Линда Ла Плант - Unholy Murder

‘I worry Barnes’s loathing of Malone and the Catholic Church over Stephen Phillips’ suicide is clouding his judgement.’

‘We all have our demons, Jane. The death of a child is one of the hardest things to deal with as a police officer.’

‘I know, but pissing off the archbishop won’t help our investigation.’

He shrugged. ‘Barnes is in charge and we have to do as he says, like it or not.’

Boon walked in. ‘I got a positive result with Julie Dorton about the whittling.’

Stanley sighed. ‘For Christ’s sake, would somebody explain this whistling thing — I mean, whittling.’

‘Shall we just call it wood carving if it’s easier for you?’ Jane teased.

‘Call it what you bloody well like. Just tell me what happened at Canvey Island,’ Stanley said.

Jane told him about Sister Margaret’s condition and the conversation they had with her.

‘I’ve got to say Boony was brilliant with her. If it wasn’t for him...’

‘If she’s as nutty as a fruit cake we can’t rely on anything she said,’ Stanley remarked.

Boon frowned. ‘That’s a bit harsh.’

‘I don’t have any sympathy for sadists who take pleasure in beating young children,’ Stanley said bluntly.

‘Neither do I. But calling someone with dementia a fruit cake is offensive,’ Boon replied in the same tone of voice.

Stanley huffed. ‘She’d forget it in two seconds if I did.’

Boon shook his head. ‘It’s nothing to joke about.’

‘Who’s rattled your cage?’ Stanley asked.

‘You have, sir.’

Stanley leaned forward. ‘Who do you think you are talking to, son?’

Jane was afraid Boon was about to say something he’d regret. She kicked his foot.

‘Please, stop this bickering,’ she said quickly. ‘We’re all under a lot of pressure. Arguing amongst ourselves will get us nowhere.’

‘Sorry, sarge,’ Boon said. ‘Sorry, guv.’

Stanley sat back. ‘OK, tell me about this whittling thing you uncovered.’

Barnes’s desk phone started to ring. Stanley picked it up.

‘How did it go with the commissioner, guv?’

Stanley didn’t say anything as he listened to Barnes. A minute later he put the phone down.

‘What did Barnes have to say?’ Jane asked.

‘Not much. He sounded really pissed off. Malone made an official complaint to the commissioner about Barnes’s behaviour. He also said he signed a dispensation order for Sister Melissa, which—’

Jane interrupted. ‘I’ll bet no one’s actually seen it.’

‘Malone said he can show us the document. The commissioner has an official meeting with him tomorrow.’

‘It could be forged and backdated,’ Boon suggested.

‘Possibly,’ Stanley said. ‘But it could also be genuine. Malone told Julie Dorton in 1962 that he was going to sign a dispensation. If he was trying to cover up Melissa’s murder it makes sense the dispensation was issued back then.’

‘Is Barnes coming back here?’ Jane asked.

Stanley shook his head. ‘He’s going home. He wants everyone in the incident room for a nine o’clock meeting when he’ll brief us all on what the commissioner said and where the investigation is going from here.’

‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Boon remarked.

‘I have an awful feeling history might be repeating itself for Barnes,’ Jane said.

Stanley shrugged. ‘We won’t know until he’s briefed us, Jane. For now, we crack on as normal.’

Boon removed the little owl from his pocket and put it on Stanley’s desk. ‘Mother Adele made this. As well as lots of other animals, she also made a ladle for Sister Margaret, like the one she used to hit the kids with. Obviously, she had to use a knife of some sort.’

Stanley raised his hand. ‘I get where you’re going with this. The problem is, we can’t rely on anything Sister Margaret said.’

‘That why I spoke with Julie Dorton. She confirmed Sister Margaret was a keen whittler. She said she kept little animals she made on her study desk and had a small box in which she kept an array of different whittling knives.’

‘All very interesting but circumstantial,’ Stanley said.

‘We can’t just rule out Mother Adele as a suspect,’ Jane said. ‘Julie also told us Mother Adele was ambitious. She saw herself as the next Mother General and fantasised about having a private audience with the pope. If Missy threatened to expose her cruelty and drinking, her ambitions would have been destroyed.’

‘True,’ Stanley agreed. ‘But I don’t think Barnes will buy it. He’s convinced Meade is responsible.’

‘We have to tell him what we know about Mother Adele so he sees there are other possibilities,’ Jane said.

‘I’ll leave that to you two, then,’ Stanley said.

‘Thanks a lot,’ Jane replied.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘You both know this case better than any of us. I suggest you sit down and compile a report detailing all the evidence you have against Mother Adele and Meade. Stick to the facts and don’t forget to consider a joint enterprise.’ Stanley handed Boon the owl.

Jane found herself remembering Barnes’s Sherlock Holmes quote: ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’

Returning to the incident room, Jane thought about phoning Nick, but knew if he was surly again it would really upset her and she wouldn’t be able to focus on compiling the evidential report. Boon went to the canteen to get a sandwich and a drink for both of them.

‘The Bromley SOCO dropped off some photos for you, sarge,’ the female civilian indexer said, holding up a large envelope. ‘DS Johnson, the lab sergeant, asked if you’d call him regarding the seeds in the victim’s stomach.’

Jane thanked her and took the envelope to her desk. The only photo she was really interested in was the close-up of Meade and Missy’s hands. When she looked at it closely, her suspicion was confirmed. Their hands were touching, with their little fingers entwined together.

‘I got two cheese toasties with tomatoes and a bowl of chips. Is that OK?’ Boon said, carrying in a tray of food and two coffees.

‘It’s fine, thanks. Have a look at this,’ she said, showing him the photograph.

‘Bloody hell, you were right. That’s a strong bit of evidence for the report,’ Boon said.

‘It’s enough to arrest Meade,’ she said, ‘since he’s denied knowing her. And what you said about him using Missy could be right. If she threatened to expose their relationship, he’d know he’d be defrocked.’

‘It also makes it more likely she went to the presbytery the night she left the convent,’ Boon suggested.

‘Only Meade knows the answers. I think Barnes will arrest him when he sees this photo. It proves beyond a doubt he’s lying through his teeth. What time are you meeting Becky Rogers?’

‘It’s supposed to be seven o’clock at The Chequers in Bickley. I’ll phone her and cancel,’ he said.

‘No, you won’t,’ Jane said. ‘We’ve got a couple of hours yet. If we haven’t finished by half six, I’ll complete the report.’

‘Thanks, sarge,’ Boon beamed. ‘I gave the owl carving to the SOCO. He said he’ll take it up to the lab in the morning to see what kind of wood it’s made from.’

Jane phoned Lloyd Johnson at the lab.

‘I got a message to call you about the seeds in Melissa’s stomach.’

‘Right. We got a botanist to look at them. Turns out they are Digitalis purpurea seeds, which are poisonous and commonly known as—’

‘Foxglove,’ Jane interjected

‘How did you know that?’ Lloyd asked.

Jane explained about the Scott Davies calendar.

‘Bloody hell, that was a good find,’ Lloyd said.