Chapter 6
Chapter Six
WPC Freya Sloan parked in front of Geoff and Judith Patterson’s house on John Street and turned off the engine. She’d been told to dress out of uniform so had gone for a pair of navy trousers, a cream-coloured jumper and her padded winter coat over the top.
Geoff and Judith had been allowed to view their daughter through a screen.
They’d both cried and Judith had to be helped to a chair before she collapsed.
Freya stayed with them until they were ready to go home.
She drove them back to John Street, made them both a cup of tea and stayed for another hour until she felt she was able to leave them alone. They both thanked her for her kindness.
When she arrived back at the station, she felt drained and was ready for a gin and tonic and something home-cooked by her mum, but it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
She heard rumour that DI Bishop had been charging through the station, asking where that bitch who’d spent the night with the Pattersons was.
She thought she should find him before he found her.
She tapped on his office door. He looked up and glared at her through his piggy eyes.
‘About time. Where have you been?’
She remained in the doorway. ‘I’ve been with the Pattersons, sir. They’re very distressed. I thought they could…’
‘Never mind all that. Sit down.’
She did as she was told.
‘Alice Patterson was murdered,’ Bishop said, bluntly.
‘Murdered?’
‘She was raped and strangled. Whoever did it used the storm to make it look like an accident. You need to tell the parents.’
‘Why me?’
‘They know you. You’ll put it better than me.’
Freya didn’t doubt that for a moment.
‘The poor girl. Do we know who did it?’
‘Not yet. We’ve opened a few lines of enquiry,’ he said, not looking at her. ‘In these cases, the victim is usually known to the killer. In a lot of cases, it’s a family member. What’s the father called?’
Freya’s eyes widened. ‘Geoff? You think her father raped and killed her?’
‘We have to consider every possibility. Now, when you tell them how their daughter died, I want you to watch their reactions. Is Geoff too upset or not upset enough? Whoever did this wanted us to believe it was an accident. We’ve discovered it wasn’t, probably quicker than he wanted us to.
Look for signs of it in his face. Is he shocked, surprised?
What does he do? If it was me and I found out my eighteen-year-old daughter had been raped and murdered, I’d want to tear the fucker limb from limb.
You need to look for signs of him overacting or underacting. Understand?’
‘I do. It’s just … I really don’t think Geoff killed his daughter.’
‘No offence, love, but I’ve been in this job for more than twenty years. You probably weren’t even born then. Leave the detecting to the actual detectives.’
‘Then shouldn’t a detective break the news to them?’
‘They trust you. Their guard will be down with you. If we go in, Geoff will be straight on the defensive. Just tell them their daughter was murdered and we’ll be in touch tomorrow to take full statements. Then, get out of there and come back here to report. Got it?’
‘Sir.’
Freya stood up and headed for the door.
‘One more thing, love. Don’t go in your uniform. Softly does it.’
Freya rang the doorbell and stood back. She’d never done anything like this on her own before.
The closest she’d come was telling a grieving daughter her elderly mother had been found dead of natural causes in her bed.
She’d been with another PC at the time, a more experienced officer, who’d taken the lead and she’d gone into the kitchen to make a pot of tea.
The atmosphere had been heavy, and she hadn’t been able to get out of the house fast enough.
This time, it was just her, going solo. She felt sad herself when she heard that Alice had been murdered.
She liked Geoff and Judith. They’d spoken on and off throughout the night how life wasn’t easy with a daughter with Down’s syndrome, and how some of the neighbours wouldn’t let her play with their children when she was younger and so they’d made her home life as happy and carefree as possible.
They really were a happy family. There was no way Geoff could be the killer. She was sure of it.
Geoff opened the door. ‘Freya.’ He sounded surprised to see her.
‘Hello,’ she said, giving him her warmest smile. ‘Do you mind if I come in?’
‘No. Of course not.’
He stood back and she entered the hallway. Already she could sense the change in atmosphere. All through the night there had been hope that Alice had simply been sheltering from the storm. Now, they knew she wasn’t coming home, and the house had filled with grief.
‘Is Judith in?’
‘She’s in the living room.’
‘How is she?’
‘She can’t stop crying.’
‘Are you all right?’ Freya asked, looking at him closely.
‘No. I’m trying to stay strong for Judith, but I keep wanting to cry myself. Go on through.’
Freya entered the living room. Judith looked up and attempted a smile, but it was lost behind the tears. She was sitting on the armchair, a box of tissues on her lap and a tissue screwed up in her hand.
Freya sat down on the sofa and Geoff perched next to his wife, his arm tight around her.
‘There’s something I need to tell you both,’ Freya began.
She hated this. She was warm and could feel sweat prickling at her armpits.
‘As you know, Alice was found in the woods opposite Whitby Cemetery and there was a branch from a tree on her. But I’m afraid, that wasn’t what killed her.
I really am sorry to tell you both this, but … Alice was murdered.’
‘What?’ Judith asked, her face a question mark.
Freya looked to Geoff. He was just as perplexed.
‘The branch that was covering Alice came from a tree further away from where she was found. It looks as if someone dragged it along the ground and covered her to make us think it was an accident.’
‘So, how did she die?’ Judith asked.
When Freya answered, she looked at Geoff. ‘We believe she was strangled.’
There was no acting from either parent. Judith let out a cry and held onto Geoff for support. He grabbed her, buried her inside his arms. Tears fell from his face. He looked genuinely distraught.
Freya waited and watched. She was caught up in the grief and had to wipe away tears of her own.
She looked around the room. There were framed photos on the mantlepiece showing the family in happier times.
Alice on the beach, playing in the sand, looking freezing cold in layers, but a huge smile on her face.
In every photo, Alice was smiling, enjoying herself, enjoying life, and someone had stolen it from her and left her parents broken in agony.
‘I really am so sorry,’ Freya said, her voice barely above a whisper. ‘Is there anything I can do? Would you like me to make you a cup of tea or something?’
Judith didn’t respond. Geoff looked at her and shook his head.
‘I know nothing I can say will bring Alice back, but we will do everything we can to find out what happened to her. CID are launching a murder investigation and they’ll come to interview you in more depth whenever you’re ready.
Also, if you ever want to talk or anything, you can call me any time.
I’m here to help out as much as I can. I’ll leave you on your own for now. ’
Freya stood up. She was almost at the door when Judith called her back.
‘Freya, can I ask?’ she began through the tears. ‘You said she was strangled, did they … whoever did it … did they … did they rape her?’
Freya had hoped they wouldn’t ask so she could leave it to DI Bishop and his team to go into the details, but since they’d asked, she couldn’t lie to them. They needed to know the truth.
‘They’re still doing tests, but it does look like she was sexually assaulted, yes. I’m so sorry.’
She stood and watched as the grieving couple collapsed into each other. There was nothing Freya could do. She wanted to go over to them, hug them, hold them tight and tell them everything was going to be all right, but that would be wrong. Nothing would be all right for the Pattersons ever again.