by Mel Sherratt
‘I was scared!’
‘It will be far more scary where you are off to. Who was with you, Kyle?’ She pointed to the image with the four of them. ‘Who are the other two?’
Kyle said nothing.
‘Tell me who they are!’
Kyle’s voice cracked as he spoke. ‘Craig Dellaway and Robert Stockton.’
Grace wrote down both names. She let Kyle sit for a moment before gathering her paperwork, signifying the interview was over.
SIXTY-NINE
Nick thought it best that Grace interview Trent Gibson, so she grabbed a quick cuppa while she updated the team. After their showdown, Alex had left the building. Nick had been trying to contact him on his mobile, to get him to come back to the station. So far his efforts had proved futile. Officers had been sent to his home address to bring him in. She wouldn’t put it past him doing a runner, although that would be pointless too.
When she explained the circumstances behind Alex’s absence, after a shocked silence, anger erupted from his colleagues. Grace couldn’t blame any of them and was grateful she managed to appease them, getting their minds back on the job for now.
In the interview room again, she lifted the lid to her laptop and showed Trent the images they had captured from CCTV.
‘Do you recognise yourself on here?’ she asked.
Trent sat forward and studied them. He looked up through long eyelashes.
‘Naw, I don’t know any of them.’
‘Not even this one?’ Grace pointed to another image.
Trent shook his head.
‘It clearly shows you, Trent. You’re saying you weren’t on Victoria Road at ten p.m. on Saturday night?’
Trent shook his head again. ‘That image doesn’t prove anything except that I had something to eat with my mates.’
‘Okay.’ Grace produced an evidence bag containing a pair of black gloves. ‘Do you recognise these?’
Trent glanced sideways at the duty solicitor before turning back. ‘No comment,’ he replied.
Grace shrugged. ‘Ah, well. I’ll get them processed and you can go back to your cell. I’m sure they’ll have some DNA on them, maybe blood from Elliott’s vicious attack. The clothes we’ll be seizing from your flat might have too. Then it won’t look good when we do find it and you haven’t cooperated with us. In fact, it’s going to make you seem extremely devious when you’ve denied it’s you in the image and it’s plain that it is you. I doubt a judge will like that once you’re thrown in front of one.’
‘You Steeles are all the same. You’re trying to set me up!’
‘I am not a Steele.’ Grace tried to stay calm.
‘You could have fooled me,’ Trent muttered. ‘The Steele women are all stronger than they look.’
‘Elliott Woodman was beaten to death. I’m only interested in his killer.’ Grace watched him flinch at her last word. ‘Was it Leon Steele who paid you?’
Trent looked straight ahead at the wall behind her. ‘No comment.’
‘You do know we have camera footage of Leon getting off the train at Stoke Station? The train from London? So he couldn’t have committed the murder.’
‘That doesn’t prove anything. He could have got on the stop before.’
‘It was a straight-through train from Euston. It takes just over an hour and a half. He has a solid alibi. It wasn’t him.’
‘No comment.’
‘Who was it, Trent?’
Trent glared at her. ‘I want to speak to my brief – alone.’
And then it dawned on her. She had been so busy focusing on the Steele brothers that she hadn’t been able to see what was staring at her.
‘You were trying to set Leon Steele up!’ she cried.
‘No comment.’ Trent squirmed in his seat.
‘I get it now. With him going away for the murder of Elliott Woodman, and Josh Parker gone too, it would mean you could work next to Eddie. Fancy yourself as a hard man, did you?’
Trent wouldn’t even look at her as she continued.
‘But now that Leon can prove he wasn’t in Stoke at the time of the murder, your plan has backfired.’ Grace shook her head slowly. ‘I wouldn’t like to be you when everyone finds out what you’ve done, especially the Steele family. You’ll have one hell of a black mark against your name.’
Still Trent said nothing.
‘You’d be better off going inside! Although actually, come to think of it, someone is bound to find out what happened. Cons don’t like betrayals.’
After a few more attempts to get him to admit what he’d done, Grace closed her notebook. ‘If you’re not going to talk, there’s nothing further I can do for you,’ she told him. ‘You’ll be returned to your cell until we have the evidence we require. I suggest you use the time wisely to have a word with Mr Patrick here. A confession will work much more in your favour. As soon as word gets out, we can’t protect you if you don’t play ball.’
She was almost at the door when she heard him speak.
‘It was me.’
She turned to see Trent holding his head in his hands. ‘I killed Elliott.’
Back at her desk, Grace sat down with a sigh. It was great that they’d got a confession for Elliott Woodman’s murder, yet she couldn’t help but feel unhappy about it.
‘Why do they let themselves get dragged into such atrocities?’ she sighed.
Perry looked up at her. ‘Who really knows?’
Grace took a mouthful from a full mug of coffee, grimacing when she discovered it was cold. She checked her mobile, suddenly remembering the handset having vibrated in her pocket while she was interviewing Trent Gibson. Dialling voicemail now, it was a message from Eddie.
I can’t find Leon. His wife hasn’t seen him since last night. He’s not answering his phone from either of us and he hasn’t shown up for work. I’ve rung everywhere I think he might be and no one has seen him. I’m worried about him. Call me back. Please.
SEVENTY
Grace’s blood ran cold as her thoughts jumbled together, something that Trent had said in the interview about strong women had set her thinking. She raced over to Nick’s office to find Sam and Perry already with him.
‘I’ve been tearing through the numbers on Gibson’s phones with the tech team,’ Sam said before she could speak. ‘Clara Emery’s phone number is on there obviously, as they’re a couple; it’s also on Leon Steele’s phone, but that makes sense as they both work at the gym. So, could be something or nothing, but Chapman’s is there too, under Jonathan this time – and there is a list of other numbers we have no names for but which appear on all three phones. The tech team are looking at them now. It’s just a hunch, but I wonder if she’s been involved in the parties – perhaps stocking up, cleaning, getting the girls there. After all, she works for the Steeles.’
Grace thought back to the young woman Regan Peters had mentioned who had paid her as she quickly scanned down the list.
‘There’s a number that they’ve all rung too, but it’s unavailable,’ Sam added. ‘It’s a pay-as-you-go option, and untraceable. Out of service.’
‘Good work,’ Nick said. ‘Bring Emery in for questioning.’
Grace nodded. ‘I’ll also apply for warrants to search both hers and Gibson’s flats. But she’s not top priority right now.’ She played Eddie’s message on speaker.
‘Listen up!’ Nick ushered them all into the meeting room where they could see the whiteboard.
‘Nick, can I run something past everyone?’
When he nodded, Grace stood in front of them. She took a deep breath and began, hoping she had the trust of her team. Several officers working with them came to listen too.
‘Let’s take the victims in order.’ She pointed to the first photo on the whiteboard beside her. ‘Josh Parker. According to quite a few women we spoke to, plus statements from the public, he was handy with his fists, not just on men but on women. We also have reason to believe he was involved in organising the parties at Washington
Place.’ She pointed to another photo. ‘Dale Chapman – also known as Dale Jenkinson. We think he was being blackmailed for something. We also believe he raped Regan Peters at one of the parties.
‘Victim number three.’ She pointed to the image of Tom Davenport. ‘He didn’t really have a lot to do with Steele’s Gym, which threw us off a little, but through interviewing several young women, we’ve found he’s part of a ring of men who are luring young girls to these parties. We also know he was having an affair with at least one of his students at the college. So, we see a connection between all three victims: the parties.
‘Victim number four – Elliot Woodman. We thought it was one of the Steele clan attacking a rival family in revenge for the first murders, but I think we were wrong-footed. After interviewing Gibson, it seems he was setting up Leon Steele for the murder of Elliott Woodman so that he could muscle in with Eddie and be his right-hand man. But it backfired on him. So, what if that murder was a red herring?’
People began to glance at each other as things started to click into place.
‘Let’s go back to one of our original ideas,’ Grace continued. ‘Footwear, smallish size – shoe prints found at the homes of Dale Chapman and Tom Davenport were a match.’ She used her fingers to count off. ‘Images of a slight and nimble figure running away from Dale Chapman’s murder scene. A blunt object used to attack them. Identical knife wounds. And then there’s another victim, one not on the board: George Steele.’
Before anyone could interject, Grace opened a laptop that was on the desk, pressed a few keys and brought up an image of a pair of purple neoprene-grip hand weights. She turned the screen round to face everyone.
‘This is something people can use during walking or aerobic exercise, shaped to be held easily in their hand. Look at it – isn’t it similar to a knuckleduster? Especially if it was held the wrong way round, so the weight was at the front.’ She demonstrated by balling her hand into a fist and rubbing her knuckles. ‘Imagine how hard a punch could be administered then, even if the person throwing it was smaller than the victim – a woman, for example?’
‘It would put some force behind it,’ Sam agreed.
‘You think the link is to a female who attended one of the parties?’ Perry questioned animatedly as he caught her drift.
‘No.’ Grace glanced around the room while she took another deep breath, emotion threatening to spill over at the discomfort of what she was about to voice. ‘But I do think it has something to do with the parties. I think they’ve been happening on and off for years. Whether or not the Steeles are running them now remains to be seen. But I think one of the Steeles set them up: George Steele. George had the necessary contacts to start something like this. What if the person who killed George is now targeting other men involved?
‘Kathleen Steele had plenty of motive to kill George. She was a victim of continual domestic abuse. However, Kathleen doesn’t have motive or links to the other three victims. But Jade Steele does.’
Murmurs spread amongst them and Grace held up her hand.
‘Jade Steele told me she’d had a fling with Josh Parker in her early teens and had left him because he was too violent. Maybe she found out about the parties too. I wonder if it was Jade who was blackmailing Chapman – Jenkinson, whatever his name is – about his involvement in them? It would ruin his reputation if it got out. He’d pay a lot of money for that, I reckon.’
Nick was up on his feet and at her side.
‘Jade mentioned she’d had a few dates with Tom Davenport. She also told me he was a lovely man and she got on well with him, but that was probably a lie to throw me off her scent. And Lorna is Jade’s friend.’
‘Do you think she got worried for Megan Steele, hanging around with Freya Davenport?’ asked Sam.
‘Yes.’ Grace went over to the whiteboard. She pointed to where the name of her half-sister was written in capital letters. ‘Jade Steele has the upper hand because every one of our victims knew her. She could get close without rousing suspicion before attacking them. And let’s face it, everyone thinks she’s dizzy; the weakling, the underdog.’ Grace thought back to Jade’s allegations about Alex. ‘And now Leon Steele has gone missing … I don’t think Kathleen would kill her own son, not even to protect her daughter.’ Grace looked around the room at them all. ‘Which again leaves Jade.’
‘If Leon is involved with the parties, Jade might be planning on killing him next – if he isn’t dead already.’ Nick snapped his fingers. ‘I want all available units out there looking for both of them. Let’s bring her in now!’
‘She called me earlier, wanting to see me. I think I know where she’ll be.’ Grace took a deep breath. ‘I think she wants to lead me back home.’
SEVENTY-ONE
Kathleen had been in Posh Gloss when the police had arrived and asked Clara to accompany them to the station for questioning. Then, hearing from Eddie that Leon was missing, she’d locked up the salon and driven straight home.
So many thoughts were running through her mind as she negotiated the traffic: how this was all getting out of hand now; how she couldn’t protect her family any more.
As she turned into the driveway, she noticed Jade’s car in front of the door. She parked next to it and rushed inside.
‘Jade?’ she shouted.
‘I’m upstairs.’
Kathleen hurried up to her. She found her in a dressing gown, her hair wet.
‘You haven’t just got up, have you?’ she asked. ‘It’s nearly midday.’
‘Of course not.’ Jade rubbed at her hair with a towel. ‘You’re home early.’
‘I tried to call you. No one can find Leon.’ Kathleen’s voice faltered.
‘Oh, sorry, I must have missed your call when I was under the water.’ Jade glanced at her mobile she’d thrown down on the bed.
‘Have you seen him, or spoken to him today?’
‘Not since yesterday at work. Why?’
‘I’m worried about him. What if someone has hurt him and he’s—’
‘You shouldn’t be concerned with him,’ Jade screamed. ‘You should have helped me!’
It took Kathleen by surprise and she flinched.
‘What do you mean?’ It was then she noticed the clothes in a pile behind Jade. A pair of jeans with wet patches deep red in colour. A pale blue jumper covered with speckles of blood. ‘What’s that?’
‘I cut myself this morning.’ Jade looked at her sheepishly.
‘Where? That’s a lot of blood. Are you all right?’
‘Of course I am. Don’t start worrying about me now.’
Kathleen paled. ‘You haven’t done anything to Leon, have you?’
‘Why would you care? You’re not interested in anyone but yourself!’ Jade pulled on jeans and a jumper as she spoke.
‘Tell me, Jade.’ Kathleen pointed to the clothes. ‘What have you done?’
‘I’ve finished your precious son off.’ Jade sat on the bed and slipped on a pair of boots. ‘You do realise he started those parties up again?’
‘What parties?’
‘Oh, come off it, you knew all about them.’
‘No, I …’ Kathleen stopped, all at once putting the pieces together. ‘I didn’t know. I swear!’
‘I wasn’t having anyone suffering what I went through as a child. He deserved what he got!’
‘Leon wasn’t involved with the girls. He was just taking the money!’
Jade shook her head. ‘Oh, what do you know!’
‘I heard him talking to Eddie. He didn’t like what had happened and said he was stopping the parties now.’
‘Only because the police have cottoned on to him.’
‘No, it’s not like—’
‘Save your breath, Mother. He’s gone now. They’re all gone. I finished them all off.’
Kathleen went cold, goosebumps breaking out all over her skin. Surely, no – not again. She wouldn’t be able to protect Jade if this was true.
‘Wait a min
ute!’ Her eyes bulged as Jade’s words sunk in. ‘You killed all those men?’
Jade raised her eyebrows. ‘You sound surprised? As if I don’t have it in me.’
‘No, that’s not what—’
‘I know what people think about me, but they’re wrong.’ A snarl crossed Jade’s face as she stood up and crossed the room towards her. ‘I told you years ago that I would get Jenkinson back for what he did to me. When I heard about those sex parties starting up, well, I began to think about all of the men who had let me down. Who used me, abused me, and then moved on to other victims to do the same.’ She slammed a fist into an open palm at each point. ‘I wasn’t even thirteen, the first time Dale raped me. Remember that?’
‘Oh, Jade,’ Kathleen began.
‘I told you it was happening and you said not to say anything.’
‘It wasn’t like that,’ she insisted. ‘If you’d told anyone, things would have been much worse!’
‘Dale got my trust, you see,’ Jade continued as if she wasn’t there. ‘He used Rohypnol at first, and then, for kicks, there were no drugs at all. He said I would be better after being worn in. All I can remember was being sore, and bleeding afterwards. Not being able to walk properly. And you did nothing!’
‘I was weak,’ Kathleen tried to explain. ‘Your father and his friends were too powerful for me. George used me too, to pay off his debts. I was trapped as well.’ She hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. ‘I’m sorry – I should have done more. But it doesn’t mean you have to keep killing people! You need to finish this. It’s got out of hand! You can’t keep on—’
‘I can do whatever I want.’
The phone on the bed began to ring. Grace’s name flashed up on the screen. They both saw it.
‘The police could have worked out what you’ve done! Jade, please.’ Kathleen took hold of her arm. ‘You have to tell me where Leon is.’
Jade shrugged it away. ‘Let go of me.’
‘You need help! We can sort out something for you. Don’t worry about Megan. She can come and stay with me until you feel better.’
