Death on the Lake by Jo Allen (early reader books TXT) 📗

up the full report, but as far as I’m concerned, everything you need to know will fit on one sheet of paper. And if that’s all, I’m off to twiddle my thumbs somewhere else.’

‘I never trust something that looks straightforward,’ Doddsy said, with a sigh.

‘The clothes bother me.’ Ashleigh was still frowning. ‘They really bother me. And there’s something else. Jude, do you remember when we spoke to Luke Helmsley? He said Summer had talked of going to see Miranda Neilson about her dissertation.’

‘Yes. He said that.’

‘She left university in the summer.’ Doddsy checked the missing person report. ‘And was due to embark on a masters degree.’

‘I got the call log back from her phone,’ Chris said. ‘She called Miranda’s number on Saturday and left a message but there’s no reply. I don’t know where she got the number from. One of the twins, I expect.’

If Summer had found out something about Robert there might have been a case to have her removed, but what could she have found out that Faye’s connections in the organised crime agency didn’t know? And it wasn’t Robert that she’d tried to contact, but Miranda.

‘Miranda Neilson wasn’t there on the Sunday,’ said Doddsy. ‘According to her story and the twins, she didn’t get back until after they’d found Summer gone and started sobering up. But it might be worth asking if she had any idea what that call was about.’

‘What did you make of the Neilsons?’ Jude asked Ashleigh. ‘Co-operative?’

‘Extremely. I thought Mrs Neilson was particularly concerned, although she never mentioned having met Summer. I got the impression most of her worry was about how to handle things internally — tough father, kids showing signs of rebelling, that sort of thing. But actually I thought she was pretty much together. She struck me as someone who intended to use her position as stepmother, which might be a weakness for some, as a position from which to broker some sort of compromise. I think she’s a strong and capable woman.’

‘Interesting stuff. But if Summer didn’t die by accident there has to be a motive, doesn’t there?’ Chris pointed out.

‘There does indeed.’ Doddsy turned once more to Ashleigh. ‘What do we know about Miranda Neilson? She’s couldn’t be the jealous type, could she? Summer seems to have been fairly easy come, easy go when it came to sex by all accounts, and her boyfriend was, too.’

‘Yes, he certainly wasn’t jealous, which is interesting given he does have a history of jealous rage. But that all seems to be directed towards the same woman, not Summer. I think Luke’s a simple soul, but I think he’s probably still trying to fight his way out of falling in love with someone who isn’t interested.’

Jude allowed himself a moment for reflection. Someone needed to take Luke Helmsley to one side and tell him the only way out of that kind of situation was patience and, eventually, acceptance, but he knew from his own experience that it was harder to do it than think about it. Most of the time he managed to keep his mind free of Becca Reid and when she did trouble his thoughts it was almost always out of the office, but she’d crept under his defences. It was because her old uncle lived up in Martindale, and he’d been up there plenty of times to visit the old man when he and Becca had been together. He allowed himself a smile. George was a one-off. His views on the goings-on, and in particular the meteoric rise of local boy Robert Neilson, would be worth hearing.

He looked up and caught Ashleigh’s eye and knew, by the sudden irritated pink that flooded her cheeks that he’d caught her thinking along the same lines. She’d never got over the breakup of her relationship, either, and the fling she’d had with Faye was her own way of lashing out at life. Maybe, after all, it was simpler to do it Luke’s way, to hit out with your fists and have done with it.

‘Luke might not be jealous,’ Doddsy pointed out, ‘but what about Miranda? I don’t hear anything about Robert Neilson being a womaniser, but suppose there’s something going on there.’

‘The Neilsons were away most of last summer.’ Jude frowned. ‘I remember hearing that. They were getting that vast extension built to the house and they decamped to the South of France. They do say the rich are different.’

Summer could have met Robert Neilson somewhere else, of course, or there could be a whole lot more to learn. But there was a practical line that he had to navigate, one that took heed of time and resources. If Summer had been murdered, or even if there was any realistic suspicion that she’d been murdered, he might have been able to justify expanding the inquiry into her character, and Miranda, and the twins, setting Chris to follow a line of investigation that might show motive, or some connection between a drowned woman and a very wealthy family whose lives had barely touched. But there was no evidence at all that the death was the result of foul play. ‘Then it looks to me as if we hand this one over to the coroner, pending the toxicology tests and leave it at that.’ Because, as Tammy had reminded them, it wasn’t as if they didn’t all have more constructive things to do with their time.

Ten

‘The least I can do is take you out for a drink.’

After over a week in which she’d felt as if she’d spent every spare moment running around after her cousin while the rest of her family pleaded alternative arrangements, Becca couldn’t help thinking that a drink was, indeed, the very least that Ryan could offer her. ‘Better make it an Appletiser.’ Living out in the country, she was inevitably the designated driver and ended up ferrying everyone else back home. ‘Thanks.’ And she gave him a warm smile, because life, on the whole, was good.