LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

own. I watched her face as she did so. Not giving much away.

      ‘When did you last see Violet?’ I asked.

      Anna blinked a couple of times and looked to the ceiling. ‘The day before yesterday,’ she said. ‘I stayed late and I saw her at the start of her shift.’

      ‘And how was she?’

      Anna shook her head and frowned. ‘Not that I’d necessarily notice, because I didn’t spend long talking to her, but she seemed fine.’

      ‘Could you talk us through this morning? Were you the first to arrive?’

      ‘I got here at about eight. Daniel had come in earlier and fed the pigs. Daniel Twigg. I think he’d messed up the amounts though, because they’d left loads. Maybe it was because he wasn’t feeling well – he’s gone home ill. I didn’t realise anything was wrong at first. Violet’s car’s parked round the side so I didn’t see it.’ Anna pushed her hair back behind her ears. ‘I got the pigs killed. Then cleaned up their pen. And the lorry arrived to take the Category 2 waste away – that’s the animals’ innards and other bits we can’t use – to be rendered, and when it went round the side, I noticed Violet’s car. It’s not normally parked that far round, so I hadn’t seen it at first. Anyway, I looked for her everywhere I could think, and tried her mobile but there was no answer. I phoned Esther – my partner, who Violet lodges with – and she’s not there. I phoned Violet’s parents in Sheffield but there was no answer. Then I went to check the CCTV, and when I saw it was smashed, I called you.’

      Anna was providing a lot of detail in her descriptions. That could be normal. She might have just been a very helpful person, a kind-of human Lassie dog. Or not. It was too early to tell.

      ‘The Category 2 waste …’ I said. ‘Would that have included any meat waste from yesterday or last night?’ Our assumption was that Violet was alive, but I wanted to know what had happened to those waste products.

      ‘Yes,’ Anna said. ‘Yes, it would. And from this morning. It’s all been taken away. It goes to be rendered.’

      ‘Do you have details of the company that takes it?’ I asked.

      She froze a moment. ‘Why would … Oh, okay.’ She reached into a drawer, fished out an invoice and passed it over. If she’d worked out what this could mean, she kept it to herself.

      I turned to Jai. ‘Do you mind calling them now? And checking on the searches.’

      Jai took the paper and left the room.

      When I turned back to Anna, her fists were clenched tight in her lap, knuckles shining white.

      ‘Violet was on a night shift?’ I said.

      Anna nodded rapidly. ‘Ten till two thirty. Cleaning. She has a summer job here.’

      ‘Why did she come to work in an abattoir?’

      ‘It’s strange, isn’t it? When I found out who she was, I was baffled. I did ask her and she was rather vague. I can’t say for sure, but I got the impression she wanted to come to Gritton for some other reason, and this job was an excuse.’

      ‘Okay, thank you. And had she worked her shift last night? Could you tell this morning if the cleaning had been done?’

      Anna frowned. ‘I’m not sure … We have such high standards here, it’s not as if she was mopping up blood – it’s more of an extra clean. We have what we call a “clean side” and a “dirty side”. She was on the clean side – meat only, no live animals – which is why it’s so strange that her watch turned up near the pig pen on the dirty side. She’s been given specific instructions not to go on the dirty side when she’s cleaning.’

      ‘Okay. Could you have another look – the guys will tell you where you can go. See if there’s anything to suggest she did or didn’t clean up.’

      ‘Yes, of course.’

      ‘Is there any CCTV other than the broken one? Any camera footage that would show if anyone else was here last night.’

      She shook her head. ‘Sorry, no. Not on site.’

      ‘Where were you last night?’

      ‘At home. But Esther was with me. She doesn’t live with me, but she stayed over. She can confirm I was with her.’

      ‘Violet lodges with Esther?’

      ‘Yes. Yes, she does. I helped that girl a lot, even letting her live with my girlfriend.’ Was that a hint of bitterness in her tone?

      ‘Did Violet not appreciate that help?’ I asked.

      ‘Oh yes, I’m not saying she didn’t appreciate it.’ A somewhat tight-lipped response.

      ‘Do you get along with Violet?’

      Anna swallowed. ‘She’s all right, I suppose. A good employee generally.’

      ‘Generally but not totally?’

      Anna’s eyes hardened briefly. A flash of steel. ‘Just a turn of phrase. She’s fine.’

      I paused to write in my notebook. Anna kept her face expressionless. She clearly didn’t like Violet. Could be relevant. Could be nothing. I spent half my life wanting to throttle my colleague Craig and I hadn’t murdered him yet.

      ‘How long has Violet been working here?’ I asked.

      ‘About a month. I can’t—’ Anna swung her gaze around the room as if Violet might be hiding in a corner. ‘Let me ring Esther again. Violet’s probably home by now.’

      ‘Okay, you do that,’ I said.

      Anna fished out her mobile and dialled. The phone must have been picked straight up at the other end. ‘Is she back?’ Anna’s voice was loud and sharp.

      I couldn’t hear the answer but Anna’s face dropped. She spoke into the phone. ‘No, nothing.’ There was a muffled reply, the words audible though my brain could make no sense of them, and then Anna said, ‘Oh, come on, Esther, you don’t believe that rubbish—’

      Anna frowned at the woman’s response and ended the call with a brisk, ‘Okay, bye.’

      ‘No sign of her?’ I asked.

      ‘No, I’m afraid not.’

      ‘Okay. And what rubbish does Esther not believe?’

      Anna shook her head. ‘It’s nothing. What else do you need to know?’

      My brain got there in the end with the words I’d heard. ‘Did she say something about a pale child?’

      Anna shifted papers around her desk before looking up and staring straight at me. ‘Not to cast aspersions on the people in this village, but they don’t get out enough. The Pale Child thing is all nonsense.’

      ‘Who is this Pale Child?’ I asked.

      Anna gave me a strange look. Like somebody remembering a scene from their distant childhood. When she spoke, her voice was cracked, like sun-scorched earth. ‘As I said, it’s not real. Are we done here? Because I have things I need to be getting on with. It’s bad enough you people saying I can’t kill animals today, but if I don’t make a few phone calls soon, it’ll be too late to cancel, and they’ll be turning up here. I suspect you don’t need a bunch of condemned pigs marauding around the place.’ She wasn’t in Lassie-dog mode any more.

      ‘You make your phone calls,’ I said. ‘We’ll need to take a formal statement from you later. But first, could you tell me who else could have got into the abattoir last night.’

      ‘My brother, Gary, who you just met, has keys. He’s outside looking for Violet. And Daniel Twigg – the one who over-fed the pigs earlier.’

      ‘You said he was unwell, didn’t you? What’s the matter with him?’

      ‘Said

Скачать книгу