Descent (A Kate Redman Mystery Novella)

by Celina Grace

  Kate said various soothing things and gradually Louise began to sound a little more in control. Kate flexed her hand, aching from writing quickly, and pressed on with her questions.

  “Can you tell me what you got up to on the twenty-eighth of December, Mrs White? From, say, late morning onwards.”

  Louise tucked her hair behind her ear on one side. “I was here, all day, I think. I was doing the normal – I mean, every year between Christmas and New Year I try and do a bit of a clear-out of the house, you know, start the new year with a fresh start, that sort of thing. So I was doing that.”

  “All day?”

  “Yes. I mean, I stopped for lunch and everything, but I was here.”

  “And how about your husband, he was here too?”

  “Oh yes, he must have been.”

  “You’re sure?” Kate said it as casually as she could.

  “Yes.” Louise wiped her eyes again with a tissue. “Oh, wait, he did pop out actually. Not for long, just to get some milk, I think, we were almost out after Christmas.”

  “When was that?” Kate asked, in an equally casual tone.

  Louise puffed out her cheeks in a considering fashion. “Oh, I can’t remember exactly. Not that early. Mid-morning? I can’t remember to be honest, it wasn’t late, that’s all I know.”

  “Right,” said Kate, feeling a slow burn of excitement in her stomach but determined not to show it. “Did either of you speak to anyone that day? Go on social media? Anything like that?”

  Louise looked a bit nonplussed. “I don’t do Facebook, I’m afraid. Um – oh, I did speak to my brother. I remember because I was halfway up the attic ladder when he rang, and I nearly fell off. That must have been late morning.”

  Kate nodded. “And Paul had left by that time?”

  Louise shrugged. “I think so. I hadn’t seen him for a while so I’m really not sure. He was back by about one o’clock though, because that’s normally when we eat lunch at the weekend and he was home by then.”

  “Thanks, that’s very helpful.” Kate, to throw Louise off the scent, asked a few more innocuous questions and then asked if she could use the facilities.

  “Of course, I’ll show you the downstairs loo.” Louise led her to the downstairs cloakroom, located as were most in these Victorian conversions, under the stairs.

  Kate closed the door and locked it. She’d hazarded a guess that this cloakroom would contain the bulk of the family coats and her hunch had been correct. Quickly, running the tap to hide any noises, she flicked through the different garments. There were raincoats and children’s jackets, waxed Barbour coats and – yes – Kate pulled it from under a pile of other coats – a black and red coat. It was large, obviously a man’s. Kate stared at it for a moment and then hung it back up and put the other garments on top of it. She was getting a glimmering of understanding – just a glimmer – but it was enough to go on, for now. She felt like this in most cases; as if the solution was hidden behind a thick bank of fog and gradually, as the clues were uncovered and the evidence mounted, the fog thinned and eventually cleared, leaving the why and the how and the who in clear sight.

  Chapter Nine

  “You want what?”

  Despite DCI Weaver’s incredulous tone, Kate refused to be cowed. “I’d like to pull the phone records of Paul White and Karyn Denver.”

  “And your reason for doing so?”

  Kate resisted the impulse to answer along the lines of because it’s police work, Nicola baby. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that? Instead, she took a deep breath, smiled and said “I have a feeling that we might find something of interest there.”

  Nicola Weaver stared at her with her lip curled. Then, probably because she couldn’t be bothered to argue, shrugged and looked away. “Do as you like, DS Redman. Please don’t make extra work for our IT department just for the sake of it, though.”

  “Of course not.” Kate kept the smile on her face, damned if she was going to let the other woman see how much she riled her.

  “Keep me up to speed if you do find anything.” Nicola Weaver turned to face her computer screen in a dismissive fashion.

  No, I thought I’d keep it all to myself, you stupid cow. Kate smiled until she felt her cheeks begin to ache and then quietly left Nicola’s office, shutting the door behind her.

  She thumped down into her chair with such force that Chloe, opposite her, looked up, startled. “What’s the matter?”

  Kate kept her voice low. “Nicola sodding Weaver.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes in a sympathetic fashion. “Don’t let her get to you. It’s not worth it.”

  “I know,” said Kate, sighing. She picked up the phone and dialled the IT department. Chloe overheard her conversation with interest.

  “You think there’ll be something there, then, do you?”

  “I do. Don’t ask me how I know. It’s really just a hunch – no more than that.”

  “That’s good,” Chloe said absently, her eyes drawn to her computer screen. Then she looked back at Kate. “God, I miss the boss, don’t you?” Then she laughed. “Oh, wait, you don’t have to.”

  Kate smiled a little awkwardly. She and Chloe hadn’t really spoken about the fact that Kate and Anderton were in a relationship. In fact, Kate realised, it was some time since she’d spent time with any of her friends: Chloe, Olbeck, Hannah. All her spare time lately had been spent with Anderton. Perhaps that wasn’t very healthy. She made a promise to herself then that she’d try to find a bit more balance in her personal life. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with her friends, it was just that, currently, Anderton seemed to need her more…

  “How’s that going?” Chloe asked. She sounded honestly interested, rather than catty.

  “Oh, fine.” Kate shuffled some papers on her desk.

  “I bet he misses being here. Or maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he’d had enough.”

  “I don’t know,” said Kate, honestly. “I really don’t know how he feels about it.”

  “Don’t you talk about it?”

  Kate was uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. “Well, we do and we don’t. Anyway, I’ve got to go and get those numbers, Chloe. See you later.”

  “Bye, bird.” Chloe gave her a grin and returned to her own work.

  As Kate headed towards the stairs to the IT department in the basement of the building, she heard her mobile ringing. Retrieving it from her pocket, she saw Anderton’s name flashing from the screen and suppressed a sigh.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, it’s me. How’s your day going?”

  “Fine.” Kate, conscious of the time, was about to tentatively suggest she call him back at a later point when he surprised her.

  “I’ve been thinking. I think you should retake your inspector exams.”

  That brought Kate to a standstill. “You do? Really?”

  “Yes,” Anderton’s voice said firmly. “It’s time for you to take the next step, Kate. You need to keep moving up.”

  “Well—” Kate considered the idea. She’d failed the exams some years ago and that had really stung, although the hurt was in the past now. “Well, I’ll think about it. I’ll certainly think about it – if you think I’ve got a good chance of getting them.”

  “I do. We can talk about it later, anyway. I know you’re busy.” Was that a wistful note she could hear in his voice? “Anyway, are you coming round to mine later or shall I come to you?”

  “To me, please,” Kate said, thinking of poor Merlin. “But we might have to get a takeaway because I haven’t got any food.”

  “Leave it with me.”

  Kate, pleased with his confidence in her, said she’d look forward to that and said goodbye. She also felt a little relieved – and guilty at her relief – that she hadn’t been side-tracked into a long conversation. Quickly she ran d
own the stairs, thinking that if she could get those numbers by the end of the day, that might mean she could leave on time for once.

  *

  With the promise of the phone records to be on her desk by close of business, Kate skipped back up to the office and thought about lunch. She took a quick look out of the window; the sky was grey and mist clung to the distant shape of the hills beyond the edges of Abbeyford. It wasn’t actually raining, though. Determined to get a bit of a break, Kate grabbed her coat and bag and then hurried over to Olbeck’s office to see if he wanted her to get him a sandwich.

  “I’m just popping out—” she began and then stopped dead, her head around the door. Olbeck was sitting at his desk, staring into space with tears rolling down his cheeks. Kate gasped. “Oh my god, what’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

  Olbeck smiled at her, brushing at his wet cheeks. “That was Jeff, on the phone just now. The adoption order’s signed. They’re ours. Both of them. They’re our children now.”

  Kate sagged in relief and found herself smiling back. “Oh, my. Oh, Mark.” She found herself near tears and swallowed painfully. “Oh, Mark. What a relief.”

  Olbeck rubbed his face with his hands. “I can’t believe it. I’m going to be a dad. I can’t believe it.” He stood up and Kate, honestly delighted for him, ran over and flung her arms around him.

  “That is such wonderful news! I am so, so happy for you.”

  He hugged her back tightly and they stood like that for a moment, swaying together in the middle of the carpet.

  “What the hell’s going on here?”

  Kate and Olbeck broke apart and turned to see Theo in the doorway with his hands full of folders, regarding them both with astonishment.

  Kate opened her mouth to tell him and then shut it again. It was Olbeck’s good fortune to tell.

  He did so, and Theo’s handsome face broke into a broad grin. “That’s amazing, mate. Seriously, congratulations. I’m really pleased for you. Blimey, when I first came in I thought you’d crossed to the other side, you know what I mean?”

  Kate laughed. “You would think that.”

  Theo winked at her. “Well, if anyone could turn a gay man, mate, I’m sure you could.”

  Kate rolled her eyes but she was feeling too happy for Olbeck to make much of it. Instead, she suggested they all go out for a proper lunch, to celebrate, and Olbeck concurred. Theo regretfully declined, having an interview to take.

  They went to the café rather than the pub, and Kate sat back and let Olbeck talk and talk and talk; a veritable flood of words, both delighted and apprehensive. She couldn’t help a small tremor of grief; the regret and the sadness about what had happened in her past, but she knew that there would be time for her to examine that at leisure on her own that evening. For now, she owed it to her friend to listen and celebrate with him.

  They walked back to the office in a very good mood, and Kate’s was further improved by a sheaf of papers left on her desk with a little note from Joel in IT. Good, she could make a start on analysing those phone records. And if nothing came of it, she would at least know that she’d covered all bases and could move forward onto a new case with a clear conscience.

  Chapter Ten

  The fire was replenished with a good supply of logs. Mozart played softly on the music system in the corner of the room, Merlin was curled in a half-moon on her stomach, and Anderton had her feet in his lap, rubbing her toes. All was well – or it should have been. Kate, staring up at the ceiling and trying to relax, was feeling more and more uneasy.

  “What’s up?” Anderton said eventually. “Am I doing this too hard?”

  “No, no, it’s lovely.” Kate raised her head to look at him. “It’s fine.”

  “So, what’s wrong?”

  Kate sighed and sat up, dislodging Merlin who leapt indignantly off her stomach to the floor and stalked from the room. “Just something at work.”

  “Our Nicola not annoying you further?”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Well, yes obviously, but – it’s the Denver case, actually.”

  Anderton looked interested. “Come on, then. Spill.”

  Kate got up and retrieved her briefcase from the hallway and came back to sit down again, withdrawing the phone records from within it. She handed them to Anderton, fighting down a qualm that perhaps this was unethical in some way. After all, Anderton was technically still a police officer – he hadn’t been sacked.

  Anderton took them from her without comment but he raised his eyebrows.

  Kate pointed to the highlighted parts of the record. “See those? Those are texts and calls from two phones. Karyn Denver’s – and Paul White’s.”

  Anderton’s eyebrows rose higher. “That’s a lot of contact. Daily. Multiple texts daily.”

  “I know. Far more than Paul White was sending to his wife, for example.”

  “Do you know what the content of the texts is?”

  “Not yet. That’ll mean some extra digging for IT. But I can guess.”

  “You think they were having an affair.” Anderton quickly flicked through the rest of the sheets. “I’m thinking you’re probably right.”

  Kate sighed. “So, given that someone like Paul White was seen in the vicinity of where Karyn Denver died, at the time when she died…”

  Anderton put up his eyebrows again. “But if he’s having an affair with her, why would he want to kill her?”

  Kate shrugged. “What if she was pressurising him to leave his wife and he didn’t want to? Or she was blackmailing him?”

  “What about his wife?” asked Anderton. “She’s surely got the best motive of all, if she discovered what was going on?”

  Kate shook her head. “She’s clearly devastated by her friend’s death. You can’t fake that kind of shock. And I checked her phone records. She never left the house that day. And that’s the other thing. Paul White said he didn’t leave the house that day. But his wife said he did. She said it quite unselfconsciously, in fact, it was like she’d almost forgotten that he had, but if she’s telling the truth and he isn’t…”

  “Right.” Anderton shuffled the papers together into a neat pile and handed them back to Kate. “So, what’s your next move?”

  “Bring Paul White in for questioning. I’ll talk to the DCI tomorrow.” Kate rolled her eyes again. “Although I’m sure she’ll try and tell me I’m wasting my – and her – time.” She sat herself down in Anderton’s lap and kissed him. “I wish you were back there.”

  “Do you?” Anderton didn’t say any more but returned her kiss with enough emphasis for Kate to realise, with a leap of pleasure, that the time for talking shop was now over.

  *

  Kate took Chloe along with her to the White’s house the next morning, thinking that perhaps she would make a more empathic officer than Theo. This was going to be a difficult arrest, no two ways about it. Chloe and Kate were silent in the drive to the house, perhaps thinking that very same thing.

  Paul White opened the door, dressed in a suit and with a briefcase in his hand. Behind him, Kate could see the chaos of a family readying themselves for school and work and cursed under her breath. She hadn’t thought about the children being here, although God knew she should have, seeing as it was only eight o’clock in the morning. All she’d wanted was to intercept Paul White before he left for work. She could tell, by the slight stiffening of Chloe’s shoulder behind her, that her friend was thinking the same thing.

  Paul White looked shocked and then angry at seeing them. “Yes?” he asked impatiently.

  “Mr White, we’d like you to accompany us to the station this morning to answer some questions, please.” Kate avoided saying police station in a hope that the children wouldn’t overhear and be frightened.

  Paul White looked even more annoyed. “Accompany you? Don’t be absurd. I’ve got a meeting in half an hour—
”

  Chloe’s limited supply of patience had worn thin. “Paul White, I’m arresting you on the suspicion of the murder of Karyn Denver. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court.”

  There was a gasp from the corridor behind Paul White. Kate could see Louise White in the doorway of the kitchen, frozen, one child’s school shoe in her hand. Thankfully the children weren’t in sight and were hopefully out of earshot.

  Louise came forward, the shoe dropping on the floor. “What’s going on? What’s the matter?”

  “Your husband is just coming with us to answer some questions, Mrs White,” Chloe responded smartly. She stepped forward with the cuffs in her hand. Paul White’s eyes bulged at the sight.

  “We don’t have to use these,” said Kate, “But we will do if we have to.”

  Still staring, Paul White spoke, failed, tried again. “That won’t be necessary.”

  Chloe nodded approvingly. “Come with me to the car then, sir.”

  She led him away. Kate turned to watch, just in case Paul White decided to try something foolish. Chloe tucked him into the back of the car with practised ease, and Kate turned back. Louise White had come outside, onto the top step. Kate’s eyes went to her face.

  She’d expected to see horror, alarm, anxiety, confusion. Instead, Louise’s gaze met hers.

  The strangest thing happened; something that Kate had only experienced before with people she knew well. She had it many times with Anderton, several times with Olbeck, a handful of times with Chloe and her friend Stuart. It was almost like telepathy – a shared glance and somehow, you knew what the other person was thinking. It was a time when words were superfluous. One glance was literally all it took.