Preacher Man: 'their blood shall be upon them' (Ted Darling crime series Book 9)

by L M Krier

  ‘their blood shall be upon them’

  Preacher Man

  Ted Darling crime series

  L M Krier

  First Kindle Edition

  Copyright © 2017 L.M.K. Tither

  Cover design DMR Creative

  © Can Stock Photo / SAKhanPhotograph

  PREACHER MAN

  All rights reserved.

  The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Condition of sale.

  This ebook is licensed for the enjoyment of the purchaser only. To share this ebook you must purchase an additional copy per recipient. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  This book is also published as a printed book

  ISBN 978-1-974-68785-5

  To my friend Pat

  go easy on the green tea!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  About the Author

  Contact Details

  Discover the DI Ted Darling series

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to all those who helped with this eighth book in the DI Ted Darling series. More books in the series are planned.

  Beta readers Jill Pennington, Emma Heath, Kate Pill, Alison Sabedoria, Karen Corcoran, Jill Evans.

  Special thanks for valuable help with police procedure to Steve, Fred and Mark.

  Chapter One

  Brad Allison was having a good evening. And it wasn’t over yet, if he played his cards right. His girlfriend, Bernie, looked cosy and contented in the front passenger seat next to him. The meal had been excellent, if pricey, the wine so good he’d risked a second glass, even though he was driving.

  Every time he changed gear, which was often on the narrow, twisty, country roads, he put his hand on Bernie’s thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was promising that she made only a token gesture of pushing his hand away with hers.

  As they rounded a particularly tight bend, a flash of white emerging from the darkness at the side of the road caught Brad’s eye as it lurched towards the path his car was taking.

  ‘Bloody hell!’ he shouted, as he stamped on the brakes.

  He’d learned that there were certain things he couldn’t get away with in front of Bernadette Marie Theresa O’Hanlon. Strong language and blasphemy were two of them.

  Advanced Swedish technology brought the car to a halt without it deviating so much as a centimetre from its route. The whiteness revealed itself to be a young man, barely out of his teens, who was now slumping over the front of the car on the passenger side. He was completely naked, his eyes wild and haunted, dark circled. His mouth was forming words, inaudible from the safe cocoon of the vehicle.

  Brad turned to check through his rear window as he jammed the car into reverse and started to pull away. The naked figure staggered, deprived of the support of the car bonnet.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  Bernie’s voice was shrill, her tone horrified. Brad tried to keep his measured, reasonable, as he replied, still backing away, ‘I’m getting us out of here, away from that nutter.’

  ‘Stop the car, Bradley. I mean it. We can’t leave him like that.’

  It was her teacher’s tone. The one which could instantly silence a class of rebellious primary school children.

  He slowed the Volvo to a crawl, still anxious to put distance between them and the apparition, which was now tottering towards them, arms outstretched imploringly.

  ‘We can call the police to help him. Let’s just get to a safe place. We don’t know anything about what’s going on. It could be a trap. An ambush.’

  ‘Stop!’

  Bernie’s hand was already on the door handle before he’d fully brought the car to a halt and pulled on the handbrake.

  ‘Have you got a coat or something we can put round him?’

  Bernie was half out of the car, clearly concerned only with the welfare of the young man in the road. Brad was terrified and not ashamed to admit it. He was sure it was a set-up. That any minute now, an accomplice was going to jump out of the darkness and do something. What, he didn’t know, and he couldn’t decide what he feared the most. Losing his car? His girlfriend? His life?

  He got out as well, discovering that his legs were trembling with the shock of it all. Bernie was walking forward fearlessly, speaking reassuringly. Now Brad could hear the words tumbling from the lips of the figure in the road, the voice harsh, strained. None of it made much sense to him, and it was being repeated in a toneless loop.

  ‘If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

  ‘For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.’

  ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m Bernie, this is Brad. We’d like to help you. Can you tell me your name?’

  ‘If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.’

  ‘Brad, where’s that coat? And phone an ambulance.’

  Brad looked wistfully at the cashmere overcoat he kept on the back seat. It had cost him a fortune, even in the sales. He hated the idea of giving it to this stranger, although clearly they couldn’t leave him naked. Close to, he could see that the young man was also trembling, his eyes imploring. He was pitifully thin, his cheeks hollow.

  ‘Do you live near here? Can you give us your name and address?’

  Bernie was still trying, in her most persuasive voice. Brad came closer, warily holding out his coat. He thought it best to let Bernie try to put it on him. He got his mobile phone out and reluctantly dialled 999. Surely even two large glasses of wine would still be under the limit?

  ‘Yes, an ambulance please, as quick as you can. Perhaps the police too. I’m not sure.’

  He explained as much as he knew, try
ing to be economical with the details in front of the young man, who was still repeating the same phrases over and over. Clearly something religious but Brad had no idea what. Bernie would probably know, but she was busy trying to reassure the stranger, gently putting the overcoat round his shoulders and leading him towards the safety of the car.

  Brad sighed as he went to put on the four-way flashers and get out the warning triangle. There was not much traffic on this road but he didn’t want to risk anything which was out and about coming hurtling round that bend and smashing into the back of them.

  He was convinced they were dealing with a runaway psychiatric patient. He just hoped neither of them would be murdered before the emergency services arrived, whenever that might be.

  Bernie had helped the young man into the rear seat of the car and got back into the front passenger seat herself, still talking calmly to him, trying to get him to respond. He said nothing other than the endlessly repeated biblical phrases.

  Brad was about to go and get back in the car himself when the effects of the shock and the adrenaline surge hit him. He rushed to the verge just in time to bring up his expensive meal and probably most of the wine as well. At least that was one problem sorted.

  As he slid into the Volvo next to Bernie, he was aware that their unexpected passenger stank to high heaven. Of rancid sweat. Of urine and excrement. And the strange coppery smell of blood. He somehow knew that even if he had the overcoat dry cleaned, he could never bear to wear it again.

  ‘Has he said anything that makes sense? Who he is, or what he’s doing here?’

  ‘I can’t seem to get through to him. He just keeps repeating the same phrases from the Bible, over and over. His poor lips are so cracked and dry. Do you think we should give him a drink of water?’

  She knew Brad always kept a few bottles of mineral water in the car. His job as an IT consultant kept him on the road a lot, which was why he’d invested in a reliable car, one that handled well whatever the road conditions.

  ‘I don’t think we should give him anything until the paramedics have seen him. Perhaps he might speak to me? Bloke to bloke?’

  He turned round in his seat and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way through the gap between the front seats.

  ‘All right, mate? What are you doing out here in your birthday suit? Is there someone we can call for you? Someone to come and get you?’

  The younger man’s voice became almost a scream, his face crumbling in panic as he began babbling repeatedly, ‘For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections.’

  ‘Hey, calm down, pal, I’m not going to do anything to you. We just want to help.’

  Brad didn’t think he would feel such relief at the arrival of the police. But as the flashing blue lights of an area car finally came into sight around the corner, he offered up a silent prayer of his own and got out of his vehicle to go and greet them.

  Two officers got out, a man and a woman. The man came towards him first, the woman waiting by the car. He explained all the details he knew so far, hoping that his breath now smelt of vomit rather than wine.

  The PC listened to what he had to say then turned back towards his partner.

  ‘Do you think we need to treat this as a crime scene until we know what’s what, Sarge? Will you call it in, and see if you can hurry that ambulance up?’

  Sergeant Emma McCluskey used her radio to contact the station. She agreed with her younger colleague, pleased with how he was starting to shape up. Until they knew exactly what they were dealing with, it would be best to preserve the scene.

  She wasn’t aware of any recently reported missing persons who would fit the details she’d been given so far. It could be someone with mental health issues needing help. But there was no telling what might be behind the incident or if anyone else was involved. Better to play it cautiously, call up a Senior Investigating Officer to decide how things needed to be handled.

  ‘This is a bit of an odd one, on the face of it. I think it’s maybe one we should inform DCI Darling about. It could be one for his team.’

  Detective Chief Inspector Ted Darling was enjoying a quiet evening at home, for once, with his partner, Trevor. Both were sitting comfortably on the sofa, feet up on the leg rests, bodies buried under purring cats. Trev had his arm round Ted and his head leaning his shoulder as they watched one of the classic films Trev enjoyed so much. This time, it was Hitchcock’s Rear Window. They’d both seen it before, many times, but Trev was someone who could watch the same film endlessly and never tire of it.

  When their peace was interrupted by Ted’s mobile ringing, Trev reached automatically for the remote to mute the sound.

  Ted gave him an apologetic look as he picked up the call. His was not a nine-to-five job.

  ‘DCI Darling.’

  Trev studied his face as he listened, trying to work out whether it was a call-out or if he was just being kept in the loop about something.

  ‘Yes, thanks, it sounds like I’d better at least go and take a look. Can you let them know I should be there within half an hour.’

  ‘Trouble at t’mill?’ Trev asked him with a smile.

  ‘Yes, sorry, I’m going to have to go. It sounds like a strange one, something I ought to go and take a look at. I’ll just call Mike to pick me up, then get changed quickly. Sorry to abandon you, and I’ve no idea how long I’ll be, not until I get there.’

  He carefully transferred his share of their six cats to Trev as he got to his feet, already calling up one of his two sergeants from the team. Mike Hallam lived close by so was the obvious choice to pick the boss up.

  ‘Is it a body?’

  ‘Not this time. A young man found wandering in suspicious circumstances. The sergeant on call thinks there’s something not right about it all so I’d better go and see what’s what for myself.’

  Ted filled in DS Mike Hallam on the little he knew as they drove out seemingly into the middle of nowhere, beyond Mellor. They were heading for a quiet lane, a cut-through which mostly only the locals knew. When they arrived, a second area car was on the scene and Police tape had closed off the road from both ends. A car was parked roughly half-way between the two lots of tape.

  Sgt McCluskey came over as soon as she saw the two plain-clothes officers approaching. She addressed Ted, nodding to Mike Hallam as she greeted them.

  ‘Sorry to disturb your evening, sir, especially going into the weekend. I just thought there might be more to this than meets the eye, and I thought I’d better preserve the scene until I was told otherwise.’

  ‘No need to apologise. You did exactly the right thing. Tell me your thinking.’

  ‘Well, sir, I may be over-reacting because I’ve just done a course on the Modern Slavery Act. But the lad showed signs of having been tied up and he was really thin. Malnourished, I would say. Also I don’t know if English is his first language or not. He was just parroting these strange phrases which I assume were from the Bible or somewhere. But he didn’t respond to any questions. I couldn’t be sure if he understood English, or if he could speak any. And he doesn’t immediately correspond to any of the recent missing persons reports. I checked with the station.’

  Ted was looking round carefully, to see what he could deduce from his first glance at the potential crime scene.

  ‘Is he on his way to hospital?’

  ‘Yes, sir, we got lucky and got an ambulance here pretty sharpish. He’d come stumbling out from the side of the road and may have made contact with that Volvo there, so I left it there. I thought there may be fingerprints or DNA to help identify him, if we can’t find out any other way who he is.’

  ‘Excellent, good work. Makes our job easier. What about the driver of the car?’

  ‘We’ve got him in our car, sir, with his girlfriend. She’s quite calm, he’s very shaken up. We breathalysed him, to be on the safe side. He was just under the limit and he told us he’d been sick, so I reckon he’d probably had a bit too much and was lucky to get away with it
.’

  ‘Had he hit the person?’

  ‘No, sir, he stopped the car in time.’

  ‘So what injuries did the young man have?’

  ‘The ambulance crew said he appeared to be dehydrated and in severe shock. When we got here he just had the driver’s coat round him. When the paramedics arrived changed that for a space blanket and gave him a thorough examination before they moved him. They told me he was black and blue, sir. Looked as if he’d had a right going over, and more than once. Some of the marks were old. There were burn marks, too.’

  She paused, looking slightly awkward, then continued, ‘I noticed he had some kind of burns, perhaps chemical burns, round his mouth. And the paramedics told me that his testicles appeared very discoloured and swollen. I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, sir, but it made me wonder, from the injuries they were describing, if he’d been tortured, perhaps over a long period of time.’

  Ted exchanged a look with Mike. He didn’t like the sound of this one, not on his patch.

  ‘Thank you, Sergeant, you’ve done an excellent job. You did absolutely the right thing. DS Hallam and I will take charge of the scene now, if you and your officers can keep the road closed off until further notice.

  ‘Mike, can you get someone from forensics in to check out the vehicle and immediate surroundings. I’ll go and have a word with the driver and his girlfriend, then we should arrange a car to take them home. He’ll have to manage without his own car until we’ve finished with it. Give the hospital a call, too, see when they might be able to give us any info.’

  Ted walked over to the nearer of the two area cars where he could see two people sitting in the back seat. The young PC who had been with Sgt McCluskey was standing outside the car and snapped smartly to attention when the DCI approached. He may have been below average height and looked insignificant but Ted commanded a lot of respect from officers he worked alongside. He was unfailingly polite, for one thing, which was a bit of a rarity.

  ‘I just wanted to have a word with the witnesses, Constable. What are their names, please?’