by Ford, P. F.
“Do you want me to go? I’m quite good at handling these things.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind, Norm? What are you going to tell her?”
“I haven’t a clue,” said Norman, climbing from his chair. “But that’s okay. I’ll make it up as I go along. There’s no point in both of us going when we’ve got so much to do. I’ll take Jolly Jane with me. I’m sure we can handle it between us.”
“Did you mention my name?” asked Jane Jolly, looking up at the sound of her name.
“I did indeed,” said Norman. “I need your help to comfort a lady who might, or might not, be grief stricken in the very near future.”
Jolly rose from her chair and followed Norman through the door. Just before it closed, Norman’s head re-appeared.
“Can you chase up the pathologist?” he asked Slater. “If he’s got us an ID we just might be able to get away with this. Otherwise we’re going to look like a complete bunch of idiots.”
“I’ll do it right now,” said Slater, picking up his phone.
Before he entered the waiting area to meet Mrs Townley, Norman took a peep at her through the window in the door. She was a small, mousy, frightened, and slightly bewildered looking, woman sitting on her own in the waiting area. Norman thought she looked a little like a dormouse would look in human form. The overall impression she made on him was that she appeared to have been worn away by life; he could empathise with that.
“You ready for this?” he asked, turning to Jolly. “This poor woman has come all the way down from Birmingham this morning, and we don’t even know if it’s her daughter’s body we’ve found. This has the potential to be a very embarrassing and uncomfortable situation for us, and a very distressing one for her.”
Jolly looked through the window at Mrs Townley.
“She looks very sweet. A bit like my mum,” she said. Then she took a deep breath. “Come on, Norm,” she said, pushing at the door. “We can do this.”
She led the way across the room.
“Mrs Townley?” she began. “I’m PC Jolly, and this is Detective Sergeant Norman. I understand you’ve come to identify a body.”
Mrs Townley looked up and Norman was pleased to see her face break into a smile. Obviously PC Jolly’s own warm smile, and his attempt at looking friendly, had worked. “Let’s go somewhere a bit more private,” he suggested, indicating a door in the far corner.
They sat around a table in an interview room. Jolly fussed around and made sure they all had tea or coffee, but they could only stall for so long, and finally Norman realised he was going to have to tell her the truth.
“Can I ask you why you’re here this morning, Mrs Townley?” he began.
“They said you’d found my daughter’s body,” she said. “So I’ve come to make sure it is her, and to take her back home.”
“Who told you, Mrs Townley?” asked Norman.
“Why, Sergeant Brown in Birmingham,” she said, looking surprised that Norman should feel the need to ask.
“Ah. Right,” said Norman. “The thing is, we don’t actually-”
He was going to say that they didn’t actually know if they’d found her daughter, but he was interrupted by his mobile phone bursting into song.
“Please excuse me one moment, I need to answer this,” he said.
He stood and walked out of the room.
“Yeah?” he said. “Any luck?”
“It is Sarah Townley,” said Slater.
“You timed that just right,” said Norman. “I was just about to explain that we didn’t know who she was. And by the way, it wasn’t one of our team that told her. It was some idiot called Sergeant Brown up in Birmingham.”
When he re-entered the room, Norman apologised once more before getting back to what he was saying.
“As I was saying,” he continued. “We don’t actually have mortuary facilities here as we’re only a small station. Your daughter is over at the hospital mortuary undergoing a post mortem examination. I’m afraid she died under suspicious circumstances.”
Mrs Townley nodded her head but said nothing. Norman wasn’t sure if she really understood what he was saying. Jolly moved a little closer to Mrs Townley and took her hand. The older woman looked at Jolly’s kindly face and gave her a sad little smile in return.
“Look,” said Norman awkwardly. “Let me go and see if I can find out when we can take you across to the hospital to see the body. PC Jolly here will look after you while I’m gone.”
Mrs Townley looked dazed and even more confused than she had earlier
“See the body. Yes,” she said quietly. “I suppose I’ll have to, won’t I? Thank you.”
When Norman left the room to go upstairs and check with the pathologist, he heaved a big sigh. He hated doing this. Why on earth had he volunteered? Maybe there was some masochistic streak inside him.
PC Jolly patted Mrs Townley’s hand, wondering how she could make her feel better.
“It’s a good job her father’s not still alive.” Mrs Townley sighed. “He would never have coped with losing a second daughter.”
“A second?” said Jolly. “That seems awfully unfair.”
“Oh yes.” Mrs Townley nodded sadly. “There’s only me left now. My husband died of a broken heart after the first one disappeared. God knows where she is, but I’m sure she can’t still be alive. His granddaughter went too, and now the second daughter’s gone. What have I got left now?”
She squeezed Jolly’s hand hard and looked at her as though she almost expected an answer, but Jolly had none. What could she possibly say to that?
“What happened to your other daughter?” she asked, tentatively.
“Is this a bad town?” asked Mrs Townley.
“I’m sorry?” said Jolly.
“Tinton,” said Mrs Townley. “Is it a bad place?”
“It’s just a quiet, sleepy little old market town,” replied Jolly. “It’s very rare for anything bad to happen here. In fact, it’s rare for anything to happen at all.”
“My older daughter and my granddaughter disappeared here. That’s why Sarah came. She wanted to see if she could find out what happened to Sandra. I begged her not to come, but she wouldn’t listen to me. That’s why I reported her missing. I was hoping the police would find her and send her home. But she’s old enough to do what she wants. That’s what they told me. And now look what’s happened.”
Jolly was beginning to get the strangest feeling.
“Tell me about Sandra,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “How did she disappear?”
“They were moving here,” said Mrs Townley. “Fifteen years ago it was. Her and that husband of hers. He came from this area and he wanted to move back so they bought this nice big house and moved here. But some time during the first week they were here, she just vanished into thin air along with her daughter. He said she took all her belongings and ran away. But she wouldn’t have done that. She was very close to her father. Whatever she was doing she would have told him, even if she was running away.”
She lapsed into silence, still holding onto Jolly’s hand, squeezing hard. Jolly lifted her hand so she could stroke the back of Mrs Townley’s hand. Her mind was racing with the possibility, but surely it was too much of a coincidence, wasn’t it?
When Norman came back, Jolly asked if she could have a quick word with him outside.
“Jesus,” said Norman, when she told him what she’d just heard. “It’s a bit of a long shot, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” Jolly knew it was, but she also knew what her instincts were screaming at her. “But how often do you uncover the bodies of a woman and child together?”
“But we don’t know that for sure yet. It’s unconfirmed. We can’t just say to her, ‘oh, by the way, someone’s dog has just dug up two bodies that just might be your daughter and granddaughter’, can we?”
“How you figure out that sort of problem is your job,” said Jolly, sweetly. “I’m just passing on information
that might be relevant to our enquiries.”
“I’ll have to talk to Dave about this,” said Norman. “In the meantime, you do not mention this possibility to Mrs Townley. You can tell her that if she really wants to see her daughter we can take her this afternoon, but make sure she understands the daughter she’s going to see won’t look much like the daughter she remembers.”
Chapter 10
“So how did it go with Mrs Townley?” asked Slater when Norman returned to the incident room later that afternoon.
“How do you think?” asked Norman, sadly. “I wish she hadn’t insisted on going. She kept looking at that battered face and then looking at me. In the end, she wouldn’t confirm it was her daughter. She said there’s no way it could be her daughter because it looked nothing like her.”
“Oh shit,” said Slater. “That must have been rough.”
“I take my hat off to Jane Jolly,” said Norman. “I was in bits and no use at all, but she was just brilliant. She handled Mrs Townley like she does it all the time. I wonder why are women so much stronger than men, emotionally?”
“Oh that’s an easy one,” replied Slater. “They have to be because so many men are complete arseholes.”
Norman gave a small smile of approval at Slater’s comment.
“Henry Cutter’s pretty cute too,” said Norman. “He was really quick of the mark when she suggested it couldn’t be her daughter. Instead of arguing with her about the dental records being good enough, he actually told her he understood exactly what she meant. Then he suggested he could prove if she was right or wrong if she gave him a DNA sample to compare.”
“And she agreed?” asked Slater.
“Like a shot. She wants to know for sure if she’s right or wrong.”
“Oh, clever stuff,” Slater said. “So he got the sample without having to skirt around the real reason we want it.”
“He sure did,” Norman said, nodding. “He also said to tell you they’ve excavated the skeletons and they’re going to start working on them tonight. He reckons by this time tomorrow, or maybe even earlier, they’ll know if the bodies are who we think they are. With any luck they might even know the cause of death as well.”
“That’s great news,” said Slater. “At least we’re making progress when it comes to who the victims are.”
“Any news on the light aircraft theory yet?” asked Norman.
“Not so far.” Slater shook his head and sighed. “Steve’s got a list of small airfields to check through, but then on top of that there are hundreds of small landing strips that are privately owned. He’s trying to find any record of a flight plan that includes passing over Tinton, but it’s like trying to find a needle in a bloody haystack.”
“And, I suppose there’s nothing to stop someone with their own airstrip from making a flight without filing a flight plan,” said Norman.
“Exactly,” Slater said, nodding. “He’s been trying online and using the phone, but tomorrow he’s going on the road. I’ve told him to start off within a 20-mile radius, but I’m not exactly optimistic they’ll find anything.”
“There you go being negative again,” Norman said, chidingly. “I think you underestimate Steve’s dogged persistence. If it’s out there, he’ll find it, I’m sure.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Slater smiled at his friend.
“I usually am,” said Norman, beaming back at him.
Chapter 11
It was 9.30pm and Slater’s phone was ringing.
“Go away, I need some rest,” he said to the phone as he picked it up.
He looked at the caller display. It was Norman. Norm was okay – he’d answer it.
“Norm?” he said into the phone. “What’s up?”
“We have a bit of a problem. I got a call from the duty sergeant half an hour ago. Apparently, this sweet little lady had come in insisting she had to speak to me urgently. So here I am, and so is Mrs Townley.”
“Mrs Townley?” Slater was confused “What’s she doing there at this time of night? And why didn’t someone call me?”
“They didn’t call you because she told them she doesn’t want to speak to anyone else, only me,” Norman said. “When they told her I was off duty she took a seat and insisted she was happy to wait for as long as it took.”
“But what does she want? I thought she’d seen her daughter yesterday?” asked Slater anxiously.
“Yeah, she did, “But it seems she now knows we’ve found two more bodies in the woods. She’s staying at some B&B that Jane Jolly found for her, and the owner, someone called Mrs Arnley, told her that two more bodies had been found. She wants to know why we didn’t tell her. She thinks it’s her daughter and granddaughter.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” said Slater. “That’s awkward.”
“Awkward?” said Norman. “You’re telling me it’s awkward. The lady wants some answers, and I think we owe her that much, don’t you?”
“Okay, Norm, calm down.” Slater tried to soothe the clearly flustered Norman. “Of course you’re right. We do owe her some answers. I’ll come right now. D’you want me to get Jolly Jane down there, too?”
“I don’t think she needs the gentle touch right now,” said Norman. “She’s more pissed off with us not telling her than emotional about who we’ve found.”
“Alright, mate. I’m on my way.”
As he made his way back into Tinton, Slater felt annoyed at himself for not foreseeing this turn of events. Oh well, he thought, the best-laid plans and all that…
When Slater entered the room, he was relieved to see Mrs Townley didn’t look as furious as he had feared.
“This is Detective Sergeant Slater,” Norman said. “He’s working with me on this case.”
Mrs Townley smiled, but looked uncertain, as Slater nodded and smiled at her.
“Good evening, Mrs Townley,” he began.
“Mr Norman has explained why you didn’t mention the bodies in the woods earlier,” said Mrs Townley.
“Ah. Yes,” said Slater, feeling distinctly uncomfortable under her gaze. “That was a very delicate situation, and at the time we didn’t even know about your daughter and granddaughter being missing.”
“I do understand.” She smiled at him sadly. “But now I know you’ve found the bodies you must understand I have to know if it’s them or not.”
“Of course, Mrs Townley,” agreed Slater. “I understand completely. But I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Whoever these two people were, all that’s left now are two skeletons.”
“But you took a DNA sample from me earlier,” she said. “Can’t you do a comparison or whatever it is you do?”
“We will do that,” explained Norman. “But it takes a while. It’s not something you can do in five minutes.”
“Yes, I understand that,” she said, nodding her head. “But isn’t there something else I can be doing to help in the meantime?”
“Yes,” said Slater, feeling really sorry for her. “There is something you can do, and if you’re willing we can do it now.”
“If I go back to the guest house now,” she said, almost to herself. “I’m not going to sleep, am I? I’ll just be thinking about those two bodies and who they might be.”
She looked Slater right in the eye.
“Right, Sergeant Slater,” she said, decisively. “What can I do to help?”
“Tell us about your daughter and granddaughter, and how they disappeared.”
“It was 15 years ago,” she began. “They were moving down to Tinton…”
It was almost midnight when Slater dropped Mrs Townley back at the guesthouse, after first promising her that he or Norman would call tomorrow as soon as they heard anything from the pathologist. As he headed for home, his head was filled with the story Mrs Townley had told them. Their first job tomorrow was going to be looking back through the records. According to the story she had just told them, her daughter’s disappearance was reported at the time, and investigated, but apparently
they found nothing to back up her assertion that something very nasty must have happened.
It should make interesting reading, he thought.
Chapter 12
Norman looked down at the slim folder he had just been handed. It had taken hours to locate the paperwork from the original investigation, and he had expected a box full of files.
“Is this all of it?” he asked, in dismay.
“That’s your lot,” said the surly records clerk. “I can have another look, if you want to wait a few more hours, but I doubt I’ll find anymore.”
Norman looked at the name of the investigating officer.
“DS Nash,” he said. “Is he still around?”
“I wouldn’t know,” said the clerk. “But if it’s one of his investigations, you’re lucky to have that much information. All the slimmest files we’ve got are his. Perhaps he had an aversion to writing.”
“Or doing his job properly,” added Norman. “Oh well, if this is all we’ve got I’ll just have to get on with it.”
“Yes,” agreed the clerk, sourly. “You will, won’t you?”
“Thanks for your help, Mr Surly,” said Norman as he headed for the exit. “I hope it gets better soon.”
“What?” said the puzzled clerk. “Hope what gets better soon?”
“Whatever it is that makes you find it so painful doing your job.”
“Do you realise,” Norman said to Slater, later, “we learnt more information about Sandra Bressler and her daughter’s disappearance last night than is in this case file from 15 years ago. The guy who was supposed to have investigated this case can’t have actually done anything that was even remotely connected to investigating. I mean, he didn’t even take a statement from Mrs Townley.”
“I thought she said she spent ages down here talking to the police,” said Slater.
“She also said she didn’t think they were taking much notice of her,” added Norman. “Looking at this, I can see she was right. There’s no mention of her anywhere in this file.”