In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (010) Solicitors and Alibi’s

 

Later that day they made contact with Erin Hope and arranged for her to be interviewed on Wednesday morning at Nettlebridge Police Station and when she arrived, she was accompanied by her Solicitor Addison Smillie.

Sitting opposite them in the interview room were DI Steve Cutler and DS Steph Baldwin.

Once the tape was running Steve addressed the Solicitor

“I find it slightly ironic that you are representing the person suspected of being your employer’s killer”

“Well to set the record straight the firm I work for represents Dominic Mackay” she said “And I’m choosing to represent Miss Hope against the ridiculous supposition that she has committed murder”

“I agree” Steve said

“You agree with what?” Addison asked

“That it’s a ridiculous supposition that she has committed murder” he said

“Then why the hell are we here?” Erin asked

“Because someone has gone to great pains to make us think that you did” Steve replied “So we need your help”

Erin and Addison conferred briefly then Addison said

“Miss Hope is prepared to help, but this had better not be a trick”

“It’s all on tape, I promise, we just want to find the person or persons responsible for the crime, and we can prove that by first proving that you didn’t do it”

“So, what do we need to disprove?” Addison asked

“Your blonde hairs were found on the pillow in Dominics bed and DNA confirms the match” Steph said

“They are definitely Erin’s?” Addison asked

“100 %”

“But I’ve never even been in his room” Erin said

“I’ve never even been upstairs”

“So where would you go when you arrive at the house?” the DI asked

“Straight to his office to get instructions for the morning” Erin replied

“And if he wasn’t in his office?” DI Cutler asked

“I would go to my desk in the outer office” she replied

“Was he often absent from his office when you arrived?” Steph asked

“Oh yes, and often I wouldn’t see him until lunchtime”

“Would Kitty the housekeeper necessarily know you were there?” DI Cutler asked

“No, I often wouldn’t see her until 11 when I’d go to the kitchen for a coffee” Erin replied

“So, you could have been working in the office unseen with no one to verify you weren’t upstairs killing Dominic?” he asked and Addison was about to interrupt

“If you had not been otherwise occupied” he concluded and the two women blushed

“Was there any other DNA found in the bedroom?” Addison asked

“No” Steph replied

“What about fingerprints?”

“There were no prints anywhere in the room” the DI said

“But a handbag was found by the bed” he added and pushed a copy of an image towards her “And your fingerprints were on the contents”

“Only the contents?” Addison asked

“Yes” the DI replied

“That’s my bag” she said “It was stolen on a night out at a Club in Nettlebridge” 

“What date was that? And what Club?” Steph asked

“It was last Friday at the Velveteen Vixen” Erin said

“Any idea when you last remember having it?” Steve asked

“It would’ve been after 10, but I can’t remember any more precisely than that” she replied

“We also found this in the handbag” the DI said and showed them a copy of the letter

“I’ve never seen that before, and I certainly wasn’t having an affair with him” Erin said indignantly, and after exchanging a look with her brief she added “I’m gay”

The DI and the DS already suspected that was the case as the Velveteen Vixen was a gay club.

“Were there any prints or DNA on the letter?” Addison asked

“We are still awaiting the forensics back on it” the DI replied

“So, is that all?” Erin asked

“No, there’s just one more thing, the housekeeper, Kitty, says that she saw you at 10am kneeling on Dominic’s bed in a state of undress” he said

“Well, it wasn’t me” Erin said and then there was a hushed exchange between her and Addison    

“I have an alibi” she said and blushed

“She was with me” Addison stated

“And do you have an alibi from midnight to 10 am?” Steph asked

“I refer you to my previous answer” Addison said coyly

“Ok one final question” the DI said, “Why weren’t you at the house this morning?”

“Because we only got together at the weekend and didn’t want it to end so I texted Dominic on Sunday night to say I had to take a day’s leave and apologized for the short notice” Erin said and showed the officers the text on her phone

“Well, when we’ve got into his phone we’ll check it out” 

“The code is 4764 if that helps” she said 

“That’s very helpful” he said

“Now I have one more thing to ask of you”

“What is it?” Erin asked

“Well as the killer or killers want us to believe you are guilty, I want them to believe that we are still entertaining the idea, so what I want to do is to release you on police bail”

“We are agreeable” the two women echoed

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (009) Finding a Witness

 

The door-to-door enquiries yielded very little of interest, with the exception of Sarah Cooper, an attractive divorced Accountant who lived in one of the slightly less grand properties in close proximity to the Mackay residence, and it was one of the doors that DI Steve Cutler knocked on. 

“Yes?” she said after opening the door

“DI Cutler Nettlebridge CID” he responded holding out his warrant card

“Oh, is it about the murder?”

“It is I’m afraid”

“Well, you had better come in” she said and stepped aside

“I’m sorry to disturb you while you were changing” he said as he had noticed she was wearing a pristine white silk blouse on her top half and loose-fitting shorts and flip flops from the waist down

A look of confusion crossed her face until the penny dropped

“Oh no this was the look I was going for” she said and laughed before going on to explain

“I have my own accountancy company, but I work from home three days a week and I do a lot of teams calls so the top half is the professional look for the camera the bottom half is for comfort”

“That makes sense” he said

“So how can I help?”

“Well, we’re asking if anyone saw anyone or anything out of the ordinary or out of place or generally suspicious over the last 24 hours” Steve said

“Well apart from Clare Macbeth you’re the only person I’ve seen for two days” she said “But there was something that struck me as odd this morning”

“Oh, what was that?”

“Well I go up to Macbeth’s stables every morning before work, I leave home at 6am and walk up Farmers Lane, which runs alongside the Mackay’s property” she explained “Now it’s not unusual for cars to be parked in the lane, a lot of dog walkers park there, but they’re all of a type, but this morning there was a gold coloured Tesla parked up which is not the normal dog walkers car”

“Ok and then what?”

“Well I walked up to Macbeth’s mucked out the stable, groomed Snowflake, had a coffee with Clare and walked back, and when I got back the Tesla was gone, but now there was green Lexus parked in the lane instead” she said and looked straight at him “And that’s what struck me as odd, two cars that looked out of place on the same morning” 

“What time did you see the Lexus?” Steve asked

“Just after 8”

“I don’t suppose you noticed the REG numbers?”

“Not exactly” she replied “But the Tesla had 38 in it and the Lexus ended with SJC”

“Are you sure?” he asked as he jotted it down

“I’m sure, 38 is my age, and SJC are my initials, so it stuck”

“Well, that’s a big help” he said and gave her his card “Give me a call if you think of anything else”

“I will Inspector…Steve” she responded and smiled

“You don’t look it, by the way” he said when he reached the door

“Excuse me?”

“38” he said and she blushed

 

When he got back to the car, he phoned DC Ross Grant and asked him to go up to the Macbeth Stables and interview Clare Macbeth and get a statement to verify Sarah Cooper’s account and to clarify the timings, then he headed back to the station.

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (008) Too Much Evidence

Detective Sergeant Steph Baldwin was a five-foot two-inch natural blonde, who weighed no more than six stone-soaking wet, but she could wrestle a suspect twice her size to the ground without breaking a sweat.

She was on the attractive side of pretty with hypnotic green eyes that made her very alluring, and she was a genuinely placid natured girl who never allowed anything to faze her but cross her and you will feel her wrath.

She was 32 years old, unmarried with no significant other in her life, but she was not a wall flower and had plenty of male attention, but most men didn’t measure up to her ideal, but she had hopes and she was smirking as she left the kitchen after making Toby Bishop blush.

“What are you looking so pleased about?” DI Steve Cutler asked as he came down the stairs

“I couldn’t possibly say” she retorted

“Are you still tormenting the poor Reverend?”

He didn’t wait for a response because she flushed which was answer enough.

“So, what did the housekeeper have to say?”

“She thinks it was the secretary” she replied and went on to recount her statement

“Anything interesting upstairs?”

“Plenty, blonde hairs on the pillow, Erin Hope’s handbag on the bed, containing, lipstick, compact, perfume and a love letter of sorts, from the dead man ending the affair”

“Very convenient” she retorted

“Too convenient” he mused “But we’d better get her to the station for interview anyway”

“Did Kitty hear Miss Hope leave?” PC Grant asked

“No, she didn’t” Steph replied

“There is another staircase at the back, so she could have used them and out through the French doors and if she was parked in the lane she could easily leave without being heard”

“Apart from the fact she can’t drive” PC Grant said and they both looked at him

“Well lets gets some more boots on the ground to do door to door, and find out if anyone was parked in the lane and if anyone was seen coming or going, because someone killed Dominic Mackay” the Inspector said “And they want us to believe it was Erin Hope”

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (007) The Housekeeper

 

Steph was born and raised in Oakvale and knew Kitty very well but only knew Toby a little from Church, but she knew that she made him feel uncomfortable and she liked that.

Steph walked into the kitchen and found them sitting at the kitchen table and Toby was holding Kitty’s hand, consoling her.

“Hello Kitty” she said and then to the curate “Hello…should I address you as Father or Dear?”

“Urm… ur… either would be appropriate” he replied and she smiled to herself that she had hit her mark and then turned her attention back to Kitty.

“I’m sorry Kitty but I need to take a statement”

After explaining in detail how she came to find him dead she added

“And I can tell you exactly who did it”

“Who’s that?” Steph asked

“The secretary” Kitty replied “Miss Hope”

“What makes you say that?”

“I saw her in his room” she said

“When was this?”

“This morning, she was sitting on his bed in her…underwear” Kitty replied

“And you’re sure it was her?”

“Oh yes”

“You saw her face?”

“Well, no, she had her back to me, but I know it was her; I would recognise that tarty blonde hair anywhere” she said

“Why were you in his room?” DS Baldwin asked

“I always clean his room on Monday morning” she replied

“Always?”

“Always, every week” Kitty confirmed

“At the same time?”

“Yes, 9 o’clock every week”

Being a villager herself, Steph knew the family circumstance, so she asked

“So, anyone who was familiar with the household would know that?” and Kitty nodded

“So, tell me exactly what happened when you opened the door”

“Well, I saw her, on the bed the moment I opened it, and saw that tart on the bed”

“Sitting?”

“Well, more kneeling, on her haunches kind of thing” Kitty explained

“And you could see Mr Mackay?”

“No, she was in the way, but I heard him” she said

“What do you mean?” Steph asked

“Well as soon as I opened the door, he said, “NOT NOW” so I closed the door and came downstairs again” Kitty explained

“Did you hear her leave?”

“No, I didn’t, I was a bit cross to be honest, so I came in here and put the radio on” she replied

“Ok thanks Kitty” Steph said and then addressed the Curate

“Will you look after her…Dear?”

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (006) Murder Comes to Oakvale

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour Roespring, and in the affluent Shepherds Row area of the village was the 8 bedroom home of Dominic Mackay in which he now lived alone since his estranged wife Aurora and his son and daughter, Sebastian and Camilia left, and divorce proceedings had begun.

He did however have a live in housekeeper, Kitty Shepherd and a secretary, Erin Hope, who worked in the house Monday to Friday and occasionally on a Saturday when the need arose, and as a result of the divorce, Solicitor Addison Smillie was also a regular visitor to the house, as he was having her draw up a new will disinheriting his soon to be ex-wife and his selfish self-obsessed son and daughter.

However, one Monday afternoon at the beginning of August when he had failed to appear for lunch his housekeeper Kitty Shepherd found him dead in his bed with his throat cut. 

 

PC Ross Grant was the first on scene as he lived on a farm close to the village, and he was a congregant at St Nicholas Church.

He made all the appropriate calls to get things rolling and managed the scene until Detective Inspector Steve Cutler and Detective Sergeant Steph Baldwin arrived from Nettlebridge.

DI Steve Cutler had just turned forty and had been widowed five years earlier and his short sandy hair was greying at the temples, and there was sadness in his blue eyes, losing his wife almost broke him and he hadn’t had a relationship since.

But he didn’t want for offers, standing six feet tall, athletically built, a few pounds over his perfect weight, but it was clear he still kept himself fit.

“Who found the body?” DI Cutler asked as they stood in the dead man’s bedroom watching the SOCO’s doing their thing.

“The housekeeper, Mrs Shepherd” PC Grant replied “She’s in the kitchen, with the Curate, Toby Bishop”

“I’ll go and get her statement,” Steph Baldwin said “I know them both”

“Ok” the Inspector agreed

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (005) The Former Klutz

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour Roespring, and in the affluent Shepherds Row area of the village 25 year old Luke Pettit was hosting a garden party at his parent’s house while they were on one of the more remote Greek islands on holiday.

They were supposed to be hosting it themselves, but they had fallen victim to a general strike which affected ferries and public transport and were at the time of the party stranded in Athens.

There were the usual collection of friends and neighbours who circulated at the various garden parties and BBQ’s hosted by the same collection of venues throughout the summer.

The invitations had already gone out, and all the arrangement had already been made, so all he had to do was meet and greet which was good for him as it meant he could focus all his attention on Jody Day.

She was late arriving because she worked at the Ramblers as assistant restaurant manager and on that weekend, it was her turn to work Saturday and Sunday.

 

She was wearing a short summer dress when she finally arrived, with her brunette hair tied in braids, she had her back to him when he first spotted her, although to be fair it was her small round buttocks, almost like a boys, that he spotted first, then she turned around and his gaze fell on her braless breasts sitting in perfect parity, small and pert, with nipples sensually erect.

He fell in love with her because unimaginably she seemed completely unaware of her allure, and oblivious to her beauty or the effect she had on him and other men or women for that matter.

 

She still saw herself as the klutzy teenager she once was, and was sceptical of any appeal she might elicit, and incredibly it seemed she didn’t see the woman she had become or the woman she has been for several years in his eyes.

When she came of age, she still wasn’t to all intents and purposes at ease with herself and ultimately thought she was in no hurry to squander her innocence, at 18 years of age her virginity was lost to someone undeserving.

So, two years after that relationship ended 22-year-old Jody had never trusted a man again but he was hopeful it could be him.

 

All though it was his parents’ home Luke actually lived in what had previously been the granny annex, and with the French doors open he had a great view of the garden and the swimming pool, and he watched as Jody walked his way.

“Hello, you look lovely” he said.

“Hi Luke” she responded, “Do you mind if I get changed here?”

“Of course, use the bedroom.”

 

While she was changing, he mused on whether she would be wearing a Bikini or a one piece, not that it mattered, she was going to look gorgeous either way, but when she returned, he still couldn’t tell what she was wearing as she had a towel wrapped around her.

“Are you cold?”

“No, I just can’t compete with that” she replied as she looked out towards the pool.”

“Do you mean Dakota?”

“Of course, look at her, tall and slim with her long legs, perfect arse and big tits” she said, “and all the men buzzing around her like bees round a flower.”

He stood behind her with his hands on her hips and said.

“You have nothing to fear from her.”

“Really?” she said doubtfully.

“Really” he confirmed.

“You’d rather have me than her?” she asked.

“I’d rather have you than anyone” he replied and she turned around and kissed him.

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (004) Pretty in Pink

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour Roespring, and on the west side of the village, running parallel to Roespring Road was Shepherds Lane, lined on both sides by Victorian cottages, one side of the road backed onto open farmland and part of the other side backed onto the St Nicholas School playing field and on one Saturday morning Bernie Peak was at the end of the garden in one of them pegging washing on a rotary line.

That Saturday was the Annual Summer Fete so numerous people passed by the end of the garden, he knew a few of them, but most of them were strangers, as he wasn’t from the village, his home was in Sharpington.

He was staying at his older sister’s house for a few weeks, because she was newly divorced had moved into a new home, which was why he was using his annual leave to help her and her three teenage daughters.

That was the reason why he was helping out with the laundry, DIY, and unpacking among other things, but that morning he was doing the laundry first.

“Look at that, a real man, not” a commonly spoken young woman said.

“Don’t you know that’s women’s work”

He looked around and saw through the chain link fence three girls walking past, two girls were dressed in camel toe tight shorts, skimpy crop tops and were braless, and the third was more modestly dressed in a skirt and top.   

“Don’t let Germaine Greer hear you say that” he said

“German who?” one of them asked

“Never mind that look at the perve with his knicker collection” the second one said

“Do you like girls panties perve?”

“What’s your favourite colour perve?” the first one chipped in

“Definitely Pink” he said looking at the modest girls and she blushed deeply, so he smiled and then the girls moved away.

 

When he was pegging out the third wash of the day, he was once again disturbed by a voice from beyond the fence.

“How did you know?”

He turned around to discover it was the modest looking girl from earlier, so he took a moment to peruse her.

He guessed her age to be early to mid-twenties, with a sweet angelic face, which was framed heavenly with rich soft yellow curls, the colour of ripened corn.
As he perused her, she looked back at him with soulful eyes, warm and inviting, which were green with a hypnotic quality.

Her exquisite nose was small and button like and was the perfect punctuation for her pale pink lips, softly moist, with the hint of a smile playing around them.

“How did you know?” she repeated.

“How did I know what?”

“That I was wearing pink….” She began.

“Panties?”

“Yes” she replied blushing.

“You told me,” he said.

“Me?” she asked “How?”

“You blushed”

“But you looked straight at me when you said it” She pointed out.

“Well, I looked at you because I thought you looked sexier than your tarty friends” he explained.

“Oh” she mused.

“Oh, but they weren’t my friends, I know them from when we were at the same school” she explained.

“We just happened to pass your garden at the same time, and they were the sexy ones” she said.

“I don’t think so, you’re confusing tarty and sexy, they are the former you are the latter” He replied and she blushed again.

After a moment she asked

“Why do you have so much women’s underwear? are you a pervert?” she asked and she unleashed a full-bodied beam of a smile and her whole face lit up, bright enough to dazzle the stars which made her green eyes seductively beguiling.

He explained to her that he was visiting from Sharpington to support his sister after her divorce and then she and her three daughters seemed to possess an endless supply of underwear.

“I’m pleased that you are not a pervert” she said and smiled again before walking away.

“I don’t know your name” he called and she stopped and turned to face him.

“Armorel,” she replied “Armorel Delaney”.

“That’s a beautiful name” he retorted “is it French?”

“No, it’s Gaelic, it translates to "one who lives by the sea,"”

“That’s ironic” he said.

“How so?”

“I live by the sea, and you live in the foothills of mountains” he said and laughed.

“I don’t get it”.

“My name is Peak” he explained and then she smiled.

 

That wasn’t the last time he was to see her after he watched her walk away because a couple of days later he and two of his nieces boarded the mobile library parked by the village green and once inside he discovered that the Librarian was Armorel.

“Well hello Armorel,” he said, “These are my nieces Lily and Daisy, they are new to the village and would like to join”.

“Hello girls, let’s get you signed up then” she said.

 

While the girls filled in the forms Bernie browsed the shelves and Armorel walked past him and whispered

“I’m afraid we don’t have any lingerie fetish books at the moment, but I can order something suitable for a Lingerie Expert”.

 

The girls finished signing up and chose a book each and said goodbye and went down the steps and as he prepared to follow, he said.

“I wouldn’t say I was an expert, just a gifted armature”.

“Ok then what colour am I wearing today?” she asked wearing a wry smile.

He closed his eyes and put his fingers to his temples for a moment and replied.

“Ivory” he replied and went down the steps.

“How do you do that?” she called after him

 

On Friday evening he took a walk into the village and called in at the Ramblers for a pint, and as it was a warm day he sat at an outside table and while he was enjoying his beer, he read his book.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Armorel asked

“Yes, please do” he said and closed his book.

“What brings you here?” she asked as she sat.

“I’m just enjoying a quiet pint” he replied.

“And you?”

“I’m meeting my sister” Armorel replied, “But I’m early”.

There was a brief period of small talk regarding their family and she asked.

“So, if you are not a lingerie fetishist or a full-time pervert what do you do for a living?”

“I own the Vanguard cinema in Sharpington” he replied and that prompted another prolong period of small talk but then she could wait no longer.

“So, are you going to tell me?” she asked.

“What about?”

“How you knew what knickers I was wearing on the Mobile Library” she said in a hushed whisper

“Do you think it’s the dark arts?” he teased.

“Tell me, put me out of my misery” she begged.

“Theres no mystery, I caught a glimpse of bra strap when you were dealing with the girls, and I figured someone as classy as you wouldn’t wear mismatched underwear” He explained.

“That’s how I know you’re wearing jade tonight” he said.

“Unbelievable” She exclaimed and checked her neckline “They’re not even showing”.

“I only need a glimpse” he said.

“Wait a minute” she said, “You think I’m classy?”

“Very” he confirmed and sipped his beer as she blushed.

 

They went on their first date the following evening and he took her into Nettlebridge for dinner at the Jewel of India and two days later they went back and went to the Penny Odeon to watch an Alfred Hitchcock double bill and returned twice more over the two weeks following.

 

But on the evening before he was due to return home to Sharpington they had a couple of drinks at the Ramblers and then went for a walk, crossing the River onto Stone Bridge Lane and then along the path up the wooded hill and Bernie began to talk about the future as they walked but Armorel stopped and turned to face him and said solemnly. 

“I really like you, despite your lingerie fetish, but it won’t work because I live here, and I can’t move away because all my family live here, and you live in Sharpington.”

“Well, about that” he said enigmatically.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m selling up in Sharpington and moving to the village” he said, “I’ve bought a cottage in Stone Bridge Lane.”

“Really?”

“Yes” he replied and she threw her arms around his neck.

“And you’re not going away?” she whispered.

“I still have to leave tomorrow” he replied and she pushed herself away from him and there was fear in her eyes.

“But I’ll only be away for a month or so.”

“So, you’re really coming back?”

“I’m really coming back” he replied and she wrapped herself around him again.

 

As they walked back towards the village they paused in front of the cottage he was buying, and she asked.

“What are you going to do for a living?”

“The same as I did in Sharpington” he replied and in response to her blank look he added.

“I bought the Penny Odeon.”

“You’re really coming back” she squealed and kissed him.