Pauline Rowson - Footsteps on the Shore

Aloud he said, ‘She was softly spoken, no accent, or rather middle England, reserved. She seemed a little nervous but that could have been her natural manner. She met me at the front of the house coming from the rear of the building, as though she’d been waiting for me.’ He paused as an idea struck him.

‘Go on, or is this a new party game and we have to guess what happened next?’ grumbled Uckfield.

‘Perhaps her killer was already in the house.’ And could that have been Luke Felton? Horton wondered. But how could Luke have known Venetia Trotman? Then a thought occurred to him. Could Felton have met someone in prison who had told him about the Trotmans?

Horton continued. ‘Her visitor could have arrived unexpectedly. She couldn’t cancel my appointment because I hadn’t then given her my mobile number, so she had to go through with it. But she didn’t want me in the house. Whoever was inside could have been a criminal, or possibly someone on the run, and it explains why the place was wiped clean.’

Surely Luke Felton, stoned or not, wouldn’t have bothered to wipe the house of his prints. Then Horton recalled Felton’s room at Crown House, neat, tidy and clean to the point of clinical obsession. But why would Luke Felton risk losing his job, go on the run and kill a woman? The answer could be drugs. But that didn’t explain why he had been missing since Tuesday and Venetia killed in the early hours of Friday morning.

Swiftly his mind ran over the things he’d learnt about Luke Felton since yesterday. Having been refused money by his brother, Luke Felton had been on his way to his sister’s house on Tuesday evening after leaving work when he remembered someone had told him about the Trotmans. He diverted to Willow Bank, and found Venetia alone. He threatened her with exposure over her secret, whatever it was, unless she gave him money. He bought drugs, and then when he needed more he returned to Willow Bank late Thursday night, but Venetia refused him money. She tried to run away from him. He killed her. That didn’t explain the caller with the foreign accent, but nevertheless Horton relayed his ideas to Uckfield, watching his expression change from incredulity to hope and then indignation.

‘Why didn’t I know about this Luke Felton before?’ he thundered.

‘Because until an hour ago I thought we might have his body in the mortuary.’

Uckfield grunted. ‘Can Felton sail a yacht?’

‘I can check with his brother. No sign of Shorena , I take it.’

A sullen-looking Dennings answered. ‘No, and it’s not registered with the harbour master.’

Horton knew that, unlike a car, there was no legal requirement for registration, or any kind of documentation, tracking the ownership of a boat, although the sensible and responsible boat owner always kept records. Dennings was eyeing Horton malevolently. Horton knew what he was thinking — why involve him when it wasn’t his case? And perhaps Uckfield wouldn’t be doing so, apart from having Luke Felton in the frame and the fact that Horton was the only person who’d met the victim. That, and the lack of information on the victim, had changed Uckfield’s mind.

Uckfield hauled himself up. ‘Right. We start work on Luke Felton.’

But Horton halted him. ‘That’s just one theory.’

‘You’ve got more?’ Uckfield replied, rolling his eyes.

‘Perhaps Joseph Trotman’s not dead at all, but living under another name somewhere, and she was about to join him. Maybe she needed the money quickly for them to get away, but when I didn’t buy the boat there and then she decided to cut loose and leave, which was why she was dressed in outdoor clothes at that time of night. But as she was making her escape she was attacked and killed by whoever it is who is after them.’ Uckfield eyed him doubtfully, made to reply, but Horton continued. ‘Or perhaps she killed her husband and was frightened of being found out, so she was running away.’ There was a short silence before Horton added, ‘Or she could have been a squatter and just posing as Joseph’s wife, and the real Venetia Trotman was already dead.’

‘Bloody hell, I think your imagination’s on overtime. Must be something to do with that bang on the head.’

Horton guessed his last idea was a bit on the wild side. ‘What about the GPs in the area? Were either of the Trotmans registered as patients?’

Grudgingly Dennings answered. ‘We can’t get on to that until Monday because the surgeries are closed over the weekend.’

‘Hard bloody luck if you’re sick,’ growled Uckfield, transferring his scratch to his armpit.

Horton said, ‘What did the shop owner say about the advertisement for the boat?’

Uckfield nodded at Marsden.

‘She placed it a week before she was killed,’ Marsden answered brightly, sitting up — like a Springer spaniel about to be tossed a bone, thought Horton. ‘He’s no idea who responded to it. If anyone did they would simply have seen it in the window, jotted down the details and called her direct, like you did, sir.’

And the card hadn’t given her name or address, just a telephone number.

Marsden added, ‘The newsagent can’t remember seeing her before she showed up with the advertisement, and he didn’t deliver newspapers to the house. I’ve sent the card to Forensic, but I’m not sure they’ll get anything from it other than the shopkeeper’s fingerprints, which were taken today, though there might be traces of the victim’s on it. I’ve requested copies of the CCTV tapes from the shopping precinct in case we can identify anyone who is looking at the advertisements in the shop window, other than Inspector Horton, but they’ve only got the last few days.’

It was better than nothing.

Addressing Trueman, Uckfield said, ‘Liaise with DC Walters and get all you can on Luke Felton. See if you can unearth any connection between Felton and the Trotmans. And so we don’t ignore your other theories, Inspector Horton, Dennings you can organize the search of the garden to see if Venetia Trotman buried her husband there and was intending to sail off into the sunset with their life savings. Get the scanning equipment in. Oversee the operation personally. I don’t want anything missed.’

Horton could see that Dennings didn’t look too happy about being pushed outside for the day, but Horton prayed for rain and gale force winds. He called Ashley Felton’s mobile number. It was answered almost immediately, as though he was expecting a call. Horton asked if Luke was an experienced sailor.

There was a short pause before Felton answered. ‘Yes. A very good one. You think he could have stolen a boat?’

It was a logical conclusion given his question. ‘Do you?’

He heard Ashley take a deep breath. ‘I suppose it’s possible, but he hasn’t taken mine, it’s still at the Town Camber. I’m on it now.’

Horton thanked him, promised to keep him updated and rang off. He relayed the information to Trueman and then took his leave for Hayling Island, and the place where Natalie Raymonds had met her death.

Horton stared across the ebbing tide in Langstone Harbour to the opposite shore of Portsmouth. The weather had clouded over after a promising start and now the sky was a patchwork of dark scudding clouds which threatened rain, and the wind was bringing with it the smell of mud and salt and the cry of the seagulls. He’d left his Harley at the end of Julian Raymonds’ road, a cul-de-sac that culminated in a field, which he’d walked across to reach the shore. Climbing down on to the shingle beach he headed south until he came to the rear of the Raymonds’ house. There didn’t seem to be any signs of life inside. He’d been tempted to call there, but had decided against it. He didn’t want to upset Julian Raymonds any more than was necessary, and he couldn’t see how Raymonds could tell them where Luke Felton might be.