by Ann Cleeves
‘And during the day? Have you been into Barnstaple at all?’
Dennis paused. He wasn’t sure how much Matthew knew. He wouldn’t want to be caught out in a direct lie.
Matthew continued. ‘You’ll be aware of course that most of the streets in the town are covered by CCTV.’
‘We often go into Barnstaple to do some shopping on a Saturday.’
‘Lucy Braddick was snatched from the high street. She was there with her father and she wandered away from him for a moment. Someone caused a diversion by pretending to fall.’ He paused. ‘Someone wearing jeans and trainers like those belonging to your wife.’
Dennis was still considering his answer when Matthew continued. He was tired now and these were just word games. He knew what had happened. Salter wouldn’t have managed to abduct Lucy on his own. He must have persuaded Grace to help him, and as always, she’d done his bidding. ‘Did you see Lucy and Maurice in the town and take your chance? Or did you know they’d be there? Because that’s what they do most Saturdays and you must know them. You’ve lived for years in the same village.’
Dennis stared ahead. In a neighbouring garden a dog barked.
‘How did you get the Marstons to help you?’ Matthew was in full flow now. Nothing would stop him. ‘Did you promise Colin a seat on the board at the Woodyard? The post of paid administrator? Because you never approved of Jonathan, did you? Or did you give them some story about Lucy being a danger to herself? Or tell them that she’d killed Simon Walden? They’d believe anything of a woman with Down’s syndrome. Whatever the excuse, they let you use their house to hold her.’
This time Dennis did respond. He stood up, his arms folded, and looked down at Matthew. His face was very white and a nerve throbbed in his neck. He was struggling to hold things together. Matthew thought that for all his life he’d been obeyed. He’d basked in the adoration of his congregation and he’d bullied into submission the people he couldn’t persuade to love him. Even now, he couldn’t believe that Matthew was standing up to him.
‘This is highly irregular. You can’t talk to me like this in my own home and without a solicitor present. Making wild accusations. It’s the middle of the night.’
Matthew stood too. ‘You’re quite right, Mr Salter. We need to do this at the police station and under caution. Detective Constable May will read you both your rights. You’re being arrested for the attempted murder of Lucy Braddick and the murder of Simon Walden. Ross, call the police van to take them in. No reason why the neighbours shouldn’t know what’s happening at this point. They’ll read about it in the Journal soon enough.’
* * *
When they arrived back at the station, Jen was still there, and suddenly, Joe Oldham ambled in. It was so unusual for him to be around after hours that Matthew wondered if the concussion was hitting him at last, that the boss was an hallucination.
‘I hear it’s all over,’ Oldham said. ‘Good work, everyone. I’m off to my bed now and we’ll catch up tomorrow.’ He took a half-bottle of whisky and three plastic tumblers from his briefcase, set them on the table, then wandered out again, a confused and amiable bear lost in the forest.
They gathered in Matthew’s office, with a small tot of the whisky each. Jen perched on his desk and Ross leaning against the door. All of them, it seemed, too tired to bear their own weight.
‘You should have gone home,’ Matthew said to Jen.
She shook her head. ‘I wanted to see it through to the end. To see you bring them in. We’ve got enough, haven’t we, to convict?’
‘The Salters and Craven, certainly. Lucy still had Rosa’s skirt hidden in a drawer in her bedroom. Maurice found it this evening. I’m not sure about Preece and the Marstons. They could say that what they did in covering up the assault on Rosa Holsworthy wasn’t criminal. I’m sure they’ll argue that they believed they were acting in Rosa’s best interests and in the interests of the Woodyard.’
Ross shifted his feet. ‘Do you think Walden did the right thing, stirring it up? If he’d left it alone, he’d still be alive and Lucy and Chrissie wouldn’t have been put through that trauma.’
Jen turned on him, red hair flying. ‘Is that what you really think? Just cover it up and it’ll go away? That’s what the men at the Woodyard thought. Are you one of them?’
‘No,’ Ross said. ‘No. But he was obsessed with it, wasn’t he, with the story of Rosa, and I’m not quite sure why. He had a new life. A beautiful woman. He was making friends. He’d get a job as a chef somewhere in the season if he was as good a cook as everyone makes out. I’m not sure why he let that obsession take over his life.’
‘Because he knew it was important for the truth to be told.’ Jen turned back to the room. ‘And because of the guilt he’d carried round with him since he killed the child in the road accident. I looked into the incident again. It was something his ex-wife said when she was talking to us about it. A child like that. So helpless. And the ambiguous response of the parents when they learned of Walden’s death.’ She paused. ‘The child had brain damage. She was severely learning disabled and she only had months to live. It was personal for him. He was already obsessed.’
Chapter Forty-Three
WHEN MATTHEW ARRIVED HOME, it was morning. A still, spring day. Jonathan had stayed up, waiting for him as he’d promised, but he was asleep in the rocking chair in the living room, the fire out and the curtains drawn. There was a glass on the floor beside him, but otherwise the house was tidy, the kitchen clear. Jonathan didn’t mind mess, but he knew Matthew hated coming home to it.
Matthew drew the curtains and let in the light. Jonathan stirred. He looked up at Matthew. ‘Is it over?’
‘Yes,’ Matthew said. ‘It’s over.’
‘I was thinking we might visit my parents later,’ Jonathan said. ‘Get away from the coast for a bit. Have a walk on the moor.’
‘Blow away the cobwebs.’ Matthew kept his voice light. Jonathan seldom made the trip to the farm and when he did, they were duty calls: birthdays and the run up to Christmas.
‘Build some bridges,’ Jonathan said. ‘Seeing Maurice and Lucy together I thought I should make more effort.’
Matthew knew what was coming next and got in first. ‘Perhaps I should invite my mother to Sunday lunch some day.’
‘It seems like the right time to ask her.’
There was a moment of silence. Outside the waves broke on the shore and the gulls cried.
BY ANN CLEEVES
THE VERA STANHOPE SERIES
The Crow Trap
Telling Tales
Hidden Depths
Silent Voices
The Glass Room
Harbour Street
The Moth Catcher
The Seagull
THE SHETLAND SERIES
Raven Black
White Nights
Red Bones
Blue Lightning
Dead Water
Thin Air
Cold Earth
Wild Fire
THE TWO RIVERS SERIES
The Long Call
About the Author
ANN CLEEVES is the multi-million copy bestselling author behind two hit television series—the BBC’s Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall, and ITV’s Vera, starring Academy Award Nominee Brenda Blethyn—both of which are watched and loved in the US. Her brand new Two Rivers series will launch in September 2019, with The Long Call. Shetland is available in the US on Netflix, Amazon Video, Britbox, and PBS, and Vera is available on Hulu, Amazon Video, BritBox, and PBS. The first Shetland novel, Raven Black, won the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel, and Ann was awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger in 2017. She lives in the UK. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Map
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
By Ann Cleeves
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE LONG CALL. Copyright © 2019 by Ann Cleeves. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Map artwork by ML Design Ltd
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Originally published in Great Britain by Macmillan, an imprint of Pan Macmillan
First U.S. Edition: September 2019
eISBN 9781250204462
First eBook edition: August 2019
