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

by L M Krier

  ‘Has Darren said anything at all yet?’

  ‘Nothing so far, boss. Maurice is worried that once he’s discharged it’s going to be even harder to get anything out of him, unless he’s receiving the right sort of support. But at the moment, there’s nothing available. Maurice will try to talk to someone from Adolescent Mental Health Services in Preston and see what can be done but again, he’s not hopeful.’

  Ted wished Maurice wasn’t doing such a good job with Darren. He wished he could have caught him out skiving. Not being at the hospital when he was supposed to be. Not doing the job he’d been allocated. It would have made his decision much easier. But he knew that when it came to anyone in pain, emotionally or physically, especially someone young, Maurice would go to the ends of the earth to help them. That sentiment had nearly cost him his life on a recent case.

  ‘Right, so what progress to date. Anyone?’

  ‘Sir, before we start, can I just ask a question?’

  Rob O’Connell’s formality told Ted exactly what the question was likely to be. It was not something he wanted to touch on, not until all the team members were present, and until after he’d let the person he’d selected know in private that they were off the team.

  ‘You can, Rob, but if it’s the question I suspect it is, I might not be in a position to answer at this stage.’

  ‘You know nothing stays secret in the nick. It’s a real rumour mill. Word is going round that you have to lose at least one of the team, maybe more. We need to know who it is, boss. Some of us will want to talk to Federation reps, find out how we’re fixed. The uncertainty is worrying. I have to say, as a newly promoted DS, I’m worried that I’ll be first in line.’

  ‘I imagine Megan will also be worried in case it’s last in, first out,’ Jezza put in.

  ‘And I’m worried in case it’s me, now I’ve got a new baby to support. I’ve taken out a mortgage on a nice little place. I’m not looking forward to having to relocate, or facing a longer journey to commute, boss,’ Virgil added.

  ‘All right, everyone, listen. I understand your concerns. I don’t want to keep you waiting any longer than I have to. But it wouldn’t be fair to discuss this without Maurice and Megan here. You have my word that as soon as I can say anything about what’s happening, I will do.’

  Océane was looking at Ted and gave an almost imperceptible nod. He guessed she wanted to let them know that she was one of those who was leaving.

  ‘I can tell you that Océane will be leaving us and going to Central Park. We’ll be sorry to lose you, Océane.’

  The look of surprise on Steve’s face told Ted she hadn’t yet put him in the picture. He admired her for keeping it to herself until the news was official.

  ‘And I’ll be sorry to go, boss. I’ve been made welcome here. But Baby and I are being recalled to be based at HQ, although I’ll still keep in contact with you all, and I hope to be able to carry on helping you in the future. Just not exclusively.’

  Steve’s expression when she mentioned Baby was so comical that Ted almost smiled. Except he didn’t feel he had a lot to smile about at the moment. The rest of the team reflected the shock, in differing degrees.

  Océane saw it too and grinned at them all.

  ‘Baby is my computer. It’s being recalled and I have to go with it.’

  ‘But she’s not the only one?’ Rob persisted.

  ‘Rob, like I said, I can’t say any more at the moment, but I will as soon as I can. So can we all please focus on the case in hand for now.’

  The team members were clearly not happy, no more than Ted was. But he was not prepared to continue the discussion. The news would have to be delivered in private to the person affected, before the rest of the team could be made aware.

  ‘You’d be surprised how many teenage boys are reported missing daily, boss,’ Jezza told him, trying hard to get the tone of the briefing back to normal. ‘I’m trying to follow them up as soon as they come in. So far nothing remotely like the profile of our three.’

  Ted nodded. ‘Keep on it. Ask for help if you need it with the volume of the reports. We need to be ready at the first sign of something by our attacker.

  ‘Virgil. Injuries?’

  ‘Yes, boss. Thanks for that. It gave me nightmares reading through all of that in detail. I’ve prepared a summary of everything I found out. You all have a copy. It would seem, from the medical reports, that The Preacher is refining his art somewhat. The injuries to his first victim, Tim Phillips, were somewhat crude but no doubt effective. By the time he got to Darren Lee, he seemed to have got slightly better at it.’

  ‘The Preacher?’

  ‘We have to call him something, boss, and that seemed as good as any.’

  ‘All right, but let’s not get fixated on the religious angle. It could be a red herring which might distract us from the direction we should be going in. Although that does seem unlikely.’

  ‘Looking at the injuries it occurred to me, stating the obvious, that these young lads were likely to have been making a lot of noise while they were being tortured. I mean screaming for mercy, unless they were gagged. Even so, The Preacher couldn’t risk them being heard. So wherever he was keeping them would probably be sound-proofed or isolated from any other properties. Possibly both. I can’t believe he would have taken the risk of moving them around, so he’s probably had them concealed somewhere for the whole six months. It might be useful to bear that in mind when looking for places, unless Darren can finally tell us something.

  ‘The other main difference between the three is that Darren was dumped quite a bit further from where he was taken than the other two were. That could be significant as it might be part of the psychological torture. Alone, naked, dumped in an unfamiliar place. That of itself could finish off the work he’d already done in breaking their minds, if that really was his intention.’

  There was a brief silence while the team members digested what he was saying.

  ‘I’ve included it all in the report but it was about twenty miles for Tim and Robbie, just over forty for Darren. That’s a significant change in pattern, which might signal that he’s altering his behaviour. And if he’s changing in that respect, might it also mean he’s going to change his time patterns too? If we knew for sure about the 666 theory, that would help.’

  ‘Sir,’ Steve put in. ‘What’s the significance of the places where our victims were found? There’s a possible, unproven as yet, link to Christianity with the bible passages and the phones left in churches. Then there’s the possible Satanic significance of the 666. So what if the places they were dumped is also meant to mean something? What if there’s something there like … I don’t know … ancient places of worship? Or pagan burial sites or something? Is that worth looking at?’

  ‘Now that is starting to sound a bit far-fetched,’ Mike Hallam sounded sceptical.

  ‘The trouble is that all of it sounds beyond belief. So I think anything is worth exploring. Steve, spend a couple of hours, no more, on in-depth research of where they were found. We’ll need another get-together at the end of the day so report back then.’

  Ted was clearly ready to break up the briefing so Virgil put it, ‘Boss, just one more thing. We’re more used to dealing with bodies than survivors and in a sense, that’s easier. We get DNA and other clues at post-mortem. I know it’s a very long shot, especially now, a week on, but what if there are still some traces on Darren’s body which could help tell us where he’s been? I know Maurice said they hadn’t yet succeeded in getting him cleaned up, or persuading him to take a shower.

  ‘Is it worth trying to find out, perhaps before he leaves hospital? He could have evidence still under his fingernails. His toenails too, if he’s been barefoot all this time. Maybe even rope fibres from where he’s been tied up?’

  ‘You’re right, Virgil, we should have picked up on that earlier on. The problem is, of course, that he’s so resistant to anyone touching him, unless he’s completely sedated. We’d ne
ed his mother’s consent, because he’s under eighteen. I’m sure she’d agree with anything which might help to identify who’s done this to Darren. But would we achieve anything in trying, other than to disturb him still further?

  ‘I’ll talk to one of the forensics team, see what they think, and I’ll give Maurice a bell, see how feasible he thinks it would be.

  ‘Thanks, everyone. I’m sorry to keep you waiting further for news and I will let you know as soon as I can.’

  Back in his office, Ted dialled Maurice’s number with a heavy heart. It went straight to voicemail.

  ‘Maurice, it’s the boss. Call me as soon as you can, please. We need to talk.’

  His next call was to one of the forensics team. He chose to call Doug directly as they had a common interest in cats which often got him special favours. Especially as he was always prepared to spend a few minutes talking felines before asking for what he needed.

  ‘Morning Doug, how’s Cadfael doing? Did you get to that show last week?’

  ‘Morning, boss, we did and he won. I was very pleased; stiff competition, including another male who’s beaten him on every outing so far. But Cadfael’s looking really good at the moment, he’s really matured and filled out.’

  Doug was rightly proud of the British Shorthairs he bred and exhibited. Ted’s tribe were just moggies but he loved them no less.

  ‘One of my queens has recently had kittens; only two as she’s young still. One is a little belter, a real champion in the making, hopefully. But the other one of them is a really ugly little bugger. He’s like a changeling, something the goblins left behind. A male, so he’s going to be no use for breeding or showing, looking like he does. I wondered if you and your Trev were interested in another one? I should just put him to sleep but you know I’m too soft to.’

  Ted knew that Trev would jump at the idea. But now he was out teaching so much, was it fair to bring another cat into their household, especially a kitten? He promised to think about it, then got down to the business in hand. He explained about their victim and their belated thought that there may still be some salvageable forensic evidence on his body. He stressed the problems involved with getting anywhere near Darren and finished up with, ‘I just wondered, before we even consider it, if it’s even feasible, Doug?’

  ‘Not remotely, boss,’ the forensics officer replied breezily. ‘Even if we could get anywhere near him without scaring the young lad half to death, any forensic traces would be hopelessly contaminated by now, totally inadmissible in court.’

  ‘If we can get consent, would you a least consider it? Even if we could never use them as evidence, it might give us a clue as to where he’s been held. It would need to be done today, though, before he’s discharged. Let me speak to Maurice to ask what he thinks about the idea, then I’ll come back to you. Can we leave it like that?’

  ‘Today? So I’m already flat out with trying to clear a backlog before the weekend and you want me to add to it by doing the impossible? I’ll tell you what, I’ll think about it, if you think about rehoming the kitten. He’s too young to be weaned yet, so you have some time to think. Deal?’

  ‘Deal,’ Ted said reluctantly, realising he’d been well and truly stitched up.

  There was still no word from Maurice by the time Megan got back to the station from her medical appointment. Ted wasn’t sure if his silence was connected to that. He hoped it wasn’t bad news. His timing couldn’t be worse if it was. But it wasn’t like Maurice to be out of touch. That was one thing about which he was usually reliable.

  Maurice was good at some aspects of his job. He was methodical, good at wading through data to find things. But he was slower than anyone else, often had to be chased for routine paperwork and if he could combine legwork with a sneaky drink or even a coffee, he never wasted an opportunity to do so.

  There was a quiet knock at Ted’s door. When he replied, the door opened and Megan came in.

  ‘Boss, I’m really sorry about missing morning briefing. I had to go for a scan and it was the best slot they could give me.’

  Ted nodded to her to sit down, searching her face anxiously to try to read whether the news was good or bad.

  ‘I hope it went well,’ he said guardedly.

  ‘It did, boss. It went very well.’ She couldn’t contain herself any longer and her face broke into a beaming smile. ‘I’m pregnant.’

  ‘Congratulations. I’m pleased for you, if it’s what you want. We’ll need to talk about maternity leave at some point, and keeping your job open for you to return to.’

  ‘No need, boss. I’ve already been making enquiries. I’ve got myself a nice cushy little admin job at Central Park, all lined up for me to start whenever I want. As soon as I realised, I started asking around. I’m sorry to spring it all on you like this, but I needed to get the scan out of the way first, so I’d know about dates. And something else as well.’

  ‘Are you sure that’s what you want to do? I thought you were happy with the team?’

  ‘I am, boss. I love it here, and you’re the best boss I’ve ever worked with.’ She was looking at him shrewdly as she spoke. She had an open, direct way of studying people and she didn’t miss much. It’s what made her a good detective and a valuable addition to the team.

  ‘You’re asking me if I’m opting to move to protect Maurice’s job, aren’t you? I love him to bits, but not enough to sacrifice my career for him. And I know he’s the most likely to be in line to get shunted off the team. No, it’s just that I’m going to need to take it much easier. I’m expecting twins.’

  ‘That really is fantastic news. Congratulations again, twice over, in fact. I think we should all go for a swift one in The Grapes after work, to wet the babies’ heads. Was Maurice with you for the scan? Is that why I haven’t been able to get hold of him?’

  Ted was genuinely pleased for her and Maurice. But he was a boss first and foremost and if Maurice had taken time off without telling him, he would need to explain himself even if it looked likely that Ted could now keep him in post.

  ‘No, boss, he wasn’t. I know Maurice has his faults but he missed the chance to get his first look at his new babies because he needed to be with Darren and his mother. I just had time to pop in quickly to show him the scan, and that’s all.’

  ‘Another set of twins, though, eh? I bet he’s pleased?’

  ‘Thrilled. You know how much he loves kids. And it was always a possibility. Lots of twins on Maurice’s side and I have twin second cousins, too. His grandmother was twin and Maurice is a twin himself. Did you know that?’

  ‘I didn’t, and I’ve known him for years.’

  ‘He fell out with his brother. Doesn’t talk to him or about him much. Malcolm was going out with Barbara before Maurice met and then married her. It caused a massive rift between them, as you can imagine. Anyway, I better go and get on. I hope me leaving means Maurice can stay?’

  ‘You know I can’t say anything until I’ve spoken to the Super. But I’ll let you and the others know as soon as I can.’

  He phoned the Ice Queen, rather than go downstairs, to tell her the latest development.

  ‘So is that enough? If DC Jennings is going voluntarily, does that mean I don’t need to let anyone else go?’

  ‘I think DC Brown may well have a double reason to celebrate today. I imagine that is who you had decided upon to be the one to go?’

  ‘As it’s hopefully academic now, ma’am, I’d rather not say.’

  ‘Not entirely academic, Chief Inspector,’ she responded in her driest tone. ‘It would have been a valuable insight into your management skills to know who you had picked. However, in answer to your question, yes, one DC is sufficient, especially as it’s been painlessly accomplished on a voluntary basis. Please pass on my congratulations to DC Jennings.’

  As soon as he ended the call, his phone rang again. Maurice.

  ‘You wanted to talk to me, boss?’

  ‘I did, DC Brown. I suppose you’ve been de
liberately avoiding me until Megan had spoken to me, which she has now done, as no doubt she’s told you.’ Then he relaxed his attempt at sounding stern. ‘I have to say, Maurice, you are one jammy bastard. I only needed to lose one team member and it was touch and go for a while there. But you’re safe. For now. Just make sure that you up your game to keep your place because, sadly, I fear this won’t be the last of the cuts we’re facing.’

  He ended the call and made another quick one before he went back out into the main office.

  ‘I’ve had a better day than I expected, so I’ll take you out to dinner tonight, if you like, and if you’re not teaching. Book somewhere nice. Anywhere you like.’

  Trev sounded delighted. ‘That’s dangerous. You know I like expensive.’

  ‘Seriously, whatever takes your fancy. I owe it to you. I’ve been crap company, but even though we’ve not got much further on the case, the rest of the day has been good.’

  Everyone was still in, which was ideal. He asked Jo and Mike to come out of their shared office and join them all.

  ‘Right, everyone. I’m sorry it’s taken a while, and I don’t like having made you all sweat. But we have good news, so we’ll have a swift one after the end of day briefing. Megan is voluntarily leaving the team because … Megan?’

  She was grinning broadly round at the others.

  ‘I’m taking a quiet admin job because I’m pregnant. And it’s a double celebration because it’s twins.’

  Maurice phoned again later in the day.

  ‘Right, boss, it’s settled. They’re kicking him out shortly. Doug came over after he’d spoken to you again. He couldn’t do anything, couldn’t even get near him, so he talked me through what to do and Darren let me take some scrapings from under his finger and toenails. He seems to trust me. He tried to say something a bit more to me while I was doing that. It wasn’t very clear, but I think he was trying to say dark. Just repeated, over and over, like he did before with his name. If that’s what he was trying to say it seems like the bastard kept him in darkness, as well as everything else he was doing to him.