The Silent One

by M K Farrar

  “Officers went door-to-door,” Rudd said, “but no one reported seeing Young leaving his house during the night, though the majority were asleep at that time, and those who were awake were in bed with their curtains drawn and didn’t see anything.”

  Gibbs didn’t look impressed. “Without Young, we have no other suspects, unless of course, anyone has information they haven’t yet told me about.” He looked around the room, his eyebrows raised in expectation.

  Erica cleared her throat. “We’re still trying to find out the identities of some of the students we believe Adam Humphries may have had some interaction with the night he died. There’s a chance he followed one of them—a young woman—out of the union. However, there were a lot of people coming and going around that time, so it’s hard to know for sure.”

  Rudd spoke up as well. “We’ve been through some more of the wider CCTV footage from the night before, that Swift and Turner got hold of last night, and though we can’t pinpoint Humphries on it, there is something from one of the cameras inside the entrance hall of one of the halls of residence that you’re going to want to see.” Rudd had directed that final comment at Erica. “It might help us track down the girl.”

  Erica nodded. “Good, thanks.”

  She was pleased others had been working the CCTV footage overnight. There was a lot of it, and she had other things she needed to be doing.

  “Print out the pictures from the CCTV footage and pass them around the university,” Gibbs said, “see if anyone knows who they are and can point us in the right direction.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She’d been planning on doing that anyway.

  Gibbs continued, “While you’re asking about the girl, it might be worth seeing what the general opinion seems to be about Professor Young, too. Talk to some of the faculty staff, see what their thoughts of him are. Is he well liked at the university? Has there been any issues with him and any of the students before? Something tells me we should be keeping that line of enquiry open.”

  Had Young killed Humphries? Erica wasn’t sure. His mild manner and eagerness to please made her think that didn’t seem like a killer to her, though she thought there was something shifty about him. Gibbs was right about them looking into his past conduct, though. If one of the students reported him for any kind of inappropriate behaviour since he’d been teaching, that might open up the possibility that he did have some kind of relationship with Humphries.

  Gibbs moved on. “What about the victim’s family? Did we have local officers go and speak with them?”

  “Yes,” DC Howard said, “but they didn’t get anything to go on. According to them, the parents say he was a quiet young man who didn’t get into any trouble. The parents are driving down to London today to pick up Humphries’ belongings from his room.”

  Gibbs frowned, his lips tightening. “We need to get in there before they do. Have we searched the victim’s room yet?”

  “It was checked after the body was found,” DC Howard said, “to make sure there were no other victims or the suspect wasn’t hiding in there, but I don’t believe forensics have been in there yet.”

  “Let’s get in there then and see if that will give us any insight into whether he had anyone who might have wanted to hurt him.”

  Looked like they were going to be spending a lot more time at the university campus.

  “I heard from Mattocks in SOCO first thing this morning.” Shawn shot an apologetic smile to Erica, aware that him being in so much earlier than her didn’t make her look good. “He called Swift’s desk, and I answered it. The phone that was found at the scene has been hooked up to GrayKey, the digital forensics software, so we can break into it, and then we’ll download all the memory and examine it for the user’s info. It’s going to take a day or so to bypass the security locks on the phone, though.” Shawn shrugged. “It may be nothing, and a student lost the phone earlier in the day, or it might have belonged to the killer. It’s hard to know at this stage.”

  “If it belonged to the killer,” Erica said, half to herself, “and they’ve realised the phone is missing, they’re going to be climbing over themselves to get it back.”

  Shawn nodded in agreement. “If they had some idea of where they might have lost it, they’ll go back to check.”

  Erica frowned. “Maybe we should have someone watching the crime scene.”

  “We might be too late already,” Shawn said. “They might have come and gone. Everyone’s so attached to their phones, I doubt much time would have passed before they’d realised it was missing and tried to find it.”

  Erica thought of something. “But we’ve had a cordon around the scene, and I believe uniformed officers have been there. They wouldn’t have been able to look for it yet.”

  Gibbs took over. “So, when we remove the cordon, we’ll put someone in place to watch the area. Whoever does it will have to be subtle, though, blend in so the killer won’t know he’s being watched.”

  Their DCI’s gaze fell on Hannah Rudd.

  “Think you can make yourself appear like one of the students, Rudd?” he asked. “Get yourself kitted out in whatever the hell it is youngsters are wearing these days and go and hang around the crime scene.”

  Rudd nodded. “Yes, sir. Absolutely.”

  “Good. And if you do see anyone acting suspiciously, don’t approach them. Call for backup.”

  “Will do, sir.”

  “We’ll be going down to the university,” Erica told her, “to try and track down our mystery girl, so we can give you a lift when you’re ready.”

  Rudd threw her a smile. “Thanks, boss.”

  “What about a forensics report?” Gibbs asked. “Is that back yet?”

  “I don’t believe so.” Erica hadn’t actually managed to check her emails yet, since she’d come straight into the briefing upon her arrival that morning. “I’ll chase it up.”

  “Yes, do that.” Gibbs clapped his hands together. “Now let’s get out there and nail down this killer.”

  ERICA OPENED HER EMAIL—THE forensics report hadn’t yet come in—and got the paperwork together, while Rudd headed out onto the high street to buy a couple of items that would help her blend in with the other students.

  DC Howard wanted to show them what had been found on the additional CCTV they’d got from security campus.

  “Nothing showing either Humphries or Young, unfortunately,” he said, “but watch this.”

  A girl in a short dress stumbled through the door. She had her hands up to cover her face, and her head was down, so her hair fell over her in a curtain.

  Erica frowned and leaned in, squinting. “Wow, she’s a bit worse for wear.”

  Howard nodded. “Keep watching.”

  The girl weaved back and forth, clearly struggling to walk in a straight line, and then she lifted her face from her hands. Howard hit pause on the playback.

  Erica sucked in a breath. “She’s hurt.”

  “Yes, looks like blood on her face, doesn’t it?”

  Erica studied her in more detail. “Isn’t that the same girl from the footage inside the bar from that night? The one we thought Humphries followed? I’m sure that’s the same dress. What time is this taken?”

  He glanced up at the corner of the screen where the time and date stamp were. “Twelve minutes past one.”

  “And what time did we see her leave the student union?” she asked Shawn.

  He frowned as he thought. “About twenty to one, I think.”

  Erica referenced a map of the university campus that had been blown up and tacked onto the huge corkboard on the office wall. The student union and the location the body had been found were both already marked off, together with a couple of other points of interest.

  “Why has it taken her almost half an hour to cross the campus? Surely, that’s a five-minute walk, at most.”

  Shawn pursed his lips. “She looks like she’s had too much to drink. Maybe she sat down somewhere, or even fell down, or s
he forgot where she was going and got lost.”

  Erica got up and stood by the map. She trailed her finger along the most direct route the girl would have taken. It went near the spot where Adam Humphries’ body was found.

  “Or she might have walked right past Adam Humphries and his killer. We need to find out who she is and have a chat with her.”

  Shawn cocked an eyebrow. “You think she’ll remember much, given the state she’s in?”

  “It’s definitely worth asking, but first of all, we have to find out who she is.”

  Movement caught her attention, and they all turned to see who was entering.

  DC Howard let out a low whistle. “Rudd, is that you?”

  Erica had to admit, Hannah Rudd looked good. In a pair of skin-tight jeans—or perhaps they were jeggings, Erica couldn’t quite tell—and a cut-off t-shirt with a logo emblazoned across the front, and a pair of white trainers, she appeared to be about ten years younger than she had when she’d left the office in her suit. The suit was now in a carrier slung across her arm.

  “Don’t say anything,” she warned everyone, clearly aware that all eyes were on her. “This is what the girl in the shop said all the teenagers are wearing.”

  “You definitely look the part.” Erica nodded approvingly.

  “Hopefully, no one will recognise me from when I was at the scene the morning the body was discovered.”

  Rudd had let her hair down as well, where she normally wore it pinned back from her face in a bun.

  “I doubt it,” Erica told her. “You really do look different.”

  Rudd flashed her a grateful smile.

  There were plenty of places near where the body had been found that Rudd could loiter around and still have a decent view of the crime scene. As well as the halls of residence, the courtyard was also served by a coffee shop, a travel agent, a bookstore, and a general corner shop. They’d be damned lucky if the killer walked right into their clutches, but stranger things had happened.

  That was assuming the phone even belonged to the killer, of course. Whoever was searching for it might have nothing to do with the murder and was simply trying to find their lost phone, but until they could rule that out for sure, they didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity.

  Chapter Twelve

  Paige wasn’t going to be able to manage much longer without a phone. She hadn’t realised she was so reliant on it, and not just for phone calls and text messages. She couldn’t even tell the time without it, since she never wore a watch. Though she had her laptop for emails and to watch Netflix on, she missed having her phone on her.

  She needed to pluck up the courage and go back to the student union and see if anyone had handed it in. It was probably there, waiting for her, but every time she thought about going back to the union, her heart raced and her palms prickled with sweat. She was being stupid. It was only the student union—she’d been in there plenty of times before. Nothing had changed.

  Yes, it has. A student was murdered.

  Was that the reason she was so anxious about going back in there? Was it simply to do with Adam Humphries’ murder? Or was there more to it?

  Maybe she was worried that if she went back there and retraced her steps, she would remember what had happened that night. Though a part of her wanted to remember, she was also self-aware enough that she understood that when the mind blocked something out, it was normally to protect itself. What could have happened that was so bad that she needed to block it out?

  You were the one who hurt Adam Humphries.

  Had there been a fight? Had he hurt her, and she’d fought back? She remembered her injuries—they were hard to forget when they were right there, written across her face every time she looked in the mirror.

  She didn’t want to believe that about herself, but, considering her background, it was hard not to.

  But Paige’s need for her phone won over her fear of remembering, so after her first lecture, she swung by the student union.

  She stood outside the door, her hand paused on the handle to open it. Her fingers trembled, and her breathing felt too shallow, as though she couldn’t catch a proper breath.

  Come on, Paige, you can do this.

  She’d half expected a rush of memories to assault her, but none did.

  The door was pulled open from the inside, and she stepped back, allowing the person—a girl she didn’t know—to leave. The girl saw Paige and stopped and held the door open for her, and Paige’s manners prevented her from turning away. Instead, she thanked her and stepped through, into the bar.

  The place looked completely different to how it did at night. The lights were up full, and it was almost empty. During the day, it was possible to get coffee and bacon sandwiches here, and since most people were studying, there wasn’t much drinking done until later.

  Erica approached the bar, wearing an awkward smile. The bartender was wiping down the bar top, and he returned the smile.

  “What can I get you?” he asked.

  “Uh, nothing actually. I was here the other night and I think I lost my phone. I just wondered if anyone had handed one in?”

  He frowned. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll go and check out back, though. Someone might have put it in the safe.”

  “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

  “No sweat.”

  He left, and Paige stood, still feeling uncomfortable, waiting for his return. She deliberately kept her gaze averted from the corner where they’d been hanging out the other night, though she probably should have gone over and checked down the back of the sofas, just in case it fell out of her bag and slid down between the frame and the cushions, but she couldn’t bring herself to go over there.

  One of the cleaners would have found it already, if it was there, she tried to convince herself.

  The bartender reappeared, shaking his head. “No, sorry. A ton of other shit back there, but no phone.”

  She flashed him a tight smile. “Okay, thanks for checking.”

  “No problem.”

  Paige hurried from the bar, relieved to push out of the doors and into fresh air. She still didn’t have a phone, but at least she’d done what she’d promised herself. There was a phone shop on the high street. She couldn’t afford to get anything decent, but she’d be able to get a cheap pay-as-you-go to tide her over.

  She kept her head down as she left campus, not wanting to meet anyone’s eye. Jasmine was still insisting on this stupid double date tonight, and she couldn’t think of any way to get out of it. She knew Jas would see straight through any excuses she made. Besides, her friend seemed so genuinely excited about the evening, Paige didn’t want to ruin it for her.

  It was important to have your friends’ backs when they needed you.

  Chapter Thirteen

  They drove down to the university and were lucky enough to find a spot in the campus car park. Erica dropped Rudd off around the corner from the university so she could walk the rest of the way. If the killer was anywhere nearby, they didn’t want him seeing Rudd climbing out of the unmarked Ford Mondeo with the two detectives. It was better that she arrived on foot like the other students.

  Erica and Shawn entered the main building, keeping an eye out for the office for Residential Services and Support. The place was old and grand—all marble floors and white stonework and pillars—and a complete contrast to the newer structures of glass and metal, and even more so to the run-down tower blocks that housed some of the science departments.

  Signs on the wall directed them to the correct department, and they followed them to come to a stop outside of a glass office door.

  Erica lifted her hand and knocked, and then let herself in. There was a main desk, with several other desks set in behind it. People worked studiously, not even turning their heads to see who had entered. The atmosphere inside the office was quiet and sombre. There was a low hum of people working, but it felt more like a library than anything else.

  The woman on the front
desk looked up. “Yes? How can I help?”

  Erica stepped forward and pushed her ID into the woman’s line of sight. “I’m DI Swift. We’re investigating the incident that happened on campus yesterday.”

  “Oh, right. Terrible business.” The woman tutted and shook her head. “Did you find who killed him yet?”

  “We’re working on it.”

  She pushed her glasses higher up her nose. “Glad to hear it.”

  Erica had known they wouldn’t have had to go into any detail for the woman to understand which incident she’d been referring to. She imagined that other than the occasional reported theft, drug use, or fight, they didn’t get serious crime like this happening on campus.

  “We have a warrant to search the victim’s room and remove any electronic devices that we believe will be useful to the case. Who do we talk to about getting access to the room?”

  “Security will have a master key,” the woman said. “Do you know where they’re located?”

  “Yes, we do. Thank you.”

  “I’ll phone through and let them know you’re on your way.”

  Erica gave the woman a final smile then left the office. They made their way through the building and stepped back out onto the campus.

  “While we’re there, we can ask whoever is on security if he recognises the girl on the CCTV footage,” Shawn suggested.

  “Good idea.”

  They crossed the campus to where the halls of residence were located. The halls were separated into several different buildings and divided into male and female.

  Erica wondered if Rudd had made it onto campus yet and if she’d found somewhere with a good view of the crime scene. She wanted to look around for her colleague but didn’t want anyone to notice. No one was going to search for the phone if they knew there was a detective hanging around. The tape was still around the part of the courtyard and the raised bed with the bushes where both the body and the phone had been found. If someone was going to search there, they’d have to climb over or under the tape. Should they remove it, or would that make it more obvious that they were trying to lure someone in? Chances were, if someone did try to search for the phone—assuming they were the guilty party—they’d do so under nightfall. That Adam Humphries’ body had been lying there all night without being discovered proved how hidden in darkness that little corner was.