The Secret Admirer: An absolutely gripping crime thriller (Detective Natalie Ward Book 6)

by Carol Wyer

  ‘No. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry we couldn’t save them.’ She walked towards the woman and held out the gift bag with Zoe’s name written on it.

  Rowena took it, lifted it and admired the pale pink buds that would open over the coming days. ‘They’re lovely.’ She crouched and put the offering close to the girl’s headstone, murmuring as she did, ‘These are from Leigh’s mum. Aren’t they beautiful? And your favourite colour. I have to go to work now. I’ll be back later. Love you, baby girl.’ She got to her feet once more and said, ‘I’ll see you again, Natalie. Thank you for the lovely gesture.’ With that, she made her way up the path Natalie had followed, leaving her alone in the cemetery.

  Her words were sufficient for Natalie to understand they’d overcome a hurdle. There was no more anger or bitterness from Zoe’s mother and it gave Natalie a sense of relief. It was her turn to squat in front of a white marble stone that bore her child’s name. She removed the flowers she’d brought last time she’d visited and replaced them with the fresh, moving a soft teddy bear in a pink bow to one side to make space for them. Then she stared in silence at Leigh’s name engraved on the stone. The heartfelt words she had for her daughter were all in her head, and not spoken aloud.

  David wasn’t as forgiving as Rowena and kept Natalie standing on the doorstep. Her nose wrinkled at the miasma of stale alcohol and body odour that accompanied his words. ‘You haven’t come to arrest me, have you?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ve come to talk about Josh.’

  He let out an irritated sound, a pfft, that was accompanied by a rolling of his eyes.

  ‘He wants to stay with me for a while.’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘Is that all you can say? Fine?’

  ‘Not much point in saying anything else, is there?’

  She studied his narrowed eyes and jutting chin and decided it wasn’t worth trying to appeal to his better nature. At the moment, he wasn’t exhibiting one.

  ‘Then he’ll stay with me for the foreseeable, and when the house sale goes through, I’ll buy somewhere else to live together.’

  ‘You done?’

  ‘David, I don’t know what’s eating you but you are being incredibly disagreeable. We’re talking about our son and his happiness. This isn’t about us, it’s about a young man whose life has been turned upside down.’

  ‘All our lives have been turned upside down. You and he seem to be getting along fine. If he wants to live with you, I’m not going to stop him. In fact, it’s probably better he does. As for the house, there’s a viewing tomorrow. You might get your wish. Have you checked out my DNA yet?’

  ‘I’m not here to discuss the investigation.’

  ‘Then I don’t have anything else to say to you.’

  She’d never known him to act like this. ‘Josh said he’ll ring you and come and talk to you.’

  ‘Whatever. He knows where to find me.’ With that, he retreated into the house and slammed the door so it reverberated in the aged wooden frame.

  Natalie was tempted to pound on it and tell him what she thought of him but that sort of negativity was counterproductive. He’d decided to be uncommunicative and cold-hearted. She was done with him!

  ‘Morning, Natalie,’ said Lucy.

  ‘Morning. Get any rest?’

  ‘Yes, Aurora slept right through until five, which really helped. I’ve been on to the authorities at Samford railway station and they’re going through their logs to see what time Hattie’s car entered the car park.’

  ‘Excellent. That’s a start. I was thinking about her phone. Why would she make a train journey without it?’

  ‘I wondered if she’d headed to the eco-commune in spite of what Ocean told me. They are anti-technology there, and if she’s in hiding, she’ll have deliberately left it behind to make sure she can’t be traced.’

  Natalie let out a hiss of exasperation. ‘I’ll ask Monmouthshire police to try the commune again, maybe this time with a warrant. If she’s hiding there, I want her dragged out. This is bloody ridiculous.’ Although she was irritated by the fact Hattie might actually be at the commune, the fact her mobile had been left switched off in her car was also of concern. If something serious had befallen Hattie, it would turn the investigation on its head. She rang her Welsh colleague again and made it clear that she wanted Hattie Caldwell found.

  Murray appeared with a phone in his hand. ‘This belongs to Rhiannon. It’s clean, no references to harming Gemma and nothing suspicious on it. Shall I get somebody to return it to her?’

  ‘Yes, please. What’s happened to Fran’s phone?’

  ‘Still upstairs. They’ve not finished examining it yet, or Hattie’s.’

  ‘Okay, while you’re all here, let’s have a quick run-through. As you know we’re concentrating on locating Hattie. Fran claimed Hattie had gone to visit a friend and would be back today but something doesn’t feel right about this, especially as she rang me on Saturday and didn’t show up at the meeting. With regards to Gemma, who’s been dealing with all the statements taken from the people inside the library at the time of the attack?’

  ‘Me. I’ve been through them all and there were no witnesses,’ said Ian.

  ‘Oh, crap. I was hoping we’d missed something.’

  ‘No, and I also took statements from everyone who was on the bus she took Friday evening, and not one of them noticed anything suspicious; a couple of people said she got off the bus at the library stop alone,’ said Ian.

  Natalie was perplexed. She had no firm suspects and several loose ends to sort through and, looking at the expression on Dan Tasker’s face as he marched in the direction of the office, another problem.

  ‘Can I have a word with you, Natalie?’

  She moved into the corridor to listen to what he had to say.

  ‘There are reporters outside. Somebody has found out about the victims living in the same house and they want answers. I’d like you to join me and give them a few crumbs.’

  ‘We don’t have anything to offer.’

  ‘Then we’ll have to stick to a more general script.’

  ‘Why do you want me there?’ she asked.

  He had the grace to look shamefaced for a moment. ‘There’ll be interest in the fact you’re leading the investigation and that might buy us some time.’

  ‘Because I am the detective at HQ whose daughter was tragically murdered on my watch?’ she replied, her voice remaining calm in spite of her rising anger.

  ‘You know how it works, Natalie. We need some space to operate efficiently. We won’t get it if we have the media watching our every movement. It’ll only be for a minute.’

  ‘Let’s get it over with,’ she replied and headed towards the stairs.

  ‘I’ll do all the talking.’

  ‘Good, because I have nothing to say to them.’

  He stopped her at the foot of the stairs, a hand on her wrist. ‘I understand how you feel but you can see I’m right about this. I wouldn’t ask you to do this unless I felt it was the correct approach.’

  ‘I know, sir.’ She adjusted her blouse, ensuring it was tucked into her skirt. She wasn’t as fastidious as Dan about her appearance but she wasn’t going to appear on the front page as anything other than efficient and tidy. Side by side they exited the atrium, which was light even on this dull day, to popping flashbulbs and journalists, jostling for position and clamouring for her attention.

  ‘Natalie, can you confirm that the victims are both students?’

  ‘DI Ward, is it true the victims shared the same house?’

  ‘Natalie—’

  Dan lifted up a hand to silence them while Natalie stared over the heads of those in front of her. She maintained focus on the dark trunks of the sycamore trees at the far side of the car park and kept her arms folded behind her back to ensure nobody would spot her trembling hands.

  Dan made his statement, succinct and to the point. ‘Good morning. I can confirm that DI Natalie Ward is leading the investigation in
to the suspicious deaths of two students from Samford University. We are following a number of leads and hope to reach a swift outcome. We’ll be happy to talk to you once we have further information. Thank you all for your time.’

  Light bulbs flashed one after another and Natalie tried hard not to blink in the face of the blinding glares directed at her.

  ‘DI Ward, can you confirm that both victims are female?’ The journalist closest to her held up a recording device.

  Dan responded, ‘You’ll appreciate at this stage we can’t release much information, but when we are able to, we’ll release a statement.’

  He took a step backwards and prepared to depart when a voice Natalie recognised shouted, ‘Having suffered such a recent tragic loss, does DI Ward feel she is sufficiently recovered to lead this sensitive investigation?’ The speaker, Bev Gardner, journalist for a local paper, was wearing a leopard-print full-length coat, her hair tucked under a felt hat. Bev took as much care over her appearance as Dan did. Her face showed no sympathy and Natalie felt her pulse quicken. This woman had written about her private life too often in the past. Natalie bristled, ready to snap at the woman, but Dan took over. ‘I can assure you DI Ward is exactly the right person to lead this investigation and she needs to return to it immediately. Thank you. That’s all.’

  The shouts followed them as they retreated into headquarters but Natalie strode confidently, willing herself to show no signs of weakness. The glass doors opened and sucked them inside, away from the baying journalists. They passed reception and moved deeper into the sanctuary of the building, past the stairs to the lifts that Natalie rarely took, where they halted.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Dan. The lift doors slid smoothly apart and he gestured for her to go in first. He pressed the button for the first floor and continued to speak as they ascended. ‘That should appease them for a while. Have you located this potential witness yet?’

  ‘No, sir. We’ve found her car and my team’s looking into the possibility she caught a train to stay elsewhere for a few days. As soon as we have anything, we’ll let you know.’

  He stared hard at her. ‘I meant it. You are the best person for this job.’

  ‘Then I’d better get back to it and do something to warrant that praise.’

  The lift came to a smooth stop, and as the gap in the doors widened, he waved in the direction of her office with the flourish of a head waiter indicating the way to a reserved table. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

  Natalie exited onto her floor and marched along the corridor, teeth clenched so hard her jaw began to ache. She hated fucking journalists!

  ‘Did it go okay?’ asked Murray, glancing at her face.

  ‘As well as you’d expect. Any developments?’

  ‘Oh, yes. Hattie’s car entered the car park at seventeen minutes past ten on Saturday evening.’

  Natalie slid onto her seat with ease and reached for the file containing information on Hattie. ‘What trains left around that time?’

  ‘There were seven trains between 10.25 p.m. and 11.21 p.m.,’ said Lucy. ‘Three of them, including the 10.25 p.m. train, were destined for Birmingham, and three were headed to Manchester. There was also a train to Crewe at 11.21 p.m.’

  ‘Then it would appear she wasn’t headed to this eco-commune in Wales, unless she planned to change trains,’ said Natalie.

  Lucy was quick to answer. ‘You can change at Birmingham and again at Bristol to reach Cardiff.’

  Natalie drummed her fingers on top of the file. That was quite late for her to travel, and would mean she’d have arrived well after midnight. In spite of his denial, had Hattie gone to visit her ex-husband? ‘This isn’t right. We should have traced her by now and where was she between the time she rang me at 4.20 p.m. and the time she arrived at Samford railway station? That’s six hours unaccounted for.’

  Lucy lifted her hands. ‘We’ve no idea. MisPers haven’t come up with anything and they haven’t been able to locate her car on any other surveillance cameras or CCTV.’

  ‘Her sudden disappearance is worrying me, especially as we now have two female victims from the same house. Okay, moving on, talk to Ryan and Lennox. Obviously, they’re the only remaining housemates, and Lennox’s alibi wasn’t rock-solid for Friday evening. Then there’s Ryan. Although he had witnesses to confirm his whereabouts on Friday night, he might still have ordered the attack on Gemma. We need to dig deeper. I can’t work out why either of them would kill Gemma or Fran but we have to eliminate them, if nothing else.’ She pressed her lips together and tried to think who else could be responsible. The only other person they had in mind also had no concrete alibi – David. She was determined to pinpoint the whereabouts of Lennox and Ryan, so why should she dismiss him so easily? She straightened her shoulders. Like it or not, David’s claims that he was at home Friday evening and Sunday, before they interviewed him, needed looking into too. She rang his mobile provider. They’d be able to confirm if his phone had moved over the last forty-eight hours, and he’d better watch out if he’d been lying to her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Monday, 19 November – Early Afternoon

  ‘Fran’s dead?’ Lennox looked like he was about to be sick.

  ‘I’m very sorry,’ said Natalie. They’d finally managed to track down both him and Ryan, and they were now in front of her and Murray in the sitting room at 53 Eastview Avenue.

  ‘Did you see her yesterday?’ Natalie asked.

  Lennox shook his head. ‘No. I didn’t get up until mid-afternoon and then I went to the lab and after that, I went into town.’

  Natalie turned her attention to Ryan. ‘What about you? Did you speak to Fran?’

  ‘I saw her late morning. She asked to borrow my mobile to ring her mother. You had confiscated hers and she needed to ring home because it was her grandmother’s birthday. I loaned her it and she brought it back about twenty minutes later.’

  ‘That was generous of you.’ Murray fixed his eyes on Ryan, who merely shrugged.

  ‘She had no phone. I didn’t mind.’

  ‘How did Fran seem?’ Natalie asked.

  ‘Low. Fran was always a bit aggressive, whatever the situation. It was her personality, but when she returned the phone she seemed deflated.’

  ‘Did she say what she was going to do next?’

  ‘She mumbled something about needing a stiff drink after the call and sorting out some shit, but didn’t expand on it. I asked her if she was okay and she said she was fine. I didn’t see her again and I went out soon afterwards. I play rugby for the university and we had an away match at Leeds. We went to their union bar afterwards and got hammered.’

  ‘Can either of you think where Hattie might be?’

  Natalie was met with head shakes. Lennox kept his head down the entire time.

  ‘Lennox, is there anything you can add?’

  The young man shook his head again but she noticed he was clutching his hands together so tightly his knuckles had turned white.

  ‘Lennox?’

  ‘Nothing. I don’t know where she is.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I don’t have a clue. If I knew where Hattie was, I’d tell you. This is all really weird. First Gemma, then Fran and now Hattie has vanished. What’s going on?’

  Natalie had no answers for the young man. They were getting nowhere and time was of the essence. If Hattie was in danger, Natalie needed to locate her and quickly.

  It had been a long, frustrating day for the team, with little progress made. They’d confirmed Ryan had been at Leeds with the Samford University rugby team, and once again Lennox’s pass had been used to gain access to the science department. By three o’clock, Natalie was becoming concerned about the lack of breakthrough. She had to remind herself that not all cases could be resolved within hours or days; some took months and years. She headed outside for some fresh air and was glad when she saw Mike’s car pull into the car park. He looked fresh and clean.

  ‘How’s it going?
’ he asked as soon as he was within speaking distance. He jammed his hands into his pockets and pulled out a packet of chewing gum. ‘Want any?’

  ‘No, thanks.’

  ‘I’m trying to cut down on the fags,’ he said, unwrapping a stick of gum, balling it and popping it into his mouth. Mike had been a smoker for years, and since he and his wife, Nicole, had split up, he’d more than doubled the number of cigarettes he smoked in a day. Although Natalie had also smoked, she’d given it up in 2016.

  ‘Good for you. What’s brought this on? You haven’t been told off by Bean, have you?’

  Bean was the nickname for the lanky medical examiner at HQ who, along with a part-time nurse, was responsible for the mental and physical well-being of all the staff.

  ‘Nah, Bean knows I wouldn’t listen to any advice he gave me. I decided it was time I made a conscious effort to cut down, or quit. I have good reason to now.’ His look carried the weight of his meaning. He and Natalie were edging ever closer to a proper, full-time relationship. She caught the glint in his eye and gave him a smile.

  ‘Yes, although it might be tricky with Josh around now.’

  ‘We’ll manage.’

  ‘I spoke to David this morning. He’s in a pretty shitty frame of mind about everything.’

  ‘You don’t still think he’s involved in this investigation, do you?’

  ‘I got hold of his phone provider earlier, and according to them, his mobile didn’t leave Castergate on Friday evening or Saturday, even during the time we interviewed him at HQ.’

  ‘Well, there you are. He was at home, like he said he was.’

  ‘Or he left it behind on purpose. He didn’t bring it to the station with him. David’s certainly no fool. He knows mobiles emit a signal and can be traced. This isn’t enough to prove his innocence.’

  ‘What about his car? Have you tried tracing its whereabouts?’

  ‘The technical team is working on that on the off-chance it passed a surveillance camera. See what I’m up against! We’re chasing the smallest pointers and qualifying the tiniest pieces of information in the desperate hope it will lead us somewhere, and all the while, I feel we’re missing something important – a clue, a vital sign, a suspect.’