An Unhallowed Grave by Kate Ellis Read Free Book Online

cares for the object of his passion.
    This time they passed the church and turned into a small cul-de-sac of council houses. Some of the expansive front gardens were impressive: a display of colour worthy of any French Impressionist's canvas against the dull cream council stucco.
    But one of the gardens let the side down. The only flowers visible among the overgrown grass and rusty car parts were a few pioneering blooms on a pair of ageing unpruned rosebushes. Even the birds that sang so merrily in the neighbouring gardens thought this one beneath their attention. Heffernan pushed open the wooden gate and marched down the cracked concrete garden path.
    Wesley saw the greying net curtains twitch. They were being watched. Heffernan beat a tattoo on the front door, loud enough to wake the dead. They waited. He was about to knock again when the door opened.
    The woman stood in the doorway, her chubby arms folded. Wesley found it hard to guess her age. Like that of many overweight people her skin was smooth, her plump face almost baby like Her small eyes regarded the newcomers with suspicion, particularly Wesley. "We're C of E," she announced belligerently.
    "So am I, love. Police." Heffernan thrust his warrant card in her face. "Can we come in for a quick word, or do you want a reference from me vicar?"
    The woman held the door open resentfully. "I thought you were them Jehovah's Witnesses," she explained defiantly, looking Wesley up and down.
    "Sorry to disappoint you, love. I'm Detective Inspector Heffernan and this is Detective Sergeant Peterson. We'd like a word with your Joanne. Nothing to worry about: just routine."
    The woman made no comment. She led them through the cluttered hall into the sitting room. Here, as in the rest of the house, the pattern on the carpet was camouflaged by a layer of dirt. On a grubby Dralon sofa, which seemed to dominate the small room, sat two girls, aged about fifteen, scantily dressed to titillate the Steve Carstairses of this world: their midriffs were bare, their navels pierced by matching gold rings; and their skirts were short to the point of indecency. If Heffernan's daughter, Rosie, had attempted to dress like that when she was their age, he would have ordered her upstairs to put on something decent.
    "Mind if we have a word about last night, love? Nothing to worry about. Just a few questions." The two girls stared at him indifferently. "Are you Leanne Matherley, by any chance?" he asked the slimmer of the pair. Joanne Talbot bore such a resemblance to her mother that he didn't have to ask which one she was. Leanne nodded. Neither of the girls seemed particularly traumatised by the events of the previous night.
    Heffernan nodded to Wesley. He'd let him deal with these two for the moment. "Can you tell us what you were doing in the churchyard last night?" Wesley leaned forward, expecting a nervous answer. To his surprise the girls caught each other's eye and began to giggle.
    "A woman was murdered," said Heffernan. "It's nothing to laugh about. Just answer the question."
    "We were doing this ritual."
    The two policemen looked at each other. This was one the tabloids would love to get their hands on: midnight rituals in churchyards below the body of a hanging woman. They could see the headlines now.
    "What kind of ritual?"
    The girls at last had the good grace to look sheepish. What had seemed amusing at the time now looked somewhat pathetic. "It was something my gran told us about," said Leanne. "She did it when she was young. You scatter some seeds on the church path at midnight and you're supposed to see your true love. We thought it'd be a laugh, you know."
    Heffernan nodded. He did know. He'd done a lot of daft things when he was a lad in Liverpool, and he recalled some of them now with a blush.
    "So what happened? Take your time," coaxed Wesley. "I'm assuming your true loves didn't put in an appearance?"
    The girls shook their heads solemnly. "We'd done the ritual, like," Jo began.