Page 5 of The Girl in the Grave
‘I know, and yes, you will. I’d say have a nice evening but, knowing you, I don’t think you’ll be going home anytime soon.’
She walked back to her car, where she stripped off the protective clothing and put it into a paper bag in case it was required for forensics. She hadn’t been in contact with the body or been inside the grave, so it wasn’t likely. Getting into her car, she turned back to look at the scene, turning on the windscreen wipers to clear the glass. The rain was coming down heavy now. The CSIs were in the process of setting up portable lights around the area. Shivering, she began to turn the car around. She didn’t envy Josh and his team; it was going to be all hands on deck for them until they could get an ID for the body, and whoever was responsible for putting it there into custody.
It was almost dark by the time Beth arrived home, the sky full of stormy, grey clouds. As she waited for the automatic gates to open, she jumped out of the car to check the post box mounted by the gate. Opening it, she took one look at the single cream envelope inside and felt her stomach turn inside out. ‘Damn you, Robert,’she cursed as she pulled it out and threw it into the passenger side of the car, where it slid from the leather seat and landed in the footwell.
Looking behind her to check there were no cars following her in, she drove through the gates and waited for them to close before parking as near to her house as she could and getting out. The house was built on the shore of Lake Windermere and the views were stunning. Just staring at the water set against the backdrop of the fells and mountains usually calmed her; but tonight the security light which normally lit up the entire front of the house and gardens didn’t turn on as she got close to the front door. The entire frontage of the property remained cloaked in shadows, and Beth felt her heart begin to beat fast. She waved her arms in the air to set the motion detector off – nothing. Finding her mouth dry, she felt the familiar palpitations that signalled the beginnings of a panic attack. She took deep breaths as she tried to get the key into the front door with shaking hands.It’s okay, Beth, the bulb has blown, nothing else. Deep breaths. Everything is good, you can do this.Finally the key slid home and she turned it, her ears attuned to every noise, straining to pick up on anything that didn’t belong. Pushing the door open, she threw herself inside, slammed it shut, locked it and turned the deadbolt. No matter how many times she whispered ‘Stop it, Beth’to herself,she knew the tears were going to come. And they did, fast and furious: a hot, salty mess rolling down her cheeks as she leant, panting, with her back against the front door. The long, clear note of the intruder alarm told her that she was safe, that there was no one home, but it didn’t do much to calm her racing heart. If she didn’t key in the code in the next few seconds all hell would break loose, so she turned and deftly typed the sequence of numbers into the keypad. The beeping stopped and silence took over the house. She finally let out the breath she’d been holding on to. Her life was a mess.Shewas a mess.
Kicking off her shoes into the hall closet, she hung up her jacket and managed to walk down to the kitchen. She had an expensive camera system that covered both inside and out of the property and she wanted to check them for signs that anyone had been trespassing. Before doing that, though, she opened the fridge and took a bottle of chilled wine from the rack. No need to look far for a glass as there was one still on the draining board from last night. Pouring herself a generous measure, she lifted it to her lips and swallowed a huge mouthful. It felt good. The only thing she knew she could rely on, lately, was the soothing effect a glass of wine had on her supercharged nerves. Sighing, she went into the utility room which doubled as a downstairs office to check the cameras. She’d had this room specially designed with a heavy, metal, fire-resistant door, secured from the inside with several locks. If anyone ever got past the gates and the alarm system outside, she had the luxury of her own little panic room inside, to lock herself into whilst waiting for the police to arrive. It was just an empty space, nothing fancy or high tech, but having her own safe room gave her an added sense of security should she ever need to hide from an intruder. ‘Or a killer,’she whispered to herself.
Seven
The phone ringing woke Beth. She looked across to the window and was surprised to see the sun streaming through the cracks in the blinds. Reaching under her pillow she answered it, expecting it to be Josh.
‘Good morning, this is Steve from Safe & Secure. I got the message you left on the answerphone last night; I can be with you in an hour, if that’s okay?’
She sat up. ‘Really, but it’s Sunday morning?’
‘Yes, of course. But I’m sorry, we do charge a little extra for a weekend call out. If you prefer I can leave it until tomorrow?’
‘No, not at all. Today is fine. I’m sorry if my message last night seemed a bit panicked.’
‘Don’t worry, I figured it must be important, so I’ll be there soon. Can I check the address though? I think last time I came the satnav told me I’d arrived, but I couldn’t find the property?’
She laughed. ‘Yes, it does that. The house is pretty remote. Once you get on my road, drive just as far as you can, and the gate is on the right. It’s quite well hidden: there’s a small gap between the hedging that leads to the gates.’
‘I remember now. Thank you, I’ll see you soon.’
He hung up, and she clambered out of bed. Too much wine last night had made her head a little fuzzy this morning. When she’d checked the cameras the previous night, she’d discovered the outside and inside front ones weren’t working and she’d almost had a meltdown, terrified that someone had been onto her property and sabotaged them. But then she’d talked herself down, reasoning that to have done something to the camera inside they’d have had to have gained entry to the house, which was totally secure. The alarm hadn’t been triggered, so it was probably just a power cut, or maybe the rain had got to the wiring. There was probably some perfectly good reason for it, she knew, but she was unsure and had rung the alarm company in a panic. She’d then taken her wine and a family sized bag of salt and vinegar crisps up to bed with her, resisting the urge to phone Josh, to take comfort in his calm friendly voice and ask him to come and check the cameras for her.
The intercom for the gate buzzed. She’d showered, dressed and made a pot of tea. She checked the camera on the gate to see a large white van with ‘Safe & Secure’ emblazoned across the side. The large, confident black lettering made her feel instantly better. She opened the gates and watched Steve drive through them. She opened the door as far as it would go with the heavy-duty safety chain on.
‘Morning, Ms Adams.’
‘Morning, sorry to ask, but please could I see your ID?’
There was some rustling as he pulled the lanyard over the baseball cap on his head, passing the card with a full colour photograph of the man standing outside the door on it to her. Despite remembering him from the last time he’d attended, she still took it from him, scrutinised the picture of the man then nodded. Sliding the chain off, she opened the door wide. He grinned at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. She hadn’t remembered him to be quite so good-looking.
‘Thank you, the operating system is through here,’ she said, leading him through to the utility room.
He whistled at the huge display monitor and top-of-the range computer system. Turning to her, he nodded. ‘Still got a really good set-up. So, what seems to be the problem?’
Like on his last visit, he was discreet. If he’d noticed the metal door he didn’t mention it. He also didn’t mention the rows of medical books on the shelves above the desk either even though he’d glanced at them several times.
‘Both the main camera on the front door and the downstairs internal camera which covers the entrance and part of the ground floor are faulty. The rest of them seem to be working fine. Have a seat and I’ll leave you to it.’
He nodded, sitting down on the chair and pressing buttons to check the system. Walking off, Beth paused to ask, ‘Would you like a drink?’
He turned to her, smiling. ‘I’d murder a coffee. One sugar, please. I didn’t have time this morning.’
She made him his coffee and poured herself a mug of freshly brewed tea while he went out to his van to get his ladder and toolbox. Taking his drink down to him, he took it from her, and he began to chat. Despite her best intention to leave him to it she found herself chatting back: he was friendly and easy to talk to. It had been a long time since she’d had a stranger in her house, and she found herself enjoying the company.
After he’d showed her what the problem was with the cameras, pointing out the loose connections, he began to dismantle the small domes that housed them. This time, she did leave him to it, aware that she didn’t want to distract him too much. As much as he was a nice guy, her priority was getting her security system back up and running as soon as possible.
Settling at the breakfast bar in her kitchen, where she could see the lake, before she knew it, she’d lost herself staring out at the mass of grey-blue water. It was calm today, a lot calmer than it had been last night during the heavy rain.
‘I’m finished for now.’
Beth jumped so high she almost slid off the stool. She hadn’t realised Steve was standing behind her.
