Two Years After ; Friends Who Lie ; No More Secrets

by Paul J. Teague

  ‘So what the hell is he doing with Sarah?’

  ‘I didn’t know why Sarah was always chasing him. I got the surprise of my life when they got together after the fire. Nathan fancied Elijah. Couldn’t you see that? He was infatuated with Elijah.’

  Katy had to stop eating. She put down her roll and thought it through.

  ‘There’s no way he was in love with Elijah. I mean, everybody loved him, he was that kind of guy. But romantic love? Come on!’

  She doubted her own words, even as they were coming out of her mouth. What had Buchanan told her? But it seemed impossible. That’s not how she remembered it.

  ‘They always were an odd couple. Sarah seemed to want to bag him for herself, and that appeared to be her only objective. Nowadays Nathan works in IT and is away from home most of the time. I know they don’t have any children. Odd that, isn’t it? Nancy and I want kids. It’s the most natural thing on earth when you’re in love.’

  ‘All sorts of shit can stop people having kids. It’s not obligatory, you know.’

  Katy had felt the kid pressure herself, so she was a bit forceful with her response. She decided to cool things down a bit.

  ‘Do you want to come back to the cottage for a catch-up? It’s great to see you and it seems a shame to go our separate ways so soon. To be honest, I was nervous about seeing everybody again, but this is good, I’m enjoying this.’

  ‘I’d love to,’ Izzy said. ‘I’ll need to ring home to let everybody know. Karen can stay on to cash up the till, I’m sure she’ll be okay with that. Yes, let’s do it. It’ll be fun.’

  As Izzy opened the contacts book on her phone, Katy looked up towards the door. She’d been aware of people coming in and out of the café, but somebody had caught her attention while they’d been talking. It was Buchanan and he was heading over to their table. He looked like he was about to deliver bad news.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Isobel sensed that something was up and cut short her call.

  ‘I know you from somewhere,’ she said as Buchanan pulled up a chair.

  ‘DS Buchanan was one of the officers who attended the fire,’ Katy replied. ‘There’s something I haven’t even had time to tell you yet, Izzy. I expect that’s what this is about.’

  ‘Hi, yes. Ruby said I’d find you here. She said she spotted you riding a massive black motorcycle through the village without a helmet. Is that right?’

  Katy looked sheepish.

  ‘I’m only teasing, but don’t get caught and for God’s sake don’t fall off. I’ve seen what happens to riders when they’re wearing a helmet, so believe me, you wouldn’t want to come off a bike without one.’

  Katy nodded. She liked Buchanan. He was speaking to her out of genuine concern for her wellbeing.

  ‘I take it you’re not here to give us a road safety lesson?’

  ‘I’m afraid not. Are you okay for me to talk in front of your friend?’

  ‘I’m Isobel. I think I can just about remember you from the fire.’

  Buchanan shook her hand.

  ‘Go on,’ said Katy. ‘Izzy will be as interested in this as I am.’

  ‘I’m sorry to have to tell you that Roger Parry’s death has now turned into a murder investigation.’

  ‘Damn it, Katy. What haven’t you been telling me?’

  ‘It’s a long story, Izzy. Roger Parry was Elijah’s old tutor. We were supposed to meet at the monument and I found him dead in his car.’

  ‘My God! I’m beginning to think this place is cursed.’

  ‘You and me both,’ Katy replied. ‘So what happened?’

  ‘He was strangled from behind with his own belt. We think it was opportunistic rather than planned. The car is a rental, so that makes the DNA situation difficult and there were no witnesses – it’s too busy a spot for anybody to be taking much notice, and with the tinted glass they wouldn’t have seen anything even if they had been looking. We’re at a bit of a dead-end.’

  ‘So you think it was random, some nutter on the loose?’

  ‘We don’t think Parry was up to anything of a sexual nature in the car. We suspect that was set up as a distraction. Neither do we think it was a sex game gone wrong. It doesn’t feel right. He made two calls to the same number in the hour before it happened. It seems likely that he’d arranged to meet somebody else at the monument, as well as you. Your calls are all logged as you outlined in your statement.’

  ‘Why don’t you think it was a sex thing? It sounds like some sort of Tinder liaison gone wrong to me.’

  Katy was trying to sound calm, but inside she was scared. She was thinking about the wildcat the previous night, and then there was the food and cigarette at the site of the lodge.

  ‘Parry placed calls to a virtual number. It was one of these disposable numbers that you can rent online. We can’t trace the owner, they covered their tracks. This is either somebody who takes not being outed very seriously or someone who has something to hide. It might have been about sex, but copper’s intuition says not.’

  ‘I don’t know what to say.’ Katy was taken aback. She didn’t know where this left her.

  Isobel seemed equally shocked.

  ‘I certainly picked a good day to visit. You’re not very good for the local tourism industry, Katy.’

  She realised she’d been too flippant too soon and reached out to touch Katy’s arm.

  ‘Sorry. That was a stupid thing to say. You okay?’

  ‘Yes, I’m fine. Are you suggesting that some loony is on the loose? If so I’m not sure about being in that cottage by myself.’

  ‘You certainly need to take care. Since you were also there to meet Parry in that car park, there’s a chance that the two things might be connected.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’

  She couldn’t stop thinking about the patio door and the piece of wood. She considered telling Buchanan what had happened, but she didn’t want to appear to be over-reacting. After all, what had happened? A piece of wood had slipped out of a window frame and a car had pulled up while the driver looked at a map for directions. She was being silly.

  ‘I’m happy to come back to the house with you,’ Isobel offered. ‘I’ll stay overnight if it helps, or you can stay with us at Glenfinnan. That might be a better solution.’

  Katy checked the clock on the wall. It was late already. She’d intended to get that patio door looked at or move back to Paige’s place in Fort William. And hire a car. Meeting Isobel had messed up her plans for the day.

  ‘That might not be such a bad idea, Izzy. Could you head up to the cottage and start to get my stuff together? I’ll go with DS Buchanan to Judd and Ruby’s to see if they have a room for tonight. If the B&B’s full, I’ll come back home with you.’

  She looked at Buchanan.

  ‘I’m guessing you’d prefer me to stay local rather than go walkabout?’

  ‘Yes, it would be useful if you could stay around for another day or two so I can find you if I need to. I’ll run you back to the cottage to meet your friend here once we’re done at the B&B. And you’ll need a motorcycle helmet if you go with your friend on the bike. You can’t ride all the way up to Glenfinnan without one.’

  ‘The key is under the doormat, Izzy. Please don’t start telling me about security – I know! It’s a couple of miles down the road from where our holiday lodge was. You can’t miss it, it’s on the corner and tucked in from the road. I’ll phone you when we’re on our way.’

  The arrangements were set. They paid the bill and left, Izzy roaring off on her bike and Buchanan walking with Katy to his car.

  They got in and he sat with his hand ready to turn the key.

  ‘I’m glad I’ve got you on your own. I wanted a word in private, without having to go through the hassle of making it formal at the station.’

  ‘Go on. What is it?’

  ‘You know what I said about that virtual phone number earlier?’

  ‘Yes. How does that work? How can someone use
a phone number that isn’t registered?’

  ‘It’s simple enough. It works like disposable mobile phones. So long as you buy them with cash and don’t get caught on CCTV, there’s no way of tying it to you. If we can place the phone with a particular person we can use call records and phone masts, but if we can’t link the two, we’re shafted. It’s the same with virtual phone numbers. You have to use an account, but if you use false details and one of those credit cards with pre-loaded credit, you can manage it.’

  ‘So what was it you wanted to ask me?’

  The procedural stuff was all very interesting, but it wasn’t what he’d come to speak to her about, and she needed to get her accommodation sorted out. She didn’t want to be in that cottage again after nightfall.

  ‘The virtual phone account was registered to an unusual address. We still can’t trace it. Mind you, there are over one hundred businesses registered at the same one. But it didn’t quite ring true, not seeing as we’re all the way up here in Scotland.’

  ‘So where was it? Anywhere interesting?’

  ‘They’re using a virtual office space in east London. Does Leytonstone mean anything to you?’

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Katy put all notions of being a hysterical female aside and told Buchanan everything. She’d been certain it was Louis sending those letters. It wasn’t out of the question that he could post letters from Leytonstone, it was only a short diversion along the Central Line.

  ‘This is really important. It means that everything points to Parry’s murder being connected with you, Katy. Have you any idea what might have prompted it?’

  They were still sitting in the stationary car, and Buchanan still had his hand on the key.

  ‘I honestly thought it was my fuckwit of an ex – I couldn’t see who else it could be. But now I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s connected with me returning to Scotland. I’m raking over old coals and maybe somebody wants the past left in the past.’

  ‘It seems clear that somebody didn’t want you to talk to Roger Parry. Where are the letters now? Do you have them back at the cottage?’

  ‘I have one of them in my bag. I put it in there the other day. Give me a minute, it’s stuffed into one of the side pockets.’

  Katy leant over to the back seat of the car where she’d thrown the bag. She fumbled around inside, found the letter and handed it to Buchanan.

  ‘Emma gave me this before I left, and she has another at her house. She texted me a photo of it, but it won’t be very good on that old Nokia. Do you want to keep this one?’

  ‘Yes, it’s unlikely that we’ll find anything useful on it now, but I need to hang on to it. You do know you need to find somewhere less isolated to stay tonight, Katy? You can’t stay in the cottage, that’s a bad idea now. We have to get you somewhere among people – and I want you to call me if you have any worries at all.’

  She nodded. She was beginning to wish that she’d stayed in London. At least Louis limited his activities to trying to bash doors down in the middle of the night. If there was a killer about, she was right out of her depth.

  ‘I’m beginning to think that you should go with your friend Izzy out of the village. It might be best if only you and I know where you’re staying.’

  ‘Yes, let’s do that,’ Katy replied. ‘I’d feel safer that way. How will I get there? Can you give me a lift … unless you don’t mind me riding pillion on her motorbike, of course.’

  Buchanan smiled.

  ‘I could see if someone from the station could drive you … but no, I’ll do it myself. Let’s keep quiet about this for now.

  ‘You’ve not been posting or tweeting about any of this, have you? People forget how revealing that stuff can be.’

  ‘No, I’m still stuck with your damn phone – and under one pound of credit. I haven’t had internet access for a while now and it’s killing me. But I don’t know if anybody else has said anything on Facebook.’

  ‘Okay, let’s join your friend back at the cottage. You can get a phone signal there, right?’

  ‘Yes, it’s dodgy, but I can get a signal there. If I wrap myself in tin foil and point south it’s actually quite a good one.’

  Buchanan smiled again. He turned the key in the ignition and they were on their way. As they drove he gave clear instructions: Katy was to wait at the house with Izzy while he returned to the station with the letter and gave the team an update on the Leytonstone connection. They’d already put more officers out on the roads. They were looking for a killer now, if he – or she – was still around.

  ‘People think it’s easy policing this area,’ he said, chatty now, ‘but it’s a pain in the arse with all the tourists. If it’s some local bad lad, it’s usually simple to sort out, but if it’s someone passing through …Well, that’s a devil to get a grip on. There are strange cars in and out of this area all the time.’

  Katy was miles away. She was trying to think back to the fire. What was going on? Who would even know she was back in the area, apart from friends on social media?

  They arrived at the cottage. Izzy’s bike was parked outside.

  ‘Go inside, lock yourselves in and only answer the door to me. You’ve got my number in your phone so call if you need me. Even if you call without speaking and the credit’s used up, I’ll come straight back. I’ll be one hour max. Can you stay safe until then?’

  Katy felt silly even discussing it. How dangerous could it be out there? It was fine. Izzy was with her and she had a phone.

  ‘Thanks for the lift. See you in an hour.’ She retrieved her bag from the car.

  ‘Stay put and lock the door. One hour!’ Buchanan turned the car around and drove off. Katy waved and then started to make her way towards the front door. The hot metal of Izzy’s engine was still clicking as it cooled down from its recent run. The light was beginning to fade. Katy wasn’t sure where the day had gone. Buchanan would be back before dark, and she’d soon be safely locked up at Izzy’s house.

  The front door was slightly ajar when she got there. She was surprised that Isobel hadn’t come out to investigate when the car had pulled up.

  ‘Hi Izzy, it’s only me!’

  Nothing.

  She checked the bathroom. Nothing.

  ‘Izzy!’

  Katy walked into the lounge area. Isobel had gathered some of her belongings in the centre of the coffee table. Then she saw it in the corner, the piece of wood that had been used to hold the door shut was lying splintered on the floor. Either the patio door had been forced or Isobel had got into a fix trying to get out to retrieve Katy’s knickers from the washing line.

  Katy walked hesitantly towards the door. It had been pulled shut. Her washing was still on the line, Izzy hadn’t made it that far.

  ‘Izzy!’

  Katy’s calls were becoming more desperate now. Her hand moved down to the phone in her pocket. She hesitated. She wouldn’t call Buchanan yet. There was probably a simple explanation.

  Katy opened the patio door and stepped out into the garden. No Izzy. Smoke rose from a cigarette end lying on the paving slabs, but Izzy had said she’d stopped smoking. She reached for her phone and searched through the contacts to find Buchanan’s number.

  ‘Jesus fucking Christ!’ she shouted as the call went to voicemail.

  Hi, you’ve reached the voicemail of Detective Superintendent Alan Buchanan. I can’t take your call at the moment. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you straightaway.

  ‘It’s me, Katy. Get back here! The minute you get this message, get back to the cottage. Izzy’s gone. The cottage is empty. Somebody broke in. Come quickly!’

  She ended the call. How much credit did she have? Bloody phone, it was worse than useless. Who else could she ring? Emma. She had Emma’s number in her message log. She picked up immediately.

  ‘Hi, it’s Emma—’

  ‘Emma. It’s Katy. Don’t talk, just listen. I’m almost out of credit. I’m in trouble. It’s a long story. I met Izzy … s
he went to the cottage … she’s gone. There’s some nutter on the loose. I tried to call the police. Call the police at Fort William. Ask for DS Buchanan—’

  The phone went dead.

  ‘Fuck it!’ Katy shouted, throwing the phone onto the grass. She stormed back through the house and ran out onto the road. There was no sign of any traffic.

  She paused for breath. She had to calm down. Izzy was gone and she’d found a cigarette still smoking at the back of the house. There’d been a cigarette in the half-built bungalow on the site of the lodge. She guessed that the same person was responsible for both and that they must have taken Izzy back there. It must be connected to Elijah and the fire. They’d passed a white car as they’d driven along the road towards the cottage.

  Buchanan would pick up the call the minute his phone signal switched back in. He knew where to come. And Emma wasn’t stupid, she’d call the police at Fort William. Somebody would be there within ten minutes. Although she hadn’t a clue how to ride it, Katy had Izzy’s bike and could be up the road in a minute. The keys were on the coffee table, next to her stuff.

  She ran inside the house, tore a panel from the Coco Pops packet and scribbled a message on it: Gone to the lodge. Be careful. Katy

  She grabbed the keys. Picking up a small kitchen knife for protection, she tucked it blade up at the back of her waistband. She rested the makeshift cardboard message by the side of the front door where it wouldn’t be missed. She climbed onto the motorcycle. Whoever had taken Izzy, whatever this was about, it was time to put the past behind them. These ghosts had to be laid to rest.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Katy felt the weight of the motorcycle beneath her. She had to press on, Izzy could be in real trouble. The police would be there soon, and if she was lucky she’d see Buchanan coming down the road. He said he’d drop everything to get back to her.

  She thought back to how Isobel had started up the bike. She could barely stand astride it and support it beneath her. Was she being ridiculous to think that she could use it to rescue her friend? She inserted the key and turned it. A light had gone on. Good. She flicked a switch. Izzy had pulled the lever as well – that had to be the clutch. The bike roared into life. The revving was easy, she knew how to do that.