by Rita Ames
The phone rang and it turned out to be the rehab centre that Carl Dawson had been taken to. Apparently they were bringing him out of sedation that morning and as requested, called to let me know.
I had my doubts as to whether talking to him would give me any leads. After all, he was just a bank clerk, and a bit of a geek at that. However, having no other pertinent leads to follow, I decided a visit to speak with him could not do any harm.
*******
I arrived shortly after lunch and was shown to his room. The nurse told me that Mr Dawson was a little confused after such a long time under sedation and that I should not expect too much on a first visit. I assured her that it was merely a routine thing, and that I would not press too hard for information at this stage.
When I entered the room I was a little shocked. On the bed was a pitiful looking individual. One of his arms was in a cast and his left leg and hip were completely encased and raised up with some kind of suspension frame. There was also a bandage around his head which made him look a little like a mummy.
Then, there were the numerous yellowing bruises all down his face and neck. I am sure they went further down his body, however the sheet was covering those.
A pair of startled eyes looked out at me. I stepped forward and pulled up a chair close to the bed. Sitting myself down I extended my hand and introduced myself. I realised my mistake when the patient merely moved his arm a few inches. Of course he couldn’t shake hands in his condition. I gave an embarrassed cough.
“Mr Dawson, I am Detective Guyer and I wondered if you were up to answering a few questions about the night of your accident” I said.
He looked at me and I could see that I had surprised him. He looked anxious and if he wasn’t tied down, literally, I swear he would have leapt out of the bed.
I held my hands out in a gesture meant to calm him “I didn’t mean to startle you. It can wait if you don’t feel up to it. Besides it’s only a formality” I sat back in the chair and pondered my next move.
He just looked at me for a while and then tried to speak. His voice was raspy from lack of use.
“I am sorry Detective but I don’t remember much about that night” he said. I had to lean forward as his voice was thin and weak.
“No problem” I said “Maybe I could come back when you are feeling a little stronger. You might remember something when you are feeling better” I stood to leave.
“Sorry I can’t help” he said quietly. A nurse came in to take some readings and I nodded towards him and took my leave.
I was just walking down the corridor heading for the elevator when I spotted Susie Brown walking towards me.
Stopping still she looked at me in surprise and I thought I heard her mutter “Talk of the devil”.
I smiled and offered my hand. “I assume you are also visiting our mutual acquaintance, Mr Dawson?”
“Yes, I just found out at the desk that he is awake. Have you just seen him?” she queried.
“Yes, and he is a little confused at the moment. He also has a nurse in with him. Why don’t I buy you a coffee and then you can see him once the nursing staff has done their thing?” I tried to sound casual but I knew I was really hoping she would agree to spend some time with me.
I liked this girl. She was gentle and compassionate and brought out a feeling of protectiveness in me that I hadn’t felt for a girl in a long time. I would also be lying if I said I hadn’t noticed how her body went in and out in all the right places. She tried to cover it with loose fitting clothes, but it didn’t work very well, not to the practised eye of a cop.
Police work can make you a little jaded when you spend too much time amongst the desperate in society. Meeting someone who shone with the light of goodness in their face was like sunbathing by a pool. It soothed the soul, and I for one intended on basking in it for as long as I could.
Susie’s eyes widened at my offer, but then she smiled and said that yes, she would love a coffee. I let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding, and we headed back towards the elevator.
We located the cafeteria and I got us coffee and a couple of muffins, heading towards a table in the corner. It was quiet over there so we could have a little bit of privacy. I liked the idea of having Susie to myself for a while.
“So how’s things in the world of underground crime?” she asked sipping her drink.
I sat back and laughed. “Same as always, bad guys commit crimes and I nail their ass” I looked at her over the rim of my cup.
She laughed out loud at this.
“Hey, what’s so funny” I said looking wounded.
“Just picturing you nailing a guy’s ass” she said looking a little embarrassed at making the joke.
“Oh yeah, gay joke. I get it” I smirked reaching over and stroking her hand ever so slightly. “I can assure you though Susie, I am definitely not gay” I looked into her eyes with meaning.
She blushed and pulled her hand away gently.
I worried that maybe I was coming on too fast so I tried to think of something to lighten the mood again. “Our friend, Mr Dawson looks a little like a mummy at the moment. They’ve got him so wrapped up in bandages I felt sorry for the guy” I smiled.
“Yeah, he got beat up pretty bad by that van. He was lucky to survive” she looked like she was remembering the event.
I reached out again and held her hand a little firmer this time. “I am sure he will be fine. This place has had some great success in getting people back to normal” I reassured her.
“Yeah, I just feel sorry that he has no wife or family to help him through it. I suppose that’s why I am here. I just couldn’t bear for him to wake up to no-one” she replied.
“You have a good heart” I said squeezing her hand.
We stayed there for about an hour until I ran out of reasons to keep her there. She kept looking at the clock but did not appear any keener to cut our time short than I.
Eventually we got up and said our farewells. As she turned to head back to the ward I stopped her.
“Susie, can I call you sometime? Just to talk or maybe we could go for coffee again?” I asked.
She beamed at me, the brightest smile and I was dazzled. “Yeah, I’d like that” she turned and headed off.
I swear I grinned like a damned idiot all the way back to my car. The day had turned out far better than I had expected.
Carl
I was in a hospital bed, that much I knew, beyond that, nothing. I was also in a world of pain, helped only by pressing my morphine drip, which the bastard nurses, had obviously limited.
My movement was also restricted by the many contraptions holding my body together. I had obviously been in some kind of accident. I tried to remember but everything was foggy. I knew my name, which surprised me. I thought people who had amnesia forgot their names before anything else.
As if I didn’t have enough to contend with, a Detective had just visited me, and when he introduced himself, I found myself overtaken by a blind panic. My skin had erupted in a cold sweat and I wanted to get up and run far away. This reaction scared the crap out of me. I tried to remember if there was something that would explain the feeling, but nothing came to me.
I lay looking up at the ceiling as the nurses fussed about, taking my pulse and temperature and writing things on the notes at the foot of the bed.
At last they finally left me in peace. I ran my mind over and over all the memories that I could dredge up. Only one image seemed constant. It was the face of a girl with auburn hair and light green eyes. She was looking at me with a smile and her voice was soothing and affectionate. I wondered if perhaps she was my girlfriend. I didn’t feel upset at this thought. In fact, it made me rather happy and I hoped it was true.
I lay there picturing her lovely face and when I opened my eyes, she was still there. Amazing. Suddenly I blinked and realised that she was, in fact, standing looking down on me, and not a figment of my imagination.
I wanted to sit up but
that was impossible. I looked towards the chair and then back up at her “Sit” I said quietly. My throat was so sore and my lips were cracked from lack of use.
She sat down beside me and smiled.
“Does it hurt much?” she asked.
“A little, but I have drugs” I tried to smile as I indicated the drip feed, but my lips were too chapped “I feel that I know you, but I can’t place your face. Everything is a little confusing for me” I said.
“Oh. Well, you don’t really know me. I was there when you had your accident and, being a nurse, I stayed with you until the ambulance arrived.
“That explains it” I said thinking that she was indeed my Angel, sent to save me. I wondered what I thought she was meant to save me from, but my drug addled mind would not tell me. I was struggling to stay awake and cursed myself for taking too much of the morphine earlier. I wanted to continue talking with my Angel.
“What’s your name?” I asked determined to stay awake.
“Susie” she answered.
“Carl” I said and she smiled again.
“I know” she replied.
And that was the last thing I remembered as I faded off to sleep.
Susie
After satisfying myself that Carl was going to make a good recovery I had fully intended to visit again soon. However, things did not go exactly as planned. When I went into work on the following Monday it was to find that stomach flu had struck down some of my colleagues and we would all be working extra hours due to staff shortages.
So much for spending some time on a social life, I sighed. We worked back to back shifts and by the time staffing levels were back to normal I was totally exhausted. I decided to take a couple of holiday days and go visit with my mum for some much needed rest and relaxation. I called her and she was over the moon, promising home baking and shopping galore.
On Friday evening I packed a case, loaded up the car and set off down the coast feeling a lightness of spirit that I hadn’t had for a while.
I was so glad to be getting a break from work that I completely forgot about Carl. I did however; frequently think about Ben, usually as I lay in bed. I admit my thoughts were very much on the racy side.
My favourite fantasy involved him arresting me with a pair of handcuffs and dragging me off to a cell. Once there he would proceed to interrogate me in such a way that I found myself intending to become a lifelong criminal so that I never had to leave that cell. Needless to say, I soon needed to replenish my battery supply.
I often thought back to our ‘coffee date’ as I liked to call it. I re-ran everything he said again and again, especially the bit about wanting to meet up again. I wondered if he had expected me to call him and I damned my inexperience. He hadn’t called me, and now I was in a dilemma due to the length of time that had lapsed. The truth was, that I couldn’t believe that someone as beautiful as he would actually be interested in a plain Jane like me. My low self esteem was stopping me from reaching out for what I wanted. I cursed myself every night for my lack of gumption.
Apart from my occasional moments of self loathing over my non-existent love life, the visit with mum was great. We certainly paid the shopping Gods some serious worship and I allowed her to persuade me into buying a few of what mum termed as “Sexy” clothing items. Mum was determined that I was going to catch ‘Mr Right’ with one of those outfits. I would have laughed if I hadn’t felt so much like crying.
I admit it, the dresses and shoes were not my usual style but I had liked the way I looked when I checked myself in the dressing room mirror. Each time I tried on a different one, I imagined opening the door to Ben as he picked me up for a date, and if I felt his reaction would be favourable, I would buy it. As the assistant rang everything up, I thanked my lucky stars that I had done all those extra hours at work, and duly handed over my card.
On the Wednesday I loaded up my trusty old VW Beetle again and shared a few tears with mum as we said our goodbyes. I promised to call soon.
As I drove back listening to my favourite Coldplay Album, I wondered if I would ever get the chance to wear any of my purchases for Ben, or anyone else for that matter. I am such a sad cow, I thought.
Ben
After connecting with Susie over coffee and seeing her lovely smile when I mentioned meeting again, I had fully intended on calling her to arrange another date. I realised that coffee in a hospital cafe didn’t really count as a real date but it felt like it could be the start of something special.
Unfortunately, work had other plans for me.
We had finally had the DNA results back from forensics and after running them through the central database, a possible match had come through. It would have been great if it had matched up with a known felon; however, the match they had found was with another DNA sample taken from a body 5 years earlier somewhere in the Birmingham area. The earlier sample was another hair pulled from a piece of underwear found at the scene.
What was interesting was the difference in the apparent killings. The earlier one had shown signs of prolonged torture and sexual abuse. The girl had been missing for approximately 5 months before her body had been found. She had been buried in the mud flats on a riverbank and would probably not have been found if there had not been sustained rainfall and flash flooding all over England in recent months. The flooding had washed away great swathes of the riverbank and the body had been forced out into the water, only to end up caught in some branches on a bend in the river.
The recent killing that I was investigating had been opportunistic and hurried. Apart from some ripped clothing, the girl had not been interfered with in a sexual way. Her life had been cut short for no apparent reason and this fact enraged me on her behalf.
The possibility that this was the same killer had to be looked into. I headed off up country for a few days to spend some time with the Birmingham Police Force. We were going to join forces just in case this turned out to be a serial offender.
Regretfully, I had to put my personal life on hold yet again. I didn’t call Susie just yet. It would be unfair to try and start anything while my attention was elsewhere. I needed to focus on the case for the time being. Sadly I had to put her out of my mind for a while, easier said than done. I only hoped that it wasn’t too late by the time I got around to it. She was such a lovely girl that it was only a matter of time before someone laid claim. I knew it was only her shyness that had kept her single.
I left my partner, Dave, with some leads to follow on a couple of possible witnesses from the park and I did the same up in the midlands.
We were looking for any other unsolved killings with any matching identifiers. I was not holding out much hope for anything to show up quickly. It could take months for the information to circle throughout the country and even then, there was no guarantee that any matches would be accurate.
I concentrated mostly on Birmingham City and the surrounding areas and just sent out a general request nationwide.
Three days later I sat at my borrowed desk with my head in my hands. What had come back from our checks had been a possible match with 5 other unsolved killings over the past 6 years in the Birmingham area. There were also several missing girls with open case files.
The most shocking result had come from Devon. The Plymouth Police Force had sent details of 3 unsolved murders, all with one or two similar traits to the Birmingham killings. They also had several missing person reports as well.
I was beginning to get a headache. As I perused the mountain of paperwork that had been faxed through to me, I began to get a horrible feeling that we had stumbled on a prolific serial killer who had been getting away with murder for years.
My stomach churned as I looked at photo after photo of bodies that had been subjected to the most heinous tortures. This fucker liked to use his knife. Probably thought of himself as an artist, a poor misunderstood soul who only wanted to be understood and appreciated.
I could tell that this guy wanted to be the all consuming thing
on his victims mind right up until the final death blow. I could see that he had drawn out their suffering for maximum effect.
I ran my hands through my hair. If someone needed putting down, then this guy did, and I wanted to be the one to do it. For the first time in my professional career, I didn’t want to put the bastard behind bars, I wanted to tear his fucking head off and make him scream as he had made those poor girls scream.
We had uncovered a trail of terror and death that spanned at least 10 years. There would now be a task force set up with officers based at all three locations. We would also have to watch that the media didn’t get hold of any information before we had something concrete. The last thing we needed was to feed the ego of this monster. Serial killers tended to be unstable and it didn’t take much to set them off, usually with dire consequences.
I scrolled to Susie’s number on my phone and caressed the call button with my thumb. I wanted to call her so badly it was like a physical hurt. My heartbeat thumped painfully in my chest as if my air had been cut off. I sighed and put the phone away. It would be another couple of days before I would be heading home so it was futile to keep torturing myself.
Carl
When I awoke the day after Susie had come to see me, I was optimistic that she would be back soon. As the days rolled by with no sign of her I became despondent. My Angel had abandoned me and I was hurt that she had been able to just forget me, as if I had never existed for her. I couldn’t believe that was the case when she had become the focal point of my whole existence, such as it was.
The only thing I could do was get myself out of here and go and find her. I would demand an explanation, no, that would scare her off. Instead, I would romance her the way she deserved.
Now that I had a plan, my resolve was set. I had another couple of weeks before my leg cast came off and then there would be some physical therapy to help me walk properly. I just had to be patient.
