The Oakhurst Murders Duology

8

8

Mitchell was about to ring the doorbell for a second time when he heard approaching footsteps. He immediately dropped his finger and stepped back to wait.

Nigel Hunter wore an expression that could only be described as one of resignation when he saw who was on his doorstep. “What’s Kelly done now?” he asked as he automatically stepped back to let Sergeant Mitchell and Constable Turner enter his home. “It’s not her, you know, it’s that Lucy Goulding,” he said in a well-worn defence of his daughter. “I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve told Kelly to stay away from her – she just won’t listen. It’s only a matter of time before the pair of them get themselves in real trouble, and I just don’t have the money the Gouldings do; they’ll get Lucy off and Kelly will be left holding the can.”

“Calm down, Nigel,” Mitchell told the younger man as he passed him. “As far as I know, Kelly has done nothing wrong. I do need to speak to her, though, is she in?”

Nigel snorted. “In, she isn’t even up yet. If she didn’t have to be up for school, she’d never be up before midday.”

“Would you mind getting her up? It’s important that we talk to her.”

“She won’t like it,” Nigel said, nonetheless he made his way up the stairs after closing the front door.

While Nigel headed upstairs, Mitchell and Melissa made their way into the living room, where they took seats on the sofa. Raised voices came from above them after a minute, and a short while after that heavy footsteps descended the stairs; it could not have been more obvious that the approaching person was a teen who was determined to make it clear that they were not happy about something. Mitchell was reminded of Harry Enfield’s character from the 90’s, Kevin the angry teenager.

“What d’you want?”

Mitchell bit back the urge to respond to the rudeness of the question; he should be used to it, he knew, but somehow it annoyed him afresh every time Kelly Hunter spoke to him like that.

“Good morning, Kelly, sorry to have woken you,” he apologised. “But I need to ask you a few questions. Would you have a seat?”

“I ain’t done nothing,” Kelly said automatically as she entered the room and dropped gracelessly onto the sofa. “Neither’s Lucy.”

Mitchell’s irritation increased as the teen pointedly ignored him. “I need to ask you about Georgina Ryder,” he said, speaking loudly to be sure he was heard over the TV Kelly had turned on. “When did you last see her?”

Kelly scowled. “You already asked me that last week,” she said without taking her eyes off the TV.

“I know I did.” Mitchell was tempted to turn the TV off, but he didn’t imagine that would encourage Kelly to pay attention to him, so he left it. “Things have changed since then, though, and I’d like to see if you’ve remembered anything new. So, when did you last see Georgina?”

“Last Friday.” Kelly waited until the music video she was watching finished to answer the question. “At school,” she expanded when pushed. “I saw her at the end of school; Lucy and me were on our way into town, we saw her at the bus station, she was waiting for the bus back here.”

“And that’s the last you saw of her?”

Kelly nodded, though her eyes never left the television.

“You’re certain of that, you didn’t see her at any point after you returned to the village?” Mitchell wanted to know.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Kelly said with a laugh. “I didn’t get back to the village ‘til well after Georgie’s bedtime. Before you ask, I don’t remember what time I got back, but I’ve heard Georgie say before that she’s always in bed by eleven, even at the weekend, and it was way after that.”

“I can vouch for that,” Nigel spoke up from by the door. “It was around half-one when Kelly got home. I remember because I was up, waiting for her. I was worried when she wasn’t back on the last bus, and spent hours wondering when she was going to get home, and how.”

“I’m never on the last bus, you should know that by now; I’d have to be home before ten if I was.” Kelly looked at her father as if he was crazy. “Nothing happens before ten, nothing worth doing anyway. I did the same as I always do, I got a lift home.”

“And I hate to think who from. I can just imagine the kind of person who’d come so far out of their way to bring a teen girl home – nobody does that without being after something.”

Kelly laughed again. “Most of the time it’s Ollie who brings us home, and he’s already getting what he wants.”

“Ollie, Oliver Ryder?” Nigel moved round so he could see his daughter’s face. “You’re telling me you’ve been hanging around with Oliver Ryder, even though I’ve told you to stay away from him and his friends?”

Mitchell spoke up quickly to head off the argument he could see brewing. “This is something the two of you can talk about later, once we’re finished. Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Georgina?” he asked of Kelly. “Someone with a grudge against her perhaps.”

“Are you kidding, who’d want to hurt her? Georgie’s a goody two-shoes pain in the ass that most of us want nothing to do with, but I can’t think of anyone who’d hurt her. Even if someone did want to, who’d be crazy enough to do anything, we all know she’s Ollie’s cousin and he’s crazy about her and would do anything for her. If anyone did dare do anything to Georgie, they’d have to deal with Ollie, and we all know how that would go.” The bored expression she had affected dropped away and she turned her attention from the TV to the sergeant. “Something’s happened to her, hasn’t it.”

Mitchell hesitated for a moment, reluctant to say anything. He realised there was no point in keeping what had happened from her, though, not when she would hear about it soon enough. “Yes,” he said with a quick nod of his head. “This may not be easy for you to hear, but first thing this morning, the body of a girl was found in the village, we believe it’s Georgina.”

“Bloody hell!” Kelly swore, her face pale with shock.

Nigel went even whiter than his daughter. “Wh-what happened to her?” he asked in a voice that shook.

“Get a grip, dad, Jesus!” Kelly told him. Once over her initial shock the colour returned to her cheeks and she showed enough animation to ask, “How did she die? Was she killed? I bet she was killed, that’s why you want to know if anyone would hurt her.”

“Don’t be morbid,” Nigel told his daughter, even though he had only just expressed his own interest.

The look Kelly threw her father’s way showed she knew how hypocritical he was being. She said nothing to him, though, instead she turned her attention back to Mitchell. “Come on, what happened to Georgie? I’m right aren’t I, she was killed. How? When? Who by?”

“Behave,” Nigel told his daughter, with more sharpness than either Mitchell or Melissa had ever heard him use before. “Whatever’s happened to Georgina, you should show some respect, not act like it’s something exciting to tell your friends about; she’s a friend of yours as well.”

“No, she’s not,” Kelly denied quickly. “We used to be friends, ages ago, but we haven’t been friends since Mayfield’s. I’m sorry she’s dead, but I’m not gonna pretend to be sad when I’m not, and I’m not gonna pretend not to be curious about what happened when I am. So, come on, what happened to her? Was she killed?”

As distasteful as he found the teen’s morbid curiosity, Mitchell couldn’t help admiring her honesty. He nodded. “Yes, she was killed. Are you certain you can’t think of anyone who’d want to hurt her?”

“There’s no-one. Honestly, I don’t think Georgie could have upset anyone enough to make them want to hurt her, not even if she tried, she just didn’t have it in her.”

“Clearly someone wanted to hurt her,” Mitchell said before changing the subject. “When did you last see Lucy?”

Kelly reacted to the question as though she had been slapped. Her legs shot out from under her, she sat bolt upright, and an expression of anger settled over her face as she glared at Mitchell. “Lucy ain’t done nothing,” she said, leaping to the defence of her friend. “I don’t know what you think she’s done, but she didn’t do it.”

If looks could kill, Mitchell thought as the teen’s glare struck him. “I never suggested she has,” he said, annoyed by Kelly’s reaction. “I simply asked when you last saw her.”

“Why d’you want to know?” Kelly asked suspiciously. “If you’re not after her for something, why d’you want to know when I saw her?”

“Because her mother has reported her missing.” Mitchell saw the shock that overtook the anger on Kelly’s face and went on quickly. “We don’t have any reason for thinking anything has happened to her; given her history, there’s every chance that she’s simply gone off somewhere and hasn’t come home yet. Theresa Goulding is concerned, though, and with this morning’s discovery we’re taking that seriously. Now, I understand you spoke to Mrs Goulding yesterday, and told her you hadn’t seen Lucy since lunchtime, is that right?”

“Nope,” Kelly said with a shake of her head.

“No, that isn’t right?” Mitchell asked. He was annoyed when he received only a nod. “Which part? Did you not speak to Mrs Goulding yesterday, or yesterday lunchtime isn’t the last time you saw Lucy?” He felt like he was trying to draw blood from a stone.

“I never spoke to Lucy’s mum; it was Anna who called me.”

“Okay, so it was Mrs Becker you spoke to, you did tell her you last saw Lucy at lunchtime, though, didn’t you?”

“Uh huh.” Kelly nodded, then volunteered. “At the bus station, she was coming back here.”

“Back here, to Oakhurst, you mean? Do you know why?” Mitchell was not surprised to hear that Lucy Goulding had bunked off school.

“She said she was meeting someone. Don’t ask me who, she never said.”

“Could it have been Oliver Ryder she was coming back to see?” Melissa asked.

Kelly shook her head quickly and decisively. “Lucy would’ve told me if she was coming back to see Ollie; I’d’ve bunked off and come with her so I could spend the afternoon with Tom.”

“Tom, Tom Bottle?” Nigel leapt angrily on what his daughter had said. “You’re seeing that criminal? What have I...” He was interrupted by Mitchell before he could say anything more.

“If you don’t mind, this is another conversation you can have another time. I appreciate that Lucy didn’t tell you who she was coming back to see, but did she say anything that might have hinted at who it is?” he asked of Kelly.

A short while passed before Kelly answered. “She said she was coming back to see someone who could make all her dreams come true.”

“Have you got any idea who that might be?” Mitchell asked. When Kelly shook her head, he tried another tack. “How about Lucy’s dreams, do you know what they might be, what she might have been trying to get help with?” He couldn’t imagine why Lucy would have needed to see anyone other than her great-uncle to make her dreams come true.

Kelly shrugged. “Get rich, get a fit guy, have an easy life. Aside from that, the only thing I’ve ever heard her talk about is writing.”

“Writing? What sort of writing?” Melissa asked, a suspicion creeping into her mind. “Was Lucy interested in writing novels or something?”

“She says she is,” Kelly said. “She’s always scribbling in a notepad, or typing something into her phone, and she says she’s writing a book, but she’s never let me read any of it. Not that I’d want to, I’m not into reading. Can’t think why she’d want to be a writer, but I can’t think of anything else I’d call a dream for Lucy.”

“Does Lucy know a Zack Wild?”

“Who?” Kelly asked. “Never heard of him. If she does, she’s never told me. Wait,” she said suddenly, “is that the new guy that moved into the village?”

Melissa nodded.

“Never knew his name.”

“So, you don’t know if Lucy knows Mr Wild,” Mitchell said.

Kelly shook her head. “If she does, she’s kept it a secret from me; can’t think why she’d do that, though.” After a moment, a thought occurred to her. “Is he hunky?” she asked.

“Pretty hunky,” Melissa said, looking embarrassedly at Mitchell.

“Maybe she was keeping it from Ollie, not me,” Kelly said, speaking more to herself than to the two officers. “He wouldn’t be happy if he found out she was seeing someone else.”

Mitchell didn’t doubt that Oliver Ryder would be unhappy if Lucy were seeing someone else, and he wondered if that could be the reason she hadn’t come home. It was something to consider, but not immediately helpful to them in finding Lucy.