A Knot of Sparrows

by Cheryl Rees-Price

  Donald felt a coldness creep over him. Gwyn Rees continued to talk but he wasn’t listening to what he was saying. He knew who lay beneath the earth. He was never supposed to be found. He backed away from the crowd, he didn’t want to be there anymore, not now they had dug him up. Images of a body covered in maggots flooded his mind. What would he look like now? The creatures of the earth would have been eating away at him, he thought. The cake curdled in his stomach as he hurried across the road.

  ‘Did you find out what’s going on?’ his mother asked as soon as he walked in the house.

  ‘No.’ Donald went to his bedroom and shut the door.

  He paced back and forth, his skin prickling with anxiety. He wanted to crawl back into bed, pull the cover over his head and hide from the world. He felt so scared and alone. His only option was to leave but he didn’t know where to go. It would have to be a place that no one would find him. The cave up on the mountain, he thought. No one would think of looking there. He would need food and a blanket to keep warm. He emptied the contents of his school bag onto the floor and began stuffing it with clothes. He’d have to wait until night to take food from the cupboards and sneak out. He found some money laying around, checked his phone was fully charged, put it in his pocket and left the bedroom. He had enough to buy some food and a bottle of water. He’d take it to the cave now and come back. He figured then he wouldn’t have so much to carry.

  He was halfway down the stairs when he heard a knock on the door. He retreated and listened from the landing.

  ‘It’s the police to see you, Donald,’ his mother called.

  Donald froze. They can’t know anything yet, he told himself. They just need to ask some questions. He forced himself to move. He walked into the sitting room and saw a pretty dark-haired woman and a stocky policeman. He looked intimidating with his black vest with a radio clipped to the breast.

  ‘Hello, Donald, I’m Detective Constable Valentine and this is Officer Hanes. We would like you to come to the station with us to answer a few questions. We will also need to take your mobile phone, computer and any other device that is connected to the internet.’

  ‘What? No.’ Donald backed away. ‘I didn’t do anything.’ Donald felt the air go out of his lungs and he tried to draw in a breath, but the room was airless. He kept sucking in the air until he felt light-headed.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Valentine said.

  ‘What’s this about?’ Donald’s father demanded.

  ‘We need to speak to Donald in connection to the murder of Stacey Evans.’

  ‘He doesn’t know anything about it. Can’t you ask him your questions here? You’re scaring the boy.’

  ‘I’m sorry, we have to take him to the station,’ Valentine said. ‘Your mum and dad can come with you and one of them will be able to stay with you during the interview.’

  Donald didn’t want his mum or dad listening to what they would ask him. Didn’t want them knowing what he had done.

  ‘I don’t feel well,’ Donald said.

  ‘Come on now,’ Hanes said. ‘Let’s start by getting your computer, shall we?’ He took an evidence bag from his pocket and held it open. ‘If you’d like to pop your phone in there for me.’

  Donald thought about what was on his phone. He should have got rid of it. His mum and dad would see and know what he did. His stomach clenched and without warning he vomited; it hit the floor and splattered Hanes’ trousers. He turned and fled, taking the stairs two at a time. He could hear the police behind him. He managed to get into the bathroom and lock the door.

  ‘Donald!’ Hanes rapped his knuckles on the door.

  They would break the door down if he didn’t come out, he thought. Maybe he could get through the window. ‘I’ve had an accident. I need to change my trousers,’ he said.

  He could hear the police whispering behind the door.

  ‘Okay, Donald, be quick, I’m going to wait outside,’ Valentine said.

  Donald turned the bath taps on full then opened the window. He managed to squeeze out and land on the extension roof. He was scared of heights but with the threat of the police behind him he didn’t stop to think. He jumped off the roof, landing awkwardly. Ignoring the pain, he ran to the bottom of the garden and over the fence. He kept running, his chest hurt, and pain shot through his ankle, but he didn’t stop until he reached the open fields. He crept along, keeping close to the hedge then sprinted to the barn. Inside, he climbed the stack of hay. He moved several bales until he had made a hole big enough to climb into then slid the bales above his head. He took out his phone and looked through the numbers. There had to be someone to help him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Only Paskin was in the office when Edris and Meadows got back to the station. It had been a long day waiting for the body to be moved and talking to the locals, all of whom hadn’t seen any strange activity in the graveyard.

  ‘You managed to get in then,’ Edris said. He took off his coat and sat down.

  ‘Yeah, car’s a right off,’ Paskin said.

  ‘Where are Blackwell and Valentine?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘The search didn’t turn up anything, so Blackwell let Bill Jones go as he had given a DNA sample. He grunted something and went off. He’s in a hell of a mood. Valentine isn’t back yet. I think she’s avoiding Blackwell.’

  ‘Give her a call and tell her to come in. There is little point continuing to search for Donald in the dark. He can’t have got far. Get a picture sent to the local bus depot so they can look out for him. The likelihood is that he’s hiding in some outbuilding. We can start again in the morning.’

  Meadows took a look at the incident board and saw a picture of his arm with the Bible verse. He turned to Edris. ‘Right, you better tell me everything you know about the day Dr Rowlands went missing.’

  Edris took out his notebook and flicked through. ‘His wife, Linda Rowlands, reported him missing on Tuesday morning the 29th of September after she received a call from the surgery to say he hadn’t turned up for work.’

  ‘So, over three weeks ago,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Yeah, about that,’ Edris said. ‘He hadn’t arranged any cover for work. We called in to speak to Linda, took some details, asked the usual questions. He had taken a call and left the house about ten thirty on the Monday evening to visit a housebound patient.’

  ‘Linda went to bed and assumed he had come home late, slept in the spare room and gone off to work early. We called in at the surgery. Calls are handled through a call centre after hours. A call out was made for a Mrs Iris Hawkins, an eighty-year-old widow. We checked and Iris claimed she didn’t make a call or see the doctor that evening. We then got a message from Linda that afternoon to say the doctor had sent a text saying he was sorry, that he no longer loved her, and he would be in touch about the house and finances.’

  ‘Well, it looks like he didn’t send that text,’ Meadows said.

  At that moment Blackwell sauntered into the room with an aura of discontent.

  ‘You’ve heard we found the doctor’s body,’ Edris said.

  ‘You found his wallet with a body,’ Blackwell snapped. ‘For all you know the doctor could have done someone in then taken off.’

  ‘I don’t think that is likely,’ Meadows said.

  Valentine came through the door looking stressed.

  ‘Well?’ Blackwell said.

  ‘Nothing, we’ve searched everywhere. He doesn’t have any friends. We checked with Sarah Kelly and the vicar as well as some of the other church members. No one has heard from him. Other than send out a search and rescue, I don’t know what else to do.’

  Blackwell huffed. ‘What the hell were you thinking?’

  ‘He’d thrown up everywhere and had an upset stomach. I was outside the bathroom the whole time. I didn’t know he was going to take off.’

  ‘You should have cuffed the little fucker and brought him in. He could have got changed here.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Valentine said.
/>   ‘Yeah, you better hope another body doesn’t turn up.’

  ‘Leave her alone,’ Edris said. ‘You thought the doctor had run off. I told you there was something odd about his disappearance.’

  ‘You can shut the fuck up.’ Colour rose in Blackwell’s face. ‘I acted on the information available. Valentine felt sorry for the kid and it clouded her judgement. Next time, you break the door down; on second thoughts I’ll do the bloody job myself.’

  ‘You’re being a dick,’ Edris said.

  ‘Enough,’ Meadows said.

  Blackwell snapped his head towards Meadows. He looked like he was about to retort when he grabbed his left arm and the colour drained from his face.

  ‘Blackwell, are you okay?’ Meadows asked moving towards him.

  Blackwell shook his head as he tried to move to the desk, but he staggered and landed on the floor.

  ‘Call an ambulance,’ Meadows said as he knelt next to Blackwell who appeared to be gasping for breath. He loosened Blackwell’s tie and collar, then positioned him against the desk. ‘Try and take slow breaths, Stefan.’ He could see the panic in Blackwell’s eyes. ‘You’re going to be okay. Anyone got any aspirin?’ Meadows asked.

  Paskin managed to find some in her bag and handed them to Meadows with a glass of water.

  ‘Here, try and swallow this,’ Meadows held the glass to Blackwell’s lips.

  ‘Call my father,’ Blackwell said as he winced with pain.

  ‘I’ll do it now,’ Paskin said.

  ‘Try and stay quiet,’ Meadows said. ‘Help is on the way.’

  Meadows was relieved when the paramedics arrived and took over.

  ‘I’ll go with him,’ Valentine said as they put Blackwell onto a stretcher.

  ‘Okay,’ Meadows said. ‘Keep us updated.’

  The office fell silent once Blackwell had left. Meadows turned to Paskin. ‘Are you alright?’

  ‘Yes, I’m a bit shocked, that’s all. Poor Blackwell. I guess he wasn’t feeling well and that’s why he was in such a bad mood.’

  ‘You may be right.’

  ‘I shouldn’t have had a go at him,’ Edris said.

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Meadows said. ‘It isn’t anyone’s fault. I’m sure he’ll be okay, he was conscious and coherent which is a good sign.’

  Chris Harley from Tech came in holding a flash drive in his hand. ‘Bad time?’

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ Meadows said. ‘What have you got?’

  ‘I retrieved some files from the laptop that came in this morning. Thought the videos would interest you. They’ve been uploaded from the phone and deleted, sat in the recycle bin so an easy job.’

  ‘Okay let’s take a look,’ Meadows said.

  They gathered around the computer and a list of files came up.

  ‘Mainly of the same girl and man,’ Chris said.

  Meadows clicked on a file dated in June and clicked play. It was the same location as the last video, but this time Stacey was wearing a summer dress and the man was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. Even though his face couldn’t be seen, this time a tattoo was visible on his right arm. Meadows paused the video.

  ‘Can you get that tattoo enhanced?’

  ‘Yeah, no problem,’ Chris said.

  Meadows closed the video and opened a file dated from the previous year. This one showed Erin. It was taken on the mountain and she was aware she was being filmed. Another one showed her up the quarry placing stones on the ground. The next shot was taken from the top of the quarry looking down where the stones formed a picture of a unicorn.

  ‘That’s clever,’ Paskin said.

  ‘Yes,’ Meadows agreed as he paused the video. ‘She looks so happy and she was talented. I’m surprised Donald tried to delete these files.’

  ‘He didn’t,’ Chris said. ‘I just put on a sample for you to see. There are loads of them. I’ll send up a picture of the tattoo as soon as it’s done. I hope Blackwell will be okay.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘It looks like Donald had an unhealthy interest in Stacey,’ Edris said.

  ‘Yes, but that doesn’t mean that he killed her. He’s got a tight alibi, but I think he knows something. He can certainly identify the man in the video. We’ll get uniform to pick up the search in the morning. Paskin, can you do a background check on Dr Rowlands. After that, get yourself home. I’ll see you on Monday morning.’

  ‘Do you think the doctor’s murder is connected to Stacey?’ Edris asked.

  ‘It’s too much of a coincidence not to be. Two murders in the same village, about four weeks apart. We’ll have to wait for the post-mortem. If it’s the same killer then he would have left his mark somewhere. Come on, we better go and see the doctor’s wife before news gets out.’

  * * *

  The doctor’s house was situated just outside Gaer Fawr. A sprawling lawn with pruned trees led to a stone building with Georgian windows.

  ‘Nice place,’ Meadows commented.

  ‘Wait until you see inside. You would swear they were living in Mayfair. Really posh, not a sign of the country in sight.’

  ‘The question is how does a doctor afford all this? A local GP wouldn’t earn that much.’

  Linda Rowland opened the door and smiled at Edris. ‘Hello again. Have you come with news of my wandering husband?’

  ‘This is DI Meadows,’ Edris said. ‘May we come in?’

  ‘Of course.’ Linda stood back.

  ‘We’re sorry to call on you so late in the evening,’ Meadows said as they followed Linda into the sitting room.

  ‘It’s no problem, please take a seat.’

  She doesn’t seem overly concerned at our presence, Meadows thought as he took a seat on the cream leather sofa. He watched Linda take the armchair. She was dressed smartly, and he noticed a gold watch on her wrist. Her blonde hair was styled into a bob and her make-up pristine. He felt the first twist of anxiety as he prepared to deliver the news.

  ‘You may have heard that we found a body this morning in Gaer Fawr and I’m afraid that we have reason to believe it may be your husband.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘There will need to be a formal identification. In this case it will be best if we use dental records, but I think you should be prepared for the worst.’

  ‘I see.’

  Meadows waited for an emotional outburst, but none came.

  ‘Mrs Rowlands, is there someone we can call for you?’

  ‘You can call me Linda.’ She folded her hands on her lap. ‘I have a son in university and one working in Bristol. I’ll call them when you are sure.’

  ‘I understand that this must be a shock for you, but we will need to ask you a few questions. Maybe you’d like a friend to be with you.’

  ‘I’m fine. Would you like a cup of tea?’

  ‘No, thank you, but Edris can make one for you if you like.’

  She waved her hand. ‘Actually, I think I’ll have a glass of wine. I would ask you to join me but I’m sure you’re not allowed to drink on duty. If you’ll excuse me for a moment.’

  Linda left the room and Edris raised his eyebrows. Meadows was sure he was thinking the same thoughts. Linda Rowlands didn’t appear to be at all upset or shocked by the news.

  Linda returned carrying a glass and a bottle of wine. She poured herself a glass, took a sip and settled back on the armchair.

  ‘Does this have anything to do with St Herbert’s? I heard there was a lot of police activity there today.’

  ‘Yes,’ Meadows said.

  A little giggle escaped her mouth. ‘Imagine, I’ve been sitting in church every Sunday morning and he’s been there the whole time.’

  ‘We cannot be certain that it is your husband. All I can tell you is that his wallet was found with the body.’

  ‘Well, it seems a more plausible explanation for his disappearance.’

  ‘Than him running off with another woman?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Yes, it’s not like he was faithful, the c
omplete opposite. I did mind at first, but the arguments and apologies grew tiresome. We made an agreement that he would be discreet and not cause me embarrassment. It was easier than a divorce. The children were young, and I didn’t like the idea of selling the house and ending up struggling in some two-bedroom place in the middle of nowhere while he had a good time. You may find it a strange arrangement, but he didn’t question what I spent money on or if I took the boys on holiday.’

  ‘Was there anyone special that you knew about?’

  ‘No.’ Linda finished her wine and poured another glass. ‘He liked younger women. Didn’t matter if they were married or not. It did cause a couple of embarrassing moments a few years ago. I had the odd upset husband turning up at the house.’

  ‘Anyone you knew?’ Edris asked.

  ‘Anthony Evans.’

  ‘Stacey Evan’s father?’

  ‘Yes, Cloe Evans was one of my husband’s conquests. That was a few years back. I think he learned his lesson not to play so close to home.’

  ‘And the other husband?’

  ‘Don’t know. I think he was from Llandeilo.’

  ‘What about recently?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘I don’t know. I’m sure he would have had someone on the go or maybe his charm was starting to wear off.’

  ‘How did he seem before he went missing? Had he been depressed, financial or work worries?’

  ‘No, not that I am aware of. Bank balance is the same and I haven’t had any demands for outstanding debts. There wasn’t a lot that troubled him. My husband was an arrogant man.’

  ‘Can you think of anyone who would want to harm your husband?’

  ‘Plenty, he was a complete bastard.’

  * * *

  ‘Well, she doesn’t think much of her husband. She didn’t look at all bothered that there’s a strong possibility that he’s dead,’ Edris said when they were back in the car.

  ‘No, but people react differently to shock. Maybe when the news sinks in, it will hit her. Then again if she loved him enough to marry him, that love could have turned to hate rather than indifference.’

  ‘You think she could have killed him?’

  ‘Not without help. I suppose she could have killed him then phoned her sons to help dispose of the body. We’ll need to wait until the post-mortem to find out how he died.’ Meadows started the engine.