‘We can’t locate Lynsey.’
Joey shook his head and let out an almost maniacal high-pitched laugh. ‘Well, shouldn’t you be out looking for her ASAP? Have you any idea what they did to cause someone to hate them so much they had to butcher them in cold blood?’
‘We have a team out looking for Lynsey and no, that’s what we were hoping you could help us with. Lancs police dealt with some of the enquiries into Lydia’s death because she lived in Lancaster. Clearly, we should have done more, too, because somewhere along the line things have been missed that shouldn’t have been.’
Joey stared at her. ‘Are you always this honest with people? It’s nice that you are. It makes it easier to accept that you fuckedup and aren’t afraid to admit it. Now, if you’d come in here pretending that you hadn’t, I’d have had to throw both of you out.’
She shrugged. ‘I can’t express how shit I feel about this; I wouldn’t ever lie to cover myself, it’s not who I am. The whole case is under review by the Professional Standards Department and if there are consequences to pay then we will pay them.’
He nodded. ‘You would have got on well with Lauren, she was very much the same. Worked hard, took no crap and if she messed up, she’d hold up her hand and say that she had. I don’t want you to get into trouble, I can’t imagine how hard your job must be, and the fact that you have come here to talk to me so honestly, well, it doesn’t make it better, but it helps, a lot.’
A huge sob escaped from his lips, and he buried his head into his hands as he cried. Morgan stood up and sat on the arm of the chair next to him, patting and rubbing his back.
‘She sounds amazing, I would have liked to meet her.’
After a few deep breaths, Joey blew his nose and swiped the tears from his cheeks with his sleeve.
It was Ben who spoke first. ‘How did Lauren get along with Lynsey?’
‘Not too great, there was always the usual sibling rivalry between them, but after the crash that killed their parents it was as if someone took away their inhibitions and they all had the most awful argument. I don’t think they ever spoke to each other again. Funny how money can turn some people into green-eyed monsters who care about nobody and nothing except for how much they are getting, even when they did nothing to deserve a single penny of it.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, Lauren and Lydia saw their parents the most. Lynsey didn’t bother with them, didn’t even send birthday or Christmas cards. Phoned up once or twice a year if that, yet she was the onewho caused all the trouble that led to the argument between the three of them.’
‘Was Lynsey jealous of Lauren and Lydia?’
‘Maybe, I mean she has this yoga business where she posts about love, light, forgiveness, and self-love but deep down she isn’t a very nice person compared to the image she portrays. She was always making things up. Used to tell people she was an only child. You had to take everything she said with a pinch of salt.’
‘Do you think Lynsey could have killed Lauren?’ Ben’s question hung in the room. Joey was staring at Ben, his mouth open. When he finally closed it, he nodded.
‘I suppose she could have; I never even considered it but who knows how far someone will go? Do you think she killed Lauren and Lydia?’
Morgan shrugged. ‘We don’t have any evidence to say that she did, but we can’t rule her out until we’ve spoken to her. Do you know of anyone else who would want to do this, Joey? Did Lauren fall out with someone, did she ever mention having a stalker, a jealous colleague?’
Joey was shaking his head; there was a knock at the door and Ben stood up to answer it. He came back in with Caroline, who had milk and a packet of digestives in her hands.
‘Right then, who wants a brew?’
Joey nodded, a look of disbelief etched on his face as if he was asking himself what the hell was happening.
‘Not for us, thanks, we need to get going.’ Ben smiled at Caroline, and she nodded.
Morgan stood up and squeezed Joey’s shoulder. ‘If you need anything or think of anything, ring me on this number.’ She scribbled her number on a Post-it note and passed it to him. He stuck it onto the almost empty Jack Daniel’s bottle and watched the pair of them leave.
SIXTEEN
He had wandered along the riverbank with the dog, had spent hours wondering about the body. What stage of decomposition was it in? Would it have mummified with the dry air circulating around the inside of the tent? The air was warm and humid outside of it so there was a good chance it had. It would be so cool if he had unintentionally created his own mummy, and it had been so long with nobody finding her she could be the one.
He had monitored the news and scanned the local Facebook groups for mention of a body. So, so many questions and no answers. It had been beyond tempting to go back and take a quick peek. The restraint it had taken had been mammoth but up to now he hadn’t given in. The fact that she lay there all alone, undisturbed, like some gruesome fairy-tale sleeping beauty was torture to his soul, but he knew if he got caught, he would be risking everything.
The dog was trotting alongside him, tail wagging, happy to be outside in the fresh air. It was cute, even though he wasn’t a dog person, but obviously not very loyal. It hadn’t even tried to protect its owner, who doted on it, too busy snaffling sausages to care that she’d taken her last breaths not too far above him whilst he was living his best life. Thinking about the dog madehim think about Beth – she had sacrificed everything to keep him safe. He missed her, she had been fun, but then she’d spiralled and got out of his control. He never imagined she would have had the strength to do what she did, but he was grateful to her. She had been true to their cause – or was ithiscause that she had got swept up in?
Beth had been so desperate for someone to hear her, she had hung on every word he’d said, thought that she was helping to do the right thing, which he hadn’t been able to get his head around, but she was clearly not well and he’d blatantly taken advantage of that.
The sound of the river rushing past brought him out of his own world and back into this one. He picked up a stick and threw it for the dog. It ran off, tail wagging, chasing it, happy as can be. There was a huge boulder and he sat down on it, he needed time to think about where to go from here. He had completed his original mission: all three Williams’ sisters were dead. Erased from the planet as if they had never existed, just how it should have been in the first place. That was the plan. How the three of them had lived their lives in a warm, loving family when their mother did nothing for him and everything for them; it had left him bitter, angry and feeling a rage so intense towards all three women it had consumed him entirely.
When their parents died, it was no loss either. He had quite enjoyed that. He’d even attended the funeral although not to pay his respects because he had zero respect for any of them. It had been morbid curiosity. There were so many people in attendance he’d stood outside of the crematorium and listened to the service on the speaker system, then before it ended, he’d slipped quietly away. Hands in his pockets he’d wandered through the cemetery, away from the crowd of mourners, finding himself a memorial bench far enough way that he didn’t stand out, but close enough to watch until the bitter end.
