Frank held Bess’s gaze. His brow creased in pain and thought. ‘It might have taken me a little time, but yes. I would like to think that I too would have made the right decision.’ Frank stood up and undressed. ‘We’ll talk more tomorrow,’ he said, getting into bed. ‘But before we make a decision that could change our lives for ever, we need to ask Nancy if living with us, being adopted by us, is what she wants.’
The following morning when the telephone rang, Bess turned over expecting Frank to be lying next to her, but he wasn’t there. He must have got up, she thought and, as she couldn’t hear any sound coming from either the bathroom or sitting room, assumed he’d gone down. Heaving herself out of bed, Bess draped her dressing gown round her shoulders and stumbled still half-asleep out of the bedroom. ‘Morning,’ she said, picking up the receiver and yawning.
‘Bess, can you come down straight away?’
‘I’m not dressed, where’s the fire?’
‘You’re needed in the office. Detective Inspector Masters is here. He’s talking to Katherine Hawksley.’ Bess gasped. ‘He needs a woman, a chaperone for Katherine, before he can begin an official interview.’
‘Isn’t Ena down there?’
‘No, she’s gone to collect…’ Frank paused, ‘someone up north.’
Bess knew exactly who the someone was and took off her dressing gown. ‘I’m on my way,’ she said, dropping the receiver onto its cradle.
‘Mrs Donnelly. Thank you for coming down so quickly,’ DI Masters said, shaking Bess’s hand.
‘Inspector? Katherine, are you all right?’ Bess said, going over to the girl who stood shaking by the window.
‘I’ve told the inspector it was me who killed David Sutherland.’ Bess groaned inwardly. ‘I thought about what you said, Mrs Donnelly, but when I hit him I saw him stumble backwards. He was right on the edge of the lake. His body was found in the very same place, so it must have been my fault.’ Katherine began to cry. ‘I can’t live with what I did any longer.’
‘You know you didn’t kill him, Katherine. We’ve talked about that night. You couldn’t have killed him, you’re not strong enough.’
The Inspector walked round the desk to Frank’s chair, ‘May I?’
‘Yes.’ Bess pulled out the chair in front of the desk for Katherine and fetched her own chair from under her desk.
When the three of them were seated, the inspector took a pen and a notebook from his briefcase. ‘Why don’t you start from when you and Sutherland left the hotel, Miss Hawksley?’ Bess knew the policeman from London was a good man. He had shown Bess understanding and compassion, she hoped he would show the same to Katherine.
Katherine took a deep breath. ‘We were waiting for my father to bring the car round to the front of the hotel. David was getting impatient. He wanted to start walking. He kept on about it, so I gave in to him. We started down the drive and just before the bend he began to laugh really loud. He said he wouldn’t mind--’ Katherine cast her eyes down and shook her head.
‘It’s all right Katherine,’ the Inspector said, sympathetically. ‘Take your time.’
Katherine cleared her throat. ‘He said he wouldn’t mind giving Bess Dudley one, again.’ Katherine’s cheeks flushed scarlet and she looked up at Bess. ‘I’m sorry.’ Bess shook her head and gave Katherine an encouraging smile. ‘But it wouldn’t be as much fun now she’s married, he said. It’s the first bite of the cherry that’s the sweetest.
‘I shouldn’t have said anything, but I asked him if he had raped Miss Dudley - Mrs Donnelly - and he went crazy. I should have known better than to ask. He was so angry I thought he was going to explode. “She was begging for it, like you are!” he shouted in my face. “You’re all the same. You’re all stupid bitches.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me across the field to a big clump of reeds. He jerked me to him. He was holding my bottom and rubbing up against me. I tried to get away. I tried to hit him, but he’d pinned my arms down at my side. He was kissing me so hard, so roughly, that my lips were hurting. Then he let go of me with one hand and started forcing it up my dress. I was so frightened, I pushed him as hard as I could, but he just laughed. “And when I’ve had you,” he shouted in my face, “Daddy will pay me to keep quiet like Bess Donnelly’s husband does.”
‘It was then that I saw my father’s car pull up. I cried out, but David put his hand over my mouth. “Call out again and I’ll kill you,” he said, in a horrible scratchy voice. He would have done too, so I closed my mouth. I watched my father’s car drive off and I thought, this is it, I’ll never see him again.
‘David’s face looked like thunder. His eyes were narrow slits. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the edge of the lake, then he held my neck by the skin at the back, the way you hold a puppy or a kitten, but he held it really tight.
‘I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me. He forced me to look down at the frozen lake. I closed my eyes and he eased his grip on my neck. But instead of letting go of me, he pulled my hair until I lifted my head. I knew if I didn’t do something, I’d end up dead in the woods, or drowned in the lake.’
Katherine put her hands up to her face and shook her
