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Chapter 4: Confessions of a liar
"Rona if Emily was sent that email then it explains why they went to the cloister, but doesn't give us any motive. I will get a search warrant to obtain the Dean's computer, but can you get the computer specialists to examine the computers and try to pull up any data she has deleted. That make help us establish a motive a possibly even the killer. I'll phone you later to find out how you are doing. Bye..." With that Shield's hung up on Rona, who quickly got back on the phone to get hold of the computer examiners. Eventually, she got hold of them and they confirmed that they were coming to the Hostel.

Rhona decided to speak to the boss of the Hostel, Marilynn Clark, a woman in her early fifties, who had owned the hostel for over 25 years. She had never married, and had trained as a teacher, but had found teaching too stressful and ended up having a mental breakdown, thus ending her teaching career. Marilynn ended up setting up the hostel, something which she hasn't looked back on. Rhona found her in the manager's office, sipping a cup of steaming hot white coffee whilst burying herself in paperwork. Tentatively Rhone approached Marilynn, who was around 5 and a half foot tall, and began to speak to her;
"Excuse me" Rhona said softly "What can you tell me about Emily Cook, the young girl who was found murdered this morning. She lived at your hostel, in room 333?"

"Ah yes police aren't you? I believe you said your name is DS Rhona Clark. In response to your question there is not much I can tell you. She kept herself to herself and seemed to be close to some religious fella, who often wore a badge which linked him to Westminster Abbey. He paid for her accommodation here did you know? He seems like a nice man, although he seems to be hiding something, well, to me anyway. Actually, a couple of days ago she seemed rather excited, saying that she had found some exciting information for the project she was working on, although I don't know what the project was about. The thing is, yesterday she seemed down, and was staring at the computer screen for about ten minutes, before she underwent a scurry of activity, deleting many of her files. She never told me why though, although I know she had problems, especially with drink and drugs..."

"Did she still take drink and drugs?" asked Rhona, expecting the woman to say yes;

"No she doesn't, or at least not that I have noticed. She seemed to be a reborn Christian. Not that I follow that belief, I am an atheist you see. I believe that if there was a God he wouldn't have let me lose my mind in the bloody classroom!" With that comment she turned back to her work, hinting to Rhona that she wanted to be left alone. Rhona obliged and quietly walked away, attempting to make sense of what Marilynn had told her....

Meanwhile, Dean had secured a search warrant and returned to the Abbey with a dozen officers and a pc analyst. The search threw up nothing, except for the discovery of Emily's gold bracelet, a gift to her from a friend, which was found in the Lady Chapel. The computer analyst also had similar luck, due tot h fact that he could only locate emails from various companies whom maintain the Abbey.
Dean began to create theories in his mind of why Emily was being blackmailed, and assumed that maybe her work on the Abbey had thrown up something, maybe a skeleton in a closet. Dean eagerly checked his watch, 6:15pm, to which Dean realised that it was time he headed home, having had a long day of frustration. Dean was preparing to pack up and go home, with the searching officers ad computer analysts having already packed up and left, when a figure approached him, looking worried…
"Excuse me, my name is Reverend Henry Croft. I'm looking for the Dean, who's normally here by 6pm, and before you say anything he is never late. Have you seen him?"
"No I haven't. I'm sure he will appear, but if he doesn't here is my card, let me know. Give him an hour or two and then let me know. By the way when are you going to be present tomorrow, as I will need to speak to you about the death of Emily Cook?"
"Okay, and I'm in at 12pm tomorrow until after Evensong, I'm locking up tomorrow you see." Said the relieved reverend.
"Okay thank-you and good night, please give me a ring if anything comes up". Dean said, excited to go home to his wife and two teenage children, but most importantly, his dinner!
****************************************************************

Meanwhile back at the Abbey, Evensong passed and there was still no sign of the Dean. Reverend Osborne, who had come up to lead Evensong in the absence of the Dean, wandered the vast hallways for any unwanted visitors, to which he found none. The wily Reverend was still troubled by Emily's death, and couldn't accept that he wasn't to blame for her death. Deep down, the Reverend was happy that she was finally something where she could be in peace.
Osborne kept walking and eventually returned to the Great North Door. He approached and knelt where he found her body. Tears began to stream form his eyes, as he began to remember the good times that he had had with Emily. He also now accepted that Emily was telling the truth about the Email, that she told him about the night of her death. He wondered if there was something else she had withheld from him.
He then became transfixed on a bloodstain on the floor, which he then touched with his fingers, hoping that some may come off. Nothing did. The more he stared at the blood, the more he began to see her face in it, and the more tears streamed down his face. Reverend Osborne began to smarten himself up, knowing that he was the last man in the Abbey, as he had requested to lock up the Abbey so that he could spend some time praying in private. The Reverend then decided to say a prayer to Emily…
"Dear God, please tell Emily that I am sorry that I failed to listen to her cries for help. I wish I had been more accepting and most importantly, more respectful towards her. Please make sure she finds her way to heaven, where she can rest in peace, and where she can find eternal happiness. Finally…"
Suddenly, a strange noise came to his attention form across the main hall, from the direction of the Lady Chapel. Reluctantly he picked himself up, dried off his eyes and walked towards the Chapel, through the elegant hall, and he heard Emily's words echo around him. Eventually he reached the Chapel, in which he noticed something unusual, an oak cross, used by Sunday school, and locked away in a cupboard, had been placed in the middle of the floor "How did I miss this" he thought. As he approached the cross, he heard the sound of feet walking across the floor and also the tell tale swoosh of an object through the air, and then everything went dark…
****************************************************************
Meanwhile, Dean was sat at his Edwardian dinner table at his home in Greenwich. He began to eat the roast beef that had been prepared by his wife, Jude, whilst his two children, Jake and Cerys also ate their dinner. However, Dean couldn't shake Emily's murder from his mind, and felt as if he had missed something. Eating some beef he began to revisit the murder seen in his mind, and then he realised something blurting it out in front of his astonished family "Of course, the floor around Emily had been cleaned, there were mop marks present. Also, the floor of the Lady Chapel had been cleaned; again similar mop marks were present. This means she was probably killed there…" It wasn't until this point he noticed his family staring at him….

Description
Chapter 4: Confessions of a liar
"Rona if Emily was sent that email then it explains why they went to the cloister, but doesn't give us any motive. I will get a search warrant to obtain the Dean's computer, but can you get the computer specialists to examine the computers and try to pull up any data she has deleted. That make help us establish a motive a possibly even the killer. I'll phone you later to find out how you are doing. Bye..." With that Shield's hung up on Rona, who quickly got back on the phone to get hold of the computer examiners. Eventually, she got hold of them and they confirmed that they were coming to the Hostel.

Rhona decided to speak to the boss of the Hostel, Marilynn Clark, a woman in her early fifties, who had owned the hostel for over 25 years. She had never married, and had trained as a teacher, but had found teaching too stressful and ended up having a mental breakdown, thus ending her teaching career. Marilynn ended up setting up the hostel, something which she hasn't looked back on. Rhona found her in the manager's office, sipping a cup of steaming hot white coffee whilst burying herself in paperwork. Tentatively Rhone approached Marilynn, who was around 5 and a half foot tall, and began to speak to her;
"Excuse me" Rhona said softly "What can you tell me about Emily Cook, the young girl who was found murdered this morning. She lived at your hostel, in room 333?"

"Ah yes police aren't you? I believe you said your name is DS Rhona Clark. In response to your question there is not much I can tell you. She kept herself to herself and seemed to be close to some religious fella, who often wore a badge which linked him to Westminster Abbey. He paid for her accommodation here did you know? He seems like a nice man, although he seems to be hiding something, well, to me anyway. Actually, a couple of days ago she seemed rather excited, saying that she had found some exciting information for the project she was working on, although I don't know what the project was about. The thing is, yesterday she seemed down, and was staring at the computer screen for about ten minutes, before she underwent a scurry of activity, deleting many of her files. She never told me why though, although I know she had problems, especially with drink and drugs..."

"Did she still take drink and drugs?" asked Rhona, expecting the woman to say yes;

"No she doesn't, or at least not that I have noticed. She seemed to be a reborn Christian. Not that I follow that belief, I am an atheist you see. I believe that if there was a God he wouldn't have let me lose my mind in the bloody classroom!" With that comment she turned back to her work, hinting to Rhona that she wanted to be left alone. Rhona obliged and quietly walked away, attempting to make sense of what Marilynn had told her....

Meanwhile, Dean had secured a search warrant and returned to the Abbey with a dozen officers and a pc analyst. The search threw up nothing, except for the discovery of Emily's gold bracelet, a gift to her from a friend, which was found in the Lady Chapel. The computer analyst also had similar luck, due tot h fact that he could only locate emails from various companies whom maintain the Abbey.
Dean began to create theories in his mind of why Emily was being blackmailed, and assumed that maybe her work on the Abbey had thrown up something, maybe a skeleton in a closet. Dean eagerly checked his watch, 6:15pm, to which Dean realised that it was time he headed home, having had a long day of frustration. Dean was preparing to pack up and go home, with the searching officers ad computer analysts having already packed up and left, when a figure approached him, looking worried…
"Excuse me, my name is Reverend Henry Croft. I'm looking for the Dean, who's normally here by 6pm, and before you say anything he is never late. Have you seen him?"
"No I haven't. I'm sure he will appear, but if he doesn't here is my card, let me know. Give him an hour or two and then let me know. By the way when are you going to be present tomorrow, as I will need to speak to you about the death of Emily Cook?"
"Okay, and I'm in at 12pm tomorrow until after Evensong, I'm locking up tomorrow you see." Said the relieved reverend.
"Okay thank-you and good night, please give me a ring if anything comes up". Dean said, excited to go home to his wife and two teenage children, but most importantly, his dinner!
****************************************************************

Meanwhile back at the Abbey, Evensong passed and there was still no sign of the Dean. Reverend Osborne, who had come up to lead Evensong in the absence of the Dean, wandered the vast hallways for any unwanted visitors, to which he found none. The wily Reverend was still troubled by Emily's death, and couldn't accept that he wasn't to blame for her death. Deep down, the Reverend was happy that she was finally something where she could be in peace.
Osborne kept walking and eventually returned to the Great North Door. He approached and knelt where he found her body. Tears began to stream form his eyes, as he began to remember the good times that he had had with Emily. He also now accepted that Emily was telling the truth about the Email, that she told him about the night of her death. He wondered if there was something else she had withheld from him.
He then became transfixed on a bloodstain on the floor, which he then touched with his fingers, hoping that some may come off. Nothing did. The more he stared at the blood, the more he began to see her face in it, and the more tears streamed down his face. Reverend Osborne began to smarten himself up, knowing that he was the last man in the Abbey, as he had requested to lock up the Abbey so that he could spend some time praying in private. The Reverend then decided to say a prayer to Emily…
"Dear God, please tell Emily that I am sorry that I failed to listen to her cries for help. I wish I had been more accepting and most importantly, more respectful towards her. Please make sure she finds her way to heaven, where she can rest in peace, and where she can find eternal happiness. Finally…"
Suddenly, a strange noise came to his attention form across the main hall, from the direction of the Lady Chapel. Reluctantly he picked himself up, dried off his eyes and walked towards the Chapel, through the elegant hall, and he heard Emily's words echo around him. Eventually he reached the Chapel, in which he noticed something unusual, an oak cross, used by Sunday school, and locked away in a cupboard, had been placed in the middle of the floor "How did I miss this" he thought. As he approached the cross, he heard the sound of feet walking across the floor and also the tell tale swoosh of an object through the air, and then everything went dark…
****************************************************************
Meanwhile, Dean was sat at his Edwardian dinner table at his home in Greenwich. He began to eat the roast beef that had been prepared by his wife, Jude, whilst his two children, Jake and Cerys also ate their dinner. However, Dean couldn't shake Emily's murder from his mind, and felt as if he had missed something. Eating some beef he began to revisit the murder seen in his mind, and then he realised something blurting it out in front of his astonished family "Of course, the floor around Emily had been cleaned, there were mop marks present. Also, the floor of the Lady Chapel had been cleaned; again similar mop marks were present. This means she was probably killed there…" It wasn't until this point he noticed his family staring at him….