Kim nodded her understanding.
Cerys began pressing buttons on the machine and logging figures into a small notebook.
‘Okay, it’s ready now. Just how sure are you that we're going to find something?’
Kim took a breath, closed her eyes and analysed her gut. ‘More sure than I'd like to be.’
‘You realise that anything we find will never stand up in court?’
Kim nodded. If she was right, it would never get to court.
Kim stepped forward and held out her hands. ‘Give it to me and tell me what to do. I think I've caused you enough trouble this week.’
‘I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself,’ Cerys snapped. ‘And no offence, but this is an expensive piece of equipment that I will not entrust to you.’
Kim sighed with frustration. ‘Cerys, will you just ...’
‘Shut up, Kim. Give me the backpack first.’
Kim reached down, lifted the holdall and held it while Cerys put her arms through the straps.
Cerys fixed the monitor around her waist. Kim reached for the strap and hauled the metal rod onto Cerys’s shoulder.
She stood back. ‘I had you more as a Prada wearer.’
Cerys shook her head. ‘Okay, I’ve had a look around the area and there’s a lot of crap on the ground. It all needs moving.’
‘I’m assuming that’s my job?’
‘See anybody else here?’
‘Okay, where?’
‘I’ll survey the rear of the building first. The front of the building looks right onto the road and houses so if we’re looking for what you think we are, that area would have been too exposed.’
‘Can I help, Detective?’
Kim turned to find that William Payne had walked around the side of the fencing. He looked pale and tired. Kim stepped towards him.
‘How are you feeling?’
He smiled. ‘Sore, but there’s no permanent damage. They sent me home a couple of hours ago.’
‘What about Lucy?’
‘Take a look.’
Kim walked to the edge of the fencing. The curtain had been pulled back and Lucy peered through the window.
Kim waved and then turned her attention back to William. ‘I don’t think you’re in any fit state ...’
‘Detective, I don’t know what you’re doing here today but I know that Lucy and I have somehow become a part of this. I’d really like to help.’
Kim was torn.
‘They were just kids, Detective. Hardened, abandoned, neglected kids. What they did to Lucy was wrong, I know that and so did they. All three of them came back the next day of their own free will and apologised for what they’d done.’
‘And you accepted their apology?’
He shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter. Lucy did.’
Kim shook her head in wonder. ‘You know that your daughter is a true inspiration?’
‘Oh yes,’ he smiled, proudly. ‘She’s what gets me out of bed every morning.’
Kim tipped her head. ‘And you’re not so bad yourself. Last night, if you hadn’t managed to loosen that rope or grab Victor ...’
‘It wasn't brave at all, Detective. I saw you go into the building and just came to see if you needed any help. Then I saw Victor Wilks digging a hole ...’
His words trailed away as he blushed. Kim understood that he was an accidental hero but he'd saved her life all the same.
‘Even so ...’
‘Enough,’ William said, holding up his hands. ‘Now, please tell me what I can do to help.’
Kim smiled to herself. This was a man who wanted no thanks, no praise and no sympathy.
‘Okay, see that bin by the window. We need to fill it with anything on the ground that might interfere with the machine.’
William started on the left and Kim on the right. They worked their way from the fence perimeter into the middle, picking up anything that got in the way.
‘Folks, the machine works much better if there’s less grass,’ Cerys called from the perimeter.
Kim looked around. In some places the weeds were knee high.
She bent to start pulling when suddenly the machine made a sound.
Kim straightened and focused on Cerys.
She walked back ten feet and moved forward slowly. Again, the machine cried out.
Cerys looked towards Kim. ‘Looks like your gut called it right.’
Seventy-Five
Cerys looked from her to William and then back again.
Kim covered the ground between them and took the weeds from his hand. ‘William, I have to ask you to leave the area now.’
He looked pained as his eyes rested on the area of ground that held Cerys’s attention. He nodded.
She took his right hand. ‘William, none of this is your fault, you have to know that. No one died because of you. It was just made to look that way by an evil, devious man with no conscience.’
His gaze met hers. It would take time for him to believe it.
‘I’ll leave you to it, Detective.’
She squeezed his hand. ‘My name is Kim and I want to thank you for everything you’ve done.’
William coloured with embarrassment. She let go of his hand. ‘Now get back to your wonderful daughter.’
He smiled widely. ‘Thank you, Det— Kim. I will.’
Kim waited until he'd gone and stepped over to where Cerys had laid down the machine.
Cerys turned to her. ‘Whatever’s down there is not very deep.’
Kim nodded and swallowed.
Cerys passed her the keys to the van. ‘There are shovels in the back. Go and fetch them while I mark it out.’
Kim sprinted to the van, grabbed two shovels and ran back down the hill. The painkillers she'd taken earlier were starting to wear off. The pain pounded across her lower back.
Cerys had marked out the area. Kim saw immediately that it was smaller than the rest.
Cerys took one more look at the readings regurgitated from the magnetometer and pointed. ‘You work that side but don't go too hard.’
Kim threw the shovel into the ground. A pain speared the width of her back but she ignored it and focused on what she needed to do.
The two of them worked without speaking for the next half an hour.
‘Okay, Kim, stop and get out,’ Cerys said, suddenly.
The pit was approximately five feet long but three feet wide, with a depth of no more than a foot.
Family pets were buried deeper.
Cerys walked around the perimeter of the pit twice before she got in. She used the hand tools to remove small mounds of dirt and place it to the side of the pit.
Kim didn't speak. Her eyes were on Cerys.
Cerys continued digging. The mounds of earth got smaller. She used the edge of the small trowel to scrape along a section in the middle of the pit.
On the third scrape, sections of white began to appear.
Cerys took a soft brush and dragged it along the surface. More white emerged.
Kim’s stomach turned as she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was looking at bone.
‘That, Kim, is most definitely an arm.’
Cerys continued to dig and dust until she revealed what looked to be a shoulder joint. Kim stared as more and more bone was revealed.
‘Cerys, what’s that?’ Kim asked, staring at something protruding from the shoulder joint.
Cerys dusted it once and Kim could see that it was fabric.
Kim’s heart began to hammer in her chest.
‘Cerys, dust it again.’
She did and Kim swore. Cerys turned and their eyes met.
‘Is this what you were looking for?’
Kim nodded, her feet already moving slowly towards the bike.
‘Cerys ... I have to ...’
‘Go,’ she said, taking out her phone. ‘I'll call it in.’
Kim sprinted up the hill as fast as her legs would move.
Seventy-Six
Kim knocke
d on the door and took a deep breath.
The door opened.
‘Detective, good morning. Please come in.’
‘Good morning, Nicola,’ Kim said, entering the flat.
Nicola closed the door and stood in front of it. ‘You’re alone today?’
Kim nodded. ‘I have to give my team some time off.’
‘But not yourself?’
‘Soon, Nicola. Very soon.’
‘Please, sit.’
Kim did so. As she lowered herself down her eyes rested on the edge of the sofa, and her mind now fully registered the significance of what she had glimpsed on her last visit.
‘How can I help?’ Nicola asked.
Kim took a second to analyse Nicola’s expression. It was open and earnest. Kim detected no deceit at all. Dammit.
‘We’ve uncovered another body.’
Nicola’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh God, no.’
The shock was genuine.
‘Nicola, do you have any idea at all who the fourth victim could be?’
Nicola stood and paced back and forth behind the sofa. ‘I can’t even begin to imagine who ...’
‘Nicola, was there a fourth member in that group?’
Nicola frowned. Her eye movement indicated she was searching her memory.
‘No, Detective. I’m sure there were only three.’
Kim sighed and stood as though to leave. ‘Oh, perhaps Beth might recall another girl?’ Kim asked, hopefully.
Nicola shook her head. ‘Beth’s out shopping at the moment but when she comes back ...’
‘Are you sure?’ Kim asked.
‘Of course I’m sure,’ Nicola said, smiling.
Kim nodded towards the edge of the sofa. ‘Then why didn’t she take her stick?’
Nicola’s eyes rested on the walking aid hooked over the back of the sofa. Her expression was one of genuine confusion.
Kim took the momentum and strode across the room. She headed for the first door and just hoped it was the right one.
‘Perhaps she hasn’t left yet. Perhaps she will ...’
‘Detective, don’t go in there. Beth doesn’t like ...’
Her words trailed away as Kim pushed open the door.
Nicola was beside her and they surveyed the room together. The single bed was a box spring and mattress. There were no sheets or a duvet cover. A two-drawer cabinet sat beside the unused bed.
Kim strode to the wardrobe in the corner and opened it. Seven empty coat hangers stared back at her.
Kim looked back at Nicola who stood, horrified, in the doorway.
Kim waited for a response but Nicola continued to stare into the empty room.
A single tear rolled down her cheek. ‘She’s gone again ‒ and she never even said goodbye.’
Kim ushered Nicola out of the doorway and closed the door behind her. She guided Nicola to the sofa and sat beside her.
‘Has Beth done this before?’ she asked, gently.
Nicola nodded. ‘She’s been doing it ever since we left Crestwood.’ A fresh wave of tears rolled over her cheeks. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her jumper. ‘She’s always so angry with me but she won’t tell me why. This is what she does. She comes back and then just leaves me again. It’s so unfair. She knows I have no one else.’
Kim went to the kitchen and retrieved a few squares of kitchen roll. She sat and handed the tissue to Nicola. The tears were not over yet.
‘Can you remember when she last came back?’
Nicola stopped crying and thought. She sniffed and nodded. ‘It was two years ago, when I had glandular fever and was taken into hospital. I woke up and there she was, sitting beside the bed.’
‘And the time before that?’
‘I’d had a minor car accident, just a shunt really. I wasn’t badly injured but it frightened me a lot at the time. I hadn’t been driving very long.’
‘So, she’s been in and out of your life since leaving Crestwood. Do you have any idea why she might be angry with you?’
Nicola shook her head vehemently. ‘She won’t tell me.’
Kim heard the exasperation in Nicola’s voice and realised this was going to be even harder than she’d imagined.
Kim reached for Nicola’s hand. ‘I need you to think back to the day of the fire. I think there’s something there that you may have forgotten. Do you think you could do that if I’m right here with you?’
‘There’s nothing,’ she said, confused.
Kim squeezed the hand. ‘It’s okay, Nicola. I’m right here. Tell me step-by-step what you remember from that day and we’ll see what we can piece together.’
Nicola stared forward, her eyes focused on the opposite wall. ‘I know it was cold and Beth and I had argued about something. She was giving me the silent treatment so I went to the common room.’
‘Who was in the common room?’ Kim asked, gently.
Nicola shook her head and then frowned. ‘No one. They were all outside, building a snowman.’
‘So, what did you do?’
Nicola tipped her head. ‘I heard voices, shouting. It was coming from Mr Croft’s office.’
‘What did you hear, Nicola?’
Kim was holding onto Nicola’s hand but her thumb rested on the slim wrist. The pulse had quickened.
‘They were talking about William, about covering something up. They were saying he would get into trouble, that he’d go to prison. They were talking about what would happen to Lucy.’
‘Do you remember who you heard in there?’
‘Mr Croft and Miss Wyatt were arguing. Father Wilks was talking quietly and I heard Tom Curtis and Arthur Connop in the background.’
Five of them, Kim thought. ‘What about Mary Andrews?’
Nicola shook her head. ‘She’d been off sick with the flu.’
‘What happened next, Nicola?’
‘Father Wilks opened the door and saw me. He looked angry. I ran away.’
Kim could feel the palm of Nicola’s hand turning clammy.
‘Where did you go?’
‘I went to find Beth. She was in our room. I was sick of people being angry with me.’
Kim’s voice was barely a whisper. ‘So, what did you do?’
‘I told her ... I told her ...’
Kim squeezed the hand but Nicola’s head was already shaking from side to side. Her eyes were darting around, searching her own memory, hoping to rearrange the past.
‘No. No. No. No. No.’
Kim tried to hang on to the hand but Nicola broke free easily.
She paced around the room like a caged animal looking for somewhere to hide.
The panic was rising in her. Her movements were quick and frantic.
‘No, it can’t be ... I couldn’t have ...’
Nicola’s hands thumped down on the breakfast bar. She turned and started banging her fists into the wall units and then punching herself in the head.
Kim ran over and grabbed Nicola from behind, forcing her arms to her sides to prevent her from any further damage to her own body.
‘What did you tell Beth?’
Nicola struggled to free herself from Kim’s hold but she had interlocked her fingers and she wasn’t about to let go.
‘Please stop, I can’t ...’
Kim’s voice grew louder. ‘Nicola, you have to remember. What did you tell Beth?’
Nicola’s head thrashed from side to side. Kim craned her own neck back to avoid being struck.
Kim was shouting in her ear. ‘Tell me, Nicola. What did you tell your sister?’
‘I told her she could have the damned cardigan if it would make her happy,’ Nicola screamed.
Silence fell between them. Suddenly the fight left Nicola’s body and she fell to the ground, taking Kim with her.
Kim refused to let go. She sat on the floor, holding Nicola close. Kim knew the events of ten years ago were finally playing in her mind.
‘She took it, didn’t she?’
Nicola no
dded and Kim could feel the tears dripping onto her hands.
‘So, they all thought she was you, didn’t they, because of the cardigan?’
Nicola nodded again. ‘One minute I looked outside and she was playing with the others and then I couldn’t find her. I kept asking people and they all told me she was somewhere else. In the end I went to my room to wait for her but she never came.
‘Later, just before the fire, I saw them out of the kitchen window. They were all standing around a hole and I knew. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared they were going to come back for me so when the fire started I was just relieved that they couldn’t get me anymore.’
Kim knew that Beth wouldn’t have been able to run away. Her knee wouldn’t have allowed it in that cold weather.
‘When did Beth come back, Nicola?’
‘About two weeks ago,’ she answered hoarsely.
When the announcement was made about the dig and once again Nicola felt frightened.
‘You know now that you brought her back, don’t you, Nicola?’
‘Noooooo ...’
The sound was that of a keening animal. A poor wounded soul that was writhing in pain. Kim held fast while Nicola tried to escape the events in her own head.
The knowledge of what she’d done as Beth was not to be shared now. It was a realisation Nicola would reach eventually in the care of a good psychiatrist.
As she sat rocking the young, broken girl whose guilt had gained control of her, Kim doubted that Nicola would ever be fit to stand trial for the murder of Teresa Wyatt, Tom Curtis and Arthur Connop.
After a few minutes, Kim gently eased herself backwards.
It was time to make the call.
Seventy-Seven
William added a drop of cold milk to the porridge. He bent his little finger and touched the knuckle to the food. Perfect.
He smiled. Lucy’s favourite.
His daughter had been washed and changed and now awaited her breakfast. After that he would clean the bathroom and change the beds. Following lunch the oven was in for a deep clean.
He smiled again. He knew people felt sorry for him and the life he lived but, he reasoned, those people did not know Lucy.
His daughter’s spirit inspired him every single day. She was the most courageous and thoughtful person he had ever known.