The Long Call (Two Rivers #1) - Ann Cleeves Page 0,124
the station as soon as you track them down. Tonight. Don’t wait until the morning. Jen was right. This is all about conspiracy. Entitled people more worried about their own reputations than the people in their care, losing any sense of humanity along the way. A kind of collective madness. They’re all involved to some degree.’ He’d reached the top of the bank and could see the flashing lights of the ambulance.
‘Where are you going?’
‘To speak to a witness.’
On the track, he stopped to point the ambulance crew in the right direction. The toll keeper’s cottage was still in darkness. Matthew took a moment to check that nobody was there then made his way to Spindrift, to his home. There was still the strange clarity that felt almost like a dream. He lifted Jonathan’s car keys from the hook in the kitchen. There was a file on the table labelled ‘Woodyard Finances’. There was a coffee stain on the cover and the pages were a little dog-eared. Jonathan had obviously had the report for a while and struggled to get to the end of it. But even if he’d read every word, Matthew thought it was unlikely he’d find a record of the sum made out to Janet Holsworthy.
* * *
It was nearly midnight when he got to twenty Hope Street, but there was still a light showing through the glass panel in the front door. He knocked loudly. As usual, it was Gaby who answered.
‘What’s happened? Have you found Lucy?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We found her. Is Caroline in?’
‘Yeah, we were watching a film.’ Gaby led him through to the living room.
It was less than a week since he’d first been here, but the place, colourful, cluttered, student-chic, already seemed familiar. Caroline was on the sofa, legs curled under her. The film end-credits were rolling. He turned back to Gaby. ‘Could I speak to Miss Preece on her own, please?’
‘Of course.’ He saw she was about to make a joke, to ask why he was being so formal and dramatic, but she thought better of it. She gave one last, curious glance at the two, and then she left the room.
Caroline uncurled her legs and sat upright. ‘What’s this about, Inspector?’ She took off her glasses and polished the lenses with the edge of her cardigan, then replaced them. The only sign that she might be nervous.
‘You knew that your boyfriend had assaulted a vulnerable woman.’ This wasn’t a question. Matthew was sure Craven would have told her; he would have left the day centre immediately afterwards, run to her and confessed. That was the relationship they had.
‘I don’t think assault is the right word.’ So, she was prepared to fight. Good. He was in the mood for confrontation.
‘What word would you use?’
Silence. At last she spoke. ‘He will never do anything like that again.’
‘Can you be sure?’
‘Yes.’ She was confident that she could fix Edward Craven, that she had the power to reform him. Where had that arrogance come from? Her religious faith? A guilty and doting father who’d told his only daughter that she could achieve anything she wanted?
‘You did know that Simon Walden had found out what had happened? That he was threatening to go public? He’d been planning to leave a will in the Woodyard’s favour, but he changed his mind. He saw that as condoning the cover-up. And he was consulting a lawyer about the next step to take. He had proof.’
Her face was white. Stony. ‘Edward didn’t kill Simon.’
‘How do you know?’
There was a moment’s silence. ‘Because Ed was as shocked as I was when he found out Simon was dead. And because he’d have told me. He can be a fool, a bit pathetic, but he doesn’t lie.’ The eyes behind the round spectacles were almost fanatical. Matthew saw that Edward Craven would be her mission in life. She’d be there, waiting for him when he came out of prison. She thought she could cure him and she’d make sure he was dependent on her forever. Caroline stared up at him. ‘What would you do, Inspector, if someone you loved made one stupid mistake? If there was one instant when he lost control? Wouldn’t you want to protect him?’
He didn’t answer that. He didn’t like to think about it. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d answer. ‘Somebody tried to drown Lucy Braddick tonight.’
‘I’ve told you, Inspector. Ed isn’t a killer.’ She was rattled, Matthew could tell.