by Anita Waller
The DS began by checking every room for occupation, but there was no sign of anyone, so she then became more methodical. The main bedroom was huge with built-in wardrobes along two walls, and an en suite. On the bed lay a pair of jeans and a thick woollen jumper, clearly discarded and looking out of place in the neatness of the rest of the room. The en suite revealed a bathroom cabinet with contraceptive tablets and sleeping pills, alongside aspirins, but nothing more revealing than that about the woman, showing very little of herself other than a tidiness and neatness.
Hannah walked around, observing. The real forensic work would start within the hour, as soon as they rang in to say this was definitely the victim’s home. There was a picture on Nicola’s bedside table, with a tall well-built man and a child, a boy of about five, with Nicola and the man both standing behind the boy, their hands on his shoulders. Hannah picked it up carefully, and removed the stand from the frame. Scribbled on the back of the photo it said, N A and D. Hannah photographed both sides and replaced it.
There were four more bedrooms, one clearly for a child. The others were tidy, but had no air of being lived in; guest bedrooms. One had an en suite, and the main bathroom served the other rooms.
The bathroom made Hannah gasp. She would kill for a place like this. It was huge and boasted a jacuzzi bath along with a shower cubicle that would comfortably take three people. Tiled floor to ceiling in white with occasional grey tiles added for effect, it was spotlessly clean. Other than normal bathroom toiletries, there was nothing in the wall cabinet, and she quietly closed the door behind her.
She headed back downstairs to find Tessa sitting at the kitchen table, going through some mail.
‘It’s mainly junk,’ she said, waving a couple of envelopes around, ‘but it confirms this is Nicola’s house. Forensics will be here soon. We’ll wait until they arrive then we’ll head over to Chatsworth. We need to find some info on this woman, she must have a next of kin somewhere. Did you find anything that would help?’ Tessa looked up at Hannah.
‘Only this on the back of a photo,’ Hannah said, and handed over her phone. Tessa looked and passed it back.
‘That’s helpful. Somewhere in her life is an A and a D. I wonder where the child is. Possibly with A? I’m guessing he’s the male adult. Ever get the feeling this isn’t going to be easy?’
Hannah laughed. ‘You crease me up sometimes, boss. Are they ever easy? But we put Marnie Harrison away, didn’t we? We’ll sort this one, don’t fret. It’s massive upstairs. Master bedroom you could hold a ball in, three other large bedrooms and a child’s. A bathroom that’s out of this or any other world… you find anything else?’
‘Not really. I’m a little surprised by that photograph. There are no pictures downstairs, and there are no toys. She seems obsessively tidy, and I would have said no children.’
They looked at each other and Tessa stood. ‘Let’s go look at this child’s room before forensics get here and stop us going in.’
The room held a single bed with a duvet cover telling the world that the little boy loved Tatty Teddy. He had a toy box in one corner, also with a picture of the scruffy looking little bear painted on it and when they lifted the lid, a name was etched into the underside of it. Danny’s toys.
Inside the box were many playthings, most in pristine condition. Hannah closed the lid with a little smile. ‘Aw, kids are quite sweet, aren’t they?’
Tessa’s eyebrows headed for her hairline. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah, I mean… look at this.’ She swept her arm around the room to indicate what she was talking about. ‘And Martha, she’s gorgeous.’
‘They’re all gorgeous when you can give them back to their owners.’
‘I suppose you’re right, but I love spending time with my nieces.’ Hannah looked around the room once more. ‘There’s something wrong here though.’ She frowned, trying to work something out.
‘You think the child spends all his time in this room? There’s no evidence of him downstairs.’
‘No… it’s… it’s Tatty Teddy!’ There was a touch of triumph in Hannah’s voice. ‘The rest of this house is bang on trend. It’s smart, modern, up-to-date, and then we see Tatty Teddy. That would have been the thing to get about… ten years ago, I reckon. Now it would be George and his bloody dinosaur.’
‘You reckon this room is a shrine? It’s been kept exactly as it was ten years ago?’
‘I think we need to look into it. We have to take Nicola’s life apart. For a start we need to know how she can afford this house. Where does she work? Why has nobody reported her as missing? There are no men’s clothes here despite that picture of A. Potentially the ex-husband, but why is he ex, and where is he now? And we desperately need a next of kin. If her name is out there, it may draw in information.’ Hannah exuded triumph; the words had flowed out of her. She felt like… like… Tessa!
They heard the sound of a door opening and both stood. ‘The forensic cavalry’s here,’ Tessa said. ‘Let’s head off to Chatsworth, they’ll have it all set up by now. We’ll add our bit about where she lives, then we’ll get on a computer. Or get somebody a bit more computer literate to get on one, and get us some info on Nicola Armstrong. I want to have contacted someone by tonight to let them know she’s dead.’
The room loaned to them by the Duke was warm and noisy. A crime board had been set up, with a picture of Nicola Armstrong on it, and computers were on.
Tessa walked to the front and stood by the whiteboard. ‘Listen up, everybody,’ she called, and the clatter died down instantly. ‘Hannah and I have been to the victim’s home, and had a brief look around while we were waiting for forensics to arrive. We now need information. Who was she? Does she have family? She had a child. Where is he? He’s called Danny, so it’s presumably Daniel Armstrong…’ she hesitated. ‘Bloody hell, Daniel Armstrong.’ She dropped her head in thought, and Ray Charlton helped her out.
‘Boss, Daniel Armstrong’s the young lad snatched about ten years ago. His mother always thought her ex-husband, the lad’s father, had taken him, but whatever happened we never found either of them.’
6
Tessa pushed the file into her bag, and stood as Martin walked into her office. She felt grateful that most of her team were still at Chatsworth, including Hannah; she had taken advantage of the Daniel Armstrong paperwork being at Chesterfield, and had driven back to headquarters alone.
‘Are we still okay?’ Martin asked, unsure whether he should smile or not. He felt nervous, something he hadn’t experienced for a long time. Looking forward to an event made it so much worse when it was cancelled, and he desperately didn’t want Tessa to say I’m sorry, but…
‘I’m good, if you are,’ she said, and finally his own smile arrived to match hers.
‘Then let’s go before something happens to change that,’ he said, and held the door open for her.
They agreed to go in separate cars, and meet up at the Cricketers Arms. Tessa arrived first and waited for Martin to lock his car before getting out of her own. She slung her bag on her shoulder, not wanting to leave it in the car; the file was too precious, and as such represented her bedtime reading.
They decided to go with the carvery, and ten minutes later settled down with a hefty meal and a lemonade each.
‘You don’t drink?’ she asked.
‘Not when I’m driving, but to be honest I’ve done too many autopsies on drunk drivers. Nothing on this earth could persuade me to have any alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car. You the same?’
She nodded. ‘I like the odd glass of wine at home, and will probably have one later when I read the file in my bag, but I don’t drink when I’m driving.’
‘You take work home?’
‘Don’t we all? Something odd has cropped up with regard to our Chatsworth lady. It seems she’s the mother of Daniel Armstrong, a five-year-old little boy who went missing nearly ten years ago. It was presumed at the time that his dad had taken him, and they’d just disappe
ared, but in view of her murder I have to consider the possibility of a link between the two cases. I’ve pulled the main file on Daniel to go through it tonight.’
‘I vaguely remember that. It was the mother who insisted her ex had taken Daniel, wasn’t it? Presumably that was never proved.’
‘Nothing was ever found. If his father did take him, he hid him very successfully. Maybe Nicola’s death will flush him out and we can close a cold case.’
Tessa pushed her plate to one side. ‘I can’t eat any more. Why do I always feel the need to load up my plate when I have a carvery?’
Martin laughed and pointed to his own plate. ‘Look at mine. There’s no way I can eat all that. I’ll struggle manfully on, but I feel as though I’m fighting a losing battle.’
With the meal finished, they walked outside to return to their cars, still talking, still happy to be in each other’s company, much to Tessa’s surprise. She hadn’t expected anything from the evening, but it was proving to be extremely pleasant, and when Martin asked her if he could see her again, her smile gave him the answer.
‘You like curry?’ she asked.
‘I do.’
‘Then if you’d like to, I’ll cook us a curry at my place. Tomorrow okay?’
‘I’ll bring wine and a bottle of lemonade,’ he said with a grin.
She climbed into her car and lowered her window. ‘I’ll text you my address,’ she said and he leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek.
‘Thank you for tonight,’ Tessa said. ‘I really enjoyed it.’
‘Me too. I’ll look forward to tomorrow.’
The more Tessa trawled through Daniel Armstrong’s file, the more the memories of the case came flooding back. She had only been a WPC, involved on the periphery of the case, joining in searches and occasionally accompanying the then DI, Peter Jenkinson. She quite clearly remembered going to DCI Jenkinson’s funeral so there would be no help coming from that quarter.
There was very little to read through. Adam Armstrong had disappeared at the same time as his son, and it didn’t take a genius to work out that they had gone together. Nicola Armstrong had been distraught, and had never given up on her child, but to that day he hadn’t been seen.
Tessa closed the file with a sigh. She leaned against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes, only to have to immediately sit up to answer her phone.
‘Hannah?’
‘Yes, boss. Nicola Armstrong has a sister and a brother. Simon Vicars and Debra Carter.’
‘I know. I was just deciding what to do about it. Their names are in the old file from when Daniel went missing. But it’s after ten, so I think we can give them one last night of peace before we tell them. We’ll go early tomorrow morning, about half eight, to see Debra Carter. Can you make sure the address we have for her is up to date, please, Hannah? She used to live in Buxton, let’s hope she’s moved.’
‘We’ll go on a sledge,’ Hannah laughed. ‘I’ll check the electoral roll, boss. You have a good night then?’
‘I’ve spent it reading this file.’
‘Oh yes, of course you have. Has the lovely doctor been reading it as well.’
‘That’s for me to know, and you to find out,’ was Tessa’s sure-fire response.
Hannah disconnected with a laugh, and brought up the electoral roll. Tessa had got her wish; Debra Carter had moved, and much closer to her sister. She lived in Eyam.
‘Good morning, Kat. How’s the world with you?’ Tessa’s voice sounded crackly.
‘I’m good. About to take Martha to her nan’s. You want something?’
‘Only to give you a bit of a head’s up that you’ll probably see my car when you go out. I’ll be next door to you. We’re going to see a Mrs Debra Carter.’
‘Debbie? Is everything okay? She’s lovely, I hope nothing’s wrong.’
‘You’ve presumably heard of the body found at Chatsworth? It’s Mrs Carter’s sister. We’re off to break the news.’
‘Oh no, she’ll be devastated, I’m sure. I’ve never met her sister. Does she live locally?’
‘Baslow. There’s a slight complication… Look, I’ll not talk about it over the phone, I’ll come down to the office later, possibly this afternoon unless anything breaks in the case. Have we got biscuits?’
‘We do. And you haven’t met our new receptionist Luke yet. It’ll be good to introduce you to him.’
‘I’ll ring if I can’t make it. About two okay?’
‘It is. It seems ages since we’ve caught up with each other, it will be good to see you. Our offices have changed a bit.’
‘I’ll bring Hannah as well. She was moaning the other day we hadn’t seen you all since before Christmas. This damn snow’s stopping us getting anywhere.’
‘Don’t be late,’ Kat laughed. ‘It’s chocolate biscuits.’
Tessa and Hannah walked up the snow-covered path and rang the house’s bell. The laughter they had heard immediately stopped, and a few seconds later the door was tentatively opened by a young girl of about ten or eleven.
‘Hi, is your mummy in?’ Tessa asked, fixing a smile on her face.
‘She’s changing Charlie.’
They heard a crash followed by ‘bloody hell’, and then a voice called from somewhere in the house. ‘Who is it, Bridie?’
‘Two women!’ her daughter shouted.
For a second, Tessa felt out of her depth. The job of death notification was difficult enough, without it having to be conducted by shouting it out on a doorstep.
‘Bridie, we’re police officers.’ She held out her warrant card as proof of it but the little girl simply stared at her, her blue eyes widening by the second.
‘Mum, it’s the police!’ she shouted, and waited for instructions.
They heard footsteps and a woman appeared with a baby tucked onto her hip.
‘I’m sorry.’ She sounded flustered. ‘You came at the wrong moment. I would advise not going into the kitchen, I’ve just changed Charlie’s nappy. Can I help you?’
‘Debra Carter?’ Tess asked.
‘Debbie, yes. What’s wrong?’
‘Can we come in for a moment, Mrs Carter?’
Debbie held open the door, and the two officers stamped snow from their boots and followed her through to the lounge. There was a baby gym on the carpet and Debbie placed her son in the middle of it, where he bashed the various hanging toys with some brutality.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Is this about Danny?’
‘No, I’m sorry, it’s about your sister.’
Debbie waited, unspeaking.
‘Your sister is Nicola Armstrong?’
‘She is.’
‘Then I’m sorry to have to tell you your sister is dead.’
‘Really?’ Debbie looked around the room, her face expressionless.
Tessa and Hannah glanced at each other. ‘Is there anybody we can contact to be with you?’ Hannah asked, ‘and we’re very sorry for your loss.’
‘I’m not,’ Debbie Carter responded. ‘We haven’t spoken in years, had very little contact. How did she die?’
‘You may have heard on the news about a body being found at Chatsworth? In the grounds? It was your sister. We will be going public with her name once we’ve had contact with your brother.’
‘Simon will be here in about ten minutes. He’s an electrician, and he’s putting us some extra sockets in. Don’t expect weeping and wailing from him either. Can I get you both a cup of tea while we wait for him?’
They thanked her, and watched as Bridie sank to the floor to play with her baby brother.
A few minutes later, Debbie returned carrying a tray of four drinks. ‘Bridie, can you put on your coat and get your bag, please? You’ll be going in about five minutes.’
The little girl stood and left the room, then came back with a blue bag proclaiming itself to be a book bag, and a bright red coat.
‘Bridie,’ her mum said, a note of warning in her voice. ‘No mention of these ladies whe
n you get to school, okay, love?’
‘Okay, Mum.’ Bridie leaned forward and kissed her mum, then walked out the door. ‘I’ll wait at the gate,’ she called, and they heard the front door open and close.
‘A friend collects her every morning to save me having to get Charlie ready,’ Debbie explained. ‘She takes half a dozen or so kids, it’s quite a sight to see them, especially all trudging through this deep snow. School initiative, called a walking bus. The kids love it.’
She stood and watched through the front window until she saw her daughter safely collected, then returned to the two police officers. ‘Simon’s just parking the van. Then you can fill us in on the details, and we can forget about her for the rest of our lives.’
The front door opened with a clatter and curses as Simon Vicars stamped his feet to get rid of the snow. ‘Bloody weather,’ he called out. ‘Is the kettle on?’
‘In the lounge, already made,’ his sister responded, and she looked up with a smile as her brother came through the door.
‘Simon, these two ladies are police officers. I’m sorry, I still have baby brain and I can’t remember your names,’ she said, turning to Tessa.
‘DI Tessa Marsden and DS Hannah Granger.’ Tessa held out her warrant card once again, followed by a similar action from Hannah.
Simon frowned as he took in the possible implications of two police officers in his sister’s home, then he sat down and picked up his drink.
‘Is everything okay?’ he asked.
‘Nicola’s dead.’ The words coming from Debbie’s mouth sounded brutal, almost cruel. ‘It’s her body they’ve found at Chatsworth. Karma, that’s what it is.’
7
Luke saw the two women as they approached the office door, and he pressed the buzzer to release the lock. He stood as they came in, and he heard Doris’s door open.
‘Tessa, Hannah, it’s good to see you. Let me introduce you to Luke, our new receptionist-stroke-investigator. Luke, this is DI Tessa Marsden, and this is DS Hannah Granger.’