Murder in the Fens: An utterly gripping English cozy mystery novel (A Tara Thorpe Mystery Book 4)

by Clare Chase

  He followed the noise.

  Fifty-Seven

  ‘Bella, think!’ Talking was the only route left to Tara. She knew she couldn’t run on her damaged foot and there was no other way of outpacing her opponent. ‘Whatever’s happened, whatever the background, there’s a way of making your situation less bad. If you show remorse, and let me go, your lawyer will make the best possible case for you.’

  She gasped for breath, the words not coming to mind as quickly as they should. She felt dizzy and everything hurt. For an awful moment she thought she was going to pass out and make Bella’s job even easier.

  She blinked hard and tried to keep a grip on reality. ‘I get the impression – we get the impression – that you had a difficult relationship with Julie. You wanted to be her friend, and you maybe felt she wasn’t there for you. Perhaps that’s why you lashed out as you did. And then maybe’ – she swallowed, trying to hold it together, her mouth so dry she could barely speak – ‘maybe you panicked. Maybe you thought you’d killed her by accident and you didn’t know what to do.’

  The cloud had cleared now, and moonlight fell on Bella’s face. She looked deathly pale, and devoid of expression, but then suddenly she laughed. On and on, her eyes wide.

  Tara didn’t dare move. Bella was at her weakest, overtaken by hysteria, but if Tara started to crawl, the unexpected movement might jolt her back to reality. She was just wondering if she had enough strength in her arms to pull the girl’s feet out from under her when she saw movement.

  A tiny variation in the shadows behind Bella. She fought the urge to react. If it was Stuart, come to find his girlfriend, then she might be done for, but she needed a moment to think before she put Bella on high alert too.

  And then suddenly the movement came all at once. Blake seemed to go from being six feet away to being on Bella. He’d grasped the post in her hands and twisted it sharply before the student knew what was happening.

  She was unbalanced and that gave Tara the advantage she needed. From where she lay she lurched for the woman’s legs, bringing her down in one go.

  Fifty-Eight

  The hour after Blake had found Tara had gone in a blur. She hadn’t even argued when he’d told her to lie down – he could see she was in shock, her hands clammy, her skin ashen. He’d thrown his jacket over her and Max and Jez had added their outer layers. It was only when he’d tried to raise her legs to help her blood supply that he’d realised her foot was injured. He’d kept her awake by telling her what they knew so far – and how carefully Bella had set things up so that they couldn’t make contact with Stuart. They’d found his stolen mobile when they’d searched her.

  The ambulance came quickly – thank God Addenbrooke’s was so close – as did further police backup. When he’d finally left the scene, he’d called in to see Tara’s relative, Bea, to explain what had happened. He knew how close she and Tara were, and he didn’t want to leave the job to anyone else. At the boarding house she ran, he’d found she wasn’t alone. It had been the ex-cop, Paul Kemp, who’d answered the door. It made him see things in a fresh light. He’d often wondered if Kemp and Tara had something going together, but the guy had an air of belonging at Bea’s place, somehow. Perhaps Blake had misread the situation.

  He was only there for a minute – just long enough to be sure they knew that Tara was okay – and that Bea had the support she needed. Their warmth, and the way they clearly felt about Tara, made him emotional.

  As he drove back to the station, he couldn’t switch off the slight boost to his mood caused by guessing that Kemp and Tara weren’t an item. Though of course, that left the way clear for Jez Fallon. Of the two, he’d definitely rather Tara was with the ex-cop, ironically. The guy might have a murky past, but he trusted him more than his new DC. For a split second his mind flipped to Babette. Suddenly, the urgency to sort out his own broken relationship seemed almost overwhelming. But there was no time now.

  Back at the station he prepared to interview Bella Chadwick. Megan was going to join him. She was still at work, along with the rest of them, having finished her job on the manslaughter case.

  He had his hand on the interview room door when his mobile rang. Tara.

  Only it wasn’t Tara on the line when he picked up. ‘This is Nurse Perez at Addenbrooke’s.’ Blake’s heart went into overdrive. He knew shock could be dangerous, and Tara had told him Chadwick had hit her about the head. Twice. Yet he’d told Bea she was safe. He fought to keep his voice steady.

  ‘DI Blake speaking.’

  ‘Tara’s very unwell.’ There was a pause. ‘I’ve told her she shouldn’t be trying to deal with work issues until she’s fully recovered, but she’s extremely agitated and she’s been insisting that she be allowed to speak to you. Please can you keep it short? I’ll hand you over now.’

  Blake leant against the corridor wall. He felt as though all the breath had gone out of him.

  ‘Yes?’ His voice sounded harsh and irritable with anxiety. He cursed inwardly.

  ‘Lovely to speak to you, too.’ She sounded reassuringly Tara-like. ‘Thank God they finally let me ring. When I was lying on the ground, you told me Bella had stolen Stuart’s phone – yes?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It’s just come to me. As we drove off towards Wandlebury, Bella said she’d text him to let him know she was on her way. And then she took out her phone and got busy.’

  Blake paused. She must have been bluffing, except why bother? It wasn’t as though it would have looked suspicious if she hadn’t. ‘You think she was really contacting someone else?’ A tingle ran down his spine.

  ‘I can’t think of any other explanation. And there’s one more thing, Blake.’

  ‘Shoot.’

  ‘The green wool that Agneta found underneath Julie’s fingernails. Could it have been felt?’

  Blake listened as Tara spoke of seeing the harp being loaded into its lined case, ready to be shipped off to Veronica Lockwood’s next concert.

  ‘I googled harps,’ Tara said. ‘Seven stone. Six feet tall.’ He heard her swallow. ‘I don’t know, but they – one of them – could have fitted Julie into that case. Tonight was weird, Blake.’

  That seemed like quite an understatement, under the circumstances.

  ‘I don’t think Bella really wanted to kill me – at least not at first. I’ve been running through it all in my head. If her heart had been in it, I’d be dead by now.’

  Suddenly the line went muffled. ‘That’s quite enough.’ Nurse Perez was back on the phone. Her words were harsh, but her tone wasn’t. He’d never seen Tara cry, but in the background, he thought that’s what he could hear. He wanted to ask the nurse to pass on a message, but his feelings weren’t anything he could convey via that route. And Megan was by his side, waiting for him. ‘Please tell DC Thorpe I’ll be in to visit her.’

  ‘And you’ll be warmly welcomed… during visitors’ hours and only after she has had a chance to recover.’

  Blake was prepared to pull rank over that one if required. But now, he had work to do. He went to find Bella’s phone. Through the evidence bag that contained it he pressed the home button.

  A message flashed up immediately, requesting a PIN. It wasn’t unexpected.

  A moment later he was in the interview room with Megan, Bella and Bella’s solicitor.

  ‘Bella, before we begin our talk, I want you to unlock your phone for me.’

  The girl seemed to shrink back into herself.

  ‘If you don’t do it, our tech guys will. You’ll just save us a few minutes, that’s all. You won’t gain anything by being obstructive.’ In fact, the ease with which it could be done was variable. With some phones, it would depend on guessing the number she’d used, but with any luck she wouldn’t know that. The models that needed fingerprint ID could be even more problematic, if the owner had done a runner.

  At last Bella took the instrument and unlocked it.

  Blake took the mobile from her and went to her text message
s. The one she’d have sent when travelling with Tara said: I don’t know how to do it. There’d been no response.

  As Bella, Megan and the solicitor watched, Blake redialled the destination number. It rang three times before the call connected.

  ‘What’s the situation?

  Blake recognised the clipped, upper-class voice. It was Veronica Lockwood.

  Fifty-Nine

  An hour later, Blake was sitting opposite Lady Lockwood at the station. The solicitor next to her looked very well-heeled. He was clearly making way too much money out of his privileged clients. Megan sat to Blake’s left.

  Chadwick had shut up like a clam after he’d made contact with Veronica. She wouldn’t confirm that the woman had been involved, but she couldn’t tell them how she’d managed to get Julie’s body to Wandlebury without her own transport.

  He’d left her to stew whilst he found out what the harpist had to say. The harp itself was being brought back to Cambridge. He was well aware there’d be hell to pay if they’d got this wrong.

  ‘Can you explain to me, please, why Bella Chadwick texted you this evening? What did she mean by “I don’t know how to do it”?’

  Lady Lockwood raised an eyebrow. ‘I spoke to her earlier today when she came to attend the student party at the lodge. I sensed something was upsetting her. When I asked what was wrong it was clear it was boyfriend trouble. I advised her to finish the relationship she was in. I assume she must have been hoping for suggestions on how to go about that.’

  ‘Do you know Bella well, Lady Lockwood?’

  The woman’s eyes were cold. ‘I try to involve myself in the lives of the students as much as possible. If they need a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on, I consider it a privilege to provide that service.’

  Blake found that very hard to believe; he didn’t have the woman down as the touchy-feely sort. ‘You must have done an excellent job, if students feel they can text you for relationship advice when you’re trying to pack for a trip to Italy.’

  She didn’t bother commenting on that.

  ‘The number Bella texted you on isn’t the same as the one you gave us. Why is that?’

  She raised her eyebrows. ‘You surely don’t imagine I’d give my personal number out to the students? I support their welfare, but I need to keep some distance too. If I’m working I keep my normal mobile switched on, but silence the one that Bella used.’

  ‘I’d be grateful if you’d let us examine the phone you keep for students.’

  ‘I couldn’t possibly allow that. As you can imagine, it contains messages that were sent in confidence.’

  ‘I’m afraid I’ll have to request a warrant then. As well as one to take a sample of the lining of your harp case.’

  He watched as she blanched. She didn’t know about the wool under Julie Cooper’s fingernails, but if she was involved, and the student had died inside the case, she must know they were almost certain to find her DNA there.

  ‘We’d better add the boot of your car to the list too. I’m sure you must want to help us with our enquiries.’ He caught the woman’s eye.

  ‘It’s the principle I object to. You have no grounds to suspect me of anything.’

  Blake leant back deliberately in his chair. He’d wanted to do the opposite but knew the solicitor would complain if he ‘used intimidating body language’. ‘Lady Lockwood, you seem to know Bella Chadwick quite well, and it appears – from her text – that when she set out to murder one of my officers, she came to you for advice. This was shortly after my officer left your premises, having commented on the size of your harp case. She’d put two and two together and I think that you – or one of your family – realised that.’ He did lean forward slightly now. ‘I think you and Bella Chadwick put together a hasty plan for her to intercept Tara Thorpe before she had the chance to call the station and update us.’

  He sat back again. ‘If I’m barking up the wrong tree, do let me know and give me access to the areas I want to search. But one thing’s for certain, there was no way Bella Chadwick was making plans to dump her boyfriend when she texted you this evening. She’d got other things on her mind. And we have records of other calls she made to you too – before this evening, when you claim she told you about her boyfriend trouble.’ Thank God that Bella had unlocked her phone. It had saved a lot of time. ‘I expect she’ll tell us more soon. If you’d like to get your story in first, I suggest you start now.’

  Sixty

  Veronica Lockwood’s solicitor had asked for a few moments alone with her client after Blake had summed up his thoughts.

  Fifteen minutes later they were all assembled again. Once the recorder was going, Blake turned to the woman.

  ‘You’ve got more to tell us?’ He could see from her face that she was building up to something.

  She took a deep breath. ‘I can see I need to let you have the full story. I’ve been a fool, and I’ll have to leave it to the authorities to decide what to do.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Bella Chadwick seems to have had a strange relationship with Julie Cooper. As I said to you before, I try to involve myself with the students, and I couldn’t help noticing the pair of them around St Oswald’s. Bella followed Julie everywhere, dressed as she dressed, pretended to be interested in the causes Julie championed. Anyone will tell you. I think she wanted to be Julie – it was clear she was after Julie’s ex-boyfriend, Stuart. I only found out about that triangle by talking to Bella and Julie’s tutor, Lucien. He has his ear to the ground.’

  What would he have felt about Bella and Stuart, Blake wondered, if he and Bella had been sleeping together at one point? Where did that fit into all this? ‘Go on.’

  Lockwood inclined her head. ‘I managed to get Bella talking – I thought she might need help. That’s why there are lots of calls on her mobile to my “student” number. Once she started to confide, it all came flooding out.’

  Blake looked at her steadily, waiting, letting her know he was judging her every word. ‘Go on,’ he said at last. ‘Tell me what happened on Saturday.’

  Lockwood sighed. ‘I wish to God I’d gone with Alistair to London now. As it was, I went for a walk around the college grounds after I’d practised my harp for a couple of hours. I needed the fresh air. I bumped into Julie and Bella out there. I assume they were coming to see where their new accommodation was, before moving their things back in. Anyway, I could hear from a distance that they were arguing. Something about their interaction set my alarm bells ringing. I sensed Bella was close to the edge, and in the end I decided I’d have to intervene. It was the last thing I wanted – I needed more time to practise – but I invited them into the Master’s Lodge to talk about their differences.’ She shook her head. ‘It was over that lad, of course – Stuart. I couldn’t calm either of them down. It was evening, and I thought I’d offer them both a stiff drink, see if that would help. But when my back was turned, Bella picked up a heavy decanter and smashed it side-on into Julie’s head.’

  Blake mentally added the item to the list of things forensics would need to examine.

  ‘I was so shocked that I just stood there. Julie had dropped to the floor – her head was bleeding and she was deathly still.’

  She put her hands over her face.

  ‘I knew Bella had problems. I should have called the police – but I felt for her. She’d killed Julie as a result of losing control in my house. If I hadn’t invited them in, it would never have happened. Bella had used one of my possessions as a weapon. In that moment, I realised two things. If I called the police, it wouldn’t save Julie, and equally it would ruin the rest of Bella’s life. Whereas if I helped Bella cover up what she’d done, I could make it my duty to ensure she got the help she needed. Then at least one of the two of them would have a future.’

  She met Blake’s gaze. ‘I can see it was wrong now – but at the time it seemed logical. I think I was in shock. And of course, once the die was cast, it was too late to go back.’

  ‘So you thought Julie was d
ead?’

  Veronica Lockwood blinked. ‘What do you mean?’

  Surely she’d have checked for a pulse, under the circumstances? ‘You didn’t look for a heartbeat, or realise that Julie was still breathing?’

  ‘She wasn’t.’ Lockwood caught her breath. ‘I mean, I’m sure she wasn’t. You only had to look at her—’

  Blake didn’t reply. ‘What did you do next?’

  He saw her swallow. ‘We carried her down to the basement and put her in my harp case. I just wanted to get her out of sight until we’d worked out what to do. It was too early to move her – too much of a risk that we’d be seen. And if anyone had come calling… So we moved her down there, and then came back upstairs again. Bella went back to the house where she and Julie had been lodging, but we agreed we’d meet up later to get Julie’s body away from the lodge.’

  ‘What time did you ask her to return?’

  ‘Two a.m. It took a while to get Julie’s body back upstairs and out to the car. We covered the boot with bin liners before we lifted her.’ She looked down into her lap. ‘I already knew then that I’d made the most horrific mistake in deciding to protect Bella in that way. Looking down at Julie as we carried her – feeling her dead weight – brought it all home. But it was too late by then.’

  ‘Whose idea was it to put flowers in her pocket, and to remove Stuart’s ring? It threw suspicion onto Gilmour, specifically.’

  Lockwood shook her head, slowly. ‘Bella’s. She was still jealous. I tried to stop her, once I realised what she had planned, but she was crazed. She must have collected the flowers on her way over to the lodge. It was clear to me then that she’d been obsessing about the best way to cover her tracks, as well as to get her revenge by directing the police’s attention towards Stuart. It was one more thing that made me realise saving Bella would be much more complicated than I’d thought. Fatally injuring Julie hadn’t been an isolated action or a tragic twist of fate. Bella is unbalanced.’