The Cedar Face: DI Jewell book 3 (DI Elizabeth Jewell) (26 page)

Elizabeth couldn't believe Anita
's stupidity. 'What on earth were you thinking about? Did
the cavalry find him?'

'They trawled the village several times
but no sign. There were a few people making their
way home from the pub but no one matching the
description. Crime scene turned up later and scoured where he
was for any evidence.'

'Are you a target because you
were instrumental in arresting Yeats?'

I'm ruling out any
of the victims' families, they would have acted sooner. It
's got to be someone Yeats has seriously pissed off
. Grudges can last for years before they're acted upon
. So, stay alert, just in case.'

'Why would they bother
with me?' Elizabeth asked.

'I'm not saying anyone will
, but keep it in mind.'

Elizabeth had almost forgotten about
the woman in the pub asking after her. She explained
what had happened. 'Someone is trying to frighten you Anita
. Dean was adamant he hadn't seen this woman before
.'

'I suspected whoever did this wasn't acting alone. In
order to really scare the shit out of me, they
needed me home alone. Seeing you leave my place scuppered
their plan and that's why she came in the
pub. I'll need a description of her and we
'll generate an e-fit. I'll ring Dean and
ask him to do one as well. Are you seeing
him again?'

'I might if I ever get any spare
time.' Elizabeth felt a hand on her elbow. She spun
around and saw Patterson. From his expression, she could see
they had a problem..

'Hang on Anita.'

Patterson sat down
. 'Message from Teresa Lane, John McAllister's had a heart
attack and was air lifted to the Radcliffe in Oxford
.'

'Bloody hell, did she say what caused it?'

'Someone sent
him a present and it gave him a hell of
a shock. According to Lane, this present happened to be
a mask.'

Elizabeth went back to her friend. 'Something's
come up. I'll have to leave it there.'

'Sorry
Liz, but I overheard. Hope you get there in time
.'

Elizabeth felt the adrenaline kick in. 'Ring Teresa Lane and
tell her not to touch the mask again and that
we'll be over there as soon as possible.'

Patterson
peered through the window. 'Eldridge has just pulled up.'

'Shit
,' Elizabeth said. 'What do we do?'

'No choice, we have
to welcome the Canadians and find out what their plans
are.'

'Do I look all right?' Elizabeth asked.

'A typical
woman question when everything else is in chaos. You look
fine.'

'This mask, what is...'

Patterson interrupted. 'There's no
time to discuss it now. They're getting out of
the car.'

Seconds later, they stood at the top of
the stairs like royalty waiting to welcome foreign dignitaries. Inspector
Gillian Walsh held out her hand. Sergeant Stuart Adams stood
behind her waiting his turn. Elizabeth straightened herself and gave
them her best smile.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Elizabeth's first
impression of Gillian Walsh was the woman actually looked like
a cop. She was about five foot five, well muscled
under her baggy blouse and tight trousers. Her dark eyes
said she'd seen too many bad things in too
short a time. Elizabeth felt like a complete fraud next
to her. 'It's good to meet you Inspector Walsh
,' she said.

'No ranks please while we're here. I
'm Gillian and he's Stu,' she replied pointing to
the sergeant. Then she too smiled and her features softened
. Elizabeth searched for any resemblance to her native tribe, but
her features were European. Unlike Morven, her skin was pale
and her shoulder length hair had an auburn tinge. Sergeant
Adams did remind her of Morven. He was well over
six feet tall and had a striking angular face. Elizabeth
estimated he was in his mid-fifties.

'Pleased to meet
y'all,' he spoke with a Texan drawl rather than
a Canadian twang.

'I hope the journey wasn't too
dramatic,' Elizabeth said.

'I've had worse,' Walsh replied, 'the
plane had four engines, not exactly what I'm used
to.'

'Is this your first visit to the UK?' Patterson
asked.

Adams answered, 'It is and very pleased to be
here despite the circumstances.'

Eldridge and Gardiner had stood to
one side waiting for instructions. Elizabeth moved closer to them
and lowered her voice. 'We have another development. Patterson and
I are going to Bibury later. I want you to
track down three masks that either went missing from Grasmere
's art gallery or from the evidence room. Check the
evidence room first. If they're not there, go back
to Grasmere. Dr Oakley needs them urgently.'

'I'm coordinating
house to house. Remember your words, last person to see
Jade Harper,' Eldridge said.

'Luckily for you I'm going
to ignore what you just said. Just do as you
're told for once. If you can't find them
, contact the students who entered the competition. See if any
of them took their mask home, and why.'

Elizabeth went
back to her guests. 'If you like we can go
the canteen.'

'I'd love a cup of tea,' Walsh
grinned, her face losing its hard edge.

'There's bacon
and eggs or teacakes and jam,' Patterson added.

'No bacon
and egg, we had that on the plane,' Adams said
.

Elizabeth gestured for them to follow her. 'Did DC Eldridge
drop your bags at the hotel?' 'We preferred to come
straight here. Someone's picking us up later.' Walsh pulled
out a sheet of paper with typewritten instructions and handed
it to Elizabeth. 'You better have a copy.'

The canteen
was quiet and no one stared at them when they
walked in. Patterson went to order and came back with
toasted teacakes; jam on the side and chocolate cake left
over from yesterday.

Elizabeth waited until they'd finished eating
before mentioning McAllister. 'I'm sorry but we need to
leave you soon. John McAllister has had a heart attack
and is in hospital in Oxford.'

Walsh and Adams looked
shocked. 'We were hoping to speak to Morven and the
professor today.'

'The call came just as you arrived. I
take it you know Professor McAllister. He came over here
to lend support to Morven.'

Adams sighed. 'Poor guy, I
hope he makes it. All we know for sure is
he posted bail. I hear it was close on one
and a half million Canadian dollars.'

Elizabeth said. 'I presume
you've heard about the second murder, a young girl
from the Academy where Morven delivered his lecture.'

'We did
, Ma'am,' Adams said.

'Up until then, the undertakings Morven
gave at his bail hearing have been stringently adhered to
. Obviously the situation has changed. He has also been questioned
in relation to the Jade Harper investigation.'

Walsh sounded angry
when she spoke. 'I hope you don't think he
's involved.'

It was Patterson's turn to be defensive
. 'We're still checking his alibi.'

Elizabeth wanted to break
the sudden animosity. 'I'm sure the professor will pull
through.'

'The Radcliffe is one of the best hospitals in
the country for heart problems,' Patterson added.

Elizabeth felt awkward
. The earlier friendly dynamic had shifted. She stumbled over her
words. 'I can guarantee the Radcliffe staff will do everything
they can to nurse him back to health.'

Walsh played
with her rings. Elizabeth noticed they adorned her left hand
. Was she married with children? Wearing them didn't necessarily
mean she was. When she spoke, her tone sounded critical
. 'He had health problems before he came here. His work
colleagues were against him making the journey. They were worried
this stressful situation would make him worse. They were proved
right.'

'I'm very sorry,' Elizabeth said, accepting she would
have felt the same about any of her friends. So
it seemed these two knew both men. Neither Walsh nor
Adams had commented on whether Morven was innocent or guilty
and it was unlikely they would. Protocol dictated they could
not interfere in the investigation process but Morven's reputation
assured him of certain privileges. The consular staff' had limited
powers, unless they overstepped the mark, which wasn't unheard
of.

Adams took over. 'Both men are massively respected back
home. This arrest came as a big shock so it
's not surprising there's a lot of animosity against
you Brits. Folks back home want answers to valid questions
, firstly, why would a man like Morven need to kill
a teacher? We're talking about a guy who's
travelled all over the world without any repercussions anywhere. He
's hailed as a hero wherever he goes, except here
. Unless you give the British press more information, you're
in for more condemnation. We're not here to cause
trouble, but we'll be grateful if we can come
along with you today. Save us getting lost on future
trips as we'll know how to get there.'

Elizabeth
understood their feelings. Yeats had caused this furore by seizing
an opportunity to enhance his own credibility in case he
managed to evade justice and needed a new career. If
Morven went to prison based on flimsy evidence and subsequently
proved innocent, God knows what would happen. Forget about moving
to the new premises, Elizabeth thought, we may as well
shut up shop for good.'

'Is it okay to come
along?' Walsh asked.

Elizabeth had to make a decision. They
obviously intended seeing him more than once but for this
first occasion, Elizabeth wished she could persuade them to return
to their hotel, but she couldn't. She had to
agree. 'That's fine,' she said.

'I'll drive,' Patterson
offered.

'How far is Oxford from here?' Adams asked.

'About
an hour if the traffic's okay,' Elizabeth answered. She
didn't want to leave until the atmosphere thawed. 'I
need another coffee before we go. Anyone else want one
?'

Patterson played waiter again while Elizabeth steered clear of any
further conflict. 'I'm interested in your hometown. Terrace is
an unusual name for a town,' she said.

'It' a
city, Adams said.
'A guy from Ontario called George
Little came to the area in nineteen hundred and five
. He changed the name because of the geography. Old sediment
deposits from glaciers changed the landscape over time and had
formed benches or terraces.
'

Walsh took over. 'Once it
was the cedar pole capital of the world. Every year
we manufactured over fifty thousand poles, mainly shipped to the
States for telephone and electric power poles. We're famous
for the world's tallest pole and it's still
standing in New York. These days nearly all wood mills
are gone apart from those the First Nations own. Now
we mainly rely on tourism, although there's a new
spotlight on mineral developments. We also have a great ski
resort. You should come over sometime.'

Elizabeth took the offer as a hand of friendship. 'I'd love to. My oldest friend lives in Vancouver but I haven't seen her for a long time. One of these days I might go, but I've been saying I will for years.'

'You should,' Adams said. 'The city's changed a lot in the last ten years.'

'What does your friend do?' Walsh asked.

'She's editor of a fashion magazine called Mode, not to be confused with Vogue.'

Patterson handed out the coffee and checked his watch. 'Better go after this,' he said.

The next twenty minutes gave Elizabeth a chance to repair the earlier misunderstandings. Patterson signed out a Range Rover and pulled up outside the main entrance to Park Road. Less than an hour later, they were knocking on Morven's door.