Линда Ла Плант - Unholy Murder

As soon as he saw her, Nick’s expression changed. He looked at her as if she was a piece of dirt.

‘What do you want?’

‘Can we go outside and talk in private, please?’ Jane asked, noticing a couple of nurses watching.

‘I don’t think we’ve got anything to talk about.’

Jane didn’t want to get into an argument. ‘Fine, I’ll go then.’ She started to walk away.

‘How could you think my father was involved in that girl’s disappearance?’ he asked angrily.

‘We had evidence she went to the convent and wanted to speak to your father. I couldn’t just ignore it.’

‘If you had bothered to speak to me, I could have told you where he was. But oh no, you were so hellbent on arresting him, it didn’t even cross your mind. You don’t care about me... you just used me because you wanted to know more about my father.’

‘That’s not true, Nick. I do care about you.’

‘Well, I don’t give a fuck about you! You are a devious bitch who can’t be trusted... just like my ex-wife. I never want to see you again,’ he said, raising his voice.

‘I’m genuinely sorry about your father, Nick.’

‘Sorry! You are responsible for the state he’s in. I’ll never forgive you for as long as I live!’ He turned and walked away.

As she stared out of the cab window, Jane knew there was no way back with Nick. In some ways she wondered if it was for the best, as he’d clearly not got over what his wife had done to him. She recalled his reaction to seeing Father Chris kiss her and suspected Nick had in fact been spying on her a few nights ago. It seemed that underneath his charming façade there lurked a jealous, possessive man who would question where she’d been every time she had to work late.

The cab dropped Jane off at the police station. As she walked through the reception-desk door, the duty sergeant handed her a small envelope with her name on it.

‘A member of the public dropped this off for you earlier. He said it was important and asked that I made sure you got it.’

‘Did he say who he was?’

‘His name was Chris. He said he was a friend of yours.’

Jane thanked the sergeant and tucked the letter in her pocket.

‘Is it OK if I have a quick word with Lee Holland? I just need to tell him we will be interviewing him later.’

‘No problem,’ the sergeant said. He unclipped the cell key from his belt and handed it to her. ‘I just gave him a copy of the Sun . There’s an article in it about Becky Rogers’ disappearance and a photo of her. I thought the evil bastard might like to read it.’

Holland was sitting in his cell looking sorry for himself. The newspaper had been screwed up and thrown on the floor.

‘Becky Rogers’ post-mortem has been completed. Are you still happy to be interviewed without a solicitor?’

‘I asked to speak to one earlier. He said I wasn’t to speak to you.’

‘That’s fine by me. Just so you know, Becky drowned. She was still alive when you put her in the lake.’

Lee looked stunned. ‘No... no... you’re lying. She was dead... she wasn’t moving.’

‘She was in a coma. There’s part of me that thinks you knew that, and having pushed her down the stairs you needed to finish her off by dumping her in the lake.’

Lee shook his head. ‘I honestly thought she was dead.’

‘If you’d bothered to check for a pulse, you’d have found one. Becky had a chance of surviving if you’d bothered to call an ambulance, but you didn’t. Your actions ultimately led to her death.’ Jane slammed the door shut as she left the cell. As she passed an empty interview room, she went in, sat at the desk, and opened Father Chris’s letter.

My dearest Jane,

I know you will keep what you are about to read to yourself. However, for reasons that will become obvious, please destroy this letter once you have read it.

As you know, Bishop Robert Meade asked me to take his confession on Tuesday afternoon. I want you to know, as God is my witness, I believe everything he told me to be the truth.

Robert and Sister Melissa fell in love and had a brief sexual relationship. He knew what they were doing was against their vows and feared, if caught, they would be excommunicated. He also thought the Mother Superior had become suspicious of them. For both their sakes, he decided to end the relationship and arranged to meet Melissa at midnight by the outbuildings tunnel to tell her.

As Robert waited, he heard the voices of women arguing in the crypt and wondered if Melissa had been caught trying to sneak out to meet him. As he walked towards the crypt, he heard a muffled voice shouting to be let out. He thought it sounded like Melissa and looked through the keyhole of the crypt door. He saw the Mother Superior and Sister Margaret, who was holding her cincture in her hand, leaning over a metal coffin trying to hold the lid down. Then a muffled voice shouted, ‘I am going to tell the bishop what you’ve done!’ The Mother Superior pushed Sister Margaret to one side and opened the coffin lid. Robert saw Melissa sit up as Mother Adele shouted, ‘No, you won’t!’ and stabbed her in the back of the neck with a small knife. Melissa screamed, her eyes closed, and she fell back in the coffin. Then Mother Adele closed the lid.

Robert was ashamed to tell me he panicked and ran back to the presbytery. He assumed Melissa was dead and blamed himself for what had happened. At first, he didn’t know what to do, then decided he had to tell Bishop Malone. To his surprise, Malone turned up at the presbytery later that morning.

It transpired Mother Adele had called Bishop Malone and informed him that Sister Melissa had left the convent, but prior to doing so she had confessed she was in a sexual relationship with Robert. Robert knew Mother Adele and Sister Margaret were unaware he’d witnessed Melissa’s murder and were attempting to use him as a scapegoat to cover their sins.

Robert admitted the relationship but told Bishop Malone what had really happened to Melissa. Malone was incensed but wanted to avoid a scandal that would bring the Church into disrepute. To that end he told Robert to say nothing and in turn he would protect him and resolve the situation. Malone said he wouldn’t tell Mother Adele he knew Melissa had been murdered, but would play along with their story and sign a dispensation so it appeared Melissa had renounced her vows and left the sisterhood of her own accord.

When Robert made his confession to me, he was a broken man and full of remorse. I had not expected him to take his own life. I can only assume he wanted to unburden himself of his sins and could no longer live with his guilt over Melissa’s death.

My other reason for writing this letter is to tell you I have decided to leave the priesthood. It was not an easy decision but after all that has happened, I no longer feel I have chosen the right path in life.

I called my brother in Malta. He was overjoyed to hear my voice after so many years. He had had no idea where I was or what had happened to me. We both felt guilty about the way we had treated each other and agreed to resolve our differences. He wants us to open a restaurant together in memory of our parents. Everything on the menu will be from my mother’s recipe book.

I will never forget you, Jane. You are a wonderful woman, and I will always cherish meeting you and our friendship. If ever you are in Malta, please come to our restaurant where I will make you the best soppa tal-armla, and kwarezimal for dessert.

With love.

Jane felt deeply sad, knowing Chris was returning to Malta, but pleased that he valued their short time together. She wished she could have got to know him better but knew she would see him again one day. She read the letter one more time before tearing it into tiny pieces and putting it in the bin.