Presumably with the motorcyclist,’ said Kerry.

  ‘Possibly but perhaps she’d made some friends and was bunking with one of them.’ Bernie thought for a moment. ‘I wonder if she knew any of the other au pairs from the agency. Where’s it based, Mick?’

  ‘Salisbury as well.’

  ‘Right, in that case, Mick and Matt, I want you to go to Salisbury to talk to the woman who runs the agency. She must have a photo of Rosa even if it’s from a copy of her passport and she might know if any of the other au pairs knew her. If there are any, check them out. Then, assuming you can get a photo, I’d like you to go round the pubs and bars in Salisbury. Also, see if any of the nightclubs are open – but that might not be until after lunch.

  ‘Kerry – you and I will go and see Harriet Fox and see what she has to say. Then we’ll move on to the neighbours.

  ‘Alice, if Rosa’s grandparents don’t recognise the shoes then it might be she did buy them here after all. As it seems likely she got the dress in Swindon, could you go to the designer outlet village please? There might be a shop there that sells them. Kerry and I can check in Salisbury too. Could you send me the photo as well?’

  Alice pulled out her mobile. ‘Sure, I’ll Bluetooth it to you now.’

  ‘Great. I know the DCI said check in at twelve but we’ll have to call in. So if you can let me know where you’re up to by eleven fifty that would be helpful.’

  Bernie’s phone pinged and she looked down at the photo that had just arrived. ‘Thanks, Alice. Wow. Those are some shoes. I have to admit I didn’t look that closely at them at the scene.’

  Kerry leaned in. ‘Ooh! If I wore those, I’d be nearly as tall as you.’

  Bernie laughed. ‘You’d have to wear stilts to be nearly as tall as me! Sorry, Kerry, that was mean. How high are they?’

  ‘Ten centimetres,’ Alice replied.

  Matt looked over Bernie’s shoulder. ‘God, those look—’

  ‘Oi,’ said Kerry, ‘no sexist comments, please.’

  ‘No, of course not. I was going to say they look dangerous. You could take someone’s eye out with those.’

  Bernie looked at the shoes again. Bright red leather with tall, silver stiletto heels. ‘That’s a good point, Matt. Why didn’t she use them against her attacker? Or maybe she did. The shoes weren’t with the body. Perhaps she threw them at him. Mick, what do you think?’

  She held out her phone to him.

  He paused before speaking. ‘Well, at the risk of sounding sexist myself…’

  Kerry groaned.

  ‘No,’ said Bernie, ‘let’s hear Mick out.’

  ‘Well, I’m thinking a man might have paid for them if they’re really expensive. I doubt she would have earned much as an au pair. And maybe he liked the look of them.’ Mick blushed. ‘Personally I don’t care what shoes my wife wears but some men like that sort of thing.’

  Bernie looked at Kerry. ‘Maybe a man like Rupert Fox? I think we need to find out what his missus has to say.’

  18

  The drive to Salisbury was slower than expected. Weekend roadworks delayed them, plus shoppers and day-trippers clogged the roads closer to the city. As Worth’s driver had taken them the day before, Bernie roughly knew the route to the Foxes and was able to divert down some of the quieter roads.

  She pulled up outside their house, taking in more detail this time; the day before, her mind had been full with a possible ID for the victim. The house was detached and didn’t seem large from the front but Bernie remembered it was a bit like a Tardis – small on the outside but huge inside as it extended back and up into the loft. The city centre wasn’t too far away and the famous Salisbury Cathedral spire could just be seen. Bernie looked up and down the road. The other houses were similar, either detached or semi-detached, with neat driveways and gardens. It was a quiet area, not overly affluent but definitely middle class.

  Harriet Fox opened the door as they approached. She gave a taut smile. ‘I was waiting for you.’ She stood back and let them in. ‘Rupert has taken the girls swimming. We thought it best they were out of the house and you’ve already interviewed Rupe.’ She grimaced.

  Bernie decided to not respond directly to the last comment. Not yet anyway. ‘This is my colleague, DS Kerry Allen. DCI Worth said you wanted to talk to us.’

  ‘Yes. Come through to the kitchen and I’ll make some coffee.’

  Bernie and Kerry followed Harriet Fox into a large, modern extension with a kitchen on one side and an informal seating area on the other. The sofas here were a lot more welcoming than the hard armchair Bernie had sat in the day before.

  Harriet busied herself with making coffee and Bernie thought it was more to do with calming her nerves than actually needing a drink. ‘How do you like your coffee?’ she asked.

&nb
sp; ‘White with one sugar,’ said Bernie, ‘and Kerry’s white, no sugar. Thanks.’

  The room was immaculate and if it weren’t for the children’s drawings up on the fridge, Bernie would have assumed that no children lived here. She guessed their toys were in another room.

  Harriet put a tray down on the coffee table in front of them and handed them each a mug.

  ‘You have a lovely house,’ Kerry said.

  ‘Thank you, it’s taken quite a while to get it like this.’ Harriet sat down on the sofa opposite and sipped her coffee. ‘We may as well start. Get it over and done with.’ She avoided their gaze.

  ‘All right,’ said Bernie. She nodded at Kerry who put her mug down and pulled out her notebook and pen. ‘Let’s start with when Rosa arrived. When was that exactly?’

  ‘Thirtieth of July. Just after we got back from holiday. I’m a legal secretary. I only went back to work earlier this year, partly to help pay for all this.’ She gestured around the room. ‘But I also wanted to get my brain working again and have some space from the girls. I didn’t particularly want to put them into summer camps for the whole holiday and a friend recommended the au pair agency. It seemed ideal as the school run was a bit of a struggle too. There were a few girls to choose from and we went with Rosa. I can’t speak a word of Italian but I love Italy – the scenery, the atmosphere and the food. She was from Florence, which I adore, and she claimed to be a good cook.’ Harriet took another sip of coffee.

  ‘I’m guessing she wasn’t,’ Bernie said.

  ‘No, dreadful. And her English wasn’t as good as we expected either. She picked it up pretty quickly though. I think the girls helped with that. And as I said yesterday, she was very good with them. They adored her. We haven’t told them yet. I’m hoping we won’t have to.’

  Bernie glanced at Kerry. ‘We’ll probably announce her ID when it’s confirmed. Can I ask, did Mr Fox tell you about his interview?’

  Harriet put the mug down on the coffee table and began to rub her fingers against her thumbs. She kept her head down. ‘Yes. He told me everything. I promise you, though, he was here that Friday evening – all night.’