by Helen Phifer
‘I can’t sit here on my own all day worrying about what everyone is up to, it will drive me crackers. We’re already down Tom and Mattie, and if I go down, too, you’ll be on your own and I can’t do it to you. They’ll call in another DI to take over, and I don’t want to be pushed out because my face might upset a few people.’
‘Hey, believe it or not I’m capable of managing for one day.’
‘I didn’t mean that. Of course, you are, you’ve been doing this longer than I have. I mean I don’t want to leave you doing all the work. Besides I’d drive you mad phoning you every hour for an update.’
‘Yeah, I know you would. Look if you start to feel dizzy or begin to talk crap I’m bringing you back here. No arguments. George would go mad if he knew you were coming into work.’
‘It’s got nothing to do with him. He lost the right to an opinion when he left. I only rang him this morning because I didn’t want you having to find my clean underwear.’
He laughed. ‘Thank God for that; I’d have died of embarrassment. I’ve never looked through Wendy’s underwear drawer and we’ve been married thirty years.’
His phone began to ring. ‘You’re kidding me, how long ago was this? Okay be on my way soon.’
‘What’s that about?’
‘More fun and games at St Aidan’s vicarage. You can wait in the car, boss – Jan Collins has a restraining order not to come within a one-mile radius of you. Apparently, she’s phoned 999, hysterical and screaming about blood on the door.’
Lucy stood up, her stomach doing backflips. ‘Oh God, now what.’
‘Let’s go and find out. I really hoped I’d seen the last of that vile woman.’
* * *
The police car skidded to a halt at the entrance to the small car park, and the two officers jumped out. The control room operator had just warned them that the caller was violent and had only recently been released from custody for grievous bodily harm of the DI and to approach with caution. Both Adam and Tess were fresh out of probation; this was the first serious call they’d attended on their own. Adam had his hand resting against his taser, as he looked at Tess. ‘You do the talking and I’ll be ready to fry her if she gets out of hand.’
Tess smirked. ‘Deal, make sure you don’t fry me by mistake though. You’re not a very good shot, are you?’
She looked around the deserted car park outside the front of the church hall. It was so peaceful. The large house, which must be the vicarage, would have once been impressive, but it was shabby now. The painted exterior walls had seen better days. It must have been so lovely living in such a grand house in the shadow of the church. Tess had always loved visiting churches; she’d been here a few times in the past. She walked towards the woman who was standing in the corner of the tidy front garden, shivering and sobbing.
‘Now then, Jan, what’s the matter?’
She lifted her finger and wailed, pointing to the house. ‘Blood, so much blood. I don’t know where David is.’
‘You wait here, and we’ll go take a look.’
Tess motioned to Adam, and he joined her. Pulling on a pair of latex gloves she pushed the front door open and heard him balk behind her.
‘Oh shit, I hate blood. Can’t go in, sorry.’
Shaking her head, she stepped inside, shouting, ‘David, it’s the police, we’re here to help you.’ Expecting to hear a grunt or a groan she was greeted by silence. She turned to Adam. ‘I’ll go check the house; you better get a duty sergeant here and a DS. This isn’t good.’
She stepped inside, breathing through her nose so she didn’t get the full stench of the blood. It was everywhere: the walls, ceiling, even the light shade had red drops covering it. She could see inside the kitchen and living room – they were empty. There was no blood going up the stairs, so she didn’t think anyone was up there, but she needed to check in case he’d managed to get himself up there and died on the bathroom floor. Her heart pounding in her ears she called out again. ‘David, it’s the police. I’m coming up.’ She ran up the steps, checking all three bedrooms and the bathroom. Then shouted down to Adam. ‘It’s clear, there’s no one here and no sign that anyone has been up here bleeding.’ She ran back down and carefully made her way back outside; whatever had happened here it would need to be documented by CSI.
Jan asked, ‘Is he in there? Did you find him?’
‘No, it’s empty. He can’t have gone far, bleeding like that.’ She looked at the church hall and the church. Then whispered to Adam, ‘Had we better go inside and check them out?’
He shrugged. ‘Dunno, better wait for the sarge to get here.’
‘Don’t be a dick, what if he’s bleeding to death inside?’
‘Go on then, you do the honours.’
She rolled her eyes at him but walked towards the church hall, which was nearest. She looked down on the floor and saw big splotches of blood leading towards it and a couple of smeared footprints. Nodding her head at the blood, Adam looked down and realised what she was saying. He took hold of Jan by the elbow.
‘Come on, let’s get you inside the van. It’s cold out here and you’re shivering. I’ll put the heater on for you, and we’ll wait for backup to arrive, so they can help do a search of the area. We’ll find your husband, he won’t be far.’
Jan let him lead her to the van, and he opened the sliding door for her; he didn’t trust her sitting in the front. Going by her previous unstable behaviour she might throw a hissy fit and steal the van. Putting the keys in the ignition, he left it running with the heater turned on. ‘I’m just going to help my colleague do a quick search. You wait here. Is that okay?’
She nodded, wrapping her arms across her chest and closing her eyes so she didn’t have to watch what they were doing.
Tess turned the black iron handle on the huge wooden door and pushed it open. There was more blood smeared in here – it looked like drag marks. Avoiding stepping in them, she pushed the interior door open, checking the floor so as not to stand in the blood. The feeling she was being watched came over her and she sensed him before she saw him. Lifting her eyes from the floor she looked towards the huge cross that was hanging from the wall. She’d been in here before, had her kid’s birthday parties in here. Now, the cross had been turned into a living crucifix. Her eyes met with David Collins’s glassy eyes and she let out a scream, her hand lifting to her mouth.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Adam gripped hold of Tess’s arms. ‘What’s up?’
She took a deep breath. ‘He’s inside.’
‘Is he?’
She nodded. ‘Oh God, I don’t think I’ll ever get that out of my head for the rest of my life. He’s dead, his neck, there’s blood. Too much blood, whatever you do, don’t let her come in. It’s really bad.’ She pointed to the van, but the woman inside was rocking back and forth, her eyes were still shut.
Adam spoke into the radio which was clipped onto his body armour. ‘Control we have a confirmed foxtrot, we need a DS soon as possible.’
‘Who has confirmed, 2819?’
‘It was 2822, injuries sustained are incompatible with life.’
He looked across at Tess; she noticed that the skin on his face had taken on a green tinge. ‘Bloody hell, what a job for our first one on independent patrol. I knew we should have taken those shoplifters at Tesco.’
Tess couldn’t agree more; she would never again complain about going to a grade two job ever if this is what happened on a grade one.
* * *
Browning parked behind the van which was blocking the entrance to the church hall. ‘Wait here, I’ll find out where the Rottweiler is.’
Lucy did as she was told. He spoke to the two officers standing next to the van and gave her the thumbs up. Walking back towards the car, she got out and he went to the boot.
‘He’s dead.’
‘Suicide?’
‘Not unless you can cut your own throat, drag yourself into a church hall, undress yourself and then hang yourse
lf upside down from a cross before dying.’
‘Oh shit. Not another?’
‘We better go check it out. Do you want to sit this one out?’
‘No, I can’t.’
They both began to rip open the plastic packets and then dress in the protective clothing inside of them, Lucy aware that at least it would hide her identity from Jan. She didn’t want things to escalate, but she had no choice – this was her investigation. She needed to take control and do her best to find out what had happened. When she’d fastened the leg covers around her calves she stood up straight and looked at Browning.
‘Ready?’
‘As I’ll ever be, come on. Let’s get this over with.’
She looked on as he took hold of the scene guard log from one of the officers and signed them both into the scene. When he passed it back, she ducked under the blue and white police tape and, watching the ground to make sure she wasn’t standing in any evidence, made her way once more towards the church hall. Her heart was racing; she hadn’t expected this. Never in a million years would she have thought that David Collins would become victim number three. She’d had it completely wrong, and she wasn’t afraid to admit it.
As she stepped into the hall she looked up at the life-sized crucifixion and inhaled sharply. This was bad – in some ways it was worse than Sandy and Margaret because she didn’t know either of them. They were complete strangers and it was easier to detach yourself from the terrible tragedy when you didn’t know the victim. His entire chest was covered in deep slash wounds. The previous victims had cut throats, but no other injuries. This was horrific, and her mind began to fill with guilt. Had she caused this, by arresting him and bringing him to the killer’s attention? Or had he been on the killer’s list all along? She had been so sure he had something to do with it. She heard Browning swear behind her and knew he would be feeling pretty much the same.
He muttered, ‘Definitely not suicide. How did he get him up there, he’s a big guy? That must have taken some strength. I don’t think I’d have been able to lift him up.’
‘For a terrible moment I wondered if Jan was the killer, but he looks as if he’s been here some time. When was she released from custody?’
Browning checked his watch. ‘About an hour ago, so she’s definitely out of this. Oh crap, who’s going to tell her? You can’t go anywhere near her, and I don’t know if I’m brave enough.’
‘I think she already knows; did they say the primary scene was the vicarage?’
‘Yeah.’
Lucy took one last look at him, turning around. ‘Let’s go check out the house. We can’t do anything until Catherine gets here.’
She cautiously made her way back out, followed by Browning who closed the door to shield the body from prying eyes. Lucy looked at the bloody smear on the vicarage door, then pushed it open, glad to have a face mask on, shielding some of the strong smell. She didn’t need to go inside and contaminate the scene more than it already had been.
‘I think we need the Chief Super; he was in custody less than twenty-four hours ago. It’s going to need investigating above our level. What a mess, I didn’t expect this. Never in a million years.’
‘It’s not your fault. You were doing your job; he was a genuine person of interest. There were valid reasons to bring him in for questioning. I would have done the same in your position and so would any other officer in charge of the investigation. So, don’t go getting all morbid on me.’
‘It doesn’t make me feel any better though, does it? You know they’re going to kick me off the case, don’t you? They’ll say it’s a conflict of interest because of Jan, which it is. I won’t be allowed to investigate this one.’
‘No, you won’t. Officially. Unofficially it’s a different matter. We’ll keep running it, but out of the loop. It would be foolish to remove you after everything; no matter what they say or do you’re the lead, Lucy.’
‘Thank you, I appreciate it. This one feels different though, it’s sloppy. The others were like military operations; there was no dead animal this time either, that we know about. Although he didn’t need to add any shock value to this, did he? They didn’t own a pet, so why did he kill Margaret’s cat? It doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Maybe we’re getting to him, and he’s losing it. This is far worse than the other two, and I didn’t think I’d ever say that. He’s taking more risks, perhaps he’s becoming unhinged.’
She thought about it for a moment. ‘I think you’re right, I think he is losing it or he might have lost it completely. Let’s hope he’s left more than a cat hair behind this time; some nice human DNA would be good, even better some prints.’
She walked back towards the car, needing to sit down for a little bit. She was afraid to tell Browning that her legs felt as if they didn’t belong to her; her head was spinning and she felt as though she was about to pass out.
Oh, God. This is all my fault; if I’d caught the killer he wouldn’t be dead.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Lucy was watching Browning. He was speaking to the officer keeping a close eye on Jan, who was still inside the back of the van. He looked back at Lucy, and she pointed. He nodded, he knew what she meant. They had to get Jan away from the scene and somewhere safe; as much as she disliked the woman it wasn’t fair for her to watch the circus that was about to take over the area. The officer got inside the van, and she let out a huge sigh. Breathing deeply to restore the balance in her mind, she knew she had limited time to work this scene before someone from above realised she shouldn’t be here and told her to leave. Watching the van drive off she waited until it was out of sight then got back out of the car, determined to give David and Jan Collins her best, despite the difficult circumstances. The worry that a more experienced DI wouldn’t have done what she’d done and arrested David was weighing heavy on her heart.
The officer left guarding the scene looked like she felt: her face was almost as white as the paper suit she was wearing, she looked shell-shocked. She walked towards her.
‘I’m Lucy, the DI. I don’t know if I introduced myself before.’
‘Tess.’
‘Tess, can you walk me through the scene, from when you arrived to when we arrived?’
She listened to her account, interrupting with questions.
‘How did you get inside the house?’
‘The door was already open. I asked Jan and she said it was ajar when she got here.’
‘Did you touch anything? Don’t worry if you did. It happens, I just need to know before CSI go in?’
She shook her head. ‘Nothing, I had gloves on.’
‘Good, that’s excellent.’ Lucy looked at her collar number, poor kid was fresh out of training.
‘You’re doing really good. Aren’t you just out of company?’
‘Yes, I never expected anything like this. I mean I know it happens, but you don’t expect your first job to be this gruesome, do you?’
Lucy smiled. ‘No, you don’t. To be honest with you this is probably one of the worst jobs you’ll ever attend, so you’re doing really well. Everything else will seem a breeze after this.’
‘I hope so.’
‘Did you notice if the lights were on, were all the windows shut?’
‘The hall light was on; the rest of the house was in darkness. I didn’t check the windows, and I haven’t closed any, so they must have all been shut.’
‘Good, that’s really good. Last question, when you went into the church hall did you touch the body to see if he was breathing?’
‘God no, I’m no doctor but even I could tell that he’d been dead some time.’
‘Thanks, Tess. You’ve done an excellent job.’
The CSI van pulled up, and Lucy waited for Jack and Amanda to get suited and booted. When they’d signed themselves in, she briefed them on the situation.
Jack turned to Amanda. ‘Your choice, body or house?’
‘I’ll take the house, I don’t know if I’m read
y to see a mutilated vicar not long after eating my breakfast.’
Jack smiled at his wife, pulled the heavy case over his shoulder and walked towards the church hall. Lucy pointed out the blood spots and footprints, and he took the little fluorescent numbered markers out of the case, dropping one by each of them. He looked at Lucy, and she nodded. ‘It’s really bad, Jack.’
‘Aren’t they all?’
‘This one’s worse than any of the others, than any I’ve attended, and I’ve been to some awful deaths over the years.’
‘Great, I’m going to stop being such a gentleman and giving Amanda first choice.’
This made Lucy laugh.
Browning shouted her name, and she turned around to see a large group of PCSOs standing on the other side of the police tape. She walked towards them, smiling. They were life savers, not only would they do the house-to-house enquiries far more efficiently than response officers – who hated it – they would also take over the scene guards, which was a huge help. Now if she could get Catherine Maxwell inside the scene and get her opinion before she got shafted everything would be much better. She felt better knowing that Jan wasn’t watching her every move and judging her; no matter what the outcome was, she was always going to blame Lucy for David’s death.
But Lucy didn’t need her to do this, because she would spend the rest of her life blaming herself.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Catherine Maxwell couldn’t have timed it any better. Jack had just informed Lucy he’d done the initial documenting of the scene inside the hall and she could go inside as soon as she arrived. Lucy waited for the doctor to dress in the protective clothing. She ducked under the tape with such grace that Lucy felt a twinge of envy towards the woman who seemed to do everything elegantly.
‘Lucy, we really need to stop meeting like this. Maybe we should go out for cocktails some time instead.’
