Criminals were idiots, she thought, and it buoyed her. She felt momentary gratification that with her father’s help, they usually caught their perp. He was the chief coroner for the northwest of England and he carried his experience on practised shoulders.
Nobody was above the law.
But the feeling of confidence was fleeting as the realisation that an innocent woman had been killed sobered her senses and she remembered where she was going.
Apparently, the body had lain in the reed bed all day. The gorgeous little café at the water’s edge had operated throughout the morning and afternoon as normal. Boats had been rowed; bathers had frolicked, and people came and went.
Nobody knew that a body had accompanied them there.
It was the smell that alerted them in the end.
Carrion.
It stung the nostrils and signalled to all animals that something rotten was amongst the living and didn’t belong.
A few tourists had gotten a whiff of the effluvium and complained. A waitress had gone to investigate and got the shock of her life.
Maybe it was a deer? Or even a dog?
The poor sod who’d followed the pungency with her nose had found out the true terror of discovering a dead body. It wasn’t pretty, or clinical, or matter of fact.
It was repulsive.
The sun was still high in the sky when they pulled out of Eden House staff carpark to head to Grasmere. They’d stop in Glenridding for a couple of coffees and head over Kirkstone Pass. In the tiny hiking hamlet of Glenridding, walkers were coming home from the fells and Kelly gazed across at the Ullswater Way. It stretched all the way along the south coast of the majestic lake, and one could start at either end. Kelly’s favourite was to start at Pooley Bridge and end up in Patterdale. Another mile along the lake and Glenridding pier marked the end of a very long walk. Plenty of visitors underestimated the puff needed to make it from one end to the other free from sunburn, blisters and fatigue.
She smiled at Kate, who walked back to the car with the drinks and got in. They’d discussed the dead woman all the way from Penrith.
‘I almost bought some cigarettes. Did you know they were over twenty pounds a packet?’
Kelly smiled. ‘You’re doing well. Don’t give in now. I remember how hard it is to give up. Just think of all the money you’re saving.’
‘And not giving the government in tax,’ Kate added.
‘Exactly.’
Kelly pulled away after Kate had steadied the hot drinks in the holders.
The road to Kirkstone Pass was predictably busy for mid-July but it was such a pleasant drive that Kelly didn’t mind.
‘Did you return Johnny’s call?’ Kate asked.
They’d been chatting about Kelly’s ex, and Lizzie’s dad.
‘No. I’ll leave it a couple of days. I think he’s climbing in Scotland. I need to get my head around it all,’ Kelly said.
Break-ups were always painful but this one seemed to have scarred Kelly deeply. She knew Kate missed him almost as much as she did. But the worst part was that it had been her decision.
Kate stared out of the window.
‘What’s your instinct telling you?’ Kate asked.
Kelly might have told anyone else to fuck off and mind their own business, but not Kate. They’d been through too much together.
Johnny had texted her out of the blue to tell her about his settlement with his ex-wife. They’d finally divorced and had divided their capital fairly. Johnny had been left with more cash than he thought, but he was still in debt.
He was sorry.
He was always sorry.
