Kim shook away the thoughts of Christmas past as she headed through the small lounge. Two women eyed them suspiciously as they awaited their turn in the salon chair. Two little girls and a boy were holding hands, singing and dancing around in the middle of the room.
‘Come for your free haircut, officer?’ Nigel asked, reaching over and turning up the radio as the Band Aid Christmas song came on. ‘Sorry, kiddies, love this one.’
‘I’m still good, Nigel,’ she said, continuing her journey through to the mess room.
‘Hi Curt, you forget about us or something?’ she asked, folding her arms in the doorway.
‘Nah, just making me a cuppa first,’ he said, holding up a steaming mug.
‘Only, it’s not like we’ve got a murderer to catch or anything,’ she said, pulling out a thin metal chair from beneath the battered bistro-sized table.
Bryant positioned himself leaning against the door frame.
Kim tried to fight her growing dislike for Curt Wickes but there was something lazily aggressive in his posture as he threw himself down into the other metal seat opposite.
‘So, Curt, I assume you know that Hayley Smart has been murdered.’
He shrugged. ‘Yeah, we all know.’
‘Did you know her well?’
He shook his head immediately.
‘Don’t really know any of the ladies here very well. We’re not encouraged to be too friendly with the residents for obvious reasons.’
‘Which are?’
He shrugged. ‘You know. They’ve all had bad experiences with men either beating them up, abusing them or the kids. We come in, follow our work sheet and go home again. Mind our own business and get on with the job.’
From what she’d seen on camera his brother Carl didn’t take the guidelines quite as seriously. It had taken him an awfully long time to change a plug.
‘You worked for the shelter for long?’
‘Two years and seven months. Since we qualified as electricians and started up our own business.’
‘How’d it come about?’ she asked.
‘Marianne gave us a chance to prove ourselves. She’s a generous woman.’
Kim didn’t doubt it. Not one person that she could think of had done more for abused women in the area.
‘You work at all the shelters?’
He nodded.
‘Anywhere else?’ she asked.
‘Not too much. We’re kept pretty busy by Marianne. Always something that needs doing, decorating a room, electrical problems, shelving, well everything really.’
Kim couldn’t help herself thinking that was an awful lot of vulnerable women these guys had access to.
‘Did you ever notice anything particular about Hayley? Any good friends or particular enemies. I mean surely not all the women here get on.’
He looked up and to the left.
‘To be honest I don’t remember her having any of either. I just don’t know what to tell you. I don’t mean to be rude but she wasn’t all that memorable. She came for a few months and left again, like all the rest of them.’
Kim found that hard to believe bearing in mind the birthmark which immediately made her hard to forget.
‘So, there were no incidents here with her at all?’
Another shrug and a shake of the head.
‘I was told that Luke Fenton turned up here one day; made a bit of a nuisance of himself and that you went outside to check that he’d gone.’
‘Nah, not me. Must have been Carl.’
As her phone began to ring Kim had the distinct feeling she was talking to the wrong brother.
Chapter Eighty-Two
‘What the hell was that all about?’ Bryant asked.
She ended the call as they entered Marianne’s office to continue the staff interviews.
Kim frowned. ‘I’m still trying to work it out. Something about the real meanings behind bloody nursery rhymes.’
‘Guv, I don’t like to say but…’
‘Yeah, yeah, I know,’ she interrupted. Dawson’s time-wasting activities had reached a whole new level. She’d speak to Woody this evening and have him replaced by the morning.
‘We’ve got Louella Atkins next. I asked for Carl, but apparently the counsellor needs to get off urgently.’
Kim swallowed down her annoyance. There was something not sitting well with these two brothers and she wanted to find out what it was.
But Carl would just have to wait, she thought, as a gentle tap sounded on the door.
‘Come in,’ Bryant called out.
The woman who entered was in her mid-thirties with a short, severe haircut that tapered into the back of her neck. The blunt fringe instantly drew attention to the hazel eyes. She wore no make-up to cover two deep acne scars on her cheek.
She offered a smile as she sat in the empty chair.
‘We’ll try not to keep you too long, Ms Atkins,’ she offered.
‘Louella, please,’ she offered. ‘And anything I can do to help.’
Except change your appointment and wait in line, Kim thought.
‘You counselled Hayley Smart when she was here?’
‘I did the best I could, Inspector, but Hayley wasn’t a natural confider.’
Kim began to wonder just who Hayley had ever talked to other than her child. She was piecing together a solitary existence for the young woman with no family and friends.
‘And she was here for the full six months?’
‘She was indeed.’
‘Would you like to tell me anything about your conversations?’ Kim pushed.
‘She was lonely, Inspector. I know that. Hayley was a “better when” kind of person.’
Kim shook her head, not understanding the term.
‘Throughout her early life she convinced herself that things would be better when something or other happened. She told me she felt her life would be better when her mother came back to fetch her. When that dream died she felt her life would be better when she found a foster family that would love her. Over time that hope faded and she felt her life would be better when she could escape the care system completely and make it on her own.’ Louella paused. ‘The care system would not be categorised as a warm and nurturing environment where—’
‘Is that why she had Mia?’ Kim asked. She was well-versed in the care system.
‘I think so. Better when she had someone of her own to love.’
‘Did she believe that Luke Fenton had sexually abused Mia?’ Kim asked, hoping for a negative response. For some reason she really wanted to believe that Hayley would not knowingly have placed her daughter in danger.
Louella thought for a moment. ‘I think she did but she didn’t want to.’
‘You think she was too vulnerable, too desperate for love to withstand Luke’s persuasion.’
Louella nodded. ‘As I’m sure you know abusers play on emotions, primarily fear. They will tell children that if they speak of abuse something terrible will happen to them or someone they love. But there are other fears. Fear of exposure, fear of physical harm, fear of being alone and I think Luke may have managed to convince Hayley that he was the only one who would love her. I think he probably played on her wish to believe that nothing had happened. He was the first man to pay any interest in her. He made her feel valued; he made her feel like somebody for what was probably the first time in her life.’
Given what they’d learned about Luke Fenton Kim was surprised he possessed the charm to lure her back to his home. It wasn’t a personality trait he’d displayed either at work or to his neighbours. But they didn’t have a nine-year-old child, a small voice said inside her. And Mia had been the real prize. His courtship of Hayley had been a means to the end.
‘We tried to give her the confidence. Her abilities were ummm… limited so finding work was…’
‘She had learning difficulties?’ Kim asked, wondering if there was anything else that could have been thrown at her.
‘She was barely liter
ate but we tried to work with her. I felt we were making progress and offering her some kind of self-value and confidence.’
‘But despite everything she went back to him?’ Kim observed.
A shadow passed over Louella’s face.
‘And your thoughts on that?’ Kim asked.
‘May I be honest?’
‘It’s preferable,’ Kim advised. This woman had an opinion and she wanted to share it.
‘I’m sorry she’s dead but Mia is safe now. She came here and took a valuable place from someone who might have used it more wisely. It was a waste of time. This place is a haven for abused women and children. Marianne could have done no more to give her a better chance in life. She did everything to put Hayley in a better position for both herself and Mia. As she does with all of us. I tried to counsel her; Marianne tried to counsel her.’
‘That was her job before she opened the shelters, wasn’t it?’ Kim asked, recalling Stacey’s background notes.
‘Yes, that’s how she met many of us in the first place. She offers a helping hand to anyone who needs it. You’ll find that most of us would have nothing if it wasn’t for her, so for Hayley to just throw all that time and effort into the bin and go back to the man who had abused her child is, quite frankly, unforgiveable.’
Louella’s voice had risen in volume and passion as the words had tumbled from her mouth.
‘You blame her despite everything you know about her past?’ Kim asked.
‘Of course I do. She was a mother before anything else.’
Kim couldn’t argue the point even though something inside her wanted to, but she wanted to pick up on something else the woman had said.
‘So, you’re saying that many of the people involved here at the shelter are from Marianne’s past?’
Louella nodded. ‘She’s a very generous woman who gives everything she has to victims of abuse whether it be domestic abuse or sexual. If they need a place to go she will do her utmost to take care of them. And some people just throw that effort back in her face when all she does is think about ways to…’
Kim found herself tuning out of the tirade of hero worship coming out of the counsellor’s mouth.
‘…and she should not be judged too harshly for what she did. If she’d had any other choice she wouldn’t—’
‘She had no other choice in what?’ Kim asked, sitting straighter.
‘Turning Hayley away,’ she said with a frown.
‘When was this?’ Kim asked. The woman had been in hiding for weeks.
‘I’m sorry, I thought you already knew. Hayley was here on Tuesday night asking if she could come back.’
Hayley Smart had been here the night she lost her life.
Chapter Eighty-Three
‘You didn’t tell us you’d turned her away,’ Kim said to Marianne. They had asked Jay to call her back to the office.
Marianne’s face folded into a mixture of sadness and regret.
‘She was here for just a moment,’ she said, as her eyes filled with tears. She wiped at them before they could topple over the edge.
‘That doesn’t really excuse you keeping that information to yourself, Marianne. You may very well be the last person other than the killer to have seen her alive.’
‘Oh no, please don’t say that. I can’t bear the thought that I…’
‘But why didn’t you help her?’ Kim asked.
‘We’re full, Inspector, I had nowhere to put her.’
‘There wasn’t a sofa spare she could have used?’ Kim asked. This response to a woman in need did not quite match the description they’d just had from Louella the counsellor.
‘We have regulations. I couldn’t.’
‘I’m sorry, Marianne, but I’m not buying that. I think you turned her away because you were angry with her for going back to Luke Fenton after all the time and effort you put into her,’ Kim said, feeling her anger rise. ‘It appears to me that your help comes with conditions, that beneficiaries of your charity are held to your standards and expectations and if they fail to do so they’re cut loose. That girl came to you for help and you turned her away. Surely you could have referred her somewhere else, made a few calls. She was scared and alone, beaten down and begging for help and you decided to make a point because you disapproved of her choices. You could have done more but you were punishing her.’
Marianne shook her head in denial but Kim could see the truth in her eyes, and there was nothing Kim could or would say to make her feel better. Hayley Smart might still be alive if Marianne hadn’t turned her away.
She tried to keep the disgust from her voice. ‘Did she say anything at all that you haven’t told me?’
Marianne hesitated before nodding. Her voice was low and full of regret.
‘She said she needed to be somewhere safe.’
‘And you didn’t think to call the police or do anything at all to help her?’
Marianne looked away.
Hayley had been cold, frightened and alone, almost begging this woman for help. And still she had been turned away.
But that didn’t make sense, Kim realised. Hayley had received the message from Luke Fenton’s sister. She knew her ex-boyfriend was dead.
Unless that wasn’t who she’d been hiding from at all, Kim realised, as her phone began to ring.
Her stomach turned when she saw that the caller was Keats.
Chapter Eighty-Four
Marianne grabbed the envelope from her drawer and headed out of the office. She had no idea what had caused the detective inspector to leave in such a hurry but she was just pleased that she had.
She could not tolerate the woman’s judgement of her actions. Yes, she had managed to summon the tears at Hayley’s passing, but in truth she felt little for the girl who had taken her help, her resources, her time and thrown it back in her face. Whatever her reasons she had chosen to return to an active abuser with her own child. It was inexcusable and unforgiveable and Hayley had learned the hard way that there were consequences to her actions.
She put Hayley out of her mind and barrelled down the hallway. She had more pressing matters to attend to.
‘What the?…’
‘Sorry, I…’
The envelope fell from her hand as Diana Lambert stormed out of the bathroom and they collided.
Marianne bent to pick it up.
‘Sorry, I was just in a rush to get…’
‘It’s okay,’ Marianne said, with a smile. ‘And calm down. Your meeting with Child Services will be fine and you’ll be reunited with your daughter in no time.’
‘I hope so, Marianne,’ she said, her brown eyes soft with fear. ‘But I know that bastard will lie through his teeth to stop me…’
‘You’ll be fine,’ Marianne reassured. ‘Just relax and tell the truth. You’ll get her back, I know you will.’
‘Thank you,’ Diana said, before tearing off in the direction of the front door.
Marianne continued her search of the premises until she found Carl in the tool shed just outside the back door.
She held out the envelope.
Carl looked down at her hand and began to shake his head.
‘Take it, Carl. It’s urgent. I want this one done now.’
‘Marianne, it’s gone too—’
‘Take it,’ she said, thrusting the envelope towards him.
‘That copper is sniffing around. She wants to see me next.’
‘She’s gone, Carl. You can leave now. Get it done before…’
‘I’m not doing it, Marianne,’ he said, turning away.
Marianne realised she needed to change strategy. She had felt his indecision at the last envelope she’d handed him.
She placed a hand gently on his back. ‘Do you remember how much help you needed when we first met, Carl?’ she whispered.
His head dropped forward just an inch.
‘How scared you were; how you still cried yourself to sleep when you were nineteen years old. How the fear didn’t le
ave you even after your abuser was dead.’
‘I remember,’ he whispered.
‘These women have to feel safe, Carl. They can’t recover unless they feel protected. Just look at Louella and… and all the rest who have thrived and made good lives for themselves. They’ve overcome the pain, the fear to become successful. And that’s all because of what I… we’ve done here. We have to keep going,’ she said, squeezing his arm. ‘They’re relying on us.’
He said nothing for a full minute.
Finally, he turned and held out his hand for the name.
Chapter Eighty-Five
‘Got it,’ Stacey said, out loud even though the room was empty.
It had taken some time to plough through all the data that had been accumulating on her desk, but she had finally pieced together that the mobile number she’d been unable to account for on the call register of Luke Fenton had also been in contact with Hayley Smart.
She had found a deleted text message on Hayley’s phone from that same number as well as seventeen unanswered calls.
The text message had chillingly read
Come out, Come out, Wherever You Are
But there was one final piece of the puzzle before she could state something categorically, and she’d been thinking of the way she could get the information.
If she was as devious as Kevin Dawson, she could have probably devised a dozen different ways to be sneaky to get what she wanted. But her mind just didn’t work that way.
So, what else can I do? she asked herself.
In the absence of deviousness all that was left was honesty.
Okay, here goes nothing, she thought, googling the number she required.
Within seconds she was waiting for someone at West Mercia to answer the phone.
‘CID, please,’ she requested, once she pressed a few buttons and got through to an actual voice.
‘In connection with?’
‘A current murder enquiry,’ she answered simply.
The line went dead causing her to think she’d been disconnected.
First Blood: A completely gripping mystery thriller (A Detective Kim Stone Novel) Page 19