The Game

by Luca Veste

  ‘It was in her pocket? Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes,’ the tech officer replied, his hand lingering in mid-air in front of DI Bennett. ‘They told me to come and show it to you. There’s nothing else on her. Just this scrap of paper in her right trouser pocket.’

  Mark read the paper again, feeling a surge of something rush through him. Excitement wasn’t the correct word.

  But this proved he was right. He had known there was more.

  DI Bennett was already turning towards him, her face suddenly drawn.

  ‘What is this?’

  Mark wished he could answer the question.

  Thirty-Four

  It had only been a couple of days since Mark had asked the family to identify the wrong body, but it felt much longer. As if time had ceased to follow its normal rhythm.

  Now he was standing in the same spot in the bowels of the Royal Hospital, the air somehow cooler and more still, watching Emily’s body being unveiled. The same spot where Joanna Carter had been revealed and the relief which had come next for Julie and Stephanie.

  It wouldn’t be that way this time.

  He had tried to prepare the women for that, but he could tell in the car journey over that they still thought that was a possible outcome. Julie almost chanting it over and over again.

  They’ve made a mistake again. They’ve made a mistake again.

  ‘Ready?’ Mark said, as if this could be avoided if it needed to be. He watched as Julie stared at the window and said nothing. Stephanie stared at him, willing him to say something else. As if he could change what was about to happen.

  Stephanie shook her head and muttered under her breath. ‘It’s not her, it’s not her.’

  Julie showed no sign of having heard her daughter talk. Mark turned to the window and nodded towards the coroner’s assistant inside the room. He bowed his head and lifted back the sheet covering the body.

  Mark forced himself to look in the same direction as the two women. Emily’s body was covered for the most part, only her face on display. They were only a few feet away, separated by glass, but the effect wasn’t diminished in any way.

  Her face was discoloured, distended. Her features were all there, but just different enough to hammer home the fact she wasn’t there anymore. That they were looking only at a shell of a person.

  He turned to the two women beside him; they were staring intently at the body, searching the small visible area for dissimilarities.

  The quiet was suffocating. The tick of a clock somewhere down the corridor broke it, sounding insufferably loud suddenly.

  It’s her,’ Stephanie said, her voice flat and lifeless. Back to stoic mode, holding on to her mother as Julie staggered back in the corridor. A noise rumbled within her, before a howl escaped her lips, echoing off the walls as it increased in volume. Mark felt his body tense at the sound of it, watching as Stephanie gripped her mother harder trying to quieten her. With little effect.

  It had been ten hours since he’d been sitting at their kitchen table, watching Stephanie break down. Now, he was watching her try to comfort her mother. This time, she knew. They both did.

  Emily was gone.

  Julie’s cries filled the corridor as she sank to her knees, her body finally giving up. Stephanie held on to her, slowly moving down with her, holding her in her arms. Stroking her back, crying with her, silently.

  Mark watched them for a few seconds, feeling the lump at the back of his throat grow. Watching as reality took hold and their lives changed in an instant.

  ‘What do we do now?’

  Mark didn’t have an answer for Stephanie, as she looked up towards him. He stammered, knowing he needed to stay professional and give them something. He couldn’t. There was nothing he could say in that moment that would provide solace.

  Stephanie had already turned back to her mum, helping her to her feet, as Julie’s cries still filled the corridor. He shepherded them away, finding a relative’s room quickly and sitting them down.

  ‘What happened to her?’ Stephanie said, her own eyes filled with tears. ‘Was she… Who did this to her?’

  ‘They’re going to do a post-mortem and find out,’ Mark replied, talking low as Julie moaned and rocked in her chair. ‘Once we know, you’ll be told. We’ll tell Charlie and your Uncle Rich as well. You can stay here for as long as you need, but there’ll be more questions. I need to prepare you for that. Now we’ve found her, we have to make sure we find the person who did this.’

  Stephanie nodded, then hugged her mum and stood up. She placed a hand on Mark’s arm and guided him out into the corridor. She left the door open behind her, but spoke in a hushed tone.

  ‘We need answers. We need to know what happened. You can’t leave us without them. Promise? Only, my mum… she’s not going to come back from this without knowing. This is going to destroy her and I can’t lose both of them.’

  ‘I’ll… We’ll do everything we can,’ Mark replied, staring into Stephanie’s blue, filmy eyes. ‘We have every resource on this. Forensics, the works. If there’s something to find, it’ll be found. Hopefully answers will be easy to come by. If not, I guarantee we won’t leave any stone unturned to find them.’

  ‘I knew it was coming,’ Stephanie said, trying to keep her words from sticking in the back of her throat. She coughed and blinked back tears. ‘I could feel it. It doesn’t make it any easier. I thought it might, you know, if I prepared myself for this to be the end. I just feel empty.’

  ‘You’re going to need time to let this sink in,’ Mark said, moving his hand to her shoulder. ‘You need to be with your mum for now. Help each other. A family liaison officer is on her way here now. They’ll be with you for the foreseeable future. They’ll be able to help you as well.’

  Mark removed his hand and guided her back to her mum, leaving them ensconced in the relative’s room, still holding on to each other. He closed the door behind him and felt only anger at what was about to happen to them. The multitude of police detectives who would now become part of their daily lives, especially once Rich was arrested. It was bad enough for them when it was only him – now, there would be a whole team they would have to deal with. Asking questions they probably couldn’t answer. Keeping things from them. They would almost become ancillary to the entire story, as the truth became the only thing of interest.

  He didn’t want to think about how their lives would be if DI Bennett’s theory was correct. That someone in their own family was responsible.

  He knew Bennett would be here, waiting for a moment to step in and speak to him face to face. Probably overseeing the entire process. Watching their reactions, looking for something that didn’t fit.

  He found her leaning against the wall with her arms folded. Mark came to a stop and then slumped next to her. ‘If they’ve got anything to do with her death, they’re bloody amazing actors.’

  ‘I’ve seen better,’ DI Bennett replied, unmoved from her spot. ‘But it doesn’t matter anyway. They’re not involved. It’s the uncle.’

  ‘You’re sure now?’ Mark replied, standing up slightly, trying not to let tiredness wash over him. ‘What do we know really?’

  ‘It’s his yard, Mark. And really, come on, how often is it a stranger? Really, when we start looking at every murder we investigate, you’ve got to play the odds. It’s always someone known to the victim.’

  ‘Not always,’ Mark said, but he didn’t trust his words enough to have any conviction behind them. ‘I just don’t want us wasting time on him if there’s someone else out there.’

  ‘Someone she met online, or the like?’

  ‘That’s what I’ve been looking into the past couple of days. Emily had a whole network of people on the hook on the internet. One of them might have been disgruntled enough to do this.’

  ‘How many of them have you spoken to now?’

  ‘A few more since Chris Jackson,’ Mark replied, wishing he had something more. Knowing that he didn’t have enough. ‘They were all
angry about what she did, but I can’t say for certain any of them were angry enough to do something like this to her. It doesn’t make sense though. If she was doing something like that online, that all of them are level-headed enough to just move on from it. She did some pretty nasty things. Messed with people’s lives. Embarrassed them. Maybe there’s more to this than what we’re thinking.’

  ‘You’re overthinking this, Mark.’

  ‘What about what was found on Emily’s body?’

  It wasn’t much to go on, but it was enough to set Mark’s heart racing. Even now, as he remembered it.

  I LOST THE GAME.

  ‘It could be anything,’ DI Bennett said, shaking her head as she did so. She didn’t believe it herself, it seemed. ‘Just another thing to put us off track. Rich is cunning. He knew the more the water was muddied, the less chance we’d have of nailing him.’

  ‘I just don’t think we should totally dismiss this other angle and expect it all to be on the uncle. That’s all. If I should shut my mouth, just tell me now.’

  Mark could see she was growing tired of his interjections now. He stood up away from the wall, waiting for her to tell him to stop.

  She didn’t.

  ‘Well, you keep looking into that if you think it’ll come to anything,’ DI Bennett said, as if she were a teacher dismissing one of her unruly children from her office. ‘In the meantime, I want you to talk to the boy and see if he will give you any more on the uncle. I need you to do that, given the prior relationship. You’re in the best position to get as much out of him as possible. Do it at his home, but make sure it’s all above board.’

  ‘He’s not going to be happy about that…’

  ‘I don’t care,’ DI Bennett said, smoothing down her jacket and stepping away. ‘Meet us at the house. FLO will be here in a few minutes, so the mum and sister will be looked after. Once you’re done with the kid, get a uniform to take him to the station to meet these two there. They’re going to be questioned as well.’

  Mark ran a hand through his hair, letting it travel back and massage his own neck. ‘Right, no problem boss.’

  ‘I know it’s a difficult one, Mark, but we have to go with what we know so far. Once that’s over, we can move the investigation further afield. For now, our resources are best spent on the more likely answers, but I can give you some time to make sure what you’ve found out has nothing to do with it.’

  Mark nodded, but didn’t feel confident in the choices being made. There was something about the whole thing that didn’t feel right. The way Rich had acted over Emily’s disappearance, the fact he’d been there for days, supporting his sister. The fact he had no history of anything untoward with the family.

  The fact of the note.

  Another mention of some kind of game.

  ‘One more thing, Mark,’ DI Bennett said, as she turned to leave. ‘If you feel this is all a bit much for you, please say something. I don’t want you burning yourself out. It’s a difficult case, this, but you need to show you can deal with this sort of thing, okay? I think you’ve been a good addition to the team, but you’ve been with us long enough now. I don’t want you getting bogged down in something that doesn’t fit, so don’t take too long on this.’

  Mark didn’t respond, letting her walk away without another word. He could feel the anger like a ball of fire in his stomach. He wasn’t a child. He didn’t need to be spoken to like one.

  He breathed in and forced himself to relax.

  Thirty-Five

  The house felt different with Julie and Stephanie gone. As if a part of it was missing. All that was left behind was an eerie, still silence. Mark had arrived with two uniforms, directing them to the back of the house to where he expected the uncle to be.

  Charlie had opened the front door for them, rolled his eyes and not said a word. Mark had tried to stop him, but he was already back up the stairs, his bedroom door closing behind him. He waited for the uniforms to make their way through the house, then walked up the stairs to the only bedroom he hadn’t seen yet.

  He was standing on the landing, knocking on the door for at least a minute before Charlie opened it. The teen stood at the threshold, his hair hanging dankly, almost covering his eyes.

  ‘Can I talk to you?’

  Charlie slouched against the doorframe, crossed his arms and said, ‘What?’

  ‘You might want to sit down,’ Mark said, keeping his patience in check.

  ‘It’s about her, isn’t it?’

  ‘Can you just let me in so we can talk it over.’

  There were a few seconds of silence, before he eventually relented and walked back into his room. Mark followed him, closing the door over a little. Charlie had already slumped into a gaming chair facing the television propped up on a chest of drawers in a corner. The curtains were drawn close, barely any light breaking into the room. Mark considered opening them, then settled for turning on the light instead. The teenager blinked, but showed no other sign of a response.

  The room was small, but seemed to have been filled with more things than the rest of the house. Each available surface was being used, including the countless shelves that were on every wall. They held various figurines, which probably meant much to Charlie, but left Mark confused. Gnarled and misshapen figures, which seemed to be mixtures of monsters and mythological beings. Winged beasts, malformed humanistic types. The walls were similarly covered in posters that depicted various metal bands and horror films. On the television, a video game had been paused. Red and black splashed across the screen. A character holding some type of gun that probably didn’t exist in the real world.

  When Mark had been younger, they would have termed Charlie as a ‘Goth’ or ‘Mosher’. Something told him the names were probably the same now. The weird kids who seemed to have their own language, to be mocked and mistreated by those higher up in the social chain.

  Mark decided to stand and try not to slouch over himself. ‘Your mum and sister have confirmed that it’s Emily that we found.’

  ‘Yeah, I guessed that,’ Charlie replied, folding his hands into his lap and staring away from him. ‘Not sure what else there is to be said. I told you she was dead.’

  ‘Yes, I know. Someone will come by to pick you up soon, so you can be with them.’

  Charlie rolled his eyes far too dramatically for it not to be for effect. ‘All they’re going to do is cry. Do I have to be around for that?’

  ‘They’re going to be very sad, Charlie,’ Mark said, wondering why he had to talk to this lad like he was a five-year-old. Why he didn’t seem bothered at all that his sister was dead and his family was in tatters. Was it all part of the same act? ‘I’m sure you will be as well. It’s best you’re with your family at the moment. You’re going to need them.’

  Charlie shrugged, but didn’t push back any further.

  ‘We’re treating her death as suspicious right now,’ Mark continued, when it became obvious he wasn’t going to get an immediate response. ‘You know what that means?’

  ‘It means you think someone might have killed her. Yeah, I’m not an idiot.’

  ‘Okay, well, because of that, we’re going to have some questions for all of you.’

  A shift in the chair, Charlie now looking towards him with something approaching a smirk on his face. ‘Am I going to need a lawyer?’

  ‘Do you think you need one?’

  ‘Probably not. Can’t see me being arrested for killing her. Look, we weren’t, like, close or anything. It’s not like I’m not sad that she’s gone, but it’s like if I heard the next-door neighbour had died. I don’t know what to tell you. Emily not being around isn’t really going to have much effect on my life. They’ll still ignore me, act like I’m an annoyance, rather than a member of the family, and that’ll be that. The only thing that’ll be different is that Mum will be talking about it every five seconds.’

  Mark took a few moments to work out how to move forward. The lack of empathy, of sympathy, any kind of emoti
on, rocked him. He wanted to reach out and shake some reality into him. Switch off the computer and try to explain that this was real. Not like one of his video games.

  Instead, he breathed in and tried to go on.

  ‘Look, she was your sister. You don’t have to put up a front with me. I’m not one of your mates. I’m here to help you.’

  ‘I’m sure you are, but honestly, I’m okay with it. I knew something like this could happen as soon as she didn’t come home in the first twenty-four hours. I guessed after that, well, she was either gonna be dead or never found. It’s not nice, but that’s life, isn’t it? We’ve all got to go some time. I guess this was just hers. I feel bad for my mum. This is going to destroy her. She’ll blame herself, even though it’s not her fault at all. Not her fault Emily’s weak. That’s just the way it is. Princess Stephanie will probably find a way to use it to her advantage. She knows how to use her best features. You know what I’m talking about.’

  Mark ignored the sick smile Charlie gave him. ‘The other day, you said something about your uncle. About him and Emily…’

  ‘I knew that wasn’t going to be the end of it,’ Charlie said, the words emphasised by a teenage sigh. ‘Look, I don’t know what was going on. You’d have to speak to him. It’s not like you can speak to her anymore.’

  ‘What makes you think something was wrong between them?’

  ‘You don’t know what it’s like around here. No one cares if I come or go and that was doubly so for Emily. She had her own shit going on and we all had to walk on eggshells around her, just because she was fat and ugly. She had some desperate lads who were interested in her, but she didn’t even care. It was just constant moaning about never being liked. All it comes down to is that she wasn’t Princess Stephanie, so that was enough to spend all day, every day, in a shitty mood. Last couple of years though, Uncle Rich has taken more of an interest in her.’

  ‘An interest?’