The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves

Author:Ann Cleeves [Cleeves, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Pan Macmillan UK
Published: 2022-06-06T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

WHEN VERA LEFT THE SUPERINTENDENT, she was almost sorry for the man. She’d asked him if he’d like to talk to Katherine Willmore about the fact that her daughter had been the victim of Rick Kelsall’s harassment. The apparent victim, because so far there’d been no criminal charge brought. And with Kelsall dead, there probably wouldn’t be. ‘It might come better from a more senior officer.’

‘Oh, I don’t think that would be at all appropriate.’ The words had come tumbling from Watkins’s mouth, a torrent of panic. ‘There’d be a conflict of interest. We meet socially. It would be much better coming from you.’

They’d looked at each other, both of them knowing that he was a coward and that this was an excuse.

In her office, Vera phoned Willmore’s secretary, a young man with an impeccable public-school accent.

‘I’m afraid Miss Willmore is working from home today. I could probably set up an appointment for tomorrow morning in the office. She’s got a free slot at eight-fifty.’

‘Nah, you’re okay, pet.’ Attempting the kind of West End Newcastle Geordie spoken by the older members of the Thomas clan, and just about making it. ‘This is personal. I’ll catch her later.’ She wasn’t entirely sure that he’d understood a word she’d said.

Vera had planned to see Charlotte to talk about Rick’s will before the bombshell about Katherine Willmore’s daughter had hit, but that would have to wait until she’d spoken to the PCC. Vera wandered out into the main office and perched on Holly’s desk.

‘What do we know about this life coach business of Charlotte’s?’

‘I haven’t gone into it in any detail. Not since that first day on the island. And that was just checking out her website.’

‘I’d be interested to know how solvent she is. Since the Thomas family has gone almost legit in their old age, they’ll likely have had less coming in, and she’s not the celebrity draw that she once was. Rick’s left her all that money in his will, and it might be a motive.’

‘She hardly looked on the breadline when she turned up to Holy Island.’

‘A few smart clothes and a fancy car,’ Vera said. ‘That could all be show. She might have had the clothes for years. I understand that the classics never go out of fashion.’ She’d read that in a magazine in the dentist’s waiting room, but she could tell that Holly was impressed.

‘I’ll see what I can find out.’

‘Then I’d like you to go and see her. I want to know if Rick told her he was leaving half his parents’ house to her in his will. You built up a good relationship when you spoke to her on the island. Get her to trust you. Encourage a bit of girly gossip about the rest of the group. See what she made of Isobel Hall. They sound like two of a kind. Charlotte might not have been on the island when the lass drove her car off the causeway, but maybe she had some idea about the background to the accident.

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