Page 60 of The Girls in the Lake
‘Well I think we’ve been looking at it the wrong way. We’ve been thinking that maybe the victims were drunk and fell in or that they’d been pushed or it was some kind of accident. All three girls have long, blonde hair, all are young and pretty. Up to now, my suspicious mind aside, there isn’t an awful lot apart from minute specks of marine varnish under two of the victims’ nails to suggest the drownings were anything other than tragic accidents.’
‘But…’
‘Well for a start, I’ve searched pages and pages on Google. Women don’t drown in Lake Windermere, at least not very often, and none in the last few years. It’s all men and teenage boys. So it’s unusual for a woman to drown. But we have had three drownings in one week. The trace evidence recovered from both Leah and Julia has been confirmed as originating from the same boat; I can’t confirm which one, though. When I went to the marina to look atThe Tequila Sunrisethere was one of those old-fashioned rowing boats tied up behind it. But when I went back there this evening it had gone.’
‘What were you doing at the marina, Beth?’
She could hear the concern in his voice. ‘Just making some gentle enquiries. I might have spooked James Marshall a little on my first visit.’
‘You spoke to him? Do you know how dangerous it could have been?’
She bit her lip. ‘I was a little reckless.’ She paused again; he didn’t speak so she carried on.
‘I thought the boat was empty, so I went on board to get a paint sample to send off for comparison. Only I realised when I was on board that the boat was fibreglass, but then I noticed the wooden boat behind.’
‘What did you do, Beth?’
‘I climbed down the ladder to get a sample. Then… then I fell into the lake.’
The sharp intake of breath was so loud her ear popped.
‘Luckily for me James Marshall was on board, heard the splash and rescued me. When he asked what the hell I was doing I thought I owed him an honest answer. I told him I wanted a paint sample from his boat and then I left.’
‘I honestly don’t know what to say.’
‘Well there isn’t a lot to say. Luckily for me he was there to drag me out. I did get a sample but it wasn’t a big enough one to compare, so I went back tonight but the boat was nowhere to be seen. He’d moved it, which kind of tells me he’s guilty of something. Anyway, regardless of how good his alibi is or his lawyer, I think you should be watching him very closely. Whoever this is isn’t in it for the glory, they’re doing it for the thrill and now they’ve reached that level I don’t think they’ll stop. You also need to find out why they took such a risk to push Tamara into the water with so many potential witnesses around. Something must have happened to force his hand in some way.’ She paused, but Josh was silent, taking it all in. ‘There is one other thing. I found an article from eight years ago, with a photograph of a group of teenage boys on a school trip. One of those boys, Tyler Johnson, drowned after a race in the lake. James Marshall was there, and so were two others you said you interviewed today, Marcus Johnson was Tyler’s twin and Ethan Scales. They were all there that day.’
‘Thanks, Beth, but you need to leave the investigating to my team. What you’re doing is dangerous and to be honest it’s crossing the line. I don’t want to have to be worrying about whether or not you’re safe. Let us do our job, okay. I’ll see you later.’
He ended the call, and she felt marginally better after confessing everything to him.
Only she couldn’t settle. She wondered where Ethan Scales and Marcus Johnson were. Would they be willing to talk to her about the incident years ago? Not having the luxury of a police national database to do an address search, she did the next best thing; she logged on to Facebook, deciding to try and find Ethan first. It might be easier to speak to him rather than Marcus, given that it was Marcus’s twin that had died that day.
Sixty-Nine
Josh was furious with how reckless Beth had been, but he also held a grudging admiration. She’d make a bloody good detective and he’d have her on his team in a heartbeat. Though he was annoyed she hadn’t told him about her near miss, he realised that she hadn’t had the chance. He hadn’t spoken to her properly for days, except for their argument the previous night. He rushed up the stairs back into the office, where the DCI was zipping up his coat ready to leave.
‘Sir, there’s been some developments. I think you need to hear this.’
Paul perched himself on the corner of the desk and everyone else looked up from what they were doing to pay attention.
‘I’ve just spoken to Dr Adams and she told me the trace evidence from the first two victims is a confirmed match, and Dr Adams thinks it likely came from a wooden rowing boat. She also confirmed that James Marshall had such a boat tied to the back ofThe Tequila Sunriseonly it’s not there now. He has moved it out of sight.’
Paul spoke. ‘The same boat?’
‘Yes, I believe so. Which puts James Marshall back in the frame. We need to find that boat and keep a close eye on him. Dr Adams thinks he’s doing this for the thrill and won’t stop until he’s caught.’
‘Bollocks.’
Josh smiled despite the bleakness of the situation; it took a lot to make the DCI lose his cool.
‘We need a warrant to search Marshall’s addresses to find the boat. Sykes, can you do some background checks to see what properties, boats, houses, etc he owns or has access to?’
‘On it.’
She bent her head and began to type on the computer.
‘Sir, can you sort out the warrant?’
