The Selbright Mysteries; Book One
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © Gwen Leader 2014
Gwen Leader asserts her right to be identified as the author of this work. No part of this publication may be copied in any way without the express permission of the copyright owner.
Proofread and edited by Kate Pittel
â
Chapter Seven
Marlene dialled the number and waited.
âWell?â asked the voice at the other end.
âHe doesnât know anything, thinks she was killed by a jealous wife.â
âI see, and what did you say?â
Marlene shrugged even though the person at the other end couldnât see her. âI agreed, heâs probably right.â
Silence, then âBut I think you and I know differently donât we?â
âWhat do I mean by that?â asked Marlene. Her heart was racing and her mouth had gone dry.
âDonât play the innocent with me, did you kill her?â
Marleneâs voice was barely above a whisper as she replied, âOf course not, why should I kill her?â
âWe both know why, and Iâm warning you if I find out you did, Iâll make you sorry you were ever born. This could jeopardize our whole operation.â
Marlene swallowed, âI didnât, I swear.â
âOk but Iâm warning you if I find out otherwise youâll be sorry, and stay away from Dunn from now on, understand?â
âYes ok.â The line went dead. Marlene was shaking as she poured herself a drink. God this was a nightmare.â
Two days later Marlene was jogging around the golf course. A figure stood in the shadow of the trees watching her. As she approached, the figure came out from the trees carrying a golf club. Marlene jumped and nearly fell. âMy God, you made me jump. What are you doing?â
The person smiled, âJust taking a stroll – actually Iâm glad I saw you – I have something for you.â
âOh – what?â
âThis,â said the voice as they lifted the golf club and brought it down hard on the side of Marleneâs head. She died instantly. The figure looked at her and kicked her with their toe, âThat will teach you to cross me, you bitch; I know you killed Charlotte Dunn but you canât do any more harm to my organisation now.â With that the figure threw down the golf club and strolled casually back to their car, got in and drove away.
Jane looked up as Sarah put the phone down and said, âAnother body just turned up at the health club gov.â
Jane and Maureen stared at her, âWho is it?â asked Jane.
Sarah shrugged, âDonât know – they just said a body has been found on the golf course.â
âRight letâs go.â Jane and Maureen went out to the car park, âWhat the hell is going on up there, why are they killing off their members?â
âDonât know gov, not the sort of place I would want to be a member of though,â said Maureen.
Maureen and Jane walked over to where they could see all the activity; Jim Roche straightened as they approached. âWell, what have we got doc?â Jane asked.
âYoung woman, killed by a blow to the head and the weapon was a number seven iron golf club. Found it lying by the body.â
Jane and Maureen looked at the body, âMarlene Smith,â they said in unison. Maureen looked at Jane. âBut this doesnât make any sense – sheâs our prime suspect.â
Jane nodded, âI know, ok – get that club to the lab. I want fingerprints, hair samples – anything and everything.â Jane stood looking at the body of Marlene Smith. If she killed Charlotte Dunn then who the hell killed her, and more to the point, why? âAny witnesses?â
âNot really, mam. A couple of women were playing golf but they didnât see anything much, although one of them thought she saw a figure in the trees but canât be sure and canât give a description,â said the young uniform police officer.
âOk, where are they?â
âWent back to the clubhouse quite shaken by it all. They found her, though it was a pile of old clothes someone had dumped until they got nearer.â
âRight, give the names to Sergeant Phipps will you, and weâll go and interview them.â
Maureen took down the names of the women and they set off for the clubhouse. They found the women in the coffee shop drinking coffee. Jane and Maureen introduced themselves and sat down in the vacant chairs. Elizabeth Jones and Jean Woodville looked at the officers, âWe canât tell you anything Officer – all we saw was what we thought was a pile of clothes until we got closer,â said Jean. Both women were in their late forties, early fifties; Jean Woodville was a striking woman with dark auburn hair peppered with grey, Elizabeth Jones had a pleasant friendly face and what had once been jet black hair but was now nearly white.
âSo you didnât see anyone at all?â asked Jane
âWell, I thought I saw someone in the trees but it could have been a trick of the light,â said Elizabeth.
âI see, but you madam, you didnât see anyone.â
Jean shook her head, âNo Iâm sorry I didnât. I donât know what this club is coming to, thatâs two murdered in as many weeks – Iâm seriously thinking of cancelling my membership.â Elizabeth nodded in agreement, âMe too, I donât feel safe anymore.â
âRight ladies, you can go now if you wish. We may want to speak to you again so please leave your addresses with the Officer on the door and thank you for your time.â The two women grabbed their bags and all but ran out of the coffee shop.
        Maureen felt sorry for the young manager of the club. Mark Dawson looked visibly worse than the last time they had seen him; he kept pushing his hand through his hair and shaking his head as if he couldnât quite believe what was happening. âYou have to find whoever is doing this Inspector. People are just not going to come here anymore. Iâve already had four people cancel their membership since the last murder and now this – itâs a nightmare.â
âWhat can you tell me, if anything, about the victim sir?â
Mark Dawson stared at her, âThe same as the last one, Inspector. I never met her, I have no idea about who she is or anything else about her.â
âI see, well, Iâll have to interview the staff sir, but if you do hear anything please let me know.â After speaking to the staff on duty they returned to the station.
âWell, that wasnât very helpful was it?â said Maureen. âNo-one even saw her this morning, and they knew even less about her than they did Charlotte Dunn.â
âRight – letâs check her house out, whatâs the address again?â
Maureen consulted her notes, âRiver View estate.â
Jane looked at her. âI live on River View, whereabouts?â
âUm, Khartoum Drive, where do they come up with these names? Khartoum. Thatâs in India isnât it?â
Sarah looked at her, âI donât know Sarge but I think there was a battle there. I remember something about it in history at school.â
âWhen you two have finished with the history lesson, can we please get on?â
âSorry gov. Anyway, is it anywhere near you, this street?â
âYes, about two streets away. I pass it to get to my place. Itâs nice – modest enough. Come on, letâs see what we can find out.â
Standing outside no 5 Khartoum Drive, Jane and Maureen were surprised to see it was in fact a flat. âWell, not bad,â said Maureen.
They found the interior modestly but tastefully decorated, the carpets and furniture were obviously expensive but not flashy, clearly, Marlene was a woman of discerning taste. They searched through cupboards and drawers, and suddenly Maureen said, âLook at this gov.â She held up a passport and some papers which Jane couldnât make out, she took the passport and papers from Maureen and looked at them.
âWell, itâs just her passport and whatâs this?â
âBirth certificate – itâs not what they are but the name on them.â
Jane looked at them; the passport was a South African one. âGood lord, how on earth do you pronounce that? Marieke De Kuyper.â She pronounced it Marie ke de Coyper. âWho the hell is that?â
âItâs her; look at the photo. And the birth certificate is in the same name.â
Jane looked at the photo in the passport, then at the birth certificate, âBut if this is her real name why did she call herself Marlene Smith, it doesnât make any sense.â
Maureen shrugged, âSearch me, maybe she thought it was easier to say.â
âYes and her accent wasnât so pronounced so I guess she could get away with it, but itâs odd all the same.â
âIt also ties up with Churchillâs assessment that she was South African. That name sounds Dutch.â
âOk, what else have we got? Any bank statements?â
âYes – havenât had a good look but she seems to have kept all her important papers in this drawer.â
They took the statements over to the table and started to go through them. Suddenly Jane said, âWell the bank statements are in the same Dutch name,â and then she said quickly, âGot it – this is what I was looking for.â
âWhat have you got gov?â
âLarge payments, just like Charlotteâs and look at the name of the payer. Itâs the same – itâs that Van Der Heuvel person. She must have been mixed up with whatever was going on.â
âSo do you think the health clubâs involved?â
âI donât know.â The rest of the flat was neat and tidy but threw up just one more thing of interest – a short dark curly wig.
They returned to the station. Jane went down to speak to Jim Roche, âAnything new found in the autopsy, Jim?â
âNo, just as I said she died from a single blow on the head from the golf club, and before you ask there are no fingerprints. The murderer wore gloves or wiped it clean. Iâm more inclined to the gloves myself.â
âYes I agree – thwacked her, threw down the club and ran, but who and why? Damn it, she was my prime suspect for the other murder, it doesnât make sense.â
Jim shrugged, âSorry canât help you there, thatâs your department I just do the âhowâ.â
Jane smiled at him, âThanks doc.â
Back in her office, Maureen asked, âAnything new gov?â
Jane shook her head, âNo, she died from a single blow to the head from that club, no prints.â
âSo where do we go from here?â
âChurchillâs going under cover in that health club.â
Sarah stared at her, âMe gov? Undercover?â
âYes, Churchill. You undercover. Neither of us can go, Â they know us but they donât know you.â
âBut I donât know anything about being a fitness trainer.â
âYouâre not going as a fitness trainer, youâre going as a member and I want you to get friendly with both trainers and members. Just chat to people and find out what you can, ok?â
âOh great, this is real police work, not just paperwork.â Churchill was clearly excited about the prospect.
Maureen looked at her excited face and said, âYes well, you just be careful Churchill, and the first sign of trouble you get the hell out of there, understand?â
âYou think it could be dangerous Sarge?â
Before Maureen could answer Jane said, âNo Churchill, it wonât be dangerous but donât lose sight of the fact that there have been two murders we donât want a third and definitely not you, so be chatty but keep it general, ok?â
âOk gov.â
âBut how are you going to get her in gov? Thatâs a very expensive club.â
âIâm going to have a chat with the manager. Heâs not involved I know it, so heâll sign her up, Iâm sure. Also I can get him to keep an eye on things.â
The manager did not disappoint her; he was only too happy to have Sarah go in undercover to try to find out anything. He just wanted this mess cleared up so he could get back to normal. Two days later Churchill was a member of the Bayview health club and she found that she was actually enjoying working out – albeit gently – and her fitness instructor, Tracy, had given her some helpful tips on healthy eating. She was already beginning to feel the benefits of it. Sheâd asked Tracy about Charlotte and Marlene but she couldnât tell her much, âYes I knew them, but only by sight really, I never really spoke to either of them – just to say hello, that sort of thing.â
âPretty creepy though drowning in the Jacuzzi, at least the other one died somewhere else.â
Tracy smiled, âDonât worry the Jacuzzi has been well and truly cleaned out I assure you.â
âYes, I guess so.â Later on, in the steam room and Jacuzzi, Sarah chatted to several people but no one knew anything about either murder and the consensus of opinion was that they were better off without Charlotte Dunn.
A week later, back at the station, she was pleasantly surprised when both Jane and Maureen told her that not only was she looking great but she seemed to have lost weight, âWell, at least all that hard workâs not going to waste then,â she quipped.
âCertainly not nor the diet,â said Maureen. âHow are you getting on with everyone?â
âOk, in fact, Iâve made some quite nice friends. I went out for a drink with some of them the other night – not sure how theyâll take it when they find out Iâm a copper though.â
âOh, theyâll be ok. After all, how can we find the killer if we donât go undercover? People talk more freely when they think itâs just another member but to us, they wouldnât say anything,â said Maureen.
âYes I guess, so I havenât found out much, except that Charlotte wasnât liked, and as for Marlene no one really seems to know much about her. Mind you, one thing I did hear was that Charlotte took a fancy to Marco which turned out to be a fiasco.â
Jane looked at her, âOh why?â
Sarah giggled, âWell heâs about as interesting as watching paint dry.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âWell, he has two topics of conversation and one of them is football. The other you donât want to know gov.â
âOh,â groaned Maureen, âLet me guess, sex, right?â
 Sarah nodded, âYep, we bumped into him in the pub and he was boring as hell, and apparently it didnât last five minutes with Charlotte, she dumped him after a few dates.â
âYou see Phipps? Never judge a book by its cover.â
âOh, you didnât fancy him sarge?â Sarah asked.
Maureen bristled, âWell no, not really just thought he was quite good looking thatâs all.â
Sarah and Jane exchanged glances and grinned, âWell heâs best avoided, believe me.â Sarah told her.
* Chapter Eight coming shortly!
To purchase the whole book now click below: