Martin Edwards: The Frozen Shroud

‘… and the steamer doesn’t sail for a few minutes. I’ve already bought our tickets. Let’s walk along the shore while you tell me everything.’

‘In a few minutes? A few hours, more like.’

‘Fine, we’ve got all day.’ He clapped her on the shoulder as they passed the ferry terminal. ‘So — how are you?’

‘Still alive, thanks. Unlike Miriam Park.’

Miriam had died in the ambulance from that single stab wound. In Northern Ireland, she’d learnt about ruthlessness, and working in a care home had supplied enough anatomical know-how to ensure the knife found her jugular vein. Her death was for the best, everyone agreed — even Robin, it seemed. But there were still procedures to follow. Regulations classified her suicide as a ‘death following contact with the police’, so Professional Standards were tasked to carry out an internal investigation under the watchful eye of the IPCC.

‘You solved the case, why put you through the pain of an inquiry?’

‘Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t have gone into the cottage on my own. Not that I’m worried, events overtook me. If I bent the rules, I didn’t break them. There’s no question of a suspension. On the contrary, Lauren Self has been sweetness and light, urging me to get counselling “after all I’ve been through”. Very kind, but I’m not into touchy-feely stuff. I’ll make do with a few glasses of wine, preferably in pleasant company. Like I said on the phone, I’m catching up on a bit of leave.’ She laughed. ‘Speaking of Lauren, she’s handed in her resignation. Headhunted by an American firm of management consultants, who want to market her insights into leadership and management. They’ll learn.’

‘Where does that leave the team restructure?’

‘It’s feeling more like a slight tremor than an earthquake, thank God. I’m only losing Greg Wharf.’ She hesitated. ‘He … decided it was time to move on. But Les Bryant may stay put. Seems the brass has remembered the value of cold case reviews, now we’ve solved two murders for the price of one. Not counting your work on Dorothy Hodgkinson, which started everything off.’

‘At least that compensates for my messing up over Terri. I should have told you sooner that she planned to move closer to her father. It never crossed my mind he didn’t live locally.’

‘For goodness sake, don’t beat yourself up. How could you know about Florida? Quite possibly Fern’s team already filed away that titbit, but unless you know the context, it seems unimportant.’

‘The context being that Miriam couldn’t let go?’

‘Robin told Fern that when she was serving in Belfast, her best friend had her head blown off by an IRA gunman. She threw herself into caring for other people. Robin’s dad she adored, but he died young, and left her bereft. Admirable — until it becomes an obsession. Hence her son becoming a spoilt brat. Eventually, she devoted herself to Francis Palladino. Fern reckons she hoped he would marry her, after his wife died. When he fell for a sexy gold-digger instead, Miriam swallowed her pride, and took Shenagh under her wing. She thought she mattered to both of them. What she couldn’t bear was the prospect of Palladino abandoning her forever, and moving to Australia with his floozie.’

‘So the motive wasn’t money?

‘No, it was love.’

Their steamship was nearing the pier, and as they retraced their steps, Hannah told him what Robin had said about Francis Palladino’s will. ‘Of course, killing Shenagh was utterly self-defeating. The murder broke Palladino, the last thing she wanted. Pity she didn’t learn her lesson. If she had, poor Terri would still be alive.’

‘Her MO was influenced by Dorothy’s killing of Gertrude Smith,’ Daniel said. ‘Craig Meek was as much a scapegoat as Letty Hodgkinson, and battering Shenagh’s face to turn her into a latter day Faceless Woman was Miriam’s idea of covering up what the murder was really about. She repeated the pattern with Stefan and Terri.’

‘Fern’s found out how Miriam smashed Shenagh’s face. She destroyed that weapon, but used another one, exactly the same, to kill Terri.’ Hannah swallowed hard. ‘A hockey stick.’

Daniel stopped in his tracks. ‘You’re kidding.’

‘Robin says she kept a couple of sticks for years, had a sentimental attachment to them. There’s no trace of either of them in Beck Cottage now. Robin is in bits, as you might expect, but fighting to save his own skin by cooperating. If he’s to be believed, he didn’t have a clue about what his mum was up to. Heard no evil, saw no evil.’

‘And is he to be believed?’

‘Debatable. Sounds like he’s rewriting history.’

‘Happens all the time.’

‘You’re the historian, you should know. Anyway, he’s admitted starting to become suspicious in the last day or two. He remembers her burning wood on her stove after both deaths. Not unusual in November, but he thinks she burnt the hockey stick she used to kill Shenagh, and did the same after murdering Terri.’

‘Jesus.’

‘Despite her age, she was strong, and she knew how to use a hockey stick. Her victims were half her age, but she had the advantage of surprise.’

‘Like Dorothy with Gertrude.’

‘Yes, there are so many parallels. No wonder Miriam felt Ravenbank was haunted.’

‘That wasn’t her idea, either. She nicked it from Esme Palladino.’ They had reached the pier, and he followed her up the wooden steps to join the queue of passengers. ‘I suppose that was Miriam’s problem, the flaw that wrecked her life.’

‘What?’

‘She lacked imagination.’

The Lady of the Lake chugged past the wooded tip of Ravenbank on her way to the bay at Howtown, pursued by a flock of noisy gulls. Hannah and Daniel were out on deck, leaning on the rail, a stiff breeze flicking their hair into their eyes as they spotted the boathouse from which Oz Knight had paddled off into the fog less than forty-eight hours earlier.

‘I suppose the Knights will sell the Hall,’ he said. ‘There’ll be a positive glut of houses in Ravenbank coming on to the market any day now.’

‘I guess Louise won’t be making an offer?’

‘Not likely. She’s given up on her move to Glenridding. The surveyor found the cottage was riddled with damp. Hard to believe, it looks like something from a picture postcard.’

‘Rather like Ravenbank, huh?’ She sighed. ‘Beautiful, but rotten at its heart.’

‘At least Jeffrey and Quin are back on an even keel.’

‘Until the next time jealousy provokes Burgoyne into giving Quinlan a good slapping.’

He turned to look at her. Hannah’s eyes were fixed on Hallin Fell, her expression unreadable.

‘How about you? You’ve had a rough time, what with Terri’s death, and … everything.’

‘I’m not an invalid,’ she snapped. ‘Oh, shit. Sorry, Daniel, didn’t mean to bite your head off. Truth is, I’m dead on my feet.’

‘It’ll take time to come to terms with losing Terri.’

‘At least now I understand why she kept quiet about her plans. She was excited about this new life with Robin, but she realised making it happen would be complicated. The last thing she wanted was me, trying to be the voice of reason, advocating restraint when she was desperate to get away from Stefan, and panicking about how Miriam would react to losing her precious boy.’

‘Do you think Robin really meant to make the break and move to Florida?’

‘Absolutely — if he’s telling the truth. With a man like that, you can never be sure. He told Fern that he yearned to escape from Ravenbank. Mother love was suffocating him. So much for the devoted offspring.’

‘Robin didn’t deserve her. Neither did Stefan.’