“Well, good luck,” Elise said. “Pauline’s a piece of work. She can turn the charm on and off like a light switch.”
“Oh, I know. She was all over Hugh yesterday—’course she was. The boyish good looks, the dark brown voice. Her false eyelashes almost fluttered off. Do you think she sleeps in them?”
Elise could hear that voice in her ear. Smell the sweet musk of his sweat as they lay tangled up in the duvet. Stop! she screamed at herself. Not going there.
“She might not be so friendly now,” she snapped. “The PM results might stop the fluttering. Have you asked her about Charlie’s previous identity—and the boyfriend?”
“Mellors,” Ronnie added.
“I thought you said his name was Bram?” Caro said.
“It is,” Elise said. “Ronnie is referencing Lady Chatterley’s Lover—she used to be a librarian. She can’t help herself. . . .”
“Sorry,” Ronnie muttered. “I’ll shut up.”
“So Bram O’Dowd. Yes. We asked if he was with her on Friday night and she denied it but forensics is on it and the boss has gone to talk to Mr. O’Dowd. Oh, and Pauline says Charlie decided to use her name when he retired—to start down here without ‘any baggage,’ apparently.”
“What baggage? And we need to push them on the relationship.” Elise caught herself slipping into senior officer mode. She looked to see if Caro had clocked it but she was reading something on her phone.
The trouble was, she was there, walking up to the door, watching for the initial reaction on the doorstep, listening to the voice, spotting the lies, the guilt. But it was wasted adrenaline. Her place was on the sidelines. A spectator with the rest of them.
“What about the visitor at the residential home? Any joy?”
“The receptionist has given us a pretty ropey description—tallish, thinnish, might have had dark hair—but insists he didn’t come back.”
“It’s worth having a look at the security cameras at the entrance to the home. Birdie got very few visitors.”
“Yes, yes, but I need to get going,” Caro said. “Actually,” she interrupted herself, “another thing on my list is that we need you to make a statement about finding the body. Should have done that yesterday, but with you being the Job, I forgot. Can you come into Southfold this afternoon? I can send a car.”
“I’ll take you,” Ronnie jumped in. “What time?”
Thirty-one
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019
Kevin
Kevin Scott-Pennington was packing the BMW when Janine came running out.
“You won’t believe what I’ve just heard!” she announced. “They’ve found a body. The police have found a body. In Ebbing! It’s just been on the local radio.”
Kevin carried on jamming slimy flip-flops into every crevice of the boot.
“Kevin! Did you hear me? God, do you think it’s connected with that poor girl nearly dying at the festival?”
“What?”
“They haven’t said who it is but I’m going up to the supermarket now. They’ll know in there.”
“Janine!”
“What? I’m just taking an interest. I want to buy some bottles of water for the journey anyway. Have you nearly finished?”
“Almost. We don’t need water. We need to get on the road.”
But she power walked off, arms pumping with excitement. He sat on the pavement and put his head against the hot black metal of the car.
“Are you all right?” a voice asked, jolting him back.
“Er, yes, just checking a scratch I saw earlier.” He squinted into the sun.
“Oh,” Saul said.
There was nothing else he could say. Kevin Scott-Pennington was clearly not looking at a scratch. His face had been resting on the passenger door.
“So how are things?” Kevin said wearily.
“Er, okay, thanks. Toby’s a bit stressed—he’s not sleeping well but it’s been so hot, hasn’t it? And super busy in the restaurant. Did you enjoy your meal the other night?”
“Yeah, excellent, thanks. And it looked like business is good.”
“That’s what I keep telling Toby but . . . Never mind that—have you heard about the body?”
Kevin put his hand up to shield his eyes. “Yes, Janine just told me,” he said. “She’s gone scurrying off to find out who it is. Awful thing to happen.”
“Oh, everyone knows who it is,” Saul said, his strangely angular face lighting up with the knowledge. “It’s Charlie Perry. He went missing on Friday night. Did you ever meet him? Lovely old bloke with a nightmare wife and a big house.”