Martin Edwards - The Frozen Shroud

Hannah took a breath. ‘Okay. So what are the other possibilities? Do you go along with Josh Higginbottom? He told me he thought Oz Knight might have killed Shenagh Moss.’

Fern nodded. ‘Oz and Shenagh had a fling. This was before she moved in with Francis Palladino. The affair was no secret, even though Oz wasn’t long married to a pretty woman who worked for him. He revelled in his image as a Casanova, and Melody Knight turned a blind eye. As far as we could tell.’

‘Why was that? Was she playing away as well?’

‘My take was, she was just happy to have snared the boss.’ Fern didn’t hide her scorn. She had no time for women whose idea of a career plan was to marry the richest bloke they could find. ‘Trouble was, Knight couldn’t let go. He kept pestering Shenagh.’

‘How do you know?’

‘When we checked her phone, we found she’d saved his texts. Not very edifying. An uneasy mixture of pleading and bullying. Didn’t seem to get him very far.’

‘Did Francis Palladino know anything about this?’

Fern shook her head. ‘He had no illusions about Shenagh’s past, but he was convinced she was a reformed character. Possibly he was right. Like Melody, she’d got what she wanted. She didn’t tell Palladino about the texts, possibly because she didn’t want him to make a fuss. He wasn’t in the best of health. If you ask me, she saw their relationship as a five-year investment, give or take a bit. Once he was safely in the grave, she would be free to do as she pleased. And rich.’

‘Did Knight have any sort of alibi for the killing?’

‘That was the other problem. He and Melody had spent that Hallowe’en night in bed together, or so they both said. We found nothing to link him to the crime scene. Whereas there was no doubt that Meek had been on the spot.’

‘Terri worked for Oz,’ Hannah said. ‘And she’d fallen for another bloke. Are you thinking that Oz wanted her, and when he realised he couldn’t have her …?’

‘Stranger things have happened.’ Fern finished her coffee, and checked her watch. The press conference was due to start in ten minutes. ‘But without any evidence, we’re just pissing in the wind.’

Hannah had promised to take Daniel and Louise out for a meal, as a thank you for their hospitality. Their chosen destination was the Brack Arms, lavishly revamped after a change of ownership, and recently lauded by The Good Food Guide. Ten miles away from the Cricketers, it might have been in a different country. And century.

A slinky Greek waitress called Efthalia took their order. Hannah noticed her giving Daniel the once-over; he seemed unaware of the scrutiny. Like Ben, he had no ego. Over their starters, Hannah supplied a carefully edited account of progress — or lack of it — in the case. Much the same information, she assured herself, as would have been put out at the press conference. That a 38-year-old man who had been helping with enquiries had been released without charge.

‘If, by any chance, Stefan didn’t do it,’ Daniel said, ‘there aren’t many suspects. Just the people who live in Ravenbank, and the guests at the Hallowe’en party. Including us.’

‘Daniel.’ Louise’s eyes flashed. ‘How could anyone imagine …?’

Her outrage amused him. ‘Even solicitors aren’t automatically above suspicion. We were both on our own after we went up to bed, it would have been easy for one or both of us to go out via that separate staircase without disturbing Quin or Jeffrey. Are your bosses happy about your staying with us, Hannah?’

‘Fern’s relaxed about it, and it’s not a breach of any protocol. The fact your dad was very popular up here still counts for something, and it’s not as if we weren’t already friends. You two were on the spot, any information you can provide is likely to be trustworthy, and might just make all the difference. So if, for the sake of argument, we rule out the pair of you …’

‘Your colleagues went through the guest list with the Knights yesterday morning. We were at the Hall, with Jeffrey, Quin and the Parks. Coming to terms with the shock of finding Terri’s body. Most of the party guests were ferried away by coach at midnight, but a few went home under their own steam.’

‘The Knights didn’t have anyone staying at the Hall overnight?’

Louise said, ‘No, I talked to some friends of theirs who live at Silloth, and had arranged to spend the night at Ravenbank Hall. During the evening, their son called. His pregnant wife had been rushed into hospital, so they shot off to lend him a hand.’

‘And the catering staff had gone by the time you went ghost-hunting?’

‘Yes, they were bussed in from Penrith, and left before midnight. Nobody who works at the Hall lives in. Though one of the guests may have parked down the lane, and then hung around waiting for Terri to show.’

‘All the people who drove home themselves were couples,’ Daniel said. ‘Not a solo murderer among them.’

‘Someone might have come by water,’ Louise said

‘Nobody could swim from any distance,’ Hannah said. ‘That stretch of the lake is a challenge for swimmers even in the height of summer. People have drowned close to the shore on perfect days, and the water’s freezing cold.’

‘But arriving by boat …’

‘At that time of night, and year, you’d have to be tired of life to make the attempt.’

Louise said, ‘Ravenbank Hall has its own tiny harbour. Melody said they have a boathouse. Oz Knight fancies himself as a sailor. But …’

‘Fern hasn’t quite ruled out someone arriving by boat, and it’s also possible that the killer drove to Ravenbank, as Stefan did, in the hope of finding Terri. But both scenarios seem unlikely, to say the least.’

‘If you rule out Stefan, and don’t count us,’ Daniel said, ‘that leaves just the Knights, Jeffrey and Quin. Together with Miriam Park — and son Robin, if you don’t accept that he was out of action due to sickness.’

‘This stomach bug,’ Hannah asked. ‘Any reason to think he might have faked it?’

‘Quite the opposite,’ Daniel said. ‘Terri was in no doubt that he was genuinely ill, and she didn’t strike me as easily fooled.’

‘No,’ Hannah said. ‘She may have been hopeless at picking men, but she wasn’t gullible. And she could see through malingerers.’

‘She said she’d have stayed with Robin, but he only wanted to sleep. So she and Mrs Park went to the party.’

‘Terri was a party animal, but what about the old lady?’

‘She spent years working for old man Palladino as a sort of part-time housekeeper, and jumped at any excuse to go back to Ravenbank Hall. The legend of the Faceless Woman fascinates her. If you ask me, she actually believes it.’

‘Robin’s illness was crucial to what happened,’ Hannah said. ‘A stroke of bad luck. It created the chance for someone to murder Terri. If he’d been fit and well, the two of them would have stayed together and slept together.’

‘An opportunistic murder, then?’

‘Sort of.’

‘Most crimes are opportunistic, aren’t they?’ Louise said, as Efthalia brought their food, giving Daniel a broad smile as she shimmied around the table. ‘Suppose the murderer acted on the spur of the moment. He or she somehow seized the chance of a late-night get together with Terri, and it didn’t go as planned.’

‘Maybe,’ Hannah said.

‘You don’t sound convinced.’

Hannah tasted her moussaka — aubergine, spinach, and lentil, Fern would have hated it — before explaining that, if Stefan was telling the truth, he’d been lured to Ravenbank by a fake text message purporting to come from Terri. It was always a judgement call, where to draw the line, how much information to dole out in order to get something in return. She didn’t plan to drop any hint that Oz Knight had come under suspicion in the case of Shenagh Moss.