‘The thought of Donnelly walking scot-free makes me sick,’ said Maggie.
‘We’ll still go after him for perverting the course of justice by giving a false statement about Poppy,’ said Umpire. ‘But, no, it’s very likely he won’t be implicated in the racket.’
‘Does this mean we should be arresting Poppy too now?’ asked Belmar.
‘Yes. And before you say anything, Maggie, I know there are mitigating circumstances. But those are for a court to hear, not us.’
‘I know, I just hate the thought of having to arrest her.’
‘You need to find her first. Where could she have gone?’
Maggie wracked her brains but she was stumped. ‘She could be anywhere in Mansell.’
‘All right, let’s try a different approach,’ said Umpire, ‘and assume she’s with her dad then. Where would he take her?’
Belmar suddenly clicked his fingers.
‘Hawley Ridge.’
‘Oh my God,’ breathed Maggie, ‘that’s it.’
‘The viaduct?’ queried Umpire. ‘Why would he take her there?’
‘Julia had PND that lasted for ages after Poppy was born and she was experiencing suicidal thoughts. One day she flipped and took Poppy up to Hawley Ridge with the intention of jumping. Ewan might’ve taken Poppy there because he’ll be desperate too by now.’
‘Get up there now,’ said Umpire. ‘I’ll meet you there and I’ll put a call out for backup.’
‘We’re on our way,’ said Maggie, then she hung up. ‘Put your foot down,’ she said to Belmar.
He didn’t need to be told twice.
89
Julia was putting her shoes on in the hallway when Malcolm let himself in. He took one look at the welt on her face and demanded an explanation.
‘I caught it on a door,’ she lied, knowing if she told him the truth he’d never look at Ewan in the same way again. ‘Listen, Dad, I can’t stop, Poppy ran out of school this morning and the police are looking for her and –’ she couldn’t bring herself to say they were looking for Ewan too – ‘I can’t get hold of Ewan to let him know. I’m heading out to see if I can find them.’
Malcolm was ashen. ‘Why did she run away?’
‘She probably wants to escape all the stress. I know I do.’
‘Have you tried calling her?’
‘I did just now but her phone is switched off.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
‘I’d rather you stay here in case she comes home. I don’t want her to find the house empty.’
Malcolm nodded solemnly, then stared at the side of her head again.
‘Are you sure that was just a door?’
She stopped. ‘Of course it was.’
He appeared unconvinced but to her relief he let it pass.
‘Call me when you hear anything,’ he said, hugging her.
‘I will.’
She went straight round to Cath’s. She wasn’t expecting Poppy to be there, but Ewan must’ve taken their car as it wasn’t parked outside the house and she needed her friend to give her a lift.
Unlike Malcolm, Cath didn’t beat about the bush when she saw Julia’s face.
‘So Ewan’s graduated from name calling to using his fists now,’ she said matter-of-factly.
‘It was an accident. He caught me with his hand as he was reaching to get something out of a cupboard,’ said Julia unconvincingly.
‘Oh, Julia, I don’t know what’s worse – you covering up for him or you telling yourself that he didn’t mean it when he hit you.’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘There’s a name for what Ewan does – it’s called gaslighting,’ said Cath. ‘It’s when the dominant person in a relationship manipulates their partner into thinking everything is their fault. It’s a form of abuse.’
Julia’s eyes pricked with tears. ‘Don’t start, Cath, please. I just need to find him.’
‘No, you don’t, you need to find your daughter. Now, think – where could she have gone?’
‘I don’t know. All her friends are still at school so she can’t have gone round to one of their houses—’
There was a sudden hammering on the front door. Cath opened it to find Malcolm bent double on her doorstep, hand propped against the wall to support himself.
‘Are you okay, Malcolm?’
‘Julia . . . needs to come . . . police,’ he panted between breaths. ‘I . . . ran here.’
‘Julia!’ Cath yelled down the hallway. She came running.
‘Dad, what’s going on?’
Malcolm gulped down some deep breaths. ‘The police are at yours. They want you to go with them. Ewan’s taken Poppy to Hawley Ridge.’
90
Hawley Ridge railway viaduct was taken out of commission in the mid-sixties and passed over to Railway Paths Ltd, who turned the old line into one of the county’s most popular tourist attractions. At weekends the wide, grassy footpath where trains once passed bustled with families, dog walkers and abseilers taking in the spectacular view of the Chilterns it afforded them. Today it was empty except for three people: Ewan, Poppy – and DS Anna Renshaw.
‘What the hell is she doing here?’ huffed Belmar as he and Maggie reached the summit of the steps leading from the car park to the viaduct footpath. The arches were fifty metres high and it was a steep climb.
‘No idea, but I don’t like it,’ Maggie panted back.
Ewan and Poppy were standing by the edge of the footpath and there was a sheer drop on the other side of the brick-and-flint wall they were leaning against. Ewan had his arm clamped around her shoulders and the way Poppy was leaning in to him meant her face was hidden from view. Renshaw was standing a few metres back from them, towards the middle of the footpath. She was in casual clothes – jeans, T-shirt, flip-flops – and her usually groomed hair hung limp about her face. When she saw Maggie and Belmar approaching, she held up her hand to stop them.
‘Leave this to me,’ she ordered.
‘Anna, you need to step down. You’re not meant to be here,’ said Maggie firmly.
‘This is my case,’ she shot back.
‘No, it isn’t.’
Ewan suddenly shouted.
‘All of you leave us alone!’
‘Mr Hepworth, I need you to step away from the wall with Poppy,’ said Maggie. ‘We can sort this out.’
Renshaw clenched her fists. ‘I said leave it, Maggie.’ She took a step forward. ‘Poppy,’ she hollered to the girl, ‘why did you push Benji Tyler to his death?’
‘Call Umpire,’ said Maggie in an undertone to Belmar. ‘Find out how long he’s going to be. Then stay here while I try to get Renshaw away from them.’
‘How are you going to do that?’
‘God knows.’
Maggie moved closer to the group.
‘Anna, can I have a quick word?’
Renshaw stared resolutely ahead as if she hadn’t heard her.
‘I’ve got some intel I need to share with you about Poppy.’
That got her attention – and also Poppy’s. The girl pulled away from her dad’s grasp and turned towards Maggie. She looked frightened, but unscathed.
‘What is it?’ asked Renshaw, moving towards Maggie but keeping her gaze trained on Ewan and Poppy. The second she was within reach, Maggie grabbed her by the upper arm and yanked her towards where Belmar was waiting. Renshaw protested, but Maggie wouldn’t relinquish her grip and Renshaw’s flip-flops couldn’t get purchase on the grass to stop her being pulled along.
‘You shouldn’t be here. Go home,’ said Maggie as they reached Belmar.
‘She can’t get away with it,’ said Renshaw, agitated.
‘That’s not your call,’ said Belmar.
Renshaw looked wild-eyed as she shook her head. ‘I’ve lost my home, my future, the love of my life. I can’t have my case taken off me as well.’
‘Anna, we’re so sorry for what’s happened, but you being here isn’t helping,’ said Maggie, keeping one eye on Ew
an and Poppy. She could see the child was trying to wriggle out of her dad’s embrace but he wasn’t happy about it. In the distance was the faint sound of police sirens approaching.
‘Please, Maggie, I need to do this. My job’s the only thing I’ve got. I want to put this case to bed.’
‘How did you even know they were here?’ asked Belmar.
‘I went to the school this morning. I wanted to talk to Poppy, to get the truth out of her. I was still parked up there when I saw her run out so I followed her. She was almost home when her dad came roaring up in his car and made her get in. Then they came up here.’
‘Did she willingly get in the car with him?’ asked Maggie.
‘No. He had to force her.’
‘Right, you can stay here with Belmar. If I see you move an inch I’ll have him arrest you,’ she warned. ‘Do not get in the way.’
Knowing she was beaten, Renshaw nodded grudgingly and Maggie moved slowly back across the path towards father and daughter, who were still tussling.
‘You have to stay with me,’ Ewan was saying. ‘I’m not letting you go.’
‘Please, Daddy, you’re hurting me. I want to go home.’
‘But that’s the problem, honey, you won’t be going home. The police are going to take you away because of what you did to Benji. You’ll never see me, Mummy or Dylan again. That’s why we must stay together now.’
‘It was your fault,’ wailed Poppy. ‘If Benji hadn’t seen you and told me, it wouldn’t have happened!’ She tried to pull away again and shrieked as her dad held her even tighter.
Maggie cautiously stepped forward.
‘Mr Hepworth, please move away from the wall.’ To her side she heard voices and from the corner of her eye saw that Umpire had arrived with backup. She held a finger up to show him she wanted them all to stay where they were. Ewan might freak out even more if they crowded him.
‘I can’t help if you don’t listen to me,’ she added.
‘Help us? You want to lock us both up!’ Ewan retorted.
Maggie had been trained to deal with hostile witnesses but this situation was something else. Her back and underarms were drenched with sweat that had nothing whatsoever to do with the warm weather and she daren’t move a muscle in case Ewan took it as a sign of aggression.
‘I just want to talk to you,’ she said.
‘Please help me,’ Poppy wailed. ‘I want to go home.’
‘I’m trying to, but I need your dad to calm down first.’
‘He’s not going to. He’s a bad, bad man,’ she sobbed. ‘He did bad things with the dead woman. Benji told me.’
Maggie felt wretched for the girl. She’d killed her friend not realizing he was simply trying to help her understand the kind of man her father was.
‘Don’t you dare call me that,’ Ewan shouted at her. ‘I am your father and you will respect me!’
To Maggie’s horror, he swung his leg astride the wall so he was straddling it and jerked Poppy upwards so she was next to him. She cried out in pain as the jagged flint scraped her back through her thin cotton school dress.
Maggie stepped forward. Barely three metres separated her from them.
‘I understand you’re upset, Ewan, but this is not the answer.’
‘POPPY!’
The agonizing scream splitting the still air came from Julia, who had arrived on top of the viaduct with an older woman in tow. Umpire held her back to stop her from getting any closer.
‘I want my daughter,’ she sobbed.
‘Maggie knows what she’s doing,’ he reassured her.
Maggie wished she shared his belief in her. She was starting to feel out of her depth as Ewan continued to ignore her entreaties to let Poppy go and move off the wall. Then she hit on a brainwave.
‘Do you remember when your mum brought you here, Poppy?’
‘She was too little,’ snarled her dad.
‘But you remember it, don’t you, Ewan? I bet you can recall like it was yesterday how scared you were seeing your wife balancing on that wall with Poppy in her arms, and how desperate you were to stop her falling to certain death. And you did, you saved your little girl’s life that day,’ said Maggie. ‘So why are you risking it now?’
There was a sharp intake of breath from Ewan as he struggled with the emotions Maggie’s reminder had unleashed. His expression raced from anger to hurt to alarm as his mind took him back to that moment eight years ago when it was Julia standing where he now sat, threatening to kill herself and their child.
‘I’m not like her,’ he said through clenched teeth.
‘Right now you’re putting Poppy in harm’s way just like she did,’ said Maggie. ‘But I know you don’t mean to. I know you wouldn’t really hurt her.’
He shook his head vehemently. ‘I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t.’
Maggie extended her hand. ‘So let me help you. Let me help you keep her safe.’
‘No! You want to lock her up because she pushed the boy.’
Maggie stopped.
‘How did you know she did it?’
Poppy went rigid with fear as Ewan stroked her hair.
‘You told me at the school after it happened, didn’t you, darling?’ He looked back at Maggie. ‘And she told me what Benji had said about me. I said he was lying, but she mustn’t tell the truth because the police wouldn’t understand and you’d take her away from us.’
‘Is that why you killed Ruby, to keep her quiet as well?’
‘Don’t be stupid. She wanted more money than I was prepared to pay. She started yelling so I had to silence her. I won’t have any woman yell at me.’
Maggie thought carefully how to respond. She daren’t promise anything she couldn’t deliver.
‘What Poppy did to Benji – there are mitigating circumstances. Reasons, good reasons, that will be taken into account,’ she said.
She could see Ewan was listening intently and it filled her with hope.
‘I’ll make sure everyone knows about those reasons, I swear. I’ll look after her.’
She saw his arm begin to unfurl from Poppy’s shoulders and, heart beating wildly, she stepped closer, stretching out both her arms, ready to grab her. But as she did, there was a shout to her left, from where the others were, and she looked round to see Renshaw bearing down on them, with Belmar in close pursuit.
‘Don’t you dare let her get away with it!’ Renshaw screamed.
On hearing that, Julia elbowed Umpire in the stomach, forcing him to release his hold on her. Then she started running too.
‘Stay back,’ Maggie yelled at them. ‘Don’t come any closer!’
Ewan bellowed in anger and Poppy shrieked as he leaned back precariously. Maggie made a grab for the front of the girl’s school dress but as she did someone crashed into her and knocked her sideways onto the grass. Winded, she tried to get up but it all happened too quickly . . . Ewan’s face twisting in shock . . . a blur of red gingham . . . a hand reaching out . . . streaming blonde hair . . . a high-pitched scream . . . a thud.
Then, silence.
91
Two weeks later
Mrs Pullman sighed, then slowly folded the piece of paper up, slid it inside the envelope, and handed it back to Alan.
‘I don’t want to accept your resignation.’
Once again Alan marvelled at the woman’s compassion. Despite everything he’d done and the terrible shame he’d helped heap on her beloved school, she didn’t hate him or even blame him. He’d told her everything, as he had the police, and somehow she’d found it in her heart to understand, acknowledging that it was an impossible situation he’d been in, given the breadth of Gus’s operation, the players involved and the enormous pressure he’d put Alan under. Burning down the Pavilion had proved how much he wanted to put an end to the racket and she’d even offered to act as a character witness if Alan was charged with any offences. He was really going to miss her.
‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to accept it. I’m leaving
Mansell.’
She gazed up at him.
‘But why? I understand you want a break – frankly, we all need one. But the summer holidays are coming up and that will give us all pause to regroup and get Rushbrooke back on its feet.’
‘It’s not about what’s happened. It’s my family. I’m going back to Nottinghamshire to be closer to them.’
Happiness radiated from his every pore. Straight after work he was driving up to see Gayle and the children again. He’d spent the past weekend there, visiting old haunts and establishing a couple of new ones, but this time he’d be flat hunting. He couldn’t believe it when Gayle suggested he think about moving back. They could find him somewhere to rent near to her house, she’d said, adding, ‘I’m not promising anything with you and me, but I don’t want you not to be in the kids’ lives. Whatever happens with the police investigation, we’ll be there to support you.’
It was enough bait to make him say yes.
‘What about your dealings with the police?’ asked Mrs Pullman. ‘Won’t they mind you moving away?’
‘I’m bailed until October pending further inquiries. I think they’re more interested in Gus and the others for now.’
He hadn’t told her he was going to be a witness for the prosecution in Gus’s trial, whose arrest had shocked everyone. It was another reason he couldn’t stay at Rushbrooke: Mrs Pullman might be magnanimous about his involvement, but he didn’t imagine any parents would be once he took the stand and explained in detail exactly how Gus had schemed to defile the grounds where their precious kids were taught and how he had been involved.
‘Who will I get to replace you? I’ve already got to find a new deputy head and several more teachers,’ she said.
The innocuous way in which she stated Mr Lincoln’s old position needed to be filled made Alan suspect she didn’t yet know her deputy head had been a client of Gus’s enterprise. The last Alan heard, Lincoln was moving with his family to Wales.
‘I know someone who can cover for me until you find a permanent replacement. He used to be the site manager at Loxley Green Primary and has just come to the end of a temporary contract to look after the grounds at Twitchmoor Manor. He’s available to shadow me while I work out my notice during the holidays.’
False Witness Page 29