Her Last Breath: The new crime thriller from the international bestseller (Sullivan and Mullins)

by Alison Belsham

  ‘The same as Tash Brady?’ Francis felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention.

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Shit!’ said Rory. He looked accusingly at Francis.

  Francis didn’t have to ask what he was thinking. You released Alex Mullins. Now this.

  ‘She was also tattooed,’ said Tanika Parry, her face grim. ‘We’re testing her blood for taxine. If we find it at the same levels as Tash Brady exhibited, there’s not much we can do.’

  ‘Nothing?’ said Rory. ‘Even knowing what the poison is?’

  ‘There’s no antidote to taxine,’ said Parry. ‘A small dose might be survivable, but after a certain point . . .’ She shrugged apologetically.

  ‘We need to talk to her,’ said Francis. ‘When will she be out of theatre, and how long till . . .?’

  ‘Till she dies? That depends on the dose. But it’ll take a couple of hours for her to come out of the anaesthetic.’

  ‘Can you do something to speed that up?’

  ‘No.’ Tanika Parry glared at them. ‘My concern is for my patient and she’s been severely traumatised. She might just have a few hours left to spend with her family.’

  ‘And if we don’t find out who did this, you might be seeing more girls with poisonous tattoos.’ Francis tried to moderate the tone of his voice but failed.

  Rory put up both hands to placate the medic but Francis was having none of it.

  ‘One girl has been murdered. If Sally Ann Granger dies, that puts the body count at two. There’s a killer out there that needs to be stopped. Don’t obstruct us, Miss Parry – not unless you want to explain to more girls’ parents why they need to say goodbye to their daughters.’

  Tanika Parry took a step back from him, her face perfusing with blood.

  ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ she said.

  22

  Friday, 18 August 2017

  Angie

  Tony Hitchins was supposedly at the gym. At least as far as his wife supposed.

  Angie knew different. He was sprawled, naked, across her bed – and a fine sight it was. One she didn’t get to see as often as she’d have liked.

  ‘I swear I burn more calories when I come here than I do at the gym,’ he said, grinning up at her.

  ‘Just think how fit you’d be if you spent more time here,’ said Angie.

  Tony frowned, making Angie wish she hadn’t said it. But did he think she was going to hang on like this for ever? It was time he made a decision. She turned away, heading for the bathroom.

  ‘Ange?’

  Her mobile sounded and, recognising the ringtone, she changed course and came back to the bed.

  ‘That’s Sullivan. I’d better take it.’ She picked it up. ‘Boss?’

  ‘I need you to meet Tony down at the aquarium. Looks like Brady’s attacker has struck again.’ He briefed her on the details. ‘I want you two to talk to the manager and check out yesterday’s CCTV footage.’

  ‘Sure. Have you spoken to Tony?’ she said. She winked at him.

  ‘He’s not answering. I’ve sent him a text.’

  Angie prodded Tony in the ribs with her bare foot. He grunted and she covered the microphone on her mobile.

  ‘’Kay, I’ll let you know what we find.’

  She disconnected and slid down the bed so she could reach Tony’s mouth with her own. They kissed, but then she pushed him away.

  ‘You’d better put your phone on. We’ve got to get over to the aquarium – there’s been another attack, same as Tash Brady’s.’

  Tony groaned.

  Ten minutes later, they drew up in separate cars outside the Brighton Aquarium. They parked and then greeted each other as if they were colleagues who hadn’t just spent the better part of two hours in bed together.

  ‘The manager of the centre’s called Bill Faraday. He found the girl, Sally Ann Granger, when he opened up this morning.’

  ‘Does she a have a link with the aquarium?’ said Tony.

  ‘She’s the cleaner.’

  A tall, blond man rushed over to them as soon as they went in through the double doors.

  ‘You’re the police?’ he said. ‘I’m Bill Faraday. I’m the manager here.’

  Angie got out her warrant card. ‘I’m DC Angie Burton and this is DC Tony Hitchins. We need to take a statement from you about finding Sally Ann Granger this morning.’

  The man nodded.

  ‘And we’ll need to see whatever CCTV footage you have for yesterday, possibly the day before.’

  ‘We can talk in my office,’ he said.

  They took a quick look at the attack site, but the crime scene crew had it cordoned off. Then they followed Bill Faraday into a small office situated behind the reception counter. There were only two chairs, so Tony stood.

  ‘Sorry to make you go through this again,’ said Angie, ‘but we need all the details we can get.’

  Faraday nodded. He pressed his hands palms down on the desk to stop them shaking.

  ‘Is she going to be okay?’ he said. He sniffed loudly, and Angie suspected he might be about to start crying.

  ‘She’s in good hands.’ It was all the reassurance she could offer. She wasn’t going to tell him that they suspected taxine poisoning. Or that if this was the case, she was probably going to die. There were moments when she hated her job.

  ‘Just tell us what happened,’ said Tony.

  ‘I got here at half past seven,’ he said.

  ‘That’s a bit early, isn’t it?’ Tony interrupted. ‘What time does the aquarium open to the public?’

  ‘Ten, but I wanted to get through some paperwork first so I’d be able to get away by lunchtime.’

  ‘I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, Mr Faraday,’ said Angie. ‘We’re going to need you here until the SOCOs have finished with the site.’

  Bill Faraday gave a resigned nod. He looked depressed, and no wonder. There was no chance the aquarium would be open today, and probably not tomorrow or for several days after that.

  ‘Tell us about how you found her.’

  ‘I came in, like I said, at half past seven – straight into the office. No one else was due in until half past eight to start preparing the day’s feeds. I was working, maybe for about ten minutes, when I heard a noise.’ He paused, remembering.

  ‘What sort of noise?’ prompted Angie.

  Faraday drew a heavy breath. ‘A squeak, sort of. It sounded like an animal, not human. I got up and went into the reception area to listen. We don’t have any animals here that would make a noise like that.’ He grimaced. ‘I didn’t hear anything more, so I came back to my desk. Then, after a while . . .’

  ‘How long?’

  ‘A few minutes – I heard it again. It sort of freaked me out a bit. I thought it might be a rat, come up from the sewers.’

  ‘Has that happened before?’ said Tony.

  ‘Sometimes. I thought I’d better investigate properly and that’s when I found Sally Ann.’ He put his head in his hands. ‘If only I’d gone to look the first time I heard the sound.’

  ‘Where was she?’

  ‘Down at the far end of the Victorian arcade. I didn’t realise it was her at first – from this end, I could just see that there was someone lying on the floor, next to the rock pool.’

  ‘What did you do?’ said Tony.

  ‘I went to her, of course,’ said Faraday. ‘As soon as I came close, I recognised it was Sally Ann.’

  ‘Was she conscious?’

  ‘Barely. I phoned nine nine nine straight away, then I fetched a towel to put under her head. I don’t think she knew it was me.’

  ‘She didn’t speak?’

  He shook his head. ‘I don’t think she could. But I told her not to. She was bleeding heavily from her side, and from her hands and fee
t. I spent the time waiting for the ambulance on the phone. They told me to get more towels, to try to stop the bleeding.’

  Angie looked at him carefully. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any blood on your clothes.’

  ‘I changed,’ said the manager. ‘This is a spare staff uniform. I gave the clothes I was wearing to one of your officers.’

  ‘Can you tell us Sally Ann’s routine? Is it usual for her to be working here so early in the morning?’

  ‘She would have been cleaning last night,’ said Faraday. ‘She comes on at five and cleans till seven-thirty every day.’

  ‘And she’s here alone during that time?’

  ‘Sometimes. But sometimes I’m here, or one of the other members of staff, working late.’

  ‘What about last night?’

  ‘I wasn’t here. I’ll have to check with the rest of my staff.’ He looked suddenly horror-stricken. ‘Jesus! You’re not suggesting she was attacked by someone who works here?’

  ‘No sign of a break-in anywhere?’ said Tony.

  ‘No, but . . .’ Faraday’s eyes widened at the implication. ‘Look, I think she sometimes let friends come in here. In fact, I know she did. I once caught her drinking here with a couple of mates.’

  ‘So it could have been someone she knew,’ said Angie.

  ‘We’ll need to know who has access to the building,’ said Tony. ‘We need to know which doors were locked and which were open, and whether Sally Ann let anybody in while she was cleaning last night.’

  ‘Do you have CCTV footage from inside the building?’ said Angie.

  ‘We’ve got three cameras. But we turn them off when the aquarium’s closed. It’s mainly to keep an eye on the shop and the till at reception.’

  ‘Where’s the other one?’

  ‘Outside, trained on the front entrance, so the receptionists can see if there’s a queue.’

  It didn’t sound like they were going to be of much help.

  ‘Right – let’s double check all the doors for any sign of forced entry,’ said Tony.

  They did, and found nothing. The main doors had been locked when Faraday had arrived at seven, and the two fire escapes were firmly shut.

  Angie beckoned one of the SOCOs over to where they were standing, halfway down the arcade.

  ‘Can you fingerprint all the door handles throughout the building?’ she said.

  ‘Of course,’ said the man. ‘But it’s a public building – we’ll probably get scores of prints with no way of identifying them.’

  He was right. It would get them nowhere, but they had to do something.

  She looked around, trying to imagine what it had been like for Sally Ann, here all alone and so viciously attacked.

  ‘Where does that go?’ she said, pointing to a solid-looking blue door on one side.

  ‘That goes to the breeding and veterinary areas, and down to our reservoir.’

  ‘Reservoir?’ said Angie.

  ‘We’ve got a tank of seawater in the basement that runs the whole length of the building.’

  ‘But no way out down there?’

  Faraday shook his head.

  ‘Any access to or from the properties above you?’ said Tony.

  ‘Not at all.’

  ‘What do you think?’ said Tony, turning to Angie.

  ‘I think she knew him. I think she knew whoever attacked her and let him into the aquarium, locking the doors behind them.’

  ‘But then how did he get out?’

  Bill Faraday looked from one to the other of them.

  ‘The mortice lock on the front entrance wasn’t locked when I arrived this morning, only the cylinder lock. So, the attacker could have opened it from the inside and simply pulled it shut behind him.’

  ‘So if we take prints from that door, we might have our man,’ said Angie.

  ‘His and scores of others. Assuming he wasn’t wearing gloves anyway.’

  Angie shrugged. ‘Look, either she let him in or he had his own set of keys. I think she knew him. Come on, we need to take a close look at Sally Ann’s circle – I have a feeling we’ll find someone of interest.’

  23

  Saturday, 19 August 2017

  Rory

  ‘Test results show positive for taxine.’

  It wasn’t what Rory wanted to hear.

  Tanika Parry blinked at him, then rubbed her face with her hands, sighing.

  ‘But you’re treating her, right?’

  ‘She’s already showing symptoms – dizziness, shortness of breath, depressed heart rate.’

  ‘But if you know what it is, surely you can do something?’ said Angie. Her voice sounded a pitch higher than usual in the empty corridor.

  ‘We’re trying everything we can, but she’s not responding to anything.’

  ‘You can’t just let her die,’ said Rory.

  Tanika Parry’s face flushed and she tugged at the stethoscope hanging round her neck. ‘I’m not letting her die. I’m doing all I can to prevent it.’ She turned away from them. ‘I need to get back to her.’

  As she walked off, Rory called after her.

  ‘We need to talk to her. Is that possible?’

  Tanika Parry turned back to look at them. Scowling. ‘I don’t think so.’

  Rory strode up to her, close, pushing his face into hers.

  ‘He’ll do it again. He’ll attack someone else. It’s my job to stop him. If I get five minutes with Sally Ann, she might just say something that’ll make a difference, save another girl’s life.’ He always did his best to stay calm, no matter how angry the job made him. But right now he wanted to shake her.

  Tanika Parry wiped a bead of his spittle off her face. She gave an imperceptible nod and walked away.

  Rory and Angie followed her towards Sally Ann’s room. At the door, she stopped them.

  ‘She’s awake, on and off, but I doubt you’ll find her lucid. She’s been through an enormous physical shock, piled on top of the mental shock of being assaulted. She’s sedated right now and she probably won’t remember anything of what happened.’

  Inside the room, a single hospital bed was surrounded by a bank of monitors and equipment. Sally Ann Granger looked younger than eighteen years and only half alive to Rory’s eyes. The blush of youth was missing – her face was wizened with pain, her skin almost grey, her eyes puffed up from crying. One side of her face was bruised purple and blue, and a ripe swelling bulged from her cheekbone like a plum. A middle-aged woman, sitting by the bed, looked almost as bad. Her mother, Rory guessed.

  The woman stood up as Tanika Parry showed them in. She was small and timid, with untidy hair and faded clothes – and seemed unsteady on her feet. Tanika Parry introduced her as Danielle Ellis, then explained to her who Rory and Angie were.

  ‘Officer, do you know who did it?’ She sounded desperate.

  ‘Not yet,’ said Rory. Alex Mullins? He’d been out of custody by the time Sally Ann was attacked. ‘This is DC Angie Burton, Danielle. She’s going to ask Sally Ann what she remembers.’

  Danielle sank back down into her chair with a look of resignation. She stroked Sally Ann’s arm. ‘Are you awake, love?’

  A small sob escaped the girl’s mouth but she didn’t open her eyes.

  ‘Sweetie? There’s a policewoman here to talk to you ’bout what happened.’

  Sally Ann closed her eyes tighter, crumpling her face. She tried to turn away from her mother.

  Rory felt sick. The girl had been through hell but if Tanika Parry was right, she was dying. Right in front of their eyes. And instead of leaving her in peace, he and Angie had to prise what information they could out of her, no matter how it distressed her or her mother.

  Angie moved closer to the head end of the bed.

  ‘Sally Ann, can I ask you some questions?’r />
  The girl opened her eyes and looked at Angie with a wounded expression that cut straight to Rory’s heart. His own daughter, Vicky, was only a few years younger. What must Danielle Ellis be going through?

  ‘Can you tell me what happened?’ said Angie.

  Sally Ann closed her eyes again and winced, as if every movement caused her pain. ‘It’s muddled,’ she said, so quietly that Rory, leaning against the wall by the door, had to strain to hear her.

  ‘Anything you can remember could help us find out who did this to you.’

  ‘A man came in . . . while I was cleaning.’ She started to cry.

  ‘Where did you first see him?’

  ‘I don’t remember.’

  ‘Did you know the man?’

  Sally turned her head to the side, searching out her mother. Danielle gave her a reassuring nod.

  ‘Can you remember anything about him?’

  ‘It was dark. Then he had a gun . . .’ Her eyes widened and her breath came in short, sharp gasps. ‘But . . . it wasn’t a gun.’

  Did she mean the tattoo gun?

  Rory glanced across at Danielle. She looked almost as distressed as her daughter, but she had the presence of mind to take Sally Ann’s bandaged hand.

  ‘Shhhhhh, babes. He’s all gone now.’

  Angie seemed reluctant to press the girl further – and rightly so, thought Rory. She’d been through enough. This wasn’t the way to spend her final hours, and it wasn’t the final memory to leave her mother with.

  But Danielle deserved to know the truth. If it was him, he’d want the chance to say goodbye to his child, however painful that might be.

  But first there was one more question. He had to ask it.

  Rory stepped forward. ‘Sally Ann, do you know Alex Mullins?’

  She looked confused for a moment, but then nodded. ‘From college?’

  Rory turned to Danielle. ‘Was Sally Ann at Brighton Art College?’

  ‘She was, for a couple of terms,’ said Danielle. ‘Then she dropped out.’ She didn’t elaborate, and Rory made a mental note to look into exactly what happened.

  ‘Was she friends with Alex Mullins? Mixed-race boy with dreadlocks.’