Nasty Bitch

by K Leitch

  But although she was suitably shocked and outraged by what had happened she shook her head. ‘No can’t say I did love,’ said Nora regretfully, ‘what a nasty thing to happen…and what sort of sick person would do that to an animal. What day did you say that was again…’

  ‘It was a Thursday, well Wednesday night really I suppose when whoever it was broke in…um about four weeks ago now…we found it the day before we moved in.’

  ‘Oh my god, I did see someone hanging around…but no…I wouldn’t have thought so, although now I come to think about it she was a bit weird looking, all in black you know, long black coat, jet black hair and makeup…you know one of them Goths I think they call themselves.’

  ‘You mean someone…a Goth was hanging around my place…a woman?’

  ‘Yes…I saw her from the window; she banged on the front door and looked through the windows. I just assumed she must know you because then she walked round the side of the house. I didn’t see her after that…actually come to think of it she had a bag with her, a black plastic bag with something quite heavy in it, she was lugging it over her shoulder…could have been anything though, she could have been collecting old clothes for charity or…’

  ‘Or it could have been a dead fox!’ said Tracy with a shudder.

  CHAPTER 34

  ‘Oh that was wonderful Rosie,’ exclaimed ‘Sally’ clapping, as Rosie came running over face aglow after a full rehearsal of ‘A Tale for Our Time’ in which she was playing the beautiful princess Hermione.

  ‘Did you really think so?’ gasped Rosie, ‘I missed my line in the garden scene though, did you notice?’

  ‘Not at all, you carried on so well, and you nearly had me in tears in the tunnel scene when you were telling the ‘rabbit of wisdom’ all your troubles…it was so moving.’

  Rosie beamed with delight and then offered to go and get her friend a cup of tea, ‘Sally’ smiled her thanks and watched her skip away.

  ‘I can’t take much more of this,’ thought Vanessa smiling through gritted teeth at one of the other group members. She had been a member of the group for about four weeks now, and during that time she had been able to develop a good friendship with Rosie, and play her part as a keen amateur dramatic. There had been a couple of sticky moments, on one occasion Andrea had asked ‘Sally’ to remove all her piercings and makeup for a scene that she was supposed to be in. ‘Sally’ had refused, saying she felt naked without her face jewellery and mask, an excuse that she had known would appeal to Andrea’s bohemian side. So she was now in charge of scenery and costume, which suited much better her need for blending into the background. The closest she’d come to being spotted, however, was one night a couple of weeks ago when she had been outside chatting to Rosie while she waited for her lift. Usually James parked on the opposite side of the road and honked his horn when he picked Rosie up, but on this particular evening Vanessa got the scare of her life when Tracy, of all people, came running over shouting, ‘Hi Rosie…your dad asked if I could get you this evening, I’ve left Tilly and Zack in the car though so…’

  Rosie had hurried off with only a quick wave for Vanessa, who had turned her face away the minute she had spotted Tracy, bloody hell that had been close.

  All in all Vanessa was amazed at how easy it had been to go about unnoticed. Since she had been home she had been in and around Kenley village countless times…spreading a little fear and confusion…and not once had she been spotted. And now the icing on the cake, little Rosie Right hung on her every word and trusted her implicitly…just perfect for a little revenge.

  ‘I didn’t know if you wanted a biscuit Sally, so I got you one anyway, and if you don’t eat it I can have it,’ giggled Rosie as she carefully carried a mug of tea over to her friend.

  ‘Oooh lovely,’ smiled ‘Sally’ sipping her tea and nibbling at a biscuit.

  Rosie was watching, ‘Sally’ as she drank her tea. ‘Don’t those hurt you?’ she asked pointing at the rings in ‘Sally’s’ lips, ‘when you drink tea or eat and stuff, I would have thought they would have gotten in the way.’

  ‘Oh no, they don’t hurt at all,’ lied Vanessa, in fact the fake piercings pinched like mad, and she was relieved when she was able to take them out at night. She had fake piercings all over her face, three rings in her lips two through her nose, countless in her ears and one through her eyebrow. They along with her ultra dark eye makeup and black clothes had been the secret of the success of her disguise, people tended to look briefly and then away…no one ever looked her in the eye.

  Rosie though had become fascinated with her piercings and tattoos and constantly asked her about them.

  ‘Sally’ watched Rosie as she drank her tea, ‘I know,’ she said after a while, ‘why don’t I take you to have your ears pierced, there’s a place in town isn’t there…that does ear piercing, and tattoos I think,’ she added.

  Rosie just stared at her, ‘Oh no I couldn’t, my mum would freak out…I mean properly freak out. She doesn’t even allow me to wear jewellery, so there is no way she would let me get my ears pierced.’

  ‘Sally’ shook her head, ‘Really…oh ok, sorry I suggested it. I mean I thought you would look really pretty with some earrings…just small ones you know like hoops or something…but obviously if your mum doesn’t allow it then we’ll forget it.’

  Vanessa watched the emotions play out on Rosie’s face, she wanted so badly to go with ‘Sally’ and get her ears pierced, but she knew how much her parents would hate it…Vanessa was counting on the rebellious Rosie winning the inner battle she was having at the moment. But she knew not to play her hand too hard, so she changed the subject and then went off to talk to Andrea about the costumes for the underwater scene.

  At the end of the session she looked for Rosie, but instead of waiting with her she just waved her goodbyes and left before the little girl had a chance to talk to her…Vanessa was confident that by the next session Rosie would be desperate to go with her to get her ears pierced…and if Vanessa had her way maybe a small tattoo.

  CHAPTER 35 – CARLA

  ‘Oh nothing special…I just thought it might be nice for all of us to get together, unwind a bit you know. And it would be a chance to meet the lovely Gina too,’ said Carla with a smile. ‘I’ve invited Frank; he’s going to bring someone with him I think, so it’ll just be the six of us.’

  ‘Gee Carla that’s so nice of you…I’ll give Gina a call, I’m sure she’ll be up for it…what time shall I say?’ said Jay punching numbers in his mobile.

  ‘Um…about eightish, if that’s ok; that’ll give me time to get the kids upstairs…even if they’re not in bed by then…’ she broke off as Jay held up a hand, he had obviously got through to his wife.

  ‘Hi honey, where are you? Listen Carla has invited us over for a meal this evening; I’ve said we’ll go I hope that ok. She wants us there about eightish…so give me a ring back when you get this…ok luv ya bye.’ He finished the call irritably. ‘Friggin voicemail I hate it…so anyway, she’s not picking up so I’ll have to let you know when she gets back to me Carla.’

  ‘Oh that’s fine,’ said Carla hastily, ‘I’m sorry it’s such short notice, but it’s not often that we all get an evening free, so I thought I’d strike while the iron’s hot.’

  Jay looked confused. ‘Oh forget it,’ laughed Carla, ‘old English expression, like taking the bull by the horns, or seizing the day.’

  ‘What the fuck are you on about,’ said Jay laughing, ‘you fucking English…you are full of so much shit!’

  Frank came in waving a piece of paper around theatrically. ‘Guess what, I was right all along…the bullet that killed Giles Poole was not the same as the bullets that have killed all the rest. Dorothy sent this over.’

  ‘When did they find the bullet?’ said Carla, ‘that’s the first I’ve heard of it.’

  Frank looked a bit sheepish, ‘Oh I forgot to tell you, she called yesterday, they found it purely by accident…in a tree near where Giles’s b
ody was found…anyway it doesn’t match the bullet retrieved from Warren James’s skull or the two others where bullets have been found. So as I said, I was right…different gun, probably different killer. Giles could have been dead ages before all the others, in fact given where he was discovered we probably never would have found him if that helicopter hadn’t gone down.’

  Carla was looking thoughtful, ‘Hmm which makes me wonder who would want to kill him and that leads me round to Vanessa again.’

  ‘Oh gees,’ said Jay, ‘I thought we’d given up on the Vanessa idea, you can’t be thinking she’s behind all these killings surely, I thought we were looking for some other broad for those.’

  ‘Of course not…I don’t think she did those…but it’s just so random, Giles turning up like that, anyway we now have a photo fit picture which both Tina Filpott and Tony Donetti say is a pretty good likeness to our killer. DCI Drew is going on tonight’s Crime Watch to appeal for any witnesses…so we can watch that at my house… who’s this girl you’re bringing Frank, I hope she’s respectable, my kids will be home remember.’

  ‘Of course Ma’am,’ laughed Frank, ‘I will be doing all the necessary checks before we come over, right background…no transferable diseases and of course I will personally ensure that she is wearing underwear…I am a gentleman after all…’ he broke off as Jay’s phone rang.

  ‘Oh hi hun…oh that’s too bad…are you sure though, maybe it will pass by tonight…ok yeh sorry…ok I get the picture…yep you too.’ He looked at Carla apologetically. ‘Hey I’m sorry Carla, Gina’s sick, she’s had a headache all day, that’s why her phone was off.’

  ‘Oh no worries mate,’ said Carla disappointed, ‘I hope she feels better soon, we will have to arrange something for another time.’

  ‘I’m still coming though,’ said Jay, ‘she sort of insisted that I still come…if that’s ok with you guys of course…?’ Once again the phone rang Carla’s this time, it was Keith Mowbray’s daughter, Sharon wanting to speak to them about something her mum had just remembered that might be important.

  ‘The thing is,’ she said, ‘that it didn’t occur to her that it would make any difference, but I said to her that it was a completely different way of meeting someone, so she asked if I could call you.’

  ‘So what was it that she remembered Sharon?’ asked Carla still mystified.

  ‘It was about this woman, the one that my Dad seemed extra keen on, it seems he hadn’t met her on a dating site…she had befriended him on Facebook. Apparently he had known her years before and she had recognised him on Facebook and had got in touch…almost propositioned him by all accounts.’

  ‘Did she happen to know how your dad knew her…she wasn’t one of his girls was she?’

  ‘No I don’t think so…Mum seemed to think it was through my Gran, she knew Gran somehow and they had met whilst my Dad was visiting her maybe?’ said Sharon. ‘But to be honest we’re not one hundred percent on that one, Mum just seemed to remember him saying something about my Gran at the same time.’

  ‘Where did your gran live Sharon?’ said Carla busily writing all this down.

  ‘Well that’s just it; she was in hospital for years on and off. She had mental problems, every so often she would just stop looking after herself…you know she’d stop cleaning herself, even stop feeding herself, once she was found wandering down the middle of a busy road in just her nightie…that sort of thing, so she had been sectioned every now and again, when it was thought that she had become a danger to herself. Anyway it could be that this woman was working at the hospital and got to know him during his visits to her. Sometimes she was in for months so is suppose that he could have easily made friends with one of the nurses or members of staff.’

  ‘Can you remember the name of the hospital she was taken to?’

  ‘Oh yes…it was always the same one, Watlingham Park, it’s in Kent, just outside Sevenoaks I think. Great big old Victorian building…quite grand really considering what it was.’

  ‘And do you know roughly when that would have been, when your dad would have been visiting?’

  ‘I don’t but my Mum will, she’s good at remembering things like that…I’ll get back to you with some dates,’ said Sharon.

  ‘That would be great if you could, thank you so much for getting in touch Sharon, you’ve been a real help.’

  ‘No worries Carla…I want you to nail this bastard.’

  ‘Well,’ said Carla after she had got off the phone, ‘this might change things a bit. Seems like our girl handpicks her targets, maybe from people she’s met or people she sees on Facebook…shit! Right we need to check out this hospital, try and find out if there is anyone still there that worked there during the time when Keith Mowbray might have been visiting his mum, you never know though someone might recognise her on tonight’s Crime Watch.’ Jay and Frank just pulled faces at that. ‘Well I’ve got faith in the great British public even if you haven’t…we are getting closer…I can feel it.’

  CHAPTER 36 – HELEN

  Helen sighed as she saw Sarah’s car pull up outside the house. She had been expecting some reaction to the letter that she had directed her solicitor to write to Wills, but she had been hoping to have it out with Wills himself, not the Rottweiler. She braced herself for battle as she went to answer the door. Luckily Lena and Maya had taken the children out, because Sarah barged past Helen and into the house as soon as the door was opened.

  ‘Well Helen you’ve really shown your true colours this time,’ she began without preamble.

  ‘Afternoon Sarah,’ said Helen calmly, ‘and what can I do for you?’

  ‘Don’t stand there looking as if butter wouldn’t melt, what do you mean by sending that awful letter. As if Wills hasn’t got enough to worry about at the moment without you threatening to stop him seeing his daughter…what sort of sad bitch are you Helen, kicking a man when he’s down like that?’ Sarah had obviously worked herself up into a fierce temper, her face was red as she paced Helen’s living room in her anger.

  ‘Obviously you haven’t read the letter properly Sarah,’ Helen began again, ‘I am quite happy for Wills to continue to see Abby, as long as he takes a DNA test. It’s only fair after all, I need to know if he is in fact her father…I would have thought that Wills would have wanted that too, after all…’

  ‘You don’t care about that,’ shouted Sarah, ‘this is all spite because we pointed out how perverted you are, you and your little Polish bit on the side…it’s disgusting, having sex with another woman, and in the same house as your children. There isn’t a court in the land that wouldn’t give Abby to Wills if we go for custody and you know it. That’s what all this DNA rubbish is all about…it’s revenge that’s what it is…revenge because Wills preferred me to you, you’re just some jealous old bitch that…’

  ‘Right that’s enough Sarah!’ interrupted Helen fuming. ‘I am not prepared to stand here and listen to your bigoted rubbish any longer. Even if Wills proves himself to be Abby’s real dad I would have to think twice now about letting her be around you, with your poisonous opinions and spiteful tongue. As for being jealous…my god you have no idea do you. I have never been so happy; you did me a favour taking Wills off my hands Sarah, because otherwise I never would have met my wonderful Maya and have the joyful life that I have now. I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave and Wills can contact me through my solicitor from now on I think…’

  Sarah’s anger went from hot to white hot and she turned on Helen with a look of utter hatred.

  ‘You’re a fucking joke Helen do you know that,’ she hissed, ‘the middle aged Lesbo in the dodgy frocks.’ She looked Helen up and down with a look of disgust. ‘It’s no wonder Wills left you, he told me how rubbish you were in bed…“like kissing a halibut” that’s what he used to say…but I suppose your scrawny girlfriend’s not so fussy, I mean who’s going to look at a little Polish gutter slag…’

  She got no further; Helen slapped her hard round
the face, which seemed to shock her into silence.

  ‘Get out of my house NOW!’ said Helen between her teeth, as she pulled and pushed Sarah into the hall and opened the front door, ‘and don’t you dare come back.’

  Sarah scuttled out of the opened door, ‘You’ll pay for that Helen,’ she shouted as she got to the end of the path, ‘that’s assault that it…you’ll be hearing from my solicitor.’ And with that she got back into her flashy little sports car and raced away.

  Helen put her hands to her face, she had never hit another person in her life before, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself. How dare Sarah come into her home and say those awful things about her…about Maya, she sat down on a chair in the kitchen and put her head in her shaking hands and cried her eyes out.

  CHAPTER 37 – CARLA

  ‘Right listen up you lot,’ shouted Carla excitedly over the noise in the incident room, ‘we are cooking on gas! Forensics has just confirmed that the DNA found under Tina Filpott’s fingernails is a match with the blood on the wallet found at the last murder scene…. I know what a result…so Tina’s attacker and our murderer are one and the same person. The DNA from the hair recovered on Keith Mowbray isn’t a match and it makes me wonder if she wasn’t wearing a wig. So Midge, I want you and Sam to go back to the restaurant and see if Mr Donetti or his son had any idea that it might have been a wig that the woman was wearing, then see what Tina has to say about it.’

  ‘I don’t know about that Ma’am,’ said Mandy doubtfully, ‘would have thought it would have come off during the struggle…would you?’

  ‘Well you may be right Mandy,’ said Carla thoughtfully, ‘…but if it is a wig, then we can start trying to find where she got it from. It would have been pretty expensive…made form real hair, there can’t be too many places around here that sell them, so do your best Midge ok…We have had umpteen calls as a result of last night’s Crime Watch show, most of them rubbish but a couple need following up on…Mandy can you do that? Frank you can come with me…one of the calls from last night came from a doctor Gemal Ranush, works at a hospital in Croydon, he thinks he recognises our girl from when he was doing his training at a hospital in Kent, Watlingham park would you believe!’