The Murder Club (A Miller Hatcher Novel Book 2)

by Nikki Crutchley

  Jay grabbed her right arm and pulled her away from the door. She lost her footing and fell on the carpet. Jay grinned down at her. She fought him without a second thought. She remembered Castle Bay, her confusion, missing the chance to fight back because people who showed her one side were actually something else. She wanted to hurt him, wanted him to regret choosing her. She spun her body around and kicked his right shin. His leg collapsed and he went down on his knees. She got up, jabbed him left, right in the face and ran for the door again. It was only a couple of metres away but she felt as though she was in a dream, running in slow motion or through mud. Was this what happened with Madi and Emmeline and Tamara? Did they put up a fight? Did they almost escape? Were they this close to freedom only to have it whipped away from them?

  She was breathing heavily, unable to get enough air into her lungs. She reached forward but felt a strong grip around her ankles. Jay pulled her towards him, and she dropped to the ground.

  ‘Guess I should’ve known you’d be a fighter.’ He picked her up off the floor. Standing in front of her, he held her arm tight with one hand and drew a finger down her scar, leaving it feeling on fire.

  ‘Damaged, like me. That’s one of the things I liked about you. When we first met. Remember? I was delivering that week’s paper and you’d just started. I knew your name already, and Cody and Hine were raving about how lucky they were to have you working there. I knew then it was time to start planning. You were the final piece of the puzzle.’

  Miller squirmed but he increased his hold on her, his fingers digging into her flesh. ‘Let’s go.’ He turned her towards the front door.

  ‘Where?’ She dug her bare feet into the carpet.

  He pushed her to start walking. ‘You’ll see. Don’t scream. Don’t make a sound. I’m not going to hurt you.’

  ‘And I’m supposed to believe that?’.

  ‘Don’t you get it? I can’t have anything happening to you. You’re the one who’s going to tell my story.’

  Chapter 42

  It was almost midnight when they turned down the deserted street. As they pulled into a driveway, the car’s headlights illuminated the For Sale sign erected in the front garden. She knew this house. They’d been here on the True Crime Tour with Logan. She jogged her memory. Lauren someone had killed her friend Lindy.

  ‘Home sweet home,’ Jay said. ‘Come on, round the back.’

  He held Miller’s hand in a firm grip and guided her around the back of the house. They walked up three concrete steps. Miller noticed a smashed pane of glass as they entered the small kitchen. ‘This way,’ Jay said, leading her through to the lounge. He turned the lights on. It was bare – no curtains, no furniture.

  ‘What are we doing here?’ Miller asked, looking around.

  ‘This is where I tell you my story,’ Jay said. ‘Sit.’

  Miller, standing in the middle of the room, lowered herself to the ground, not taking her eyes off Jay, taking some pleasure when she saw the red marks her punches had left on his face. Jay sat down opposite her, his legs crossed.

  ‘I was returning home for lunch late this morning and saw two cars in Lou’s driveway. One was a cop car. I knew then they were on to me.’

  ‘So you’re hiding out here?’ Miller asked.

  Jay nodded. ‘I’m going to tell you my story,’ he said again, pulling Miller’s phone out of his pocket. ‘You can record our conversation.’ He handed it to Miller, and she turned the recording function on and lay the phone on the carpet in front of her. Jay rose and started pacing. He frowned and brought a hand to the side of his head. He walked over to a backpack and got out a blister pack of ibuprofen and a bottle of water. She watched him pop four tablets out and swallow them. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

  Miller took the opportunity to stand up. She hated him towering over her. She wanted to run, didn’t want to hear his story. She wanted out of there.

  ‘Sit!’ he yelled, and immediately brought both hands to his head. ‘I’ve told you to sit down already. Just do as I ask so I can tell you my story.’

  Miller backed away from him and sat leaning against the far wall, a fireplace to her right and the kitchen to her left.

  Jay leaned against the opposite wall. Silent.

  ‘So it was you,’ Miller said. ‘You killed Margaret Hughes and the three women here in Lentford.’

  ‘Well, good on you. Margaret Hughes.’ He gazed across at her. ‘My first. No, that’s not right. My second. How did you work it out? Or was it your boyfriend, Detective Parata?’

  ‘I know Karl Taylor, your grandad.’

  ‘Old Grandad Karl!’ Jay shouted, slapping his knee and smiling. ‘He used to be shit-scared of me, you know. How is Gramps?’

  Miller ignored the question. ‘He recognised the identikit. I went to see your mum.’

  ‘My mum’s dead,’ he whispered.

  ‘Your adoptive mother,’ Miller clarified. ‘She had a coin, seemed like a bit of a lucky charm. She held onto it the entire time I was there.’

  ‘Margaret’s bracelet,’ Jay said, rubbing his temples. ‘That was a bit of a slip-up, I guess. She struggled when I hauled her into the truck down the road from her house. I think that’s when the bracelet broke but I didn’t realise, leaving one of the coins in Gary’s ute. When I buried her out at the dairy factory, I took one of the coins. Lesson learnt, though.’ He held his hands in the air as if surrendering. ‘Don’t take souvenirs from the victims, it’ll always come back and bite you in the arse. I gave it to Mum as a gift. She loved it. And I don’t need some keepsake to remember what I did to Margaret.’ He tapped the side of his head. ‘I’ve got a pretty good memory.’

  Jay slid down the wall, sitting, bringing his knees up to his chest.

  ‘I used to sit right there.’ He pointed to the middle of the room. ‘The TV was set up in the corner there.’ He pointed to the other side of the fireplace in the corner. ‘The night it happened I was playing Sonic the Hedgehog. I’d gotten really good at it.’ He smiled at Miller and then turned back to where the imaginary TV was.

  ‘One of my mum’s boyfriends had given me a Sega console a few weeks before. The night he gave it to me he told me I should call him Uncle, and then later he came into my room and slid into my bed.’ Jay’s lips curled up in disgust. ‘I remember his breath hot on my bare back like he’d just been for a run, but all he’d done was drag his fat, drunken arse from Mum’s room to mine. I felt his hand moving down my back and decided right then that it wasn’t going to happen again.’ Jay looked at Miller, his eyes wide. She had to turn away.

  ‘I grabbed a pencil from my bedside table and turned and attacked. I was scared, but god I had to laugh when he rolled out of bed, shouting and screaming.’ Jay laughed now, the sound loud and manic as he remembered. ‘Uncle Terry left that night. Mum beat the shit out of me. The damn jug cord left bruises all over me for days. But it was worth it. Uncle Terry was gone, and I got to keep my Sega. But I knew this wouldn’t be the last of it. Mum had a knack for attracting these sickos.

  ‘So, back to that night. I wasn’t supposed to be up. The neighbours had their music blasting so I didn’t hear Mum’s footsteps on the path outside. The first thing I heard was loud voices on the doorstep. I shut down my game when I heard the front door open. I didn’t have enough time to get down the hallway to my room – she would’ve seen me. So I hid in this closest here.’ Jay got up and walked to the closet, situated between the lounge and kitchen. He opened it, peered in, then closed it again.

  ‘I could see through the slats.’ His fingers running up and down the wood created a clunky melody. ‘They were fighting, Mum and Lauren. Over a client. I knew all about what Mum did. Lentford’s a small town. The kids at school had fun teasing me about my mum’s “hobby”. Lauren was getting stuck into Mum, telling her she stole one of her clients. Demanding money. Mum yelled back saying the guy h
ad chosen her. I was thinking how I was going to get back to my bedroom when Lauren pushed Mum so hard she fell over, right here.’ Jay pointed at the floor by the closet.

  Jay laughed again, recalling it. His bouts of laughing scared Miller most of all. She knew he wasn’t in his right mind, and there was a possibility he wasn’t going to let her go after this. She adjusted her position, thinking if she knelt she’d be able to get up quicker if she needed to.

  ‘Stop moving!’ he yelled.

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Miller said, desperate to placate him. ‘Sorry. Go on.’

  Jay started pacing back and forth in front of the closet, the floorboards creaking under his weight.

  He stopped and stared at the floor, pointing. ‘Lauren straddled my mother before she could get up again. Slapped her a few times.’ He looked up and smiled. ‘I remember wanting to jump out of the closet and join in. Mum was struggling under Lauren’s weight. And then I remember Lauren’s hands wrapping around my mother’s scrawny neck.’

  Jay walked towards Miller and knelt in front of her. He was staring at her, but Miller felt he couldn’t see her.

  ‘I watched as her hands squeezed tight around Mum’s neck. I watched Mum struggle and then go still. Lauren hauled her fat arse off Mum. I watched her grab Mum’s handbag on the couch.’ He pointed to the wall he’d been leaning against as if the couch was still there. ‘She tipped everything out and grabbed the notes that fell to the floor. Then she was gone.’

  God, he saw his mother murdered.

  ‘I came out of the closet and went over to Mum. Her eyes were shut. But her chest was still rising and falling. I grabbed her scarf from the couch. She always wore one when she went out. I slipped it around her neck.’

  Miller closed her eyes, realising what was coming next.

  ‘I kept on tightening it. It was easy.’

  Jay reached out to Miller, as if in slow motion. Miller pressed herself up against the wall, nowhere else to go. Jay’s hands encircled her neck. ‘I remembered all the times she hit me.’

  ‘Jay! No,’ Miller shouted, her voice quashed as he applied more pressure.

  ‘She put me down, brought home those sick men to do whatever they wanted with me.’

  Miller clawed at Jay’s hands. Slapping at his body.

  ‘The happiness and relief I felt as I watched her chest rise and fall for the last time was out of this world.’

  Jay refocused and looked at Miller. He dropped his hands. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled, backing away. ‘I didn’t mean to do that.’

  Miller doubled over, struggling to breathe, her eyes watering. Jay carried on talking as if he hadn’t just tried to kill her. ‘About five minutes after that I rang 111. A couple of cops arrived and then there were more. Detectives and people in overalls. I talked to a nice policewoman. She made me a Milo with the kitchen door closed.’ Jay looked up where a wide space now led into the dining room and kitchen. ‘Used to be a wall and door here,’ he observed.

  ‘She asked me what happened. I told her I was asleep in my bedroom, woke up hearing shouting and then quiet, and then a door slamming. I told her I got up and went into the lounge and saw Mum, the scarf around her neck. I told her I saw she wasn’t breathing and that’s when I rang the police.’

  Jay looked up at Miller. ‘And that’s why I am what I am. That’s my story, Miller. Well, the start at least. She was a horrible person. I killed her. I admit that. But the world was a lot better off with her not in it. You do understand that, don’t you?’ He came and stood in front of Miller, who cowered, trying to move away from him.

  ‘She always said I wouldn’t amount to anything. Always said I was nothing, a waste of space. But what I’ve done will show her. By doing this, people will know who I am. Even when I’m not here anymore, people will always remember my name. Remember what I did. Remember that for a short time, I was someone.’ Jay took a deep breath and exhaled.

  The knock on the front door was sudden, breaking the eerie calm that had descended after Jay’s story.

  ‘Police! Open up!’

  ‘What did you do?’ Jay said, looking at Miller’s phone in the centre of the room. Still recording. ‘Who did you ring? When did you ring—’

  ‘I haven’t called anyone,’ Miller said.

  There was more banging on the door. Jay grabbed his backpack and ran through the kitchen and out the back door.

  Miller ran for the front door, unlocking the deadbolt and wrenching it open. Ash was standing on the doorstep, hand raised, ready to strike the door again.

  ‘Miller?’ she said, confused.

  ‘He’s gone out the back!’ Miller shouted. ‘Get him!’

  Miller could hear shouting at the back of the house. Ash stepped inside and ran to the back door with Miller close behind. Jay was on the floor in the kitchen. Bull had one knee on his back and was handcuffing him. Jay was yelling and shouting, incoherent.

  Ash took Miller into the lounge. ‘We got a call from a neighbour. They’d got up to get a drink and saw a light on here. They knew there was no one in the house. Thought there might be squatters or teenagers up to no good. Are you okay?’ Her forehead creased as she glanced at Miller’s neck and took in her shaking form. ‘Here, sit down.’ She helped Miller to the floor.

  ‘It’s Jay... He’s the Scarf Killer,’ Miller said.

  ‘Detective Parata filled us in this afternoon. I’ll call him now.’

  ‘Sarge!’ Bull bellowed from the kitchen.

  Ash glanced at Miller and they both ran through to the kitchen. Jay, hands cuffed behind his back, was yelling in pain. He threw himself onto the floor from a sitting position, his body tense, mouth settled into a grimace, neck tendons taut, eyes shut tight.

  ‘He’s having a seizure. Call an ambulance!’ Ash yelled and knelt by Jay to remove his handcuffs.

  Chapter 43

  Miller walked along a maze of corridors at Waikato Hospital with Kahu early the following morning. Her neck ached and was already coming out in pale-blue bruises. She had rested only briefly at Lentford police station before Kahu had rung, asking for her.

  ‘He wants to speak with you,’ Kahu said between gritted teeth.

  ‘Why me?’ Miller asked, dreading seeing Jay again.

  ‘The doctors have informed us he has an inoperable brain tumour. He’s known about it for the last year or so. Doctors say he hasn’t got long.’

  ‘He’s going to die? When?’

  ‘Could be today, could still have months left. They don’t know.’

  ‘You going to be okay?’ Kahu asked as they stood outside Jay’s room, a uniformed officer in a chair by the door. ‘He’s been read his rights, plus he knows this conversation is being recorded. We’ve told him he needs a lawyer present, but he’s declined, numerous times. Says the only one who really needs to hear this is you.’

  Miller nodded.

  ‘Come on. Let’s get this over with. He refuses to say anything unless you’re here.’ He opened the door and Miller followed him in.

  Jay was sitting up in bed. His eyes were closed; his tanned skin was pale, his face drawn. He looked peaceful, at rest, which maddened Miller. He opened his eyes and smiled at Miller, waving a hand towards a seat next to him. She stayed standing at the foot of the bed. She would treat this like an interview. No emotion. Get it done.

  ‘I’m so glad you could come.’ He looked at her neck. The grin was fleeting, but Miller saw it. ‘I’m sorry about last night. That got out of hand. Did the detective tell you? I don’t have long to live.’

  If he’s expecting sympathy, he’s looking at the wrong person.

  ‘Detective Parata here is dying to know what I’ve been up to for the last month.’

  Kahu’s jaw was clenched, his lips compressed.

  ‘I’m sure you have questions.’ Jay looked at Miller. ‘Ask away.’

  Miller c
ould tell Jay knew he was in control. He had the choice of what information to divulge and when and knew it was driving Kahu mad.

  ‘Margaret Hughes,’ Miller said. She’d already filled Kahu in on what thirteen-year-old Jay had done to his mother. For Cassie’s sake, she needed to find out how it had come about.

  ‘I’d been working for Gary Vogel for a few months. We’d been working at Margaret’s next-door neighbours. I’d seen her once there, and a couple of times out walking when I was leaving work for the day. She’d caught my eye. Attractive woman, I guess, but the reason she’d caught my eye was she walked every day and almost every weekend from her house to that place up the road that sold fruit and vegetables. The road wasn’t busy at all. It was a no-exit. The road finished at the farm that had the shop. There were probably four or five other houses on the road, all with a lot of land, all rich as shit, their fancy houses blocked from the road by massive hedges. I hadn’t really planned it. No, that’s a lie. I dreamed about what I wanted to do if I ever got the chance. I’d finished up at this house one morning and was driving along the road when I saw her. I pulled over, wound down my window and got her over to my side of the truck. I grabbed her head, punched her in the face, then jumped out and rammed her head into the side of the truck. It was easy.’

  Jay rubbed his dry hands together, the sound like sandpaper on wood. He’s enjoying this.

  ‘I put her in the back seat of the truck and got the hell out of there. I knew Gary would be pissed off. He needed the truck. Can’t remember what I told him in the end.’

  ‘You told him your mother was sick,’ Kahu said without looking up.

  Jay shook his head. ‘You guys.’ He grinned. Miller remembered how much she’d liked his smile. ‘You’re on to it.’