Rough Justice (Justice Series Book 10)

by M A Comley

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Lorne arrived at work the following morning, where the mood was mixed. Katy had arranged for all the patrol vehicles in the area to be on the lookout for Smalling’s car. The result came back negative from the night shift.

  Where are you, you bastard? And why did you show up at the scene out of the blue like that?

  “Penny for them?” Katy said, winding her way through the desks towards the vending machine.

  “Just thinking. Why do you suppose Smalling turned up like that yesterday?”

  Katy shrugged and sipped her coffee. “Who knows? Would it be worth sending a uniform team out to the forest today to see if he shows up again?”

  “To my mind, he’s not likely to return there anytime soon.”

  “So, where does that leave us today then?” Katy asked.

  “I don’t know. Hey, you think our case is bad? You wait until I tell you what Tony went through yesterday with his.”

  “Grab a coffee and come into the office and tell me.”

  By the time Lorne had finished telling her partner the tale, Katy’s eyes were protruding, making her look like one of the pop-eye fish Lorne’s dad used to keep in his aquarium.

  “Holy crap. It’s a good job Tony took on board your suggestion of returning yesterday. Otherwise, the sneaky shit might have got away with killing his wife.”

  “Too right. Which brings me nicely to why I brought up the subject.”

  “Go on. Not that I don’t know what’s about to drop out of your mouth next.”

  “Huh, me predictable? That’ll be the day. What if we get Tony and Joe to do some snooping for us?”

  “Um… because we have a team of our own sitting out there, kind of twiddling their thumbs, and I’m including us in that scenario, too.”

  “I hear you, boss. It was just a thought,” Lorne said, feeling a little dejected.

  “No worries. Can you gather all the information that came in overnight regarding the case and give forensics another prod for me? Although I’m pretty sure we know who the assailant is already.”

  “Well, Noelle hasn’t actually told us it was her ex yet, but I’ll keep hounding forensics.”

  “Okay, leave me to deal with this lot, and I’ll be with you in an hour or so.”

  Lorne left Katy to get on with wading through her pile of post and messages and went back to her desk. Around thirty minutes later, her phone rang. “Hello, DS Warner. How may I help?”

  “I need to go back there. We need to go back there, Lorne.”

  She sighed. “As in right now, Carol? Can’t this at least wait until this afternoon?”

  “No. We need to get back there immediately. Noelle is driving me insane.”

  “In what way?”

  “She’s distraught because she’s finally discovered who murdered her. Lorne, she knows it was her boyfriend. She’s even named him—Danny Smalling.”

  “That’s great news. Right name, too, although I can’t see what the point of going back to the forest is, Carol. Forensics and the police cadaver dogs searched the area and found nothing. Even if I wanted to, I’m not sure I could persuade Katy to waste more time at the site.”

  “Well, that’s a shame. I guess Noelle and I will have to venture over there by ourselves then. I’ll let you know how we get on when I get back.” Carol hung up.

  Lorne went to Katy’s office. “Can you talk for a second?”

  “Sure, take a seat. I need a breather anyway. You look concerned. What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve just received a call from Carol.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “She informed me Noelle had given her Smalling’s name and said that she wanted to go back to the forest.”

  Katy shook her head. “I’m not sure I could stand going on another wild-goose chase, Lorne. Could you?”

  “No, and that’s exactly what I told her.”

  “So, what’s with the face?” Katy sat back in her chair and bounced a few times.

  “Well, before she hung up on me, she told me that she and Noelle were on their way over there now.”

  “Crap. That’s not what I wanted to hear. That dear friend of yours can be a pain in the butt sometimes.”

  “I thought the same. Do you think we should go out there, given that Smalling showed up at the spot yesterday?”

  “It’s a no-brainer.” Katy bounced forward and slipped her jacket off the back of the chair. “Come on. We better get over there; see what the pair of them come up with this time. But we need emphasise to Carol that this is the last time we’re going to the forest, right?”

  “I agree. I’ll see if I can ring her back, if she picks up.”

  “I wouldn’t bother. If we set off now, we should arrive there around the same time.”

  Katy parked next to Carol’s car and switched off the engine. “Now all we have to do is find her. Did she mention if she was going to head for the same spot as yesterday?”

  “No, she didn’t say. I’m presuming that’s the case because all the clues we were after highlighted the area perfectly. There’s only one way to find out.”

  “Okay, before we set off, I think we should arm ourselves, just in case Smalling turns up unexpectedly.”

  Lorne grinned. “I dread to think what kind of weapons you have lurking in your boot.”

  Katy removed a length of rope and an iron bar used for changing tyres on a vehicle. “These will do nicely. A bang on the head with this one while you tie him up.”

  Lorne laughed, then they marched through the entrance to the forest, aware of every crunch and snap the undergrowth made under their feet. Before long, they reached the spot where the teams had searched the previous day. Carol was nowhere to be seen.

  “Maybe she’s gone farther in.” Looking ahead, Lorne pointed at two possible paths. “Eeny meeny… should I call out to her?”

  Katy scanned the area around them. “It can’t hurt.”

  “Carol. Where are you, Carol?”

  Straining an ear, Katy held up a finger. “Did you hear that? It sounded like it came from over there.”

  “Let’s take this pathway and call out again in a minute or two.” Lorne walked ahead of Katy, upping her speed as she got closer to the path. She noticed yet another stone bridge like the one they’d discovered on their previous visit. “Looks promising. Carol? Can you hear me?”

  A muffled cry echoed through the trees. “Here, Lorne.”

  She picked up the sound of distress in the woman’s tone, or was that just her mind playing havoc? She shuddered at the thought of being surrounded by the wandering lost souls who lingered there, waiting to be set free. They continued on the path, and Lorne spotted the outline of a figure in a clear patch up ahead.

  “Is that her?” Katy asked, peering through the trees.

  “It looks like her.” Lorne called out, “Carol, is that you?”

  “Yes, Lorne. We’re here.”

  “Crap, did she say we?”

  Lorne sniggered. “Hold on, looks like we’re in for another torrid time in the company of Noelle’s spirit.”

  “Great. Let’s get this over with.”

  Lorne and Katy quickly proceeded to the clearing where Carol was standing. A tiny light flickered just in front of her friend.

  “Carol, has Noelle remembered anything else?”

  “I’m so glad you decided to join us. Yes, Noelle said that her necklace was removed from her neck. It was a family heirloom handed down to her after the demise of her grandmother. Plus, her ring was also stolen. It’s engraved, congratulating her on her confirmation when she was thirteen. If Smalling is in possession of those items, it will help you to convict him, won’t it?”

  As soon as Carol mentioned Smalling’s name, a soft groan came from the direction of the light.

  “Noelle, if he has your jewellery, it will only work in our favour. Why are you in this part of the forest, Carol?”

  “We’re still trying to figure that out. Noelle, i
n which direction should we go now? Guide us, please?” Carol’s voice was light and encouraging when she addressed the spirit. The glimmer flickered, becoming brighter, then drifted towards another pathway. “Come on, ladies. She wants us to follow her.”

  Katy and Lorne glanced at each other. Katy raised her eyebrows and impatiently tapped her watch.

  “Come now, Katy. You can spare us an hour of your valuable time, I’m sure,” Carol said over her shoulder.

  Reluctantly, Katy agreed, and the three women and the spirit continued on their journey. Not long after, Carol halted at the edge of the forest.

  Lorne caught up with her. “What is it, Carol?”

  “I’m not sure how significant this is. All I can tell you is that Noelle is refusing to let me move any farther along the route.”

  They had stopped before a roped-off area and a swaying sign reading: DO NOT TRESPASS.

  “That’s strange. What can it mean? Shall we check it out?” Lorne asked Katy.

  “If it says no trespassing, then we’ve got to abide by that. There’s no telling if the property owners have laid any kind of traps in the undergrowth, is there? I wonder if we can get to what lies beyond if we continue around the edge of the forest.”

  “It’s worth a try. Hang on… look.” Lorne pointed in the distance beyond the rope.

  Carol gasped. “It’s a house!”

  “Right, here’s what I think we should do—get our bearings and try to find the road which leads up to the house. Damn, I never thought to bring a compass with me,” Katy said.

  “What about our phones? Won’t they give us our location?”

  Katy withdrew her mobile from her jacket pocket and tutted. “No signal. I should have realised we’d be cut off this far into the forest.”

  “Okay, then we’ll have to do as you suggested. We’ll scout the area on the other side of the forest to find the road. It shouldn’t be that difficult, should it?”

  Carol closed her eyes and made a humming sound. Then she clicked her fingers. “Thomas or Thomsett. That’s what I’m picking up from this area, whether it’s the name of the road you’re after or not, I have no idea.”

  “That’s a start. Thanks, Carol. We should head back to the cars, unless Noelle can give us anything else?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Coming back here and confronting her pain has drained all her energy. That’s why she hasn’t formed like she did yesterday. She’s determined to offer her guidance in finding the house, if that’s okay?”

  Katy nodded. “Perfect.”

  The trek back through the forest took them nearly fifteen minutes. “You should leave your car here and come with us, Carol,” Lorne suggested, standing in between both vehicles.

  “Hop in, everyone,” Katy said. “That makes perfect sense to me.”

  Katy turned the car while Lorne played around with the sat nav, trying out the names Carol had provided, hoping for a match nearby.

  “Bingo! Here we are. Thomsett Way. Take the first left and keep turning left until I say otherwise. Well done, Carol. You’ve done it again.”

  “Try and restrain your enthusiasm for now, Lorne. We haven’t located the house yet,” Katy admonished playfully.

  However, Lorne had a good feeling about the information Carol had supplied them with. Carol sat in the back of the car, humming. She didn’t speak until Katy pulled up outside a large Victorian house. “This is it!” she cried out in excitement.

  “Are you sure, Carol?” Lorne asked, her insides churning.

  “Yes, yes! Go! We need to get in there, now.”

  “Carol, we need you to stay in the car. Do you understand?” Katy instructed. “We need to take things slowly and follow procedure from here. We can’t go in there, screaming and shouting at the homeowners.”

  “I understand. Noelle and I will sit tight and hand the reins over to you two detectives to complete the task. Yes, this is definitely the place.” Carol nodded, staring at the house through narrowed eyes.

  Lorne and Katy got out of the car and approached the front gate. “How are we going to play this, Katy?”

  “Let’s see what presents itself and go from there. I’ll do all the talking, okay?” Katy warned with a pointed finger.

  “Deal.”

  Katy cleared her throat and rang the doorbell.

  A lady in her late fifties opened the door in a very offhand manner. “Yes!”

  “We’re sorry to trouble you on a cold and dreary morning. We’re looking for a family who used to live in this area. I saw your light on and thought I’d stop by and see if you knew them.”

  “I’ll try to help, although I tend not to mix with too many people in the area. What’s the name of these people?”

  Katy smiled at the woman. “You’re very kind. It’s Smalling. Do you know them at all?”

  The woman frowned and looked Katy and Lorne up and down. “Who wants to know?”

  Katy and Lorne produced their warrant cards and thrust them in front of the woman’s face. “DI Katy Foster and DS Lorne Warner. Are you Mrs. Smalling?” Katy said.

  “No.”

  Lorne and Katy glanced at each other and grimaced.

  “Do you know the Smalling family at all? Are you friends perhaps?” Katy pressed.

  “No,” the woman stated abruptly a second time.

  Katy sighed. “Then I think we’ve made a mistake. I apologise for inconveniencing you.”

  Before the woman could shut the door, Lorne asked, “Does your property back onto the forest, Mrs…?”

  The woman paused for an instant then said, “Jackman. Yes, it does.”

  “Would you mind if we took a closer look at the area beyond the Do Not Trespass sign? Did you erect that sign, or has it always been there?”

  “My husband erected the sign, and no, you can’t. Not without a search warrant. This is private property.”

  She closed the door before either of them could ask another question. Dejected, they returned to the car, where Carol proceeded to bombard them with questions.

  “Was it her? Mrs. Smalling?”

  “Nope,” Lorne replied.

  “No! I don’t believe her. Did she say she knew the Smallings?” Carol asked eagerly with an edge of annoyance resonating in her tone.

  “No. Look, Carol, I think on this occasion, your abilities have let you down a little. Yes, it’s the house we saw from the forest, but as far as being linked to the Smallings, we have no proof of that, yet,” Kart said.

  “I know there is a major connection here. Will it help if I describe the woman? Bearing in mind that the front door of the house isn’t visible to me from where I’m sitting?”

  Katy and Lorne twisted in their seats. Without further prompting, Carol reeled off an accurate description of the woman who had answered the door.

  “Well, am I right?” Carol asked.

  “Spot on,” Lorne admitted. “Shit, what do you propose we do now, Katy?”

  Katy hit the steering wheel with the heel of her hand then started the engine. “Get a warrant, as the woman suggested. This isn’t over yet, ladies, not by a long shot. No one outsmarts us. We’ll drop you back to your car, Carol, and head back to the station.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Lorne barged through the doors to the incident room, startling the rest of the team.

  Katy followed right behind her. “Listen up, everyone. We’ve got a situation on our hands.” Katy walked up to a puzzled-looking Karen and gave her a slip of paper on which she had noted down the address they had just visited. “Run this through the system, Karen. Let me know the proprietor’s name and the previous owners’ names going back the last five years, will you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Karen immediately hit the keys on her keyboard while Katy informed the rest of the team what had transpired at the forest and at the woman’s residence.

  “So, let me get this right. You think this woman is Smalling’s mother?” AJ asked, sounding confused.

  “Yep, that’s o
ur assumption. AJ, can you get a warrant for the address, on the grounds that we think she is harbouring a suspect?”

  “Umm… not wishing to go against orders, Inspector, but don’t you think we should see what Karen comes up with first?”

  “You’re right, of course. Karen, any luck?”

  “Just double-checking another avenue now, boss. Give me two secs… here we are. Okay, I’ve got a discrepancy to do with the home owners on that address. Yes, the Smallings used to own the property, but then a Mr. Jackman had his name added to the mortgage.”

  “Was the house sold in between that time?”

  “Nope. It never came on the market, and looking at the land registry, the house is still listed in Mrs. Smalling’s name.”

  Lorne gasped. “She’s remarried. The snide bitch. She’s obviously got something to hide. Otherwise, she would have told us that.”

  “It seems that way to me. Right, AJ, get that warrant ASAP. Stephen, you and Graham go out to the address and observe the comings and goings. I don’t need to tell you to keep yourselves hidden, do I?”

  Both men rose from their chairs and put on their jackets.

  “No, boss. Discretion will be utmost when we get there,” Graham insisted.

  Stephen agreed with a brisk nod.

  “What do you want me to do, boss?” Lorne asked, eager to have a role in the downfall of the people who’d tried to deceive them.

  “Lorne, I want you to get in touch with the relevant teams—forensics and the police dog team—again. I think we’ll hit the place heavy-handed, payback for the woman lying to us like that.”

  “I’ll put them on standby for this afternoon.”

  Lorne placed the calls to the teams then rang Carol to keep her apprised of the situation. After all, the case would have still been in its infancy if Carol hadn’t been involved. “Carol, it’s me. I don’t have long—things are frantic here at the moment.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “That you were right. We think the woman remarried. We’re in the process of obtaining a warrant to search the property, as she requested. I’ll let you know later what we find out.”

  “Lorne, you know I wouldn’t usually insist tagging along to a scene, but… I think I really should be there when you gain access to the property. I’m sure Noelle will help us find her body.”