The Dead Husband, page 13
Beth was anxiously pacing the room when they arrived, hugging her body, clearly agitated. ‘Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know!’ She spoke before the others had a chance to say a word. ‘It’s over now, thank goodness.’ She sat on the kitchen chair.
‘Beth, it’s only just beginning.’ Amy took her sister’s arms and squeezed, attempting to calm the woman but also return her to a sense of reality. ‘We’ve disposed of a dead body – a crime in itself. And have you thought of what we do next? Will you report him as missing to the police?’
‘I… I don’t know if I can. What do you think?’ Beth looked from her sister to her lover.
‘We need a plan, that’s for sure.’ Callum flopped wearily beside Beth and Amy took the other vacant chair, her legs barely able to hold her up – no one wanted to go into the lounge.
‘There’s a mess through there to clear up for a start.’ Callum nodded towards the door. ‘We’ll have to take the carpet up and get it to the tip. I’ll put the rug inside it and chuck them out together.’
‘Might it not be better to burn them?’ Amy suggested.
‘A bonfire in this weather will look suspicious and when we report him to the police as missing, they’ll be round here looking for signs of something amiss. When they find the body, they’ll be looking to identify it.’
‘Oh, hell, what a bloody mess!’ Beth rested her elbows on the table and sighed. Amy kept her mouth shut. It was a mess of Beth and Callum’s making – part of her resented them for involving her, but another part was screaming that this was her chance to make it up to Beth for all the times she’d failed her in the past.
Oddly the knowledge she was dying was quite empowering – in many respects Amy was untouchable – nothing could hurt her now. Perhaps this was a chance to recompense Beth – to give her a better life. And Callum, too. Amy didn’t owe him anything but she’d loved him once; if he could make her sister happy…
‘First things first. I’m going to take the carpet up.’ Callum looked from a jittery Beth, chewing her nails, to Amy, pale and exhausted – neither looked fit to help. ‘I suggest you make something to eat and a hot drink. It won’t help if we’re all weak with hunger. I’ll do the heavy work. We need to reach a decision and reach it tonight.’
Callum set to work in the lounge while the women did as he suggested. Using Dave’s Stanley knife, he cut the carpet into manageable strips and piled them in a corner. There was blood splatter on the wall and his next job was to clean it off with a bleach solution. Exhausted, he finally sat at the kitchen table and readily ate the scrambled eggs Amy put before him. The coffee was strong and sweet, Amy knew what she was doing.
Beth had been quiet but ate as instructed and hugged her mug for the slightest comfort and warmth it could offer. ‘Promise me you won’t go to the police?’ she blurted out.
Amy looked at Callum and sighed. ‘I think that ship has sailed. We’re beyond doing the right thing, so we have to decide what we are going to do. You really should go to the police, Beth, to report Dave as missing.’
‘No, I couldn’t!’
Callum grasped Beth’s hand. ‘You’ll have to at some point. We might have a day or two before someone finds the body but it’ll look suspicious if you don’t make the effort to find him. Maybe Amy will go with you – it would be natural for your sister to support you at such a time.’
‘Let’s think of the immediate practicalities,’ Amy interrupted. ‘How were you intending to get rid of the carpet, Cal? You can’t leave it piled up in the corner – and there’s the rug in the van.’
Callum stroked the stubble on his chin. ‘I’ll load it into the van and take it to the tip first thing in the morning.’
‘If the police find Dave and don’t swallow the hit-and-run theory, they’ll search the van and the house, looking for a possible crime scene. Take the van to be valeted afterwards. There may be signs of blood which we can’t see, but forensic searches can find the slightest trace.’ Finally watching so much television was paying off.
‘But why wouldn’t they believe it was a hit-and-run?’ Beth looked horrified. The others exchanged a knowing look.
‘We’re just trying to second-guess what might happen.’ Callum spoke soothingly but Beth’s tears erupted again.
‘I can’t have the police here – they’ll know I’m lying!’ She turned to Amy. ‘What can we do? Help me, Amy!’
‘Beth, you’re tired and not thinking straight. Go to bed and let Cal and I decide what to do. Go on, scoot…’ The chair scraped on the kitchen floor, setting Amy’s teeth on edge. A plan was forming in her tired mind but she needed to discuss it with Callum before sharing it with her sister.
Watching her husband tenderly lead Beth upstairs, Amy had a strange feeling of being energised. Perhaps she read too many books and watched too much television but she could do this, and in the execution of her plan, make it up to Beth for her past failings.
THIRTY-SIX
WEDNESDAY 7TH DECEMBER
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Callum sank onto the chair beside his remarkably calm-looking wife. ‘Bloody hell, Amy, what have we gotten into and what unearthly hour is this to be trying to think rationally? You know in the light of day everything we’ve done will seem ludicrous – we’ll never get away with it.’ With elbows on the table, he rested his head on his hands as if it was too heavy to hold up.
Amy felt remarkably strong, a second wind she supposed, or perhaps the new medication was finally kicking in. ‘You have to go back to where we left Dave’s body, Cal.’
‘No bloody way! I don’t want to revisit a corpse – I’ll be having nightmares for months to come as it is! Why would I want to go back?’
‘Tell me, do you still want to be with Beth?’ Amy watched as Callum lowered his eyes and his cheeks turned red.
‘Of course I do. I’m sorry, Amy, but I love her.’
‘Don’t be sorry. I needed to know that this mess hasn’t changed anything and you’ll take care of her. So, listen. How much are you worth?’
‘Damn it, do we have to talk about money now? You know everything I have…’
‘I don’t mean what you have in the bank – we both know it’s a paltry sum – but how much are you worth if you die?’ Amy shook her head as Cal stared at her, not grasping what she was implying. ‘If it was you who was dead, not Dave, there’d be a tidy sum coming from Blacketts, wouldn’t there?’
‘The insurance? Yes, I suppose – but it’s not me who’s dead, it’s Dave, and they have even less than us.’
‘What if we passed the body off as you? It’s bound to be found sooner or later, so if we put something in his pocket to suggest it’s you, I could report you as missing, not Dave. Then when things settle down, there’ll be a nice fat insurance payment coming our way.’
‘Coming to you, you mean.’
‘Semantics, Cal. You may not believe me but I really don’t want the money. You and Beth could use it to make a fresh start – move away somewhere you’re not known. That’s why you need to go back to where we left Dave.’
‘Amy, it’s a ridiculous idea! We’d be found out, someone would see me and know I was still alive.’
‘Which is why you’d have to move away. Let’s face it, there’s not much in New Middridge for you both, is there? And the only family you have is your mum who’s away with the fairies and Mike in New Zealand who you’ve all but lost touch with. As for being in trouble, we’ve already committed a crime by hiding a body – they can’t punish us much more – and if we do get away with it you and Beth will be considerably better off.’ Amy rubbed her gritty eyes, beyond tired now, and with the plan she’d hatched buzzing around her brain, she thought she’d never sleep again. ‘If you go back to the body and put your wallet in Dave’s pocket, when he’s found they’ll assume it’s you. You’re a similar age and build, so I’ll report you as missing and then identify Dave’s body as yours. If they accept the hit-and-run theory we’ll be in the clear and you’ll be in the money.’
‘It’s rightfully your money, Amy. I couldn’t take it and leave you with nothing.’
‘Well, then leave me the house. I’ll sell it and get somewhere smaller, okay?’
‘We need to think about this and discuss it with Beth.’
‘There’s no time to think about it, Cal, but we can go up and see if Beth’s awake. I’m sure she’ll jump at the idea – it gets her out of reporting Dave as missing which she’s clearly obsessed with.’
Beth opened her eyes as they entered the bedroom and pulled herself up to a sitting position. ‘I can’t sleep,’ she moaned.
‘We need to talk, Beth. Your sister has an idea but we need to be in agreement to make it work.’
‘What is it?’
Callum sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand, then looked at Amy, waiting for her to outline the plan. When this was done there was a moment of uncomfortable silence when no one wanted to speak. Amy broke the hush. ‘There’s no time to dither! If we’re going to do it we need to hurry – Cal, you’ll have to get back to the body quickly, then come here to load the carpet into the van ready to take to the tip as soon as it opens. What do you think, Beth?’
‘Will it work?’ She looked at Callum who nodded solemnly.
‘I think it will. Once the body’s found it’s bound to be an awkward time. At least doing it this way we’ll come out of it with the means to start a new life.’
‘Right.’ Amy stood, taking charge again. ‘Choose what you’re going to leave as identification on the body and get away with you. When you’re finished call in at home and get whatever you need to move in with Beth. You become Dave Moorhouse from tonight onwards. With this new plan, you can use Dave’s van to dispose of the carpet and then get it valeted. Maybe then we should all try to get some sleep. I’ll have to report Callum as missing tomorrow – the police might think it suspicious if I leave it any later.’
‘Perhaps you should take a photo of Dave to give to the police? They’ll probably ask for one of Callum.’ Beth was wide awake again and clearly thinking more rationally. She climbed from her bed and went to a drawer in her dressing table. ‘Here. This is a couple of years old but it’ll have to do – I don’t have many photos of Dave.’
Amy took the image and looked at it. Dave was actually smiling for the camera and a pang of something shot through Amy’s body, a twisting stab of guilt perhaps? She pulled herself together. ‘Right, I’m off. Callum, from now on you can’t let anyone see you – the neighbours here or anyone else. A sighting of you alive will ruin the whole plan. We’ll keep in touch by phone.’ Amy turned, went back downstairs and let herself out. Saying goodnight seemed totally inappropriate.
At 8am, Amy rang Beth’s number. Callum answered which made her furious. ‘Cal, you can’t be answering the phone – it could have been anyone ringing! You have to be Dave now and don’t let anyone see you.’
‘Huh, I knew it would be you.’
‘Don’t assume it again, right?’
‘Okay.’
‘Did you go back to the body?’
‘No.’
‘What? Why the hell not? I thought we’d agreed.’
‘When you left I decided perhaps leaving my ID on the body wasn’t such a good idea. If the police somehow find out it’s not me, having the ID will throw suspicion on us, whereas if there’s none on the body, we have no connection.’
‘This is getting so confusing. You might be right but it’s too late now. Have you been to the tip?’
‘Yes, I was there first thing and before you ask, I chose a skip with hardly anything in it, so it should soon be covered in plenty of other rubbish.’
‘Good. And how’s Beth this morning?’
‘Still in bed. Neither of us got much sleep. By the time I loaded the van, Beth wanted to talk. I think it was 4am before we finally slept and then I was up early. But I suppose you didn’t sleep either?’
‘You suppose right. I kept going over every possible way this could work out. I still think we’ve a good chance of pulling it off, although it won’t be easy. Anyway, I’m going to report you as missing this morning. I’ll tell them as little as I can get away with without raising suspicion. Tell Beth I’ll ring her when I’ve done it.’
‘Okay, and thanks, Amy. I can’t believe you’d do all this after what’s happened…’
‘Forget it. We’re in it together now, we all have to play our part.’
PART 3
PRESENT DAY
THIRTY-SEVEN
FRIDAY 16TH DECEMBER
Sam arrived at New Middridge police station with a knowing smile on her face and a distant look in her eyes, to notice that, for once, her team were mostly in before her.
‘Hi!’ She glanced around the room. Jen blinked and studied her boss – usually, if Sam was running late, she’d be grumpy.
‘You look happy, have you discovered who our mystery body is yet?’
Sam’s grin widened and she motioned for Jenny to follow her into her office where she closed the door and sat down with a sigh. ‘Ravi proposed to me last night!’
‘What? D’you mean – as in a marriage proposal?’
‘What else?’
Jenny’s eyes widened as she flopped down in the visitor’s chair and leaned onto the desk. ‘Tell me everything.’
Speaking quietly, Sam began with the tandoori chicken…
When she’d described the proposal but not why she’d arrived late, Sam pushed back her chair and announced, ‘Enough excitement, we have work to do. Gather the team, Jen.’
Ten minutes later, Sam asked what news the morning had brought. Kim was eager to start with her update. ‘I spoke to two women last night, both of whose husbands went missing just before we found our John Doe. They sent me photographs which I’ve enlarged to compare.’ All eyes turned to the whiteboard, where an image of the unidentified cadaver hung alongside two new images. Callum and Amy’s photos had been removed, they’d wasted enough time chasing a motive for Callum’s death and now he was back to a misper Sam hadn’t abandoned hope of finding him alive. She stepped forward and squinted at the new photos. ‘There’s certainly a resemblance but after getting the wrong ID before, I want to be sure. Did you ask for a DNA sample – comb or toothbrush, Kim?’
‘I did and they’re sending them off ASAP.’
‘Good work, Kim. Get them to Rick as soon as they arrive – it’s a priority. How did the wives react?’
‘Tearful – both of them – the one in Bristol wanted to come and see for herself but I persuaded her to wait and told her the ID would be confirmed one way or another as soon as possible. I did wonder if we should do another misper search for dates further back.’
‘You’re right, Kim, good thinking. Start with local reports and then widen the search area. Maybe Layla would help you as I don’t think there’s much more we can do until we get an ID. We’ll consider a media appeal if we don’t strike lucky by the end of the day. Paul, I’d like you to work on the Baxter case. Collate all the paperwork for the CPS and give the Baxters a courtesy call to see if there’s anything we can do – within reason. I’ll be visiting again, maybe tomorrow.’
Kim raised her hand. ‘What will happen to the other boys, will they be charged?’
‘It’ll be up to the CPS who’ll work with the youth offending team and I think the trauma they’ve already suffered will go in their favour. It’s to be hoped the experience will be sobering for them and we’ll have two less young hooligans on the streets.’
As the team dispersed, Sam told Jenny she was going out for a while. Jenny raised her eyebrows at her boss’s enigmatic smile. Twenty minutes later it was Jenny’s turn to smile as Samantha returned to the office with a tray of coffees and a huge bag of doughnuts.
‘Ooh, are we celebrating?’ Layla asked.
‘You could say so. I’ve no ring to show you – yet – but as of last night I became engaged to Ravi.’ Sam wasn’t usually one to draw attention to herself unless it was to let a difficult suspect feel her presence in an intimidating way.
‘Hey, congratulations!’ Paul shouted, relieving her of the bag of doughnuts. The rest of the team joined in with their good wishes.
‘Hmm, early elevenses, a great way to start a miserable Friday.’ Jen grabbed Paul’s arm before he disappeared with the whole bag.
‘Ten-minute break,’ Sam declared. ‘And then back to work, we have much to do, folks.’
THIRTY-EIGHT
SATURDAY 17TH DECEMBER
With their plans completely skewed and a sense of depression descending, Amy Cooper wanted to visit her sister and Callum again to see how they were holding up. Talking on the phone wasn’t the same. It was impossible to judge her sister’s mood without seeing her face and Amy was getting antsy; she didn’t trust using the phone.
Having been awake since 5.30am, Amy set off early and arrived at her sister’s home at 8.45am. A dishevelled Beth opened the door a fraction, then stepped aside to allow their visitor in. ‘You’re early.’
‘We need to talk. Where’s Cal?’
‘In the shower. You should have rung first.’
‘Huh.’ Amy marched into the lounge, annoyed with the casual manner Beth was demonstrating. Didn’t the woman realise what trouble they were in? The bare floorboards gave a hollow feel to the room, an echoing reminder of the most horrific night of Amy’s life, and an image of Dave’s dead body crept unbidden into her mind.
‘I’ll tell Cal you’re here and then get dressed.’ Beth wandered from the room.
How can she stand to be in this house?
As Amy sat down to wait, a strange feeling spread throughout her body – something similar to jealousy perhaps? No, she wasn’t jealous of Beth having Callum, they were welcome to each other. Maybe it was their togetherness – something she’d never experience again – Amy had no future to look forward to. All there was left for her to do was ease Beth’s life, to make up for the times in their past when she’d let her down.
