The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

Author:Sarah Bailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2017-05-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-one

Friday, 18 December, 3.46 pm

At check-in I’m recounting my conversation with Lila Wilcox when Jonesy appears. The air in the station is hot and musky, the twin fans gallantly pushing it back and forth above our heads. My shirt feels damp across my back. Felix still isn’t here; he texted me to say that he is following up something to do with Rosalind’s finances and will fill me in later.

‘So who is this mystery man, Woodstock?’

‘I don’t know, sir.’

Jonesy snorts. ‘You must have some ideas, surely?’

Felix bursts in. He waves for me to keep talking and takes a seat up the back.

I look Jonesy in the eye. ‘Well, there’re the teachers. In particular, the principal, Nicholson. Then there’re the students.’ I glance at Felix, who raises an eyebrow at me, before I say reluctantly, ‘There was an alleged issue with a student at her previous school, so there could be a pattern with our victim and younger men. She would have had a lot of interaction with the lead in the play, Rodney Mason. And Kai Bracks, the backstage manager—also in year twelve—is rumoured to have had a crush on her earlier this year. Someone sent her some flowers on Valentine’s Day and a lot of people think it was him.’ I pause, picturing the roses on my front porch. ‘And one of her neighbours mentioned a man in a fancy car paying her a visit a few weeks ago but nothing has come of that so far. Or maybe it’s some random, normal guy she met somewhere.’ I sip at my cold coffee. ‘Or she could have been lying to Lila about being in a relationship, seeing as Lila is overseas and would never know any better. If she was seeing someone, he hasn’t come forward, which in itself would be incredibly suspicious. In saying that, her phone records certainly don’t give a clue to her seeing someone. She barely called anyone or received any calls. The only suspicion comes from a couple of calls from a prepaid phone that we can’t lock down. So maybe Rosalind wanted to make her life sound more exciting and fabricated a romance.’

Jonesy coughs and it reminds me of sandpaper. ‘She did seem to live in her head a bit. Ditzy, isn’t that what you call it? Okay, so this is all just maybes. Anything solid yet? Where are we at?’

I stand and move towards the large pin boards. Multiple Rosalinds stare at me.

I look Jonesy in the eye. ‘We’re not really anywhere yet, sir. It could still be a random attack, of course, which would certainly explain why nothing is adding up.’

‘Is that what you think?’

‘No. It doesn’t explain why she was at the lake. I still think it was personal.’ I pause and then say, ‘The pregnancy is a possible motive.’

‘You think the father wanted the baby dead?’

‘Maybe. Or it could simply point to the kind of serious relationship that Rosalind described to Lila Wilcox. Perhaps it turned abusive. They might have fought about something.

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