Chapter Seventeen #2
Luke checked his watch. It was nearly eight.
He wondered where Marika had got to and why she had arranged to meet him here of all places.
In all her previous calls the agreed meeting place had been down on the edge of West Beach.
He didn’t like this at all. It was far too public and exposed him to all sorts of unwanted scenarios.
All he needed now was one of the techs to drop by and see them together and goodness knows what harmful gossip would find its way back to Cat.
Luke felt himself break out in a sweat. Being too caring, too decent and even a little foolish had dragged him into this situation with Marika.
He knew that she had orchestrated their accidental collision outside Carrenporth’s small supermarket – one which had seen his groceries scattered over the pavement.
She persuaded him to join her for coffee by way of an apology and as they chatted mentioned she was no longer with Jordan.
She wondered if Luke’s family connection meant he might have some influence over his cousin.
She wanted him to speak to Jordan, to tell him how much she loved and missed him.
He felt sorry for her at first, a vulnerable young woman, yet another victim of Jordan’s callous behaviour.
However, when he explained the family dynamics she became distressed and he stupidly gave her his number, telling her to contact him if she needed someone to talk to.
It was a fatal mistake. Her calls were relentless, she was sure he could do something she told him. Why was he being so difficult?
Meeting with her several times he tried to convince her to move on and find someone new.
She wasn’t listening. It was then Luke decided he’d had enough.
Marika was obsessed with Jordan to the point of madness.
He had to walk away before things really got out of hand.
So he blocked her mobile. He thought he was safe, but then she had called last night from a new number insisting he meet her in the small cove below the beach restaurant.
When he arrived he found her pacing up and down.
She told him she was pregnant. Jordan was the father; he had to take her back.
Luke told her he wasn’t prepared to help her any more.
Her reaction was to attack him, a couple of her long nails raking the side of his face.
He walked away angry but relieved he was free of her at last. He’d turned his phone off, however, turning it back on this morning he found yet another text.
One threatening to tell Cat they had been having an affair if he refused to help her.
More demands, this time to meet her outside Arcadia at seven forty-five.
This was the last time he told himself as he drove here.
When she arrived he planned to call her bluff; to tell her he was going to tell Cat everything and he didn’t care what she did.
But he did of course. Telling Cat the truth was a high-risk move.
It wasn’t a single lie he had told. To explain his absences he had piled one upon another and, on discovering the depth of his deception, there was a strong possibility Cat would leave him.
With a heavy heart he got out of the pickup and checked his watch again. If this was a fool’s errand he’d be very, very angry. He leaned against the Nissan’s door, deciding he’d give her five more minutes and then leave.
Movement along the road caught his attention. A vehicle was approaching at speed from the direction of Carrenporth. As it drew nearer he recognised Gareth’s Mercedes SUV. It turned into the forecourt, coming to a stop alongside him.
There was a hum as the window lowered and his uncle leaned out, resting his elbow on the sill.
‘Morning,’ he said gruffly. ‘Glad I caught you. Bad news I’m afraid.
They found a woman’s body among the rocks down in the cove this morning.
The police have arrived. They’re pulling everyone from last night’s barbeque in for interview.
Nathan’s set up a room for them in the hotel.
You need to come in as soon as you can.’
‘Sure.’ Luke nodded, shocked that something so brutal could happen in a quiet Cornish village like theirs. ‘Do they know who it is?’
‘Yes, Marika Stefanski, one of the Polish waitresses from the hotel,’ came the reply. Luke stilled, feeling the blood drain from his face.
‘Marika? Jesus …’ He took a deep breath and scrubbed a hand through his hair. ‘How was she—?’
‘The police haven’t made anything public yet … drowning, possibly,’ Gareth interrupted, ‘but there’s a rumour she’d been badly beaten. You okay, Luke? You look a bit pale.’
‘A bit shaken that’s all.’ Luke shrugged off his uncle’s curiosity determined not to draw any more attention to himself. ‘I mean murder in a place like Carrenporth? It’s hard to take in, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, it is,’ Gareth agreed as he fired up the engine and prepared to leave. ‘Oh, and one more thing, don’t bother going back to the cottage to collect Cat. I dropped her at the hotel on my way here.’
‘Okay, I’ll head straight there now.’
‘See you later.’ In the wake of Gareth’s parting words the window skimmed upwards and the SUV swung around behind the pickup and left.
Watching the vehicle make its way back towards the village, Luke clamped a hand over his mouth, fighting back the nausea rising in his throat.
Marika was dead his DNA was under her fingernails and somehow he had to convince the police he wasn’t the killer.
‘And what time did Luke Carrack receive this call?’
Cat sat, trying to stay calm. Being interviewed by the police had seemed fairly straightforward.
A bit na?ve of you, Cat, she scolded. Hadn’t she seen enough TV crime dramas to know that even innocent interviews in order to eliminate people from enquiries were full of traps and elephant pits?
It was when the senior officer, DI Phillips, with his grey suit and pale reptilian eyes had asked whether they had been together all evening she realised telling the truth had taken this interview in a whole new direction.
‘The call, Miss Trevelyan …’ Phillips prompted, rousing her from her thoughts.
‘Um, just after ten past ten, I think.’
‘Do you know who it was from?’
‘No idea. It could have been to do with work.’
‘After ten on a Saturday evening?’ His colleague, DS Cousins, short and swarthy with dark assessing eyes, looked at her disbelievingly.
‘The garage is always busy.’
‘And in the time you’ve been together,’ Phillips consulted his pad, ‘three months I believe … ’ He raised his eyes to her for confirmation.
‘Yes, three months,’ she supplied with a nod.
‘During that time did he ever receive any other out of hours calls?’
‘Yes, several.’
‘Right. So getting back to last evening. He received the message and left.’
‘Yes.’
‘But he didn’t say exactly where he was going?’
Cat shook her head.
‘And how long was he absent?’
‘Not long. About ten minutes.’
‘Was there anything strange about his behaviour when he returned?’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘He was quite normal.’
‘Not out of breath from running or anything else strange you might not have thought about at the time?’
Cat considered the question. There was the incident with the gorse bush.
The scratches along the edge of his jaw.
For a moment she wondered whether to mention it then decided not to.
She’d leave Luke to explain when he was interviewed.
She didn’t trust these two. She knew they were capable of pouncing on anything, however innocent, and twisting it to their own advantage.
‘Anything, Miss Trevelyan?’ Cousins eyed her curiously, as if he’d picked up on her hesitancy.
‘No, nothing I can think of.’
‘Well, thank you very much for coming in. And we’ll need a DNA sample before you leave.’
‘DNA?’ She frowned. ‘Does that mean—’
‘We’re conducting a murder investigation. Yes, Miss Trevelyan, it does,’ came Philips’ calm reply.
Cat nodded, pushed back her chair and left the room.
In the corridor outside the Boscastle Suite she found Nathan waiting to go in.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, smoothing a concerned hand over her shoulder.
‘I’m fine.’ She managed a smile. ‘Glad it’s over though. Those two are totally …’ she was going to say intimidating but cut her sentence short as Cousins appeared in the doorway and gestured for Nathan to join them.
‘It’s okay, I know Mike.’ Nathan raised his hand in recognition. ‘His father project managed the bedroom extension for the hotel a few years back. They often drop into the hotel bar for a drink.’
Well, all this was news to Cat but unfortunately it didn’t make her feel any easier about the situation. Both men still unnerved her.
‘Gotta go,’ he said, giving her arm a light squeeze as he eased past. ‘If you’re still around when they’ve finished with me maybe we could get together for a late breakfast? I assume you’ve not eaten yet?’
‘No, I haven’t and, yes, that would be good,’ Cat agreed. Watching him disappear into the interview room her thoughts strayed to Luke, wondering whether Gareth had been able to locate him.
Twenty minutes later Nathan finished his interview with Phillips and Collins and returned to his office.
During their conversation they had requested the CCTV discs for the hotel grounds and car park as part of their investigation, arranging to collect them when they had finished for the day.
Selecting a USB stick from his top drawer, Nathan made his way to the small security room.
There was one particular camera he knew might yield some interesting information and he’d have enough time to make a copy for himself before the police interviews ended and Phillips arrived to collect the discs.