by K Leitch
‘I see,’ said Carla calmly, ‘and how long ago was this…that she left you?’
‘Oooh I don’t really remember…three, four days ago,’ Tim said sitting down in a chair.
‘She didn’t leave a note or anything…telling you where she was going?’ Frank asked.
‘No nothing,’ said Tim, ‘that’s what makes it all so much worse I have no idea where she is.’ He broke down putting his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking.
‘I’m sorry sir, I can see that this is distressing for you,’ Carla said in an unsympathetic voice. ‘It seems strange though that you didn’t contact us when you found her missing, especially in light of the fact that two other women went missing last week. Weren’t you worried that your wife may have been abducted also?’
Tim looked up as this new idea occurred to him. ‘Oh no…do you think she might have been…oh my poor, poor Louisa’ he buried his head in his hands again in a convincing attempt at sorrow, Carla wasn’t moved by it.
‘Your wife is crippled isn’t she sir…I understand that she is confined to a wheelchair.’
Boulter nodded, ‘Yes…climbing accident, she broke her back…’
‘Yes,’ went on Carla, ‘only I can’t help noticing her wheelchair…that is it isn’t it sir, in the kitchen behind the door? How could she have gone anywhere without that, surely that must have made you wonder about her disappearance.’
Tim seemed completely flummoxed by Carla’s questioning. ‘Oh…well I didn’t think…I’ve been so distraught you know…I suppose she could have called for a taxi…’
‘Does she often do that Mr Boulter…go off in a taxi without her wheelchair?’
‘No of course not…now look here I don’t know what you are suggesting but if you think I had anything to do with my wife’s disappearance then you are very much mistaken. I love my wife, she is everything to me…’ he finished his voice breaking.
Funnily enough Carla did believe that Tim Boulter loved his wife…but by now she was also pretty sure that he had done something to her. She wandered into the living room which seemed to have escaped the mess from the rest of the house. It was a pretty room with a gorgeous ‘Adams’ style fireplace, there were two squishy blue sofas on either side of it facing each other, with a beautiful old wooden chest between them. On the back of one of the sofas Carla eye was drawn to a colourful woollen throw, it matched the blues and greens of the various cushions on the sofas perfectly…suddenly everything clicked into place…throwing caution to the wind, she turned to Mr Boulter who had followed her into the room.
‘Tim Boulter I am arresting you for the murder of Louisa Boulter, you do not have to say anything but anything you do say…’
‘WHAT…what are you talking about…you can’t do this,’ Tim shouted over her as Frank, after giving Carla a shocked look, cuffed him and took him outside to the car.
Carla took a deep breath and got straight on the phone to forensics. ‘Dorothy I need you to do a search on a property…I think…I bloody hope, that somewhere here we are going to find the body of Louisa Boulter, or at least some evidence that her husband has done away with her.’
‘Blimey Carla no pressure then,’ joked Dorothy, ‘ok we’re on our way, see you soon.’
Frank had called for a car to take Tim to the station, and as soon as he had been dispatched he came back into the cottage to confront his boss, who he was sure had finally taken leave of her senses.
‘Bloody hell Carla I hope you know what you’re doing,’ he said as he came in. ‘I mean I agree his story is full of holes but can we prove anything against the man, we don’t even have a body.’
‘It was the throw Frank…in the living room, it looked all wrong. Two sofas only one throw, and what does Tracy keep going on about…a dirty old woollen blanket that Louisa was wrapped in. I’m betting it was a woollen throw. But you are right I will be bricking it until forensics find something….’
‘If forensics find something,’ Frank added unhelpfully.
Carla ignored him, she was on the phone to the station, more specifically to DC Mandy Hopkins. ‘Mandy I’m going to need you to interview Andy Hunt for me, remember I told you he would be coming in this afternoon? Yes well I don’t know how long I’m going to be tied up here…oh that’s great love. Now the woman that runs the home will be coming in with him, a Miss Taylor and his social worker Brenda Massey so I’m not sure how comfortable he is going to be talking about some of the things…yes that’s right he might feel a bit intimidated with them there so I need you to watch him carefully, gauge his reactions to your questions. The most important thing we need him to do is to identify the men at the parties, and to tell us exactly what happened to little Lucy. I know…yes I know I can trust you to go gently…ok love let me know how it goes.’
Dorothy arrived soon after and started systematically going over the downstairs rooms in the house. Meanwhile Carla was searching through what was obviously the master bedroom. The wardrobes were full of Louisa’s clothes, her underwear was neatly folded in a chest of drawers and her shoes were stacked in their boxes in one of the wardrobes. Nothing gave the appearance of a hastily planned journey, and Carla’s conviction that Louisa Boulter had come to some harm grew the more she searched. Finally, whilst carefully looking through what was obviously Tim Boulter’s wardrobe, Carla had a eureka moment when, right at the very back underneath a pile of old blankets she found Louisa’s handbag complete with credit cards and mobile phone.
‘Yes!!!’ she shouted holding up the bag triumphantly to Frank who had just come upstairs.
‘You are one lucky cow,’ he said smiling at her, ‘you’d better get downstairs, Dorothy’s found something.’
Putting the handbag into a large brown paper evidence bag, Carla followed Frank back down stairs and into a small room off the living room which was obviously used as a study. There was a rather grand old desk under the window that overlooked the back garden which had a computer and printer on it, the rest of the room was dominated by floor to ceiling book shelves groaning with books and files. Dorothy was crouched over near the front of the desk rubbing a cotton bud along the edge of it.
She looked up when Carla came in and held up the cotton bud, ‘Well we’ve got blood, can’t tell who’s it is yet of course but its spread over quite a wide area. Look you can see there’s some on the keypad and a tiny bit on the edge of the screen, from the range of the spattering I would say that it would be consistent with someone being hit over the head. Someone has tried to clean it up but there’s enough here for me to say with some conviction that someone was wounded here…quite badly wounded I would say…’
‘Brilliant…thank god for that,’ Carla said relieved. ‘Well with that and the handbag I would say that we’ve got enough to search this place for a body, inside and out I think, I’ll get on to it straight away.’
As Carla anticipated it was another few hours before she was able to get away from the Boulter house. Bag after bag of evidence was labelled and taken away to be more thoroughly examined and every inch of the house was searched. White tents were erected in the garden and a specialist dog team were called in to search the three acres of garden and even the lake was searched by a team of divers. More spots of blood were discovered in the house and on Tim’s computer, but unfortunately there was no sign of a body as yet, so unless Carla could get Tim Boulter to confess and tell them where his unfortunate wife was buried, the search would go on.
CHAPTER 63
Nellie pulled the hood of his jacket further down over his injured face and walked into the busy hospital lobby. It was visiting time so there were lots of people about; carrying bunches of flowers and bags of grapes for their sick relatives or friends. Nellie was carrying a bunch of flowers that he had pinched form outside a garage and he walked confidently along the corridors as if he knew exactly where he was going. He didn’t at all, that was his first challenge, to find out where Tutt was situated in this labyrinth of a hospital, but he figured that
if he looked as if he belonged he might be able to pass by unnoticed as he searched.
He planned to find out which ward Tutt was in and then to hide himself somewhere until after lights out and then confront Tutt, and make him tell him where the money was, simple on paper…not so easy in practice.
He went from ward to ward asking at the nurse’s station for a Jacob Dodd…he didn’t know any Jacob Dodd but he needed a name to give to the nurses, until he spotted an area that was being guarded by the police. He knew Tutt was under arrest even though he was at present in hospital, so he figured that there would be a policeman outside his door. He nearly came a cropper though, when on one floor he saw two policemen each guarding a room, luckily he was able to find out from a chatty porter that it was “those two young women, you know the ones they’ve been banging on about on telly” that were being guarded…Tutt was somewhere else. After trying three floors and eight wards he finally spotted another police officer sitting on a chair outside a private room…bingo, now all he had to do was to hide somewhere nearby and wait till lights out.
CHAPTER 64 - MAGGIE
‘Oh Maggie darling I am so happy you two have sorted everything out…and the smile on the face of this great lummox warms me heart so it does,’ Martha said as she gave Maggie a hug. ‘Now where’s this food I’m so hungry I could eat that door buttered,’ she added as she bustled past Maggie towards the kitchen…a cheer went up at her arrival; Martha was a great favourite with Maggie’s boys.
Duncan raised his eyebrows with a smile and then caught Maggie round the waist and pulled her to him, ‘Hello beautiful girl,’ he said looking into her eyes.
Maggie stood on tip toes and kissed his lips gently smiling back at him, ‘Hello yourself handsome, I’ve missed you.’
Since that wonderful night…amazingly only two nights ago, Maggie and Duncan had barely been apart. He had finally lowered his fortress like defences and allowed himself to love and be loved, and Maggie had proved in so many ways, that her love for him was strong enough to cope with any of his lingering hang-ups that might crop up from time to time.
‘I’ve missed you like crazy too, baby,’ said Duncan dramatically, ‘this last hour apart from you has seemed like a year…’
Maggie giggled and punched him playfully in the arm as they went through to join the rest of the family in the kitchen.
As promised, Maggie had taken the reluctant Jools and Maylee out for a day’s shopping. The day hadn’t started well as both the girls wanted to ride shotgun with Maggie in the front of the car. That was soon taken care of by Maggie, who herded them both into the back seats firmly and then watched in her driving mirror with a sinking heart as they made no attempt at any conversation with each other, but sat looking out of their respective windows the whole way down to Brighton.
Once the car was parked the girls hit the lanes, which soon had all of them ooing and aarghing over the beautiful antique jewellery and the vintage shops that they discovered around each corner. Little by little the atmosphere started to lighten. Especially when Maylee discovered that Jools shared her love of vintage fashion and in particular, vintage shoes. Soon they had their heads together as they drooled over some beautifully crafted velvet evening shoes (which thankfully were too small for both of them otherwise there might have been trouble). And so by the time they stopped for lunch Maggie was hopeful that she might be witnessing the start of a budding friendship between the two. The afternoon proved to be even better with each of the girls finding something special to buy and all of them enjoying the unusual and sometimes downright weird wares that were for sale in the many little shops.
The journey home was a riot, Maylee and Jools teasing Maggie about her Barry White CD and then proceeding to sing along to it all the way home. All in all Maggie was delighted at how the day had gone, and so had capitalised on its success by inviting the whole family round for a meal this evening.
‘Whose was the chicken Korma?’ Jed was saying, as she entered the kitchen with Duncan a few minutes later. ‘Oh I might have known that was yours Jools, how can you eat that sweet creamy rubbish…give me a vindaloo every time, now that’s a real man’s curry.’
‘Ha,’ said Jools laughing, ‘yeh right, give it five minutes and you’ll have sweat pouring from every orifice…I don’t know why you always choose it, you always regret it…’
‘Well whatever you do don’t let Martha have any of that vindaloo,’ Duncan said. ‘We have enough combustible gas coming from her direction as it is, and she’s not as quick on her feet as she once was, if she needs the bathroom in the night…it could be disastrous believe me…’ he was stopped by a whack round the head from Martha’s huge handbag.
‘I’m more worried that Jukie might eat some,’ said Maylee, ‘he’s only had curry once and believe me you wouldn’t have wanted to deal with the nappies.’
‘What did you think I was talking about?’ laughed Duncan, ‘I mean it Jed, she’s not allowed any.’
‘Don’t you be listening to that fella Jed…’ cackled Martha giving Duncan a defiant look. ‘I may be old but I can still handle a hot curry…that’s it me boy, pile me plate high.’
Maggie made Jukie an omelette to alleviate Maylee’s fears which he gobbled up sitting on Jed’s lap. Jukie absolutely adored Jed and followed him everywhere whenever he came round. It made Maggie realise what a good dad he would make…in the far distant future of course, she was still far too young to be a granny!
The evening was filled with chatter and laughter, and Maggie watched with relief as Dom and Jed laughed and teased each other and Jools and Maylee had their heads together, having a good gossip. It seemed that disaster had been averted and her little family was back on track. No doubt Maylee would always grate a little bit with her funny ways and her inverted snobbery, but Maggie would always try and remember how kind she had been to her, when she had needed it most.
Maylee and Jools were showing Martha what they had bought in Brighton and Martha seemed particularly interested in a tie that Jools had bought for Jed.
‘It’s a Vivian Westwood Martha,’ Jools was explaining as the old lady was examining it. ‘It’s pure silk, cost me a pretty penny I can tell you…vintage of course, late seventies early eighties I think…’
She broke off as Martha went into peals of laughter, ‘It’s little willies…’ she gasped in between cackles, ‘all over it…tiny willies.’
‘What…’ said Jools grabbing the tie and looking at it carefully. ‘No surely not…oh my god,’ Jools burst out laughing alongside Martha and handed the tie to Maggie.
And sure enough, what had from a distance looked like little flowers all over the tie were in fact lots of tiny cocks and balls.
‘Well that’s just lovely Jools,’ said Jed when he’d finished laughing, ‘is this your subtle way of calling me a prick!’
CHAPTER 65 - CARLA
After a long day at the Boulter house, Carla drove to the hospital; she needed to see Tracy and tell her what had been found, and let her know that she had been right all along about Louisa.
Dorothy had called her on the way, saying that the throw from the sofa in the living room was a match for the one from the cellar. The cellar throw had thrown up lots of evidence, there were at least three types of blood found on it and lots of hair, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a DNA match from it. If Louisa Boulter had been wrapped in that throw they would be able to prove it.
Also the blood found in the study wasn’t Tim Boulter’s, so if that same blood was on the throw found in the cellar, then they had evidence that whoever had been injured in the study had then been wrapped in the throw.
‘Can you rush these tests through Dorothy; I will need to have something to throw at Mr Boulter when I question him tomorrow?’ Carla asked grimacing at her unintentional pun.
‘I’ll try Carla, but I can’t promise anything, we are rushed off our feet at the moment.’
‘Oh well just do your best love…thanks,’ Carla rang off and
parked her car at the hospital.
Frank should have finished talking to Clive Tutt by now she thought, so she would maybe pop in and see how that went before heading home…he would almost certainly be visiting Linda this evening.
Tracy was relieved, but very tearful at the news that her friend had almost certainly been killed by her husband.
‘I can’t help but think I’m to blame,’ she cried when Carla told her. ‘I talked to them about the children that I’d seen at that party you see…and I could tell I’d hit a nerve or something because Louisa’s face just sort of froze and she was looking at Tim with such anger in her eyes. And then of course they were arguing when I went back for Tilly’s moomoo…oh god do you think he did it then…oh no how awful…’
‘Tracy love none of this is your fault…’ Carla reassured her. ‘From the initial look at Tim Boulter’s computer he was into some serious child porn. If I had to guess I would say that maybe Louisa found out about that and then you mentioned the children and she put two and two together. He was completely dependent on her financially you know, he had nothing of his own so if she kicked him out…well he wouldn’t have wanted that to happen would he?’
‘Poor, poor Louisa,’ Tracy cried, ‘what a bastard…how did she die Carla?’
‘Well until we find her body we won’t know for sure…hopefully Tim will start talking when he realises what we’ve got on him and he’ll tell us where she’s buried.’
Carla stayed with Tracy for a while, steering the conversation round to more cheerful topics before she left. And then walked down the corridor to Linda’s room, she was surprised to find that Frank wasn’t there, he had gone up to interview Tutt Linda said.
‘But that was quite a while ago Carla, I must admit I did expect him back by now…although I know how hard it’s going to be for him, seeing that man again…’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Carla bewildered. What is it about Tutt that Frank finds so hard…what am I missing here?’
