The Valley of Longing 7

‘Hello, Billy, can we come in?’ Mitchell asked when the front door was opened. The man who stood in the doorway looked, understandably, to be in the midst of a nightmare, Melissa thought as she took in his rumpled clothing, the stubble on his chin, and his generally unkempt appearance. She had never seen him look less like the accountant he was - he looked more like a homeless person. ‘Ha - have your found Lynne?’ Billy Hendricks asked. Mitchell inferred from that question that his friend had heard nothing that morning from anyone else in the Dorpie. ‘We should talk inside,’ he told his friend, his voice neutral, to avoid giving either hope or cause for alarm. ‘You have, haven’t you, you’ve found Lynne,’ Billy Hendricks said in a stricken voice as he stepped back from the doorway to let the two officers in. ‘We may have,’ Mitchell said as he entered and made his way into the living room. ‘I’m sorry, but the body of a young lady was found first thing this morning, early indications are that it could be Lynne. We still need to confirm the identity of the girl,’ he hastened to say,’ and that could take some time.’ ‘What do you mean you need to confirm her identity?’ Billy Hendricks wanted to know. ‘You’ve know Lynne all her life, you’re the closest thing to an uncle she’s got, surely you can say if it’s her or not.’ ‘The outfit matches what you said Lynne was wearing when you saw her last, but there are complicating factors that make it hard to say for sure who the girl is; the length of time she’s been out there, the weather during that time, and the fact that she was…’Mitchell hesitated for a moment and then went on. ‘There’s no easy way to say this, Billy, but the girl found this morning was beaten - beaten to death, that’s why it’s hard for me to say that it’s definitely Lynne.’ ‘Lynne was murdered?’ The shocked question came from the doorway, not from the sofa, and three pairs of eyes turned in time to see Felicity Hendricks collapse to the floor in a dead faint. Billy was on his feet in an instant, so he could hurry over to his wife, and with Mitchell’s help he got her to the sofa, where he set about trying to revive her - it took a short while. ‘Is Felicity alright?’ Billy asked hesitantly once his wife was fully revived, and he had been assured that she was going to be alright, or at least as alright as anyone could be under the circumstances. ‘Was Lynne - was she - murdered?’ Mitchell would have preferred not to be asked the question, but since it had been asked, he couldn’t ignore it. ‘Based on what I saw this morning…’ He nodded heavily, sadly. ‘Yes, the girl that was found this morning was murdered, But,’ he went on quickly to try and forestall a second collapse from Felicity, ‘We don’t yet know for sure that the body is Lynne.’ ‘How can you not know something like that’ Felicity snapped. Although she appeared frail and overwhelmed by the strain of her daughter’s disappearance, sitting there in the protective embrace of her husband, there was a strength to her voice. ‘You’ve know Lynne all her life, and honestly, how many missing girls can there be in on Dorpie?’ ‘As of Theresa Potgieter’s report last night, two,’ Mitchell told her. ‘Lynne and Lily, and there’s always the possibility that the girl was found is someone from outside the Dorpie. A slim possibility, I know, but one that can’t be ignored at the moment.’ ‘If you’re not sure it’s Ly - Lynne,” Billy said, his voice catching in his throat momentarily. ‘Why’re you here? Can’t you see what an effect this is having on Felicity?’ He tightened his arm around his wife’s shoulder, pulling her closer, as if to comfort her, though she seemed less in need of comfort than he did. ‘I appreciate that, Billy, Felicity, and If I could have avoided this visit, I would have especially while the identification is uncertain,’ Mitchell told his friends. ‘We all know how quickly gossip goes round the Dorpie, bad, quicker that the Good, though, Sooner or later, and more likely sooner, someone would have been in touch to tell you about the body that was found. Most likely they would have taken a small amount of information and embellished it out of all recognition. I thought, and Inspector Stevens agreed, that you would prefer to hear what was going on first - hand, from me, and to hear the facts, few as they are.’ Billy digested that for a while before nodding. ‘You’re right. There’s a lot of people in the Dorpie who like spreading gossip, no matter how bad, and they’re none too careful about getting things right when they tell people what they’re heard. I wish, with all my heart, that we didn’t have to hear this, That Lynne would come walking through that door like nothing’s happened, and she’s only been gone for a few hours, but I think we both knew, when she didn’t come home that first night, that something had happened. She’s such a good girl, she’d never stay away from home for a day, let alone this long, without contacting us.’ Mitchell was a little disturbed by the way his friend’s attention wandered, and how it seemed as though he was talking to himself. He made no mention of his concerns, however, just then wasn’t the time. ‘Was Lynne really murdered?’ Felicity asked. ‘Could it have been an accident?’ ‘As I’ve said, we don’t yet know for sure that the girl found this morning is Lynne, we still need to confirm her identity, As for whether she was murdered - I wish I could say otherwise, give you some comfort, but yes, I believe she was. It will be for the pathologist to say for certain, however, once he’s completed the post - mortem.’ ‘A post - mortem? Is that really necessary?’ Mitchell nodded. ‘I’m afraid so; apparently, it’s a legal requirement under the circumstances. It’ll establish how she died, and help confirm whether the girl is Lynne.’ Billy roused himself from the reverie he had fallen into. ‘Shouldn’t I go to the morgue and see if I can identify Lynne?’ he asked. Mitchell’s immediate though was that it would do no good for Billy to go to the morgue, the odds of him being able to identify the girl were somewhere between slim and none. He didn’t say as much, though, for he suspected that going to the morgue would provide Billy with a measure of closure he wouldn’t otherwise get, despite the circumstances. ‘One of you should,’ he said, after thinking about it. ‘I’m not sure how much success you’ll have with making an identification,’ he admitted. ‘But if you can, even if you’re only able to say that it isn’t Lynne, it will provide us all with an answer, rather than waiting for the results of whatever tests the pathologist has to run.’ ‘I’ll go,’ Billy said decisively. Mitchell was about to ring the doorbell for a second time, when the sound of approaching footsteps reached the two police officers. He immediately dropped his finger and stepped back to wait. Howard Hunter wore an expression that could only be described as one of resignation when he saw who was on his doorstep. ‘What’s Trinity done now?’ he asked as he automatically stepped back to let Sergeant Mitchell and Melissa enter his home. ‘It’s not her you know, it’s that Lily Potgieter.’ he said in a well - worn defence of his daughter. ‘I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve told Trinity to stay away from her - she just won’t listen. It’s only a matter of time before the pair of them get themselves in real trouble, and just don’t have the money the Potgieter’s do; they’ll get Lily off and Trinity will be left holding the can.’ ‘Calm down, Howard,’ Mitchell told the younger man as he passed him. ‘As far as I know, Trinity has done nothing wrong, and she isn’t in trouble. I do need to speak to her, though, is she in?’ Howard snorted.’ In, she isn’t even up yet. If she didn’t have to be up for school, she’d never be up before midday.’ ‘Would you mind getting her up? It’s important that we talk to her.’ ‘She won’t like it,’ Howard said, as though he preferred not to have to deal with his daughter’s displeasure at being woken before she was ready to get up, nonetheless he made his way up the stairs after closing the front door behind the two police officers. While Howard headed upstairs, Mitchell and Melissa made their way into the living room, where they took seats on the sofa. After almost a minute, the sound of raised voices reached them, and a short while after that, heavy footsteps descended the stairs; it could not have been more obvious that the approaching person was a teen who was determined to make it clear that they were not happy about something. ‘What d’you want?’ Mitchell gritted his teeth against the urge to respond to the rudeness of the question; he was used to it, but that didn’t mean he like it. ‘Good morning, Trinity, sorry to have woken you,’ he apologized. ‘But I need to ask you a few questions. Would you have a seat?’ ‘I ain’t done nothing,’ Trinity said automatically as she entered the room and dropped gracefully onto the sofa. ‘Neither’s Lily.’ Mitchell’s irritation increased as the teen pointedly ignored him. ‘I need to ask you about Lynne Hendricks,’ he said, speaking loudly to be sure he was heard over the TV Trinity had turned on. ‘When did you last see her?’ Trinity scowled. ‘You already asked me that last week,’ she said without taking her eyes off the TV. ‘I know I did,’ Mitchell said, he was tempted to turn the TV off and force Trinity to pay attention to him. ‘Things have changed since then, though, and I’d like to see if you’ve remembered anything new. So, when did you last see Lynne?’ ‘Last Friday.’ Trinity waited until the music video she was watching finished to answer the question. ‘At school,’ she expanded when she saw Mitchell open his mouth to ask another question. ‘I saw her at the end of the school day, carrying some books and walking towards the library. Lily and me were on our way into town, we saw her entering the library.’ ‘And that’s the last you saw of her?’ Trinity nodded, thought her eyes never left the television, she could not have made it any clearer that she had no interest in the questions being asked of her. ‘You’re certain of that, you didn’t see her at any point after you returned to the Dorpie?’ Mitchell wanted to know. ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ Trinity said with a laugh. ‘I didn’t get back to this Dorpie ‘til well after Lynne’s bedtime. Before you ask, I don’t remember what time I got back, but I’ve heard Lynne say before that she’s always in bed by eleven, even at the weekend, and it was way after that.’ ‘I can vouch for that,’ Howard spoke up from by the door. ‘It was around half - one when Trinity got home. I remember because I was up, waiting for her. I was worried when she wasn’t back on the last bus, and spent hours wondering when she was going to get home, and how.’ ‘I’m never on the last bus, you should know that by now; I’d have to be home before ten if I was.’ The look on Trinity’s face revealed what she thought of that. ‘Nothing happens before ten, nothing worth doing anyway. I did the same as I always do, I got a lift home.’ ‘And I hate to think who from, I can just imagine the kind of person who’d come so far out of their way to bring a teen girl home - nobody does that without being after something.’ Trinity laughed again. “Most of the time it’s Ollie who brings us home, and he’s already getting what he wants.’ ‘Who’s Ollie, Oliver Hendricks?’ Howard moved quickly round so he could see his daughter’s face. ‘You’re telling me you’ve been hanging around with Oliver Hendricks, even though I’ve told you to stay away from him, and his friends?’ Mitchell spoke up quickly to head off the argument he could see brewing. ‘This is something the two of you can talk about later, once we’re finished. Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Lynne?’ he asked of Trinity. ‘Someone with a grudge against her perhaps.’ ‘Are you kiddin, who’d want to hurt her? Lynne’s a goody two - shoes, pain in the ass that most of us want nothing to do with, but I can’t think of anyone who’d hurt her. Even if someone did want to her hurt her, who’d be crazy enough to do anything, we all know she’s Ollie’s sister, and Ollie’s crazy about her, and will do anything for her. If anyone did dare do anything to Lynne, they’d have to deal with Ollie, and we all know how that would go.’ The bored expression she had affected dropped away and she turned her attention from the TV to the sergeant. ‘Something’s happened to her, hasn’t it.’ Mitchell hesitated for a moment, reluctant to say anything. He realized there was no point in keeping what had happened from her, though, not when she would hear about it soon enough. ‘Yes,’ he said with a quick nod of his head. ‘This may not be easy for you to hear, but first thing this morning, the body of a girl was found in the Dorpie, we believe it’s Lynne.’ ‘Bloody hell!!” Trinity swore, her face pale with shock. Howard went even whiter than his daughter. ‘Wh - what happened to her?’ he asked in a voice that shook. ‘Get a grip, dad - Jesus!’ Trinity told him. Once over her initial shock, the colour returned to her cheeks, and she showed enough animation to ask, ‘How did she die? Was she killed? I bet she was killed, that’s why you want to know if anyone would hurt her.’ ‘Don’t be morbid,’ Howard told his daughter, even though he had only just expressed his own interest. The look Trinity threw her father’s way showed she knew how hypocritical he was being. She said nothing to him, though, instead she turned her attention back to Mitchell. ‘Come on, what happened to Lynne?’ I’m right, aren’t I, she was killed. How? When? Who by?’ ‘’Behave,’ Howard told his daughter, with more sharpness than either Mitchell or Melissa had ever heard him use before. ‘Whatever’s happened to Lynne, you should show some respect, not act like it’s something exciting to tell your friends about; she’s a friend of yours as well.’ ‘No she’s not,’ Trinity denied quickly. ‘We used to be friends, ages ago, but we haven’t been friends since Mayfield’s. I’m sorry she’s dead, but I’m not gonna pretend to be sad when I’m not, and I’m not gonna pretend not to be curious about what happened when I am. So, come on, what happened to her? Was she killed?’ As distasteful as he found the teen’s morbid curiosity, Mitchell couldn’t help admiring her honesty. He nodded. ‘Yes, she was killed. Are you certain you can’t think of anyone who’d want to hurt her?’ ‘There’s no - one. Honestly, I don’t think Lynne could have upset anyone enough to make them want to hurt her, not even if she tried, she just didn’t have it in her.’ ‘Clearly someone wanted to hurt her,’ Mitchell said before changing the subject. ‘When did you last see Lily, Trinity?’ Trinity reacted to the question as though she had just been slapped. Her legs shot out from under her, she sat bolt upright, and an expression of anger settled over her face as she glared at Mitchell. ‘Lily ain’t done anything.’ she said, leaping to the defence of her friend. ‘I don’t know what you think she’s done, but she didn’t do it.’ If looks could kill, Mitchell thought as the teen’s glare struck him. ‘I never suggested she has,’ he said, annoyed by Trinity’s reaction. ‘I simply asked when you last saw her……..???’