Killer Princesses: Gripping and gritty, a twisty and tantalising thriller...

by Jennifer R Hollis

  Jade sighed again.

  “You know, girls like us don’t have two-point-four families or thousands of pounds. But we don’t need them, either. I’ve done just fine without it all...”

  Renee trailed off as Jade looked at her with the same curious expression. Her eyes fell onto the open button holes of Renee’s blouse.

  “So, what’s the other job then? Bar work?” asked Renee. For once, she was eager to divert attention away from herself.

  “No, well, sort of,” replied Jade. “Not that it matters, I’m quitting it soon anyway. Where are your shoes?”

  Renee laughed nervously. Jade was inconveniently observant.

  “Just inside there. I took them off because they were hurting. And I like having cold feet. Um, so Ethan won’t leave you alone?”

  “No,” sighed Jade, “he’s a little obsessed. I like him as a friend, and he’s supportive of me. But I reckon he wants more, you know, in return.”

  “He’s not pressuring you, is he?”

  “No, nothing like that. Ethan is a nice guy. He’s kind and smart. But it’s just, I’m not...” she paused.

  “Not a nice girl? Not interested in dependable men?” Renee filled the gap and laughed. “Well, join the club, Jade. I’ve lost count of the number of hearts I’ve broken!”

  Jade balanced her elbows on the edge of the balcony and stared at the house opposite, lost in thought.

  “Let’s go back in,” urged Renee, and she reached out to touch Jade’s shoulder. Her feet were almost numb, and she’d been away for too long now. She steered Jade back into the guest room.

  The wardrobe door was open; Kevin must have escaped while they were on the balcony. Renee hoped that Jade hadn’t noticed that too.

  “Oh, and don’t worry,” said Renee as she put her shoes back on. “I won’t tell Gillian about your other job. You should stick at it, though. Make as much money as you can and get out of here!”

  Jade looked down at the floor and shrugged her shoulders.

  “So lovely of you to re-join us,” greeted Gillian, as Renee and Jade returned to the reading room.

  “Oh the pleasure is all mine, Gillian,” replied Renee with a big smile. Kevin turned a dark shade of red, stopped handing out biscuits and shuffled out of the room.

  “We have,” announced Gillian, “in your absence, found a way to move forward as a team. I’ll type up the notes and send them to you all in due course. I think we have made at least some progress. Jade, I will see you tomorrow at work. Everyone else, later in the week.”

  No-one needed a further hint. All seven guests stood and made their way to the hallway to collect their coats and shoes. They bade farewell to Gillian and split into smaller groups as they rushed towards the street.

  In front of Renee, Debbie opened her car door and looked up at Karen. “I should offer Dawn a lift, she’s on the way,” she said.

  But as Debbie looked around and called Dawn’s name, there was no sign of her. It seemed that the woman, who had sat alone and not said a word for the entire evening, had disappeared.

  Renee skipped past Debbie towards her car, with Marie beside her struggling to keep up. They got in and waited for Debbie to drive away, then Renee started her engine.

  “Well?” she asked curiously.

  “Oh, the usual,” replied Marie. “Karen and I have to have mediation sessions, and before you laugh, so do you and Debbie.”

  “Urgh, anything else?”

  “Well, we all have to go on a team-building day. I can hardly wait for the trust exercises.”

  Renee laughed and shook her head as they drove towards the front gates of the Fair Lawns estate.

  “Where did you go for all that time?” asked Marie.

  “Oh, well, since I’ve gone full-time, I don’t see Kevin as much. So, I thought we’d make up for lost time.”

  “You didn’t! Not while we were all downstairs?”

  “I did! And I nearly got caught!”

  Marie raised her hand to her mouth in disbelief as Renee laughed.

  “You’re treading on thin ice, Renee.”

  “Oh, yeah, yeah. Shall we go get some wine?”

  As they approached the front gate, Renee spotted Jade and Ethan talking on the pavement. Renee lowered her window to listen in.

  “Just let me walk you home, please Jade,” pleaded Ethan, with his arms outstretched.

  “I’m only going home for a bit, and then I’m going into town. And you’re not coming with me,” warned Jade.

  The last thing Renee heard as she drove through the gate was Jade shouting, “Ethan, I said no!”

  Excerpts: Interview with Renee Beck. Wednesday 8 August 2018, 11:00

  Officer: When did you start working at your current supermarket branch?

  Renee: Oh, it was January this year, I believe. It would have been sooner but the store I moved from needed me to cover the Christmas period, it’s such a busy time in retail – and the customers are so stressed, you wouldn’t believe…

  Officer: Just January 2018 is sufficient, Renee. Why did you transfer stores?

  Renee: What’s that got to do with anything?

  Officer: Please just answer the question, Renee.

  Renee: I wanted to work in a bigger store. Brighter lights, busier, closer to my house, you know.

  Officer: Any other reason?

  Renee: *Pause* I suppose you could say there were some personality clashes between me and the management at the last store. We didn’t get on. I wanted to go, and I suppose they wanted me gone because they agreed to the transfer.

  Officer: Can you describe your relationship with Mrs Janice Locke and Ms Caitlin Murphy?

  Renee: Well, I knew them. I worked shifts with both of them. Sometimes I spoke to Caitlin at work drinks. Janice had children so she never really joined in. I wouldn’t say we were friends.

  Officer: Did you not get on then?

  Renee: *Pause* Well, not really, it was like they didn’t want anyone else in their conversations. They were always talking together and went quiet when I approached them. I think they were a bit jealous of me when I joined. I am quite popular you see, and it can put people’s backs up when they’ve been trying so hard for so long.

  Officer: Did you ever have reason to wish harm upon them?

  Renee: Sometimes Caitlin would knock the lunch cover rota right out of order, and Jan took really long breaks *laughs*. No, sorry, of course, I didn’t.

  Officer: Do you know of anyone else who might want to harm them?

  Renee: Well, no. But, isn’t it always the men?

  Officer: Can you clarify that, please?

  Renee: Oh, come on! It’s usually the men in women’s lives, right? Caitlin had a new boyfriend, Christian. The way she went on about him, it sounded too good to be true. He’s a stockbroker or something in the city. That sounds about right. And Janice, well I heard a rumour that her husband wasn’t happy with her late hours and there was trouble at home.

  Officer: Renee, I have to ask. Where were you on Friday 3rd August, between 9.30 pm and midnight?

  Renee: *Pause* At home. Of course, I’m usually out on Friday nights, but I wasn’t feeling my best, so I had no plans and stayed indoors.

  Officer: Was anyone with you, or did anyone visit who can vouch for your whereabouts?

  Renee: Not unless you have a way to interview my cat.

  Officer: You made no phone calls?

  Renee: Maybe I got a few messages from Marie, but I took no calls, and I don’t think I replied. No, as I said, I really felt quite unwell. I expect I was asleep by 10 pm now I come to think of it.

  3: Jaded

  Sunday 30th September 2018 - Jade

  Jade Dimont had always admired Renee Beck. She’d grown up on the same dead-end council estate as her, yet she had somehow escaped New Grange to a better life. But now, Jade felt a sense of rejection and disappointment as she watched Renee’s car speed out of the Fair Lawns estate.

  It’s not like they were close fri
ends, but they got on well at work, especially since Jade’s promotion. On the balcony earlier, Renee had seemed interested in her. She’d pledged, without prompting, to keep her secret safe from Gillian. Yet moments later, Renee had seen her trying to shake Ethan off at the gate and had not offered her a lift home.

  It had been her last hope, and now she was left with Ethan, who seemed intent on chaperoning her back to Melwood. She wondered what he would say if he knew where she was going later.

  “I said no, Ethan,” repeated Jade with less conviction than before. She rubbed her temples with her small hands.

  “Well, even if I don’t walk you home, we’re both walking the same way towards the bus stop, right? So, shall we…?”

  Jade couldn’t argue with him. With a sigh, she wrapped her long black coat around her small, thin frame and walked onwards, with Ethan in tow. She glanced back at Fair Lawns’ iron gates before they turned a corner. It was like looking at a dream life that she’d never have, no matter how she tried to cling to the details - the warmth from Gillian’s bathroom floor on her feet. The smell of old books lining the walls of the reading room. The sound of Kevin rustling through the cupboards stocked full of food to find the biscuits. The sensations were already running through her fingertips, escaping her.

  She was aware of Ethan talking, but it sounded more like distorted background noise. The thoughts swirling around her head were drowning out everything else. Her mother’s voice, for instance, was crystal clear: ‘Please Jade, stop, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into...’

  She tried to focus on Ethan. At some point, he’d expect her to take part in whatever discussion they were having. “And I know you say you can look after yourself,” he said, “but we all thought that about Janice and Caitlin. And look what happened to them.”

  “Ethan,” she replied with a hint of impatience, “neither of us knew Caitlin and Jan that well, especially outside of work. We don’t know what happened to them.”

  “We know someone killed them!”

  “Yes, but in their own homes. Do you think it was a supermarket serial killer who might be after me next?”

  “I just don’t think you should be walking around, alone,” he muttered.

  They fell into silence as they reached the bus stop. Jade could almost hear Ethan’s brain whirring, thinking of something to say.

  “I saw Renee tonight when I took that call,” said Jade, eager to change the subject. Ethan looked back at her with interest.

  “I walked into one of the spare bedrooms upstairs; it wasn’t perfect like the rest of the house. The bed was messy, and the balcony door was open. I walked onto it, it was cold, and Renee was standing there without any shoes or a coat on. She’d been there for the whole call, maybe for even longer before.”

  “Weird. What’s the deal with Renee, anyway?” asked Ethan. “I don’t think she likes me.”

  “She just doesn’t know you,” replied Jade. “She’s from New Grange, and we don’t trust posh people, you know. She had a bit of a reputation on the estate when she was growing up. Everyone, especially the boys, loved her. You can see why. But she left when she was sixteen, started some beauty sales businesses and didn’t come back. She lives in a nice house in South Croydon now.”

  “Why’s she working at a supermarket then?” asked Ethan, and Jade shrugged. She hadn’t considered that before.

  They discussed their colleagues until the bus had taken them to Jade’s stop on Melwood High Street. It was only two miles from Gillian’s house, but the difference was stark. There were no front gates, fountains or mansions on the street Jade had recently moved to. But after her mother lost their house in New Grange, she didn’t have another option.

  Ethan followed her off the bus, and its doors closed behind them before she realised what he’d done. She gave him a stern look but didn’t object as he walked her the extra five minutes up the hill. They approached a small, terraced house at the top of one of the narrow roads. Jade rented a room in it from the council; the two larger rooms were often occupied by care leavers who flitted in and out.

  There was a large crack across the single-paned, downstairs front window, and some fresh graffiti sprayed along the front wall. Opposite, younger teenagers were shouting and laughing in the small park.

  “Bye then, Ethan,” said Jade.

  “Goodnight, Jade.”

  Inside, she turned on the bedroom light - a dangling bulb without a lampshade - and looked around. Not a lot to show for nineteen years of life, she thought. Her eyes burned and she felt a tightness in her chest and throat. The bed and small desk had been there when she moved in. Clothes piled up on a simple storage unit left behind by one of her old housemates; she couldn’t remember their name.

  Two photos were blu-tacked to the wall above the desk. One was of Jade’s mother over ten years ago, before she’d succumbed to a persistent drink and drug addiction. The second was of Jade, her father and her older half-brothers: Junior, Joey and Jonny. It was one of the rare days they’d included her because her stepmother was away. Her brothers all looked similar: tall, olive skin, dark hair, blue eyes, and an air of mischief.

  Jade had some similar features if you looked very closely. But to most people, she stuck out like a sore thumb, with her mother’s petite figure, pale skin and blonde hair. Her eyes roamed left across the desk towards a pile of bills that she couldn’t afford to pay. Then, her phone buzzed impatiently against the edge of the desk.

  “Hello,” she answered, her voice already shaking.

  “Hi,” replied a male voice with an east-end twang. “I’ve spoken to the Boss, and she wants you at the Castle tonight. We’ve got guaranteed trade. You can expect a good haul tonight, girl.”

  Often, she thought about starting a different conversation with the man. Was he the same as her, forced into work by a boss he didn’t know, for money he desperately needed?

  “Did you get that, Jade? You’ll be there, right?”

  “Yes, yes I will,” she replied, as she considered her next step.

  “But wait!” she added before he hung up.

  “Make it quick girl. I’ve got other people to call.”

  “I’ll be resigning soon, giving in my notice. A bit more overtime at my supermarket job and I won’t need this anymore.”

  “Oh, that’s funny, girl,” he said, chuckling. “You don’t resign from this kind of work. The Boss thinks you’re good for business; we’re not letting you go anytime soon. And just think how much trouble you’d be in with the law after all these months.”

  “I’ll stop answering your calls, and I’ll move,” she replied, channelling an inner strength she hadn’t felt in a while.

  “How’s your Mum, Jade?”

  “What?”

  “This is why you got into this, right? Pay off your Mum’s debts, get her food, keep her alive. You run away, and I reckon the Boss will ask me to visit Mummy at her new hostel. Now I don’t want to do that Jade, and I’m doing you a big favour here warning you. You understand?”

  After a long pause, he continued.

  “Yeah, I reckon you do.”

  He hung up before she could respond.

  She sat on her bed and started to shake. She turned to look in the small mirror on the back of her door, and the tears finally came. With a surge of rage, she stood up, threw her phone down hard onto the bed and punched the wall with a loud cry.

  Tears fell from her eyes as she pulled her curtains shut. She took off her jeans and jumper and replaced them with a short skirt, vest top and tights. They laddered as she wrenched them on. She grabbed some old heeled back boots from under the bed and picked up the same long black coat she’d worn to Gillian’s.

  She removed the credit cards and loose change from her pockets and threw them on the desk, replacing them with her house keys, an old kitchen knife and some small, rectangle-shaped cards. Wiping her tears, she locked her bedroom door and tiptoed down the stairs. She took a packet of cigarettes and a lighter
from one of her housemates’ jackets and stepped back out into the night.

  It took Jade twenty-five minutes to walk from Melwood to the south end of Croydon town centre. She took a shortcut by a row of old garages where gangs of teenage boys often hung around. They broke into long-abandoned units and abused anyone who happened to walk past. Tonight, though, it was eerily quiet.

  A couple of times, Jade stopped to look behind her. She couldn’t quite shake the feeling that someone was watching her. Was the man on the phone following her, to make sure she reached her destination? Or was it someone else, like the person who killed Janice and Caitlin?

  She picked up the pace, dipped into a side street, and jogged around some large steel rubbish bins. She paused at the end of the street, which led to a busier road, and looked back. A figure appeared behind the bins, but ducked out of sight as soon as they saw Jade looking at them.

  “What do you want?” she called, sounding braver than she felt. Inside her pocket, her right hand curled around the handle of her knife.

  The hooded figure stepped towards one of the dustbins. In front of them, waste bags cascaded onto the street with loud crashes, making Jade jump. She turned and rushed down the road towards a small crowd of people outside a busy pub. She didn’t have far to go now.

  She veered off the beaten track, onto an old market street. A few flickering street lamps illuminated dozens of boarded-up shops. Many of them had homeless people and sodden blankets outside. She stopped outside one of the buildings, which, at some point, had been called ‘The Castle.’

  Jade took the pack of cigarettes from her pocket and as she did so, a small rectangular card fell out onto the ground. She lit a cigarette and took a few puffs as a boisterous group of men turned into the road from the opposite end of the street. She sighed, crept towards the boarded door, pushed heavily on it, and entered the building.

  Excerpt: Interview with Jade Dimont. Tuesday 4 September 2018, 10:00

  Officer: Thank you for talking to us, Jade. I appreciate some time has passed since the events of the 3rd August. I understand you worked with both Mrs Janice Locke and Ms Caitlin Murphy?