Page 74 of Worse Than Murder

‘Thank you,’ he replies, slightly unsure how to respond. ‘You said there was a shelf in the lake?’

‘It’s kind of like a big ledge before the lake drops even further below ground. Lake Windermere goes down to sixty-seven meters at its deepest point and there’s a big drop-off just a few meters out from here. If the car had been driven in at speed, I think it would have gone completely off the shelf, sunk, and it may never have been discovered. The fact it was on the shelf makes me think it was pushed in only far enough to be hidden.’

‘By someone who maybe doesn’t know the lake too well.’

‘Possibly. My team is going back in tomorrow to scan the bed of the lake to see if there’s anything else down there that might have become detached from the car. I know I shouldn’t, but I’ll let you know if we find anything.’

‘Thanks, Aaron. Where are you staying tonight?’

‘We’re booked into a hotel on the outskirts of the village.’

‘Where did you take the car?’

‘You’re always switched on, aren’t you?’ He laughs.

‘Always a detective. You said yourself your detective brain switched on.’

‘True. It’s gone to a warehouse about five miles away. It’s a secure site Cumbria Police has used before for large-scale operations.’

I ask Carl to give me and Aaron a few minutes alone. He picks up a stick and throws it for the two Woodys to chase after, then he follows them. Standing to one side, I lower my voice.

‘Are there bodies inside the car?’

‘There’s something in the back seat. Curiosity got the better of me. I smeared one of the windows and was able to get a high-powered torch on it. I’m just not sure what it is.’

‘Bones?’

He nods. ‘I think I saw a skull.’

‘Anything in the driver’s seat?’

‘No.’

‘Thanks, Aaron.’

‘Are you going all Miss Marple on me?’

‘Judging by the dirty looks Inspector Forsyth was shooting me during the recovery operation, I think I might be.’

I wink and walk away. I join Carl and we make our way through the woods back to the restaurant. All the way, I chew on my lip as I think. I have a lot of questions running around my mind and I guess I’m going to make a lot of people unhappy by asking them, but as I said to Carl earlier, all I know is how to be a detective, and I’m a bloody good one.

The majority of people who had gathered on the shore head for The Frog and Toad once the excitement of the car being lifted from the lake is over.

Sitting at a corner table, Alison and Claire are chatting. Alison is on her second vodka and tonic, Claire is disappointingly sipping at yet another apple juice. Several of the drinkers at the bar keep turning around to look at them.

‘I feel like every pair of eyes in this room is watching me, waiting for me to burst into tears,’ Alison says.

‘The atmosphere isn’t as lively as it usually is, is it?’

‘No.’

‘Even the hoo-hah about Kevin cheating on the quiz has died down. Ally, can I ask you a favour?’

‘Of course you can.’

‘I know it’s only early. I mean, I’m not even showing yet,’ she said, sticking out her flat-ish stomach. ‘But I’m trying to get all the big things sorted before I end up being a big thing. I was wondering if you’d be godmother to whatever I’ve got growing inside me.’

Alison’s face lights up. ‘Oh, Claire, seriously?’