Free The Kill by Jane Casey Page B

all that emerged was a sigh. I leapt forward to catch her as she slid to the ground but Godley was there before me, lifting her up and carrying her into the sitting room. He laid her on one of the sofas and put a hand to her neck to check her pulse. Almost as an afterthought he brushed her hair back off her face, so for the first time we could see her properly.
    There were four police officers in the room and all of us went completely still. I don’t think I was even breathing.
    High on Vanessa’s right temple was a bruise with a raised welt in the middle of it. The injury was a day or two old, so we were probably seeing it at its worst. It stood out on her pale skin like wine spilled on silk.
    Godley stepped back and looked at Julie Hammond. ‘Did you know about this?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Do you know how she got hurt?
    ‘I don’t. You’ll have to ask her.’
    ‘I will,’ Godley said, and I knew from his tone that he thought Julie Hammond was lying.
    I was fairly sure he was right.

Chapter 5
    ‘Where the hell have you been?’
    Derwent was standing at the top of the hill, watching me as I climbed towards him. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and his feet braced a mile apart. He looked at ease with himself for once, and also dishevelled.
    ‘You know where. Breaking the news to Hammond’s family,’ I said.
    ‘Is that all? What took you so long?’
    ‘Talking to the wife. Meeting the daughter.’ I checked the time. ‘We were only gone for a couple of hours.’
    ‘It felt like longer.’ Derwent was looking past me. ‘What’s wrong with him?’
    I knew who he meant without looking. Godley, who had hung back when I got out of the car because he wanted to make a phone call. ‘I don’t know.’
    I did know. I could have told him the precise moment the superintendent had checked his phone and saw the abusive message. It was right before Godley began to extricate himself – and me – from the Hammonds’ house. I’d taken a dazed Vanessa upstairs with her mother’s help and watched as Julie put her to bed, and when I came down Godley was making a move to leave, in a hurry. He had promised that one or both of us would return to talk to the family, that day or the next. He had made arrangements for a family liaison officer to stay in the house, and for two community support officers to stand outside. The press were beginning to sniff out the details of the story; it was only a matter of time before tabloid journalists and news crews found the house. He had assured Mrs Hammond that he would keep her informed, shaken hands with West and Lowry, and strode out of the house, leaving me to follow as quickly as I could. The car journey back to Richmond Park had been silent, for the most part. Godley was brooding and I was terrified he’d guess I had seen the message. I made meaningless notes on what I had seen and done at the Hammonds’ house, pretending to concentrate on what I was writing.
    I’d been hoping our return to the crime scene would distract Godley from his woes, but the phone call didn’t seem to have improved his mood. If anything the gloom was back with reinforcements. Derwent knew Godley all too well, unluckily for me.
    ‘He’s got a face like a wet weekend.’
    ‘I know.’
    ‘Did you two have a fight or something?’
    ‘No. Of course not.’ I felt myself blush and knew it made me look as if I was lying. ‘It’s nothing to do with me.’
    ‘What isn’t?’
    That thing I’m not supposed to know about. ‘Whatever’s making the boss look grumpy.’
    Derwent was staring at me. I studiously refused to look back. He would lose interest. Or Godley would reach us and Derwent would have to talk to him instead of waiting for me to crack.
    It took Godley a long time to walk up the hill to meet us, and Derwent didn’t look away for a second.
    ‘Josh, what have you got to tell me?’ The superintendent was frowning. I could see the tension in his jaw. The corners of his mouth were turned down.