by Anita Waller
‘Marnie, Andy, I’m sorry. It’s bad news. We’ve found Orla’s body in the Peakshole Water, quite close to Peak Cavern.’
Marnie crumpled and fell against her husband. He tried to sit her upright, but his wife was unconscious, in a deep faint.
In Bradwell, life felt good. The furniture miraculously fitted, the dust sheets had been removed from the carpets and it was starting to look like the home Doris had known it would become.
Carl stood by her side and looked around the cosy little lounge. ‘Okay, Nan, is there anything else you want putting in a different place? I don’t want you moving anything on your own. Kat says you’re to take it easy.’
‘Humph. Take it easy… I’m sick of hearing that.’
He grinned. ‘Don’t blame me, I’m repeating what I’ve been told. If you promise not to move anything on your own, I’ll go upstairs and help Kat put that cot together.’
‘Of course I won’t move anything. As if I’d dare,’ Doris said, keeping her fingers firmly crossed.
Carl took the stairs two at a time, and found Kat and Mouse sitting on the floor in the small bedroom trying to make sense of the instructions.
‘Thought you’d have this done by now, and Martha asleep in it,’ he joked.
Both pairs of eyes turned towards him. There was an absence of smiles.
‘It makes no sense at all,’ Kat said. ‘I put her other one together on my own, but this seems to have a lot more parts than mine.’
‘Okay,’ Carl said. ‘Let’s do a trade. I’ll put the cot together, if you’ll make us a cup of tea. I think Nan could do with one, to stop her from moving her suite into the other reception room. If that carpet was down, I reckon she would be doing it as we speak. She’s fancying a more cottage style of suite in the main room, I fear.’
‘She’s supposed to be taking it easy.’ Kat jumped up and moved towards the stairs.
‘Kat, a word of advice,’ Carl said. ‘Don’t mention taking it easy to Nan. It wouldn’t be a good idea.’ He took the Allen key from her and picked up the instruction leaflet.
‘Women,’ he muttered. ‘Useless.’ Mouse hit him with the large box the cot had been in and he grinned at her. ‘Did you notice I didn’t say that while Kat was in the room?’
Marnie buried herself in Andy’s arms. She felt so dizzy and ill, and it showed in her face. Andy pulled her as close as he could get her, and they looked at Tessa, then Nadine, willing them to say it had been some horrible mistake and it wasn’t Orla.
The quietness in the room, the feeling of hopelessness, told them it was true, and nothing would bring Orla back to them.
Siân Dawson, the Williamsons’ FLO, opened their front door, and ushered Tessa through to the lounge. ‘She’s bearing up,’ she said. ‘I’ve said nothing yet about Orla French having been found. Zoe’s going to fall apart when she hears that.’
Tessa nodded, and lightly touched the FLO on her arm. ‘I know but I have to tell her before anyone else does.’
Tessa stood in the doorway and looked at Zoe. Her eyes were closed but she wasn’t asleep. She was intertwining her fingers, obviously deep in thought.
‘Zoe?’ Tessa said gently.
Zoe’s eyes shot open. ‘You have news?’
‘Of a kind,’ Tessa said, ‘although not of Mandy. Orla French has been found.’
Zoe stood. ‘Is she okay?’
‘I’m afraid not. The search team found her body in the Peakshole Water.’
‘Oh my God, no. And Mandy…?’
‘No sign. The search team have continued with their planned operation, covering a lot of ground. Don’t give up hope, Zoe.’
‘And how are her mum and dad?’
‘Stepdad. They’re devastated. And angry.’
Siân came through from the kitchen carrying three mugs of tea. ‘I’d already made us a pot. You look as though you need one, boss.’
Tessa smiled her thanks. ‘I do. It’s not been a good day, as you can imagine.’
All three sat down, but Zoe simply held her cup, as if seeking comfort in its warmth on her hands.
‘How did she die?’ Zoe asked.
‘We don’t know yet. She has been taken to the morgue, waiting for the post-mortem to be done. Nobody is speculating, not even the pathologist. Orla was found in the river, which was, and still is, running really fast. We’ve had a lot of rain. She could so easily have slipped.’
Tessa Marsden didn’t believe a word of what she was saying. She felt they should be looking for a second body, that maybe a serial killer had descended on Castleton and taken two young women, but her job at the moment was to keep Zoe Williamson from thinking along those lines.
Chapter Six
‘Yes of course. I’ll look forward to seeing you in the morning, Mr Barker. I’ll initially put you in with Katerina, but eventually we will need to bring our IT colleague, Bethan, into the mix. See you at ten o’clock, tomorrow.’
Doris put down her receiver with a smile. Having business calls transferred to her home telephone number for the duration of the move had been inspirational, but it was time to reopen the office. She had half-expected the call to be from Tessa Marsden, who had learned to trust that anything she said to Connection colleagues remained with them, and she knew Tessa would eventually arrive to talk things through, confirm what she was thinking.
But instead it had been from someone called Ewan Barker, who had lost touch with his son and wanted them to find the missing man. Mouse was embroiled in checking out backgrounds for applicants for senior job opportunities with one of the UK’s major employers, so Kat was the logical one to start the ball rolling with Mr Barker.
Doris sank down onto her sofa, reclined it and laid back her head. This cottage was perfect; no wonder the late Alice Small had loved it so much. Doris idly reached to one side to pick up the mail delivered that day and that she had dumped on the side table, and sifted through it. There were four items of junk mail, each addressed to Alice Small at Little Mouse Cottage.
Little Mouse Cottage, clearly a name Alice had stopped using, preferring to use its number rather than its name, and a name that would be resurrected with due haste, as far as Doris was concerned. It was perfect. She pulled her laptop towards her and five minutes later had ordered a plaque for the outside wall, with a hand painted little mouse at the side of the name.
‘The icing on my cake,’ she murmured to herself, and then changed websites to look at cottage furniture. This room, she knew, needed a cottage style suite. The current one would be fine in the second reception room. She smiled, and picked up the small glass of sherry. ‘To me and my little mouse,’ she said, and raised the glass.
The morning saw the final carpet laid by eight o’clock. Doris left for the office. She knew the carpet fitters hadn’t particularly wanted to start work at seven in the morning, but a promise of bacon sandwiches had swung the deal. Finally her cottage felt her own, and she could get on with doing the things she wanted to do in it.
It was a cold icy morning, and she switched on the heating and the coffee, getting her priorities straight. She would have it nice and warm for when her girls arrived – and the new client, Mr Ewan Barker.
Kat arrived first. ‘Mum’s picked up Martha this morning. I didn’t have to go to their house. They’re apparently going on an adventure, so I left Carl loading the dishwasher and came in early. Do we know anything about Mr Barker?’
‘Not much. He lives in Grindleford and he’s looking for a son he’s lost contact with. When he rang I took his name, address and phone number, so get him to fill out a client form, will you?’
Kat nodded. ‘I will. No sign of Mouse?’
‘No, she was really snuffly with that damn cold yesterday, and she’s no appointments today so I’m leaving her to sleep. If she’s not down here for ten, I’ll pop up when you’re in your office with Ewan Barker, and check she’s okay.’
‘You want a coffee, Nan?’
‘I didn’t, until I started smelling the
coffee I’ve put on, so I will.’ She smiled. ‘I’m already full with coffee and bacon sandwiches. I persuaded my carpet men to fit the carpet in the second reception, hereinafter known as the snug, by bribing them with bacon sandwiches. Everything’s done, also the furniture can be moved to where it belongs. I’m putting the television in the snug, so the lounge will be a TV-free zone, but my books will be in the lounge. I’m having a cottage suite in there, and the old comfy suite is going in the snug. Oh, and did you know the cottage had a name? Alice must have used it when she first moved there, because it’s on her mail, but there’s nothing on the outside wall to show she carried on using it. I’ve ordered a new plaque. It’s called Little Mouse Cottage. I loved it, so it’s staying.’
‘That’s lovely. And Mouse will be dead chuffed.’
‘Well, one day she’ll inherit the place, so it will become even more relevant.’
Kat laughed. ‘She’s hardly Little Mouse. What is she? Five foot nine, ten?’
The shop bell tinkled and Mouse walked in to the laughter. ‘Hey, I hope you’re not laughing at me,’ she said, and sneezed.
‘As if,’ Kat chuckled. ‘Ask your nan what the name of her cottage is, and you’ll realise why we’re laughing.’
‘Thanks, Kat,’ Doris said. ‘Drop me in it, why don’t you? The cottage was called Little Mouse Cottage. It seems Alice stopped using the name, but I’m resurrecting it.’
‘Aw, that’s lovely,’ Mouse said. ‘Really sweet.’
‘Hope you feel like that when you inherit the place,’ Doris responded, smiling at Mouse as she sneezed again. ‘And do you think you should be here? Why not go back to bed with some medication, and stay there until you feel better.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Mouse said. ‘I’ve had a hot lemon thing, disgusting taste. It had better work. Is there any more of that coffee going?’
‘There is.’ Nan poured her one and handed it to her. ‘Are you working on the recruitment things?’
‘I am. But give me a shout if I’m needed for your feller, Kat. Nan, you don’t need to stay here if you’ve things to sort at home, you know. It’s not as though we pay you.’ She laughed.
‘I’m staying. You’ll both be in your offices, so I’ll man the reception area. I’ve some work to do on that course I’m taking, and I’m nearly done, so hopefully after today I can forget about it and wait for the results to say I’ve passed.’
‘You said last week you’d failed abysmally.’ Kat grinned. ‘What changed?’
‘I read through what I’d done and decided it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. It’s time you two started it. We’ve a fine collection of certificates on the wall, but we’re heading towards the more upmarket ones.’
Kat and Mouse groaned in unison. ‘Kill me now,’ Kat said. She took her coffee and headed for her office. ‘Send Mr Barker in when he arrives, and I promise to remember to get him to fill in the client sheet.’
‘Before you disappear,’ Mouse said, ‘have either of you heard anything from Tessa?’
‘Not a thing. I’m guessing that means there are developments. I hope they found the missing girl alive.’
‘DI Marsden? I’ve made this young lass a priority. She was dead before she went into the water, and she died by strangulation. Her hyoid bone was fractured. No water in her lungs. There’s a massive contusion on her head, so she was probably knocked unconscious before being strangled. And time of death was between four and six in the afternoon.’
‘Shit,’ Tessa breathed into her phone. ‘I was hoping you could tell me it was accidental. That she’d slipped on mud or something.’ She hesitated. ‘Right, I’d best go and tell her parents, and officially turn this into a murder enquiry.’
‘I’ve not finished.’ There was hesitation at the other end of the phone this time. ‘She was approximately fourteen weeks pregnant. I’ve taken DNA from the foetus.’
‘Oh no.’ Tessa’s head spun. The whole situation was getting worse by the second. ‘Is that everything?’
‘For the moment. Until we get results in anyway.’
‘Thanks. Do me a favour and check that foetus DNA against that RTA victim, Jacob Thorne, will you? Speak soon.’ And she slipped her phone into her bag.
Telling Marnie and Andy Harrison was difficult. Neither of them could speak. Like Tessa, they had expected it to be an accident caused by the bad weather. To be told it was murder was, to them, unthinkable. Marnie had held it together until Tessa had told her of the pregnancy, and then she had simply dissolved.
Andy pulled his wife into his arms, and she sobbed inconsolably. Andy looked at Tessa, his face haggard. ‘Can we do anything?’
‘No, you need to be together. Nadine will remain with you, and she will pass on anything we discover. She’s here to help you through this awful time, and I’m so sorry I had to bring you the worst of news.’
Nadine nodded. ‘Would you like a drink of water, Marnie? It’ll help calm you. It won’t make things any better, but you need to be strong.’
‘Thank you,’ Marnie whispered. ‘What happens next?’
‘I’m going to see Emily Carr, to try to find this boyfriend.’
Tessa made no advance phone call. Emily’s face reflected shock when Marsden showed her ID, but she quietly asked another member of staff if they could cover on reception for a few minutes.
Emily led her down a corridor to an empty room, and they sat facing each other across a desk.
‘This is about Orla?’ Emily asked.
‘It is. As you know, her body has been found, fairly near Peaks Cavern, which is definitely not on the route to Hope from her house, it’s in the opposite direction. However, things have come to our attention that means we have to dig much deeper. It wasn’t accidental death; Orla died by strangulation.’
Emily went visibly paler. ‘But…’
‘But what, Emily? Is there something you know?’
‘No. I was going to say but she was simply coming to stay the night at mine. What’s gone so wrong that she’s dead?’ She brushed away a tear. ‘I can’t believe this is happening. She’s my best friend.’
‘And as your best friend, did she tell you which lad she was seeing?’
‘She didn’t need to tell me. She’d been out for a few coffees with my brother. They were starting to get a little serious, but nothing too heavy. She was coming that night to spend some time with Paul and me. We were going to watch a film, have a beer, and then she was going to stay the night with me. Not with Paul.’
Emily sounded angry, as if daring Marsden to suggest there was anything untoward about the relationship between Paul and Orla.
‘They hadn’t slept together?’
‘Definitely not. They’d only seen each other about three times, and the first was accidental. They bumped into each other in Bakewell, and Paul bought her a coffee. They got on really well, and Paul asked if I knew how Orla would feel if he asked her out. I said find out for yourself, and the result of that was a couple more coffees. It was in the early stages, I can assure you. Even Mum didn’t know about it. Orla has spent a lot of time at our house, and it wouldn’t occur to Mum that the reason was changing.’
Marsden lowered her eyes. ‘And there was definitely no one else in Orla’s life?’
For a moment, Emily looked troubled. ‘N…no.’
‘You sound unsure.’
‘That’s because Orla changed. She was always the confident one, the one who never let things get to her. She was our youth organiser at church, would help anybody. But then she began to change. One day she burst into tears, blamed it on period pains making her feel a bit down, but I’d never heard her complain about them before. I couldn’t get anything else out of her, and she asked if she could stay at ours that night. This was way before she started meeting up with Paul.’
‘You think she was seeing someone?’
‘I don’t know, honestly. But one thing I can tell you is that Paul and I, and Mum, were at home that awful horrible wet evening when
Orla went missing. Paul was upset, he’d been looking forward to it, because he wanted to kind of formalise things by asking her if she would be his girlfriend.’
‘And you didn’t ring Marnie to find out where Orla was, when she didn’t turn up?’
‘No, because I’d done that once before and Orla had a go at me. She said they kept her on such a tight leash, she didn’t want them knowing anything. I did ring Orla’s phone, but it was dead. No voicemail, nothing. When Marnie texted me the day after, I knew I had to come clean and say she hadn’t been to our house, because I’d sat here at work worrying throughout the morning what had happened to her and why she wasn’t responding to her phone.’
Marsden nodded. ‘So you didn’t know she was pregnant?’
This time the shock was obvious. There was utter silence from the young girl.
‘Emily?’
‘Pregnant? But… who?’
‘We don’t know yet. She was about fourteen weeks. Would that be before she started seeing Paul?’
‘I’m sure of it. The first time he met her in Bakewell was about five, maybe six weeks ago.’
‘Then Paul has nothing to worry about. We will need a DNA sample from him, but it will be for elimination purposes. You’re sure you can’t think of anyone else she might have had sex with? Either intentional or forced?’
‘Forced?’ Emily’s eyes were open wide, as if she tried to assimilate everything Marsden was saying. ‘You mean rape?’
‘Or someone off limits, maybe a married man, who she had sex with because she wanted to.’
‘But this is Orla we’re talking about.’ Emily sounded anguished. ‘She was a Christian, she wouldn’t do that. Oh, God,’ she said and dropped her head onto her arms on the desk, ‘help me.’
Paul Carr was at work at a tyre depot not far from the solicitor’s office Tessa had recently left. He was cooperative, polite, and slightly angry that Marsden had interviewed his sister, causing her to become upset.