Definitely Dead, Kate Bendelow [books like beach read TXT] 📗

Kym turned to face her, frowning at the comment. She was just about to speak when Amanda raised her hand, indicating the phone call she was having was of some importance. Connor leant over towards the office radio and turned the music down in anticipation. Everyone remained hushed, listening to Amanda’s side of the conversation with bated breath. Eventually Amanda ended the call and sat back in her chair, pushing her reading glasses up on top of her head.

‘Suicide,’ she announced succinctly.

‘Anything in it for us?’ Kym frowned. It was unusual for them to attend a suicide unless there was something particularly exceptional about the death. Otherwise, a coroner’s officer would normally attend if there was no forensic requirement.

‘Well, that was comms. They’ve made CID aware and are letting us know. I guess at the very least we’ll have to go and record the scene in view of who it is,’ Amanda replied warily.

‘Who? Spit it out, Amanda, for Christ’s sake,’ Kym snapped.

‘Celeste Warren.’

It was DI Redford who answered, he had appeared unnoticed in the doorway. He was tall and lean, his buzz-cut hair revealing enough stubble to hint at his auburn colouring. He was dressed immaculately in a tailored suit and highly polished shoes. His face did not reveal anything about the name he had just disclosed, but the stunned silence which followed, indicated to Maya that the person was someone very well known.

Chris broke the silence. Puffing his cheeks, he blew out slowly. ‘Celeste Warren? Fuckin’ hell. I didn’t even realise she was still going. I assumed she died years ago, boss.’

‘You’re not the only one. We’ve just had the exact same conversation,’ Redford nodded towards Amanda, ‘you must remember her surely?’

‘Oh yes,’ she scowled, ‘she was a nasty piece of work. I remember locking her up one day and she ripped a clump of my hair out. Vicious bitch.’

Redford nodded and addressed Kym. ‘She was found by the housekeeper. It looks like she’s jumped. I’ve spoken with the first officer on the scene, Greg Owen. He says initially it looks like she’d been pissed and fallen off the roof terrace.

‘Paramedics have confirmed life extinct and I’ve asked everyone to withdraw for now. The housekeeper was quite happy to have the day off. Apparently, there’s no love lost between them. Greg’s staying near the body until we get there. The property’s huge and is gated, so we don’t need to worry about prying eyes. He said if we shout up comms when we get there, he’ll open the electric gates for us. The housekeeper has left him the keys.’

‘No problem.’ Kym took one last glance over the duties board before turning to Maya. ‘This sounds straightforward enough, are you happy to pick it up? Get a bit more experience under your belt. If there is any cause for concern when you get to the scene, ring me. Otherwise, if you’re happy it’s suicide, photograph everything and bag her up ready for the mortuary, okay?’

DI Redford turned to Maya. ‘We’re a bit thin on the ground this morning, but I’ve got a DS covering who has transferred over from Cedar Lane. I’ll ask him to meet you there.’ He raised his hand in thanks towards Kym. ‘Keep me posted.’

‘So, tell me about her,’ Maya said, turning to Amanda and Chris, ‘what’s she known for?’

Connor pulled up his chair eagerly and even Kym perched on the edge of Nicola’s desk ready to hear all about the infamous Celeste Warren.

Chris began, ‘I first heard of her years ago when we did a raid on a brothel. She was the madam in charge and ran that place with an iron fist. I’ve done raids on brothels before…’

‘I bet, you dirty bastard.’ Elaine sniggered, but she was quickly hushed by Nicola.

‘But this was different,’ Chris continued. ‘The women, well, girls that worked there actually seemed relieved to see the cops. It was strongly suspected that Celeste had been people trafficking before it even became a “thing”. Anyway, a couple of the girls were underage so obviously they threw the book at her. Don’t ask me how, but she managed to wriggle out of most charges and avoided a potentially long prison sentence.’

‘It was partly due to the fact none of the victims would testify against her,’ Amanda said. ‘They were too scared. We also suspected at the time that the prosecutor was a regular punter of hers, so didn’t put as much effort into getting her sent down as he should have done.’

Amanda shook her head sadly. ‘Of all the people I’ve dealt with during my career, she’s been one of the worst. She used to be a looker back in the day. One of those women who are so beautiful, people just gravitate towards them. Anyway, she used to do the usual pimps’ trick. Befriend vulnerable teenagers – girls and boys – who were on the streets or whatever. She’d give them a place to stay and offer to look after them. Next thing you know, she had them hooked on drugs and running tricks to pay her back.

‘The money she made off those poor people over the years. She was infamous for her temper and was well known to torture anyone who crossed her, so no one dared to come to us about her. She used to brand people. She had a diamond pendant shaped in the initial C, which she used to heat with a cigarette lighter then press into the face or neck of anyone who worked for her or just pissed her off.

‘If anyone tried to get away or refused to work for her, she’d torture them. Really sick stuff you can’t even imagine. Any proper beatings she liked to delegate to one of her “bouncers”, but she always stayed to watch. The fact she’s committed suicide is ironic, because I know of at least five young ’uns who topped themselves in desperation to get away from her.’ Amanda shook her head before she continued.

‘Not only that, but