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

by Joy Kluver

  He looked at Bernie. ‘Do you think I should write more, ma’am?’

  ‘No. Keep it short.’

  They waited in silence. Seconds turned into minutes. The two ticks by the message were still grey.

  ‘Maybe he hasn’t seen it,’ Bernie said. ‘No, wait. Ticks are blue and he’s typing back.’

  No what happened?

  ‘Carry on, Matt.’

  she’s gone missing.

  Seconds later.

  What?! When?!

  at the weekend

  did she make it to your party?

  A longer pause this time.

  No I was supposed to meet her in Salisbury but she didn’t show up so I thought she wasn’t coming I feel bad now

  Bernie rolled her eyes. ‘How are we supposed to answer that one?’ She looked around her team. ‘Tom, are you getting anywhere with the IP address?’

  Tom shook his head. ‘As I thought, it’s all over the place.’

  ‘Answer him sympathetically,’ said Kerry. ‘Tell him it’s not his fault.’

  Matt began to type.

  ah, don’t feel bad not your fault, if it hadn’t been for that stupid wedding i would’ve come too and then laura wouldn’t have been on her own

  ‘Luke is typing’ appeared at the top of the phone screen.

  Saw the pics on insta. You looked hot in your bridesmaid dress with those thin straps

  Were you wearing a bra under it?

  Matt shook his head. ‘He’s one sick fuck.’

  ‘I know,’ said Kerry. ‘Just send back a wink emoji. Actually, do the wide eye one first and then the wink. That’s it.’

  His response was swift.

  Baaabe u don’t know what ur doing to me!!

  Bernie sat back in her chair. ‘I think we do, Luke. I’m going to vomit.’

  ‘But he said “babe”,’ said Kerry. ‘He’s typing again.’

  Bernie’s eyes widened at his response. ‘Here we go. He’s just written, “Where are you, babe? Want to picture you”.’ She looked across at Tom. ‘Bingo.’

  49

  If Luke had twigged something was up, his replies didn’t show it. Matt had continued to ‘chat’ with Luke for another ten minutes before ending the conversation. His request for a photo of Chloe in her bridesmaid dress with no underwear on had finished everyone off.

  sorry im gonna be at my aunt’s for a few days as mum and dad had a massive row and she’s walked out so im stuck here for a bit send u pics when i get home… might get more than one

  Matt added several wink emojis for good measure.

  ‘Oh God,’ said Bernie, ‘that man makes my skin crawl. So, what do we do now? Tom, any thoughts?’

  Tom looked at his computer monitor before turning back to Bernie. ‘I still can’t get past his proxy IP. This is driving me nuts now. I don’t know if he’ll have bought the story about Chloe’s uncle being an IT security specialist; we may have offered that up too easily. She wouldn’t necessarily know about IP addresses. Probably best to try again tomorrow, maybe before school. Perhaps she hasn’t slept well, worrying all night about Laura – try that tack.’

  Bernie rubbed her forehead. Her usual headache was coming back. She needed food.

  ‘Have there been any phone calls from the public after the news report?’

  ‘I’ll go and check,’ said Matt. ‘But looking at our accounts there’s been a big response on social media. The tweet we put out has had over 700 retweets and on Facebook, there’s been about 300 shares and about 150 comments. Nothing concrete from that though. I’ll go and check with the switchboard. I asked them to take messages. I knew we’d have to concentrate when chatting to this Luke.’

  ‘Thanks, Matt.’

  Bernie looked around the office. Everyone seemed a bit drained after the ‘Luke’ conversation. ‘Think we all need something to eat.’

  ‘Pizza?’ said Anderson.

  ‘We had that last night.’

  ‘Oh. I’m happy to run out and get some Chinese or Indian, if that helps.’

  ‘That would be great, thanks. Maybe Indian if that’s OK with everyone else. Chicken Korma and rice for me, please. I can give you some money.’ Bernie smiled, still aware that they needed to talk at some point. Kerry was keeping schtum for now and no one else had picked up on the friendlier atmosphere between them. Not yet anyway.

  ‘Nah, don’t worry about it. My treat. Kerry and Tom – text me your order. I know what Matt will want. Might as well see if the DCI wants anything. Or Alice or Mick.’

  ‘Are they actually still here?’

  ‘Yes, they are. I’ll be back soon.’

  Anderson nearly collided with Jane Clackett as he left the office.

  ‘Sorry, Jane. Off to get some Indian. Do you want any?’

  ‘No thanks. My office will stink for days.’

  ‘Can we help you, Jane?’ Bernie asked.

  ‘I’ve come to tell you that Laura will be in the hourly local radio bulletins for the rest of today. No need to thank me.’

  ‘Thank you anyway. I’ve sent Matt to find out about any phone calls after the TV report.’

  ‘Yes, I know some came in. I think my job is done for today. I’ll be in bright and early if you need me. Oh, is that Tom over there? Tom, I have a problem with my computer. I wondered if you could have a look at it for me, please, now, perhaps.’

  Tom glanced over his shoulder. ‘Yeah, I don’t do that kind of technical support. I’m here to access computers, find the hackers, cyber security, that kind of thing.’

  ‘Oh Tom, please. My screen keeps freezing.’

  ‘Have you tried switching your computer off and on again?’

  Bernie stifled a laugh. ‘Tom, just go. She’s not going to give up.’

  As he headed out of the door, he said, ‘If I’m not back in ten minutes, send out a search party.’

  Bernie and Kerry burst into fits of giggles.

  ‘Poor Tom,’ said Bernie, ‘he doesn’t stand a chance. Once Jane fixes on a man, he’s a goner.’

  ‘And what about you, are you fixed on Anderson?’

  ‘I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him yet. There’s too much going on at the moment.’

  ‘There’s always too much going on.’

  Bernie wondered whether or not to tell Kerry what Clive Bishop had said about Rupert Fox. ‘True. Actually, I was thinking about Rupert Fox again.’

  ‘Oh, Bernie, no.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’re obsessed. If our victim is Ria then this Italian guy you were talking about with Anderson seems a more likely candidate for her murder than Fox, so it’s got nothing to do with him.’

  ‘And it probably doesn’t. But there might be something else. Clive Bishop said something very cryptic to me earlier. He said that we weren’t the right team to be investigating him. That Fraud should be looking at him instead.’

  ‘Then pass it over to Fraud.’

  ‘But pass over what? I’ve got no idea what he’s done. I need to look at him more closely.’

  Kerry sighed. ‘No, you don’t. We have a dead woman and a missing girl. That’s more than enough to be dealing with at the moment. Plus your complicated love life.’

  ‘God, I know,’ said Bernie. ‘I don’t want to contact Alex but I probably should. If nothing else, he’s left stuff at my place that he’ll need.’ She picked up her phone but put it back down as Matt came in, holding slips of paper.

  ‘Fifty calls. Some are probably nothing but we need to go through them to see.’

  He handed a pile each to Kerry and Bernie.

  ‘Where’s Anderson?’ he asked.

  ‘Gone to get food,’ said Kerry.

  They started to work their way through. Bernie put to one side any that had Laura in another town or city and looked specifically for Salisbury connections.

  ‘Ma’am, this one looks promising,’ said Matt. ‘A woman with her small child was nearly hit by a motorbike. There was a passenger on the back who had a
bag that looked similar to Laura’s in the photo shown on TV.’

  ‘That does sound promising.’

  Matt’s smile became broader. ‘It gets better. The woman said the bike was a BMW. She knows because her partner has one similar. Didn’t Ryan Willis say that his mystery motorcyclist rode a BMW?’

  Bernie clapped her hands. ‘Yes, he did. Can you ring her and see if you can go and get a statement from her tonight, please? And if you can get a definite location, then maybe Gerald can find us some more CCTV footage.’ She smiled. ‘This has to be enough for the DCI now. These two cases must be linked.’

  50

  By the time Bernie got home, Marchant was almost in darkness again. It was kicking out time at the pub and a few of the villagers waved to her. She was physically worn out but her brain was buzzing. The witness statement had been helpful. Although the woman hadn’t got the registration number, she’d given enough detail for Bernie to be sure it was Laura. It had been close to the service road behind the shops and the woman had described the rider’s jacket as similar to the one Luke was wearing in the photo sent to Chloe. We’re closing in, she thought.

  As her mind was elsewhere, she almost missed the person sitting in her doorway. A sudden movement, though, caught her eye.

  ‘Who’s there?’ she asked.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I must have dropped off waiting for you to come home.’

  She instantly recognised the voice. ‘Alex, what are you doing here?’

  ‘I thought I should come and see you. Apologise directly.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘Please, Bernie.’

  Bernie hesitated. She was worn out but like ripping a plaster off a wound, it would be better to deal with Alex now and quickly.

  ‘OK.’ She pulled her keys out and unlocked the door.

  She had always felt comfortable with Alex but there was no denying the awkwardness between them now. He sat at the small kitchen table as she made tea. She opened the fridge door.

  ‘Oh shit, I’m out of milk. In fact, I’m pretty much out of everything.’

  Alex held up a plastic bag he had stowed by his feet. ‘I thought so. Milk and a loaf of bread.’

  Bernie stared at it. ‘I shouldn’t really but…’

  ‘Take the milk, at least. I hate black tea. And I know you tend to just eat toast when I’m not around. You’re totally crap at cooking.’

  ‘I’m not. It’s more that I don’t have time.’

  Alex gave her a sideways glance. She took the bag. ‘No, you’re right… I’m crap at cooking, along with many other things – like relationships. Having said that, I’m not taking the blame for your mistake.’

  Alex shifted uncomfortably. ‘And you shouldn’t. It’s all my fault. I didn’t tell you the truth when I said I’d had two girlfriends. Had far more than that. I’ve always been a bit of a player. My father was the same. And really I should know better because I saw how much it hurt my mum.

  ‘I’ve known Ali for ages. We went to school together. The pub we were in on Saturday, I saw her there last month. We got pretty drunk, had a snog and I ended up back at hers. To be brutally honest, I have a lot more in common with her than you. And when you said just now that you don’t have time to shop or cook – you don’t have time for the people in your life either. I’m not blaming you at all but I hardly saw you. You’d creep in late at night and then be gone before I woke up. You’d be better off with that officer I saw the other night in the pub.’

  Bernie’s head jerked up. ‘What? At the pub quiz?’

  Alex nodded. ‘And again on Saturday. I saw him paying at the bar. I’m assuming you were together.’

  ‘Yes. But in a work capacity. We were discussing the case and I only agreed to go after you said you’d be out.’

  ‘And nothing else happened after that? After you’d seen me with Ali?’

  Bernie lowered her eyes.

  ‘I don’t blame you. He’s a good-looking guy and you’re both in the same job. Much more likely to understand the pressure. I’m so sorry, Bernie. I didn’t want it to end like this.’

  ‘Me neither. Will you do me one favour?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Don’t do this to Ali. She seems a nice girl.’

  ‘God, you sound like my mum.’

  Bernie widened her eyes.

  ‘All right. I’ll behave better.’

  She stood up. ‘It’s too late to sort your things out now but you’ll need to collect your stuff at some point. Although you might want to take your football kit tonight.’ She nodded her head towards the clothes horse.

  ‘Oh God, sorry. I meant to strip the bed and put the washing machine on before I went out on Saturday but I forgot. Maybe next weekend I’ll take the rest of my things if that’s OK with you. I know you’re really busy at the moment. I saw the news.’

  ‘Yes. I need to get some sleep before I go back in early.’ She glanced at the clock on the cooker. It was after eleven thirty.

  ‘I’ll let you get to bed then.’

  They were heading towards the front door when Bernie remembered something.

  ‘Oh, I wanted to ask you, do you know a man called Rupert Fox? He’s a surveyor.’

  ‘God, yes. He’s a bloody nightmare. He does a lot of the mortgage surveys. We all dread seeing him.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because if it’s him doing the survey, you can pretty much guarantee that he’ll find something wrong with the property and either the sale will fall through, or what happens more often, the vendor ends up dropping the price. Either way, we, as the estate agents, are stuffed.’

  ‘Some might say that’s a good thing.’

  Alex laughed. ‘Yeah, I know – we don’t have the best reputation. But at the end of the day, it’s the vendor who really suffers here, losing money, and that’s not on.’

  Bernie closed the door behind Alex. She was tired but her mind was awash with conflicting emotions. She wished Pops was still around to talk to.

  But maybe there was someone she could talk to. Bernie reached for her phone as she went upstairs to bed. She sent a text.

  Are you still up?

  Within seconds, her phone began to ring.

  ‘Hi, Gary. You didn’t have to ring. You could’ve just texted back.’

  ‘If my daughter is contacting me this late, she obviously needs my help.’

  ‘Thanks. Just needed someone to talk to. Alex and I have split up.’

  ‘Oh, that’s a shame. Are you sure you want to talk to me about it? Wouldn’t your mother be better?’

  ‘No. She’d only go all judgy on me.’

  ‘Why would she do that? What aren’t you telling me?’

  So Bernie poured out everything that had happened with Alex and Anderson over the previous few days.

  ‘OK. I can see why you came to me.’

  ‘Sorry. Just wanted to talk to a grown-up.’

  ‘Ha! Not sure that’s me. But for what it’s worth, I think you’ve done the right thing. And I guess you’ve got a lot on at the moment. I heard about the girl in the woods. Nasty business.’

  ‘Yes. Not that I can tell you much.’

  ‘Of course. On TV shows it’s always obvious, isn’t it? Last person who saw the victim.’

  ‘Proving a bit tricky to find that last person. Any other ideas?’

  ‘Is there a butler?’

  Bernie laughed. ‘And on that note, it’s time for bed. Thanks for listening.’

  ‘Anytime, Bernie. Good night.’

  ‘Night.’

  Bernie put her phone down and got ready for bed. She smiled, thinking about her father’s words. If only this case was as obvious as a TV drama.

  51

  Wednesday

  They sat in neat rows in the briefing room. Bernie was almost used to it now. Almost. She had her notebook and pen in hand, not just to take the minutes of the meeting but to try and work out the exact links between the two cases. She’d already scribbled
down Luke Davidson, Instagram, Laura, Chloe, Maria G – Ria? She still hadn’t heard back from Harriet Fox about the photo they’d sent but presumably she would contact the DCI.

  Worth was late, which was unusual for him. Even Jane was on time although she wasn’t entirely happy with Bernie.

  ‘Did you give Clive Bishop additional information yesterday?’ had been her opening line to Bernie.

  ‘Morning to you too. I might have given him an extra tiny detail. Very small.’

  ‘Thanks for that. The other journos are spitting blood this morning.’ Jane sat down next to Anderson.

  Bernie looked at her watch. Worth was now ten minutes late and everyone was getting restless. She was just about to stand up and lead the briefing herself when the DCI appeared.

  ‘Apologies for my lateness. I was on the phone to Harriet Fox. She only looked at her emails this morning. The woman you found on Instagram yesterday – Maria G – was their au pair, although, of course, they knew her as Rosa.’ He glanced towards Bernie. ‘Looks as though you were correct, DI Noel. I’m sure the Italian police will say the same and confirm her name as Maria Greco and hopefully provide some dental records to prove it.

  ‘Now, our assumption so far has been that the murderer was from here in Wiltshire. But DS Anderson told me last night that the mobile phone Ria was using was originally registered to a Bruno Manetti and they used to be in a relationship. Have you found out any more?’

  Anderson opened his notebook. ‘Yes, sir. I’ve asked for a search to be done on his name at all ports going back three weeks. So far, nothing has turned up but we can’t rule out him using a fake passport. I’m working closely with the Italians and my aim is to get a positive ID on our victim by the end of today.’