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

usually found a way of subtly curtailing Walker’s rants against his superior, but as Walker was allowing him to continue over in Whitby, he felt it judicious to hear his boss out on this occasion.

It was a little while before he could escape to the old Saab, where Louise and Steph were waiting for him. Louise was still insisting that she go back over to Whitby with him, despite her mother’s pleas.

The drive over to the coast was even more subdued than the one on Thursday had been in response to Louise’s urgent call. There was very little conversation throughout the journey except for Louise asking a few questions. She was still sceptical about the conclusions being reached in the official investigation.

‘How do they know he killed himself anyway? Someone could have shot him and pushed him into the water.’

‘Not impossible,’ replied her dad. ‘I can’t say more at this point until I’ve spoken to Inspector Granger. It ties in with that text he sent to your friend though, doesn’t it? It certainly sounds as if he was saying goodbye.’

‘I know, but . . .’ She shook her head, still refusing to accept what appeared to be what had happened.

As Oldroyd had told Walker, he’d expected Holgate’s body to be found at some point, although he’d not said this to Louise. When Holgate had not been found alive or turned himself in after three days, the signs were not good. He was keen to find out more about the circumstances of his death and whether this development did finally solve his problems with the case or only added to them.

The weather had broken again. The sky was dark over Fylingdales Moor and when they descended into Eskdale at Sleights, they could see heavy clouds over the sea. Spots of rain appeared on the windscreen and by the time the Saab drew up at the flat, the rain was quite heavy and the wipers were on.

‘Right then,’ said Oldroyd. ‘I’ll be in contact later. Are you sure you’re okay?’

‘Stop sounding like Mum,’ replied Louise as she got out of the car. ‘I really want to see Maggie. I know she’ll be feeling terrible. Bye and thanks for everything.’

She walked quickly through the rain to the door and waved as Oldroyd drove off.

‘I don’t think you need to worry about her, sir,’ said Steph. ‘She’s pretty tough and determined. I wonder who she takes after?’ She grinned at Oldroyd in the rear-view mirror.

‘I haven’t the faintest idea,’ he said.

As she entered the house, Louise was met by Maggie in the hall. They embraced and started to cry.

‘Oh God, I’m so pleased to see you. It’s just dreadful,’ sobbed Maggie. ‘I can’t bear to think about it anymore. I don’t see how I’m ever going to get over it. Mark says I will but I don’t see how.’

‘Come on.’ Louise led the way into the lounge and they sat down. ‘You will get over it and so will I. Life goes on; we’ve got a lot of time ahead of us to recover and start afresh. We can’t give up on life.’

‘Yes, but how can we ever forget what’s happened? Two of our friends are dead.’

‘It’s still raw and painful. We’ll need help, and not just from our friends, but professional help.’

‘You mean, counselling? Therapy?’

‘Yes. We’ve been through awful things and we can’t just ignore them.’

Maggie looked wary. ‘Do you think so? I’m not sure. I’ve never had anything to do with stuff like that.’

‘There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m going to arrange something as soon as I get back to London.’

‘Right. Talking of which, we have to leave here by tomorrow at eleven o’clock; the booking expires.’

‘I know. I assume everyone’s going back to London.’

‘Yeah, I think so. They’re all up there packing. The police say it’s all right to leave. Me and Mark are going today, and I think the others are too; I can’t see any point in waiting any longer. Aren’t you going back, too?’

Louise hesitated. ‘I don’t know. I want to see how my dad and the others get on with the investigation.’

‘Oh, I can’t be bothered with that anymore. They’re dead; it’s all over. I don’t understand it, I don’t think I ever will and it makes me feel worse just to try. As you said, we’ve got to somehow try to put it all behind us, so don’t hang around picking over it for too long. Where will you stay?’

‘Not here; I’m going to go back to Leeds and I’ll stay with my mum for a while. Then I’m in striking distance if I’m needed or something happens.’

‘Well, rather you than me. I want to get away from here. Jack was saying it’s a shame, but he doesn’t think he’ll be coming back here any time soon. I feel the same.’

At that moment, Jack came into the room. ‘Did I hear someone taking my name in vain?’ He laughed.

‘You’re in a good mood,’ observed Louise, looking at him suspiciously.

Jack looked sheepish and raised his hands. ‘Yeah, sorry. It’s awful that Dom’s dead, but I can’t say I was surprised. I suppose I feel like this because I’m leaving here soon, if you want me to be honest. I can’t wait to put some distance between myself and this town. It’s sad because it’s a lovely little place, but that’s how I feel. Anyway . . . Hi . . . How are you?’ He came over and gave Louise a hug.

‘Okay,’ said Louise, whose hug back was half-hearted. ‘Some of us are obviously more upset about Dom’s death than others.’

Jack pulled back. ‘Hey, don’t you start! She was having a go at me yesterday.’ He pointed at Maggie. ‘Just because I was with Andrea for a while before she got together with Dom. Okay, he wasn’t my favourite person in the world, but I didn’t want to see him dead. If I hated him that much, why would I stay part of this group?’

He’d worked himself up into an angry