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

OMG what have I done? cant face u all, please forgive me. Dom

‘It sounds as if he’s in a terrible state, but he does seem to be admitting responsibility,’ said Oldroyd gently.

‘But it’s all so weird. Where is he? He runs away and then sends a text?’

‘He must be in shock himself. If he’s hiding somewhere the police will find him.’

Louise put her hands up to her face. ‘And what then? I can’t bear it, and I tell you there’s something weird. I was awake all night thinking about it, but . . .’ She burst into tears; Steph put her arm around her shoulder.

Oldroyd was used to his daughter being feisty and strong. He hadn’t seen her so troubled and upset since she was a child. He wasn’t sure what to say next.

Luckily Steph knew what to do. She spoke gently to Louise. ‘It’s been terrible to see your friend stabbed to death like that, and by another of your friends. You must still be in shock and maybe not seeing things clearly. It’s such a big thing to come to terms with that it would be natural to feel you want to deny it. It doesn’t feel real; in fact, it’s all weird as you keep saying.’

Louise wiped her eyes with a tissue and sighed. ‘Yes, I hear what you’re saying; you think it’s all in my mind and I’m in shock.’ She shook her head. ‘And I know it looks like one of those open-and-shut cases, but it’s not! I’m sure of it. I’m not saying this because I’m feeling emotional or because I’m in denial.’ She looked at Oldroyd with confidence and determination.

She didn’t look like someone whose thinking had been overcome by hysteria. Oldroyd thought about how often he’d listened to his instincts about a case when the facts apparently pointed to a certain conclusion, but he felt there was something wrong. It was a piece of advice he was constantly passing on to Steph and Andy. Had his daughter somehow inherited the faculty? A sort of sixth sense? That was a little fanciful for a rational thinker like him, but he found it hard to ignore her. He shook his head again but smiled this time.

‘What do you want us to do?’

‘Can’t you help the police here?’

‘Hmm, you know that’s not straightforward. Whitby’s not even in the West Riding police area; I’ve got no right to interfere. And then my own daughter’s involved in the case. The whole thing’s a minefield for me.’

‘But, Dad, you’ll find a way; you always do. And you know you’re bloody brilliant at solving these puzzling cases.’

Steph laughed.

‘Whoa, wait a minute! I think Steph is right; the problem is more likely to do with you and the state you’re in. But if it makes you feel better I’ll make a few enquiries and see what I can do. I know the inspector you mentioned: Alice Granger, she started out with us and became a detective sergeant before she got the job over here. She’s very good and I don’t think she’ll mind me being around.’

‘And can Steph stay to help you? I’d like that.’

It was like a request from a child; very needy and again most unlike her. He realised how shaky she was and in need of emotional support.

‘That’s asking a lot. I’d have to clear that with DCS Walker and I’m not sure he’ll like the idea of two of his officers away working for another force.’

Louise didn’t say anything and he noticed she was holding Steph’s hand while the detective’s other arm was still around her shoulder. How could he say no?

‘I’ll see what I can do.’

Inspector Granger arrived at the escape room to view the murder scene. She’d received brief reports from DC Hampton, who was with her now, that suggested that the case was uncomplicated, but she was intrigued by the unusual setting. She’d heard about escape rooms from her teenage daughter but had never been in one. They stood in the mock graveyard where the crime had taken place.

‘It’s a ghoulish setting for a murder, isn’t it?’ she said, looking round the gothic decor and then at the still-taped-off area where Andrea had been stabbed. ‘So the victim was attacked and fell here?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘And the assailant ran out through there?’ She pointed to the emergency escape.

‘That’s what all the witnesses agreed, ma’am.’

‘Right, let’s have a look. You didn’t find anything?’ she asked as they walked through.

‘No, ma’am, we had a careful look through all this stuff.’ Hampton indicated all the cases and boxes in the storage room. ‘We looked in there too.’ He pointed at the sarcophagus. ‘The lid opens but it was empty inside. We went out into the street, but there was no sign of anything or anybody.’

‘Hmm.’ Granger went over to the strange construction and opened it. It was a good place in which to fit a body, but it was most emphatically empty. She wondered why it was fixed upright onto the wall. It looked like the kind of sarcophagus that a mummy might walk out of in some corny Hammer Horror film.

‘That puzzled me, too, ma’am. I asked the woman who was on duty that day.’ Hampton looked at his notes. ‘Ms Elaine Pesku, Romanian. She said the owner, a Mr Hugh Preston, is intending to expand things by adding this room to the game. He’s storing the stuff in here until he’s got everything. He must have picked it all up from various places.’

‘Where is he?’

‘In Sheffield apparently. He owns a number of these escape rooms in different cities in the north. We’ve tried to contact him but not managed it yet.’

‘Keep at it, and contact Sheffield police to see if they have any leads. Mr Preston might have some useful information.’ Granger looked around both rooms again and frowned. ‘Well, I agree with you that it looks pretty clear-cut. Have we had a forensic report yet?’

‘Yes, ma’am. The victim died of stab wounds as we expected. Also,