Season Of Darkness (28 page)

She shook her head like a child. Finally she was able to sit up, and she wiped her eyes with the handkerchief he handed to her.

“That’s my girl. Now start at the beginning. What were you doing in the woods?”

“Sometimes the smell of the meat in the shop makes me feel sick, so I thought I’d take the morning off. I know I shouldn’t have told a fib but I didn’t feel like explaining everything. I told Granddad I had an upset tummy. I knew he would tell me off if I didn’t give him a good excuse. I got on my bike and went to Acton Woods. I decided to have a look at the Fort. You know where I mean?”

Tyler nodded.

“There was a bad smell in the air but I didn’t think too much of it. I thought a badger or a fox had been around. I poked my head inside the Fort.” Janet stopped at the memory.

“Keep going, Jan, you’re doing grand.” Sergeant Gough pulled the other chair closer.

“I didn’t realize at first that there was a … body. A girl’s body. The flies were so thick I couldn’t even see her face …”

Tyler lifted his daughter’s chin and wiped away her tears.

“Do you want to have a glass of water, pet?”

She shook her head again. Her eyes were dilated with fear.

“I ran back to my bike and got here as fast as I could. My legs were so wobbly I could hardly ride.”

Tyler gave her a hug. “Good girl. How’s Jillian?”

She looked at him, bewildered.

“You left a note saying you were meeting Jillian this morning. Wasn’t she with you?”

“No, no. That fell through. I was by myself.”

“All right, pet. Now I’m going to have to get over there. Can you stay with Sergeant Gough? You can sit in my office if you like.”

Janet looked frightened. “No, I don’t want to be by myself. Is Mummy at home?”

“She was when I left. Do you want me to come with you and tell her what has happened?”

Janet sniffed. “Yes, please.”

Outside in the hall, they heard the sound of the constables arriving.

“Send them over to the area,” said Tyler to the sergeant. “They know where it is. They should take the police van. Get hold of Dr. Murnaghan right away. Ask him to meet me here. I’ll go in his car.”

“Right. Shall I notify Miss Stillwell?”

“Wait until I come back. Let’s make absolutely sure it’s Rose Watkins.” Tyler straightened up. “Come on, Jan. Let’s get you home.”

Her face crumpled into tears again. “Do you have to go?”

“I must, sweetheart.”

“What happened to that poor girl, Daddy?”

“I don’t know yet, pet.” Again he lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. “Was anybody else with you?”

She shifted her glance immediately. “No, Daddy. I told you, it was just me.”

Vera was up and making breakfast in the kitchen when Tyler and Janet came in. Janet started to cry again, and Tyler explained succinctly what had happened. He’d been afraid Vera would choose to scold Janet for even being in the woods, but she didn’t. He waited until his daughter had calmed down.

“I’m going to have to get back in a minute, Jan, but I wonder if you and I could have a bit of a chin wag before I go.”

“What for?” Vera demanded. “Can’t you see she’s had a dreadful shock? Can’t it wait?”

“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.” He turned to his daughter. “Maybe we could go to your room?”

Vera was about to protest but Tyler forestalled her. “Sorry, but I need to talk to her in private. It’s a police matter.”

“What do you mean? Talk to her in private? There you go again. She’s my daughter too, don’t forget. I don’t want her having a nervous breakdown. One child with bad nerves is enough, thank you.”

Janet cried out. “Mum. Dad. Please, not now.”

Vera put her hand to her throat. “Go ahead. Do what you have to do. I can’t bear this anymore. It’s too much. You two stay here. I’ll go upstairs.”

“Vee …” but she had already left the room.

Tyler pulled out a chair at the table. “Sit down, Janet.”

She was tear-stained and white as a sheet but his own fear made him angry.

“I want you to listen to me and listen good. I’m not going to mess around here. I don’t know why you’re lying to me but you have been.”

She started to cry in good earnest. “Daddy, don’t. Please don’t be so angry with me.”

“Have you taken up smoking?”

“No, I … er.”

“You stank of cigarettes when you came to the station. And
you said
we. We
found the girl.”

She buried her face in her hands. “It was just a manner of speaking.”

“I don’t think so. You were with somebody. I’m guessing it was a lad.”

The uncontrollable blush of an adolescent flooded her face, but she still held out.

“I told you, Daddy, I don’t want to talk about it. It was too horrible. What matters is that we found her body. It doesn’t matter whether or not I was with somebody.”

He caught hold of her hand and held it tightly. “You are both material witnesses. I’ll need to get his statement.”

“Why? I’ve told you all you need to know. There’s nothing more to say.”

“Janet, there are people in this world who don’t think like you and me. They kill for pleasure. It gives them a thrill, a sexual thrill. Then these same men go back to where they have left their victim and pretend to be innocent passersby. This is another secret thrill for them. Sometimes, they take another girl with them because an even bigger thrill is to kill again, before, during, or after sexual intercourse.”

Never in their life together so far had he spoken this way or even mentioned the word sex. Janet looked at him in horror.

He let go of her hand. “So who did you go to the Fort with? Was it a boy from school?”

“No.”

“Who then? Who were you with?”

She whispered. “Dennis McEvoy.”

Tyler felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. “Why didn’t you want to tell me?”

“He asked me not to. He said he’d booked off sick from guard duty and he’d get into bad trouble if it came out what he was really doing. He said he could be court-martialled,
and he said these days they’ll hang you for nothing … Oh Daddy, I didn’t think it would matter if I told a white lie. Dennis isn’t like what you said. He grew up here, he’s our Jimmy’s friend. How can you suggest such things?”

“Every murderer known grew up somewhere, and some of them had friends.”

He desperately wanted to ask if she’d had intercourse, but he supposed that would soon become evident.

“I’ll talk to him, and it probably won’t be as serious as he led you to believe. At the most, maybe a few days on
KP
duty. I’m sorry I had to put you through the ringer, pet. Chalk it up to worry. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you and I could have done something to prevent it.”

“I know, Daddy. I know.” She hesitated. “We didn’t, you know, go all the way, so you don’t have to worry.”

He could have burst out crying. “Thanks for telling me.”

And thank God for that
.

Tyler hurried back to the station, leaving Vera to take care of their daughter.

“Sergeant, I want you to send somebody around to the McEvoy house, 22 Green Lane. Have them bring Dennis back here immediately.”

“Is there a charge, sir?”

“Call it obstructing justice.”

“Very well, sir.”

“You don’t have kids, Guff, and sometimes I think you’re lucky. Janet has informed me that she was with Dennis McEvoy when they found Rose’s body. He asked her to keep quiet about the fact they were together. He told her he’d get into hot water and the silly girl agreed to lie for him. But it’s not only that. The bloody little sod has the clap.”

“Good Lord.”

“He was having it off with one of the Land girls and she fessed up that he gave her a dose. And he was about to have it off with our Janet. She says they didn’t, thank God, or you’d have to lock me in the cell before I killed the bugger.”

“Is there any chance he didn’t know about his, er, condition?”

“Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Having the clap is something you know about. It hurts like hell to piss and when you do, the stuff that comes out looks like thick yellow snot. Your goolies swell to the size of tennis balls and feel like a mouthful of teeth, all with abscesses. McEvoy didn’t give a damn whether he passed it on or not as long as he got his tool in.”

Gough’s face was grim. “I’ll keep him in the cell until you get back, sir. Can do wonders, a little quiet reflection in that place.”

“Thank you, Sergeant. Oh, and Guffie? If he happens to trip over a bucket and bang his head, I won’t protest.”

“Yes, sir. Funny how clumsy people get when they’re in that cell.”

Tyler heard the sound of a car drawing into the driveway. He involuntarily took a deep breath. It was Dr. Murnaghan, ready to go view the body of Rose Watkins.

T
HERE WAS ROOM FOR ONLY THE CORONER TO STAND
inside the Fort. Tyler peered over his shoulder. The bluebottles were thick on the body, which was lying on its side, facing away from the entrance. The stench was overpowering. One foot and part of the lower leg was severed where an animal had gnawed at it and dragged it to the edge of the blanket. There was something incongruous about the neat shoe still on the intact foot. Spiders were crawling over it. The skirt of a flowered summer frock was pulled up high on the white thighs. Murnaghan crouched down and shooed the flies away. They didn’t move far and were back feeding almost immediately.

“Bloody things. Can you get in here, Tyler, and keep them off so at least I can get a look at the face?”

Tyler squeezed inside, trying to breath as shallowly as possible. He waved his hand over what was left of the face. Birds had taken her eyes and picked at the soft flesh of the cheeks, but she was still recognizable.

“It’s Rose Watkins all right.”

“Poor sod. Remind me that dead bodies have no sensation, will you?”

He didn’t really need a reply and Tyler just nodded.

“Look at that, Inspector.” Murnaghan was pointing at a length of thin rope that was wrapped tightly around Rose’s neck. “She’s been strangled and God knows what else. Well, I can’t do anything until I get her into the morgue.” He started to back out of the opening and Tyler followed suit.

Eagleton and Collis were waiting outside the Fort. They both looked nervous. Country policing wasn’t usually like this.

Both Tyler and Murnaghan took in deep breaths of air as they emerged.

“You’ll probably want to supervise the removal,” said Murnaghan. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.” He tugged his hat down tighter and strode off across the clearing. He showed none of the excitement at being back at work that there had been with Elsie. Tyler thought that the coroner at this instant would have preferred to be cleaning out his mother’s attic.

He turned to Eagleton and Collis. “We’ve got to bring out the body. I don’t really want to drag her out, but I don’t think we can remove her otherwise.”

“Is it Rose Watkins, sir?” asked Eagleton.

“Yes.”

The constable bit his lip. “I met her at a dance a couple of weeks ago. Tiny little thing. She was shy. I wanted to accompany her back to the hostel but she said she was with her friends.”

He looked upset but Tyler knew he had to be tough. “Let’s save the reminiscences until we’ve got the job done, shall we? Right now, I think the best thing we can do for Rose Watkins is get her out of here and into a proper grave. We’re going to have to break away some of these branches. I don’t suppose either of you thought to bring an axe, did you? No? I thought not. Next time be prepared for all eventualities.” He was taking out some of his upset on the two young men and he immediately regretted it. “Never mind, do the best you can. Eagleton, you take the upper part, Collis the lower. Get her onto the stretcher. It’s not a pretty sight, so be prepared. If you concentrate on the task, which is to disturb as little as possible, you might find it a titch easier. But there’s nothing
to ashamed of if you feel queasy. If you’ve got to upchuck, get yourself outside quick. Ready?”

Tyler went back to the station, where Sergeant Gough greeted him immediately, coming round from the desk. Tyler thought for a minute the sergeant might even embrace him, he looked so concerned.

“I’ve got a pot of tea freshening, sir. I thought you’d need it.”

“I need a bloody stiff drink, that’s what I need.”

“I took the liberty of purchasing a medicinal bottle of whisky. You can add it your tea.”

In spite of the situation, Tyler almost laughed. How a big, tough-looking man like Gough managed to come across as the perfect valet, he didn’t know, but right now he appreciated it.

“Thanks, Guffie. Give the lads the same treatment, will you, when they come in. I think Eager is all right, but young Collis was looking green at the gills. They’ve taken the body to Dr. Murnaghan.”

“Was the lassie murdered, sir?”

“No doubt about it. She was strangled. Murnaghan is getting to the post-mortem immediately so we may have more information later today. The rooks had got to her and some animal had chewed off her foot.”

Gough cleared his throat with a polite cough. “Saw a lot of that on the Transvaal, sir. Over there it was jackals and hyenas, nasty brutes.”