Silent Graves

by Sally Rigby

  ‘It was an accident,’ Payne said, his voice devoid of emotion.

  ‘They’ve told us the story about the girls dying in the caravan and we also have Elizabeth Franklin in custody for her part in the proceedings.’

  ‘You have to understand that they were horrified by the girls’ deaths. I swear on my life, they didn’t intend for it to happen. I admit what they did was stupid, but they were suffering from grief over what had happened to Justin. Had I known in advance what they’d planned to do I would have stopped them, but it wasn’t until the girls died that they came to me for help. What else could I do?’

  ‘If it was an accident, and they reached out to you, why didn’t you do the right thing and bring them in, instead of concocting a story that Anita and Jayne had run away? You would have saved the girls’ parents a great deal of anguish caused by not knowing what had happened.’

  ‘Peggy and Ken had been through enough with Justin dying and I didn’t want to make it worse. I’m sorry, I was wrong.’

  ‘How did the girls’ bodies get to Oak Tree Farm?’

  ‘What did Peggy and Ken say?’

  Surely he wasn’t going to lie about it. She gave an exasperated sigh.

  ‘It doesn’t matter what they said. I’m asking you. Did you bury the girls, or did you instruct the Robertsons where to take them? We know you were a member of the clay pigeon shooting club that used the farm for practice.’

  ‘You’re good,’ Payne said, giving a wry smile.

  ‘I have an excellent team. Did you bury the bodies?’ Whitney pushed, sure that he was about to confess.

  ‘I had no choice.’ He bowed his head.

  ‘There’s always a choice,’ Brian said, interrupting.

  Whitney glared at her sergeant. This wasn’t the time for him to go all holier than thou. ‘You were a serving officer, Malcolm. It could have been dealt with, as you well know.’

  ‘Who are you kidding? They would have been charged with kidnap and murder because there was no way to prove the deaths were accidental.’

  ‘We believe the girls’ deaths were down to a faulty gas fire and that they died of carbon monoxide poisoning. If you’d have investigated before taking the action you did, you would have discovered that and acted correctly.’

  ‘They would still have ended up in prison and I wasn’t prepared for that to happen to them. I’d do it again, if the situation arose. If it wasn’t for the new housing estate being built no one would’ve discovered them.’

  ‘Don’t you care about the parents of the missing girls?’ Whitney asked, surprised he could be so callous.

  ‘There was nothing I could do as I only became involved after the fact.’

  ‘Peggy and Ken tried to hide your involvement, because they thought prison would be bad for you.’

  ‘That sounds like them. They are good people, though I don’t expect you to understand.’

  Actually, she did. Sort of. But in a similar situation she wouldn’t have acted as he had done.

  What if it was Tiffany involved?

  She pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

  ‘Now you’ve admitted your involvement, I’d like you to go through everything that happened, chronologically,’ Whitney said, choosing to ignore his comment.

  ‘When Peggy phoned me, she was in such a state that I had to help. I couldn’t let her suffer more than she had already. Her only child died after taking drugs those girls sold him. They weren’t nice girls. Not just because they sold drugs, although that was bad enough. But I later learnt from Elizabeth that they were nasty bullies, and other pupils in their form at school were scared of them. I decided to record them as runaways and that would deal with the situation.’

  ‘What about their parents? For decades they’ve known nothing of what happened. They held out hope that their daughters were still alive, when in fact they were dead. Didn’t you think about them at all?’ Whitney drew in a breath, trying to keep it together. Surely, he had some sympathy for the girls’ families and the hell they must have gone through for all those years.

  ‘I admit it wasn’t an ideal situation and not one I’d have chosen, given the option. There was nothing I could do to bring their daughters back, but it was still possible for me to make life a little easier for Peggy, Ken, and Elizabeth. They deserved that, after all they’d been through.’

  On the face of it, his explanation was logical. But as a police officer it was wrong, on so many levels.

  ‘Do you regret what you did?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I don’t spend time thinking about it as it would be a pointless exercise when the outcome couldn’t be changed.’ He shrugged.

  Whitney had to force herself to remain calm and not be wound up by this blasé attitude.

  ‘Did you know that Mrs Robertson has been worrying about what happened for all these years? You might not have done her as much of a favour as you believe.’

  ‘I had no idea it was still plaguing her. After everything was over the four of us made a pact to never speak of it again. And I kept to it.’

  ‘Not even when they announced the housing development at Oak Tree Farm?’ Brian asked.

  ‘I didn’t talk to Peggy and Ken about it, but I was concerned, I must admit.’

  ‘Did you think about going to the burial site and removing the bodies?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I drove out to the farm to take a look, pretending to be walking on the public right of way, but the hedges had already been felled and I couldn’t be totally sure where the burial site was. There was nothing I could do but sit back and hope they wouldn’t be found. Unfortunately, they were.’

  ‘Does your wife know about any of this?’ Whitney asked, curious as to her involvement.

  ‘No.’

  ‘He’s lying,’ George said in her ear. ‘But I wouldn’t push it. There’s unlikely to be any evidence linking her to the case.’

  Whitney agreed, and it was going to be hard enough for his wife as it was.

  ‘Malcolm Payne, I’m arresting you on suspicion of being an accessory in the murders of Anita Bailey and Jayne Kennedy. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes.’

  They escorted him to the custody suite and handed him over to the sergeant to be officially charged.

  ‘What a mess,’ Whitney said to Brian. ‘The press will have a field day.’

  Chapter 34

  ‘Are you ready, Whitney?’ Superintendent Clyde asked as she knocked and opened the door to Whitney’s office and walked in, looking tall and intimidating in her uniform.

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Whitney jumped up from behind her desk and attempted to hide her surprise at being collected by her boss.

  ‘This isn’t going to be fun because we are accusing one of our own, but it has to be done. It’s imperative that we are seen to be squeaky clean at all times.’

  She picked up her jacket from the back of the chair and put it on as they left her office, heading down the corridor towards the lift.

  ‘How’s the new team panning out now you’ve solved your first case?’ Clyde asked, as she pressed the button to take them to the ground floor.

  ‘Very well, thanks. We had a few hiccups initially, as everyone settled in, but I think it’s going to work out well. They all did an excellent job in gathering information required to solve this case.’

  ‘I’m pleased to hear it, especially as I was integral in putting the team together. I don’t want to give anyone cause to think I’d done the wrong thing.’

  By anyone did she mean Douglas?

  They exited the lift and walked down the corridor towards the conference room. Melissa was waiting for them at the entrance.

  ‘Hello, Melissa,’ the super said. ‘Whitney, as you know, I’m going to do the speaking. You’re there for backup if I need it.’

  ‘
Yes, ma’am. I understand.’

  They entered the room and stood behind the podium. The room was absolutely packed, even more so than usual. Had they got wind of what was about to be announced? It wouldn’t surprise her. The media seemed to have a hotline to the station, however hard they tried to keep things quiet.

  Melissa called the room to attention, before handing over to Clyde, who stepped up to the podium.

  ‘Thank you all for coming in at such short notice. I’m going to update you on the case concerning the two teenage girls who were found buried on Oak Tree Farm recently, as there have been some substantial developments. Anita Bailey and Jayne Kennedy went missing in 1980 and, at the time, they were recorded as having run away from home. Because of their age it was deemed inappropriate to pursue the matter further. However, following our investigation we have arrested four people in connection with their deaths. At present, we’re not releasing the names of those detained, other than to say that one of those charged is a former police officer.’

  The noise in the room increased as reporters were muttering to each other. Whitney wasn’t looking forward to seeing the headlines later. The police were fair game as far as the media were concerned.

  ‘What’s the name of the officer in question?’ a woman in the front row called out.

  It was only to be expected. They weren’t going to let it rest just because the super had said they weren’t releasing the names.

  ‘As I’ve already mentioned,’ Clyde said, her voice calm. ‘We’re not, at this stage, releasing names of the people being charged. We’re confident that the case has been solved and we are no longer investigating.’

  ‘Is ex-inspector Malcolm Payne one of those charged?’ a reporter in the middle of the room shouted out.

  Whitney glanced at the super. Her face gave nothing away, she could just as easily be discussing what she’d had for breakfast instead of police corruption. Whitney could learn a lot from her.

  ‘As I’ve already stated twice, we’re not releasing names at this point so it’s pointless pursuing this line of questioning.’

  ‘Inspector Payne was in charge of the original investigation, wasn’t he?’ the reporter continued.

  ‘That is correct,’ Clyde confirmed.

  ‘How did the girls die?’ the same reporter asked.

  Who had primed her? The questions were too direct for it to be otherwise.

  ‘The evidence suggests it was an accident and the girls died from carbon monoxide poisoning after being trapped in a caravan which had a faulty gas fire.’

  ‘What do you mean trapped? What are the charges?’

  ‘They include kidnapping and manslaughter.’

  ‘How many police officers have been charged?’

  ‘One. This officer has been charged with being an accessory and conspiring to cover-up an offence. That is all we have for you. Thank you for attending.’

  Clyde turned and headed out of the conference room, followed by Whitney. Once they were out of earshot Whitney turned to her.

  ‘That wasn’t too bad, ma’am.’

  ‘No. It could have been a lot worse. Some of the questions were too pointed for them not to have been given the nod.’

  ‘It certainly seemed that way. We’ll soon see when the stories are out.’

  They took the lift together and Whitney returned to the incident room.

  ‘How was it, guv?’ Frank asked as soon as she’d closed the door.

  ‘As to be expected. But now it’s over I think we should have an after-work drink to celebrate our first case with the new team.’

  ‘Are the drinks on you, guv?’ Frank asked.

  ‘I could’ve put money on you asking that,’ Doug said.

  ‘Your point being?’ Frank said.

  ‘I think you know what it is, without me spelling it out.’

  ‘Boys …’ Whitney said laughing. They cracked her up. ‘Yes, Frank. The first round is on me. We’ll try the Railway Tavern as it’s close and is bound to end up being our local. I’ll give Dr Cavendish a call to see if she’d like to join us.’

  She returned to her office to make the call but before she could, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen. It was Martin.

  ‘Hey,’ she said.

  ‘Have I caught you at a bad time?’

  ‘No, just the opposite, we’ve just solved the case we’ve been working on and have arrested all the relevant people.’

  ‘Does that mean you’re free to come out with me tomorrow? I’m passing through and thought we could make a night of it.’

  She’d love to see him, but she really wanted to visit her mum and brother as she’d been neglecting them recently. With Tiffany not being there to share the visiting it was all falling on her shoulders.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I can’t make it tomorrow.’

  ‘Are you working over Christmas?’

  ‘I’m off on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but I’ve already made arrangements. I’ll be seeing my mum and brother on both days.’

  ‘New Year?’ he asked, a wistful tone in his voice.

  Now she felt mean. ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll see if I can free up some time and will give you a ring. I promise.’

  ‘Good, because I don’t want your present to go to waste.’

  ‘What is it?’ Whitney was like a child when it came to Christmas, she loved opening gifts and trying to guess what they were before she pulled the paper off.

  ‘My lips are sealed. You’ll have to wait and see.’

  ‘Meanie,’ she said, laughing.

  ‘Yes, that’s me. I’ll speak to you soon.’

  She ended the call and smiled to herself. With the exception of Tiffany being so far away, for once she felt her life was heading in the right direction.

  Chapter 35

  George pulled up outside the Railway Tavern and grimaced. She understood why Whitney had chosen it. It was close to the new station and they’d no doubt be in there often. But even so … She hoped it was more palatable than the previous plastic pub they’d frequented, although judging by the exterior she doubted it. Whitney had pulled into the car park at the same time, so she waited for her to get out of her car and they headed for the entrance together.

  ‘I don’t think you’re going to like it in here,’ Whitney said as they pushed open the door and music blared.

  ‘I agree. I doubt we’ll be able to hold a conversation, judging by this noise.’

  Ross occasionally teased her for being a fuddy-duddy because she liked peace and quiet when out for a drink or meal. Not that he wanted it rowdy, but he did have a higher tolerance for noise than she did.

  ‘Don’t worry, we won’t stay long,’ Whitney reassured her.

  She didn’t want to stand in the way of their celebration, so she’d put up with it for as long as necessary.

  The main bar area was huge and square. There were tables with chairs lining the walls and in the rest of the space were tall circular tables for people to stand their drinks on. Most people in there were standing in small groups.

  ‘The team is over there,’ George said, after scanning the room and spotting them in the far corner.

  They headed over in time to hear Frank regaling everyone with a story.

  ‘And the guv went right up to him. Stood on her tiptoes and gave him what for. It was—’

  ‘It was what?’ Whitney said, interrupting, arching an eyebrow.

  ‘I didn’t see you there, guv,’ the officer said, looking sheepish. ‘I was just telling them about the time the bouncer from Scoundrels threatened to punch your lights out, and you made him eat his words. Do you remember the case?’

  ‘I do. The case and the idiot bouncer. But before you carry on with the story, which you no doubt will be embellishing, what would you all like to drink?’

  Whitney wrote down the drinks order and headed for the bar, leaving George standing on her own. Brian made a beeline for her

  ‘If you’re a forensic psychologist, that means you analyse
people. Right?’ he said.

  ‘That’s a very simplistic view of my skills.’ Was he engaging in small talk? If so, he could try harder.

  ‘But you do, yeah?’

  ‘Why are you asking?’ she said, thinking that there was more to this than she’d first assumed.

  ‘I just wondered how you thought I’d done in the team and wanted to ask if you knew what the guv thinks of me?’

  ‘I can’t speak for her, you’ll have to ask yourself.’

  ‘No, I’m not going to do that. For such a small person, she’s incredibly scary.’

  George smiled to herself. ‘I wouldn’t label her as scary. What you’ve got to remember is that DCI Walker has certain ways of doing things, and she expects loyalty from her team.’

  ‘Do you think I’m doing okay?’

  ‘Yes, I think you’ve performed well up to now, and will improve as you settle into the new role.’

  ‘I’m not planning on staying long.’

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘I’m on the up. I’m going to take my Inspectors’ exams next year and then I’m going places. I don’t intend to hang around Lenchester for long, it’s too small and parochial.’

  ‘Are you going to tell DCI Walker your plans?’

  ‘She knows I’m ambitious. Do you think it will go against me?’

  ‘I doubt it will, but you’ll have to ask her.’

  ‘I’m not going to rock the boat,’ he said.

  George was relieved when out of the corner of her eye she saw Whitney on her way back carrying a tray of drinks. When she reached them, she handed them out.

  ‘Here’s to our first case as the new team,’ Whitney said holding up her glass.

  ‘Three cheers for all of us,’ Frank said.

  After cheering, Brian left George’s side and the team all returned to their conversations.

  George turned to Whitney. ‘What’s going to happen with Reg Shaw. Are you going to assist with his parole when it comes up?’

  ‘I’ll wait to see if I’m approached. The information he provided wasn’t crucial, but it did help in a roundabout way. Do you fancy going back to mine with a takeaway after here?’