by Rob Sinclair
What a piece of work she was. Dani felt all the more sorry for Easton after having spent only a few minutes with his sister. He’d been taking her crap every day for months.
Dani was soon back outside. She found Banks still milling by his car.
‘The other guy, Wesley…’
‘Aaron Wesley,’ Banks said.
‘He was under arrest too?’
‘He was accompanied to the hospital. His nose was smashed. Blood everywhere. Possible fractured arm.’
‘Was that a yes or a no?’
‘Please make sure the officer with him reads him his rights ASAP. Breach of the peace. Assault. Actual bodily harm. Once he’s been cleared by A&E, I want him in for questioning.’
Banks didn’t look too sure about that.
‘Yes?’ Dani said.
‘OK,’ he said.
‘And please release DS Easton. I need him.’
He looked even less sure about that.
‘It’s not like he’s going to do a runner, is it?’ Dani said. ‘You’ve already got his version of events. He acted in self-defence, tackling an intruder in his own home. If you need him again, just give me a call.’
‘I should really check—’
‘You don’t need to check with anyone,’ Dani said. ‘This is my decision, my problem. Now, please, get those cuffs off my colleague so that we can both get back to my murder investigation.’
He chewed on that for a few beats, looking as sulky as he was pissed off. Apparently he didn’t like his authority challenged, but Dani wasn’t backing down here.
‘So?’ she said.
Banks reached for the key. ‘Yes, Ma’am.’
Chapter 36
‘I’m sorry,’ Easton said.
Dani said nothing as she kept her eyes on the road ahead.
‘Dani, I said I’m sorry.’
‘Why are you telling me?’
‘Because I’ve put you in the shit. The investigation too.’
‘You’ve put yourself in the shit.’ She looked over at him. ‘What were you thinking? You broke his arm!’
‘Come on, Dani, you know me. The guy’s twice my size and he was acting like a maniac. What was I supposed to do?’
‘Call 999. Run. I don’t know. But putting him in hospital…’
‘I acted on instinct. It wasn’t just me I was protecting.’
‘Yeah, I think your sister is really appreciative of everything you did for her.’
That comment got her a sour look. ‘I meant the kids. You know you could be—’
‘Let’s not worry about me,’ Dani said. ‘If I get hauled over hot coals for taking you away from there then so be it. I do have more important things on my mind than a lovers’ tiff gone wrong.’
‘Lovers’ tiff? You know as well as I do how domestic violence escalates.’
It was true. A scarily large number of the murders they investigated were rage-filled domestics. She shouldn’t have been so flippant about the situation. For all she knew Wesley had been hellbent on punishing Emily without mercy. Easton could well have saved her life, but Dani had probably still jumped the gun by taking Easton away from there so hastily. At the very least she was in for a bollocking from McNair. At worst… Dani didn’t want to think about that right now.
Talk about acting on instinct, though.
‘Let me fill you in,’ she said.
She explained about her already event-filled morning. The court verdict. The trip to see Welter, and his revelation about the scrape between Ben and Liam Dunne. On the phone earlier she’d already set Mutambe up to further investigate that incident, contacting the bar where it happened to see if there was CCTV footage remaining, or if any of the current staff knew anything about the incident. Perhaps unlikely given that they were talking about an event six years ago, but it was worth a try. She went on to discuss the surveillance reports and her fears over Ana.
‘Which explains why we’re heading over to Tipton, then, I guess,’ Easton said.
‘We need to make a visit to Long Lartin too,’ Dani said. ‘If not today then definitely tomorrow.’
‘I thought you never wanted to go back there? Not to see Ben at least?’
‘What choice do I have?’
Easton didn’t say anything to that.
* * *
An hour later and it was already apparent that they’d almost certainly have to wait until tomorrow to make the visit to the prison. They’d already made a brief stop at Victor Nistor’s home address, where they’d initially had a brief chat with the two officers on surveillance duty. No sign of Nistor or Stelea since the morning, and Dani’s knocking at the door had been fruitless. It was after three p.m. when they arrived outside the warehouse. The unmarked police car was across the street, about twenty yards away from the warehouse gates. Dani parked up a few yards behind them, then they walked over.
‘Hardly inconspicuous, are they?’ Easton said.
‘No, they’re not.’ Though it wasn’t exactly their fault. They were only acting off instruction. It wasn’t as if the investigation team had the time or resources to acquire space in a nearby building, or anything else more sophisticated and less obvious.
Dani introduced herself to the officers in the car. They were plain-clothed, but they reeked of copper. Victor Nistor would have to be an idiot to not realise he was under watch. Not the worst position to be in. He wouldn’t like the heat, that was for sure.
‘Anything?’ Dani said.
‘Quiet day. Nistor and Stelea were in earlier but they left about an hour ago. Together. No one around since.’
‘No sign of Ana Crisan?’
He shook his head. ‘Nothing.’
Dani thanked him and she and Easton continued on through the open warehouse gates and up to the side door next to the loading area.
‘World’s worst haulage business,’ Easton said. ‘Never anything to haul, or anything to haul it with.’
‘I’m sure Victor would say that’s because they’re so busy, every vehicle they have is always on the road.’
Easton rolled his eyes.
Dani knocked on the door.
‘Why are we even bothering?’ Easton asked.
‘We have to,’ Dani said.
But just as she expected, there was no answer. Which only added both to her frustration at not being able to face-off with Victor, and to her worry over Ana’s whereabouts.
‘So what next?’ Easton said. ‘We break the door down?’
Dani thought he was joking, though actually she’d already been pondering whether she could later justify doing so.
No. She didn’t believe she could. Not yet. And she was likely already in enough trouble today.
‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’ve still one more place to try.’
* * *
With darkness quickly descending, Dani was already regretting leaving Brigitta Popescu’s house as her last stop on the whistle-stop tour of Tipton. Still, at least she had Easton to keep her company this time.
The Surveillance team outside Brigitta’s house had likewise seen nothing of Ana all day. In fact, Brigitta hadn’t had any visitors at all. Was there even any point in doing this? Dani thought as they headed up the drive to the front door.
Yes, there was. And they were here now so why not?
Dani knocked on the door. She was well prepared for no answer. At least not at the first time of trying. So she was quite shocked when barely three seconds after knocking she heard locks release, before the door opened slightly.
Two bleary eyes peeked out of the narrow gap.
‘I expected you would come back,’ Brigitta croaked.
The door creaked open a few more inches and Dani peered in to see Brigitta shuffling down the darkened corridor towards the lounge.
‘I guess we’re invited in then,’ Easton said.
Dani didn’t say anything. Just took a deep breath, then stepped inside.
* * *
Five minutes later normal business ha
d resumed. Easton and Dani were seated next to one another on a sofa in the badly lit lounge. Across the room Brigitta was seated next to the shrine, her face and withered body partly cloaked in darkness.
‘Death and darkness follows you,’ Brigitta said, her eyes steely as she stared at Dani. ‘I saw it the first time we met.’
She shook her head as though disgusted. Dani shivered.
‘Sorry, what do you mean?’ Easton said.
Dani was speechless. She felt like Brigitta was about to accuse Dani of being a Strigoi or something, though really she was massively offended. What had she done to Brigitta?
Or was it Dani’s near-death experience that Brigitta could somehow sense…? No, that was crazy thinking.
‘You found another one,’ Brigitta said. ‘Another body.’
Dani and Easton shared a look. Did she mean the Jane Doe?
‘Did you know her?’ Dani asked.
Brigitta shook her head.
‘But you knew about the body?’
‘The news.’
‘You’re sure you don’t know who she is?’ Easton asked.
Brigitta didn’t say anything as she stared over at them.
‘Do you know Ana?’ Dani asked. ‘Ana Crisan. She’s a good friend of Victor’s.’
Brigitta still didn’t say anything, though her hard gaze was fixed wholly on Dani now. It wasn’t long before the unsettling feeling grew too uncomfortable and Dani looked away.
‘Mrs Popescu,’ Easton said. ‘Ana Crisan. Do you know her? We’re looking for her.’
‘Another one gone,’ she said, shaking her head solemnly.
‘Do you know where she is?’ Dani said, more sternly.
In silence, Brigitta stared her out again. Dani looked to Easton, giving him a ‘what the hell?’ look. He leaned over.
‘Let me have a word with her. You go make a drink.’
Had he sensed how on edge Dani was?
‘Mrs Popescu, would you like me to make you a cup of tea?’ Dani asked.
She received nothing but the same cold stare as she got to her feet. She paused, waiting for an answer. Finally, Brigitta gave a single nod.
Dani sighed, relieved, as she stepped out of the room and made for the kitchen.
She flipped on the lights, though somehow they did little to properly illuminate the space, as though even they struggled to penetrate the ever-present darkness that enveloped the house. Back in the lounge Easton and Brigitta’s voices carried thinly through the air.
Dani found three mugs, then stood staring through the dark window to the pitch-black garden outside as she waited for the kettle to boil. Her reflection stared back at her, though the glass somehow made her face look misshapen and cracked.
The kettle rumbled and Dani looked down from the window. As she did so she caught a fleeting glimpse of a shadow in the glass, the reflection of something swooshing somewhere behind her, out in the hallway. A cold draught tickled the skin on her neck and she whipped around, the teaspoon rattling in her trembling hand.
There was nothing there.
Of course there was nothing there! What the hell was she expecting?
Though her heart nearly jumped right up her throat and out of her wide-open mouth when the front door creaked and then opened.
In walked Stef.
‘Brigitta!’ she shouted, carefree, followed by a roll of Romanian words that meant nothing to Dani. ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said much more sourly when she clocked Dani, spoon in hand.
‘You want one?’ Dani said.
Stef grumbled and strode forwards, rolling her eyes when she looked into the lounge. She carried on to the kitchen and angrily plonked two bags of shopping onto the battered pine dining table. She glared over at Dani.
‘You’re doing it all wrong,’ she said. She moved over and snapped the spoon from Dani’s hand. ‘She doesn’t like it like this.’
‘OK?’
‘Why don’t you go and sit. I’ll bring the drinks through.’
‘Sure. Thank you. Just milk for me. A sugar for DS Easton.’
‘She doesn’t have any sugar.’
‘No problem. However it comes.’
Another eye-roll.
Although the truth was that Dani was pleased that Stef had turned up out of the blue – again – as she did want to ask her some questions too. She decided though that it was probably best to give her a minute, so politely excused herself and headed back to the lounge – where she frowned when she saw Easton’s empty seat. She gazed across the room. Easton was on his haunches, right by Brigitta’s side, the old lady wittering away to him quietly. Easton the charmer. Who knew?
‘Dani?’ Easton said, when Brigitta finally stopped talking and glared over. They both looked at Dani like she’d just interrupted something intimate. ‘Brigitta was just telling me about when she was first married. And about when Nic was a boy in Romania.’
‘Sounds interesting,’ Dani said. She took her seat. ‘Don’t mind me.’
Brigitta was staring her out again, and the mood in the room flattened. The uncomfortable moment seemed to last an age, though Dani didn’t look away this time. The corners of Brigitta’s mouth ever so slowly turned up into a sinister and knowing smile. Dani was sure it was. Or perhaps it was just a trick of the dim light.
No, that was no trick.
Then a blood-curdling scream from the kitchen broke the ever-thickening silence.
Chapter 37
Dani was already on her feet, rushing for the lounge door, when a crashing sound rattled in her ears. She sped into the hall, then the kitchen. Stef was standing, staring into the darkness beyond the kitchen window.
‘What happened?’ Dani said, pulling to a stop a couple of steps from Stef. Her eyes fell to the mess of tea-covered crockery on the floor. ‘Stef?’
Stef turned around, her face ashen. She opened and closed her mouth but said nothing – too shocked to speak?
‘Stef?’
‘What’s going on?’ Easton said, coming up behind Dani and sounding less receptive than she was. Dani held her arm out to hold him back.
‘Stef, what did you see?’
Still nothing from Stef.
‘Someone in the garden?’ Dani asked.
The slightest of nods. At least Dani thought that was the silent reaction she saw from Stef. She strode for the back door. Turned the key and pulled it open and a whoosh of icy air barrelled in.
Dani rushed outside, into the near pitch-dark space. There was no security light, no illumination at all except the light seeping from the kitchen, and it took Dani’s eyes several seconds to adjust as she tentatively edged further into the black. Shadows swirled all around her.
Or was that just the effect of her warm breath in the freezing air?
‘Dani?’
Easton’s voice right behind her made her jump. She stopped moving, heart pounding against her ribs. She whipped her eyes left and right across the modest space. A sliver of lawn. Some crazy paving. Fences on three sides. No sign of a person. Dani rummaged for her phone, took it out and shone the paltry torch about.
‘There’s no one out here,’ Easton said.
Had there ever been?
Or had Stef actually been spooked by the reflection of someone – something? – in the house? Dani shivered at the thought.
She turned and stomped back inside.
There was no sign of Brigitta in the kitchen. Was she even aware of the commotion? Stef was crouched down with a dustpan and brush, sweeping up the dripping mess of broken crockery.
‘What did you see, Stef?’ Dani asked.
Stef carried on what she was doing.
‘Stef, tell me what happened,’ Dani said. More of a demand now. The harder tone caused Stef to pause. She straightened up and turned to face Dani, brush in hand.
‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘It was just a cat, or a fox.’
‘You sure about that?’ Easton asked. ‘You seem a bit rattled to me.’
Stef gave the silent
treatment once more.
‘Why don’t you go and make sure Brigitta is OK,’ Dani said to Easton.
He hesitated but then relented, shutting and locking the back door before he disappeared off. Dani gave Stef a few more moments to compose herself. The young woman finished clearing the mess from the floor, putting the broken pieces of cup into the bin and wiping the floor clean with a cloth.
‘What do you want me to say?’ Stef said, quite sternly, when she’d finished. She was facing Dani, arms folded.
‘Just talk to me. I can see you’re on edge. Why?’
Dani always felt that way in this house. Was Stef the same?
But had there really been someone out there? The same person who’d spied on Dani and Easton at Liam Dunne’s house perhaps?
‘There’s nothing wrong,’ Stef said. ‘I thought I saw something in the dark. That’s all. I wasn’t expecting it.’
‘A little jump, I could expect. But that was a hell of a scream.’
Stef ignored that comment and set about boiling the kettle again.
‘Why don’t you leave that?’ Dani suggested. ‘Come and sit down. I want to talk to you.’
She indicated the small, battered table, with its floral plastic cover which was scratched and permanently stained in places from many years of use.
Stef seemed unsure of Dani’s proposition but eventually relented. They took seats opposite each other, both sitting back on their hard chairs, Stef with her arms folded, her now calmer face hard and defiant.
‘Every time I come here… I get this odd feeling,’ Dani said, blushing a little at her lame and somewhat inarticulate words. ‘Brigitta is—’
‘Brigitta is amazing,’ Stef said. ‘But she lives in the past.’
‘Her stories of Strigoi…’
Stef rolled her eyes. ‘Fairy tales. I used to believe them too. You have to understand the world was different in the old days. Especially where we came from. Where Brigitta came from. It was nothing like England today. Our world was so much more… our own. Small. Contained. Problems were dealt with by us, we…’
She seemed to lose her train of thought.
