by Celina Grace
For a moment, all three officers and Mia Farraday sat as if turned to stone. Kate, heart beating fast, wondered whether Anderton would say anything. The two small children, little Tilly and a slightly older boy who must have been Milo, made a rush towards their mother, only to stop at the sight of the three strange adults sat silently on the opposite sofa.
Mia was the first one to break the silence. “Where’s James?”
Sarah Collins came forward into the living area from the kitchen. She was obviously sensitive enough to be aware of the tension that filled the room. “What’s the matter?”
Mia ignored her question. “Where’s James?”
Sarah glanced from Mia to the police officers nervously. “He – we ran into his friend Toby, and James wanted to go and play at his house. I said I thought that would be okay. I’ll go and fetch him in an hour or so.”
“No!” The agony in Mia’s voice brought them all up short. Tilly put her thumb in her mouth, her face puckering. “He has to be here! We all need to be together.”
“I’m sorry.” Sarah Collins was almost in tears herself, the knowledge that something was terribly wrong obviously hitting her hard. “I can go and get him, right now.”
Mia stilled suddenly. She froze, her face a blank, neutral mask. In her mind’s eye, Kate saw the image of the glowing lightbulb again, the sizzle and pop as the connection overloaded, the sudden extinction of the light.
Very slowly, Mia smiled. Or if not smiled, stretched the corners of her mouth sideways. “It doesn’t matter,” she said in a monotone. “No, it doesn’t matter. James is old enough to cope.”
They all stared at her. Mia shook herself slightly and addressed Anderton. “I’m ready to come with you now, Inspector. But I must be allowed to say goodbye to my children first.”
The knot in Kate’s stomach was growing. She saw the sceptical look on Anderton’s face.
“That’s fine, Mrs Farraday, as long as you make it quick.”
“I meant, in private.”
Kate saw Anderton look at Mia. “No. I’m sorry but I can’t allow that.”
Mia’s face contracted. “Please. Let me say my goodbyes with some – some dignity.”
“No, Mrs Farraday. I’m afraid not.”
“Oh—”
Anderton relented slightly “I will allow you to talk to your children in this room. You can take them over to that corner if you like.” He nodded towards the far wall. “But you will not be allowed to leave this room. I’m sorry, but that’s final.”
Mia obviously realised that he couldn’t be moved. She didn’t say anything but her face grew a little whiter. She was now so pale that with her hollowed cheekbones, and the shadows beneath her eyes, for a moment her face resembled a skull. She crouched down and held her arms out to her children. “Come here, darlings. Come with Mummy.”
Kate watched her lead them over to the far side of the room, past the breakfast bar of the kitchen that edged the side of the living area. She thought she saw Mia’s pale arm flicker out for a moment but she was distracted in the next instance by Anderton murmuring to her and Olbeck that enough was enough and it was time to bring Mia Farraday in, children or no children.
“Well, I think—” Olbeck said, but they never got to hear what it was he thought because in the next instance, Kate’s stomach contracted as if she’d suddenly been kicked by a horse, and the next second she was racing, racing across the room, leaping over the back of the sofa, just as the scream exited from Tilly’s little mouth. Kate hit the floor heavily – stumbled, righted herself – and cannoned into Mia just as she was raising the knife for the second time, the knife she’d just taken from the knife block on the breakfast bar. There was a second of confused scrimmage, of blood arcing up over the room – Kate felt the warm spray of it as it hit her face – but she didn’t know who was hit or who was hurt. Mia was panting, the little girl and boy were screaming, and then there was a black-edged maelstrom of panic and fear and confusion.
“No, Mia, no, Mia!” Kate heard herself shouting as she struggled with Mia for possession of the knife. “No, no, don’t—”
Mia’s thin body belied her strength. She pushed Kate away, but as Kate stumbled back, she managed to grab hold of both the children, both frozen with fear. Kate flung them both backwards, not caring if they hurt themselves in the fall, just frantic to get them out of Mia’s reach. Mia screamed. Then, before anyone could do anything, before Olbeck and Anderton could reach her, she gave her children one last, despairing glance and turned her back on them all. Kate saw her hand rise and the knife describe one shining sweep in the air but the blood that flew out was hidden from the children’s view, just as Mia would have planned it, as she’d planned everything else.
Chapter Twenty-Six
It was early evening by the time Kate was finally discharged from the Accident and Emergency department at Abbeyford Hospital. Both Anderton and Olbeck were sitting in the waiting room as she finally emerged from the ward, both slumped in the uncomfortable plastic chairs. Kate, walking wearily towards them, thought that if there were a less flattering light than the strip lights found in hospital waiting areas, then she had yet to find it.
Anderton was the first to spot her and jumped up. “Are you—” he began, but Kate was already talking over him.
“What’s the news on Tilly Farraday?”
“She’ll be okay,” said Anderton, and Kate nearly swooned with relief. She limped over to the row of plastic chairs and flopped down in one. Olbeck sat next to her and put his arm around her which, in her tired state, caused Kate some confusion because shouldn’t it be Anderton who was comforting her? Then she snapped back to reality and gave her friend a grateful smile.
“Thank God Tilly’s going to be okay,” she said. Then, hating to ask but having to know, she said in a more subdued tone, “What about Mia?”
The two men exchanged glances before Anderton answered, and in that time, Kate could feel her stomach begin to drop. She held her breath.
“She’s still in Intensive Care,” Anderton said sombrely. “It’s touch and go, from what I understand. She lost a hell of a lot of blood.”
“Well, that’s what happens when you cut your own throat,” Kate said, dimly aware of how callous that sounded. But then it had been she who had ridden in the ambulance with Tilly Farraday, she who had held the little girl’s hand and seen the naked terror in her eyes. Desperate as Mia Farraday had been, nothing could excuse putting her child through that.
“Surely she didn’t always mean to kill them,” said Olbeck. He sounded tired.
“Of course not,” said Kate. “She did this all for them. But when it came down to it, in the end, she wasn’t going to leave them. I suppose she thought better that they all go together. If she was capable of thinking anything, by the end.”
“Yes.” Olbeck pondered for a moment, removing his arm from Kate’s shoulders. “I wonder if she’ll plead insanity?”
Anderton shook his head but without anger. “Not likely. Whatever her state of mind at the end, the whole – campaign, I suppose you’d call it – showed a level of calculation and planning that I personally find quite staggering.” He sighed. “She was clever. Very clever.”
“What put you onto her, Kate?” Olbeck asked. Kate realised, with dull surprise, that they’d not even had a chance to discuss the case since the revelation of Mia’s guilt.
“Oh, it was a remark of Dorothy Smelton’s.” She eased back in her chair and contemplated her bandaged forearms. Whilst Kate had not been badly injured, it had been Sarah Collins’ quick action in calling an ambulance that had saved Tilly Farraday and (hopefully) Mia Farraday too. Whilst Kate, Olbeck and Anderton had been grappling with Mia, trying to stem the arterial flow of blood from her slashed neck, Sarah Collins had coolly administered first aid to the injured Tilly, soothed her screaming brother and calmly directed the ambulances to the house. Kate forgave her for sleeping with Simon Farraday, which is indeed what had happened; Sarah had te
arfully confessed all on the way to the hospital.
“Which was?”
Kate had been leaning back with closed eyes. She opened them with some difficulty. Adrenaline was finally wearing off, and she felt as if a twelve-hour sleep would probably not be quite enough to restore her. “What? Oh. Yes. Dorothy said something about Mia’s degree subject – something Mia had excelled in, apparently, I mean really excelled in, almost to the point of being a minor genius – anyway, Dorothy said something about not understanding ‘all that new-fangled stuff’. And Mia had told me she’d done History, so that just didn’t make sense.”
“That was it?”
“Well, to start with,” admitted Kate. “But it niggled me. It irked me. So I double checked with Edinburgh University and found out that she’d actually studied computing. That was puzzling, but it didn’t really seem to have any bearing on the case until after Dorothy’s death, when the whole question of Mia’s alibi was called into question.”
“We should have seen it before,” Anderton said gloomily. “We should have done a more thorough search, for one thing.”
Neither of the other two said anything. After a moment, Olbeck’s mobile chimed with an incoming text. He pulled it out of his pocket and read it.
“That’s Jeff, he’s coming to pick me up. Kate, do you want us to drop you home?”
Kate wavered. Part of her was desperate to get home and get some sleep. But the other half of her was very conscious of the fact that Anderton was here, right here beside her, and she didn’t want to leave him. “Well—”
“That’s all right,” Anderton said suddenly. “I’ll drop Kate home. Don’t make Jeff go out of his way unnecessarily.”
Kate wondered whether Olbeck would find this a little suspicious but he was obviously too tired to read anything into it. He yawned and said, “Rightio, then, I’ll be off.” He kissed Kate on the cheek, shook Anderton’s hand, and made his way outside. Kate, watching him go, thought that she must talk to him soon and tell him how things were with Anderton. She didn’t want there to be any secrets between them. But then, how could she tell Olbeck how things were with Anderton when she wasn’t sure herself?
As if he’d read her mind, Anderton leant over and helped her to her feet. “Come on, DS Redman. I think I promised to wine and dine you tonight, hadn’t I?”
Kate glanced at him, her mouth turning up at the corners. “What about the last part to that well known saying?”
“If I have the energy.”
Kate laughed. Feeling light-hearted, despite her tiredness and the sting of the cuts on her arms, she took Anderton’s hand, feeling as if life and warmth and energy were flowing back into her from the touch of his fingers in hers. They walked out into the spring night together.
THE END
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Want some more of Celina Grace’s work for free? Subscribers to her mailing list get a free digital copy of Requiem (A Kate Redman Mystery: Book 2), a free digital copy of A Prescription for Death (The Asharton Manor Mysteries Book 2) and a free PDF copy of her short story collection A Blessing From The Obeah Man.
Requiem (A Kate Redman Mystery: Book 2)
When the body of troubled teenager Elodie Duncan is pulled from the river in Abbeyford, the case is at first assumed to be a straightforward suicide. Detective Sergeant Kate Redman is shocked to discover that she’d met the victim the night before her death, introduced by Kate’s younger brother Jay. As the case develops, it becomes clear that Elodie was murdered. A talented young musician, Elodie had been keeping some strange company and was hiding her own dark secrets.
As the list of suspects begin to grow, so do the questions. What is the significance of the painting Elodie modelled for? Who is the man who was seen with her on the night of her death? Is there any connection with another student’s death at the exclusive musical college that Elodie attended?
As Kate and her partner Detective Sergeant Mark Olbeck attempt to unravel the mystery, the dark undercurrents of the case threaten those whom Kate holds most dear...
A Prescription for Death (The Asharton Manor Mysteries: Book 2) – a novella
“I had a surge of kinship the first time I saw the manor, perhaps because we’d both seen better days.”
It is 1947. Asharton Manor, once one of the most beautiful stately homes in the West Country, is now a convalescent home for former soldiers. Escaping the devastation of post-war London is Vivian Holt, who moves to the nearby village and begins to volunteer as a nurse’s aide at the manor. Mourning the death of her soldier husband, Vivian finds solace in her new friendship with one of the older patients, Norman Winter, someone who has served his country in both world wars. Slowly, Vivian’s heart begins to heal, only to be torn apart when she arrives for work one day to be told that Norman is dead.
It seems a straightforward death, but is it? Why did a particular photograph disappear from Norman’s possessions after his death? Who is the sinister figure who keeps following Vivian? Suspicion and doubts begin to grow and when another death occurs, Vivian begins to realise that the war may be over but the real battle is just beginning...
A Blessing From The Obeah Man
Dare you read on? Horrifying, scary, sad and thought-provoking, this short story collection will take you on a macabre journey. In the titular story, a honeymooning couple take a wrong turn on their trip around Barbados. The Mourning After brings you a shiversome story from a suicidal teenager. In Freedom Fighter, an unhappy middle-aged man chooses the wrong day to make a bid for freedom, whereas Little Drops of Happiness and Wave Goodbye are tales of darkness from sunny Down Under. Strapping Lass and The Club are for those who prefer, shall we say, a little meat to the story...
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Hushabye (A Kate Redman Mystery: Book 1) is the novel that introduces Detective Sergeant Kate Redman on her first case in Abbeyford. It’s available for as a free download!
On the first day of her new job in the West Country, Detective Sergeant Kate Redman finds herself investigating the kidnapping of Charlie Fullman, the newborn son of a wealthy entrepreneur and his trophy wife. It seems a straightforward case... but as Kate and her fellow officer Mark Olbeck delve deeper, they uncover murky secrets and multiple motives for the crime.
Kate finds the case bringing up painful memories of her own past secrets. As she confronts the truth about herself, her increasing emotional instability threatens both her hard-won career success and the possibility that they will ever find Charlie Fullman alive...
More books by Celina Grace...
Requiem (A Kate Redman Mystery: Book 2)
The girl’s body lay on the riverbank, her arms outflung. Her blonde hair lay in matted clumps, shockingly pale against the muddy bank. Her face was like a porcelain sculpture that had been broken and glued back together: grey cracks were visible under the white sheen of her dead skin. Her lips were so blue they could have been traced in ink...
When the body of troubled teenager Elodie Duncan is pulled from the river in Abbeyford, the case is at first assumed to be a straightforward suicide. Detective Sergeant Kate Redman is shocked to discover that she’d met the victim the night before her death
, introduced by Kate’s younger brother Jay. As the case develops, it becomes clear that Elodie was murdered. A talented young musician, Elodie had been keeping some strange company and was hiding her own dark secrets.
As the list of suspects begin to grow, so do the questions. What is the significance of the painting Elodie modelled for? Who is the man who was seen with her on the night of her death? Is there any connection with another student’s death at the exclusive musical college that Elodie attended?
As Kate and her partner Detective Sergeant Mark Olbeck attempt to unravel the mystery, the dark undercurrents of the case threaten those whom Kate holds most dear...
Available now from iBooks.
Imago (A Kate Redman Mystery: Book 3)
“They don’t fear me, quite the opposite. It makes it twice as fun... I know the next time will be soon, I’ve learnt to recognise the signs. I think I even know who it will be. She’s oblivious of course, just as she should be. All the time, I watch and wait and she has no idea, none at all. And why would she? I’m disguised as myself, the very best disguise there is.”
A known prostitute is found stabbed to death in a shabby corner of Abbeyford. Detective Sergeant Kate Redman and her partner Detective Sergeant Olbeck take on the case, expecting to have it wrapped up in a matter of days. Kate finds herself distracted by her growing attraction to her boss, Detective Chief Inspector Anderton – until another woman’s body is found, with the same knife wounds. And then another one after that, in a matter of days.
Forced to confront the horrifying realisation that a serial killer may be preying on the vulnerable women of Abbeyford, Kate, Olbeck and the team find themselves in a race against time to unmask a terrifying murderer, who just might be hiding in plain sight...
