 
# Mummy's Little Girl

### A Witches of Glory Woods Novel

### By K. Leitch

Copyright 2013 Kay Leitch

All Rights Reserved

This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition

# CHAPTER 1 - PRELUDE - LOUISE

The first blow knocked her sideways although it didn't slow her down. She felt the warm trickle of blood on the back of her neck, more blood to mix with the gashes on her bare feet as the woodland floor cut and bruised the tender skin. She barely noticed either in her desperation to get away, she knew her attacker was closing in on her, could almost feel the warm breath on her shoulders.

The next blow caught her completely off guard, smashing against the top of her skull, making her bite down through her tongue. Vomit and blood filled her mouth and her eyes watered at the pain. She was lurching from tree to tree like a drunken man, clutching on to their solid structures as if they could somehow protect her from the monster on her tail.

The monster was circling round her, playing with her, she tried to speak...beg for her life but she couldn't form the words they just sounded like animal cries of pain and fear, another blow knocking her to her knees and then another, the muddy earth came rushing up towards her and she landed heavily amongst tree roots and bracken.

I should never have come.

Everyone had told me not to come.

'You're asking for trouble Lou, no good will come of it, why can't you leave well enough alone?'

But I ask you what would you do? If you had found out that your whole life had been built on lies and deception, wouldn't you want to get some answers, too fucking right you would especially when you'd at last found the name of the one person who could tell you who you really were.

Well anyway I didn't listen to them, I knew best.

Oh yeh really clever Louise that's why you're lying in the middle of a woods while your life blood drains into the peaty soil beneath, alone, silent, apart from the occasional shriek of a tawny owl, or the rustle of a badger ...and something else... creeping among the bloody shadows.

'Help me, please someone...help me.'

'You stupid girl, you just couldn't leave it could you, now look what you've made me do, why did you have to come?' A desperate rasping whisper, I can only just hear it over the rushing of blood in my ears. I feel boneless, no pain anymore just heaviness.

My eyes are dimming... I know it's coming... one more blow, the death blow... I am leaving now, the woods and my bloody smashed in skull are far beneath me...now I can see you clearly... standing over me weeping, weeping like a mother who just lost her child...your tears mingling with the mess of blood and bone on the woodland floor.

# CHAPTER 2 - _August 26_ th _1991_

The rhythmic breathing coming from the other side of the bedroom tells me that Faye has finally dropped off. I try very hard to do the same, but my mind won't switch off. I can hear the faint sounds of the TV from downstairs; every so often I hear my Mum's laughter.

Sleep...sleep...sleep... the harder I try the more awake I feel.

Think about something else...Miss Webster was really pleased with my story today, it was called what we did in the holidays, she said she was going to pin it up in the corridor, I told Mum, she gave me a hug and said 'well done sweetheart' then we had a lovely tea, I love crumpets and butter they're my...

A noise from downstairs, the lounge door, for a moment the TV is loud then quiet again as the door is shut.

Footsteps on the stairs...Mum maybe going to the bathroom...my door opens almost silently...

It's not Mum.

I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep, I can feel him kneeling next to the bed...keep your eyes closed he might go away.

A hand beneath the blankets...sliding up under my nightie.

'Are you asleep? I don't think so. Keep quiet I'll only take a moment, give me your hand...'

I'm not opening my eyes.

# CHAPTER 3 - CARLA

'Why do these things always happen when it is so bloody cold?' Carla thought as she trudged through woods covered with a thick layer of frost. The ground was white and frigid beneath her feet and her breath was coming out in puffs of mist before her. The trees were very dense here, and far from the beaten track, so that she had to push her way through the thick undergrowth, bending the frozen branches back, and as if in retaliation, being smacked in the face by the odd icy bramble, she tried to keep her cool. Up ahead she could see what seemed like crowds of people milling around, she swore under her breath. 'How are we supposed to keep the scene uncontaminated with Joe public and all his family stamping around in their fucking size 10's?'

One of the 'crowd' spotted her and came forward, Ted, her sergeant, a craggy 59 year old who was looking forward to his retirement, never known for his light hearted nature, Ted looked particularly grim this morning as he filled Carla in on the details of the case.

'It's a nasty one ma'am, the body must have been here a couple of weeks at least, the cold has stopped it from decaying too much, but the animals have had a go. Young girl by the looks of it although there's not much left of her to be sure.'

'Ted, who are all these people?' Carla said without preamble. 'We need to get them back and try and preserve the area, has the Coroner's office been called?'

Ted raised bushy eyebrows.

'Yeh, but there's been a pile up on the main road causing major delays, these are the people that found the body, a group of walkers, one of the dogs found it, they phoned it in to the station, though what the bloody hell they were doing out at bloody 5 in the morning walking I will never know.'

Carla shook her head.

'No, me neither, can't say it's my idea of a good start to the day, but then neither is this; get names and addresses will you? And we'll deal with them at the station, oh hang on, who was it that actually discovered the body, I'll speak to them while we're in situ.'

Ted opened up his scruffy notebook and flipped through the pages.

'Gloria Hunt, she's sitting over there, it was actually her dog, I'll call her over.' He trudged off in the direction of a grey haired woman that Carla noticed sitting on a log a few yards away, with a very hyperactive spaniel at her heels.

Carla scrambled up the bank to where the body lay, half buried beneath the detritus of the woodland floor, between the huge roots of two old beech trees, it was so well hidden by the rotting leaves that she almost tripped over it. She braced herself for what she would see.

Blond hair was still attached to the skull of what appeared to be a young woman, but as Ted had said, not much remained of her features, although decay hadn't been too bad because of the cold, but it was obvious that someone had been intent on smashing her skull in, her face was all but obliterated. Carla looked around to see if she could see anything obvious that could have been used to cause such devastation, but to be honest there were so many large logs and chunks of wood lying about, the murderer would have been spoilt for choice.

Carla stood for a minute and just looked down at the body, trying to get a sense of what had happened here. It was hard to tell if there had been a struggle, the woods themselves had covered whatever evidence there would have been for that, although there seemed to be a place near the edge of the rise, could be she had been dragged at some point. 'Who are you?' she thought. 'And what are you doing in the middle of these woods in the middle of winter, were you running from someone, meeting someone...no...no not meeting...running from someone, that's more likely, but why? Who?'

She appeared to be wearing clothes that would have been totally unsuitable for walking in the woods at this time of year, actually any time of the year, a strappy dress and some quite startlingly high heels, which she seemed to have dropped when she fell or maybe she had taken them off to run. There didn't immediately seem to be anything to identify her, there was no sign of a bag of any kind, nothing in fact that could give a clue as to who she was. Carla had seen enough so she edged cautiously back down the steep hill which was made even more slippery by the recent rain.

'Ma'am this is Gloria Hunt, Mrs Hunt was the one that found the body and called it in.' Ted came over with the grey haired woman in tow, she looked shell shocked and scared, she was bundled up in an enormous parka, but was shivering uncontrollably as she came forward and raised her eyes to Carla's, they were red rimmed as if she had been crying, Carla put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

'Hi Gloria, I'm Detective Inspector Carla Right, I'm leading the investigation here, it would be really helpful if you could let me know how you found her.'

'Well it was Patrick that found her,' she said indicating the spaniel. 'He suddenly ran off and I couldn't get him back no matter how much I called. So Richard, he was leading the walk this morning, said he would come with me and find him, because I was getting a bit panicky he is such good obedient dog usually, so we tried to follow his barks which eventually led us to this...' Gloria's face crumpled as she remembered.

'Take your time Gloria, you're bound to be feeling a bit shaky,' said Carla as she waited for the older woman to get herself together.

'I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing at first, Patrick was digging at it, and Richard and me...well we were just staring at it, until we both realised what it was and then we just panicked, I mean you never know how you're going to react do you, Richard threw up, and I grabbed Patrick desperately trying to pull him off and for a few moments it was just pandemonium, then I realised I should call 999,' her face crumpled and her eyes welled up again, 'I mean that poor child, who would do that, and to just leave her there in the cold, it's inhuman that's what it is.'

Carla let her ramble for a couple of minutes, and then steered her back to the matter in hand.

'So apart from Patrick, nobody touched the body, you mentioned Richard, he didn't touch it as far as you can remember?'

'Oh no no I pulled Patrick off straight away and we moved over there,' she pointed to where Carla had first spotted her, 'I've seen enough of these police dramas to know that you mustn't touch anything.' Carla just nodded.

'I don't suppose either of you recognised her did you, or have any idea of who she is?' Gloria shrugged her shoulders and then shook her head. 'Ok thank you Gloria, you did exactly the right thing, I may be needing to speak to you again so if you can let my sergeant have all your details, oh and by the way is Richard still here?'

'He was earlier, but I haven't seen him for a while, sorry.'

'No matter, I'm sure my sergeant will have got his details if we need to speak to him, thanks again Gloria for your help.'

Most of the crowd had dispersed by the time Carla made her way back to the spot where Ted was standing near to the body.

'Still no sign of the Coroner,' she muttered irritably. 'Where the hell has he got to? We need to get her moved as quickly as possible, before the press get wind of this. Have your team search the surrounding area Ted, there must be something around to tell us who she is, like a mobile, a young girl like this wouldn't leave the house without her mobile I'm sure, maybe she dropped it in the struggle...um... and where is her coat, she must have been wearing one it has been freezing these last few weeks, maybe the killer took it with him but if he did, why?'

'Maybe there was something about it that could incriminate him,' said Ted as he strolled round the body. 'Maybe it was his coat, you know he takes a young girl into the woods after a bit of fun, she gets cold so he puts his coat round her shoulders, then she decides she doesn't want to do it so he gets angry and bashes her head in, takes back his coat so we can't trace it to him.'

'Seems a bit of a bleak place to bring someone for sex, especially in the middle of winter, I mean you'd have to be desperate right?' said Carla not at all convinced by Ted's simplified version of events.

'Maybe he was...looked like whoever did this was pretty desperate about something,' mumbled Ted.

'Or maybe panicking, people do desperate things when they are frightened of something... oh at last!' Carla could see the forensic team making their way towards them, she pointed them in the right direction and then had a word with the coroner. 'Can you let me know the minute you find the murder weapon, and it seems to me that she was dragged along the floor at one point, you see over there where the slope joins the path, see if anything's been dropped over there can you, mobile phone, for instance, Ted, you take a couple of guys with you and see if anyone in the village has any idea who she is...or indeed if anyone saw or heard anything, an argument or maybe a couple that had had too much to drink...you know the sort of thing...I'll hang on here and see what the coroner turns up.'

'Right Ma'am I'll get onto it straightaway.' Ted bustled off and Carla could see him rounding up a few uniformed police officers, she heaved a sigh, no matter how many times she asked him to, Ted would never call her Carla, it was like his own private protest at being overlooked at the last promotions, he could never get over that Carla had made Detective Inspector, while he remained a sergeant, stubborn old fool, maybe she should have him over for dinner some time, she knew he had lost his wife a year or so ago so he could probably do with a home cooked meal.

Once the coroner had finished examining the victim in situ, and was able to give Carla her preliminary findings, i.e. when he thought she had died and how (about two to three weeks ago, and trauma to the head). Carla made her way back to her car, it was still only 6.30, the kids would still be asleep tucked up warm in their beds, but James would be up by now, she pulled out her mobile and pressed his number.

'Hi babe,' James's sleepy voice came down the phone line. 'What time is it? Fuck!! I should have been up ages ago, this is what happens when I haven't got you here to keep me on the straight and narrow.' Carla could hear the unmistakable sounds of sleepy man banging around the bedroom.

'Believe me honey I wish I was there, it is bloody freezing out here, I just wanted to check that you'd remembered I'm out tonight, got a cauldron meeting at The Bull, so you'll have to cook I'm afraid darling. There's plenty of mince in the freezer so you could do a spag bol or something...' Carla's voice trailed off as she heard James's sharp intake of breath.

'Oh my god not tonight! I've got Jimmy Hatcher coming down from Manchester...I'm sure I told you, can't you meet the witches another night?'

'NO I'm not putting it off again, I had to cancel last week James, and you knew it was tonight...you'll just have to sort something out...maybe your mum could, just this once,' she could almost see him making a face down the phone, James's mum disapproved of Carla and her job and was very reluctant to babysit at the best of times.

'Yer right like that's going to happen, ok don't worry babe I'll sort it. What was it this morning by the way, lost dog? Someone littering the village green?'

'I wish it had been, no some walkers found a body in the Glory Woods, a young girl by the looks of it, I'll tell you about it later. Have a good day darling and kiss the kids for me...oh and don't forget Rosie's got to take her history project in today will you? Listen babe I've got to go Ted's making weird hand signals to me, sorry hun.'

'No way...oh god, sorry love, right stop worrying, it's all under control, see you later, hope it's not too bloody awful.'

No sooner had Carla put down the phone, when the trilling noise of a text message came through, it was Helen.

HOPE THE MEETING STILL ON FOR TONIGHT...I NEED TO TALK!!!

# CHAPTER 4 - HELEN

Helen's phone bleeped.

YEP ALL OK FOR TONIGHT EXCEPT TRACY CAN'T GET HOLD OF HER, WILL YOU TRY.

OTHERWISE 7.30 AT THE BULL CARLA X

Thank goodness, the only thing keeping her sane at the moment was her weekly meeting with her friends, Carla, Maggie and Tracy.

They called themselves the Witches Of Glory Woods, as there had originally only been the 3 of them, they had felt like the 3 witches in Macbeth, you know 'by the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes' what with all their plotting and gossiping, and then of course Tracy had come along so now there were 4, which didn't make any sense at all, and if Helen really thought about it they were more like the Witches of Eastwick, with Maggie of course making a wonderfully sultry Susan Sarandon, mmm... who would I be, thought Helen distractedly, not Cher that's for sure but maybe the dotty, accident prone Michelle Pfeiffer. Helen pondered on this for a moment...oh whatever, the witches thing had stuck, and Helen for one couldn't manage without their regular cauldron meetings.

She pressed Tracy's number in her phone and after a few rings...

'Hi Helen, you ok?' said Tracy sounding far too bright for this time of the morning, 'Hi Trace,' said Helen, 'just checking you're up for the cauldron tonight, 7.30 at The Bull.'

'Ooh yes, can't wait, I really fancy a chin wag. It was really weird this morning right, I was taking Buster out for his run and we went up to the common, but there were police all over the place and we weren't allowed through the woods, what do you suppose has happened? It was a right nuisance I had to go all round the new estate instead, Buster was well fed up.'

'Oh I expect they're on another litter campaign or doggy doo doo incentive, you should ask Carla tonight she'll know.'

'Yeh well as long as they're not going to close it for too long, Buster just lives for his walks on the common, and I've been reading lately that it's a really good place to meet men, so I'm going to make a special effort next time, you know put on my new flowery wellies, and my most flattering parka, oh you may laugh Helen but apparently it works!'

'Ok ok I'm not mocking you love, anyway I've got to go, I'll see you later ok.'

Helen was still smiling when she put down the phone, see there was a perfect example of why these nights were so important to her, Tracy could lighten anybody's mood and Helen really needed to snap out of this rut that she had gotten herself into.

She went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea, the sky look determinedly grey outside this morning, matching her mood perfectly, she went and curled up in her favourite chair and sipped her tea. 'Ok what have I got on for today,' she said out loud, Helen usually talked to herself, in fact she had been known to have full blown arguments with herself when she had done something she particularly didn't approve of, she found it quite helpful to put the other side across, but today she just needed to clear her head and plan her day.

'I need to get the flowers done for Lucy or she will have my head, I'll do that this morning then I can drop them off on my way to Tesco later. I wonder if Wills is going to be needing dinner tonight...' Helen's voice tailed off at this point and her face crumpled in misery, she took a deep breath trying to combat the pain that was almost too deep to bear...'come on you stupid woman, pull yourself together don't let him do this to you, keep busy... after Tesco you could finish that new canvas for the hall, oh god I really am losing the plot aren't I, thank goodness the others can't hear me prattling away to myself.'

Right onwards and upwards, thank goodness I'm seeing the girls tonight.

# CHAPTER 5 - MAGGIE

Maggie stretched languidly beneath the cool sheets.

She felt cosy and sated, she reached out and ran her hands down the large expanse of tanned body that was lying next to her, Charles (or was it Dave, she couldn't quite remember) slept on, unaware.

Maggie tutted to herself, it had been a good night, and the sex had been exceptional but now she just wanted him to go.

'Things to do, places to be,' she muttered under her breath as she climbed out of bed and wrapped herself in her voluminous dressing gown. Downstairs in the vast state of the art kitchen there was all the evidence of her two sons getting breakfast in a hurry, half full coffee cups on the side, toast crumbs everywhere, the ironing board still up and, yes, the iron was still left on.

'How many times do I have to tell them, anyone would think they were still kids instead of grown men with jobs, it's about time they moved out and found out what it's like in the real world,' she fumed, even though she knew she would fight them with every breath in her body if they even suggested such a thing. She automatically started to clear the mess and put on fresh coffee.

Maybe the smell of coffee would wake up her unwanted guest upstairs, she'd rather he left without her having to ask him to leave; it obviously did the trick because sure enough she could hear movement from the bedroom.

She poured out two cups of coffee and put some toast in the toaster.

'Tell me that's coffee I can smell,' said Charles (or Dave) as he came up behind her a minute later and wrapped his arms around her.

'Mmm how do you manage to look so sexy even in this old thing,' he started nuzzling her neck and Maggie could feel the unmistakable signs of an enormous erection pressing into her back.

'Whoa there big boy, don't get any ideas, there's only toast and coffee on offer this morning I'm afraid.'

'Oh well it was worth a try, what about tonight we could find a little restaurant, and then carry on where we left off last night,' he gave Maggie a leery smile.

Oh god, this was the part that Maggie always dreaded, I mean he was a nice guy and as mentioned before the sex had been amazing... hmm... well maybe he was worth one more outing.

'I'm out tonight I'm afraid, but maybe one evening next week, I'll call you.'

The effect was immediate; his face took on a look of rejection or rather the fear of it. 'Yeh well whatever sweetheart, you give me a ring and if I'm free that will be great, right gotta go or I'm going to be late.'

He collected his things together in record time and was soon roaring out of Maggie's drive in his classy red sports car before she had finished her coffee.

Maggie sighed, she had hurt his feeling and she was sorry for it, but really, bloody men they slept with you once and then they thought they had the right to your time, well not this girl, Maggie had vowed to herself after the awful breakdown of her marriage that she would call the shots in any future relationships that she had and so far that had worked very well for her.

She made her way upstairs and took a shower, and let the hot water sooth away the stresses of the morning until she felt ready to face the day. Taking a fluffy towel from the radiator Maggie made her way through to her bedroom.

She stood naked in front of the enormous Louis XIV mirror that leant up against the wall opposite her bed, and critically looked herself over.

A tall and slim brunette, her body had coped well with carrying and giving birth to her two sons, it was still smooth without the ravages of stretch marks, and she had worked bloody hard to keep her figure, her face too showed little signs of ageing as yet, a few tiny wrinkles around her wide dark eyes maybe, and if her lips weren't quite as plump as they used to be, Maggie knew a fab little beauty parlour that would sort that problem when the time came.

'Not bad for an old girl,' she said to herself with satisfaction and set about getting dressed for a day in the office.

Maggie ran her own, rather successful, interior design company. It was something she had dabbled with when the kids had been little. She had completely refurbished the big old barn which was situated about 5 miles outside the village. It had been a complete wreck when she and Greg, her now ex-husband, had first looked it over, but Maggie had seen its potential and had thrown herself into bringing it back to its former glory. Working closely with the architect and project managing the building, and then filing it with the most wonderful furniture and curios that she had hunted down, either in tiny villages or magnificent French chateaus until the results had been a truly spectacular home, so much so that one by one her friends had started commissioning her to do the same for them and then their friends, until it had become a full time job. Soon word had got around that Maggie was the woman to go to if you needed a new interior and so with the help of a large marriage settlement Maggie set up Glory Interiors and the company had gone from strength to strength.

She now employed ten people and had contracts with two of the country's largest property developers.

She realised how lucky she had been.

On the face of it life seemed to have given her a pretty good hand, she had always been beautiful, she had met and married Greg, a very successful hedge fund manager, she had given birth (relatively easily) to her wonderful sons Dom and Jed, she lived in her beloved barn conversion which she had managed to hang on to despite the best efforts of her ex-husband.

The only time that life had dumped on her was 5 years previously when she had discovered that her beloved Greg had been having an affair with his secretary.

Maggie had been completely devastated by the whole thing, she had thought that the relationship was fine, she had naively believed all the lies that she had been told, so that when the whole truth came out, as it inevitably does, she felt betrayed and humiliated on a huge scale.

The affair had been going on for a couple of years and he had even fathered a child with the slut.

Maggie was a woman scorned.

And she used the full powers of the law to make him pay; she not only got the house but an enormous 7 figure settlement, which would keep her wealthy for the rest of her life.

But although there was great satisfaction in making him squirm, Maggie had been dealt a blow that she was finding it hard to recover from. He had been the love of her life; she had put all her trust in him, things would never be the same again.

So she took some pills that helped take the edge off, and she took some more to help her sleep, and she dated men just for the sex and the ego boost.

As she pulled out of her drive half an hour later in her top of the range four by four, her phone bleeped, it was Carla.

HI HUN HOPE YOU ARE OK

DON'T FORGET 7.30 TONIGHT AT THE BULL

I CAN PICK YOU UP ON ROUTE IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A DRINK X

Yay! Life wasn't so bad; in fact it was bloody good!

# CHAPTER 6 - TRACY

Tracy sat back and re-read what she had written.

BUBBLY BLOND 33 IS LOOKING FOR COMPANIONSHIP, FUN AND HOPEFULLY LOVE.

MY HOBBIES ARE SWIMMING, WALKING MY DOG AND EVENINGS OUT WITH MY GIRLFRIENDS.

I WOULD DESCRIBE MYSELF AS PETITE AND CURVEY.

'Good grief! Petite and curvy, what kind of crap is that, they'll just read short and fat! Which, let's face it Buster, is no more than the truth!'

Buster, a rather rotund west highland terrier, not really knowing how he was meant to respond to this outburst, just raised his eyebrows and tried to look supportive, he was rewarded with a kiss.

'Oh at least I have you, little boy, we can be short and fat together,' this seemed like a good plan to Buster so he settled down to continue his nap.

Tracy turned her attention back to the dating web site questionnaire that she was trying to fill in as honestly as she could, but at the same time trying to make herself sound like a sex goddess.

After several unsuccessful attempts she gave up, 'I'll get the girls to help me tonight, Maggie's sure to know just the right words to use to make me irresistible.'

The web site was Tracy's latest attempt at getting a man, despite having had a few long term partners she was yet to meet 'the one' and she was beginning to think he didn't exist. They were all either commitment phobes or ego driven or so wrapped up in their careers, that they could barely focus on anything else, like having a family for instance, and that was the crux of the matter, Tracy wanted children, and she wanted them desperately, and she wanted them soon.

But she needed to find a man first, and then she needed to make him love her enough to settle down and start a family with her. The more she thought about it the more impossible it seemed, it was keeping her awake at night, she could almost hear the ticking of her body clock if she listened hard enough.

The trouble was that despite being a nice person (and she was sure she was) and being good at her job (she worked in the busy office of the local primary school) and being generally bubbly (she hadn't lied about that) she didn't seem to have what most men were looking for these days.

She was quite short (only 5'1) and she wasn't a size zero by any stretch of the imagination, she'd always been on the dumpy side with quite a large bust, which certainly got the men interested, but only in one thing apparently. Most of the men she'd met had dropped her for much taller slimmer girls, even if they didn't have such pretty eyes or such a ready smile. The taller slimmer girls were apparently marriage material whereas she was just good for a laugh and a quick shag.

It was depressing but Tracy wasn't about to give up yet, she just knew that there must be someone out there who needed the love that she had in abundance to give, so roll on tonight, so that she could pick the brains of the most successful serial dater she knew, Maggie.

After letting Buster out for a run in her tiny garden and settling him down for the day Tracy started up her ancient mini and drove the short journey to work.

She just loved her job, St. Jude's primary school stood on the edge of the village green. The building was the same that had been there in the early 19th century, it had been extended a bit and there were a few porta cabins in the playground but it had still maintained its village school look, and Tracy loved it.

The children were filing in by the time she had parked the mini in the overcrowded car park, so she had to rush to the office without having her usual cup of coffee in the staff room, Juno, the headmaster's secretary, was already in there and gave Tracy a smile of greeting.

'Assembly's going to be a bit later today, we've got those magazine people coming in remember, Oh and bloody Richard's just phoned to say he's not in today. I've got to reorganise all his classes, what a nightmare.'

'Oh you poor thing, sorry I'm a bit late,' said Tracy with a smile, 'took me ages to park the car, someone has parked a bloody great van in my space, I had to go right round the back, don't know how I'm going to get out later.'

'Don't get me started Trace,' said Juno, 'the number of times I've mentioned about reorganising the car parking, but no, he knows best,' she walked out with a big pile of books under her arms and a long suffering look on her face.

Tracy started to go through her 'in tray', there was nothing urgent so she logged on to her computer and started looking through the absentee emails.

'Joey Gough off again I see,' she said to herself, 'that's 4 times in as many weeks.' She made a note of it and carried on reading her emails making notes here and there she was so distracted that she didn't notice that there was someone standing just inside the door of the office until they cleared their throat noisily, Tracy nearly jumped out of her skin.

A very tall, dark haired man was leaning against the door frame.

Tracy jumped up in surprise, and managed to knock over a cold cup of coffee that had been sitting on the edge of her desk for at least 3 days. The dark liquid spread all over the pile of parents questionnaires that Tracy had left on the desk yesterday. She scrabbled about trying to save as many as she could, meanwhile the man just stood there watching with a bewildered look on his face, as she made a complete mess of everything.

'Well you could at least help, instead of just standing there,' Tracy said crossly. 'It was your fault for startling me in the first place and just who are you anyway and how did you get in, I didn't hear the buzzer?

With an irritated tut the stranger ignored her questions and took control of the situation, sweeping the papers off the desk and then magically producing a cloth which he used to wipe down the desk, the computer and finally Tracy herself, she shook him off angrily,' how bloody humiliating and why the hell do these things always happen to me', she fumed.

'Simon Burton at your service,' Mr Smuggo said, 'the door was open, delivery I think, so I didn't buzz.'

Tracy snatched the cloth away from him ungraciously, 'What can I do for you Mr Buford?'

'It's Burton, I'm here because your Head arranged for me to do a two week workshop with the children. I produce a children's magazine, the kids are going to contribute to the content and learn a little about publishing. You should have been told I was coming, I'm meant to be meeting with a...Tracy Dawlish?' he said producing a piece of paper which Tracy realised was the letter that she had sent him a couple of weeks earlier inviting him to come and do his workshop at the school.

'Shit!' thought Tracy, 'I'd forgotten all about that,' she was meant to be liaising with this man and helping him with the kids.

'Shit, shit, shit,' she thought again, she pinned on her best smile.

'Er that's me I'm afraid, if you'd just give me a moment Mr Burbage, I'll take you through to the hall, I believe you'll be talking to the school in this morning's assembly.'

'Yes that's what I've been told too, and the names BURTON, SIMON BURTON but you can call me Simon, Tracy isn't it?' he said with a wide grin.

Tracy gritted her teeth. 'That's right Simon, I'll just direct you to the assembly hall and then you can get yourself set up, do you need the projector? If so I'll get Sam to show you how it works,' and with that Tracy squeezed passed Simon (who made no attempt at all to get out of the way) but just followed appreciatively watching Tracy's neat little bum all the way to the hall.

# CHAPTER 7 - CARLA

The small police station in Kenly village seemed to be bursting with people when Carla finally got there. Obviously Ted had decided to press on with interviewing the walking party.

Carla grabbed a coffee from the machine in the hall outside her office and made her way precariously through to her desk.

There were some photos of the murdered girl already on her desk and she sat down to study them. Ted put his head round her door.

'I've got statements from this lot so I can send them on their way unless you'd like to talk to them ma'am.'

'Not at the moment Ted, thanks, oh Ted, has her phone been found yet anything to give us a clue as to who she is?'

No, nothing yet ma'am, no matches on the missing persons files and no coat either and Mr Richard Frampton hasn't deigned to show up yet, you know the one who found the body with Gloria? I'm sending someone round to his address, he seems less than co-operative, might be worth checking him out a bit.'

'Yeh get Mandy on to it, what did you say his second name was?'

'Frampton; Richard Frampton, he's a teacher at St Jude's.'

'Oh I know him I think,' said Carla absently while she looked through the gruesome photos, 'Although he doesn't teach my lot, small man, dodgy beard.'

'Well I wouldn't know about that,' said Ted stoking his own rather impressive beard, 'when you're ready ma'am I'll get everyone together in the main office.'

'Give me about 5 minutes Ted will you, I just need to get up to speed.'

Ted gave her the thumbs up and disappeared down the corridor.

Carla went through the images that had already been put up onto her computer screen, according to the coroner she had probably been killed about 2-3 weeks ago, and as far as he could tell, without further examination, death was caused by a severe trauma to the head...looked like the killer could have used a fallen log as a weapon as there were very noticeable bits of wood and bark stuck to the wound in her head...he reckoned she was about sixteen years old.

Preliminary examinations seemed to indicate that there had been no sexual interference, but she had extensive cuts and grazes to her hands, feet and knees. There was also bruising round her ankles as if she had been held or tied by them, no chance of identifying the victim through her dental records because of the damage done to her face and jaw, but she did have a small unusual tattoo on her thigh.

There were a few plastic evidence bags on the desk, obviously they had been sent over by the coroner as well. One caught Carla's attention, a small gold earring with a large green stone, looked like an emerald, it was for a pierced ear and it looked quite old, expensive, something her mum would have worn. A bit outdated for a young teenager, but the reason it caught her eye was that it looked strangely familiar, she was sure she had seen this somewhere before but she couldn't quite place it. Carla stared at it for a few moments trying to grab hold of a fleeting memory, she'd seen that earring on a woman she was sure of it, a woman with blond hair, she put it to one side irritably, oh well it would come to her.

The rest of the day was spent organising her team, door to door enquiries, checking out any of the CCTV cameras in the village, and generally just trying to find out who this unfortunate young girl was, what she was doing in Kenly village and most importantly why she had ended up murdered and dumped in the Glory Woods.

By the time 7pm arrived Carla was no nearer discovering any of these things, so she sent her team home, telling them to get a good night's sleep and come in bright and early tomorrow, hopefully with a few good ideas.

She went to the locker room and changed into some jeans and an old sweatshirt that had seen better days but was cosy and comfortable. Then tried to fix her makeup, this would take more time to accomplish, she smoothed foundation around the dark shadows under her eyes then added soft brown eye shadow and spiked her eyelashes with mascara. Like magic her eyes sparkled and shone like headlights in her face, she brushed on a pale pink lip gloss and stood back to see the full effect. Hmm not bad, she took the pins out of her functional work hair-do and her blond tresses fell about her collar, in the matter of a few minutes she had gone from ma'am to yummy mummy. Satisfied with her look Carla made her way down to the staff car park and set off to pick Maggie up.

Maggie lived about ten minutes outside the village. Carla had first met her through her husband James. Maggie's ex-husband Greg had donated a substantial amount of money to the charity that James worked for and the two of them had got on like a house on fire. On finding out that James was a keen footballer, Greg had invited him to join the Sunday league team that he played for and Carla had met Maggie on the touch line one rainy afternoon whilst they were both cheering on their men. That was many years ago, and their friendship had gone from strength to strength. Carla had been there to support Maggie during her awful marriage break up, and Maggie had raced to the hospital, breaking all the speed limits when Carla had gone into labour with Harry, only just making it in time to see him being delivered. Their lives were intertwined and along with Helen and Tracy, Carla counted these three women as her most trusted confidants.

Maggie was waiting at the front door of her house, when Carla pulled up half an hour later; she shooed away Dom and Jed, who had come out to talk to Carla and got into the car.

'Hi Hun am I glad to see you, I have had a pig of a day, thank you sooo much for picking me up I need a very large G&T. How are you babes?'

Carla smiled over to her. 'All the better for seeing you love; I too have had a day from hell. It started at 5am this morning with the discovery of a body in the Glory Woods and it's just gone downhill from there.'

'Shit, I can't top that, how awful, who is it? Do you know yet?'

'No, all we know is that it's a young girl, not from around here. We don't know how she got here, we don't know why she was here, we don't know anything as yet. We're waiting to see if forensics have anything, but it's a tough one, and if you don't mind I don't want to talk about it, I just want to chill.'

'Sure thing hun, although it's a bit creepy isn't it, I mean so close to home.'

Carla didn't answer, she was happy just to listen to Maggie's chatter until they arrived at the pub where she concentrated on trying to negotiate the crammed car park outside The Bull. As usual at this time of night it was rammed, and it took some seriously skilful driving to get parked, but Carla managed it and the two women made their way into the pub. The Bull had been on the green at Kenley since records began, it was old and bent with low ceilings and a real fire which burnt in the vast old inglenook fireplace whatever the weather outside. The latest owners, Giles and Vanessa Poole, had added an enormous conservatory extension to the back, which was now used for fine dining and had made The Bull one of the most popular eating places in the Surrey Hills, they had also turned it into a luxury B&B, which was great for the Poole's but not so good if all you wanted was a quiet drink.

Helen, however, had made sure that she had saved their usual table, which was well away from all the waiters rushing around flapping napkins and flambéing things. She called to Carla and Maggie and they pushed their way through to her.

'Oh well done Helen, I wasn't sure we'd even get seated it's so packed tonight, how are you love?' said Maggie as she gave Helen a big hug.

'Oh you know the usual,' said Helen as she leaned over to give Carla a kiss. 'Actually today hasn't been too bad I've been so busy, what with flowers for Lucy's wedding, that's big Lucy, you know Carla, red hair, always got a cold?'

Carla nodded, 'So she finally got herself a man did she?'

'Oh she's had Gordon for ages; she just couldn't get him to take her up the aisle, if you know what I mean.'

Maggie burst out laughing, 'Well let's hope she's overcome that little problem, what with them getting married and all.'

'Oh Maggie, trust you to make it smutty,' Helen cried and then joined in the laughter, and they were off, gossiping mercilessly, passing awful judgements on strangers in the pub, and swopping stories. It was the same every time they met, and it did them all good.

Tracy turned up about half an hour later, in a rush as always, babbling her apologies and making them all laugh with her descriptions of her confrontation with a large lady in tweeds, over a space in the car park.

'Silly mare, anyway I ended up telling her that it was gay night in here tonight, that got rid of her quick enough, she looked like she'd sucked on a lemon, awful old bat. Anyway, what have I missed? Did you notice that rather tall woman standing near the bar...no don't all look at once, do it discreetly, well I reckon that's Kevin Gould in drag, do you remember him Maggs, always used to ask you where you got your clothes from, well now I think I know why...what do you reckon?'

The Witches all dutifully looked and simultaneously burst out laughing.

'Tracy you silly cow, that's Rebecca Drew, the new Chief Inspector, my new boss!' said Carla when she could get her breath back, 'I know she's a bit masculine, but she's never Kevin Gould!'

Helen sat back and watched her friends, how would she be coping if she didn't have them to talk to, she wondered if she would ever be brave enough to tell them about the sleepless nights, the awful fears that were so relentless, and her very real worry that she may be losing her mind. Carla, sensing her preoccupation reached over and squeezed her hand.

'How are you really love, what did you need to talk about that was so important?'

Three pairs of eyes turned to her, waiting with words of comfort and wisdom, Helen felt her eyes welling up. 'I think Wills is having an affair,' she blurted out and then collapsed in tears.

'Oh god sweetheart,' said Carla, 'why did you let us go on about such rubbishy things when you were wanting to talk about this? Start from the beginning, what makes you think this?'

'Well I don't just think it, I know actually. I found a letter written to him by some woman called Sarah, thanking him for the wonderful night that they'd shared about 3 weeks ago, (you might remember Wills had a work thing in Scotland at about that time) and hoping that they could meet up again, telling him what an amazing lover he was and that his wife must be mad not to want to sleep with him.'

'The utter, utter bastard,' said Maggie quietly, 'oh Helen love get rid as quickly as possible and make him pay through the nose, he's not worth one tear from your lovely eyes.'

'But it's not that simple Maggie, I'm not you, I'm not going to have men falling over themselves to take Wills place. I'm not a gorgeous millionaire, I'm just a stupid middle aged frump, who enjoys flower arranging and painting. I would have to sell the house if Wills left me, I could never afford to keep it up, he knows all this, that's why he's not even being careful about me finding out, he knows I can't leave,' she ended on a wail of misery, the girls all crowded round her as if they could give her their strength.

Carla was the first one to speak, 'Helen you must stop thinking in this negative way, you are NOT a middle aged frump, you are a beautiful talented woman and he is the one with the problem, not you! What you have to decide now is what you want to do about it, do you still love him?'

Helen thought for a moment. 'I think I must because I can't stand the thought of losing him, I can't believe he would tell her that we don't sleep together, I have always enjoyed sex and I've never thought we had any problems in that department.'

Maggie snorted, 'Oh believe me love, the number of men who want you to think that they're not getting it at home just to get inside your knickers, I've been told that one sooo many times.'

'Not helpful Maggs,' said Tracy under her breath, 'Helen, you know what I think you should do is to even the playing field a bit, I'm sure Wills loves you, I've seen you together and you are a good team, if I were you I would let him know what he is in danger of losing.'

'You, my girl, are not just a pretty face are you?' said Maggie. 'That's a brilliant idea, I bet if Wills thought for one moment that Helen was interested in someone else he would come running back with his tail between his legs.'

'Yes that's a lovely idea, but how the hell do I pull it off,' interrupted Helen, 'as I have already said I'm not like you Maggs. For one thing where the hell would I find any men around here, the only single men in Kenley are Reverend Sinclair, and before you even go there NO! I could make rugs out of his nose hair! And Kevin Gould and he's got more designer dresses than you!'

'Well that's where my handy little laptop comes in,' said Tracy with a look of glee on her face. 'I have been working all day on the profile page of the latest match making website www.getmeaman.com. It's fab, all you have to do is load up a recent photo, write a few words about your likes and dislikes and a brief description and hey presto they sort out men in your area who match your profile, we'll get you a date in no time Helen love, scrummy girl like you they'll be queuing round the block!'

Helen's eyes began to shine, 'Do you really think Wills would come running back if he thought he was losing me, do you really think I could get a date?'

Carla took both of her hands and looked into her eyes. 'When we've finished with you my darling, men will be fighting for the chance to take you out, and when you have charmed the pants off all the men you meet, then it will be up to you to decide if you want to take back that poor excuse of a husband.'

They spent until nearly midnight sorting out Helen's profile.

Carla never got to mention the body on the common, Maggie forgot to recount blow by blow her fantastic sexual experience with Charles (or Dave) and Tracy never got to tell them about the most irritating and totally smug man she had ever met!

That would have to wait until the next meeting of the cauldron.

# CHAPTER 8 - 2013

He woke up with a start, sweat dripping down his face; he switched on the bedside lamp and looked with relief at the familiar surroundings, the big pine wardrobe, the gorgeous French style dressing table, but he couldn't shake off his feelings of terror or the visions that came to him night after night, couldn't forget glassy eyes staring up at him, the soft thuds over and over again and the crack of a skull breaking, the sharp musty smell of blood sinking into the floor of the damp woods and the desperately faint pleas for help.

He heard a whimpering sound and realized it was coming from him...would he ever be able to sleep again...had they found her yet...how long before they found out?

# CHAPTER 9 - TRACY

Swearing under her breath Tracy managed to park her car into the tinniest of spaces in the school car park. She was late again, today of all days; no doubt Mr Smartypants was already here. She had hoped to get in early so that she could make sure that all was set up in the hall before he arrived, but after last night's cauldron session she had slept in, and despite horrifying Buster with a quick run round the block instead of his usual leisurely morning walk, and only having a quick scrub with a soapy flannel instead of a long hot shower she was still the last one to arrive at school.

She could see Simon already in the hall, moving tables and chairs around. His talk in yesterday's assembly had captured the imagination of the kids and Tracy had reluctantly found herself admiring the way he had answered all their questions and inspired them to take part in his project. It was a clever idea, the kids would basically contribute to the comic with stories and pictures of their own, they would also help with the layout, and then the comic would be sold in the local shops, and Simon would move on to the next school. So far the comic was proving to be a major success, most of the kids in school had already started buying it regularly, even before they had taken part.

Simon looked up and gave her a grin as she walked in.

'Afternoon, so glad you could join us,' he quipped sarcastically.

'Look don't give me a hard time,' snapped Tracy. 'I'm not in the mood, by the way is that your van that's taking up nearly three spaces in the car park?' at his nod, 'I might have known,' she muttered under her breath, the man had obviously been sent to drive her mad.

She busied herself with setting out paper and glue on each of the big trestle tables trying desperately to ignore the low rumbling of his voice as he went from group to group giving the kids their tasks for the day.

She knew she was far too aware of him; he was definitely not her type. For one thing he was far too big, and not at all handsome. He had a very lived in face, his nose was too big and had obviously been broken at some point (probably annoyed someone once too often), Tracy though with a smile, and what's more he was extremely irritating!!

'So stop thinking about him you silly cow,' she told herself, 'you don't even know if he's single, and even if he is you're not interested ok?' Happy that she had put things into perspective she gave herself a decisive nod and continued to think about him for the rest of the morning.

Apart from a few dramas (Daniel Sprogg falling against the edge of a table and knocking out both his front teeth, and Lucy Parrot managing to upset a whole canister of white glue, onto which the lid had not been properly put back, resulting in a prolonged cleanup operation and a whole variety of suppressed swear words), the day had passed much more pleasantly than Tracy had expected. Simon was undoubtedly very committed to the work he was doing and had a definite rapport with the kids. They loved him and were soon bubbling and bouncing with excitement about their pictures and stories, he would have made a wonderful teacher Tracy thought, and wondered if he had kids of his own.

'Oh for god's sake will you stop thinking about him you desperate cow!' she said to herself crossly and worked out her frustration by mopping up the hall very aggressively on her hands and knees. Her anger must have shown because Simon called, 'Everything alright Tracy? Only you seem to be trying to rub the varnish off the floor in that spot.'

'I'm fine,' clipped Tracy through gritted teeth. 'Absolutely tickety boo, 100% oki doki.'

'Okay, if you're sure, I'll be off then, see you tomorrow...oh I might need you to move your car; at least I think that's yours...the battered old mini that's blocking me in?'

Tracy took a deep breath, how had she ever though this man had any redeeming features.

'Yes that's mine, be with you in a mo, I'll just get my coat,' she went to stand up.

'No hurry,' said the irritating bastard with a grin, as he sat down to watch her.

Tracy stood up as quickly as she could, there was no way that purve was going to get an eye full of her wiggling around on all fours, she headed for the cloakroom.

'I'm leaving now anyway,' she said as casually as she could and, after performing an excruciatingly embarrassing, gear crunching 8 point turn in the car park in front of Mr patronizing bastard, she drove home angrily muttering under her breath all the way.

Buster greeted her like a long lost relative when she arrived home, running round and round her feet, and licking any part of her that he could reach.

'Alright...yes yes I'm pleased to see you too...I'd rather you didn't lick my new shoes though thank you very much.'

After opening the back door so that Buster could take care of his more urgent needs, Tracy put on the kettle and opened up her laptop, it would be interesting to see what, if any, response she might have had to her uploaded profile.

Oooh 7 people had looked at her since this morning, 2 of them had given her a thumbs up of approval and, yes miracles do happen, one had actually emailed her.

She settled down with her tea and opened the email, it was from a guy called Ben aged 38, not bad looking if his picture was anything to go by, quite a nice face actually even though he was not her usual type. He was very fair with a goatee beard, but he had nice blue eyes and a friendly smile, and best of all he seemed quite taken by her profile.

It seemed he lived not far from Kenley in the small town of Redbank, he was an assistant bank manager, divorced (weren't they all) and he had 2 children who lived with their mother.

He was interested in meeting up, for a drink anywhere Tracy could recommend maybe one evening this week.

'Wow, looks like I've got a date!' thought Tracy with glee as she sent back an encouraging email, 'I wonder if Helen's had any luck yet?'

After successfully arranging to meet Ben at The Bull the following Thursday, Tracy took the totally over excited Buster out for a good long walk through the common and towards the Glory Woods, one of her favourite walks. Even in the cold of winter the woods always made her feel better, especially this evening when the sun was setting spectacularly over the trees, and the ground felt crunchy beneath her feet. Buster ran on ahead sniffing constantly for evidence of other dogs and rabbits, he would occasionally look back just to make sure Tracy was still there but he and his nose were on a mission and he couldn't be slowed down.

Tracy let her thoughts drift as she walked, thinking about the previous night and laughing again as she remembered some of the banter. She counted herself very lucky to have met her three friends.

Tracy had lived all her life in and around the village of Kenley, she had gone to the school that she now worked in until she was eleven and then had made the half hour long bus journey every day to the high school in Redbank. Helen had gone to the same school but at a completely different time, she was already in college when Tracy was just starting, and the two had never even spoken to each other until Carla, who had got friendly with Tracy through the school P.T.A, invited Tracy along to a cauldron meeting one week, much to the horror of the other two girls. Tracy couldn't help laughing as she remembered the look on Maggie and Helen's face when Carla dragged her over to meet them, they couldn't have made it any clearer that she wasn't welcome, but Tracy had a natural way with people and it didn't take too long for them to be chatting as naturally with her as if she had known them all her life.

'And now I can't imagine life without them, it's almost as good as having a boyfriend...almost but not quite,' thought Tracy with a grimace.

She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that Tracy hadn't noticed that it had got darker than she would normally feel comfortable with. She was also shocked to discover that she had very nearly intruded onto the site where that poor girl had been murdered. Tracy had been as shocked as everyone else in the village when news of the vicious attack had got out, it had been the main topic of conversation in the staff room at school today and she knew she must be very near the spot now. The blue police tape was still there fluttering in the wind and a little white tent had been erected obviously to preserve any evidence. She caught sight of a few people in white suits combing the area. Tracy shivered, called to Buster and started back towards the edge of the common, when she was taken completely by surprise by someone shoving past her on the narrow path, whoever it was, was running as if the hounds of hell were after them, out of the woods just ahead of her, smashing through branches seemingly oblivious to them, such was their desperation to get out.

It looked like a woman but Tracy couldn't be sure as the fleeing figure was wearing a big quilted jacket with a hood, but something in the way they were running seemed quite feminine, it was also obvious from the very loud sobs that she or he, was in real distress.

Tracy was a kind soul and hated the thought of anyone else in trouble so she sped up and tried to catch up with the mystery woman.

'Excuse me,' she called. 'Are you ok, can I help you in any way?' The figure ahead seemed to jump in fright and started to turn round, before thinking better of it, and then literally sprinting away.

Tracy slowed down, she had no choice really it was either that or keel over. 'Oh I am sooo unfit,' she thought as Buster came tearing up beside her eager to join in this new game.

'Sorry mate, fun's over,' panted Tracy and she leaned up against a tree to get her breath back, 'well that was weird,' she thought. 'I wonder who she was?' The funny thing was that just as she had started to turn round Tracy had thought she recognized her, she was blond, that was for sure and she had a definite look of familiarity. Oh well she obviously didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering her, it was bound to be a man, in her experience it was always a man, why she continued trying to attract one she couldn't fathom.

'It's a mystery,' she said out loud startling Buster who had found a very promising smell at the foot of a tree. Tracy sighed and started for home, but even the sight of her beloved village with lights from the cottages twinkling in the half light of dusk over the green, didn't take away Tracy's feeling of unease that had stayed with her since her encounter with the mystery woman, she hadn't just seemed distressed, something in those woods had terrified her.

# CHAPTER 10 - _June 5_ th _1992_

The key has gone from the bathroom door; it was there earlier, I know because I checked.

Mum's told me to have a bath...I haven't had one for a long time...I try and wait till he's out but now Mum's cross. I need to wash my hair she says and I'm getting smelly she's not telling me any more if I don't have a bath and wash my hair she's going to bath me like I was a baby.

I will have to be quick, I scrub as hard as I can, and lather up my hair, the shampoo gets in my eyes, I dunk my head beneath the water... when I resurface he is there.

He puts the key in the lock and turns it, I try and sink down beneath the water but his hands are everywhere, touching squeezing...pulling my legs apart.

He doesn't speak, just concentrates on his filthy business.

He pulls my hand to him urgently as he touches me, I try and pull back, he slaps me hard on my face then pulls my hand towards his thing again, forcing my fingers open so that I am holding it. I am sobbing and gulping with the humiliation of it but he seems unaware of my misery. His head is pulled back, his eyes closed as he forces me to bring him to a conclusion.

A loud grunt and he is finished, he washes his hands in the water.

'Don't forget to wash your cunt you filthy girl,' he says as he walks out.

# CHAPTER 11 - HELEN

As soon as Helen heard Wills' car pulling out of the drive she grabbed her laptop and settled down to check the progress of her profile page on getmeaman.com.

So far she had been astonished by the response she had received. Admittedly she had not bothered to reply to any of them yet but that was mainly because she was so nervous of actually meeting anyone. It was all very well Maggie telling her to get out there and find a man, but Helen had to think of the actual ramifications of meeting someone. Like, what if rather than making Wills mad with jealousy he just walked away from her, or what if she met someone and they really got on how would she feel if she then had to choose between the two of them. It was all making Helen feel very edgy about the whole thing. On the other hand she couldn't help feeling pretty good that so many people seemed to find her attractive and that in itself was beginning to have an effect.

She started taking a bit more time over her appearance, she'd had her hair coloured and cut into a much more youthful style. She'd started applying a touch more make-up, Maggie had given her a lovely smoky grey shadow for her eyes which seemed to make them appear bigger and sexier. She had even splashed out rather a lot of Wills' cash on some gorgeous new clothes, clothes that made the most of her curves rather than hiding them. Helen had always considered herself to be just 'ok' on the looks front, she knew she wasn't a raving beauty. Her face was too angular for that, but she had often heard herself described as a handsome woman by other people, and she had always tried to have her own unique sense of style...she wore large pieces of jewellery, and quite natural lose fitting clothes which hid the fact that she had quite a voluptuous figure. It would take some getting used to, exposing herself in this way but she had actually got a wolf whistle from a builder that was working on the church roof just this morning, that hadn't happened for such a long time and it felt good!

Tracy had text her the other day asking how the website was going, apparently she had already got a date for next week.

'That's fab honey,' she had replied and she really meant it, but she was going to be a little bit more careful she thought as she put the laptop away.

Wills didn't arrive home till well after ten again that evening. Helen waited up for him.

'Sorry sweetie,' he said as he kissed her hello. 'Work is an absolute bitch at the moment, David called a meeting just as we were about to leave, I couldn't get out of it.'

Helen quietly prepared to heat up the lasagne that she had cooked earlier.

'Oh don't worry about food Hels,' Wills called from the living room, 'we ordered some in, it was the least David could do after making us work so hard.'

Helen listened to him waffle on, heard the lies in every word.

David had phoned trying to get hold of Wills only a couple of hours earlier, he was calling to see if he was any better after his apparent nasty bout of flu which had kept him from the office for the last two days. Helen had covered for her man, it would help no one if he lost his job as well as his wife.

She left him downstairs to watch the news and crept into the little spare room where her laptop was kept and started looking at all her admirers with renewed interest. She'd had enough.

# CHAPTER 12 - CARLA

Three days had past and they were no nearer to finding out the identity of the girl in the woods. She had obviously never been in trouble with the police because her prints were not on record; the only thing that they had to go on at the moment was a small tattoo that had been found on her right thigh. It was quite unusual in that it had the gruesome face of an ghoulish old hag with the words 'mummy's little girl' written underneath, it obviously had meant something to the poor girl, it just made Carla sad and even more determined to find her killer.

The very fact that the tattoo was unusual was something that they could follow up on though, and Carla set about calling all the local tattoo parlours, so far with no luck, it seemed the girl came from farther afield. So Carla widened her search and at last had her first piece of luck, a tattooist from Maidstone in Kent recognised the picture that Carla had emailed him as his own work, which he had done only a few months earlier, he even had a record of the recipient, her name was Louise, Louise Miller.

Carla felt elated at last she had a name, she was Louise, and somewhere she had a family, people who knew her. As a matter of course Carla had searched the missing persons data base but with no luck. Now with a name and recent sighting to go on Carla felt as if she was getting somewhere, and maybe soon she would be able to piece together some sort of picture of the events leading up to this poor girl's violent end.

The pathologist report had said that most of the damage done to her had been inflicted post mortem, a classic case of over kill. Someone started hitting and just couldn't stop like they were trying to obliterate her. 'Which must mean that there is a story to uncover here,' Carla thought to herself. For some reason this particular case had got to her, it wasn't just that murders were very far and few between in the little village of Kenley, Carla had previously worked in Birmingham and had seen enough killings in her time in the force, no, it was just such a sad thing that no one had seemed to notice that she was missing, no one knew who she was. But of course that wasn't true, she had obviously come here to meet with someone, and that person was her killer.

Carla looked at her watch, 'Shit, shit, shit,' she had promised the kids she would pick them up from school tonight and she was going to be late. She switched off her computer and grabbed her coat.

The police station was situated on the far side of the green so it was an easy walk to the school opposite. Most of the mums had been and gone and she could see Rosie and Harry standing just inside the porch looking fed up, she started waving way before she got there just so that they would see her on her way.

'Hello my darlings,' she called breathlessly as she arrived giving them both a hug.

'You're late Mum,' said Harry grumpily. 'If we don't go now all the copies of Robob will have sold out.'

'I'm going to be the littlest pig in the school play,' said Rosie jumping up and down. 'You have to make me a piggy nose and a curly tail Miss Barry says, and it's got to be by Wednesday because that the 'ess rehearsal. Daniel Finch is going to be the wolf because he's big, and Glennis is going to be the straw house.' Rosie finally took a breath by which time they had walked to the small shop by the side of the green, Rosie wandered off to choose her after school treat.

'Yay,' said Harry as he spotted a pile of his favourite Robob comics, he grabbed one and gave Carla a pleading look.

'It's the latest one Mum, can I have it? I promise I will clean my room for a week.'

'What did I say last month Harry, if you want these things you have to save a bit out of your pocket money, you knew it was out today didn't you?'

'I did save a bit,' he said holding out a sticky 20p piece. 'Oh please Mum, Mr Burton has been at school all week and we've been writing our own stories to put into the comic, it's school work really, pleeeease.'

'Oh all right, but just this once, next time you save up to buy it ok?' She fished some change out of her purse and gave it to him.

'Yeh yeh ok,' said Harry distractedly taking the money, he was already flicking through the pages as he went up to the counter to pay.

Once Rosie had decided what to choose (which took ages), Carla and the children started the long walk home.

If she was going to be at the station all day Carla never bothered with her car, it was a bit of a walk to the newish estate where she lived, but sometimes it was more hassle to bring the car and have to squeeze into the tiny station car park. The kids were walking ahead, Harry taking his life in his hands by reading whilst walking and Rosie happily sucking on a sweet and trying to talk at the same time when suddenly a car beeped loudly beside them. Carla turned and saw that it was Tracy waving at her.

'Fancy a lift?' she shouted.

Carla started to say that they were happy walking, but the kids were already jumping into the tiny back seat, they both loved Tracy who they saw every day at school.

'What luck running into you,' said Tracy breathlessly. 'I was going to phone you later anyway.'

'Auntie Tracy, why were you shouting at Mr Burton?' interrupted Rosie. 'Glennis says you fancy him, but you can't if you're shouting at him can you?'

'I wasn't really shouting Rosie, we were just having a discussion.' Tracy had gone bright red in the face, Carla raised her eyebrows at her questioningly.

'No nothing like that...I'm just having to work with him at the moment, you would not believe how irritating that man can be...good with the kids though...anyhow that's not what I wanted to talk to you about,' she turned and looked intently at Carla seriously putting all their lives in danger.

'Tracy! Eyes on the road you almost just mowed down old Mrs Willoby on her disability scooter look, why not come in for a coffee and we can talk about it properly?' Carla suggested.

'Oops sorry...yes I will if you don't mind Carla, although I can't stay long, Buster will be crossing his legs if I don't get home and walk him soon.'

'Aaaahh I love Buster he's my favourite dog,' said Rosie dreamily, 'he's nicer than Brandy, do you know Brandy has had his willy chopped off Mum, you didn't get Buster's willy chopped off did you Auntie Tracy?'

'Ha ha ha you are sooo stupid Rosie it's not his willy it's his balls isn't it Mum?' teased Harry.

'That's enough you two!' said Carla trying not to look at Tracy who was crying with laughter, 'no more talk about willys or balls ok.'

That was enough the whole car burst into uncontrollable laughter, for the rest of the short journey.

Once home the kids separated like the red sea into their own bedrooms and Carla put the kettle on. They both sat at Carla's battered old pine table which was covered with the kids drawings and opened mail, there were more drawings held onto the fridge with magnets along with reminders and one note obviously from James to Carla 'see you tonight lovely girl', it was all so cosy and domestic it made Tracy's life seem even emptier.

'What's on your mind love?' said Carla once they both had a cup of tea.

'Something very strange happened yesterday when I was walking Buster in the Glory Woods.' At Carla's gasp she said, 'Yes I know you don't like me walking there and yes of course I've heard about the body that was found in the woods! I ended up near there yesterday, completely by accident and as soon as I realised where I was I started for home. But anyway that's why I thought I should tell you about what happened. I don't know if this has anything to do with anything, but just as I was heading back to the common this person (but I'm...yes I'm sure it was a woman even though I didn't get a close look at her). Anyway she barged past me and she was running, really running you know as if her life depended on it, or as though she had to get away from something that had scared her. I called to her, I could see she was really upset and I thought maybe I could help and for a minute I thought she was going to turn round but then she just ran off even faster. Just for a second Carla I thought I recognized her...I can't get her out of my head, you know she was just so terrified and upset...I mean what could have spooked her so badly? '

'Well maybe she had heard about the body and had just scared herself shitless by going into the woods,' suggested Carla.

'Yes maybe, but then why would she be sobbing...I'm telling you Carla it was really weird.'

'Where did this happen, I mean where exactly?'

'Well that's just it; I had wandered further than I intended, I had walked into the thickest part of the woods near the slopes and dips, I came away as soon as I realized where I was, but she had obviously been in the same place.'

'You said she seemed familiar who did she remind you of?'

'I wish I could tell you, but I didn't ever see her face, it was the way she stood the way she moved I just felt that I knew her...aarrgh...maybe it will get clearer after a while, she was a blond if that helps.'

Carla's head shot up. 'A blond, how do you know that?'

'Because when she started to turn round I saw a bit of blond hair, why is that helpful?'

'Oh I don't know, maybe, maybe not it just fits in with something else that's all. There was an earring found near the scene and I was sure that I had seen it before, you know I had seen someone wearing that earring, and in my mind whoever was wearing it had blond hair...spooky ay?'

Tracy's eyes lit up with excitement, Carla held up her hand.

'Now Trace don't get all detective on me please, this is all probably nothing more than someone that's lost their dog or had a bit of a scare, but whatever it is you are not to get involved, there really is someone very dangerous out there, let us deal with it. But thank you for telling me, you never know it may be important.'

'Yes but...' Tracy stopped at Carla's worried expression, 'ok don't worry I'll be good.'

She left not long after that, and Carla started on the kid's tea. James came home and they had a lovely, but sadly rare, family evening together, talking about their day and shouting at the telly and a very noisy and soggy bath time with Rosie and Harry, so it wasn't until Carla was lying in bed much later with James gently snoring next to her that she started to ponder on what Tracy had told her earlier.

Despite what she had said to Tracy, Carla thought it was too much of a coincidence that they had both thought they recognized something or someone that, maybe, had something to do with the death of this young girl. She had been on enough murder cases to know that what seemed like nothing, could end up being the key to solving the case. She began to weave a scenario in her head. What if, for instance, the killer was Tracy's blond mystery woman who, after discovering that she had lost an earring at the scene of the murder, and knowing that that same earring would undoubtedly have traces of DNA on the post, had gone back to the woods to try and find it, only to discover that the whole area was being searched with a fine toothcomb. That might be enough to panic someone and send them running off in desperation...of course it was only a theory but it was all Carla had to work with at the moment so she decided to start making some enquires about the lost earring, see if anyone recognized it. And on that positive note she fell asleep.

# CHAPTER 13 - July 14th 1992

Today it was my best friend Julie's birthday...she's 11.

I went to her party, she had a magician and a chocolate fountain, Mum bought me a new dress it is red with a cream sash and I have a red hair band, Julie's mum said I looked as pretty as a picture.

Dad has picked me up after the party...he is really angry with me and keeps shouting at me.

He thinks I have told Julie about our 'special times'...I haven't told anyone...he told me not to tell anyone.

He says he can tell that I've told her because she keeps on avoiding him and looking at him in a funny way...I know I haven't said anything to anyone.

He keeps on shouting at me, telling me that he will be arrested and then what will Mum do, and what will happen to the family, he said that Faye and I will be put into care and how will I like that, being taken away from Mum and Faye...is that what I want, is it?

I am sobbing and trying to tell him that it's ok I haven't said a word, but he is so angry that he is not listening to me...he drives us to a field near the downs, and pulls me out of the car...I am so scared, I have never seen him so angry. He drags me round to the front of the car and rips my dress, my lovely new dress Mum bought for me, I am sobbing and trying to stop him but he is so angry he doesn't hear me, he turns me round so that I am facing the front of the car...he pushes me down I am bending over the car, then he pulls down my knickers I am squirming and struggling to get free, he holds me down with a hand on my neck, and then I feel the sharp pain as he whips me with his belt, over and over, I am screaming with the pain then suddenly it stops and I am free to move I slowly turn round, he is standing behind me rubbing himself with his eyes closed, I pull up my underwear and wait until he is done.

I don't know how I'm going to tell Mum about my dress...Dad said he was sorry he'd had to do that, but maybe it will help me to remember that I mustn't tell anyone...ever.

# CHAPTER 14 - MAGGIE

Maggie sat at a corner table in The Bull, Charles (it was Charles and not Dave) had finally swallowed his pride and asked her out again, and because she was at a loose end and because she was feeling horny Maggie, had agreed to meet him for a meal.

The Bull seemed particularly chaotic this evening, Giles was obviously on his own and by the way he kept looking at his watch and then at the door he had obviously expected Vanessa to be back in time to give him a hand.

Because it was mid-week he only had a handful of young waitresses, and usually that was enough. He and Vanessa worked as a team and normally the restaurant ran like a well oiled machine. They were an odd couple those two, Maggie thought as she waited. Giles was a lot older than the glamorous Vanessa and despite putting on a very united front they seemed more like business partners than husband and wife. There were no children as far as anyone knew and seemingly not much family, apart from Vanessa's dad who lived in the 'Happy Valley home for the elderly' a few miles from Kenley. It seemed there was bad blood between them and Vanessa never visited him, despite the fact that it must be costing them a fortune to keep him there, 'How sad,' thought Maggie as she pictured her own rather awkward, but lovely Dad. 'What would it take for me never to speak to my Dad again,' she just couldn't imagine it.

Maggie looked at her watch and realised that Charles was late, well she'd have another drink and if he hadn't shown up by then she was off, she gestured to Giles who was hovering not far away.

'Can I get another G&T darling?' she said as he came over. 'You seem rushed off your feet tonight, all on your own? Where's Vanessa?'

'I have no bloody idea,' said Giles scowling. 'She was meant to be back ages ago, only popped out for a walk...oh speak of the devil... about bloody time... I'll be right back with your G&T Maggs.'

Giles went over to the bar to get her drink and Maggie could clearly see that Vanessa had come in through the back door which led to behind the bar, Giles was whispering furiously at her and Maggie occasionally heard Vanessa equally furious whispered replies. She couldn't really see them from where she was sitting, but just then Vanessa put her head round the door of the bar and Maggie was shocked at the state of her, she looked dreadful, no make-up on and her face was all puffy and blotchy. She only saw her for a couple of seconds and not at all for the rest of the evening, Giles soldiered on alone so Maggie could only assume that she must have been ill or something.

Charles redeemed himself by turning up shortly after with an apology and a big bunch of her favourite tulips, and the rest of the evening was spent very pleasantly, so much so that a few hours later she was lying in bed with a warm glow about her, after another very satisfactory shag. Whatever his faults no one could ever accuse Charles of being a disappointment in bed. The man knew things about her body that even she didn't know. The whole evening had been fun, the conversation had flowed and Charles had been really good company, maybe he was worth trying out a few more times. Maggie stretched contentedly. Charles turned towards her and she felt a warm hand moving over her body, rubbing over her erect nipples and trailing down her flat belly to the soft down at the junction of her thighs, she sighed tremulously as Charles began to slowly and gently bring her back to orgasm...mmm yes definitely worth a few more dates...after all what had she got to lose?

The next morning Maggie woke up alone. There was a note from Charles on the pillow next to her.

THANKS FOR A WONDERFUL EVENING, WON'T BE AROUND FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS BUT MAYBE I'LL GIVE YOU A CALL WHEN I GET BACK

XX

Maggie was fuming, who the hell did he think he was...'maybe give me a call,' he'll be lucky, she was the one that played it cool, she was the one that kept them hanging on a string. 'Well he can try giving me a call but it won't do him any good,' she thought angrily, but she was surprised at how gutted she felt...damn it she really would have liked to get to know him better...and yet, another one bites the dust...'Oh well his loss,' she thought with a grim smile.

She spent the rest of the day in a filthy mood, most of her staff had soon realised to keep out of her way, she'd nearly reduced her secretary Hayley to tears when she dropped a load of architects plans on the floor, and her scathing sarcasm to one of her suppliers, who was late with an order, made her team wince and raise their eyebrows at one another. So consequently she ended up having a very quiet day, everyone keeping their heads down and well away from her.

She got home to find both Jed and Dominic in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

'Oh my god, look at this mess,' she shouted irritably, 'what the hell are you cooking Jed, you had better clean this all up.'

'Chill Mum I'll clean up later, Jools is coming over I'll do it after she's gone,' Jed said as he drained pasta down the sink, spilling half of it on the work surface.

'You will do it now young man! I am so sick of cleaning up after you two, you are grown men, you both have jobs for Christ's sake. You seem to think I am here simply to look after you, well I have a life too you know...' at this point in her tirade Maggie had dissolved into tears, both the boys looked sheepishly at one another.

'Sorry Mum,' Dom was the first one to speak. 'Don't worry we will clean up, won't we Jed?' he gave his brother a hard look.

'Of course we will, sorry Mum, don't cry you silly old fool, we love you, and just for the record we don't think you're here just to look after us, we expect lifts and money too.' Maggie chuckled snottily, she put her arms round each of her beloved boys.

'I'm sorry, just had a rotten day that's all, love you both too,' and then she wiped her nose on Jed's best jumper.

Later on she texted Carla:

HELLO MY LOVELY, CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROWS CAULDRON, PLEASE COULD YOU PICK ME UP AGAIN I NEED A DRINK SOOO BADLY XXX

# CHAPTER 15 - 2013

The arid smell of damp leaves assailed her; she could feel the icy cold, hear the crunch of the frosty ground as she ran through the undergrowth of the woods. She knew when she was getting near, the smell of rotting flesh was unmistakable, it made her want to gag. She tried to stop herself going forward terrified to see what she knew was there, but some unseen hand was pushing her forward making her witness again and again relentlessly forcing her to see...and then there she was there like some discarded rag doll, legs akimbo face obliterated and arms outstretched towards her as if pleading for mercy...but this time she noticed something different, something shining amongst the blood and the leaves...oh my god it looked like...oh my god!

She woke up bathed in sweat and shivering in fear, she crept out of the bedroom closing the door behind her, and made her way downstairs to where her coat was hanging in the hallway, hidden right at the back where she'd left it. She rummaged desperately through the pockets and pulled out a small gold and emerald earring, her hand went back in looking for the other one she started to search feverishly pulling at the pockets of the coat until they were ripping...

Nothing...

# CHAPTER 16 - _November 3_ rd _1992_

I wake with him next to my bed, he is kneeling down with his hands under my quilt he is pulling at my breast...hurting me...I turn my face away close my eyes tight, I know this makes him angry but I can't bear to see his face.

His fingers trail further down, instinctively I close my legs together he roughly pushes them apart.

'None of that, don't pretend you don't like it...I can feel you getting wet, feel your little quim trembling you love it you dirty little whore.'

I try to ignore him and his horrible words, I'm not dirty, I know I'm not, I hate his touch and the smell of him as he puts his face so close to mine, those words they are all just part of the horror of it. This has been going on for so long now that I have found ways to put him out of my mind, so I don't listen to his spiteful words or his threats of terrible repercussions should Mum ever find out, I think of other things, happy things, until panting and sweating he has finished and I can go to sleep. The only problem with that is that he seems to want a reaction from me, and he seems to need more and more from me...last time he made me use my mouth...I try not to think about it...he seems to be getting close the swearing starts and the insults.

'Dirty little whore...want me to come in your mouth? Come on then you fucking whore,' he is climbing on the bed pulling my face towards him...but then a loud groan, I feel something warm and sticky on my face and he collapses on me...another night over...thank god now he'll leave me alone and I can go back to sleep.

# CHAPTER 17 - HELEN

After loading the dishwasher and clearing round her immaculate kitchen, Helen goes upstairs to change. It was only a cauldron meeting but it was a chance to dress up in one of her new outfits. Wills was home this evening which in itself was something of a surprise, so she was going to make the most of a chance to show off her new look because as Maggs said, 'Make him wonder sweetie, let him feel a bit insecure, show him what a stunner you are.'

As it happened Wills did seem a bit bewildered by the change in Helen, and as far as she could see he was none too happy about it, all the better she thought as she pulled a figure hugging red woollen dress out of her wardrobe, this little baby had cost her (or rather Wills) a small fortune, but it was worth every penny, it hugged in all the right places and concealed any lumps and bumps. She teamed it with a pair of stilettos that she was only just getting used to, but she figured that they would be ok just to hobble from the car to the pub as long as she took it slowly.

After applying her smokey eyed make-up and some bright red lippy she felt like a million dollars. She went downstairs, Wills was in the kitchen, he did a double take when Helen casually walked in looking for her keys, and for a minute just stood there staring at her.

'You're a bit over dressed aren't you?' he said trying to sound nonchalant. 'I thought you were just going to a cauldron meeting.'

'I am,' she said with a smile, 'don't wait up,' and with that she walked as sexily as she could out of the kitchen, she felt like punching the air, he was seriously bothered.

As usual The Bull was heaving and as usual she was the first one to arrive, she went straight to the bar.

'Well hello, Ding dong you're looking extremely edible this evening Helen, I'm surprised Will let you out,' said Giles wolfishly. 'What'll it be, the usual?'

'Thanks Giles and I'll have you know I'm a big girl now, I don't need anyone's permission to go out.'

'Yes you certainly are sweetheart,' said Giles unashamedly staring at her breasts which were being shown to great advantage by the woollen dress. 'Are the other witches in tonight? Shall I set their drinks up?'

'Oh yes please, how's Vanessa? I can't see her in here tonight.'

'Oh she's around somewhere, she's ok, a bit down maybe, I just think she needs a break, but there just never seems to be a good time, it'll soon be spring and that's when the business really starts to pick up, no time for holidays.'

Helen smiled, 'I guess you two are just the victims of your own success...oh there she is...hi Vanessa, Giles was just telling me how much you need a holiday.'

'Well he had no business telling you any such thing,' snapped Vanessa crossly, 'I'm fine I keep telling him, just a bit overworked! He needs to hire more people, the old skinflint, not go on about ridiculous holidays.' She gave Giles a filthy look and rushed on through the crowds with a tray above her head. Giles gave Helen a sheepish look and shrugged his shoulders.

Helen fought her way to the back of the pub and found a table; she then spent the next few minutes borrowing stools from other tables so that by the time Tracy arrived Helen had secured a cosy little corner for the cauldron to sit in.

'My god Helen you are amazing,' said Tracy after kissing Helen hello. 'How do you always manage to find us a table, even in these crowds and...ohmygod let me look at you...wow! That is all I can say, you look amazing, who would have thought that killer body was hiding under those baggy clothes...you are going to have them queuing round the block girl.'

Helen couldn't help but feel elated, 'Wills nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw what I was wearing tonight, you should have seen his face Trace. I don't know how I stopped myself from laughing.' She put on a fake Wills voice 'is that what you're wearing, I thought it was just a cauldron meeting.'

'Ha what did I tell you, well you just keep him looking girl, all the time he's worrying about what you're getting up to he won't be able to concentrate on slutty Sarah.'

Helen's face immediately dropped.

'He has been with her nearly all this week,' she told Tracy about the phone call from Dave, 'I mean what is he playing at risking his job like that!'

'Sod his job, he's risking you Hels, the man must be an idiot,' said Tracy.

'Who's an idiot?' asked Maggie arriving at the table, 'and where's my drink, oh thank you Carla darling I need this big time!'

Carla, who had followed Maggie in, balanced her drink on the table in front of her and tried to manoeuvre her stool in as close as she could get.

'Right what have I missed, who are we slagging off, who's a secret tranny or...good grief is that you Helen, or have you sent your much more glamorous younger sister in your place?'

'I know, doesn't she look fantastic?' interrupted Tracy, 'And,' she said before Helen could get a word in, 'Wills is having kittens, can't believe what was right under his nose all this time stupid wanker.'

'Thank you Tracy,' said Helen giving her a look, 'but actually she's right girls, I think our plan is working.'

'What about the web site, any joy there?' said Maggie, after downing her G&T in one and waving to Giles to get her another.

'Well plenty of interest thanks to your fab picture Maggs, but until the other day I didn't feel like doing anything about it, but now, I have short listed 3 I thought you lot could look them over for me.'

She leant down and started rummaging through her enormous handbag coming up for air holding a folder containing 3 printouts. She spread them out on the table, meanwhile Carla was mouthing to Tracy, 'What happened the other day?'

'Wills...arsehole,' Tracy mouthed back as if that explained everything.

'Oooh he looks nice,' exclaimed Maggie picking up one of the printouts. 'Lovely dark eyes and a wicked smile...oh yes I would...'

'Well you can keep your hands off Margaret Wendover,' said Helen. 'He just happens to be top of my list, the only problem that I have is that he says he's separated waiting for a divorce, I'd rather he was free and single.

'Um excuse me Mrs Drover,' said Maggie pointedly, 'he's probably just in the same boat as you love, unhappy marriage, looking to see what's out there and anyway it's better to start with someone that's not looking for commitment from you, and he strikes me as a delicious way to start mmm.'

The witches spent the next hour or so going over Helen's printouts, making suggestions, some of them wise, some of them illegal. There was a lot of laughter coming from their table and after a while Carla couldn't help noticing that Vanessa seemed to be staring over at them with a scowl on her face, maybe they were being too rowdy tonight, although it had never seemed to bother her before.

'Don't all look at once girls,' whispered Carla, 'but Vanessa has got a face on her like a slapped arse, if looks could kill we'd all be dead as dodo's, I wonder what's got into her?'

'Oh my god that's reminded me of something that happened the other evening,' said Maggie with just a hint of a slur. 'I was in here waiting for Charles (remember I told you about him, great shag, stupid side-burns) well he was late, but that's beside the point, Giles was running around like a blue arsed fly, he only had those two teenage girls to help him, no Vanessa. Anyway I asked him where she was and he went into one...she'd gone off earlier...only meant to be going for a short walk...I mean he was furious you could tell...anyway while we were talking she, Vanessa, comes in through the back door and I can hear this whispered argument going on, I couldn't hear what they were saying but Giles sounded pretty pissed off I can tell you.'

'Is there a point to this Maggs?' said Tracy impatiently.

'Yes, yes the thing is that after a few moments she put her head round the door, just for a minute and she looked dreadful, I mean really awful... blotchy face... no makeup, but it wasn't just that really...she looked really ill like she was about to throw up or something. She just stared straight through me, it was like she didn't see me sitting there at all, it was really weird I can tell you. I didn't see her for the rest of the evening so I presume she went to bed, and Giles came back and just carried on as normal...weird,' Maggie said thoughtfully.

'Well she snapped my head off earlier when I told her Giles had said she needed a holiday, I mean really out of character, she was quite rude actually, now I come to think of it,' said Helen indignantly.

'Well maybe she is just exhausted,' said Carla always the voice of reason. 'It must be so draining running this place, I mean she has to oversee the restaurant as well as the pub, seven days a week it must be such hard work And on top of that I hear that she visits her dad at Happy Valley all the time, but I tell you what if she carries on looking at me like I'm something she trod in, I'm going to flaming well say something, we are bloody good customers and we deserve to be treated as such.'

'OOOeeer,' said Maggie laughing, 'oh ignore her, stupid old bag, I'm not going to let her ruin my evening...another drink girls? Helen same again? What's up with you Tracy you look like you've seen a ghost?'

They all looked at Tracy who did indeed seem to be in some kind of shock, Tracy turned to Carla.

'I've just realised who it was...' Carla looked puzzled, 'You know in the woods, I've realised who was running away from me in the woods...it was Vanessa.'

'No... surely not, she doesn't seem the type to be walking in the woods, not unless her wellies were designer and even then she wouldn't want to get them muddy, no I think you've got that wrong Trace,' said Carla laughing.

'Well of course I can't be certain, but the more I think about it... I'm sure it was... I know it doesn't make any sense but then I told you it was weird, that's why I was freaked out by it.'

The other women were looking at Tracy and Carla as if they had just suddenly started talking a foreign language.

'Er...anyone going to fill us in?' said Maggie.

'Well I don't know if I should...' Carla started to say.

'It's like this, a couple of days ago I was walking Buster,' Tracy interrupted and told them the tale in graphic detail, dramatically enhancing everything that happened, 'and anyway when I told Carla, she told me about the earring and of course it all fitted together, and we think that Vanessa may have something to do with the body in the woods,' she ended with a gruesome whisper.

'Oh for goodness sake Tracy, we don't think anything of the sort,' Carla said impatiently, 'it is probably two strange but unconnected incidents, after all I don't actually know who the earring belongs to, it may not even have anything to do with the murderer at all, I just said I thought I recognised it that's all.'

'No you said you had seen it on someone blond, and what colour hair does Vanessa have? Kenley hair studio's finest blond that's what.'

'That proves nothing,' Carla shot back, 'we can't go around thinking Vanessa's a murderer just because she has blond hair and she was a bit upset the other day, maybe something's happened to her dad, I've heard he's very ill, and she's obviously devoted to him.'

'Well that's not what I've heard,' interrupted Maggie. 'Heard the opposite in fact, Jools, you know Jed's latest, works at 'Happy Valley' she says that Vanessa never goes near the place, pays the bills ok, but doesn't even reply to his letters. Apparently he writes to her, he gets Jools to post them for him at least once a week, Jools thinks she's a hard cow, she's never answered even one, and all he's asking for is a visit. From what Jools says no one visits him, or at least they didn't, apparently he had a couple of visits from a granddaughter a while ago, must be one of Vanessa's brothers or sisters children. Mind you he sounds like a nasty piece of work apparently he was awful to the girl, called her dreadful names and refused to see her even though she tried twice, so maybe that's why Vanessa avoids him. Families huh, I can't ever imagine not wanting to see my kids or grandkids.'

'Well whether she is a good daughter or not, we cannot go round accusing her of murder, so put it out if your heads ok,' said Carla in her firm voice.

'Yes Detective Inspector ma'am,' said Maggie saluting, 'now I'm going to get you all another drink, if I'm not back in five minutes, you'll probably find my body in the cellar.'

The evening progressed as it always did with jokes and bad behaviour, but Carla couldn't forget about what she had heard about Vanessa, something was making her skin tingle, but she couldn't quite grasp what it could be.

# CHAPTER 18 - _March 5_ th _1993_

I am on holidays it is half term so Dad says he's taking me out for a treat because I'm his special girl.

We drove in the car for a long time, Dad bought me some sweets...I have worn my new dress and shoes and Dad put my hair in pigtails, I don't like pigtails they hurt my head but Dad says to stop complaining, I'm lucky to be going on this treat, Faye wasn't allowed to come, she's too little Dad says, maybe next year.

We drive down a long, long road, it's very bumpy and it has trees that hang down and bash the car.

We stop outside a house, it looks old and spooky...I don't like it.

Dad tells me to get out of the car, he just has to meet with someone and then we will go on to the seaside.

There are two men inside the house they seem very pleased to see me.

We go into a room, it has no carpets, there is a big sheet hanging at the window where a curtain should be...I tell Dad I want to go now...I don't like it here, he doesn't hear me.

'I told you she was a pretty one,' Dad says to one of the men.

'She is that Derek me old son, very pretty. Come here sweetheart and let me look at you properly.'

Dad pulls me over to where the man is sitting, I don't want to go, he is ugly and smells of fish, but the man grabs me and puts me on his lap. He is holding me really tightly, I try and pull away, he just laughs, he has nasty yellow teeth. 'She's a bit feisty though,' he says laughing, he pulls my pigtails and my Dad says crossly, 'Stop wriggling you stupid girl, Rory's not going hurt you. Don't you want to go to the seaside? Well you just be a good girl for a little while and then we'll go...ok?'

I am scared; the man called Rory starts feeling me all over, he squeezes my breasts and starts to slip his hands inside my panties, I can feel his heavy breath on my cheek...now I understand.

_'Oh you are a very big girl aren't you, I bet you'd like uncle Rory to make you feel nice wouldn't you?' I try to squirm away from his fingers, he holds me firmly,..._ _'Now now wouldn't you like some spending money for the seaside... let's feel those little titties of yours...'_

I call to Dad, try to tell him I want to go he turns away, the other man in the room has a camera...

Dad lied...we never did go to the seaside.

# CHAPTER 19 - CARLA

Carla drove her Audi slowly down the narrow street, the sat nav was telling her that she had reached her destination and sure enough, there was Ashcombe house on the left. Once they had found out the name of the Glory Wood victim it had not taken long to find out a bit more about her, like where she had been living, which apparently had been in a residential care home in Maidstone, so Carla had spoken to the social worker there and made an appointment to see her today.

The care home was a typical large double fronted Edwardian house set back from the road, it had well tended gardens and a large front door with lots of stickers and posters all over it, one of which said 'for Shirley Weedon please ring the bell', Carla rang the bell and stepped back.

After quite a long time Carla heard footsteps coming towards the door which was flung open and a small red eyed face peered round it, followed by a tiny body dressed in a brightly coloured skirt that looked like something left over from the 60's, Shirley had long greying hair and a face devoid of makeup, she gave Carla a tearful smile.

'Hello you must be Carla,' said the girl holding her hand out. 'Shirley Weedon, I'm the residential social worker here...please excuse the way I look but this has been a terrible shock.'

Carla took her hand.

'Of course, it must have been. When did you realise Louise was missing?' She asked as she followed her down a long hallway into a small office at the rear of the house, she could hear kitchen noises and a few murmured voices but other than that the house seemed surprisingly quiet, Carla had expected it to be full of delinquent children.

Shirley gestured to Carla to sit and offered her tea which she gratefully accepted.

'Actually we weren't expecting her back till this week,' Shirley paused and blew her nose loudly, 'she'd finally got through to her mother you see. Her grandfather had been steadfastly refusing to see her, but he must have passed her details on to his daughter because a couple of weeks ago the mother herself had emailed and said that she would meet with her, she was over the moon of course it had been what she had been waiting for.'

'Excuse me,' said Carla bewildered, 'why was she trying to meet her mother, I'm afraid you'll have to bring me up to speed on all this...I don't know anything about Louise you see, the first time I set eyes on her was after she had been killed and it's only now that I have finally found someone who can tell me about her.'

'I see, I'll have to start from the beginning. It's a very sad story, not that we're not used to sad stories in this place as you can imagine, but my heart has always gone out to Louise, she would have hated me to have said that to her mind. She was as hard as nails or she would have you believe she was, but I knew that she was just a desperate little girl trying to find out why her mother had dumped her outside a hospital A&E dept as soon as she'd given birth to her (after birth and all mind) and never ever tried to find her or make sure she was ok. It consumed her, she thought about nothing else.

'She spent her life being passed from one foster home to another, she was a nightmare, no one, not even our most experienced foster carers could cope with her. Truanting, running away, violence...it's always amazed me that she's never ended up in a young offenders unit...but anyway she finally made it here and she made friends with one of the cooks, Lucy, who's devastated by the way.'

'I may need to speak to her later, would that be possible?' interrupted Carla.

'Oh of course, she's in the kitchen at the moment, shall I call her?' Shirley went to stand up, but Carla stopped her.

'There's no rush, you were saying she arrived here?'

'Yes well it seemed that Lucy was able to give her some clues as to who her mother was. Something to do with a girl that used to lodge with a friend of hers in the 90's. Well from that moment on Louise was a girl possessed, on the computer day and night trying to find someone who might know her mother, until she met someone on line who said that they knew where her grandfather was. Well of course it was all very flimsy, but Louise was determined she was going to meet her grandfather and get the facts from him. So she wrote to him explaining who she was and who she thought her mother was and asking to meet him, but he sent back the most awful reply, calling her the most terrible names and ordering her never to contact him again. As you can imagine she was devastated.'

'What made her think this was her grandfather who had given her his name?'

'Well it was the sister of the girl that her mother had lodged with (or so we think anyway). Louise managed to get hold of her on the internet and she was able to give her a few names and she told her that the father (her grandfather) had moved to Surrey shortly after his wife had died, Redbank I think or somewhere near there, anyway his name was Derek Stiles and the girl that lodged with her sister was his daughter Vanessa.

# CHAPTER 20 - _Jan 15_ th _1994_

I am gagging I can't breathe, I try and tell him but he is too intent on what he is doing.

It's like he becomes another person, someone awful, like someone is controlling him and he can't stop it.

He is kissing my neck, he has tried to kiss my mouth but I just couldn't let him it was just too weird.

He sucks and pulls at my nipples, making them sore, he really is scaring me this time, he has never gone this far before...he is lying on top of me...I can feel that he is hard he is rubbing himself up and down on my tummy.

Then all of a sudden he is pinning me down, holding my shoulders I can't move...he forces my legs apart with his knees, oh no...oh god...he pushes hard into me, oh god it's hurting me...I scream.

# CHAPTER 21 - TRACY

Tracy sat at a table directly opposite the door of The Bull public house. She had made her usual mistake and arrived far too early for her date with Ben, and now she was sitting nursing a lime and soda and looking like some sort of desperate female! Ben's photo had shown a man of medium height with slightly receding blond hair and the aforementioned goatee, so Tracy thought she would have no problem recognising him, unfortunately the camera does lie and so when a shorter than average, bald, clean shaven man came and tapped her on the shoulder, she was taken completely by surprise.

'Are you Tracy by any chance?' said the stranger, at her nod he smiled widely to reveal rather more teeth than could comfortably fit in his mouth, (obviously why in his profile picture he was just wearing an inscrutable Mona Lisa smile).

'I thought you were, I arrived very early I'm afraid, I've been sitting over there,' he pointed to the corner on the other side of the door. Tracy had noticed someone sitting there, but hadn't given it a thought, how mortifying he had been there watching her while she checked out every man that had walked in...why oh why did these things always happen to her!

'I thought I was early, I'm so sorry I didn't spot you there, why don't we start again...Hi Ben I'm Tracy nice to meet you.'

'Nice to meet you too Tracy, can I get you a drink?'

'Oh yes please that would be lovely I'll just have a lime and soda thank you.'

Ben went off to get the drinks and gave Tracy time to have a good look at him, for crying out loud how can a photo be sooo wrong, he looked nothing like his profile picture, definitely not her type...but still the night was young, better not to judge and just make the most of it.

'So Tracy what is it that you do?' asked Ben when they both had their drinks, 'I know you said you worked for the local school, do you teach there?'

'Oh no nothing so grand,' said Tracy, 'I work in the office, which means that I sort of look after the running of the school and of course I help out with the kids as well, you know wiping bums and runny noses,' she quipped.

'What? The teachers or the kids?' joked Ben and then launched into a sort of high pitched braying laugh at his own witty response, a few of the other customers in the pub turned round in astonishment at the noise and old Barney Wittle (local drunk and general smelly waster) actually fell off his bar stool.

Tracy winced, this was turning out to be one of her all time worst dates, but she would hold fast to her rules of dating (you stay for at least one drink).

'Tell me about what you do Ben, it sounded fascinating,' she said with an insincere smile, (rule number 2, ask about them and appear interested).

Ben needed no prompting, and soon he was spouting on about interest rates and I.S.A.'s, Tracy felt her eyes glaze over until she became aware of someone watching her, she scanned the pub until she found a pair of dark sparking eyes that were indeed looking straight at her, Mr Simon Bloody Burton was sitting over the other side of the pub watching her every move and thoroughly enjoying himself at her expense.

'Well I'm not going to give him the satisfaction,' she thought, she turned back to Ben and gave him her most seductive smile, Ben, shocked at receiving such a warm smile from her, stopped talking mid-sentence and just sat there with his mouth wide open doing a fair impersonation of a trout out of water.

'How absolutely fascinating Ben, you must be really clever to remember all those facts and figures, I do so admire a man with a brain,' she reached over as she said this and put her hand over Ben's, he let out a sort of squeak and turned bright red.

'Let me get you a drink this time, what'll it be?' Tracy said getting up to go to the bar.

'Oh just half a lager, thanks,' said Ben, 'I need to go to the little boys room,' he said with another rather high pitched nervous laugh whilst adjusting his trousers.

Tracy nodded and went to get the drinks. Simon chose that moment to come to the bar as well.

'Hot date?' he said with a smirk, 'I think you've scored, he was looking like all his Christmases had come at once, be gentle with him though Tracy, you could eat him whole and spit out the bones.'

'Not that it's any of your business Mr Burton, but he happens to be a very high executive in the banking world, and we are just friends out having a friendly drink.'

'Well the way he was looking down your top was extremely friendly, and I don't know what he's told you, but that's Ben, assistant manager at my local bank,' he said with a mocking laugh as he walked back to his seat, Tracy made a rude hand signal at his retreating back, which was not lost on Giles who had been watching this interchange from behind the bar and spat out half his drink with a laugh.

The evening went from bad to worse, Ben encouraged by Tracy's smiles and flirting moved his chair very close to her and kept stroking her arms and hands. She realised she had definitely gone too far with the flirting when he started hinting about coming back to hers, just to check out her little cottage, oh god she had now created an excruciatingly embarrassing situation which she somehow had to get out of, just then her phone rang.

'Oh excuse me,' said Tracy grabbing at her phone like a life line, 'Hello?'

'This is your rescue call,' said a deep voice in her ear, she looked over to where Simon was sitting with his phone at his ear, he gave her a wink, 'I'll meet you outside in 5,' he said and rang off.

'Oh goodness,' said Tracy into an empty phone, 'what down a whole flight of stairs? She's calling for me is she? No, no of course I'll come, thank you for phoning me.'

She looked at Ben apologetically, 'I am so sorry, my Auntie Miriam has had a fall; that was her neighbour calling I'm going to have to go.' She was already grabbing her coat as she was talking.

'Oh no of course...if you think it's necessary...I mean yes of course don't worry, these things happen, I'll give you a call if that's ok, I really would love to see you again.'

Tracy just couldn't do it to him. 'Listen Ben,' she said squeezing his hand, 'you are a great guy, but I just don't think it would work, thanks for the drink though, bye.'

And without a backward glance Tracy almost ran out of the pub... freedom!

Simon was waiting in the car park near her car, smoking a cigarette.

'What made you think I needed a rescue call?' said Tracy indignantly grabbing the cigarette from him and taking a drag.

'Oh come on, anyone with half a brain could see you were bored out of yours, why on earth did you agree to date him in the first place? Surely you're not that desperate, pretty girl like you?'

Although Simon's compliment warmed her to her toes, Tracy wasn't about to let him off that easily.

'As it happens he looked nothing like his photo and we had chatted vey easily on-line...' she stopped as she realised what she had given away, Simon turned on her angrily, 'What kind of fool are you?' he yelled, 'some girl has just been murdered in the woods and you're meeting someone you've only chatted to on-line, you need your head tested Tracy my girl, what, are you so hard up for a shag that you have to advertise yourself...well if that's the case maybe I'll do, at least we've been introduced.'

'Now look here Mr Burton or whatever you call yourself, I don't know who you think you are...'

Tracy got no further, Simon had grabbed her by the shoulders and was now kissing her, Tracy started pushing against him but he just tightened his grip and soon she relaxed into the kiss. As soon as he felt her relax Simon groaned and deepened the kiss making Tracy shudder from her lips to her toes and touching everywhere in between...mmm she thought it had been a long time since she'd had a kiss like this, but all too soon it was over and Simon was pushing her away.

'I'm sorry I got a bit carried away,' he mumbled awkwardly after a moment, lighting himself another cigarette with slightly shaky fingers.

Tracy immediately pulled herself together, 'Oh think nothing of it, I won't, I promise you.'

The shutters came down on Simon's face, 'Good, well we both know where we stand then don't we?'

'Yes we do,' said Tracy tonelessly, 'Goodnight Mr Burton, see you in school tomorrow.'

'Goodnight,' said Simon as he threw down his cigarette angrily, got into his car and screeched out of the car park leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

'And good riddance,' said Tracy to herself as she walked slowly back into the pub, she rubbed at her lips which still felt swollen from Simon's bruising kiss, she only just stopped herself from bursting straight through the pub doors when she realised that Ben might still be in there, so she opened the door slowly and poked her head round...ahh all clear.

'Don't worry love,' said Giles with a chuckle, 'he left shortly after you did, looked like a broken man too poor chap, you really know how to drop a man from a great height don't you?'

Tracy pulled a face, 'Oh he'll get over it, next week he'll meet someone who is genuinely impressed with his knowledge of all things banking...oh I'm such a cow, poor man there was nothing wrong with him really, maybe I'm just looking for perfection, in which case, since you are already taken, I am doomed to failure. Get me a large vodka Giles darling I intend to get drunk...well not too drunk one does have to get up and go to work in the morning, but at least squiffy...yes squiffy will have to do.'

'How does one meet Mr Right Giles?' said a rather worse for wear Tracy an hour later. 'How did you meet Vanessa?'

'Oh I just got lucky I guess,' said Giles with a silly grin on his face, 'before I realised my life's dream and came to own this place I was a partner in a firm of solicitors, and Vanessa came to work for me as my... um P.A., she was so beautiful, and such a proper little lady how could I help falling head over heels. It took me ages to persuade her though, we went out for a long time, but she was always so worried about what my partners might think, me Mr. big shot solicitor marrying a humble P.A., she only finally agreed when I promised we would move away from Ashford, and find a little village pub to run, and she was so right we were both made for this, or at least I used to think so...'

'Giles! When you've finished telling Tracy our life story do you think you could give me a hand...we do have other customers you know?' snapped Vanessa coming up behind Giles, and giving Tracy a filthy look, 'I'm sure Tracy will understand, won't you Tracy?'

'Oh.. er.. of course, sorry Vanessa I didn't mean to keep him... my fault, I'd better go home now anyway...night Giles,' she called to his retreating back as he hurried away, 'Night Vanessa,' she said to Vanessa's stony face, and then (she didn't know what prompted her it must have been the drink) 'been walking through the woods lately?' Vanessa's face turned to stone and for a minute Tracy thought she was going to faint, but then she pulled herself together and said, 'God no, I leave all of that sort of stuff to you...' she looked Tracy up and down slowly, '...doggy types...night Tracy, be careful walking home there's some nasty people out there.'

# CHAPTER 22 - HELEN

'Oh no that just sounds too needy,' thought Helen as she deleted her message for the third time. She had sat down in front of her computer over an hour ago determined to reply to one of her many admirers but she wasn't getting anywhere, who would have thought this dating stuff would be so difficult.

She had chosen Mike (he of the lovely dark eyes and wicked smile) to reply to, despite being a little bit put off by the fact that he was still technically married, but as Maggie had pointed out, so was she and he certainly was easy on the eyes. He seemed very keen too, he had emailed her and they had chatted about various things. He didn't have any children which was a good thing and he had been single for about 2 years, and would Helen like to meet up for a drink and a chat? So all Helen had to do was to answer with a big fat yes... but that was what Helen had been grappling with for the past hour. Once she agreed to meet this man she would be setting out in a direction that could potentially end her marriage...despite all that had happened recently Helen knew that she still loved Wills and she was scared of losing him...but he had been such a slime ball just lately. Only yesterday she had found a receipt from an expensive restaurant in Redbank that she had been wanting to go to, not to mention the number of times he hadn't come in till past midnight just lately. He didn't even bother to give her an excuse now...'Oh bugger it, what the hell,' said Helen to herself and she sent a simple message expressing her wish to meet Mike. She thought it best that they met somewhere away from the village, and chose a small pub that she had been to before in Godstone which was a good few miles away.

Once the message had been sent Helen started feeling excited at the prospect of her date, thank goodness it wasn't until after the next cauldron meeting so she could pick her friends brains about what to wear etc.

Helen had met Maggie and Carla completely by accident. She had been doing the rounds of local galleries to see if she could find anyone willing to show her work, so far the day had been an unmitigated disaster, and it looked as if this particular gallery was going to be no different. She had listened with growing irritation to the rather patronising comments from the pompous twit who owned the rather exclusive 'Christian Lafette' gallery based in the chic shopper's paradise that was Redbank high street. She was just getting ready for another rejection, when she noticed a couple of women who had just come into the gallery, and were looking at the canvases on display discussing their merits (or not) in a very loud giggly way.

The gallery owner had also noticed them and his face took on a completely different demeanour as he noticed one of his best customers. Dismissing Helen, he smarmed his way over to the couple and began prosing on about the beautiful brush work in an enormous canvas featuring an equally huge naked woman reclining on a sofa apparently being fed grapes by what looked like a dolphin.

'You see in this way the artist is depicting the fruits of the sea...waffle waffle...the woman is representing all women...creep creep...,' it was embarrassing to watch and Helen decided to start packing her canvases away and try and leave without being noticed when the taller of the two women suddenly said:

'Yes, yes... whatever Christian... to be honest I don't care whether a whole shoal of dolphins come in riding bikes, it's bloody awful and I wouldn't hang it in my downstairs loo,' and with that crushing comment she dismissed Christian with a wave of her hand and began to walk round the gallery again. Helen could only admire the woman's complete confidence in herself. 'Mind you,' she thought, 'if I looked as good as she did I might be able to stand up for myself a bit better.' She was stunning, tall, slim with long dark hair that could have been used on a TV commercial it was so sleek and shiny, and her eyes were an amazing aquamarine that looked almost translucent against her olive skin. Her companion was very pretty too, blond and petite with a girl next door kind of look, and funnily enough Helen was sure she recognised her, she had seen her around the village. Just then Helen noticed Christian coming back over to her with a sneering look on his face, obviously he needed to take his humiliation out on someone and Helen was the perfect candidate so she braced herself for more snide comments. He was beaten to her, however, by the gorgeous woman, who smiled at Helen and asked if she could look at her canvases, the little gallery owner nearly threw himself in front of the canvases as if to hide such amateur rubbish from so distinguished a customer's eyes.

'Oh but Mrs Wendover these are not at all what you are after I'm sure...they're nothing, we have some much more interesting works in our storeroom if you would...' began Christian, the woman turned on him gave him a look that would have stopped stampeding elephants and he stammered into silence, then she held out a hand to Helen.

'Hi I'm Maggie, and this is my friend Carla, and I really would like to look at your canvases, but maybe not here, fancy grabbing a coffee, I know a great little place not two minutes away.'

Helen readily agreed and much to the disgust of the spluttering Christian, the three women left the gallery, Maggie and Carla helped her carry the canvases the 100yds to the coffee shop round the corner and by the time they got there they were all giggling like school girls.

'Oh my god did you see his face, if looks could kill you'd be dead now Maggie,' said Carla.

'Stupid twat, trying to tell me what I should like or dislike, well he lost out on his commission and it serves him right,' laughed Maggie.

'Oh I felt quite sorry for him really,' said Helen quietly, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed by her two new friends, 'I suppose he was just doing his job.'

'Not very well if you want my opinion,' said Maggie, 'he was about to show you and your gorgeous canvases the door wasn't he? As I said stupid twat...these are wonderful Helen, I just love the colours and the simple way you've painted them.' Helen could feel her face burning with pleasure. Maggie went on to buy three of Helen's canvases, and put her in touch with a friend of hers that showcased new talent in a gallery in Brighton. Once the business was out of the way the girls had a brilliant chin wag, and enjoyed each other's company so much that they organised a girls night at the local pub for the following week (they had soon discovered that they all lived in the same village...how mad was that!) and that was how the Witches came into being. Helen relied on the advice and support of her friends even more these days, especially when it came to helping her decide what to wear for her big date!

Thinking about how she had met Maggie and Carla reminded Helen that she had work to do.

So she went downstairs to get on with her latest piece; she had always loved painting and had a natural talent for mixing colours and textures. The painting she was working on at the moment was one of her few commissioned pieces, the Reverend at the local church had asked her to do something that would brighten up the small community hall adjoining the church, it was absolutely huge, the biggest one that she had ever done and she was really excited about it.

She had chosen as her subject an area of the Glory Woods that she particularly loved and had often walked through. So a few weeks before, when the leaves had turned to their autumnal golds and reds she had taken as many pictures as she could and had decided on one in particular to paint. It was a part of the woods where two steep banks sloped down towards the winding path below. The beech trees standing tall and straight on either side had been really splendid here and the sun shining through the gilded branches had added another dimension to the colours, not just on the trees, but on the path where the fallen leaves were nearly knee deep. The painting was all but finished and Helen had told Reverend Sinclair that it would be ready for his inspection this evening. There was going to be a little ceremony of sorts when the painting was hung, because the money to pay for it had been raised by the local W.I. by holding various events like cake sales, tombola's etc. Apparently some local big wig was going to unveil it, Helen couldn't wait and had told the other witches that they had to be there on pain of death.

'Wouldn't miss it for the world Helen darling,' Maggie had said. 'Can I tell everyone that I'm friends with the artist?'

They may have all teased her but Helen knew they were all really proud of her...and that was the one thing that kept her going at the moment.

# CHAPTER 23 - _August 14_ th _1994_

I am sharing a big double bed with Faye...he won't come in; surely he won't, not while Faye's sleeping next to me.

We are on holiday, in Cornwall...he hasn't been near me since we arrived, I can't sleep...I don't think he will come in but I'm worried he might, even though Faye is here...he gave me extra pocket money for an inflatable whale to take to the beach, then he squeezed my hand and gave me wink...he won't come in, it might wake Faye.

I wake up with a start; he is fumbling under my covers trying to pull up my nightdress...I start to wriggle away he puts a hand over my mouth and gives me a look of warning.

I keep quiet as he pushes my legs apart...at least he can't climb on top of me this time, he fiddles with me between my legs, pushing into me until it hurts, I cry out and he puts his hand over my mouth again.

Then he takes my hand and puts it inside his pyjama bottoms, holding my hand tightly round him he starts to move it up and down...

Faye didn't wake up.

# CHAPTER 24 - CARLA

'Vanessa,' spluttered Carla, 'are you sure?' She couldn't believe that Vanessa's name was coming up once again.

'Yes...at least I think that's what it was, Lucy will know but I'm pretty sure,' said Shirley vaguely.

'You said she was on the internet all the time,' went on Carla, 'how would she do that? I mean did she have a laptop or is there a communal computer?'

'Oh she had her own laptop, Mr Staff, that's one of our support workers, had an old one that his daughter was getting rid of so he gave it to Louise, it was her pride and joy,' Shirley smiled sadly.

'Is it in her room? We will need to take it, there may be something on there to lead us to her killer.'

'Oh goodness...yes of course, I assume it's still in her room, I hadn't thought...oh poor, poor Louise, how anyone could do this to her...' Sheila started crying in earnest now so Carla thought it best to give her some space; she asked the way to the kitchen.

'It's just past the stairs on the right,' said Sheila. 'Lucy knows you're here, but Inspector please be patient with her, she was one of the few people that really loved Louise, this has knocked her for six.'

Carla nodded and found the kitchen easily by just following her nose, obviously lunch was being prepared.

Lucy turned out to be a giant of a woman with tightly curled grey hair that reminded Carla of a brillo pad and the kindest eyes Carla had ever seen.

She eased herself down into an enormous chair that seemed to have moulded itself around her girth, and that was at the end of a huge pine table that went nearly from one end of the room to the other; she gave Carla a watery smile.

'Anything I can do to help you find this monster I will do it. She was so happy when she left here, so full of hope...she had said that she would see her you see, her mum that is, at last and she was sure she was going to see her mum, she lived for that you see.'

'Lucy can you tell me how she found out about her grandfather, Sheila said that it was through you?'

'It was a miracle, I had been helping her to go onto these websites, you know 'friends unite' that sort of thing, and I just happened to mention that I had known a girl once who had taken in a young girl to lodge with her, and to look after the kids and clean the house...unpaid labour really. Anyway this girl, Vanessa, she was a bit of a mystery because she just disappeared one day...I mean literally disappeared. She dropped the kids off to school as usual and that was the last anyone saw of her...but the thing that got me thinking was that it was all round about the same time that a tiny newborn baby girl was found outside the hospital wrapped in a filthy blanket...obviously that baby was Louise... so we started putting two and two together and it all just fitted.

'Sandra, that's who she lodged with, had a sister Julie who had been good friends with this Vanessa, and had even put her in touch with Sandra when, for some reason Vanessa became desperate to leave home. By all accounts the dad was a nasty piece of work, so I expect that if she had got herself into a bit of bother if you know what I mean she would have been terrified to tell him, so she just ran away. Poor child...she was only about 15 by all accounts...still just a baby herself.'

'So how did she trace the dad to Redbank?'

'Julie had lived close to the family for most of her life and so she was able to put her in touch with Faye, Vanessa's sister.'

Carla's head shot up, 'She's got a sister...still living?'

'Oh yes darling, she was the one who told us about her dad going into the retirement home.'

'Right, let me get this straight, your friend Julie told Louise that this Vanessa had lodged with her sister until she gave birth to a baby (Louise) which she had then dumped on the steps of the hospital and then just disappeared... why didn't she just go back home, if she was scared about being pregnant why not go home after she'd left the baby?'

'Well she might have done, we don't know about that, maybe they sent her away again...whatever happened neither Sandra or Julie ever heard of Vanessa again. Sandra had her own theories though from what I heard, she seemed to think Vanessa ran off with her boyfriend, Frank his name was, 'cus he disappeared at the same time and she seemed to think that Vanessa had been carrying on with him, she had no idea of her being pregnant though.'

'So it may not have been this Vanessa who left the baby outside the hospital, she may simply have run off with the boyfriend.' Carla felt depressed, she was going round in circles here.

'Yes, but despite what Sandra had said, Louise was convinced that this Vanessa was her mother, so she started trying to track down the father, her grandfather, to see if he could give her any more information. He ignored the letters at first but she just kept on until a two or three months ago she started getting replies from him, horrible letters calling her all the names under the sun...terrible terrible language...bastard whore and unnatural c.u.n.t...' she spelt the word out in a whisper.

'Awful things, Louise was so upset, he refused to see her...she was all for going up to the home to confront him, when all of a sudden, about six weeks ago she gets an email that's even better 'cus it's from the mother herself. Well she was over the moon, wouldn't be put off...we were all saying for her to be cautious make sure it really was who she said she was. I was really worried because she was just so excited she wouldn't listen to a single negative comment, like why would she all of a sudden get in touch. I mean she must have known Louise was trying to get in touch from the old man so why did she wait so long before contacting her...it didn't add up.

Anyway it didn't matter what we said she was going to go, and then she started getting texts from Vanessa, arranging times and places...well you can imagine...I have never seen anyone so excited about anything...' Lucy's voice started to tremble. 'You should have seen her happy face when she left...she came into the kitchen to show off her new dress and shoes...never thought I'd never see her again...that poor, poor child...I wish...'

Carla waited while Lucy pulled herself together.

'I will need you to give me all those names and addresses Lucy, Sandra's and Julie's, oh and the sister's if you have it, thank you. You have been extremely helpful, if you remember anything can you give me a call, I'll leave you my card.' She handed a card to Lucy who looked at her tearfully.

'Please find out who did this, inspector. She may have been a bit of a handful but she was a sweet child at heart, she just wanted to find her mum, if she had managed to do that who knows how things might have turned out for her.'

Carla patted her arm, 'I'll do my best Lucy...um Sheila said I could see her room, could you show me where it is?'

'Oh sure thing honey, come this way.'

Carla followed Lucy up a very grand staircase and along another winding corridor until she reached a door covered in drawings and stickers with one prominent handmade sign which said 'Louise's room, all you bastards keep out'. Carla opened the door and went into the room which was very much as you would expect a teenager's room to be. Clothes piled everywhere; posters and photos on the wall, several A4 writing pads with assorted scribbles and doodles on them, an old cup, which had once contained goodness knows what, on the small table near the window, next to the precious laptop.

Carla took out a large evidence bag and placed the laptop in it, then began properly looking round the small room. A picture next to the bed showed Louise sticking two fingers up at whoever was taking the photo, but she was laughing as she did so. 'A pretty girl,' thought Carla sadly, she took the picture down and put it with the laptop. In a drawer under the table she found old newspaper clippings from 16 years earlier. The sad story of a tiny baby left outside the hospital. "The tiny bundle was discovered when an off duty nurse heard her pathetic cries. Goodness knows how long she had lain there in a sports bag wrapped in nothing but an old blanket. Doctors at the hospital say that it is important to find the mother as she may be suffering from the after-effects of such a traumatic birth. Apparently the mother had wrapped the baby, along with the afterbirth, in a blanket and left her only minutes after giving birth, they are very concerned for her welfare and urge her to come forward. The baby has been given the name Louise by the nurses, and is now being looked after by foster carers."

Carla found a few more newspaper clippings; she gathered them all together to take back to the station. The note pads and any other personal things that might be important were bagged up too.

After about an hour later and loaded up with sealed bags, she made her way back downstairs and into the kitchen. The room was a bustling place now, with kids of all ages sitting at the long table tucking into some delicious sort of curry thing that Lucy had been making earlier. Lucy was chatting with them as she ate her own food, she looked up as Carla came in.

'You get all you need honey?' she went to stand but Carla motioned her to sit.

'Thank you Lucy, yes I think I'm done for now. My sergeant will be back to pick up anything else and maybe to talk to some of the kids...there was one thing though, we haven't been able to find her mobile, you said she had one.'

'Oh god yes she had one alright, could never get the girl off it, but I suppose she took it with her, she never went anywhere without it...and she had the directions on it anyway...you know to meet Vanessa, in some town she said, Redbank I think.'

'What sort of phone was it, did you have the number for it?'

'Oh I can't tell one from another, it was a new one I know that, one of those fancy ones that does everything except wipe your bum but I couldn't tell you which one... I didn't have her new number but Sheila will probably have it...um...Darcy do you know what phone Louise had?'

She spoke to a tall sulky looking girl who was sitting at the end of the table.

'iphone,' she said not looking up from her meal.

'Oh yes that's right, I remember her telling me about it...iphone that was it.'

'How could she afford one of those?' asked Carla surprised, they certainly don't come cheap.

Lucy looked bewildered, but it was Darcy that answered, 'Got given it didn't she, says her mum sent it to her, not that I believe her like, she's nicked it ain't she?'

'Darcy! That's enough, Louise is dead so you can keep your nasty thoughts to yourself young lady,' shouted Lucy.

'I ain't saying nuffing nasty I just said she nicked it, come on Lucy she was always nicking fings...she was fucking good at it,' Darcy said with half a smile.

'I'm not really bothered whether she stole that phone or not Darcy, I just need to find out who she was going to meet, did she give you her new number?' Darcy just shook her head not bothering to look up from her food. Carla sighed, 'Was there anyone here that she was particularly friendly with, that she would have given her number to?'

'Nah,' said Darcy sulkily. 'She was a right moody cow, kept herself to herself, only person she spoke to properly was Lucy, and if she didn't give it to her...' she shrugged her shoulders and went back to her dinner.

Carla got up and started to leave the room.

'Ok thanks Lucy, if you can think of anything else that you think might be of help you've got my number. My sergeant will be coming tomorrow, Darcy he may need to speak to you. Until then thanks very much you've been a great help.' As she left the room Carla heard Darcy saying, 'What the fuck does he want to speak to me for, I don't know nuffing about that stroppy little cow, she got what was coming to her...'

'Get out of this kitchen Darcy Mendip...I won't share my meal with a spiteful little viper like you!'

Carla heard no more, she popped her head round Sheila's door.

'Oh Sheila, Lucy said you might have Louise's new phone number?' Sheila just looked at her blankly, 'No sorry I wasn't aware that she had a new phone, I've only got the number of the one she had when she arrived here two years ago but of course I can give you that,' she rummaged around in her desk for a few minutes and then produced an enormous book and gave Carla the number. Carla jotted it down in her notebook frowning slightly. 'There is just one thing that's troubling me Sheila,' she said as she went to leave, 'Why was a young girl, apparently in the care of the state, allowed to go traipsing off around the country meeting up with goodness knows whom goodness knows where without even leaving a contact number?'

Sheila's face took on a defensive look.

'Well for one thing she was 16, we actually had no authority over her anymore, she was due to be leaving Ashcombe house in a few months once she'd found work, and secondly there was no way of stopping Louise once she got an idea into her head I can tell you...although we all tried, told her it was a bad idea...but as I said...' she raised her shoulders in a belligerent gesture of resignation.

Carla just sighed and shook her head in disbelief, 'Well thank you for your help anyway, I'll let you know if I need to speak to you again.'

Carla felt furious as she pulled the car out of the drive and started the journey home, 'In bloody state care, I wouldn't trust that lot to take care of my hamster,' she fumed for at least five miles, then she started thinking about all that she had heard today, it was obvious that she needed to find that phone, she had a feeling that much would be revealed when she did, and surely it wasn't just another coincidence that the girl that Louise thought was her mother was called Vanessa.

# CHAPTER 25 - TRACY

'Only another 3 days of trying to avoid Simon,' thought Tracy, as she once again hid out in her office catching up on important work.

She'd tried to work with him the day after their 'Kiss' in The Bull car park but she had almost gone cross eyed from trying to avoid looking him in the eye.

Simon on the other hand seemed to have no problem, he had breezed in looking as if butter wouldn't melt, he'd even given her a conspiratorial wink when Juno happened to mention how tired she was looking, and she'd had enough. He had made it pretty clear that the Kiss had been a spur of the moment thing which he didn't want her to take seriously so she wouldn't.

'Anyway he will be gone in a couple of days and that will be that,' she said to herself for the hundredth time, 'water under the bridge...no more to be said on the subject.'

So she had holed herself up in the little office going through the agenda for parents evening which was to be held early next week, and trying to find cover for bloody Richard who was still off sick.

Richard was the deputy head and he also took the kids for computer science, it had taken a lot of juggling to cover his classes and he still hadn't given any indication when he was coming back. Mr Gratton (the Head) had asked Tracy to try him again and find out what the situation was, Tracy made a face, Richard was not a popular member of staff, he was rather prissy and tended not to listen to anyone else's point of view (up his own arse as Juno would say) and he was no more popular with the kids, although this had probably more to do with his physical shortcomings than anything else. He was a funny looking man, very short and thin with beady little eyes and a not very successful beard and he had the tendency to walk in a very fast mincing way which the kids obviously had to copy and take the mickey out of. Tracy rang his number...still no answer, surely if he was that ill he'd be at home, Tracy decided to call in on her way home from work, that'll catch him out she thought.

'Are you hiding from me?' Tracy nearly jumped out of her skin; Simon appeared at the door.

'Will you stop creeping up on me, clear your throat or cough or something, my heart can't take much more!' she snapped. 'And to answer your question, no, I'm not hiding from you I am just very busy today.'

'Yeh right,' said Simon pointedly looking at the game of solitaire that Tracy had been playing on her computer, well when you've got a minute I'd like a word if that's ok with you?'

'Well, as I said I AM extremely busy for most of today, I might be able to fit you in sometime tomorrow if that suits you,' said Tracy shuffling some papers and shifting a couple of pens around.

'Oh for god's sake Tracy stop playing silly buggers, I for one think we need to clear the air about what happened the other night, so I'm staying at The Bull and I've been spending most of my evenings down in the bar so if you fancy a chat one evening that's where I'll be.' Without waiting for a reply Simon stalked off down the corridor.

'Oh right, Mr I'm bigger than you so do as you're told, Burton, I'm just meant to run after you and meet you for a drink am I? Well if he thinks I'm going to turn up he's got another think coming,' said Tracy to herself fuming, even as she was mentally going through her wardrobe trying to pick out an outfit that would teach that arrogant bastard a lesson, if by chance she happened to bump into him in The Bull one evening.

Tracy rushed through the rest of her tasks for the day and sped off home almost as soon as the bell rang for home time. She took a slight diversion on the way home so that she could knock on Richard Frampton's door and try and find out when he would be back at school.

All the curtains were drawn in the tiny terraced cottage, and there was no sign of any lights coming through the glass in the front door. Tracy pulled on the antique bell cord and heard the bell ringing inside, there was no answer, maybe he was asleep she tried his mobile number; it went straight to voice mail.

'Oh well I tried,' she thought and started back to her car when she spotted Richard's immaculate little car parked just a little way down the road, obviously wherever Richard was, he hadn't driven. Tracy shrugged her shoulders and started the short drive back to her own cottage smiling in anticipation of another sparring session with Simon...life was definitely getting interesting.

# CHAPTER 26 - _September 26_ th _1995_

He says I'm disgusting.

He is furious with me, he shakes me and shouts at me.

Mum will think I'm disgusting too he says...she must never know it would bring shame down upon her and the whole family...he will sort it he says.

'Just keep your fucking mouth shut and I'll think of something.'

My friend Julie has a sister who says that I can stay with her for a while if I look after the children while she's at work...I will go away until it is out of me, then I can come back and everything will go back to normal.

I've packed a bag, it's under my bed...I'm going tomorrow...after school.

# CHAPTER 27 - CARLA

Richard Frampton was the subject of the day in Carla's office too. Carla was furious, she had only just been informed that nobody had been able to get in touch with the man since they had got his name on day one of this murder case. Frampton hadn't been answering his phone or his door and, despite being left several messages, he had failed to make contact. She had been informed by the school where he worked that he had been off sick for a couple of weeks and no one had spoken to him.

'Shit, shit and buggerations,' thought Carla angrily, she had been so caught up in tracing Louise and finding out what her story was, that she may have just let an important witness slip away.

Rebecca Drew, the new Chief Inspector, had already been in and bollocked them all, but Carla knew that this was down to her...she had to fix it. She spent the next hour or so trying to find out as much as she could about the man.

No one seemed to have a good word to say about Frampton. He seemed to be a loner who wasn't popular with his work mates, didn't seem to socialise with anyone in the village and no one seemed to know much about what he did in his spare time. He had a passion for old toys she had found out from Mr Gatton, the headmaster at the school, and had on occasion gone to some of the bigger organised toy fairs to try and find things for his collection.

'But he's never talked about it much,' he had said to her earlier, 'to be honest I don't know much about him, he is good at his job always punctual and conscientious, but I often wonder why he went in for teaching...doesn't seem to like it much. And the kids don't seem to warm to him much either if I'm honest... but it takes all sorts I suppose and like I said he's good at it, about the only time I ever see him animated when he's talking about computers, oh and photography, he's got some pretty impressive cameras, I seem to remember he likes to go walking so maybe he's into photographing the wildlife, that sort of stuff...never seen any of his pictures though so I don't know if he is any good at it, sorry I can't be of more help but like I said...none of us know him terribly well.'

'Right Ted you come with me, I'm going to pay Mr Frampton a call, meanwhile Mandy can you see what you can dig up on him, how long has he lived in the village, according to the head at the school he's only been working there a couple of years, find out where he was before, why he left, you know...and while you're at it Mandy could you do a bit of digging into our local landlady's background for me...find out what her maiden name was and where she came from, anything would be helpful...but be discreet ok? I don't want her to know I'm interested...Frank can you give her a hand, the rest of you I want you to go over all the statements from the walkers that were there when our body was found, see if we've missed anything, particularly when it comes to our Mr Frampton. Did they notice anything peculiar in the way he reacted...you know the sort of thing...Laura has forensics made any mention of her mobile yet? Can you chase them up please, we know she had it with her, and can you see if they've managed to access her emails yet...right, Ted you ready...let's go.'

After knocking and ringing the bell at Frampton's cottage, Carla decided to get permission to enter the house, she called back to the station and spoke to the new chief, 'It just seems too coincidental that this man disappears without a word to anyone right after finding the body,' she said, 'especially as he has been asked several times to come into the station so that we could take his statement, but he hasn't shown up, and now it seems he has legged it. No one has any idea where he has gone, I have a gut feeling that there is more to this ma'am, I think it could be crucial to our investigation that we have access to his house.'

Carla and Ted waited around for about twenty minutes while the Chief Inspector tried to track down the local magistrate to get a warrant to enter the property.

'I've stuck my neck out Carla, so I hope you're right about this,' she said when she phoned with the go ahead.

'Talk about pressure,' mumbled Carla, 'Ok Ted do your thing,' she said with a smile and stood back as Ted gave the door a very macho shove with his shoulder, it gave way without much of a struggle, and Ted stood back looking so triumphant that Carla had to suppress another smile.

The house smelt musty as if it had not been lived in for a while and it was extremely cold. Carla pulled open the thick curtains that were covering the tiny bay window at the front and let in some light. The living room was immaculately clean, as was the rest of the house, not a thing was out of place. Over the mantel was a large square mirror that made the room feel slightly bigger than it actually was. The only ornaments were some old toy cars and a very impressive toy steam tractor that had been put in pride of place next to the fireplace. There were no photographs on show; it was a very sterile room, in fact the whole house was devoid of personality.

The tiny kitchen and bathroom that it led on to were both just as pristine, although it looked like Frampton had left in a hurry, the fridge hadn't been emptied, there was some very nasty looking milk and a hard lump of cheese in there and a loaf of bread was turning green with mould in the bread bin. It seemed out of character that someone as neat and tidy as Frampton would have overlooked those things if this was a planned trip away. Upstairs one of the two bedrooms was obviously used as an office, there was a computer set up on a desk with a printer next to it, and a couple of filing cabinets on the other side of the room. Ted started searching through the drawers, they seemed to contain household bills and various other personal documents, nothing of any interest, no camera equipment or photographs of any sort, Frampton seemed to be a very orderly person, but the bottom drawer was locked and Ted had to use all his resources to open it.

Carla meanwhile was hunting through the back bedroom, which was obviously Frampton's own. His cupboards seemed almost obsessively tidy, mostly colour co-ordinated even his pants and socks. There wasn't a crease on his pillows and not a speck of dust on his bedside cabinets, 'Boy o boy this man could give me a serious complex,' thought Carla as she thought of her own messy bedroom. 'James is lucky to find two clean socks let alone matching,' just then something caught her eye, a little corner of what looked to be a piece of paper was sticking out from under the edge of the rug next to the bed, Carla pulled on her gloves and pulled it gently out. It wasn't a piece of paper it was a photo... of a girl, a small girl about 9 or maybe 10 standing in her white knickers and vest, she had her hands behind her head while a large male hand had pulled up her vest and was stroking her small breasts...the child's face was blotchy from crying... 'Ted come in here a mo will you...'

Ted walked in carrying a sheath of similar photos, 'Snap! I think we've got him Carla,' he said with a grim smile.

# CHAPTER 28 - MAGGIE

Maggie heard the phone ringing as she got the bags out of her car. She fumbled with the key in her desperation to unlock the front door and of course by the time she had found the phone they, whoever it was, had rung off, 'bloody hell,' she thought irritably, it was probably cold callers anyway, anyone who knew her would have used her mobile number...and by anyone she was referring to Charles.

Unbelievably Charles had not yet been in touch, and Maggie was beginning to think that she might have to do the inconceivable... get in touch with him. This was something that Maggie had vowed to herself never to do again; she wanted...needed to be the one in control, she could still remember the searing pain that she had felt when Greg had betrayed her, it had made her needy and vulnerable and she would not allow herself to become that pathetic woman again.

She went back out to the car to get the rest of the shopping, hooking bag handles over practically every finger so that she could bring them all in at once, she all but dragged the shopping into the house and dropped it on the kitchen floor, 'Surely nobody needs this much food,' she thought as she packed it all into the enormous oversized American style fridge freezer but she knew that unbelievably she would be loading up the car with another load of groceries the same time next week, and this lot would have disappeared.

She started preparing the evening's meal, she loved to cook, having learnt how at her mother's knee. It was one of Maggie's idiosyncrasies that she was on the one hand a successful business woman, hard as nails when it came to negotiating a good deal for her clients, with a reputation as a ball breaker in the board room, but on the other she was a nurturer who needed to take care of those around her that she loved, and into this category came her love of cooking a good nourishing meal for the two men in her life.

She was making a chicken and bacon pasta dish, heavy with garlic and white wine, the smell of it filled the kitchen, she tossed a green salad in olive oil laced with red wine vinegar and started to set the huge antique pine table, she had always insisted that when they were all at home they ate together as she had done in her youth. It was a time when they could all touch base and swop bits of news, these evenings were becoming far and few between so they were all the more precious.

She sat and thought about her two sons, Dom, so tall and handsome who looked like his dad more and more each day but was the antithesis of him in reality. He was the quiet one, the dependable one, the one that had stayed on at school and got his grades and was now working for a small firm of solicitors and studying in his spare time and her lovely Jed who, unfortunately, had inherited all her own wayward qualities. He had dropped out of school and had run wild for a couple of years when she and Greg had first separated, hanging out with a group of friends who had encouraged him in his excesses. Maggie had been so worried about him for a while, he had been so hurt by it all that he had even rejected her when she had tried to comfort him, and he didn't speak to his father for about a year, things had calmed down now and she could see signs of the old jokey carefree Jed coming back. He still had a rather stilted relationship with Greg, but at least they were speaking. A lot of his return to normal was down to Jools his girlfriend; he'd met her when he'd started working for a small employment agency that provided staff for retirement homes. Jools had applied for a job at the Happy Valley and he had interviewed her, they had hit it off straight away and the rest was history. Maggie thoroughly approved of Jools, she was a sweet girl who came from a large noisy family, a family Maggie thought sadly, that Jed seemed to want to be with most of the time, and who, she thought, he rather wished was his rather than this broken excuse of a family. 'Oh snap out of it woman,' she chided herself she'd learnt from experience that it was all too easy to slip into wallowing in self pity, what's done was done and every day was getting better and better.

She headed upstairs to freshen up her makeup when the phone began to ring downstairs, 'Would you f'ing believe it,' she said to herself as she rushed back down to answer it, of course she missed it but at least this time they'd left a message.

'Hi Mum turn your bloody mobile on you silly cow, I've been trying to phone you all day! Er...just to say I'm having dinner at Jools' house her mum ordered pizza and Dom is coming too, going to try his luck with Emily I reckon...ha ha no chance she thinks he's a right dork...oh and someone called Charles called, said he may try again later...luv ya... see you later.'

# CHAPTER 29 - HELEN

Helen pulled off the purple jumper in disgust. It was the latest in a long line of outfits that were now covering her bedroom floor. She was due to meet Mike in about two and a half hours and was having a serious panic attack...she found her mobile under all the discarded outfits and dialled Maggie's number...it went to voice mail... in a frenzy now she dialled her home number, the phone was answered almost immediately by Maggie who said. 'It's about time you called I was beginning to think you'd left the country for good...'

'Maggie?'

'Helen? Is that you, oh sorry love I was waiting for another call...are you ok, big date tonight isn't it?'

'No I'm not ok,' said Helen and burst into noisy tears followed by some unintelligible language which sounded like a mixture of wailing and a few words that Maggie could understand... 'nothing to wear sob sob sob... such a fat cow sob sob sob...stupid fucking bastard Wills...sob gurgle snort...not bloody going now...snort sniff gulp...making a fool of myself...'

'Er just let me stop you there you silly cow, you are definitely going out, we will find you something to wear and you are going to knock this blokes socks off, and what's more I'm on my way over so just sit tight,' she rang off before Helen had time to speak.

Maggie arrived at Helen's house in record time, it had occurred to her on the short journey over that she might run into Wills and as she didn't know what tale Helen had given him for her night out, she was busy concocting an excuse for her being here when Helen opened the door.

'Oh thank goodness it's you,' said Maggie relieved, 'I wasn't sure if Wills would be here, I was going to say that I had had a kitchen disaster of some sort and needed to borrow something...' she stopped waffling when she saw the blind panic in Helen's face. 'Right come on you, let's get a strong drink down you and have a look in your wardrobe.'

'No no I can't drink I have to drive, I'm meant to be meeting him in Godstone, you know at the Bell.'

'Stop arguing love, I will drive you...it's safer that way anyway then I can secretly check him out for you while you meet him,' at this act of generosity Helen broke down again, '...sob sob..so kind...snort gurgle...can't let you do this...burp... must have your own plans.'

'Oh will you shut up and get yourself a brandy, thanks to my two neglectful sons, I've got nothing planned for tonight now apart from trying to eat a whole chicken and bacon pasta by myself and watching my recorded episodes of corrie, now stop blubbing, time is moving on and we haven't even worked out what you're going to wear...and your make-up is going to need a serious re-do sweetie...where is the slimy Wills tonight anyway?'

'Where he always is these days 'at work' or loosely translated shagging secretary.' Helen took a deep breath and looked at Maggie. 'Thank you my wonderful friend...now help me get gorgeous...it may take some time!'

Maggie drove the trembling Helen to the pretty village of Godstone, where, just past the green stood The Bell. A lovely mellow brick building set in pretty gardens; it could rival The Bull with its excellent cuisine and gorgeous outlook. It was a good choice of meeting place from Helen's point of view, Godstone was far enough away from Kenley for her to be anonymous, and the pub itself was big enough for anyone to blend into the background. Which is exactly what Maggie did, as soon as she had parked the car and given Helen a good luck hug, she wandered into the bar and sat in a little corner where she had a reasonable view of the bar area and the door. Helen walked in a couple of minutes later and Maggie felt a wave of pride, she looked so poised and elegant. They had finally settled on a knee length black skirt twinned with a very pretty red jersey top which despite showing only a hint of cleavage, was sexy as hell in the way it hugged her figure...she looked good and by the way she was holding her head high she knew it, Maggie watched with a smile as a couple of men at the bar swivelled round to get a better look.

Helen spotted Mike almost as soon as she entered the crowded bar, he was standing in the far corner and obviously watching the door, as soon as she saw him he noticed her, and walked over. He was much taller than she had been expecting, even though his profile had stated 6'3, and he was as handsome as his photo, more so when he smiled, which he was doing now as he approached her.

'Hi, you must be Helen...you look just like your photo, he said in a pleasantly deep voice. 'I'm Mike, can I get you a drink?'

'Hello, yes a Pimms would be lovely thank you,' said Helen nervously, seriously this was more nerve wracking than her driving test and she had thrown up before that! 'Calm down...calm down,' she said to herself, she couldn't resist a look over in Maggie's direction, and, as she knew she would Maggie smiled and gave her a very discreet thumbs up. Mike came back with the drinks and they sat at a little table near the big fireplace.

'How weird is this?' said Mike after a couple of awkward minutes, 'I feel as if we've met before although I know we haven't, I suppose it's because we've talked online. How are you finding it? The website I mean...much luck so far?'

'Well actually you're my first date,' admitted Helen. 'But you're right it does make it easier to talk to you after having chatted online, how about you...I expect you've had them beating a path to your door.'

'Er not exactly. Actually you're my first too, oh I've talked to loads of people online but you are the only one so far that I have wanted to meet in person.'

Helen glowed with pleasure.

'Thank you for the compliment, if it was one, or maybe you were just curious to see what a desperate middle aged woman looked like.'

Mike gave her a smile of reassurance. 'Well they don't look like you Helen let me tell you, no it was a compliment of course...truth be told I liked the look of you and you seemed a nice genuine person when we chatted...so I'm hoping that maybe this might be the first of many dates.'

Helen gave him a non-committal smile and for the first time that evening began to relax and enjoy herself. Mike was lovely, funny, and a real chatter box and soon they were talking ten to the dozen, they seemed to have so much in common and the evening flew by in a daze. A few times Helen glanced over at Maggie to make sure she was ok but she needn't have worried, Maggie had been joined by a couple of guys and seemed to be having the time of her life. All too soon the evening came to an end, Mike looked at his watch.

'Chriiist!' he said, 'I didn't realise how late it was I have to be in Birmingham tomorrow for a presentation' (Mike was in advertising Helen had found out earlier), 'I have been having such a good time the evening has just flown, but I am going to have to rush off now I'm afraid...er I do hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have Helen...I would love to see you again.'

'I've had a wonderful time Mike, and I would love to do it again, so any time you fancy it...er you know how to get in touch with me,' said Helen desperately trying to be cool.

They exchanged an awkward peck on the cheek goodnight and Mike walked out with a wave. Maggie came straight over gagging for all the details.

'How did it go...it certainly looked as if you were enjoying yourself...he's lovely looking Helen I'm surprised you could keep your hands off him...so come on spill!'

Helen just gave Maggie a smile of complete satisfaction, 'Oh Maggs I think I'm in big trouble.'

# CHAPTER 30 - _March 15th 1996_

Living with Julie's sister is horrible.

I sleep in a tiny room that smells of cats and has great gaps round the window that lets the wind whistle in, making the room even colder than ever.

Sandra (that's her name) lives with her boyfriend Frank, though why he stays with her I don't know, she is so horrible to him, shouting at him all the time about getting a job...she's always moody, she hardly speaks to me, except to tell me what to do.

The kids are nice though, Sean, age seven, he's the eldest and Karen she's five and just started school. I have to take the kids to school and pick them up later, in the meantime I do some housework, washing and stuff, as soon as Sandra comes in though she wants me to stay in my room...out of her way.

The floor in my room is only covered with a tatty old rug so I can hear every word that is said in the kitchen below and since I have nothing else to do I listen...it's mostly rows though...sometimes even about me...Sandra keeps telling Frank to stay away from me, 'Don't you get up to any of your tricks you randy fucker, I've got my eye on you.'

At least no one has noticed 'it' yet, though it helps that my clothes are hanging off me, I have lost so much weight that I don't look anything like seven months gone.

I wrote home to let Mum know I was alright.

I hate it here...I miss my Mum and Faye.

I worry about Faye, I can't stop thinking about what he might do to her...she's only nine.

But then I was only 10.

I had just got my new uniform for 'big school'; I was starting at the local high school in September. Mum had told me to try it all on, and I had rushed upstairs to do just that.

While I was changing Dad came into the room and shut the door behind him, I felt really embarrassed, I mean I was only in my knickers and my Dad was sitting there watching me.

I went to put on my new blouse when he said 'What about those new bras Mum bought for you, let's see if they fit properly.' I can remember how awkward I felt, I just wanted him to leave the room, but he reached over and cupped my breasts weighing them in his hands... 'You definitely need something to hold up these beauties...oh and look at that I can make your nipples scrunch up...you like that don't you?' I could have died with the shame of it but it was all so unexpected and embarrassing that I just kept my mouth shut.

'Oh yes I can see that you like that...I knew you would, now put your hand on here...see how much I like it too?' he pulled my hand towards him and made me rub him. I remember I was crying by this point, but I don't think he noticed. After a few moments he seemed to pull himself together and very abruptly left the room...that was the first time, I was very upset but after a couple of days when it didn't happen again I started wondering whether it was completely normal, maybe all dads touched their daughters in this way, maybe he really was just checking out how big I was getting, you know out of interest. I knew not to tell anybody though, I don't know why, it was just too shameful I think...I put it out of my mind...until it happened again.

Only two more months to go.

# CHAPTER 31 - CARLA

Carla sat up straight and stretched her back out, it felt like she'd been looking at a screen for days.

Forensics had managed to access Louise's emails and they pretty much confirmed that she was in Kenley to meet her mum. There was still no clear indication as to who her mum was though, or where she was meeting her as it was taking longer to trace which computer the messages had been sent from. Once again it felt like they had run into a brick wall.

Richard Frampton's cottage had been thoroughly searched and all his computer equipment had been brought in to the station. As expected there had been a mass of indecent images on there, mainly of young girls, some as young as 5 or 6 and there was evidence that he was grooming girls on social network sites. His name on-line was 'Sally' and he was posing as an 8 year old girl, some of the stuff she had seen and read had made her sick to her stomach, it wasn't only what the children were being made to do in the photos it was the misery, humiliation and terror that you could see on their faces. Carla's team were all fired up and desperate to find Mr Frampton...unfortunately that was where things got a bit tricky because the man had disappeared. His car had been found parked not far from his house and although forensics had gone over it with a fine tooth comb it was as clean as a whistle, so Carla had put out a notice for his immediate arrest nationwide, and alerted all airports and ferry terminals...it seemed like it would be a waiting game, he couldn't stay lost forever.

Most of her team seemed to think they had their man, Frampton fitted the bill for the murder of a young girl but Carla wasn't so sure.

The problem Carla had with Frampton as her murderer was that she couldn't see any connection between Louise and him. Indeed Louise was a bit old for Frampton's tastes. There were a lot of theories being put forward, maybe she was a girl he had abused in the past and she was blackmailing him, maybe she spotted him trying it on with some child and tried to intervene, or maybe, and this was Carla's theory, Frampton had nothing to do with Louise's murder but had the bad luck to be there when she been found. That he was scared shitless of being interviewed by the police just in case they found out about his dirty little pastime, and about the fact that ten years earlier he had been convicted for abusing a ten year old girl, one of his neighbour's daughter's. He'd spent 15 months inside for that and had nearly been killed by another inmate, only he wasn't called Richard Frampton then, he was Ronald Green, and he had worked in an old people's home. 'I would have thought that was enough reason for him to go missing,' she thought.

Mandy had got back to her with some information about Vanessa too. Her maiden name on her marriage certificate was stated as Pinner, which meant that she probably wasn't the Vanessa that Louise had come to find, that family name had been Stiles. She had come to a grinding halt when she tried to find out any more, at the age of 15 Vanessa had just disappeared it seemed, there was no record of her working anywhere or at any of the colleges or schools. Trying to locate this 'Sandra' person was no easier either, it seemed she had lived in Maidstone for a couple more years and then had moved abroad, but Mandy couldn't find out where abroad. Carla knew she had nothing concrete to go on with regards to Vanessa, but her name had cropped up a couple of times now and it all just seemed too coincidental to Carla. She had to somehow trace Louise's last few days, she needed to find her mobile, and she also needed to do some digging into the owner of the emerald earring.

She'd taken it to a jeweller in town, apparently it was old, probably 19th century, and the pair would be quite valuable, the emerald was good and about a carat in weight and the gold was 24 carat, all in all not the sort of thing a young teenager would have been wearing. It had obviously been dropped either by the murderer or someone who had been there because it had been found lying on top of the leaves, and it had been shiny and clean like it hadn't been there long enough to get tarnished and dirty, so far it hadn't been made public knowledge that an earring had been found. Ted had come up with the idea of displaying a notice in the village shop about it, not mentioning where and when it had been found of course just to see if anyone came forward to claim it, it couldn't do any harm anyway could it?

So she had a picture taken of it with a hand written card asking if anyone had lost the earring and giving them a number to ring, they would also have to produce the other earring as proof of ownership, and Mandy had put it in the shop's window. Carla wasn't very hopeful that they would get a response, but at this stage anything was worth a try.

After her evening team talk and setting out everyone's various tasks for the following day, Carla and the rest of the team called it a night and made their way home.

The house was lit up like a Christmas tree when Carla pulled into her drive ten minutes later and as she opened the front door there were the unmistakable sounds of a rough and tumble going on in the living room. She opened the door a crack and sure enough James was being jumped on and pummelled by two very over excited red faced children, unfortunately James was distracted by the door opening and got a head butt right in the groin and started writhing around in agony, which the hard hearted little monsters took to be a sign of victory and started racing round the room cheering and calling Dad a loser. Carla tried not to laugh too much as she left him to it and went through into the kitchen.

James worked for a large charity, raising funds by lobbying government and getting sponsorship from local businesses, his hours were very flexible, and as such he took care of a lot of the domestic side of their marriage and the larger part of the child care, which suited them both perfectly. Carla hadn't been too keen to start a family, she was a rising star in the police force and hadn't wanted to be distracted from that. But James was desperate for kids of his own and she had realised how selfish it would be to deny him the opportunity to be a dad, so after Harry was born Carla had spent her allotted 12 weeks cooing over and loving her baby son and then thankfully handed him over to the child minder and James without so much as a backward glance and when Rosie had made an appearance a couple of years later, there had been no question that the same would happen. It wasn't that she didn't love them, they were her world, it was just that she was a better police woman than a full time mum.

She realised how lucky she was to have James, especially when she thought about men like Richard Frampton, seeing those pictures in the office this week had made her want to run home and hold on to her two kids and never let them go, keep them safe with her instead of out in the big bad world where they came in contact with such an awful human being.

'You could have helped me out,' moaned a red faced James as he staggered into the kitchen, she put her arms round him, loving his solidness, and kissed his chin which was all she could reach, 'Oh no matey, you deserve all you get if you take on those two little barbarians, you know they don't play fair.'

James returned the kiss, turning into something much more intimate. 'As long as I get to drag the fair maiden into my cave later I can take being called a loser...mmm you smell nice, is that a new perfume?' he nuzzled her neck and Carla whispered in his ear. 'Yes it's called eau d'printer ink...I've been sitting in the computer room most of today...but I'll do it every day if it gets you going my brave warrior...ooh is that a tomahawk in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?'

'Mum why are you licking Dad's face...oh that's gross...yuk just wait till I tell Brian Shelling at school tomorrow...gross!' shouted Harry as the kids burst into the kitchen.

Carla moved away from James with a smile that held promises for later... and started to rummage in the fridge.

'What is there to eat in this house,' she said, 'I'm so hungry I could eat Harry's old trainers.'

Rosie burst into giggles, 'Oh Mummy you are so silly, you couldn't eat those...Daddy gave them to the carrotty shop last week...remember?'

'Oh yes silly me,' said Carla trying not to look at James, 'I suppose I'll just have to have beans on toast then.'

Later when they were at last able to sit down with a cup of tea James said, 'I think you've missed a socking great big clue that's been under your nose all the time.'

Carla looked into his lovely familiar face and ran her fingers through his tousled dark hair, 'Oh yes Sherlock and what's that then?'

'Vanessa...it is far too much of a coincidence that her name keeps cropping up all over the place, I can't believe you haven't dragged her down to the station already.'

'For what?' exclaimed Carla, sitting up, 'Believe me James if I had a shred of evidence that pointed to her I would have had her in, but I can't just pick her up on a hunch, anyhow even if it transpires that Louise's mother and our Vanessa are one and the same person, that doesn't mean she killed her...'

'Oh come on sweetheart, if she's as innocent as you think why hasn't she come forward, told you about meeting with her daughter...I mean does she even know who the girl is?'

'Well I would have thought so by now, it's been announced in the press and on the news, but...'

'Well that just proves it doesn't it? I mean, why wouldn't she come rushing into the station distraught with grief if she had nothing to hide, come on Carla you must have thought about it.'

'Of course I've thought about it,' said Carla exasperated, 'but my hands are tied, just because Louise's mum was called Vanessa, and Tracy THOUGHT she MIGHT have seen Vanessa running away from the scene in distress it's not enough...it won't stop me from making sure that Vanessa hears a few things 'by accident' at the next cauldron meeting though, just to see how she reacts.' She sat down again and took James's face between her hands so she could look into his eyes, 'but for now 'ma petit Clouseau,' I think you need to put all your investigative energies into finding out what I'm thinking about doing to you...right now.'

# CHAPTER 32 - 2013

The old man sits in the chair by the window. He likes this chair, from here he has a good view of the street below and the entrance, nobody gets in or out without him seeing them. He also has a good view of the windows for the staff locker room and showers, the glass may be frosted but sometimes he can make out shapes, he always knows when Nurse Eliza is taking a shower he can see her soaping her huge great tits...dark tits they are with big round nipples, ha ha kept him wanking for a week that did, they don't know he can see them...the other pathetic geriatrics don't know either, but they know that this chair is his chair...they keep away.

'Derek, wouldn't you like to eat your lunch in the dining room with the others today? I'm sure you'd enjoy it, they seem to have a right laugh...why don't you try it you might make some friends.'

'I want it here!' he turned ferociously to the young nurse who had brought his lunch, 'Why the fuck would I want to spend my time with a bunch of dribbling farting geriatrics...always trying to talk to me, asking their bloody questions, they can mind their own fucking business, I don't ask about them, I keep away from them, the least they can do is keep the hell away from me.'

'Oh well it was only a suggestion...you sit there and be miserable it's no skin off my nose,' she turned to go.

'Wait!' said Derek sharply, 'Any mail for me today?' Jools' face turned from annoyance to sympathy, 'No, nothing today I'm afraid...do you want me to post anything for you?'

Derek nodded, 'On the cabinet beside my bed...thanks,' he turned back to his food already putting Jools from his mind...lamb curry one of his favourites and rice pudding for afters, she wasn't a bad looker that Jools, a bit skinny mind, but she had a descent pair of tits.

Fucking bitch hadn't replied to his letter again. Not once had she contacted him since she'd dumped him here all those months ago...fucking ungrateful cow, after all those years bringing her up, paying out for ballet lessons, fucking private medical insurance, not to mention helping her find that flat when she had that bit of bother in her teens, not even a sodding letter...she always was too like her fucking mother that one, always me me me, constantly winging and moaning about one thing or another...well good fucking riddance...at least Faye still writes to me.

# CHAPTER 33 - TRACY

The Bull was relatively quiet when Tracy just happened to wander down there at about 8ish, in fact it was even quieter than Tracy had expected because there was no sign of Simon.

'Wow Tracy you're looking hot tonight, who's the lucky man?' said Giles as she struggled to climb up onto a bar stool.

'Bloody hell can't a girl go out for a quiet drink at her local without everyone assuming she's meeting a man?' said Tracy crossly.

'Oops sorry love, didn't mean to tread on a nerve...bad time of the month is it?'

'Oh for god's sake...no it isn't...oh sorry Giles I'm just not having a very good day today, get me a vodka will you...a large one.'

'Sure thing sweetheart...want to talk about it?'

'If I knew what 'it' was I could, but I don't really know what's getting me down at the moment, oh I know it's all the usual things like trying to find a man etc. but it feels like something more at the moment. Maybe it's all this murder business...did you know that Richard Frampton, the deputy head at our school, has gone missing, and they've found lots of porn, you know child stuff on his computer? I know that this sort of thing happens all the time...but not here Giles, not in Kenley... I mean how the fuck did he manage to con the council into giving him a job in a school...a school for fucks sake it just makes me so mad...no wonder these awful things keep happening when you've got idiots like that running the country...oh sorry hun, ignore me I guess it's just making me feel a bit sad at the moment that's all.'

'I know love, it's all a bit close to home isn't it...do they have any idea yet where he might be, this Richard guy?'

'Not as far as I know, he's probably on the continent by now...who knows...'

Suddenly there were raised voices coming from the restaurant section of the pub, Giles' ears pricked up as they could clearly hear Vanessa trying to calm down an irate customer.

'I do apologise sir, of course we won't charge you for the meal if you are that disappointed with it, although I can't help but notice that you've eaten most of it...'

'Look you snotty cow, I'm not paying for any of it...it was shit, this...' said the customer aggressively as he picked up the half empty plate of 'shit' and tipped the remaining contents onto the floor and dropped the plate, which smashed loudly.

Giles was over the bar in a flash, 'Right you out, now!' he said walking up to the man, who ignored him and continued to have a go at Vanessa, getting right up into her face.

'Oh you've got daddy protecting you have you sweetheart...stuck up little cow, you've been looking down your nose at me and Chelsea all evening, just like you're doing now...look at you cold as ice I bet she doesn't warm your bed up much mate,' he said turning to Giles, 'like them old do you love, imagine you're being fucked by daddy... yeh...come on then... what you going to do eh you fucking old man...' he didn't have a chance to say anymore, Giles with a roar of rage knocked him to the floor and started punching him in the head, everyone just seemed to be standing round watching in shock as Giles continued to pound his victim, Tracy ran over unable to sit still any longer.

'Giles, GILES!..Stop...enough now love...Vanessa will you tell him, he'll end up killing him.'

Vanessa seemed to wake from a trance; she put her arms around Giles and started to calm him.

'Come on darling...come on leave him now.' Giles stood up and seemed to see Vanessa for the first time... 'Oh god..oh no...' he said almost in a whisper. Vanessa put her arm around him and led him away, the man on the floor was trying to sit up, but Tracy could see that he was bleeding badly from a cut near his eye, so she tried to keep him where he was until help arrived, his hysterical girlfriend just kept shouting obscenities to the retreating Giles and Vanessa. 'I've called the police you fucking nutter...I'll have you banged up...did you see that?' she asked the other diners hysterically, 'you must have seen it...he just flew at him...what a total fucking nutter, he was like a maniac.'

Tracy was in shock, Giles had been like a man possessed, but what Tracy had also noticed was the look of satisfaction on Vanessa's face as she stood and watched Giles punching the man in the face, it had been almost eerie, and then she had pulled herself together and stopped him. Tracy was just pondering on this when someone tapped her on her shoulder, she swung round and Simon stood there.

'Tracy are you ok, you're bleeding, what did this bastard do to you?' She had not noticed that she had blood on her sleeve where she had been holding the man's head.

'Oh no, I'm ok, it's not me that's hurt it's him,' she said pointing to the man still lying semi-conscious on the floor. 'Giles got angry and gave him a right pasting, I think the police are on their way.'

As soon as the words were out of her mouth the police arrived followed quickly by the paramedics, and the injured man and his still irate girlfriend were led away to the back room of the pub.

The rest of the pub's diners realising that the excitement was over went back to their meals and within minutes it was as if nothing had happened.

Tracy followed Simon back to the bar, and he got them both a drink. 'What the hell happened?' he asked when they were sat down.

'I'm not really sure,' said Tracy. 'One minute we were having a chat at the bar and then we heard someone shouting at Vanessa, getting really nasty you know, he was obviously drunk and was refusing to pay for something, and he started getting a bit personal, and Giles...well he just went mad, he rushed over there and started beating the man senseless...it was awful, I've never seen anyone lose it like that.' Tracy was still trembling.

'It's really shaken you up hasn't it love?' he put an arm round her shoulders and much to Tracy's embarrassment she felt her eyes welling up, she desperately tried to control herself but soon she was crying in earnest, great gulping sobs, snot and everything, could this evening get any worse? Simon held her until he felt her sobs subside, he handed her a paper serviette and she noisily blew her nose.

'I'm so sorry; I don't know what you must think of me...'

'Don't be stupid, I don't think anything, you are just reacting to a shocking situation, although I do think the wailing and banging your head against the brick wall was a bit excessive...' at Tracy's watery laugh he smiled, 'That's better, I think that lady police officer is trying to get your attention by the way.' Tracy looks over and saw Carla hovering discreetly near the bar, obviously getting the wrong idea about her and Simon.

'Hurrumph...if I'm not interrupting anything, could I have a quick word Tracy?' she gave Simon a warm smile as she said this and looked enquiringly at Tracy.

'Oh no...nothing like that,' said Tracy hastily, 'this is just Simon...er Mr Burton...um he is working at the school at the moment, I had no idea he would be here tonight.'

Simon looked from one to the other, then stood and shook his head, 'Right, well maybe I'll see you at school in the morning Tracy...er I mean Ms Dawlish,' he said cuttingly and after throwing Tracy a filthy look over his shoulder he stalked off.

'Oh god I seem to have upset him again, why do I keep doing that?' said Tracy miserably.

'Well you certainly looked cosy when I arrived, so that's the impossible Mr Burton is it, he seems nice, Harry can't stop talking about him, absolutely idolises him, Mr Burton said this, Mr Burton can do that, what is it about him that winds you up the wrong way?'

'Oh I don't know, he hasn't done anything wrong as such, it's just that I always feel even more of a geeky fool when he's around...and I always seem to be making a fool of myself...oh it's not his fault and actually he was being really nice just now, even though he must have been so embarrassed what with me crying into his shoulder...anyway, I suppose you want to know what happened, do you need me to talk into a tape or something?'

'No of course not, just fill me in on what happened to cause Giles to flip like that.'

'Well no matter what chavy 'Chelsea' will tell you it wasn't unprovoked, I mean the guy was being a total knob, he threw a plate of food onto the floor and was really nasty to Vanessa, but I don't know about you I'm sure we've seen Giles deal with worse than that before without getting violent...it was like he'd turned into a different person, one minute he was sweet chatty Giles and the next he was the Incredible Hulk.'

'So who threw the first punch? Because I'm afraid that's going to be all that matters here,' said Carla grimly.

'Well technically that was Giles, but honestly Carla that idiot was asking for it...' Tracy broke off as Giles, being led by two policemen, walked past the door and out into the waiting car outside. They were followed by a very distressed Vanessa, she glanced at Tracy as she went passed and Tracy barely held back a gasp, that was definitely the same desperate face that she had seen on the common. 'Oh my god Carla that was definitely her...you know the girl on the common I'd recognise that haunted look anywhere.'

'Tracy I want you to promise me that you won't mention the woman on the common to anyone, ok? We have got a very real, very nasty murderer on our hands and I for one think that he is still here in our village, so until he is caught you keep schtum comprende?'

'Ok ok I won't shout my mouth off, but promise me you will look into it Carla because I'm beginning to think that there is something really weird happening in our village,' said Tracy welling up again.

Carla gave Tracy a hug and then made her way upstairs to the little flat above the pub that Giles shared with Vanessa, to try and calm down the furious knob and his chavy girlfriend!

Tracy didn't feel like staying on at the pub, so she wandered home.

Buster, sensing that she was feeling low, in a way only a dog can, nuzzled her hand as she came in, and snuggled right up next to her on the couch his head on her lap, occasionally giving her looks of support.

'Thank goodness for you Buster,' said Tracy tearfully as she gave into another bout of sobbing, so much so that she almost didn't hear the door bell, but Buster did and ran out to bark at any potential intruders.

Simon was standing on the doorstep looking a bit embarrassed.

'Look Tracy I'm sorry I left the pub like I did, I know it was childish but I got it into my head that you were ashamed to be seen with me in front of your friend, obviously now I've had a chance to think about it I realise that you couldn't possibly be, so I thought I'd come and see if you fancied coming out with me one night...I mean like a date...or not a date if that's rushing things, maybe just a friendly night out with a co-worker...or something?'

Tracy smiled up at him (it was a long way up) and said shyly, 'Something sounds great to me, do you want to come in for a coffee?'

'Er...no I don't think I will, your dog looks like he's already decided I'm up to no good, so I'll see you in school tomorrow and we'll arrange an evening...ok?'

Sure enough Buster did seem to have taken exception to Simon, and was growling softly at him, 'Buster! Stop that...oh no I think he's jealous stupid dog...as if anyone could take your place my little plumptious.'

Seeing that Tracy had descended into soppy baby talk, Simon though it prudent to take his leave, 'Well, see you tomorrow Tracy...I like your jumper by the way...bye.'

'Bye,' called Tracy mystified by his last comment, until she looked in the mirror and realised that the old jumper she had grabbed at random out of her enormous ironing pile when she had come home, was one she'd bought to wear to a girlfriends hen do, it was bright pink with the logo for a tequila joint on it and the words 'LIQUER IN THE FRONT & POKER IN THE REAR' written in very large letters!

# CHAPTER 34 - CARLA

Carla made her way up the back stairs of the pub into the stylish flat above. It was the first time she had been up here and she could see that Giles and Vanessa had spared no expense kitting out the place. Off a small landing was a kitchen to her left, where Carla could see the paramedics patching up the injured man, and a living room straight ahead, where judging from the language coming from it, the girlfriend Chelsea was being questioned about the attack. Carla went into the living room and looked round admiringly, they had certainly done a good job in here, the room was decorated in creams and beige, the wooden floor was covered with a beautiful thick yellow and saffron coloured Indian rug which matched the curtains at the huge bay windows. On the walls were tasteful canvases all in the same muted colours, and the window sills were covered with photos of Giles and Vanessa's many glamorous holidays.

Chelsea was sitting on one of the plush cream sofa's still shouting at the policewoman who was trying to interview her.

'That's what I'm trying to tell you, he just went for him, and all Sean was trying to do was complain about the meal, he hadn't liked it, his steak was still a bit bloody, you know some people don't like it like that do they? I actually like mine very bloody so I wasn't fussed but Sean said at those fucking prices the steak should be cooked at least, so he goes off on one to that snotty cow, that Vanessa, when all of a sudden the old bloke comes rushing over and starts punching him. Sean goes down but the other bugger he doesn't stop does he, he just carries on punching him when he's lying on the fucking floor...I mean can you believe it, what a fucking nutter...anyway Vanessa, that snotty bitch she pulls him off eventually and I called you lot...is Sean ok can I go and see him now?'

'I wonder if I can just ask you a couple of questions...um Chelsea is it?' said Carla moving over to the sofa opposite Chelsea.

'Can you remember exactly what was said in the argument with Mrs Poole...Vanessa?'

'No not really...Sean just said he wasn't going to pay and she...Mrs Poole said that was ok but then she made out that he'd already eaten most of the steak, so Sean he went off on one didn't he, calling her a snotty cow, which she is, always looking down her nose at me as if I'm rubbish...'

'I'm sorry, er... have you had arguments before with Mrs Poole, do you know her?'

'Used to work for her, when they first set up the restaurant, but I couldn't put up with the way she likes to be the queen bee all over the place...she really thinks she's something special and he, that Giles, he's all over her, anything she wants she gets...she talks to him like he's shit but he still grovels round her...it's pathetic and he's so much older, I think it's a bit weird myself.'

'So you can't remember anything specific that Sean might have said that would trigger an attack?'

'Well he was pretty angry by that time, I mean she was almost calling him a liar...saying it was funny how he'd managed to eat most of his steak if it was so disgusting, so he...um Sean that is, he may have said a couple of nasty things back to her...I mean she deserved all she got..snotty cow...looking like she's so superior, when I know for a fact that she used to be hooker before she got her claws into money bags Giles of course.'

'Really? How exactly do you know that, Chelsea?'

'Well when I say I know for a fact, what I mean is that it was the talk of the kitchens, and there's no smoke without fire is there? I mean look at 'im, that Giles, 'es not exactly Brad Pitt is 'e, and she Vanessa...well she's a bit of a looker isn't she, what's she doing with 'im, if not for the money, that's all I meant, obviously I don't know for sure...but come on it makes sense don't it?'

'Was that the sort of thing Sean was saying to her, is that what upset Giles so much?'

'No, 'e never mentioned that...he was just calling Giles an old codger...you know saying how Vanessa must think she's fucking 'er dad...that sort of stuff.'

'Oh I see...just that sort of stuff...ok Chelsea thanks for your help; I'll just check on how Sean's doing, I expect you'll be able to go home soon.'

Carla stood to go into the kitchen when one of the pictures on the window sill behind Chelsea caught her eye, it was of Vanessa and she was laughing and putting two fingers up to the camera... the likeness to Louise was uncanny, she put a hand to her aching temples...there were just so many things coming at her from different angles like a great big jigsaw puzzle, how the hell was she going to fit all the pieces together?

Once the paramedics had finished bandaging up Sean, Carla sent both he and Chelsea home with a promise that she would be in touch and went back to the station to speak to Giles and Vanessa.

Vanessa was waiting in the station's reception area and she pounced on Carla as soon as she saw her.

'Oh thank god Carla can I see him please, they won't let me in with him.'

'I'm sorry love but you'll just have to be patient, I'm going to talk to him now and hopefully he'll be out soon ok?'

She looked anything but satisfied but sat back down resignedly. Carla went through to the interview rooms where Giles was being held, he looked small and old, nothing like the usual bluff good natured Giles that Carla was used to.

'Are you being looked after ok, would you like a coffee?' she asked as she walked in. Giles raised red rimmed eyes. 'I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me, is he alright, that lad, do you know Carla, have you seen him?'

'Oh he'll be fine...it's you I'm worried about Giles, what possessed you to go wading in like that, I've seen you deal with some right hard nuts, but you've never used violence before, what was different about this time...Tracy said he was saying some pretty nasty stuff to Vanessa, was that it?'

'He was out of order, some of the stuff he said, it was disgusting, shouldn't speak to a lady like that, little prick.' Giles was obviously getting angry again.

'Well I'm afraid he's going to press charges against you, and if what we have been told by the other diners is true, you don't have much of a defence sweetheart I'm afraid,' said Carla putting her hand on Giles's shoulder in sympathy. 'No matter how rude he was you shouldn't have hit him...this is so out of character Giles, is there something going on with you that you need to talk about...is everything ok between you and Vanessa...I couldn't help but notice that Vanessa has been looking a bit stressed lately...'

'We're fine,' Giles interrupted sitting up straighter. 'Vanessa's been a bit tired lately that's all, and I suppose I just got a bit too macho in my defence of her tonight that's all...what happens now, to me I mean?'

'Oh well you will be charged with assault and given bail until the hearing I expect, then it's up to the magistrate to decide...you've never done anything like this before so hopefully they won't be too hard on you...but I'm afraid you'll have to stay here tonight and see the magistrate first thing in the morning for your bail hearing.'

'Can I see Vanessa, is she here?'

'Yes she's still here but you won't be able to see her tonight I'm afraid...don't worry I'll make sure she gets home ok.'

Carla gave Giles a hug and went back down to the reception to speak to Vanessa, 'What's happening? It's been hours, how is he?' Carla waited until Vanessa took a breath.

'He's fine, don't worry. He'll have to stay here tonight so there's no point in you sitting here any longer; I promised Giles I would take you home.'

Vanessa stood up angrily and started pacing the room, 'Why is he staying here? You can't possibly be arresting him, you should have heard how that vulgar little toad spoke to me, Giles was just standing up for me. This is all wrong it's that ghastly little pleb that should be arrested... he threw his plate on the floor, surely that's provocation enough?'

Carla waited for her to stop before she said, 'Vanessa, Giles punched him in the face until he bled, and according to witnesses he carried on punching him after he was on the floor, that is assault, and that's what he is being charged with.' Vanessa groaned. 'Don't worry he'll get bail, he'll be home by the morning probably. Come on let's get you home you look shattered.'

She led Vanessa out to her car. She looked completely shell shocked as if it had never occurred to her that Giles would be charged. They drove in silence for a while then Carla said, 'Where did you live before coming to Kenley, I think I heard Giles talking about Ashford, is that in Kent?'

'Yes that where Giles and I met, I was working for him, um as his P.A., when he asked me out one day, he was always so kind and gentle, not like those others so I said yes and the rest as they say is history.'

'Which others? You said not like those others who did you mean?'

Vanessa looked startled, 'Did I? Oh you know men in general...I mean they're all just a lower form of life when all's said and done aren't they?' she looked at Carla expecting an answer, Carla gave her a tight smile and said, 'Well you got lucky with Giles then didn't you, I mean apart from tonight I don't think I've ever heard him say a nasty word to anyone...that's what's got me in a puzzle about tonight, what on earth did that man say that got Giles so mad, he said it was disgusting, what was it Vanessa can you remember?'

'Sorry no,' said Vanessa in a bored voice 'it's all a blur to me...I know he was teasing Giles about being old, maybe it was that...stupid man, what on earth was he thinking, goodness knows what this will do to trade when it gets out.'

'Oh I shouldn't worry about that, it'll probably go through the roof, you know what people are like they love a good scandal...so where did you live before Ashford, or were you brought up there?'

Vanessa looked at Carla, 'What are you asking about that for, it's not me that's been arrested is it?'

'No of course not, I'm just interested that's all, what made you choose Kenley, do you have relatives near here...apart from your dad of course, must be nice having him so close.' Vanessa stiffened, 'Who told you my Dad was close by?' she asked sharply.

'Well it's not a secret is it, as it happens a friend of mine knows one of the staff at Happy Valley, she mentioned that your dad was a resident there.'

Vanessa threw her hands into the air in disgust.

'Fucking hell this is why I hate this village,' she said practically spitting the words. 'Small town gossip and interference, what business is it of anybody's where my father lives...I told Giles I wanted to go abroad, but no he wanted a little village pub, now look what's happened, he's in jail and I'm...' she stopped suddenly as if she realised that she was talking too freely.

'You're what Vanessa?' prompted Carla.

'Oh nothing, sorry I'm just stressed to the max, truth is I don't like talking about my Dad, we don't get on.'

'Oh that's a shame...why's that then?' said Carla pushing her again.

'For god's sake! What's with all the questions, I just can't stand him ok, he was a total bastard to my Mum, drove her to her death if you must know...' she turned and looked at Carla. 'My Mum put up with that bastard for 20 years...she was a beauty when she met him but by the time she died she was a shrivelled up old lady. Why do we women do it Carla, let men grind us down...sometimes I feel as if I'm beaten, life has taken everything from me, my youth, my family and just when I start to believe that I can have a life, something good and bright, life just comes along and pisses all over me again...' she put her head in her hands.

Carla felt a bit sorry for pushing so hard, she put a hand on her shoulder.

'Try not to worry too much Vanessa, yes, Giles has been charged and I'm not going to pretend that the charge of assault isn't serious, but he's never done anything like this before and as I said it's completely out of character, so I'm sure they won't be too hard on him.'

Vanessa looked at her in bewilderment for a moment, 'Oh Giles...yes...er thank you Carla, that's very reassuring.'

'It was Giles you were talking about wasn't it? There's nothing else that's bothering you?'

'No of course I'm worried sick about Giles...if you must know all this talking just made me miss my Mum.'

'Oh I'm sorry, when did she die, recently?' Carla asked sympathetically. Vanessa shook her head, 'No a while ago now, but you can see why I don't talk to my Dad or see him, I hope I never have to see him again as long as I live.'

Carla drove in silence for a couple of minutes, then she said, 'He didn't marry again then, after your mum died, sometimes that can be the cause of a lot of hurt and anger.'

Vanessa smirked. 'No...ha, ha...no one would have him he's so horrible, that's why my Mum always refused to marry him, because he was such a nasty bastard.'

'So your parents were never married then?'

'No it was the one thing he couldn't force her to do, although she never told anyone, she was too ashamed what with it being a sin and all that, but it was like she was letting him know that he couldn't always have what he wanted. Didn't stop him from trying to persuade her though, he tried time and time again, vile old man.'

It suddenly became apparent that Vanessa had decided that she had said enough, they had been sitting outside the pub for about 15 minutes, she opened the door.

'Thanks for the lift Carla, I expect I'll see you soon,' and with that she closed the door and walked into the pub without a backward glance.

Carla sat for a while trying to digest the information that she had just been given. She was now convinced that Vanessa was Louise's long lost mum, and as such was the person that she had been coming to meet in Kenley, she now knew that Vanessa's maiden name could have been that of her mother, not her father Derek Styles, she made a note to find out Vanessa's mother's name first thing in the morning, and she knew that Vanessa had a deep seeded hatred for her father...for the first time in this investigation Carla began to think she could see light at the end of the tunnel.

# CHAPTER 35 - MAGGIE

'Stop arguing you silly cow, it's about time I gave you a lift for once, and I promised myself that I would drink less this week so you'll be helping me ok?'

'Ok,' said Carla on the other end of the phone, 'but you may have to pick me up from the station, it's not looking like I'm going to be out of here anytime soon.'

'That's fine honey, just text me a time and I will be there, got to go now though sweety, I can smell something burning and I've got an awful feeling it's the boys dinner...see ya later...bye.'

Maggie rushed into the kitchen to see plumes of smoke coming out of the oven.

'Shit, oh my god...shit...ow that burns,' she grabbed the tray of very unappetizing black bits of charcoal that had formally been chicken kievs and almost threw it onto the side, 'damn now I'll have to start all over again,' she said opening the freezer and peering in to see what else she could rustle up in 20 minutes.

She opened the windows to try and get rid of the burning smell before the boys came in and caught her burning the dinner yet again...it was the second time this week, the last time she had dozed off after downing half a bottle of white wine (she'd had a pig of a day at work), and woken up to find the kitchen full of smoke and two pizzas on fire in the oven, she really must start getting a grip, she could feel herself sliding back into the abyss again and she had sworn that she would never do that to herself or her family again.

Tonight's disaster had been a bit different she had just got caught up in a conversation with Carla, but the boys weren't to know that, and she didn't want to scare them.

In the years that followed her marriage breakup, Maggie had hit rock bottom, she had started drinking heavily and had turned into a person that even she couldn't recognise, it was only after Carla had made her go and speak to a counsellor that she had got herself back on track, and she had been good now for a few years, but sometimes if she forgot to do something or got a little bit too merry, she could see the fear in the boys eyes. 'Never again,' she vowed to herself.

Having successfully cooked two more Chicken Kievs and made a salad to go with them, Maggie went upstairs to get changed, she heard the boys come in a few minutes later and from the sounds of it Jools was with them.

'Hello you gorgeous pair,' she said coming into the kitchen half an hour later; she gave them both a quick kiss. 'And you too of course Jools my darling, you're looking as lovely as ever, how is your mum?' Jools' mum had recently been in hospital with pneumonia.

'Oh she's fine thank you Maggie, she loved the flowers by the way, asked me to thank you for them.'

'No worries sweetheart, I hope you are all making sure she does nothing! I remember having pneumonia myself and believe me it makes you as weak as a kitten.'

'Well we are trying but she is the most stubborn woman, every time we turn our backs she's whipping up a roast dinner or cleaning the toilets, it's driving us demented I can tell you.'

Maggie laughed, 'Oh poor thing she's probably bored to tears, do you think she'd be up to a visit, maybe I can cheer her up.'

'I'm sure she'd love that, thanks Maggie,' said Jools with a smile.

Maggie nodded, 'I'll make sure I remember. How's work, we were talking about you last week at the cauldron, as it happens, well not you exactly but that nasty old man you look after...Vanessa's dad...'

'Oh I haven't seen him for a while actually, I think he's gone to stay with his daughter for a couple of weeks...not Vanessa obviously the other one, um..., Faye I think she's called, he went off in a taxi she'd sent last week some time...it's so nice not having him around actually although I know that sounds mean but he really is hard work.'

'What you mean is that he's a ghastly old bastard who never has a nice word to say about anyone, and who purves after all the young nurses,' said Jed coming up and giving Jools a squeeze, 'only you're too nice to say that aren't you sweety?'

Jools gave him a playful slap, 'Well sometimes I feel sorry for him, I mean it must be awful to know that your family don't want to see you mustn't it?'

'Well it seems at least one member of his family want to see him,' called Maggie from the hall mirror, where she was fixing her lippy, 'this Faye woman, so he can't be all bad.'

'No but it's all a bit strange actually,' said Jools following her out, 'I mean nobody has visited him ever since I've worked there and then all of a sudden there's this granddaughter who turns up out of the blue, and he refuses to have anything to do with her...got quite violent about it actually...and then he's telling me that his younger daughter Faye, who I've never heard him mention before, is collecting him and he's going to stay with her for a couple of weeks, still he seemed happier than I've ever seen him when he went off in the taxi, I love that shade on you Maggs, makes your lips look well sexy.'

'It's called 'Pink Plumpalicious,' I found it in the desperate old ladies range...cost a fortune.'

'Yeh right...as if, well I hope I'm as desperate as you when I'm your age that's all I can say,' said Jools laughing.

Maggie's phone trilled. 'Oh that'll be Carla, I said I would pick her up this week, got to go...have a good evening, your three dinners are in the oven,' and with that she whizzed out of the front door.

Carla was waiting outside the station and she waved at Maggie, who pulled over to let her in.

'Oh my god this car seems to be getting higher and higher,' grumbled Carla as she climbed into the enormous 4x4, and settled herself down in the plush soft leather seat.

'You are just getting old my darling,' said Maggie with a smile. 'How's life babe, you any further on with this murder case...I heard it was that little purve Richard Frampton, a real live paedo living in our village, talk about scandal.'

'Well whatever you've heard, nobody's been charged and between you and me no one is likely to be anytime soon...I just can't get to grips with this one Maggs, I've got a good idea what it is all about and I've got a good idea who the main players are, but I can't prove a thing...although I think I'm getting closer to one or other of them breaking...but of course you can't say any of this to anyone...at all ok?'

'It would be impossible to say anything even if I wanted to sweety because I didn't understand a word of what you just said,' said Maggie laughing at Carla's worried expression.

'Good, good it's much safer that way. Anyway let's change the subject, how are you Maggs, had a good week? How did Helen's date go, she text me in raptures over this Mike chap...what do you think?'

'Oh he's gorgeous alright, I got a good look at him myself actually,' she laughed at Carla's raised eyebrows... 'No I'm not out to steal my friends conquests, I just ended up driving her to and from her date so I have inside information so to speak.' She went on to tell Carla the whole story in a way that had Carla helpless with laughter. 'Thank goodness you drove her, sounds like she would have backed out otherwise...although I can't help feeling very worried about the silly cow, I don't think for a minute she's ready to give up on Will...I know, I know the man's a slime ball, but he is her slime ball and they've been through such a lot together what with the IVF thing and finding out that she had no chance of carrying a baby, and when all's said and done he has stood by her, and I think the bottom line is she is still very much in love with him.'

'Well he had better watch out, because from what I witnessed the other evening, he has a rival, and a very delectable one as well, so the sooner he starts remembering who he's married to the better,' said Maggie with feeling.

Carla winced as Maggie almost did a handbrake turn into a tiny space in the car park. The Bull seemed quieter tonight despite being busy, people were talking in hushed tones and a very subdued Vanessa was serving behind the bar, she acknowledged the two women with a curt nod as they went past.

'Don't think you're going to get away without blow by blow details of that little incident either my darling,' hissed Maggie, 'Poor darling Giles, how is he doing?'

'Well he was charged this morning and granted bail until his trial in May sometime I think, he looked like a shattered man though...I still can't understand it myself, it just seems so out of character...oh there's Helen...and Tracy, blimey we must be late.' Carla waved at the two girls and fought her way over to the table.

Tracy was obviously in full flow, she waved a hand when she saw them. 'I've just been filling Helen in on the drama in here last night, poor Giles he was so upset, and that awful man, I don't care what you say Carla he deserved what he got, he was so nasty to Vanessa, and even if she is a snobby cow, she didn't deserve that, good on Giles for standing up for her I say.'

'I haven't said a word,' said Carla defensively, 'now if you were to ask me, Carla, your friend, what I thought I would agree with you, but as a copper I'm afraid I have to say Giles was a stupid fool last night, what he did on the spur of the moment will affect him for the rest of his life...anyway enough of that, I want to hear every smutty little detail of your date Helen, you didn't say much in your text only how much you liked him, so come on love details.'

Helen smiled shyly, 'He was just sooo lovely, very tall and a wonderful smile and we just didn't seem to be able to stop talking, the evening went so fast...'

'But has he asked you out again?' interrupted Maggie.

'Oh give the poor man a chance,' said Tracy, 'it was only last night for goodness sake,' she turned to Helen, 'Don't worry if you don't hear from him for a couple of days Hels, men like to think they're in control so they keep you waiting.'

'Well actually Tracy he has asked to see me again next Wednesday, and I told him about my canvas unveiling and he's going to try and make it for that as well, although I won't be able to speak to him much there but it will be lovely knowing he's in the crowd.'

'Blimey that's a bit dangerous isn't it, what about Will, might be a bit awkward Helen love,' said Maggie.

'Oh Wills is not coming,' said Helen with an unconcerned wave of her hand, 'got a conference in Eastbourne or something I really wasn't paying attention so it's fine if Mike comes, although I will have to treat him like a stranger, but that will be fun, and he's going to take me out to dinner afterwards.' Helen sounded so sure and brave but Carla could see that she was struggling, she wasn't really cut out for intrigue and deception, she felt worried for her friend and made a promise to herself to have a quiet word with her soon.

The evening progressed as it always did, the four women chatting ten to the dozen sometimes all at once it seemed, it was a miracle that anyone understood anything that was said. Later Carla went up to the bar to get another round in; Vanessa gave her a guarded smile.

'I think I owe you an apology,' she said and at Carla's raised eyebrows, 'for going on about my stupid family problems last night, you must have been bored silly...I was just feeling a bit emotional.' Vanessa seemed to be very embarrassed by the previous night's confidences; maybe she saw it as a sign of weakness.

Carla tried to reassure her, 'That's not at all surprising given the circumstances, besides, I was the one asking you the questions, I'm sorry if I got a bit personal, habit I suppose. How's Giles holding up? I haven't seen him in here tonight.'

'No and you won't for a while either, I've told him to stay upstairs for the moment, just until it's all died down you know, don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves than we already have...um what with the assault charge and everything...these drinks are on the house Carla, just as a way of apologising for my droning on last night.'

'Oh really that's not necessary,' protested Carla, but Vanessa held up her hand.

'No I insist...you mustn't take any notice of the stuff I said last night...you know about my Dad etc. I was just letting off steam, you know what it's like it all builds up inside you and then it bursts forth like a dam bursting, it was all rubbish anyway.'

Carla took a sip of her drink.

'Well I have noticed that you've been quite tense lately Vanessa. I was wondering if I could come and have a quiet word with you soon anyway, to do with my investigations into the death of the young girl in Glory Woods...er nothing to worry about I've been asking everyone in the village, I just need to establish your whereabouts at about the time of her murder, routine stuff like that...um would tomorrow after the picture unveiling be ok with you?'

Vanessa looked like she had turned to stone. 'But how can I help with that, I don't understand why would you need to question me?'

'Oh it's not just you,' said Carla as she struggled to pick up all four drinks, 'as I said I've been asking most of the village residents the same questions, and of course as landlady of the pub you might have seen her before she was killed, without you realising it. We've got a recent photo of the girl now so you might just remember seeing her, it would help us to piece together her movements in the village, help us to understand why she was here. I'll tell you more tomorrow...thanks for the drinks though, that's very kind of you.' Without giving Vanessa a chance to answer her Carla made her precarious way back over to where the girls were having what looked like a heated discussion.

'Oh Carla, the voice of reason thank goodness you've come back,' Helen pounced on her before she had even sat down, 'Will you tell these two drunken idiots that it is not a good idea to get some man to phone Wills and ask for me...they seem to think it will somehow shock him into giving up Miss slack knickers, and bring him home begging for forgiveness.'

'Oh Helen love I think you should think very carefully about all of this... I mean Mike sounds lovely, but do you really want the fall out that this could bring? If you really want my advice I would talk to Wills...confront him, find out what his position is in all this, then you can make an informed choice about what you want to do, who you want to be with...I know that's not as much fun as cutting his balls off but...well I think you are still in love with the man.'

'Bloody hell Carla you are such a kill joy, just because you ended up with the man of your dreams,' interjected Maggie.

'I'm sorry I just think it's too serious to be playing games that's all...now should Wills decide that he's going to dump our Helen and take up long term with 'Sarah Skirtsoverherhead', then he's fair game and we can all help Helen to be as creative in her revenge (as long as it's legal) as she wants.'

A big cheer went up for this plan and the night went downhill from there, with more and more violent and ridiculous plans for Wills downfall.

Maggie didn't get in till about one which was unusual for a cauldron meeting, but somehow the girls had needed each other this evening and had been loath to call it a night. Just as she was getting into bed her phone rang, 'Hello' she said in a sleepy voice.

'Well hello to you too,' came back the unmistakably smooth drawl of Charles, Maggie smiled a smug smile.

'Oh so you're back on this side of the pond are you, how was your trip?' she said squirming on the cool sheets, honestly what was it about this man that made her feel wet with anticipation just by hearing his voice.

'Very successful actually, but that's not important, what is important is...what are you wearing right at this moment, and can I come over and take it off you?'

'Well you can try...but these burkas are notoriously hard to remove you know.'

Charles laughed sexily, 'Not if you've got a scouts knife they're not...and I'm always prepared, see you in ten minutes.'

Maggie could hardly repress a squeal of delight...Charles had phoned at last, and she hadn't even had to beg!

# CHAPTER 36 - _1996_

She lay on the thin makeshift bed and pulled her legs up to her chest to try and alleviate the pains that were coming over and over again. The blankets underneath her were wet through with gunk and blood, she had lost track of how long she had been heaving and sweating as this thing forced its way out of her body.

There was nothing wonderful about giving birth, she had read all the magazines she could find to try and prepare herself for this, but none of them mentioned the smell and the muck. None of them had prepared her for the sheer terror she was now feeling as she grunted and groaned in the dark of the old abandoned porta cabin that she had broken into a few days earlier just for this event.

Wave after wave of excruciating pain leaving her breathless and weak...it was all too much, this would kill her for sure. She would never see Mum again, or Faye, never go home and live her normal life again all because of him, that animal. Now as each pain came her hatred for him grew until she was screaming out against him...screaming her fury and frustration...sobbing and screaming for all the times he had used her, made her feel worthless, a piece of shit on his shoe. She had wanted his love...a father's love...the screams got louder, the language cruder.

'Fucking bastard...fucking bastard...fucking pervert...fucking perverted bastard!'

One more desperate pain...pushing, pushing.

'FUCKING BASTARD...AAAARRRRGGGHH.'

And there it is; red and slimy, gulping and spurting until it let out a congested wail which made it turn even redder.

She looked at it for a while; it was an ugly little thing, not at all like the pink and white little dolls in the magazines...another pain. Oh god surely there's not another one in there, another push and it looks like half her insides slide out along with another rush of blood. She knew what this was; it was attached to the baby. She was at a loss to know what to do with it though so she decided to put it in the bag along with the baby.

Serious little eyes looking up at her, she felt a tugging coming from somewhere around her heart, time to clean up and get back, she needs to be there to take the kids to school.

'And then I can go home,' she said out loud.

Then the tears start, heavy and hot... hysterical...uncontrollable.

Goodbye little one.

At last I can go home...I'm coming home Mum.

# CHAPTER 37 - HELEN

Helen watched Wills as he lay sleeping beside her. How could that peaceful beloved face belong to the same man that was cheating and deceiving her?

They had met when they were still kids really, she had been sixteen to his eighteen, and they had been friends first. Wills had been a brother of one of her college friends and he had tagged along with them whenever they went out anywhere and Helen began to enjoy his company more and more. He had the same dry sense of humour and he would join in with any discussion that the girls were having, even topics that most men would shy away from, it wasn't long before Helen was thinking of Wills in a romantic way, and it seemed like a dream come true when she realised that he was looking at her in the same way. They dated for a couple of years before Wills proposed, 'the happiest day of my life,' thought Helen...'what's gone wrong...why am I not enough for you anymore?'

They had had some tough times; she would be the first to admit that. A few years after trying to conceive they had found out that Will had a low sperm count and having a child was going to be difficult, so they had decided to try I.V.F, which had not only cost them a fortune but had taken its toll on them emotionally as well. Helen had been happy to do the daily injections and had put up with all the various side effects that the hormones produced because she was convinced that the end result would be a beautiful baby boy or girl that would complete their family. In fact the whole procedure only resulted in more heartbreak every time it failed. They had tried three times before they had to admit defeat and she had to acknowledge that a gulf had opened up between them which they had found hard to bridge...but that was years ago and Helen had been sure that they were back on track again...obviously not, she felt the tears welling up yet again, 'not again you stupid woman, get a grip.' She looked at the clock beside the bed, 5.56 she may as well get up, she wasn't sleeping anyway. Very carefully, so as not to wake Wills, she edged out of the bed and made her way downstairs. After switching on the kettle Helen wandered into the conservatory where the canvas for the hall was being kept. Reverend Sinclair was picking it up at about 10 this morning, and the 'official unveiling' was taking place this afternoon.

Helen studied her work, it was definitely one of her best she thought with a satisfied smile, the colours of the trees in all their autumn glory, and the sun shining through the branches had all been captured beautifully, it helped that it was such a special part of the Glory Woods, one of her favourite places...of course that had all been tainted recently as it was very close to the spot where that girl had been found, she hadn't walked there for a while now, not since the day that she had been out taking pictures for this very canvas, it hadn't felt right, at least not until they found her killer.'

'What are you doing up so early?' Helen nearly jumped out of her skin as Will came up behind her, 'I heard someone creeping around down here I thought we had burglars.'

'Oh I couldn't sleep, worrying about today I suppose...do you want some tea? Kettle's just boiled.' Will shook his head.

'No thanks, I think I'll just jump into the shower and head off early, got to be in Eastbourne by 10. Listen Hels, I'm really sorry I can't be there today, I tried to persuade David to put off this meeting, but he was adamant I'm afraid...I will be thinking of you though...it is a wonderful painting, you are very talented you know, I've always said so...well done darling.' He bent down and kissed Helen's cheek, before he went out of the room a couple of minutes later Helen heard the sounds of the shower. She felt drained of all emotion...she knew she had lost him.

Reverend Sinclair turned up on time and very carefully transferred the huge canvas to his van. Helen had about two hours to kill before she needed to get glammed up for the unveiling; she decided to go through her photos and pick one for her next project. She had always preferred this way of working rather than sitting outside with an enormous easel and a huge bag of paints to lug around. She waited until the weather and the light conditions were just right and then she would go and snap as many shots as she could to make sure that she had at least one good view that she could then transfer onto canvas. Her paintings were by no means a carbon copy of the photo, she tried to simplify the image, concentrating on the colours and the light, ending up with an almost childlike rendition. Helen had no illusions about her work...she was no Picasso, but more and more people seemed to be liking her simple style, and she had noticed an increase in the number of commissions that she was being asked to do, hopefully this afternoon would help that along.

She started flicking through the photos that were on her desk, they were mostly the ones that she had taken for the canvas she had just done, the images were beautiful and she couldn't help but go through them again...suddenly something in one of the photos caught her eye, something she hadn't noticed before...just to the left of shot there seemed to be what looked like a human form in between the trees, a dark shadowy figure...it looked like a man but it was too indistinct to see clearly. She took down her magnifying glass to see if that helped but the image was no more than a dark shape behind the branches, she went through a few of the other pictures to see if he appeared anywhere else, but it was just in that one, which ironically was the one that Helen had used for the canvas. She shivered he must have been there while she had been taking the pictures, how long had he been watching her, she had been there for at least an hour... she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise...that would have been about six or seven weeks ago...just about the time that someone had brutally murdered a young girl...right there in that spot. 'Oh for god's sake Helen, stop freaking yourself out, it was probably just some innocent walker who came across you and didn't want to disturb you, pull yourself together,' she admonished herself, but she decided to mention it to Carla when she saw her later, couldn't do any harm, so she set the photo to one side and put the rest of the photos away in the drawer, getting out another bundle, this time of the beach at West Wittering...her next canvas.

By the time that Maggie came to collect her for the unveiling, Helen had once again worked herself up into a state of panic. Maggie sat her down with a cup of tea, Helen having resolutely refused anything stronger, and tried to talk her down. Half an hour later they were on their way and Helen was supremely calm thanks to the half a sedative that Maggie had slipped into her tea.

The community hall was full to the rafters with tweed skirts and cardigans, the W.I. were determined that the village should know who was responsible for raising the money to brighten the rather drab 1970's building, and Hester Binworthy, (a leading light in the W.I. locally) had been drafted in to make a speech. She came bounding up to Helen as soon as she spotted her.

'My dear the canvas is simply marvellous! And Reverend Sinclair, tells me that you had a hand in the flowers decorating the hall as well, how super...I don't suppose we could persuade you to do a couple of talks at our local meetings, you know about your painting um...what gives you inspiration etc...I know our members would be so interested,' she looked at Helen expectantly.

'Er...yes I'm sure...' said Helen distractedly, she'd been rather put off by the fox fur that was wrapped round Ms Binworthy's neck, it seemed to be looking straight at her...Helen gave herself a mental shake. 'That would be lovely Ms Binworthy, the W.I. do such good work in our little community.'

Ms Binworthy gave her a wide smile and a promise to call her and then went off to try and drum up some more of the locals; Helen had to smother a laugh when she saw that Carla and Maggie had been caught.

She scanned the room in search of Mike, he didn't seem to have arrived yet, but she saw Tracy frantically waving and blowing kisses at her, she smiled and blew one back. There were lots of familiar faces in the crowd looking at her when she took her place on the little stage at the end of the hall, she could see all the witches of course, but she was touched and surprised to see that James had come, and so too had Dom and Jed. Even more surprising was that she had spotted Giles and Vanessa sitting near the back of the hall, although she knew that Vanessa was a W.I. member so maybe it wasn't so unusual.

Reverend Sinclair got the proceedings underway, talking about benefits of having a community hall, for socialising getting their community together etc, especially now at this troubled time, when something so evil had invaded the tranquillity of our little community. And then about the good that the W.I. did in their village, and how hard they had worked to raise the money to pay for the beautiful canvas which would not only brighten up their hall, but remind them all of the beauty that surrounded them. And finally he introduced Ms Binworthy who was going to do the unveiling.

Ms Binworthy was almost beside herself with pride as she started her speech about the benefits of a W.I. in a village and then she started spouting on about the history of the organisation. Helen lost interest after a while, and so too did a lot of the audience who began shuffling their feet, most of them were only here for the free tea and cakes anyway. A distraction was made when the door at the back of the hall suddenly opened and Mike with an apologetic look at the speaker slipped into a seat in the back row, he saw Helen smiling at him and gave her a shy little wave.

'And now it's my great pleasure to introduce you to the very talented artist who is responsible for this wonderful canvas... Helen Drover...er... HELEN DROVER...'

Helen jumped up out of her seat, she had been miles away, she could hear stifled giggles from the crowd most notably coming from Tracy who had her hands over her mouth.

'Thank you Ms Binworthy for that lovely introduction...I feel very honoured to have been asked by the parish council and the W.I. to produce this canvas. The brief that I was given was to be an area of outstanding natural beauty, so I went out with my camera a few weeks ago and started taking pictures of all the most beautiful sights, and views that I could think of, the stream near Knowle bridge, the view from the hills overlooking the village, the windmill near Blindley heath, but always in the back of my mind I knew the place that I would eventually paint...because it has always been a favourite place of mine and I know it's a favourite for a lot of you too. The Glory Woods are a joy season by season, watching the trees come into bud in the spring, bluebells carpeting the ground, white blossom on the hawthorns, the amazing array of green shades as the leaves fill out the bare trees, making safe hiding places for nesting birds and squirrels, the glory of summer when the sun shines through the gaps in the bright green beech trees, showering the earth with mottled light, the blackbirds singing their summer song. And then Autumn, my favourite season, the crowning glory, when the trees put on their jewelled robes of red and yellow, and shiny conkers fall onto a golden carpet beneath the trees...so there was no other choice for me, it had to be the Glory Woods in autumn, I hope you love it as much as I do...um thank you.'

There was an embarrassing amount of clapping and whistling when Helen sat down, mainly coming from the witches, Ms Binworthy sent a stern look around the hall and eventually the noise subsided.

'Thank you Helen for that er...poetic speech...now all that's left for me to do is to ask the Reverend Sinclair if he will take the other end of the curtain so that we can all see this beautiful work...Reverend.'

The Reverend and Ms Binworthy took up the ropes on either side of the curtain which had been hiding the canvas and pulled, the curtain dropped away and the painting was revealed, there were plenty of ironic ooos and arrrhs, and then some clapping and shouts of 'well done Helen' and 'isn't it lovely, that's where I walk my dog you know,' but once the clapping had died down there was an audible gasp of horror and a commotion at the back of the hall as Vanessa, who had been staring at the canvas with a look of horror on her face, fell to the floor in a dead faint!

# CHAPTER 38 - TRACY

As it was Saturday, Tracy ignored Buster's pestering and tried to stay under the covers for as long as she could. She had hardly slept last night thinking about the evening and especially about Simon and his proposed 'date', she had eventually had to admit to herself that she fancied him like mad, and after weighing up all that had happened between the two of them just lately, she rather thought he might fancy her too, so why was she feeling so hesitant about taking this thing any further?

She had come to the conclusion that it was because he wasn't staying in the village for long, in fact his time at the school had finished yesterday, so if she did meet up with him and they really fell for each other, it would end up being a long distance relationship, which wasn't ideal, but on the other hand if she never dated him she might regret it forever.

So she had made up her mind to meet him for a date and see how it went, it was just surprising it had taken her all night and a good part of the morning to figure that out!

Buster was beginning to sound desperate so she reluctantly got out from beneath her warm duvet and went downstairs to let him out, he went madly rushing from one side of her pretty but diminutive garden to the other, obviously a fox had been in and left his scent, she left him to his fun and went back inside to make herself a cup of coffee. As she sat drinking it she looked round her tiny kitchen, with its outdated cupboards and old butler's sink, the quarry tiled floors were uneven and the ceiling needed painting. The rest of the cottage wasn't in any better shape, her furniture was old and losing its stuffing (that hadn't been helped by Buster taking a fancy to one of the arms of her sofa) and the polished wooden floors were looking dull and in need of varnish, generally it was looking unloved.

'A bit like me,' thought Tracy, 'well maybe that's all going to change, I owe it to myself to give it a shot.'

She decided to make the first move and so with trembling fingers, she dialled the mobile number that Simon had given her, it was ringing...it rang and rang and then just when she thought it would go to voice mail and she could leave a message.

'Hello,' said a soft sleepy woman's voice, Tracy cut off the call straight away and sat down with a thump...oh my god another bastard, and she had been so taken in, thinking that he'd started fancying her...

You're a fool Tracy, who do you think you are...Maggie?

Obviously he was just another bastard away from home trying it on with the first bit of stuff he'd seen. Her phone suddenly started ringing...Simon...she cut the call and switched off the phone. Thank goodness it hadn't gone any further, at least she had found out now before she had really lost her heart.

Tracy had been rejected so many times in her life that she had perfected 'getting on with it', so she had a shower and washed her hair ready for Helen's big day at the community hall later...and if she thought she heard her front door bell ring a couple of times as she dried her hair, she ignored it, she shared her breakfast with Buster and then decided to take him for a long walk. The sun was shining even if there was a chill in the air and as Tracy walked her familiar route across Kenley common and into the woods she started to calm down, maybe she was jumping to conclusions here, after all it could have been anyone. 'Oh shut up Tracy who's going to be in his room that early in the morning?' But think about it why would he be asking her out on a date if he was sleeping with someone. Tracy hadn't ever seen him with anyone, even when she'd bumped into him a couple of times in the pub he had always been alone. 'No I think there's more to it,' she thought, 'I may have over reacted a bit, the least I can do is give the man a chance to explain'. With that settled she started back towards home much to Buster's disgust, the walk which had started out looking like an all dayer had dwindled into a half hour run!

'Helen's picture unveiling turned out to be a lot more fun than I had anticipated,' thought Tracy as she walked back to the cottage later that same day, not only did she get a chance to have a hilarious session with Maggie (who was on top form) making fun of all the tweedy ladies and flowery hats, but she had been standing near to Vanessa when she had literally keeled over. Giles had turned a shade of grey and rushed to her side and all the W.I. ladies stormed into action with smelling salts being produced from enormous handbags in all directions, they obviously did the trick because she soon came round and was excruciatingly embarrassed to have been caught on the floor with her dress rucked up and her knickers on show. Of course she was very subdued and apologizing like mad for making a scene and just desperate to get home, but the W.I. ladies were having none of that. Having got themselves a real live first aid opportunity, they were not about to let it go in a hurry. One of the 'ladies' (she looked like a wrestler in a dress) almost dragged the reluctant Vanessa to a comfy seat and then produced an enormous scarf and proceeded to fan her with it vigorously, hitting her in the face with it a couple of times. Maggie and Tracy had been almost wetting themselves by this time, but Carla (who was obviously the kind hearted witch) went over and rescued her, by saying that she needed to speak to her in private, a police matter, at which point Vanessa looked like she might faint again but she went with Carla nonetheless, and Giles followed on behind, all concern and caring.

After that drama the rest of the evening was a bit of a let-down, although they had got to meet Helen's Mike, he seemed lovely, and soon both Tracy and Maggie were flirting with him like mad, but he only seemed to have eyes for Helen and shortly after they left for a romantic dinner. Maggie was all for carrying on the evening at The Bull, but Tracy didn't feel up to another drinking session. Her thoughts had turned to Simon once again, she found herself wishing that he would look at her in the same way that Mike had looked at Helen...maybe she should give him a chance to explain...what could it hurt, so she left Maggie to it and went home alone.

Simon was waiting on her doorstep.

Tracy took a deep breath, not quite knowing how to handle this situation, 'Evening,' she said breezily, 'what brings you here this fine evening?'

'You know very well what Tracy, why haven't you answered any of my calls I've been trying to get hold of you since this morning when you called me...um... I know what you must have thought but you have got it all wrong,' he said urgently.

'Oh so I didn't hear a sleepy woman's voice on the other end of your mobile at 8.30 this morning? But then again why on earth should you have to explain to me, what am I to you, just a work colleague, someone you kissed once, really Simon you don't owe me any explanations,' she went to walk past him but he grabbed her arm.

'You must know by now that I fancy you rotten Tracy, I don't know where this is going but I can't bear the thought that we didn't give it a go just because of a silly misunderstanding.'

Tracy shook off his hand and opened the front door, 'Well you'd better come in and explain then hadn't you?'

'The voice you heard was Vanessa's...'

'What!' Tracy swung round to confront him, 'you've been having a fling with Vanessa right under Giles's nose...' Simon stopped Tracy from storming off again.

'Oh for god's sake Tracy will you just shut up and listen! I ended up having a few drinks with Vanessa late last night, she was in a bit of a state about the Giles situation and I found her crying her eyes out, so I sat and talked to her till really late...she is in really bad shape, by the way, saying some really weird stuff that didn't make much sense...I think she's got some real issues...anyway I sat with her until she had calmed down, and I guess I must have drunk more than I realised because I left my phone on the coffee table in her living room. Which is why she answered it when you phoned this morning... she brought it straight up to me and I tried calling you...but of course by then you had switched off your phone...I even came round and tried your door bell, but I guess you know that...anyway that's what happened...'

Tracy sighed and went into the kitchen. 'I know I could use a coffee, want one?'

'Coffee would be great, thanks,' Simon followed her into the kitchen, 'Where's your fierce protector today?'

'What...oh Buster...ha ha ha he's not fierce at all really, he's just not used to me having a man in my house...as far as he's concerned HE'S the man of the house,' she opened the back door and let Buster in, he immediately started sniffing round Simon's shoes and then working his way up his legs heading for his crotch... 'Buster! Stop that...oh god how embarrassing.'

They took their coffee back into the sitting room, Buster followed at their heels and sat himself down in front of Simon watching his every move.

'Look Tracy can we start again, I am sorry about this morning...' started Simon.

'No, no don't apologise again...I completely overreacted,' Tracy said at the same time...they smiled at each other.

'So what have you been doing today, apart from tying to avoid me of course?' Simon said.

'Well actually I ended up having a lovely day, my friend Helen has done a canvas for the village hall and there was something of a ceremony for its unveiling, so all of us, Maggie, Carla and I, promised to go along for support and it turned out to be really entertaining...not for Vanessa though now I come to think about it, I'm afraid she's not had a very good day today either,' she went on to tell him about Vanessa fainting and all the W.I. ladies jumping into action and soon they were both laughing.

'You are very funny you know,' said Simon. 'It's one of the first things that I noticed about you, that and your lovely smile of course.'

'Now I know you're lying,' said Tracy with a grimace, 'you wound me up so much then, I can't remember smiling at you once.'

'Well there must have been something about you because I haven't been able to get you out of my head from day one.'

Tracy didn't know what to say, things like this just didn't happen to her.

'So where do we go from here?' said Simon. 'Can I take you out tonight, I've got to be moving on tomorrow so it's tonight or I don't know when.'

'You see this is what's bothering me, Simon,' exclaimed Tracy, 'yes I would love to go out with you tonight, but what happens when you move on, I have heard that long distance relationships don't often work and I'm not about to set myself up for another fall.'

'Well yes I am moving on, but I'm only going as far as Lingfield, which is only about an hour's drive from here, I would hardly call that long distance...but if you think that's too far...'

'No...not at all,' said Tracy eagerly, 'when and where?'

Simon let out a whoop and caught Tracy up and span her round, and then gave her an enormous smacker, 'Eight at The Bull?'

'I'll be there,' said Tracy with a smile.

Simon left soon after, and Tracy sped into action, showering, buffing and preening until she felt she looked as good as she could get. Buster watched her dejectedly, he knew the signs, obviously he was in for a lonely evening.

Simon appeared to be in the middle of a deep discussion with Giles when Tracy arrived at the pub an hour or so later, but he stopped and gave Tracy a whistle of appreciation when he spotted her, 'Wow, you look great, I feel like a scruffy oik compared to you.'

'You look lovely,' said Tracy, and he did too, he'd changed into a shirt that matched his eyes and some seriously bum flattering jeans, Tracy didn't know how she could ever have thought him ugly.

Tracy found herself feeling unusually shy as they were shown to their table, but any awkwardness soon disappeared, Simon was incredibly easy to talk to, and soon they were laughing and chatting like old friends.

'Giles seems a bit off tonight,' said Tracy, after Giles had served them dessert without a hint of a smile.

'He is really going through it at the moment I think,' said Simon as he spooned an enormous helping of rhubarb crumble and custard into his mouth, this was a new experience for Tracy most of the men that she had dated were almost as bad as girls with their faddy eating and watching their waist lines, but Simon had a big appetite, and didn't seem to judge her if she was a gutsy pig as well.

'I think he's worried about Vanessa,' he went on, 'she has become so depressed and emotional, he's been trying to persuade her to go away for a while, stay with her sister I think he said, but she's having none of it...she doesn't seem to have any friends around here, no one to talk to, that's why I ended up talking to her the other night...'

'None of us know very much about Vanessa,' said Tracy defensively, 'but I think you're right she is close to a break down, I saw her a couple of weeks ago in the woods...'

Tracy went on to describe what had happened,' Carla didn't want me to tell anyone what I had seen, but I'm so sure it was Vanessa and now with what you've said...'

'I wonder what could have made her so upset,' pondered Simon, 'unless she knew the dead girl, but if that were the case surely she would have told the police...I guess with all this going on it's easy to see why Giles snapped the other night.'

The conversation soon moved on to other things and all too soon it was time to go home, they were the last two in the restaurant and Tracy could see Giles pacing up and down obviously wanting to close up and go to bed, he had been like a bear with a sore head this evening, distinctly unfriendly and preoccupied, obviously the events of the past few days were weighing heavily on his mind. Tracy tried to give him a friendly smile and asked for the bill, he just raised his eyebrows as if to say 'at last' and went off to get it.

Tracy cleared her throat, 'Err... would you like to come back for a coffee?' she asked Simon, tentatively.

'Well that depends on whether it's coffee you're offering me or sex, because to be quite honest with you I've had enough coffee for one night,' said Simon with a teasing smile...'Now if it's sex...well...'

'Oh all right then...would you like to continue the evening at my house...not for coffee,' said Tracy blushing furiously, Simon suddenly looked at her with serious intent in his eyes.

'That sounds like something I would like to do very, very much...where's Giles with that bloody bill...oh here he comes.'

They had a bit of a fight over who was paying what, but very soon they were walking the short distance back to Tracy's cottage. As soon as the door closed behind them Simon took Tracy into his arms and kissed her, her legs turned to jelly and she closed the gap between them putting her arms around his neck. Simon who was obviously not slow on the uptake let his hand roam over her back and down round her bum, he pulled her even tighter letting her feel the very obvious evidence of his desire, immediately things got very hot indeed, clothes were being thrown in all directions one of Simon's shoes ended up on the end of the banister, somehow or other they managed to make it into the living room and onto the couch. Buster was barking frantically in the kitchen as he could hear his mistress being man handled all over the place, but Tracy was so wrapped up in the passion of the moment that she either didn't hear him or didn't care.

They made love with an intensity that wasn't pretty or elegant, it was frantic and clumsy, arms and legs entwined, long hard kisses filled with heat, sighs, and gasps, grunts and groans a marathon of sexual gymnastics that left them both exhausted and satisfied.

'Wow,' said Simon as soon as he had breath enough to speak, they were lying on a pile of clothes in the middle of the living room floor sharing a cigarette. 'That was worth the wait...there's much more to you than meets the eye Tracy my lovely, you are amazing.'

Tracy felt herself going all unnecessary, 'You're pretty amazing yourself,' she said shyly, blushing like mad and trying desperately to cover up her fat bits with a completely inadequate cushion, Simon laughed when he noticed what she was doing.

'Darling Tracy you are going to need a much bigger cushion than that to cover up those gorgeous assets, and why would you want to hide them anyway, surely you're not going all shy on me are you? After what we've just done...sweetheart...look at me.'

Tracy slowly lifted her eyes to his; he smiled the sweetest smile and said, 'You are fabulous Tracy Dawlish, I could look at your amazing body all night... I could look into your amazing eyes all night, and I will dream about being wrapped in your arms all night when I'm not with you, you are all woman every gorgeous curve of you... you have no need to cover up!'

Tracy couldn't explain why but she felt the tears well up in her eyes, never before had a man made her feel so beautiful and sexy, she pushed the cushion away and lay back in naked glory, Simon jumped on her with a roar of delight and soon they were oblivious to everything except the pleasure of each other.

Buster, in the kitchen, gave up the fight to get Tracy's attention and with a big sigh curled up in his bed and went to sleep.

# CHAPTER 39 - CARLA

As soon as she could prise her away from the ladies of the W.I. Carla walked back across the green to the pub with Vanessa and Giles, nobody spoke, they were all wrapped up in their own thoughts. Carla knew that she had to confront Vanessa now about her relationship with Louise, and ask her to explain why she had kept this to herself. She also had to find out if it was her that Louise was coming to see, had she sent her texts and emails...this was going to be a tricky one, she had no real evidence of any of the things that she was going to ask her about, just a hunch and a dog eared photo. Vanessa herself seemed to be wound as tight as a coiled spring; she had fainted at the sight of Helen's canvas... Helen's canvas that was a depiction of almost the exact spot that Louise's body had been found...Helen's canvas that captured the scene that Tracy had seen Vanessa running from as if all the demons from hell were after her...Vanessa had some explaining to do alright, but Carla was very aware that she mustn't push her too hard...Vanessa was a woman on the edge.

Giles on the other hand seemed to be completely pre-occupied with his own thoughts, yes he was worried about Vanessa but he seemed to be battling with some demons of his own, he had barely said two words to her all day, he only seemed to notice his surroundings when Vanessa had fainted and then his mask had slipped, he had looked like a drowning man.

At the pub Carla asked to speak to Vanessa on her own, she nodded silently and led Carla upstairs to the elegant living room; she sat on the edge of the beautiful cream sofa and waited for Carla to speak.

'Vanessa,' Carla began cautiously, 'can you tell me what your maiden name was, and where you grew up?'

It appeared for a while that Vanessa wasn't going to answer the question, she sat quite calmly looking down at her hands, then she seemed to almost come to a decision, she raised her eyes to Carla's.

'My maiden name was Pinner...my mother's name...as I told you the other night my parents never married...I grew up in Sevenoaks in Kent, my father was a barrister and my mother a teacher...until she became ill anyway...' Vanessa shrugged, 'then she was just at home', Carla smiled and nodded reassuringly.

'And can you tell me about that Vanessa, was it a happy childhood?'

Vanessa shifted in her seat clearly weighing up the question and how much she should reveal, Carla could see the calculating in Vanessa's eyes, as she raised them to hers.

'I suppose you could call it happy, we lived in a nice neighbourhood, never wanted for anything, went to the best schools...yes I should imagine most people would say we were lucky.'

'But you left there when you were just fifteen, didn't you...moved to Maidstone... why was that Vanessa? Can you tell me about that?'

Vanessa seemed to shrink in front of Carla, a look of dread filled her eyes. 'Oh please don't ask me that...don't make me say it...please I have left that time behind me.'

Carla put her hand on hers, 'Believe me I'm sorry Vanessa...I understand how hard this is for you, but I must ask you to answer these questions, you know why I have to don't you?' Vanessa hung her head nodding; she took a deep breath.

'I had to go...he said I was a disgrace, my Mum must never know...Julie's sister said I could stay with her, of course she didn't know... no one knew, so I looked after the children and stayed away from everybody until it was done...then I went home...but they didn't want me back, Mum was dying...my fault he said, the grief of losing me...not knowing where I was...but I had written, she knew I was ok, I told her I was fine...he didn't give her the letter, the bastard I know that now...bastard...'

'Until what was done...Vanessa you said until it was done, what did you mean?' Carla had to get her to say it.

'I had to get rid of it...Mum must never know he said, it would kill her...the shame of it you know, so I waited in Maidstone until...I made sure it was safe...put it where someone would find it, but I had to get rid of it or else I could never go home...and then I couldn't go home anyway...even Faye thought it was my fault...she's never spoken to me since...but I did what he wanted...he said get rid and then you can come back... bastard... lying fucking bastard.'

'Vanessa, are you telling me that you had a child in Maidstone...a little girl, that you left outside the hospital?' Vanessa lifted her eyes to Carla's for the first time and nodded, tears streaming down her face. Carla felt a thrill of triumph at last she was getting somewhere, she kept her voice calm though.

'I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been for you, giving birth all alone...what made you do that Vanessa...couldn't you confide in anybody...what about your mum...your sister?'

Vanessa's grief turned to anger and she stood and started pacing round the room as she spoke, flinging her arms out as if to demonstrate her loathing for her father.

'He said it would kill her, my Mum, if she found out, I couldn't do that to her, she was very religious, went to church every week, helped with the flowers on Sunday, I couldn't bring that shame on her...so I went away...it was for the best... Faye never knew anything about it...I didn't know it was a girl...I didn't look...I just wrapped it up, made sure it was warm and put it where someone would find it...and they did didn't they...it was for the best...I didn't know it was a girl until a few weeks ago.'

She sat down again and Carla took her hands, 'How did you find out Vanessa, did she come looking for you...did you meet her?'

'The old bastard,' she growled, 'he told me...wrote me a letter, told me she had been to see him, she was trying to find me.'

'Your dad do you mean...she had been to see him?'

'Yes...she'd got his name from Julie...tracked him down, he wouldn't see her though, he told me...boasted to me about all the filthy names he'd called her...told her that she was a freak, a fucking bastard...cuntsporn, he was proud of that one, anyway he sent her away, so I didn't get the chance to see her, to try and explain...he even took that from me,' she finished bitterly.

'So you are telling me that you never met Louise...you didn't email her...text her?' Carla watched her carefully. Vanessa looked up bewildered.

'No...how could I, I had no idea where she lived, after my father kicked her out she disappeared again...' Vanessa started to look uncomfortable, 'So no I never met her, and now I think you are going to tell me that I never will aren't you?' her face began to crumple, she was obviously only just managing to keep a grip on her emotions.

'Vanessa we have reason to believe that the young girl found murdered in the woods was that baby girl...Louise...your daughter.' Vanessa seemed unable to speak she just nodded, silent tears rolled down her cheeks. 'What would you say, Vanessa, if I were to tell you that Louise had been getting emails from someone who identified themselves as her mother, this same person had arranged to meet Louise here in Kenley...that was why she was here...to meet you.'

Vanessa jumped up and started pacing the room again. 'That's impossible, I've never emailed her in my life...how could I, I didn't even know her name until after she died...' she came and stood in front of Carla. 'You have to believe me, I had nothing to do with her being here...oh god you think I killed her, don't you? No, no, no I could never do that...please you have to believe me, if I had known she was looking for me I would have met with her...just to see her...see how she turned out, you know.'

'What about the baby's father? Did you tell him about her...maybe he had seen her web appeal, maybe he was trying to get in touch?'

Vanessa went very still, 'No that's impossible...he wouldn't, it was all such a long time ago...no one knew.'

'Does Giles know about Louise, Vanessa...how much does he know about your past?

Vanessa turned and looked Carla straight in the eye. 'Nothing...Giles know nothing about my past, I've always kept that hidden from him.'

'Vanessa, I have a witness that saw you running away from where Louise was found, the day after her body was discovered. This witness said that you were in great distress...why were you there Vanessa?'

'They are mistaken...it wasn't me...they've made a mistake.'

'So you're saying you didn't go into the woods the day after the body was found...have you ever been there, just out of curiosity say?'

'No, I've never been there.' She seemed to have got control of herself once again; the calculating look was back in her eyes.

'Can you tell me why it was that you reacted so violently this afternoon when you saw Helen's painting, of the exact area where the murder took place, if you've never been there, how did you recognise it?'

'Look it was nothing to do with the painting, I just fainted ok...it was too overcrowded and hot in that hall...' she looked at Carla incredulously, 'you can't possibly think I fainted because I saw the scene of my daughter's death on a canvas, like I said, I have never been into that part of the woods, your 'witness' was mistaken.'

Carla looked at her for a long minute trying to read her expression, then she stood and said, 'Ok Vanessa, I think that's all I need for now...um I will need to take your computer, and you said your dad sent you a letter about Louise's visit, do you still have it, could you dig it out for me, oh and your mobile please, I'll get it back to you as soon as possible.' Vanessa seemed to be on auto-pilot as she collected everything to give to Carla who waited for her in the living room. As she looked about her Carla's eye fell upon the same photo that had caught her attention on her previous visit, she went over and picked it up, the resemblance to Louise's picture was uncanny she stared harder and felt a wave of excitement well up inside her, how had she not noticed it before...the earrings! Vanessa was wearing a beautiful pair of antique emerald earrings! She turned as Vanessa entered the room and gestured to the picture.

'Lovely earrings, emeralds aren't they?' Carla said, and for a second she thought she saw real panic in Vanessa's eyes, but all too soon it was gone to be replaced with the slightly bored look that Carla was becoming familiar with.

'Oh those...I wish, no they're just glass, cheap, copies, I don't think I even have them anymore, threw them out ages ago.'

Carla stared at her for a couple of minutes; letting the lie hang in the air between them, 'I may need to speak to you again Vanessa, so don't go anywhere will you,' she said eventually.

Vanessa let out a bitter laugh, 'Where the hell would I go? And like I said, I didn't kill her, so I have no reason to run do I?'

Carla went to leave, but Vanessa grabbed her arm, 'Carla, Giles doesn't have anything to do with this and he has enough to deal with at the moment with the assault charge...'

'I'm sorry Vanessa I will try and keep your secret but, if I need to I will have to talk to Giles...it might be better if you were to tell him first don't you think?'

Vanessa gave her a noncommittal look and Carla left her.

As she left the pub she bumped into Jed and his girlfriend Jools, who stopped to say hello, 'I'm glad I bumped into you Jools,' said Carla, 'what can you tell me about Derek Styles...he's one of yours isn't he, what do you make of him?'

'Well let me just say that we're all enjoying the fact that he is away at the moment,' said Jools with a laugh. 'He's not the easiest resident to deal with, although he's always been ok with me, but some of the other girls find him a trial.'

'Why's that?' Carla asked.

'Well he's what we would describe as a groper, you know he always tries to cop a feel any chance he gets, and he is incredibly anti-social, he doesn't mix with any of the other residents, seems to think he's better than them...but then having said that Vanessa doesn't help, he's always writing to her begging for a visit and most times she doesn't even reply, so I suppose there's some excuse for his miserable behaviour.'

'He had his granddaughter visit him not so long ago, Maggie was telling us...'

Jools held up a hand, 'Oh don't talk to me about that, he was awful to her...poor girl she couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen and she was so desperate to meet him...some of the names he called her, he was disgusting...she went off in tears, we all felt so sorry for her...horrible old man, imagine treating your granddaughter like that.'

'What was she like...the granddaughter?' asked Carla.

'Well like I said she was very young...but really trying to look older you know...far too much makeup and high heels, very confident though, you know for her age...why?'

'I'm afraid we think she was the girl that was murdered in the woods...um I'm going to have to come and talk with Mr Styles, when is he due back?'

Jools, who had turned white stuttered, 'Um...er...oh day after tomorrow I think, oh my god Carla that's so awful...but she came to see Derek quite a while ago, what was she doing back here, was she going to give it another go...oh poor girl that's just so horrible,' she looked so upset Carla gave her a hug.

'That's what I need to find out Jools, thanks for your help...see you soon...see ya Jed,' she called over to Jed who had got bored and was talking to Giles at the bar, he raised his hand in reply, and Carla went out to her car. Despite all that Vanessa had told her this afternoon, there were still huge gaps in her story, and no matter how much she denied it there was now no doubt in Carla's mind that Vanessa had been in the woods either at the time of the murder or soon after, somehow one of her earrings had ended up right next to her daughter's body, just how and when that had happened Carla still had to determine.

She had an address for Vanessa's sister Faye and for her school friend Julie, she decided to speak to Julie first as she lived quite close by in Godstone.

The day had turned to night by the time Carla pulled up outside the 1970's house that supposedly belonged to Julie Spencer or Grant as she would have been when she knew Vanessa. It was quite dark already even though it wasn't quite 6 o clock. Carla got wearily out of the car, it had been a long day and it wasn't over yet. She could see light shining through the drawn curtains of the big picture window to the front of the house that was so typical of the architecture of that period. A dog started barking as she walked up the path to the glazed door...she rang the bell and saw a large black shadow run towards her panting and scrabbling as if trying to dig its way out, she stood back automatically.

'Hang on a sec,' came a voice from inside and the dark shadow was dragged away and shut behind another door. 'Sorry about that,' came the voice again and the door was eventually opened by a very large woman with short dark hair cut severely round her head a bit like a pudding basin.

'Hi,' said Carla with a smile, 'I'm Detective Inspector Right from the police force in Kenley and I'm looking for a Julie Spencer...um formally Grant, um... would that be you?'

The woman turned pale, 'Oh please don't tell me something's happened to my Gary,' she began, Carla quickly interrupted her.

'No, no nothing like that, I'm trying to find out as much as I can about a girl called Vanessa Pinner, I believe you may have known her Mrs Spencer?'

Julie's whole body relaxed and she smiled showing a mouthful of rotten teeth.

'Yes I knew her, we were best friends at school...um until she ran away that is...' she suddenly looked defensive again, 'is that what this is about, because I had nothing to do with that, I only gave her my sister's name because she was desperate...I can't be held respon...' Carla stopped her.

'Julie I'm only here to find out about Vanessa, nothing else...um could I come in...it won't take long.'

'Oh of course...sorry, please come in...go through to the lounge, I'll just put the dog outside, he can be a right nuisance when I've got visitors.'

Julie showed Carla into a sitting room and asked her to take a seat. The room would have been quite spacious if not for the piles of stuff taking up almost every surface. Magazines and newspapers were piled up high and there were at least ten black bin liners filled with what looked like old clothes on the sofa opposite the one Carla was sitting on. The coffee table could barely be seen for old plates and cups that littered its surface...which were probably responsible for the rather rank smell that filled the room, a mixture of old food and dog. Carla tried not to breathe in too deeply. After a few minutes Julie came back in.

'Sorry about that,' she said again and she perched herself on the very edge of the sofa opposite Carla, seemingly unconcerned about the dreadful mess all around her. Carla asked her about Vanessa, what had she been like at school, did she have any particular boyfriends, when had she told her friend about being pregnant, did she have any idea who could have been the child's father.

'It was a complete mystery,' said Julie, 'she hadn't even had a boyfriend as far as I knew, she was a really shy girl, didn't take if you know what I mean...not that she wasn't pretty it was just that she just didn't seem to be that interested...I was gobsmacked when she told me she was pregnant, I did ask her who it was, but she never told me.'

The picture Julie painted of Vanessa's family life was of a strict and domineering father and a meek shadow of a mother. Vanessa had seemed to be terrified of her father and when she had asked Julie for help in getting away that seemed to be the driving force behind her leaving, that and not bringing shame down upon her mother. Carla couldn't help but feel pity for the young Vanessa, with no one to turn to, going to a strange town and living with a complete stranger rather than telling her parents, what sort of a family was it, that she felt the only option she had was to run away.

'Were the police involved in trying to find Vanessa when she went missing, I'm assuming that her parents would have been frantic with worry about her, she was only 15 after all?' asked Carla.

Julie nodded enthusiastically making her whole body wobble like a jelly.

'Oh yes, they came to the school asking questions...um how well did we know Vanessa, was there anyone that she might go to, all of that stuff you know, but I kept quiet, I had promised her...she was my friend,' Julie shrugged as if that explained it all.

'What about her parents, they must have asked you about it all...they knew about your friendship with Vanessa didn't they?'

The question seemed to make her feel a bit uncomfortable; she stood and walked to the window.

'Well they did come round, but I pretended to be out...I was in the house alone and I saw him...her dad... coming up the path so I hid in my room. I never liked him at the best of times, gave me the creeps he did, always so smarmy and full of himself like he was god's gift, but I knew he had another side, you can just tell can't you and Vanessa was really scared of him, she seemed to hate being alone with him you know she'd always make me come in the car with her when he picked her up from school, even though I only lived 5 minutes away...so I didn't tell him anything. It was harder with her mum though, because I could see that she was heartbroken...but I had promised,' she finished quietly.

'Was it you that put Louise in touch with her grandfather Julie?' said Carla eventually, watching Julie as she seemed to finally notice the dirty cups and plates on the table and started gathering them together balancing cups on plates precariously, she carried on talking as she opened up the hatch that linked the lounge to the kitchen and piled them up on the other side closing the hatch to hide the mess.

'No sorry, I don't know anything about that...someone did email me on one of those sites where you find your old school friends, you know the ones, I was trying to get hold of someone I had known in school, not Vanessa as it happens, but then this woman comes on asking about Vanessa and her sister, I think it was someone from the care home that she was living in, the girl, Vanessa's girl I mean... I was able to give them Faye's address, so they must have got his whereabouts from her. Quite a surprise that I can tell you, hearing from someone who knew Vanessa's baby...I never knew you see what happened after she left home...I never saw her again. My sister she was convinced that she had run off with her boyfriend...but then that was Sandra all over, jealous as hell of everyone... and of course she didn't know what I knew, that Vanessa was pregnant. When I saw on the news about that little girl being abandoned outside the hospital...well I just knew it was Vanessa's baby,' Julie sighed. 'But then she just disappeared, I never knew what happened to her after that...so did she ever find her mum, the kid I mean...um Louise?'

'I'm afraid not, she was murdered before she had the chance to, which is why I'm asking all these questions,' said Carla quietly as she began to get her things together.

Julie looked shell shocked, 'Oh my lord how awful...oh poor Vanessa...that poor child oh my.'

Carla decided it was time to go, she thanked Julie for her time and left her card for her in case she could think of anything else that might be of interest, and thankfully made her way back to her car. She felt overwhelmed with sadness as she drove home, sadness for Vanessa, what a wasted childhood...when she should have been playing with her friends she was trying to look after herself and live with the terrible secret of her baby, and sadness for Louise who, after an awful start was on the brink of finding her mother...only to be brutally murdered. But still something was nagging at her. Carla felt that she was missing some vital piece in all this and if she could just find out what that was she would have her killer.

She drove home deep in thought, nothing made any sense...but she knew she needed to speak to Vanessa's dad.

As she neared home Ted's voice came over the radio, Richard Frampton had been found in a Holiday Inn near Dover, he had been booked on a ferry to Calais and had been staying in the hotel for a few days, when one of the staff had recognised his picture from the one in the local paper and called the police.

# CHAPTER 40 - 2013

He couldn't breathe, strong hands encircled his neck squeezing the life out of him, he tried to pull them off but they just got tighter. He could hear his heart beating fast and loud in his ears, his eyes were bulging out of his head, he was flailing around fighting for his life with every ounce of strength left in his body...he could feel hot breath on his face, he smelt the stench of death.

This was no earthly being that threatened his very life, this was a shadowy monster sent by Lucifer himself to claim one of his own...his chest was exploding with lack of air, he tried to focus in on his killer, the view was becoming clearer, the ghoul turned towards him at last... he screamed, high pitched screams of terror...the creature had no face, just a mass of blood and putrefied brains in which a thousand maggots were crawling...he screamed again and again threshing around in sheer panic, his hand hit something hard...he woke up soaked with sweat, wrapped in a knot of bedclothes...he was alive...why was he still alive?

# CHAPTER 41 - MAGGIE

Charles had stayed for a couple of days...for once Maggie hadn't minded having an intruder in her home, he was good company and he seemed to know not to crowd her. He'd even joined in a noisy footie game with Dom and Jed in the garden one afternoon when the sun had decided to shine, it had been strangely heart-warming to see the three of them skidding around in the muddy garden, they had all come in filthy but laughing and she had made them all hot chocolate, all very domestic which in itself was weird...Maggie didn't mix men and domestic, not anymore, but it had all felt very natural and not scary at all.

Then of course real life had intruded, Maggie had to go into the office and Charles was off on his travels again...Lisbon this time, for a week...that was yesterday...she was already bloody missing him!

That WAS scary...she had vowed never to get so involved with a man again that he had the power to hurt her, and up until now she had been content with her one or two night stands. She didn't need a man to look after her, she was independently wealthy, she loved her work and she had her boys to look after, even though they needed her less and less these days, but she definitely knew what she didn't need and that was a serious relationship with a man...maybe she should cool things off with Charles, oh god, even as she thought about it her heart was protesting, she just had to be aware of the situation and try and keep cool.

Helen had called earlier and asked if she could meet her in the village for a coffee, and as Maggie was desperate to get the latest gossip concerning the delectable Mike she had agreed to meet at 11 in the coffee shop on the green.

It was piddling down with rain so there were no tables with their pretty yellow and blue umbrellas outside the tiny café today. And as far as Maggie could see the coffee shop looked pretty deserted, but she could see Helen sitting at a window table as she tried to park the enormous Range Rover into a tiny space right out front. Once parked (leaving only a hair's breadth between her and the car behind her) she ran into the little shop using her huge handbag as an umbrella.

'Hi sweetie,' she said to Helen who hand waved a greeting, they exchanged kisses and Maggie ordered a Latte from the woman behind the counter, and wasted no time in beginning her interrogation.

'Oh my god Helen I have been dying to catch up with you, how did it go, after the unveiling I mean...did he take you anywhere nice?' she said as soon as she sat down.

Helen had to laugh, 'Blimey Maggs, you're more excited than me...but in answer to your question yes, we went to a lovely little restaurant somewhere between Godstone and Kenley...um the pig in muck...or something like that, which despite its name was lovely, all inglenooks and roaring fires you know the sort of thing, and we had another lovely evening, which has left me feeling like an absolute bitch!'

Maggie looked bewildered, then exasperated, 'What...why...oh no don't tell me you're feeling guilty about 'can'tkeephiswillyinhispants'?...Please!' she said crossly, Helen looked defiant.

'Of course I am, I mean I'm just as bad as him now aren't I, I'm a cheat, oh I know I haven't slept with Mike yet, but I have kissed him...a couple of times actually, and I am enjoying his company so much and...oh Maggie I just can't stop thinking about him, which is just as bad as what Wills has been doing,' she looked rather sheepish for a minute and then said, 'I think I should tell Wills, what do you think?'

Maggie practically spat her latte across the café.

'Absolutely not! Don't do it Helen...until you are completely sure that Mike is the man for you.' She sighed and took hold of Helen's hands, 'Look Hels, I understand how hard it must be for a woman like you, who is basically honest, and good...' she broke off chuckling, 'luckily for me I've never had many scruples to worry about...but no matter how hard a time your conscience is giving you, please don't go confessing all to Wills, not unless you are prepared to leave him, because that's the bottom line love.'

'But I just feel so guilty all the time,' said Helen miserably, 'I can barely look Wills in the face, I'm sure he is suspicious, he keeps asking me what I've been doing all day, and where I'm going every time I go anywhere...'

'Hang on a minute Helen,' Maggie interrupted, 'I thought this was what you wanted. Have you forgotten slutty Sarah and all the away days that he's been having...sweetheart think for a minute, when you started this it was just meant to make Wills see what a diamond he had in you, but the way you're talking now it feels like you've decided that you prefer Mike...what's going on in that pretty little head of yours love...I mean you don't actually know much about Mike anyway, I mean he could be playing you for a fool for all you know...we already know he's married, does he still live at home?'

Helen thought for a minute, stirring her now cold coffee.

'I don't think so, I think he has a flat somewhere...he talks about his flat anyway, and yes he is still married but they separated ages ago, not very amicably by the sound of things either...she sounds like a right bitch...oh Maggie I know it seems too soon, but I really think Mike could be the one for me, we get along so well, we just can't stop talking, about everything and anything,' her face took on a dreamy expression. 'And he's just so funny, he makes me laugh all the time, and he's really romantic he's brought me flowers every time he's taken me out...I can't remember the last time that Wills brought me flowers...oh and he's so sexy...'

Maggie put her hand to her mouth in a pretend yawn.

'Yes yes I get the picture, he's Mr Wonderful, and that's great, believe me Helen if he turns out to be the one for you I will be so happy, but please love, tread carefully, and whatever you do don't burn your bridges until you are completely sure it's what you want.'

Helen laughed, 'Who'd have thought it the great serial dater giving me such sensible advice, anyway enough about me, you and Tracy seemed to be having a great time at the unveiling. Wasn't that weird the way Vanessa fainted as soon as she clapped eye's on my painting...I mean I know it's not wonderful, but I never expected that reaction.'

'Oh I know,' said Maggie from the confectionary counter, where she was trying to decide between a strawberry tart of an iced finger. 'Tracy and I were wetting ourselves watching all the W.I. women trying to outdo each other with the smelling salts...do you fancy one of these hun, I've got a sudden yearning for something sweet?' Helen shook her head, and with a shrug Maggie ordered one iced finger and a couple more lattes, 'It was a bit weird though,' she said as she came back to the table, 'I feel sorry for poor Giles, did you see how worried he was...he absolutely dotes on her you know, worships the ground she walks on...now that to me makes no sense, oh don't get me wrong I know Vanessa is good looking and obviously a lot younger than him, but I've always found her to be such a cold character...always so self possessed if you know what I mean...'

Helen nodded, 'And Giles is always so affable; I know they are a strange couple...maybe she's amazing in the bedroom, well whatever power she has over him it obviously works...I wish I could inspire that sort of devotion,' Helen began to look sad again.

Maggie took her hand, 'Well I wouldn't want to be Vanessa for all the tea in China at the moment love, she seems like a woman on the edge to me...and anyway from what you've told me you seem to be inspiring something in Mike...even if it is just a desire to get into your knickers.' At Helen's laugh she said, 'Don't belittle that power my girl, it is the best weapon we women have in our arsenal, use it for as long as you can.'

'How did you get to be so cynical Maggs?' said Helen squeezing her hand, Maggie squeezed her hand back, and said a little sadly, 'Practise sweetie, practise.'

The cake and coffees arrived and the two women sat chatting for a while longer, when Helen suddenly pointed out Tracy walking across the green hand in hand with a very tall dark man.

'Now that looks interesting,' said Maggie, 'let's find out what's going on shall we?'

Before Helen could stop her Maggie ran out of the shop and was calling to Tracy, who turned and waved and went to move on until Maggie called again and beckoned to her to come and join them. Helen could see her pointing in the direction of the coffee shop so she waved in Tracy's general direction. Tracy said something to her companion and after a couple of minutes they both began following Maggie back over to where Helen was sitting, a few minutes later they were shaking out wet coats, ordering coffees and pulling chairs over to the little table.

'Helen I'd like you to meet Simon,' said Tracy a little formally, Simon shook hands with Helen and said, 'You must be the same Helen that did the painting for the hall, Tracy's told me all about you, and I went and saw the painting last night it's really beautiful, lovely colours and it seems to draw you in. Tracy's just been showing me the real scene, in the woods, I must say you've captured it really well.'

Helen was blushing like mad. 'Thank you for saying so Simon, but I really am a rank amateur, it was just such a beautiful spot to draw, How do you two know each other?'

'School.'

'We work together,' they both answered at once and then laughed, 'Simon's been doing a special workshop with the kids at school...um I've been helping him.'

'I just bet you have,' muttered Maggie, poking her tongue out at Tracy who was giving her filthy looks, Simon turned to her, 'And you have just got to be Maggie, Tracy described you to a tee.'

'Oh really, now that is interesting...what on earth has she been saying I wonder,' Tracy was looking distinctly nervous.

'Oh nothing bad I assure you, she said you were drop dead gorgeous, a serial dater, and I wasn't to fancy you.'

'SIMON!' said Tracy mortified, Maggie was laughing her head off, 'Oh you can keep this one sweetie,' she said to Tracy who was laughing too by that time. 'What on earth can she have said about Helen I wonder.' Simon just shook his head, 'well I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.'

'Maggie stop teasing the poor man, I'm so sorry Simon we're not always like this, so how long are you staying in Kenley?' asked Helen.

'Just a couple more days actually, but I'm not going far just to Lingfield...I don't know if you know it.'

'Oh yes I do I've got family that live near there, and what sort of workshops do you do at the schools, Simon?'

'Oh for crying out loud Helen,' Maggie interrupted rudely. 'Just ask the man what we really want to know...what's going on with our Tracy, are you two an item or what?'

'Oh just kill me now,' groaned Tracy, Simon just laughed, and turned to Tracy.

'Well now Tracy my girl, would you say we're an item, we're definitely something...so we're probably...what?

Tracy looked up at him shyly, 'Oh yes I would say we're definitely "what".'

'Oh my god not another loved up couple, I've had it all morning with bloody Helen...pass me the sick bucket someone.'

# CHAPTER 42 - CARLA

Richard Frampton sat across the table from Carla and Ted, he was dishevelled and belligerent.

After being shown the evidence that had been found in his cottage and on his computer, he had admitted to and been arrested for downloading images of child pornography, but he became almost hysterical when he was questioned about the body in the woods.

'I fucking knew you would try and pin this on me, why do you think I ran away, it's always the same where ever I go I get blamed for anything that goes on... '

'Oh you're making my heart bleed, cut the crap Richard we just need you to give us an idea of your movements during the couple of weeks prior to the morning that you discovered the body in the woods,' said Ted as he flicked through the thick file on his lap.

Frampton if anything got even more angry, flinging his arms around as he spoke.

'How the fuck am I supposed to remember that...can you remember what you were doing a few weeks ago? I DID NOT KILL THAT GIRL! I don't know how much clearer I can make it, I've never hurt anyone in my life, just because I look at certain pictures doesn't automatically mean that I am capable of murder. I just fucking knew this would happen, I fucking knew it...it's taken me all these years to finally be accepted into a community again and then bang! I am the town freak again...the little pervert...fucking paedo...it's not fucking fair I haven't hurt anyone, I just look at pictures...it's not like I take them or anything...'

'Yes but somebody takes them you sick twat,' said Ted aggressively, 'somebody makes these young girls and boys, these children perform sexual acts in front of a camera just so that you can buy them and have a wank over them, they don't do this willingly just for your pleasure...does it look like this little girl...how old would you say she was Carla?' Ted thrust one of the photos from the file under Frampton's nose.

'7...8 maybe,' said Carla in disgust.

'Does it look like she's enjoying having some smelly old goats dick shoved down her throat?'

Richard stared straight ahead deliberately not looking at the image that Ted was pointing at, 'I'd say she looks terrified, wouldn't you Carla? LOOK AT IT YOU PRICK!' shouted Ted, slamming his fist down on the table in front of Frampton.

Carla reached over and put a hand on his arm, she could see that he was barely restraining himself, Frampton could obviously sense it as well as he started bleating on about wanting a lawyer and knowing his rights, Carla changed tactics.

'Richard, tell me about the day you discovered the body in the woods, why were you there?'

Frampton was obviously weighing up whether to answer or not, finally he deliberately turned away from Ted and spoke only to Carla.

'I was on an early morning walk with a local group that I go out with occasionally, we had been walking for about 20 minutes when Gloria's dog began to bark loudly, which is not like him he usually just runs ahead, but he was getting really excited and then he just bolted off into the woods. Gloria was understandably worried and started to follow him, I felt I ought to go with her as it was still quite dark and she might have got lost as well. Anyway we followed the barks and when we found him he was digging at something...I didn't realise for a few seconds what it was, thought it might be a dead badger or something because there was a terrible smell, so I knew it was something dead. I shone my torch at it...then I suddenly saw her...her face...was gone, smashed in I'll never get that picture out of my head...I was sick and I had to get away from it. Gloria was struggling to get the dog away and finally we scrambled back down the bank and Gloria called you lot. I stayed long enough to give my name, then I went home...I called the school and took the day off and then I started thinking, I knew you would start fishing around, checking me out, so I thought it would be best if I went away until it was all over...didn't know you were going to smash my door down though...fucking bastards! I hope you know you'll be replacing that as well, pushing your way into people's homes...

Carla sighed, they'd been at this for hours and apart from establishing that Richard Frampton was a snivelling little pervert that got his rocks off by looking at child porn, they had nothing, she decided to let Mr Frampton stew in a cell for a while.

'Right I think we'll take a break for a while, the duty solicitor will be here soon so we'll be speaking to you again Mr Frampton.' Ted held the door open for Carla and they both took a deep breath.

'I don't think he did it Ted,' said Carla as they walked back upstairs to the main offices, 'it just doesn't fit...for one thing he's into little girls, and for another I am sure this has something to do with who Louise is...it's just too much of a coincidence that she was coming here looking for her mother. Frampton has no connection to her at all as far as I can tell.' Ted started to say something but Carla held up her hand, 'I know he is a seriously twisted little shit Ted but I don't see him as a murderer, he won't be going anywhere anyway...so we can always question him again if necessary...'

'It's ok Carla, I agree with you...for once,' said Ted with a smile, 'That's what I was going to say, I can't think of any reason that Richard Frampton would want to kill her...I think we have to look more carefully at Vanessa, she is the only person in Kenley that has any sort of connection to the girl, I'm not saying she's our killer but I think she's the key!' Carla felt relieved that Ted could see it as well, she felt too drained to have to spend ages trying to get him to see it from her point of view.

'Right...so what's our next move? I am going to see granddad tomorrow, according to Jools he's due back from Vanessa's sister's, and I think you and I should go and speak to the sister today, Ted, I've got her address, she lives in Kent somewhere. I want to see if Louise contacted her at all, and let's see if we can find out why it was that Vanessa was so scared of the dad. Maybe the sister was scared of him too. Also no one seems to know who was the father of Vanessa's baby, maybe she confided in her sister...she certainly wasn't telling me yesterday, which is weird I mean we're talking 16 years ago.... Oh what am I saying everything about this case is weird, I'll just let Frank know that we're out of the office, see you downstairs in five ok?'

Carla let Ted drive, as she wanted to collect her thoughts before she questioned Faye. She had formed an impression of an unhappy family ruled with an iron rod by the father, and supported in this by the apathy of a weak religious mother. Maybe that was a bit harsh but Carla hoped that her daughter would always know that she could come to her if she were in trouble, even if it was something that would prove embarrassing for her, Carla, to deal with. Vanessa had not even considered taking her mum into her confidence and Carla found that really sad, what a lonely and scared little girl she must have been. She began to understand why Vanessa was such a self contained adult, she had learnt not to trust in anyone else, she had learnt to rely only on herself. Carla found herself feeling glad that Vanessa had found a loving partner in her life, it was obvious for all to see that Giles would move heaven and earth to keep Vanessa happy...she heaved a big sigh...the damage that parents could do...

'Looks like this is it Ma'am,' said Ted as they pulled up outside a beautiful wisteria covered Edwardian villa in the small market town of Sevenoaks, Kent.

'Ted!' said Carla crossly, you've been calling me Carla all morning, don't start ma'aming me again or I'll take my truncheon to you.' Carla whistled softly as she took in the large manicured gardens that led up to the huge tiled hung house ,'Wow this place must be worth a fortune, we're obviously in the wrong game Ted.'

Ted grunted his agreement as they walked up the pretty garden path and knocked on the enormous front door.

45 minutes later they were back in the car and Ted was trying to negotiate the rush hour traffic through the centre of Sevenoaks, just thankful to be back in the car.

Faye Pinner no longer lived at the house having sold it to a Mr and Mrs Goddall. Mrs Goddall could talk for England and was only capable of answering even the most direct of questions by relating most of her life history, that of her grandchildren and various pets including a parrot. They had been almost forced to sit and drink a cup of tea while this rather domineering lady looked for the forwarding address that she just knew she had put 'somewhere safe'. They had been regaled with accounts of all her many illnesses and those of her long suffering husband, who sat quietly in a chair by the fire and nodded obediently when required to do so. Finally the address had been discovered lurking at the back of a kitchen drawer and it was only another 15 or 20 minutes of meaningless chatter before Carla and Ted could make their escape.

They both collapsed with laughter when they got to the car. 'I suppose that's a dead end then,' said Ted eventually, 'I mean if she's been living in Australia all this time she's not going to be much help, I doubt she ever knew Louise.'

'Yes but that presents us with a real mystery Ted, where the bloody hell has Derek Styles been for the last two weeks...the care home were under the impression that he's been with Faye. Unless she's back in the country at the moment, that's a possibility I suppose. I am actually quite looking forward to meeting Mr Styles tomorrow; he sounds like a nasty piece of work.'

Ted nodded. 'Reckon he must have really screwed up Vanessa, either with physical violence or mental torture, the poor girls a wreck, Giles was saying she's only just holding it together at the moment.'

Carla didn't reply, despite how distressed Vanessa had seemed she couldn't forget the calculating look that she had seen in her eyes a couple of times when she had interviewed her that seemed to be at odds with the distraught image she was trying to give off. No she hadn't made her mind up about Vanessa yet; maybe the meeting with her father in the morning would shed some light on things.

# CHAPTER 43 - 2013

The old man had been shouting for what seemed like hours... days... he had no strength left.

The prison he was in was dark but there was just enough light to get an idea of his surroundings coming through the gaps in the wooden walls...he thought he might be in some sort of shed.

There was an old mattress on the floor and foul smelling bucket in the corner that he had eventually had to use to relieve his aching bladder.

His jailer had left him with bottled water to drink, and a loaf of bread that was beginning to turn green and fluffy.

He had no idea why he was here. He could only assume that it was a case of mistaken identity, he tried telling that to the enormous giant of a man that had dragged him out of the taxi and into this shed, but the man didn't seem to speak English. He had completely ignored his pleas just quietly and efficiently done his job, he hadn't been hurt, yet, but he knew that if he didn't get out soon, this was not going to end well. He tried to think of anyone that might have a grudge against him, but he soon stopped that because it was dawning on him that there was a great list of people who might want to get back at him.... At first he had thought that someone would be back in a couple of hours to release him, maybe slap him around a bit but as the hours had turned into days he had started to become truly afraid.... Maybe no one would ever come, maybe somebody was going to come but they had been in a crash on the way and he would be found starved to death in a few months time...maybe he would never be found...

He had been thinking, shit he had nothing else to do...he had been thinking about her. He felt a wave of hatred...fucking bitch...fucking cunt, that's when it had all gone wrong for him, that stupid little slut and her foul unnatural sprog. I mean what did she mean by coming back and spreading her poison...fucking bitch, they had all been doing great, the three of them, they didn't need her coming back ruining everything, saying unspeakable things...about him, after all he'd done for her...fucking bitch...fucking cunt.... Her mum hadn't needed to hear all that rubbish, it's what had killed her he was sure of that...not that she had believed her, oh no how could anyone believe those filthy lies...that he could have been capable of.... No he was sure she hadn't believed one word, but still mud sticks as they say... he had lost her anyway...maybe she was behind this...no she wouldn't dare...would she?

He started shouting again with increased urgency.

# CHAPTER 44 - TRACY

'Why do you have to go? Surely they won't mind if you miss it for once,' moaned Simon slowly stroking her back and working his way round to her breasts, his fingers flicked over her nipples.

Tracy groaned, 'Will you stop that, you know what it does to me, and yes I do have to go, no they wouldn't mind at all if I missed it, but I actually want to go, so I'm going...love me love my cauldron nights I'm afraid', she said nibbling at his lips and rubbing her hands over his hard chest. They were in Tracy's bed where they had spent most of the day giggling and making love and generally misbehaving. Tracy had pulled a sicky, something she NEVER did, because Simon didn't have to be at his new school for a few more days and she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could. He was in fact becoming addictive, she wasn't quite sure how she was going to manage when he really did have to leave.

She determinedly got up and out of bed. Buster was waiting right outside the door looking dejected and miserable and immediately rushed downstairs to the back door to be let out, Tracy followed him to the kitchen, opened the back door and put the kettle on. It was past 3pm and she still hadn't taken Buster out for his run. She felt really guilty she had let things slide since getting together with Simon. The kitchen was a total mess with last night's dishes in the sink and take away cartons spilling out all over the table. The living room wasn't much better, where the evidence of a spontaneous and frantic love making session was strewn all over the floor. Tracy felt her face heating up as she remembered it...they didn't seem to be able to keep their hands off each other at the moment but that certainly wasn't all that this relationship was about. Tracy felt as if she had finally met her soul mate, it was amazing how comfortable she felt with this man, how much they had in common and how much they had to talk about. He had already fitted into her life and she felt like she wanted to guard and protect this precious thing, she was so scared that it would fly away and leave her lonely and depressed again.

'Get a grip Tracy,' she said to herself, as she started clearing plates out of the sink so that she could fill it with hot water to wash up. It was a good thing that she had a cauldron meeting tonight, for one thing she could talk things through with the girls but also she needed to get some normality back into her life. She put coffee into two of the mugs she'd just washed up and waited for the toaster to pop up. Simon came into the kitchen, he had obviously just had a shower as his hair was wet and he was wrapped in a towel, Tracy licked her lips...coffee could wait.

Much later Tracy pushed her way through the crowded bar in The Bull, there seemed to be a stag do, or something similar going on tonight, so she took her dignity in her hands as she made her way through.

'Looking for me sweetheart?' shouted one vastly overweight drunken idiot he grabbed Tracy by the arm. 'You look as if you could handle something big and hard,' this was followed by raucous laughter. Tracy stopped and turned round facing the big mound of blubber, 'Oooh yes come on then big boy...I bet you could show me a good time,' she advanced towards him and he began to look distinctly nervous and then turned and fled to the toilets. All his friends fell about laughing and Tracy with a smug smile carried on through the pub until she spotted Maggie waving madly at her.

'Oh my darling we saw it all,' she said laughing. 'What a bunch of twats, it is so raucous in here, I'm going to have to make a complaint to Giles, this is really lowering the tone of the place, how are you sweetheart?' she asked Tracy as she found herself a chair, 'I guess from your tired eyes and your glowing expression that things are going well with you and the gorgeous Simon.'

'Maggie!' said Helen, 'give the poor girl a chance to catch her breath...so Tracy how's it going with Simon?' Tracy burst out laughing, 'Don't worry, I'll just get a drink and I'll fill you in on every gory detail,' and with that she started fighting her way back to the bar again. Giles seemed run off his feet and Vanessa was once again nowhere to be seen, instead there was a new barman who came over to serve Tracy.

'A large glass of house white please, you're new aren't you, did you just start today?' she asked as he poured her wine.

'Yes, Giles needed help while Vanessa is ill, so I volunteered, the names Steve,' said Steve and shook Tracy's hand.

'Tracy,' said Tracy, 'Oh I didn't know she was ill, poor Vanessa, though now you mention it she did have a funny turn at the community hall a few days ago, please give her my best when you see her, um how do you know Giles are you related or something?' Steve shook his head.

'Oh no nothing like that, my Dad worked with him years ago in Ashtead, they had a solicitors practice together, and they have kept in touch...Dad just happened to mention that Giles was looking for some help, and I was at a lose end so...' he shrugged his shoulders.

'Well it's nice to meet you Steve, I expect we'll see a lot of each other, I'm in here all the time,' and with a wave Tracy barged back round to where Helen and Maggie were sitting.

'Wow have you seen the new barman he's a bit of alright, his name is...'

'Steve, yes we know, Giles's friend's son...now spill the beans Trace, tell us all, where did you meet, what's he like in bed, are you crazy about him...come on we need to know,' said Maggie fiercely.

'Hang on where's Carla, shouldn't she be here by now, I'm usually the late one?'

'She's going to be late, she called from her car on the way back from Kent, had to go and interview someone or something...stop teasing what's going on, one minute you're 'miss lonely apart from my dog' and the next you have a veritable hunk on your arm.'

Tracy smiled smugly. 'He is gorgeous isn't he? I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming...I don't know how it happened really though, he started off as the most irritating man I have ever met, and then all of a sudden I couldn't keep my hands off him...luckily he seems to feel the same,' Tracy said contentedly. 'The only problem is that I am becoming seriously addicted to him, it's going to be hell when he has to go, I actually pulled a sicky today just to spend a bit more time with him...so I'm keeping a low profile tonight, keep an eye out for Juno or the head...I'm meant to be in bed feeling sick...'

Maggie burst out laughing, 'Ha ha instead you've been in bed feeling a big dick you lucky thing. Seriously don't worry Trace, if it's meant to be you will find a way, I'm so pleased for you honey, I always knew that there was somebody out there for you, he seems lovely,' said Maggie. A great roar came from the drunken louts at the bar making Maggie look round. 'Oh here's Carla...over here love, you'll have to fight your way through.' Carla waved back and indicated that she was just going to the bar to get a drink, after a few minutes she came bustling over to their table, raising her eyebrows as she ignored the shouted comments that had followed her.

'Oh boy do I need this,' she said as she took a huge swig of her drink, 'you would not believe the day I've had.' She told them about the trip to Sevenoaks, meeting the Goddalls and soon had them all giggling, 'I'm not kidding you, if talking rubbish was an Olympic event she would be wearing gold, the woman didn't take a breath and can you imagine Ted's face when she asked him to tell her husband the proper way to trim his beard, I've never seen him so lost for words it was priceless.'

'Oh poor Ted, it's not like he's not the most awkward person in the world anyway,' said Helen laughing. 'How's that going anyway Carla, is he any better with you now?'

Carla nodded. 'Actually it's getting much better, he's started calling me by name again at least...he's still a bit formal with me, but there's a definite thawing. I feel really guilty though I know I haven't made as much effort with him as I should have, I mean the poor guy has not long lost his wife, a wife that he adored by all accounts, and I should have been a bit more supportive of him...I'm thinking of inviting him to dinner soon, treat him to a bit of home cooking.'

'Bloody hell that sounds like a fun evening, I bet James will love that,' smirked Tracy sarcastically. 'Oh I'm only joking love,' she said at Carla's glare. 'You always do the right thing, the kind thing...not like me I'm such a selfish bitch, I mean I keep meaning to have a chat with Giles, he's so obviously unhappy at the moment and I'm meant to be his friend but since Simon and I have got together I'm just too pre-occupied...actually I will make some time tomorrow, now that I've thought about it.'

'Oh aren't you two just a couple of goody two shoes, leave the sad bastards to it that's my philosophy,' said Maggie caustically, she turned to Helen, 'you're quiet tonight Hels, what's up?'

'No nothing I'm fine, just a bit tired really...it is such hard work all this lying and deceiving, and I've not been sleeping very well...guilty conscience I expect...'

'Is it still going ok with Mike, what about Wills does he suspect anything yet?' Maggie asked.

'That's just it, he is totally oblivious, and he's not been going out as much so I have to keep finding excuses for being out of the house...all of this is horrible, I never thought it would be so hard...I really like Mike and I think he is quite serious about me. Oh god it's all going wrong I don't want to hurt anybody but I know I'm going to end up doing just that...what should I do?' Helen ran her fingers through her hair, she looked worried and weary, a far cry from the glowing girl of just a couple of weeks ago, Carla put an arm round her.

'I suppose that depends on what you want to get out of this,' she said, 'I mean if you think you want to cut your losses and be with Mike then you should tell Wills as soon as possible, but if, on the other hand you want to try and work things out with Wills then you need to knock it on the head with Mike, either way love, you need to make a decision...soon...is Wills still messing about with this Sarah woman?'

Helen looked thoughtful. 'I'm not sure anymore, he has definitely been around a bit more and he's started wanting sex a bit more often...that had completely stopped for a while, but he was so lovely the other night, it made me want to cry...well I did cry actually and...'

Maggie looked at her incredulously, 'Hang on a second here, this is all very lovely Helen but the man has been cheating on you for weeks, months maybe and now just because he decides he want you again, you start feeling guilty. I say let him feel some of the pain you felt, why should he get away scot free it's not right.'

'Nobody's saying he should get away with anything Maggs,' interrupted Carla, 'but it would be better for Helen to mend her marriage if that is what she wants, even if the sneaky little shit doesn't deserve it... if you want my advice Helen sweetheart I would confront Wills, let him know that you know...this has gone on long enough and if, as you say, Mike is becoming fond of you, you really need to sort it out before you get in any deeper...that's what I would do anyway.'

Helen nodded miserably. 'I know you're right Carla, I know that's what I must do...I just need to find the courage...'

'Well if you do confront him Hels, promise me that you will at least make him squirm, he deserves that even if Carla thinks he should get a prize for dumping sleazy Sarah,' said Maggie with a distinct edge to her voice.

Helen laughed caustically, 'Oh believe me Maggie he will be squirming so loud that you will hear it from your house, oh I know, I know I need to be brave I've just been too scared. I am such a bloody idiot you are so right Carla but I feel stronger now I've talked it through, that was all I needed to do, make a bloody decision... how rubbish am I? Now who's up for another drink?' After taking their drinks order Helen moved off to the bar.

Carla turned to Maggie, 'Maggs sweetheart I know that you are still feeling really bitter about the way that Greg cheated on you, but you have got to let Helen deal with this in her own way, she still loves Will anyone can see that and if there is any chance that she can fix things with him then that's got to be the best solution all round...don't you think?'

Maggie turned and looked at Carla horrified.

'Oh my god! Is that what you really think of me, that I'm some bitter twisted old woman that doesn't want her friends to be happy, well thank you very much Carla, and just for the record I am not still feeling bitter about Greg, I got over him a long time ago. I just happen to care about Helen and it makes me mad as hell to see her being dumped on...' Maggie wiped a tear from her cheek angrily.

Mortified, Carla rushed round the table to give Maggie a hug.

'Maggie! I didn't mean to upset you, I just think that sometimes you are so preoccupied by making Wills pay that you can't see that all Helen wants is to get back to how it was with her and Wills...she really loves him you know and...' Carla began, but Maggie's shoulders stiffened and she pulled away from Carla angrily.

'Yes well we all know that if you say it Carla then it must be right, after all what could I possibly know...slutty, always up for a laugh Maggie, how could I possibly have any worthwhile advice to give apart from which sexual positions are the best obviously...' Maggie's voice had risen so loud that one or two other people in the pub were turning round to see what the commotion was about.

Carla tried again.

'My god Maggie, what has got into you...you must know how much I respect you, you're one of my best friends...I'm so sorry I spoke without thinking...come on love let's not fall out...'

Tracy who had been staring opened mouthed at both of them while this exchange had been going on, tried to grab both of them by the hands.

'For goodness sake you two, you cannot fall out, I rely on both of you to keep me grounded...Maggie come on love, Carla didn't mean anything by it...did you Carla?'

Unfortunately Carla was losing patience herself now.

'I've just said that I didn't haven't I...for fucks sake I don't need this tonight Maggie, I have had such a day, I have been working all hours to try and find this fucking killer, I've been getting bloody earache from my bloody boss because I'm not getting results fast enough, I've been looking forward to coming out tonight so that I can spend some relaxing time with my friends and now I have to deal with you having a paddy because I speak my mind, well I'm sorry Maggs but I have tried to apologise if you can't accept it then fine...'

'Oh no Carla...come on I'm sure Maggie is willing to accept your apology aren't you Maggs?' said Tracy desperately.

'I have yet to hear a proper apology from Carla, Tracy,' said Maggie stubbornly as she downed her drink and pulled her coat from the back of the chair, 'all I've heard from her so far is how badly done by she is, I'd like to know how that is my fault...anyway I think the evening is over as far as I'm concerned...I'll see you soon Trace,' she blew Tracy a teary kiss, ignored Carla and made her stumbling way out of the pub. Carla could see Helen call to her with a look of concern on her face, but Maggie just waved at her and blew her another kiss as she rushed past.

'What the hell has upset Maggie?' asked Helen as soon as she got back, 'She just rushed past me with tears streaming down her face...was it something I said?'

Carla looked shamefaced, 'No, it was something I said I'm afraid,' the three women sat in silence for a couple of minutes... 'I will go round and speak to her on my way home,' said Carla eventually.

'Actually I think it might be better if you leave it till the morning love,' said Tracy. 'The mood she was in it might just make it worse,' at the sight of Carla's miserable face, she took her hand. 'Let her sleep on it...I don't know what it was that you said but it obviously hit a nerve. I think she's struggling at the moment, all this over the top high spirits and trying to be so blasé about her relationships...but she loves you Carla, I think she's got more respect for you than anyone else...she'll come round, just give her time.'

Carla then surprised them all and herself by bursting into tears. 'I'm such a know it all bitch,' she said between sobs, 'How could I have been so insensitive,' sniff sniff, 'What a cow,' snort sniff, it took quite a while for the other two to calm her down and since the fun had gone out of the evening they soon called it a night and went home.

Tracy called Maggie's phone as soon as she got in...she answered after a few rings, she had obviously been crying, her voice was thick with tears. 'Oh thank you for worrying about me sweetheart,' she said sleepily, 'but I'm home safe and I'm just going to bed now, don't you keep your lovely man waiting...yes yes I'll talk to Carla tomorrow...I know she didn't mean it...ok see you soon Trace...bye.' Satisfied that her friend was safe at home Tracy turned her attention to the rather wide awake man that had been waiting patiently for her to come home.

She shimmied sexily towards the bed never taking her eyes off his face and slowly started to remove her clothes, talking in a little girl voice as she did so.

'Oh my...there seems to be strange man in my bed...oh please sir don't hurt me I'll do anything you ask...but as you can see I'm just a weak feeble woman, so you will easily be able to have your wicked way with me...what was that, you want to tie me to the bedstead...oh sir but that's sooo naughty and...'

She got no further, Simon who had been watching her with a smile on his face could obviously take no more and with a growl he grabbed her and pulled her down towards him.

# CHAPTER 45 - HELEN

Helen went home feeling full of determination, she was going to confront Wills tonight, it could not be put off any longer. Mike seemed to be getting pretty serious about her, she hadn't slept with him yet although things were certainly heating up in that direction. But the other night she had had such a magical night with Wills, he had been like the old Wills, sweet and tender, not rushing and preoccupied, it had made her realise that she was still far too much in love with him. It seemed like he had finished his affair, either that or it was definitely cooling down, he had been coming home at the usual time from work, there hadn't been any weekend conferences for a while now either, now was the time to let him know that she knew he had cheated on her, but that she was willing to forgive him and start again...put it all behind them. She felt quite calm now, she knew that this was the right thing to do, no matter what Maggie said. She didn't want any sort of revenge, what good would that do her...no she just wanted her husband back. She felt they had both learned a lesson, Wills that Helen was worth hanging on to and Helen that she needed to make more of an effort with herself to keep Wills on his toes.

Will was in the living room, spread out on the couch in front of the telly, laughing at a repeat of 'mock the week', he smiled when he saw her.

'Hi love, you're home earlier than I expected...what was it, no one interesting enough to gossip about tonight, a lack of scandal in the village or did Giles kick you all out for being too noisy?' Helen walked over and got herself a drink from the cabinet, she drank it down in one go before turning to her husband.

'Actually Carla and Maggie had a bit of a row, Maggie left and Carla was really upset...it sort of killed the mood.'

Will looked shocked, 'Wow I bet it did, I can't imagine those two arguing, they're such good mates... what was it about...some man I expect.'

Helen sat down opposite him. 'Yes it was about some man, but not in the way you think. It was about how I'm meant to deal with you...they both had a different approach you might say...Maggie wanted me to castrate you slowly and wear your balls round my neck as a warning to all men, and Carla...well Carla suggested that I talk to you...which is what I'm doing...'

Wills had gone very quiet; Helen turned the TV off and sat down again in front of him.

'I know Wills you see, I have known for weeks now, I know her name, Sarah, I know when you have taken time off work to be with her. I know which hotels you have stayed in when you have been away at a 'conference' and it has been breaking my heart...'

'Helen sweetheart...' began Wills trying to take her hands, Helen realised that she didn't actually want him to touch her yet she was beginning to feel angry, she pushed his hands away.

'I just want to know why...why did you need more than me...we've always been such good friends, haven't we? We've always enjoyed each other in bed...or maybe that was just me...what made you do it Wills...I can't understand, was she so much better than me?'

'Oh no Helen darling, you are such a special person, so talented and sweet and yes of course I have always enjoyed being in bed with you, you have such a wonderful passion.... I can't tell you why it happened...it just did, I wasn't looking for anyone else you have to believe me Helen...it just sort of happened that's all I can say... I'm so sorry I never for one minute meant to hurt you...Sarah, she just seems to get me you know, I don't have to be anybody but me when I'm with her. You are so much above me, I've always felt I was punching above my weight...people are always telling me how wonderful you are, a talented artist, wonderful florist, so active in the community...I just haven't ever been able to live up to you...'

Helen turned on him incandescent with fury.

'So all of this is somehow my fault for being too good is that what you're saying...that's pathetic Wills, we have known each other since college, we've been married for over twenty years and suddenly now I make you feel inadequate...bollocks! You just saw someone younger that you fancied, she made herself available and you thought fuck all about how it was going to hurt me.' Now she had started Helen didn't seem to be able to stop the tirade of anger and hurt, she turned on him pointing her finger in his face.

'You do realise that I have come this close to giving up on this marriage you stupid wanker...you nearly threw us both away just because you couldn't keep it in your pants you stupid fucker, it's only because Carla had the sense to make me see that I still loved you...though it doesn't feel like it at the moment...and that now your pathetic little mid-life crisis is over we had something worth saving, I nearly walked away from you...you stupid cretin...'

Wills suddenly began to look shifty.

'Hang on a minute Helen, I am sorry that it has come to this, and I didn't plan on telling you in this way but...I am not giving Sarah up. I love her Helen...she's been in New York for the last couple of weeks but as soon as she's back I am moving in with her...I was planning on telling you this weekend...'

For a moment Helen couldn't believe what she was hearing, she looked at Will blankly as if he was talking a foreign language, until it slowly began to sink in. She had expected abject apologies and pleading for her to forgive him but, as she soon started to realise, instead he was saying that he was leaving her. Helen began to feel an uncontrollable fury coming up from her chest, an anger that so filled her she had to let it out somehow.

With a primeval scream, Helen launched herself at Will punching, kicking, gouging trying to hurt him in any way that she could. He tried to defend himself by holding her arms, but she just kept on punching and punching trying to draw blood until at last she had no more strength left...she collapsed in a heap at his feet sobbing...Wills tried to pull her into his arms, he was crying uncontrollably too...he had never anticipated inflicting such pain, but Helen shoved him away whenever he tried to get near...he stood by her, not knowing what else to do...after a while she stopped crying, she was sitting on the floor with just the occasional shudder going through her body, Wills crouched down beside her.

'Helen, what do you want me to do...should I go...I don't know what to do.'

'Yes...go... GET OUT YOU FUCKING BASTARD,' Helen shrieked, then she turned her face to the wall her shoulders shaking with the sobs.

Will went upstairs and threw a few things into a bag. He was in shock, he had never expected the torrent of emotion that he had just endured...he felt worried about leaving Helen in the state she was in he found his mobile and rang Maggie's number.

'Yes... hello,' said a sleepy voice after a couple of rings.

'Maggie... um... this is Will, Helen's husband...I think she needs someone to be with her tonight...I wouldn't normally ask but...'

'What the fuck have you done to her you bastard...' shrieked Maggie, wide awake now. 'Oh forget it I'm on my way...you are a sad excuse for a husband Will, she'll be much better off without you...just don't be there when I get there if you know what's good for you, you little prick.' Maggie practically threw her phone across the room in anger, then she jumped out of bed and scrambled into some clothes...in five minutes she was pulling out of her driveway and heading for Helen's.

Maggie found Helen curled in a corner in her studio...she was shaking, either with cold or shock Maggie couldn't tell. She wrapped her in a blanket and made her sit on the sofa while she made her a cup of tea. She was seriously worried, Helen hadn't spoken to her, she had just allowed herself to be wrapped up, she was just staring blankly at the wall...every so often silent tears would stream down her face...she was a broken woman...Maggie recognised the signs...she knew what to do...she put her arms around her friend and held her until she fell asleep.

The next morning Helen haltingly told Maggie what had taken place the night before. Maggie felt desperately sorry for her friend; there was nothing so painful as being rejected for another, by someone you love. Helen was in agony, parts of the night's events she could barely recount, the words were just too painful to say out loud...he loved Sarah...he loved Sarah...she gets him...'Which means I don't get him I suppose,' sobbed Helen. Maggie stayed with her the whole day, bullying her to eat and trying to persuade her to come and stay with her, she hated the thought of Helen all alone in that big house, finally Helen saw the sense of this argument and agreed to come and stay a few days.

Mike had tried to call her a couple of times, but Helen hadn't answered the call...she didn't know how she felt about that situation anymore...all she could think about was Wills...Wills and Sarah.

Wills had called once...she had told him to fuck off...he hadn't called back.

It was the right decision to stay at Maggie's Helen thought as she unpacked her bag in Maggie's palatial spare room later that day.

It was a noisy house, there was always something going on, at the moment a loud argument was what was going on between Maggie and Jed about the fact that he hadn't called his dad this week. Maggie was very diligent about making sure the kids kept in contact with their father...even though Jed was a grown man and should have been allowed to decide whether he saw his dad or not...but Helen certainly wasn't going to interfere between mother and son, especially about something so sensitive. 'I suppose I should be grateful that we didn't have any children,' she thought, 'what a mess that would have been, I would have made sure he never saw the kids again.'

Helen had surprised herself at the level of anger that she felt towards Will and that bitch, as she referred to Sarah. She had always thought that she would have been the pragmatic and sensible type, that she would have been able to remain friendly with an ex, maybe even spending evenings with new partners. How wrong was she...she felt a scorching deep hatred for Wills...she hoped that one day he would get his comeuppance and she hoped she would be around to see it, and as for that slut...well she had plans for her.

Maggie had let Tracy know what had happened, knowing of course that meant Tracy would let Carla know.

Maggie felt very ashamed of the way she had behaved at The Bull the night before...it was completely out of character and she thought she knew the reasons why she had been so touchy but that was no excuse...she had turned on Carla of all people...ok ok Carla could sometimes be a bit patronising, but she meant nothing but good, and she would have been mortified to think that she had hurt Maggie's feelings. If Maggie hadn't been so distracted by Helen's situation she would have called and apologised by now as it was nearly a whole day had gone by without making up...she would have to call her.

One stumbling block however came from an unexpected source, Helen was angry with Carla, she felt that Carla had pressurised her into confronting Wills, somehow putting her into the mess that she now found herself.

'If only I had listened to you Maggs,' she had said earlier, 'I could have carried on with Mike and let Wills have his fun with the ginger minger (they had found out that Sarah was a red head) until he got tired of the bitch and came running back to me, but no, Carla had to push me into 'doing the right thing' and look where that's got me.'

Obviously these were the ramblings of a seriously fucked up woman and made no sense at all, but Maggie was beginning to feel like Helen would see it as a betrayal if she apologised to Carla, and she had had her fair share of betrayals over the last day or so, so Maggie opted not to call...yet.

Another little problem that was tugging at Maggie's heartstrings had reared its ugly head earlier in the evening, when Charles had called full of sexual promise and sweet nothings and Maggie had had to put him off. Helen was far too fragile to be confronted by the sight of her (Maggie) cuddling up to her latest squeeze on the sofa in front of her. Charles didn't take it very well, even though Maggie had tried to let him down really gently, well for her anyway.

'I'm really really sorry sweetheart but I have a friend staying and it would just be too awkward...no it's a girlfriend...Helen, and I'm not answering any more of your questions, if you can't trust me then what's the point Charles...actually Charles I'm not explaining myself to you, if you've got a problem then deal with it....I'll speak to you soon...bye.'

Helen was mortified, 'Oh god Maggie I don't want to get in the way, don't worry about me I can always watch telly in my room or something.'

'Don't be stupid love, I can see Charles anytime...he'll get over it...anyway it's fab having you here...what do you say to a take away and a DVD tonight...you can choose the film, but no weepys we've both had enough crying to last us a lifetime.'

They spent a quiet evening, Maggie ordered a curry and Helen chose a comedy, Bridesmaids which managed to get them smiling, then Maggie turned the TV off and made some hot chocolate for them both, Helen followed her into the kitchen.

'This feels like being at home again when I was in my teens, my Mum would often make me a hot chocolate before bed, especially when I was miserable... usually over some boy... oh god why do we do it Maggie, why can't we learn our lesson...all men are bastards. Christ we're told that often enough, we've seen the evidence of it often enough as well, I mean how many of your friends have at some point in their lives been on the receiving end of men's infidelities, most of them I bet. Oh I know women do it as well but it's more often than not the man in the relationship that buggers everything up. So many of my girlfriends, even you with your fabulous looks, have been thrown over for a younger model...and yet we put ourselves right back in the line of fire again...looking for 'Mr Right' as if he exists...and we hand over our hearts never knowing whether we are going to be allowed to keep them intact or whether they are going to be ripped from our chests again. I mean look at Tracy, she has obviously fallen head over heels for this Simon chap, granted he seems like a nice guy, but how does she know that a couple of years from now he won't decide that he fancies someone younger, thinner, someone who 'gets him'...every bit of emotion that Tracy invests in this new relationship will count for nothing. Fuck it Maggs I'm never doing it again, no one is ever going to have the chance to hurt me lliikke tthis agaiiinnn....' Helen collapsed into tears again; Maggie put her arms around her.

'I know sweetheart...I know, and you're right they are all bastards...and it's a good thing that you are going to protect your heart. But don't let your disappointment with Wills ruin your life forever honey...stand up and fight back, treat men as they treat you, have your fun with them and then move on...that's my philosophy anyway...' Maggie finished lamely as she realised that she no longer felt quite like that, Charles was definitely worming his way under her skin...well she would have to put a stop to that, but that was something for another time.

'I don't know why we as women do what we do, it makes no sense you're right, it must just be part of our genetic makeup...the need for love and companionship...and I suppose that's what makes us the weaker sex...' Maggie could see that Helen was dead on her feet, drained by all the emotion of the day, 'come on love, why don't you go to bed, you look half asleep as it is...would you like a tablet to help you sleep?'

Helen nodded, the thought of falling into a deep dreamless sleep was far too tempting to be bothered by the evils of sleeping tablets...just for tonight she said to herself, she took the tablet and after hugging Maggie goodnight she made her way up to bed...within minutes of putting her head on the pillow she was asleep.

Maggie on the other hand sat downstairs for hours thinking about what Helen had said...she understood exactly how she felt and seeing her friend's grief today had brought it all back to her, the feelings of utter despair, the excruciating pain of rejection, how on earth could you ever expect to get beyond that, but somehow little by little you did...life moves on, it's an old cliché but it's undeniably true...unfortunately for Helen she had to go through all the crap first before she would start seeing glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel.

Maggie felt as drained as Helen, the house felt dark and quiet, too quiet, the boys were both out and probably would be until daybreak and it was at times like these that Maggie felt at her most vulnerable...loneliness would engulf her... she would start thinking about Greg, something that she tried never to do, and the pain which she could usually keep well hidden in the corners of her mind would flood in racking her body with uncontrollable sobs. She felt like howling like an animal...she wrapped her arms around herself and waited for it to subside, which it did leaving her shaking and shattered...she knew better than most about being the weaker sex, she thought, Greg's loss could still bring her to her knees...well at least no one knew, she put on such a good show...shagging them and leaving them, everybody thought she was as hard as nails, and that was how she liked it. She went to the kitchen and got herself a sleeping tablet, she had cut down a lot on them since dating Charles...but tonight she just needed oblivion.

# CHAPTER 46 - 2013

He didn't know how long he had been here, at first he had tried to keep count seeing the light and dark through the cracks in the wooden walls, but he had lost count...the shed was becoming more and more airless, the only time the air was changed was when the door had been opened and his huge silent prison guard would leave him food and fresh water. He tried asking him questions, he shouted at him, pleaded with him but all to no avail, the man just deposited the food and left... no one had spoken to him, he still did not know why he had been imprisoned here...he knew he was being left to die...and he knew that he wouldn't have the strength to live much longer.

Man's will to survive though, was amazingly strong, he continued to grasp every piece of food that was thrown at him, he rationed his water just in case there was no more delivered...why not just give up, he often thought about it...he was so weak now that he could barely struggle to the bucket to relieve himself, the air was fetid and the stench was at times overpowering...he just lay in his own filth on the thin mean mattress, his mind wandered whether he wanted it to or not.

He had been having hallucinations, he kept seeing her...that fucking little bitch, mocking him pointing at him...she was happy to see him in misery lying in his own shit...other times, the worst times Wendy would come, standing over him watching him with sadness in her eyes...accusing him, pointing a finger at him...it wasn't my fault...you know what she was like...you always said she was too pretty for her own good, flirting with all the boys...it wasn't my fault...you should have seen the way she looked at me flaunting herself in front of me...she was no innocent child, she had been born a whore, she had a whore's body...don't stare at me, she was asking for it...

At night would come terror...terror of the unknown, terror of death and what comes after death...no wonder he clung to life...no God would judge him leniently he knew...the harshest punishment of hell awaited him...sometimes he pleaded in the dark for forgiveness...no one heard his pleas...no one was listening.

# CHAPTER 47 - CARLA

Carla went home after her row with Maggie and had a good cry, she told James what had happened and he had been quite indignant about the things that Maggie had said.

'What is up with her? All you were trying to do was protect Helen, she had no right to lay into you like that sweetheart, it seems to me that everything you said made complete sense, she just a drama queen. She would love to see Helen walk out on Wills because she thinks that all men deserve that sort of treatment,' but Carla wouldn't have Maggie criticised.

'Oh come on now James, I can quite clearly see why I upset her, she is so sensitive about anything to do with Greg and I had to throw that in her face...oh I am such a stupid cow, of course she's going to go off on one...' she could see James had more to say, but she interrupted him before he could start.

'No I appreciate your standing up for me darling...thank you...but I was a patronising bitch tonight...I think I'm getting to used to bossing people around and thinking I know best...which by the way I do when it comes to you...but I will have to ring and apologise tomorrow,' she sighed.

'I would have done tonight but Tracy thought it would be best if I wait, and she's right...oh God James I am so lucky I have you, sometimes I feel quite smug like I've won a prize or something...promise me you'll never change, I couldn't bear to lose you...' she burst into fresh tears and James pulled her into his arms with a laugh. 'Bloody hell Carla you lot have been working up an emotional storm at your meeting tonight haven't you, I love you, you dopey cow and I'm not going anywhere.'

James could see that tonight's argument had left Carla needing a little reassurance, he turned her so that she was looking in his eyes. 'I'm yours Detective Inspector, and I WILL NOT let you down I'm not such a fool, even if you can be now and again, a patronising cow and you seem to love bossing us all around. You have turned me into weak man without a mind of my own so I just can't live without you...come on love let's get you to bed you look like you're about drop.' Carla gave him a grateful watery smile and they made their way upstairs.

Ted had already arrived at the Happy Valley care home by the time Carla got there the next morning, he was waiting in the car park reading through the case notes, he seemed so engrossed that he didn't notice Carla until she tapped on his window and made him jump.

'What the...oh hi Carla, I got here early so I thought I would just go through the notes before we speak to this fellow.'

Carla nodded and waited for him to get out of the car before she said, 'Anything new spring out to you? I've been over and over it, unfortunately everything seems to point to Vanessa as far as I'm concerned, the picture of the earring just confirmed everything...we just need some solid proof, something to prove that Vanessa actually met up with Louise...no news on her mobile I suppose...' at Ted's negative shake of the head she let out a frustrated sigh, 'it just still doesn't sit right with me though Ted, I mean ok it might be a bit of a shock your daughter who you abandoned years before turning up and wanting some answers, but would that push her to kill the girl, and in such a frenzied way...Vanessa seems shell shocked and when I asked her if she'd arranged to meet with Louise she looked genuinely bewildered, she said how could she, she had no idea where she was...it sort of rang true...anyway let's see what darling daddy has to say for himself, I'm quite looking forward to this.'

Ten minutes later they were walking back to their cars, Derek Styles had not yet returned from his daughters they were told. 'No,' the rather irritated sister in charge had said, 'He hadn't bothered to tell them that he was staying away any longer and no they hadn't so far been successful in getting in touch with either him or his daughter to find out when he would be back, but this was such typical inconsiderate behaviour by Styles that it didn't surprise her at all, and yes she would let Carla know as soon as he got in touch.'

Carla had asked for the address that the nursing home had for Faye Pinner and was mystified when she was given the address in Sevenoaks that they had visited the day before. The sister in charge seemed surprised that Faye was living in Australia. 'Doesn't anybody check up on these addresses, and did anybody actually see Miss Styles arrive to collect her father?' Carla asked in frustration upsetting the already irritable sister even more.

'We are a nursing home not a prison,' she said angrily to Carla, 'Derek Styles is free to come and go as he likes. As I understand it his daughter had arranged for a taxi to pick him up, we made sure he had his medication etc. and all we can do is hope that we are given the right information by their relatives. Derek was one of our more able residents, he had problems with mobility because of a stroke and extensive arthritis in his joints, but he was able to walk short distances using his frame, and had none of the mental problems that some of our residents have, in fact he was irritatingly bright sometimes,' she heaved a sigh and lowered her voice. 'Sometimes he can be extremely rude, it has actually been quite a nice break not having him around...anyway I will keep you informed Inspector, as soon as he gets in touch, at the moment we are not seriously worried, he'll turn up like the bad penny he is,' she added resignedly.

Carla and Ted drove back to the station in silence, Carla deep in her own thoughts about Maggie and their row the night before, she had tried ringing her mobile first thing this morning but was put straight through to voice mail, she'd left a message asking her to phone but looking at her phone they'd been no missed calls so far. Carla sighed it would just have to wait until she could speak to her properly, but when that would be was anybody's guess, she certainly wouldn't be home before midnight tonight the way this day was going.

Carla got the team together as soon as they got back and set about reviewing everything that they had discovered so far. They knew why Louise was in Kenley, it seemed logical that it would have been Vanessa that had arranged to meet her, despite her insistence that she had no idea how to get in touch with her they now had evidence that the emails that Louise had received were definitely from the computer found at Vanessa's flat. Also they were pretty certain that Vanessa was the owner of the emerald earring that was found at the murder scene, but that in itself wasn't enough to place her there at the time that Louise was killed. Carla simply had to get a breakthrough soon, Chief Inspector Drew was breathing down her neck.

'Let's face it folks after over a month we've got bugger all...we know who she is, we know that she was an orphan that was abandoned outside a hospital as a baby...we know someone possibly her mother contacted her and arranged to meet her, she certainly thought it was her mum she was meeting...who was it that contacted her, if not Vanessa, and why? We need to find that bloody mobile, it must be out there somewhere...I want as many people as you can muster to do another thorough search of the area in the woods...we are only searching for her mobile, concentrate on that and nothing else...' Ted seemed to be working himself up to say something; Carla waited and let him speak.

'I agree that's important...but if you want my opinion we have to bring Vanessa in for questioning, now, quite frankly I don't know what you're waiting for Carla. There is just too much that points in her direction, even if it is all circumstantial, even if your gut feeling is that she wouldn't have killed her daughter, we can now link her directly to Louise, we know that the emails came from her computer, we know she has at some time owned a pair of earrings identical to the one found at the scene of a murder. We would be really neglecting our duty if we overlook her,' he finished looking firmly at Carla, the rest of the team shuffled their feet uncomfortably, but a couple of them were nodding in agreement.

Carla sat for a minute weighing up what Ted had said, 'Ok Ted, you're right I know you are...I'll go over there and bring her in myself...we'll interview her together later. The rest of you...the mobile phone is a priority, and I'll need a couple of you...um Mandy and Frank to come with me, we'll need to search Vanessa's flat.' With a satisfied nod Ted left the room and Carla tried to get her head together...she was convinced that there was so much more to Vanessa's story than she was willing to reveal, she was going to have to dig deep...and she was also sure that that was the key to solving this whole mystery, something to do with Louise herself maybe...what if she had threatened to tell Giles about Vanessa's past, that could be a motive...but Carla just couldn't imagine the gentle Giles coming down heavy on Vanessa about...well anything really, he was so obviously crazy about her...aaaagh she was just going round in circles...again.

With a sigh of determination Carla, Mandy and Frank set off on the short drive from the station to the pub. Giles wasn't around but one of the temporary staff called up to Vanessa and told her Carla was there and then told her to go on up.

Vanessa was on the couch in the living room, she looked dreadful with eyes puffy from crying and her hair lank and greasy, Carla couldn't ever remember her looking so bad, and she looked even more agitated when she saw that Carla had not come alone.

'Vanessa I think we need to ask you a few more questions, and I would prefer to do so at the station so if you could get your coat and let the staff know, I'll drive you there.'

'What, now...I don't understand why at the station, couldn't you ask me your questions here, I'm not very well at the moment Carla, couldn't this wait?'

'No I'm sorry but it can't, we need to interview you at the station because we have all the equipment there to tape our conversation...so if you could just get a coat or whatever...is Giles about, do you want to let him know?'

'He's away all day today...some brewery thing I think, I wasn't listening if I'm honest, I'll be back before he gets home...won't I?'

'Well let's just see how it goes shall we? I can always call him later for you anyway...we will also be conducting a search of the flat Vanessa, while you are at the station...we have a warrant...and I will need the keys to your car.' Carla waited while Vanessa wordlessly handed them over...it was like all the fight had gone out of her. 'Ready?' said Carla gently.

Vanessa seemed to be in a trance as she walked downstairs and got into Carla's car and neither of them spoke as Carla drove to the station.

Carla led Vanessa upstairs to an interview room. 'Can I get you anything...tea, coffee?' asked Carla. Vanessa just shook her head.

'Ok Vanessa I will try not to keep you too long, I'm just going to get my sergeant to sit in with us...won't be long.'

Carla shut the door behind her and let out a sigh, she needed to get this right...she went back downstairs to find Ted.

# CHAPTER 48 - _May 22_ nd _1996_

The house looks the same...it's funny I expected it to have changed somehow, but then again it has only been seven months or so...just seven months...it has felt like a lifetime.

I go round to the kitchen door...Faye is in there peeling potatoes, or trying to, she's making a right mess of it from what I can see...she looks totally shocked to see me.

'What are you doing here?' she says in an unfriendly voice.

'Hi little squirt...I'm home aren't you pleased to see me?'

Faye throws down the knife she is using and runs out of the room shouting...'Dad, Dad Vanessa's home.'

I brace myself to see him again, at least he will be relieved to see me back, without a baby.

He walks slowly behind Faye into the room; he is looking thinner and older somehow.

'So you've decided to come crawling back have you,' he says with menace in his voice, I find myself trembling, backing away from him. 'You selfish little cow, do you know how your mother has suffered because you went away, she's been out of her mind with worry it's made her ill, she's been bedridden for weeks now...all down to you, you miserable excuse for a daughter...you could have at least written to let her know you were ok, or were you away having such a good time that didn't occur to you?'

I am speechless...I've done what he'd wanted...I've taken care of it on my own.

'I did write,' I am ashamed to hear myself stammering, 'as soon as I had got to where I was going I wrote to Mum, I told her I would be back as soon as I had sorted out something,' I give him a hard stare...surely he would remember why I had had to go, but he just seems to get even more angry.

'Don't lie...we never got any letters from you, we had no idea where you were, if you were alive or dead...your poor mother.'

'Where is Mum I ask, I must let her know I'm home,' I push past him and run up the stairs to her room...she's lying in her bed, trying to raise her head up, she has obviously heard raised voices downstairs...when she sees me standing in the door way she holds out her hands to me, tears streaming down her face.

'Vanessa darling you've come home...oh sweetheart we've been so worried about you, why did you go darling, whatever it was we would have taken care of it...oh come here.'

I run to my Mum sobbing with relief at least she seems pleased to see me, she hugs me for a few minutes and then disengages slowly...painfully and I look at her properly. She looks like a shadow of her former self, like when a balloon has deflated, it's like all the life has been sucked out of her she falls back against the pillows exhausted by the effort of hugging me, there are dark shadows under her eyes and her skin looked almost transparent...she is obviously very ill.

'Mum...what is wrong, why are you in bed have you got flu or something?'

'It's a bit more than that, not that you would care...your mum's dying girl...that's what you did to her...take a good look...' Dad has followed me into the room.

Mum tries to stop him speaking, 'No no Derek you mustn't say that...don't listen to him darling, yes I am ill, and I'm sorry that I won't be able to be here with you all for much longer... the lord is calling me to him but,' she takes my hands and looks me in the eye, 'you are not to blame Vanessa...yes we were all sick with worry about you of course, but... I have cancer sweetheart and that's what's killing me...'

'Stop mamby pambying her Wendy,' says Dad pushing past me to the bedside, 'the doctor said you weren't to be stressed...so when missy here decides to run off with some fella and you are stressed out of your mind don't tell me she had nothing to do with it...'

'WHAT! Dad you know I didn't run away with some fella, you know why I went away,' I turn to Mum desperate for her to believe me, '...and I did write to you Mum to let you know I was ok...I don't know why you didn't get my letter, but I promise you I did write.'

'Well that does my heart good sweetheart to know that you thought about us, the letter must have been lost in the post...never mind that now, you're home and that's all that matters,' she holds my hand again like she never wants to let go of it again. 'If it wasn't a boy that you went with...why Vanessa...what made you do it?'

'That's enough for now Wendy love,' Dad interrupts her, 'you know what the doctor said you mustn't tire yourself out...Vanessa can come back and see you later after you've had a nap...come on Vanessa,' he starts tugging at my hand, but Mum won't let go...she looks crossly at Dad.

'I'm ok Derek...I haven't seen Vanessa for months and I'm going to talk to her for a while, you don't have to watch over me...Vanessa's here she'll keep an eye on me won't you darling?'

I reach over and stroke my Mum's hair, 'Of course I will Mum.'

'Look I'm not going to have her telling you things that might upset you, you know how she has always twisted everything, now is not the time Wendy, she is bound to upset you.' Dad seemed extremely worried about what I might say...as well he might be, because I had an awful lot that needed saying.

'Derek!' says Mum sharply, 'Stop being so stupid, how much more time do you think I have to talk to my girl...maybe if I'd been allowed to talk to her earlier she wouldn't have felt like leaving us, now go away and let us have a chat,' she falls back against the pillows after this outburst, breathing heavily. It is obvious that Dad is not at all happy at the thought of Mum and I having a 'chat' especially if he isn't there to censor anything that I might say, but he also obviously can't think of a good enough excuse to stay in the room, so very reluctantly he goes out, but not before giving me a hard stare and saying.

'Don't even think about upsetting your mother Vanessa, she doesn't need to be hearing a lot of nonsense from you just because you want to be dramatic...think about her...ok...you can see how weak she is.'

With Dad gone, Mum turned to me, she looks as if she is bracing herself...making herself strong to speak to me.

'Come on then, out with it...why did you leave, and no lies now, I want the truth from you my girl...no matter how much you think it will upset me, if it will make it easier... I think I already know...at least I have my suspicions, what you tell me now will make up my mind...it's him isn't it? Dad I mean...tell me darling, I will believe you, but you must tell me.'

I am sobbing by now, and I find it very hard to even to speak, but little by little I calm down enough to look up at my Mum and nod, then haltingly I begin to tell her all that has happened, stopping every now and again when she gets too upset but over and over again she presses me to carry on no matter how much it is upsetting her...I don't tell her about the baby though, that, I think would kill her and if I'm honest I just can't...I feel so ashamed...I just hang my head...how can I tell her about it...how I just left it...so I lie about what drove me from home.

'I just couldn't stand him touching me anymore, I tried to stop him Mum I promise I did...he said I led him on but I swear I didn't, I hated it...it made me feel sick...but he just kept on, even though he knew I didn't like it...so I ran away...but then I missed you all too much so I came home...I really did write though, you have to believe me, I am so sorry if I have made you ill...I never meant to...' I stop as I hear Mum let out a moan, she is crying as hard as me now.

'Oh Vanessa, oh my darling girl, what have I done...I should have known, should have seen...please forgive me darling,' she is pulling me to her sobbing against my face.

'Mum don't upset yourself please...you need to stay calm, remember what Dad said, I don't want to make you anymore ill than you are already, I'm just so sorry that I caused you all this upset, Dad's right, I did make you ill.' It is terrifying to see my strong beautiful Mum so weak and breathless, she takes my hand again.

'Well that's enough of that sweetheart, that's just more poison from your dad...you go and get settled back into your room now darling...I'm so glad your home...safe and sound...and don't you worry, I won't tell him that you said anything, at least not until I'm well enough to deal with him.'

I can see that Mum is exhausted, so I give her a kiss and then leave her to sleep.

Dad is waiting for me downstairs, he looks at me warily as I come in and then comes right up close to me talking into my face in an intimidating whisper.

'You had better not have been spreading filthy lies about me girl, I won't have your mother upset anymore by you...I suppose you think this is all my fault don't you, never mind that you couldn't keep your hands off me, flaunting yourself around the house hoping I'd notice you...well when you behave like a whore you get what's coming to you...so you've only got yourself to blame.'

I cannot believe what he is saying to me. After all I have been through over the last few months I was sure that I would be safe to come back home...to my family, but Dad is looking at me with panic in his eyes, I can tell he wishes I'd never come back.

'I did what you wanted me to do...you have nothing to worry about... I got rid of it, so now I have come home...I have nowhere else to go...I thought that was what you wanted,' I say, pleading with him but nothing I say seems to pacify him, he is in fact barely listening, but keeps looking round as if he's afraid someone will hear what I'm saying.

'Shut up you stupid bitch, I've told you what could happen if anyone finds out about our little secret...you don't want to be the cause of your sister being put into care do you?' I can't believe he is still coming out with the same old lines, I feel myself getting angry, the stress of the past few days makes me want to lash out at him.

'You're pathetic, do you know that, can't you think of any new threats, you've been using that one for as long as I can remember, and to be quite honest it would probably be better for Faye to be in a foster home than for you to get your paws on her,' I see something in his eyes that sickens me.

'Oh god no you've already started on her...haven't you, you sick bastard...well I'll not let you get her into the same trouble you got me into...I'm telling Mum,' I try to get past him but he blocks my way, realising that I'm serious, he changes tactics.

'Don't be silly Vanny,' he says in a wheedling voice now, trying to placate me. 'I wouldn't touch Faye...you've always been my special girl, you know that don't you...now let's have no more talk about telling anyone...let's all calm down and try and get on, for your mum's sake shall we?'

I take a breath and decide that I had better go along with him for now...I don't want to have to leave while Mum is so sick and if I wind him up any more he's quite capable of kicking me out on the streets, so with a scathing glance at him I go into the living room. Faye is in there she gives me a cold stare, I sigh and sit down next to her.

'I'm sorry I was gone for so long squirt, I thought about you all the time I couldn't wait to come home...'

'Oh shut up you horrid liar!' shouted Faye. 'You didn't think about us at all...it's been horrible here, Mum's been so worried about you all the time, then she just got sicker and sicker and I couldn't help her...and then Dad...' she broke off in a fluster.

'Dad what? What were you going to say Faye?'

'None of your stupid business, nothing I wasn't going to say anything...' she turned angry tearful eyes towards me and I knew. 'You just shouldn't have gone Vanny...I'll never forgive you.' With that she fled the room. I sat there for a while trying to think what I should do. I had to try and get her to admit that he was interfering with her, and then maybe we could talk to Mum together about it. I found her about an hour later in the garden on the swing, she went to run off when she saw me but I stopped her.

'If Dad is touching you Faye we must tell Mum, can't you see that...that's why I had to run away, because he got me pregnant...you can't let him do the same to you...we must tell Mum she'll put a stop to it...she knows some of it anyway, she told me she had guessed so it won't be so hard...come on let's go up now and tell her together.' I hold out my hand to Faye, but she just looks at me with hatred in her eyes.

'Dad told me you would do this, he said you'd be nothing but trouble...telling me lies about babies and stuff...you know we can't tell Mum, she's dying because of you...you horrible cow...all she could think about was you...where had you gone...how she missed you...why hadn't you got in touch...you made her ill...you! And now you want to upset her even more, well I'm not telling her anything...there's nothing to tell, you've made it all up just to get attention...I hope you go away and never come back...I hate you!' she ran passed me and into the arms of Dad who had been standing a few feet away behind the tree, he had heard everything I had said.

'See Vanessa, no one wants you here, why don't you just go back to where you've been hiding all these months...we don't need you coming back upsetting everybody, saying disgusting things...just go away.' He grabbed my arms and started to pull me towards the house, I try once more to speak to Faye.

'Please little squirt can't you see that he's using you, please don't believe what he says he's said the same things to me...done the same things to me, it's not right Faye...he shouldn't be doing those things to you...please don't let him get away with it, even if you hate me and you don't want to tell Mum, tell someone...please Faye.' Faye just turns her head away from me, I shake off Dad's hands and turn to him with determination.

'Well I'm not going anywhere, I'm not leaving Mum again and if you make me I will tell everyone I know, what you did to me and what you are doing to Faye,' and without bothering to see how he reacted to that I ran back into the house and upstairs to my room. He left me alone after that, but neither he nor Faye spoke to me while I was there.

My Mum died two weeks later.

Dad phoned a friend he knew in Ashford, Kent who had a room and a job for me, packed up all my things and put me on a train, 'Don't fucking come back this time you spiteful cunt,' was the last thing he said to me as the train pulled out.

Mum had told him before she died that I had told her the reason I'd left home...she had let him see how much he disgusted her...it was a small victory.

# CHAPTER 49 - _March 15_ th _1999_

Vanessa watched from the café as the road outside the house that she had been a virtual prisoner in for the last couple of years filled with police cars and vans, and a veritable swarm of officers jumped out of the vehicles and surrounded the house in question. A few of them ran up to the front door and proceeded to smash in the front door, shouting warnings as they did so...a few minutes later Keith was brought down kicking and squirming desperately trying to cause his captors some harm. Two more of the men that had been hanging around the house for the past few weeks, were also being dragged down to the waiting police van in handcuffs, then came the girls, some of them shouting obscenities, some of them being taken straight to the waiting ambulances...one of the really young girls (she'd only arrived a few days ago) was so drugged up she could barely walk and was put straight on a stretcher. Vanessa stirred her coffee and watched as the drama played itself out, lastly all the drug related paraphernalia was carried out of the house and taken away and gradually the street began to empty of police cars and return to normal. The whole operation had taken about two hours.

Vanessa waited another hour or so and then she went to the pay phone that was in the corner of the café and dialled.

'Vince,' she said after a couple of seconds, 'yes like clockwork...yeh all of them and they cleared the house, so when do I get my money? Don't mess me about Vince you know what you promised me...ok ok I'll meet you there.' Vanessa replaced the receiver with a smile on her face. She had spent the last two years of her life after being put on a train by her father, apparently to start a job as a live in nanny for a friend of his, being raped and beaten; she had been kept prisoner in a tiny smelly room while drugs had been fed into her in an attempt to make her submissive. She had tried running away, only to be dragged back and beaten so badly that she lost consciousness. So she had submitted, and consequently had been subjected to every degrading thing that the human mind can come up with, penetrated in every orifice by anyone with the money to pay for it, never seeing the outside apart from when she was walking the streets looking for punters, her every move being watched by Keith's cronies.

Vanessa had kept quiet and done as she was told...she knew she needed to survive this. So she gradually weaned herself off the drugs without her pimp, a man named Keith Mobray, suspecting a thing and little by little she began to strike up a friendship with a friend of Keith's, a man called Vince Harman. Harman was a terrifying customer...a true sadist that knew how to inflict the most awful pain and suffering on his victims, he and Keith had been partners of sorts until that is that Harman got a bit carried away with a couple of Keith's girls and injured them so badly that they were unable to work. Keith was furious and an all out war broke out between the two pimps. Vanessa saw an opportunity, a chance to get even with Keith and also get herself out and away from her 'drug' induced slavery.

She knew when the best time would be for the police to strike, when Keith would be at his most exposed. Once a month he would receive delivery of the drugs that he would divide up and distribute to the neighbouring dealers, who would then sell them on the streets of Kent, during this process Keith tried to keep all the girls locked in their rooms and drugged up to the hilt Vanessa included, what he didn't know was that Vanessa was now virtually clean of the drugs and knew how to get out of the house.

Taking her life in her hands she began dropping hints to Vince, putting ideas in his head about how ideally placed she was to bring down his enemy...basically she was offering to put her life on the line by giving information to the police that would almost certainly get Keith off the streets, and in return for her help she wanted enough cash to rent herself a nice flat in a nice road so that she could finally start reaping the rewards for all the skills she had learnt, not only from all the disgusting punters but also from her own father, she was planning to go into the high class hooker business.

Vince agreed, he was quietly intimidated by the strong willed Vanessa...so between them they plotted Keith Mobray's downfall.

# CHAPTER 50 - CARLA

Vanessa sat and stared at a spot on the wall just behind Carla; so far she had said nothing.

'I think it might be useful if I let you know what my theory is on why Louise was where she was, and why she was killed,' there was no reaction from Vanessa, Carla soldiered on regardless, hoping for a response.

'From what you've told me Vanessa, and from what we've been told by other people that knew you back then, I think that at the age of 15 you were terrified and alone, finding yourself pregnant you were scared of your overbearing father and your religious nut of a mother.'

Vanessa's eyes flickered at the mention of her mother.

'So rather than tell them you were carrying a child, you ran away from home and kept yourself and the unborn child a secret from everybody...how did you manage that Vanessa, I've had two kids myself and I blew up like a balloon...didn't anybody notice you were pregnant, or did you really hide yourself away completely for months on end, how did you live...I mean we know about Sandra...'

Vanessa's head came up, she looked surprised.

'How did you know about her? I never told anyone.'

Carla smiled; at least she was talking now. 'Julie told us, Julie Grant do you remember her...she remembers you. She told us how you went to Maidstone and helped her sister with the kids in exchange for a room and board...didn't she ever suspect you were pregnant, I mean you were living in her home, she must have noticed.'

'No one noticed,' said Vanessa, not without some pride, 'I lost so much weight...Sandra only gave me what the kids ate, less than them sometimes...sometimes I managed to sneak some milk, I knew I needed that for the...it...and if I was in the house by myself I could finish up what the kids left, so I wasn't starving, but I got so thin that my clothes hung on me...so I didn't show much. No one looked at me anyway, not properly, I had to stay in my room once Sandra got home...so no one noticed.' She looked up at Carla, tears were rolling down her cheeks, she wiped them away impatiently.

'So tell me what happened when you had to give birth Vanessa, how did you manage to do that in secret?' Carla asked gently.

Vanessa put her head in her hands, she was crying openly now...Carla waited... after a minute she looked up, she'd obviously got herself under control again. She began to tell her story, hesitantly at first. 'I needed to be alone when it happened...I couldn't have borne them...her, Sandra...seeing me, and I hadn't really thought about where I was going to leave it...after, you know...so I kept my eyes open, I started looking round for places whilst I was walking the kids to and from school. We had to go past the back of the old hospital buildings, they were mostly derelict, deserted when the new hospital was built and I noticed some porta cabins at the far end of the compound...far away from anything. So I worked on the door of one of them, a little bit each day until I managed to get in...it was disgusting, filled with years of rubbish and filth but it was out of the wind and rain and it was in the middle of nowhere. I tried to clean it up a bit, and I brought some old blankets and towels and left them inside ready. So when my pains started I made my way there and stayed until it was born. I kept it warm and I wrapped it up as best I could...I didn't know about the afterbirth, I just didn't know what it was and what to do with it, so I put it in the bag with...I made sure I left the bag somewhere it would be found, but I couldn't hang around to make sure...I had to get back to take the kids to school you see.'

'Then what happened...did you go home, I mean home to your mum and dad?' The look Vanessa gave Carla told everything, how scared she must have been...the grief she felt.

'Yes...but I'd left it too late...Mum was dying you see, and Faye blamed me...and dad...well he didn't want me there, even though I'd done what he'd said...he threw me out...'

'What do you mean even though you'd done what he'd said...did he know you were pregnant Vanessa?'

Vanessa realised she had said too much... she didn't answer just kept her head lowered.

'Was it your dad that told you to go away and dump your baby, Vanessa, is that why you hate him so much...why didn't you just tell your mum, were you so scared of her...did she hit you?'

'NO!' Vanessa shouted, 'My Mum never touched me, she loved me...I should have told her, I did just before she died, but it was already too late by then...the damage had been done...to me and then to Faye,' she broke down in tears. 'If I had told Mum earlier all of this,' she spread her arms wide, 'would have been avoided...if only I'd been brave enough I could have saved Faye...' she was sobbing now, 'Louise...I could have saved Louise.'

Carla started to have an awful feeling she knew what this was all about. 'I don't understand Vanessa, what was it that you should have told your mum, how could your mum have saved Louise, and why was Faye in danger?'

'From him!!...that monster, that fucking pervert...he was the reason it all happened...him!'

'Are you talking about your dad...is that what this is all about...Vanessa who was the father of your child?'

'Oh god do I have to spell it out for you... him, darling daddy... that's what I've been trying to say. He put that thing inside me, then he abused me because it was there and left me to get rid of it...like it was just some rubbish...then when I did what he asked he threw me out...because my Mum had found out. Then when after all these years she comes looking for me... my little girl. He sent her away, calling her vile names...he is a monster...he doesn't deserve to live, I wish he was dead!' she collapsed in tears, Carla tried to keep focused, she needed to get some answers from Vanessa, no matter how upset she was.

'Vanessa, are you still maintaining that you never emailed Louise, never arranged to meet with her?' Vanessa nodded, 'What would you say if I told you that the emails that Louise received from someone calling themselves mum, came from your computer...I've got a printout of them for you to read...you can clearly see that Louise has made arrangements to come to Kenley to meet you, her mother...are you sure you didn't send those emails Vanessa?'

Vanessa looked at the printout in disbelief, 'I...it makes no sense...I didn't send these Carla, someone is playing a joke on you, I had no idea how to get in touch with Louise...I don't understand what's going on.'

'So you deny sending these emails?'

'Yes, emphatically I deny it, and I think I need to get my in touch with my lawyer...something is not right here, how did those messages get onto my computer...it's ridiculous.'

'Of course you are entitled to a solicitor and...' she broke off as there was a knock on the door, a uniformed constable came in and spoke to Carla.

'I have a message for you ma'am,' he said and handed Carla a piece of paper, which she read. 'Ok I think now would be a good time for a break, I'll make sure you have a phone to get in touch with a solicitor Vanessa,' she said as she and Ted exited the room.

'What's up Carla?' said Ted as soon as they were outside.

'Frank's just sent word that we've just found our matching earring, at the bottom of a chest in Vanessa's bedroom, things are going from bad to worse for Mrs Poole I'm afraid.'

There was more good news for Carla when she got upstairs to her office...a mobile phone had been found. It had been lying about 50 yards from the murder site, at the side of the path...it was an 'iphone' and considerably worse for wear but they were working on it and Carla at last had hope that they were about to make a breakthrough in this case. She still didn't feel convinced about Vanessa, she couldn't put her finger on it but it just didn't seem to fit. The fact that Vanessa had obviously been abused and eventually raped by her father could have affected her so much that she was capable of murder it was true, but she seemed to be distraught at the thought that she had missed seeing her daughter...one thing was certain in Carla's mind now though, Vanessa had been in the Glory Woods near where Louise had been found, sometime between her death and the day that she was found, the earring found in her bedroom was an exact match to the one found in the woods...Vanessa had some more explaining to do.

Ted popped his head round her door, 'Vanessa's solicitor will be here in a couple of hours he says, that's the earliest he can make it.'

'Well it won't do any harm for us to take a break from interviewing her for a while, what do you make of it Ted?'

Ted heaved a sigh, 'Well there's no denying if what she is telling us is true she has every reason to be seriously deranged. I can't stop thinking about it, that man should be castrated...to rape your own child, and then leave it to her to get rid of the consequences, by herself at age 15...well I know we come across some right bastards Carla but Derek Styles... phew I just don't know what to say...I just want to be there when you question him.'

'Well as to that Ted, could you check with the nursing home, see if they've heard from him yet...the sooner we speak to him the better I think, I've got a feeling Mr Styles may be the missing part in this mystery.'

'Yep ok, I'll get on to it right away...what shall I do with Vanessa meantime?'

'I think she's ok where she is, let her know about her solicitor and make sure she's had a cup of tea or something will you Ted?'

Ted bustled off and Carla set about trying to work out how this new information fitted into what they already had.

Five minutes later Ted came back with the news that Derek Styles still hadn't shown up at the nursing home and wasn't answering his phone...they were beginning to become concerned.

Carla had managed to find a phone number relating to Faye's address in Melbourne, she had tried it several times already but she thought it would do no harm to try it again. She checked her watch it was nearly 6pm, which would make it early morning in Australia, perhaps she would have more luck finding someone at home at this time.

The phone was answered after a few rings. 'Hello,' said a sleepy voice.

'Hello,' said Carla, 'could I speak to Faye Pinner please, this is Detective Inspector Carla Right, I'm phoning from England.'

'What...do you know what time it is?'

'Yeh sorry about that I wouldn't have phoned if it wasn't vital I speak to Miss Pinner, is she there?'

'Fucking hell, some of us didn't get to bed till 2 and have got work in a couple of hours...' Carla could hear the phone being put down angrily and footsteps retreating into the distance, then, 'Faye...Faye someone's on the phone for you...well I don't bloody know do I? Some copper from England....well that's what she said, oh just bloody well come and talk to her will you.'

Footsteps coming back to the phone, 'Yeh she's just coming...'

'Thank you, sorry for waking you.'

The phone was put down with a grunt then a couple of seconds later, 'Hello Faye Pinner speaking, how can I help you?'

'Hello Faye, I'm Detective Inspector Carla Right from the police dept in Kenley we are trying to trace your father Derek Styles, have you been in touch with him recently?'

'Oh my god what has he done now, I haven't seen him for years, I came to Oz to get away from him...what's happened...has someone finally killed him?' said Faye seemingly unconcerned at that prospect.

'Not as far as I know...it's just that we were under the impression that he had been with you for the last two weeks.'

Faye laughed sarcastically, 'God no...why would I want to see the old bastard, I haven't left Australia for over a year, and that was just a quick visit with my Auntie Kath in Scotland. My Dad and I had a bit of a falling out when I was younger, I was brought up by my Auntie Kath, he kept writing to me though wanting to see me, I never answered but he kept on...so I eventually sold my Mum's old house and used the money to start up over here...that was years ago though.'

'So you didn't keep in touch with your sister, Vanessa, then?'

'No, we lost touch ages ago...I know she lived in Ashford for a while and I did try and find her once, but it seemed she'd got herself mixed up in prostitution and drugs and stuff, and I couldn't be doing with all that, so I gave up. Oh god she's not dead is she...is that why your phoning me?' Carla tried not to react to this new information about Vanessa; it was really hard to imagine the sleek polished landlady being a drug addict and a prostitute.

'No nothing like that Faye, but she is in a bit of trouble I'm afraid...'

'Oh nothing new there then...what's she done this time?'

Carla ignored the question, 'How long ago was it that you heard she was a prostitute, how did you find out?'

'Oh years ago, I had been over to finalise the sale of my Mum's house and I tried to find her...she had left home under a bit of a cloud you see. I wanted to make things right before I left for Oz, so I badgered Dad until he gave me the address of the man she'd been working for, only when I got there it turned out to be a derelict old building, that had once been used as a massage parlour. I went to the police to see if they had ever had any dealings with her...well they knew all about her, she'd been working as an escort for years...not a bog standard prossie standing on street corners, oh no that would never have done for princess Vanessa, but a high class hooker charging a fortune to hang on some disgusting old man's arm and give him the ultimate blow job at the end of the evening. She'd got herself a nice place too...I went there but she was too busy to see me, too ashamed more like, anyway I didn't hang around, as far as I could see she was the same old Vanny running true to form, she always was trouble, what's she done this time?' Faye repeated, even from thousands of miles away Carla could hear the bitterness in her voice.

'Were you aware that your sister gave birth to a daughter, when she was 15?'

'Well that was the story that she told everybody, I didn't really believe her though, that was just her excuse for worrying my Mum to her death...she always had to be centre of attention, Vanny did.' Carla felt herself growing a bit irritated by Miss Pinner's dismissive attitude.

'Well this time she was telling you the truth, she had a baby girl in 1996 in Maidstone, Kent. She left it in a bag outside the entrance to Maidstone general hospital's A&E dept, after giving birth in an old porta cabin...by herself... she must have been about 15 at the time. She is saying that the baby was your fathers, that she was abused by him from the age of 10 and eventually raped and impregnated by him...do you know anything about that?' Carla heard a sharp intake of breath at the other end of the phone...then a pause before she said.

'Na, she's just spinning her lies again...do you actually know for a fact that she had a baby, because she's very good at making things up you know.' Carla was beginning to realise how awful it must have been for Vanessa, if even her own family wouldn't back her up.

'Yes we are sure the baby was hers, she had given birth all by herself in an old porta cabin just outside Maidstone hospital,' there was silence at the other end of the phone, as Faye digested what she had been told. When she spoke at last it was in a voice filled with shock and horror as the truth finally began to sink in.

'Oh my god...oh poor Vanny, I didn't believe her, well no one did, we just thought she was trying to cover up for running away with some boy and worrying Mum to death...oh my god...' Carla could tell that she was struggling to talk, 'I could have helped her, she begged me to go to mum with her...oh my god...he sent her away, and I just let him do that...'

'How old were you Faye when all this happened?'

'I must have been about 10 I suppose...what happened to the baby...the little girl, does anybody know?'

Oh no thought Carla, sometimes she hated her job.

'I'm afraid she died Faye, she was murdered. In fact we found out about Vanessa abandoning the baby...um Louise was her name, as part of our murder investigations. Whilst questioning Vanessa about the events that led up to her abandoning Louise, she mentioned that she was worried that your father had been abusing you as well, is that true Faye?'

There was silence on the other end of the phone; Carla could hear the occasional sniff, so she knew Faye was still there, she only just heard the whispered:

'Yes.'

'I know this is really hard for you, but can you fill me in on the events that happened when Vanessa came home...after she'd had the baby, after your dad sent her away...'

Faye sniffed loudly a few times...

'Mum died...but before she died she phoned my Auntie in Scotland...'

'Auntie Kath?'

'Yes that's right, she told her about my Dad...um you know...the things that he'd done to me, and made her promise that she would come and take me and Vanny to live with her when she died...oh Dad wasn't happy about that, he tried his best to stop it but Auntie Kath must have threatened to tell the police I think because he soon backed down and I went with her, but by then Dad had sent Vanessa away to Maidstone and Auntie Kath couldn't find her. Dad refused to give her the address, said he'd lost it or some rubbish like that, she tried her best even putting ads in the Maidstone local newspapers in the hope that she might read it, but she'd disappeared from the face of the earth...I didn't want her to be found, as far as I was concerned she had killed my Mum...I thought that for a long time...oh god poor Vanny...oh my god...' Faye collapsed in tears again and it was a few minutes before Carla could speak to her.

'Did you ever meet her husband, Giles?' she said when Faye had pulled herself together once more.

'No although I did hear she'd got married, my Dad wrote to me about it, I never met him though. Dad was typically crude about him, said Vanny had married some old punter with a bit of money...he seemed to hate the idea that she might finally be happy...but that was my Dad... ever the nasty bastard.'

'Do you have any idea where your father is now Faye, he left the nursing home two weeks ago, they were under the impression that he was going to stay with you, they still had your Sevenoaks' address...as I understand it there was even a taxi sent by you to pick him up, he was expected back a few days ago, so naturally they are becoming concerned...can you shed any light on these events?'

Faye was obviously having difficulty in pulling herself together so there was a long pause before she said, 'No...um I'm sorry but I have no idea where he is, the only contact I have had with him in the last few years has been the occasional letter. He told me he was going into the home a couple of years ago after he'd had a stroke. I don't think it was a terrible one, but he was finding it difficult to look after himself...I thought at the time that he was trying to get my sympathy... you know so that I would come home and look after him...huh fat chance, I was surprised to hear that it was Vanessa that had stumped up the money to pay for it though. That was weird but to be honest I haven't given him a thought for years, him or Vanessa, but I did know that since Mum had died he had been living in a flat in Westerham, which I don't think was suitable for someone with his disabilities. Anyway I wrote back and told him that I thought it was for the best that he went into the home, and the next letter I got was from the Happy Valley care home...um...as I said I haven't given him another thought...as far as I'm concerned that part of my life is well and truly over. He's a nasty sick bastard, I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't tried it on with the wrong person and they've done him in...it's no more than he deserves...especially now when I know about Vanessa...oh god...poor poor Vanny...' She was obviously crying again so Carla thought she had got all she could out of her for now.

'Ok Faye...um thank you for talking to me, if you do hear from your father I'd appreciate a call...' she gave Faye the station number and her mobile number, just as she was signing off Faye said,

'Please would you give Vanessa a message from me, would you tell her I'm sorry...sorry for everything, tell her I didn't know...I just didn't know.'

'I think you should tell her that yourself Faye don't you, but I will pass on your message and I'll give her your number in case she wants to get in touch.' With that she ended the call and went down the corridor to where Ted was in his office looking over some statements, he looked up when Carla came in.

'We've got a problem Ted,' she said sitting down wearily in the rather battered old chair opposite him.

'Derek Styles never went to his daughter's house for a visit, she's in Australia, hasn't seen him for years, doesn't want to either from the sound of it. So where the bloody hell is he, and who sent a taxi pretending to be Faye?' Carla put her head in her hands, 'Oh my god this case just gets more and more complicated.'

Ted watched her thoughtfully for a moment, and then said, 'Ok let's think this through bit by bit...you don't think maybe Derek could be our murderer...I mean she did go and visit him, maybe he was scared of what she could tell people about him...maybe she was blackmailing him...and we don't even know how disabled he really was do we...I mean could he walk, would he have been able to get out to meet her...'

'Hold on a minute Ted,' interrupted Carla, 'I don't think Derek would have had any reason to kill Louise, remember she had no idea that he was her father. She went to see him as her Grandfather and according to Jools, he wouldn't see her, sent her off with a flea in her ear. So she wouldn't have been able to blackmail him even if she'd wanted to...no I don't think he's our killer...but I do think we need to find him, he's been missing now for over two weeks and someone knows where he is, because they sent a taxi to pick him up! We need to find that taxi company and find out who sent it and where they took him, can you get on to that straight away Ted, or rather get Frank to do it I want you with me...has Vanessa's solicitor arrived yet?' at Ted's nod she said, 'Right well let's get back in there.'

Carla went back to her office and pulled out the two bags containing the earrings, there was no question that they were a pair, despite one of them having been left on the woodland floor for a couple of weeks, she found a note on her desk asking her to call Betty, who was one of the forensic team that had taken the iphone, she called to Ted to wait for her and made the call.

'Hi Betty, what have you got for me?' she said as soon as the phone was answered.

'Well, I've got good news and bad news, we've been able to get a list of all incoming and outgoing calls and text messages I'm just doing you a print out as we speak, the one thing I can tell you now is that none of the numbers match with the phone that Mrs Poole gave you, so either she has another phone somewhere or she didn't make those calls.'

'Damn...ok Betty can you get me that print out as soon as you can, thanks hun?'

Carla tutted to herself, this was a setback, she had been so certain that it must have been Vanessa that had texted Louise...still she had the earrings, that placed Vanessa at the murder scene...she took a deep breath and followed Ted down to the interview room.

# CHAPTER 51 - MAGGIE

Maggie listened to Carla's message and put the phone to one side, she would call her later when she was on her own, apologise properly...she felt such a fool for getting so upset, Carla was the last person that she wanted to fall out with.

Helen seemed to be in better shape after a good night's sleep, she was in fact quite upbeat and positive this morning, planning her life without Will, and with more time spent with the delectable Mike.

'I suppose if you think about it Maggie,' she was saying excitedly, 'Wills has done me a big favour, I mean I was in quite a dilemma over Mike and how much I liked him, now I don't have to feel guilty when I meet him...no more sneaking around, it will be great, in fact I think I will go and call him now, he tried calling me about 4 times yesterday but I was just too mixed up to speak to him. I'll try and arrange to meet him later, he'll be so pleased to know I've split up with Wills,' she rushed off upstairs to get her mobile without waiting for Maggie to reply, which was lucky really because Maggie was just sitting with her mouth wide open trying to come to terms with this new over excited Helen coming so soon after 'I can't live without Wills' Helen of the night before. Of course it was good to see her friend being so positive but Maggie was a bit worried about her sudden change of heart especially as she seemed to be placing a lot of emphasise on a future with Mike who, when all was said and done, was a completely unknown quantity. She wished she had Carla to talk to, she was jolted out of her thoughts by her mobile ringing, it was Tracy.

'Hi hun,' she began warily. 'How are you feeling this morning, I got your message to call but I thought I'd let you have a lie in before I did,' she was obviously worried that Maggie was still in a strop.

'I'm fine thanks sweety,' said Maggie. 'Apart from feeling like a total bitch, how could I have talked to Carla like that oh my god I'm so sorry... but never mind that for the moment the reason I asked you to call was because of Helen, oh my god Trace, last night...' She went on to tell her all about Wills and how she had found Helen and brought her back home, Tracy was appalled and as Maggie had known she would, said she would be round as soon as school finished later that day as long as Maggie didn't mind her bringing Buster with her, which, Maggie being a big Buster fan, was no problem. Maggie felt a whole lot better for having spoken to Tracy...now she just had to make her peace with Carla, but her phone was switched off at the moment so that would have to wait.

Helen breezed back into the kitchen with a triumphant smile on her face.

'Mike was amazed that I had finally kicked Wills out, he wants to meet me tonight to 'discuss things'. I just know this is going to turn out to be the best thing to have happened Maggs, maybe it was meant to be...um I think I will go home though if that's ok with you, I can't thank you enough for last night and all your support but I need to be in my own home I think...apart from that all my clothes are over there and I need to find something gorgeous to wear tonight when I meet Mike.'

'Oh darling are you sure you're ready to be on your own, you were so upset last night...isn't it a bit soon don't you think?' said Maggie offering her friend a cup of tea which she took and drank down almost in one.

'No, no, last night was just what I needed...I had a good night's sleep and this morning I've done a lot of thinking, and I've realised that I am perfectly capable of living on my own. I have my painting and my floristry which are both now bringing in an income, not a great deal as yet, but I'm sure things will pick up, and anyway it would probably be better to be in my own home just in case things hot up with Mike later,' she turned beetroot red, 'um...you know we might need somewhere to go later...oh you know stop looking at me like that Maggie I'm a grown woman I should be able to sleep with someone if I feel like it...'

Maggie held her hands up, 'Far be it for me to stop anyone having a good time darling, I'm just gobsmacked that you are even thinking in those terms after last night,' she put her arms around Helen. 'Just please be careful honey, you've had a nasty shock, don't do anything hasty...promise me.'

Helen returned the squeeze, 'I won't I promise, thank you again Maggs for being there for me, I honestly don't know what I would have done without you.'

'Well that's enough of that, when do you want to go home, you've got time for breakfast haven't you?'

Helen pulled a face, 'Do you mind if we go now, it's just that I need to be in my own space and try and get myself organized?'

'Well can I at least get dressed first?' said Maggie drawing attention to her shockingly short nightdress.

'Oh please do darling,' laughed Helen, 'we don't need to cause any more gossip for my neighbours.'

Maggie went upstairs to cover herself and Helen made herself another cup of tea. Although she wasn't feeling quite as brave as she made out to Maggie, she was starting to believe that maybe this was all for the best after all she may have lost Wills but she had Mike and he seemed very keen to take up where Wills had left off. She still felt like she had been kicked by a horse and she couldn't think too much about Wills before she felt great waves of panic and misery pushing up from her chest, but time would take care of that...time and Mike.

Maggie dropped Helen back home a short while later, and then went into the office. She needed to take her mind off everything for a while and nothing worked as well as throwing herself into her latest design project, this one was close to her heart, a friend of hers hand bought up two enormous barns just outside Godstone and she was looking to do a similar renovation job on them as Maggie had on hers. Money was no object and so Maggie had been trawling through some of her favourite vintage warehouses and clearance shops, she decided to take a jaunt out to the barns and see how work was progressing. Most of the structural stuff should be finished by now and she knew that the plasterers had been in for the last couple of days so she should be able to get a real sense of the space and shapes that she had to work with.

It only took about half an hour to drive out to the pretty village of Godstone, the barns were a bit further along heading south towards Sussex. It was a beautiful day and Maggie couldn't help but feel good as she drove past beautifully kept farm houses, with fields dotted with black and white sheep and through tree tunnels that made the winter sunlight dance like fairies in front of her. She soon had to turn off the main road and travel up a bumpy track that would lead to Stoats Nest Farm where the barns were situated. The road got really narrow the further inland you went and Maggie slowed her Range Rover down to a crawl, hoping that she wouldn't meet another car coming the other way. There were so many twists and turns that sometimes you came upon them before you had time to react, but so far she seemed to be ok. As the road began to widen Maggie allowed herself to relax, when all of a sudden a car came shooting round the bend in front of her making her swerve over into the trees smashing a wing mirror in the process, the other car stopped for a minute and Maggie furiously went to get out and give him a piece of her mind.

'You fucking idiot, what are you thinking of driving that fast on these roads you could have killed me...' she started shouting, but the other driver had obviously realised her intent and drove off in a cloud of dust, leaving her fuming, she was even more angry because she had recognised who's bleary eyes had met hers in the car's rear view mirror. 'Bloody Giles...how dare he drive away from me rude bastard,' Maggie muttered to herself, 'What the fuck was he doing here out in the middle of nowhere I wonder...he just gets weirder by the day.'

Maggie fumed all the way to the barns and her temper wasn't improved when she got there by finding that the project manager had buggered off to an early lunch with the architect (a comely blond called Inga) and that the plasterers had left the place in a shambles.

She tried to get her sunny mood back, walking round the beautiful main living areas with their double height ceilings and gorgeous honey coloured exposed beams, enormous windows gave wonderful views of the surrounding countryside, and opened up to allow the countryside in. Maggie smiled to herself, the builders had done a wonderful job and already her creative juices were flowing with wonderful ideas about the interior, she had already been to a few auctions and got hold of some amazing old French furniture that would fit in here just perfectly. Maggie spent a couple of hours in the barns making notes and drawings so that by the time she set off home she had forgotten all about the incident with Giles and the car although she did wonder what on earth he had been doing in such a remote spot, as far as she knew there was nothing else around apart from a few old out buildings, the farm itself had been deserted for years which is why her friend had got such a good bargain on those two barns. Maybe he was thinking about buying one of them, he had said that Vanessa was exhausted, maybe he was thinking of getting out of the landlord game...but then why didn't he speak to her, he must have recognised her, and her bright red Range Rover with its number plate MAG 1 was pretty distinctive. Oh well she would certainly be speaking to him when she next went to the pub she thought as she looked at her broken wing mirror.

# CHAPTER 52 - 2013

He slowly became aware of a dark shadow looming over him, he tried to sit up but he had become so weak that he only managed to shift over to one side of the filthy mattress. There seemed to be a tall man looking down at him, but he had stopped trusting what his eyes told him, he had been visited by many ghouls and spirits from his past over the last few days, this was surely just another sent to point an accusing finger or mock him for his weakness.

The light flooded in from the opened door blinding him momentarily and creating little swirls of dust fairies, he watched them mesmerized. He tried to move again, he hadn't been able to move for a couple of days now, his arms hung limply by his sides, he had no feeling down one side of his face, he recognised the paralysis of a stroke, he'd had one before...he tried to speak but his mouth wouldn't move as he wanted it to. Another large man had come into the hut, the old man thought he recognised him but he couldn't be sure, he tried to reach out a hand may be this was someone here to rescue him, the second man came towards him.

'Pheww it stinks in here...you smell like a pig Derek, like a pig in its own muck which I suppose is what you are after all isn't it?'

No not rescue then...the end maybe.

'How would you describe yourself Derek huh, I think calling you a pig is an offense to all pigs you are a much lower form of life aren't you?' He pulled over the chair and sat in front of him looking down at the filthy dribbling old man on the mattress. 'I mean how do you describe a man that rapes his own daughter, not once but over and over again and then when he finally impregnates her forces her out where she has to give birth by herself and then abandon her child.' The old man tries to speak, tries to defend himself but all he can do is make slurping groaning sounds.

'And then when his daughter finally comes home after that horrific experience he turns her away, oh no even worse than that he pimps her out to his violent sick friend, who makes her dependent on him with drugs and the threat of violence...did you ever wonder how she survived the life you threw her into you disgusting old man? Well I'll tell you she nearly didn't, she went from man to man learning how to be street wise and savvy, learning how to keep her head down, the only piece of luck that she ever had in her life was when your friend got picked up by the police for dealing drugs and was put away for a few years and she was able to escape. She spent years trying to get away from all that she had been forced to do, finally when she had got as far away as she was able, you had to drag it all back up for her by telling her about that girl...you don't deserve to live any longer.

I've read all her diaries, oh yes, you didn't know she had written it all down did you? The times you made her pleasure you, the men you allowed to touch her and photograph her....it's all there and I read about it all... you sick fuck...you took an innocent young girl...YOUR DAUGHTER and you fucked up her life just for your own perverted pleasures...'

He stopped talking as his fury seemed to be getting out of hand, he got up and walked to the door, he seemed to take a few deep breaths of fresh air and when he next spoke he had regained his icy calm. 'My friend here,' he indicated the large man lurking in the doorway, 'he has his own brand of perversion, and he has waited over two weeks, so he's had plenty of time to think up lots of lovely ways to use his toys and I've told him he can practice it on you... time for you to get a taste of your own medicine you pathetic old man, burn in hell Derek it's all you deserve...oh by the way, Vanessa sends her love.'

The old man was squealing and groaning, trying to find a way of reasoning with his captors, trying to make his mouth work so he could tell them that it wasn't his fault, none of it had been his fault, the squeals turned to blood curdling screams as the large man laid out his instruments of torture, knives, blowtorches and an enormous dildo.

# CHAPTER 53 - CARLA

Vanessa had broken down as soon as Carla had produced the earrings.

'It's not what you think,' she just kept saying over and over again.

'Well then tell me what it is Vanessa,' said Carla for the umpteenth time, 'explain to me why one of your earrings was found next to the body of your daughter, I need to know, you must see how it looks Vanessa. We know that the girl in the woods was your daughter, we know she came to Kenley by invitation to meet her 'mother', we have emails from 'her mother' to her on your computer, you were seen running from the woods in a desperate state the day after her body was discovered and now we find that you are the owner of the earring that was found near the body...you must see why I need you to explain what happened, give me your side Vanessa please.'

Vanessa kept her head down and continued to cry into her tissue; Carla decided to try a different angle.

'I spoke to your sister earlier Vanessa, she lives in Australia now,' Vanessa's head jerked up and a guarded look came into her eyes.'

'Oh yes, what did she have to say for herself? I expect she slagged me off...she hates my guts.'

'Well, she told me that you had been an escort when you lived in Ashford, she said that you had a cocaine habit. I've been speaking to some of my colleagues in Ashford police and some of them had been there long enough to remember you...you weren't always an escort were you Vanessa, they remember you working the streets...for a man named Mobray, Keith Mobray.' Vanessa's head dropped even lower. 'What can you tell me about that Vanessa...was he the man your dad sent you to, was that the work he arranged for you? How did that make you feel Vanessa, I know how I would have felt... I would have wanted to kill him, for what he had done to me...is that how you felt, full of rage and hatred for your dad...and the baby he planted in you...'

'NO! I never hated her,' Vanessa jumped up from her seat and leant over the desk shouting in Carla's face. 'How could I hate her, it wasn't her fault anymore than it was mine...the blame is...was his...he took my life from me...I worked the streets for a few years, I couldn't escape I was dependent on the drugs that bastard Keith would dole out to me. I really don't remember much of that time...I suppose I was always high or trying to get high. I did try to escape at first, I didn't know then that he had other men watching us girls, when we were working you know and I decided I would get into a car with a man, you know a punter, and then get him to drive me somewhere. I didn't know what I would do then but I hadn't thought that far ahead I just wanted to get away...anyway it didn't work...the punter got nervous when I asked him to take me away and he pushed me out of the car. One of Keith's men, Howie, saw the whole thing and dragged me back to the house... ha...I soon learnt not to do that again, he beat the shit out of me and kept me locked up for a couple of weeks, by which time I was so addicted to whatever he was shooting into my arm that I didn't care anymore. I kept my head down from then on...and then Keith was arrested...well they all were, apparently they'd been supplying cocaine to half the neighbourhood and the police had found their stash...anyway they got put away and I decided to try and make it on my own...I did pretty well too. It's amazing how much men will pay for a willing sex partner, especially one who makes them feel like they are special...I suppose if nothing else my childhood taught me all about pleasing men and making them feel special, so I made them pay through the nose for it...I made a fortune, bought my own place, car the works...pulled myself out of the gutter.'

Vanessa was clearly trying to sound as if her totally fucked up life hadn't affected her at all in fact in was the secret of her success, but Carla wasn't fooled by the bravado in her voice, Vanessa had been digging her nails into her arm the whole time she had been talking, leaving great scratches, almost drawing blood in places.

'It must have been quite a shock when your dad suddenly wrote to tell you that your abandoned baby, a child you thought you'd never see again had turned up at his nursing home, looking for you...I bet you panicked didn't you, I mean how do you explain this to Giles, I gather you never told him about Louise...did he know about your escort work Vanessa...did he know you were an ex-junkie?'

Vanessa had her head in her hands; she looked up with desperation in her eyes.

'He knew some of it,' she said surprisingly calmly. 'But I had never told him about Louise...or my father...I thought he would turn away from me if he knew, Giles you see...Giles was an abandoned baby...he was left in a phone box in Poole Dorset...hence the name. The nurses named him, he only just made it he was so tiny...about three weeks premature, he only weighed just over 3 pounds, but he was adopted by a wonderful couple who adored him, his family helped him to track down his real mum...but only after she had died, working the streets as a prostitute...how would he feel about me if he knew I had abandoned my own baby...I couldn't let him find out...ever!'

'So when you heard from your dad that Louise was trying to find you, you panicked, arranged to meet her and killed her before Giles could find out...isn't that what happened Vanessa?'

Vanessa slammed her hands down on the table, 'NOOOOOO you've got it all wrong, the wrong way round...I could never have hurt her...you have to believe me, why won't you believe me?'

Carla sighed, she was getting nowhere, and she still had to find out what had happened to Derek Styles, she decided to let Vanessa sleep on it, maybe a night in the cells would make her think more clearly.

'I think we're going to leave it there for today Vanessa, but we will keep you here tonight I will need to speak to you again tomorrow, do you need me to let Giles know where you are?' At this Vanessa lifted her head and threw Carla a look that chilled her to the bone, and at that moment she could have easily pictured Vanessa as a violent murderer, her eyes were filled with such fury and hatred, but it lasted for a mere second and was so quickly replaced with her usual look of vulnerability that Carla couldn't help thinking that she had imagined it, especially when she said in a pleading voice.

'What do you mean keep me here tonight, I've done nothing wrong...Carla please you have to know I've done nothing...'

'Sorry Vanessa but I still feel that there is more that you are not telling me, and as such I will be keeping you here, now I can let Giles know where you are if you need me to. Oh by the way you might be interested to know that we can't find your dad...you wouldn't have any idea where he could be would you? He had told everyone at the home that he was staying with your sister for a couple of weeks...they had a letter apparently from her telling them that he would be picked up by taxi, and indeed he was, but she is still in Australia and hasn't seen your father for years, she claims not to written to invite him either... anyway someone sent a taxi for him... that was well over two weeks ago and he hasn't been seen since...any ideas?'

At this piece of information Vanessa's whole demeanour seemed to change in front of Carla's eyes; she stood and started walking round the small room moaning into her hands.

'Oh god...oh no, no, no please... surely he can't have...oh god no no...' she turned to Carla pleading, 'Oh Carla please you have to stop him...he doesn't know what he's doing...you must find him and stop him.'

Carla tried to calm her down; she was working herself up into a frenzy of panic.

'Vanessa! What is it that you are so scared of...do you suspect your dad of doing something, are you scared he will hurt you in anyway...you have to help me Vanessa...VANESSA! I can't help you unless you tell me everything.'

She sat back down at the table and was once again sobbing quietly, Carla tried again. 'Vanessa, you are obviously worried that your father may have done something or be about to do something...you have to trust me love, what are you so scared of?'

'NO....you've got it all wrong...not Dad, it's not him that I'm worried about,' said Vanessa in a frightened whisper.

'Who then...what do you mean when you said he doesn't know what he's doing, who doesn't know?' Carla waited; she could see clearly that Vanessa was battling with herself about what she should do and say...at last she seemed to come to a decision, she raised her eyes to Carla's once again.

'He just loves me so much...he couldn't bear the thought of anything hurting me again...he saved me you see, he made me whole...and then he saw the letter...I think he just thought it was going to send me back into the abyss again. He didn't think I would be able to handle it...and she just kept trying so hard to find me...I tried to stop him, but I got there too late...my little girl...my little girl...oh god oh god...' Vanessa started retching and was violently sick...Carla was stunned by what she had just heard, and no matter how sick Vanessa was she needed to get this clear, she poured her a glass of water and waited until she had got herself together a bit.

'Ok Vanessa I need to get this clear in my head, who is it that you are talking about... are you saying that you know who killed Louise, you know who emailed her and later texted her, posing as you, and arranged to meet her here in Kenley and then killed her in the Glory Woods...is that what you're saying Vanessa?'

Vanessa nodded, retching again and again, when she was able to speak again she pleaded, 'You have to understand he did it for me, he thought I would want him to, he didn't tell me that he had started talking to her, he had got her email address from my Dad's letter...he told me to put her out of my mind, he would deal with it, he said.' She looked up at Carla with hollow eyes, 'but you have to believe me I never for one moment thought he would do what he did...I found his 'other phone' the one he'd been using to text her, I thought he was having an affair so I decided I would follow him...catch him at it. I was so furious with him, it didn't cross my mind that it was my Louise he was arranging to meet...dolled myself up I did...let this whore know who she was dealing with...he was meeting her in the glade near the hills in the woods...when I got there I heard him shouting at her...telling her that she had ruined my life once and he wasn't going to let her ruin it again. She obviously got scared because she screamed and started running and he started after her, I tried to keep up, I shouted out to him but he didn't hear me, I got completely lost in the darkness, but I could hear her scrabbling about, frantic...terrified, trying to get away...then I heard the thumps and the crack, and I knew it was over...I waited until he had gone and then I went to her...oh god my baby...my baby...he had destroyed her face...he doesn't know that I was there...he did it for me I know that...you have to understand, he loves me so much...he won't let anyone hurt me ever again...he promised me,' her voice had risen to near screams... 'Please Carla...please don't hurt him, he did it for me!' Carla was stunned.

'Giles! You are talking about Giles aren't you?' Vanessa nodded, Carla took a minute to digest this amazing turn of events...she had certainly never seen Giles as a murderer.

'Ok so was that when you lost the earring, when you discovered Louise dead...my god... let me get this straight Vanessa, you followed Giles, heard him brutally murder your long lost daughter and then you just went home and carried on like nothing had happened, you didn't think to tell the police in fact the only time you felt you should do something was when you discovered you had lost an earring. Why did it take you two weeks to go and look for it Vanessa, surely you must have noticed it gone when you got home?'

'No,' said Vanessa shaking her head, 'you see I had taken them off...when I was running after Giles, they kept getting stuck on branches and things, so I took them off and put them in my pocket...I only noticed I had lost one weeks later...I tried to go and look for it, but you lot were there...all over the place, so I ran away...I just hoped you wouldn't find it.'

Carla couldn't look at Vanessa any more, she got up and left the room...the woman was deranged, she had to be, how anyone in their right mind could witness the murder of their own child and cover it up...oh god...she was tired, and sick to her very core.

Her first priority now had to be to find Derek Styles, from what Vanessa had told her it was obvious that Giles was dangerously unhinged, and it also appeared that Styles could be in great danger, if he wasn't dead already. So Carla and the team had to act fast.

She filled Chief Inspector Drew in on the situation, and she immediately took it upon herself to organize a search of all the surrounding areas within a ten mile radius, meanwhile Carla was trying to find out as much about Styles as she could in the hope that it might yield some clues as to where he might have possibly gone.

Vanessa, having unburdened herself with the details of Louise's murder had now completely clammed up again and in truth she was in no fit state to carry on, Carla could get nothing more out of her about the possible whereabouts of Giles, so she had her taken back to the cells, at least she wasn't going anywhere.

# CHAPTER 54 - TRACY

Tracy picked up Buster after school and went straight over to Maggie's prepared to offer Helen sympathy and a shoulder to cry on, only to find that she had buggered off earlier to prepare for a big date with Mike.

Still she could make the most of it and have a chat with Maggie, they hadn't spoken properly since her falling out with Carla.

'You know Maggs, Carla was so cross with herself and the way she spoke to you, you two are as bad as each other, you love each other to bits but you just look at things differently...have you spoken to her yet?'

Maggie looked sheepish. 'No, I have tried but I just keep getting her answer phone, and yes I have left a message, so I'm sure we'll speak soon...I've been pretty much tied up with Helen anyway, and she was pissed off with Carla too actually, she blames her a bit for telling her to speak to Wills...' she held up her hand as Tracy tried to interrupt. 'I know I know, it's all rubbish, but Helen's all over the place at the moment, I'm still a bit worried about her meeting this Mike tonight, she seems to be looking at him as the man who's going to save the day, and really what do we know about him...still I suppose it can't hurt if it takes her mind off that bastard of a husband of hers, but for all her positivity, she's as fragile as hell Trace.'

Tracy nodded; she had been shocked to hear how desperate Helen had been when Maggie had found her.

'So Will is serious about this...what's her name, Sarah, poor Helen, what a kick in the teeth. I mean they've known each other forever haven't they...I feel really bad now, you know encouraging her to go on the web site, and telling her it would bring him back...obviously nothing was going to bring him back...stupid idiot. God it makes my blood boil Maggs. I mean what has Helen done wrong, she's always been there for him, supported him cooked and cleaned for him...how much more do you have to do, all it takes is some big breasted trollop to bat her eyelashes at him and that's 20 years down the drain...god I hate fucking men!'

Maggie went into the kitchen to get them both another drink. 'What even the gorgeous Simon, don't tell me that's in trouble all ready,' she called from the doorway, Tracy, who had followed her in smiled smugly.

'He is an exception...oh god Maggs I know I shouldn't be getting so excited about this so soon, but I really think he is the real deal...you know, he's funny and clever and sensitive and sooo good in bed. I am missing him so much and he's only gone 30 miles away, he'll be back at the weekend, he phones me all the time, or else he's texting me...he's perfect...so why do I still have these awful little niggles of doubt...why can't I just enjoy being adored for a while instead of questioning it...aaagh.'

Maggie laughed, 'I don't know love, self doubt, I have never had that problem,' but even as she said the words Maggie knew that wasn't true...Charles hadn't called back after she had blown him out last night, and he wasn't picking up his phone either, the old Maggie wouldn't have worried at all...his loss, on to the next one...but Maggie had a sneaky feeling that she was beginning to like this one rather a lot, and she would be pretty upset if he dumped her, she changed the subject.

'I wonder what all the police activity has been about today, did you see them? Loads of them searching all over the common and the woods even outside the village...not another body I hope, no wonder Carla hasn't had time to answer my calls, I expect she's been working round the clock, poor love.'

'Well I did hear that Vanessa has been "helping the police with their enquiries", said Tracy, half looking over her shoulder as if worried she was overheard. 'I went into the pub at lunch time and that new fellow...um Steve, he said that she had been driven to the police station by a lady detective, I assume that was Carla, and apparently the police spent hours searching the flat, took loads of stuff away with them. I always knew it was Vanessa, after seeing her on the common that day, and the earring mystery, it had to be her...but then why the fuck would she want to kill a young girl...maybe Giles has been having an affair, he is always very flirty you have to admit.'

Maggie poured herself another drink, she offered to fill Tracy's glass but she put her hand over it quickly.

'No I mustn't Maggs; I've got to get up in the morning.'

Maggie shrugged; she was a bit worse for wear herself, she had started early today.

'I can't see Giles having an affair, he dotes on Vanessa...it's more likely that she's a secret lesbian and she's been seeing this girl behind Giles's back...may be she was blackmailing her, so she had to get rid of her,' Tracy nodded thoughtfully.

'I can totally see Vanessa as a lesbian, you know with all her smart suits and the way she manages that pub, and I think it's obvious she married Giles for his money, he's so much older than her...oh poor Giles he doesn't deserve Vanessa dragging his name through the mud like this...he's such a sweetie, don't you think?'

Maggie let out a laugh of derision. 'Ha! He wasn't a bloody sweetie this afternoon when he forced my car into the trees and smashed my fucking wing mirror,' said Maggie hotly. 'That reminds me I must speak to him about that...bloody cheeky bastard, nearly pushed me off the road...what the hell he was doing there I don't know, he...'

Maggie stopped as her mobile began trilling, she began fumbling around in her enormous handbag until at last she found it, but the ringing had stopped.

'Fuck fuck fuck...I can never find anything in this bloody bag, I'm going to get myself a tiny bag, just big enough for my phone, my purse, my hairbrush and mirror and make-up and stuff, oh and my ipad...oh fuck it, it's no use I am condemned to carrying this fucking great thing for the rest of my life.'

Tracy who had been laughing at her; took her phone from her and checked who the caller had been.

'Oh damn it Maggie,' she exclaimed, 'that was Carla calling you, try phoning her back, the sooner you two speak and make up the better...go on do it now,' she handed the phone back to Maggie.

'Ok ok,' said Maggie blearily hunting for Carla's number.

'Oh for god's sake how much have you had to drink...there! said Tracy snatching the phone back from her and pressing last caller redial, she waited until she heard it ringing and handed the phone back to Maggie.

'Hi Carla sweetie,' said Maggie after a couple of seconds. 'Oh god me too honey, no, no it was all my fault, I'm such a moody cow sometimes...Carla stop...it was not your fault, you were just trying to be cautious, I know...oh I know, well...um it didn't go well actually, no Wills walked out, apparently he wanted to be with...oh whatshername...all the time...yes she was devastated, came here last night...no she's not here now...she's going out with that Mike tonight, seems to think that they might be able to make a go of it...I know...too soon, I did tell her, but she was on one you know, wouldn't listen...yeh well you never know it might be just what she needs. What's up with all your lot searching the village and everywhere, Tracy and I were just talking about it, not another body I hope...oh bloody hell...oh my god, oh yes I do remember Jools saying he hadn't come back, she was quite pleased actually. Oh...blimely...Giles?...no I haven't seen him love sorry can't help you, I've just been here all evening with Tracy we were just having a few drinks. Oh, I saw him this morning if that's any help...or rather the back of his head, I was just telling Tr...what...ok ok calm down, it was near those two barn conversions I was telling you about...you know out near Godstone, well just passed Godstone on the way to Lingfield...what now...yes of course love I'll be here, ok...yes see you soon...bye.'

Tracy who had been listening to one side of the conversation looked at Maggie expectantly, Maggie smiled. 'Carla's coming over, she needs to find Giles, he's gone missing apparently,' and then she went and slid down on the couch in the living room and closed her eyes, so Tracy had to wait until Carla arrived to find out what was going on.

Carla turned up about ten minutes later in a real tiz along with a couple of police cars.

She woke Maggie up and ordered Tracy to get some coffee on, 'I need her to tell me exactly where she saw Giles...come on Trace it's really important!'

Tracy didn't need telling twice and had soon made three strong cups of coffee one of which she gave to Maggie who was trying to describe to Carla exactly where she had seen Giles driving like a lunatic.

'You know Stoats Nest Farm that was...just past Godstone, oh you must know it's been there as long as I can remember, well anyway you go through the village and keep going straight heading towards Lingfield and East Grinstead, I think it's the A22, but I'm not sure anyway once you get near to Stoats Nest Farm you turn left onto a narrow track, which takes you up past all the old farm buildings until you get to my two barns, which by the way are looking fabulous...'

'Cut the crap Maggie, where did you see Giles?' snapped Carla impatiently.

'Well he was coming in the opposite direction to me, driving like a bloody idiot, so fast that he pushed me into a hedge...broke my wing mirror...' at Carla's impatient look she got back to the point, 'anyway I suppose he must have been either at the barns or maybe looking round the old farm...I thought maybe he was thinking about buying one of the barns, I couldn't understand why else he would be there...there's nothing there but empty farm buildings.'

'And you are absolutely sure it was Giles, you couldn't have just thought it looked like him?' Carla asked firmly.

'Oh no it was definitely him, he spotted me too, I know he recognised me which is what made me so mad.'

Carla reached over and kissed her. 'Thanks my lovely, you may have just saved us a lot of time...you may have even saved a life,' and with that she rushed outside shouting instructions to the officers in the other cars as she went.

'Wow,' said Tracy after the cars had gone squealing and skidding out of the drive, 'she was in a hurry...and what's more it looks like you two have made up, hallelujah!'

Tracy left not long after Carla, she had walked over to Maggie's, and was glad of Buster's reassuring, if rather tubby, little presence as she made the journey back. Such terrible goings on in her little village, she could see the lights of the cottages round the green from here, it was such a peaceful scene, all her neighbours sitting in their cosy cottages eating their tea, or watching telly, and she wondered where Giles was. Poor Giles all alone, her heart went out to him, he must be frantic with worry about Vanessa to have gone off somewhere like that...she decided to go to the pub later, see if he'd come home...let him know he still had friends, despite what Vanessa had done.

# CHAPTER 55 - CARLA

With blue lights flashing, Carla made it to Godstone village in record time, she had an inkling where this farm Maggie was talking about was, so she sped straight through the village with two more cars following behind. About a mile along the A22 she spotted a weathered old sign for Stoats Nest Farm directing her off the main road and onto the bumpy unmade path that Maggie had described earlier. It was pitch black and the road was extremely narrow and winding, so Carla had slowed down to little more than a crawl, suddenly large buildings began to come into sight rearing up like dark monsters by the side of the track...Carla pulled right over to the verge and stopped the car, better to go on foot from here.

All was quiet; there were no sounds of life, apart from the almost constant hum of distant traffic on the A22.

'Right Ted you come with me, Frank and Mandy you take those smaller buildings on the edge of the field over there and George and Sam carry on up the track a bit further, there may be more out buildings that we haven't seen yet...remember to keep together and be careful, if Poole is hiding out here, he is a desperate man who has already killed once...keep in contact with us at all times ok?'

The little group separated and almost silently made their way to the large dark buildings. Carla and Ted were headed towards the old farm house. Years of neglect had taken its toll on the once impressive house, windows were smashed and the local wildlife had obviously been using it as a hotel. Once inside the smell hit them...it was a smell that they both recognised...the sickly sweet smell of rotting flesh, Carla and Ted looked at each other, steeling themselves for what they might find. Carla's hands were sweating and her heart was pounding, she could barely see where she was walking, she tried to keep to the edge of each room, because some of the old floor boards were obviously rotten, shining her torch round waiting for its light to reveal some awful horror suddenly something flew passed her head. Carla let out a shriek and flapped madly at her hair, which brought Ted running back into the room, 'My god Carla are you ok?' he said breathlessly.

'Yes, yes I'm fine,' Carla answered embarrassed, 'must have been a bat or something, sorry Ted, scared the shit out of me.'

Ted nodded at her and started edging around the room again but Carla noticed that he didn't leave her on her own again. The downstairs was empty, unfortunately the awful smell got a lot stronger as they headed upstairs and Carla fully expected to find a rotting corpse in one of the bedrooms, but the only horror they found was a mummified fox in the upstairs bathroom. There was nothing to indicate that anyone had been living in the old house and certainly no sign of anyone being held captive so after searching every nook and cranny as best they could, they made their way outside into the fresh air, both feeling relief that they had found nothing, but frustration also, there was no way Styles had been here.

Carla started to head towards the smaller buildings to see how Frank and Mandy were getting on when her radio suddenly came crackling into life.

'Ma'am we've found something...' it was Sam.

Carla could hear the sound of retching in the back ground; her blood froze in her veins, 'What sort of something, where exactly are you?'

'We've got a body here ma'am, or what's left of one...um we're up the track about a mile...there's a small hut, on the far side of a field on your left...near the woods.'

'Right we're on our way...TED! Get the others and follow me...about a mile up the track!' Carla raced back across the field and flung herself into her car...the track got even narrower the further she went and it seemed to be getting even darker if that was possible...she only just spotted George and Sam. Sam was waving frantically for her, she could see George bent over to the side of the field, trying to pull himself together...she screeched to a halt inches away from Sam.

'Is it Giles?' she shouted as soon as she was out of the car.

'Um...no I don't think so, it's hard to tell...but I would say this was someone older...um...it's not a pretty sight ma'am, we just had to get out of there George got a bit sick,' George by this time had recovered and came over looking shame faced.

'Sorry about that Ma'am...just wasn't expecting anything like it...' he started looking distinctly green again so Carla said, 'Don't worry hun we all get like that from time to time, it's what makes us human...why don't you get hold of the coroner's office, sounds like we're going to need him and then wait here for Ted and the others to arrive...Sam you'd better show me what you've found.'

Sam looked as if going back into that hut was the last thing he wanted to do, but he took a deep breath and led Carla back over the field, his torch lighting the path in front of him. It was obvious that a car had been driven across the field, there were deep tyre marks in the muddy earth, and as Carla got near to the entrance of the hut itself, there were plenty of footprints...there had been a lot of activity here over the last few days. The smell of human waste mixed in with the unmistakable smell of death was almost overpowering and Carla had to stop herself from gagging as she entered the tiny hut. No matter how much you prepare yourself, the sight of death shocks you to the core especially when the death has not been an easy one thought Carla. She took her first look at the remains in the hut, this man had suffered incredible pain before he had died, the sight of him almost made her want to recoil and run out of the hut, throw up in a bush as George had had to, but she steeled herself to look properly at was almost certainly the remains of Derek Styles.

Someone had vented their rage on this man in the most terrible way, his wizened naked body had been burned and sliced, he had obviously taken a severe beating as well, and his face had been severely mutilated, but the most horrific and obvious injury he had suffered was that his genitals had been removed and stuffed into his mouth. Carla tore her gaze away from the glassy staring eyes that seemed, even after death, to be pleading for mercy and tried to take stock of the tiny shed. There was evidence that he had been here a while, water bottles and old food littered the floor and there was a rank smelling bucket in one corner, the mattress he was lying on was almost completely saturated with blood. There was a pile of porn magazines on the floor near the bed, it looked like someone had kept him here for a while before finishing him off in the most sadistic way...and Carla was convinced she knew who that someone was, and he was still out there. Ted and the others had arrived by this time, Ted looked pale and drawn when he joined Carla outside.

'Derek Styles do you think?' was all he said though, and Carla nodded.

'Bloody hell...bloody hell...' for once they were both speechless.

'Right,' said Carla after a moment. 'It is now even more urgent that we find Giles Poole, my gut tells me that he is still in the area, as long as we have Vanessa in custody I think he will stay close by. George and Sam you wait here for forensics, Mandy and Frank I think you will be most use joining in the search Chief Inspector Drew is co-ordinating, so report to her, I'll be letting her know what we've found here when I get back. Ted I think you and I need to speak to Vanessa again...maybe she'll be a bit more forth coming once she knows Giles has killed again.'

Back at the station Carla went straight to her office to speak to Chief Inspector Drew, whilst talking to her she noticed an envelope that had been put on her desk for her attention, she opened it idly as she was talking and drew out a photograph of the Glory Woods, more particularly the scene of Louise's murder, she hung up the phone and looked more carefully at the photograph. After looking in the envelope she discovered a note.

HI CARLA, I MEANT TO GIVE THIS TO YOU AGES AGO. THIS IS THE PHOTO I TOOK FOR MY CANVAS AND IT WASN'T UNTIL I WAS LOOKING AT IT LATER THAT I REALISED THAT THERE IS SOMEONE STANDING IN THE WOODS. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S OF ANY USE TO YOU BUT I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD HAVE IT ANYWAY,

ALL MY LOVE

HELEN

Carla looked even more closely at the photo, at first she could see nothing but then she saw it, just behind a tree in the distance there was definitely a figure standing. It was far too blurred to make out any features with the naked eye but it would be worth giving it to forensics to see if they could enhance the image. She made a note that she needed to speak to Helen, find out exactly which day she was in the woods and at what time...but for now she needed to speak to Vanessa.

Ted had already started to talk to her by the time Carla got down to the interview room, he raised his eyebrows at her when she walked in, obviously Vanessa wasn't playing ball. Carla had asked Ted to keep quiet about her dad...she wanted to see her reaction when she heard that piece of news.

Vanessa was in a belligerent mood this morning nothing like the pathetic weeping woman that she had been the night before. 'I'm not saying anything more without my solicitor, so you are wasting your time,' was the first thing she said when she saw Carla.

'Vanessa don't you think you're in enough trouble without impeding this investigation further, you're not helping Giles by clamming up like this you know,' Ted was saying, Carla held up her hand.

'I just thought you might like to know that we think we've found out where your dad's been for the last couple of weeks.' Vanessa narrowed her eyes and looked at her suspiciously. 'Where was he, did you speak to him, does he know where Giles is?'

'Well as to that I said we may have found him, what we have found is the body of an elderly man in an abandoned shed on farmland, he had been there some time and it looks like he had been tortured before he died...we believe that Giles killed this person Vanessa...and we also believe that it's your father...did you know anything about your father's kidnap and murder Vanessa?'

Vanessa put her head in her hands and seemed to slump down on the desk.

'Oh god I knew it...I told you didn't I...as soon as I heard he'd gone missing I thought...oh Giles...Giles what are you doing...it's all to avenge me Carla can't you see he's trying to wipe out all the people he thinks have done me harm...he needs help!' she pleaded with Carla, but Carla had had enough of Vanessa's manipulations.

'Well that's why we need to find him,' she said firmly. 'Can you think of anywhere that he could have gone, any bit of information may help Vanessa, please try, does he have any friends nearby, or relatives that he could go and stay with?'

Vanessa thought for a moment, 'No all his family are dead, he has friends still in Ashford, Steve, who's been working in the bar, his dad and Giles go way back, it might be worth trying him, but other than that we don't have any friends around here...always been too busy working I suppose to make friends.'

'Ok Vanessa we'll try them, in the meantime if you think of anyone or anywhere that he might be, just let the duty sergeant know ok?'

'Er hang on a minute when do I get out of here...you can't keep me here much longer without charging me, I know my rights...' began Vanessa but she stopped when she Carla turned on her angrily.

'I know exactly how long I can keep you here and I would be very careful if I were you Vanessa you are skating on very thin ice...you are already up for charges of failing to report a murder and withholding evidence, so don't push it,' with that she left the room.

Other than her first outburst, Vanessa seemed to be taking the news of her dad's death extremely calmly, in fact she had barely acknowledged it, Carla was beginning to get one of her uneasy feelings again.

# CHAPTER 56 - TRACY

Tracy had tried watching telly, she'd made herself a bowl of instant semolina (which when eaten slowly with jam was one of the best ways she knew to unwind). She had even had a sneaky cigarette, which she had promised herself she would try not to do, but she couldn't get the thought of Giles out of her head. He was one of the nicest people she had met, always there with a kind word or a sympathetic ear and Tracy had long thought that Vanessa treated him like hell, now, knowing what she did about Vanessa...the fact that she had so obviously brutally murdered that young girl in the woods, Tracy felt desperately sorry for him. Despite Vanessa's nastiness Giles truly adored the woman and Tracy could only guess how devastated he must be right now.

She looked at her watch, 11.30 the pub would be closed now, maybe he was sitting there all alone crying his eyes out, Tracy couldn't stand by anymore, she decided to go and see him, right now.

Of course he may not be there, Carla had said that they couldn't find him, but surely he had to come home sometime...anyway if he wasn't there she would just come home, but she had to try.

She rushed upstairs and pulled out her warmest jumper, it would be freezing out there at this time of night and just as she was coming downstairs her mobile rang making her jump out of her skin...it was Simon, 'Hi babe,' she said. 'How ya doing?'

'All the better for hearing your voice gorgeous,' said Simon reducing Tracy to a smugly smiling heap, 'What are you doing, you sound out of breath, have you been reading those racy novels again, you naughty girl?' he teased.

'Simon!' said Tracy laughing. 'Get your head out of the gutter, of course I don't read anything like that...I'm a lady,' she heard Simon's shout of laughter at the other end of the phone. 'Well I am! Anyway I'm out of breath because I just had to run upstairs to get my thickest jumper, I'm going to go and see how poor Giles is doing.' Tracy had filled Simon in on all the goings on in the village and particularly the pub, she knew he had a lot of time for Giles, but he was obviously not keen on the idea of her venturing over there on her own.

'What at this time of night, he'll be asleep love, anyway maybe that's not such a good idea, if the police were out looking for him...I mean there must be a reason they were so keen to speak to him, why not leave it till morning, go over then?' But Tracy wouldn't be talked out of it.

'No I just have this feeling that he needs a friend now! You know how he feels about Vanessa, he must be so desperate Si, I can't sleep knowing that a friend of mine is in such pain...he may not want to see me, but I have to try don't I?' Simon relented.

'Well I can see that you do...you are so lovely, do you know that, but promise me you'll phone Carla first, just to see what she thinks...I mean for all we know she may have found him and he may be at the station with Vanessa... please love promise me that.'

Tracy felt all warm and tingly, it was lovely to be loved, 'Ok I promise...thank you for caring.'

'Oh no don't start getting all soppy on me, if it's one thing I hate it's soppiness.'

'Oh really I thought it was Big Brother...the one thing you hated.'

'Well ok two things, but soppiness is a close second.'

'Speak soon lovely boyfriend,' said Tracy with a smile.

'Speak soon gorgeous girl,' came the reply. Tracy sighed a contented sigh, oh dear she was really up to her eyes in it this time, she dialled Carla's number as instructed, it went straight to voice mail...well leaving a message was as good as telling her wasn't it?

HI CARLA, I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I AM GOING OVER TO THE PUB TO SEE IF GILES NEEDS A SHOULDER TO CRY ON. SIMON INSISTED THAT I LET YOU KNOW BEFORE I WENT, I KNOW, I KNOW HE'S JUST A BIT OF A WORRYWART, ANYWAY I'VE LET YOU KNOW SO...UM I'LL SEE YOU SOON...BYE, LOVE YA

Job done she set off across the common to the pub.

The old building was completely shrouded in darkness, the doors locked. Tracy went round to the side entrance but that was shut tight as well, there were no signs of life anywhere. Tracy felt a sense of anti-climax, she had been so geared up to comfort Giles that she had not taken into account that he might not be there, crying into his cocoa, needing a friend. She sighed and had started to walk away when something caught her attention...a flickering light coming from the flat above the pub...Giles was in there, in the dark... well he was probably too upset to be bothered with lights, desperately needing the sympathetic support of a friend. Tracy turned and walked back round to the side of the pub. The door was still locked, but further round towards the back of the building were the fire escape steps that led up to the kitchen door of the flat. Without thinking Tracy started to climb the steps, the closer she got the more convinced she was that Giles was really suffering, she could hear almost animal like moans and groans coming from inside...and then someone talking, almost shouting, oh poor Giles he was in a bad way, the kitchen door was amazingly, unlocked, so without thinking it through, she crept inside.

The moans and groans were considerably louder now she was inside and seemed to be coming from the living room, she walked quietly along the hallway that connected the two rooms...it had suddenly occurred to her that Giles might not appreciate her witnessing his humiliating desperation...he might even be really angry about her sneaking about his flat in the middle of the night, so she paused and thought for a moment how she was going to approach him...when all of a sudden the moans turned to blood curdling screams

'NO NO...please don't NOOOO!' Tracy didn't stop to think she rushed over and pushed open the living room door.

It took a couple of minutes for her brain to register what she was seeing, Giles was tied up and sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, he looked dishevelled and terrified, it occurred to Tracy that she had never seen Giles anything other than immaculate, now he looked old, his shirt front opened and a matt of grey hair on his chest. His face was covered in blood and one of his eyes was swollen shut, he looked at her aghast, and at the same time the other occupant of the room turned and stared at her in complete shock, he was a tall man about middle aged with a halo of white hair around his rather bony head, but the two things that stood out about him were the flaming blow torch which he was holding in front of Giles's face, and his eyes which were a very bright blue, and very piercing, and at the moment looking straight at her.

'Who the fuck are you?' said the man, and at the same time Giles screamed at her, 'Tracy, get out...run...go...NOW!' He was stopped by a vicious blow to the head, but Tracy didn't need telling twice, she turned and fled as fast as her legs would carry her, in her panic she turned the wrong way and ran further into the flat, she opened the first door that she came to and fled inside. She found herself in a large linen cupboard full of neatly folded table cloths and napkins, she tried to hide herself amongst the shelves and kept as quiet as she could putting her hands over her mouth to suppress her sobs...she could hear him coming slowly along the hallway, calling out to her in a eerily quiet voice as he did so.

'Tracy...Tracy...you might as well come out, I will find you...' he had obviously thought she had gone back into the kitchen and she could hear him searching in the huge pantries and store cupboards in there, but now he had started his way towards her.

Tracy could barely suppress her terror, she tried to reach out and hold on to the handle on the inside of the door, maybe he would be fooled into thinking it was locked and pass her by...his footsteps were coming nearer and nearer...then they stopped...she could hear him breathing on the other side of the door, he tried the handle. Tracy hung on to it with all her strength as he yanked at it a couple of times, then he seemed to give up and she could hear his footsteps as they moved on down the hallway...she let out the breath she had been holding, she was shaking all over and tears were streaming down her cheeks, she had no clear idea of how she was going to get out of here...she needed to get help Giles was obviously in desperate trouble not to mention that there was a terrifying psycho after her now. As slowly as she could she reached round and pulled her mobile out of her back pocket and flicked it open...damn she barely had a signal but maybe there was just enough...she found Carla's number and waited while it connected...every sound seemed to be magnified in the tiny cupboard so she slipped the phone under a pile of napkins in an attempt to suppress the sound, and nearly wept with frustration as she got through to Carla's voice mail, she waited until the message had finished and then:

'Carla,' she whispered, 'please help me I'm at the p...'

Suddenly the door of the cupboard was flung open and Tracy was dragged kicking and screaming out of the cupboard...her assailant lifted her up over his shoulders and dumped her unceremoniously on the floor in the living room near where Giles was tied up, he groaned when he saw her and Tracy was able to get a good look at him for the first time. What she saw filled her with terror, Giles had obviously suffered at the hands of this man, his face was covered in bruises and his nose was jutting off at an angle, there was a stream of blood trickling from it...she reached out a hand to him but it was kicked roughly away.

'Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?' the man bellowed at her.

'Please...' Tracy pleaded. 'Just let us go, I don't know what your problem is but surely it can be sorted out without all...' she broke off as the man let out a loud laugh.

'Are you really that thick you stupid bint...you are going nowhere and neither is our friend Giles here...big mistake sweetheart you coming here...big mistake.'

'Please Vince...don't hurt her...nothing to do with her...pleas...' Giles's pleas were cut short with a violent backhander.

'Shut the fuck up Giles,' Vince shouted, 'this is all your fault, you and that bitch Vanessa, and don't think she's going to get away with it either...no one cheats Vince and gets away with it. I fucking took care of the old man listening to his moaning and groaning day after day, putting up with his stink...doing your dirty work for you...what did you think I was doing all of that for, love? For a favour? I was promised money Giles, ten fucking grand, where the fuck is it?'

Giles tried to lift his head, 'You'll get it Vince I promise, I had to hide it so Vanessa didn't find it... I'll take you to it...you've got to believe me...'

'Well I don't fucking believe you, you lying cunt...you and your fucking cunt of a wife are trying to set me up...you forget I know Vanessa of old, I know just how her devious little brain works.'

'No you've got it all wrong, Vanessa knows nothing about this...don't hurt her she...'

'Shut the fuck up Giles...don't take me for a fucking fool...' Vince seemed to be getting angrier and angrier as he continued ranting at Giles. Tracy had no idea who the old man was that he kept referring to but he seemed to be working himself up into a frenzy, he also seemed to have forgotten Tracy crouched on the floor behind him, so she started edging very slowly towards the door. She nearly made it but he must have caught a movement in the corner of his eye because with a terrifying roar he swung round and subjected Tracy to the full force of his fury by smashing his fist into the side of her face and kicking her a couple of times in the ribs, she tried to curl up into a ball but the blows kept raining down on top of her, on her head and her sides...she felt her mouth fill with blood and screamed with agony as one of Vince's boots found contact with her hand breaking a couple of fingers, at last he seemed to run out of steam.

He left Tracy half conscious where she lay and turned his attention back to Giles, stuffing an old rag into his mouth and once again turning to his instruments of torture. Tracy couldn't see much of what went on over the next ten minutes or so but she could hear the Giles's muffled screams of terror and agony and see the blood on the floor then Giles's screams seemed to reach new heights and she saw Vince reach for the blowtorch waving it around in front of Giles's terrified eyes...when suddenly he seemed to stop in his tracks as if he had heard something...then Tracy heard it too... the tinny sound of the birdy song, her ring tone, coming from the linen cupboard where Tracy had left her phone. Carla must be returning her call. Vince put down the blowtorch and after checking that Giles and Tracy were incapable of escaping he went to investigate.

'Giles...Giles...oh come on Giles wake up,' whispered Tracy urgently, she could hear Vince rummaging around furiously looking for the phone...she knew she only had a couple of minutes at the most to try and help Giles, very gingerly Tracy tried to move, the pain in her side was intense it felt like he had managed to break a couple of her ribs, but, sweating and swearing, she somehow managed to shuffle over to where Giles was tied up. She tried to untie his legs using just the one hand that wasn't broken but she was shaking so much that it was virtually impossible, any moment now Vince was going to come back, she edged closer to his chair to try and get a better grip.

'Oh come on...' she told herself, 'come on you stupid cow...aaaaggghhh!' Tracy screamed in agony as Vince grabbed her broken fingers and pulled her away from Giles.

'You just don't know when to give up do you...I just don't have fucking time for all this,' and with that he put his hands around Tracy's neck and began to squeeze. Tracy began to flail about trying desperately to get him off her, she could see his face above her...see the pleasure he was getting in his cruelty...her lungs were in agony trying to find some air from somewhere and Tracy could feel herself losing the battle...her mind started playing tricks on her, she thought she could hear sounds that seemed to be coming from far away, a cry of anguish (from Giles maybe) and then a roar of anger before she started to lose consciousness...it felt like she was lifted up, floating above the scene below, then it seemed like the room had suddenly filled with people all of them shouting, but little by little she became aware of one voice that was louder than the rest...

'Tracy...Tracy... darling come on... Tracy wake up...oh god no you can't die on me TRACY!...come on sweetheart.'

'Simon! Let the paramedics get through, they need to try and ventilate her,' Carla's voice, what the hell was Carla doing here...something being shoved down my throat...oh god not again...finally oblivion.

Tracy opened her eyes slowly, and then shut them again fast against the blinding pain in her head, her head felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer, and her throat felt like she had swallowed a handful of razorblades, she felt a warm hand on her arm and slowly tried to open her eyes again, an angel stood by her bed smiling down at her with such beautiful eyes.

'Well hello there,' the angel said in a soft Irish accent. 'Look who's waking up,' and with that she turned and left the room, a hospital room Tracy now realised.

A couple of minutes later, a huge scruffy bearded man came running through the door and lunged at her grabbing her hand and raining kisses down on it.

'God...you look terrible,' squeaked Tracy, through her swollen throat, Simon just laughed and kissed her all the more.

'Says the black and blue gorgon in the bed, I don't think either of us will be winning any beauty competitions in the near future sweetheart.' From outside the door Carla watched the two love birds giving them a bit of time. That had been a close call, if Simon hadn't got it into his head to drive over and make sure Tracy was ok, if he hadn't phoned her to make sure that Tracy had checked with her about the whereabouts of Giles, Tracy would be surely dead by now. Carla could still feel the icy cold fear that she had felt when she had finally checked her phone and heard the whispered message that Tracy had left for her, and it became obvious that Tracy was in the pub with Giles, and she had never seen such terrified determination as she had seen from Simon as he charged up the stairs and into the flat to rescue his girl, he was oblivious to all her pleas for caution. Tracy was in danger that was all he had thought about as he went hurtling into that room. Simon became aware of Carla watching them and beckoned her into the room,' I don't think she's suffered any brain damage detective,' he said smiling at her, 'she's still managing to insult me, of course she doesn't realise yet that I saved her life, I expect when she does she will be all grovelling humility.'

Carla laughed, 'Er don't hold your breath on that one, knowing Tracy I'm sure she'll be able to find a way of turning of this round so that she becomes the heroine,' she came round to the other side of the bed and squeezed Tracy's good hand, 'lovely to see you back in the land of the living honey, you scared the shit out of all of us...what the hell were you playing at, my God Tracy...' Carla took a deep breath, 'anyway I'm not going to go into all that now, you just get better sweetheart...then we will talk.' She kissed Tracy on the cheek and went out of the room. Tracy turned to Simon, 'Sorry,' was all she said, Simon gathered her up into his arms and held her firm, 'Oh you may think you're sorry Tracy my love, but you are not half as sorry as you are going to be after I've finished with you...but as Carla said, you must get well now, that's all that matters...' he stopped as he could hear the clattering of high heels on hospital flooring, 'I think I can hear someone else who has been waiting for nearly a week to see you...' he was nearly knocked sideways by the force of Maggie at full tilt rushing into the hospital room.

'Oh Tracy...Oh thank god you're awake, we have all been so worried...let me look at you...oh blimey love you are going to need a major make over before you can face your public again, but I'm sure it can all be fixed. I've heard that sometimes noses can look even better after a couple of breaks and there are some amazing cosmetic dentists out there...no no alright, I'm only joking, you will be your usual gorgeous self in next to no time, no matter what that sick fucker...' she caught Simon's shake of the head. 'Anyway I have got loads of lovely treats planned for your recuperation, I know this fabulous spa, with the best masseurs you had ever experienced, and let me tell you when they say they know how to hit the right spots...well they definitely hit ALL the right spots if you get my drift...'

'I should think most of the nursing staff gets your drift Maggie,' croaked Tracy laughing, 'and thank you but I think Simon might have other plans for me, where's Helen is she working today, how did her date go?'

Maggie looked slightly awkward, 'Helen's a bit low at the moment sweetie, she asked me to give you all her love, says she'll see you when you get home...um so tell me Simon what plans exactly do you have in mind for our Tracy here...I need to know details.'

# CHAPTER 57 - CARLA

Carla sat in her office and appreciated the quiet. The team had all gone to the pub to celebrate the two arrests that had been made. Carla was just filled with a feeling of relief, it could have all ended so differently, Giles could have been brutally mutilated and killed, my god Tracy could be dead and Vincent Harman, notorious sadist and rapist could still be out there to free to indulge in his terrible perversions. As it was Giles had been arrested for the murder of Louise and conspiracy to commit murder in the case of Derek Styles, he had said nothing since being arrested except to ask after Vanessa. When the charges against him were read out he didn't even lift his head, he seemed like a broken man. Harman on the other hand had been shouting obscenities from the roof tops and had had to be restrained when he had been arrested for the kidnap and murder of Styles and for the assault on Tracy. Carla had since found out that Vincent Harman was a man that the Kent police had been hunting for over a decade, so it was quite a feather in her team's cap that they had caught him. Vanessa had been charged with failing to report a crime and obstructing the police, she had been allowed home on police bail...just as she had been about to leave the station she was accosted by a woman, who threw her arms around her and sobbed on her shoulder...Faye Pinner had flown from Australia to be with her sister. Carla had been close to tears as the two sisters wept and hugged each other, she was staying with Vanessa until the court hearing in a few weeks, maybe there could be a happy ending there after all.

Carla sighed and decided to go home, she could do without a visit to the pub, home was where she needed to be...with James and the kids. She had been made to realise just how lucky she was over the last few weeks, she had a wonderful marriage, her love for James was as strong now as it had ever been, and as she watched her three friends desperately searching for happiness she could only count her blessings. Thinking of the witches made her think particularly of Helen...oh poor Helen, to have been rejected twice and in such a way...Helen had met with Mike that evening full of hope, imagining that this would be the start of a new chapter in her life. She had opened herself up to him, even going so far as to sleep with him, the first time she had ever been unfaithful to Will, only to discover afterwards that he had decided to make a go of it with his wife. Helen had said she understood and even applauded his decision, and then had gone home and tried to kill herself with a bottle of pills...Maggie, worried that she hadn't heard from her went round to investigate only to find her comatose on the kitchen floor she had broken every speed limit to get her to the hospital...well she had made it, Helen's stomach had been pumped and she was recovering in hospital (just down the corridor from Tracy actually) for a few days...but something had changed in her, and Carla was very scared that they might never get their friend back again. But they would love and cosset her as best they could and hope for a miracle.

As Carla wearily reached for her coat, the phone on her desk started ringing; she was tempted to leave it but...

It was a detective sergeant from the Kent police force, congratulating them for the arrest of Vincent Harman.

'Real nasty bit of work he is, we've been trying to get him for as long as I've been working here, but he's always managed to slither out of it somehow, that solicitor of his always seemed to be able to find some legal loophole...mind you we were almost as chuffed about Poole's arrest down here, the number of times our work has all been for nothing because he got them off with some legal loop hole.'

Carla didn't know why but something about what he'd just said sent alarm bell ringing in her head.

'Of course that's where Giles must have met Harman,' she mused, 'he had obviously represented him in court a few times, do you remember him detective Almond? How long have you been working with the Kent police?'

Detective Almond laughed, 'Oh at least twenty years, I started out here, walking the beat, you know...yes I knew all of them...Keith Mobray, Howie, Sharkey...they were a right bunch of scum bags and your friend Giles represented them all, managed to get them all off a few times...not Vince though, no if my memory serves me right he had a different solicitor, right snobby twat...no actually it was Mrs Poole his wife, the lovely Vanessa, that was most closely associated with Vince, they were a right pair...'

Carla sat up straight in her chair, 'Excuse me...did you say that Vanessa knew Vincent Harman?'

'Oh yeh she knew him alright...you see Keith _Mobray_ and Vince were great buddies, and at that time they ran things in and around Kent...drugs, prostitution, gambling, they had control of all of it, until they had a major falling out...I don't know why, at the time it was rumoured that Vince had badly hurt a couple of Keith's girls, you know really badly so that they couldn't work anymore. Anyway whatever it was it caused mayhem, we had shootings and retaliation shootings and all sorts, until of course we had a tip off and Keith was suddenly arrested and put away...it has always been my understanding that Harman with the help of Vanessa had grassed Keith up to the police, of course no one knows for sure, but Harman definitely helped Vanessa get set up on her own, and then of course she did really well, bagging herself a rich solicitor...' Carla felt a tingling up her spine.

'Do you remember Vanessa then; was she somebody that you would have been keeping an eye on?'

'Not really if I'm honest, as long as she kept her business discreet and didn't cause us any trouble we pretty much left her to it... she always was a clever one that Vanessa...strange how life turns out isn't it...I mean how she ended up with another murderer, bloody hell talk about picking the wrong men...anyway Carla, congrats again, we're just glad that nasty fucker has finally been nailed.'

Carla barely remembered saying goodbye to him as she hung up the phone, her head was in a total spin...Vanessa had known and been friends with the man that had viciously tortured and murdered her father...she sat and stared into space for a moment or two desperately trying to collect her thoughts, then she remembered something, an envelope had been put on her desk earlier from the forensics team...enhancements of the photograph that Helen had left for her, she had taken a quick look at them, but because of all the other evidence that they now had she hadn't thought them very important, now where the fuck had she put them? Carla started frantically searching her desk until she found the envelope under a great pile of files...she rummaged around for a magnifying glass and switched on her desk light and then studied the blown up and enhanced photos, the hooded figure was still very blurred, but what soon caught Carla's eye was that it appeared to be not one but two figures, she stared at the images for a long time, yes she was certain, there were definitely two people, one of them (the taller of the two) had their arms around the smaller, holding them directly in front of them... then like a blinding flash of light, two things suddenly struck Carla as she stared at the woodland image, firstly that the taller of the two wasn't that much taller, certainly not as tall as Giles would have been in comparison, and secondly and this discovery made Carla punch the air, the smaller figure in front was wearing very high stiletto heels! Once again Carla sat staring at the wall trying to get her head round these new revelations, she had been so taken in by Vanessa, so blinded by sympathy for her when she had heard what a terrible time she had suffered at the hands of her father that despite all the evidence, she had given her the benefit of the doubt over and over again. But what if she had been wrong what if it had been Vanessa all along...suddenly another horrific possibility reared its ugly head...Carla grabbed her coat and rushed out of the station and ran across the common, Vanessa had taken her sister back to the pub to stay with her while she was in England, but the pub had remained closed ever since that awful night when Tracy nearly got killed, and the girls hadn't been seen out and about. Everybody had respected Vanessa's privacy and had stayed away.

Carla banged on the doors of the pub, 'Vanessa! It's Carla I need to speak to you,'...nothing...Carla shook the doors and rang on the delivery bell, still nothing, she ran around to the back and up the fire escape (the same route that Tracy had taken a couple of weeks before). The kitchen door was locked and there was no sign of life inside...apart that is from the mass of flies that she could see crawling and buzzing on the kitchen door windows. Carla could feel sweat dripping down the back of her neck, she pulled out her mobile and punched in Ted's number, he answered after a couple of rings, Carla could hear the noise of her team celebrating in the background. 'What's up Carla?' shouted Ted down the phone. Carla explained where she was and that she needed him to meet her there immediately, without waiting for his answer she hung up and started looking around for a rock or something with which to break the backdoor window, she found an old door stop and used it to break the glass...the stench from inside almost made her gag as she felt around inside the door for a key, at last she found it and opened the door.

All the curtains had been closed and the heat had been turned on constant, the smell and flies were overwhelming and Carla had to walk outside again to take a deep breath before venturing any further. She went through the kitchen into the hall way, the living room door was shut, but Carla could hear the buzzing of flies through the door...she pushed the door but it felt really heavy, and it took all her weight against it before the door swung open.

Heat and flies will have a devastating effect on a body. And it took Carla a couple of minutes to realise that Vanessa was hanging with a cord around her neck on the back of the door...Carla only just made it outside again before she threw up, she waited at the top of the steps until she spotted Ted's car pulling up in front of the pub, 'Up here Ted,' she called and he made his way up.

'Carla love, you ok?' he said on seeing her sitting there white and shaking, she indicated that he go in and look, and after a couple of seconds she followed him inside, she checked the rest of the flat, it looked like Faye must have headed back to Australia, there was no evidence of her still being there anyway. Carla went back into the living room.

Ted was just staring at Vanessa's grotesquely bloated body hanging on the back of the door with a puzzled look on his face.

'That just makes no sense,' he said after a while, 'why would she want to do that, I mean I know that Giles will go to jail and I suppose that maybe she is heartbroken...but I thought she had her sister staying with her, I mean I know she was going to have to face a trial but, I thought things were going to turn out well for her.'

While Ted had been talking Carla had been looking more closely at the body on the back of the door, its face all distorted with its blackened tongue and bulging eyes.

'Well the sister seems to have left, all her bags have gone and I can't see her passport anywhere... that's strange I'm sure she said she was going to be staying until the trial, maybe that was the last straw for Vanessa being left alone to face it all...I don't know Ted something's not right here,' she said as she stared hard at the ghoulish features, then it hit her. 'NO NO NO... TED! IT'S FAYE...IT'S NOT VANESSA IT'S FAYE...that fucking bitch...that sick fucking bitch...she's killed her...it was that fucking bitch all along...everything Louise...fucking Derek...and Giles, Giles went along with it because he was so bloody in love with her, she's killed them all...oh my god, and she's gone...long gone...how could I have been so stupid...'

Carla had had enough, she sat down on the sofa and started to cry, Ted started shifting about uncomfortably, but when Carla began to sniff loudly and wipe her nose on the back of her hand, he went over to her and handed her a hanky. 'Come on love, buck up...' he put a comforting hand on her shoulder and waited while Carla pulled herself together, then he walked over to the body still hanging on the door and had a good look.

'I don't know if you're right Carla, it bloody looks like Vanessa...how can you tell?' he said after a while.

'Look at her nails Ted, bitten to the quick, Vanessa always had beautifully manicured nails, no I'm sure of it...they looked pretty similar, same height and build same colouring although Faye was a bit more tanned and blond...oh of course...bloody clever cow, she's taken her passport. I bet we don't find Faye's passport and return tickets...that fucking bitch she'll be in Melbourne by now, or anywhere she likes...' Carla put her head in her hands, she felt totally defeated, Vanessa had made a complete fool out of all of them. 'Fucking devious clever bitch,' she said once more and left Ted to deal with the forensic team that had just arrived.

# CHAPTER 58 - THE WITCHES OF GLORY WOODS CAULDRON MEETING 2013

Because Tracy was still waiting for the swelling in her face to go down before she would venture outside, and because their usual venue The Bull Public House, was closed the witches met at Tracy's cottage. It had been nearly a month since they had all been together like this, and, because of the events of that month it was a very subdued group that sat together in Tracy's tiny sitting room.

Maggie was watching over Helen like a mother hen, Helen had gone straight from the hospital to Maggie's house, where she had been holed up in her spare room. It had taken all Maggie's powers of gentle persuasion to get her here tonight, and, although she was here physically it was like she was somewhere else in her head. She had barely spoken, and apart from giving Tracy a very tearful and thorough hug when she arrived, she had taken no part in the evening so far. The loss of Will and the callus way that Mike had dumped her (only after spending the night with her) seemed to have sucked the life out of her and left a hollow shell behind...hopefully time would help, and it was obvious that Maggie would leave no stone unturned to get her old friend back.

Tracy on the other hand was on fine form, the injuries had only touched her physically and she seemed to have put her terrifying experience behind her, apart from of course from relating it in more and more gruesome detail to anyone that asked, with her role in the story becoming more and more daring. Simon had turned into some sort of super hero that had broken the door down with one blow and pulled Vince off her singlehandedly, Carla, who had been there, knew that it had been a lot more touch and go, and also a lot more about luck than super strength.

At the moment Carla had the floor, after being bombarded with questions she was trying to fill them all in on what had happened, but was constantly being interrupted by Tracy and Maggie.

'So it was Vanessa all along then...so did she kill the girl...um Louise, I don't understand I thought Giles killed Louise.'

Carla sighed and went over it again.

'No it was all Vanessa, she had been so horrified when her dad told her that Louise was trying to find her, I suppose she felt that she had left all of that behind her and she was terrified that her lovely new life and her fictional past life was about to blow up in her face. So she started emailing Louise letting her think that she was desperate to see her she arranged to meet her, we're still not sure where they met...the text on Louise's phone says to meet at the station but there is no sign of either of them on the CCTV cameras, so I can only assume that she changed her mind or that she knew a way of avoiding them...anyway she obviously met with her and at some point persuaded her to go for a walk in the woods.' Carla smiled and looked at Helen, 'It was your photo that finally put all the pieces together honey,' she took Helen's hand. 'Vanessa had obviously spotted you snapping away with your camera and tried to hide herself and Louise, I don't know how it went from a walk in the woods to bloody murder, I guess I'll never know unless I catch up with Vanessa one day I suppose.' Carla stopped here, she still felt such a fool for letting Vanessa get away as she had.

'So Giles did nothing then?' asked Maggie. 'Why the hell didn't he say so instead of allowing himself to be arrested for murder?'

'Oh my god I don't know,' said Carla. 'And I wouldn't say he did nothing, he knew about Vanessa killing Louise.' Giles had told them everything when he realised that Vanessa had hightailed it out of the country and left him to face a murder charge.' He was also responsible for the abduction of Vanessa's dad...he had found out about how she had been abused by him as a child, I think he just loved her so much that he would have done anything for her, I mean he was prepared to spend his life in prison for her wasn't he?' Carla added sadly, she would never forget the look of pain on Giles Poole's broken face when she had told him that Vanessa had killed her sister and left the country, it had literally destroyed him.

'So how did that psycho Vince get involved, I mean I realise now that the old man he kept referring to was Derek Styles, but I don't understand why he would do Giles any favours, he seemed to hate him,' asked Tracy.

'Vince knew Giles from way back when he was representing all his buddies and keeping them out of jail, but it was Vanessa he knew best apparently, they seemed to have had some sort of a partnership, at least I think he helped her set up her escort business...but at the end of the day this just came down to money. Vanessa asked Giles to hire Vince to get rid of her dad...unfortunately for Giles and you honey,' Carla squeezed Tracy's hand, 'Giles wasn't quick enough paying up and that meant Vince came looking for him, which is where you came in.'

'Poor Giles,' said Tracy. 'Oh I know he is one seriously fucked up bloke, but it seems to me that he was just a victim of love...he just loved Vanessa too much.'

'Well I can understand him wanting to kill her dad...I'd want to kill that fucking piece of shit, it was sickening what he put his own daughter through', said Maggie, 'I would want to kill anyone who had done that to someone I loved, but seriously to stand by and cover for her when she killed her own daughter...no that's not love babe...that's a man who's being controlled.'

'Yes, well I don't think many of us felt a great deal of sympathy for Mr Styles when we read Vanessa's diaries,' said Carla with a wry smile. 'Although...my god when I remember what that animal did to him...phew...I wouldn't wish that on anyone...but Vanessa certainly had her revenge, she had been sending Derek letters from 'Faye' inviting him to come and stay with her, she arranged with Vince to pick him up from the home, that was the 'taxi' that arrived to take him to 'Faye's', and it was Vince that had kept him locked up in that old shed for a couple of weeks, but then Giles got involved after Vanessa was taken into custody, I think he just went a bit mad...he blamed Derek for everything that had happened to Vanessa...he was probably right too...but anyway he knew that Vince got his kicks from a bit of torture, so he was the perfect man to finish the job...the only problem he hadn't foreseen when dealing with a nutter like Vince Harman is that they can just as easily turn on you...as Giles soon found out to his cost!'

She saw Tracy shiver, and put an arm round her, 'But of course thanks to our intrepid heroine here, he was rescued from the unspeakably awful Vince and lives to serve his time in jail...' Carla broke off here because she still found it hard to talk about how guilty she felt that she had been so well hoodwinked by Vanessa... Faye's death could have been avoided if she had not been so carried away by the horrors of Vanessa's years of abuse.

'Any news Carla...about Vanessa I mean, she hasn't surfaced yet I presume?' said Maggie gently.

'No...nothing, she's using Faye's passport we know that, but she'd had so much time, she could be anywhere...the joint bank accounts had been cleaned out so she has a good deal of money with her, and as we now know Vanessa has never had any difficulty in making money...she'll survive...she's done it before, she'll do it again.'

# CHAPTER 59 - 2013 BANGKOK, THAILAND

The elegant woman sat at the bar sipping her drink and surveying the room. Her dark hair shone in the candle light and along with her casual, but expertly tailored, linen trouser suit and her discreet but obviously expensive jewellery, all proclaimed her to be a woman of taste and means. She had not gone unnoticed, several of the businessmen that frequented the bar had already taken note of her dark good looks...she was aware of this, but Vanessa had learnt that it paid to keep your audience guessing and to leave them wanting more...she finished her drink and left the bar...alone, they'd ask about her, they'd hear that she came in most evenings...they'd be back tomorrow, they wouldn't be able to help themselves.

### THE END

# A NOTE FROM KAY

Thank you for reading my book, I hope you enjoyed it!

If you did, could I ask you to share your experience with someone else. Either by recommending it to your friends or to any book groups to which you may belong or simply by writing and posting a review.

'Mummy's Little Girl' is my first novel; and also the first in the 'Witches of Glory Woods' series, there are three other books: 'Bad Things Happen', 'Nasty Bitch', 'The Girl in the Rug' and 'Lost Girls'. You can find the descriptions on the following pages.

Thank you once again.

You can contact me and find details about my books on my website http://www.kay-leitch.com. I always love to hear from my readers.

Kay

Thanks

Thank you to all my wonderful family and friends for all their encouragement and support, Emma and Natalie for listening to me droning on about my story lines, and giving me good honest criticism, Ben, Abby and Robin for making sure their friends read my stories and write a review, Colin for looking so gorgeous on the front of 'Bad Things Happen' and Marcus for designing my covers.

My special thanks go to Steve for his constant love and support, and the hours of work he puts in getting me published...thank you darling.

# NEXT TIME...

The story of the Witches of Glory Woods continues in **Bad Things Happen,** **Nasty Bitch, The Girl in the Rug and Lost Girls** :

### Bad Things Happen

A five year old boy has been kidnapped; and whether she wants to or not Detective Inspector Carla Right is heading up another massive police operation. But this time every minute could be the difference between finding the child safe and well or finding a body.

Carla has spent the last six months beating herself up about the mistakes that she made which led to twisted murderer Vanessa Poole managing to slip through her fingers, this time there is no room for error.

Maggie has successfully managed to avoid her ex-husband for nearly ten years, how will she cope now that fate has conspired that she has to see him every day! Tracy's relationship with Simon is put in jeopardy when she discovers something that could blow them apart. And Helen has a secret, a wonderful secret, that she has told no one, not even the Witches.

The village of Kenley has only just recovered from the drama of six months earlier. Now they have to pull together to try and find a missing little boy, and on top of that gypsies have moved onto the common, coincidence or could the two events be linked in some way?

### Nasty Bitch

Someone is torturing and killing men.

Someone has been waiting and planning for years, to exact revenge from the people of Kenley Village.

The dreadfully mutilated bodies of several men have been discovered, both here in England and in Florida, USA.

So when a courting couple find the grisly remains of a man in a disused barn near Kenley, Carla and her team fear that they may have a serial killer on their hands.

Life has moved on for the Witches of Glory Woods, Carla, Maggie, Tracy and Helen have all got new challenges to deal with, but the one thing that remains constant is the friendship that binds them together and the knowledge that they will always be there for each other... no matter what life has to throw at them!

### The Girl in the Rug

Eight year old Andy Hunt lies shivering under his thin blanket; he has gone to bed hungry again with fresh bruises on his face.

Hot tears roll down his grubby cheeks and onto his pillow...he doesn't know why he always makes his mum so angry, he tries to be good, he really does.

But nothing can prepare this little boy for the devastation that he will have to deal with, when a series of tragic events bring him and his family to the attention of two vicious local thugs.

DI Carla Right has to face one of the hardest investigations of her career when the body of a little girl is found. At the same time, evidence comes to light that a paedophile ring is targeting the local care homes for children...could it be that the two crimes are linked in some way?

The Witches, Carla, Maggie, Tracy and Helen are back, each with their own new set of problems to deal with. Thank goodness they have each other to turn to when things go wrong...because sometimes, things can go very, very wrong indeed.

### Lost Girls

With cruel anticipation, Jonas Silco watched each one as they arrived. He could feel their nervous excitement, their delight in being away from home for the first time. Some of them looked about themselves boldly, not in the least bit intimidated by the splendour of their new environment. Others barely raised their eyes from the floor so overwhelmed were they by the situation they found themselves in....

These were his prey, these young girls...they were all alone in an unfamiliar city, away from all that was familiar to them, away from the protection of their families. He smiled to himself...this was his domain...they were under his control now.

Twenty years later a skeleton is discovered underneath a car park in Redbank and DI Carla Right and her team are called in to investigate. A couple of weeks later a local business man is brutally murdered. Inexplicably, similarities between the two murders soon start to appear, despite the fact that there are twenty years dividing them.

As the evidence begins to unfold however, Carla and her sergeant, Frank Hill, realise that they are dealing with the worst sort of murderer. One who believes he has right on his side, one that won't stop until he has had his revenge and one who is willing to destroy anyone who gets in his way.

The Witches are back, Carla, Maggie, Tracy and Helen can be found at their usual table in The Bull public house on the green at Kenley. There are weddings and babies on the horizon, plenty of drama to be discussed and lives to be dissected at their weekly cauldron meetings, all washed down with a couple of bottles of wine and of course the obligatory bags of Cheesy Wotsits for Tracy.
