In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (018) First Date

Sarah Cooper was thrilled to receive DI Steve Cutler’s call, she was beginning to think it was never going to happen, but she had faith that he wouldn’t disappoint her.

He was a good-looking man six-foot tall, sandy hair and blue eyes so he ticked a lot of boxes for her.

Even at 38 years of age Sarah was an attractive woman, but following her divorce three years earlier, after her husband cheated on her, she hadn’t dated much and finding out he was a serial philanderer it somewhat dented her confidence, so she threw herself into her work.

Steve Cutler was the first man she’d been interested in for two years and now she felt like a schoolgirl again, going on her first date.

 

When he first asked her out, it was to take her to dinner but as it was the Bank Holiday weekend she suggested lunch in Oakvale at the Ramblers and then a relaxing afternoon in her garden, and he thought it was a great idea.

So, she was feeling very pleased with herself, however she did regret making the date for Sunday and not Saturday because she found it hard filling the day waiting for Sunday to arrive.

Sarah spent two sleepless nights and had butterflies in her stomach all the time so much so that she had barely eaten and the time passed so slowly, and even spending three hours getting ready on Sunday morning didn’t advance the time as much as she thought it would.

Having consumed more than her usual ration of tea and coffee she had more than her usual ration of bathroom visits and when she had emptied her bladder for the umpteenth time, she stood in front of the mirror and surveyed her reflection.

As she stood there she combed her shoulder length blonde hair and then touched up her makeup, and as it was a warm August day she wore a short floral dress, showing off her legs, she liked her legs, Sarah turned side on to admire her reflection then she stood on her tiptoes to get a better look at her legs, she nodded to herself, even my  bum passes muster she thought to herself.

Having viewed herself from every possible angle she gave herself a quick spray of perfume and put her things away in her bag, stopping briefly for one last look in the mirror she said out loud.

“I scrub up very nicely for an old bird” Then she nodded and made her way downstairs and a few minutes later the doorbell rang and when she opened the door Steve Cutler was standing there smiling.

“Wow you look lovely” he said

 

They walked into the village and had a very relaxed and enjoyable lunch together and when it was over they walked back to her house hand in hand.

“Well, it’s been a very nice first date” he said

“Yes, it has, it’s a shame somebody had to die to make it happen” she responded

“Well, every cloud and all that” Steve said

“Wait a minute” she said suddenly, “Did you say, “first date”?”

“I did”

“So, are you expecting a second date?” she asked coyly

“I was hoping” he retorted

“Hope is a wonderful thing” Sarah said and kissed him

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (017) Relight my fire (Part 2)

By August they had progressed to enjoying a glass of wine after she’d finished her labours, and on that Saturday of the bank holiday weekend, as it was such a warm day they had two glasses and were halfway through the second when he said.

“So how are you spending your Saturday night?”

“Same as most Saturdays, feet up in front of the TV”

“Why is that? You’re an attractive young woman; with a lovely figure you should be out on a Saturday with your fella” he said

“I don’t have one” she replied

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have assumed, a girlfriend then”

“NO, I’m not one of them, although I did kiss a girl once, but it didn’t do anything for me” she explained

“Not that it’s any better with men”

“What do you mean?”

“They look all right, especially my tits, most men look at them, I’ve even noticed you ogling them”

“Only look?”

“Well, I do go on dates occasionally, I get asked a lot, especially working at the pub, but they have expectations and my body fails to oblige” she said being uncharacteristically open, probably due to the heat and the wine

“I don’t understand”

“The spirit is willing, but the flesh doesn’t seem to get the message” she replied

“So, they don’t turn you on?”

“Nope”

“Or can’t turn you on?” he asked

“Yep”

“So, you’re frigid?”

“I’m afraid so” she confirmed

“So, you don’t get…. moist?”

“Not even damp”

“Nothing?”

“Dry as a mouses ear” she retorted and scoffed

“Have you always been like that?”

“No when I was a teenager, I was keen as mustard, but I was very selective with my favours” she said “Now I wish I’d been more promiscuous”

“So, when did it all change?” he asked

“When I was 19, I had cervical cancer, and after the treatment my urges became more and more infrequent and finally, they stopped altogether”

“So, you can’t even take care of yourself?”

“No” she replied wistfully

“I wish I could”

“I’m sorry” he said

“Me too” she said and drained her glass and stood up “I should be going”

“Well knowing what I know won’t stop me ogling though” he said as he followed her into the kitchen

“You don’t just have to look, why don’t you help yourself” she said as she reached up behind her and unhooked her bra and stood in front of the island “Not that it will do anything”

“I don’t think I should be doing that” he said, “Isn’t that overstepping the boundary between employer and …domestique?”

“Don’t be silly, knock yourself out,” she insisted crossly “Have at em”

“Well, I still don’t think I should,” he said “However as you are so insistent, it would be churlish of me to refuse, and as you rightly said I have been ogling them for months”

“Just get on with it, a quick grope and you’re done” she said matter of factly as she pulled her pink top up from her shorts, so he stood behind her he put his palms against her bare flesh.

She tensed briefly when his hands made contact and then she breathed in as his hands proceeded up under her top and exhaled slowly as he cupped the weighty plumpness of her breasts.

Her breathing deepened as her nipples stiffened against his palms

“They seem to be responding nicely, unbutton your shorts” he told her and she eagerly obliged.

 

Two hours after she had originally announced “I should be going” she stepped out of the kitchen door and after a final kiss Lyndsey left number 13 Stone Bridge Lane and Brendan watched her walk back to her bike and he thought she looked as good from behind as she did from the front and he smiled as she mounted her bike again and turned to give him a wave before peddling away, somewhat wobbly.

She would be back however, and not just to do the ironing because following that first sensual encounter she became a regular recipient of his attentions as she helped him with his surliness and he kept her frigidity at bay. 

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (016) Relight my fire (Part 1)

 

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 Old Coopers Farm area to the north of the village was Stone Bridge Lane where Brendan Healey lived at number 13.

There weren’t a lot of Dwellings in the lane, a converted barn unimaginatively named “The Old Barn” then there were 15 terraced cottages, Ten Acre Farm, another converted barn called Small Barn and Ironsides Farm.

The cottages were of a decent size, having been enlarged many years earlier by knocking two of the old labourers’ cottages into one, it was too big for a man living alone, but he liked it, it was his castle.

He worked hard for the post office and had reached a senior level and when he got home to Oakvale, he liked to get inside and pull up the drawbridge behind him.

He had no family left, his circle of close friends was small and dwindling, so very few people made it past the drawbridge, and most of them were tradesmen or domestics.

 

Maggie and Lyndsey Atkins lived in a flat over the Greengrocers, and it had just been the two of them since Lyndsey was seven when her father died.

When he died, he had no life insurance, no savings and left them with debts.

They were very hard working, and both had multiple jobs, since Lyndsey was old enough to do so she did her share and she had to forgo higher education even though she was more than capable.

Fifty-three-year-old Maggie Atkins was primarily a cleaner, and cleaned all over the village, private addresses and businesses, she cleaned Brendan Healey cottage every Friday Morning.

Lyndsey was principally a server at The Roebank, worked shifts at the Supermarket and helped her mum with the bigger cleaning jobs, in addition she did ironing, and one of her clients was Brendan.

 

After Lyndsey finished her Saturday morning shift at the Supermarket, she mounted her bike and peddled off to her first ironing session of the day in the affluent Shepherds Row area of the village.

It was a lovely warm and sunny late August day as she peddled up the hill, dressed for the weather in loose-fitting pale blue shorts and a white sleeveless top.

She was neither tall nor short, her hair was blonde, but of an indistinct shade, which was short and curly, she thought she was vaguely attractive with an average figure however other people of course saw her differently as she cycled around the village.

 

It was lunchtime when she remounted her bike and left Shepherds Row and headed home for a quick sandwich.

While she was home, she changed her top for a pink one and then was back on her bike peddling towards Stone Bridge Lane all knees and elbows, her blonde hair blowing around her head.

She crossed the stone bridge and passed a converted barn on the left, opposite a row of ten terraced Houses, then just after the road leading to Ten Acre Farm, was her destination, number 13.

Brendan Healey was a surly thirty-six-year-old career Postal worker who worked in the Nettlebridge Sorting Office as a senior manager, still a very capable worker even on his bad days but his surliness seemed to be getting worse with every passing week, and he was divorced, and childless.

Lyndsey was fast approaching her thirtieth birthday and had been doing Brendan Healey’s ironing once a week for around 9 months. and for the first three weeks he certainly lived up to his surly reputation but over the months he had slowly mellowed with her and from June onwards he had been very chatty.

By August they had progressed to enjoying a glass of wine after she’d finished her labours, and on that Saturday of the bank holiday weekend, as it was such a warm day they had two glasses and were halfway through the second when he asked a question which changed their lives forever.

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (015) Crossing the T’s

 

Following the arrests a search of the Green Lexus belonging to Camilia’s husband produced a blonde wig with her red hairs inside which were a DNA match to her, which she claimed to have been used for a fancy-dress party.

Also in the car were a pair of size 4 shoes with a defect in one heel.

A comparison of the near side rear tyre on Sebastians Tesla was a match for the cast taken by Aoife in Farmers Lane.

Camilia’s phone data also put her in Oakdale during the period when she was trying to frame Erin Hope, also on her phone was a short audio file, which when played said “NOT NOW”

So, with damning evidence against Aurora Mackay and her children Sebastian and Camilia, supported by text and WhatsApp messages between the three, the CPS had no reluctance in a charge of Conspiracy to murder for all of them.

There was no evidence to suggest Camilia’s husband was involved in anyway and he had taken a 6-month secondment in Australia to distance himself from her and her toxic family. 

 

But even after getting a charging decision the DI still had the team running down leads to tie up the loose ends and get every possible nail to hammer into the Mackay’s coffin and after two weeks, he was satisfied they had done everything they could.

“That’s that then” DS Steph Baldwin said to the DI

“I think you’re right” he agreed “So it’s time to make a phone call”

He walked into his office and closed the door and took out his phone, took a deep breath and dialled the number and when a female voice answered he said

“Case closed”

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (014) Making Arrests

 

So, over the next few days the team went through the Mackay’s lives with a fine-tooth comb and it was discovered, during their PNC searches of Sebastian and Camilia, that Sebastian had been cautioned on the day of the murder after an altercation with a van driver in a layby near Finchbottom.

Which was at the precise time that Kitty was discovering a blonde on Dominic Mackay’s bed in a crude attempt to frame Erin and create himself an alibi for the killing.

Whereas his phone data, ANPR hits and Sarah Cooper’s sighting of the Tesla placed him in Oakvale in the 4am to 8am window for the actual murder.

Similarly, Camilia’s phone placed her in Oakvale between 7.45am and 9.30am also borne out by ANPR and Sarah so it was decided after gathering the phone data, and ANPR hits on Sebastian and Camilia on their cars, to arrest them and detain them for interview once they had been processed.

The arrests were carried out simultaneously, Sebastian from his home in Abbottsford and Camilia at her gym in Abbeyvale and this all happened at the precise moment Aurora Mackay walked into the interview room at Nettlebridge Police Station.

Once the recording machine was running and the roll call was made for the benefit of the tape Aurora Mackay said

“I don't know why you have dragged me in here, it’s really not convenient, I have a lunch at Tipton Park Country Club at 12.30”

“You might well be late” The Inspector said curtly

“How Rude” she snapped

“Can you take a look at this letter?” DS Baldwin asked as she slid a transparent evidence bag containing a copy of the handwritten letter found in the handbag. 

“Was this found in that Trollope’s handbag?” she asked 

“What handbag would that be?” DI Steve Cutler asked

“The one found in my husband’s bedroom” she said smugly

“We have never mentioned a handbag in any of the press releases” he said

“So, if there was one how would you have known about it?”

“Erm...um...I heard it somewhere, probably at the club” she blustered

“So back to the letter, do you recognise the handwriting” DS Steph Baldwin asked

“Yes, it’s my husbands”

“You’re sure?” she asked

“Absolutely” she replied and pushed the document back with her forefinger and Steph got up and opened the door and handed the document to DC Grant who was waiting on the other side

“Well, I can tell you that it’s a forgery” The Inspector said as

“It’s a very good one” she replied

“No, it’s actually a very poor one” he replied and she bristled

“Look, why are you wasting my time here when Erin Hope was seen in Dominic’s bedroom and was the last person to see him alive, why isn't she in a cell?” she asked vehemently just as the interview room door reopened and DC Grant handed the DI a folder and when he opened it he smiled, the fingerprint she left on the transparent evidence bag matched the one found on the letter.

“Well to answer your question, firstly we only like putting people in cells when they’ve actually committed a crime, and secondly we're short of cells at the moment as we had to reserve 3 for the Mackay’s” he said

“What charge?” the solicitor asked

“Conspiracy to commit murder” he replied “Do the honours Sergeant”

“You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

“You can’t arrest me, I'm important” she shouted as she was restrained.

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (013) Briefing

 

The next day they had another briefing in the squad room, and when everyone was assembled he filled them in about the previous day in Farmers Lane and told them that Scenes of Crime Officer Aoife Shannon had taken a cast of a very clear tyre print from the soft verge thought to be from the Tesla and that her colleague Hannah Wells had some very clear women’s size 4 shoe prints with a very distinctive irregular heel, leading from the Mackay’s side gate to where the Lexus was parked.

“However, they are meaningless unless we can find something to match them to” he said

“We’ve now heard back from the handwriting expert and surprise, surprise the letter was NOT written by Dominic Mackay, so I suspect that it was written by the owner of the thumb and forefinger prints”

“Which aren’t in the system” DS Balwin pointed out

“Kris how are you getting on with locating the cars” he asked and she jumped up excitedly and bounded across the room

“I have found 3 gold Tesla’s registered in Downshire” said 

DC Krisztina Verebes

“But only one has 38 in the registration number, which is registered to Sebastian Mackay”

“Is it indeed” the DI mused

“And guess whose husband drives a Green Lexus?”

“Camilia Oberon nee Mackay” Steph Baldwin said

“Correct the DS wins a coconut” Kris said excitedly

“Well, that is interesting” the Inspector mused

“Especially when you see who I found on the Velveteen Vixen CCTV” DC Ross Grant said as he cast some images onto the big screen.

Ross Grant was thirty years old and was a quite shy, quiet unassuming man, very calm and a very capable officer who the Detective Inspector decided have “act up”,  acting up, being a euphemistic term for a temporary promotion or secondment, to cover holiday’s, sick leave or to make up the numbers on specific operations, and his super power was that he was blessed with a very analytical mind, ideal for searching for needles in haystacks.

“This is the moment when the bag is taken, 10.07 pm, but the thief is very careful to keep their back to the camera, and the only other image isn’t much better other than to show that it is a woman, but pay close attention to the gloves”

“Ok what are we looking at” Steph Baldwin asked

“She is wearing black evening gloves and has a gold wristwatch on her right wrist” Ross explained

“This third image is of a woman leaving the club and she makes no effort to avoid the camera, but look at her right arm”

“Black evening glove and a gold wristwatch” the Inspector observed “And the woman is?”

“Camilia Oberon nee Mackay” Steph Baldwin said

“So, a family affair” Steve mused

 

“Right, I think it’s time we did a deep dive into the Mackay’s

Sebastian, Camilia and her husband, and the mother, what’s her name?” the DI asked

“Aurora” Steph replied “a rather haughty, unpleasant woman”

“We can’t arrest her for that” the inspector said

“Mores the pity” Steph retorted

“Let’s get her for conspiracy to murder instead” Steve suggested

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (012) Farmers Lane

 

Detective Inspector Steve Cutler and Detective Sergeant Steph Baldwin arrived first by about five minutes and watched as Sarah Cooper turned the corner into Farmers Lane and Steve internally observed that she was much more put together than the last time he saw her, in a floral summer dress and he liked what he saw the first time but this time even more so.

“Good morning, Inspector” she said brightly

“Good morning, Mrs Cooper, nice to see you again”

“Likewise, but please call me Sarah”

“This is DS Steph Baldwin”

“Hello” she said and shook them both by the hand as the SOCO van arrived.

“So, as I explained we are interested in where the two cars were parked”

“Well, the green Lexus was just here by the gate”

“Facing which way?” Steph asked

“Down the lane” she replied

“And the Tesla?”

“That was much further along the lane, facing uphill,” she said as she led them to the spot

“It was here; they would have had to do a three-point turn to go back down I would have thought” she said just as one of the SOCO’s Aoife Shannon joined them

Scenes of Crime Officer Aoife Shannon was a fiery thirty-two-year-old red head, tall and willowy, who led her team by example and relied heavily on her instincts, which rarely failed her.

She had been married for nearly 10 years when her husband betrayed her, she hadn’t been able to trust a man after that.

“Hi Aoife” Steve said “The Tesla was parked around this area, and it probably did a 3 point turn so can you check the verges, plenty of pictures, a casting if you get lucky”

“I’ll see what I can do” she replied

“The Lexus was parked further down the lane by the gate”

“Ok Hannah is by the van so can you show her?” Aoife said

Hannah Wells was a younger less experienced SOCO, but she was as keen as mustard and more than capable.

She was a plain emaciated looking girl, stick thin with straight shoulder length blonde hair and as she never wore make up at work she looked five years older than the twenty-six, she actually was but she had the most stunning eyes.

She also wore masculine looking clothes to work, and the gossip in the department was that she was a lesbian, the truth however couldn’t have been further from the truth, if anyone outside of her closest circle ever saw her outside of work she would not have been recognized.

Even though her features were plain there was something about her that shone through from within and as a result of that she was never short of a date, not because she was an easy lay but because she was good company, she had in fact only had four lovers in her life, as of that moment there was no one special in her life.

“Ok thanks Aoife” DS Baldwin said and then with a nod to the Inspector she added “I’ll go and speak to her”

 

Steff had rushed to speak with Hannah to allow Steve and Sarah to walk slowly down the Lane because she had detected a spark between them, that in itself was not noteworthy, they were both easy on the eye, what was remarkable was that it was the first time since she had known him that he had shown any interest.

 

They made small talk as they walked back to the end of the road in the august sunshine

“I see you're a little more conventionally dressed today”

“Yes, I thought I should, as I'm outdoors” she replied with a chuckle

“Thank you for noticing”

“My pleasure,” he retorted

When they reached the bottom and she was preparing to head for home he said

“Well thank you for your help, Sarah” 

Before nervously adding

“Perhaps when the case is concluded, you might allow me to take you to dinner”

“Yes, I'd like that very much”

“Great” he retorted “I'll give you a call”

“I look forward to it” she said and flushed pinkly

“Goodbye then” he said

“Bye, I hope you solve it soon” she said brightly as she rounded the corner and he hoped she was more concerned with the dinner date rather than the crime rate.

 

When Sarah had gone Steph reappeared from behind the SOCO van where she had been discreetly lurking

“So how did you get on?”

“With what?” he asked guiltily

“With Sarah”

“Yes, she was very helpful” he replied

“I’m not talking about the case” the DS said

“I don’t know what you mean she’s just a witness”

“Well, I know what I was witnessing” Steph said “so come on spill”

“I’m taking her out for dinner” he said quietly

“That’s great”

“But not until the case is solved” he replied uncomfortably

“So, pull your finger out and help me solve it”

“Yes guv” she replied grinning