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Listen to chapters 49-52 narrated by Jack Holden, or scroll down to read the text.
Chapter Forty-Nine
JEN WALKED WITH RAINSTON and Gregory up the cliff path. Venn stayed below with Ford and the paramedics. Jen had seen the relief on Venn’s face when they’d said the man would survive without long-term ill effects.
They’d just reached the top when Matilda Gregory appeared, frantic, some avenging angel, her hair shining in the early morning light. She’d run from the layby where the cars were parked and past the officer who tried to block the way.
She stood in front of her husband, ignoring everyone else, her question directed at him. The others might not have been there. ‘Is it true? Did you help kill those two men? Rosco and Lawson.’
Davy Gregory answered before Jen could intervene.
‘To save a child!’ It came out as a cry and a plea for understanding.
‘That was not your judgement to make.’ Now the teacher sounded horrified. Perhaps she’d been hoping for denial and explanation. Proof that her suspicion was unfounded. Instead, it had been confirmed.
‘Alan said it was the only way to get Arthur the treatment he needed. To get the cure in America.’
‘And this!’ She was almost spitting. ‘Attacking police officers. How can that ever be right?’
‘That was to buy Alan time. He’s got the tickets. He and the boy could have been on a plane tonight to Illinois. He said he’d take the blame then. Once they were there. Nobody would ever know I had anything to do with it.’
‘I would know!’ Matilda’s voice was so loud and harsh that Jen could hear how the effort was scratching the woman’s throat. ‘God would know.’ She stood aside so Rainston could lead her husband into the police car and custody.
+++
Jen wanted to go home, to be warm and dry, but Venn was on a mission to find Eleanor Lawson, and she couldn’t let him do that alone. They drove to Morrisham and walked a little way along the promenade, then up a quiet street of Georgian houses.
‘Detectives! What a surprise to see you here!’
‘Really? I’d thought you’d be expecting us.’
Eleanor Lawson was sitting in the courtyard garden of a small boutique hotel. She was on a white wooden bench, surrounded by pots of late-flowering plants, and she looked as round and small as a wren. As harmless.
She smiled at the inspector. ‘I’d have thought you’d have more important things to do than look for me. I needed some time on my own to grieve for the two most important men in my life. I’m sure you can understand.’
‘The two men that you killed?’
‘I think, Inspector, that the intricacies of this case must have disturbed your mind. How would I have the strength to kill two grown men?’
Venn shook his head. ‘It’s all over,’ he said.
Jen could tell he was thinking how he’d been duped by the woman, and how clever she’d been.
She smiled. ‘I don’t think so. Oh no, not at all, Inspector.’
‘I didn’t want to believe it.’ Venn’s voice was sad. ‘You were a part of my childhood. I visited your house with my parents.’
There was a moment of silence. ‘How’s Frankie?’
‘He’s fine. At home with Roxy.’
‘How lucky,’ Eleanor said, ‘that you sent a dog-lover to look after me! I knew she wouldn’t rest until she’d found him.’
‘You’ll have to come with us to the station.’
‘A new experience, Inspector. How exciting!’ Her voice was flinty now. ‘But I assure you that I’ll not be there for very long. You have no proof, you see, that I was involved in anything criminal at all.’
Venn gave a tight, angry smile. ‘Oh, we’ll be charging you immediately, Mrs Lawson. Davy Gregory has a conscience. Unlike you. He’s already started to talk.’
Chapter Fifty
THEY WERE ALL BACK Barnstaple. After Eleanor had been delivered to the station, Matthew went home for a shower and a change of clothes. He thought she might be less sure of herself after a couple of hours in the cells. He drank coffee and discovered that he was starving. Jonathan made him a sausage sandwich and nothing had ever tasted so good. He played down the events of the previous night – all there was to show for his ordeal was a small lump on his head, hardly noticeable because his hair was so thick – and he wasn’t ready yet to relive his fear as the rocks had showered down on them. Fear for Ross and terror for himself.
Instead, Matthew focused on the investigation. He asked Jonathan about the blurred photo recovered from Rosco’s apartment and the teacher’s response. It would provide confirmation.
‘Thanks for meeting Guy and asking him about the boys in the picture. I could identify Rosco but I didn’t have a clue about the others. It helped put everything into perspective.’
‘No problem. He said Ford and Gregory were very close at one time. Thick as thieves. But Ford was always in charge. The leader of the pack.’ Jonathan seemed settled, relaxed.
‘Is everything okay?’
‘Yeah. There are things we need to talk about. I’ll tell you when this case is completely over. There’s no rush now.’
+++
Ross was in the North Devon Infirmary. He had a broken collarbone, cracked ribs, a broken leg and the after-effects of hypothermia. No damage to the skull. They’d keep him in for the night, but then he’d be home. Mel was with him. Venn had spoken to her on the phone. ‘You saved his life,’ she’d said. He could tell that she was crying. ‘I don’t know how to thank you.’
I put him in danger in the first place.
+++
They met for coffee the next day in Ross’s house. Mel had taken a week’s leave from the care home she managed so she could look after her husband. It seemed to Venn that Ross was loving every minute of the convalescence. He was lying on the sofa with a duvet tucked round him, a small table within easy reach, and Mel on hand, devoted to fulfilling his every need. Venn had wondered if the incident on the beach would have shocked him into introspection or maturity. But it seemed to have left him untouched emotionally, and despite the plaster cast on his leg, he’d weathered the physical injuries well. He was young and fit, and it probably helped that he was a man with little imagination. He couldn’t contemplate the reality of serious injury or death.
‘So, what is this all about?’ Jen directed the question to Venn. ‘I want all the details.’
‘Yeah, talk us through it, boss, right from the start.’ Ross pushed himself more upright with his good arm. Matthew saw that the plaster cast was covered in signatures. How could anyone acquire all those friends? It was a skill he’d never acquired.
Venn knew that meant going a long way back. The actors in this tawdry piece of theatre had been twisted together for years.
‘Ford, Gregory and Rosco knew each other from school. Jonathan showed the photo we found in Rosco’s flat to a chap who taught them, and he recognized all three. According to the teacher, Ford was the ringleader and the brightest of the bunch. I think it was Eleanor who took the picture, and that it was taken on Scully Cove. Apparently, it was their special place.’ It seemed to Venn that every generation had claimed it as their own.
‘I thought Eleanor went to some private school.’ Jen didn’t quite sneer at the idea.
‘She did, but she knew Rosco through the sailing club, and Ford was a member too in those early days, though his interests changed when he went on to university. Perhaps Mary inherited her love of the sea from him.’ Matthew paused. ‘They tolerated Rosco, but he was considered a bit of a clown. They despised him.’
‘When I was interviewing Eleanor yesterday, she said Rosco had never really been one of them.’ Jen was sitting on the floor, legs curled under her body and had to look up at him.
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