A Cut for a Cut (Detective Kate Young)

by Carol Wyer

  ‘Tats? Henry? That’s not his thing at all. Besides, his girlfriend would probably make him get any removed.’

  ‘Okay. If I need to I’ll talk to him in person when he gets back from his holiday,’ she said.

  Wayne’s eyebrows drew together. ‘That it?’

  ‘That’s everything. Thank you.’

  He shut the door with an exasperated huff.

  It had begun to rain lightly, and she jogged back to her car. If Wayne wasn’t responsible for the attacks, she was back to square one. She rested her head momentarily on the steering wheel and groaned. They were running around in never-ending circles.

  Chris sounded like he was in the back seat, his words quiet. ‘Pull yourself together, Kate. It’s no more than a setback.’

  ‘I haven’t got the energy or fight for all of this: the investigation into these attacks, Dickson, Tilly, you, all of it.’

  This was getting out of hand. All this talking to herself. She shut her gritty eyes for a moment. She was pushing too hard, so hard she didn’t have any clarity on the investigation, which was her priority, especially now it involved Tilly. If she wasn’t careful, it would destroy her. She ought to go home and recuperate and, for the time being, concentrate on what mattered most – finding whoever was responsible for these heinous acts. As much as it pained her, Chris would have to wait.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  In spite of her intentions to focus solely on the investigation, the 5 a.m. phone call forced her to change her mind. Bradley Chapman wanted to meet her by the reservoir. She rubbed at the sticky substance bonding her eyelids together. An extra hour’s sleep would have been welcome; nevertheless she showered, dressed and even forced herself to eat cereal and glug milky tea before jumping back in her car.

  The sun was beginning to rise over the reservoir, casting rose light across the shimmering expanse of water. A flock of seemingly pastel pink sheep were clustered on the hillside towards the water’s edge and before them, the swans were feeding, dipping their graceful necks in tandem.

  The leaves on the trees in the woods behind the lake were changing colour but in the morning light those colours took on a fresh intensity. If Kate had been an artist, or photographer, she’d have stopped there and then to capture the hues before traffic spoilt the scene.

  Bradley had parked his Range Rover in the same spot as the last time, far enough away from the road to be out of sight from any passers-by who might be out and about at this early hour. She did likewise. No sooner had she switched off the engine than he was by the passenger door. She let him in, bringing with him a masculine woody scent with a hint of spice. He filled the seat, legs bunched up, knees against the dashboard yet he seemed unperturbed by the discomfort and held out his phone.

  The man on the video screamed.

  ‘What the hell?’ she said.

  ‘Just watch it.’

  The blindfolded, pale-faced man with soaking wet, straw-coloured hair begged to be released. He twisted under his bonds until a person wearing military fatigues appeared on the screen, the upper body out of camera shot, and poured water over his face. He spluttered and coughed, mouth opening and closing like a fish’s, as he struggled for breath. He gulped lungfuls of air.

  ‘Tell us,’ said a disguised, robotic voice.

  ‘No . . . I can’t . . . No.’

  The same person moved again, more quickly this time. Water was poured over the man’s eyes, then his nose and finally his mouth. He retched and hacked.

  ‘We can keep this up for hours. You can’t,’ said the robotic voice.

  ‘Okay. Okay. I admit it. I killed Cooper Monroe and made it look like suicide.’

  ‘Tell us exactly what happened.’

  ‘He was in the shower. He didn’t hear me. I crept up behind him, surprised him and slit his throat with a razor blade before he could react.’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘I got cleaned up, changed into a spare uniform I’d already left in the changing area, and called for assistance.’

  ‘Why did you kill him?’

  He shook his head. ‘Please don’t make me tell you. I’ll lose my job, everything.’

  ‘You don’t tell us and you’ll die. Which is it to be?’

  The man didn’t answer and was waterboarded yet again. He gasped for air and made terrible choking noises, so bad that, for a moment, Kate thought he was going to stop breathing altogether.

  ‘I was paid to make it look like suicide. I needed the money. My dad’s got advanced dementia and needs medical care—’

  ‘How much?’

  ‘Thirty grand.’

  ‘A poxy thirty grand for a man’s life?’

  ‘He was a criminal!’

  His legs and lower body bucked under the leather restraints as more water was poured into his mouth. He blew and gasped and blew again. The water stopped.

  ‘Who paid you?’

  ‘An officer.’

  ‘A police officer or a prison officer?’

  ‘Police.’

  ‘Who was this police officer?’

  ‘No. I can’t tell you.’ He was tortured again. This time he pleaded for his life.

  ‘Give us the name of the officer who paid you.’

  The man gave it up at last. ‘Superintendent John Dickson.’

  Bradley paused the video. ‘I’ll email you an encrypted copy.’

  Kate could hardly breathe. This was compelling evidence, proving exactly what they’d suspected all along: that Cooper had been murdered and Dickson was every bit as corrupt as she’d believed. Her heart drummed a resounding beat in her ears. This was a huge piece of information and proof of Dickson’s guilt, yet how could she use it to bring him down? She forced herself to remain calm. ‘Was that the guard we talked about last time we met?’

  ‘That’s him. Tom Champion. It took a while to extract the confession from him. He’s a tough bastard.’

  ‘Where is he now?’

  ‘Taking a holiday with his family. I’ve got somebody keeping an eye on him. We’ve warned him if he tries to contact Dickson, we’ll return to finish the job. He’s too scared to do anything stupid.’

  Although she had no reason to doubt Bradley, a court would take a different view, suggest Tom had been forced to confess to the murder and to implicating Dickson. That aside, it was also completely unprofessional and immoral to accept this video. She wasn’t a lawbreaker, although she’d already broken rules by investigating Dickson and by keeping Tilly out of a hugely important investigation, but this . . . this was one step too far. It went against everything she’d stood for. She’d spent her whole life with her head held high, abiding by the rulebook and following procedure. She’d never once strayed and yet, in the space of a few months, she’d found herself moving ever further away from the right path. ‘I don’t think I can condone this, Bradley. Besides, this evidence will be inadmissible in any court. You tortured a man to get it. A judge will throw it out in a heartbeat.’

  ‘I’m aware of that, but how else would you have found out the truth? You asked for my help, remember?’

  ‘But not to beat up a man until he confessed to whatever allegations you threw at him.’

  ‘As I recall, you weren’t against me using unlawful methods when we talked about it the other day. You can’t have it both ways, DI Young. Either you want the truth and the bad guys caught, or you want to polish your cap badge and do exactly as you’re told.’ His voice dripped scorn. ‘I had you pinned for a bit of a maverick, somebody with gumption, who would be prepared to cross the line if they had to, yet when it comes to it, you’re nothing more than a yes-man.’

  ‘I’m neither a maverick nor a yes-man. I want to bring Dickson down.’

  ‘Then you need to be braver. You have to be prepared to take risks, because if you don’t, that bastard is going to get away with this, the death of your husband and heaven knows what else, and he’ll grow into an even bigger monster than he is already.’

  ‘He’s right.’
Chris’s voice was so faint she could hardly hear it.

  ‘I’m going to push for Cooper’s body to be sent to Stoke for a second post-mortem. That might set the ball in motion for a proper enquiry into his death and get Champion put away. However, Dickson is another matter. I’ll email the entire recording to you, whether you want it or not, and then you’ll have to decide how best to proceed. I hope I’ve been right about you, DI Young. And that you are strong enough to handle this.’

  She answered with a nod. She owed it to Chris to use this information.

  ‘I’ve hired Sierra a top lawyer to fight her corner, so we expect the green light any day.’ Bradley’s face was gravely serious. ‘Champion might go down for killing Cooper and if he does, my money is on him keeping quiet about Dickson, so it’s up to you to nail the fucker. If you can’t, then I’ll be forced to do something about him. I’m not afraid to cross the line if I have to.’

  She cleared her throat. ‘Okay. I understand. Let me know when Cooper’s body is released to be re-examined. Make sure it’s sent to Harvey Fuller.’

  ‘Uh-huh. Where shall I send this recording?’

  She gave him Chris’s email address. He slipped out of the car, leaving Kate numb. She was out of options. Bradley had made her see sense. A dirty copper had to be caught using dirty methods. She’d made her decision and would breach the rules and do whatever was necessary to punish Dickson, even though it meant she’d be abandoning the moral code she’d followed all her career. The weird thing was, part of her didn’t care. If it got results, then it was the only option left.

  When Kate arrived at the office, Morgan, Emma and Jamie were discussing the gyms and martial arts centres they’d visited.

  ‘What have you got for me?’ she asked.

  Emma held up a piece of paper, one of several on the desk. ‘An extremely long list of people who perform martial arts that involve practising strike manoeuvres. We’re trying to find out if any of the guys on these lists own a black Honda motorbike.’

  ‘And the light’s fixed,’ said Morgan.

  ‘So I heard.’

  ‘Yeah, Graham did it in a jiffy. Spent more time chatting than working.’

  ‘You know him?’

  ‘I do now. He gave me a potted history of his life and all about his family.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘His daughter’s at Oxford University. He even showed me photos of her. At one stage, I thought he was trying to matchmake us. I told him I had to get off.’

  Another fat bubble rose in Kate’s mind, and this time it didn’t burst or disappear. Who better than a workman to enter a place of work, observe people and even get to know them? A friendly workman could have found out enough information about his victims to decide to stalk them. She’d not given Graham, the maintenance man, a second glance. How many others would do the same? The familiar rush of blood pulsing in her ears indicated she was on the right lines. Jamie bowled up at that moment and Kate tested her theory on the team. Jamie waved his pen enthusiastically at her.

  ‘I think you could be onto something, guv.’

  ‘Right, let’s find out if any workmen, phone engineers, window cleaners, or anyone you can think of, visited Trentham House, Sunny Bank Residential Care Home and the solicitors in Stafford, in recent months.’

  ‘Laura left Tomkins Solicitors in February and then moved house. The killer couldn’t have known she’d moved to Abbots Bromley. Even her colleagues didn’t know where she’d gone,’ said Morgan.

  Kate pulled a face at the obvious flaw in her argument, then after further thought, said, ‘Try Abbots Bromley village hall. Maybe he knew about the yoga classes. Check with the caretaker you interviewed.’

  ‘Peter Grantham,’ said Emma.

  ‘Yes. Him.’

  ‘What about these lists?’ asked Morgan.

  ‘Jamie, you stick with those.’

  ‘Sure thing.’

  ‘Morgan, try Sunny Bank. I’ll take Trentham House.’

  The next hour rushed past in a blur of activity: pens jotted down notes, phone calls were made and the atmosphere was electric as, one by one, they came up with results. There was one common denominator – all three had approached green energy companies to quote on how to make the places more energy efficient.

  ‘We’ve got three different companies who sent along salesmen and engineers,’ said Kate. ‘We now need to find out who they sent and interview those people. Also run cross-checks to see if any of them appear on that martial arts list and own a motorbike.’

  ‘Kate?’ DCI Chase wandered in.

  ‘We’re onto something,’ she said and explained what they were doing.

  William’s face brightened. ‘Good work. I’ll leave you to get on with it.’

  The team hit the phones, contacting the energy companies to determine who might have been sent out to all the destinations. Kate wandered across to Jamie’s desk. ‘Mind if I take a look?’ she said, picking up the list he’d been working on.

  ‘Go ahead,’ he mouthed.

  Her phone rang at the same time and she hastened back to take the call. It was a subdued Tilly. She moved out into the corridor.

  ‘Hey, is everything okay?’

  ‘No. Kate, I’m a complete screw-up.’

  ‘No, you’re not. What’s happened?’

  ‘Everything. I’ve spent all night awake and I’ve realised something important. All this running away and hoping to find a future back in the UK. I’ve been fooling myself. I couldn’t see what was under my nose. I was convinced I wanted one thing, but what I really wanted was something else altogether – for Jordan to notice me again and for us to have a proper, meaningful relationship, like we used to have. It took going out with Ryan for me to finally comprehend what I should have known all along.

  ‘I rang Jordan earlier. He misses us like mad and, after a long talk, we’ve decided we’re going to make another go of things. He’s going to change jobs so he isn’t away as often.’

  A leaden lump formed in Kate’s stomach. She’d only just got used to the idea of having Tilly and Daniel in her life, and now that would change.

  ‘We’ve only got three weeks left then?’ she said.

  ‘I’m so, so sorry, Kate. I don’t want to hurt you. Jordan’s been in bits since I walked out and after spending time here, I think I’ll be able to move forward with him and repair the damage I helped to cause.’

  Kate swallowed the disappointment. Tilly’s happiness was paramount. ‘It’s far more important you and Jordan sort yourselves out. Daniel needs you both, in spite of what you might think. We were both brought up by one parent and understand the heartache involved in never seeing or knowing the other.’

  ‘I feel absolutely terrible about letting you down.’

  Although the stabbing in her chest suggested otherwise, she replied, ‘Me? You haven’t. Anyway, we’ve got time before you leave. What brought on the phone call to Jordan? Last night you seemed to be getting on well with Ryan.’

  The silence made her heart jump. ‘Tilly?’

  ‘He was a total shit.’

  ‘What happened? Things were going great when I heard from you, earlier.’

  ‘It changed pretty fast. He went from charming to creepy. When he told me that he’d been waiting for me for a lifetime and asked if I ever thought back to those special days, I couldn’t think of what to say. Obviously, that was the wrong response, and he started kicking off. He accused me of leading him on when we were at school and said I was doing exactly the same thing again. I reminded him that he friended me on Facebook, not the other way around. I’d been transparent during our messages, told him I was married with a son and we were only friends, catching up. He pushed his drink away, called me a prick tease and stormed off. I gave it ten minutes before I left, but the fucker was waiting outside for me. He grabbed hold of my wrist and told me I was a bitch when I was at school and that I was still a bitch, and that I deserved to be taught a lesson.’

  ‘Fuck, Tilly! Why didn’t you ring me when he le
ft the pub or arrange for somebody to accompany you to your car?’

  ‘I didn’t need to. After you warned me about walking the streets alone, and with everything that’s been happening, I wasn’t going out without taking precautions. I’d already made a home-made pepper spray and had it in my hand, on the off-chance the attacker was hanging around. When he surprised me, I was ready for him. First, I gave him a good squirt in his eyes and then kicked him really hard in the nuts. Emma’s training paid off big time. He crumpled. I raced for my car and drove off before he had a chance to recover.’

  ‘Has he any idea of where you’re staying?’

  ‘No. He definitely didn’t follow me and I didn’t tell him where I lived, only that I was renting a place in Stafford.’

  Kate lifted her head to the ceiling and blew out her cheeks. Tilly had had a lucky escape. The list was still in her hand and as she listened to Tilly saying how much the experience had made her realise she needed Jordan, she read the four names on Jamie’s list. Her eyes rested on one in particular.

  ‘And he has a tattoo of a bleeding black heart. He kept rubbing it while he spoke. It was one of the creepy things about him.’

  ‘Lock your door and don’t answer it until I come around. I’ll explain when I do.’

  ‘But . . .’

  ‘Just do it, Tilly.’

  The paper in her hand flapped as she rushed into the office. ‘Ryan Holder. He’s on Jamie’s list. Has his name come up?’

  Emma looked up from her phone, eyes wide. ‘The manager at Green-Go Energy is on the line. He sent Ryan to all three places.’

  ‘Everything you’ve got on him and an address, now!’ Kate was off again, pounding the stairs to William’s office. They’d got him at last.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  He hurls the hand grip exerciser against the wall. Fucking bitch! She’d finally accepted his friend request on Facebook and he’d hooked her with his messages of sincerity and surprise she was back in the country. He’d suggested they meet up for a drink when she had a moment, been nice to her. He’d been patient, played it cool and at last, she’d taken the bait.