Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

It was obvious to anyone with eyes in their heads that Weeks truly didn’t like the rather intelligent young woman who had done little more than challenge him to do his job. Angus knew he wasn’t alone in questioning why Weeks didn’t like the woman’s questions. If he was doing his job properly, and to the best of his abilities, he should have no problem with answering any questions Miss Clarkson put forward, especially given it was a member of her family who had disappeared. He knew Justin felt the same given how swiftly he had repositioned himself between the warring pair to act as a physical barrier before verbal insults began.

“You have to know my brother-in-law. I know for a fact that Curtis only ever goes into town on market days and spends most of the afternoons after market in the tavern. It is a weekly ritual he has done since the day he became connected to our family,” Vanessa replied.

“What’s so odd now then?” Justin asked. “Why would you believe he has killed her?”

“It wasn’t market day and he went into the pawn shop. I waited outside until he had gone and then went in and spoke to the shop keeper. My brother-in-law had pawned this. It was my sister’s prized possession, and something she wore daily. There is no earthly possibility she would ever sell it because it belonged to our mother. It has a lot of sentimental value and is something she could never bring herself to even take off.”

“But you have it, so she must have taken it off,” Justin challenged.

“Yes, I know,” Vanessa replied. “But she wouldn’t do so willingly. She has worn this every day since our mother gave it to her nearly four years ago. It is why it looks so old and worn. My sister never took it off. It has to have been taken off her for some reason, and only by her husband.”

“I can see your reasoning,” Justin replied thoughtfully.

“What else?” Oliver prompted the young woman who had now engaged even the stalwart reticent: Justin.

“Like I have said, I was close to my sister. We spoke daily, even though Curtis didn’t like it and often interrupted us to remind her how much work there was to do on the farm. To begin with, their marriage was fine. Geraldine seemed content. Everyone was pleased to see her settled and in a happy relationship. The first year, everything was fine. In the second year, though, cracks started to appear. Geraldine seemed to retreat into herself whenever he was nearby and was almost wary of him. Then she started to make noises about being unhappy. The sparkle disappeared from her eyes and she told me once or twice she regretted marrying him. It wasn’t the farm life she objected to. We have grown up in the country and farming was something she was adamant she wanted to do. It was her marriage she was unhappy with.”

“Once the newness had worn off and the stark reality of having to share her life with someone else began to strike, your sister realised it wasn’t all that great,” Justin snorted, fully appreciating her sentiments.

Another good reason never to marry, he thought with relish, and swiftly blotted out the nagging voice that prompted him to consider why he should need to reiterate his decision not to marry now, in the magistrate’s study, whilst sitting right beside someone so completely marriageable.

“It isn’t just that. She made noises that Curtis wasn’t who she thought he was. I couldn’t understand it at first, and like you, thought it was the reality of life on a farm, and her struggling to get used to married life that was the problem. Then, several weeks ago she began to look nervous. She said quite firmly to me that she couldn’t stand life in the house with Curtis a moment longer, that he was stifling her and trying to tell her what to do all the time. Curtis had taken to criticising her for everything she did. My sister paints, but he had even tried to stop her doing that and had attempted to ban her from going into town to purchase more supplies for her artwork. She adamantly refused to stop. She told me it caused great discord between them.”

“Did he ever hurt her?” Justin demanded.

“She didn’t tell me,” Vanessa replied.

“Would she have told you if he had?” Justin asked.

“I would like to think she would, but I don’t know,” Vanessa said honestly.

Justin nodded. “Did she do as he asked and stopped painting, even for a little while?”

“No. She told him it was none of his business and he wasn’t going to control her that much. I think it was my connection to her that stopped him from going any further than making her life difficult. Who knows what he is capable of?”

“I understand you do not have a very good relationship with your brother-in-law,” Angus interrupted.

Angus knew from the honesty in her eyes when she looked at him that she was telling him the truth. She was almost painfully honest and, while that was a good thing for the Star Elite, it would put her in considerable danger if Curtis had murdered his wife.

“To begin with everyone was pleased she had made a good match,” Vanessa began. “Curtis was charming, if a little gruff at times. My father liked him too. Neither of us considered questioning his reluctance to join us for social functions given his family farm and the responsibilities that come with it. While we are going out, he is heading off to bed, so he can be up at dawn to milk the cows. It is a different lifestyle to other people’s and we understood we needed to accept that. However, as time went on and we found several visits to the farm actively blocked by Curtis, we realised there was a problem.”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean ‘actively blocked’?” Justin interrupted.

“Both my father and I called at the farm, together and individually, only for Curtis to tell us Geraldine was not around or was busy with chores out in the fields or something. Neither of us saw fit to question him. When we mentioned our calling upon her to Geraldine, she looked puzzled and told us quite categorically that she had been in the farm house the entire time. Curtis had lied to stop us seeing her,” Vanessa replied.

“You suspect your brother-in-law might have had something to do with her disappearance because of this?”

“It isn’t like Geraldine to disappear like this.” Vanessa’s voice broke as she spoke when the now horrifyingly familiar grief began to settle over her. It was so heavy it was almost suffocating. So much so, she struggled for breath for a moment.

“Why? I mean, if they were unhappy why kill her now, especially with all these kidnappings going on? It just doesn’t make sense,” Weeks snorted disparagingly.

“Because any killer could use the kidnaps to blame someone else for their crime,” Aaron retorted firmly. “It won’t do to discount any possibility until you have proof otherwise.”

Weeks looked about the group, as though silently seeking support, but found none in the implacable faces of the men from the Star Elite. Together they made it clear that Weeks was in the wrong, and Weeks, it appeared, didn’t like it one bit.

CHAPTER FIVE

Justin was suddenly glad he and his colleagues had decided to stay in the local tavern. He suspected the magistrate would throw them out on their ears for defying him if he could. Still, they were there to do a job, not make social connections with the man. It was inevitable they were going to step on many toes in a village like this. Whether the magistrate had sent for them or not, they had to do whatever was necessary, even if it offended people.