Deep Waters by Kate Charles

pathologist found and the coroner decided, the media would make their own judgements and freely pass them on to the avid public. If they decided to spin it against Jodee and Chazz and make them the scapegoats, there was so much they could accomplish with innuendo, falling well short of libel but equally damaging. They could suggest—subtly, of course—that Muffin had been neglected, underfed or overfed, allowed to sleep on her stomach, swaddled in too many blankets. Or, perhaps more likely, they could go all out with sympathy for the celebrity parents, so cruelly deprived of their beloved baby.
    There was one consolation, Mark reflected. Life for Jodee and Chazz would never be the same again, but the media would soon move on to the next sensation. Maybe Karma would meet a new—preferably unsuitable—man, or some fresh face would win ‘Junior Idol’. In any case, the public’s appetite for celebrity gossip would shortly find something else to feast on.
    Neville’s involvement with the case could be fairly short-lived —perhaps not much more than twenty-four hours or so. Once the post-mortem had been performed, and the paperwork completed, he could sign off on it and even resume his honeymoon.
    But would he, Mark, be able to walk away quite so quickly? He wasn’t sure.
    Chazz’s mother was at the kitchen table, Mark discovered, nursing a cup of coffee. She looked up as Mark came in.
    ‘Coffee’s there, if you want.’ She gestured towards a jar of instant granules.
    ‘I’m going to make some tea,’ he said, brandishing the empty pot.
    ‘Whatever.’
    Mark hadn’t quite decided what to make of Brenda Betts. On the whole, he was inclined to view her as a good thing. Although she was clearly grieving herself, she was easier to deal with than the taciturn Chazz or the hysterical Jodee.
    The phone rang. Brenda didn’t even raise her head from her coffee.
    ‘You’re not…?’
    ‘Press,’ Brenda stated. ‘Lilith said not to answer.’
    Mark was startled. ‘Lilith Noone! ’
    ‘She was here earlier.’
    ‘You let her in?’ he asked incredulously.
    Brenda raised the ghost of a smug smile. ‘Lilith is a friend of the family.’
    ‘Friend’ was not a word Mark would ever have imagined in the same sentence as Lilith Noone’s name. She was bad news on a legendary scale.
    ‘Jodee gave her an exclusive interview. For tomorrow’s Globe .’
    Wait till Neville found out, Mark thought. He’d go ballistic. If there was one person Neville couldn’t bear, it was Lilith Noone, with her self-righteous posturing and underhand tactics. Just as well that Lilith had gone by the time they arrived. No doubt she was already labouring away on her front-page exclusive.
    The subject of Lilith was best left unexplored, he decided. The phone was still ringing. ‘Maybe it’s not the press,’ he suggested . ‘It could be family. Jodee’s parents, maybe?’
    Brenda shook her head. ‘Not likely. Jodee already spoke to her mum. She wasn’t much interested.’
    ‘Not interested?’
    The phone stopped ringing and Brenda took a gulp of coffee before replying. ‘They don’t get on. Not for years. Jodee never knew her dad. Her mum’s got a boyfriend—a “partner”, she calls him—and a couple of little kiddies herself. Jodee don’t like her mum’s boyfriend—she’s never made no secret of that.’
    ‘That’s a shame.’
    Brenda shrugged. ‘One of them things, innit? Families are funny.’
    Weren’t they just, thought Mark, nodding in agreement.
    The kettle boiled and he turned away to make the tea. ‘What about…Chazz’s dad?’ he asked. It was potentially a delicate question, but he didn’t really have much to lose. If Brenda Betts didn’t think it was appropriate, she’d probably tell him so.
    But she didn’t seem to mind. With another shrug, she said, ‘Gone. Buggered off, to put not too fine a point on it. When I was in hospital, having the twins.’
    ‘Twins?’
    ‘Chazz and his sister Di. All them