The Girls in the Lake: An addictive and gripping crime thriller (Beth Adams Book 2)

by Helen Phifer

  Jerking herself back to the moment, she took in the body in front of her, the glazed eyes staring up into the sky. Whoever this woman was with her porcelain, blemish-free skin, blue eyes and full lips, she was stunning. Beth bent down to examine her closely. There were some superficial skin bruises on her extremities and some abrasions on the right side of her face but the white, frothy foam coming from the woman’s mouth was consistent with drowning.

  Turning around, Beth raised her voice. ‘Do we know exactly where she was in the water?’

  The officer who had been first at the scene took a step forward and answered. ‘The guy who found her and pulled her out said she was on the port side of that boat.’ He pointed to the large, very expensive motor cruiser next to them.

  ‘Which way was she facing?’

  ‘Face down.’

  ‘No, sorry, I meant which way was her head pointing: towards the lake or the marina?’

  He shrugged. ‘I didn’t ask, but he’s over there in the back of the ambulance still.’

  Josh, who was standing next to him, shouted against the wind. ‘I’ll go and check.’

  Beth smiled at the officer. ‘It’s okay, I just need to know to see if the marks on her body and face can be accounted for.’

  She looked back down at the girl and felt her heart contract in sorrow for the loss of a life so young. Turning the girl’s head to the side, she noted there was no rigor, indicating she hadn’t been in the water too long before she’d been found. That was a relief, of sorts.

  Josh returned, walking closer so he didn’t have to shout. ‘He said her head was facing out towards the lake; he also said her hair was caught on the anchor chain and he had to forcibly pull it away to get her free. He woke up to the sound of thudding against the side of the boat, came above deck and looked over to find her floating face down in the water.’

  ‘Ah, that would explain the injuries and also why she didn’t sink. Normally when someone drowns, the body sinks to the bottom as the water pressure compresses the gases in the chest and abdominal cavities. This results in the body displacing less water and sinking deeper, becoming less buoyant the deeper it goes.’

  Picking up the woman’s hands, she studied her slender fingers and nails; there were no defence marks on them, nothing to suspect foul play, although Beth couldn’t rule it out until she’d performed the post-mortem. She continued working her way around taking the relevant samples and the victim’s body temperature.

  ‘So, any initial observations?’

  Beth turned to Josh. ‘Why is she naked?’

  ‘The witness said she was on the boat with him and four others until the early hours. They were drinking heavily. Her clothes are all discarded on the deck in a pile. It’s likely she decided to go for a midnight swim and didn’t realise how cold the water was?’

  ‘Maybe. It doesn’t look suspicious to me at this moment in time; however I still need to do a full post-mortem cataloguing the bruising and abrasions, then check they correspond with the witness statement before I can give you a definite answer.’

  He nodded. ‘Thanks, Beth.’

  She stood up. ‘My pleasure. Poor girl, they say drowning is a peaceful death. I don’t think falling into a freezing cold lake and swallowing the water until your lungs feel as if they’re going to burst could ever be peaceful.’

  Snapping the locks on her case shut, she turned to Josh. ‘You know where to find me if you need anything. I’ll see you at the hospital.’

  Then she left, heading back towards her car with a heavy heart.

  Four

  They finally got clearance to move the body about an hour after Beth had left. Josh could hardly bear to look as the girl was placed into the black body bag, the sound of the zipper sealing her fate forever.

  ‘What a bloody shame,’ he said to Patrol Sergeant Karen Taylor, who was standing on the opposite side of the jetty. ‘Long time no see, how are you?’

  She shrugged. ‘I’d be better if I wasn’t freezing to death standing here.’

  Josh walked over to her, curious. ‘Why are you here?’

  ‘I’m on my way to Kendal, they’re short-staffed. I heard this come in and thought I’d swing by on my way. You know how it is, Josh, I like to keep you lot on your toes.’

  He smiled and laughed. ‘How am I doing up to now?’

  She shrugged. ‘Not bad. Are you sure it’s accidental though? I mean you’d have to be totally off your trolley to strip naked and jump into the lake at this time of year.’

  ‘The doc seems to think it is, but I agree with you that it seems like a mad thing to do. There are no obvious signs of foul play and judging by the number of empty alcohol bottles on the boat she came off, I’d have to say her judgement may have been a little distorted. The post-mortem will tell us for sure.’

  ‘How is Beth by the way?’

  He wondered if she knew about their relationship – gossip spread faster than the flu in the station. Then again, Karen was usually stationed at Barrow, so how could she possibly know? ‘She seems okay, better than I thought.’

  ‘Good, the poor woman has had a terrible time. I suppose you’ve already heard about the suicide at the prison.’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Oh, you’ve been busy here. That monster ex-boyfriend of hers, Hartshorn, topped himself; they found his body in his cell last night.’

  A hundred thoughts rushed through his mind. Did Beth know? Had anyone warned her before she got to work? His hands itched to ring her and find out if she was okay, but they were supposed to be keeping their relationship low profile. It would look too obvious.

  ‘I didn’t know. I was called out to come straight here.’

  ‘Well, send her my best. Seeing as how you have everything covered here, I’m off to a cosy warm office in Kendal. I’ll see you later.’

  She walked away, back to the white Ford Focus parked near the police tape. Josh liked her, she was a good officer and didn’t take any crap, but he couldn’t help wondering if she had just come here fishing for gossip. Either way, it didn’t matter. He walked to his car and got inside, not realising how cold his hands were until he tried to unlock his phone. He needed to speak to Beth. When his fingers warmed up sufficiently to slide across the screen and give him access to his recent call list, he pressed his finger against Beth’s name and hoped she wasn’t already in the mortuary. It went straight to voicemail and he left her a message to call him as soon as she could.

  Five

  Beth arrived at the hospital mortuary much earlier than usual due to her morning call out. As she walked in, she saw Abe, her ‘trusty sidekick’ as he called himself. His real job title was Anatomical Pathology Technician and he was already in scrubs dealing with two undertakers and a body in a bag on a steel gurney at the rear doors. Beth wondered who it was. It couldn’t be the girl they’d pulled from the lake here already.

  She waved at Abe and, as he turned to look at her, for the first time in forever his brilliant-white smile faltered. Immediately she knew something was wrong. After Josh, Abe was probably the second closest thing she had to a friend, since she’d spent the last seven years living in fear and wrapped in a protective bubble of loneliness. Things were different now; she still found it hard to socialise, but at least she made the effort. After surviving two attempts on her life by the same twisted killer, she had vowed to herself that she would no longer live in fear and try to enjoy the life she’d been given.

  Whatever bad news Abe had, she could handle. But she needed coffee first. Trying her best to ignore the churning in her stomach, she made her way to the small staffroom and set the coffee brewing while she went in search of something to eat. Her stomach was in knots in anticipation, but perhaps she could persuade herself she was just hungry.

  The staff canteen at Furness General Hospital was full, and a few of the doctors and nurses stared over at her as she entered. She smiled at them and they quickly turned away; the celebrity status she’d earned after the last
case she’d worked on showed no sign of dying out. She had nothing to hide; none of it had been her fault. Josh had told her time and time again that pretty soon another story would come along and her five minutes of infamy would pass, and people would forget about the tragedy and horror she’d endured.

  When it was her turn in the queue, she ordered two fried egg, tomato and mushroom toasted sandwiches. Beth and Abe rarely ate meat on the days they performed post-mortems. The woman handed over two boxes, and she made her way to the till to pay just as a group of police officers piled in, joining the queue and sending a sigh of relief through her body. Now they would become the focus of everyone’s attention, which suited her far better. As she walked past, a couple of them nodded; one of them said: ‘Morning, Doc.’

  ‘Morning, officers, enjoy your breakfast.’

  Smiling, she was out of there as fast as she could walk and made her way back along the long corridors to get to the mortuary. As she keyed in the number on the keypad she was hit by the strong smell of fresh coffee and smiled with delight. Now all she had to do was to eat her breakfast and try to find out why Abe was acting so strange.

  He was in the staffroom waiting for her. She sat down and slid a box across the table towards him. ‘I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten yet; if you don’t want it you can warm it up for lunch.’ She winked at him.

  ‘Thanks, Beth, you shouldn’t have.’

  He passed her the bottle of tomato sauce and she smothered her sandwich in it. He shuddered.

  ‘Why don’t you have some food with your ketchup? It’s gross you know, watching it drip out of the sides of your toast.’

  Beth choked, trying not to laugh and splatter fried egg everywhere. ‘I thought you had a stomach of steel! I’ve told you, when your cooking skills are as dire as mine you need all the ketchup you can get.’

  ‘You’re not that bad a cook.’

  ‘You haven’t had the pleasure of an actual meal. Sandwiches, pasta and packed lunches I can do.’

  They ate in silence and when Beth was satisfied Abe was done, she stood up and poured out two mugs of coffee.

  ‘Now we’ve both eaten and are ready to face the day are you going to tell me what’s going on?’

  He moved his head up and down slowly.

  ‘Why are you acting strangely?’

  ‘I am?’

  She arched one eyebrow at him.

  ‘They brought a suicide victim in from the prison late last night.’

  ‘It’s been a while since we’ve had one of those; why is it making you so edgy?’

  She took a sip of coffee, then another. Feeling her brain begin to kick into action as she put Abe’s behaviour and a prison suicide together, she came to a revelation that made her blood run cold.

  ‘It’s him, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  She stared down into the mug she was holding, a multitude of emotions rushing through her veins towards her brain. Guilt, despite the fact she had nothing to be remorseful about, closely followed by a surge of relief. She hid her face behind her coffee cup. She needed time to process this information and decide how she was going to handle it. Abe stood up and left her alone, taking his mug into the mortuary with him, and for that she was thankful. A few minutes, she just needed a few minutes and then she’d be good to go.

  Six

  Sitting at his desk sipping the mug of coffee his colleague, DC Sam Thomas, had made him to take away the chill he was feeling, Josh scanned through the scene photographs from the marina. He was erring on the side of accidental death, but the final call would be down to Beth.

  He was waiting for DC John Paton to get back from the hospital, where the witness who’d pulled the victim out of the lake had been taken. Looking down at his notebook, Ethan Scales seemed like a decent lad; he worked out of the Freshwater Marine Biology site on the shore of Lake Windermere, and the boat belonged to a friend of his. It sounded as if they’d been doing what most twenty-year-olds do, drinking and having a good time. His phone began to ring, so he answered it and stood up.

  ‘We’re here. I’ve taken him to interview room A and gone to make him a brew.’

  ‘Cheers, John, I’ll be down now. I don’t need a drink, I’ve already got one.’

  The call ended and he smiled. DC Paton hated brewing up at the best of times and only ever did it when he had to. Josh grabbed his notepad and pen off his desk in one hand, coffee in the other and he made his way down to the custody suite, where his witness would be waiting for him.

  Knocking on the grey steel door of the small room, he opened it and walked in. The lad sitting at the table looked up him, and Josh got the impression he was still in shock by the paleness of his complexion and wide eyes. He sat opposite him, reaching out a hand.

  ‘I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself properly earlier. I’m Detective Sergeant Josh Walker.’

  Ethan took his hand and shook it. ‘Ethan Scales.’

  Josh smiled. ‘First of all, thank you for doing what you did. It takes a brave man to jump into that lake at this time of year.’

  He shrugged. ‘I had to. I thought, or I suppose I was hoping, she was still alive and I could save her.’

  Another knock and this time Paton entered, carrying two steaming mugs in one hand and a KitKat in the other that looked as if it had been kicked around the canteen floor for a couple of hours. He put the drinks down, passing one to Ethan along with the chocolate biscuit.

  ‘Thanks. I’m so cold, I can’t get warm.’ He wrapped his hands around the mug, dismissing the biscuit. ‘Am I under arrest, do I need a solicitor? I don’t understand what’s going on.’

  Josh shook his head. ‘Oh, God no. Of course not. As far as we’re concerned, you’re the hero of the day. This is just a formality. I’m afraid we need to take an official statement to pass to the coroner’s officer. It’s easier to do it here where we can get it sorted without any interruptions. Of course, if you feel you need a solicitor we can arrange for the duty one to attend.’

  ‘No, I don’t. I heard the noise, looked in the water and saw her. I jumped in, dragged her out and prayed I’d be able to resuscitate her. I’m so sorry I couldn’t.’ He bent his head, and Josh reached out and patted his hand.

  ‘You did everything you could. Should we get this over with so you can get home, have a hot bath and get some sleep?’

  Ethan lifted his head, the expression of pure misery on his face making even Josh feel bad for him.

  ‘Yes, please. I feel like shit. I’m never drinking again.’

  Josh smiled. How many times had he said the very same the morning after?

  ‘Can you tell me what happened earlier on in the evening, the events leading up to you discovering the body? I need to get a clearer picture of who was there, how much the victim drank, did anyone take any drugs?’

  Ethan looked at him, distress visible in his face.

  ‘I don’t do drugs; as far as I know neither did anyone else. Well James could have, I can’t speak for him, but he sometimes dabbles, nothing too heavy. I prefer to stick to the booze.’

  ‘No one is in any trouble. I’m not interested in a bit of drugs for personal use, I just need to understand what happened to end up with one of the party dead. Did she jump into the water for a dare? Did she tell anyone she was going to go for a swim?’

  Ethan shook his head. ‘There was me, James Marshall, Marcus Johnson, who left really early before anyone got drunk, and the two girls. I’m sorry, I don’t know either of their names. One was the girl I pulled from the lake, the other was her friend. She didn’t speak a lot of English, she was French, on an exchange visit or something like that. Look I’m sorry, I can’t tell you much more. We drank far too much. It was all free. James always has cases of wine and spirits onboard. I remember we started off on champagne, but soon progressed to vodka shots. I have no recollection of getting to bed. I don’t know what time James left. I do know that I wouldn’t have let her go into the water for a late-night swim, and n
o one dared her to. I wouldn’t let anyone go into the water, it’s freezing and dangerous. For what it’s worth, neither would James. I don’t know what she was thinking to be honest with you. I keep asking myself and it doesn’t make any sense.’

  Nodding, Josh was inclined to agree: this felt like nothing more than a tragic accident and he was pretty sure Beth’s findings would support his hunch.

  ‘Was she happy? She didn’t seem upset over anything?’

  ‘She was laughing and having a good time with the rest of us. I couldn’t say if she was upset. I didn’t know her well enough to figure out anything more than I liked her. A lot.’ He began to blink back the tears that were welling in his eyes.

  Seven

  James Marshall looked at his phone; he had nine missed calls from Ethan. He rolled over in his bed and was surprised to see a woman lying next to him. Christ, he didn’t remember bringing her back to his apartment. Why hadn’t they stayed on the boat? It was far easier to get rid of a one-night stand when they didn’t know where he lived. He stared at the long, blonde hair and tried to remember her name. He thought back to who was on the boat with him last night: Ethan, Marcus and two women; one of them hadn’t spoken very much English. The blonde one who had been from down South somewhere he’d left behind with Ethan, who had been fawning over her. If he remembered right, this girl was a French exchange student, over here on work experience. Her English was good, which was a shame because it would be far easier to fob her off with a quick kiss and a taxi fare home if she didn’t understand what he was saying.