Линда Ла Плант - Unholy Murder

It was nine on the dot when a dour-faced Barnes walked into the incident room, followed by Stanley, also looking downcast.

‘This doesn’t look good,’ Boon whispered to Jane.

Barnes cleared his throat. ‘Good morning, everyone. I’ll keep this brief and to the point. I am to be relieved of my command later this morning and moved to a desk job at the Yard. DCS Salmon, a devout Catholic, will be taking over. In the meantime, complete your reports for a two o’clock meeting with my replacement. I’d like to thank you all for your hard work and support during my brief time on this investigation... especially Stanley, Tennison and Boon.’

His announcement was greeted by a stunned silence. Then one of the detectives said, ‘Why have you been replaced, guv?’

‘It would seem my remarks to the press on Monday about the Catholic Church and cover-ups did not go down well with the commissioner, or the current archbishop of the diocese, Andrew Malone. That said, I am certain, if you carry on with the same determination and enthusiasm, you will as a team solve the murder of Sister Melissa Bailey.’

Barnes left the room. While the rest of the officers started talking animatedly amongst themselves, Stanley told Jane and Boon that Barnes wanted to speak with them in his office.

‘Can I make a quick phone call, guv?’ Boon asked Stanley.

‘Is it important?’

‘Yes, very. It’s connected to the investigation.’

‘Go on then, but don’t be long. Barnes is in a bad enough mood as it is.’

Boon waited until Stanley had left the room, then phoned the News Shopper office, asking to speak to Becky Rogers.

Stanley told Barnes that Boon would be a couple of minutes, and Jane went to get some coffees while they waited for him.

When Boon finally walked in, she thought he looked anxious.

‘You all right?’ she whispered, handing him a coffee.

‘Becky still isn’t at work. I’m a bit worried about her. I’ll tell you why later.’

They were interrupted by Barnes. ‘Is there something you two would like to share with me and Stanley?’

‘No, sir,’ they replied in unison.

‘Just so you both know, the commissioner told me not to go near Meade or Malone without his approval. He’s meeting Malone at the Yard at ten. He said he’d assess the situation and decide what was to happen after their meeting.’

‘So you might still be running the investigation, sir?’ Boon asked hopefully.

‘Afraid not, son. I’m history.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m not particularly bothered. I’ve done my thirty years, so I can retire if I want on a full pension. Did you contact the Kingston police, Tennison?’

Jane nodded, then told Barnes about locating the Baileys, her conversation with Lawrence Bailey and the dental records matching Melissa.

‘Fucking Malone is involved up to his neck. He knows Meade murdered Melissa and now we can’t speak to either of them!’

‘Things might change once the commissioner is aware of all the evidence,’ Stanley said.

‘And pigs might fly,’ Barnes retorted. ‘Stanley updated me about your visit to Sister Margaret. Although I despise the woman for what she did to those poor children, it’s bad news she has dementia. That said, her reaction to seeing the photo of Meade and pointing out Melissa can be used against him as evidence.’

‘She wouldn’t be a credible witness,’ Jane said.

‘You two would be. You witnessed her reaction; you saw her point at Sister Melissa.’

‘We couldn’t actually see who she was pointing to,’ Boon said.

‘Come on, it’s bloody obvious, so what’s the harm in saying it was her?’ Barnes shot back.

Jane knew what Barnes was suggesting, but she wasn’t going to lie in court. She handed him the close-ups of Meade and Sister Melissa touching hands. ‘This is stronger evidence they were in a relationship, which proves he’s lied to us and implicates him in her murder.’

Barnes looked at the photos as Jane continued.

‘There’s something else that’s come up which suggests Mother Adele may have been involved.’ Jane then explained about the foxglove seeds in Melissa’s stomach.

‘All very interesting, but as Mother Adele is dead, not much use.’

‘It’s also possible Meade knew foxglove plants contained a poison,’ Jane suggested.

‘Would the amount of foxglove in her stomach have killed her?’ Barnes asked.

Jane shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but it’s clear it didn’t, since she was stabbed to death.’

Stanley picked up on Jane’s remark. ‘Then it is possible Mother Adele was angry with Melissa and slipped some foxglove in her food to kill her but for some reason it didn’t work. Then later that night, Melissa met secretly with Meade in the crypt where he killed her because she posed a threat to his career.’

‘It still leaves the question of who moved the coffin outside and when,’ Boon said.

‘It could have been Meade and Malone,’ Stanley suggested.

‘God, how I’d love to arrest that bastard Meade! I know I could force the truth out of him and get the evidence we need against Malone as well,’ Barnes said.

Although Jane knew Barnes was fixated on Meade and Malone, she decided it was time to raise her concerns about Thomas Durham and Lee Holland.

‘There’s something else that’s come up in the course of the investigation that I need to ask you about. Thomas Durham and Lee Holland are hiding something, but I don’t know what it is or why.’ She was interrupted by a knock on the door.

‘I’m busy,’ Barnes shouted.

The door opened and PC Roger Rogers, the coroner’s officer, walked in. He glared at Boon.

‘Where’s my daughter?’ he asked aggressively.

Everyone looked at Boon, waiting for a reply.

‘I don’t know,’ he replied.

‘Her flatmate said she was meeting you last night and she never came home. She hasn’t turned up for work this morning either. So, where is she?’ Rogers demanded to know.

‘We were supposed to meet at The Chequers in Bickley last night, but she never turned up,’ Boon said.

‘What were you meeting her for, Boon?’ Barnes asked with a frown, clearly wondering if he was passing on information about the investigation.

Boon started to look uneasy. ‘We were just going to go for a social drink, nothing more, sir. I phoned her work a few minutes ago because I was worried about her. I’m even more worried now.’

‘Why?’ Barnes asked.

‘I asked when they had last seen Becky. Her editor told me she had arranged to meet someone from the diocese yesterday afternoon and left the office at about two.’

‘Who was she meeting?’ Rogers asked.

‘I don’t know... and neither did her editor,’ Boon said.

‘Did you tell her about our interest in Bishop Meade?’ Barnes asked.

Boon hung his head. ‘Not at first. After we spoke with Annette Gorman, Becky kept pressing me about who Father Bob was. I said I didn’t know, but she knew I was lying. In the end I told her about Bishop Meade and said we suspected he may have been involved in the murder.’

‘I’ll swing for you, Boon, if any harm has come to my daughter!’ Rogers shouted.

‘Excuse me, but you were the one who told Becky about the post-mortem results. You know your job stipulates not to pass on information about a deceased person or an ongoing investigation,’ Stanley said.

Rogers pointed at Jane. ‘She never told me it was to be kept quiet!’

Barnes slammed his hand on the desk. ‘All right, everyone, calm down. Sitting here blaming each other is getting us nowhere. My concern right now is for Becky. Stanley, I want you to go with Rogers and search her flat; see if there’s anything there that might indicate where she’s gone. Boon, you go to her work with a couple of detectives and speak to all the staff. Tennison, you’re coming with me.’