by Celina Grace
It seemed to be made of some sort of marble, or was it only plaster? Tests would show. Kate turned it slowly around. The little face of the woman was quite blank. Only vague outlines of facial features showed. The wings were more detailed. The woman’s hair looked vaguely snake-like. Who was she supposed to be? Kate pondered. Medusa? That was the only goddess she could think of with snakes for hair. More research was needed.
Of course, it could be the case that this was complete coincidence. Perhaps both Roland Barry and Amanda Callihan had bought the same ornament. Who would be able to confirm that? A close relative would seem the easiest option. Kate called the office to get the number of Roland Barry’s sister. Then she dialled the sister.
“A what, dear?” asked Mrs Cole, when Kate had finally got hold of her and explained the situation.
Kate repeated her description of the statue. “I was wondering if you’d ever seen it before at Dr Barry’s house?”
“Oh, I haven’t been to poor Roly’s house in a long time. I couldn’t have told you what was there or not.”
Kate cursed, silently. “Is it the sort of thing your brother liked, Mrs Cole?”
Mrs Cole sounded doubtful. “I’m not sure. He was a classics scholar at university, so I suppose it’s possible. He didn’t really buy ornaments though. He was more of a one for paintings.”
As she said that, Kate remembered the picture of the Lake District location on Roland Barry’s wall. That was something else to look into.
She thanked Mrs Cole and ended the call. Then she hesitated, torn between wanting to continue the search in Amanda Callihan’s house and wanting to head back to the office to start investigating this mysterious statue. After a moment’s more thought, she pulled out her mobile and rang Chloe.
“Are you at the station?” she asked, once her friend answered.
“Yep. Why?”
Kate explained succinctly. “I could do with a hand here. I want to do a more thorough search, see if I can find anything that might link the two cases. Can you come?”
“What about the statue?”
“Well, it could be complete coincidence. I know we have to look into it, but it can wait for an hour or so.”
“Weaver needs to know,” warned Chloe.
“I know that. Look, bird, if you can get away, come and help me search, and then we’ll head back together and give her an update.” Kate thought for a moment and then added, smiling, “Safety in numbers, hey?”
Chloe laughed. “Okay. I’m on my way. Twenty minutes.”
After she’d disconnected the call, Kate put the evidence bag with the statue by the front door with her handbag. Not that she was likely to forget it. She liked to be methodical in a house search; it appealed to the meticulous part of her nature.
She began in the bedroom. Amanda’s bedroom had a sad air about it regardless of the fact its owner was dead. This was something more, Kate thought. Despite Amanda having a boyfriend, the room seemed indicative of a lonely soul. Perhaps it was the rather austere bed; white metal with little decorative flourish. Perhaps it was the functional bedlinen, the lack of books on the side table, the minimal wall decoration. No photos, no plants. Kate thought of her own bedroom, with its lavishly made-up bed (good bedlinen was a bit of a fetish of hers), the cushions, the throws, the lushly green peace lily that stroked her bedside table with its long leaves. And Merlin, of course, king of her bed. He didn’t like it much when Anderton stayed over, although that didn’t happen often. Kate was momentarily side-tracked. What would happen with Merlin if she and Anderton moved in together? Cats were not fond of moving, she’d heard.
Cross that bridge when you come to it, Kate. She dragged her mind back to the job and began the search.
Chapter Nine
Kate had reached the stage of unearthing boxes from beneath the bed when she heard the front door to the flat open. “Bird?” she called.
“It’s me.” A moment later, Chloe appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. “God, what a sad little place.”
“I thought that too.” Kate wriggled backwards and brushed dust from her hands. “It made me wonder, to be honest. Why does this place feel so…so gloomy? Amanda was fairly young, she was fit, healthy, she had a boyfriend, she had a good relationship with her sister. Why the…the sadness?”
“Sometimes all those things aren’t enough.” For a moment, Chloe looked grimmer than Kate would have liked. Her friend was attractive, intelligent and solvent, but somehow, successful romantic attachments seemed to elude her.
“Anyway,” said Kate, hastily. “I think we need to look into her past life. She worked as a social worker for years, apparently, and then had some kind of breakdown and got out of it.” Chloe was still regarding the austere little bedroom with a frown. “Should be a place to start, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.” Chloe was wearing brown leather gloves and pulled each one from her hands absent-mindedly before tucking them in her coat pocket, staring about the room. “Where’s this bloody statue, then?”
Kate led her to the evidence bag in the hall. Chloe picked it up and regarded it from several angles.
“Hmm. You’re right. It’s the same as from the Barry house.”
“It could be coincidence,” said Kate, doubt edging her voice.
“It could.” Chloe held the bag up again and turned it. The statue’s blank little face regarded them. “But I’ve never seen anything like this for sale before. Have you?”
Kate shook her head. “No. I don’t even know if it’s a specific goddess, deity—whatever.”
“I do.” Chloe grasped the plastic of the bag and smoothed it over the statue’s face. “It’s an Erinyes.”
“A what?”
Chloe glanced at her with a half-smile. “I did some Classics at university. The Erinyes are the Furies. Heard of them?”
Kate considered. “I think so. They’re the—the punishing ones? Or the Fates?”
“Both.” Chloe held up the statue again. The blank, black face swung back and forth like a pendulum, and Kate was conscious of a creeping unease. “The Furies were spirits of justice. Maybe vengeance, too. They had snakes for hair.”
“I thought that was Medusa.”
Chloe smiled. “Her too. It seemed to be the accessory for vengeful Greek goddesses.”
Kate didn’t smile. She looked at the empty gaze of the statue’s little face. “If the killer left that here…is that what they’re saying? This is vengeance? This is justice?”
Chloe looked at her. “Maybe.”
The room seemed to chill for a moment. “Vengeance for what?” Kate murmured.
Chloe became brisk. “That’s if the killer did leave it here. And at Barry’s house. It could be a complete coincidence.”
“We need to find out whether Amanda Callihan bought this statue. And where they were made.”
“That would be a start.”
“I’ll ring Amanda’s sister,” said Kate.
“And I’ll start researching the statue,” said Chloe.
They headed for the door. “Hold on,” said Kate, her fingers on the door knob. “Do we tell Nicola now, or what?”
Chloe’s gaze met hers, mischevious in the way that Kate loved about her friend. “Oh, I don’t think so, do you? Not yet, anyway. We’ve got nothing concrete.”
“Roger that,” said Kate, and they fist-bumped and headed off on their private missions.
Back in the office, Kate got hold of Mary Stirling quite easily and asked whether she knew if Amanda had bought or been given the Erinyes statue. Mary was clearly willing to help but the trouble was that she hadn’t visited her sister’s flat in several years. “Manda normally came up to us,” Mary explained. “She loved to see the children, and she liked the countryside up here. Well, you can understand it, can’t you? I never really liked her flat, I have to say, although obviously I never said anything. But she never seemed particularly comfortable there, it was funny—”
“The statue, Mrs Stirling?” K
ate prompted.
“Oh, sorry. No, I don’t think she had anything like that when I last went to see her. But I can’t be exactly sure.”
“No, I understand it’s difficult.”
Mary sounded as though she was thinking aloud. “It’s… It’s an odd thing for Manda to have bought, I have to say. Not her style at all.”
That sounded more promising. Kate jotted down a few notes, listening to Mary speak. Then she realised that the victim’s sister was probably the best person to ask about Amanda’s background and career change. “Mrs Stirling—”
“Please, call me Mary.”
“Thanks. Mary, you mentioned that Amanda had gone through a difficult time in her work, some years ago. When she was a social worker. Could you tell me about that?”
Mary’s voice sounded troubled. “Oh, it’s a few years ago now, but it was pretty bad. Manda had…well, she’d gone through quite a tough time at work. It’s so hard being a social worker, so hard—you’re blamed if you do too much, and you’re blamed if you don’t do enough. You just can’t win.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“Oh, well, poor Manda… She—she got embroiled in this bit of…well, it was a bit of a scandal. She said it was something to do with a child being killed. Something awful like that. The family were known to social services, and the little one should have been removed but wasn’t, for some reason, and ended up dead. Awful. That’s what Manda said, anyway. Of course, it wasn’t her fault, but I think she blamed herself.”
Kate was scribbling fast. “So, when and where was this, Mary?”
“Och, it was… Oh, when was it? Let me think. A long time ago now, before she moved to Abbeyford. Manda was working down in Whitehaven.”
Kate wrote this down. Where was Whitehaven? Obviously south of Scotland or Mary wouldn’t have used the word ‘down’. A scandal involving the death of a child would have been headline news, if only in the local papers, but most likely it would have featured in the national dailies as well. Easy enough to check. She got a few more details out of Mary Stirling, thanked her, and said goodbye.
She looked up to see Theo looking over at her enquiringly. “Got something, mate?” he asked.
“I hope so. Need to do a bit more digging.”
Theo nodded. Then he pushed his chair back from his desk and came over to her desk. Now it was Kate’s turn to look at him enquiringly. “You okay?”
Theo looked diffident. “You up to anything after work, mate?”
Kate felt her eyebrows shoot up. She and Theo had socialised after work before, but not just the two of them. Surely, he wasn’t suggesting a date? She looked at his face and decided that he wasn’t. “Um, not sure.” She had been due to see Anderton but her curiousity was piqued. “Why? Do you fancy a drink or something?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.” Theo looked relieved. Burning with curiosity, Kate opened her mouth to ask him more but shut it again.
“Down the Arms?” she suggested. The Arms was actually called The King’s Head, but it had been unofficially adopted by Abbeyford CID as a drinking place, hence its nickname of ‘The Coppers’ Arms’.
“Nah, not the Arms. Somewhere nicer.”
“You aren’t asking me out on a date, are you?” Kate asked, becoming paranoid again.
Theo scoffed. “As if, woman. Don’t flatter yourself. Just thought it’d be nice to have a drink with my old pal.”
“Less of the old,” Kate said, grinning. “Okay, how about the Black Cat?”
“Sorted. Come and get me when you knock off.”
Theo wandered back to his desk, hands in his pockets and whistling. Kate, still slightly puzzled, shook her head and returned her attention to her work. She picked up the folder on the Barry case and leafed through it. Could there be a connection between the two cases? The statue or something else? Kate scribbled down idle thoughts. Social work? Teaching institution? Roland—a client of Amanda’s? She tried to recollect the interview that they’d had with Roland Barry’s cleaner, whether there had been anything that—what was her name again? Mrs Cuckoo? No, that couldn’t be it. Kate checked the name and then slapped a hand to her forehead, groaning aloud.
“Kate?” Rav was passing her desk. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, Rav. I’m just an idiot.”
If Rav had been Theo, he would have heartily concurred with this remark and probably elaborated on it at length. As it was, Rav smiled at her in a slightly puzzled way, patted her shoulder, and continued on his way.
Shaking her head at herself, Kate grabbed the folder and found Sandra Cuckfield’s contact details. Why hadn’t she thought of checking with Roland Barry’s cleaner? Of course she would know whether the statue had always been there or whether it was something she’d not seen before. Kate pulled her desk phone over towards herself and dialled, eagerly awaiting a response.
Chapter Ten
Kate called it a night at seven o’clock. She had half expected Theo to take a rain check on their ‘date’—he wasn’t the most reliable in terms of keeping social appointments—but when she got up and began to gather her things about her, she could see he was still at his desk.
“Want that drink, then?”
“Yeah, mate. I’m bushed.” Theo stretched his arms out behind his head and yawned. “Come on, first round is mine.”
As they made their way to the door of the office, they passed DCI Weaver in the corridor. She gave them a fairly civil ‘goodnight’ as they walked by her, but Kate was aware of a frank curiosity in her glance. She felt rather uncomfortable, knowing the DCI knew of Kate and Anderton’s relationship. Did Nicola think that she and Theo were—well, more than colleagues or friends? Forget it, Kate. She hates you anyway so what do you care?
Theo seemed in an unusually pensive mood. Kate found a table at the back of the bar, near the open fire, while Theo queued for drinks. As Kate waited, watching the flickering flames, she recalled all the other times she’d been there. The time that her then boyfriend Tin had asked her to go to America with him. Tin. Kate couldn’t quite recall him with fondness, but she wished him well anyway. Wasn’t he married now? Occasionally she came across his by-line in one of the national papers, but she’d never seen him since. She’d sat here with Olbeck often. Anderton too. Thinking of him, she pulled out her phone and tapped out a quick message. Quick drink with Theo after work. He says hi. CU later x. That should assuage any jealousy on Anderton’s part. He wasn’t prone to it, but then he knew of Theo’s reputation.
Theo placed a glass of red wine in front of her and sat down opposite with his pint.
“Cheers,” said Kate, clinking glasses.
“Cheers.” Theo took a long pull and then put the glass down with a sigh. “So, what’s new on the case?”
Kate mentally raised her eyebrows. So, he just wanted to talk work? Fine with her, but why here? “Bit of a breakthrough, actually. Nicola was going to debrief us tomorrow.”
Theo leant forward. “Yeah? What?”
“The statue. It didn’t belong to Roland Barry. The cleaning lady had never seen it before.”
Theo pursed his lips in a silent whistle. “Right. Interesting.”
“So, Rav’s going to be all over that tomorrow. Tracking down the manufacturer—or trying to. Seeing where it’s sold.”
Theo nodded. “You know what else we should do? Run a search on whether there’s been any other recent murders with this statue at the crime scene.”
Kate was impressed—and annoyed. She should have thought of that. “That’s a good idea, Theo. You should run it past Nicola, but I’m sure she’ll go for it.”
“Yeah, I will.” Theo’s face darkened momentarily. “So, anyway, what else is new?”
They chatted for a few minutes about work, their cases, various news-worthy events. Kate fetched them a second drink, reminding herself that she’d have to leave the car at the police station and walk in the next morning. So no going to Anderton’s then. She’d call him on the way home. Me
rlin would be pleased to see her, at least.
After they finished the second drink, Kate hesitated. Then, just as Theo was getting up for the third round, she asked, “Was there a particular reason you wanted to talk tonight, Theo?”
Again, she crossed her fingers that she hadn’t misread the situation. Even if she hadn’t been with Anderton, she’d learnt her lesson of not mixing business with pleasure. Good looking as Theo was, she just didn’t feel that way about him.
Theo looked embarrassed, not hitherto an emotion Kate would ever have associated with him. “Well, you know, sometimes it’s good to get a chick’s opinion.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “An opinion on what, Theo? Sewing? Pink fluffy things? Radical feminism?”
Theo grinned. “Nah, you know. It’s just… Well, you and Anderton—” He broke off for a moment. “How long have you been together now?”
Kate had to think. “About a year, officially?”
“Officially?” Theo’s grin grew wider. “So how long were the two of you sneaking around behind our backs?”
“I didn’t mean that!” Kate heard the rising note in her voice and controlled it. “I just mean—oh, you know what I mean.”
“Yeah. But, it’s worked out for you, yeah?”
“So far,” Kate said, cautiously. “Look, Theo, what is this about? Are you having girlfriend trouble?”
Theo scoffed. “As if. Nah, it’s more… Well, what if you’re not sure where it’s going?”
With difficulty, Kate repressed a scream. “Who is this woman?”
“Never you mind.”
For some reason, Chloe’s face came into Kate’s mind. Surely not? She opened her mouth to ask and then shut it again. “Look,” she tried. “I want to help you, Theo, but this is something you’ve got to work out for yourself. What you want. And what she wants. See if you can meet in the middle, you know.”
