Puppet: A DI Charlotte Savage Novel by Mark Sennen

Author:Mark Sennen [Sennen, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Interviewing the residents took all day Thursday and most of the following morning. When Savage returned to God’s Haven close to midday on Friday, she found Collier, on a rare outing from the station, ticking off the last few names on a checklist. Calter, having sat in on most of the interviews, was sceptical of the entire operation.

‘So far everyone has said exactly the same thing,’ she said. ‘Or perhaps spouted would be a better word. It’s like they’re reading from a cue card.’

‘Clent briefed them on Wednesday night,’ Savage said. ‘I’m sure of it. That’s why he dismissed us with all the crap about a prayer circle. Whatever meeting they held consolidated their responses.’

Collier flipped a page over on the pad on his clipboard. Lines of shorthand in pencil dotted the paper. ‘According to nearly every resident, after Abigail went missing, Clent was upset. He spent the next three days at prayer in the hall, only taking a break for a brief nap or to go to the toilet.’

‘Good to know even the chosen have to take a crap,’ Calter said.

‘On the day Abi disappeared, everyone insists he wasn’t out of sight for more than a few minutes at a time, neatly providing him with a cast-iron alibi.’

‘Because these God-fearing people don’t lie, right?’ Calter shook her head. ‘The whole thing is a bloody joke.’

‘There is this.’ Collier pointed to a table where a picture frame lay face up. Inside was a panoramic photograph of a crowd of people. ‘It was taken last summer and shows all the residents of God’s Haven except Abigail Duffy.’

Savage stared at the picture. It showed three rows of people lined up on a grassy bank to the front of the complex. On the far left, the hexagonal tower with the white cross rose in the background. However, a tiny portion of the tower was missing where it intersected with the top row of residents, one person snipped from the image.

‘Charlene Golding says the missing resident is Abigail,’ Collier said. ‘I put it to her it was done to obstruct our enquiries, but she insists it happened shortly before Abigail disappeared, and both she and Clent were mystified as to who’d defaced the photo. Afterwards, Clent preached it had to be the work of God, a warning that those who rejected God’s word would be cast from the promised land. For what it’s worth, several residents have confirmed Golding’s account. But, of course, we don’t even know if the person cut out was Abigail. They could all be lying.’

‘It was Abi,’ Savage said. ‘But it wasn’t God who removed her. It was Bathsheba.’

‘Who?’

‘The girl I met last night. She claimed to have sent a picture of Abi to the police. Perhaps it was the only way she could get an image of her.’

‘But the team at Exeter never received a picture.’ Collier spread his hands. ‘If there’d been one, it would have completely changed the course of the investigation.’

‘Well, if she’s telling the truth, then it must have got lost somehow.

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