Darkness Falls (Kate Marshall, #3)(44)

“No. I’ve never seen him there. Luckily, he was just some drunken twat at a party. A mean drunk at that,” said Bishop. “After he flipped up Sam’s tray, he left, and on the way out, he called me a dirty little prick tease.”

“Did you tell Max?”

“No. It’s part of the job when you work in a bar, dealing with drunken idiots.”





24


Kate walked back to her car and was troubled by her meeting with Marnie; her personal interest in Kate made her feel grubby, and her theory that Joanna was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and the victim of a serial killer made her uneasy. So did Bill’s link to the asbestos story. She was annoyed they hadn’t checked out Bill and his business interests more closely.

Kate sat in the car tapping her foot, unsure what to do. She found Bill’s mobile phone number and called him, but it twice went to voice mail. She left a short message asking him to return her call, saying she had an update about the case she wanted to discuss.

She then tried to call Bev, who answered.

“Is Bill there?” asked Kate.

“No. He’s away on business,” said Bev.

“Do you know when he’s back?”

“Friday.”

Bev’s voice sounded thick, and she was slurring a little. It was only three p.m.

“Are you okay to talk?” asked Kate.

“Course I am. What is it?”

“I really wanted to ask Bill this, but maybe you could help . . .”

“Go on.”

“I’ve been talking to Marnie, Joanna’s—”

“I know who Marnie is.”

“Yes, of course. She just told me that in the weeks before she went missing, Joanna had been investigating the purchase of an office block, Marco Polo House in Exeter.”

“Yes. Jo found out that they were trying to cover up the asbestos problem. That was very awkward. Jo was very good to Bill. She went to him the second she knew about it. I wasn’t happy about it when I found out, but Bill had a lot of money tied up in the building, and he swears to me that they were acting on the advice of an expert, who told them that the asbestos didn’t need removing as long as they plastered up the walls and sealed it all in tight,” said Bev. “You see?”

Kate rolled her eyes. This was nonsense. Everyone knew that asbestos was a huge problem, and environmental agencies took it seriously.

“Okay. But there must have been tension between Bill and Jo?”

“Of course. Bill was very worried about it all. And Jo had to do her job, of course.”

“According to Marnie—” started Kate.

“According to Marnie!” Bev spat. “What does she know? Last I saw, she was demonstrating toys on her fucking YouTube channel. No doubt thinking she’ll get away with working at the same time as claiming benefits off the state.”

“Did you and Marnie fall out?”

There was a pause.

“We was good for a time. She helped me a lot. My car got nicked at the same time as Jo went missing, and she was good, running me around, taking me shopping when Bill couldn’t. But then she turned nasty. Didn’t understand what I’m going through. She got irritated with me wanting to talk about Jo.”

“Okay; how did Joanna feel about discovering the story about the asbestos and then finding out Bill was involved?”

“What do you mean?” said Bev, slurring even more.

“Joanna uncovered this juicy story. Didn’t she feel cheated that she couldn’t print it?”

There was a pause. Bev sighed, exasperated.

“Jo wasn’t like that! She knew Bill meant everything to me . . . In the end, Bill took it on the chin, and they paid to have the building made safe. Listen. We’re paying you to find out what happened to Jo. I don’t like this, these questions, Kate. You sound like you think Bill’s done something wrong?”

“No. I’m just following up on some leads, and this came up.”

“From fucking Marnie. Shit stirrer. Did she ask you for money when you talked to her?”

Kate hesitated, thinking about the book Marnie had asked her to sign. “No. She didn’t.”

“She was always jealous of Jo making something of herself. Getting out of that estate.”

“Bev, if you’d have told me about this in the first place, it wouldn’t have taken me by surprise. That’s the only reason I’m asking.”

She was silent on the end of the phone.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.

“Please. Don’t be. I can’t imagine everything you’ve been through. This must be so tough.”

“My whole bloody life’s been tough . . .” Kate heard Bev pouring a drink in the background. “I thought that when me and Bill lived together, we’d see each other so much more, but he’s away a lot with ’is work.”

“It’s a lovely house you’ve got there.”

“It gives me the creeps when I’m ’ere on me own . . . ,” said Bev. “I’ve never lived nowhere so empty. I’m used to having neighbors and people upstairs, downstairs, to the side . . . And the fucking windows. No curtains. And there’s all these buttons for things. I tried to turn the outside light on, and the fucking jacuzzi comes on.”