The Frozen Shroud

by Martin Edwards

  So she identified with Letty Hodgkinson. Two women married to men with a wandering eye. Two women whose rivals had been beaten to death with raw and unforgivable savagery.

  ‘You’re frowning,’ she said. ‘Not convinced? It’s true, I’ve been so much luckier than Letty. But … I know what it’s like to feel suffocated by depression, as if a thick towel is pressing down over your nose and mouth. I know what it’s like to go to bed hoping you won’t wake up the next morning.’

  Above the trees, a buzzard squealed. A squirrel that didn’t want to become its next meal scampered down an oak trunk, and vanished into the safety of the undergrowth.

  ‘I had a very rough time in my teens. I can’t bear to go into details, but it was horrendous, I promise you.’ Her voice had dropped to a whisper, and he had to move closer to hear. ‘My uncle was sent to prison for what he did, and I had a lot of problems. Partly physical – I was pretty messed up, and I can’t have children. But the doctors were wonderful, and a fantastic social worker helped me regain confidence.’

  If she’d kicked him in the stomach, he couldn’t have felt worse.

  ‘Melody, I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Oh, shit happens. I was never going to make the big time as a model or an actor, but the work helped me escape from the past. Start a new life.’ She drew breath. ‘Yet I never quite got over my habit of getting mixed up with untrustworthy men. Trust me, compared with his predecessors, Oz is a saint.’

  Daniel heard screaming. The buzzard was being mobbed by a gang of hooded crows intent on defending their territory. Sometimes it wasn’t easy to tell who was the predator, who the prey. He glanced at Melody’s profile. Heedless of the birds, she was staring towards the lake. Barely holding herself together. He had to stifle the urge to put his arms around her. The silence between them was uncomfortably intimate.

  ‘There you are, darling!’

  Oz Knight was standing in the archway. A man with more to worry about than the weather, to judge by his gaunt appearance. In the past couple of days he’d aged ten years. That once-magnificent mane of hair was flapping in the wind, straggly and grey. Perhaps he’d had too much on his mind to remember to dye it.

  His wife groaned. ‘Oh God, back to reality. Come on, Daniel. Time for lunch.’

  ‘Hannah – a word?’

  Les Bryant’s dour features never betrayed emotion, but his voice had a scratchy quality that Hannah hadn’t heard before. She nodded, and he followed her into her room, closing the door behind them with exaggerated care.

  ‘Terri was a decent kid,’ he said. ‘I know how much she meant to you. And you to her, believe me.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  She tried to decipher his inscrutable expression. In one of the least likely romantic pairings conceivable, Les had once gone on a blind date with Terri. Once and only once, needless to say.

  ‘She told me you drove her crazy, forever doubting yourself. Her opinion was that you were wasted on Amos. Reckoned you’d do far better with Ben Kind’s lad.’

  ‘There you are, then.’ She tried to keep her voice steady. ‘Poor old Terri, she had no idea.’

  ‘You’re wrong,’ he said. ‘She was a smart lady. No good for me, obviously. Too young, too good-looking, too bloody dizzy. We’d have killed each other within a week. Tell you what, though.’

  ‘Go on.’

  He cleared his throat. ‘Before we did kill each other, I’d have enjoyed that week more than any I can remember.’

  Daniel swallowed the last of his casserole and said how much he’d enjoyed it. His host and hostess had only picked at their own portions. It was as if Terri’s murder had robbed them of their appetites.

  ‘Credit where it’s due,’ Melody said. ‘This is Miriam Park’s recipe. Such a wonderful cook. Francis Palladino used to say she was worth her weight in gold. She’s in a bad place at the moment. Robin, finally on the brink of settling down with someone, and then …’

  ‘You think his relationship with Terri was strong enough to last?’ Daniel asked.

  ‘Why not? You only had to spend five minutes in their company to see they were very much in love. He was besotted, and so was she.’

  ‘Miriam jumped the gun about their getting married,’ Oz muttered. ‘Wishful thinking, if you ask me. Terri was a sweet lady, but she’d already divorced three husbands, and Robin’s never come close to tying the knot. They’d only known each other a few weeks.’

  ‘You proposed to me a fortnight after we first met,’ Melody said.

  ‘And you turned me down flat.’ Oz turned to Daniel. ‘Not that anyone could blame her, with the age difference and everything. Took a long time to wear down her resistance.’

  ‘I never planned to marry the boss,’ Melody said. ‘It just worked out that way in the end. For better, for worse …’

  ‘For richer, for poorer.’ Oz grimaced. ‘Definitely for poorer after this morning, I’m afraid.’

  At Melody’s confession that she’d told Daniel about their financial problems, he’d flinched, as if she’d poked him in the eye, before rallying with a tirade about greedy bankers and the havoc they’d wreaked on the world’s economy. As well as on the Knights’ prospects of keeping their business afloat. The overdraft facility had been renewed this morning, but on punitive conditions. He feared the stay of execution was only temporary.

  ‘How will you put things on an even keel?’ Daniel asked.

  Oz spread his arms. ‘Your guess is as good as mine. Neither of us has taken a wage out of the business since April; we’re living on our investments, and they are shrivelling fast. The situation’s out of my hands, that’s what I hate. We need to stop the haemorrhage of clients and revenue. And pray the police get their finger out, so we can start putting our lives back together.’

  Daniel concentrated on Melody’s rum-and-raisin pudding. Oz was a control freak, and he’d yet to meet a happy control freak. Was that need to be in charge a source of tension in their marriage?

  ‘I can’t believe they let that man go.’ Oz drained his third glass of Rioja, and raised his voice a little, as he warmed to his theme. ‘Terri was scared stiff of him, we were concerned for her safety, like any decent employer. She said he’d beaten up his wife, and hit the woman so hard she was lucky not to lose an eye. Someone like that shouldn’t be roaming the streets.’

  Daniel said, ‘The police will be working night and day on the case. Don’t forget, Terri was best mates with one of their senior detectives.’

  ‘And she’s a friend of yours,’ Oz snapped. ‘How does she feel about letting loose the man who almost certainly killed her friend?’

  ‘No one wants justice for Terri more than Hannah.’

  ‘Justice!’ It was almost a snarl. ‘Then I wonder why she let—’

  ‘Hannah isn’t part of the investigating team.’ Daniel fought back a rising anger. ‘It wasn’t her decision to release the man.’

  Oz said, ‘This uncertainty makes people think there’s no smoke without fire. None of us can relax.’

  He poured himself and his wife yet another glass of wine. Daniel was glad he’d stuck to orange juice. With a touch of malice, Oz added, ‘Even you must feel uncomfortable, Daniel. You were at the party with the rest of us.’

  ‘I feel worse than uncomfortable,’ Daniel said quietly. ‘I liked Terri, though I didn’t know her well. I’d like nothing better than to see whoever did this put behind bars.’

  Melody forced a laugh. ‘Before long, rumours will start flying that everyone who came to the party was in it together. Like that film, you know, on the train.’

  ‘Robin and Terri didn’t quarrel, did they?’ Daniel asked. ‘Is there any reason for him to worry about the police?’

  ‘None whatsoever,’ Oz said wearily. ‘She was vivacious and good-looking, but – how can I put this? – more mature than Robin’s previous girlfriends. At least those I’ve met.’

  ‘Did any of them last long?’

  ‘Nope, there was never any question until
now of Robin settling down with someone, far less setting up home somewhere new. But if you ask me, he’s scared stiff. When one person in a relationship is killed, the other partner inevitably comes under the spotlight.’

  ‘Better take special care of me, then, darling.’ Melody’s smile was strained, her voice cracking. Daniel frowned; she was too close to the edge for comfort. ‘We’re deep enough in the shit as it is.’

  ‘Fern’s right, if you ask me,’ Les Bryant said. ‘I don’t believe that bastard killed Terri.’

  He and Hannah were taking a quick bite of lunch together in the staff restaurant, Les feasting on a bacon, egg and sausage bap while she dipped her wholemeal toast in a pot of hummus.

  ‘What makes you so sure?’

  ‘Think about it. It’s clear he was set up. Two women killed in identical circumstances, five years apart? Why would he try to repeat history, what would he have to gain?’

  ‘And your preferred solution is?’

  He chewed furiously. ‘We both knew Terri. The murder victim’s personality is the biggest clue to the motive for the crime.’

  ‘It doesn’t say that in the Murder Investigation Manual.’

  ‘No, but it bloody well ought to.’

  ‘I’m not sure I like the idea that Terri brought her own murder upon herself.’

  ‘You’re a DCI, and your mate’s been beaten to death,’ he growled. ‘You can’t afford to be prissy about this. I’m not saying Terri was killed because of anything she did consciously. Maybe it was because someone had reason to be afraid of her.’

  ‘Where are you going with this?’

  He wiped the runny egg from his grizzled chin. ‘She was a livewire, right? Into everything, like a little kid.’

  ‘Yes.’ That was Terri’s gift, her boundless enthusiasm, her love of life. ‘She was incorrigible.’

  ‘What if her curiosity led her to find out something she wasn’t meant to know?’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Suppose she stumbled on a clue to what really happened at Ravenbank five years previous? Something that pointed the finger at one of her new neighbours?’

  ‘She’d have told someone, wouldn’t she? Me, for example. She was hiding something from me, yes, but it was the fact that she’d teamed up with this man Robin Park. Daniel and Louise say she was just very happy, looking forward to a new life with him.’

  ‘What if she didn’t appreciate the significance of what she’d learnt? Whoever killed Shenagh Moss would have to move quick, to get her out of the way before she tumbled to the truth. Park’s stomach bug was a gift, it offered the chance to get Terri on her own late at night, when she’d had too much to drink.’

  Hannah smeared margarine on her last piece of toast. ‘Maybe it’s worth someone taking a look at the paperwork on Shenagh’s death.’

  He reached into his inside jacket pocket, and pulled out a dog-eared notebook. ‘Mission already accomplished. Just as well I got in quick, given that Fern’s team have just requisitioned the old file. Well, it’s a cold case, any road, so I thought I’d make a few notes on the SIO’s Blue Book, and the investigators’ rough books. Take ’em, for what they’re worth.’

  She stretched out a hand. ‘You’re a star. Though I guess you’ve broken half a dozen of Lauren’s rules about information security.’

  ‘With any luck.’ The craggy face relaxed into a rare grin. ‘What’s the worst that can happen? She’s already given me the sack. That’s why I leaked the restructure to the press. Just on the off chance it might save the jobs of everyone else.’

  Oz saw Daniel to the door after Melody announced she felt a migraine coming on, and was going upstairs for a rest. At the front step, Oz halted.

  ‘I’m worried sick about her, you know.’

  Daniel mumbled something bland and sympathetic, but his host interrupted. ‘Don’t be fooled by that cool elegance, underneath she is fragile. Long before we ever met, she had a spell in a psychiatric unit. It was to take her mind off our money worries that I encouraged her interest in writing, and the legend of the Frozen Shroud. Big mistake. It’s backfired horribly.’

  ‘If—’

  ‘No!’ Oz raised a hand. ‘Let me finish. You and she are never going to prove Letty’s innocence, not after all these years. An ancient murder is the last thing Melody needs on her mind right now.’

  ‘Yet she could be right about Letty.’

  ‘What if she is? Who cares?’

  Daniel gave a shrug. ‘If someone can be cleared of committing a brutal murder, even long after their death, isn’t that worth caring about?’

  ‘So you are persisting with this?’

  ‘Why not? This afternoon, I’m going to Keswick Museum. Roland Jones donated some papers to their archives. I’m hoping to pick up more information about him there.’

  ‘Letty was sick. If she hadn’t killed herself, she’d never have hanged, not even in Edwardian England. Doesn’t what happened to Terri make what happened years ago seem pretty trivial?’

  ‘Any historian believes the past can tell us something about the present. Take the murder of Shenagh Moss.’

  Oz stiffened. ‘What has Shenagh’s death got to do with anything?’

  ‘Three women have been battered to death in Ravenbank.’

  ‘Over a period of a hundred years!’

  ‘Two of them in the past five. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to suspect there’s a connection.’

  Oz strode out into the drive, and Daniel followed to where his car was parked.

  ‘Far-fetched, if you ask me. Copycat killings are commonplace. Craig Meek hated Shenagh because she’d dumped him, and killed her because of it. End of.’

  ‘If the obvious suspect has been released from custody, the police are bound to cast their net wider. When you talk to them, I’m sure they will be asking questions about Shenagh. What was she like, did anyone else hate her?’

  ‘Hate her?’ Oz exhaled, and Daniel smelt the alcohol on his breath. ‘Listen, I’ll tell you something about Shenagh. You’ll have heard that she and I were close? It wasn’t exactly a clandestine affair. She was funny, clever, a vibrant personality. Fabulous to look at, and even better in bed, I don’t mind saying it. It was a miracle old Palladino never had a heart attack. But she had a hell of an appetite, there was no way the old feller could keep her satisfied.’

  ‘But your relationship with her didn’t last long?’

  ‘Melody and I – we’ve had an understanding from day one. She knows what I’m like. When she finally agreed to marry me, we both signed up to the deal. We’re a good team, she’s a sweet lady, and utterly gorgeous into the bargain. But she’s had a hard life … look, we’re both men of the world. She’s a lady to look at rather than touch, if you get my meaning.’

  ‘She said your flings never last for long. And she did seem pretty relaxed about them. But – was Shenagh different?’

  Oz bent his head, and Daniel noticed a bald patch on the crown. Until today, he’d always combed his hair with such care that you couldn’t see it.

  ‘Shenagh had a low boredom threshold. Once she’d reeled Palladino in, she didn’t need me. An ongoing affair with a married man was a complication too far. She wanted fresh fields to conquer.’

  ‘Did she find them?’

  ‘You bet.’ Oz chewed his lower lip. ‘It was insane, but …’

  A gust of wind smacked the trees; soon there would be no leaves left on the branches. A crow yelped and flew out from its hiding place in a copper beech. Daniel watched it circle overhead for a few seconds before it headed for the lake.

  ‘Did she become involved with Quin?’

  Oz Knight stared at him. ‘Jesus Christ. How did you know?’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Robin Park’s fingers drummed on the varnished pine table top. ‘I’ve heard so much about you, Hannah.’

  It always induced paranoia in her when someone said that. She tried to suppress her curiosity by taking a sip of her latte. The ga
me plan was to listen, not talk.

  ‘Sorry, I can’t say the same.’

  He’d asked her to meet him here in the Jazz Lounge at Pooley Bridge. They were sharing a discreet corner with a piano and stool. Not that there was any need for discretion, with no other customers. When she’d arrived, Robin had been killing time at the piano, playing a few bars over and over. A sixties jazz waltz, a maddeningly familiar lounge lizard’s song. She couldn’t remember what it was called, but a couple of lines echoed in her mind. Day after day, there are girls in the office / And men will always be men.

  He gave a fractional bow, as if encouraging her to break into applause. When she offered her hand, his long fingers clasped it for a moment longer than necessary. She must call him Robin, he said, adding that they’d both lost someone so very special. He fancied himself, for sure, but he was also needy; she recognised the type, having lived with one for years. You indulged men like that at your peril.

  The ground floor was spacious but draughty; a pair of sliding glass doors weren’t properly closed, so the cold from outside seeped in. She kept on her lined jacket, and watched him sashay over to the counter for coffee and millionaire shortbread, a slinky mover in skintight Levi’s and thin blue T-shirt. She could just picture Terri ogling the bloke’s backside. Her second husband had been a part-time underpants model, and Robin was in very good shape. Yet waiting to be served, he seemed twitchy and ill at ease. Unless it was just the lack of a warm top that made him shiver.

  ‘This place is pretty special to me,’ he said. ‘Believe it or not, I sat at the back of this very room as a boy, and listened to my dad playing the trumpet in his band. Of course, it was all so different then. Spit and sawdust, no polished floorboards or fancy lighting, but he and I both loved the place. I may not have inherited the family sports gene, but music’s always been special to me.’ He paused, as if expecting a response, but Hannah wasn’t in the mood for nostalgia. ‘A brilliant trumpeter, Dad, wonderful ear for a tune. Mum swears he would have made it big, if he’d kept his feet on the ground. But no, he was seduced by the idea of owning a bar. Big mistake – he was a much better musician than he was a businessman.’