by Sue Fortin
‘This is a crazy idea.’
‘I don’t care. It’s what I’m doing,’ said Neve.
‘Wait, you can’t go on your own. Let me come with you.’
‘No. I couldn’t do that.’
‘Why not?’ Jake looked intently at Neve. ‘In fact, I insist on coming with you if you’re going to do this crazy thing.’
Neve couldn’t deny the feeling of relief that kicked the nerves down. She would never have asked Jake outright to come with her. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘Thank you, Jake.’
She called Willow and as they made their way back to the car, in what seemed a spontaneous action, Jake slipped his arm across her shoulders and gave her a brief hug.
‘Just thought you needed one,’ he said.
Neve smiled. ‘You thought right. Thank you.’ She would like to have stayed in his embrace a little longer, but she knew she didn’t have time and hurried over to the car, with Jake at one side and Willow the other. Within a few minutes they were heading out of the village and towards the South Downs.
‘Are you sure about this?’ asked Jake. ‘You really don’t want to involve the police?’
‘Positive,’ she said, not taking her eyes from the road. She had to stay calm. She couldn’t waiver now. This was her chance, her last chance to make things right with Kit.
After driving for ten minutes, Neve pulled over into a small layby. Looking out of the window ahead of them up on the hill was the iconic landmark, visible from miles across the countryside, Halnaker Windmill. The eighteenth-century brick-built structure, with its four white sails, looked majestic on the crown of the hill.
Neve re-read the instructions. ‘OK, it says after parking here, there will be another note under a stone to the right of gate post.’
‘It must mean over there, at the stile,’ remarked Jake.
‘I’ll leave Willow in the car,’ said Neve, making sure the rear windows were both open an inch and the dog’s water bowl was filled with fresh water. She gave Willow her chewy toy, which was stuffed with treats. ‘Won’t be long. Good girl.’
‘It’s pretty deserted up here,’ said Jake, as they left the car. ‘Apart from those houses.’
Two farm cottages flanked the foot of the hill, marking the start of the old Roman road which passed adjacent to the windmill.
‘Never mind that,’ said Neve, walking over to the stile. She looked on the ground and had she not been looking for it, wouldn’t have noticed the stone, sticking out from under a clump of stinging nettles. She pushed the stingers back with her foot and keeping them squashed to the ground, lifted up the stone to reveal a white piece of paper, folded in half.
Jake looked over her shoulder as she read the note.
‘The windmill,’ said Neve aloud. ‘It just says the windmill.’ She looked up the tree lined path which ran from north to south. About a quarter of a mile along, a track branched off and a footpath led up to Halnaker Windmill. ‘Poppy is in the mill?’ she said, more to herself than to Jake.
‘I still think …’
‘No! Don’t even say it,’ interrupted Neve, already climbing over the stile. She jumped down, landing on two feet and immediately set off at a run up the stony track.
Jake ran to catch her up. ‘Let’s just be cautious. We don’t know if that’s where Poppy is. It might just be another note.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Neve, puffing slightly now. ‘Something is telling me she’s there. The mill has been closed for repairs for the last three months. It’s the ideal place to keep her.’
‘You think she’s been there all this time?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe she’s been held somewhere else and they’ve brought her here now.’
Neve stumbled her way as quickly as possible over the uneven Roman road, climbed the second stile and set off to the left. The last climb up the hill along the edge of a field before they reached the old mill.
‘I can’t see anyone about,’ said Jake as they approached the gate which lead to the mill at the top of the hill.
‘Poppy!’ called out Neve. ‘Poppy! Are you here?’
Even though her legs felt as if they had been encased in concrete after the fast and undignified scramble up to the hill, Neve managed to find some energy to break into a run. Fuelled by adrenalin, she ran towards the eight foot high metal fencing that surrounded the mill.
Neve shook the fencing. It was too heavy to move. She hurried round so she could see the opening to the mill. And then from the blackness beyond emerged the huddled figure of Poppy.
The child’s tear-streaked face, with tousled hair, looked up at her. She was clutching a blanket around her shoulders.
‘Oh, dear God,’ cried Neve. ‘Poppy, darling. It’s OK. I’m here. Jake! Help me with this fencing.’ She turned to see what was taking Jake so long but the sight that met her paralysed her.
Jake was being held by two policemen in uniform and hi-vis jackets. His face the picture of confusion and fear. Three men, who Neve assumed were police officers, dressed in black riot type gear, pointing guns at her, rushed towards her.
‘Armed Police! Stop where you are. Put your hands in the air.’
Voices shouted these commands at her. People rushed towards her. Suddenly someone had their hand on her shoulder and was pushing her to the ground. Too much was happening all at once for Neve to take in.
‘Poppy!’ she cried out, her only thought of how alarmed and frightened her daughter would be.
A plain-clothed police officer appeared to be in charge and was shouting orders at his team. ‘Someone get the bolt cutters.’
Lying on the cold damp grass, Neve felt her hands being pulled behind her back and the cold metal handcuffs being fixed in place. ‘What are you doing?’ she yelled. ‘Why are you handcuffing me? Stop it!’
‘Please, Mrs Masters, don’t fight against the cuffs,’ said the one in charge. ‘OK, stand her up.’
Neve was hauled to her feet and one of the officers began to search her pockets. She pulled out the two notes. ‘Sir. You might want to look at these,’ said the female officer. She then checked Neve’s other coat pocket, pulling out a key on a red tag. ‘What’s this key for?’ she asked Neve.
Neve looked at the key and then up at the officer. She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.’
‘You’re saying it’s not your key?’
‘No. It’s not.’ Neve looked beyond the senior officer’s shoulder at Poppy standing in the doorway. Looking up under her fringe, Poppy’s eyes wildly searched the scene in front of her. She looked bewildered and frightened. Neve called out to her. ‘It’s OK, darling. We’ll soon have you out. Don’t worry. It’s all over now.’
The senior officer inspected the key and then walking over to the fencing, tried it in the padlock. The lock pinged open and the chain fell against the metal fencing with a clatter. He looked back at Neve and raised his eyebrows. ‘Never seen it before, eh?’
A medical crew appeared from somewhere behind Neve and together with another female officer, rushed through the now open fence, swooping Poppy up, with reassuring words that she was safe, while another team of armed police swept the building, declaring it clear within a matter of seconds.
‘That key is not mine. I promise,’ said Neve, struggling to be let free. All she wanted to do was to get to Poppy and cuddle her and hold her. ‘Please, let me go. I need to see my daughter.’
The senior officer shook his head. ‘Neve Masters, I’m arresting you for the kidnap of Poppy Masters, anything you say …’
The rest of the words were lost as Neve screamed out to Poppy and Poppy screamed back to Neve, calling each other’s names over and over again before Poppy was led away by the paramedics.
Chapter 23
Neve rubbed her wrists where the handcuffs had been. It seemed a totally unnecessary thing to do. She was hardly going to run off anywhere. All she was grateful for was that Poppy had been rescued and, she prayed to God, that she hadn’t been
harmed in any way. She took a sip from the glass of water on the desk in front of her and looked around the interview room.
A tape recorder was on the side of the desk and she assumed they were going to record her interview as she was under caution. So far, Neve had declined to answer any questions until she saw her solicitor and had been allowed to phone Kit to say where she was. It had been quite a surreal telephone conversation.
‘DCI Pearson has just told me,’ said Kit. ‘Look, Neve, I have no idea what the fuck is going on. Right now I’m on my way to the hospital to see Poppy. I’ve already called Edward and he’ll be with you anytime now. He said do not say anything until he has spoken to you.’
Neve breathed a sigh of relief. Edward, their solicitor, was an old-school, take-no-prisoners type of solicitor. She’d want him defending her any day. ‘Thank you,’ she managed to eke out.
‘Neve,’ said Kit, his voice turning solemn. ‘DCI Pearson said you were …’ The words faded away.
‘Involved? I know, but it’s not true, Kit. You have to believe me.’
‘But what the hell were you doing there? Why didn’t you tell me?’
She imagined Kit running his hand through his hair, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips, an agitated look on his face. ‘I can’t speak here,’ said Neve. ‘But believe me, I did not have anything to do with it.’
‘They said Jake was with you,’ said Kit and she could hear the tension in his voice.
‘Please. I really can’t speak now,’ she paused, before continuing. ‘Just remember that I love you. I know things have been shit lately but, Kit, I love you and I love Poppy. This will all get sorted. I promise.’
Kit had hung up, leaving Neve listening to the continuous drone of the dial tone. She replaced the receiver and the police officer had taken her back to the interview room.
It was another twenty minutes before Edward arrived.
‘Hello, Neve,’ he said, walking round and giving her a kiss on the cheek. ‘How are you bearing up? Do you need anything?’
‘Hi, Edward. I’m fine. Well, you know. Not fine being here but fine otherwise and no, I don’t need anything, thanks. Do you know how Poppy is?’
‘She’s in safe hands at the hospital. As far as I know, she’s unharmed but obviously shaken by the ordeal,’ said Edward. ‘Much the same as you, I expect. Now, have you said anything at all to the police? Made any comment whatsoever? Even something like, I didn’t do it. I’m innocent.’
Neve thought back. ‘Err, I’m not sure. If I said anything it would only to have been to protest my innocence. I might have said something like, I had nothing to do with this.’
Edward opened his notebook. ‘Right, that’s good. Now, you’ve been arrested on suspicion of abduction. The other charges they are potentially looking at will be things like, holding a person against their will, perverting the course of justice, interfering with a police inquiry and withholding evidence and the like.’
‘That’s quite a list for an innocent person,’ said Neve.
Edward nodded and grunted in acknowledgement. ‘Before we go any further, Neve,’ he said, looking up and leaning back in his chair. ‘Is there anything I need to know?’
‘About what?’
‘Anything that might help me or prepare me in defending you here?’
Neve shook her head, whilst acknowledging that if ever there was a time to come clean about what she had done, then it was now. But self-preservation was a strange beast. She imagined it was like when a person was fighting for their life, they’d do or say anything to stall for time, to keep them alive for just a minute more. And that was what she was doing now. Living from one minute to the next, all the time keeping just a little bit ahead.
‘Are you sure?’ pressed Edward.
Did he know? Was he testing her honesty? There was no way of telling. For now she’d brazen it out. ‘Positive,’ she replied.
Edward looked at her for what seemed like a long moment, before appearing to come to a decision. He sat forward. ‘OK, that’s good. I don’t like surprises.’ He smiled at her. ‘Do you want to tell me from the beginning what happened?’
‘Where from?’
‘From this morning.’
‘I was the first one up and I found a note on the doormat,’ began Neve. ‘We had received one before and I assumed it was from the same person.’
‘What did the previous note say?’ asked Edward, as he made notes in his Moleskine notebook, aided by his no doubt highly expensive, fountain pen. The blue ink gracing the paper in wave-like motions.
‘It was implicating me in having something to do with Poppy’s disappearance. I can’t remember the exact words, but the police have it. I showed it to the family liaison officer, Sally. Kit said it was probably some nutcase. You know how the media attention brings out the weirdos. The note came after the press conference,’ said Neve.
‘And the second note? Tell me about that.’
I came downstairs this morning and there was this other note on the doormat. I was fully expecting it to be one from the previous nutter. But it wasn’t. It said if I wanted to see Poppy again I was to follow the instructions below.’
‘Which were?’
‘Not to tell anyone. To take ten thousand from the bank and go to Halnaker Windmill.’
‘That’s not a great deal of money for a ransom,’ said Edward.
‘I did think that. But I did what it said and took the money from the bank.’
‘And you didn’t tell the police about the note?’
‘No. It said not to involve the police.’ Neve dropped her gaze. ‘I thought – I thought I could be the hero of the hour. It was silly of me. Foolish. Vain.’ She stopped talking and looked up at Edward. ‘I don’t know if Kit has said anything to you, but we’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch.’
‘Not in so many words, but I got the impression the last couple of times I’ve spoken to him.’
‘I thought if I could rescue Poppy, it would make everything right between us. That he would love me again, like he used to. This sounds so bloody stupid when I say it out loud, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I couldn’t have been. I should have told the police there and then, but I didn’t.’
A tear leaked its way from Neve’s eye and streaked down her face. Edward fished out a packet of tissues from his briefcase and passed them over.
‘Ever the Boy Scout,’ he said.
‘Thank you.’ Neve took a few moments to compose herself again. ‘I let my vanity and stupid idea get the better of me and decided I’d go along with it. I took Willow for a walk along the river path. Just to clear my head and to pluck up courage really. I bumped into Jake.’
‘Jake …’ Edwards consulted his notes. ‘Jake Rees, the man who was arrested with you.’
‘He’s my art therapy tutor.’
‘Art therapy? May I ask why?’
‘I’m estranged from my family. It was to get over that really. You know, issues and all that.’ She left Edward to fill in the gaps.
‘So, you bumped into Jake. How did he come to go along with you?’
‘I told him about the note and he didn’t want me to go on my own. He said I should go to the police but when he realised I wasn’t going to, he said he’d come with me.’
‘What made you confide in Jake? You didn’t say anything to Kit, but you seemed quite happy to tell your art teacher.’
‘Jake has turned out to be a very good friend of mine. He saw I was upset. It seemed easier telling someone who wasn’t directly involved. Besides, he was my therapist, it seemed easier to talk to him.’
‘A good friend, you say. Just a good friend?’
Neve looked Edward in the eye. ‘Just a good friend.’
Edward made more notes in his pad. ‘So, what happened next?’
Neve proceeded to tell Edward how they had gone up to Stane Street and found the second note, before running up to the mill and finding the fencing locked. ‘And the next thing I knew, the
police were there arresting me. Honestly, Edward, this is like some sort of nightmare.’
‘Now the police are saying they followed you up there after a tip-off,’ said Edward. ‘I don’t suppose you know who that could be?’
‘A tip-off? Someone knew what I was doing?’
‘Maybe watching you. It wouldn’t have been Jake, would it? If he was the only person you told.’
‘I’ve no idea. Maybe someone from the bank?’ said Neve. ‘The bank clerk did look at me a bit odd when I said I wanted to withdraw ten thousand pounds.’
‘Well, we won’t dwell on that just yet,’ said Edward. ‘From what you’ve told me, none of this indicates your involvement in the kidnapping of Poppy. However, bringing into play the fact that the police found a key to the padlock on you, puts a whole different spin on things. How did it end up in your pocket?’
‘Oh, Edward. I have no idea,’ said Neve, aware that a sob was rising in her throat. ‘I honestly don’t. I mean, why would I be shouting to Poppy and rattling the fencing if I had a key? Surely, I would have just got it out of my pocket. It’s ludicrous to suggest I was involved and how could I be?’
‘It still doesn’t rationally explain the key in your pocket and that is what the police are hinging this on.’
‘Someone must have put it there,’ said Neve, wiping at her face again with the tissue. ‘I can’t think of any other explanation.’
‘Someone planted the key to put you in the frame?’
‘Yes! They must have done.’
‘Right, before we get carried away with this idea, we must look at how they planted the key. Why? – we’ll keep that for later,’ said Edward, tapping the notepad with the end of his pen. ‘It was found in your pocket. Who had access to your coat?’
‘It was hanging up at home. So, Sally and Kit.’
‘Anyone else? A cleaner? Kit’s mum? When did you last wear the coat?’
‘Yesterday, when I was handing out missing posters in town.’
‘And you didn’t find the key in your pocket then?’