Bones Under The Beach Hut

'So all we can do,' said Carole grumpily, 'is to sit and wait for the next news bulletin.'

'Oh, I wouldn't say that's all we can do.'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm going to ring Philly.'

'What a great idea. See if she's got any more information.'

'I had actually thought,' said Jude with a hint of reprimand in her tone, 'of checking whether she's all right. The news about the human remains being found in the beach hut that she's only recently vacated must have been a terrible shock to her.'

'Oh yes, fine. Check that she's all right, of course,' said Carole solicitously. But her tone changed as she went on, 'Then see if she's got any more information.'

'I assume you've heard the news about Quiet Harbour,' said Jude on the phone to Philly.

'Yes. It's horrible. It makes me feel ... I don't know . . . spooked out.' The girl did sound very emotional, almost as though she were in shock.

'What, the thought that the human remains may have been under the floorboards while you were actually in the hut?'

'Not that, really, no. As I say, I haven't been inside Quiet Harbour for about a month.'

'You did say you'd been in to put down the carpet,' Jude reminded her gently. 'You said you went in there last week when you were walking the dogs.'

'Yes.' There was a silence from the other end of the line, as though Philly Rose was trying to decide what to say. 'The fact is, Jude, that wasn't true.'

'Oh?'

'I only said it because your friend Carole was kind of badgering me about it.' Jude would make a point of telling her neighbour that. Philly had accused Carole of the same thing as she had — 'badgering'.

Jude said nothing, waiting for the explanation. Which duly came. 'I haven't actually been in Quiet Harbour since Mark left. I just . . . somehow, I don't know . . . We'd been so happy there. It all seemed too ... I couldn't.'

'So you hadn't seen the piece of carpet Carole mentioned?'

'No. The fact is, I wanted Carole to take over the rental, not just because I needed the money, but also because I never wanted to see the place again. I don't take the dogs for their walk on Smalting Beach now. I try to avoid it.'

'And that was because it contained happy memories?'

'As opposed to what?'

'Quiet Harbour didn't prompt unhappy memories? You and Mark didn't have rows in there?'

'No.'

'It wasn't in there that he told you he was leaving?'

'No. Anyway, he didn't tell me he was leaving. He just left. That's what made it doubly hurtful.'

'Well, are you sure he has left you?'

'What do you mean?'

'Are you sure Mark hasn't had an accident? If he didn't discuss leaving you, perhaps you should report him as a missing person?'

'I know he walked out on me.'

The words were said with such pained certainty that Jude didn't attempt to seek further explanation. Philly Rose must have had reasons to know that she had been dumped by Mark Dennis.

'I suppose you should prepare yourself, Philly,' Jude suggested tentatively, 'for the possibility that the police will want to talk to you.'

'They have already.'

'Oh?'

'Last night. Obviously they came to me as the person who was renting Quiet Harbour.'

'So they didn't know you'd handed it over to Carole?'

'No. And I didn't tell them.'

'Why not?'

'Look, I don't particularly like Kelvin Southwest — or indeed the little games he plays — but I'm not about to get him into trouble with his employers.'

'You mean Fether District Council didn't know about the change of rental?'

'I'm sure they didn't. It's just a little deal he set up privately.'

'Right. But the police are sure to speak to Kelvin Southwest, aren't they? Since he's in charge of all the beach huts. He's bound to tell them about the handover to Carole, isn't he?'

'Not if he can help it. He called me yesterday evening before the police arrived and swore me to secrecy about the arrangement.' Jude looked across her cluttered sitting room to her neighbour, grateful that Carole couldn't hear Philly's end of the conversation. It would have started up again all her anxieties about the legality of her using the beach hut.

'And did you get much information out of the police, Philly?'

'They were doing the questioning, not me.'

'I know that. I just wondered if they let slip anything of interest.'

'What kind of thing?'

'Well, whether they had any suspicion as to the identity of the human remains that were found, whether the remains were of a male or female, how long they'd been there, that kind of thing.'

'If they did have that sort of information, they certainly didn't share it with me.'

Jude thought it had been too much to hope for. 'By the way,' she said, 'do you know if Smalting Beach is open to the public again? They can't keep the whole area as a crime scene for long, can they?'

'No, it is open. When I was walking the dogs this morning I met someone who'd been down there. She said the row of twelve beach huts including Quiet Harbour is cordoned off, but the rest of the beach is open.'

'And will no doubt, as the day goes on, gather its share of snooping locals, indulging their curiosity.'

'Yes.' Apparently that idea was repellent to the young woman. She seemed to shudder as she spoke.

'Are you all right, Philly?'

'Well, as you know, I wasn't feeling great even before all this. And Smalting is such a gossipy area. With what's happened now . . .' She sounded perilously close to tears.

'Would you like me to come round? I could do you a massage or—'

'No. Thanks. It's sweet of you, Jude, but I'll be fine.'

Philly Rose sounded far from fine, however. And after their conversation finished, Jude had the feeling that the discovery beneath Quiet Harbour had stirred some very deep dread in the girl.

Kelvin Southwest's attempts to cover up the arrangement he had made about passing on the rental of the beach hut had clearly been unsuccessful, because within the hour Carole had had a call from the police. They understood she had been the first person to find the charred floorboards in Quiet Harbour and they would be at High Tor shortly to talk to her about exactly what she'd seen.

There were two of them, a Detective Sergeant in very dressed-down plain clothes and a uniformed WPC. The woman didn't say much, and Carole wondered whether she was just there as some kind of regulation chaperone to her senior colleague. Or maybe to provide a compassionate touch should their interviewee become hysterical.

Though Carole was far from hysterical. She felt very controlled as she recounted what she had found on the Tuesday when she opened up Quiet Harbour. She told the Detective Sergeant about her conversation with Philly Rose in the Crown and Anchor, and about her dealings with Kelvin Southwest. As she completed each section of her narrative, she waited for the Detective Sergeant to volunteer some comment or let slip some vital piece of information. But he was a pro. Each time he just finished making a note of her last answer and moved on to his next enquiry.

Eventually, as he seemed to be winding up the interview, Carole had to resort to direct questioning.

'So do you know yet how long the human remains had been under the beach hut? And indeed whether they are the remains of a man or a woman?'

'I can assure you, Mrs Seddon, that when it is appropriate for such information to be released to the general public, you will hear about it in the news media.'

'But I just wondered whether—'

'I am sure a lot of people — particularly in the Smalting area — are wondering a great deal about what's just happened. I am sure the coffee mornings of Fethering are busy with gossip and speculation. But I would remind you, Mrs Seddon, that when an official police investigation is under way, we are not in the habit of reporting on its progress to anyone who happens to be interested.'