Detectives Merry & Neal Books 1-3

by JANICE FROST

  “Never better,” Ham said, sounding shaken.

  “You followed me? You were supposed to wait for an ambulance.”

  Ham grinned at her. “Lucky for you, I didn’t.”

  Ava pulled out her phone and called Neal. “Shaun’s safe. Please let his family know they’ll see him in about half an hour.” She turned to Ham. “Where’s Tess?”

  “Outside. In my car.”

  They took their charges outside, leaving the elderly woman with the two patrol officers. Ava thought briefly that this woman remained a shadow. She’d never recognise her if she met her again, yet they had both been through this shocking incident together.

  Ava strapped Shaun into her car and gave Tess a little wave. Her heart went out to the luckless girl. Maybe now she would find out what happened to her mother. First though, Ava was obliged to arrest Tess for child abduction. She did so reluctantly, after reassuring her that no harm had come to Shaun.

  Ham drove off with Saunders and Tess. Ava drove slowly out to the Pines’ place with Shaun. As soon as she drew up in their driveway, the Pines ran towards her car, with Neal close behind. Laura Cameron stood at the door.

  Neal and Ava waited while the Pines took their baby inside. Ava told Neal what had happened.

  “We need to question Saunders immediately,” he said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Ava nodded, though she was feeling shaky. “I’d like to speak with Laura,” she said. “She deserves to know who killed her husband.”

  “Whom we suspect of killing her husband,” Neal reminded her. “We have to follow procedure, Sergeant.” Then he smiled.

  Ava went upstairs and found Laura in her bedroom, packing. On the bed lay a piece of paper. Ava picked it up and saw that it was a sketch bearing Ewan Cameron’s signature. “This is the picture you and Gabe North found in the Pines’ loft?”

  “Yes. There’s a notebook full of them up there,” Laura answered, dully.

  “We are fairly certain we know who killed your husband, Mrs Cameron.”

  The jeans Laura had been folding dropped to the floor. She sat down heavily on the bed. “David? Or Rhona? Gabe North?”

  Ava sat beside her on the bed and took her hand in hers. “No. It was most likely a police officer, a Detective Inspector Reg Saunders. It’s still not clear what his motive was, but I’m going back to the station now with Inspector Neal to question him.” Still holding Laura’s hand, she told her most of the story.

  “I knew it couldn’t be my friends. There’s more though, isn’t there? What are you not telling me?” Laura sighed. “I’m so tired of people keeping things from me.”

  “I’m sorry, Laura. I don’t know any more than what I’ve told you. I promise I will get in touch with you as soon as I know the full story.”

  At last, Laura was crying. “He . . . he changed when he moved to Stromford. I knew he didn’t really love me when he begged me to marry him. I’d begun to fall out of love with him too. Then suddenly he was more like the old Ewan again and I thought we could just go back to how we were before. It was around the time of his falling out with David and I sensed something terrible must have happened. I should have insisted on knowing the truth.”

  Ava listened. Ewan — and the Pines too — had made use of Laura and her passive nature. Even now she was blaming herself.

  “You’re not to blame for any of this, Laura,” Ava said.

  Laura wiped her eyes. “Did . . . did Ewan kill Stephanie?”

  “We still don’t know.” Ava felt inadequate. She left Laura to finish packing and went downstairs. She joined Neal in the kitchen, where he was standing with one of the uniformed officers.

  “You sure you’re okay?” he asked again.

  Ava nodded. “Thanks to Hammond Bell. We should make sure he gets some sort of recognition for his action.”

  Neal nodded. “Let’s go. We’ll take my car. I’ll get one of the uniforms to drive yours back the station.”

  * * *

  Less than an hour later, they confronted Reg Saunders. He had declined legal representation and seemed willing to cooperate. He appeared to have aged several years since Ava had seen him earlier in the afternoon. He looked like a broken man. Next to her in the interview room, Neal seemed edgy.

  “Sorry I almost shot your girlfriend, Scotty.” Saunders gave Ava a half-hearted leer.

  Neal’s voice was cold. “Start talking, Reg. We know you and Stephanie’s sister Eloise were in a relationship before Stephanie disappeared. Your actions this afternoon show that you are guilty as hell . . .”

  Saunders straightened in his chair. He seemed to regain his cocksureness. “But what am I guilty of? Still bloody clueless, aren’t you?” he sneered.

  “Give it up, Reg. It’s only a matter of time before we establish that you killed Ewan Cameron. This afternoon you kidnapped a baby, took a woman hostage and almost shot two police officers. That’s plenty to be charging you with while we puzzle out the rest. It will be very interesting to hear what Eloise has to say when we talk to her.”

  Suddenly it dawned on Ava, in a flash of intuition. “It was Eloise who killed Stephanie, wasn’t it? You botched the investigation to protect her, didn’t you?”

  Saunders’s tone was still mocking but sweat was running down his forehead. “Well done, Merry. Not such a dumb blonde after all.”

  Then he broke. Ava and Neal waited. Saunders sat, head in hands. Neal pressed him to explain what happened the night Stephanie ‘disappeared.’

  Saunders’s voice was flat and expressionless. “It was an accident. Steph called Eloise and asked her to come to Cameron and Pine’s flat, saying there was an emergency. When Eloise got there she found Ewan Cameron out of his head on drugs. Steph was scared that he’d overdosed and she wanted Eloise to get something to bring him round. She was — is a pharmacist. Eloise took a look at Cameron and didn’t think he was in imminent danger. She advised Steph to call an ambulance. Then Steph asked her for money. They quarrelled and Eloise pushed her sister. She hit her head on the hearth. It was a freak accident, that’s all, but Eloise was scared no one would believe that. She called me. I had to act quickly. I staged things to make it look like Ewan had pushed her. They were both high. I thought it would be easy enough to steer the investigation a certain way to make Cameron seem guilty. He wouldn’t be able to remember a thing.”

  There was a long pause. “And?” Neal asked.

  “And then Steph’s body disappeared and the Pines gave Ewan Cameron an alibi. They covered things up to protect him.”

  “Christ. What a bloody mess,” Neal said under his breath.

  “Those two idiots must have got rid of Steph’s body. Don’t ask me what they did with it. In a way it made things easier. No body, no evidence. I just had to make sure the investigation was closed as quickly as possible.”

  “And no one really cared what happened to a ‘woman like Steph,’ anyway,” Ava added.

  “It was better for everyone. Steph had been a drain on Eloise financially and emotionally for years.”

  “Convenient for her, wasn’t it? Steph falling over and hitting her head like that,” Ava said.

  “It was an accident.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “And Ewan Cameron?” Neal asked. “Why did you kill him?”

  Saunders shrugged. “He came to me because he knew I’d investigated Steph’s disappearance. Said he was tired of living with Steph’s death on his conscience. He wanted to confess and serve his time.” Saunders paused. “Obviously I didn’t want the case to be reopened. Cameron’s confession would have opened a whole can of worms. Forensics has moved on a lot since the original investigation, not to mention the fact that the flat Cameron shared with Pine had never been examined. And Cameron had no idea what became of the body of the woman he was supposed to have killed.”

  Ava glanced at Neal.

  Saunders had nothing to lose now, and so he went on. “I made up some story about having to drive him out to the Pines�
� place to consolidate the evidence. Before we left my house, I slipped him a roofie in a glass of brandy. The rest was easy enough. Or it would have been if it hadn’t been for those damn kids. I’d planned to bury his body in the woods by Stainholme Abbey, but I had to abandon that plan when I thought they’d seen me. Then Cameron’s bloody car disappeared, so I was forced to dump his body and leg it home. Fucking farce.”

  “You must have loved her a lot,” Ava said.

  Saunders gave a bitter laugh. “Fat lot of good it did me. As soon as she got what she wanted, she got shot of me faster than a dog can lick its arse.”

  Ava didn’t understand. “What did Eloise want?”

  Saunders shook his head. “Tess. Eloise wanted Steph’s kid. Couldn’t have any of her own and she didn’t give a shit about being with me. Once she had the kid she didn’t need me anymore.”

  * * *

  While Ava waited for Neal in the staff kitchen she congratulated PJ on her good work in finding the link between Saunders and Eloise. PJ invited Ava to join her and Steve at the Crown for a meal, but the case wasn’t finished yet. There was another car journey to be made.

  David and Rhona Pine sat next to each other at the kitchen table. At last they told the truth about what had happened on the night Stephanie Woodson left her home and never returned. As they spoke, Laura crept into the room and sat perched on a stool, listening.

  David spoke first. “Steph was modelling for an art class at the college. The moment Ewan set eyes on her, he was bewitched.”

  Laura flinched.

  “Steph wasn’t the least bit interested in him, but she slept with him a couple of times. Ewan gave her money and bought drugs for her, even though he had hardly any money himself. Steph made Ewan swear he wouldn’t tell anyone about their ‘relationship.’” David paused, glanced over at Laura and went on. “Rhona and I guessed what was going on. We urged him to stop seeing Steph, stop taking drugs, but he was hooked — on both.”

  Rhona sat clutching David’s hand, her face white.

  “That night, Rhona and I were out. We were going out for drinks then on to a party, but it was called off at the last minute, so we got home early.”

  Quietly, Rhona began to sob. David squeezed her hand.

  “When we got back to our flat, we found Steph lying on the floor in Ewan’s room. There was blood on the carpet around her head and . . . and . . . she wasn’t moving. I knelt by her side and felt for a pulse in her wrist, then her neck, though I knew she was dead. Her eyes were open, they looked glassy . . .” David faltered.

  “Was Mr Cameron in the bedroom too, Mr Pine?” Neal asked.

  “He was lying on the bed, unconscious — or so it seemed. Drugged up. He had blood on his hand and . . . well it seemed obvious what must have happened.”

  “You made the assumption that Mr Cameron had killed Stephanie Woodson?” Neal’s stare took in both of them.

  Rhona, still speechless, managed to nod.

  “May I ask why you took it upon yourselves to make that judgement? Why didn’t you contact the police?”

  David mumbled something inaudible. “Louder, Mr Pine, please,” Neal said.

  “Ewan was my best friend. I wanted to help him.”

  “And you, Mrs Pine?”

  Rhona looked at Laura. “I . . . Yes.”

  “Yes what?”

  “I wanted to help Ewan too,” Rhona sobbed.

  “It didn’t occur to you that Stephanie Woodson had people who cared about her? She had a daughter, for pity’s sake. That same daughter was so desperate to learn the truth about her mother’s disappearance that she abducted your son, making a criminal of herself.”

  “Rhona had nothing to do with it. It was all my idea. I’m willing to take all the blame,” David Pine said quietly.

  “How very gallant of you.”

  “I . . . don’t understand,” Rhona said. “If Ewan didn’t kill Steph, who did?”

  “We believe it was Steph’s sister: Eloise Woodson. Steph called her because she thought Ewan had overdosed. She hoped her sister, who is a pharmacist, could help.”

  Rhona looked puzzled.

  Ava added, “Another person arranged the crime scene to make it look as though Ewan killed Steph.” With an apologetic glance at Neal, she added, “It was a policeman who was seeing Eloise at the time.”

  Suddenly Laura Cameron jumped down from her stool and crossed to the table. “You believed Ewan had killed someone? And whose decision was it not to tell me any of this? To let me marry a man you believed was a murderer?”

  Rhona stared at the smooth surface of the table, unable, it seemed, to meet Laura’s eye. Finally David spoke. “You have to understand, Laura. We were just kids. We didn’t know what to do. We were thinking of you and Ewan, Laura. The life you could still have together. Ewan had loved you once. We were sure he could again and that resuming his relationship with you would help him—”

  “Atone?” Laura spat out.

  “Be a good person again,” David finished.

  “You’re despicable, both of you. Your perfect life, here in your lovely home, with your lovely children.” She laughed. “Some penance you’re doing!”

  Ava decided to intervene. “Mrs Cameron, let the police deal with this matter. Why don’t you bring your case downstairs and I’ll arrange for one of our officers to drive you to a hotel?”

  Laura turned to go. At the door, she paused. “I never want to see you again, either one of you. Ever!”

  Neal asked the Pines what they had done with Stephanie Woodson’s body.

  “We put her in the boot of our car and drove up towards Edinburgh. We stopped somewhere in the Borders and buried her in the woods,” David said.

  Neal sighed. “Somewhere in the Borders? We’re going to need you to be a bit more specific than that, Mr Pine. Tess Woodson deserves to see her mother’s remains respectfully laid to rest.”

  “I . . . I think I could find the spot again,” David said.

  “We wrapped her in a sheet,” Rhona added. “It was a silk one. Pale blue. My grandmother gave it to me for Christmas because she knew I had delicate skin.”

  Perhaps, thought Ava, Rhona’s ‘atonement’ had begun the moment she pulled the sheet from its drawer.

  “What happens next, Inspector? Are my wife and I under arrest?”

  Rhona stared at her husband. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Ava looked at Neal, thinking of the three children upstairs.

  Neal sighed again. “You’ll be advised in due course,” was all he said.

  * * *

  Ava followed Neal out to the car.

  “Feeling exhausted?” he asked. “It’s not every day you have to relieve a colleague of his gun.”

  “I’m fine. When did you realise Saunders was involved?”

  “PJ messaged me to say there was a photograph of him in Eloise’s house. She didn’t know what it might signify but she thought it was noteworthy. Saunders must have picked up where you were when Ham radioed in his location.”

  “What a mess. Makes you feel sorry for him, doesn’t it? Almost.”

  Neal shook his head. “We still have to prove that Saunders killed Cameron. Despite his blabbing earlier, he’ll probably plead not guilty once he’s lawyered up.”

  “There’s the inhaler Zak dropped when he ran away. Saunders picked it up and put it in his pocket. I found the top when I was searching the woods the day we found Cameron’s body. Dan in forensics has it bagged and tagged. If we can find the other part at Saunders’s place . . .” Ava frowned. “Then there’s the fact that he had a motive. And he did try to shoot me . . .” Ava was feeling very tired now and feared she was babbling.

  Neal laughed. “That should be enough to be getting on with, Sergeant.”

  Ava stopped talking. What was happening to her boss? That was at least three times she’d heard him laugh. His trip to Scotland must have done him some good after all. She smiled, and shook her hair loose. A few strands clung to the
sleeve of Neal’s jacket. Out of the corner of her eye, Ava caught her boss looking down at the silky blonde threads. Ava smiled again and closed her eyes.

  THE END

  DS MERRY & DI NEAL SERIES

  Book 1: DEAD SECRET

  Book 2: DARK SECRET

  Book 3: HER HUSBAND’S SECRET

  Book 4: THEIR FATAL SECRETS

  Book 5: DIRTY SECRETS

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  Glossary of English Slang for US readers

  A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital

  Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression

  Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets

  Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)

  Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings

  A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18

  Auld Reekie: Edinburgh

  Badger-baiting: illegal sport where badgers are drawn from their setts and killed by dogs

  Barm: bread roll

  Barney: argument

  Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids

  Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle

  Benefits: social security

  Bent: corrupt

  Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)

  Biscuit: cookie

  Bloke: guy

  Blow: cocaine

  Blower: telephone

  Bob: money

  Bobby: policeman

  Brass monkeys: cold, as in cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

  Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead

  Bun: small cake

  Bunk: do a bunk means escape

  Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant

  Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit

  Charity Shop: thrift store

  Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket

  Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for

  Car park: parking lot

  Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments