Authors: Faith Mortimer
“I’m not sure. I think at first I was afraid the email had been sent to hundreds of people. They’d all know and say I killed my children. I was terrified they’d talk about Stuart and Sally.”
“Your first two children?”
“Yes. I would hate Charlie and Hannah to find out. They’re so little and they wouldn’t understand.”
“Mmm. Go on.”
“Then I remembered Charlie and Hannah were still in the garden. I had to find them and hide them from everyone in case they heard bad things about me and…and Sally and Stuart. But…but when I ran outside, they weren’t there,” she finished with a stifled sob.
The inspector paused. He frowned and rubbed his hand over his chin. “You wanted to hide them away from everyone? So you never saw them again after you let them out to play?”
“No, but I heard them. They were playing hide and seek I think. I heard Hannah laughing.”
“What happened after that?”
“When I couldn’t find them in the garden, I called to them. I searched everywhere and then ran into the lane. I looked among the trees and behind the stone walls, but there was no sign of them.”
“Why did you go into the orchard specifically? Did the children play in there?”
Debbie shook her head. “No. I always made sure they played around the house. I was very strict about that, and they’ve always done as I’ve said.” She looked towards her husband for confirmation, and he nodded.
“Did you search the lane? Could they have walked down to the main road? Perhaps they were expecting their father to come home?” The inspector shifted in his chair and leaned forward.
“No, I didn’t. I mean I didn’t search the lane. They could have walked to the road, but I can’t see them going too far from the house. They’re only little.”
“Now, Mrs Debbie, I want you to think, and think very carefully before you answer my next questions. Why the orchard? Why did your husband find you covered in mud, with your hands filthy? What were you doing? Had you hidden something or…
someone
?”
Debbie cast a frightened, wild glance around the room. There was a barely perceptible shuffling of feet among the policemen while they waited for her answer.
“Because I was terrified. I remembered Stuart and Sally. They were strangled and buried. I…I thought the same thing had happened to Charlie and Hannah. It was like last time. It was all happening again. William—?” She looked up, a horrified look on her face.
He leaned in closer and draped his arm around her shoulders. “It’s all right, sweetheart. You have to answer the questions. The police are only doing their job.”
The inspector nodded, cleared his throat and stood up. His lost his smile, and his tone became more formal. “I’m going to send the team out again, now they’ve had a break. My officers will widen their search for the children, and some will concentrate on the orchard. I need to speak to Mr Roger too. Meanwhile, Mrs Debbie Frost, it is my duty to inform you that you have a right to legal advice before you answer any further questioning. Remember anything you say can be used against you.”
Debbie gasped and paled under his scrutiny. William’s hands shook against the back of her chair as the inspector stood up and stalked from the room.
The police shrugged themselves back into their damp coats, put on their boots and tramped outside. One or two looked at the worsening weather conditions and shook their heads. If it carried on like that, they wouldn’t be able to continue the search for long anyway. The sergeant split them up into two groups—one to search the open countryside, the other to do a house-to-house. He grimaced as he listened to their talk; he was well aware they had neither enough manpower nor the skills to perform a thorough and professional search. They had roped in a few of the local hunters who knew the area to assist, but he didn’t hold out much hope. If only the weather wasn’t so bad. Although the police had no helicopter of their own, under better weather conditions they would have hired one in from the Russians in Paphos or asked the British Royal Air Force in Akrotiri to help. If they found nothing by nightfall, he knew they would have to notify the British High Commission. He had a bad feeling about this case. He wondered if they were already too late.
Chapter 16
Once the policemen left the house, Diana rang Steve. She had spoken to him earlier, so he was already in the picture.
“Any news?” he asked.
“No, nothing yet. The police and the hunters have finished one search, and they’ve just left to start again. They’re extending this one to the neighbouring villages and are paying particular attention to the countryside around the house.” She lowered her voice. “It’s not looking good, I’m afraid, because the weather’s getting worse.”
“I see. By the way, Adam and Clare arrived safely. They rang ten minutes ago and are on their way over. It’s all right for Poppy to stay with Lydia for the time being in case you’re wondering. I telephoned earlier.”
“Good, I hope she’s all right. Did you tell Adam anything?”
“A little. I mentioned two children had gone missing, but I thought I’d explain it all properly to him once we are face-to-face. Poppy’s fine by the way, she was excited about staying longer with her friend.”
“Okay, that’s a relief. You know, Adam could be the perfect person to have around at a time like this. I’m sure he’ll have plenty of experience with missing persons.”
“As long as he doesn’t upset the local police. How’s the inspector behaving?”
Diana pulled a face and sighed. “Much like he always does…swaggering around full of self-importance and belting out orders. I wish they’d sent more men. There are only a handful conducting the search, and they’re threatening to call it off as soon as it gets dark.” She lowered her voice to a bare whisper. “I’m sure he’s already convinced himself that Debbie’s done something dreadful to them.” She thought for a moment before continuing. “I wonder if we could help in some way. There are plenty of us ex-pats around who could assist in a search. Do you think the inspector would let us?”
“I’ve no idea. Why don’t you ask him? If he’s agreeable, we could send out a group text message via the Magic Teapot. Roy has everyone’s mobile number, so it would be easy enough to do. We could assemble at the Frost’s house and fan out.”
“Yes. I’ll go and find him and let you know. Speak later, darling.”
“Hang on, there’s just one other thing. My mother’s arrived early.” Steve lowered his own voice. “She’s upstairs having a rest as she’s exhausted after her flight. I’ll have to let her know what’s going on. She’ll want to know where I’m going and what I’m doing. I won’t go into the details, though.”
Diana sighed. “Just what we need. Okay, give her the bare essentials, and make sure she stays where she is. We don’t want her wandering around in the snow, interfering and getting lost as well. I’ll leave your mama in your capable hands,” she chuckled knowing Steve would be hard-pressed to withhold much from his indomitable mother. “I’ll call you later. Love you.”
She finished the call and went in search of the inspector.
*****
Diana found Inspector Christopopodoulou in the kitchen, scribbling in a notebook. He looked up at her footsteps and frowned when he saw who had interrupted him. He and Diana had never completely seen eye to eye. Diana considered him to be lazy, arrogant and very rude, especially to women. The small policeman judged Diana to be a meddling, no-consequence woman, who would be better off employed at home in the kitchen where all women belonged.
He made a great show of looking annoyed at her intrusion and raised his eyebrows at her suggestion.
“Mrs Diana, I have everything under control. I thank you for your proposal, but I doubt we’ll need your help. If I change my mind, I’ll let the Muktar in your village know. As mayor, he can organise the extra hands.”
“Yes, but we have many friends, who—,”she began before he cut her off.
“I am sure you have. But we don’t want just anyone wandering around, getting in the way of an official search and ruining any leads we have.”
Diana stared at him, her stomach churning. “Do you have some leads, then?”
“Of course. But I am not able to tell you, you understand. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a statement to finish for tonight’s television. We’ll make the headlines.” He indicated his notebook.
“I see. What are you going to say? I’ve never seen an official statement for the media before.” She gave him a dazzling smile. “You might get promotion if all goes well.”
The fat little man preened. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt,” he said, opening the notebook at the right page and quickly reading it out to her. “We are conducting a huge effort to find the Frost children. Police officers are making a house-to-house search of the nearby villages and of the immediate vicinity of orchards and fields near their home. Unfortunately, we are
unable to use helicopters due to the bad weather conditions, but we are confident we will find the missing children before dark.”
Diana stiffened. “Are you sure helicopters are out of the question?”
He nodded. “I’m afraid so at the moment, it is too windy and dangerous. Maybe later,” he said vaguely.
“What about tomorrow? Will you look again if you haven’t found them by tonight?” she persisted.
“Mrs Diana, please do not question my every move. We are doing our best. Unless the children have been taken further from the valley—and I doubt that—we will find them. I’m sure we will not be needed here tomorrow. My feeling is Mrs Debbie knows exactly where they are. You saw her dirty hands. She knows more than she is telling us. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Diana’s heart plummeted. She had never had any faith in the inspector, and she was right. Already, he was placing the blame on the children’s mother. Abruptly, she turned and left the room.
*****
Roger was standing gazing out of the den window. He wondered if he was wasting Adam’s time by suggesting he come out and speak to Debbie. What if he, Adam, had got it all wrong, and she
was
guilty of murdering her first two children. Roger shook his head. No! Adam was convinced there was more to the story…just as he was. Debbie was a perfect lady, and her children were a credit to her.
Sometimes, you just have to let your intuition tell you what’s right
,
he thought.
Roger went over in his mind the notes he had written up. He had kept them all that time, somehow knowing he would need to call on them in the future. Intuition again. The notes were written up in some detail, and still they filled him with horror. Debbie Frost aka Yvonne Brookes was the wife of a university lecturer. They had two children and lived in a nice modest house on the outskirts of town. Debbie met her husband in the university bookshop when she was working there, and they enjoyed each other’s company. Debbie had only had a couple of boyfriends before Claude, and she denied having any affairs once they were married. Roger recalled there had been some talk from one or two of the other university staff that, being a pretty young woman, she often caught the eye of the male fraternity around the university town. Nothing explicit was actually said, but it was intimated that she enjoyed the attention and flirted whenever she found the opportunity.
Nothing wrong in that
, thought Roger. Many young women would do the same, and besides, no one had come forward and formally accused her of anything untoward. It was all innuendo.
Roger remembered, later during the trial, how Adam said she had been almost out of her head most of the time, and nothing much she said made sense. He couldn’t understand why, and she had done nothing to help her case. If it hadn’t been for the corrupt detective planting false evidence, she almost certainly would have been charged with murder. Everything was stacked against her. What on earth had been the matter with her? Surely she should have had psychiatric help? Hadn’t she wanted to be let off?
Roger recollected how the children had been discovered in a shallow grave about ten days later. Their pathetic little bodies had been mutilated, probably by wild animals, and a few gnawed bones were scattered underneath the forest trees. Their mother looked so shocked in court: so pale and thin. But…were Adam and he wrong? Could she have killed her first two children? And possibly these two?
What if she had a jealous lover? Passion could be a powerful motive to someone so young and attractive. Her apathy during the trial could have been a quiet admission of her guilt. Roger had known it to happen before. He swivelled round to William and Debbie to ask something, but stopped when Diana returned from the direction of the kitchen. One look at her face told him she had been talking to the police inspector. He caught her eye, and she gave a slight shake of her head.
Debbie caught the look between them and slumped in her chair. “The children…has there been any news? They must be so hungry.”
William leant over and grabbed her hand. “Darling, please. Stop torturing yourself.”
There was a sudden burst of sound as icy sleet hit the window, and everyone turned to look. “Why don’t they use the helicopters?” William asked testily. “Surely they could use them if they were careful.”
Diana abruptly turned her attention away from the window. “I asked the inspector just now, and he said it’s too windy. They…they may later if the weather lifts.”