Read Online Shadows in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope - Free Book Online
Authors: Rebecca Tope
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innocence made the possibility of her guilt feel bizarrely real. ‘But my fingerprints will be all over the bird feeders, and my shoeprints might well be exactly where that body now is. But I think I’m too small to have done it,’ she added lightly. ‘Melissa must be six or seven inches taller than me. Wouldn’t that rule me out?’
Gladwin smiled humourlessly and made no reply.
Fingerprints and shoeprints were taken, back in the house, and people continued to come and go. Sensations of trespass and transgression began to overwhelm Thea, as Oliver’s paths were trampled and his home invaded. ‘This is terrible,’ she muttered to her dog. She was hungry and thirsty and defeated. It was a bitter world and her own pathetic efforts to maintain order and harmony counted for nothing.
All further efforts to contact her mother proved in vain, and at eleven-fifteen a young plain-clothes police constable entered the house to tell Thea there were two visitors for her. ‘We can’t let them come downhere just now,’ he apologised. ‘They’ll have to stay out in the road.’
‘Oh, God,’ Thea groaned. ‘One of them is the father of the dead girl. Am I supposed to be the one to tell him?’
‘It would probably be best,’ he said, with a faint frown. ‘Then we’ll take him for a look, probably. They’ll be moving her soon, though. Maybe he should go to the mortuary?’
‘No, no,’ came Gladwin’s voice of authority. ‘She looks okay. It’ll be kinder to get it over with here.’
Thea trudged heavily along to the road, and met her mother’s eyes. The expression was confused, but only slightly alarmed. The older woman smiled. ‘Thea? What’s happening? They said there’d be an incident in the woods. Did somebody get caught in a gin trap?’
‘Hi, Mum. I don’t think they have gin traps any more. Is this Fraser?’ She turned to a tall, colourless man standing at her mother’s side. Her heart was pounding with dread at what she had to do next. ‘Hello,’ she said, holding out a shaky hand.
He took it in a moderate grip, and smiled down at her. ‘Pleased to meet you,’ he said, in an unexpectedly deep voice. ‘Are you going to tell us what’s going on?’
‘Somebody’s died,’ said Thea. ‘Actually, they’d like you to come and identify the body. I’m terribly sorry about this, and I’m sure it’s a shockingly harsh way of telling you, but the fact is, something terrible has happened to your daughter.’
His expression barely altered, but he dropped her hand as if it had bitten him. ‘Daughter?’ he repeated. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Can you come with me? It’s down by the hide. I expect you know your way around. Mum – they’ll let you go into the house, I expect. At least …’ She looked round for assistance. ‘Is that all right?’ she asked the detective constable.
‘Better not,’ he grimaced. ‘Forensics are going to want to have a look. Just hang on here for a bit, okay?’
But Thea felt a primary obligation to the shell-shocked old man, who had made no move since dropping her hand. ‘Listen, Mum. Can you stay in the car for a bit? It’s all rather a circus at the moment. As soon as Fraser has … well, as soon as it’s over, we can go off on our own somewhere, until things have settled down. We’ll have to talk about what we do next. And they’ll want to contact Oliver …’
Her mother took a deep breath and reached for her new friend’s hand. ‘Fraser,’ she said steadily, ‘I have no idea what this is about, but I’ll wait for you here, while you go with Thea. She’s very sensible. You’ll be all right with her.’
The accolade was familiar enough to be almost funny.
Thea has always been the sensible one
was a family mantra that contained only a dash of truth. Emily and Damien had possessed every bit as much sense as had Thea, throughout most of their growing up. Even Jocelyn was only sporadically ditzy.
It seemed to be effective now, however,
Gladwin smiled humourlessly and made no reply.
Fingerprints and shoeprints were taken, back in the house, and people continued to come and go. Sensations of trespass and transgression began to overwhelm Thea, as Oliver’s paths were trampled and his home invaded. ‘This is terrible,’ she muttered to her dog. She was hungry and thirsty and defeated. It was a bitter world and her own pathetic efforts to maintain order and harmony counted for nothing.
All further efforts to contact her mother proved in vain, and at eleven-fifteen a young plain-clothes police constable entered the house to tell Thea there were two visitors for her. ‘We can’t let them come downhere just now,’ he apologised. ‘They’ll have to stay out in the road.’
‘Oh, God,’ Thea groaned. ‘One of them is the father of the dead girl. Am I supposed to be the one to tell him?’
‘It would probably be best,’ he said, with a faint frown. ‘Then we’ll take him for a look, probably. They’ll be moving her soon, though. Maybe he should go to the mortuary?’
‘No, no,’ came Gladwin’s voice of authority. ‘She looks okay. It’ll be kinder to get it over with here.’
Thea trudged heavily along to the road, and met her mother’s eyes. The expression was confused, but only slightly alarmed. The older woman smiled. ‘Thea? What’s happening? They said there’d be an incident in the woods. Did somebody get caught in a gin trap?’
‘Hi, Mum. I don’t think they have gin traps any more. Is this Fraser?’ She turned to a tall, colourless man standing at her mother’s side. Her heart was pounding with dread at what she had to do next. ‘Hello,’ she said, holding out a shaky hand.
He took it in a moderate grip, and smiled down at her. ‘Pleased to meet you,’ he said, in an unexpectedly deep voice. ‘Are you going to tell us what’s going on?’
‘Somebody’s died,’ said Thea. ‘Actually, they’d like you to come and identify the body. I’m terribly sorry about this, and I’m sure it’s a shockingly harsh way of telling you, but the fact is, something terrible has happened to your daughter.’
His expression barely altered, but he dropped her hand as if it had bitten him. ‘Daughter?’ he repeated. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Can you come with me? It’s down by the hide. I expect you know your way around. Mum – they’ll let you go into the house, I expect. At least …’ She looked round for assistance. ‘Is that all right?’ she asked the detective constable.
‘Better not,’ he grimaced. ‘Forensics are going to want to have a look. Just hang on here for a bit, okay?’
But Thea felt a primary obligation to the shell-shocked old man, who had made no move since dropping her hand. ‘Listen, Mum. Can you stay in the car for a bit? It’s all rather a circus at the moment. As soon as Fraser has … well, as soon as it’s over, we can go off on our own somewhere, until things have settled down. We’ll have to talk about what we do next. And they’ll want to contact Oliver …’
Her mother took a deep breath and reached for her new friend’s hand. ‘Fraser,’ she said steadily, ‘I have no idea what this is about, but I’ll wait for you here, while you go with Thea. She’s very sensible. You’ll be all right with her.’
The accolade was familiar enough to be almost funny.
Thea has always been the sensible one
was a family mantra that contained only a dash of truth. Emily and Damien had possessed every bit as much sense as had Thea, throughout most of their growing up. Even Jocelyn was only sporadically ditzy.
It seemed to be effective now, however,
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