BooksBarbecue
Back What Lies Beneath Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Cover
  2. Get more of my books FREE!
  3. Map of Rutland
  4. Map of Oakham
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. On Borrowed Time
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. Adam Croft

Caroline’s ears pricked up. ‘What? Where?’

‘There’s an official service gate for Normanton Church at the junction of Wytchley Road and Normanton Park Road. It’s usually locked and chained, but it’s just been reported that the padlock appears to have been removed with bolt cutters.’

‘Sorry, “just been reported”?’ Caroline said, incensed. ‘Did nobody think to check? We’ve spent god knows how long trying to come up with theories about how our killer got access to the causeway, and no-one thought to check the bloody front gate?’

The assembled officers shuffled uneasily, avoiding eye contact with Caroline.

‘Right. Perfect. Thank you, Sara,’ she said, rubbing her head. ‘You and Aidan can follow that one up. Dex, with me. Let’s go for a bit of light stress relief by spending an hour talking to a grieving wife.’

9

Caroline and Dexter drove out to Empingham, a village on the eastern side of Rutland Water — and home to Alice Clifton.

Dexter looked over at Caroline a couple of times as she drove, prompting her to ask him if something was on his mind.

‘No, nothing,’ he said. ‘Just I’ve got a couple of interesting facts about Empingham and I was trying to work out if you were in an “Oooh that’s interesting” mood or a “Piss off and leave me alone” mood.’

Caroline chuckled. ‘Fire away, Dex. I’d love to hear them.’

‘Alright. Well, first up, Empingham’s protected from certain destruction only by a wall. To be more specific, a dam. It forms the eastern edge of Rutland Water. You can walk along it. If it wasn’t there, the Empingham valley to the east would flood, along with the village.’

‘Very good. Already knew it. What’s the other one?’

‘One of the battles of the Wars of the Roses took place there. The Battle of Empingham, believe it or not. Closest you’ll get these days is some bloke getting an uppercut outside the White Horse.’

Caroline smiled. ‘Where does it all come from, Dex? The trivia. The joy for learning. The boyish enthusiasm for just about everything.’

Dexter shrugged. ‘I dunno. I just sort of enjoy it, you know? I think it’s a rebellion thing.’

‘How so?’

‘Well, when I was a kid my parents really pushed me to do well at school. They wanted me to be a doctor. Thing is, the harder they pushed, the more I rebelled. So, I just about scraped through. Enough to make sure I’d be able to get a job and not totally screw my life up, I mean, but there was no way in hell anyone was going to let me study Medicine at Cambridge.’

‘Wow. How’d they take that?’

‘They switched their energies to my younger brother instead. He’s training to become a gynaecologist. And yes, he’s heard all the jokes.’