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

by Joy Kluver

  ‘And Ryan was there for lunch too?’

  ‘God, yeah. He eats more than the rest of us and never puts on any weight. Bloody annoying.’

  Bernie decided to change tack. ‘Thanks, that’s helpful. Out of interest, do you take part in Ryan’s motorbike races?’

  ‘What, the ones he does with his little friends? God, no. Why?’

  ‘It’s just something we’re looking into at the moment. Must be quite dangerous at night, riding along a road full of potholes and then up the track.’

  ‘Oh, he don’t go up the track. The little wuss.’

  ‘Yes, I’ve heard about the legend.’

  ‘Oh, I suppose Granddad told you what happened. It wasn’t Will or me though. Still don’t know which one of my friends did it. I’d only just started at secondary so didn’t know those boys very well.’

  ‘And Ryan never said which boy had hidden him?’

  ‘No, he was too traumatised and he didn’t know his name. None of them admitted to it. I didn’t stay friends with them after that.’

  ‘Any of them still around? Names?’

  ‘No idea. It was nearly fifteen years ago and as I said, I didn’t stay friends with them. Is that all? I have to get up very early tomorrow so I need to go to bed.’

  Bernie thought Gareth was being a bit obstructive but she clearly wasn’t going to get anything else from him. ‘That’s all. Thanks, Gareth.’

  She walked back into the lounge and replaced the handset.

  ‘Alibi confirmed?’ Stan asked.

  ‘Yes, all confirmed. Now, I’m going to take these things out to the kitchen and wash them up. Then Janet won’t know a thing.’

  Stan tapped the side of his nose again. ‘Just between you and me.’

  As Bernie set the cups and plates down in the kitchen, she wondered who had helped Ryan get up to the cave all those years ago and if he rode a motorbike.

  41

  Tuesday

  Bernie opened her fridge to find it was virtually empty. Alex normally did a grocery shop on a Monday evening. There were a few mushrooms languishing at the bottom, an out-of-date egg and some dodgy milk. The jam jar was almost empty but enough for a scraping. She pulled the last of the bread out of the bread bin. Thankfully, she spotted the mould before she put a couple of slices in the toaster.

  ‘Shit.’ She sat down at the table and buried her head in her hands. She’d had a bad night’s sleep. Confusing dreams had assailed her. A little boy crying but she couldn’t find him. Running through woods, brambles catching and scratching her before falling down and down and down. Pressure had built up on her chest, a tightness around her neck as though being strangled before sitting bolt upright in bed, gasping for air. She felt more wretched than she would have done if she had stayed up all night at work. So much for fresh eyes.

  Bernie pushed herself up from the table. She was going to do the one thing that would help – a trip to the baker’s.

  Bernie thought there was a hint of a smile as Worth took a Danish pastry to eat.

  ‘Thank you, Bernie. I’m sure we all need a boost this morning.’

  ‘You’re welcome, sir. The baker was asking about Laura. Her daughter goes to school with her. In fact, she asked if we were going to go into school and talk to Laura’s friends.’

  Worth’s eyes narrowed slightly as he bit into his pastry. He chewed a little before speaking. ‘We contacted her friends on Sunday before you arrived. No one knew anything.’

  ‘Yes, but it was all a big shock on Sunday. They might have remembered something since then. I thought Kerry and I could go in this morning. In fact, looking in this box, there are far more things in here than I paid for. Might just be the thing to get them talking.’

  ‘Well, before you get them talking, might I suggest another chat with Ryan first? He’s been passed fit for interview. If you need me I’ll be in my office.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Bernie took the bakery box round to the others. ‘Tom, Matt, where are you up to with Luke Davidson?’

  ‘Not much further on, I’m afraid. We really need that warrant to come through,’ Tom said.

  ‘But we are working on a list of girls he’s following and cross-referencing with Laura’s followers,’ said Matt. ‘Hopefully we’ll get something before you visit Laura’s friends at school.’

  ‘Great. Talk to Jane about the warrant. That woman has powers that go far beyond her job description. Right, I’d better go and see Ryan again. Maybe he’ll be more willing to talk now.’

  Bernie was just about to leave when her desk phone rang.

  ‘DI Noel.’

  ‘Ma’am, it’s Alan Turner in custody. Bad news, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Oh no, what?’

  ‘Ryan Willis has just thrown up. DCI Worth said you’d be coming down to interview him. You’ll need to hold off for a while until the doctor’s checked him over.’

  Bernie rolled her eyes – annoyed that Ryan was ill again but relieved she wouldn’t be the one clearing it up. ‘Great. Oh well. These things happen. Let me know when the doctor clears him. Thanks, Alan.’

  Bernie put the phone down. ‘Change of plan. I’ll go to the school now with Kerry. Matt, email the list of girls you have so far. In fact, send it to Kerry. She can look through the names on the way over. Maybe a few of them will be at school this morning.’

  Bernie and Kerry waited in the front reception area. Unlike the primary schools Bernie had visited, there was no work on display. Just motivational words painted on the walls. She thought the buzzwords were more for OFSTED’s benefit than the pupils. The kids didn’t care if they were supposed to be ‘great thinkers’ or ‘strong achievers’. They were all counting down the days before they could leave and join the ‘real world’. Little do they know, thought Bernie.

  As they put on their visitor badges, a man walked towards them. Having checked the school’s website before she’d left, Bernie knew he was the head teacher, yet he looked less like a teacher and more like an ageing boy-band member. He held out his hand.

  ‘I’m Pete Travers, head teacher. I would say it’s nice to meet you but…’

  ‘Don’t worry, Mr Travers, we get that a lot. I’m Detective Inspector Bernie Noel and this is my colleague, Detective Sergeant Kerry Allen. Thank you for seeing us at short notice.’

  ‘It’s not a problem. If you’d like to follow me, we can walk and talk. To be honest, I sort of expected you to come yesterday.’

  ‘We had some leads to follow up on yesterday. Have you been able to arrange what I asked for when we spoke earlier?’

  ‘Yes. We’ve managed to contact all the parents and they’re happy for their girls to talk to you. Obviously, as we discussed, there will need to be a teacher in with them. So their form tutor, Mr Gardener, will be present. It was the girls’ choice to have him.’

  ‘Are Laura’s friends mostly from her form?’

  ‘Yes. We teach in form groups for the first two years and then we stream in year nine, ready for GCSEs. These are her best friends.’

  ‘So, her little gang then?’ said Kerry.

  ‘They’re called squads these days. Each generation of teenagers finds their own language. And thank you for bringing the food. That’s a nice touch. I’ve managed to get some juice from the canteen. They’re through here in the Food Tech room. There’s a nice big table for you to sit round.’

  Mr Travers opened the door and Bernie and Kerry followed him into the room. Bernie saw four girls sitting at the table, looking very nervous. At the far end of the table was, Bernie assumed, Mr Gardener. Pete Travers’ ageing boy-band looks paled into insignificance compared with the young teacher. Slicked-back dark hair, fresh-faced, his shirt clung in all the right places. Not the kind of teacher Bernie had had in her convent school. He stood up to shake her hand and then Kerry’s. Bernie resisted the urge to smile too much at him. He was clearly ‘first crush’ material.

  ‘Hi, I’m Ben Gardener. Thanks for coming in. I’ve been Laura’s
form tutor since she started in year seven and I teach her Geography. So I know her quite well.’

  ‘I’m Detective Inspector Bernie Noel. Laura mentioned you to me when I saw her on Friday. Said you’d organised an online safety talk with the police.’

  ‘Yes, that was last year in year seven. I thought it was really important for them to stay safe on the internet. Wait, is this an online thing?’

  ‘I’ll explain more in a moment, but in the meantime’ – she looked at the girls – ‘we’ve brought some snacks for you. Hope you like Danishes and doughnuts.’

  Kerry placed the box on the table. ‘Help yourselves,’ she said, lifting the lid.

  The girls swooped in like gannets.

  42

  ‘Girls, I want you to know you’re not in trouble,’ Bernie said. ‘This is about finding Laura. And I know you want to stay loyal to her. But, not speaking out, not telling us something that might help get Laura back, is more damaging than “grassing her up”. Do you understand?’

  The girls all nodded.

  ‘OK. Let’s start with names. I’m Bernie. And you are?’ She turned to the girl on her left.

  ‘I’m Charlie.’

  Bernie recognised the next girl. ‘Hello, Daisy. We spoke on Sunday.’

  Daisy reddened.

  The next girl spoke up without being asked. ‘I’m Chloe.’ She flicked her ponytail back. Bernie noted her black eyeliner. She looked older than the others. And more confident. Bernie nodded at the next girl.

  ‘I’m Emma. Did you get the food from my mum’s bakery?’

  ‘Yes, I did. We always get our cakes and sandwiches from there. Best in town.’

  Emma gave a sheepish grin.

  ‘Now that we know each other, Daisy, is there anything else you’ve remembered?’

  Daisy’s cheeks were now the same colour as her red curls.

  ‘Um… Laura asked if… she could say she was having a sleepover at mine.’

  Bernie kept her voice soft. ‘When did she ask you?’

  ‘On Friday afternoon. She hadn’t come into school because of… well, you know… the body…’

  ‘Oh shit. The body. I can’t believe it was on their land,’ said Chloe. ‘Sorry, am I allowed to say “shit”?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Bernie. ‘I say it all the time. But maybe we should let Daisy finish.’

  ‘Oh, yeah, sorry. Carry on, Daisy.’

  Daisy seemed to be picking at her fingers. ‘She sent a message after school. I asked her why and… she said there was a boy who wanted to meet her, in Salisbury. Said he was going to take her to a party.’

  ‘Did she mention how she was going to get home?’

  Daisy gave a quick shake of her head.

  ‘Thank you, Daisy. We’ve managed to get into Laura’s Instagram account and we think this boy is called Luke Davidson.’

  Bernie heard a gasp. ‘Who was that?’

  She saw one of the girls slowly raise an arm. ‘Me. Chloe.’

  ‘You recognise the name?’

  ‘Yes. I’m friends with him too.’

  Bernie looked at Chloe. She looked similar to Laura with the same high ponytail. This wasn’t the moment, though, to ask if Luke had directly messaged her. Bernie glanced at Kerry who pulled out her phone to check something. She looked up and gave a quick nod. Chloe’s name was on the list of girls that Matt had sent. They would have to speak privately to her but with a parent, not the teacher.

  Bernie tried to not give any of this away as she spoke. ‘Chloe, did Laura ever mention Luke to you?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her voice wavered, her confident manner ebbing away.

  ‘Did you know she would be meeting up with him?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her voice was getting quieter.

  ‘Chloe, were you supposed to be going too?’

  Chloe sprang from her chair and rushed to one of the sinks where she retched. Kerry went after her. So did Mr Gardener.

  Bernie looked back at Laura’s friends; their faces were white.

  ‘And this, girls, is why you never, ever meet up with people from online that you don’t really know.’

  Chloe sat quietly in the back of Bernie’s car, Kerry next to her. They’d agreed with her mother they would all meet at headquarters.

  They would use the witness questioning room. Soft chairs and a low coffee table made it more informal. There was still a camera, though, and an audio recorder. Drinks could be made in the room and there was a toilet right next door.

  As Bernie pulled into the car park, there was a woman waiting.

  ‘That’s my mum. She’s so going to kill me,’ said Chloe.

  ‘No, she won’t,’ said Kerry. ‘She’ll be very grateful you had the good sense not to go.’

  They were all seated in the witness room, where Bernie explained why they needed to talk to Chloe.

  ‘From what Chloe said earlier to us, she knows something about Laura’s disappearance. Having this information will hopefully help us to find Laura. Please, will you consent to this interview?’

  Rebecca looked at her daughter in obvious disbelief. ‘OK.’

  ‘Kerry, could you start the recordings, please?’

  ‘Sure.’ Kerry pressed the button on the camera and then the audio recording.

  ‘The time is eleven twenty-five hours and Detective Inspector Noel and Detective Sergeant Allen are present in the room with Chloe Hampton and her mother, Rebecca Hampton.

  ‘Now, Chloe, what can you tell me about a boy called Luke Davidson?’

  Chloe looked nervously around the room. ‘He’s a friend of mine on Instagram. He’s a friend of Laura’s too.’

  ‘Chloe, can you just confirm for me your age, please?’

  ‘Twelve.’

  ‘You know that you shouldn’t be on Instagram until you’re thirteen, don’t you? So when you signed up, you would have put a different birth year in. How old does it say you are on Instagram?’

  ‘Fifteen. Laura’s the same. We set them up together.’

  ‘When did you get a follow request from Luke? Can you remember?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Maybe six months ago. We were in year seven.’

  Bernie saw Kerry writing some notes down.

  ‘And when did he befriend Laura?’

  ‘After me. He found me first and then Laura through me.’

  ‘Did you mind him becoming friends with Laura?’

  Chloe’s eyes darted about. ‘No,’ she answered, a little too quickly.

  ‘Are you sure about that?’

  ‘Maybe a bit. She was mad about him. She’d come into school and would be like, “Guess who messaged me last night? He’s so lovely.” Made me want to puke. He was sending me messages too but I never told her that.’

  ‘What kind of messages?’

  Bernie saw Chloe swallow.

  ‘Chloe? You do realise we’re going to have to look at your Instagram account and your DMs, don’t you?’

  ‘Is that really necessary?’ asked Rebecca.

  ‘I’m afraid it is, given the nature of the messages between Luke and Laura.’

  ‘But that’s them, not Chloe.’

  Bernie turned her gaze to Chloe. ‘This is about finding the man responsible and finding Laura. I will be absolutely astonished to find out Luke Davidson is his real name and he really is seventeen. I suspect he is a lot older and he’s a man, not a boy. And Laura is with him now.’

  Chloe covered her face with her hands. ‘Please don’t make me say it.’

  Rebecca put her arm around her daughter. ‘I can take it. I won’t be cross. I’m just glad to not be in Laura’s mum’s shoes. Come on, love.’

  Chloe put her hands down. ‘Umm… I sent photos of myself. Topless ones.’

  43

  Rebecca Hampton’s arms were wrapped around her daughter as they left. Chloe had, very tearfully, taken Bernie through the history of her online relationship with Luke. She handed over her phone and gave her login details for Instagram. She told them there would be m
essages on there between her and Laura. Ones where she called Laura a bitch for stealing Luke from her.

  ‘I was so horrible to her. If I’d known, I would never had said those things. I hope she’s OK,’ Chloe had cried.

  Bernie had decided that now wasn’t the time to tell Chloe she had actually committed a criminal offence by sending the photo to Luke. She would let her mother know at a later date. They certainly weren’t going to press charges.

  Back in the office, Kerry had Chloe’s Instagram page open and was reading the private messages between the two girls.

  ‘It certainly got very heated between them,’ she said to Bernie. ‘Chloe told Laura that Luke had only invited Laura because she couldn’t go. Chloe and her family were at a wedding. There are photos up of it.’

  ‘I bet Laura didn’t take that too well.’

  ‘No, she didn’t. And then the name calling started. It escalated pretty quickly.’

  Bernie looked around the office. Mick, Alice and Anderson were with Worth but Matt and Tom were working for her.

  ‘Right, guys, how are you doing?’

  Matt looked up from his desk. ‘Jane made a phone call. I don’t know what she said but the warrant came through so we’re in. While Tom’s been trying to track down an IP for Luke Davidson, I’ve been going through his account. In particular, the DMs.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘Each girl reading them will think they’re very personal but in fact, they’re all very similar. They follow a pattern. Luke finds out what each girl is into and initially focuses the conversation on that. Then he starts to deviate it slightly. He makes a comment on their appearance – maybe their clothes or hair or say they have a pretty face. Then he turns to their bodies and, well… we all know where that one goes.’

  Bernie pulled up a chair next to Matt. ‘So, he must keep notes on all of them.’

  ‘He’d have to, to keep up. Tom reckons he’ll have other fake accounts too on other social media sites. Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp…’