Линда Ла Плант - Unholy Murder

‘Now Bishop Meade has killed himself, he will be seen as a murderer who could no longer bear his guilt. Surely you want to clear his name.’

‘I don’t want to argue with you, Jane, but I beg you to keep this conversation between the two of us.’

Jane sighed. ‘I understand your position in the eyes of the Church, but if you know who killed Sister Melissa and don’t tell me, you’re letting whoever is responsible get away with murder.’

‘I don’t know who murdered her, but I pray you will find the answers you seek.’

Returning to Orpington, Jane went straight to Stanley.

‘How’d it go with the priest?’ he asked.

‘Meade was with him during the time frame Becky went missing. Bottom line is, we were wrong about Meade being involved in Becky’s disappearance. If she was following up on a lead, it was with someone else.’

‘Was there anything in her notebook that might help us?’ Stanley asked.

‘I haven’t had a chance to go through it yet. I’d just started when I got the fax through from BT. I’ll go and do it now.’

Jane opened the notebook and decided it was best to work backwards from the last shorthand entry Becky had made.

Thomas Durham — developer — bought convent — was land and chapel deconsecrated? — did Durham bribe Meade to say it was to council planners? — did dead nun know? — tunnel under chapel — coffin found near it — maybe used to move coffin unnoticed?

After transcribing the last entry, Jane checked the rest of the notebook for anything that might help trace Becky’s last movements. But there was nothing beyond the mention of Thomas Durham and the tunnel. Jane looked over to Boon who was sitting opposite typing a report.

‘Did you tell Becky Rogers about the tunnel at the convent?’

‘Not... that I recall,’ he replied hesitantly.

‘Read this and explain to me how you think she knew about it,’ Jane said, handing him the transcript.

He licked his lips as he read it, then handed it back to Jane.

‘I don’t know,’ he said, unable to look her in the eye.

‘Please, Boony, don’t dig a big hole for yourself by lying to me,’ she said.

Boon sighed. ‘We were talking about Meade being a suspect. I let slip there was a tunnel, and the coffin was found near it. She asked if I’d checked out the tunnel, and I said no.’

‘What about her interest in Thomas Durham? Did you tell her about him?’

Boon looked offended. ‘No. Becky said she’d made her own inquiries about the history of the convent, the fire and the sale to Thomas Durham.’

‘Did she say where?’

‘No, but it was probably at the Bromley planning department. Becky reckoned something dodgy might have gone on between Meade and Durham over the sale of the convent. She thought Sister Melissa might have been killed because she found out about it. I told her Durham bought the land after the nuns had left, so it would be stupid of him to bury the coffin on land he was going to build on.’

‘Did she agree with you?’

‘Sort of. But she still thought it was a possibility worth exploring. I told her to leave the detective work to us or she could find herself in trouble. Becky was right about Meade, though, and now he’s probably silenced her as well.’

‘Meade had nothing to do with Becky’s disappearance,’ Jane said firmly. ‘We have a credible witness who spent yesterday afternoon and evening with him. I need to speak with Stanley about this,’ she said, holding up Becky’s notebook.

‘Are you going to tell him what I told Becky?’ Boon asked, looking worried.

Jane felt Boon was already suffering enough emotional stress over Becky. ‘Not if I can help it,’ she said.

‘Thanks, sarge. Sorry I messed up.’

‘Don’t worry. We all make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn from them,’ she said.

Having read the transcript, Stanley handed it back to Jane.

‘How did Becky know about the tunnel and Thomas Durham being the developer?’ he asked.

‘It looks like she did some investigating of her own at the council planning department,’ Jane said. ‘She probably looked at the same documents and maps as we did.’

‘Her notes don’t really help us much,’ Stanley remarked.

‘I’m not so sure. I’m wondering if there’s something in her idea that Thomas Durham committed bribery to get the chapel and land deconsecrated.’

‘Well, it can’t have connected to Meade as he had nothing to do with it,’ Stanley said.

‘I know, but Archbishop Malone did.’

Stanley looked bemused. ‘You seriously think he’s involved in Becky’s disappearance?’

‘Thomas Durham and Lee Holland lied to me from day one. I didn’t know why, but having read Becky’s notes, I think she may have inadvertently given us the answer.’

Stanley leaned forward. ‘Why is this the first time you’ve mentioned speaking to Thomas Durham?’

‘I thought I had...’ she started to reply.

‘You only ever mentioned you’d spoken to Nick Durham. As I recall, you said he was very helpful, just upset at the site being closed.’

Jane realised she had unintentionally put herself in a difficult situation and wondered how best to tell Stanley about Thomas Durham and Lee Holland.

Stanley folded his arms. ‘I’m waiting for an answer, Jane.’

She recalled her words of advice to Boon.

‘I was about to raise it at the meeting with Barnes when PC Rogers walked in. I should have said something earlier, but I had no evidence to support my suspicions.’

‘I want to hear everything, chapter and verse. And don’t try and wheedle your way out!’ Stanley said angrily.

Jane told him about the first time she and Boon met Thomas Durham and Lee Holland, their strange behaviour, their lies about knowing each other and the argument she believed they had the morning she and Boon went to the site to arrest Barry May.

‘If Nick Durham and Barry May told you Thomas Durham and Lee Holland were long-standing friends, it must have been blatantly obvious they were hiding something from you. Why didn’t you interview them?’ Stanley demanded.

‘At first I thought they were concerned about the discovery of the coffin. I even wondered if they were involved in moving it.’

‘Then why didn’t you bloody well say something?’

‘It seemed absurd to me that they would bury a coffin on land they intended to develop. And even if they had, surely they would have moved it before the digging work began,’ Jane said defensively.

‘Which also suggests Becky Rogers might have been right, and she’s not even a bloody detective!’

‘I was also made aware that Thomas Durham suffers from a heart condition and wasn’t supposed to get involved in any of the new development work. I thought he and Holland might be acting strangely because they didn’t want Nick Durham to know his father was distressed about the discovery of the coffin.’

‘What fucking planet are you on, Jane? If Durham was upset about the coffin, he must have been apoplectic when he read Becky’s article in the News Shopper .’

‘When I met Thomas Durham, he didn’t seem that perturbed about it. He accepted we had a job to do, and the site would have to remain closed.’

‘Be honest, he didn’t have much choice, did he!’

‘I know, but...’

Stanley raised his hand. ‘Hang on a minute... when did you meet Thomas Durham?’

‘I went to his house at the weekend. He lives in the convent chapel.’

‘Were you there on official business or pleasure?’

‘A bit of both, I suppose,’ she said uncomfortably. ‘Nick Durham showed me round the old chapel and crypt. Thomas came in while I was there. He said there were no coffins in the crypt when he moved in. I didn’t have any reason to doubt him after confirming the chapel and land had been deconsecrated.’