by M A Comley
“Excellent news, boss. I’m hearing that they’ve cornered Walton. I’ve instructed an ART to join our lads in case she has the shotgun with her.”
“Brilliant. Are there Taser-trained officers at the scene, just in case?”
“Yes, I made sure there were. Everything seems to be falling into place, ma’am.”
“Let’s not count our chickens just yet, Donna. I’m five minutes away. What road should I be looking for?”
“They have her pinned down in Archer’s Way. The ART is ten minutes away.”
“I’ll probably arrive at the same time they do.”
“Good luck, boss. Be careful.”
“Of course. See you soon,” Kayli replied confidently. She ended the call and pushed her foot down on the accelerator.
She arrived at the scene to find four patrol cars already there. One had deliberately crashed into the passenger side of a white BMW, and the others had surrounded the vehicle so there was no way Melinda Walton could escape. She was sitting in the driver’s seat, her head resting on the steering wheel. If anything, she looked defeated. However, Kayli knew murderers were keen on lulling the police into a false sense of security before striking again.
The ART unit pulled up alongside her and took over the operation. They ordered Melinda to get out of the car and to lie facedown on the ground. One of the team then approached her, pointed a gun at her head as he searched her for a weapon, then placed her in cuffs. When he shouted that it was all-clear, two police officers swooped in and hauled the woman to her feet.
Kayli marched towards her. “You’ll regret the day you ran down a police officer, bitch.”
Melinda Walton tipped her head back and laughed. “I doubt that!”
“Take her in, and throw her in a cell. I’ll deal with her and her accomplice later.”
The suspect’s brow furrowed. “What accomplice? I didn’t have one. I didn’t need one.”
Kayli’s eyes narrowed. “There’s no point trying to save your boyfriend now. He’s just as guilty as you.”
Melinda glared at her. “Call yourself a copper? You haven’t got a bloody clue, woman. He’s nothing to do with this. All this was about punishing him.”
“Punishing him for what?”
“Dumping me. Yeah, we might be together again now, but that only happened since I killed his girlfriend and that kid of theirs.”
“You knew about the baby?”
“Of course I did. I read her notes at the surgery, knew that I would lose him forever if he found out about the baby.”
Kayli shook her head. “You twisted, deranged, selfish individual.”
Melinda smiled. “Thanks, I tried my best. Glad I managed to pull it off.”
Kayli stepped closer to her. “You’ll be laughing on the other side of your face when you’re banged up in prison and the inmates learn that you intentionally killed a pregnant woman because a man had the audacity to jilt you.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward, her nose virtually touching Kayli’s. “It was worth it, and I’d do it all over again if I had to.”
Kayli stepped back a couple of paces. “Get this bitch out of my sight before I do something I’ll later regret.”
She watched the officers manhandle Melinda and secure her in the back of a patrol car, then she turned to the ART commanding officer. “Thanks for your help. Let’s hope the streets of Bristol will be safe for the foreseeable future.”
“Until the next lunatic decides life has treated them unfairly,” the inspector replied.
Kayli headed back to the station to share the news with Donna and Graeme in person. She walked up the stairs and into the incident room. Donna was on the phone to someone and had her finger pointing in the air to get Kayli’s attention. She crossed the room towards the constable and looked over her shoulder at her notes.
“Thanks, I’ll pass that message on to DI Bright.” Donna hung up. “That was Forensics, boss. They finally got the machine working and managed to read the serial number on the bike. It’s registered to a Douglas Walton.”
“Melinda’s relative—her father, perhaps?”
“It would appear so. He died at the beginning of last year.”
“Okay, that clears one thing up and firms up that we’ve got the right person banged up in the cell, not that there was any real doubt about that. What I’m confused about is Lincoln James’s part in all this.”
Donna frowned. “Carmen’s boyfriend? I’m not with you, ma’am.”
Kayli perched on the desk behind her and filled Donna and Graeme in about what went on during her detour.
“So you recognised her from his bar? That’s how you caught her?” Donna nodded her approval. “Great detective work.”
“Thanks. I wish I could feel jubilant about it, but with Dave still in hospital, that ain’t going to happen. I nipped back and placed Lincoln in a cell with the intention of questioning him later. He protested his innocence all the way out of his bar and during the drive back here. You know what? After listening to Melinda’s version of events, I think I’ve ballsed up.”
“Surely not, boss,” Graeme piped up.
“Well, they can both sweat it out in the cell overnight. I’m going to nip into the DCI, bring her up-to-date on things, and then shoot back to the hospital. You guys can get off at your usual time. We’ll have a celebratory drink when Dave’s up and about.”
“Agreed,” Donna stated with a smile. “Send him our best wishes when he wakes up, boss.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.” Kayli left the incident room and ran along the hallway to DCI Davis’s office. “Is she in?” she asked Fiona.
“Just about to go to a meeting in the city. Go through. I’m sure she won’t mind if it’s a quick one.”
“Thanks, it will be.” Kayli knocked on the door and pushed it open when DCI Davis summoned her. “Hello, ma’am. Can I have a quick word? I’m aware you’re on your way out. I have good and bad news to share.”
“Well, don’t just stand there. You’ve certainly got my attention, Inspector. I’ll have the bad news first.”
“Umm ... Dave Chaplin is in hospital.”
“What? How?”
“The suspect we were after mowed him down. He’s in surgery, has been for a few hours. They can’t give us a proper prognosis until they’ve opened him up. The doctor is giving him odds of fifty-fifty.”
The DCI fell back in her chair as if someone had just jabbed her in the chest with an iron bar. “Shit! That doesn’t sound good. Is there anything I can do? Does his partner know?”
“Suranne is at the hospital now. I’m going back there after I leave you, if that’s all right?”
“Of course it’s all right. Although, I would rather you were out there trying to find the person responsible for this, Inspector.”
Kayli smiled. “That’s the good news, ma’am. We apprehended her a little while ago, and she’s in a cell downstairs.”
DCI Davis catapulted upright again and punched the air. “Good job. Does this mean the streets of Bristol will be safe tonight?”
“I bloody well hope so, ma’am.”
“Then get out of here. Your partner needs to hear the news first-hand when he wakes up.”
Kayli jumped to her feet and saluted DCI Davis. “Yes, boss. See you tomorrow.”
“You will, indeed. I want to be involved in the interview with the suspect.”
“Ma’am? Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you. No one tries to kill one of my officers and gets away without feeling my wrath, Inspector. The suspect won’t know what’s hit her when we go in there.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kayli rushed out of the office then skipped down the stairs and out to the car.
Within twenty minutes, she was back in the family room at the hospital with Suranne, sharing the good news. Their buoyant mood dissipated when the doctor walked in the room. His face was unreadable. Kayli crossed her fingers and closed her eyes as he delivered th
e news they’d been waiting for.
“We think we’ve managed to stem the internal bleeding, as that was our greatest concern. We’ve strapped up his ribs. They’ll mend themselves over the next few weeks, and he’ll have his leg in plaster for a few months. He’s in recovery. You should be able to go and see him soon.”
Kayli and Suranne hugged each other tightly. Tears running down their faces, they pulled apart and thanked the doctor for taking care of Dave so well.
“All in a day’s work.” He smiled and left the room.
They walked into the recovery room to find Dave still unconscious after his operation. Suranne kissed him on the cheek and stood back to allow Kayli to get near to the bed. She leaned down to whisper in his ear, “We got the bitch, Dave. We’ll make her pay for what she did to you.”
Suranne tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at his hand. His finger twitched slightly.
Kayli smiled at Suranne. “He understood me. He’s going to be all right.”
A croaky voice said, “Of course I’m going to be bloody all right. It would take more than just a lunatic woman driver to keep me down.” One of his eyes opened, and a smile appeared.
They all laughed. “It’s great to have you back, partner.”
“Take my word on this, it’s great to be back. Why do I feel like a tractor has reversed over me a dozen times?”
“You’ve got a broken leg and a couple of busted ribs. The doctor says you’ll make a full recovery. Look, Dave, if you wanted time off work, you could have done what normal people do, and put in a holiday request. You always have to go one step further, don’t you?”
Dave shook his head in despair and winced. “I’ll be back to work in a week or so. A broken leg ain’t gonna keep me at home. No offence, love.” He grinned at Suranne.
“I’m glad to hear it. The last thing I want is you under my feet, feeling sorry for yourself,” Suranne replied, playing along with his exceptionally high spirits, given the circumstances.
Kayli left, giving Suranne time to be alone with Dave before exhaustion overcame him. She drove home, feeling excited for a number of reasons, but as soon as she inserted her key in the front door, the loneliness hit her like a sucker punch. She flicked the switch on the kettle then looked in the fridge for something to eat, but it was virtually empty. In the cupboard she found a tin of baked beans, so she made beans on toast and sprinkled cheese on top then settled down to eat it.
She spent the next couple of hours jotting down questions she intended to ask Melinda Walton during the interview the next day. She had certain misgivings about the interview, especially as the DCI wanted in on the act, hence her preparation. Why does life have to be so damn complicated at times? She fell into bed at ten thirty, her thoughts with Mark, thousands of miles away.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The following morning, not even the pouring rain could dampen Kayli’s spirits as she ran through the main entrance of the station. “Bloody monsoon weather out there, Ray. How were our guests last night?”
“Too right, ma’am. Even the ducks will be sheltering from that. The guests had a mixed night, shall we say. He sat in his cell, not a peep out of him. She, on the other hand, demanded attention every hour on the hour, made a right nuisance of herself, according to the night shift.”
Kayli puffed out her cheeks and rolled her eyes. “Let’s hope she’ll be too tired to cause a stink during the interview. I’m sensing I could be wrong about that, though.” She leaned in and whispered, “I’ve got the DCI joining me on this one.”
The desk sergeant grimaced. “Ouch, poor you. I better get my guys doing a little tidying up around here if the DCI is going to be around.”
Kayli laughed. “We’ve all got our crosses to bear. I need to get a gallon of coffee down my neck before I tackle the vixen in there. Has the duty solicitor been informed?” She pointed at the cells on her way through the reception area.
“Yes, they’re on their way in, ma’am.”
It was ten minutes to nine, and she had no idea what time the DCI would be available to join her. Therefore, she bought a coffee from the machine and went into the office to see what had landed on her desk overnight. DCI Davis walked into her office twenty minutes later. “Let’s get this over with, Inspector.”
Kayli pushed aside her paperwork, sought out the notes she had made at home, and jumped to her feet. “It shouldn’t take long, boss. She’s had a restless night, and that could work two ways, either in our favour or against us.”
“Let’s hope it’s the former.”
They walked down the stairs and into the reception area in silence.
“Sergeant, we’re ready for Walton now,” Kayli announced.
“Very well, ma’am. Interview Room One is ready for your use. I’ll get a constable to bring the suspect in to you.”
DCI Davis didn’t say much once they were in the interview room. The suspect arrived, with her appointed solicitor, a female Kayli knew and liked, a Miss Banner. The four women sat around the table. Kayli said the necessary verbiage to the tape then looked down at her notes, suddenly feeling nervous due to the DCI’s presence. She hoped Walton didn’t pick up on her nerves and make a show of her. She had never conducted an interview with the DCI present. “For the tape, can you confirm your name?”
Walton sneered at her. “No comment.”
“Maybe it would be wise to have a word with your client before we start, Miss Banner. Perhaps inform her that we have all the time in the world to question her and that ‘no comment’ answers are not acceptable in an interview of this nature.”
Miss Banner smiled and leaned close to Walton’s ear. All the time, Walton’s hard, steely gaze never left Kayli’s.
“Let’s try again. Please confirm your name for the tape.”
“Melinda Walton.”
Kayli nodded her acceptance. “My first question is why you refused to stop your car at your place of work yesterday? And felt the need to run down one of my colleagues, DS Chaplin.”
“He shouldn’t have been in my way.”
“Why were you leaving? What did you have to hide?” Kayli pressed quickly. That was the way she preferred to interview suspects: fast and furious, without allowing them time to think between their answers.
“Duh! Obvious,” she said, an evil smile caressing her lips.
“You knew we were closing in on you for the murders of Carmen Drinkwater, Adam Finley, and Brenda Godfrey. Is that correct?”
Walton shrugged.
“You shrugged. For the tape, was that an admission of your guilt?”
“Whatever.”
Kayli raised an eyebrow in the solicitor’s direction. Miss Banner leaned over and whispered in her client’s ear once more.
“I repeat, was that an admission of your guilt? Did you kill the three victims?”
Walton clenched both her fists. Her eyes widened and were ablaze with hatred. “Yes. Yes, I killed them. They all deserved to die.”
“Maybe you can tell us why you killed them?”
Walton took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her lips before she answered, “They deserved to die.” She pointed at Kayli. “Don’t forget the little brat in that equation too.”
The solicitor looked up from the notes she was taking and tilted her head at Kayli, asking for an explanation.
“Carmen Drinkwater was with child when Miss Walton forced her off the road. Was that why you killed her?”
Staring at Kayli, Walton gave her a slow, deliberate nod then raised her head again, a smile tugging her lips apart.
Kayli felt sick to the stomach at the woman’s obvious pleasure at killing the little one. “Okay, that takes care of Carmen and the baby. What about Adam Finley? Why did you shoot him?”
“He deserved it.”
“May I ask why? Wasn’t he Lincoln James’s best friend? Lincoln James being the man that you were involved with, despite him living with Carmen Drinkwater.”
“Yes. He tried to in
terfere. Kept badgering me every time Lincoln wasn’t around. Called me a whore for spreading my legs for Lincoln. He had no idea how in love we were—are. Lincoln was going to leave Carmen. We’d been discussing it for months.”
Kayli’s eyes narrowed as her brain notched up a gear. “So, when you saw Carmen at the surgery and looked at her notes, you must have been horrified when you found out she was carrying Lincoln’s child. Did he assure you they weren’t sleeping together?”
“Yes, I was furious that he’d lied to me. He broke off with me not long after. I presumed that she had told him the news about the baby.”
Kayli shook her head. “He never knew about the child. Maybe he just got bored of you.”
“Never. He loved me as much as I loved him.”
“I doubt that. He wasn’t prepared to kill anyone who stood in the way of your relationship, unlike you.”
Walton’s head dropped onto her chest. At last, Kayli saw some form of remorse .
“So tell me. How did Brenda fit into this?”
Her head rose, and their eyes met once more. “She tried to interfere. Caught me looking at Carmen’s notes at the surgery and sussed that something was going on between Lincoln and me when she saw my reaction to the news about the pregnancy.”
“You killed her? For that?”
She hitched up a shoulder. “People have no right to interfere with my future happiness with the man I love.”
“Did he really love you, Melinda? After all, he’d already broken off with you once.”
Her glare intensified, and she leaned over the table towards Kayli. “Yes, he loved me. We were going to be together. He promised me.”
“And yet he never broke off his relationship with Carmen. Were you aware they were planning a wedding?”
She shook her head. “No. He was building up to telling her it was over. Asked me to give him time to find the right moment. I escalated things by killing her. I wanted him, needed him in my life, and knew that he wouldn’t come to me with her around.”
Kayli glanced at DCI Davis, shook her head, then turned back to Melinda. “What a twisted mind you have. Are you telling me that Lincoln was in the dark about your warped plans? Or was he aware of the murders you have committed in the name of so-called love?”
