The Long Call (Two Rivers #1) - Ann Cleeves Page 0,125
part of her abduction, and he was certainly responsible for the capture of Chrissie Shapland.’ Because the men in charge would want him tied into the plan. Edward would be the weak link, the one most likely to break down and talk. They’d have to give him a reason not to confess, make sure he had too much to lose.
Silence again.
‘We showed Chrissie his photograph.’ Of course, Chrissie hadn’t recognized Edward Craven. In the photograph he’d been dressed in a cassock and she would have been looking at the strange clothes, not at the man’s face.
‘He was scared,’ Caroline said. ‘They bullied him. They said it was vital to find the evidence Simon had been holding, the evidence that could lead to Edward’s arrest. They told him that Lucy was the key to finding it.’
‘He’d already assaulted a woman with a learning disability, but they put another in danger.’ Perhaps it was the blow to his head, but Matthew felt his mind fizzing with rage, not just about Craven and the person who’d knocked him out on the dune but the group of powerful men who’d been so thoughtless about the results of their actions.
‘She wasn’t in danger!’ Caroline was almost shouting now.
Matthew ignored her and continued talking. ‘Edward picked up the wrong woman, though, didn’t he?’
She nodded. Matthew thought part of her despised the man’s incompetence. She continued quickly: ‘He let Christine go, though, and then he phoned the police and pretended to have seen her from the Lovacott bus. He knew that you’d find her.’
After holding her for two nights, scaring her witless and putting her mother through hours of misery.
‘And this morning? Did he take Lucy?’
‘No! He was in the church office, having meetings with parishioners. Just as he told you. You can check with them.’
‘He’ll be at the police station now, and he’ll be charged with rape and abduction.’ Matthew stood up. He wasn’t even sure why he’d come to the house in Hope Street. Perhaps because this was where the investigation had started, because he’d felt that Caroline should be forced to take some responsibility for the events that had rolled out. If she’d persuaded her boyfriend to admit to the assault on Rosa immediately after it had happened, a man would still be alive.
‘I’ll come with you!’ She was on her feet too, scrambling for her bag.
When Matthew returned to the police station, Edward Craven was being interviewed. He’d been held in a cell until Ross and Jen had returned.
‘Jen’s talking to him now,’ Ross said. ‘She got a lift from the hospital. Maurice is there and Jonathan’s still with Lucy. Apparently, Craven seemed almost pleased to see the arresting officer. Like it was a weight from his mind.’
Or an albatross falling from his neck.
‘Is Preece still here?’
‘Yes. He’s called a fancy solicitor.’ Ross paused. ‘All these respectable people…’ He could scarcely get his head around it. He’d been brought up to believe that respectable people could do no wrong.
‘It’s the respectable ones who have most to lose. That’s why they got tangled up in the conspiracy to hide what happened. If they’d told us about the assault when it happened, the Woodyard would have hit the headlines for a few days and then it would have all been forgotten.’
‘It’s a bloody shame you and Jonathan were away when Rosa Holsworthy was assaulted.’
‘I know.’ Because Jonathan wouldn’t have cared about the Woodyard’s reputation. He’d have been only concerned to protect the people in his care.
A phone rang. Ross answered.
‘British Transport Police have picked up the Marstons. They were at St David’s station in Exeter, waiting for the first train north. They’ll hold them in Exeter overnight.’
‘Do we know how they got to Exeter?’
‘Taxi, according to the guy I spoke to.’
‘We need to talk to the driver, find out what time he picked them up. It’s possible that they gave up the use of their house, but I don’t see that they can have played any part in the abduction or attempted murder of Lucy Braddick. Marston might have been proud to be consulted in the role of legal advisor, but he wasn’t so emotionally involved in the success of the Woodyard that he’d think it was worth killing for. I think Walden’s murder so close to their home seriously freaked the couple out. That’s why they had such a morbid curiosity about what went on there, why they tried to