‘Yes, I suppose it does,’ Sister Joan said.
‘You know I never would’ve suspected Ceri Williams of being a murderer,’ Sophie Meecham said. ‘They call it Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy now, of course. The urge to hurt more vulnerable people, usually children, even kill them as a means of drawing attention to their own needs.’
‘I know there’s a fancy name for it,’ Sister Joan said. ‘It’s unfashionable to talk of evil.’
‘But Dr Meredith wasn’t evil surely, Sister!’
‘No, he was merely reluctant to believe that Ceri Williams had actually been killing the patients.’
‘Not to mention putting on a red wig and handing out LSD tablets to people she hoped would end up in St Keyne’s!’
‘And poor Madge Lee took one.’ Sister Joan gave a little shiver. ‘I’m only thankful that Luther wasn’t lured into the same situation. At least there’s a happy ending for him and for little Amy.’
‘Also for me, Sister.’ Sophie Meecham nodded at her in an encouraging way.
‘Detective Sergeant Mill told me that you’d resigned,’ Sister Joan said. ‘I was sorry to hear that for I’m sure you always did your best.’
‘In a very difficult situation,’ Sophie Meecham said. ‘The long hours, the shortage of staff, the constant form filling and — well, the strain was beginning to get to me, I don’t mind telling you. I was going to ask for a transfer but Dr Geeson came up with a solution.’
‘Dr Geeson?’ Sister Joan raised delicate black brows.
‘Dr Geeson has been greatly misunderstood,’ Sophie Meecham said. ‘Sister Merryl was actually of the opinion that he should have been struck off by the Medical Council!’
‘My respect for Sister Merryl’s common sense has gone up by leaps and bounds,’ Sister Joan couldn’t resist saying.
Sophie Meecham looked hurt.
‘Dr Geeson is a fine doctor with the highest qualifications,’ she said reproachfully.
‘Forgive me but didn’t he seduce two women and then drop them flat?’ Sister Joan said.
‘Even doctors are human when attracted by unscrupulous young women,’ Sister Meecham protested. ‘They were clearly after money. Anyway Dr Geeson intends to set up a small private clinic in Devon and has offered me the post of head sister. I shall miss St Keyne’s, of course, but I shall remain loyal to Dr Geeson.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Sister Joan said, glancing at her with compassion.
‘And I will be sorry not to be able to stroll on the moors when my duties permit but there are moors in Devonshire too. Russell — Dr Geeson — says there are some most interesting walks there.’
Her eyes were shining and she looked young and eager. Sister Joan knew that words of warning would be both impertinent and futile. Sophie Meecham had temporarily corked up the brandy bottle in the belief she’d just been offered the Holy Grail.
‘I wish you luck, Sister Meecham,’ she said sincerely. ‘Truly I do!’
‘Thank you, Sister. Goodbye then.’
‘Goodbye. God bless.’
Sister Joan watched the other turn and walk away across the moor.
It had been an unsatisfactory affair altogether, she thought. She had been slow to make connections, to pick up on clues.
‘I think that about winds everything up, Sister!’
Detective Sergeant Mill drove slowly through the convent gates and stopped, winding down his window.
‘Yes.’ Sister Joan nodded sombrely. ‘Too many deaths and I got on to the trail too late. I should’ve checked on the fact that Dr Meredith and Ceri Williams were both from Wrexham. I should’ve asked who was on duty with Tracy Collet when the old tramp was given his cocoa, and I ought to have remembered that Ceri Williams had just come off duty in the children’s unit as Sister Collet took over the reception desk there. Tracy Collet told me that Ceri had gone into the garden to check on the children there. She must’ve pulled on that red wig and gone and hit poor little Amy, not realizing that Luther had ducked down behind the wall. I ought to have found out things sooner, Alan!’
‘Hey, have a bit of compassion on yourself!’ he said vigorously. ‘If you and Mother Dorothy hadn’t felt uneasy about Louisa Cummings’s sudden death Ceri Williams would’ve gone on doing away with people whom she considered were useless to society until the cows came home. You did well, Sister.’
‘Thanks. I’ll try to believe you,’ Sister Joan said, smiling. ‘You’re always very kind to me you know!’
‘It’s not difficult,’ said Detective Sergeant Mill, his own smile rueful as he put the car into gear again and drove off across the moor.
THE END
ALSO BY VERONICA BLACK
SISTER JOAN MYSTERY SERIES
Book 1: A VOW OF SILENCE
Book 2: A VOW OF CHASTITY
Book 3: A VOW OF SANCTITY
Book 4: A VOW OF OBEDIENCE
Book 5: A VOW OF PENANCE
Book 6: A VOW OF DEVOTION
Book 7: A VOW OF FIDELITY
Book 8: A VOW OF POVERTY
Book 9: A VOW OF ADORATION
Book 10: A VOW OF COMPASSION
FREE KINDLE BOOKS
Do you love great books at great prices? Join thousands of readers enjoying bestselling fiction by some of Britain’s favourite writers. You’ll get new releases and hot deals every week from one of the UK’s leading independent publishers.
Click here to start getting lovely book deals!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
@joffebooks
Thank you for reading this book.
If you enjoyed it please leave feedback on Amazon or Goodreads, and if there is anything we missed or you have a question about, then please get in touch. We appreciate you choosing our book.
Founded in 2014 in Shoreditch, London, we at Joffe Books pride ourselves on our history of innovative publishing. We were thrilled to be shortlisted for Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards.
www.joffebooks.com
We’re very grateful to eagle-eyed readers who take the time to contact us. Please send any errors you find to [email protected]. We’ll get them fixed ASAP.
A SELECTION OF BOOKS YOU MAY ENJOY
THE MURDERER’S SON
BY JOY ELLIS
UK www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LWY0PUJ
US www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWY0PUJ
What if your mother was a serial killer?
A BLOODY KILLER SEEMS TO HAVE RETURNED TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE FENS.
A gripping crime thriller by the bestselling author of the Nikki Galena series.
Twenty years ago: a farmer and his wife are cut to pieces by a ruthless serial killer. Now: a woman is viciously stabbed to death in the upmarket kitchen of her beautiful house on the edge of the marshes.
Then a man called Daniel Kinder walks into Saltern police station and confesses to the murder.
But DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans of the Fenland police soon discover that there is a lot more to Daniel than meets the eye. He has no memory of the first five years of his life and is obsessed with who his real mother is.
With no evidence to hold him, Jackman and Evans are forced to let him go, and in a matter of days Daniel has disappeared and the lonely Lincolnshire Fens become the stage for more killings.
In a breathtaking finale, the truth about Daniel’s mother comes to light and DI Jackman and DS Evans race against time to stop more lives being destroyed.
Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the shocking ending.
MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL
BY FAITH MARTIN
UK www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0763RXLRV
US www.amazon.com/dp/B0763RXLRV
DISCOVER THE MILLION-SELLING SERIES NOW.
MEET DI HILLARY GREENE, A POLICEWOMAN FIGHTING TO SAVE HER CAREER.
Not only has she lost her husband, but his actions have put her under investigation for corruption.
; Then a bashed and broken body is found floating in the Oxford Canal. It looks like the victim fell off a boat, but Hillary is not so sure. Her investigation exposes a dark background to the death.
Can Hillary clear her name and get to the bottom of a fiendish conspiracy on the water?
This crime mystery will have you gripped from beginning to end.
MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL is the first in a series of page-turning crime thrillers set in Oxfordshire.
HE IS WATCHING YOU
BY CHARLIE GALLAGHER
UK www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KKK5N7W
US www.amazon.com/dp/B07KKK5N7W
DISCOVER AN ABSOLUTELY GRIPPING RACE-AGAINST-TIME THRILLER FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR CHARLIE GALLAGHER.
A young woman’s body is left in a metal container in a remote location. The killer is careful to position her under a camera that links to his smartphone. He likes to look back at his work.
HE IS WATCHING HER. BUT SHE ISN’T DEAD.
So he will return to finish the job.
Detective Maddie Ives is new to the area. She is handed a missing person report: a young woman with a drink problem who’s been reported missing fifteen times. It looks like a waste of time. But DS Ives has a bad feeling about the woman’s disappearance.
DI Harry Blaker is called to the hit-and-run of an elderly man left to die on a quiet country road. There is no motive and it looks like a tragic accident. But he’s been working Major Crime long enough to know that something isn’t quite right. The two officers find their investigations intertwine and they will need to work together.
BUT THEY MUST WORK FAST. TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR THE WOMAN IN THE CONTAINER.
GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH USAGE FOR US READERS
A & E: accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetables or flowers
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
Au pair: live-in childcare helper, often a young woman
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
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in a seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money, e.g. ‘That must have cost a few bob.’
Bobby: policeman
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: escape, e.g. ‘do a bunk’
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
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips, battered fish and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch (in an altercation) or register
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land or lower class
Comprehensive school (comp.): a public (re state-run) high school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, who decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone paid to look after children
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
DC: detective constable
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Digs: student lodgings
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole, also DMs, Docs
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: emergency department of a hospital
Eagle: children’s comic, marketed at boys
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled, runny egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
GCSEs: exams taken between age 14 and 16, replaced O levels in 1988
Gendarmerie: French national police force
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth, can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Hoover: vacuum cleaner
I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise
In care: refers to a child taken away from their family by the social services
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
Jane/John Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous
JCB: a manufacturer of construction machinery, like mechanical excavators
Jerry-built: badly made
Jungle: nickname given to migrant camp near Calais
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous British aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974 and was never found
Lorry: truck
Lovely jubbly: said when someone is pleased
Luftwaffe: German air force
M&S: Marks and Spencer, a food and clothes shop
Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie, often used to imply a busybody, especially of older women
MOD: Ministry of Defence
Mobile phone: cell phone
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
MRSA: A strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Myra Hindley: famous British serial killer
Naff: tacky/corny, not cool
Naff all: none
National Service: compulsory military service, in the UK ended in 60s
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent lace curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of the UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person, can be used affectionately
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
O level: exams taken between age 14 and 16 until 1988 (replaced by GCSEs)
Old bag: old woman (insulting)
Old Bill: police
OTT: over the top
Owt: anything
Pants: noun: underwear, adjective: bad/rubbish/terrible
Para: paratrooper
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone on which you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
Pear-shaped: gone wrong
Petrol: gasoline
Pictures: movie
Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence
Pillock: fool
Pips: police insignia indicating rank
Piss off: an exclamation meaning go away (rude), can also mean annoy
Pissing down: raining
Playing field: sports field
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Post: mail
Planning Department: the local authority department that issues licences to build and develop property
A VOW OF COMPASSION an utterly gripping crime mystery Page 21