Behind Closed Doors (33 page)

‘In his office, I think. Can I ask how it went with Gavin Monroe?’

After treating her to a brief résumé, Andee drained her mug and got up to return to the custody suite.

‘What news on the Poynters?’ she said, turning back.

‘Arrested and bailed,’ Jemma replied, ‘and Sikora’s not the only one round the camp who’s decided to sing.’

Andee nodded. ‘That’s good.’ Walking towards the lift, she saw Gould emerge. ‘Have you got the location?’ she asked him.

‘We have. I’m about to contact the French police. Are you sure you’re up for talking to Heidi Monroe?’

‘I’m sure.’

‘OK, let me know when you’re done. I’ll either be in my office, or upstairs with Spender.’

‘Am I going to hear anything different from Heidi?’ she asked Helen Hall and Bertie Gifford as she returned to the custody suite.

Bertie shook his head. ‘It was an accident, she wishes it had never happened, that they hadn’t done what they had. She’s desperate for some news about her baby.’

Of course she was, and making the decision to lie rather than tell her how traumatised he’d seemed when they’d taken him away, Andee broke open a pack of fresh tapes ready to begin.

It turned out that the Monroes’ stories chimed in every significant way, leaving Andee in little doubt that they’d discussed at length what they would say in case they should ever find themselves where they were now.

‘Tell me,’ she said, after Heidi had finished describing the scene leading up to Sophie’s fall, ‘when you realised she was dead, whose idea was it to try and cover it up rather than call the emergency services?’

Heidi flushed deeply as she looked down at her fidgeting hands. ‘I – I don’t remember,’ she stammered. ‘I mean . . . We sort of decided it together.’

‘Are you sure she fell?’

Heidi’s eyes rounded with fear as she said, ‘Yes, I’m sure. I pushed her . . . I mean, Gavin did to get her away from me . . .’

‘But if it was an accident, I don’t understand why you didn’t call the paramedics. They might have been able to save her.’

Heidi was shaking her head. ‘They couldn’t. She was . . . We knew . . .’

‘So one of you,
both
of you, decided to cover it up? Why cover up an accident?’

Heidi regarded her helplessly. ‘I don’t know. I suppose we were in shock. And we were afraid no one would believe us. Everyone knew me and her weren’t getting on . . .’ She took a breath and pushed her hands through her hair. ‘I know we’ve made everything ten times worse, but I swear I didn’t mean to hurt her.’

‘
You
didn’t mean to hurt her?’ Andee repeated.

Heidi froze. ‘Neither of us did,’ she insisted. ‘It was an accident, I swear it. We didn’t mean for it to happen. We loved her.’

‘Yet you were willing to let her father dump her body as if she didn’t matter at all. I just don’t get how you could have done that, either of you. She was a
child
, for God’s sake. She depended on you.’

Heidi slumped in her chair, seeming more ashamed than she could bear.

‘So you told yourselves,’ Andee pressed on, ‘that you could report her missing and after all the initial fuss died down everyone would simply forget about her?’

The way Heidi flinched told her that was indeed what they’d thought.

Incredulous and enraged, Andee said, ‘Do you know what, Heidi? I don’t believe you.’

Heidi’s face drained of colour as she stared at Andee in shock.

‘I think you and Gavin have conjured up a tale between you to cover up what really happened that night.’

‘No!’ Heidi cried. ‘I swear it was an accident. We didn’t mean for it to happen.’

‘We need the truth, Heidi.’

‘I’ve told you, she tried to hit me, Gavin leapt between us and the next thing we knew she was on the floor.’

Andee regarded her coldly. This wasn’t the whole truth, and she knew it, but forcing the real story out of her, when she probably believed the fabrication by now, was clearly going to take time. ‘Tell me, how did you feel when you watched Gavin wrap her body in that carpet?’ she asked. ‘I presume you were there.’

‘Don’t,’ Heidi wailed, burying her face in her hands. ‘It was terrible. I wish to God we’d never done it. I know we’ve made everything worse . . .’

‘Yes, you’ve certainly done that,’ Andee confirmed. ‘And it seems you were even prepared to let someone else go to prison for something you knew they hadn’t done.’

‘No! I . . . We talked about that and we decided if anyone was charged we’d have to come forward.’

Since she’d never know now if that were true, Andee said, ‘Did Gavin tell you, before he left that night, where he was going to take her?’

‘Not exactly. He just said he knew a place in France, in the middle of nowhere . . .’

Suddenly needing to get out of the room, Andee rose to her feet. ‘I’m going to terminate this interview now . . .’

Heidi broke down sobbing. ‘I know we did a terrible thing, but I swear we loved her . . .’

‘Enough to let her body moulder at the bottom of a lake,’ Andee shot back scathingly.

‘Please, you can’t make me feel any worse than I already do.’

‘Believe me, I can,’ Andee assured her, and clicking off the tapes, she removed them from the machines and left the room.

‘There’s more to it,’ she was saying to Gould and Carl Gilbert, the CPS, twenty minutes later. ‘Why would they go to such lengths to get rid of her body if it was an accident?’

‘They wouldn’t,’ Carl Gilbert responded, ‘which is why they’re going to be charged with murder.’

Andee glanced at Gould.

‘Even if it turns out it was an accident,’ Gould said, ‘they still bundled her up in a roll of carpet, packed a bag to make it look like she was leaving of her own accord, stuffed her into a van and then dumped her in a lake.’

Inwardly flinching, Andee told them, ‘I think she did it, and talked him into covering it up.’

Neither of them disagreed.

‘But how we’re going to get them to admit that,’ she continued, ‘I really don’t know. I guess it’ll depend on how they plead when it goes to court. Until then, like you say, they both have to be charged,’ and deciding to let them handle it from here, she left the room.

Several minutes later she was at her desk in the incident room, gazing at the whiteboard where Sophie’s photos were still hanging. She almost couldn’t bear to look at them, yet nor could she bring herself to look away. It would feel like a betrayal, a dismissal, when more than anything she wanted to fold this girl into her arms and do whatever it took to make her feel loved.

Sophie’s favourite things: singing with Mummy and Daddy, making daisy chains, Daddy.

How could it all have ended like this?

‘Are you OK?’ Gould asked from the door.

Hot tears suddenly welled in her eyes. ‘He’s lost everything,’ she gulped, thinking of her own father.

Going to her, Gould picked up her bag and put it over his shoulder. ‘Come on, I’ll buy you a drink,’ he said.

Noticing a scrap of paper fluttering to the floor she stooped to pick it up, and seeing what it was she checked the time. It was too late to ring Suzi Perkins now; she’d do it in the morning.

As they rode down in the lift she asked, ‘What’s happening in France?’

‘They’re sending divers down in the morning.’

Though she wanted to be there to bring Sophie home, she knew it wasn’t possible, not only because the French would have to carry out a post-mortem before releasing the body, but because she simply had to be at Dougie’s funeral.

What about Sophie’s funeral? Who was going to be there for that?

As they reached her car she said, ‘If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go straight home.’ Everyone would still be at the restaurant, and she needed to be alone to try and come to terms with how devastated she was feeling.

If only they could have found Penny.

Poor sweet Sophie.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow, at the crematorium?’ he said.

‘Of course,’ she replied.

His eyebrows rose, as though he might say more, but in the end he simply wished her goodnight and walked off to his own car.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING
Andee was still at home when she left a message on Suzi Perkins’s voicemail to call back when she could. She wasn’t going to work today, her family needed her here, and she had to admit it was a relief not to be involved in dismantling the incident room.

It was miserable outside, misty and rainy, with a feisty wind battering the headland as though to push it back from the sea. She couldn’t imagine a good atmosphere down at Blue Ocean Park, either for the CSI team, or the press, or the staff and residents of the campsite. Would the funfair still be spinning and flashing across the street, giant arms rotating like metronomes gone wild, dodgems thumping up against one another, shrieks, laughter, the thrill of the ride, music blaring?

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

She wondered what the weather was like in France, how much progress the divers had made. Had they even begun? The thought of Sophie’s young body at the bottom of a lake kept stifling her, squeezing down on her chest as though to drown her too.

Except Sophie hadn’t drowned.

What had really happened that night? Would they ever get to the truth?

Gould was liaising with the gendarmerie in Clermont Ferrand. He’d no doubt update her as soon as he had some news. By then the Monroes would almost certainly have appeared in front of a magistrate and been remanded in custody.

Leo and Jemma were attending to that.

Andee kept thinking about the baby and the dreadful start he was having in life. She wondered where he was now, and if the foster carers would be able to cope with his condition. Would they even understand it? Though she knew social services would do their best, they were appallingly short-staffed, so it wasn’t likely they’d be able to keep as close an eye on him as he needed.

She’d make some enquiries next week, speak to one of the managers, if only to reassure herself that he was receiving the proper attention. If he wasn’t, she might be able to put some pressure on to improve things.

‘Hey Mum, you’re up early,’ Alayna said, coming into the kitchen with bleary eyes and mussed hair. ‘Even Grandma’s not awake yet.’

‘She’s having a bit of a lie-in,’ Andee told her. ‘We were up late last night, chatting.’

‘About Sophie?’ Alayna came to hug her.

‘Yes, about Sophie,’ and Penny, and how much easier it might have been for them if they’d been told Penny was dead. No, easy was the wrong word, but perhaps the suffering wouldn’t have gone on for so long if there had been some sort of closure. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked, smoothing Alayna’s hair.

‘Yes, I think so. I just feel so sorry for her. Is it true her parents did it?’

‘They’re saying it was an accident, but the cover-up that followed isn’t helping them.’

Gazing into her mother’s eyes, Alayna said, ‘I just can’t imagine you or Dad . . .’

‘Then don’t, because it’ll never happen.’ She pressed a kiss to her forehead. ‘Is Luke awake yet?’

‘He stayed over with Dad last night,’ Alayna reminded her. ‘We thought you should have one each of us this morning, you know, for a bit of moral support.’

Touched by how sensitive her children were, Andee turned round as Maureen padded in to join them.

‘We were just talking about Sophie,’ Alayna said, going to her. ‘It’s terrible. I can’t believe it. What sort of accident was it?’ she asked her mother.

‘Apparently it was an argument that got out of hand. It’s tragic all round, because her parents are never going to forgive themselves, especially her father.’

‘It’s what’s concerned Mum the most,’ Maureen told Alayna. ‘She saw what Aunt Penny’s loss did to her own father . . .’

‘Please, don’t let’s dwell on it now,’ Andee interrupted, knowing today was going to be difficult enough as they gathered to say goodbye to Martin’s father. It was going to remind her so much of her own father’s passing, and how truly terrible it had been to let him go with Penny’s disappearance still unresolved. ‘Today is about Grandpa Dougie, remember,’ she said to Alayna, ‘and I should call Dad. Have you spoken to him yet this morning?’

‘No, but I texted when I woke up. I think he’ll be pleased to hear from you.’

Andee couldn’t help but smile, and noticed that her mother had found the comment amusing too.

Connecting to Martin, she said, ‘Hi, it’s me. Are you OK?’

‘Sure,’ he replied, sounding tired. ‘Can’t believe the day’s actually arrived, or that it’s even going to happen. What time did you get home in the end?’

‘Late, then I sat up chatting with Mum for a while. How’s Carol today?’

‘In a flap because her hairdresser’s late, and the caterer’s just informed us that they haven’t sourced enough chairs.’

‘Are they doing something about that?’

‘Yes, but yours truly has to go and pick them up. Luke’s coming with me. Luckily it’s not far. Are you going to make it today? I’ll understand if . . .’

‘I’ll be there,’ she promised. ‘We all will.’ Finding herself alone in the kitchen, she said, ‘I haven’t put the TV on yet, have you?’

‘I have and it’s making headlines.’

‘Have they criticised the investigation?’

‘Not that I’ve heard.’

‘It’ll come. Anyway, let us know if there’s anything we can do at this end, otherwise we’ll see you at yours . . . What time are the cars turning up?’

‘Twelve.’

‘OK, we’ll be there by eleven thirty at the latest. I’d better go now, someone’s trying to get through,’ and clicking over to the incoming call she said, ‘Andee Lawrence speaking.’

‘DS Lawrence, it’s Suzi Perkins.’

‘Suzi. You wanted to talk to me?’

‘Yes, but only on the phone, if you don’t mind. I’m not at the salon any more, or the flat in town, and I don’t want anyone seeing me going into the station.’

Curious, Andee went to pour herself a coffee as she asked, ‘So what can I do for you?’

‘It’s about all the trouble my brother’s in. I know he’s stuffed anyway, because of breaking his order, but I thought you should know . . .’ She took a breath. ‘You have to promise me you’ll never tell anyone where you heard this.’