by Helen Phifer
‘Anyone who had permission to go into them. Like, for instance, Harry and James Dean, or maybe their trusted employees, whose job it is to enter those buildings?’
Josh tried not to roll his eyes. Why didn’t he just come out with it? He didn’t have time for all this, not with a girl’s life on the line. Instead, he nodded. ‘I guess so.’
‘Yeah, me too. So why then were you captured in full technicolour glory skulking around at the back of the premises whilst Sam was inside asking questions. I’m keen to know.’
‘They had cameras then?’
‘Yes, they did. Excellent cameras, better than the ones the constabulary paid a small fortune to have put up around the town.’
‘How did you know it was me?’ He hadn’t meant to ask that, he’d promised himself not to antagonise him, but it just slipped out.
Barker thrust his phone towards his face and there he was, a crystal-clear still taken from the CCTV system. Damn, he was right, it was an excellent quality photo.
‘Sam had nothing to do with it. She didn’t know I was going to go looking. She left me in the car whilst she went in.’
‘Why were you there in the first place?’
Josh felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Why did he think they were there? Was he for real?
‘We have a high-risk missing person, which you know about, yes?’
Barker nodded.
‘We also have a body of a girl who was found underneath a coffin pulled up for an exhumation. The post-mortem provided by Doctor Adams concluded that the woman inside the coffin died of natural causes. Which leaves the question: who demanded she was exhumed in the first place? The killer of Chantel Price and Annie Potts’s abductor is more than likely the same person, we believe. We recently discovered they left a calling card under the missing girl’s bed: it was a photo of Chantel Price along with what we can safely assume are the three fingernails missing from one of her hands. The chance of having two different predators stalking the streets of Windemere are highly unlikely, don’t you think? Sir.’
‘I still don’t see what the funeral home has to do with it.’
Josh sighed.
‘It was a hunch. Doctor Adams’s findings at the post-mortem of the mystery girl, now known to be Chantel Price, suggest the victim tried her best to claw her way out of a box, possibly a coffin or some kind of tomb. Dean & Sons had dealt with the burial of Florence Wright, who was exhumed on the say-so of some distant relative who is now nowhere to be found. I’m in the process of getting a search team together to go and locate that so-called relative. Call me whimsical, but I thought it was a good shout, that it was worth checking the undertaker’s. Whoever this is had no qualms about being around death or dead bodies.’
The hostility left Barker instantly as he flopped down on the chair behind his desk. He looked at Josh. ‘It would have been better if you’d come to me and asked for a search warrant. We’re not going to get one now, are we? Did you find anything to make it worth the risk?’
It was Josh’s turn to sit down, deflated. He shook his head. ‘No, but I didn’t go inside the main building. It’s a huge house, as you know. There could be any number of places to conceal a missing person.’
‘It’s a huge house that belongs to the chief super’s best friend, Harry Dean. I’ve had it in the neck off the boss, so now you’ve had it in the neck. He’s warned us to keep well away from there.’
‘He’s warned you to tell me to keep well away from there, but what if you hadn’t found me to tell me yet? Just because he’s best mates with the chief it doesn’t make him exempt from the law.’
Barker rolled his eyes at him. ‘Doesn’t it?’
‘No, not really. Especially for someone like me who isn’t, and doesn’t, give a shit about who he might be upsetting.’
‘That’s the thing, Josh. I admire your commitment to the job, I really do, but our hands are tied.’
‘Unless I can find some hard evidence to get a search warrant?’
‘Yes, and you find a judge who agrees with you.’ Barker shrugged. ‘I thought you were bringing in the gravedigger anyway?’
‘He’s done a runner. Paton spoke to him earlier and asked him to come in for a chat. He decided against it and now we can’t find him.’
‘Guilty?’
‘Guilty of something, I’m not convinced it’s murder.’
‘No, maybe not. But let’s focus our media attention on him. Give the outraged public a name to focus on, and maybe they’ll lead us to him. You and Sam concentrate on finding our missing woman.’
‘You mean, hang him out to dry?’
‘He did that to himself when he didn’t play ball with us. If he’d come in like we’d asked, we wouldn’t have to do this, would we?’
Josh nodded and took the silence that followed as a cue to leave.
* * *
Walking out of the office, he went to the car park to find Sam, who was sitting in the car scrolling through Facebook. He opened the car door. ‘Busy?’
‘Actually yes, I am. I was just checking out Jason Thompson’s list of friends to see if any of them are linked to Dean & Sons in some way.’
He smiled at her.
‘So, how bad was it? Judging by how long you were in there, it was pretty bad?’
He told her the gist of his conversation with the DI. ‘So, whether Jason Thompson is guilty or not, he’s going to regret his decision to run.’
‘Christ, you can say that again. What happened to all the innocent until proven guilty stuff?’
‘From what I can gather Jason Thompson isn’t the chief’s best friend.’
‘Where does that leave us? Where does it leave Annie Potts?’
He shrugged. ‘We need another lead. Let’s go back to the hotel and speak to her friend again who rang it in. Something is missing, maybe she didn’t tell us the whole truth. How did the killer know what state Annie was in; how did he know how to get access to the staff quarters?’
‘Unless he was with them that night, or works with them?’
‘Or was in the right place at the right time? He could have been out looking for his next victim and she fit the bill, too drunk to know what she was doing. He could have followed the girls home, watched Annie go into the staff entrance. Is anyone viewing the CCTV from the club?’
‘Yes, we are. It wasn’t open earlier: the staff don’t come in until late afternoon. Let’s go there now.’
Forty-Five
Josh’s phone rang, and he passed it to Sam.
‘Josh’s phone, Sam Thomas speaking as he’s currently driving.’ She put it on loudspeaker.
‘It’s Paton. I’m outside the address on the exhumation licence for Florence Wright’s relative. To be honest with you, I don’t think anyone’s home or has been for a while.’
Josh answered. ‘Where are you?’
‘Tarn Lake Caravan Park.’
‘We’re on our way. Do we need an entry team?’
‘I don’t think so, it’s a caravan and it’s all in darkness. No sign of life. I knocked on the doors of the caravans on either side, both of the occupants are elderly and neither of them have seen anyone for months. Apparently the bloke who owns it only stayed there for a short time.’
‘Wait for us, we can go in together. Do you think it’s possible the missing girl is inside?’
‘Hard to say, boss, probably not if no one has been here for ages.’
The line went dead, and Josh looked across at Sam. ‘How nice would it be just for once to catch a break, find the girl and be able to trace the killer?’
She smiled at him, and he knew she was humouring him because stuff like that happened in the movies, not in real life. At least not very often. Still, he said a silent prayer that on this occasion it would all work out.
The caravan park was unusually quiet, which was good. As Josh drove through the gates, he spotted Paton, who was wandering around. He waved at them. Parking the car, they got out and headed in
his direction.
‘Have you spoken to the staff at the site office?’
‘It’s closed, but there’s a number on the door for out-of-hours enquiries, so I’ve left them a message. What do you want to do?’
Josh turned to Sam. ‘You wait by the office, keep ringing the number on the door and hopefully someone will pick up.’
She nodded. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘Paton is going to show me the caravan. I just want to check it out.’
She shook her head at him, and he smiled.
‘Hey, no funny business. You just stay here and keep trying to get us someone who can get us inside.’
Paton led him to an old caravan that was situated at the far end.
‘That one in the middle, the washed-out green one.’
‘What do you think? Can we get the door open?’
‘I don’t see why not; a few good kicks should do it.’
They walked towards it. Josh decided to try knocking on the front door to see for himself. He knocked; the second time he hammered on it. The old guy from the caravan next door stuck his head out.
‘I told your mate, it’s empty. Has been for ages.’
Josh smiled at him, then turned to Paton, who shrugged.
‘In for a penny.’ He launched his foot at the door several times, watching it bend under the pressure, but it didn’t give.
Paton shook his head. ‘Here, let me try.’
Josh stepped to one side.
Sam, who had decided to come and see what they were up to, rounded the corner just in time to see Paton running towards the door. He rammed it with his shoulder and the door buckled, sending him falling into the caravan.
Josh followed, shouting: ‘Police.’
The stifling heat inside the caravan was unbearable. It was dark inside and stuffy. The air smelled stale. The old guy was right, no one had been here for weeks. Holding out his hand, Josh pulled Paton to his feet and they searched each room. There was nothing, no missing girl, no occupant, not even a scrap of food in any of the cupboards.
No one spoke, all of them were too overcome with disappointment.
Forty-Six
Neither Sam nor Josh spoke on the way to the club; the weight of getting nowhere fast was pressing heavy on their shoulders. Josh pushed the door at the side of the hotel which led to the club, relieved it opened. He needed the camera footage right now, not in a week’s time. This was the most vital evidence they would have, and he just hoped they caught a break and Annie’s abductor showed his face on camera. He wanted to scrutinise it from the minute the club opened, to when Estelle and her friends entered, to the minutes after they left.
As he walked inside, followed by Sam, the smell of stale alcohol that lingered in the air made his stomach churn. He liked a drink but hated it the day after when the fumes and a pounding headache were all that was left of a good time. A huge guy walked towards them, his palms outstretched, signalling them to stop and turn around.
‘Sorry, bud, we’re not open until later. The cleaners haven’t been in yet.’
Josh pulled his warrant card from his pocket. ‘DS Josh Walker, this is my colleague DC Sam Thomas, can we have a word with you about an incident last night?’
‘It’s not my fault. I didn’t keep on selling them the alcohol. It’s the bar staff, they’re a bit scared of Estelle, so they just kept on serving her. Besides, she wasn’t that drunk. Anyway, why does it need CID? Don’t you have a licensing officer who deals with this sort of stuff?’
Josh was tired. He looked at Sam, who shrugged her shoulders.
‘Mate, I don’t care about how much alcohol was served. Has anyone spoken to you about the missing girl?’
The bouncer’s face visibly paled and he shook his head. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he looked down at the screen then showed it to Josh. There were an alarming number of missed calls.
‘Let’s start again. Last night Estelle Carter and a group of friends were in here drinking champagne like it was tap water, yes?’
The bouncer nodded and held out his hand. ‘I’m Pete.’
‘Right, Pete. Well, one in the group of Estelle’s friends was a bit worse for wear.’
‘Annie, yes she was. She was leathered; she couldn’t stand up and knocked the table and everything on it flying. I don’t like to interfere with Estelle and her business, but I had to do something; they could have hurt someone, and Annie had drunk more than enough. I told them to get her out of here and that they couldn’t have any more. Is she okay?’
Josh wondered if he was for real, then realised that it was more than likely if he’d been working until the early hours he wouldn’t know what had happened. It was clear he hadn’t answered any of his phone calls.
‘She’s missing.’
‘I don’t understand? Estelle and some guy carried her out of here. I assumed they took her back to her room in the basement. She couldn’t stand on her own two feet, so I find it hard to believe she wandered off anywhere.’
Sam took over. ‘We don’t think she’s missing of her own accord; we believe someone may have abducted her. Now we need to see the CCTV footage from last night. Can you show it to us?’
He nodded vigorously. ‘Of course, I can download it onto a pen drive for you as well.’
Josh said a silent prayer; for once they might be about to catch a break. Pete led them through to a cramped back office where the monitors were stacked on top of each other. He sat down at the desk on a stool and began to load the recordings from the night before. He pulled over a coffee-stained notebook and opened it to the latest page of writing. He then began typing the time of the incident into the system.
Josh was impressed. ‘You made a note of it?’
‘We’re supposed to record anything that happens in the incident book, that way the licensing officers from the police and council can see what’s been going on. Just because Estelle’s old man owns the place it doesn’t mean she gets any special treatment down here. She’s just another customer; she has nothing to do with the club. Her old man was quite insistent about that.’
Several images from around the club began playing on the different monitors. Pete pointed to one of them. ‘That’s their table; it’s not a brilliant view but if you watch you’ll see everything that happened.’
They watched in silence as the group of people who were laughing and enjoying themselves sipped at the champagne. Josh felt a chill run down his back; it was always this way, moments before watching something terrible captured on film. How he wished he could have been there and been the one to have gone to Annie’s assistance.
Pete’s thick index finger filled the screen as he placed it on a woman’s head. ‘That’s Annie, she’s really nice. I hope she’s okay. I’ve never seen her get in a state like that before.’
As Annie fell and the glasses and champagne flew everywhere, Pete came into sight as he marched towards the table.
‘What a state, she can’t even stand up.’
Sam nudged Josh with her elbow. ‘I’ve been drunk, but never like that. Look at that guy by the bar, he’s taking a keen interest in what’s going on.’
They watched as the guy, whose image wasn’t very clear, finished his drink, put his glass down and strode towards where Estelle was trying to hold Annie up.
Josh jumped out of his seat and rushed out of the room into the club, to see if the dirty glasses were still on the bar, but the surfaces were clear. He felt as if someone had taken the air from his lungs; they could have had him: his DNA could have been on the glass.
Pete’s voice filled the air. ‘Sorry, mate, I always make sure the glasses are washed before I leave for the night. Habit.’
Josh nodded. He didn’t really expect it to be that easy. But just this once… especially for Annie Potts.
Forty-Seven
They left Pete in the club and went back upstairs into the hotel, Josh clutching the pen drive.
‘Would you do me a favour, Sam? Can you
return this to the station and get it downloaded and circulated to everyone on an email? Then you can go home, it’s been a long day and you must be tired.’
‘What about you?’
He pointed to the PCSOs who were still guarding the entrance and exits to the hotel. ‘I’ll go and speak to Estelle then hitch a lift back with them.’
‘Are you sure?’
He nodded; taking the keys from his pocket, he passed them to her with the pen drive.
‘Call me if you need me, right? I don’t mind. As long as I’ve sorted the kids out I can be back at work in no time.’
‘I won’t need you; go home and get some rest.’
She didn’t need telling again. Walking off in the direction of the car, she left him to it.
Josh spoke to the PCSO. ‘Ashley, whatever you do don’t leave here without me. I need a lift back.’
She smiled at him and unhooked the set of car keys she had dangling from her radio antenna.
‘I can get a lift back with Helen, you take the car, Josh.’
‘Thank you, I owe you one.’
He went inside the hotel, which was deserted, much to his relief. Leaning against the reception desk he massaged his temples and yawned; he needed paracetamol and a large shot of something strong to knock him out tonight. A second yawn escaped his lips just as an equally tired-looking Estelle came out from the back office.
‘Tough day?’
He nodded.
‘Anything, any news?’
He shook his head, and Estelle crumpled, a sob escaping her lips. Running around the desk, Josh scooped her into his arms and guided her into a chair in the small back office.
Josh was annoyed that she’d failed to mention the guy from the nightclub who helped her with Annie, but he also realised that she was never going to forgive herself for this whole sorry mess. He wouldn’t be too hard on her.
‘We’ve just viewed the camera footage from the nightclub. Why did you not mention the guy who helped you take Annie down to her room?’
