Journals, Jealousy and Jilted Sweethearts

by Emily Selby

  'Mum, why are you standing here? Can we go home, please?'

  'Just a second, baby. I need to pass something important to someone.'

  'Who is it?'

  'A colleague from work.'

  'Oh, not again!' Julia groaned. 'Are they going to close the crafts room again?'

  'Um, not sure, but we'll see,' Katie replied hesitantly. 'But you've got some materials to work on your card at home, haven't you?'

  'I do, fortunately.'

  Two spots of light announced an approaching car.

  Jack!

  The car pulled just behind Katie's Micra and seconds later, Jack was walking towards her.

  'Hello, ladies. I'm sorry I've held you up,' he called out. 'You must be Julia?' He smiled at the girl.

  'Yes, and who are you?'

  'Detective Inspector Jack Heaton. Did you have to wait long?'

  'No, not really,' Julia replied. 'Are you going to close the crafts room again?'

  'I need to look at it, but I promise I'll deal with it as quickly as possible. You must be sick of the police constantly sealing off your room.'

  Julia shrugged. Katie looked at Jack and passed him the key.

  'It's a bunch of cut up little shapes that have some writing on them. I found them stuffed in the gap between the wall and the shelf. They've spilled out onto the floor. Here's the key. Can we go now?'

  'Just one question. Who has used the room recently?'

  'We had a meeting on Tuesday. It was well attended and quite busy. Linda McKay has used it in the past couple of days, but really,' she paused, taking a slow breath. There was no other way to say it, however much her gut feeling was going against it. 'I think you need to consider what I told you on the phone. I brought Jane in before the meeting and left her on her own for at least five minutes.'

  Jack glanced at Julia and nodded. 'I won't keep you any longer. I'll give you a ring if I need any more information.'

  Jack took the key from her hand and unlocked the door. Katie grabbed Julia's hand.

  'Let's go home, baby. Tell me all about your role then.'

  28

  By the time they got into the car, Katie's phone rang.

  'Is that inspector calling you?' Julia asked. 'He said he'd call you. He's nice, isn't he?'

  Warm tingling crept into Katie's tired face. It was nice of Jack to acknowledge Julia.

  'I'm sure it can wait until we get home,' she replied. But the phone rang again. By the time Julia had her seat belt on, the phone had rung three times.

  'I think you'd better answer that, mum. It may be something important.'

  Reluctantly, Katie reached into her handbag and fished out her phone.

  Three missed calls from Emily Robbs? What might Linda's daughter want from her?

  Katie pressed 'call back' button and waited.

  'Hi Emily, I've missed some calls from you.'

  'Sorry to bother you, but have you seen my mum this afternoon?'

  'Yes. I saw her about three hours ago.' Katie told her about the arrangement with the key to the crafts room.

  'Do you know where she might have gone? I've been ringing her for the past twenty minutes or so. I'm working tonight, and she promised to look after Adam. I can't get hold of her.'

  'She was quite tired and said she was going to go home and have a nap.'

  'The house is dark, and I've knocked on all the ground floor windows. The front door is locked, and I don't have the key. I've got to go to work. I don't know what to do.'

  Katie made a split-second decision and didn't bother checking the logic behind it.

  'I'll be there in a couple of minutes.' She opened her mouth to say the next sentence but on second thoughts she disconnected. She didn't want to worry Emily unnecessarily or get into an unproductive conversation about why. She found Chris' number and called it.

  'Chris, I don't care if you on duty or not, but I need a cop or two to check on Linda McKay. I have a bad feeling. Right now, please.'

  After a second’s silence on the other end of the line, Chris said, 'I'll get that sorted right away,' and disconnected.

  When Katie reached Linda's house, Emily emerged from her car. Katie approached her, looking around for any signs of an arriving police car.

  'Thank you for coming over, Katie.' Emily's voice was brimming with anxiety. 'I don't know what to do. Adam is asleep in the car. Kieran is working, I haven't got anyone else I can call to look after Adam. I don't know what happened to Mum.'

  'I think she might have fallen fast asleep in the house. We need to check on her. I've called for help.'

  A grimace of fear crossed Emily's freckled face. 'You don't think it's anything serious, do you?'

  'Look, the police are here.' Katie pointed to the flashing blue light quickly approaching from the other end of the street.

  Emily's hand jerked to her mouth.

  'Baby Adam’s asleep in the car. I can't leave him like that.' Emily's shoulders shook.

  Katie put her arm on the young doctor's back. 'I'll stay here, with your baby. You go in with them. Now!' She pushed her gently towards the two police officers.

  'It's this house,' Katie exclaimed.

  Once Emily joined the policemen, Katie returned to her car.

  'Sorry, Julia. It may take a little while. You can put the music on and even sing aloud. I'll wait out here.'

  'Thanks, Mum.'

  A heavy tugging reappeared in her stomach. She massaged it. Her gut feeling was back in function again?

  A few minutes later, Emily ran out of the house.

  'My mum... we can't wake her up. There is something wrong with her.'

  'Have you called the ambulance?'

  'They're on their way. She's alive and breathing, but... I'm very worried about her. I've got to go back and stay with her. But what do I do with my baby?'

  A siren wailed in the near distance.

  'It's the ambulance,' Katie said. 'You go to hospital with your mum. I'll take Adam home in your car. And you come whenever you can.'

  'Oh, Katie, but...'

  'You organise whatever you can, but just make sure your mum is okay, alright?' Katie was surprised how firm she sounded. But Emily seemed to respond quite well to it. She showed Katie where the baby supplies were and left her the car keys.

  Wanting to avoid exposing Julia to any more difficulties, Katie returned to her car.

  'Sorry, Julia. It looks like we need to go home with little Adam.'

  'Is Mrs McKay all right?'

  'They’ll take good care of her. Come on, let's shift to the other car. Grab all your gear.'

  To Katie's relief, Julia didn't protest. In fact, she behaved very maturely. She was happy with the limited information Katie had given her, didn't grumble during the ride home and helped Katie transport the baby, still in his car seat, into their house.

  Katie put the apparently happily slumbering baby in the corner of her kitchen — a compromise between not wanting to wake him and keeping a close eye on him.

  Katie and Julia ate their quickly-made dinner in silence and Julia tiptoed to her bedroom to prepare for school the next day. Two hours later, Julia was in bed and baby Adam still asleep in the corner. Katie checked on him several times, surprised by the soundness of his sleep. She made herself a cup of strong tea, fighting the weariness that returned once the adrenaline washed out of her system.

  A few minutes past eight, Emily rang to tell her that she was on her way back. Katie prepared another cup of tea. Emily probably needed to offload, and Katie was keen to hear what had happened.

  When she arrived and checked on Adam, Emily was more than happy to sit down with a hot drink.

  'I'll feed him at home. He sometimes sleeps like that,' she said, wrapping her hands around the steaming mug.

  'How's your mum?'

  'She's fine, but still asleep. They found large quantities of benzodiazepines in her system.'

  'I know,' Katie said. 'She had some, didn't she? Prescribed by her doctor to calm h
er nerves.'

  Emily nodded. 'But not in these amounts. I've no idea why she'd taken so much. Didn't you say she was sleepy and tired?'

  'That’s what she said. Maybe she couldn't get off to sleep, became frustrated and desperate to get some rest before looking after Adam?'

  'Maybe. It's just not what mum does. She's very well organised. Everything has to be done properly. You don't show any weaknesses. She didn't like the idea of taking the pills. She's been under a lot of stress since those financial problems with the parish started. She feels like it's all on her shoulders now, even though the chairman and the vicar should carry most of the responsibility.'

  Katie chewed on her cheek. 'I'm aware of the parish problems. I just didn't realise your mum has been under so much stress. She's good at hiding it.'

  'Her own problems? Yes, she is. She's too proud, you know. She's been coping by eating a lot of sweets. That's why she's put on so much weight and started having health problems.'

  'Hence the diet?'

  'That's right. But mum, being mum, didn't want anyone to know, so she's been coming up with all sorts of excuses why she wouldn't eat this or that.'

  Katie sighed. It sounded so much like Linda.

  'I guess that was the reason why she pretended she didn't see me on her morning walk.'

  'Yes, the morning walks! I think it was a brilliant idea. Mum didn't want to join the gym. Her and a tracksuit, it just doesn't go together. She hates sweating. She says it's un-lady-like.'

  'Twinset and pearls,' Katie mumbled.

  'What?' Emily stared at her, curiously. 'Ah! Indeed.' She smiled. 'I was so happy she dumped them. She looks much younger without her teacher’s armour. And I'm glad she started walking regularly. She says it's for Mavis. She's been worrying about Mavis for a while. I talked to Mavis as well. We thought she was going a bit batty. Oh, I'm sorry,' Emily covered her mouth with her hand. Her cheeks reddened. 'It's not a very professional term. I meant to say, Mavis was depressed, so Mum thought getting her out and about walking would help. And I think it has. Obviously, it's helped mum as well, but I don't think she has enough courage to admit it.'

  'How long have they been doing the walks?'

  'A couple of months. I think maybe since October. Mum wanted to take a break for winter, but Mavis insisted on continuing. Mavis is a stickler. She's very loyal, too. I bet mum had asked her to keep it all a secret. I didn't even know about them walking until a few weeks ago! Imagine that. And I only learned about it because I needed mum's help with Adam one morning and she was on her walk with Mavis. She'd been hiding it even from me.'

  'And now, with poor Edward as well. She's got obsessed with the poisoning. It must have just been the cherry on the cake. Oh, I'm sorry,' Katie gasped. 'What an unfortunate turn of phrase. I know she was worried about Edward.'

  'Yes, I know...' Emily exhaled slowly. She took a tissue from her pocket and dabbed her eyes. 'He's still in a coma.'

  'So, what's happening with your mum now?'

  'They’ll keep her in the Intensive Care Unit until she wakes up. Hopefully tomorrow. They're keeping a close eye on her. I'm quite reassured. It looks like, apart from a deep sleep, nothing's bad happened.'

  'Do you need any more help tonight?'

  'No. I'll be going home with Adam. Thank you so much for taking care of him.' Emily lifted herself off the chair.

  'No problem at all,' Katie said. She stood up to help Emily transport the little chap back to her car.

  Back in her kitchen again, Katie’s phone buzzed. It was Jack.

  'Anything interesting?' she asked him.

  'You were right,' he said. 'It looks like Jane's handwriting, and from what I've gathered, there is a lot of interesting information in there. It's been hard to piece it together, though.'

  'The die cutting machine. Clever,' Katie commented, trying to relax her tightening throat. 'My fault. I left her by herself.'

  'Don't start blaming yourself again. Tell me about the moment when you left her.'

  Katie told him about the five minutes on Tuesday night.

  'It looks like she might have had only enough time to shred those pages. Maybe she planned to destroy them further, but she heard you returning. Anything else?'

  'Yes,' Katie said reluctantly. Even though the evidence was looking right in her face, she struggled to accept it. 'She actually used to be very fit. A runner. Sometimes, she is capable of moving quite swiftly and without difficulty.'

  'I see...' Jack said slowly. 'From what I've read on those shredded pages, it looks like she might have had an accomplice. She writes as if she did. By the way, I found another motive for her wanting to kill Keith. He had an affair with a young girl, Amy somebody, we only have her first name. A barista in a coffee shop near his parents' office. It lasted a few months before Jane discovered it. She read some messages on his phone.'

  'It takes two to dance the controlling tango...' Katie said quietly.

  'Apparently so. He dumped the girl when Jane challenged him about it, but according to what I read in this journal, she's been fighting with jealousy ever since. She suspected he might have had another affair, with the woman who owns Café Meadows. Not that far off the mark, I'd say. By the way, I also found a second SIM card. Very cleverly hidden, in her medicine box. And it's the same number Edward Sparrow showed us.'

  'What?'

  'Aha. She's a crafter, isn't she?'

  Katie gulped. A cold knot twisted around her stomach. 'It's only logical, isn't it, Inspector. Logic and evidence?'

  He heaved a sigh. 'However hard it may be for you, Katie, I do feel I have enough evidence to take it further.'

  'And arrest her?'

  'Already done.'

  Katie hang up with her heart heavy with doubt and confusion. Evidence and logic were all there, but somehow, she refused to accept it, even though Jane had the motive to get rid of her husband. An affair with a girl in a coffee shop. Old habits die hard...

  Katie massaged her temples - a headache was coming on. This was going to be a long and difficult night...

  So, Jane had the motive, the opportunity and the means to put the drug into Keith's coffee. Fair enough. What about Edward? If Edward had been her accomplice, or accessory, or maybe simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, she would have wanted, of course, to get rid of him. Again, by adding her own medicine to his cake. But although she had had access to the entire cake, she couldn't have known which piece, if any, Edward was going to eat.

  This particular part didn't make sense. At all. And that was her only piece of evidence against an otherwise perfectly fitting hypothesis.

  Everything else was just tugging and twisting at her gut.

  She'd talk to Jack about it in the morning. After a disturbed night and a long, hectic day, she was exhausted.

  29

  The following morning turned out to be one big blur. With so much going on the previous night, both Katie and Julia had forgotten that Julia was spending this weekend at her dad's and he was picking her up straight after school.

  Fortunately, phone reminders weren’t affected by sleep deprivation and stress, and as soon as Katie read the message that popped up on her screen and passed it onto Julia, the house filled with nervous energy and shouting.

  'Where is my favourite teddy? ... Can I take my tablet, please? But why not? ... Oh, mum, we'll be going horse riding, I’ll need another pair of trousers...'

  And so on... and so on... until it was definitely time to leave for school.

  On the positive side, preoccupations with domestic issues meant Julia didn't even mention the events from the night before. Katie was relieved, because, frankly, she struggled to make sense of them herself.

  When she arrived at work, the office was empty. She booted her computer and organised the paperwork on her desk, considering what to do next with the investigation, not her clerical work.

  She brewed some coffee, hoping the smell of roasted java would attract her colleagues’ attent
ion.

  It didn't.

  Half way through her mug, she plucked up enough courage to call Jack, but it went straight to his answer machine.

  So, she called Chris.

  He didn't answer, but he texted her a minute later: 'In the cells with the lady. Can't talk. Celia and JH at the hospital.'

  Well, at least it was something. But what were they doing in the hospital?

  Since Katie was dying to know how Linda was doing, a quick visit to the hospital wouldn't hurt. She was up to date with her office work, more or less.

  She marched out of her office and knocked on Inspector Lumley's door.

  Surprisingly, he didn't mind her sneaking out to visit her friend.

  'I doubt they’ll let you see her, though,' he said.

  'Why do you think that, sir?'

  'Suspicious circumstances,' he said looking intently at her.

  'In what way?'

  'Suicide, I gather.'

  Katie's jaw dropped. Not Linda!

  'No way!'

  Inspector Lumley raised his bushy eyebrows. 'That's what they're working on.'

  'But not Linda.'

  Inspector Lumley shrugged. Knowing him, Katie took the cue. The audience was over. She retreated into the staff room. At least, he let her go and visit her friend in hospital.

  She left his office even more confused than when she’d woken up that morning. Was Linda okay? What was suspicious about her consuming the medicines the night before? Was it really a suicide? Too much guilt? Nah, it didn't sound like Linda at all.

  To be honest, Katie assumed Linda simply lost track of her medication with Edward's poisoning, the clearing of cupboards and the fridge and making sure she kept an eye on her tea. Maybe it had been too much for her, and she had a bit of a mental meltdown. So, she'd taken something to calm down and...

  Except, according to Emily, suicide wouldn't be in Linda's character. What would be? Being seen as super-effective, well-organised, perfect and doing the right thing.

  No, it didn't explain why she would take an overdose. Or maybe, she didn't.

  Katie thought about phoning Emily again, but abandoned the idea. If anyone, she should talk to Linda herself.