Campus Killings

by Oliver Davies

  “But?” I prompted.

  “But we did find a website that looked of interest to your case or looked possibly illegal at least.”

  “Possibly illegal?”

  “Yeah, it’s selling dead animals, specifically birds, but also other small critters. Claims they’re roadkill, but also promises no major damage so…”

  “So, they could’ve been strangled, like in our case,” I said slowly.

  Andrew made a noncommittal sound. “Look, might be nothing, but it seemed like it might be up your street, and, more importantly, it’s been accessed by someone in the area recently. I’ve sent you an encrypted link in an email, you’ll be accessing it through a VPN, so the owner of the site won’t be able to tell you’re using it from the police station.”

  “Thanks, thank you, Andrew, that’s a big help.”

  “Sure, no worries.”

  He hung up, and I refreshed my email, waiting for the link to come through.

  “I’m guessing they found something?”

  I gave him a distracted nod as the email appeared, and I loaded up this ‘possibly illegal’ website that Andrew had found. Stephen wheeled his chair closer to peer over my shoulder.

  “What’s this, then?”

  “Some site that sells dead animals,” I said, frowning.

  “And you think it’s related?”

  “I think it could be. Someone local’s been on it so maybe…”

  “The person behind the website sold the first birds that were left outside Abby’s door?” Stephen said, sounding both hopeful and doubting at once.

  “Yeah, it’s possible.” I wasn’t totally convinced either, but it was a lead, and we badly needed one. “I reckon we pose as a buyer, try to lure this person out.”

  Stephen nodded. “Better tell the supe, though,” he said, meaning Gaskell. “This is all slightly illegal.”

  I shot him a grin. “I will. How about you pick out a nice dead bird for us, and I’ll fill Gaskell in.”

  Stephen glared at me in mock outrage. “How come I’m the one who has to look through the gross website?” he demanded, but I was already walking away.

  Gaskell approved the plan, seeming a bit distracted, and Stephen and I placed an order on the dodgy-looking website. It gave us a set of coordinates that weren’t far at all, confirming that the site was locally based, or at least had someone physically in the area.

  “The birds have got to be pretty fresh,” I said, musing aloud. “The first ones were, Sam said so. So if we go stake these coordinates out-”

  “Hopefully someone will show up pretty close to the drop off time.”

  I snapped my fingers. “Precisely.”

  With the go-ahead from Gaskell, Stephen and I headed over to the coordinates in a civilian car. The location was some ways out of town in an industrial area, where there were a lot of large, grey warehouses, all of which seemed to be abandoned.

  Crawling slowly along the rutted road, Stephen and I shared a glance. This place, apart from the warehouse buildings, had little cover and there didn’t seem to be much in the way of spots where we could see anyone entering the area from which they wouldn’t see us too.

  In the end, we pulled up around the side of one of the warehouses. I wish we’d had another pair of cops with us to act as another pair of eyes, but this wasn’t a big enough case for that. We’d already used far more resources than I would’ve gotten for a much larger case in the small town of Lockdale. I reckoned that, if we didn’t dig up something significant soon, Gaskell was probably going to get impatient with us and switch us onto another case.

  As we sat there and waited, I thought it all over, and the problem was, I didn’t feel like this was the end of it. I didn’t think the dead birds had been a one-off act of intimidation, but part of something bigger. Dan’s copycat attempt had shown us exactly what an amateur would have done if they’d wanted to scare somebody, but the initial incident? That had been entirely different, and I didn’t like it one bit. But maybe I was catastrophising, turning this into something it wasn’t.

  We waited until it was almost dusk, and we’d both had to get out of the car a couple of times to stop our legs from going completely numb. I was bored, antsy and hungry, and I knew Stephen was feeling the same as he kept checking his watch.

  “We’re not staying here all night, right, Mitchell?” he said, making it clear what answer he wanted.

  I clenched my jaw. The pickup time for the birds was in the morning, and I had hoped that they’d be dropped off today and we could swoop in. But it looked like the drop off would happen overnight and clearly, Stephen didn’t want to spend the night in a cold car waiting for an animal killer to show up.

  “We go, and we’ll miss them for sure,” I said.

  “They’ll be other chances, okay?”

  “Will there?” I demanded. “This has been our biggest lead so far.”

  “What if we wait all night and they don’t even show?”

  “Then at least we’ll know.”

  Stephen exhaled heavily. “Look, you don’t have a partner, and you don’t have kids. This isn’t life or death. I do my nine-to-five, and then I go home to my family, you understand?”

  I’d been thirsty for an hour or more, and it was giving me a headache. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to fend off the aching feeling, before nodding.

  “Yeah, alright,” I relented. If I’d been working alone, I would’ve stayed, but I reckon it would’ve permanently soured Stephen and I’s working relationship for me to tell him that we were staying. And he was right. This wasn’t a murderer we were trying to catch; this was some creepy stalker. Of course, I wanted them caught, but the consequences of leaving it a day or two longer wouldn’t be dire. I hoped.

  I turned the key in the car’s ignition and set off back towards the station. I hadn’t brought my car to work today, since I’d run in this morning, and for once I didn’t really feel like running home. But I knew Stephen lived in the opposite direction to where I was, and he was itching to be back. I could see his knee moving in the passenger seat footwell, like he was trying to press the accelerator because I was driving too slowly for his taste.

  “We’ll go early tomorrow,” Stephen offered.

  “Sure.”

  After dropping Stephen off near his car, I parked the station-owned car up and went into the quiet building to fetch my things. There was almost always someone there, by nature of it being a fairly large city station, but it was certainly quieter than it usually was. I picked up my running gear and got reluctantly changed, before jogging steadily home by the most direct route, for once, not in the mood for a long run.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if whoever had dumped the birds outside Abby’s was out at the industrial site dropping off more dead birds right now. That, if we’d waited another hour or so, we’d have caught them and the case would then be more easily rounded off. But that wasn’t helpful thinking. Tomorrow was a new day, and it would hopefully be a useful one.

  Six

  “Sorry, man,” Stephen said, when we turned up to the industrial site early the next morning. There was a plastic bag with two dead magpies inside.

  I sighed. “Never mind.” It wasn’t like I hadn’t expected this. If Gaskell had been willing to give us another team, or Stephen hadn’t had his family to get home to, perhaps we could’ve waited out the night.

  Pulling on plastic gloves from a box in the glove box of the car, I carefully picked the bag up and put it into one of the the largest sized evidence bags we had, which it still only just fitted.

  “Let’s see if the labs people can get anything off these,” I said as we headed back to the car. Stephen had his head down, like he was feeling guilty and I nudged him. “Don’t look so miserable. It’ll work out.”

  He looked up, his expression surprised and then split into a grin. “I was looking for tyre tracks,” he chuckled at my chagrin. “I’m not feeling that guilty, sorry, Mitchell. My wife was upset enough with
me being a half-hour late.”

  I huffed. “Doesn’t she know it kind of comes with the job?” I said grumpily.

  Stephen sent me a warning look. “Of course she does. But she works full time too, it isn’t her job to look after the kids all the time.”

  I sighed. “Sure, sorry. I know that. I just wished we’d caught this guy- person.”

  Stephen patted my arm in a friendly way. “I know. We will.”

  I wasn’t convinced and heading back to the station with the dead birds in the back didn’t improve my mood. We dropped the poor things off at the lab, but Sam was busy and told me, a touch sharply, that there were cases that were a higher priority than mine right now.

  Heading back upstairs, I nicked Stephen’s soup-bowl sized cup and made myself a coffee strong enough to give a non-coffee drinker heart palpitations. Stephen gave me a look when he saw I’d stolen his cup, before he stole my mug right back, because it was the next biggest one in the cupboard. But he filled his with tea, of course.

  “What now then?”

  “We tell Gaskell we’ve found squat and probably get reassigned,” I started to say, before breaking off. At that moment, Gaskell had walked out of his office with a tense frown on his face, that I recognised all too well as what he looked like when he was dealing with something serious. A man I didn’t recognise was walking alongside him, a fair bit shorter than Gaskell but with determination in his gait.

  “Who’s that with Gaskell?” I asked Stephen curiously.

  Stephen looked over. “The other DCI, George Sedgwick,” he said. “He’s alright, bit grouchy sometimes. Don’t reckon he’ll like you too much.”

  I turned to him. “Why? What’ve I done now?”

  Stephen smiled slightly. “Nowt, you’re an angel, of course.” He shook his head. “No, you’re just a lot younger than he was when he got promoted to DCI, he’ll probably, er, not think too highly of you.”

  I raised my eyebrows at my partner, who looked a little sheepish. “I see,” I said.

  “I got over it,” Stephen said. “I’m sure he will too.”

  I hummed, my attention back on Gaskell and Sedgwick, who were talking to one of the constables.

  “I feel like something’s happened,” I said. A tension and urgency surrounded the pair, and I was itching to know why.

  I stood up, glancing back at Stephen who gave me a nod, and headed over with him following.

  The constable headed off after Gaskell and Sedgwick had given out whatever orders they needed to, and I stepped forwards before the pair could head off.

  “What’s going on, sir?” I asked Gaskell. Sedgwick looked at me a little coldly, but I ignored him.

  “Murder,” Gaskell said distractedly. He started walking off towards the corridor, and I walked with him.

  “Who?”

  Gaskell focused on me and sighed, looking tired. “University student, during Freshers’ week.”

  I stared at him, before my brow furrowed in thought. These birds at the uni, and now this… my face blanched as I thought of Abby and rushed to ask, “What student?”

  Gaskell gave me an odd look. “A first year,” he said, and I relaxed a little. “She was studying French, I think. Sedgwick is heading over now.”

  “Can Steph- Huxley and I come?”

  Gaskell pressed his lips together, looking not too pleased by my desire to be involved, but he gave me a sharp nod before walking off with Sedgwick, who I presumed had been put in charge of this case.

  “God, for a second, I thought Abby-” Stephen started, and I nodded.

  “I know.”

  We were both quiet for a second, thinking about the two cases. I shook my head and headed back to my desk to grab my coat.

  “We better head on down,” I said, “before Sedgwick leaves without us.”

  Stephen agreed, and we hurried downstairs. Sedgwick was getting into a patrol car that his partner had brought round from the car park, and Stephen and I got into our own car to follow after them quickly.

  They led the way through the streets of York, which were busy with late morning traffic. It was a lightly overcast day, the sky a high, white ceiling over the city, holding no threat of rain. Mild and gentle weather, considering we were on the threshold of October. I was just fine with running in harsher conditions, but the York pavements did get slippery in the wet, especially as the rain started to come down, so I hoped the current weather would hold out until the end of the day. Plus, the few fields in the concrete-locked city got about as boggy as a marsh after a heavy rain shower, and it was nice to run on grass sometimes, even if it did leave my feet sodden in my trainers.

  “You’re quiet,” Stephen noted.

  I sent him a tired smile. “I’m daydreaming about going for a run.”

  Stephen groaned dramatically. “Don’t tell me, Christ’s sake, you weirdo.”

  I snorted. “Thanks a bunch. It’s frustrating, all of this, isn’t it? Makes me want to run somewhere, because this case is like being stuck on a treadmill.”

  “Guess you’re not a fan of the gym then?”

  I was not, but I ignored Stephen’s light jibe and continued, sobering, “And now there’s a student murder? I’m not even formally included in the case, so it’s not like I’m going to be able to help with that, either.”

  Stephen was silent for a minute. “You’re used to being able to be involved in everything, huh?”

  I nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, guess so. A small town like Lockdale and you tend to get involved in even the smallest of cases, because there’s not enough staff.”

  Stephen looked understanding. “Not like that here, mate. You’ve gotta trust the other officers to handle their cases, like they trust you to handle yours.”

  “Not sure the other DCI trusts me even a smidge.”

  Stephen rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re new. It’ll come.”

  “You’re right,” I admitted, before holding a finger up. “Don’t rub it in.”

  He chuckled. “Alright, alright.”

  Sedgwick’s car led the way to a car park, blocked off with police tape, around the back of a club. I parked up nearby, and Stephen and I walked over, showing our badges to the constable posted outside the taped-off perimeter before he waved us through.

  The student’s body wasn’t inside the club like I might’ve expected but round the side, near the industrial bins. The woman looked young, wearing a going-out dress and heels. She’d just been living her life, and then it’d been cut short far too suddenly. She seemed to be lying in an odd position, resting on her side with her legs half bent at each knee, one in front of the other. Her arms were bent at the elbow.

  “Christ,” Stephen muttered beside me, and I nodded silently.

  I got myself together and walked nearer, to where Sedgwick and his partner, a tall woman with black hair, were talking to one of the forensics team who were already on site. Sedgwick looked over and met my eyes briefly, once I got close enough to hear what they were saying, but he quickly turned back to the forensics woman, focused on what she was saying.

  “-needs further investigation in the lab, but I’d say it’s likely that she died here.”

  “And why’s that?” Sedgwick asked.

  “The livor mortis will confirm it or not, but the way the body’s been… positioned, that would have had to happen fairly soon after death, before rigor mortis set in.”

  “Wait, positioned?” I asked, catching on the way the forensics woman had put emphasis on the word. “Positioned how?”

  Sedgwick shot me an unimpressed look. “The body hardly looks natural, does it?”

  I kept a neutral expression. “No, I realise that.” I turned to the red-haired forensics lady. “You’re sure it’s arranged, and she didn’t just fall strangely?”

  She nodded. “I’m fairly certain, but as I said, further investigation will confirm the theory or not.”

  “When did it happen?” Sedgwick’s partner asked.

  She shrugged ele
gantly. “I can’t give you a definitive answer yet, you know that, but a rough guess would be the early hours of last night.”

  I wandered away, leaving Stephen to listen in, and went back over the body. Someone in a white suit and booties warned me not to get too close and so I observed the student’s body from a distance. The birds had been arranged too, I couldn’t help but think. Arranged to look like they were in flight. And this woman looked almost like that too, except she was running rather than flying. Perhaps it was an eerie coincidence, but my gut told me it wasn’t, somehow. These incidents happened so close together, both involving university students, and now there was this similarity in how they were laid out. I wondered if the killer had strangled her, too, because if the killing method was the same, it would solidly suggest a connection.

  “Mitchell!” Stephen called me, and I headed back over to him. Sedgwick was walking away, and I followed after him with Stephen. “There're cameras round the back that they’re checking out.”

  “The back, not the side?” I asked.

  Stephen nodded. “Yeah, they don’t cover the side alley where she was left, but Sedgwick and Greene, his partner,” he clarified, “think they might’ve caught something of whoever did this.”

  “That’d be helpful,” I agreed. “Has the student been identified yet?”

  Stephen shook his head. “No, but they’re working on it back at Hewford. Getting in contact with the university, I suppose.”

  “And then her parents, once they know who she was.” I said, my chest feeling tight at the thought. Stephen just nodded.

  “Do we know how she was killed?”

  “No, they’ll need a post-mortem for that, no doubt.”

  “Neat,” I muttered.

  Stephen turned to give me a look. “What?” he said.

  I blinked. “It’s tidy, isn’t it, like the birds? It wasn’t clear how they died either, because whoever did it wanted it neat.”

  Stephen’s eyebrows lifted, and I could almost see him thinking. “You think they’re connected?”

  Sedgwick and his partner, Greene, had headed into the club with a balding man I assumed was the club owner. He led the way across the slightly dingy-looking open dance floor, which felt sticky under my boots and smelled pervasively of sweat. Around the back, a man in jeans and a t-shirt was sitting in front of a number of screens.