Epitaph: a gripping murder mystery

by Anita Waller

  Forty-five minutes later there had been a call from Shirley, lasting two minutes exactly, then one from Rosie that lasted thirty seconds.

  Harriet realised the call from Global Systems was probably the one from Imogen – she had said that she had spoken to Melanie to check she had everything she needed for the York conference. No point seeing problems like imagining it was Kevin Vickers calling Melanie when she knew for a fact that Imogen had rung her.

  Strangely, Melanie had made no outgoing calls that afternoon. Maybe she had slept – it seemed from Patrick’s statement that they had had a lot to drink the previous evening, it had meant they were late in bed, and she was probably still feeling the effects the following afternoon.

  With a sigh, Harriet tidied her desk and entered her report on to the computer. She would give a verbal report at the briefing of her activities, but they could check details by logging on to the file.

  Harriet waved at Grace as she passed her office, and Grace flicked her wrist to tell her to go in.

  ‘You want something, boss?’

  ‘Only to say well done today. We’re chipping away at it, and we’ll get there. Is it tomorrow that Shirley Ledger gets her new house and her boys?’

  ‘It is.’

  ‘We might go and wish them good luck, have a little chat. You think Doris Lester will be there?’

  ‘Boss, we can pick her up any time we want. You want me to do that?’

  ‘God, no. Don’t do that. According to Tessa Marsden and Hannah Granger, she’d run rings round us. I want to meet this paragon of virtue. Maybe we’ll nip out to Rothery tomorrow and see what’s what. Yes?’

  ‘Definitely. You’ve got me intrigued as well. I’ll give Rosie Steer a ring tonight, casually check if Ms Lester will be there. No point in trailing out there if she isn’t.’

  ‘Good girl. Now get off home to that sweet child of yours. Adeline any better?’

  ‘Addie’s fine,’ Harriet said with a laugh. ‘We’re knackered.’

  25

  Megan had no idea what she was doing with the funny little hooks that apparently went into curtains when a curtain pole wasn’t in place. Space evenly had been the instruction. Divide the pile into two, one half for one curtain, one half for the other. Easy.

  Except it wasn’t. And she’d had to iron the curtains first, to add to the chore. Could she pretend the shingles pain had returned? She moved two of the little hooks up, and slotted another one on the white tape stuff, then wondered if it would have been easier to use a measuring rule and do some proper calculations. She heaved a huge sigh, then jumped up to see who had just arrived.

  She squealed in delight – it was Mrs Lester and Mrs Lucas, bearing the promised bacon sandwiches picked up from the bakery in the village. She carefully laid the curtain on the bed, knowing if she didn’t she might have to do a re-iron, and ran downstairs.

  There were six chairs in the kitchen brought in from the Steer garden as a temporary measure, and an old table rescued from the cottage’s own garden that had required a bit of a scrub down before it came through the door.

  A chorus of ‘morning’s was heard as the two ladies arrived bearing food, and tea and coffee was quickly made.

  ‘Exciting times, Shirley,’ Doris said with a smile. ‘What time are you getting the boys?’

  ‘They finish at three, so I shall be there for half past two. I’ll say we’re going on holiday so I need them out a little early. I don’t want Mark turning up for them and causing problems.’

  ‘Okay. You have beds?’

  ‘Yes. They arrived yesterday, and a delivery of bedding is coming in the next hour. I know the carpets aren’t brilliant, but they’ll do for now. At least it’s not bare floorboards. Megan is putting curtains up in Adam’s room, and I want to make sure Seth’s room is done next. Mine can wait, if necessary. I need my boys to be comfortable.’ She looked around them all, daring them to disagree. ‘I can make this work, you know. There’s no way on this earth I’m going back to Mark.’

  ‘Hey!’ Rosie stood. ‘We’re right behind you. Yes, I was mad at you for not contacting me, but I do understand.’ She pulled her sister towards her and hugged her. ‘I am curious, though. Was there a final straw?’

  Shirley gave a small laugh. ‘Kind of. It was Enid Hill. She’s been on her own for a long time now, and she was actually considering getting on her hands and knees and crawling back inside the house. But the point is, why the hell is she taking her own bin out? She’s ninety. I thought councils had a duty of care towards their elderly residents? That’s not the issue though. She does manage, and without any real problems. I don’t doubt she would have crawled back inside if I hadn’t driven past and sensed something was wrong. She would have managed. We talked at some length while I was putting frozen peas on her ankle, and she saw the struggle in me, I suppose. When she offered me this house once more, I knew it was right. I didn’t even look at the cottage, I said yes please.’

  The bacon sandwiches were handed around, and everyone chatted, steering clear of the elephant galloping around the room in the form of the murder of Melanie Brookes. It was only as DCI Stamford and DS Jameson walked past the kitchen window that everything went silent.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Rosie said. ‘I forgot they were calling round. That DS rang me last night to say they’d pop in, make sure everything was okay with you, Shirley, and that you weren’t expecting trouble from Mark. That’s not all though…’ She didn’t get the chance to explain Harriet had specifically asked if Doris would be there; they knocked on the back door, and opened it slightly, peering around and smiling.

  ‘Come in,’ Shirley said. ‘Tea or coffee? I can’t offer you a bacon sandwich though, we’ve scoffed the lot.’

  ‘Coffee please,’ was the answer given by both officers, and Megan stood, offering her seat to Grace. Harriet sat on the spare chair, and looked around the kitchen.

  ‘This is nice. Any problems, Shirley?’

  ‘No, and there won’t be as long as Mark doesn’t find out where I am. I’m picking up the boys this afternoon. They can ring him tonight to tell him, so he doesn’t make a trip out to the school tomorrow, but I don’t really think he’ll be bothered anyway. The boys have always been an encumbrance, he’ll not even be bothered about getting any sort of visiting set up, I’m guessing. But we’ll see. The boys are almost twelve and can make their own decisions about whether they want to see him or not.’

  The room darkened slightly as a man walked past the kitchen window, and Shirley took in the delivery. She breathed a sigh of relief. The beds could be made, and the boys would welcome a takeaway meal tonight. The next day was looking like being a shopping day.

  Slowly, Grace brought the subject round to Melanie Brookes, keen to hear if Doris Lester had any contribution to make. ‘Did you see our spot on local TV last night? We haven’t found either her bag or her phone, but thanks to a real coincidence, we know what it looked like. I showed an exact copy of it, but we’ve had no response so far. We’re pretty sure she must have had it with her when she went out that night, because it’s not in her home or her car. It’s black, has Nike written across it, and it’s a fabric one.’

  ‘I saw it, the appeal,’ Doris said, ‘thought you handled it excellently. Don’t give up, somebody will find it one day, and it will tell you everything if that phone is in it.’

  The sound of Doris’s voice acted like a trigger for Grace. ‘It’s actually an honour to meet you, Mrs Lester. Tessa Marsden and Hannah Granger speak highly of you, they tell me you’ve helped them several times when things needed sorting, or talking through. Have you any thoughts on this murder?’

  Doris laughed. ‘Several, but nothing yet where there’s any proof of anything. Mark Ledger, obviously, has to be the lead suspect, but I’m not convinced he has the required skills to strangle someone then hide things as well as they’re hidden in this case. He’s a bit poorly at the moment, by the way, so if you feel the need to question him again, now might be a good time
.’

  ‘Poorly?’

  ‘Sore testicles,’ Doris said, and Megan burst out laughing behind her.

  Shirley almost held up her hand as if asking for permission to speak, then thought better of it. ‘Why is Mark the obvious suspect?’

  Rosie leaned across towards Shirley. ‘Look at the back of my head, Shirl.’

  Shirley gave a small cry when she saw the grazing and the redness. ‘What have you done?’

  ‘Your husband slammed me into the wall outside my home. He was trying to find out where you were, and I wouldn’t tell him. Luckily, Doris and Wendy turned up.’

  ‘May I look?’ Grace stood and moved across to Rosie. ‘I can bring him in on assault charges. I’m assuming you witnessed this, Mrs Lester?’

  Megan laughed. ‘Mrs Lester and Mrs Lucas not only witnessed it, they filmed it. It was amazing.’

  First rule of being a private investigator, Megan, Doris thought, is don’t open your mouth until it’s necessary.

  ‘You have the film with you?’

  Wendy looked at Doris, and Doris nodded. ‘I only fathomed how to do a video a week ago,’ Wendy mumbled, delving into the depths of her bag for her phone. She found it and handed it to Grace.

  Harriet watched it and shrieked with laughter. Grace watched it and held in her laughter.

  ‘Can he walk?’ Harriet asked.

  ‘He’d gone by the time I went out to check if he was dead,’ Doris said. ‘He’ll be sore.’

  Shirley held out her hand. ‘May I see it, please?’

  They were silent while they watched her face. Shirley saw it through to the end, then turned to Doris. ‘You hurt him.’

  Doris nodded again. ‘I did. I pulled back, it could have been much worse for him, but I did enough to make him think twice about hurting anyone else. I had no choice, Shirley. If I hadn’t barrelled up that path like some avenging angel, he could possibly have killed Rosie. Since Connection became fully operational, this is only the second time I have had to use my skills, and I won’t apologise for it. I haven’t been taking karate classes for twenty years simply for the company in the dojo. I can kill. I don’t kill. Not yet anyway.’ She smiled.

  ‘Dear Gods,’ Harriet muttered. ‘I so want to be this woman.’

  Wendy laughed. ‘The sucker punch was when she told him we were going to post it on Facebook. Made my day, it did, I’ve never seen Doris in action before.’

  The police officers did a quick tour of the cottage, then drove away with a copy of the video on Harriet’s phone. Beds were made and curtains put up, then Shirley locked the front door. They watched as Shirley drove off to get Adam and Seth, and Rosie asked Doris and Wendy to go home with her and Megan.

  ‘Is Rosie scared?’ Wendy asked.

  ‘I think she’s worried. Maybe not scared, but she has to consider she has Megan with her. I don’t really think Mark will try it again, though. He’ll not be fully recovered yet.’

  ‘Think she’ll tell Dan?’

  ‘I think Megan will.’ Doris laughed. ‘We’ll probably need our video to show Dan that Mark has been dealt with. It will be a step too far if Dan’s locked up for attacking Mark.’

  Dan laughed uproariously when he saw the video. Megan, of course, had opened her mouth as soon as her dad walked through the front door.

  ‘I’d best take my four ladies out for a meal tonight, then,’ he said. He saw Doris was about to say it wasn’t necessary, so he held up his hand to stop her. ‘I insist. Things could have been so much worse without you. It seems you came into our lives for a reason, Doris, and I’m truly grateful you’re here.’

  Shirley had no problem getting her boys. She collected them at half past two, explaining to Eva Peters that they were leaving that afternoon for a week’s holiday and she needed them a little early.

  ‘They’re nice lads, these boys,’ Eva said. ‘The sort we need in this school. I hope we see them again after the break.’

  Shirley smiled and turned to hug Adam and Seth as they came through the door into Mrs Peters’ office.

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Peters. Come on, boys. Let’s go holiday.’

  She led them out to her car, and they put their backpacks into the boot before climbing into the rear seat.

  ‘Seat belts on?’ she called, and put the car into gear. She felt as if this was literally the first day of her life, and her future was waiting to be taken. Mark needed to be out of that future now, she wanted nothing more to do with him.

  26

  Kevin Vickers’ wife was called Juliet. It suited her. Her long blonde hair was straight, stopped halfway down her back and framed an elfin face that belied her true age of thirty-four years. She looked like a teenager. Her blue eyes clouded over as she opened the door to face the two women.

  Grace and Harriet, full up from meat and potato pie eaten in a local hostelry they had discovered shortly after leaving Fuchsia Cottage, held out their warrant cards, and Juliet stepped aside, inviting them into her parents’ home. She spoke with the lilt of an Irish accent, and she later confirmed she had been born in Dublin but had moved to England when her parents had, when Juliet was fifteen.

  ‘I met Kevin five years later, and here we are with two children, and I’m back with my parents.’

  ‘Can I ask how long you’ve been separated?’ Grace asked the question, Harriet wrote the answer.

  ‘Not long. About three or four weeks. It’s permanent though. One affair too many.’

  ‘And who was the one too many?’

  ‘Melanie Brookes. I didn’t kill her, before you ask, I’m not all that bothered. He’s never been the faithful type, and finding out he’d slept with Mel was the finish.’

  ‘How did you find out?’

  ‘He told me. He was drunk and miserable, and I mean really drunk and really miserable. I asked him what was on his mind and he said Melanie Brookes. It all spilled out of him, there were even tears, and he collapsed on the sofa. Once he was asleep I packed suitcases for the three of us, woke up the kids and we came here. I’ve not been back, hardly even spoken to him although he calls several times a day, and next week he’ll get the divorce papers that will start off the process.’

  Grace smiled. ‘You haven’t seen Melanie Brookes since he told you?’

  ‘No, I’ve only seen her a couple of times anyway, we don’t move in the same circles. She hasn’t got kids. She seems to collect men instead. I don’t blame her at all. She’s single and can do what she wants. He is a married man though and in my book that means you don’t sleep around. Kevin does, so he’s out of my life now.’

  ‘When Kevin was doing this confessing and being miserable, did he mention anything else at all about Melanie?’

  ‘He wanted to sack her, but she brings so much business into the company he knew he couldn’t. He kept saying don’t think about leaving me, I’ll get rid of her, but it was too late. As soon as he mentioned he’d slept with her, I was mentally deciding which clothes to take for the three of us, and trying to calculate how soon he would fall asleep.’

  ‘So he didn’t say I’ll sack her, he said I’ll get rid of her?’

  Juliet looked horrified. ‘Let me think.’ She went quiet for a moment. ‘No, he definitely said I’ll get rid of her. You don’t think…’

  ‘We don’t think, we look for proof. It could be a figure of speech he used. He was drunk, you said.’ Grace tried to smooth over the tension coming from Juliet. ‘Did your husband tell you we were coming to see you?’

  ‘Yes. He texted me last night. I’ve told him I won’t speak to him, but if I have anything to tell him about the children, I’ll text him.’

  Grace and Harriet stood, followed by Juliet. ‘Thank you for your time, Mrs Vickers. Are the children at school?’

  ‘They are. They finish this afternoon for a week’s holiday, so I’m thinking of taking them away for a break.’

  Grace handed her card over. ‘If you do, please let me know where you will be.’ She smiled to lessen the impact of her w
ords.

  ‘You suspect me?’ The blue eyes flashed between the two officers.

  They gave their standard response. ‘Until we get to the truth, we suspect everybody.’

  Harriet sat at her desk, the telephone list for Melanie’s landline in front of her. There had been only one incoming call to that during the entirety of Melanie’s last day of life, and it had come from Global Systems. It was a brief call, lasting only a few seconds over one minute.

  That puzzled her. Two calls from Global Systems within half an hour of each other – one she knew about, the one from Imogen. So had Imogen had to call Melanie for a second time, or had the second call come from the boss-man’s phone in his office?

  And Harriet needed to ask the sisters why they had rung Melanie that afternoon, Shirley in particular, because this was the only contact from Shirley during the whole of the time she had been missing. Harriet felt annoyed with herself that she had shelved this part of the investigation to head off to Rothery and then on to the interview with Juliet Vickers.

  If Harriet had given the phone data her full concentration she could have questioned Rosie and Shirley earlier. Her frustration bubbled over, then her brain clicked in to tell her she couldn’t do everything, to calm down and count to ten. Then carry on.

  Mobile data:

  Patrick 4.12 – not answered

  Mark 4.17 – 4 minutes

  Shirley 4.53 – 2 minutes

  Rosie 4.58 – 30 seconds

  Global Systems 5.01 – 2 minutes

  Landline data

  Global Systems 5.30 – 1 minute 8 seconds