Frozen Minds: A murder mystery set deep in Wales (DI Winter Meadows Book 2)

by Cheryl Rees-Price

  ‘The book is Eddy’s property. If you prefer, we can get a warrant. That will just delay the process and you’ll all have to remain here until the search is complete. Either way, we will search for the book.’

  ‘Fine,’ Jane snapped. ‘Do what you want, but please be aware that there are a number of confidential files on site containing sensitive information. I don’t want you or your officers nosing in those files.’

  What was she hiding in them?

  ‘Our only concern is finding the book and I can assure you all my officers are trained professionals and will handle the search with sensitivity. Can you tell me who has access to the residents’ medication?’

  A puzzled expression crossed Jane’s face. ‘The medication is kept in a secure cabinet in a locked room. Only Harry, Miles and I carry keys. Why?’

  ‘We need to check the medication, make sure it is all accounted for,’ Edris said.

  Jane opened the desk drawer and took out a bunch of keys. ‘I’ll take you.’

  ‘No need, I’ll ask Harry or Miles. I’m sure you have enough to deal with at the moment.’ Meadows gave a tight smile. ‘In the meantime, I would like you and all the staff members to remain on the premises until the search is complete.’

  Meadows left the office before Jane had a chance to complain.

  ‘You certainly put her in her place,’ Edris said.

  ‘I have a feeling she’s used to getting her own way. She seemed very cagey about the files. I want to wait until the relief staff come in before we issue the warrant for the financial records. I would rather her not know what we are up to.’

  It was quiet as they walked through the hall and into the sitting room. Miles was slouched on the sofa and Harry could be seen in the kitchen.

  ‘Where is everyone?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘In their rooms,’ said Miles. ‘Jane thought it best until things calm down. They set each other off.’

  ‘You were on night duty last night.’

  ‘Yeah, what of it?’ Miles’ face darkened at the inspector’s question.

  ‘Eddy’s book was taken at some point during the night,’ Edris said.

  ‘So you think I had something to do with it? What would I want with Eddy’s book?’ Miles sat up straight. ‘Do you think I get some sort of kick out of distressing the residents?’

  ‘Can you talk us through last night’s shift?’ Meadows asked.

  Miles shrugged. ‘Nothing to tell really. I settled the residents down at ten, watched a film with Cillian, and then did the rounds when Cillian went to bed.’

  ‘Were all the residents asleep?’

  ‘Eddy was up, staring out the window. The rest were asleep.’

  ‘Any disturbances during the night?’

  ‘Steve woke up and used the toilet. Liam was kicking off about someone waking his tortoise.’

  ‘Why would Liam think someone was waking the tortoise?’

  ‘I dunno, he probably had a bad dream. I told him to go back to sleep. I checked on him twenty minutes later. He was asleep.’

  ‘Did you hear anything after that?’

  ‘No, I would have checked if I had.’

  ‘When did Eddy discover his book was missing?’

  ‘When he woke up,’ Harry said as she walked into the sitting room carrying a mug. Her lip had stopped bleeding but the swelling was still visible. ‘I went to wake him up this morning, he was still in bed when I went into the room. The book is always kept on his bedside table. It’s the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes. I looked on the floor and under the bed thinking it may have fallen. Then we searched the whole room.’

  ‘Was anything else disturbed in the room?’

  ‘No, not that I could tell. Eddy’s room is very well ordered. He would have noticed if something had been moved.’

  ‘OK, we are going to search the house for the book when Eddy has calmed down.’

  ‘Lot of fuss over a stupid book,’ Miles huffed and picked up a newspaper from the coffee table.

  ‘Eddy is calm now but is sedated so it’s unlikely he will talk to you,’ Harry said.

  ‘I don’t think we will need to bother him,’ Meadows replied. ‘I understand that you have a set of keys for the medicine cabinet.’

  ‘We both do.’

  Miles peered over the top of the paper. Meadows ignored him.

  ‘If you can spare a few moments I’d like to take a look,’ he said.

  ‘I’ll take you now.’

  Harry set her mug down on the table then led them to the store cupboard which was located next to the sleep-in room. She took a set of keys from her pocket and unlocked the door.

  It was a small room, with a sink set into a worktop, and shelving above. Meadows looked at the boxes of latex gloves, wads of cotton wool, plasters and antiseptic creams.

  ‘Meds are kept in here.’ Harry opened a metal cabinet.

  ‘What is the procedure for administering medication?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘There are always two of us.’ Harry took a hard-backed register from the cabinet and opened it. ‘This is a list of each resident and their medication. The dose is checked, then the medication is checked and recorded in the register, timed and dated, with two signatures. Again, there are always two people present when the medication is administered.’

  Meadows looked at the book his eyes scanning the entries for Monday evening. ‘Do you keep diazepam here?’

  ‘Yes, it’s PRN, as needed.’

  ‘How do you monitor the stock?’

  Harry took the book back and turned to the back. ‘Most of the meds are on repeat prescription but we still keep a record of the stock levels. We do a stock take at the end of each week, it’s also a precaution to make sure the residents haven’t missed any doses or been given too much.’

  ‘Can you check the stock for diazepam please?’

  ‘Do you think there’s a problem with the medication?’ Concern creased Harry’s face.

  ‘It’s possible, we do need to check.’

  Harry took three boxes from the cabinet and tipped the contents onto the worktop. She lined up the strips of tablets. Some of the strips had holes where the tablets had been removed. She counted the tablets then checked the book. A frown creased her forehead, she counted again then checked the log.

  ‘Is there a problem?’ Edris asked.

  ‘Let me just check again.’ She repeated the process and shook her head. ‘There are tablets unaccounted for – about 60mg. There’s no record of them being used.’

  ‘Are you sure it’s 60mg?’

  ‘Yes, and that’s a heavy dose.’ Harry put the tablets back into the box.

  ‘And it’s just you, Miles and Jane that have access to the key?’ Edris asked.

  ‘Yes, we’re the only ones trained to administer medication. You don’t think that someone drugged Eddy so they could get his book, do you?’

  ‘Was he very sleepy this morning?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘No, he woke and sat up in bed as soon as I went in the room.’

  ‘Then I doubt the medication was used on Eddy. Like you say, it’s a heavy dose and he would have been drowsy.’

  ‘It wears off after four to six hours.’

  ‘So he could have been given, say, 30mg and been fine this morning?’ Edris asked.

  ‘I guess.’ Harry shrugged.

  ‘You’d better lock this lot back up,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Should I put a note in the book about the missing pills?’

  ‘Yes, it’s probably best you do.’

  ‘I’ll counter-sign the book if you like.’ Edris sidled up close to Harry.

  Meadows leaned against the counter, his mind mulling over the missing tablets.

  If Alan had 30mg of diazepam in his system then that leaves another 30mg unaccounted for. Would someone give that much to Eddy? Leah said she didn’t wake up Monday night. If she had been drugged then that would account for her not hearing any noise. No, that doesn’t make sense. Why drug Leah? Ge
mma was the one on night duty. Unless it was Gemma that drugged Leah.

  ‘Sir?’

  Edris’ voice cut across Meadows’ thoughts.

  ‘Sorry I was trying to figure something out,’ he said.

  ‘Are we finished here?’ Edris asked.

  ‘Yes. Thank you, Harry, you’ve been a great help.’ The three left the store. ‘Is Kevin in his room?’

  ‘Yes, he should be there with Gemma,’ Harry said as she closed and locked the door. ‘See you later.’

  Meadows nudged Edris, who was watching Harry walk down the corridor. ‘I think we should have a chat with Kevin again.’

  ‘As long as he doesn’t try to hug me!’

  They reached Kevin’s room and Meadows rapped on the door.

  ‘I’m coming to open the door.’ Kevin’s voice boomed from the other side. The door opened and Kevin’s face lit up. ‘Winter Man!’

  Meadows braced himself as Kevin enveloped him in a bear hug.

  ‘Hi, Kevin, can we come in?’

  Kevin released Meadows and turned to Gemma who was sitting on the sofa. ‘Gemma, the Winter Man is here.’

  ‘Yes, I see! Hi.’ Gemma smiled.

  ‘I’m beginning to think I’m invisible,’ Edris teased as he closed the door.

  ‘I need your help again, Kevin,’ Meadows said as he sat down in the armchair.

  ‘OK, Winter Man.’ Kevin nodded.

  ‘Do you know that someone has taken Eddy’s book?’

  Kevin frowned. ‘A bad thing to do.’

  ‘Yes, it is. We think that someone has hidden the book somewhere in the house. Do you mind if Edris looks around your room when we have a chat?’

  ‘I didn’t take it.’ Kevin stiffened.

  ‘I know you didn’t take it, but someone could’ve come into your room when you were asleep and hidden it.’

  ‘Sneaky.’ Kevin’s eyes widened.

  ‘Yes. So it’s OK for Edris to look for the book?’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Meadows nodded at Edris. ‘Kevin, do you remember the night you sneaked out of your room and ate the ice cream?’

  Kevin nodded.

  ‘You said you didn’t see Gemma.’

  ‘No, Gemma didn’t see me.’ Kevin put his hand to his lips and sniggered.

  ‘Did you see Gemma?’ Meadows leaned forward. ‘Yes, Gemma fast asleep on the sofa.’ Kevin giggled.

  Gemma’s cheeks flushed red. ‘I didn’t mean to fall asleep.’

  ‘It’s OK.’ Meadows smiled. ‘Just tell us what happened.’

  ‘I’ll lose my job.’ Tears pooled in Gemma’s eyes.

  ‘Don’t cry!’ Kevin looked alarmed. He patted Gemma on the arm. ‘It’s OK.’

  Meadows was touched by Kevin’s concern. ‘Don’t worry, Kevin, Gemma will be fine.’ He sat back in the chair. ‘I think you may have been drugged. There’s some diazepam missing from the medicine cabinet.’

  ‘What? Who would want to drug me?’

  ‘Whoever killed Alan, to make sure you didn’t hear or see anything on Monday night. Tell me what happened on Monday night, everything please.’

  Gemma took a tissue from her pocket and wiped away the tears that had escaped her eyes.

  ‘Me and Leah settled the residents down. Eddy was in his usual place by the window so I told him I would come back to check on him later. The other residents were in their beds. I said goodnight to Kevin then joined Leah in the sitting room for a hot chocolate and a chat. We were watching something on the telly. The next thing I remember was waking up and it was daylight. I felt awful, I swear I’ve never fallen asleep on night duty. What if one of the residents had a seizure and there was no one to help?’ Her bottom lip trembled.

  ‘Who made the drinks?’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘Did you both have hot chocolate?’

  ‘No, Leah had camomile tea, she doesn’t drink any caffeinated drinks before sleeping.’

  ‘Do you always drink hot chocolate in the evenings?’

  ‘Mostly, yes.’

  ‘Who would know that?’

  ‘Everyone that works here. I’ve been on sleep-in duty with all of the staff members. We take it in turns.’

  ‘OK, I think we should take the cocoa powder to be tested.’

  ‘I’ve drunk it since and haven’t fallen asleep.’

  Meadows rubbed his hand across his chin as he thought of possible ways that Gemma could have ingested the diazepam.

  ‘Do you make the hot chocolate with milk?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do you think it’s possible there could have been something in the milk?’

  ‘I suppose. There wasn’t much left, I finished the bottle.’

  ‘And Leah didn’t have any milk at all that evening?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so, but I couldn’t say for sure.’

  ‘Kevin, did you see Leah asleep on the sofa with Gemma?’

  ‘No, Leah didn’t see me.’ Kevin shook his head.

  ‘But you saw Leah?’

  ‘I was peeking out of my room.’ Kevin smirked.

  ‘You saw Alan and Liam?’

  ‘Alan shouting at Liam, bad words.’

  ‘Was Leah with Liam?’

  ‘No, came out of the sleepy room. Leah says don’t shout at Liam. Come on, Liam, back to bed,’ Kevin sang.

  ‘Thank you, Kevin, you have been a big help again.’

  Edris walked out of the bedroom and shook his head.

  ‘No sign of the book.’

  ‘Will you have to tell Jane that I fell asleep on night duty?’ Gemma asked.

  ‘I don’t see why that would be necessary at this stage. It will have to come out at some time but try not to worry. It wasn’t your fault.’ Meadows smiled. ‘We’ll leave you now.’

  ‘How many days until it snows, Winter Man?’ Kevin asked.

  ‘Twelve days.’

  If we manage to solve this case.

  ‘Twelve days,’ Kevin repeated and grinned.

  Outside Kevin’s room they met up with Paskin and Valentine.

  ‘We’ve searched Kevin’s room.’ Edris gave Valentine a warm smile.

  ‘We’re about to see Liam so we’ll search his room at the same time. Where’s Blackwell?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Searching the sitting room,’ Paskin said.

  ‘OK, perhaps you and Valentine can make a start upstairs. On your way can you tell Blackwell to search the office when he’s finished with the sitting room?’

  ‘He’ll put Jane in her place,’ Edris said.

  ‘That’s what I’m hoping.’ Meadows grinned. ‘Come on let’s go and see Liam.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jane searched through the drawers of her desk, slamming each one as she went. She had already been through them once but frustration was making her doubt her eyes. She slammed the bottom drawer and marched over to the metal filing cabinet. She yanked open the top drawer and began rummaging through papers and scrabbling around under files.

  The office door opened and she jumped away from the cabinet. Her heart thudded in her chest as she pulled back her shoulders and fought for composure before turning around.

  Miles stood in the doorway, a bemused look upon his face.

  ‘Where is it?’ Jane demanded.

  ‘Where is what?’

  ‘The fucking book! I told you to put it in the top drawer of my desk.’

  ‘I haven’t got it.’ Miles swaggered towards the desk. ‘I thought you must’ve taken it.’

  Jane felt a cold band coil around her chest. ‘You’d better be joking,’ she hissed.

  ‘I fuck you not, I haven’t got it.’

  ‘Well if you haven’t got it, who has?’

  ‘I dunno. I went to Eddy’s room at four, it wasn’t there. I thought you had come in through the cellar and taken it.’

  ‘Why would I come back here with that bloody policeman hanging around all night?’ she shrieked, clenching her fists. She wanted to tear his face wit
h her nails.

  ‘Keep your voice down,’ Miles snarled. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, there are police all over the house.’

  ‘Cillian must have it.’

  ‘What would Cillian want with the book?’

  ‘Well Harry then, she could’ve taken it. I don’t trust that one. Eddy could have told her what he saw and now she’s going to blackmail us.’

  ‘If you think Harry sneaked in then it could easily be any one of them. Gemma knows something I’m sure of it. I asked her about Monday night, and she was evasive, couldn’t wait to get away from me. Anyway, you have to keep your cool. Use your head. Whoever took the book isn’t planning on giving it to the police. So we wait it out. Let them come to us and we’ll deal with it.’

  A cold shiver of fear ran down Jane’s back. She didn’t like what he was implying. ‘We’re just getting in deeper. We have to get rid of everything.’

  ‘Yeah well good luck with that, they can still trace it back.’

  ‘Not if they don’t know what they are looking for. I’ll delete the files from the computer. The paperwork can be burnt. Wait until the police have gone then you can deal with it.’

  Miles’ eyes blazed but they were interrupted when the door opened, and Blackwell stepped inside.

  ‘I need to search the office.’

  ‘We’re in a meeting at the moment so you’ll have to come back,’ Jane replied tersely.

  ‘The meeting’s cancelled,’ Blackwell growled.

  ‘You can’t talk to me like that.’

  ‘I think you’ll find that I can.’ Blackwell fixed her with a steely gaze. ‘Now you can either cooperate or I can cuff you and take you down to the station for obstruction.’

  ‘Fine, go ahead and search.’ Jane plonked herself down in the chair.

  ‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Miles smirked and slinked out of the door.

  Jane had the sudden urge to throw something. She watched Blackwell snap on latex gloves and move around the office. He reminded her of a pit bull. Thick neck and a triangular body on stubby legs. She glared at his back as he searched through every drawer of the metal filing cabinet.

  He shut the last drawer and turned around. ‘Can you move away from the desk, please?’ His voice was clipped.

  Jane stood abruptly, sending the chair coasting backwards on its wheels. She stepped back and folded her arms across her chest. Every muscle in her body screamed with tension as she watched him rifle through the drawers. When he reached the bottom one, she held her breath.