A finer end - Deborah Crombie [91]
“And you are?” Greely continued. “I’m afraid we can’t go on just calling you miss.” His companion slipped a notebook and pen from her handbag.
“Faith.”
“We’ll have to have your surname, for the record. Unless, of course, you’d rather we had this little conversation at Police Headquarters.”
“Wills. It’s Wills.”
“And your address of record? That will be where you’re registered with social security, that sort of thing.”
When Faith had reluctantly given them her parents’ address, Greely settled back on the sofa and laced his fingers over his stomach. “There, now that we have that out of the way, Miss Wills, we’d like to talk to you about your friend Nick Carlisle. He says that on the afternoon of the day Miss Todd died, he went to her house looking for you, but you weren’t there. Is that right?”
Faith nodded warily.
“Now, that’s all very well and good, except for one small thing. No one seems to have provided a satisfactory explanation as to where you were from, say, five o’clock, until you showed up on Mr. Montfort’s front porch a bit before midnight.”
“I—I went for a walk. Up Wellhouse Lane to the top.” Faith could see the disbelief written clearly on both their faces, but she persisted. “But then I felt unwell, so I found a spot to rest. I don’t know how long I slept, but when I woke up it was dark.”
“And then?”
“I walked back. Garnet’s van was gone and the house was empty. I thought she must have been out looking for me, so I waited. But she didn’t come.”
“What made you decide to give it up?”
“I … It was late … and I was … frightened.”
“So you went to Mr. Montfort for help.” Something about the way Greely said it made it sound dirty.
“He’s my friend, and I thought he’d know what to do. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No, Miss Wills, there’s not. If that were indeed the case.” Greely bared his teeth in a smile that held no warmth.
“What do you mean?” Faith felt her face flush with anger.
“It means I think you’ve left a few things out. I think you were there when Nick came. I think the two of you got into an argument with Miss Todd, a scuffle. Perhaps you didn’t mean any real harm, but accidents happen, we all know that.”
Faith could only stare at him.
“Then, when you realized she was dead, you panicked. You helped Carlisle carry her to the van and put her in the back. Then he drove the van round the Tor, parked it, and walked back to pick up his bike.
“Oh, and then the two of you decided that you alone would go to Mr. Montfort, pretending to be hysterical with worry because Miss Todd hadn’t come home, when all the time you knew exactly where she was.” Greely rubbed his chin, then said, “Unless, of course, Montfort was in on it too.”
Faith’s hands and feet were numb with cold, her tongue stiff in her mouth. “No. That’s not true. None of that’s true. That’s crazy—”
“Did you and Carlisle confront Todd over the matter of Reverend Catesby’s accident? Or was it something else? Miss Todd was jealous of you and Carlisle, wasn’t she? Maybe you decided to put a stop to it.”
“No! I never saw Nick that day. And even if Nick was there, Nick would never hurt anyone.”
“Not even to protect you? What if you confronted Miss Todd over Reverend Catesby, and she attacked you to keep you quiet? Then Nick just happened to come along to the rescue.”
“I never spoke to Garnet! I never saw Nick!” Faith insisted.
Greely studied her, his expression suddenly sympathetic. “Do your parents know where you are, Miss Wills?”
“No.”
“Well, now, that’s a shame, isn’t it? A young girl in your condition”—his glance raked her belly—“needs her parents’ support. But perhaps they don’t approve of Mr. Carlisle, is that it?”
“I … he—It’s none of your business.”
“No? Well, my advice to you, Miss Wills, is that you might want to contact your parents. I suspect you’re going to need some legal advice. And if I were your father, I’d tell you that it’s not worth ruining