Page 15 of Maybe Tomorrow

‘Never mind all that. Sit down.’

She did as she was told.

‘Alice Patterson was murdered,’ Bishop said, bluntly.

‘Murdered?’

‘She was raped and strangled. Whoever did it used the storm to make it look like an accident. You need to tell the parents.’

‘Why me?’

‘They know you. You’ll put it better than me.’

Freya didn’t doubt that for a moment.

‘The poor girl. Do we know who did it?’

‘Not yet. We’ve opened a few lines of enquiry,’ he said, not looking at her. ‘In these cases, the victim is usually known to the killer. In a lot of cases, it’s a family member. What’s the father called?’

Freya’s eyes widened. ‘Geoff? You think her father raped and killed her?’

‘We have to consider every possibility. Now, when you tell them how their daughter died, I want you to watch their reactions. Is Geoff too upset or not upset enough? Whoever did this wanted us to believe it was an accident. We’ve discovered it wasn’t, probably quicker than he wanted us to. Look for signs of it in his face. Is he shocked, surprised? What does he do? If it was me and I found out my eighteen-year-old daughter had been raped and murdered, I’d want to tear the fucker limb from limb. You need to look for signs of him overacting or underacting. Understand?’

‘I do. It’s just… I really don’t think Geoff killed his daughter.’

‘No offence, love, but I’ve been in this job for more than twenty years. You probably weren’t even born then. Leave the detecting to the actual detectives.’

‘Then shouldn’t a detective break the news to them?’

‘They trust you. Their guard will be down with you. If we go in, Geoff will be straight on the defensive. Just tell them their daughter was murdered and we’ll be in touch tomorrow to take full statements. Then, get out of there and come back here to report. Got it?’

‘Sir.’

Freya stood up and headed for the door.

‘One more thing, love. Don’t go in your uniform. Softly does it.’

Freya rang the doorbell and stood back. She’d never done anything like this on her own before. The closest she’d come was telling a grieving daughter her elderly mother had been found dead of natural causes in her bed. She’d been with another PC at the time, a more experienced officer, who’d taken the lead and she’d gone into the kitchen to make a pot of tea. The atmosphere had been heavy, and she hadn’t been able to get out of the house fast enough. This time, it was just her, going solo. She felt sad herself when she heard that Alice had been murdered. She liked Geoff and Judith. They’d spoken on and off throughout the night how life wasn’t easy with a daughter with Down’s syndrome, and how some of the neighbours wouldn’t let her play with their children when she was younger and so they’d made her home life as happy and carefree as possible. They really were a happy family. There was no way Geoff could be the killer. She was sure of it.

Geoff opened the door. ‘Freya.’ He sounded surprised to see her.

‘Hello,’ she said, giving him her warmest smile. ‘Do you mind if I come in?’

‘No. Of course not.’

He stood back and she entered the hallway. Already she could sense the change in atmosphere. All through the night there had been hope that Alice had simply been sheltering from the storm. Now, they knew she wasn’t coming home, and the house had filled with grief.

‘Is Judith in?’

‘She’s in the living room.’

‘How is she?’

‘She can’t stop crying.’

‘Are you all right?’ Freya asked, looking at him closely.

‘No. I’m trying to stay strong for Judith, but I keep wanting to cry myself. Go on through.’