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

“May we keep this for a while?” Oliver asked, pointing to the jewellery she held.

Vanessa looked at the locket.

Justin saw her hesitation. “We will keep it safe. You will have it back, we just need to keep it for the time being, especially while we are making our enquiries.”

Vanessa reluctantly handed the locket to Oliver, who carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief and slipped it into his pocket.

“What else can you tell us?” he prompted.

Vanessa sucked in a deep breath. “Geraldine told me, about a week before she disappeared, that she thought Curtis was seeing someone else.”

“Any ideas who?”

“I asked, but Geraldine said she needed to find out for definite before she said anything. I think she may have found out and possibly challenged him, and something went wrong,” Vanessa said quietly.

“But you don’t know for definite,” Justin countered.

“No, I don’t know if Geraldine found anything out.”

Justin was relieved she was prepared to admit she didn’t know something. It indicated Miss Clarkson was considerably less arrogant and judgemental than Weeks, even if she did prove a distraction he could well do without.

“Go on, Miss Clarkson,” Justin prompted when he sensed she was holding something back. “There is more, isn

’t there?”

“You need to tell us everything if we are to help you,” Oliver prompted.

“Your confidences won’t leave this room, will they Weeks?” Aaron added, his voice hardening challengingly as he looked at the magistrate.

Weeks jerked and looked at him blankly. Justin wondered if the man was even listening. He knew his colleagues felt sympathy for Miss Clarkson given the magistrate’s rudeness; it was unprofessional, pure and simple.

“Oh, no, of course not. Miss Clarkson already knows everything she tells us will be kept in the strictest confidence,” Week replied eventually.

“My sister and brother-in-law didn’t share the same bed chamber. When things started to go wrong about a year ago, Curtis moved into one of the spare rooms. He didn’t move back in,” Vanessa replied.

“They couldn’t be considered close then,” Justin sighed. “It is entirely possible he may have taken to seeing someone else.”

He didn’t expand because he knew everyone in the room understood. It didn’t bode well for either party’s commitment to the marriage if Curtis was prepared to allow such an arrangement. He would indeed be more inclined to find succour in the arms of someone else. It did indeed hint at there being deeper problems in the marriage that neither Geraldine or Curtis were prepared to deal with. Would that lead to murder, though? He wasn’t sure.

“Do you think your brother-in-law would know the other victims who have vanished of late?” Justin asked.

Vanessa looked at him blankly.

“Do you not read the broadsheets?” Oliver asked when it became clear she had no idea what he was talking about.

“I know there have been four taken so far,” Vanessa replied. “But, I don’t know if Curtis is likely to know any of them. We didn’t know him well enough to find these kinds of things out because like I said, he rarely socialised with us.”

“How long have his family been on the farm?” Angus asked. “Do any other family members live and work there?”

“The farm actually belongs to my sister,” Vanessa replied. “She received an inheritance and decided to purchase a farm with it about the same time that she met Curtis. He used to work on his family’s farm over in Kenworthy. That’s why most of us felt it was a perfect match. He could work the farm, and Geraldine could live the life she had always wanted.”

“Was it a life Curtis wanted, do you think?” Aaron asked.

“Curtis loves farming. The only time he leaves the farm is to go to market and tavern on a Thursday,” Vanessa replied honestly.

“Some people are born and bred to be farmers,” Weeks muttered.

Vanessa rarely agreed with the magistrate about anything but nodded. “There is nobody who fits the nature of a farmer more than Curtis.”