Henderson Manor

by Emma L. Clapperton

  “Because, you love to catch the baddies, Paul. You’ve always been good at it.” Lang didn’t dare take his eyes off the road; he could barely see it as it was with the rain lashing over the car.

  “Is there a baddie to catch in this though, Jim? I mean, my daughters are university students who still live at home. Could there be something dark in this or am I just being paranoid because Lisa and Jane are involved in this somehow?”

  Lang wasn’t sure how to respond. He couldn’t imagine how he would be feeling if it were his daughter involved. “Let’s just wait and see what they say first.”

  As they pulled up to the house, the rain didn’t do them any favors, and in fact it seemed to get heavier. Preston and Lang got out of the car and ran the ten yards to the front door. Preston turned to Lang who was behind him and said, “Wipe your feet; my Janet will go mental if you get mud on the floor.”

  “That’s what you’re worried about now?” Lang shook his head. It was clear to him that Preston was nervous about telling his daughters about Sarah and it was also clear that he was nervous about their involvement in her life. Lang wasn’t stupid — he’s seen enough dead bodies in his time to recognise a murder when he saw one but he was never one for jumping to conclusions.

  Janet Preston came out from the large kitchen at the back of the house with an apron around her and oven gloves on. “Oh, hi dear. What are you doing here at this time of the day? Hi Jim, would you like a drink?”

  Lang nodded, “Tea would be great Jan, thanks.”

  “I have to speak to the girls . . . are they home?” Preston asked. Janet picked up on his nervous tone.

  “What’s wrong Paul?” Now she sounded nervous. Janet Preston was a proper house wife and stay-at-home mum, even though their two daughters were in their twenties and at university. Her physical health had deteriorated in the last few years. Having slipped a disc in her neck when making the bed one Saturday morning, Paul insisted she give up her job in hairdressing. She had loved it dearly but with it being such a demanding job and causing her to be on her feet all of the time, it was best that she gave it up. Janet still coloured and styled Lisa and Jane’s hair and cut Preston’s when the sides became wispy but that was about as far as it went. She did miss her job, the social side and the constant development of hair styling, but she would never go back to it. Her body wouldn’t allow it as she struggled to do the weekly food shop and couldn’t carry more than two full bags without her neck becoming unbearably painful. Now, she lived for her family, cooking meals for her and Paul every night, making sure that the girls were well equipped for their university course and her weekly book club. Janet was happy with her life and wouldn’t change it now.

  “Something has happened to someone that the girls know and we need to ask them a few questions,” Lang answered for him.

  Janet couldn’t hide the worry in her expression, especially since Lang had answered the question. “I’ll go upstairs and bring them down. They’re studying.”

  Janet climbed the stairs, her feet barely making a sound on the wooden slats that lined the floor. She was a petite woman, with a small frame and very slim face. Her hair was of shoulder length and light brown in colour and her eyes were a clear blue. Preston often thought of the ocean on the sunniest of days when he looked into her eyes — it was one of the many reasons as to why he fell in love with her.

  “Are you going to be ok with this, Paul?” Lang asked.

  “They’re my girls, Jim; its better if this comes from me. So long as there is nothing sinister in it, which I whole-heartedly believe there isn’t ...”

  They heard footsteps above them, approaching the top of the stairs and the muffled voices of Lisa and Jane Preston as they descended them, completely unaware of the knot in their dad’s stomach. Lisa Preston was a twenty-six-year-old student teacher at Glasgow University and on her second year and Jane Preston was twenty-four years old and a drama and dance student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Both girls led very different lives and were quite close. They shared the same group of friends and went out together as often as their busy university schedules would allow them to. The girls adored their dad and were often referred to as ‘daddy’s girls’ by their mum.

  They entered the living area with beaming smiles and hugged their dad as if they hadn’t seen him in a week. “Hi dad, what’s up?” Jane asked.

  “Hi Jim,” Lisa added as Janet hurried by them to make the tea she had offered him on his arrival.

  “Girls, have a seat. I have a few things that I want to ask you.” Preston sat down on the single recliner in front of the window. He noticed that the rain had stopped.

  The girls sat down on the sofa next to the door. Lisa noticed that there was something not right with her dad and it bothered her. She lowered her cheery tone, “What is it, Dad?”

  Preston took a breath. “Are you both friends with a girl named Sarah Henderson?”

  Both girls gave their full attention at Sarah’s name. “Yes, she’s our friend. She’s in my course at U u ni, although she has been on placement so I haven’t seen her for a few weeks,” said Lisa.

  “She’s lovely but I think she is a bit lonely. She has this massive house that was left to her in a family will. Don’t think she wants it to be honest but I can’t see why — it would be an amazing party house,” Jane added, still unaware that Lisa had noticed something untoward with their dad.

  “What’s happened to her?” Lisa asked. “You wouldn’t sit us down and ask about a random friend if everything was ok.”

  Preston could see that Lisa was worried; Jane on the other hand was a little slow at picking up on where the conversation was headed. “Something has happened to her; we’re not sure what yet. But she was found dead this morning.”

  Jane’s expression changed then, from pure oblivion to utter devastation. “Dead? Are you sure, Dad?”

  Lisa’s eyes had filled with tears and her bottom lip quivered. “What do you mean she was found dead? Where?”

  “At the bottom of the staircase in her house,” Lang cut in before Preston. This was becoming too personal. He wanted to take over until the girls calmed down. “We’re not sure if she fell or was…”

  “Pushed?” Lisa finished his sentence for him.

  “We are going to be looking at all lines of enquiry. But we need your help. We need to know more about Sarah, who she was friends with, where she went out, who she was seeing — that sort of thing.”

  Jane got up and went into the kitchen to get a tissue for herself and Lisa when Janet suddenly encased her in her arms. “Oh darling, I am sorry. Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m just in shock.”

  “Come on darling, let’s go into the living room and face this together.”

  Jane nodded and allowed her mum to lead her back through to the living room. They sat down on the couch and Janet placed herself in between her two daughters and held their hands. “Ok Paul. Tell the girls what you need to know.”

  Preston felt a mixture of emotions as he watched his wife take control of the situation. She was the family rock who everyone leaned on when times were tough and for such a little woman, she sure as hell knew how to put a brave face on a tough situation. “Yes, so like Jim said, we’re not one hundred percent sure yet if Sarah’s death was accidental and we need more information about her and her life which will help us to determine that.”

  Lisa’s mind had gone into overdrive. “How did you find out she’s our friend?”

  “We tracked down her phone records. There were only a handful of numbers on it and your numbers were in amongst them,” Lang answered.

  Lisa nodded. “Ok. So what can we do to help?”

  Lisa Preston displayed a hardened exterior but on the inside in times like this she would often breakdown. She was a private person when it came to her feelings and she would often hide how much she was hurting.

  “We would like a list of names: friends, boyfriends, that sort of thing.” Lang ha
d taken control of the discussion; he could remain impartial and at some point in the investigation Paul would be able to distance himself from Lisa and Jane’s involvement once they had done their bit.

  “Let me get my phone and a notepad and pen and I will write everything down that I know.” Lisa got up and went upstairs to her bedroom, and Jane followed her.

  “Can you believe this?” Lisa said as she rummaged in her bedside table for her notepad. She could feel the tears sting the corners of her eyes but fought against them.

  “That our friend may have been murdered? No, I can’t believe it!” Jane’s hands trembled as she took her phone off the charger dock. “How can you be so calm?”

  Lisa took a deep breath. “It’s not without difficulty. Come on, Sarah was our friend and she would want us to help her. Let’s get this over with.”

  Lisa took Jane’s hand and together they faced their friend’s death.

  11

  It didn’t take long for the girls to give Preston and Lang the information they needed to take their enquiries further. It seemed that Sarah Henderson hadn’t had that many friends and she had been the last remaining member of her family — according to Lisa.

  “Why was she living in that huge house by herself?” Preston had asked.

  Lisa was struggling to keep her emotions at a level of control but she was determined to answer as many questions as she could to help her friend. “She was the last Henderson in her family; she said that the house had been in her family for over a century and that it would remain in the family until they died out, if they ever did. She was a private girl but I do remember her saying that she wanted to have a big family so that she could carry on the blood line — she wanted to keep her own name so that the house would always remain ‘Henderson Manor’. It’s so sad that will never happen now.”

  Lang was scribbling everything down in his notepad and Preston was nodding along as Lisa spoke. “She thought that she would marry Sam but it wasn’t going too well.”

  Lang stopped writing. “What do you mean?”

  “They kept arguing apparently,” Jane added, wiping a tear from her cheek.

  “What would they argue about?” Preston went on to ask.

  Lisa shook her head, as though she were gathering her information before she spoke. “Like I said, she was pretty private. She mentioned that they argued about stuff to do with his best friend but she never really elaborated on it.”

  Lang looked out of the window. The sun had broken through the clouds and the wet ground glistened in the brightness. “Could you give me more information on this Sam character please?”

  Jane looked to Lisa to give the information. “I can’t do this Lisa. I feel sick talking about her in the past tense. I feel sick at the thought that she’s dead.”

  Lisa took her hand; she was always the stronger of the two and she was always intent on looking after her little sister no matter what the situation. “His name is Sam Leonard and she was with him for a while. She seemed really happy when they first started seeing each other but after a while she started acting really strange.”

  “In what way?” Lang pushed.

  “I don’t know … she was a little distant and was always blaming their arguments on his friend.”

  “And what’s this friend’s name?”

  “I don’t know. Like I said, she never gave too much away when it came to her relationship.”

  Jane kept her eyes on her dad, knowing that he would make it all ok. She trusted her dad to keep her and Lisa safe. “Do you think she was killed on purpose, Dad?”

  Preston smiled. “We don’t know anything yet sweetheart, but we’ll find out what happened to her. I promise.”

  Jane didn’t doubt that they would find out what happened to Sarah. They were police officers and she knew her dad had never missed a case yet.

  Lang turned from the window to face Lisa. “Hang on … Sam Leonard you say?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sam Leonard, the actor guy?” Lang asked.

  Lisa nodded. “So she said. At first I didn’t believe her, but then she showed me a picture of the two of them and I had no choice but to believe her.”

  “You were never in their company when they were together?” Preston asked.

  “No, again like I said, she was very private and didn’t like to broadcast her relationship, maybe because he’s so well known.”

  Preston and Lang stood up and smiled at the girls. “Thanks girls, you’ve been more than helpful,” Lang said.

  Lisa smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes which glistened behind the tears she was fighting against. “Please find out what happened to her. I’d hate to think that someone would have wanted to hurt her.”

  Jane reached out and hugged her dad tight whilst still holding Lisa’s hand. She couldn’t believe what was happening.

  “I’ll see you tonight girls. I’ll try to be home for dinner.”

  “I’ll keep some food by for you if you aren’t home on time, Paul.” Janet’s voice came from the kitchen door. Sorrow reflected in her eyes; she was hurting for her girls.

  The girls made their way back upstairs and Preston kissed his wife goodbye before they left the house. They got into the car and Preston pinched the top of his nose. “I cannot believe this.”

  “They’re nothing but innocent in all of this Paul, so don’t you worry about them. They’re strong girls and they’ll deal with this.” Lang placed his hand on Preston’s shoulder.

  “I know Jim, but I just hate that they’re involved at all.”

  Lang started the engine. “So we’re off to see the florist next. Maybe she’ll know something to link with what the girls have said.”

  “Aye, maybe but I am not so sure anyone other than Sam Leonard will be able to help us,” Preston replied.

  Lang drove out of Preston’s street and along to the main road. The rain had started falling again and along with it some hailstones.

  “Jesus, this weather is mental. Do you think we’ll ever get a break with the weather here?” Preston asked.

  “Aye right, and I’m the Pope,” Lang laughed.

  Preston took the note from the dashboard that contained the florist’s shop address and read it aloud, “Lynne’s Flowers, Hyndland Road.”

  Lang nodded. “That’s not far from here, just five minutes. In fact that isn’t far from Henderson Manor.”

  “Well, it would make sense that she used a florist nearby.”

  Before they knew it they had arrived at the little purple and yellow shop which was sandwiched in between a café and an independent book shop. They parked outside and went in to see the owner.

  When they were inside, the gentle scent of various flowers filled their nostrils. A little bell above the door rang out pleasantly, to make the staff aware of the potential customer. The shop floor was colourful with flowers which Preston and Lang had no clue of their names — the only flower that Lang could name was a rose and daffodil and Preston was much the same. Preston realised that Lynne’s Flowers would probably donate to Sarah’s funeral.

  “I’ll be with you in just a second,” a female voice came from a room at the back.

  “It’s D.C Lang and D.S Preston, Ms Prowse. We’re here about Sarah Henderson,” Lang called back.

  Lynne Prowse popped her head out of what Lang had decided was the stock room. “Oh, of course. I’ll shut the shop while we chat; tea?”

  “No thanks Ms Prowse. We’ll make this as quick as possible,” Preston replied.

  Lynne Prowse came out from the stock room and stood behind the serving desk, placing her hands on the counter. “I’ll try to be as helpful as I can. I just cannot believe that she’s dead. Sarah was such a loyal customer.”

  “How often did you deliver flowers to Sarah?” Preston asked taking notes as Lynne spoke.

  “Sarah gave me instructions to deliver white lilies and purple pansies at the beginning of every month. She would always pay directly into my business account on the las
t day of the month — in advance you’ll understand.”

  “And why is it that she had flowers delivered every month?” Lang asked.

  Lynne shrugged her shoulders. “Why is that of importance?”

  Preston’s brow furrowed. “Because Ms Prowse, we’re asking the questions here and we’d like to know the answer, to anything we see fit to ask.”

  Lynne shrugged her shoulders again. “She liked to put fresh flowers on the family burial plot to keep it looking nice you see.” Lynne wasn’t sure why she had challenged Lang on his question. She did feel slightly intimidated that there were two officers in her shop and all she wanted to do was sell flowers; she’d had no intention of annoying anyone.

  “Burial plot?” Preston asked.

  “Yes, there’s a family burial plot outside the back of the manor. They date back a century I think.”

  Lang was astounded by this but remained professional. “Ok, Ms Prowse did you notice anything about Sarah the last time you saw her?”

  Lynne shook her head. “No. Like I said, I delivered lilies and pansies to her at the beginning of every month and the only words that were ever exchanged were pleasantries. I knew nothing about the girl.”

  Preston believed her. “Ok Ms Prowse. Thank you for your time and if you have any more information or think of anything else then please do contact us.” He handed his card over.

  “Good day to you Ms Prowse,” Lang said as they left.

  On leaving the shop, Lang thought about Lynne’s statement and was unsure if there would be anything from it that would help their enquiry. “Onto Sam Leonard’s house then?”

  “Aye, back to the station first though. I want a bit of background information on him before we begin questioning. He’s the only one whose number is on her records and had the most contact with over a certain amount of months so I want to make sure that we have all the relevant information on him that we need before we question him.”

  They climbed back into the car and Preston drove them down Hyndland Road and crossed over Byres Road. The little cafés and delis were empty on account of the rain and the roads were jammed with cars and buses. No one wanted to be out in the crazy weather that Preston and Lang had experienced over the course of the day. They drove down University Avenue and the huge trees sheltered the street from the pelting rain which had once again begun to fall.