The Whitby Murders (A Yorkshire Murder Mystery) J. Ellis (distant reading TXT) 📖

‘And you were right to say it,’ he added and then turned to Steph. ‘This,’ he said, indicating Granger, ‘is the type of detective that you and Andy can become. I’m training you two in the same way.’ This was said in Oldroyd’s genially bumptious manner and both women laughed.

‘You’re embarrassing me, sir,’ said Granger.

‘Not at all. I’m proud of all of you and I know DCS Walker is too. By the way, he’s been very generous and understanding, but I don’t know for how long he can spare us.’

‘I remember DCS Walker; he was a good person to work for. You always felt he understood the job.’

‘That’s because he did it for more years than any of us have,’ replied Oldroyd. ‘People like him make the best managers.’

‘To answer your question, sir,’ continued Granger. ‘I’m speaking to the press later. I’ll obviously stress that we’re looking for the suspect, and any information, etc.’

‘Good. I take it you’ll want to interview my daughter and the others.’

‘Yes. I think it will be better here at the station. I understand they live nearby so I’ll send a car to bring them down.’

‘Fine. I’ll text Louise telling her to expect you and then Steph and I will get out of your way. Is it okay if I go to look at the crime scene?’

‘Yes, sir. I’ll tell the officers there that you’re on your way.’

Louise, Ben and Maggie were sitting in the back of a police car with two uniformed officers in the front. It felt a bit cramped but it was a short journey.

‘I’d never been into a police station before this happened,’ confessed Maggie. ‘It makes me nervous.’

‘Don’t worry,’ replied Louise. ‘Dad said that the inspector in charge of the case is nice. She’s a woman: Inspector Granger.’

‘What is she going to ask and what shall we say?’ asked Maggie.

‘Just the truth,’ said Ben, who appeared very relaxed. ‘We’ve already told everything we know to that other detective, so this will just be to confirm it.’

‘Oh, it sounds very formal,’ said Maggie, looking anxious. ‘Things like that freak me out.’

‘Don’t worry about being questioned. It’s not about being intimidating anymore. They don’t shine bright lights in your face and shout at you. They want to put you at your ease,’ said Louise.

‘Then you get too comfortable and let things drop,’ said Ben, before correcting himself when he saw the look of alarm on Maggie’s face. ‘No, I’m only joking, I’m sure it will be fine. What happened was pretty straightforward, wasn’t it?’

‘Yeah, I suppose so.’ Ben made the whole thing seem very simple, but Louise remained unconvinced. Simplicity was the problem: it just seemed too easy.

‘They’ll want to know about their relationship as well, won’t they?’ asked Maggie. ‘They’ll be trying to establish Dom’s motive. We’ll have to tell them that they argued, but even though they did, I’m not going to make it sound worse than it was. I still never thought it would come to this, did you?’

‘Of course not,’ replied Louise as they reached the station. As they got out of the car and walked in she felt that she was being swept along into the official investigation, which was quickly going to conclude that Dominic murdered Andrea: period. She hoped her dad would come to see things from her point of view and that he would be able to do something to change it.

When they left the police station, Oldroyd and Steph headed down to the harbour and across the same bridge, towards the older eastern part of the town, that the group of friends had crossed in such high spirits the day before. Today the sky was clearer although a fresh wind was blowing in from the sea sending seagulls wheeling and calling over the water. Oldroyd paused on the bridge, as Louise and Maggie had done, and took a deep breath as the wind ruffled his hair.

‘It’s lovely to be at the sea again and breathe in that air. I don’t get over here often enough.’

‘Me neither, sir. It brings back a lot of memories. You appreciate it more when you’re older though don’t you? It’s not all about being on the sands, building castles and going in the sea anymore.’ They laughed.

‘You’re right. You’re not interested in views when you’re a kid. Come on, though, we can’t behave like day trippers; we’d better take a look at this escape room.’ They set off into the east side of the town. ‘Do you know anything about those things?’

‘Escape rooms? Oh yes, sir, they’re great fun; Andy and I have done a few in Leeds with our friends: The Underground Bunker, The Psychopath’s Trap, The Mummy’s Tomb. They’re always on a theme. We prefer the scary ones; they give you an extra thrill. It sounds like Louise and her friends were the same.’

‘I see. Obviously not enough excitement in the job. I’m sorry we’re boring you.’

Steph laughed. ‘It’s not boring when we’re out on a case like this, sir, but unfortunately we have to spend a lot of our time at our desks on the computer writing stuff up and it can get tedious.’

‘Yes, tell me about it. It’s the same for everybody these days. Anyway, how do they work?’

‘You’re locked into the room and you have clues which you have to solve in order to find the key, which will get you out. Stuff is hidden in the room and you have to find it; there’s often more than one room. You normally have about an hour. It’s a great challenge pitting all your wits against the clock and seeing if you can get out before the time is up. Usually, if you’re running out of time, the controller will put extra clues up on a screen.’

‘Right. Well, here we are. See what you make of this one.’

They’d made it to the dingy entrance. They showed their identity to the constable on guard and were let in.