Captive

by Jay Nadal

As scene guard, PC Willits was in charge of the log so Abby and Scott signed in. She gave both Scott and Abby a respectful nod before offering them a disposable pack which contained a suit, covers for their shoes, gloves and a paper mask.

  As he ducked beneath the tape, Scott paused for a moment to study the landscape. Officers swarmed around in different directions outside of the cordon. Peacefulness reigned within the blue and white taped zone as silent figures went about their work. The location bore striking similarities to the location where they’d found Hailey’s body. A quiet single track road, dense foliage lining both sides of the road and offering limited visibility. Everything about the killer’s modus operandi seemed well planned, and sadly well executed.

  Raj and Helen were already on scene and busy taking notes as they liaised with Matt. Cara had already completed her preliminary investigation and was writing up her notes and recording evidence into her Dictaphone app.

  The lifeless, pale body of Rebecca Thorne hung between two trees, as the forensics officers conducted a detailed grid search of the ground surrounding her. Photos had been taken of her in position, and Cara had been given the opportunity to examine her closely. With her head hung low Scott couldn’t see Rebecca’s face which was probably a blessing. Her entrails were scattered around her in a wide arch of at least twelve feet. Despite the closeness of the body, the organs were indistinguishable, just looking like random pieces of anatomy torn, ripped and discarded. The scene created a vivid picture in his mind of the horrific acts that must have been inflicted on her before her death. Puncture marks littered her lower limbs with small red wounds where the flesh had been torn from her body.

  For a brief moment, Scott dropped his head as a mark of respect for the loss of another young life with a bright future.

  Cara joined him. “It’s pretty much the same as the last one. A small cut to her neck and what appears to be smear marks, and obviously the large incision to her abdomen. The cause of death was excessive blood loss. There’s generalised skin irritation over at least sixty per cent of her body. It looks similar to Hailey’s so I’m guessing it’s some type of ammonia-based substance again. This poor girl really suffered. By the way that her organs have been torn apart and scattered over the scene, my guess is that foxes, rats and such like are responsible for the mess. The flesh injuries to her lower limbs would substantiate that theory. Lividity is present, so she’s been here for at least six to twelve hours.”

  “I’ve got one post-mortem to do this afternoon, but I’ll push it back to later this evening, and get this started straight away.”

  “I’d appreciate that. I think things are about to get very hairy. Age?”

  “Hum, I’d say…late teens, early20s. Your missing student?”

  “From the looks of it, I’d say she fits the description, female, pale complexion, red hair, trim figure…” His words trailed off as his eyes centred back on the body.

  “Scott, good of you to finally turn up!” Berry shouted as she walked in his direction. “I’ve got everything under control, since I couldn’t wait for you to get here. I’ve sent uniform to do some legwork. There’s a farm, Coombes Farm, up the road, and a Scout camp back in the direction that we came from. So I’ve got some local boys conducting enquiries,” she barked.

  Scott felt both uncomfortable and annoyed by Berry’s tone and her commandeering the incident even though it wasn’t on her patch. He was just about to formally introduce Cara as Dr Hall, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Berry put her hand up to wave him off.

  Berry glanced between Scott and Cara. “Dr Hall, I’ll look forward to the outcome of your post-mortem. As you can imagine, this case is a pressing priority for myself and the team.”

  Cara offered nothing more than a nod. Despite maintaining a professional demeanour, she couldn’t help but feel a degree of annoyance for how she was treating Scott.

  “And I also want to say, Dr Hall, that Scott has been incredibly helpful and very generous with his time and attention. He has gone to great lengths to welcome me. I don’t know if you’re aware, but he’s stayed back on several occasions just to help me and give me his personal attention.”

  Scott shot Berry a stern glance, seething fury at her loaded innuendos and suggestive comments. Her smug smile hinted that she revelled in the moment and enjoyed seeing him squirm. He needed to bide his time. She was backing herself into a corner and didn’t know it.

  “I’ll head back now that I’ve wrapped up here. I’ll leave you to oversee the scene, Scott.”

  Scott watched her stride off purposefully, barking a few final orders at the assembled officers. “Make yourselves useful and stop wasting time.”

  Matt and Abby joined Scott and together they stood in silence in the aftermath of Berry’s whirlwind.

  “Thanks for the warning, mate. She doesn’t mince her words, does she?”

  “Sorry, Matt, I didn’t know she was here until I got here myself. Has she ruffled a few feathers?”

  Matt grimaced and pursed his lips. “My officers didn’t take too kindly to her throwing her weight around. I think they know how to do their job, don’t you?”

  “Apologise on my behalf, will you mate? Diplomacy isn’t her finest strength, especially when it comes to lower ranking officers and civvies.”

  “You’re telling me,” Matt replied as he headed back to his team. “Keep her off our backs if you can, Scott.”

  “Another satisfied customer?” Abby said.

  Scott was lost in his thoughts. His emotions over Berry clouded his judgement over the cases and that didn’t sit well with him.

  “Hello?”

  Scott’s head jerked once he’d finally heard Abby attempting to get his attention. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”

  “I gathered that. Listen, ignore the black widow. I’ve got better news. Freddie Coltrane has been picked up on campus, and Raj called to say that Mistress Claire called earlier with some telling information. I’ll fill you in on the way to the station.”

  39

  Freddie Coltrane slouched back in his chair looking thoroughly bored. With arms folded and his legs fully extended beneath the table, he didn’t fit the bill of someone who had anything to hide.

  Scott wasn’t surprised to find that upon their arrival at the station, Freddie’s solicitor had arrived within minutes of Freddie being taken into custody. For a London solicitor, Scott could only imagine that Freddie’s father had arranged for Wainwright to be put up in a Brighton hotel to deal with the ongoing investigations into Freddie.

  Sitting opposite the pair again, Scott noticed Wainwright’s impatience as he glanced at his watch every few minutes. Damn selfish lawyers and their billable hours, Wainwright probably had pound signs blinking behind his eyelids.

  Scott intensely scrutinised Freddie’s demeanour, and possibility as the main suspect in the deaths of Hailey Bratton and the second victim assumed to be Rebecca Thorne. He knew about Freddie’s preference for extreme sex, but was he capable of murder? Had Abby’s news en route back to station put Freddie back in the frame?

  “How are you, Freddie?”

  Freddie shrugged and continued his nonchalant attitude.

  “Where have you been the last few days, Freddie? I assume you know now that we searched your room in halls?”

  “No comment.”

  “On what grounds did you decide to force entry into my client’s room?” Wainwright interrupted, his voice stern and abrupt like most egotistical solicitors.

  “For your information, Mr Wainwright, we had no reason to force entry because the door was open.”

  Wainwright shot Freddie a cursory glance to express his dissatisfaction.

  “We found some interesting items in a shoebox,” Scott began, as Abby slid some clear plastic evidence bags across the table. “Item number one, a pair of ladies knickers. We’ve identified them belonging to Hailey Bratton. Item number two, another pair of ladies knickers. We’ve identified that they belong to Lucy Wheeler.”
<
br />   Whilst delivering the forensic feedback, Scott observed for any visible changes in Freddie’s behaviour through either his facial or body movements.

  “Item number three is another pair of ladies knickers which we will come back to in a moment.” Scott tapped item number four for emphasis. “Here you will see printouts of pictures that we found on the memory card inside a Nikon D3200 DSLR camera. Incidentally, your prints were found on the camera and the memory card within it. They contain images of an unknown male committing a series of sexual assaults on several women, again identities unknown. Do you know anything about this?”

  Freddie raised his eyes in line with Scott before saying, “No…comment.”

  “Are any of the women in the stills Hailey Bratton, Rebecca Thorne, or…Yana Melnik?”

  Abby scratched down notes as the interview continued.

  Scott noticed a tiny muscular twitch above Freddie’s left eye when he mentioned Yana Melnik’s name.

  “Were you present during the filming of these assaults?”

  “No comment.”

  “Freddie, I put it to you, that you were indeed the male in these videos who committed these acts?”

  “My client’s not at liberty to answer that question,” Wainwright interrupted.

  Freddie pulled a wry smile that seemed to suggest, “You can’t touch me.”

  Scott tapped on evidence bag number three once again. “Item number three is yet again another pair of female knickers. They belong to Mistress Claire.”

  A rapid flicker of his eyes gave away Freddie’s nerves.

  “You see, we know that you were very angry, and that you wanted Mistress Claire to hurt you because you had been bad. What did you do that was so bad?”

  “No comment.”

  Scott waited a few moments. He’d always found that remaining silent during the interview often unnerved a suspect. They inevitably said something to fill the silence. On this occasion, Freddie continued to remain deceptively cool.

  “Were you referring to the fact that you had killed Hailey Bratton or abducted Rebecca Thorne?”

  Wainwright interrupted again. “My client is not at liberty to answer that question. Unless you have evidence, such an accusation is purely subjective.”

  Scott leant in and rested his elbows on the table. He levelled his eyes and glared at Freddie. “Freddie, I know you like Mistress Claire to hurt you, to score your back, to cut you and all those other things that your little twisted mind gets a kick out of. Is that what you like doing? Is that what you did to Hailey? Was it one of your sex games that went wrong? Did you want to mark her, but then in the heat of the moment you got carried away?”

  “Inspector, these are nothing but spurious claims that are unsubstantiated. I strongly protest to you coercing my client into admitting to something that he has no knowledge of. I ask that you refrain from this line and style of questioning and either terminate this interview or charge my client.”

  Scott nodded slowly without averting his gaze from Freddie. “You see, Freddie, I’m going to find out who those women are in those videos. I hope for your sake that you’re not the person committing those indecent sexual assaults. Because if that’s you, then no fancy lawyer’s going to be able to protect you.” Scott glanced in Wainwright’s direction as he delivered the final few words. “If you think you’re smug now, I’d reconsider. I’d really be shitting myself if I were you.”

  Frustration still ate into Scott as he sat at his desk pondering the outcome of Freddie’s interview. His gut feeling told him that Freddie was unlikely to be the murderer, but without a doubt, was the person in the videos. Whether he had the capability to go beyond the savagery he displayed in the videos, still needed to be decided. Freddie was proving to be more of a slippery character than Scott had anticipated.

  He tapped the tip of his pen on the desk in a slow rhythmic fashion as he thought about Freddie and his potential connection with the victims. His thoughts were interrupted when Berry knocked on his door and walked in without giving Scott an opportunity to respond.

  “Ma’am, with all due respect, I get the impression that there’s more to your transfer to our team than meets the eye.”

  She smiled coyly. “There’s no hidden agenda, Scott. I believe we’re after the same killer, so it made sense for us to pool our resources and knowledge. But…” she paused for a few moments as she stared intently in Scott’s direction. “Since I got here, it’s stirred up something in me. It’s stirred up the past between us, and I’ve not stopped thinking about you.”

  “That may be, Ma’am, but that was then. This is now. And I’m not interested. As I said before, I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

  “Scott, you’re certainly more forceful than I remember. But I think you’ll see it my way.” She dropped a small scrap of paper on Scott’s desk. “This is where I’m staying whilst in Brighton. I’m free this evening, so I’ll expect you later. Don’t let me down, Scott.”

  Scott sat back in his seat stunned into silence and dropped the phone he’d been holding by his side. She had breezed in and then breezed out. In that brief sixty seconds in-between, she had once again turned his world upside down. He rested his head in the palms of his hands, seeming to be void of all emotions. A dark emptiness, a black vortex spiralled inside him, raining confusion on him from all angles.

  He felt trapped just like he had been all those years ago. No one would believe him, certainly not Meadows. Scott already knew that Meadows loved her. She was everything that DCI Harvey wasn’t. Dynamic, aggressive, charming. A good manager. Meadows had been impressed by how she always seemed to pull the best out of her teams. He may not have agreed with all of her tactics, but she had been judged on her results, and they spoke volumes.

  As he sat there contemplating his situation, he recalled Meadows saying that “Berry would be a good catch for us and a valuable asset to the division long-term.” That conversation had rung alarm bells for Scott. It felt like the nightmare that wouldn’t go away.

  His mind drifted to Cara, beautiful Cara. He needed Cara more than anything else, and the risk of losing her seeped in bone-deep as he got pulled into the bottomless pit of Berry’s games. Cara had been the one who had kept him grounded, had supported him during his dark moments, and had helped him come to terms with the loss of his family. It was Cara that he looked forward to seeing every day, even if it only happened over a corpse.

  Shit. He felt like he was getting hit from all angles and had nowhere to turn and no one to help him. As a last ditch resort, he began to dial Abby’s number but was interrupted by the ring of his internal phone.

  The breakthrough he needed was about to hit him full on.

  40

  Scott raced to the incident board as the team huddled around to watch Raj pin up crucial information that had been received. “What have we got, Raj?” he asked with a heightened excitement in his voice.

  “Guv, SCAS came back with further information about the psychiatrist in Essex. Her case goes back five years. She was a redhead, and her name was Sally Anne Martin. She’d been in private practice as a psychiatrist for more than fifteen years and before that, for seven years in the NHS. She lived in Manningtree, Essex, but worked on the outskirts of Colchester. She specialised in treating people with extreme psychiatric issues. She seemed well respected in her field. She had produced numerous online articles in her areas of expertise.”

  Raj paused for a moment as he checked his notes. “From initial findings, she produced written pieces on issues such as psychological and psychosocial interventions for negative symptoms in psychosis. She’s written stuff about cortisol as a predictor of psychological therapy response in depressive disorders, and finally, about diffusion tensor imaging predictors of treatment outcomes in major depressive disorder. And that’s just three of over fifty articles. But I haven’t got a clue what any of those articles are referring to,” Raj added, shrugging in confusion.

  “Excellent, at least we have a name,
and more background.”

  Berry pushed the swing doors and strode towards the team with purpose. Those gathered paused momentarily to glance over. She waved off the distraction and indicated for Raj to continue.

  “And a picture, Guv,” Raj said, as he pinned up a picture of a smart-looking female, with a thin face and shiny red hair held up in a ponytail. With a cream blouse and two-piece grey suit, she looked the consummate medical professional.

  A silence fell over the team, as they stared intently at the image staring back at them.

  Raj once again enjoyed being the focal point of those gathered, and certainly seem to relish the opportunity to share intelligence. He pinned back his shoulders and puffed out his chest as he continued, “They’ve pulled off a bit more, Guv. Police records indicate that she lodged a harassment case against a patient about five years ago. Those details should be coming through to us at some point. Obviously, we don’t actually know what happened to her, there’s no evidence to confirm her death. But this might be interesting; Sally Anne Martin also had nineteen thousand pounds cleared out of her bank just before her disappearance.”

  “Listen, team, we don’t want to wait for any records to come to us.” There was a sense of urgency in Scott’s tone as he paced rapidly in front of the incident board. “It could be ten minutes, or it could be four hours, and we don’t have time on our side. Get onto it now, chase up all the records. Anything you can find on this patient. Go straight to the top of the trust if you have to. We also need to speak to Sally Anne’s friends, family and any business colleagues. Dig up anything you can. It could be a wild goose chase, but my gut instinct suggests otherwise.”

  Scott paused for a moment whilst he gathered his thoughts. He only had one chance to get this right, so he needed to make sure that he had his sequence of thoughts properly aligned. “Check prison records as well. Look for anyone who has been recently released after five-year stretch. Speak to the integrated offender’s management team as well just to tie up loose ends. Get local officers from Essex involved if necessary to do some of the legwork for you,” Scott added glancing at Berry, who reluctantly nodded. “Any aggravation from Essex, and refer them straight on to DCI Berry.”