A Friend Of The Family (A Friend Of The Family Book 1)

Book summary

In A Friend of the Family, DCI Platt is desperate to find a pattern in a string of family murders, even as his own loved ones become targets. Melanie, confined to Larksford House, starts to question her surroundings as a newcomer stirs old memories. As the community's fear grows, the lines between trust and betrayal blur, leaving Platt racing against time to uncover the killer.

Book excerpt from A Friend Of The Family

Monday, the 22nd of April.

Village of Duckton, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Two girls had blessed the house of Jake and Abby Freeman. After years of trying to conceive, their prayers had been answered.

Twelve years later, the Freeman house was abuzz with excitement at the twin girls’ coming birthday party.

Danni Freeman was outgoing, a friendly child who was made friends easily. She was a little charmer, a girl who relied on her charms and beauty to get what she wanted. Melanie Freeman, on the other hand, was quite different. Quiet and reserved, inquisitive and cunning. She was a loner who relied on nobody but herself – the other side of the coin.

When Melanie was younger, she was tested for behavioural problems. All the tests came back with one astonishing fact: little Melanie was a gifted child. She was also diagnosed with having an eidetic memory, and possibly hyperthymesia; more tests would have to be conducted when she was older.

The psychologist the Freeman’s had been referred to, Professor Samuel Hicks, had told them that her behaviour could be put down to Melanie feeling different. Hicks had seen it with many talented children who were trying to find their place in what some would consider ‘a normal world’.

This gift, or curse, meant she remembered everything.

This news came with both shock and fear as far as Abby Freeman was concerned.

Abby looked at Melanie with different eyes after that. It should have been Danni who was the gifted one, not Melanie. Danni had always been Abby’s favourite, whereas Melanie had been Daddy’s little girl.

As the years passed, Danni became more outgoing and became more and more charming. On the other hand, Melanie buried herself in books and kept herself to herself most of the time.

One day Jake bought the family a computer. He needed one for work anyway, so it made sense.

Danni had used it to boost her social media contacts. Something that Jake disproved of due to her only being twelve. But Abby encouraged it.

Melanie had been banned from the computer several times after men from the police had been over to question her regarding incidents of hacking. Now she was only allowed twenty minutes of supervised computer time.

Melanie was fascinated by this whole information network. While Danni was simply interested in who did what with who, and who ate what and where.

***

On Saturday the family had gone to Abby’s sister’s home for a small gathering. There had been food and drink, a chance to catch up. It was something the sisters liked to do once a month, a family ritual that had started years before. This time it was Ellen Newman’s turn.

Ellen was the eldest of the sisters. She was tall like the others, with dark hair and a slim figure. Her eyes were dark and held a wide gaze. Like her sisters, Ellen was attractive without being beautiful.

She had married a member of Parliament, Colin Newman. He was Minister of Health. They had been married for four years but had no children as Ellen could not conceive. But this had the effect of making Ellen and Colin’s relationship stronger – or at least that was what they told people.

The children had played hide-and-seek while the adults chatted. The women in one room while the men drank brandy and smoked cigars out in the garden.

The Newman residence was a two-story house built in the 1930s; it had a short driveway and bushes lined the front lawn. At the rear of the house was a sizeable garden with a large lawn and apple tree. A small patio sat between the home and the lawn. Between the terrace and the lush green of the grass were rows of rose bushes that bloomed in various colours.

It was Monday, the day of the girls’ birthday, and the thought of the gathering still lingered in the Freeman family’s minds. All had a fond memory of that night.

All except little Melanie.

That was when her nightmares started. When she began to mutter under her breath.

***

The birthday party had started, and all of Danni’s friends were there, but Melanie stayed in her room and read. She had no friends, not those sorts of friends anyway. Sure, there were kids at school Melanie hung out with. But she had not invited them. Melanie did not need to start a war during her birthday, so she let Danni make the day all about her.

Melanie looked over to the wall above her bookshelf. She stared at the mask that hung there. It was a copy of an old Venetian ball mask. Both She and Danni had gotten one.

Melanie’s mask was pale with dark eyes and red lips. There was a hint of red on the cheeks. It was haunting, but there was beauty about it. Danni’s mask appeared to be the same, but it wore a curious grin, where Melanie’s looked thoughtful.

Her father had told Melanie that it was called Adrasteia, and Danni’s was called Laverna. Neither Melanie nor Danni thought any more about the names, and why should they? Both girls hung their masks in their rooms like trophies.

At nine o’clock, the party ended, and both girls were in bed while Abby and Jake tidied up the chaos left behind by ten twelve-year-old girls.

‘Well, that went off without anything getting broken,’ Jake laughed.

Abby shot him a sour look. ‘They were six when that happened, and it was the Todd boy that broke the vase.’

A noise behind them caused Abby and Jake to turn to find Danni in the doorway. She was pale and shivering with fear. Abby rushed over to Danni and flung her arms around her and held her tight.

‘What is it baby, what’s wrong?’ Abby asked.

‘It’s Melanie …’ Danni said. Tears began to flow down her cheeks.

‘What … what’s wrong with your sister?’ Jake asked, concerned, his gaze shooting over to the stairwell.

‘She scares me,’ Danni said, closing her eyes as if trying to wish something terrible away.

Abby raced upstairs with Jake not far behind, furious at the thought that Melanie had played a trick on her precious little girl.

When they entered Melanie’s room, they found her sitting with her back to the door, sitting in her reading chair, and staring out of the window.

‘Melanie, what the hell is going on? Have you been playing tricks on your sister?’ Abby yelled.

Jake looked at Abby with surprise, as though she had suddenly gotten the sisters mixed up. Danni was the trickster, not Melanie.

‘Melanie, sweety, what’s up? Why are you out of bed? Come on. It’s past your bedtime,’ Jake said, stepping into the room.

Slowly Melanie turned around, the mask coving her face. ‘They are going to die, and I’m going to take satisfaction in it,’ Melanie said in a low voice.