‘S he has motive. I know you don’t want to hear that.’
Daniella had been right, Noah didn’t.
Her comment stayed with him throughout the afternoon, which would probably explain his bad mood.
They had been on their way to meet a potential client, Olivia dropped safely at work, coffee and a long shower having taken the edge off his tiredness, when Daniella had made the comment. He was already a little irritable and snappy, annoyed that he couldn’t get to the bottom of who was harassing Olivia, and the unwelcome suggestion only served to darken his mood further.
‘She’s hardly stalking herself.’
‘You’re blinkered, Noah, and you’re too emotionally involved. Take a step back and look at it logically.’
When he simply ignored her, she took it as encouragement to continue. ‘She was badly burned then tormented by her classmates. They humiliated her. What a way to get back at them and throw suspicion off herself at the same time.’ Daniella was warming up now. ‘You said this Fern woman thought Olivia had sent the notes. I tell you, she has motive. You might not want to admit it, but she does. She had the key, could have easily lured Gary Lamb to the house.’
‘He was double her size for Christ’s sake. Somehow I don’t see her overpowering him and chaining him to a chair.’
‘Maybe he was drugged.’
‘Which would have made him a dead weight. You’ve met her. Can you honestly see her hauling a seventeen stone man around the house?’
‘Maybe he thought it was a game.’ When Noah raised his eyebrows questioningly at that, she smiled. ‘She’s a pretty girl. If he thought his luck was in… Trust me, there are ways. Then the notes and the photo, they would have been easy to sort.’
She was annoying him now, what with her stupid sex game theory, intimating that Olivia might have lured Gary Lamb to the house intentionally, suggesting that she was that emotionally damaged she would actually commit murder.
Part of him wished he hadn’t told Daniella about Olivia’s burn scars and everything that had happened to her. In a way it felt like he was betraying her trust. It helped to have someone to bounce theories off, though he hadn’t expected that Daniella’s would bounce in this direction.
‘What about the phone call? She hardly called herself last night.’
‘True. But you’re not stupid. You know there are ways she could have orchestrated that. And what a brilliant way to convince her boyfriend she is the victim.’
Noah pulled up at traffic lights, turned to face her. ‘You’re actually serious. You honestly believe she killed a man and is stalking herself?’
A half-smile played on Daniella’s lips, her eyes dancing, amused. Most people gave Noah a wide berth when he was in a bad mood. Not Daniella. She found it entertaining and got off on pushing his buttons. ‘No, probably not. I’m just pointing out that you need to take those blinkers off and look at it from every angle.’
Noah scowled at that. Hated knowing that she was right.
They parted company after the meeting, having secured the job. Daniella went off to do some preliminary work, while Noah planned to follow up on the information he had learnt from Olivia over the past twenty-four hours.
Daniella hadn’t been overly impressed that he was shirking off, but it was almost Christmas and their workload was light.
He hadn’t told Olivia about the footage caught by the camera of a figure in her back garden on Monday night; had no intention of telling her, aware it would further freak her out.
While she had been busy feeding the cat, he had discreetly checked the utility room that led to the corner of the house. There was a window, one that slid up with just enough room for someone to crawl through. Was this how her tormentor had entered the house?
He added it to his notes, flipped back a page to the names he had written down. Fern, Gary, Howard and Janice were all there, as well as Rachel Williams and Kelly Dearborn. He added Margaret Grimes to the list and circled it. They had all been on the school trip together and too many of them had suffered because of fires.
It was all connected and had him wondering how many others on the list had received notes.
He needed to track them all down, speak with them individually. Fern St Clair would be first. She was the easiest because she had given him her number and she was also the one he had done most research on.
She didn’t answer his call so he left a voicemail, guessed she was screening when she phoned back almost immediately. ‘I was hoping you would call.’
She sounded a little too pleased to hear from him and Noah reminded himself this was business. Olivia wouldn’t like that he had contacted her, but if it meant keeping her safe then it was necessary. Besides, he had no intention of telling her, certainly not for the time being.
‘We need to talk. Can we meet?’
‘I haven’t taken my lunch break yet if you can do now.’ Her tone was hopeful.
Best to get it over and done with. ‘Sure, where do you want me to meet you?’
Fern was based in an office block on the outskirts of the city, far enough away from Olivia’s workplace that he didn’t have to worry about being caught.
He waited outside for her, hunkered down in his jacket, glad he had his scarf, gloves and hat on. The wind chill factor was freezing. Luckily, she didn’t keep him waiting long, appearing at the top of the entrance steps in a blood-red coat, her smile widening to a grin when she spotted that he was alone. Noah guessed she hadn’t been sure if she was meeting just him or if Olivia would be with him, wondered if the lipstick she wore that matched the coat had been an effort on his behalf. He faked a smile for her that he hoped disguised his contempt and reminded himself that this was purely to get information, so to play nice.
‘There’s a little café on the corner,’ she pointed out.
‘Sure, okay.’
If it had been a milder day he would have preferred to walk, but it really was cold. He would buy her a coffee and hopefully get her to talk.
‘So Olivia sent you to talk to me on her behalf, did she?’ Fern said the words with a half smirk as Noah set down the coffees and removed his jacket, before pulling up a seat opposite her. As he did, she caught the pleasant scent of light spicy aftershave, her lips curving in approval. ‘Talk about holding on to a grudge. It’s been years and she still won’t speak to me.’
Noah angled her a cool look. ‘I can’t imagine why.’
Was that a trace of sarcasm?
Olivia had done well for herself Fern had to admit as he pulled off his hat, ran his fingers through messed-up tawny brown hair. He really was quite attractive, all that scruffy stubble and angular features, with a generous mouth and those fascinating wide-set sharp green eyes. He is wasted on someone as dull and damaged as Olivia.
‘What’s the deal with you two anyway?’ She blatantly stared at his empty ring finger. ‘You’re not married. Are you engaged, living together, or is it more casual than that?’
‘We’re not here to talk about my relationship with Olivia.’
‘No, I guess we’re not. Livvy said she had been receiving notes too. Is that true?’
‘It’s true. You seem surprised by that. How come?’
Fern opened her mouth then shut it again, took a sip of her milky coffee as she considered how to answer, realising that she hadn’t really thought this bit through and understanding that however she did reply, it wasn’t going to paint her in a particularly good light, especially as she didn’t know what Olivia had told him about the past.
‘It’s a simple question, Fern.’ He stirred his coffee, set down the spoon and sat back, studying her. ‘Why would you think Olivia is the one targeting you?’
‘How much has she told you?’ she countered.
‘About?’
Ooh, he is good. He’s not going to give anything away. Yes, he is definitely wasted on Olivia. ‘We were friends, she betrayed me, and then we weren’t friends,’ she answered eventually. ‘We played a few silly pranks on her and she didn’t react well. It was high school.’ She shrugged. ‘What do you want me to say? It happens.’
His expression darkened at that, but if he knew about the video he didn’t say. ‘It’s a little extreme though, don’t you think, assuming she would be targeting you over a silly prank all these years later.’
She didn’t appreciate the way he emphasised the word silly, and glowered at him. ‘Maybe, but I was exploring all possibilities. As you’ve pointed out, it wasn’t Olivia, so it’s all irrelevant anyway.’
‘You said last night that you and your friends had received notes. Who else are you talking about?’
She had said that, and although it had been in the heat of the moment, she guessed there was no harm in him knowing. ‘Janice and Howard, they’re both friends of mine.’
‘What did they say?’
Fern glanced around, worried someone might overhear them. ‘Same as Livvy. Something about how we’d done a bad thing a long time ago,’ she told him, her voice dropping to a whisper. ‘And how the past is about to catch up.’
There was no way she was telling him about the other note. The one that had called her a killer.
‘And what about Gary? Did he receive any notes?’
‘I wouldn’t know. I hadn’t seen Gary in a long while.’ Fern hesitated. ‘Howard was still matey with him. He’s trying to make contact with Gary’s girlfriend.’
‘Rita Works.’
He already knew. Seemed Olivia’s boyfriend had been doing his own investigating.
‘Have you spoken to her?’
‘Not yet. You were on the school trip with Liv, the one where she was injured.’
‘I was.’
‘Can you tell me about that?’
Jesus, that’s a loaded question. She toyed with her coffee cup, again considered how best to answer, unsure how much he knew. ‘Livvy and her friends went into the woods. I don’t know the exact details, but there was an accident, a fire, and one of the girls died.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘You know all this though, so why ask?’
‘Who was there? You, Liv, Gary Lamb, Janice, Howard, Rachel Williams and Kelly Dearborn. Have I missed anyone else from your little gang? Her eyes widened slightly as he ticked the names off using his fingers. He knew about all of them.
‘It was hardly a gang. We were fourteen, just kids.’
‘Margaret Grimes was the girl who died.’
‘And?’
‘And she burned to death; Gary burned to death.’
‘Your point being?’
‘Something happened that night, something that is connected to what is happening now, and I want to know what it is.’
Fern didn’t appreciate the abrupt barrage of questions. It reminded her of… Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Are you a cop?’
‘Ex.’
Her blood heated and she tried not to look flustered by that, knew she would play her cards close. ‘Figures.’
His lips twisted. ‘Look, I’m here as Olivia’s boyfriend. Nothing else. I want to know what happened so I can figure out who is harassing her. You are going to help me with that.’
‘Really?’ That was rather presumptuous. Truth was, Fern wanted exactly the same thing. She had no intention of spilling any of her dirty secrets to Noah though.
‘If you’re getting notes too then it’s in your interest to tell me what you know.’
He had a point, but she would wait to see what else he asked.
‘Tell me about Margaret Grimes.’
Fern thought back to the wimp of a girl she had met at Black Dog Farm all those years ago with her questionable dress sense and zero personality. It still galled her that Olivia had picked this complete loser over their years of friendship, had turned on Fern just because she had made a few harmless jokes at Margaret’s expense.
She was sorry that the girl had died, Fern wasn’t that heartless, but it had been an accident. No point in pretending she had liked Margaret just because she was dead.
‘She was a nobody,’ she said simply, hoping he wouldn’t judge her for telling the truth. But her temper was stirred by his barely disguised look of contempt. She crossed her arms defensively. ‘Think what you want of me, at least I am being honest. Margaret Grimes was pathetic and cowardly and Livvy turned her back on me to hang out with her. Do I feel bad about what happened to her? Of course I do. I don’t wish anyone dead. But did I like her? No.’
‘So what did happen that night when she died?’
‘I already told you, Livvy, Margaret and Rachel snuck off. I don’t know any more than that.’
‘Really?’
‘Really!’ He was starting to annoy her now with his judgemental attitude and all these questions. ‘I’m really not quite sure what the point of all this is, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head back to work.’ She reached for her coat, started to get up.
‘Sit down!’ Although his voice wasn’t loud, his steely tone caught her off guard, had her pausing, open-mouthed. ‘We’re not done yet.’
‘You can’t boss me around. Who the hell do you think you are?’
‘I know more about you than you realise.’ His tone was even as she slipped on her coat. ‘You’ve been sleeping with your boss, Peter Collins.’
That had her freezing, eyes widening.
‘You’re hoping that he’ll leave his wife, but he won’t. How safe do you think your job will be if she finds out?’
How did he know that? She studied his face for any sign of a lie. ‘You’re bluffing. You wouldn’t tell.’
‘Want to take that bet?’
‘What do you want?’
‘Information, the truth, so sit.’
She wavered, knew she didn’t have a choice, reluctantly dropping back down into her chair, her heart hammering.
‘What really happened the night of Liv’s accident, Fern? I know you’re hiding something.’
She studied him for a moment. He doesn’t know. No one could.
Except the person sending the notes.
Fern pushed that little detail to the back of her mind. Noah didn’t know. He might have suspicions, but they amounted to nothing, and he certainly had no proof. No, he was calling her bluff. If he really knew, they wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation.
‘I told you the truth. I don’t know.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘Well that’s your problem. What do you want me to do? Make something up?’ When he scowled at that she added, ‘Look, you’ve got me. You know about Peter. Go to his wife if you don’t believe me. There’s nothing I can do to stop you. I’ve told you the truth and there’s nothing more I can add.’
‘You’re really something.’ He sat back and regarded her, his expression both faintly amused and scornful. ‘Does it not bother you that your friends are dying? That they are being murdered?’
‘Only Gary was murdered. Kelly and Rachel’s deaths were accidents.’
She blurted the words out quickly without thinking, expecting him to be shocked by her revelation that Kelly and Rachel were both dead, surprised when he didn’t react, just studied her with those cool green eyes. ‘You already knew that.’
It wasn’t a question and he didn’t respond to it.
Fern sized him up cautiously, suddenly wary. She suspected there was more to Olivia’s boyfriend than he was letting on.
