Closer To Home

by Heleyne Hammersley

‘Don’t tell me that you used to bunk off school and go shoplifting. Or you used to post dog crap through your neighbours’ letter boxes? No, wait… you used to mug little old ladies for their pension.’

  ‘Yes, yes no and no… in that order,’ Kate said with a grin. ‘Never got caught either.’

  ‘That’s what gives you such great insight into the criminal mind. I thought it was training and experience; didn’t expect it to be empathy.’

  Kate turned and started walking back to the gate. The banter was harmless but it was a distraction she couldn’t really afford. She needed to start making the pieces fit together and her gut was telling her that there was a solution to the puzzle if she could only find the right pattern. The necklace that the killer had left was bugging her. It had to be a message or a statement. Why go to all that trouble and then try to hide it? If it was a message why not leave it somewhere more prominent? Unless it wasn’t a message for the police. It might be something that the killer felt compelled to do, like ticking off items in a list. And then a thought struck her.

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘What’s up?’ Hollis said, nearly running into her again as she stopped suddenly.

  ‘The necklace that Aleah was wearing. It wasn’t a cross. It was a letter T.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘How did I miss that? The girl who drowned was called Tracy. He left Aleah there to link her with Tracy Moore.’

  ‘I’m going to need a bit more convincing,’ Hollis said, looking sceptical.

  ‘It’s a message. In the killer’s mind Aleah represents Tracy in some way. He’s recreating her death and labelling the body. This isn’t a coincidence. We need to find out more about Tracy Moore and the circumstances surrounding her death.’

  ‘Okay,’ Hollis said, drawing the word out to demonstrate his scepticism. ‘But if Aleah represents Tracy, who the hell does Callum Godwin represent?’

  ‘I don’t know. I just think it’s part of a plan, a pattern and I’ve got a feeling that we might be too late. I need to get back to base and talk to Cooper.’

  She was already dialling Cooper’s number to get her to find what she needed.

  There was a buzz around their small team when Kate and Hollis got back to Doncaster HQ. Barratt was standing behind Cooper, looking over her shoulder at her computer screen, his expression intent.

  ‘Did you find it?’ Kate asked, striding across the office space.

  Cooper nodded. ‘Just doing the final overlay. I’ve scaled up the map to match the aerial photograph so they’re a pretty good fit.’ She tapped a key. ‘There. I’ve fixed the two together so you can scroll around if you need to.’

  She stood up and stepped back so Kate could sit down but Kate shook her head.

  ‘This is your thing, Sam. Talk me through it.’

  The DC sat back down and grabbed the mouse.

  ‘Okay. This is the map that I sent you.’ She clicked twice. ‘And this is an aerial photo of the same area. You can see the road in the map so I used that to scale it up to match the photo. I put the two together by making the map file semi-transparent so that you can see the photograph through it. The X on the photograph marks the pond where Aleah’s body was found.’

  Kate stared at the image. Dotted lines marked the ventilation shafts and she could see that where she’d guessed their locations to be was slightly inaccurate. The pond lay about twenty feet away from the most northerly shaft. Close enough, though.

  ‘Do we know where the body of Tracy Moore was found?’ Kate asked.

  Cooper shook her head. ‘None of the newspaper reports mention it. They just say that she was found in a shaft.’

  ‘Family?’ Hollis wanted to know. It was a good question, Kate thought. Was their mystery abductor a family member who was out for revenge?

  ‘Parents and a brother. No names so far but I’ve only checked the local papers. I was going to start digging after I’d done the map.’

  Kate glanced at her watch and shook her head. It was past half past six and they were all exhausted. Sam looked especially tired and there was no point burning her out on a hunch. Better to start fresh in the morning.

  ‘Let’s hear what Barratt has to say about Ken Fowler then call it a day. I’m expecting more from forensics about the tent ropes tomorrow and that might give us a new direction.’

  Barratt dug out his notebook and flipped through the pages.

  ‘Fowler confirms Reese’s alibi. He didn’t see anybody else in the area. I managed to get a look at his Land Rover but the floor in the back isn’t metal. The mat has some ridge patterning on it but I don’t think it matches the marks on Aleah’s back. I’ve PNC’d him and the Landy is the only vehicle he owns. I also had a chat with a couple of his neighbours. They think he’s a “good bloke” but he keeps himself to himself.’

  He tapped his phone a couple of times and passed it round to show the images he’d taken of the inside of the vehicle. Sighs of frustration and a general shaking of heads.

  ‘Send them to me and I’ll get a comparison done but it’s not looking likely,’ Kate said. ‘Right. Tomorrow we come in refreshed and start early. We need to get more family information on Tracy Moore. I want to try to establish a link between the Reeses and the Goodwins and I want that little boy found. If we need to, we go right back to basics and knock on all the neighbours’ doors ourselves.

  Barratt grinned.

  ‘Oh, I mean it Barratt. Get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy one.’

  Kate scanned her desk to make sure that she hadn’t left anything behind, trying not to look at the door to Raymond’s office. She knew that she should let him know about her theory, but she also knew that he’d laugh her out of the building. He wasn’t a big fan of hunches; he had a Grad grind-like appreciation for facts and hard evidence.

  Sighing heavily, she stuffed her hands into her trouser pockets, strode over to the door and knocked gently as though she hoped that he wouldn’t hear her.

  ‘Come in!’

  Kate opened the door and plastered her most winning smile across her face. Raymond’s expression told her that he wasn’t fooled for a minute.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘I have some new information pertaining to the Aleah Reese case.’

  ‘Go on.’

  Kate stood in front of his desk and outlined her idea about the link between Aleah’s death and the forty-year-old accident. She also pushed the possible link to Callum Goodwin as though this might be the thread that held her entire theory together. Raymond wasn’t convinced.

  ‘Fletcher,’ he said, gesturing to the chair next to his desk. ‘Sit down. Look, I like your tenacity and you’re obviously used to “thinking outside the box” as they say. But this sounds like nothing more than a coincidence.’

  Kate nodded. She’d expected this.

  ‘The necklace that Aleah was wearing. It’s not a cross, it’s a letter T. That’s why it looks a bit strange. We’ve been looking at it wrong.’

  ‘I thought you’d decided that it was an unusual type of Christian cross. That was one of the avenues of investigation, wasn’t it? Some sort of religious link?’

  Kate nodded already regretting the time wasted on a dead end.

  ‘But I just can’t see the relevance. A letter makes more sense. We need to find out more about this girl’s death in 1975. I’m certain there’s a connection between Tracy Moore and Aleah Reese, and probably, Callum Goodwin. If we’re going to find that boy we need to start digging into his family. I think this is rooted in the past.’

  ‘And I think,’ Raymond said, raising his voice slightly. ‘That you’re getting bogged down because of your own past and your own links to this town. You need to get back out there and have a look at the people closest to these two children. You know that random child snatches are a lot less common than the public believe. You need to look closer to home. Check Craig Reese’s alibi for the time of the Goodwin boy’s abduction. And look at Trevor Goodwin. You know how these things usually work.’


  Kate nodded. There was no point in arguing. She knew how her theory sounded. The problem was, she was convinced that she was right.

  ‘Go home, Fletcher. It’s been a long few days. You might think differently in the morning.’

  Kate knew that he was trying to give her the benefit of his wisdom but his advice was just a bit too patronising to be convincing.

  She shook her head in frustration and left.

  Her mood didn’t improve when there was another message from Garry waiting on her answerphone. Why couldn’t he just text like other people? Then she remembered how many times she’d snapped at him for calling when she was at work. He probably thought that a text would get him a good telling-off as well. Poor bugger couldn’t win, she thought with a smile as she tapped play.

  ‘Kate? I just thought I’d ring to tell you that Ben’s been asking about you. He knows you’re in Doncaster and I think he’d like to get in touch.’

  Her heart rate picked up. Was her son finally wanting her back in his life? Garry’s next words were like being doused in icy water.

  ‘He’s struggling a bit, financially, and he thought that you might be able to help out. He’s burned through one of his loans and he can’t seem to find a part-time job. I’ve sent him a few quid but I’m not sure how long that’ll last. He’ll get another loan next term so he’ll be all right in September for a bit. I thought you might want to help out.’ He finished by reciting Ben’s mobile number. It wasn’t the one that Kate had stored in her phone and she wondered why he’d changed it. Hopefully not an expensive upgrade.

  She dug her own phone out of her pocket, navigated to the message app, and typed in the number that Garry had given her. What to say? She hadn’t heard from him in nearly a year but she couldn’t refuse to help him. He was her son and she could never imagine any circumstances where she wouldn’t do her best for him. It was just bloody irritating that the only reason he wanted to get in touch was that he was skint.

  She typed quickly, not allowing herself any more time to think about it.

  ‘Dad says you need some money. Get in touch and I’ll see what I can sort out.’

  A message came back almost immediately. ‘Great. Thx. I’ll give you a buzz in the morning.’

  Kate considered texting back then hit the icon to call instead. She wasn’t going to take his call at work and she knew that he’d just get huffy if she didn’t have time to talk to him. It was one of the things that they’d argued about the most. He hated her job and the amount of time it took her away from her family and he resented her dedication to every case that she’d been involved with. He wouldn’t be inclined to mend fences if she had to brush him off yet again.

  ‘Mum?’

  She could hear voices and music in the background then a door slamming as her son found some quiet and privacy.

  ‘Mum. I said I’d call you tomorrow. I’m with some friends at a party.’ He sounded a bit drunk.

  ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ Kate said. ‘But I’ve got an early start tomorrow and I didn’t want to miss your call. I thought I’d try to catch you tonight.’

  He didn’t respond so she continued.

  ‘Dad says you’ve spent your loan money.’

  ‘I have,’ Ben sighed. ‘And I know you’ll just think I’m irresponsible but I had a job lined up for the summer so I thought I’d be okay.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘It fell through. It was in a restaurant. Waiting on, clearing up, that sort of thing. Minimum wage, but it would have kept me going. The restaurant closed down.’

  ‘In Sheffield?’

  ‘Yep. I don’t want to go back to Dad’s for the summer. I’d feel like such a loser.’

  ‘Any chance of another job?’

  ‘I’m looking but there’s not much about.’

  ‘How much do you think you’ll need to get you through?’

  ‘Dunno. I’ve got rent to pay. I’m sharing a house with some mates next year and we’ve already moved in.’

  Kate wondered whether these were the same mates that she could still hear faintly in the background.

  ‘How much is rent?’

  ‘Two fifty a month.’

  Kate calculated. Three months’ rent plus expenses would be well over a thousand pounds.

  ‘Has your dad given you anything?’

  ‘A bit,’ Ben admitted.

  ‘How big a bit?’

  ‘Five hundred quid.’

  She was impressed. It wasn’t like Garry to be so generous now he had a baby to feed and clothe.

  ‘Okay. So how about I pay your rent for the next academic year? Your dad’s money should get you through the next couple of months if you’re careful and at least your loan will go further if you’ve not got rent to think about.’

  Silence.

  ‘Ben?’

  ‘You’d do that? For a whole year?’

  ‘Of course. But, I’ll pay it directly to your landlord. You’ll have to send me the details. I don’t want you tempted to spend it every month.’

  He laughed.

  ‘As if.’

  ‘As if nothing. I know you. At least I’ll know that you’ve got a roof over your head.’

  ‘Mum. I’m sorry I’ve been such a shit these last couple of years. I wanted to get in touch when I got to Sheffield but I didn’t really know what to say.’

  Kate smiled at his drunken sentimentality, knowing that he’d probably regret it in the morning.

  ‘I’ll always be here for you, Ben. You might think you’re an adult, but I never will. It’s my prerogative as your mum. Now get back to your friends. I’ll text you my new email address and you can send me the details of your landlord.’

  And that was that. No ‘I love you’s. No promises to meet. They both just hung up.

  But it was progress.

  16

  2015

  An email pinged in to Kate’s inbox as she was gulping coffee and scanning the BBC News website. Her preparations for the day always involved coffee, news and some sort of food, even if it was just a slice of bread or a bowl of leftovers from the night before. What she read in the email caused her to spray toast crumbs all over the table and her phone.

  ‘Shit!’

  She scrolled to Hollis’s number and dialled.

  ‘Where are you?’ she asked.

  ‘Home. About to head out. Why?’

  ‘Forensics just sent their report. The rope used to tie up Aleah matches the guy ropes from the tent that we found in Craig Reese’s shed. There were two guy ropes missing when they unpacked the tent and the remaining ones are the same type. We need to pick him up.’

  ‘Hang on.’ She heard Hollis put the phone down and then muffled voices in the background.

  ‘I can be there in about half an hour.’ She shook her head even though he couldn’t see the gesture. ‘Barratt and Cooper should be at their desks by now. I’ll send them. It’ll probably be quicker. You can have first crack at him, though.’

  She hung up and dialled Barratt’s desk number.

  ‘Barratt? It’s me. Get yourself and Sam round to Craig Reese’s house and bring him in. If he refuses to come, arrest him on suspicion of murder.’

  ‘What? It was him all along?’ Barratt sounded almost disappointed. Kate knew that he’d been pushing for Fowler to be their main suspect but the case against him just wasn’t stacking up. She’d compared the photographs that Barratt had taken of Fowler’s Land Rover and the mat in the back didn’t match up with the marks on Aleah’s body. It was a dead end. Hopefully this would re-energise him. She briefly considered giving him the interview but she knew that Hollis was much more skilled in that department. She’d turn Reese over to Hollis and Cooper while she watched on video link.

  As she showered and threw on a pair of tailored trousers and a light blouse, she considered what to tell Raymond. He’d instantly go into gloating mode and she didn’t really want to have to deal with his ‘I told you so’ face this early. But if she didn�
��t notify him he’d be pissed off when he did find out. She opted for a quick text informing him that Reese was once more ‘of interest’ and was being brought in for questioning. She also mentioned that they might be needing a warrant to search the Reeses’ house. Raymond had plenty of other cases on his plate so that might hold him for a few hours until Reese’s guilt could be established… or not.

  Kate’s gut was telling her that this was wrong. Reese just didn’t strike her as being organised enough to abduct his own stepdaughter and make it look like a kidnapping. She also didn’t feel convinced that he had it in him to kill a child. He’d struck her as too lethargic and set in his routines to go to any trouble. And what did he gain? He seemed to be in a stable relationship with a woman who was supporting him, however begrudgingly. If he’d not wanted to be saddled with a kid, why marry Jackie? There was only the evidence of the tent that seemed to point to him and that just wasn’t compelling enough.

  ‘We’ll just have to see what he says,’ she said to herself as she pulled the door to the flat closed behind herself.

  She grabbed her second coffee of the day on the way up to the observation room. Hollis had texted to say that Reese was in Interview Three and he’d been left to kick his heels for a few minutes. He hadn’t come willingly though, so Barratt had read him his rights and he was currently under arrest for murder which meant that they initially had twenty-four hours, minus rest breaks, before they had to charge him or let him walk.

  She glanced at the monitor on the desk in front of her, trying to establish Craig Reese’s demeanour. He was leaning with both elbows on the table in front of him, chewing on his fingernails. He looked dishevelled, as though he’d not had time to straighten his hair or choose any suitable clothes before he’d been bundled into the back of the police car. His grey tracksuit bottoms and navy hoody looked almost like an afterthought.

  Kate continued to watch on the monitor as Hollis and Cooper entered the room. Hollis was holding two cardboard cups from the canteen and he passed one to Reese. Cooper had her own. They were settling in for a long session. Hollis explained the tape and the camera and reminded Reese why he was there. Reese looked up at the camera for a second and Kate almost had to look away as his haunted eyes made contact with her own. Even though he had no idea that she was there it was uncomfortable to read his expression; she could see the despair and hopelessness even through the camera and monitor.