The Woman In Blue: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 8 by Elly Griffiths Page B

And not a particularly divine one either.

Chapter 11
     
    Even without Tim and Clough, the briefing room seems full. Tanya is sitting at the front, glasses glinting. Rocky Taylor is at the back. He has his notebook open, though Nelson notices that he has neglected to take the cap off his pen. Officers from other stations take the remaining seats, most of them trying not to look excited. This is the biggest case most of them will have seen.
    Nelson runs through the investigation so far.
    ‘Chloe Jenkins left the Sanctuary at approximately eight p.m. on Wednesday 19th February.’ He points at the map. ‘A woman answering her description was seen by Michael Malone, commonly known as Cathbad, in the graveyard of St Simeon’s Church, Walsingham, at about nine o’clock. Chloe’s body was found by a dog-walker the next morning. Her body was in a ditch, about a mile outside Walsingham on a road known as the Pilgrim Route to the Slipper Chapel, the Catholic shrine. Chloe had been strangled. No sign of sexual assault. She was still in her nightclothes: white nightdress, blue dressing gown. No underwear was found. A rosary was also found in the ditch. It had hand-carved wooden beads and a silver cross. We’ve followed it up and it’s a design sold both at the Walsingham Shrine shop and the Slipper Chapel. The pathologist puts the time of death at between ten o’clock and midnight on the Wednesday night. So we are looking for any sightings between eight o’clock and midnight.’
    ‘What was Chloe doing when this Malone saw her?’ The question comes from a young officer from another district. Anyone from King’s Lynn would know Cathbad.
    ‘She was standing by a gravestone. I’ve got reason to believe that she’d been cleaning it. There were traces of cleaning fluid on her fingers and cleaning equipment was found hidden in the undergrowth nearby. The grave belonged to one Doreen Westmondham, who died in 2002. It turns out that Doreen was also Chloe’s childminder when the family lived in Norfolk.’
    Tanya says, ‘So Chloe was visiting the grave of her old nanny? That’s very sad.’
    ‘I don’t think she was a nanny as much as an occasional babysitter,’ says Nelson, ‘but I want to find out more about her. Heathfield and Clough are interviewing Doreen’s son Larry now. He’s the vicar at St Simeon’s. Chloe was making good progress at the Sanctuary, according to her doctor, Fiona McAllister. I’ve also spoken to her personal therapist Holly Barrett, and Heathfield and I have interviewed her closest friends amongst the other guests.’
    ‘Are they models?’ asks Rocky hopefully.
    ‘No, they’re a middle-aged couple. A retired teacher and a retired vicar. Fuller . . .’ He turns to Tanya, who sits up even straighter. ‘Chloe was doing an online course. Something to do with angels. Can you follow it up? Find out a bit more about it?’
    ‘Yes, boss.’ Tanya sounds less than enthusiastic to be given the angel brief. Nelson decides to cheer her up. ‘But first you can go to Walsingham and co-ordinate the scene-of-the-crime search. They’re concentrating on the area where Chloe’s body was found.’
    Tanya brightens immediately. Co-ordinating is almost as good as being in charge.
    ‘Chloe had a boyfriend called Thom Novak,’ continues Nelson. ‘He’s also in rehab, in Switzerland. Heathfield spoke to him on Thursday and he seemed very shaken by Chloe’s death. He’s got an alibi for Wednesday night, but nevertheless we should keep an eye on him. I don’t need to tell you that the killer is usually someone close to the victim. Miller and Cannivan –’ he turns to two DCs from Norwich – ‘you look into Novak’s history. See if there’s anything we need to know about. If you need to speak to the family, go through DS Heathfield.’
    ‘We need to trace Chloe’s footsteps on Wednesday night,’ says Nelson. ‘I simply don’t believe that no one saw a young girl in her nightdress wandering