As he stepped out into the corridor he glanced at his watch and saw that it was five minutes past midnight on Sunday morning.

New Year’s Day had arrived but no one in The Fells Hotel was going to be celebrating.

CHAPTER TEN

As James was heading down to reception his mobile phone rang again. He tugged it from his pocket and saw the call was coming from the constabulary press office team at Carleton Hall in Penrith.

‘Detective Inspector Walker, hello, you need to know that the media are now onto the story,’ the woman on the other end of the phone said. ‘Someone tipped off the Cumbria Gazette and they’ve been calling incessantly. So far, they only know that a bridesmaid has gone missing, but I understand from Control that there’s been a significant development in the last half an hour so I wanted to warn you that you may have media arriving shortly.’

James had known it wouldn’t be long before the press pack descended like vultures and the usual media frenzy ensued. After all, it was a belter of a story for the tabloids. The young maid-of-honour at her sister’s New Year’s Eve wedding is badly beaten on the venue’s private jetty and ends up dead in Lake Windermere.

James quickly briefed the PR liaison on the details that were safe to be released. Hopefully, they could use the press attention to their advantage and prompt anyone who might know if Rachel had any enemies to come forward.

After hanging up, he noticed he had a text message from Annie.

Happy New Year from me and Bella. Please take care and let me know when you’ll be coming home. Love you xxxx

A wave of sadness washed over him because he hadn’t been able to spend this special night with his wife and new daughter. But there was no way he was going to feel sorry for himself given what had happened to Rachel Elliott and what her family were now going through.

He quickly tapped out a reply.

Happy New Year to you both. Sadly I won’t be home any time soon. Sleep tight and I’ll keep you posted. Love you both xxxx

DC Abbott and the hotel manager were waiting for him in reception when he arrived downstairs and he told them that he had broken the news of Rachel’s death to her family and that Greg Murphy was with them in the bridal suite. He also mentioned that the media had got wind of what had happened and that reporters and TV camera crews would soon be turning up at the hotel.

To a clearly shocked Karen Cornwall, he said, ‘As I mentioned, my officers need to view the surveillance footage and the pictures taken by the official photographer. Can you see to it that everything is made available so they can get started asap?’

‘Of course, Inspector,’ she said. ‘And on my desk is the information you requested on all the guests and staff.’