Frozen Grave (35 page)

‘Yes, okay . . . um. Please take a seat. Tea will be coming in a few minutes.’

‘This is a great-looking school,’ said Carter. ‘Have you worked here long?’

‘Ten years.’

‘It must be very rewarding.’

‘Yes, it is.’

‘Do you have children of your own?’

‘Um . . . No, I don’t.’

‘I bet it puts you off when you’ve got so many here to look after. This is a boarding school, isn’t it?’

‘It’s both a day school and term-time boarding.’

‘You’re known as Mrs Porter here? Were you married at one time?’

‘Yes, I was. Um . . . I kept my married name. I got used to it and they already knew me as that here. I didn’t see the point in changing it back.’

‘And do you live near here in the grounds?’

‘I live in a house in the middle of Taunton.’

‘How does that work out for you? Is Taunton a lively place in the evenings?’

She smiled. ‘Lively enough for me.’

Carter looked at Willis. She held his gaze for a second, which told him she had established a normal baseline for Emily Porter. Some things would be difficult to gauge.
Emily has a habit of
pushing her glasses back up her nose as she talks and when she pushes them she scrunches up her face. She is nervy and abrupt and has the annoying habit of ending or beginning many of her sentences
with an ‘um’. Her body is still, upright. Her legs are still. They don’t move. When she’s answering Carter she keeps her head vertical, her movements small. She reminds me
of a puppet.
Now Carter would see how Emily behaved when she was under stress.

He took out the letter.

‘Did you get one of these?’ He held it up for her to see.

‘Um . . . Yes.’
Legs clenched, knees clamped. She holds her hands tightly until she pushes up her glasses, this time adding a small grooming movement with her hand as she pushes
her hair back from her face.

‘When did it arrive?’

‘Um . . .’
She looks up to the left.
‘I got it on the Wednesday morning when I went home to finish some marking at coffee time. I had two free periods so I went home
and checked my mail.’

‘Was it a shock?’

‘Um . . .’
She pauses.
She was thinking what she should say. ‘I would have to say – not really.’
She stares straight ahead. Her legs relax a
little.

‘Did you already know about the existence of the list?’

‘Did I write it, you mean? No, I didn’t.’
Her shoulders rise a little. Could be anxiety, could be lying.

‘How long have you known JJ Ellerman, Mrs Porter?’

‘Um . . . About five years now.’

‘How did you meet?’

‘On a dating site for Christians.’

‘You are divorced?’

‘Um . . . Yes. My marriage only lasted two years, unfortunately. I’ve been with JJ since it ended.’

‘Five years is a long time.’

Emily’s eyes went to Willis. Willis didn’t react. She was taking notes.

‘Yes . . . Um.’ Emily glanced briefly at Tucker, who smiled, and then she turned back to Carter. ‘I suppose it is, um . . . but I wasn’t in a hurry to settle down with
someone else. One marriage is enough.’ She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.

Willis wrote in her notes:
Demeanour changed. Eyes looking up to the right. Face colouring. Hands restless in lap. Body language not corresponding to words.

‘So you never wanted anything more from Ellerman? You never thought: “This isn’t going anywhere?” Not even now, five years down the line?’

‘No. It suited us both.’

She’s lying – beginning to perspire, breathing rate increasing, fidgeting.

‘So you will be happy to continue your relationship with him?’

‘Absolutely not. Of course I can’t.’
More lies.

‘I’m sorry if this is an indelicate question, but have you invested money in any of his business schemes?’

‘Um . . . I’d rather not tell you about my financial arrangements, if you don’t mind. Not unless it’s absolutely necessary. Please tell me what this is about first. Is he
under investigation? Surely, it isn’t illegal to do what he’s done?’

‘It’s not illegal to date several women at the same time but three of the women on this list are dead, under suspicious circumstances. And there’s the possibility of Ellerman
having defrauded these dead women out of their money.’

‘Dead? Women from this list?’
Her demeanour changed slightly. She seemed more guarded, aware that she was being watched. She seemed to be able to control her reactions.

‘Yes. Um . . . I’m sorry to have to tell you that these women died under suspicious circumstances and we are conducting murder investigations,’ Carter said.

Willis watched Emily intently.

‘So . . . um . . . what has that got to do with JJ?’ Emily looked up from her lap, composed, her breathing rate returning to normal. ‘It seems that . . . um . . . all that the
women had in common is knowing him. We know that he knows a lot of women. I understand that he has a dubious past.’

‘We think you might have met one of the women who died – Lisa Tompkins?’

‘Um . . . yes. I did. Once, um . . . just briefly. I didn’t know her before that day.’ Emily sat, covering her eyes and her forehead with one hand. ‘Why are you here
today? Have you come to warn me?’

‘Yes, partly, and also to ask for your help. We would urge you not to see JJ Ellerman again, until these enquiries are resolved.’

‘When you say their deaths were
suspicious
, that means you are not sure they were murdered?’

‘Olivia Grantham was. She’s on the third page of the letter. Gillian Forth was – definitely, she’s on the second page. Lisa, we have yet to solve her death. Did you ever
meet either of the other two women?’

‘No. Just Lisa. Once, as I told you, in the presence of the other women: Paula and Megan. Did you talk to them?’

‘Yes, and we will be doing so again, and many of the other women on this list.’ Emily pushed her glasses up on her nose several times in succession. ‘Just so that we can create
an accurate picture of the events, we need to know where you were on the dates that these women died. They are Sunday the fifth, Tuesday the seventh and Saturday the eighteenth.’

‘Um . . . I was here in my cottage. I was here and so was JJ. He was with me.’

Carter waited. Willis paused in her note-taking.

‘You know, Mrs Porter, we will have to check out these facts and this is not a time to make hasty statements without being sure of the facts. I appreciate that you are fond of JJ Ellerman,
but you do him no, or youself any favours by lying on his behalf.’

‘Maybe it’s the other women who are lying, not me. Um . . .’

‘When you met up with them, what was the outcome of the meeting?’

‘We talked about general things. We wanted to support one another.’

‘That wasn’t at all awkward?’

‘No.’

‘How did you leave it with the other women? What were your parting words?’

‘I can’t remember exactly.’

‘See you again? I don’t ever want to see you again?’

‘More like – we’ll wait and see what happens.’

‘What could happen?’

‘Um . . . I’m not sure.’

‘Let’s hope what can happen is not another murder, Mrs Porter. Our aim here is not to get anyone into trouble unnecessarily or to cause embarrassment or to expose you in any way. But
serious crimes have been committed and JJ Ellerman seems to be in the middle of it all. Would you mind if I ask you what you intend to do now?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Will you be carrying on your relationship with Ellerman?’

‘No, of course not.’ Carter looked across at Willis. She was watching Emily Porter intently and she knew she was lying.

Bella had been waiting too long for Ebony to call. She’d chewed all the scenarios over in her head and she hadn’t slept for days.

She looked across at the pregnant woman, who stared back uneasily.

‘Let’s stop all this,’ said Bella. ‘We’re both in here for the same reasons.’

‘I’m not a murderer like you,’ the pregnant woman, Jolene, replied.

‘Maybe not, but you were sectioned, weren’t you?’

‘For my own protection.’

‘Okay, well I accept that we don’t have masses in common but we are here together and we may as well make the most of it. I have a present for you, to say sorry for the way
I’ve behaved towards you.’

‘What present?’

‘Chocolate. I got my daughter to bring it in.’

‘I didn’t see her bring anything.’

‘No, come to think about it, you’re right. I asked the nurse to buy it from the hospital shop. I’ve had a couple out of the box but I don’t want to get fat sat in here
doing nothing all day. It’s all right for you, you can eat what you like.’

‘That nurse? Is it the young lad? The fit one? What’s his name? Jamey.’

Bella chuckled.

‘Yeah – you’re full of shit,’ Jolene hissed. ‘He’s not going to be interested in a pregnant woman or a killer.’

‘Believe me, he has exotic tastes. I have come to know him quite well when I’ve been on my exercise break. Why do you think I’ve been taking so long?’

‘I thought you must be having tests, to see if you are actually human or not.’

‘Yes – you’re right, I was testing Jamey and he passed with flying colours. He’s coming back in a minute. He’s on the night shift.’

Jolene sat up in bed, waiting.

The door opened and Jamey walked in.

‘Hello, ladies. Just come to make sure you have everything you need.’

‘I need to take a shower. Would you be able to help me with that?’

He looked back towards the door of the ward. ‘Yes, we’re not too busy. I can help you, no problem. I’ll go and request your key.’

‘Told you. . .’ Bella smirked.

Jolene grinned at her and shook her head. ‘Lucky bitch.’

Jamey came back a few minutes later and unlocked Bella’s cuffs. She picked up her towel and wash bag and the box of chocolates, which she handed over to Jolene.

‘You can have the rest.’

Half an hour later, when they returned to the ward, Jolene was sleeping deeply. Bella caught hold of Jamey and pulled him towards her for a kiss.

‘Pull the curtains,’ she whispered.

Jamey shook his head. ‘I’ll get the sack; anyway, Jolene might wake up.’

‘She won’t. She’s snoring her head off like a pig.’

‘I’ve got some work to do – when it all settles down for the night, I’ll come back.’ He kissed her. Bella held on to him as he tried to leave – her arm beside
the bed as if she was handcuffed, as if he’d remembered to handcuff her back up. She watched him leave the ward then she slipped out of bed and felt beneath the back of her cupboard. She felt
along, until she found what she was looking for, and picked the corner, stripping off the sticking plaster that held it in place. She walked across to Jolene and looked at the empty box of
chocolates beside her bed. The sleepless nights that Bella had endured, the sleeping tablets she’d stashed would all be worth it now. She peeled back the bed cover and exposed Jolene’s
stomach. She whispered, ‘Come to Mummy.’

Jamey could hear her singing. He walked towards the door of the side ward and paused outside, to listen. He heard the sounds of a lullaby.

As Jamey opened the door, Bella had her back to him. She was dancing around the room, twirling on her toes, but, in the gloom, she turned and saw him, and danced her way towards him, laughing.
He could see her nightdress was covered in blood and in her arms was a baby.

After they left Emily Porter, the three detectives walked back to their car in the visitors’ car park in Prince’s School.

‘Are we going to make it down to see Megan Penarth tonight, guv?’

‘How far is it now, Tucker?’

‘It’s at least three hours to Exeter and then half an hour on from there.’

‘Is there anywhere to stay there?’

‘Yes. There’s a really good pub that does rooms.’

‘Ring ahead and get us fixed up with some accommodation there and then we’ll visit Megan Penarth as well. We have to stay somewhere tonight, after all. If nothing else, we can find
out a bit more about her from the locals.’

Tucker got the number and phoned through to the Boulder Inn.

‘All done. Three rooms, breakfast included. They have a restaurant there for dinner.’

‘Sounds great,’ said Willis.

Carter glanced across at her and grinned. ‘Must be getting hungry again by now.’

‘Starving.’

‘Yeah, and me,’ Tucker spoke up from the back seat.

‘Jesus . . .’ Carter started up the engine and put on the headlights. The place was suddenly swarming with noisy children, loading into home-time coaches in the car park.

‘Let’s get out of here – where we can hear ourselves think.’

They hit a heavy stream of traffic making its way towards the motorway. It was rush hour. They were stuck in a queue before they’d managed to get a mile.

‘We may as well get some work done . . . impressions of Emily Porter?’

‘Interesting to hear that she thought all the women were lying,’ said Willis.’ She was definitely having trouble sticking to the script – she’d expected us and
rehearsed it. She has a lot she’s covering up.’

‘Covering up about what?’ Tucker asked. He’d found some chewing gum in his pocket. He passed the packet forward to the two in the front. Willis took it from him and unwrapped a
piece of gum for Carter and handed it to him.

‘I tell you something that I know she’s lied about,’ Tucker added. ‘She sure as hell lied about her lack of expectations for the future for her and Ellerman. No one
invests five years of their life and their savings with someone and says it’s still just a casual thing.’

‘She was straight out of a failed a marriage,’ said Willis. ‘If she met Ellerman on the rebound, does that make a difference to the way she sees him? Is he more of a friend
that helped her through a bad time?’

‘No, I don’t think it does. She would have gone through a lot of emotions in those five years. Maybe her expectations would have changed from the start, when maybe she just saw it as
flattering that he would come and see her once a week. After all, he comes across as a good catch. It would have helped to rebuild her bruised ego, but, by now? By now, she’s got to want
something permanent. She may have known there were others but she’s got to have thought she’d come out the winner in the end.’