One to Watch Page 5

  She turned her attention back to Courtney. ‘So, back to the purity pledge. That’s an American thing, isn’t it?’

  The woman narrowed her eyes and twisted the wedding band on her finger. ‘I guess.’

  ‘It’s just that I’ve never heard of it before. Can you tell me a bit about it?’

  Courtney’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh, right, yeah. Well, it originated out of the Baptist movement in Connecticut years ago – that’s where Blake’s family are from – but it’s really taking off in other states, too. It’s very popular amongst teenage girls who want to honour God and remain chaste until their wedding night.’

  ‘And they sign a contract?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Courtney. ‘The girls look so gorgeous – you should’ve seen the dress Sophie was—’

  Kay waited, content to let the woman squirm.

  ‘I mean, I guess, you did,’ said Courtney, her face crimson. She placed her fingertips against her cheeks for a moment. ‘Anyway,’ she said eventually, ‘the girls dress in white, and they and their fathers take a pledge – the girls to remain chaste, and the fathers undertake to protect their daughter’s chastity.’

  ‘The fathers swear to protect their daughters?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Kay met Carys’s gaze this time as the young detective’s head snapped up, eyes wide.

  ‘Interesting,’ she said.

  Ten

  ‘Right, pay attention.’

  The hubbub of noise dwindled at Sharp’s voice, and the team turned their attention to the front of the room as the DI paced the carpet in front of the whiteboard.

  ‘We’re twenty-four hours into this case, and we need to get cracking. Let’s start with Gavin – what has Lucas reported so far?’

  ‘His preliminary findings indicate a blunt trauma wound to the face – Lucas says the blow was hard enough to break her top teeth and splintered her face, which pierced her brain. Death was instantaneous,’ said the young police officer. ‘Lucas has been able to bring in an extra pathologist to help with the workload after that motorway crash at the weekend, and said he’s hoping to get his full report to you tomorrow.’

  ‘Good. Let me know the minute it’s through. Who’s got an update from Harriet?’

  ‘Me, guv.’ Carys stuck her pen up in the air, and then lowered her gaze to her notebook. ‘No murder weapon found at the crime scene, but whatever was used, it made one hell of a mess – she said there was blood on the nearby rhododendron leaves, and across the grass next to the body. Unfortunately, Eva Shepparton traipsed through that, and spread it back towards the slope that leads up to where the marquee is. We obviously need to ascertain whether she saw or heard anything. She stated she couldn’t remember, but hopefully sobriety will help her recall.’

  ‘Good work, Carys. Kay – did you and Barnes glean anything from Sophie’s parents?’

  ‘They had no idea Sophie had still been seeing Peter Evans, let alone sleeping with him,’ she said. She glanced at Barnes. ‘In fact, they both came across as being shocked that they didn’t know about it, didn’t they?’

  ‘Yeah, and when I was talking with Diane Whittaker, all she was going on about was that she couldn’t understand why Sophie would do that – sleep with Peter when she was about to be engaged to Josh Hamilton,’ said Barnes. ‘From a due diligence perspective, I’ve started going through Matthew Whittaker’s business accounts, and Diane mentioned that they were waiting on some sort of funding or grant to help with renovations of their house, so I’ll keep working on that.’

  ‘How was Blake Hamilton?’ said Sharp.

  ‘Unhelpful,’ said Kay. ‘More interested in getting Josh to his university in London to pick up his stuff than help find out why Sophie was murdered. His wife, Courtney, was more talkative, but seems to be oblivious to the fact we’re trying to run a murder inquiry.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘She seemed to be relieved that Josh wouldn’t be getting married any time soon. Said both of them were too young for that sort of thing – she was keen for him to travel once he finishes university, and didn’t sound like she was enamoured about the whole engagement business at all.’

  ‘You’ll speak to them again?’

  ‘Yes – tomorrow.’

  ‘Where are we on getting copies of Sophie’s school reports?’

  ‘Here,’ said Debbie West. ‘Nothing out of the ordinary. No truancy, no detentions in the past two years. Couple of awards for tennis.’ She tossed the pages back onto her desk. ‘Model pupil, by the look of it.’

  ‘What were the parents’ thoughts about Peter Evans?’

  ‘They certainly gave the impression that they felt he was beneath having a relationship with Sophie,’ said Kay. ‘Diane had no time for him at all, and they were both taken aback when I told them Sophie’s passport was found at Peter’s flat.’

  ‘All right. Keep up the good work, everyone. DCI Larch and I will be interviewing Evans again in half an hour. Anything else?’

  ‘When we spoke to Matthew Whittaker earlier, he didn’t mention the fact that he took a pledge as well,’ said Kay. ‘Apparently, his part of the deal is to protect his daughter until such time as she marries.’

  ‘Failed there, then,’ Barnes mumbled. ‘Seems she was stringing them all along.’

  ‘I was wondering though, maybe if Matthew found out Sophie was sleeping with Peter, would that be motive enough for him to harm her?’

  A hush filled the incident room, broken only when Gavin’s pen rolled across his open notebook and fell to the floor.

  Sharp rubbed his chin. ‘You think he took his pledge that seriously?’

  ‘Perhaps. I think it’s worth having another word with him.’

  ‘Do it, but tread carefully.’

  ‘Understood.’

  ‘Okay, tasks for tomorrow. Barnes and Piper – sort out another interview with Eva Shepparton. When you speak to her again, find out what she knew about Sophie’s relationship with Peter.’

  ‘Guv.’

  ‘Hunter, first thing in the morning head over and speak to the pastor, Duncan Saddleworth. Get a feel for his relationship with the parents, and find out from him whose idea it was for Sophie to take this “purity pledge”. Then take Carys with you and speak to Matthew Whittaker again – find out how seriously he was taking his end of the bargain.’

  ‘Will do.’ She tapped her pen against the side of her notebook. ‘You think maybe Sophie was having second thoughts?’

  ‘Or, she was determined to go ahead, and either Peter Evans or Matthew Whittaker didn’t like the idea.’

  Eleven

  A mustiness filled Kay’s senses the next morning as she shook out her umbrella and placed it in a cast-iron stand in the church porch, grateful for the shelter from the brief summer rain shower.

  As she straightened, she ran her eyes over the various messages pinned to the noticeboard, and reached out to lift the corners to read the calls to arms from the different groups that used the church for meetings, bell-ringing practice, and flower arranging.

  She frowned at a rectangular space at the left-hand lower corner of the noticeboard, a red and a blue tack pinned in the middle of it.

  Her eyes drifted to the collection box set on top of a narrow shelf above an old pew, and the metal loop on one side that was attached to the wooden wall of the porch by a solid chain.

  Kay placed her hand on the centuries-old latch and eased open the wooden door.

  She blinked as she pushed the door back into place and her eyes adjusted to the gloom.

  Lights hung from long cords set high into the ceiling, while spotlights picked out the altar and pulpit.

  Murmured voices carried through the large space and her gaze fell upon two older women and a man on the far side of the space. The two women held cloths and aerosol spray cans as they moved between the rows of pews, the sweet aroma of furniture polish wafting on the air.

  They fell silent at the sight of Kay.

  The man, dressed in
a plain black shirt and matching jacket and trousers, turned towards her, a white collar at his neck. He spoke to the two women, one of them giggled and nodded, and then he threaded his way through the pews.

  He swaggered towards Kay, an easy smile breaking through his fashionably trimmed beard.

  She realised he probably managed to charm all the ladies in the congregation, and smiled before holding up her warrant card as the religious man joined her, his brow creasing.

  ‘Duncan Saddleworth?’ she said, her voice echoing in the space between them.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I’m DS Kay Hunter from Kent Police,’ she said. ‘Is there somewhere we can talk?’

  ‘About?’ He ran his hand over light brown hair, his expression wary.

  ‘Sophie Whittaker.’

  He glanced over his shoulder at the two women trying their best not to stare while they worked, and back to Kay. ‘Um, okay, well I suppose we could use the vestry.’

  ‘Lead the way.’

  Saddleworth turned left and moved towards the back of the church.

  Kay raised her gaze to the gallery, the pipes from the church organ vaulting up into the shadows of the ceiling, a spotlight above the organist’s chair casting a soft yellow hue over the rows of keys and buttons.

  The lines of pews ended and as Kay passed a large stone font, the plain flagstones gave way to a thin carpet. A flight of steps behind an ornate wooden screen led up to the gallery, and then Saddleworth opened a door and held it so Kay could enter before him.

  ‘Give me a moment,’ he said as he followed her in and closed the door behind them, ‘I’ll clear one of these chairs for you.’

  As he began lifting what looked like Sunday school textbooks from a chair next to the door, Kay ran her eyes over a small desk covered in various pages from a notebook, a large bible opened three-quarters of the way through, and a small printer. An ancient computer sat to one side, its keyboard gathering dust – either from lack of use or the cleaners being banned from the room, she supposed.

  ‘Here, please – have a seat,’ said Saddleworth.

  ‘Thank you.’

  Kay lowered herself into the wooden chair, put her bag on the floor at her feet and extracted her notebook and a pen.

  She waited while Saddleworth fussed over the pages on his desk before he clipped them together, tossed them onto the open bible and sat down, his hands clasped in front of him.

  ‘Now, Detective, how can I help? I gave my statement to the police last night.’

  ‘I understand,’ said Kay. ‘As I’ll be co-managing the investigation, however, I like to speak to people myself wherever possible. What time did you arrive at the Whittakers’ house?’

  ‘Just after five o’clock,’ said Saddleworth. ‘Sophie was getting a bad case of stage fright, I think.’ He smiled benevolently. ‘Diane phoned me an hour before and said Sophie wanted to go through her lines one more time before the ceremony.’ A wistful expression crossed his face. ‘She needn’t have worried – she was perfect.’

  ‘I’ll come back to that in a moment,’ said Kay. ‘Can you tell me a bit about yourself?’ She gestured around the room. ‘How did you end up here? I can hear a trace of an American accent, can’t I?’

  Saddleworth smiled, and leaned back in his chair. ‘I was a bit of a nomad before I came here,’ he said. ‘When I graduated from Oxford, I volunteered to work abroad with a charity – I ended up in South America for a couple of years, and then ended up in Connecticut.’

  ‘How come? Seems an odd choice.’

  ‘I met some people while I was serving in Ecuador who were from Bridgeport, and their volunteering stint ended at the same time as mine, so they invited me to go back to the States with them.’ He sighed. ‘After being away from England for so long, I knew I’d have to work hard once I got back here, so I figured a short stay in the USA on the way home would give me a kind of a break first.’

  ‘How long were you there for?’

  ‘About a year.’

  ‘That’s a long holiday.’

  ‘I ended up helping out in one of the local churches. I only came back here because my visa was due to expire.’

  ‘And this was when?’

  ‘Six years ago,’ he said. ‘I came to Maidstone two years ago.’

  Kay leaned forward on the chair to try and stop her backside going numb while ignoring the ominous creak from the dilapidated furniture. ‘This “purity pledge” that Sophie took yesterday. What’s all that about? I’ve never heard of it before.’

  ‘It’s become very popular in the past fifteen to twenty years amongst the more conservative church organisations—’

  ‘Like the one you worked with in Connecticut?’

  He nodded. ‘The purity movement started in Connecticut,’ he said. ‘And grew in popularity as more and more girls chose to take a pledge. In short, a girl can be any age to take it, but it’s typically done between the ages of twelve to sixteen.’

  ‘About the time they’d start taking an interest in boys, then?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘The girl, Sophie in this case, undertakes to remain chaste until her wedding day, and to serve God. The father, Matthew in this case, makes an oath to help his daughter maintain that pledge.’

  ‘What about boys?’

  Saddleworth shook his head. ‘No. Boys aren’t required to take the oath. Upon marriage, any woman that has taken a purity pledge in her youth forgives her future husband for any indiscretions he may have committed.’

  Kay lowered her gaze and drove her pen nib into her notebook. She made herself count to ten before speaking.

  ‘Surely this “purity movement” as you call it is simply based on hysteria formed out of the notion that a girl could be damned by her God if she doesn’t take the pledge, or if she breaks it?’ said Kay, her brow furrowed. ‘It’s just a way of controlling a potentially wayward teenager, isn’t it?’

  She resisted the urge to throw her pen at Saddleworth as a patient smile formed on his lips.

  Here we go, she thought. Here comes the lecture.

  ‘Not at all,’ he said, and steepled his fingers in front of his chin. ‘As I said, the girls are never forced or coerced into taking the pledge. It’s their choice.’

  ‘How did Sophie find out about it then?’

  He dropped his hands to the table and lowered his eyes. ‘I may have mentioned it to her.’

  ‘When?’

  He shrugged, and his eyes shifted to the window. ‘Maybe about six months ago? I can’t remember exactly.’

  ‘How many times did you “mention” it to her before she chose to take the pledge?’

  He sighed, and refocused his gaze on her. ‘I didn’t force her into it,’ he said, his voice taking on a slightly defensive tone. ‘She asked what work I’d done in the States, so I told her. I explained that the church encouraged the teenage girls in the congregation to take a purity pledge. At some point, I don’t know – maybe, a couple of weeks after that – Sophie came to me and said she’d been doing some research online about it, and wanted to take the pledge. I discussed the ceremony with her parents, and we went from there.’

  ‘And that went quite a bit further than making a pledge to have no sex until she was married, didn’t it?’

  Saddleworth’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. ‘I’m sorry, what do you mean?’

  Kay flipped through her notebook. ‘Sophie’s pledge specifically stated that she’d remain chaste until she married Josh Hamilton. They got engaged immediately after she’d taken her pledge.’ She flipped the pages back into place. ‘Is it normal for a girl to name her future husband when taking her pledge?’

  Saddleworth coughed, his face turning crimson. ‘It is, er, slightly unusual.’

  ‘What was behind her including that wording?’

  ‘You’d have to ask Matthew and Blake about that.’

  ‘You mentioned Diane Whittaker phoned you and asked you to arrive early,
and you said you thought Sophie might be getting “stage fright”. Was she given the option to change her mind?’

  ‘Change her mind?’

  ‘Yes. Was she counselled in any way so she knew she could call it off?’

  He sat back in his chair, shock on his face. ‘Why on earth would she want to call it off? She and Josh were perfect together.’

  Kay narrowed her eyes. ‘Does the diocese know about these ceremonies?’

  Duncan cleared his throat. ‘Er, no.’ He fidgeted in his seat, then re-crossed his legs and picked an imaginary piece of lint off his knee. ‘Sophie’s pledge was the first.’

  ‘What about the rest of your congregation? What do they think about the idea of a purity pledge?’

  ‘They don’t know,’ he mumbled.

  ‘I beg your pardon?’

  ‘They don’t know,’ he said, his voice clearer. ‘The Hamiltons and the Whittakers were part of a group of people that preferred to worship separately to the main congregation.’ He regained some of his composure, his voice taking on an air of authority once more. ‘The purity pledge ceremony idea was restricted to that group.’

  ‘I see.’

  Kay closed her notebook and recapped her pen before dropping both into her bag and standing. She held out her hand. ‘Well, Mr Saddleworth, thank you for your time,’ she said. ‘It’s been enlightening.’

  He took her hand, and she noted his palms were noticeably warmer than when she’d first met him out in the nave.

  ‘I’ll see you out,’ he said, and scurried out from behind his desk.

  As he pushed open the doors to the church and Kay passed by him into the porch and retrieved her umbrella, she pointed at the noticeboard.

  ‘There’s a notice missing. What was that for?’

  He glanced to where she indicated, and frowned. ‘Oh. I’m not sure.’ He gave her an apologetic smile. ‘We get so many.’

  She held his gaze. ‘Think. Was it something to do with Sophie?’

  ‘I, er—’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘I put a notice up before I left to go to the Whittakers’ house yesterday,’ he said, his shoulders sagging. ‘I thought that given the interest amongst our more private members in the purity pledge, that our main congregation might be keen to get involved so I advertised a meeting to discuss it next week.’ He reached out and straightened an errant flyer above the space before turning back to Kay. ‘After what happened, I thought it would be a good idea to postpone it.’