Small Town Secrets (Some Very English Murders Book 2) (15 page)

She couldn’t help it. She kept to the edge of the path,
half in the hedges and flower borders, and took a few tentative steps in the
direction of the figure.

It was Lee, she thought, from the broad shoulders and
beanie hat in spite of the warm night air. And as she got closer, she saw that
he was turned away from her. He was peering through some bushes at a house
where all the windows were lit up. He couldn’t be seen from the house, she
thought.

He was spying.

She stopped, knowing she shouldn’t get any closer. But her
elbow brushed a hedge and if it had been a conifer, she would have been fine.

It wasn’t. She’d done enough field-craft with Drew now to
recognise the tell-tale rustle of a beech hedge, and now she was so close, it
was all it took to alert Lee. He whipped around and Penny froze.

She spent too long trying to think of an exit strategy. If
I were a proper spy, I’d know what to do now. Do I turn and run? Walk forward
and act innocent? I have no cover story…

And then it was too late, and Lee was three feet in front
of her. “Penny May!” he said, loudly, and swore.

Think of an explanation, think of an explanation, she
begged her mind desperately.

“Hi!” she blurted out. “What a pleasant night for a stroll!
What are you doing here?”

“
Strolling
, of course,” he spat back, suspiciously.
“And you?”

“I’ve just been visiting a friend,” she said, smiling
fixedly. Look innocent and unthreatening, she ordered herself. Smile!

“Really?”

“Yes. Anyway. I had better be getting back to my car.” She
turned around, relieved that she had got away with it.

But his hand closed over her upper arm and he pulled her
backwards, hissing into her ear, “Why were you walking this way, if your car is
the other way?”

“Oh,” she stammered, the panic rising up now as his fingers
dug into her flesh. “Oh, like I said, I was just strolling.”

“Down a cul-de-sac?”

“I thought I saw something. Do I need a reason? Actually,
do I need to justify anything to you? Or anyone?” Penny’s voice began to rise,
and that was deliberate. She hoped that someone would look out of a window, or
come out of their house, and disturb them. She pulled forward, trying to get
away, but Lee’s grip was strong and he hauled her back.

“You’re the one who asks a lot of questions. It’s not so
nice when it happens to you, is it?”

“Let me go!” She hollered it at the top of her voice, in
full-blown panic now.

He pulled at her, dragging her towards him, and slammed his
hand over her mouth as he spun her around more fully so that her back was
against his chest. His breath tickled her ear as he said, “Just shut up, woman!
What are you hoping to achieve?”

Around them, behind and to the side, doors and windows
began to open and various footsteps approached.

“Put her down,” said one deep voice.

“What’s going on?” cried a woman.

And then a slender figure ran around them, in the road, and
a young girl’s voice cried out.

“Dad?”

Penny stared in horror as the teenage girl, who was all
poker-straight hair and huge eyes, faced them.

“Dad! What are you doing?”

Lee kept a tight grip on Penny’s arm but dropped his hand
from her mouth. “Natasha, go inside.”

“Yeah but what are you
doing?
” she insisted. “Mum.
Mum!”

“Is that Lee? Oh my goodness. What’s going on? And what are
you doing up here? Is something wrong? Has there been an accident?” An older
version of Natasha, with shorter hair in a bob, came to join them. All around,
people were hiding in their gardens and peeping out of windows at the show that
was being put on. A camera flashed and Penny groaned.

“No, no, everything is fine.” Lee finally relaxed his grip
on Penny’s arm and she sprang free, taking a few steps away from him to get
some distance. But she didn’t flee. She spun around to face him.

“What’s going on?” Penny said, echoing his daughter.

“It is none of your business,” Lee spat. “Go home.”

“Dad, is this the person who has been watching the house?”
Natasha asked, pointing at Penny. The older woman, obviously her mother, put her
arm around her daughter and held her close to her side.

Lee puffed out his cheeks and glared furiously from Natasha
and her mother, to Penny, and back again. “It might be,” he said.

“Absolutely not!” Penny flared. “I’ve never been here
before. It was
you
that was hiding in the bushes – just up there!” She
pointed towards the house that Natasha had emerged from.

The mother spoke up. “Lee, is this true? What were you
doing there? Why?”

“I’m sorry.” He took a deep sighing breath. “Yes, I was
watching the house.”

“But …
what?”
Both Natasha and her mother asked in
unison.

“Yeah, why? Are you the stalker?” Penny demanded. “Of your
own daughter?”

He flung out his hand, pointing his finger at Penny. “Don’t
you
dare
talk to the police about this. This is how it all went wrong
last time. I won’t let that happen again.”

“What went wrong?” Penny asked.

“Look. Lee, Natasha … er, you, too, whoever you are. Come
inside.” Natasha’s mother nodded at Penny. “Lee, you’ve got some explaining to
do, but the street is not the place. Come on. Follow me.”

Reluctantly, they all obeyed. Penny felt as if events were
out of her control, and she meekly followed the others into a warm,
well-stocked kitchen at the back of the red brick house. The mother stuck out
her hand. “Hi. I’m Emma.”

“Hi. Er, I’m Penny. This is awkward.”

“It is.” She turned her gaze to Lee. “So, do you care to
explain what on earth is going on, Lee?”

“She’s my daughter,” he said. He refused to sit down.
Instead, he stood with his arms folded, a grim expression on his face.

“Of course she is. And have I ever denied access?” Emma
said.

Penny looked at Natasha. In the yellow lights of the
kitchen, she looked younger. Penny guessed her to be about twelve or thirteen.
She rolled her eyes as the adults talked about her, over her head.

“No, you haven’t,” Lee said. “But lately she hasn’t been
coming to stay at mine as much.”

“That’s not down to me any longer,” Emma said. “Natasha?”

Natasha looked at the floor then, her long hair making a
curtain over her face. “It’s boring down there, dad. All my mates are up here.
Last weekend, Maryam had a party and I didn’t want to miss out. It’s not
personal or anything.”

“But I’m your dad,” he protested.

“Yeah, but.”

“But what?”

Natasha shrugged, her powers of persuasion exhausted.

“Tell me the truth, Lee,” Emma pressed. “Have you been
watching the house before tonight?”

Now it was Lee’s turn to be sulky. “Yeah. Sometimes.”

Natasha let slip a curse, and both parents shot her furious
looks. She reddened and muttered a general apology, adding, “But come on. Dad!
Seriously? You’ve been the guy I’ve seen hiding in the bushes? The police were
like, they didn’t even believe me, or something. They said it was my
imagination because I was just a kid. They made me feel stupid. I mean. Ugh.
Come on.”

“I had to,” Lee said. “I had to come here.”

“Really? Whatever.”

“I had to, because of what happened before. With Kelly. And
I didn’t want you going the same way. And when you stopped coming to see me as
much, I got worried, and I thought, I’m no kind of dad if I can’t keep an eye
on you and check you are okay. So…”

“Don’t you trust me to keep her on the straight and
narrow?” Emma said. She paced around the kitchen. “I don’t believe this. I know
Kelly went through her tough times, but she’s doing okay now, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is. But when she got to Natasha’s age, she
started getting into all sorts of trouble, and I wasn’t there for her. Or, I
was, but it was too late. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“Oh dad, she just did a bit of drinking, that was all.
Wasn’t it?”

Lee shook his head. “I wish that was all.”

“Really?” With the curiosity of youth, suddenly Natasha was
back in the conversation. “What else? Drugs? Sleeping around? Oh my–”

“All of that and more.”

“Wow!” Natasha’s eyes were wide. “Like what?”

Emma snapped her fingers. “Stop looking so impressed,
Natasha. It was a tough time for her and for your dad, and for her mum. And for
your
information, Lee, Natasha is a different type of girl. There is
no
way
I’d let her get away with any of that. And it’s not in her nature and
you obviously don’t know her well enough if you think otherwise.”

Natasha was nodding furiously. “Eww, dad, come on. I want
to be a doctor. I’m not going to ruin everything doing
that
sort of
thing. There was this girl in the year above me at school, right, and she–”

“Not now, Natasha,” Emma said. “Right. So this is sorted.
Mostly.” She turned her gaze to Penny at last. “Where do you fit in?” She
glanced at Lee. “Oh, hang on … are you two…?”

“No!” Lee and Penny both blurted out in panic. “No.”

“Whoa, sorry,” Emma said, smiling as if she didn’t believe
them.

“No, really,” Lee said with venom. He unfolded his arms and
straightened up. “This woman is a pest and a nuisance. Were you ever really
interested in urbexing, Penny? Or were you just playing at being an
investigator?”

“I am interested,” she protested. “I took photos, didn’t I?”

“I don’t believe a word you say. Good luck with it all.
You’ll get nothing from me. And if you come near me again, or breathe anything
to the police, I will come after you. Do you understand?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Yes, I am. I will allow nothing to come between me and
family. Nothing.” He stamped out of the kitchen into the garden and slammed the
door behind him.

There was a shocked silence. Penny felt even more awkward
now she was left alone with Natasha and Emma. She didn’t know where to look.

 “So, er, yeah, I had better be going. I am so sorry about
all of this,” she said, with a forced laugh. “I guess it gives the neighbours
something to talk about, hey?”

“What investigation?” Emma said. Penny realised she wasn’t
getting out that easily.

“Um. Did you see in the news about that man being killed in
Upper Glenfield?”

“Yeah. Warren Martin. It’s the only thing that has been on
the news. Nothing happens in Lincolnshire so it’s the hot topic. That, and
potato prices. And aeroplanes.”

“Right. I’m taking an interest in the case,” she said.
“Like everyone else, I suppose. And I happened to meet Lee in his photography
group that Warren was also in…”

“Is my dad a murder suspect?” Natasha butted in. “Cool.”

“It is
not
cool!” her mother snapped. “Listen to
yourself.”

“Sorry. But anyway, it’s a ridiculous idea. Dad can’t pull
up a carrot without crying.”

“I agree,” Emma said. “Don’t be fooled. He’s a massive
softie. Lee can’t possibly be a suspect. Is he?” She fixed Penny with the sort
of stare she probably used on her daughter. It was effective.

“He is,” Penny said, unable to hold out against the
motherly glare. “He and Warren did not get on.”

“I’m not surprised about that,” Emma said. “It’s because of
the Kelly incident.”

Penny’s confusion returned. “Kelly, his other daughter?
What happened? Oh no. Did Warren…”

“Sit down. Let me make us all a cup of tea. I’ll tell you
everything.”

* * * *

An hour later, Penny drove slowly back to her cottage, her
mind in a whirl. The evening she had spent with Emma and Natasha had been both
excruciating and enlightening.

Penny had learned that when Kelly had started to go off the
rails, she’d gone to live with Lee in Upper Glenfield. She’d been sixteen, not
fifteen as Drew had thought. It was felt that she would be better to be away
from the bad influences in Lincoln. And at first, it had seemed to work.

And then it had all gone wrong, Emma had explained. She
wasn’t close to Kelly’s mum – after all, they were rivals, in a way – but she
knew her and they stayed in contact for the sake of the two daughters, half-sisters
as they were. Something had happened in Upper Glenfield.

“She was caught shoplifting,” Emma had said.

“Where?”

“In the mini-market.”

Penny drove almost in a daze. Kelly had been shoplifting in
Warren’s shop, and she had ended up in custody. Nothing had come of it, Emma
said.

Nothing – except that Kelly returned to her mum in Lincoln,
Lee was deemed unfit to have care of her, and he didn’t see her again for two
years until she was eighteen – and she promptly left for university in London,
having managed to turn her life around before it went too wrong.

Penny was still lost in thought as she pulled up outside
her cottage and blundered her way in, fending off Kali’s excited greeting.

There, then, was the link she was looking for between Lee
and Warren. Warren must have caught his daughter, and so Lee must blame him.

There was more to it, she was sure of it. Something else
nagged at her. What had she missed?

Both mother and daughter didn’t think he was a killer.
Neither seemed bothered, in the end, that he was the so-called stalker. Natasha
had said it was “sad” and Emma confessed it was “a bit sweet, but mostly
silly.”

She fought the urge to go back out and try to find out more
about Lee. The pubs were closing up now, and she felt she ought to let the dust
settle.

At least for a day or two.

Penny actually had a good night’s sleep on Wednesday night.
By the time she got to bed, it was gone midnight, and she simply passed out.
She was feeling surprisingly refreshed on Thursday morning, and had been seized
by an unexpected urge to vacuum around the cottage when there was a knocking at
her door.