Martin Edwards - The Frozen Shroud

Stefan had better beware.

‘I suppose you’re right.’

‘No suppose about it. I’m always right. Question is, are you going to pay attention, or simply pretend to agree while quietly hating yourself for no earthly reason?’

‘Don’t worry about me.’

‘I don’t want you to be alone tonight. I’d invite you to stay at mine, you’re more than welcome. But Christ knows what time I’ll get back home. You’d be better with someone.’

‘I need to visit Marc. No need for your eyes to pop out of your head, we’re not getting back together, quite the reverse. Last night he was involved in a car crash.’

‘For crying out loud, whatever next? What happened?’

Hannah had thought out her story. The truth, but much less than the whole truth, that was always the best plan. ‘He came round to Undercrag last night. Let’s just say it didn’t go well. He fucked off in a temper, and next thing I heard, he’d wrapped his car round a tree. But he’ll live. The damage he’s done to himself sounds pretty superficial.’

‘Oh God, what a plonker.’ Fern shook her head. ‘First that, then Terri. No wonder you look so frazzled.’

‘You’re so good for my morale.’ Hannah had glimpsed her pale, grief-stricken features in the rear-view mirror on the way here. She’d have made a suitable model for Edvard Munch in one of his bleaker moods.

‘Sorry, but that’s my point. When you’ve finished at the hospital, you don’t want to go back to that bloody great house in the middle of nowhere. You could do with some company. And you ought to take a spot of leave, while you’re at it.’

‘Not a good time. Might come back and find I don’t have a desk, let alone an office.’

‘Not even Lauren would do that to you.’

‘You reckon?’

‘She has nothing to gain for crucifying a popular officer for no good reason. Take some time out, you could do with it.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Hannah said, wondering if she’d ever felt less popular.

‘Ever realised you do too much thinking for your own good?’ Fern levered herself out of her chair. ‘Seriously, Hannah, give yourself a break. Otherwise, you’ll fall to pieces. Sorry to be blunt, but someone needs to say it. Now I really must hit the road. I’ll keep you posted. The minute we arrest him, you’ll be the first to know.’

Hurrying down the corridor back to her office, keen to have a few minutes to herself to get her head straight, she ran into Maggie Eyre. The DC’s face was an open book, as usual. Her frantic sympathy said louder than any words that everyone knew the DCI’s best friend was dead.

‘DS Wharf is looking for you, ma’am. He’s heard that DCI Larter brought you back from Lancaster.’ Maggie’s voice faltered. ‘It’s shocking news about …’

Hannah touched her arm. ‘Thanks, Maggie. Let’s hope the man who did it is nicked before the day is out, eh?’

She found Greg by the coffee machine. He started to say how sorry he was about Terri, but she cut him short and beckoned him into her room. When they’d last talked, a few hours earlier, it had seemed things could only get better after the debacle at Undercrag, and Marc’s car crash. If she could rewind the clock …

As the thought entered her mind, she banished it. Fern was right. The past was for learning from, not for living in.

‘I suppose there’s no doubt that Stefan killed her?’ Greg said.

‘Not in my mind. I’ve never known any man scare Terri before.’

‘Yeah, but Fern Larter won’t have ruled out other lines of enquiry.’

‘Such as?’ Hannah frowned. ‘Terri wasn’t someone who made enemies.’

‘Didn’t you tell me once she’d been married three times? Makes me look like a novice in the matrimonial stakes. Even if she never knew it, she won’t have been everyone’s cup of tea.’

Hannah shrugged. ‘Terri was no saint, but that doesn’t mean anyone else wanted her dead. She wasn’t at daggers drawn with any of her exes.’

‘How can you be sure? They’ll have to be questioned.’

‘Not as easy as you may think. One moved to London, another emigrated to Crete, the third died last year of liver failure. Take it from me, Stefan’s the man. He was spotted in the vicinity of the murder scene, and promptly did a runner. The facts speak for themselves.’

‘Okay, okay.’ He was ready to change the subject. ‘I hate to say this, but you need to take a break. You look totally knackered.’

‘That’s twice in ten minutes I’ve been reminded what an ugly old hag I’ve become.’

‘You’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘But for a day or two, you need to look after yourself. Have you got anyone to stay with?’

Hannah’s eyes narrowed. Was Greg about to make her an offer she would have to refuse?

‘I’m sorted, thanks.’

He studied her, as if conducting a visual lie-detector test. Evidently he wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t push the point, and for that she was grateful. He sprang to his feet.

‘If I can do anything, even just offer a shoulder to cry on, you only have to call.’

‘Thanks.’

She avoided his eyes. Decision made. Last night had been a colossal mistake. She wasn’t going to make it again.

As the door swung shut behind Greg, she dug out her mobile. She’d switched if off after arriving in Lancaster, and the missed calls included one from Daniel Kind. He’d left a message on her voicemail. Hasty, breathless, yet characteristically polite. ‘Hannah, could you call me, please? It’s about poor Terri, of course. Thanks.’

Daniel, witness to the discovery of Terri’s corpse. She must speak to him. Fill in the pages missing from the story Fern had told her.

‘Hello?’

‘Hannah, thanks for calling back.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I’m so sorry about Terri. I know how close you two were.’

‘Fern told me you found … the body.’

The body . This was Terri she was talking about. Her gorge rose.

‘I was with the man who did. One of her boyfriend’s neighbours.’

‘The boyfriend, yes. Tell me about him.’

‘All I can say is that Robin is in bits right now. It’s obvious he cared a lot for her.’

‘I realised there was someone, but I guessed wrong. I thought she’d got mixed up with the guy she worked for. I suppose I gave off vibes of disapproval, and that pissed her off.’

‘Oz Knight?’ He paused. ‘He has a track record as a womaniser, but I didn’t pick up any hint that he and Terri …’

‘The Knights are friends of yours?’

‘I only just met them. They organised a conference at the weekend, and I was a speaker. That’s how I met Jeffrey Burgoyne, who found Terri. He and his partner, Alex Quinlan, are actors. They run their own two-man company.’

‘And Robin?’

‘I met him for the first time this morning. He turned up early, in a distressed state because Terri was missing. That’s why we set up the search party.’

‘Wasn’t Robin Park at this do at Ravenbank Hall?’

‘No, he was poorly.’

‘Are you saying Terri went without him?’ A thought struck her. ‘She wasn’t on a mission to chat up this man Knight, by any chance?’

‘Not as far as I’m aware. She was keeping Miriam Park company. Robin’s mother. Look, Hannah, it’s not easy talking on the phone. Can we get together this evening, are you free?’

‘My social calendar isn’t that crowded, to be honest. Though I need to visit Marc. He’s in hospital.’

‘God, what’s happened to him?’

‘He only wrapped his car round a tree last night. The silly man is lucky to be alive, even luckier that he’s come out of it with not much more than a few scratches.’

‘You’ve had a bellyful.’