All the Devils Are Here (Atticus Priest Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers Book 4) by Mark Dawson

Author:Mark Dawson [Dawson, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unputdownable Crime and Mystery Thrillers
Published: 2024-09-21T00:00:00+00:00

67

Atticus led the way to the weir and pointed to the pool downstream. “I’ve seen videos of her swimming in there.”

Coverdale wrote in her notebook. “Where did you say the tripod was?”

“Down there,” he said, pointing.

Coverdale knelt down, moved the cow parsley aside and scratched the side of her chin. “No camera?”

Atticus shook his head. “There was nothing attached to it—I had a quick look, but I couldn’t see anything.”

Coverdale went over to the bank. “What do you think? Accident or suicide?”

“Suicide by drowning is rare. It’s difficult to do. I’m not saying you can rule it out, though, and she was probably aware of something yesterday morning that would’ve seemed pretty desperate.”

“What’s that?”

“She got some very negative press. Google her—it’ll be the first thing you see. It’s possible it would’ve affected her in a way where she did think about taking her own life. But would she drown herself?” He shrugged. “Don’t think so.”

Coverdale pointed to the gentle camber of the beach. “She wouldn’t have slipped getting in there,” she said. “Look at it—it’s almost flat.” She stood and shuffled back to where Alice would have been if she were setting up the tripod. “Or she was getting ready here,” she said, her back to the water. She took a backwards step and then another, deliberately catching her heel on a knotty root that protruded through the soil. “She trips, falls backwards and hits her head on a rock—like that one down there. She’s knocked out and drowns.”

“The body?” Atticus said.

Coverdale pointed south. “Somewhere downstream.”

“That’s possible. The water’s flowing quickly enough to take her away.”

Coverdale puffed out her chest, seemingly pleased that Atticus had agreed with at least part of her putative explanation.

“There’s something else you need to know,” Atticus said. “Alice and her husband are in the middle of a very unpleasant, very messy divorce. She’s revealed information about him that’s got him in hot water with the police, and he was behind the story about her that ran yesterday. Like I said—he contacted me about the car being found down here.”

Coverdale looked up from her notebook. “Why did he call you?”

“I’ve been working for him. His name’s Frank Green. He hired me to dig up dirt on her.”

“And it’s relevant because…?”

“A few reasons.” He held up his hand and ticked them off on his fingers, one by one. “One—Green broke Alice’s arm recently, and I’ve seen evidence to suggest he’s made threats of violence against her. Two—Green has the motive to want to hurt her. Three—Green probably knows she comes to places like this on her own when there are unlikely to be any witnesses. And four—Green showed absolutely no concern for her when I told him she was missing.”

Yaxley joined them just as his radio came to life. “Hang on,” he said, reaching down to turn it up.

“Bravo Alpha Two-One, this is Control. Over.”

“Control, this is Bravo Alpha Two-One. Go ahead. Over.”

“Bravo Alpha Two-One, be advised that the individual you are looking for, Alice Green, has been reported missing as of ten hundred hours this morning.

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