Descent (A Kate Redman Mystery Novella) Read online

  Kate concurred. The edge of the cliff, whilst steep, was unmarked. No clawed-up grass around the drop, as there might have been if someone had been fighting for their life not to succumb to gravity. There were no footprints at all, apart from their own in the frosty grass. She walked backwards from the edge, sweeping her gaze from side to side.

  “It would have been this side, wouldn’t it?” she asked, looking up and across to the far side of the ravine. It was a good thirty feet across, possibly more, and the body of the woman lay close to the side they were currently standing on.

  “Yup. Unless she was like that bird in the Matrix, you know, Trinity. There’s no way she could have landed over this side if she’d jumped from the other.”

  Kate looked at him. “Jumped?”

  “Well, it’s a possibility, isn’t it? We’ve had a few suicides here over the years.”

  “Really?” Although Kate phrased it as a question, she wasn’t surprised. There was something about high spaces that attracted the desperate. Personally, she couldn’t think of a more terrifying way to die. Well, she could, but she didn’t really want to.

  “Well, at least if that’s the case we won’t have to worry about it.”

  “True.” Kate stood for a moment, looking down in the depths of the gorge. “But – I don’t know. Would you get all dressed up for running if you were going to hurl yourself off a cliff?”

  “Who knows?”

  “True,” Kate said again. “Anyway, let’s split up and have a further look around. You take this side and I’ll go back down to the bottom and see if Andrew’s got anything yet.”

  “And who made you the boss of me?” Theo was only half-joking.

  Kate grinned. “You’d better get used to being bossed around by a woman. I hear Nicola Weaver takes no prisoners.”

  “Yeah, well, if she’s better looking than you, I might take it.”

  Kate stuck her tongue out at him before waving goodbye and heading back towards the path that descended into the gorge. She headed straight for the tent.

  Andrew was supervising the placement of the body bag when she walked in. Kate sidled up, hoping he was in a better mood.

  “Hi. Any news?”

  He turned and smiled. “Hi, Kate. I’ve got an ID for you. I found keys, a phone and a debit card in her jacket pocket.”

  “Fantastic. Thanks, Andrew.”

  Andrew held up an evidence bag containing the last item he’d mentioned. “The phone was smashed – well, the screen was broken anyway, and it’s either completely dead or it’s run out of battery. But the debit card has a name—”

  Kate took it from him eagerly and turned the small black rectangle within it around so she could read it. “Ms K Denver.” She stopped, hearing a faint bell ring. “I know that name.” She closed her eyes momentarily, thinking back. “Oh, yes. Of course.”

  The missing woman – the one whose friend had reported her missing this morning. Could it only have been this morning? As was usual on a case, Kate felt as if she’d been working for days.

  She looked up to see Andrew looking at her quizzically and smiled, sheepishly. “Sorry. That’s great, Andrew. We already know who she is, so that’s half the battle.”

  “Happy to oblige. I’ll be in touch with details of the PM.”

  “Great. See you soon.”

  They said goodbye and Kate hurried outside, reaching into her pocket for her phone to call Theo.

  Chapter Three

  Unlike Anderton, the former Abbeyford DCI, DCI Nicola Weaver didn’t enter the room with a crash of the door and a whirlwind of energy accompanying her. In fact, she entered the room so quietly that Kate, Rav, and Theo didn’t notice her at first. Which was unfortunate, as they were currently engaged in playing that good old office game standby, ‘Who can keep a screwed-up ball of paper in the air for the longest, using only their head’.

  “Good morning,” said Nicola Weaver’s quiet voice, and Kate, who’d just achieved almost twenty seconds of triumph, jumped and lost her chance at the ball-in-the-air trophy. The paper ball fell to the floor and rolled towards Nicola, who bent and picked it up, two-fingered, as if it were a live mouse or a dirty sock.

  “Sorry.” Kate was aware of the colour of her cheeks. She felt the warmest she had been all day. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Theo and Rav shuffling, torn between embarrassment and snickering. God, how old are we all?

  They all sat down. Kate tried to sit up straighter in her chair, determined to make amends for her childishness. Nicola dropped the paper ball in the nearest litterbin with the faintest moue of disgust on her face. Kate was conscious of a spurt of anger. All right, It was a stupid game, but really…

  Nicola Weaver waited for a moment that stretched out well beyond the comfortable. The room was silent for at least thirty seconds, and she took the time to look at the three of them for a long moment in turn, before eventually speaking.

  “As I said before, good morning.” She paused long enough for Kate, Rav and Theo to mutter an embarrassed ‘good morning’ in return. “As you no doubt know, I am DCI Nicola Weaver, your interim manager for the foreseeable future, while DCI Anderton remains on gardening leave.” She bestowed a rather meaningful smile at Kate as she said the last few words, and Kate, whilst mentally raising her eyebrows, managed to keep her face neutral and her expression only mildly interested.

  Nicola paused again and then continued to speak. “Now, I realise that it’s always something of a learning curve when a team manager is replaced, so I’m aware that some of you might well have some questions to ask. I will be in my office after this briefing for the next half an hour if you have anything in particular you’d like to discuss.” She paused, only for there to be a brief, excruciating silence. Nicola smiled faintly and went on. “Now, let’s begin on the briefing of our most recent case. Would anyone like to start? DS Redman, how about you?”

  Feeling awkward, Kate cleared her throat. “We were called this morning by patrol to say they’d found the body of a woman at the bottom of the Blackdown Gorge, in Blackdown Woods. Theo – er, DS Marsh – and I went there to survey the scene. SOCO were already there and the pathologist, Doctor Stanton, was, um, conducting his examination.”

  She ran out of breath and stopped speaking for a moment. Nicola hadn’t taken her eyes off Kate’s face.

  “And?” Nicola asked, after a second.

  Kate’s jaw tightened for a moment. “Well, the preliminary medical findings seemed to conclude that she’d fallen from the top of the cliff. Theo – DS Marsh – and I went up to have a look, just to see if there were any signs of a cliff fall or similar, or – or anything pertinent to the enquiry. Um—”

  Kate wasn’t normally so inarticulate or hesitant, but there was something about Nicola Weaver’s hazel stare that dried the words up in her mouth. For a horrible moment, her mind went completely blank.

  Theo, bless his heart, leapt into the breach. “DS Redman and I took a good look around the top of the cliffs and the woods. Obviously we’ll have to do a fingertip search if it turns out the death is suspicious, but on first glance there was nothing untoward to be seen.”

  By now, Kate had recovered her equilibrium. “Doctor Stanton recovered some ID from the body which gave us her name, Karyn Mary Denver. She’s not been formally identified as yet, as we’re just tracing her next of kin.”

  Nicola regarded her coolly. “Very well. Anything else? When’s the post mortem to take place?”

  “I’m just waiting on the details from Andrew – er, Doctor Stanton, I mean, but I’d imagine it would be in the next day or so.” There was something about Nicola Weaver that made Kate adopt a spurious formality in her speech – very unlike her.

  “Thank you. Please attend that, DS Redman, when you get the finalities.”

  Kate had actually been going to offer to do just that, but the cool way
in which she was told what to do put her back up. Oh dear, she wasn’t warming to her new boss at all. Was it just that Nicola Weaver was so different from Anderton? Or was it just that she appeared to be a stone-cold, grade-A bitch?

  Sexist, Kate, sexist. She forced the thought from her head, smiled, and nodded. “Of course.”

  Nicola passed on without another glance at her. “Now, what about witnesses?” She looked enquiringly at Theo and her face softened, minutely. “DS Marsh?”

  Theo shrugged, clearly less intimidated by his new DCI than Kate was. “I haven’t had a chance yet to check with patrol, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. It was minus four yesterday, and it’s not very likely that many people would have been out for a walk.”

  “Hmm. Well, ask anyway. Once her next of kin have been informed, we can interview them to see if there are any circumstances surrounding Karyn Denver’s death that we need to be aware of. Was she depressed, for example?” Nicola, who had been slowly turning in a circle, came to Rav. “DC Cheetam, I presume?”

  Rav gave her a nervous smile. “That’s right.”

  “Anything to add?” Nicola’s tone was just the right side of patronising. Kate found herself clenching her fists. Okay, so Rav was the youngest but he wasn’t that young – and he was a good and experienced police officer. Kate, through sad personal experience, was getting a bad feeling about DCI Nicola Weaver. She thought she sensed in her a bully – a bully who hid her bullying ways behind a polite manner and a calm and gentle voice.

  Rav was suggesting they put a request for information board up at various entry points to Blackdown Woods. Nicola hesitated before answering in the affirmative. “I suppose it might do some good,” was what she said, before turning away from them all and walking to the whiteboard at the back of the room.

  She wrote up a summation of all they had just discussed in neat bullet points and assigned their various initials to various tasks. Then she turned back to face them, putting the top back on the whiteboard marker with a vicious little jab. Her calm smile didn’t waver.

  “Well, I’m sure we’re all agreed that it’s very likely that Karyn Denver’s death was nothing more than a tragic accident. But, until we know more, obviously we are treating it as suspicious. Now, I know we have various other cases to progress but I think it would be more productive to go through those individually with the officers who are leading them. So, I’ll see you all in my office at some point today – I’ll have my assistant notify you with a time.” Nicola’s calm smile grew a fraction wider, although no less cold. “Thank you for your time, officers. Good morning.”

  Kate, Theo and Rav murmured some form of a thank you each. They remained motionless and silent until Nicola Weaver had left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Then, after a wait of several seconds to make sure she was out of earshot, they – as one – expelled their breath, blowing out their cheeks and giving each other appalled glances and raised eyebrows.

  “What the hell—” Kate didn’t need to say much more. She flumped back into her chair and looked at her two colleagues.

  “Ice queen,” agreed Rav.

  “She matches the weather.” Kate felt the urgent need for a coffee and walked over to the kitchen.

  “Oh, come on,” said Theo. “It’s her first day here. And you know what you chicks are like.”

  “What?” demanded Kate in outrage. “We’re like what?”

  “Oh, you know, women in a position of power. You feel like you have to be a right ball-breaker, just to get some respect.”

  “I do not.” Kate pushed aside the memory of a conversation that she and Chloe had had on just that subject.

  Theo shrugged. “It’s not so bad. Think about who we might have got instead.”

  “Like who?”

  “Oh, you know. That useless fat git from Salterton, for one. What’s his name. Chloe’s old boss.”

  “George Atwell,” said Rav, helpfully.

  “Hmm.” Kate could see his point, remembering what she did of Atwell. “I suppose you’re right.” She punched the buttons of the coffee machine with slightly unnecessary vigour. “Well, I suppose we’d better get on with it.” She thought for a moment and added, with a grin. “Don’t you agree, DS Marsh?”

  Theo grinned back. “Oh, I certainly do, DS Redman.”

  “Coffee for you, DC Cheetam, I presume?” Kate glanced at Rav who was also smiling.

  “Ooh, I say, that would be lovely, Detective Sergeant Kate Redman, if you would be so kind,” Rav answered smartly, in a kind of put-on posh falsetto which made them all collapse.

  *

  Armed with restored good humour and their hot drinks, the team wandered back to their desks. Kate only then realised that Olbeck hadn’t been with them at the briefing. She looked into his office and realised why – he was clearly having a meeting with various other DIs from other departments. He certainly seemed to have a lot more meetings than he ever used to. No wonder he hadn’t wanted the extra responsibility of a promotion. Not to mention the fact that he was shortly due to become a father – all being well. Kate knew that he and Jeff were well along the route to adopting a pair of siblings, a two year old boy and an eight month old girl. That was all she knew so far – both Olbeck and Jeff were keeping quiet of the details, for fear that something would happen to derail the whole process. “I don’t want to jinx it,” was what Olbeck had said, simply but with heartfelt sincerity, the last time Kate had enquired as to the progress of the adoption. And Kate, because she knew how very much this meant to both her friends, had done the kind thing and kept her mouth shut.

  Once more crossing her fingers for a successful outcome, Kate turned back to her computer and checked her emails. There were three of interest. One from her friend Stuart announced his engagement to his long-term girlfriend. Wedding invitation is in the post, he had written, but just wanted you to know anyway and save the date! Kate sighed and smiled. She was happy for Stuart, of course she was, but every wedding and new baby announcement was, for Kate, bittersweet. Because she seemed so far from anything like that happening for her. But was that what she actually wanted? I don’t know, Kate thought, staring blankly at her computer screen. I genuinely don’t know.

  Shaking her head and dismissing the thought, she turned to the second email, which was from Andrew Stanton, confirming the post mortem was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Kate replied in acknowledgement and also to confirm that she would be attending as the police representative.

  The third email made her groan silently. It was from Linda Cumbald, DCI Nicola Weaver’s new assistant. She would have to have an assistant, thought Kate resentfully. Anderton had never bothered, using the pool of administrative assistants in the station if he needed extra help. Linda had summoned Kate to a meeting with DCI Weaver at nine o’clock the next morning. Nine o’clock! Jesus wept. Kate gritted her teeth and wrote a short affirmative reply, unable to help herself by signing off with ‘regards, Kate’. Everyone knew that when you wrote ‘regards’ it meant you weren’t best pleased. Passive-aggressive, yes, but there you go…

  She jumped as Theo tapped her on the shoulder. “What is it?”

  “I’ve traced Karyn Denver’s next of kin, it’s her husband. Off to break the news now. Want to come, DS Redman?”

  “That’s stopped being funny. But yes, I will.” Wanting to get out of the office, Kate leapt at the opportunity. “Come on.”

  “Come on, who?”

  Kate gave him a look. “Come on, Detective Sergeant Theodore James Archibald Henry Sinclair George Ringo Paul John – um – Mick Ron – um – Marsh.”

  Theo’s laughter followed her to the exit.

  *

  Karyn Denver’s husband lived on the border of the suburbs of Charlock and Arbuthon Green, a hinterland where the run-down estate of Arbuthon Green butted up against the slightly more prosperous and well-to-do inhabitants o
f Charlock. Kate had let Theo drive for once – she was no fan of driving on icy roads, and whilst Theo might be a cocky little so-and-so, he was also a very experienced and competent driver.

  They found the Denvers’ house easily – it was a nondescript semi-detached building, one of many built in their thousands after the Second World War. As they parked the car and walked towards it, Kate could see that there had been a few efforts made to smarten it up. The front garden was neat, with various shrubs and rose bushes planted around the edge of the small lawn, and there were colourful ceramic pots by the front door. The effect was slightly spoiled by the dead, brown plants contained within them.

  Something else occurred to Kate as she went to open the garden gate. “Hang on a minute.” Theo looked at her enquiringly. “I’ve just thought. Karyn Denver’s friend was the one who reported her missing, not her husband. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

  Theo frowned. “Well – kind of.”

  Kate persisted. “Her friend – oh, I can’t remember her name – she said something about Karyn being with them for Christmas. Now I think back, I got the impression that it was just Karyn there with them, not Karyn and her husband.”

  “Well—” Theo lifted his shoulders. “We need to talk to this friend anyway. Let’s interview this guy and see what we get.”

  Kate conceded that that was indeed the best course of action. They advanced down the paved garden path and Kate knocked on the door.

  She had to knock twice more before it was actually answered. The door slowly opened to reveal a middle-aged man, dark-haired and bearded, wearing a frown that was almost as dark. “Yes?”

  “Mr Thomas Denver? I’m Detective Sergeant Kate Redman, and this is my colleague Detective Sergeant Theo Marsh. May we come in for a minute?”

  Kate was used to many different sorts of reactions to this type of visit, and it was never a situation that she relished. She braced herself automatically for tears, hysteria, and even violence.

  There was none of that. Mr Denver stood regarding them both for a moment with a flat gaze that Kate found quite unsettling. Then he spoke. “What’s this all about?”