The Valley of Longing 33;

Jack waited until his former sister in law was off the phone to ask about the conversation he had overheard. ‘What did you mean, you don’t know when you’ll be back at work?’ he wanted to know. ‘I’m being released today, so there’s no need for you to take any more time off, especially if it’s going to put your job at risk.’ Sophie smiled. ‘My job’s not at risk. Crendill blusters and moans a lot, but he’s not going to sack me, not when I’m the one that keeps that business afloat. I’ll pick up some paperwork and do it from home, your home that is, that’ll keep him quiet. I’m not going back to work until you’re no longer in danger of going to jail for murder.’ She held up a hand when she saw that Jack was about to say something. ‘I’m not having a debate about this; you’re in trouble because that Sergeant Mitchell is a prejudiced idiot who either isn’t capable or isn’t willing to conduct a proper investigation, and you have no - one who can alibi you. Since that’s the case, I’m going to stick around and shadow you until the real killer is caught, so the next time they try to arrest you for something, you’ll have someone who can vouch for where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing.’ Jack wanted to protest, to tell Sophie that there was no need for her to effectively put her life on hold simply to help him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He Didn’t want his friend to put herself to so much trouble, but he couldn’t deny that having her do so would be a help; having someone who could vouch for his movements would make it a lot more difficult for him to be hit with fresh allegations. ‘It’s your decision,’ he said, realising that it would be a waste of his time to try and talk Sophie out of what she was intending. ‘But you probably won’t be very comfortable, my place wasn’t very tidy the last time I saw it.’ ‘Tidying it up will give us something to do while you keep out of trouble,’ Sophie remarked, making it clear that she was not going to be put off. ‘Good Afternoon, Mr Wild, I’m Detective Inspector Lemark,’ he said as he approached the bed. ‘I’ve been put in charge of the investigation into the murders you’ve been accused of in Doring Draad. Sorry to disturb your lunch but I’m here to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.’ ‘Given that you’ve probably saved me from a bout of food poisoning, I don’t mind at all.’ Jack swung the table that held his tray of ‘FOOD’ away from the bed so he wouldn’t have to look at it. ‘I take it Sergeant Mitchell is no longer involved with the investigation,’ he said. Involuntarily, his hand went to his throat, which was still sore after the sergeant’s assault the previous evening. ‘That’s right. After last night’s incident, it was decided that the investigation would be better off in the hands of someone not so closely connected to it,’ Lemark said. Jack was sure the attack on him was not the only reason Mitchell had been taken off the case; he imagined the fact that there were now four victims, three of whom were dead, had something to do with it. Picking up his glass of water from the bedside cabinet, he sipped at it while he waited for the inspector to get on with his questions, not that he couldn’t guess what they were going to be. ‘I understand you were a DI yourself until recently, so I’m sure you can appreciate that I’m probably going to have to ask you some of the same questions that Sergeant Mitchell did, just to be certain I’ve covered everything. I’ll try not to repeat things any more than necessary.’ Lemark said. ‘And I’ll try to be out of your hair as quickly as possible. As I’m sure you can imagine, I’ve got a lot to do, coming to this investigation so late.’ ‘Do you want to go, or would you rather I stay?’ Sophie asked from the chair she was occupying by the side of the bed. Jack knew his friend well enough to be sure that without a good reason, she would have to be dragged from the room - only that would keep her from staying and satisfying her curiosity about what was going on. It Didn’t really make a difference to him if she was there or not, but he suspected she would only slow the interview, and that was something he didn’t really want; fortunately, he had a reason for her not staying, and it was one she had provided for herself not too long ago. ‘That’s okay. Sophie, you go on,’ he told her. ‘You said you’ve got a bunch of stuff to do, if you don’t get started it’s going to be late before you get it all done, if there’s time for it.’ ‘I’ll be back later,’ Sophie said as she rose from the chair and headed for the door. She was a little disappointed not to be staying but could hardly deny what her friend had said. She stopped when she reached the door and looked back. ‘I forget to say, the garage called earlier, they said your car’s ready to be collected. I told them I’d pick it up later, either this afternoon or this evening, depends on when I can get there.’ Lemark waited until there was just him, Melissa and Jack Wild in the room to speak again. ‘If you don’t mind, just for my own peace of mind, I’d like to start at the beginning and run through the events of the past couple of weeks to clarify your role in events, and to see if you might have remembered something that slipped your mind previously.’ ‘Sure, no problem,’ Jack said, knowing that the real reason for the inspector to go over everything was to see if he would change what he had said previously or reveal something he hadn’t mentioned before, something which might help to firm up the case against him. ‘First, though, can I ask, do you know how Amy is doing?’ Has she woken up yet?’ Melissa was about to answer the questions when she stopped herself. She had no idea what the DI she was now working with wanted Wild to know, and what he didn’t, so she kept quiet and let Lemark reply in whatever way he wanted. When he did reply, she was surprised by what he said. ‘Yes, she has.’ Lemark watched Wild closely as he said that, searching his face for anything that might indicate concern. ‘According to the doctor, she woke briefly this morning, which is good, but until she remains awake for more than a minute or so they can’t judge the extent of the damage to her brain, or the likelihood of her making a full recovery. Personally, I’m inclined to think that her waking so soon after the attack, even for only a short time, bodes well for her being able to tell us who attacked her.’ ‘That’s good news, I’m relieved to hear that her condition is looking up,’ Jack said with genuine feeling. Lemark saw that Wild appeared untroubled by the news that Amy Wright had woken, but he had encountered many good actors and actresses during his time as a detective, and knew that appearances could be deceptive. For now, he accepted Wild’s apparent relief and got on with the questions he was there to ask. ‘Lynne Hendricks went missing on the evening of the third, after leaving her cousin’s house in the village of Doring Draad, where you live, so she could head to the Wright Farm to meet her boyfriend, Kerwin Wright. Her route to the farm would have taken her right past your house on Oak Road; did you see her that evening?’ It took over an hour of questioning for Jack to answer all of the inquisitive inspector’s questions, by which time he was tired and hungry and ready for something that didn’t look as though it would be rejected by a starving refugee… Leaving Jack’s hospital room, Melissa made her way, at Lemark’s side, down the corridor towards the lift. As they walked, she wondered what Lemark had made of the answers they had been given, which were all but identical to those he had given, which were all but identical to those he had given previously. She wondered more about something else, however, and once they were far enough from the room to be sure they couldn’t be heard, she asked about it. ‘Why did you tell Mr Wild that Amy woke up this morning? Sir? She didn’t, and the doctor thinks it will be at least a couple of days before she will, if she ever does.’ ‘I know,’ Lemark said. ’But I’ve had an idea for how we can catch the killer. If it isn’t either Jack Wild or Kerwin Wright, we’re going to need something more than the DNA sample the pathologist has for us, they’re only any good for confirming that we’ve got the right guy once we have suspect. My idea, if the chief is willing to go along with it and give me the officers I’m going to need, will help us catch the killer in the first place.’ Melissa was no more enlightened than she had been before, but instead of saying so, she chose to wait and see if her new superior would explain further, which he did, though it took him a while. ‘How long do you think it would take you to spread the story I gave Mr Wild, and tell everyone that it’s only a matter of time before Amy’s able to tell us who attacked her?’ Lemark asked. Reaching the lift, he pressed the button and then waited with his eyes on Melissa for an answer. ‘I don’t know, a couple of hours maybe,’ Melissa said. She didn’t like admitting that her village was a place prone to gossip - it was bad enough that the inspector assumed it was - but she couldn’t see the point in denying the truth, especially when she was beginning to understand how he was thinking, at least she thought she was. ‘Are you thinking, at least she thought she was. ‘Are you thinking that if the killer believes Amy is going to wake up and identify him, he’ll try and finish her off?’ Lemark nodded. ‘That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Whoever the killer is, he won’t want Amy to identify him, especially when up to when Jack Wild has been the only suspect under investigation; he’ll want us to remain focused on Mr Wild. If by some chance the killer is Mr Wild, which I don’t consider likely right now - even ignoring how hard it would be for him to have attacked Amy while establishing his alibi, there is the fact that as a former detective inspector, as well as a writer of crime novels, he should be well enough versed in forensic procedures not to have left the amount of evidence the pathologist found during the post - mortems - he won’t want to be identified by one of his victims.’ The lift arrived then and he stepped on board. ‘My plan is to have you spread the rumour of Miss Wright’s waking as far and as wide as you can, just in case the killer is neither Kerwin Wright nor Jack Wild, and then for us to be waiting here tonight with a team to arrest the killer when he tries to silence her. Before you begin your part of this, however. I need to speak to the chief; he’s not always in favour of this kind of operation, and I don’t want to put Miss Wright in danger unnecessarily.’ After a brief stop to look at the ruined farmhouse where Amy and Daisy had been found, which was still being examined by the team of forensics officers requested the previous evening, Lemark and Melissa continued up the road to the Wright’s Farm. ‘Do you think anyone’s home?’ Lemark asked as he got out and headed across the yard to the front door of the farmhouse. ‘It doesn’t look like it,’ Melissa said. ‘Neither Kerwin’s Land Rover nor his dad’s are here; I guess they’ve got to keep the farm going, despite what’s happened. I guess Tara could be here,’ she said. ‘If I was her, I wouldn’t want to go to school after everything; mind you, I wouldn’t really want to stick around here on my own either.’