Dani tried to avoid an eye roll to that. ‘Thank you. We appreciate it, really.’
Dani and Easton took up seats in the armchairs opposite Pamela and soon the conversation got started. Pamela, like all of the other house staff, had already given her formal witness statement in relation to the events of Saturday night and Sunday morning, but Dani wanted to find out more about her. And with it, more about what the Redfearnes were really about. As head of staff, Dani had already sensed that Pamela was omnipresent at Drifford House. If anyone knew of untoward happenings, it would be her.
‘How long have you worked here?’ Easton asked.
‘Twenty-six years this autumn.’
‘Blimey, so you mustn’t have been very old when you started.’
Dani stifled a snort. Was Easton seriously trying to flatter her or was it a genuine comment?
‘Thank you, Detective,’ Pamela said, unmoved. ‘I was thirty-one when I started working here. I was made head of staff the same year I turned forty.’
‘What happened to your predecessor?’ Dani asked.
Pamela locked her hard stare on Dani. ‘She died of a stroke. In the gallery. I found her body.’
‘Oh…’ Dani said, rather lamely. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘She was only fifty-three. Everyone thought she was fit as a fiddle. But, this job, it’s not as easy or as glamorous as you might think.’
‘How do you mean?’ Easton said.
Now it was Easton’s turn to receive the death glare.
‘I mean it’s demanding,’ Pamela said. ‘There’s nothing sinister about it, before you start going down that line. I work upwards of fourteen hours a day, often seven days a week.’
That kind of talk was lost on Dani. It wasn’t like her job was a nine to five.
‘So you were working here even before Oscar was born?’ Dani asked.
At the mention of his name, or perhaps the flash of memories that were induced in Pamela at the thought of Oscar’s birth and childhood, her face softened slightly for the first time.
‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I’d known Oscar his whole life.’
‘How would you describe him?’ Easton said.
‘He was a lovely boy. Warm, lively, personable. He was confident and bright.’ She was speaking with genuine affection now. How much of his upbringing was down to Pamela and the other staff as compared to mother and father, Dani wondered?
‘But he was also hopelessly arrogant,’ Pamela said. ‘Like his father, really. Taking his positives into account, too, Oscar would have gone far in life, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.’
The last sentence was a little choked and Dani paused for a few seconds to see if Pamela would add anything to the heartfelt statement. She didn’t.
‘Did he get in trouble much?’ Easton asked.
‘What kind of trouble?’
Easton shrugged. ‘Kid stuff. Being naughty. Not listening. Arguing. Fighting.’
‘Why is that relevant? Why is any of this relevant?’
‘It’s all relevant to us understanding who Oscar was,’ Dani said. ‘We never had the chance to meet him. It’s very helpful to build up a picture of who he was so we can try to figure out why on earth he was killed like he was, and by who.’
‘Oscar was no saint,’ Pamela said. ‘But then which children are?’
Dani agreed, though neither she nor Pamela were mothers, so they weren’t necessarily the best barometers.
‘Did he fight with his parents?’ Easton asked.
‘I guess so.’
‘With the house staff?’
‘Not so much.’
‘Was that when he was younger, or more recently as a teenager?’
‘Of course, as a teenager and then a young man, the arguments and the strains took on a different shape. He had such a clear vision of who he thought he was, and what he wanted from life, and it wasn’t always what others saw for his future. Like any child, though, it’s the voice of authority that they rebel against most, whether it’s overtly or otherwise.’
‘So he butted heads with his dad?’ Easton said.
‘Henry? No, I meant his mother. She was the one he fell out with most.’
Dani made a mental note of that. Caroline Redfearne was the voice of authority in the house?
‘Did Oscar ever talk to you about any problems he had?’ Easton asked. ‘At home, at school, with friends. Did he have any enemies?’
‘Detective, please, I’ve been through all this before. You said you’d read my witness statement, and I made it quite clear then that I have no idea who killed Oscar, nor do I know of anyone who would want to.’
‘That’s fine,’ Dani said. ‘We can move on.’
Pamela checked her watch and sighed. That wasn’t a good sign. If they didn’t keep her relaxed and talking she was going to call quits sooner rather than later, and the whole bloody morning would have been a waste of time.
‘I bet the house has changed a lot since you first worked here?’ Dani asked.
‘In what way?’ Pamela asked.
‘The coming and going of staff. Updating and renovating. If you’ve worked here twenty-six years, didn’t the Redfearnes buy it just before that?’
‘They’d had it two years. And yes, it was a state, to say the least. For the first few years I was here they were confined to the East wing while the main house was gutted and refurbished. I worked closely with the architects and project managers to see a lot of that work completed. I didn’t train as a housemaid, I was a design project manager for a hotel chain before I came here.’
‘What do you know about the history of the house?’ Easton asked.
‘If you’re genuinely interested, there’s a book about it. In fact, it’s on the shelf right behind you. It was written by a local historian and takes you right up to five years after the Redfearnes moved in.’
Easton nodded and looked over his shoulder to the bookshelf. ‘Sounds like my kind of read,’ he said, which Dani knew was a lie. ‘What’s the long and short?’
Pamela sighed again. ‘It was built by Baron Theodore Gray in 1745, after he was granted a large parcel of land here following some war or other. The Gray family held the house for well over two hundred years, though successive generations, from what I know, became less and less wealthy, until in 1976 Jeremiah Gray died leaving his widow, Eliza, living here alone. Needless to say, one widow here on her own, with minimal funds and few family members who gave a damn, the house suffered some.’
‘Until the Redfearnes came along,’ Dani said.
‘Indeed. They bought it from what was left of the Grays’ estate when Eliza died.’
‘I guess the Redfearnes, in a way, share a similar story to the Grays,’ Easton said.
‘How do you mean?’ Pamela said.
‘In that their wealth has passed through a few generations now too.’
‘Except their wealth is far from dwindling,’ Pamela said, quite defensively. ‘Henry has worked tirelessly for years to ensure that was not the case. And I’m sure Oscar would have taken on the family mantle more than capably too, eventually.’
‘What do you know of Henry’s main business activities now?’ Dani asked.
‘I’m head of staff, not his accountant.’
‘Yes, sorry—’
‘But he’s an investor mostly. Property, start-up businesses, hedge funds. He’s a businessman in every sense of the word.’
‘And he saw the same for Oscar’s future?’
‘Actually no,’ Pamela said. ‘Oscar wanted to be a lawyer, believe it or not, and his father was happy to go along with that desire. Caroline was more inclined to have him take over Henry’s work.’
Another intriguing comment about the dynamic between Oscar and his parents.
‘You went to school with Caroline, didn’t you?’ Easton asked.
The question, or was it a statement, seemed to stump Pamela for a moment.
‘How did you know that?’ she asked.
Easton glanced at Dani, looking a little sheepish. ‘It was in your records. And hers.’
‘But why are you delving into my past like that? And Caroline’s too?’
She sounded seriously pissed off now.
‘Ms Longbridge, I assure you it’s nothing more than routine background work,’ Dani said, trying to sound amenable.
Pamela said nothing for a few moments, as though weighing up whether or not she was happy to carry on. Why was she so uptight all of a sudden?
‘Were you friends back then?’ Easton asked.
‘We were friends, yes. Best friends? Not really, but we’ve known each other on and off since we were eight.’
‘Were you still in contact with her as an adult?’ Easton asked. ‘Before you came to work here, I mean.’
Pamela remained put out by the questioning, Dani could tell.
‘Yes. We were.’
‘She helped you get the job?’ Dani asked.
‘I got the job because of my skill set and experience.’
‘Oh, I have no doubt,’ Dani said. ‘But—’
‘There’s no but to it. There was no favour granted, no backhander or dirty dealings. I knew Caroline, I knew there was a job opening, and I knew I was perfectly suited for it. That’s it.’
Though the way she was talking suggested that wasn’t it at all.
‘How would you describe Caroline?’ Dani asked.
‘In what sense?’
‘You’ve known her for years. What’s she like? What are her motivations?’
‘I’m really not sure what you’re getting at here,’ Pamela said. ‘But I’ve nothing to hide, and I’m sure she doesn’t either. As teenagers, Caroline was so… what I’m trying to say is she knew what she wanted, and there wasn’t a cat in hell’s chance that she wasn’t going to get it.’
‘And she wanted?’
‘Well look where she ended up,’ Pamela said. ‘And I don’t mean any of this disrespectfully, because she’s an incredibly strong woman, but Caroline has never worked a day in her life. Not in paid employment anyway, nor do I ever think she intended to. She met and married a rich man, she had a child with that man, and has spent years moulding her family unit, and pushing her husband to continue growing his business. She’s no gold digger though, and neither is she a shrinking violet. If there’s one person who’s made this family, this house, and everything that goes with it tick over more than any other over the last three decades, then it’s Caroline Redfearne. She’s a true matriarch, and I mean that with the utmost affection and respect.’
Dani found herself nodding at Pamela’s outspoken words. In the two times she’d met the Redfearnes, she certainly hadn’t seen Caroline in quite that light. Was that because of the devastation of losing her only son, or was she as good an actor as she was a leader of a rich and powerful family?
‘What are your thoughts on the summer parties held here?’ Easton asked.
Pamela returned her glare to him. ‘It doesn’t matter what I think.’
‘Did you approve?’
‘Of what exactly?’
‘We’ve heard all sorts of rumours of inappropriate behaviour. Sexual encounters between guests; I guess the more technical term is swinging or dogging, but also groping and inappropriate touching of some of the waitresses.’
‘I’ve never been a part of anything like that,’ Pamela said, and she sounded truly disgusted.
‘But have you heard of these things? The waitresses in question would, technically, be under your watch after all?’
‘The house staff here are paid more than healthily for their services. Everything is above board.’
‘Then why are some of the waitresses claiming they were groped?’ Dani said. ‘That’s not above board. That’s sexual harassment. Sexual assault even.’
Pamela was backed into a corner now, and the look of concern on her face showed it. She certainly wasn’t the perpetrator of any of the wretched behaviour, but as the manager of those young women, she had a duty of care. On the other hand, this wasn’t an investigation into sexual harassment in the workplace – not yet anyway – and Dani didn’t want Pamela closing down on her.
‘Did the Redfearnes ever engage in this overt sexual behaviour?’ Easton asked, clearly not on the same wavelength as Dani.
‘You’d have to ask them,’ Pamela said with a sneer. ‘This is really disgusting, what the two of you are doing. They haven’t even buried their son and you’re trying to whip up nonsense sensationalist stories.’
‘What do you know about Arnold Davenport?’ Dani said, deciding Easton had left the door open, so she may as well step inside. The writing was on the wall for this interview anyway, so she may as well try one last gasp effort at eking something of use from it.
‘Davenport?’ Pamela said, her eyes pinching in disdain.
‘He was a regular at these parties?’
‘He and Henry are good friends.’
‘Do you know how?’
‘I’ve no idea. Their paths crossed, businesswise, some years ago.’
‘What do you know of him?’
‘Not much.’
‘What do you think of him?’
‘Not much.’
‘We know he was one of the men, though there were certainly others, who saw your waitresses as fair game. Pinching bums, hands up their skirts.’
Pamela winced.
‘Ms Longbridge?’ Dani said.
‘It doesn’t surprise me, and that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter.’ She looked at her watch and got to her feet. ‘Detectives, this hasn’t exactly been a pleasure, but I really do have things I need to get to.’
Dani and Easton both got to their feet too. Then Easton held a hand up. ‘Just one more question, if that’s OK?’
Pamela sighed.
‘Are you aware of either Henry or Caroline having an affair? Now or in the past?’
Pamela looked as though she was about to explode.
‘I’m done humouring you two,’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘I’ll show you out.’
Pamela did show them out, though Dani just about managed to persuade her that they needed a few minutes to go into the woods to take a look around. They didn’t spend long there though. Other than the lines of police tape which had been left around the scene, providing little defence against the elements or intruders of whatever sort, there was no sign of what had taken place there at all. Neither Dani nor Easton came up with anything, though Dani at least felt that going back had refreshed her memory of the lay of the land, which wasn’t a bad thing.
As they reached the house once more, they found Pamela standing, arms folded, by the open front door.
‘Have a nice day,’ she said.
‘You too,’ Dani said before she and Easton climbed into the car.
Dani reversed out, just as Pamela headed inside and shut the door. Dani noticed the yellow Porsche – Johansson’s? – was gone now. She’d served her purpose. Though Dani was almost tempted to go back to the house and see if she could get some time alone with either of the Redfearnes without their lawyer.
No. There were plenty other things to be doing.
As Dani stuck the car into first, she looked back up to the house. Her eyes fell on an upstairs window where a straight-faced Caroline Redfearne was standing, staring down. Dani stared right back, and a few beats later Caroline back-stepped and disappeared into the darkness beyond.
‘What was that?’ Easton asked as Dani turned back and put her foot down.
‘Nothing,’ Dani said.
‘So what next, boss?’
Dani looked at her watch. It was approaching eleven. McNair would have finished the press conference she’d arranged for first thing by now. Sophie’s name and face would be everywhere. Hopefully, it would kickstart their efforts in finding her.
‘Let’s go and see who’s back at the ranch,’ Dani said.
* * *
With the light post-rush-hour traffic, they were soon back
in central Birmingham and inside HQ, and they headed side by side to the homicide team’s open-plan space. It turned out there was virtually nobody in. Which was kind of a good thing, Dani decided. It meant the team were mostly out and about working the case. After all, there were tens of statements still to be taken, not to mention all of the supplemental work on CCTV and the like. McNair wasn’t around either though, which Dani was disappointed about, as she’d wanted to catch-up with the DCI both about the press con and the frustrating yet intriguing meetings she and Easton had just had at Drifford House.
Instead, she and Easton went to their respective desks and Dani was soon scouring the HOLMES 2 system to identify and review any new case documents that had been uploaded.
Across the way, Dani heard McNair’s desk phone ringing through her open office door. After a few seconds, the call stopped, unanswered. Seconds later the phone was ringing again.
Dani and Easton shared a look across the room. Where was Katherine Wyatt, anyway? Dani got up from her desk and strode over and into McNair’s office. She glanced at the phone. She recognised the number. Or at least the organisation it was coming from.
‘DCI McNair’s phone, DI Stephens speaking?’
A short pause.
‘DCI Halliday from West Mercia. Is DCI McNair available?’
‘I’m afraid not. Can I help?’
‘It’s about McNair’s case. The Redfearnes.’
Dani’s heartbeat ramped up a little with expectation.
‘Go for it.’
‘My officers attended the scene of a murder this morning near Bridgnorth… To put it simply, we think you’re going to want to come and see this one.’
Chapter Sixteen
After a failed call to McNair’s mobile to update her, Dani and Easton were soon in Dani’s car en route to Shropshire. She finally managed to get hold of McNair while they were closing in on the quaint riverside town of Bridgnorth. Thankfully, McNair agreed with Dani’s course of action. Strangely to Dani, it felt almost surreal to have so many of her recent decisions backed by her superior. When had that last been the case? She was far more used to opposition from the top brass.
The Rules of Murder Page 11