Page 25 of The Girls in the Lake
‘Ethan is my best friend, of course I would. Look, I don’t understand what all of this is about. I’m sorry that girl was found dead, but it’s no one’s fault except her own. Who in their right mind wants to jump into the water at this time of year?’
‘I’m just doing my job. Why are you so upset?’
‘I’m not, I just don’t like your questions. I have nothing further to say to you. If you want to speak to me again please make an appointment. I’ll have a solicitor with me.’
James stood up, signalling the interview was over. Josh and Sam did the same, and James led them back up onto the deck and watched them disembark with his hands folded across his chest.
Turning back, Sam said, ‘Thank you for your time, Mr Marshall. I’m sure you understand how difficult it is trying to find out the answers to questions we don’t know in order to help Leah’s family cope with their grief.’
James’s shoulders relaxed and he uncrossed his arms. ‘Yes, I do. I’m sorry about this whole mess, but all we did was have a good time. I never meant for anyone to come to any harm. I hope you can understand that.’
Josh nodded. ‘We do, that’s why we do this difficult, underpaid job. To help grieving families come to terms with the loss of their loved ones. We also make sure that if anyone is to blame for their deaths that we take the appropriate course of action.’
They left him standing there. It had started to drizzle while they’d been below deck but James didn’t turn back inside until they were off the jetty and back on dry land. Josh could feel his eyes on them all the way to the shoreline.
Twenty-Eight
‘What did you think of him?’ Josh asked once they were inside the warmth of the car out of the rain which was coming down in sheets.
‘I don’t like him, he’s a rich arsehole.’
Josh laughed. ‘Me neither. I don’t think he gives a shit about Leah.’
‘I don’t think he gives a shit about anyone. How many times did he have to run his hand through his quiff?’
‘Yeah. It’s odd that he clammed up and threatened us with a brief. If he wasn’t there when it happened, what’s he got to hide?’
‘Maybe he’s worried about bad publicity. It won’t do his party boat any favours if it gets out someone died on his boat. There’s no way I’m letting Grace go anywhere near that boat now, especially if he’s on it. I bet he sleeps with all the punters.’
‘You need to find a way to talk her out of it then.’
‘That’s great advice, Josh, really it is.’
‘Sorry, I don’t have kids. I don’t know anything about them. I suppose the more you tell her to stay away, the more likely she is to go.’
‘Absolutely right, Detective.’
Defeated, Josh took out his phone and rang Paton. ‘Have you found me any missing persons that could be the body pulled from the lake yet?’
‘Morning, boss. There are two possibilities. First is thirty-eight-year-old Melanie Thorp who was reported missing six days ago by her husband. There was activity on her bank account in Manchester three days ago, but nothing since.’
‘Who’s the other?’
‘Twenty-four-year-old Julia Bach. She was reported missing by her roommate at The Hounds Inn on the eleventh of October. According to the report she’d been talking about going home to Poland or looking for another job before she disappeared.’
‘Was she down as a high-risk mis per?’
‘No, medium. There was no immediate concern and she already had most of her stuff packed in a case ready to leave. According to her file she disappeared after an argument with the supervisor. Her co-workers all assumed she’d left, all except for the one who reported her missing.’
‘I’m in Bowness now. Sam and I will go and speak to the staff, see if her belongings are still there. We might be able to get some DNA from her toothbrush or hairbrush.’
‘If they still have it. They might have binned it if they thought she wasn’t coming back.’
‘Hopefully not.’ He ended the call. Paton was right, they might have got rid of it all, but fate might be on their side. It wasn’t as if they could ask her roommate to do a formal identification, because right now whoever was lying in the mortuary no longer resembled a human. Still, a weak lead was better than no leads at all.
Twenty-Nine
Beth studied the body of the unidentified female lying on the mortuary table. Bodies submerged under water for any length of time become bloated and unrecognisable. Maceration occurs when the skin changes due to water absorption. It first appears on the fingertips, then palms of the hands, same with toes and feet; the skin becomes whitened, sodden, thickened and wrinkly. Beth loved nothing more than a long soak in a hot bath to wash away the stresses of the day. How often had she got out of the tub with wrinkled hands and feet like an old washerwoman? But when skin is submerged for a long period, over time the surface becomes loose and peels off, followed by the hair and nails. Beth knew from her studies that maceration is accelerated in warm water, but the water in Windermere was only about six Celsius in October. At that temperature, it should take around eight to twenty-four hours for the changes to become apparent. In seven to ten days epidermal separation may have started, and in around three to four weeks skin and nails may be sufficiently loose to fall off. Of course, temperature was one of many environmental factors that could increase or decrease maceration, so looking at the loose skin in front of her, Beth estimated that this body had been in the water at least two weeks.
