The Moth Catcher

by Ann Cleeves

  Holly thought about Patrick Randle. Life had been easy for him. He’d had a loving mother, a good education, research that he enjoyed. Why had he felt the need to dig around into the causes of his brother’s suicide, disturbing the lives of all these strangers? Would it have been different if his mother had been honest with him from the start? The story would probably all be made public now anyway. In his obsession he’d lost Becky, the girlfriend who’d adored him.

  Vera continued talking. ‘Lucas watched what was going on in the valley. He was obsessive about his wife and liked to know where she was, but he had a voyeur’s curiosity about everything that happened there. He was especially interested in the house-sitter, of course. He understood the rhythm of his days. The afternoon of the murders Lucas saw Randle’s car drive up the lane to the Hall. He wouldn’t have known that Benton was there too, though. From that distance he couldn’t have seen inside the car. Lucas prepared. He knew that Randle usually spent his afternoons working in the Carswells’ garden. That was part of the house-sitting arrangement. He made his way to the Hall, waited until Randle came out of the house to go into the vegetable garden and hit him as he was about to pick leaves for the salad. He dragged him to the drive and used Randle’s own car to dump him by the track. Randle’s jacket was in the car, and Lucas put that on him so that it would look more like a hit-and-run accident. Then he went back to the attic flat to pick up any evidence that Randle might have on the regime in the detention centre. Of course he had no idea that Benton was there.’

  ‘So that killing wasn’t premeditated,’ Holly said.

  Vera shook her head. ‘Lucas must have been scared shitless when he walked into the place and saw a middle-aged man working on a laptop on the table. Benton recognized Lucas from photos he’d seen during his research, so Benton had to die. Then Lucas took the laptop and got home by the footpath along the burn, before his wife got back from her walk and the other women returned from the WI.’ Vera paused. ‘We found Randle’s laptop in that fancy new kitchen of his, hidden in the drawer where he keeps the coffee.’ She gave a sly grin. ‘He was the only person allowed to play with the all-singing, all-dancing coffee machine, so he knew it would be safe in there.’

  ‘Shirley Hewarth must have worked out Lucas was the killer.’ It was Joe again. He leaned forward to warm his hands at the fire. ‘Why didn’t she tell us?’

  ‘Perhaps she just couldn’t see an old colleague as a double-murderer,’ Vera said. ‘Or she had a weird sense of loyalty. And, of course, if she pointed us in the direction of Lucas, her role in the cruelty at the centre would become public too. She didn’t commit the abuse, but she must have known what was going on and she kept quiet about it. That was a sort of cowardice at least.’

  ‘But she did suspect Lucas, didn’t she?’ Holly was becoming engrossed in the story now. ‘She tried a couple of times to get advice about what she should do. She set up the meeting with her ex-husband in the pub, and then she arranged to talk to the chair of trustees.’

  ‘But by the time she was due to meet him,’ Joe said, ‘Lucas had already killed her.’

  ‘Shirley talked to Lizzie Redhead too.’ Vera looked out of the uncurtained window, but it was still misty outside and there was nothing to see. ‘Jason had told Lizzie what had happened at the detention centre and had mentioned Shirley’s name. It was a shared secret between the women.’

  ‘What will happen to Elizabeth?’ Holly hadn’t liked Lizzie Redhead. Somebody else with doting parents and a comfortable life, who’d felt the need to make life difficult for other people.

  ‘I don’t see much point in charging her with blackmail,’ Vera said. ‘Lucas would be the only prosecution witness, and who’d believe a man convicted of a triple-murder?’

  Holly was about to argue the point – she’d heard Lizzie’s attempt at blackmail – but looked at Vera and thought better of it.

  ‘I don’t think Lizzie will be sticking around to bother us anyway,’ Vera went on. ‘If she’s desperate to see the world, I suspect her parents will fund her adventures. Life will be much easier for them if their errant daughter is on the other side of the planet. And maybe when she comes back she’ll be a bit older and wiser.’ She paused. ‘Lizzie will have to learn a bit of responsibility on her own in the big, bad world. Sending her back inside would be an easy option and she’d never grow up.’

  They were quiet again. The fire was just embers now and Vera made no move to throw on another log. Joe stretched, got up and said goodbye. Holly stood up and followed him to the door, but Vera called her back.

  ‘Are you okay, Hol?’

  ‘Yeah, just tired.’ What could she say? I’m not sure I want to do this any more. This investigation has got under my skin and sapped my confidence. I don’t want to end up like you.

  ‘Some cases bother us more than others,’ Vera said. The light was so dim that Holly could barely make out her face across the room. ‘That’s just the way it is. It’s not a bad thing to get involved, no matter what the textbooks say.’

  ‘I’m not sure I did a very good job.’ It was the closest Holly could get to an explanation for her unease.

  ‘Nonsense!’ There was a pause. ‘You cracked the case for us. You found the connection that mattered: that Crow, Lucas and Hewarth had all been in the same institution.’ Vera got to her feet. ‘And you saved a young woman’s life. Nothing more important than that.’ A pause. Her voice changed, became loud and hard. ‘But if ever you put your life in danger like that again, you’ll be off my team before you have time to make a pot of that disgusting herbal stuff you call tea. Now get off home. A good night’s sleep, a decent meal and a couple of days’ leave and you’ll be ready to start on the next investigation. We’ll forget the rest.’

  Outside Vera’s house a breeze had blown holes in the cloud, and the lights in the valley were visible again. Holly found herself grinning. She thought that Vera was probably right. As usual.

  Acknowledgements

  As always I’m grateful to my fabulous agent, Sara Menguc, and to the whole team at Pan Macmillan for their considerable support in the writing of this book. I’d also like to thank Prof. Lorna Dawson, for agreeing to appear as herself. Any mistakes around the soil science in The Moth Catcher are entirely mine.

  Praise for The Moth Catcher

  ‘We see [Cleeves] take an idea and work it out with ingenuity; everything is told crisply in scenes full of sharply observed detail’

  Independent

  ‘There are no gimmicky plot devices here, as Cleeves, also author of the popular Shetland series which has been adapted for television, shows she is the master of innuendo, smooth prose and deeply drawn characters . . . If there is a successor to Ruth Rendell’s alter ego Barbara Vine, it must surely be Ann Cleeves’

  Herald

  ‘Great sense of place, well-rounded characters and a cracking plot kept me engrossed’

  Woman & Home

  ‘ITV’s DCI Vera Stanhope tackles a very creepy case’

  Heat

  ‘A brilliant addition to this addictive series from an author at the zenith of her creativity. The plot strands are intricate and interwoven carefully, but always based on Ann’s knowledge of the way people work. Even the villains are understandable and on occasion invoke sympathy. The Moth Catcher has everyone’s favourite detective, an intimidating landscape of breath-taking beauty and harshness in equal measure and a plot Christie would have been proud of’

  Crimesquad.co.uk

  ‘Another marvellous mystery for Vera to unravel and for us to enjoy’

  Shots

  ‘Ann Cleeves is a superb writer’

  The Book Trail

  ‘A gripping storyline with strong characters that draw you in as Vera, in her own unique style, works her magic, skilfully digging beneath the seemingly tranquil surface of those living in the local area . . . So well crafted, the story stays with you for days afterwards. Don’t miss it!’

  Candis

  ‘The Moth
Catcher is the seventh in the series . . . and it’s definitely the best of a superb series. Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is a great character, full of the detail that makes a series move, and if you loved Cleeves’ wonderful descriptive takes of the Shetland Islands, then wait until she takes you to Northumberland and Newcastle . . . One of her finest’

  Globe and Mail (Canada)

  ‘The Ann Cleeves phenomenon is one of the most interesting developments in crime writing of the last few years . . . She deals honestly with the effects of deprivation, family dysfunction, and the human need for justice in the face of ill treatment’

  Book Oxygen

  ‘Cleeves paints Vera’s territory effortlessly’

  On My Bookshelf

  Praise for the Vera Stanhope series

  ‘Nobody does unsettling undercurrents better than Ann Cleeves’

  Val McDermid

  ‘Cleeves sets a good scene, this time in Northumberland during a heatwave, and she brings a large cast to life, shifting points of view between bereaved relatives, victims and suspects in a straightforward, satisfyingly traditional detective novel’

  Literary Review

  ‘Ann Cleeves . . . is another fine author with a strong, credible female protagonist . . . It’s a dark, interesting novel with considerable emotional force behind it’

  Spectator

  ‘Cleeves has a way of making unlikely murders plausible by grounding them in recognizable communities. In this world, neighbours are close-knit, and close ranks’

  Financial Times

  ‘Cleeves weaves an absorbingly cunning mystery and fans of Vera, the messy, overweight, man-less heroine of this crime series, will soon have a face to put to her, as the actress Brenda Blethyn takes on her endearing character in a forthcoming television series, Vera, based on the books’

  Daily Mail

  ‘Ann Cleeves is a skilful technician, keeping our interest alive and building slowly up to the denouement. Her easy use of language and clever story construction make her one of the best natural writers of detective fiction’

  Sunday Express

  ‘Stepping into The Glass Room is a little like being transported back to the golden age of mystery stories: a windswept landscape, isolated country house, disparate people thrown together, crime scenes mimicking their fictional counterparts and a plot liberally strewn with blind alleys, red herrings and mis-directions. This book has all the elements of Agatha Christie at her best’

  S. J. Bolton

  ‘Cleeves is excellent not only on the main character but on the mixture of exasperation and respect that she provokes in others. Combined with the intricate plotting, this makes for a compulsive read’

  Independent

  ‘Beware the author with a big imagination and criminal intent. This shattering plot involves DI Vera Stanhope on the trail of one of her hippy neighbours who’d gone off to hole up in a writers’ retreat. When a body is discovered, is someone taking murder off the page?’

  Daily Mirror

  ‘The latest novel is as smoothly written and entertaining as anything Ann has ever produced . . . I’d rank this as one of the best books she’s written . . . Her mastery of technique, developed over more than two decades, would be worthy of study by anyone starting out as a writer of popular fiction . . . An excellent balance of puzzle, character and setting that makes for first-rate entertainment’

  Martin Edwards

  ‘This novel has all Ann Cleeves’ trademarks – great timing, strong characters, lots of tension and plenty of red herrings to keep the reader hooked . . . If you like the TV series, you’re in for a treat – because the atmospheric but realistic books are even better’

  Press Association

  THE MOTH CATCHER

  Ann Cleeves is the author behind ITV’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Both series are international bestsellers.

  In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger (CWA Gold Dagger) for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black, the first book in her Shetland series. In 2012 she was inducted into the CWA Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Ann lives in North Tyneside.

  www.anncleeves.com

  @anncleeves

  facebook.com/anncleeves

  By Ann Cleeves

  A Bird in the Hand

  Come Death and High Water

  Murder in Paradise

  A Prey to Murder

  A Lesson in Dying

  Murder in My Backyard

  A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy

  Another Man’s Poison

  Killjoy

  The Mill on the Shore

  Sea Fever

  The Healers

  High Island Blues

  The Baby-Snatcher

  The Sleeping and the Dead

  Burial of Ghosts

  The Vera Stanhope series

  The Crow Trap

  Telling Tales

  Hidden Depths

  Silent Voices

  The Glass Room

  Harbour Street

  The Moth Catcher

  The Shetland series

  Raven Black

  White Nights

  Red Bones

  Blue Lightning

  Dead Water

  Thin Air

  First published 2015 by Macmillan

  This electronic edition published 2016 by Pan Books

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan

  20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-1-4472-7831-3

  Copyright © Ann Cleeves 2015

  Cover images © Shutterstock

  Logotype: Pan Macmillan

  Design Department

  The right of Ann Cleeves to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third party websites referred to in or on this book.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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