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

by Cheryl Rees-Price

  His meaty hands picked through the files until he reached the bottom. Jane felt the perspiration gathering on the nape of her neck; she had to remind herself to breathe.

  He replaced the files, huffed and shut the drawer.

  ‘Keys to the cellar?’

  She slid open the top drawer and handed him the keys. He left the office without comment and Jane sank into the chair, her heart still thudding in her chest.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Meadows could hear voices coming from behind Liam’s door. He knocked and the voices stopped abruptly.

  ‘Keep him away from the chairs,’ Edris whispered.

  The door opened and Cillian stood there, looking from Edris to Meadows. Leah could be seen sitting at the table with Liam. They both had felt-tip pens in their hands and were jointly colouring a picture.

  ‘We’d like to talk to Liam,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Right.’ Cillian stepped back from the door, allowing them to enter.

  Liam looked up from his colouring book, his small eyes darting between the two visitors.

  ‘Hello again, Liam.’

  Meadows smiled as he approached. Liam scowled.

  ‘Liam,’ Leah prompted.

  ‘Hello.’ Liam put his head down and continued colouring.

  ‘Liam, did you know that someone has taken Eddy’s book?’ Meadows asked.

  Liam threw down the pen. ‘I didn’t do it!’ He jumped up from the table, sending the chair crashing backwards.

  ‘No one is saying you took it, but we need to look around your room in case someone hid it in here.’

  ‘No, get out!’

  Leah stood and placed her hand on Liam’s arm. ‘Is this really necessary?’

  ‘I’m afraid so, we are searching all the rooms.’

  ‘It’s OK, Liam,’ Leah soothed. ‘They are just going to have a quick look then they will leave. You want to help Eddy, don’t you?’

  Liam huffed. ‘OK.’

  ‘Perhaps we can sit down and have a chat while Edris has a look around.’

  Meadows sat down in the armchair. He noticed a look pass between Cillian and Leah. He watched her take Liam’s hand and lead him to the sofa where they sat side by side. She still looked unwell and there was a vulnerability about her. He glanced at Cillian who stood behind the sofa, his shoulders rigid.

  ‘Cillian, can you talk me through last night’s shift?’ Meadows asked.

  Cillian placed his hands on the back of the sofa.

  ‘I settled the residents down with Miles, we watched a film and I went to bed about eleven.’

  ‘Did you hear any disturbances during the night?’

  ‘No, I was out like a light. Didn’t wake up until my alarm went off.’

  ‘Who was first in this morning?

  ‘I don’t know, Gemma, Leah and Harry were in the kitchen when I got up, Dani came in just after.’

  Meadows looked at Leah.

  ‘Harry and Gemma were already in when I arrived.’ She turned her attention to Liam who was rocking back and forth as his eyes followed Edris around the room.

  ‘When we spoke yesterday you said that after you went to bed Monday night you didn’t see or hear anything.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Leah said. She avoided Meadows’ gaze and continued to soothe Liam.

  ‘But you did get up during the night. You were seen talking to Alan, then taking Liam back to his room.’

  ‘No I… I didn’t get up.’ Her eyes were wide as she looked at Meadows. ‘There must be some mistake.’

  ‘What is this?’ Cillian demanded. ‘She told you she didn’t wake up. Whoever told you that is lying.’ His fingers curled into fists.

  ‘I don’t think so. The witness has no reason to lie.’ Meadows held Cillian’s gaze.

  ‘I don’t remember getting up.’ Leah looked panicked.

  Doubt crept into Meadows mind.

  Maybe she was drugged.

  ‘Liam, Alan shouted at you sometimes, didn’t he?’ Meadows leaned forward in the chair.

  Liam turned his head towards Meadows. ‘Alan is a bad man, hate him.’

  ‘Because he shouts at you?’

  ‘Yes, and hurts Hard Hat, says he’ll put him in the microwave and make me eat him.’

  ‘I think he was teasing you, Liam.’ A nervous laugh escaped Leah’s lips.

  Liam pouted. ‘Not funny.’

  ‘No, it’s not funny,’ Meadows agreed. ‘Alan shouted at you because you were out of bed when you should have been sleeping. Did Leah take you back to bed?’

  Liam put his hands over his ears. ‘Stop asking questions, not telling, not telling.’ He rocked back and forth.

  Meadows turned to Leah. ‘Tell me what happened on Monday night.’

  Leah sighed. ‘I’ve told you everything.’

  Meadows could see her hands trembling. Cillian leaned over the sofa and put a hand on her shoulder.

  ‘Tell me what happened before you went to bed.’

  ‘Nothing happened. Me and Gemma settled the residents down then had a cup of tea in the sitting room, watched some telly then went to bed.’

  ‘Camomile tea?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What was Gemma doing when you left her?’

  ‘Watching telly.’

  ‘How did she seem to you?’

  ‘She was OK, a little quiet.’

  ‘She’s told you everything she knows. You can’t seriously think Leah had anything to do with what happened to Alan.’ Cillian glared at Meadows.

  ‘What I do know is the two of you are withholding information.’

  ‘We’ve told you everything we know.’

  ‘Did you drink anything other than tea on Monday evening?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘I had a glass of milk to settle my stomach, why?’

  ‘It’s possible that you and Gemma were drugged.’

  Leah visibly relaxed. ‘You think that’s why I didn’t hear anything?’

  ‘There you go, if Leah was drugged then she wouldn’t remember getting up to see to Liam, if that’s what really happened,’ Cillian said.

  ‘No!’ Liam leapt off the sofa giving them all a start. He charged at Edris, who was crouching down to look in the hutch. ‘Get away or you’ll wake him up.’

  Edris stood up, ‘It’s OK. I won’t wake him. I’ll be very quiet.’

  Cillian walked over to Liam who stood guarding the hutch. ‘Are you going to let us look inside?’

  Liam screwed up his face. ‘No.’

  ‘I’ll see if I can persuade him to let you to take a look later.’ Cillian patted Liam on the shoulder.

  ‘I’ve checked everywhere else,’ Edris said.

  Meadows looked at Liam, who stared back with angry eyes. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. ‘Excuse me a minute.’ He walked to the far end of the room before answering. ‘Meadows.’ He listened with interest to the voice on the other end of the line. ‘OK, on my way.’ He signalled to Edris, who looked relieved not to have to battle Liam over the hutch.

  Outside in the corridor they met with Blackwell coming out of Jane’s office.

  Blackwell grinned. ‘Nothing in there, but she’s wound up a treat.’

  ‘Good. Keep an eye on her,’ Meadows said. ‘Traffic have found Alan Whitby’s car, burned out up the mountain. I’m going up to take a look. The relief staff will be in soon; let the others go but search them on the way out. Try to use a bit of tact.’

  Blackwell huffed. ‘I’m sure I can handle it.’

  ‘Good. After the staff leave, chase up the warrant. I want to get all the files and the computer checked without Jane knowing.’

  ‘I would’ve had her in by now,’ Blackwell commented. ‘We have nothing on her other than the phone call. I want to know what she’s hiding.’ Blackwell grunted and walked off.

  ‘Let’s go and see this car, then I think we should pay Jane’s husband a visit,’ Meadows said to Edris.

  ‘You think he’s involved?’

  ‘
He gave Jane an alibi. I want to speak to him, see how reliable that alibi is. Most people would lie for the one they love.’

  ‘I suppose.’

  ‘With a bit of luck, he’ll be in work and we can catch him on his break. See if you can get hold of his schedule from the bus depot.’

  Meadows listened to Edris talking on the phone as he drove towards the mountain. They passed through the village of Bryn Melyn which proudly announced itself as the gateway to the Black Mountains. Once they passed over the cattle grid there were only a few scattered houses then the landscape opened to reveal the rolling hills. Meadows changed gear as he approached the first bend and pulled the car around. Crash barriers lined one side of the road to prevent cars going over the edge and plunging down into the river below.

  Wild horses stood huddled together against the wind and sheep peppered the mountainside. The road twisted and turned until they reached the highest point where crags of limestone jutted from the mountain and the old quarry came into view. Farmland could be seen below as they made their descent. Meadows slowed the car as he rounded the hairpin bend and came to a halt behind a parked police car with its lights flashing. He pulled on his coat and stepped out of the car. The wind whipped around his head, biting into his scalp.

  ‘It’s bloody freezing,’ Edris moaned as he zipped up his coat.

  A uniformed officer approached and pointed down the side of the mountain. ‘Down there.’

  Meadows peered over the side and saw the burned-out car with its front end plunged into the river. A forensic team were inspecting the vehicle.

  Edris frowned. ‘We’re not climbing down there, are we?’

  ‘Yep.’ Meadows grinned as he pulled up the collar on his coat. ‘It’s not that steep, just watch your feet, walk down sideways and you should be OK.’

  Meadows started the decline. His feet slipped a few times and he struggled to keep his balance as the wind drove into him. Edris struggled behind him, a string of expletives, together with apologies flowing from his mouth. They eventually made it to the bottom, where there was some shelter from the wind, and walked over to a man who was taking samples from what was left of the boot.

  ‘Found anything interesting, Mike?’ Meadows asked.

  He grinned. ‘No body for you, I’m afraid.’

  ‘We’ve already got the body, thanks,’ Edris said as he checked his shoes for sheep droppings.

  ‘Should have worn boots. Looks like a rag was pushed into the petrol tank and lit, would have been quite a show but I doubt anyone would have seen anything up here,’ Mike said.

  ‘Why burn it? Waste of a damn good car,’ Edris said.

  Mike rolled his eyes. ‘Well, it’s not likely we’ll get any prints from it now.’

  ‘They could have cleaned it, changed the plates and got rid of it. I’m sure there’s more than one place to shift a stolen car and this one would have been worth a bit.’

  ‘I’m not sure I like the way your mind is working.’ Meadows laughed. His eyes followed the car tracks which were still visible on the mountainside. ‘Looks like it was pushed over the edge and the fire set down here.’

  ‘I’ll agree with that,’ Mike said. ‘There’s no evidence of the car being on fire as it came down. You would’ve seen some debris.’

  ‘So you’re saying he pushed the car over the edge, climbed down, set fire to it and ran like hell back up. He’d have to be fit,’ Edris said.

  ‘Doesn’t have to be a man. It would’ve been dark so they would’ve needed a torch,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Most mobile phones have torches on them now,’ Edris commented.

  ‘Good point.’ Meadows turned back to Mike. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Lots of melted plastic in the boot and overdone sausages by the looks of it, a few chicken portions. Maybe they were trying to have a barbecue.’ Mike laughed.

  Meadows peered into the boot. ‘It’s probably the food taken from the freezer, they had to dispose of it somewhere.’

  Mike carefully picked up some plastic and put it in an evidence bag. ‘You could be right.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  Mike reached in a gloved hand and held the charred object aloft for Meadows to examine. ‘Looks like the remains of an iron.’

  Meadows thought back to the meeting with Daisy. ‘Can you get that tested? It could be our murder weapon. Edris, give Blackwell a call and see if there’s an iron missing from the cellar.’

  Meadows walked around the rest of the car while Edris was on the phone. There wasn’t much to be seen. The interior had burned down to the metal and forensic officers were bagging melted compact discs. ‘I don’t think we’re going to get much from this but I guess that was the point.’

  ‘We’ll give it a thorough going-over. I’ll get the iron sent straight to the lab.’

  ‘Thanks, Mike.’ Meadows turned to Edris, who had finished his call. ‘Anything from Blackwell?’

  ‘Yes, he took Harry down the cellar to check. There is an iron missing, they keep a spare one down there.’

  ‘It was probably the first thing to hand. Right, are you ready for the hike back up?’ Meadows grinned.

  ‘I’ll race you to the top.’

  ‘Challenge accepted.’ Meadows took off, scaling the mountainside with ease. He could hear Edris puffing behind. He reached the top and stopped to catch his breath. Edris clambered the last steps and bent over, drawing in gulps of air.

  ‘What kept you?’

  Edris laughed. ‘I’ll give it to you, you’re fit for an old guy.’

  ‘Less of the old! I’m in my prime and not that much older than you.’

  ‘Over ten years older, I reckon. It’s all downhill for you now.’

  ‘Cheeky sod!’

  They reached the car, feeling grateful to get out of the wind. Meadows sat and gazed out of the window at the surrounding mountain. ‘Why not just put the body in the car? They went to all this trouble to destroy the car. It doesn’t make sense’

  ‘Unless they wanted the body to be found,’ Edris said.

  ‘But why draw attention to Bethesda? If they dumped the body up here we wouldn’t have connected it directly to the home. Yes, we would’ve questioned Alan’s work colleagues, but we wouldn’t have easily found the murder scene. Then there’s the drugs, Gemma and possibly Leah were drugged sometime during the evening and Alan had enough to possibly knock him out. That would take some planning, yet the hiding of the body in the freezer and disposing of the car looks like it was done on impulse.’

  ‘I can’t feel my hands and I think my brain is frozen.’ Edris rubbed his hands together. ‘It just gets more complicated.’

  Meadows started the engine and turned up the heater. ‘Let’s go and see Huw Pritchard. We’ll get a cup of tea on the way to warm you up.’

  * * *

  They arrived at the depot as Huw’s bus was pulling in. The manager had agreed to let them use his office so Huw grabbed a cup of tea and led them into the warm room.

  ‘Is this about the business up at Bethesda? I worry about Jane working there now. I hope you’re close to catching whoever is responsible.’

  ‘We’ll catch them, it’s just a matter of time.’ Meadows smiled. He watched Huw sip his tea. He had a boyish face with warm brown eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled.

  ‘We’re checking everyone’s alibi for Monday evening. Jane said she was at home all evening,’ Edris said.

  ‘I’ve already given a statement,’ Huw replied as he grabbed a biscuit from an open packet.

  ‘Yes, but we need to go over a few things. It’s just a formality.’ Meadows watched closely to see if Huw showed any signs of discomfort but he remained relaxed.

  ‘Sure.’ Huw munched the biscuit and took a swig of tea. ‘I got home from work about half seven. Jane was already home and had dinner ready. We ate then I went down The Bridge. I play darts on a Monday night.’

  ‘Did Jane stay at home?’

  ‘Yeah, she’s not one for g
oing to the pub. We go out for a meal sometimes but she’s busy at work and tired on the weekends.’

  Edris looked up from his notepad. ‘What time did you get home from playing darts?’

  ‘About eleven. Jane was in bed. She goes up about ten on work nights.’

  ‘Did she wake up when you went to bed?’

  ‘I don’t think so. I went up quietly.’ Huw shifted in his chair.

  ‘Did you get a sense that she was awake?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘She didn’t say anything.’

  ‘Did she get up during the night?’

  Huw hesitated. ‘I didn’t hear her get up.’

  Meadows had a feeling that Huw was holding back so rephrased the question hoping to force the truth. ‘Are you absolutely sure she was in bed? Did you talk to her? Switch the light on?’

  ‘Well, no, I didn’t go into…’ Huw looked away and sighed. ‘The thing is, when I go out for a drink, I snore, so I sleep in the spare room.’

  ‘You didn’t mention this in your statement,’ Edris said.

  ‘Well, that woman copper didn’t ask. It’s not the sort of information you volunteer. Anyway, it’s not like Jane had anything to do with Alan’s murder.’

  ‘But you can’t be certain that she was in bed,’ Meadows added.

  ‘Her car was parked in the drive. Where else would she be?’

  Quite possibly murdering Alan Whitby.

  Meadows felt sorry for Huw; he imagined Jane wore the pants in the house and her husband idolised her.

  ‘How has Jane been over these past few days? Have you noticed any changes?’

  ‘She’s been a bit upset, not eating and sleeping well, but I expect she had a shock, working there with a killer on the loose.’

  ‘I’d like you to come to the station tomorrow and change your statement. We may need to speak to you again.’

  Huw stood up. ‘OK, can I get back to work now?’

  ‘Yes, thank you for your time.’

  ‘Bloody idiot,’ Edris said as they walked back to the car. ‘I think he was embarrassed about the separate rooms. I’m guessing it’s not only when he has a drink. I don’t think he was deliberately withholding information and he obviously has no reason to think that his wife is involved.’