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

him a hostile look. ‘You didn’t like him though, did you? He took Andrea from you, didn’t he? I’ll bet you’re glad he’s dead.’

‘Hey, steady on.’ Jack rushed to defend himself. ‘That’s not true. What’s the matter with you?’

‘That wasn’t fair, Mags,’ said Mark. Maggie looked at him sulkily, shook her head and cried again.

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘I don’t know what to think about anything or anybody. I’m all confused. Why has it all gone wrong like this? We were such a great group of friends and now. It’s just . . .’ She trailed off, unable to make sense of the inexplicable things they were going through. They all sat down, stunned by this latest news.

‘I’ll have to call Louise,’ Maggie said after a while. ‘Can someone please tell me when all this is going to end?’

Louise was still in bed at her mum’s house when her phone rang. Grimacing, she clutched at it on the bedside table, looked at the screen and saw it was Maggie.

‘Maggie?’ There was a pause and she heard the sound of crying.

‘Louise, it’s . . . it’s Dom. They’ve found him . . . dead. He was in the harbour. They’re saying he shot himself and then fell in . . .’

‘Who?’

‘An officer came round. Ben’s gone with him to identify the body. It was that detective constable again. He was very nice but . . . It’s, it’s just awful . . . First Andrea, and now Dom. I can’t deal with it. I keep wanting to wake up from this nightmare.’

Louise could scarcely speak. Although they’d always known this was a possibility, it was no less shocking now that it had happened. ‘Oh my God, that’s bloody terrible,’ she said eventually.

‘I know. Are you coming back over? I really need to talk to you about it. Mark’s here but you and I knew them both for so long. I can’t . . .’ She broke down in tears.

‘Yes, I’m coming back tomorrow,’ said Louise, though she knew her mother would oppose it. ‘I need to be with you too. I can’t believe we’ll never see them again. Bye, see you soon.’ She hung up, sat down and put her face in her hands.

There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs and then a knock on the door and her mother’s anxious voice: ‘Louise? Are you okay? What’s happened?’

‘Come in,’ said Louise. Julia entered the room and sat on the bed next to her daughter. ‘Dom’s dead; they found his body in the harbour.’

‘Oh no. I’m so sorry.’ Julia put her arms round her daughter.

‘Mum, that’s two friends I’ve lost in a few days. What’s going on?’ Louise lay back on the pillow.

‘It’s terrible. You must stay here for a few days until you feel a bit better.’

‘No, Mum, I can’t. I’ve got to go back. Maggie needs me; she’s in a bad state and the police will want to ask more questions.’

‘Surely all that can wait?’

‘No. I can’t run away from it, Mum, and leave Maggie and the others to deal with it without me. I’m going back with Dad as we planned.’

Julia sighed. She knew too much about her daughter’s determined character to argue anymore. She didn’t say this to Louise but at least the fact that the murderer was now dead himself meant that there was no further threat to anyone else.

‘Okay. I’ll go down and get you some breakfast. What would you like?’

‘Just some coffee and toast, thanks.’

Julia left and Louise closed her eyes. How long would this horror go on for? It took her a while to summon up the energy to call her dad.

‘Dad? I suppose you’ve heard?’

‘Yes, love, Dominic’s body was found in the harbour. Inspector Granger called me not long ago. How are you feeling?’

‘Devastated, even though I suppose I knew this could happen.’

‘Yes, well, take it easy.’

‘I’ve got to go back over there with you, Dad. I was explaining to Mum; I can’t just leave the others to cope. Maggie sounded in a bad way. Her boyfriend’s there, but she needs me too. We knew Andrea and Dom for a long time.’

‘Okay, I understand. I can still pick you up tomorrow morning if that’s how you feel. What does Mum think?’

‘She can’t stop me.’

‘That’s true, but be careful and don’t overstretch yourself.’

‘I won’t. I actually think it will be better to be with the others at this point. It feels weird to be here. We can help each other to process it.’

Oldroyd smiled. ‘You’re probably right. You sounded just like Deborah, then. It’s a very mature and healthy attitude.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Come on, let’s go, we need to get out of this place for a while.’

The despondent group of friends had been planning to go out for Sunday brunch until the shocking news of Dominic’s death. Jack, however, had got to his feet to urge them to go ahead with the plan.

‘Someone text Ben; that detective said he wouldn’t be long. He can meet us at the café.’

Mark looked at Maggie, who sighed but got up from the sofa. ‘Okay then, I think you’re right.’

It was a fine day but cold; the first day in the late autumn in which there was a hint of winter. They walked slowly down past Pannett Park, shuffling through the thick autumn leaves. No one said much. They reached a café near the harbour and managed to get a table for four.

They’d not been there long when Ben arrived, looking very sombre.

‘Hi,’ said Jack. ‘How was it?’

‘Pretty grim,’ replied Ben as he sat down. ‘I’ve never seen a dead body before apart from . . . you know. It was Dom all right but he looked different; very still, like a waxwork.’ He shook his head. ‘It was awful.’

‘Oh, poor you!’ said Maggie, sitting next to him. She put her hand on his shoulder. ‘That was a brave thing to do and thanks. I’m glad I didn’t have to do it.’

‘That’s okay. Have you ordered?’

‘No. Here’s a menu.’ They all consulted the menus in silence.

The waitress took their orders and brought their