The Fethering Mysteries 06; The Witness at the Wedding

“What do you mean?”

“I got one of the local coppers in Fethering to check on her house. The dog was barking, so he gained access. The mess on the kitchen floor suggested that the dog had not been let out at all since yesterday.”

Panic flickered within Jude. “But Carole would never leave Gulliver that long. Something must have happened to her.”

“That was rather the direction in which my thoughts were beginning to move.”

“Do you think Michael Brewer may have got her?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Are you any nearer to finding him?”

“I can assure you, Jude, that we are making every effort to track him down. We’re pretty sure he’s gone to ground somewhere in West Sussex. I don’t think it’ll be long now before we get him.”

“I hope not.”

“Robert Coleman’s helping us out. Apparently he was brought up in the same area as Michael Brewer, knew him pretty well. He’s down in Worthing now advising the local force. We’ll get him,” said the Inspector grimly. “In the meantime, I’ll contact Mrs Seddon’s son. He may have some idea where his mother’s gone. Or do you think she’s likely to have been in touch with her ex-husband?”

“Very unlikely, I would have said.”

“Oh well, it might be worth giving him a call. And how’s Gaby bearing up?”

“She’s fine. With me right now. Do you want to speak to her?”

“Not necessary. Just give her my good wishes…and tell her I think at the moment France is the safest place she could be.”

Gaby had caught the alarm in Jude’s responses and looked at her, eyes wide in fear. “What’s happened?”

Jude brought her quickly up to date. “There’s only one thing I can think of to do. We must pay another call on your grandmother.”

He refused to talk, just sat there playing patience. Carole thought she would be driven mad by the intermittent slapping of the cards as he turned them. Michael Brewer was used to waiting. Waiting a little longer, at this stage of his life, was small hardship.

Apart from the silence, he didn’t treat her badly. He offered, even cooked, food, and was discreetly unobservant when she had to leave the cellar to relieve herself. There was no way Carole could feel relaxed in the presence of a double murderer, but – apart from holding her as a prisoner at gunpoint in a remote cellar – he did nothing else to add to her stress.

Michael Brewer had the air of a man whose plans were nearing completion.

Grand’mere was not pleased to see them again. She might have been happy at another visit from her granddaughter, but not bringing this other woman, this inquisitive other woman, with her.

Jude was too concerned about Carole’s safety to be over-sensitive to the old lady’s feelings. “I’m sorry, this is important. A friend of mine is in danger, and you may have the information that could save her.”

“I do not understand this. Why do you wish me to –?”

“Don’t worry about the ‘why’? Just answer my question.”

“But this is very ill-mannered. Pascale, will you let this woman talk to your grandmother in such a way?”

“Please, Grand’mere. As Jude says, it is very important.”

The old lady still looked put out, but said grudgingly, “Very well. What is it you wish to know?”

“It goes back to something you said when you were talking about your husband going shooting with Michael Brewer – ”

“Oh no. Why are we always back to this Michael Brewer? It was a terrible time for me and my family. As Robert said, you should not be bringing such memories back to me.”

“Please, Madame Coleman. Please. Just think back to that time once more.”

“Please, Grand’mere.”

“Oh very well.”

“You said that, when your husband went out shooting at night-time with Mick Brewer, they used to drink.”

“Yes. I told you this.”

“You mentioned that Mick ‘always had drink stashed away on the estate’.”

“Yes, but this was thirty years ago. Why is it now so important?”

“Just take my word for it, it is. Did you mean that there was a place on the estate where your husband and Mick Brewer used to go to drink.”

“I believe there was. From what my husband said, Mick Brewer had a secret place, somewhere that his employers did not know about, where he kept a supply of drink, where he could hide for a few hours if he felt like it. I believe also – ” Madame Coleman’s thin lips set in a moue of disapproval – “that Mick Brewer also sometimes took girls there.”

“And did your husband ever say where the place was? Did it have a name?”

The permed head shook with the effort of recollection. “No, I don’t think…or was there a name? It is so long ago that…Oh, the name was strange, I remember that. Something to do with illness or…It had to do with – Oh.”

“Yes. Leper. Leper’s something – Leper’s Copse. Yes, that was the name. Leper’s Copse.”

? The Witness at the Wedding ?

Thirty-Seven

In the hire car outside the home, Jude rang the number Inspector Pollard had given her. She tried again and again, but it was resolutely engaged.

“Don’t worry.” Gaby took out her mobile. “Pollard said Uncle Robert was working with the West Sussex police. I’ll see if I can get through to him.”

She called a number from the phone’s memory. “Uncle Robert, hi. It’s Gaby. No, I’m fine. Listen, we’ve been talking to Grand’mere, and she may have given us a lead on where to look for Michael Brewer. It’s something she remembered from ages ago when Grandpa used to go shooting with him. I think it’s somewhere on the estate – or near the estate where Michael Brewer used to work. And it’s called Leper’s Copse’.”

She listened to her uncle’s response, said goodbye and turned to Jude, her eyes gleaming. “I think we’re nearly there. Robert’s going to check with the local police. If anyone knows Leper’s Copse, or if it’s on any map of the area, then I think everything’s going to be all right.”

There is a finite time that one can stay at a pitch of total panic, and Carole had found she was, if not relaxing in the cellar, at least occasionally thinking of subjects other than her own imminent demise. It was after six in the evening. Another night of enforced proximity to the murderer approached. Then, the next day, Gaby and Jude would be back. That would be the time of danger, when Michael Brewer required something of her. Until then, in spite of her discomfort, frustration and sheer boredom, Carole reckoned she would be relatively safe.

He had left the cellar again, on another unexplained mission. He took the mobile phone with him. If he was going to use it, Carole deduced, then it must be to call someone who represented no threat. The police, she knew, had means of pinpointing the exact location from which a mobile call had been made. Which must mean that Michael Brewer had some friends out there, at least one person who he knew would not betray him.

Because she was on her own, and bored, Carole felt empowered to check out her enforced environment. She looked at the laptop first. A sudden spark of hope glowed within her. Maybe he’d linked it up to the internet. Maybe she could send out an email for help.

But such optimism was soon crushed. Even with her limited knowledge of computers, Carole knew that an internet connection required a phone line of some kind. Maybe he could hook the laptop up to his mobile, but he had that with him. And, anyway, she had to admit to herself, she’d never sent an email in her life. She wished she hadn’t been such a Luddite when it came to new technology.