“Hilary, I got myself here.”
“Looking for me! Trying to help me! Yet again, it’s my fault. What can I do? I’ve tried to convince her but she just looks though me with those empty, staring eyes. I could never imagine that the young groom I took in to save her bacon would turn into a cold-blooded killer…”
“We need to have a plan.”
“To do what? We’ve tried everything we can… It’s over.”
Hilary slumped down against the wall.
* * *
It seems there is trouble in paradise as Oscar-nominated Isla-Mae Gomez was seen having a very public and heated argument at the Ivy in Soho last night. Witnesses state that when the couple came into the club the atmosphere between them was frosty, and it only got worse when shouts were heard about another woman.
Is three’s company too much for the newlyweds? It seems that Edward’s famous womanising ways may have reignited flames in their already tumultuous marriage. Neither would comment as they left the club separately.
I smiled ignoring the rest of the gossip column on-screen, enjoying instead the photograph of my previous employer lashing out at paparazzi as she stormed out of the club. “Oh dear, was this all because of little old me?” I laughed, closing my laptop and leaning back in the chair. I looked around the tack room, there were certainly a good few things I could make money from, it was a shame I couldn’t get away with selling the horses. Time to relax, I was going to have a long night on my hands.
* * *
“Kelly?” I looked up; John was standing in the doorway. “Have you two minutes?”
“Come in… I’m up to my eyes in paperwork, I could do with a break from all of this nonsense. I hope it’s good news you’re bringing. I could do with that too!” I gestured to the piles of reports and printouts which were strewn across my desk.
“Oh, I don’t think I’m going to be giving you any good news I’m afraid.”
“Try saying that without that grin on your fat face!”
“Well, if you would rather hear it from the Chief Constable.”
My heart sunk. John was trying to hide his delight at something, he was smirking. I had a painful feeling he was bringing me bad news and that it involved me. “No… Spit it out.”
“It’s the horsy killer?”
“What?”
“That murder at the stables.”
“Go on…” Yes, John. Go on spit it out. I could see his repressed glee. He was itching to tell me I’d done something wrong and, I guessed he had already told the Chief Constable his news.
“I’ve spoken with the tech geeks. I took it upon myself to get them to take another look at the CCTV footage.”
“I thought we had discounted that?” My heart was sinking.
“Well, I thought it was worth another look. I didn’t want to go to trial and get tripped up by something stupid.”
“Look, John. This is a simple cut and dried case. We have undeniable proof he did it. End of.”
“That’s as maybe, but I thought with a court date due I wanted to go back over some of the details again. Just to be sure. Anyway, the techy lot have looked at the CCTV footage again, and between them and the scenes of crime people we are convinced now Adam Bishop is not the person we are seeing on the images of the assailant.”
“What? Six months ago, this was a foregone conclusion. You were there, the technical people agreed, scenes of crime agreed. How come they have now just suddenly changed their minds. And what is this ‘we’ who seem to have agreed with this without my knowledge.”
My heart was sinking, I knew where this was going.
“Well, following that tip-off that you discounted…”
“Do you mean the perp’s wife who had illegally accessed the footage? That was months ago and, more importantly, it wasn’t just me who discounted it as total nonsense, you said it was stupid and that I should ignore it!”
“Well, nevertheless I asked the geeks to look at it again in more detail. See if she could have been right, just in case, as I said. I didn’t want to stand up in court and have the defence prove something we weren’t aware of. I just don’t want us to look like twats in public.”
No John, but you wanted me to look like a twat in private. I bit my tongue but I knew what was going on here. Bravo John, you’re making way for your promotion. Very clever, if I wasn’t the target of his one-man campaign I’d almost be impressed.
“Sure, but why do I think you are enjoying this? Okay, I’ll bite. What are they saying now?”
“Well, they’re saying, with the height of the doorway, which we had measured again, I sent someone back to the scene to double-check, and the height of the suspect.”
“Oh John, you have been a busy bee. So, they think it’s not him?”
“No, not think. They know. One hundred per cent it can’t be him. He could still have killed her, but it’s certainly not the man we charged who you see walking out with the murder weapon.”
I put my head in my hands. This case had been sewn up months ago, we were just waiting for the trial. It had been obvious, there were a glut of clues that pointed to Bishop having been the murderer. I didn’t need my second in charge suddenly stirring things up. Even if he meant well, which I’m sure he didn’t. He wasn’t getting any younger and was desperate for promotion. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past him, withholding information until the last minute so I looked stupid and he could rise as the new golden boy. Well, John, I may have missed you setting me up
