Nasty Bitch

by K Leitch

  CHAPTER 21 – CARLA

  ‘Oh come on Carla,’ said Frank as they were sifting through the post mortem results that Dorothy had just sent through, ‘you can’t seriously believe that Vanessa has somehow got back into the country and has started on a murdering spree. I know she is one fucked up bitch but you are over looking one thing…why? Why the bloody hell would she do it, I mean she’s got away, she’s free…why come back and start up all over again, no I’m sorry I just can’t see it.’

  Carla sighed, ‘I know it’s a long shot, but I can’t help feeling that she is back. You have to admit it’s a bit of a coincidence Giles turning up dead like that…and shot in the head, just like our man from the barn…has anyone found the bullet yet do you know?’

  ‘Nothing so far…but it was a big ask, finding a tiny bullet in amongst all that debris, and let’s face it we’re not even sure he was shot where he was found…could have been killed elsewhere and dumped there.’

  ‘Well we must keep on looking, finding the bullet is crucial, it could tell us if these two murders are linked. It will be almost impossible to tell whether Giles was tortured before being killed though, but maybe she had a different agenda for him.’

  Frank just looked at his boss and shook his head, she had got it into her head that Vanessa was somehow involved but as far as he could see there was nothing to back up her theory.

  The post mortem results for the body in the barn made for gruesome reading. The victim had been whipped then mutilated, using what seemed like, a butcher’s boning knife in what could only be described as a frenzied attack. He’d had petrol poured all over him and finally his genitals had been sliced off with the same knife. They were missing, there was no sign of them at the scene, possibly been taken as some sort of gruesome trophy, and then he had been shot once through the head at close range, which was the cause of death. There was a high concentrate of Flunitrazepam, more commonly known as Rohypnol, a powerful sedative, found in his blood which would explain how the killer had managed to undress and restrain him, although it would have taken quite a lot of strength to move him about, but despite that Dorothy was of the opinion that it was a woman that had perpetrated this crime. She had come to that conclusion based on the size of the footprint found in the blood spots on the floor of the barn, but also because the long red hair found at the scene was dyed red, more specifically it was dyed with a ‘nice and easy, intense auburn’ home hair dye, the woman’s natural colour as evident by the roots, was a sort of faded blond, another reason for Carla thinking the killer could have been Vanessa Poole…oh well they’d know soon enough, if it was Vanessa’s hair found at the scene the DNA would be matched to her…and then they would know what they were dealing with.

  ‘I know Vanessa might have some twisted reason for wanting Giles dead,’ said Frank at last, ‘but that’s a far cry from torturing a man and cutting off his dick…I mean I know Vanessa had some men issues…but really? Is this the sort of thing she would do? Let’s face it, all we do know is that he was shot in the head, admittedly between the eyes, same as the man in the barn, but…I don’t think that’s enough to link them Carla…sorry but I don’t.’

  Carla turned back to the report; ‘I know…I know it doesn’t make sense…but I just have this feeling…maybe something will turn up…’ she was cut off as the phone on her desk rang, it was DCI Drew asking them both to come to her office. Mystified they walked the short distance to the other side of the building where the Chief Inspector’s office was situated.

  Carla was surprised to see a couple of men talking to the DCI when they entered her office a few minutes later. The elder of the two, an extremely overweight man in his fifties with a sweaty comb over and light blue piggy eyes, was talking animatedly whilst walking round the small office. The other younger man was slouched in a chair opposite Rebecca Drew; he was watching the conversation through half opened eyes and seemed to be so relaxed that he was nearly horizontal. He gave Carla and Frank a nod as they sat down next to him; he seemed a little out of place amongst the dark suits and white shirts that the other men were wearing. His arms were covered in tattoos and his long dark blond hair was caught at the nape in a pony tail, and with his ripped jeans and ‘Black Sabbath’ T-shirt he looked more like someone that had been hauled in for drug offences rather than the Detective that DCI Drew introduced him as.

  ‘Carla, Frank let me introduce you to DI Hank Stapleton from the Gloucester CID and Detective Jay Travers,’ she indicated the younger man. ‘Detective Travers is over here from the US, Florida PD to be more specific he’s…erm helping the Gloucester Constabulary with a specific murder investigation.’

  Carla and Frank shook hands with both detectives and then looked at DCI Drew expectantly.

  ‘I think I’ll let DI Stapleton fill you in…Hank if you wouldn’t mind?’ she said, Hank Stapleton nodded at her and hefted his not inconsiderable weight out of the chair that he had just sat down in, and wandered over to the window, seemingly working out what to say.

  He turned back to the room, ‘About six months ago a man’s body was discovered in a disused outbuilding on a farm just outside Cheltenham. He had been drugged, tortured and beaten and his genitals had been removed before he was shot between the eyes…’ he paused as Carla gasped and looked at Frank. ‘Four months later,’ he went on ignoring the interruption, ‘another body was found, this time near to the little town of Burton–on-the-Water, same M.O. torture, genitals removed, shot in the head, so obviously we realised that there might be the possibility that we had a serial killer on our hands. We searched farther afield to see if anything else flagged up on the police network and we found that three similar murder investigations were going on in the USA…more specifically Fort Meyers in Florida, where over the last year three bodies have been discovered, all men, all tortured in roughly the same way, some slight differences here and there, but all had had their genitals removed, pre-mortem and then had been shot between the eyes. Detective Travers here has been leading the investigation in the States and kindly agreed to come over a couple of months ago to see if we can’t all work together to get this son of a bitch, especially as it appears he has struck again, now the way I see it…’

  ‘Um excuse me for interrupting Hank,’ said Carla, ‘but you keep on referring to the killer as if it was a man, we have reason to believe that it could be a woman we’re looking for.’

  Detective Travers sat up at that and turned to Carla, ’Oh yeh, and just what is it that you’ve got that makes you say that?’

  ‘Well it’s only a theory at the moment, but a partial footprint was found in the blood spatters around the body, and it was a small foot, more like a woman’s size than a mans, 4.5-5 that’s a 37 or 38 in European sizes, I’m afraid I don’t know how that equates in the US but it’s a really small foot. And then there’s the hair…’

  ‘You found hair at the scene?’ Travers again, ‘So you have DNA?’

  Carla sighed at the interruption but went on, ‘Yes a long red hair was trapped behind the body, and yes forensics will be trying to extract the DNA from it, but obviously unless this person is in our system we have nothing to match it with… anyway the thing is it wasn’t a natural red it had been dyed using a well known home dying kit…the natural hair colour we think is a faded blond, so once again we assume a woman would be more likely to be dying her hair that colour, so…’

  ‘Is that it?’ interrupted Travers, ‘And based on that you think we’re looking for a woman, I’m sorry but I just don’t see that, I mean come on how is some broad going to be able to lift an unconscious man, undress him…I mean some of these guys, well they’re not small you know?’

  ‘Well as I said it was just one theory that we were looking into, I would be interested in seeing the details of the cases you were working on Detective, as Hank says if we share what we have with each other we stand a much better chance of catching this lunatic, before he…or she, kills again.’

  ‘Well as to that Carla,’ inte
rrupted DCI Drew, ‘you will have ample time picking Detective Travers brains as he is going to be working with you from now on…Gloucester have come to a dead end with their cases so let’s see what you can do.’

  ‘Oh my god no pressure then,’ said Frank under his breath but he turned to Travers, a smile on his face and said, ‘Welcome to the team Detective.’

  Travers looked at him for a moment and then smiled and said, ‘Yeh whatever,’ before standing and gathering all his notes together, ‘Where can I put all my shit?’ he asked Carla.

  ‘Oh I’m sure we’ve got a cubby hole somewhere for you Detective…look can I call you Jay, and I’m Carla, I can’t be doing with all this Detective lark.’

  ‘Sure thing Carla,’ said Jay walking past her out of the office, Carla turned back to DCI Drew who just shrugged at her and then went on talking to Hank Stapleton. Carla and Frank shared a look and then started back along the corridor, Jay following behind.

  Once Carla had shown Detective Travers to a desk in Mandy’s office, ignoring Mandy’s furious looks and hand gestures, she got them all coffees and then started on a new whiteboard listing all the other possible murders that could be attributed to this killer.

  The three Americans all lived and worked in and around Fort Meyers, a popular holiday destination in Florida.

  Glen Rodgers, 56, was a telephone engineer, divorced with two grown up daughters who lived with their mother. He had been found in a warehouse on an industrial estate just off a busy road a little over a year ago.

  Paul Klossier, 53, owned a restaurant in down town Fort Meyers; he too was divorced but no children. He was found in the cellar of his own restaurant, same M.O. as the other killings but the genitals, although they had been almost hacked off, were still attached to the body, the thinking here was that the killer had been disturbed. He had been shot in the head though the same as all the others; he was discovered about nine months ago.

  Frazier Hinds, 59, a retired investment broker, single with no children. Found seven months ago in an abandoned barn on wasteland between Fort Meyers and St Petersburg which was much further up the coast. He had been tortured in much the same way, genitals removed, shot, but the post mortem report suggests that he had died halfway through his ordeal from a massive coronary, so he had been a little bit luckier than the others, if you could call it luck.

  Carla read all the pathology reports and the post mortem reports. So far, despite the fact that this killer had murdered six men that they knew of, the actual evidence that the police had, amounted to one smudged footprint, a hair, and discarded petrol can. This was found near the last body discovered in Gloucester about three weeks ago. A Mr Richard Chiltern, 55, worked in a bank; been divorced for five years one child, a son.

  ‘There was a strong smell of petrol on our murder victim,’ said Frank, ‘it had been poured all over him according to forensics, no can found though, seems like our killer likes to use it as the ultimate terror threat.’

  ‘Yeh right, like cutting off your junk isn’t enough of a threat,’ muttered Jay. ‘I don’t get it though, why not just light ‘em up, if he’s gone to all the trouble of bringing gas with him, why stop at shooting…why not set them on fire?’

  ‘Who knows,’ said Carla, ‘maybe she’s squeamish.’

  ‘Ha right yeh,’ said Jay dismissively; he was seriously beginning to get on Carla’s tits, she started going through the case notes again.

  Jay’s mobile rang, ‘Hi Gina,’ he said gently into the phone, ‘what’s up…oh that’s good honey, is it quite close by, because I told you I’m going to be working here for a while…yeah sure thing honey, that sounds good…ok yeah me too, bye baby.’ He looked up embarrassed by the call. ‘Um…that was my wife, she flew over here a few weeks back when it looked like this was going to take a while, she’s just found us an apartment to rent, nearby I mean…now that I’m going to be working with you guys…’ he trailed off as Carla and Frank said nothing.

  Carla gave him a break, ‘Oh that’s great that she was able to come over and be with you Jay, how long have you two been married?’

  ‘Just about ten months,’ Jay said almost shyly, ‘met her on the job actually. I was the investigating officer when her grandmother was killed during a robbery…we got talking…she seemed nice, you know how it goes,’ he finished sheepishly.

  ‘Well maybe you can give Frank some tips Jay,’ said Carla throwing a paper ball at the back of Frank’s head. ‘He doesn’t seem to be able to hang on to a decent girl for love nor money. I don’t know where he’s going wrong. If I had to guess though I would say that he is a sloppy kisser… nothing worse than a sloppy kisser…hey! Frank we’re only trying to help, no need to get violent…remember that I’m your boss…it’s not my fault if you’re a sloppy kisser.’

  ‘I am not a sloppy kisser,’ shouted Frank, laughing despite himself, ‘I’ll have you know that women swoon just at the thought of kissing me. Don’t listen to her Jay; I have no trouble getting women, no trouble at all. As it happens I have just started emailing this gorgeous girl I’m planning on meeting her soon…’

  ‘Oooh,’ said Carla, ‘yeah well don’t spoil it with a sloppy kiss…practice on your hand if you have to…it’s easy…ow Frank that hurt!’ laughed Carla as Frank took a swipe at her.

  Jay watched them both messing about with just the smidging of a smile on his face and gradually the tension in the office eased a bit as he joined in the teasing.

  Just as Carla was leaving for the day her phone rang.

  ‘Hi Carla,’ it was Dorothy, ‘I thought you would want to know straightaway that we’ve got an ID for the body in the barn.’

  ‘Oh great Dorothy, that was quick,’ said Carla trying to put her coat on with one hand whilst listening to her phone.

  ‘Well he was in the system so we had his prints on file; his name is Mowbray, Keith Mowbray.

  CHAPTER 22 – TRACY

  Tracy couldn’t believe how quickly time had flown since having their offer accepted, and now packing up her tiny cottage, the days had rushed by in a blur. The builders had phoned last night to say that the kitchen was finished and the upstairs bathroom at least was fitted and working. They had yet to tile and decorate; but at least they had one working toilet which was main thing. The other bathrooms would have to be done once they were living in the house, which was going to be the day after tomorrow… yay!

  Tracy couldn’t wait; as she sat quietly feeding Tilly before putting her to bed, she looked around the snug little room that had been her bedroom for the past…wow, nearly eight years. So much had happened to her since she had been living here on the green in Kenley, she had made some lifelong friends, nearly been killed by a crazed psychopath, met the man of her dreams and had her two beautiful children…what would life in her new house hold for her she wondered a little sadly. Her little cottage had been packed up for days, and they had been living like squatters with no clean clothes and only one pan to cook with.

  Tracy could put up with it ok and Zack and Buster thought it was great fun; but Simon was struggling, and had had a major sense of humour by-pass yesterday when he found that the clean shirt Tracy had laid out for him to wear with his suit, for a meeting with his solicitors, was in fact one of her frilly blouses with a Bloody Mary stain on the pocket to boot. There had been a very chilly atmosphere in the house as he had fought his way into one of Tracy’s impenetrably sealed boxes and silently ironed himself a more suitable shirt. Once the panic was over however he had seen the funny side of it, even modelling the offending blouse for Tracy and Zack’s entertainment when he had come home later.

  The phone rang; Tracy carefully eased Tilly out of her arms and into her cot before lunging for the phone on the bedside table.

  It was Maggie, ’Right I am picking you up tomorrow is that right Trace?’ she began without so much as a hello, ‘And Helen and Lena will meet us there? Only I don’t think I will have room in the car for anyone else, not with Tilly’s car seat in the back as well.
I thought I might as well bring that chest of drawers with me that will save us a job on Friday and…’

  ‘Bloody hell Maggie slow down,’ said Tracy laughing, ‘you’re getting worse than I am and that’s saying something. Yes Helen and Lena are meeting us there, they can only stay for a couple of hours, but they are going to take Tilly with them when they go to pick the little ones up from nursery and then they will have her and Zack for the rest of the day…what a result! I can’t wait to see the kitchen…Nigel phoned me earlier and said that it was finished but he wouldn’t tell me anything, said his life wouldn’t be worth cat’s poo if he blabbed.’

  Maggie and Simon had completely taken over the renovation work in the kitchen. Maggie had called in a favour from Nigel, one the people that she regularly used to design and fit the kitchens in her renovation projects; and then the three of them had become irritatingly secretive about the whole thing. So much so that Tracy hadn’t got a clue what her new kitchen looked like, all was going to be revealed tomorrow.

  ‘Oh he knows me well enough not to cross me,’ said Maggie laughing, ‘I can’t wait for you to see it darling you are going to love it, I just know you are. Simon has been so careful about everything he’s chosen…he really is a sweetheart isn’t he?’

  Tracy smiled coyly down the phone, ‘I know, I am so lucky…sometimes I have to pinch myself, I can’t believe that that gorgeous hunk of a man loves me…short, plump, silly me! Oh I know you must be used to having amazing men falling for you all the time Maggs, I mean look at Thomas for crying out loud, the man’s beyond gorgeous and he is grovelling at you feet but…’

  ‘Yes well sometimes things aren’t always the way they seem Tracy,’ said Maggie suddenly sounding a bit serious.

  Tracy frowned, ‘What do you mean love, is everything ok with you and Thomas?’

  There was a pause at the other end of the phone and then Maggie said, ‘Oh of course we’re ok, why on earth shouldn’t we be? Don’t listen to me love, I’ve just been feeling a bit old and tired lately, I’m probably spending too much time on this bloody wedding.’