They had yet again contacted all the surviving ‘enemies’ in the journal to warn them to be vigilant; however, Agnes Moors was not at home or answering her mobile. Her daughter Natalie said that she too was unable to contact her mother, and that Agnes was so upset she had gone to visit a friend, but did not say who or when she’d be back. Jackson wanted her tracked down, as the last thing he needed was another murder to deal with.
Jackson was unsure whether Amy was still alive, on the run, or had been murdered by her father, but reckoned that if she was alive it might be worth trying to lure her out into the open. He decided to issue a press release worded to imply that Marcus Fulford had murdered his daughter, and that they were no longer looking for a suspect in her disappearance. Admittedly they had no body but it would not be the first murder inquiry to never recover its victim.
Reid had the distinct impression Jackson was also trying to bring the case to a close, and that if Amy didn’t surface, or her body wasn’t found after a month or so, he would shut the investigation down. While he didn’t want to question Jackson’s judgement, Reid worried that if the information about the poison was to surface it could be alleged that the police had deliberately misled the public. He left the station feeling depressed, and in some way appalled that without any real confirmed evidence Marcus Fulford would be named as the man who had killed his own daughter.
Once home he opened a bottle of scotch, mulling over the entire investigation, and tormented by the guilt of not contacting Deirdre. Finally he rang her mobile. She told him that Miss Jordan had informed Lena of Marcus’s death and she had been inconsolable, screaming, sobbing and suffering another panic attack. It had taken considerable time to calm her, but after a sedative they had left her alone in her bedroom to sleep. However, ten minutes later she appeared in the drawing room, started swearing and shouting and insisted on playing the piano.
Deirdre was shocked at such bizarre behaviour, but Miss Jordan maintained if it was her way of releasing the pain they should let her get on with it. Eventually the sedative kicked in and Lena was helped to her bed by Miss Jordan.
By this time Deirdre really felt her nerves could not take much more. She told Reid she was no longer willing to stay at the house and pointed out that as a Victim Support worker she was not obliged to do so in the first place, and had only offered to help him out of the kindness of her heart. Reid tried to persuade her to stay another night, but she refused and said she was leaving and that was that. Reid spoke with Marjory Jordan, who she said she could not stay overnight and that it was his responsibility to find someone to be with Lena.
Reid phoned Barbara Burrows. She was at home and had just had a hot relaxing bath, and was about to have some dinner.
‘Hello, sir, how are you?’
‘Fine, thanks. I really need your help with Mrs Fulford, Barbara.’
‘What can I do for you?’
‘She’s taken the death of her husband very badly and the Victim Support lady has had to leave and Marjory Jordan is busy so I…’
‘Need someone to sit with her?’
‘You’re a star, Barbara. I knew I could rely on you,’ he said, assuming her question was a positive answer.
She wasn’t actually that keen on going over to Lena Fulford’s as she’d hoped to have a relaxing evening, but she did have a soft spot for Reid.
‘I’m happy to be of assistance, sir, and chuffed that you asked me to help out.’
‘It should only be for a couple of days as Jackson seems intent on bringing closure to the inquiry.’
‘But surely he can’t shut the case down – won’t they still at least search for Amy’s body?’
‘Yes, that will obviously be continued. There have been many murder investigations where the victim’s remains have not been discovered for months, even years.’
‘If it’s Jackson’s decision, he should speak to Mrs Fulford and not lumber it on you.’
He sighed, knowing that would never happen, as he put down the phone. The discovery of the maroon sweater last worn by Amy was basically the lynch-pin of the investigation, proving that the girl must have returned to the flat her father was renting. No matter what angle he looked at it from, it was difficult to see who else would have placed it there if not Amy herself. He had the statement from Justine Hyde, Marcus’s girlfriend, that he had been with her from about five thirty after the football match. If Fulford had killed Amy before the football match, Reid wondered, would he have even bothered to go to the game and then straight to Justine’s flat? Reid knew that Boatly had a key to the Mayfair flat. But it had been confirmed that he was still abroad on the day Amy went missing. He wondered, had Amy’s watch simply fallen from her wrist one weekend when she was in the car rather than from her dead body?
The unanswered questions went round and round in his head, until in frustration he began to jot down each one and underline it. Another scenario he mulled over was that if Marcus had found out that his daughter was making a hit list of people she wanted to poison, was that a possible reason for a violent argument that resulted in her death?
Even in his exhaustion he forced himself to think back through all the interviews, the mass of statements taken, his trips back and forth to the house in Henley and his original meeting with Simon Boatly. He next moved on to the times he had been to Amy’s school, the meetings with Miss Polka and the headmistress, as well as his interview with the school matron. As far as he was able to ascertain, there was never any single mention of Amy showing signs of abuse by Marcus. Miss Polka had owned up to a sexual relationship with Amy, but Amy herself had never said anything about being abused by her own father – the only abuse uncovered so far was the unpleasant bullying on Amy’s Facebook page. Yet the findings at Marcus’s rented flat were construed by Jackson as confirmation that Amy was sexually abused, but there was no forensic evidence of his DNA on Amy’s underwear or bed sheets.
It was almost four in the morning, and his head was throbbing from concentrating for so many hours, along with the half bottle of scotch he’d consumed, but he refused to call it quits. When did Amy prepare the poison? When did she pre-plan the infusion of it in the brandy, the truffles and the bolognese that was originally in the deep freeze? Did it take months of preparation, and where did she learn how to break down the mushroom spores to turn the poison into liquid for the brandy? Although her biology and history essays made references to poison mushrooms, the question was, when and where did she collect the mushrooms and how did she know the exact measurements? His list of queries got longer and longer, and now, unable to question Marcus Fulford, he began to accept the conclusion, rightly or wrongly, that Amy’s murder happened on the Saturday she disappeared, and the subsequent poisoning and death of her victims was a tragic outcome of a plan that had already been set in motion.
There were only two journalists sitting in a car by the gates sipping coffee when DCI Jackson and Chief Superintendent Douglas drew up at Lena Fulford’s house the next morning. Barbara Burrows opened the front door and reported that Mrs Fulford had slept through the night without any incident, and was still dressing but should be down shortly.
They had to wait fifteen minutes before Lena came into the drawing room. She looked pale and drawn but had dressed smartly, wore makeup and her hair was swept up into a pleat. They both expressed their sympathy for the loss of her husband and said that they also now felt he was responsible for Amy’s death.
‘Did he admit it?’ she asked, barely audible.