The Girl in the Rug

by K Leitch

  ‘Oh I’ve said too much,’ Linda exclaimed. ‘I’m sorry Carla but you’ll have to speak to Frank about that, it’s not my place to tell you.’

  Carla sighed, ‘Ok I will,’ she shook her head in frustration. ‘I’ve known something’s been bothering him for a while now…I’ll try and talk to him. Thanks Linda I’ll try and find him, I expect he’s still with Tutt…glad to see you’re looking so much better,’ she said as she left her. ‘Tell Kat I want to meet up for a drink before she travels back home will you?’

  Carla took the lift to the next floor and headed to where Tutt was being treated. His room was situated at the end of a long straight corridor. As Carla stepped out of the lift the first thing she noticed with a sense of dread, was that the police guard that had been posted outside Tutt’s door was missing. She looked around her, there was no one else around…it was late and most of the patients were settling down for the night. But just then a side door opened and a tall hooded figure came out into the corridor.

  Carla smothered a gasp…and leapt into the shadows. Although a good two hundred yards away Carla recognised the man as he silently walked down the corridor and after looking left and right disappeared into the room at the end…Clive Tutt’s room.

  Carla’s heart began to beat faster in her chest and her palms began to sweat. ‘That’s him,’ she muttered under her breath, ‘that’s Nellie…we’ve got him.’ She immediately got onto her radio and requested backup…somehow she had to apprehend this killer, but she had no idea how she was going to do it on her own. She knew that she was no match, physically, for Elliot Dentch…and where the fuck was Frank when she needed him! She started to creep along the corridor towards the room.

  CHAPTER 66

  ‘Now…you have to stop this now!’ Another voice screamed in Frank’s head, ‘You are better than this…you must stop this from happening, no matter how much you hate and despise the man in the bed.’

  Frank angrily trampled down that thought…after all who would ever know…if he just stayed where he was and let the intruder do his worst…who would ever know. Some might even say that justice had been done.

  ‘Where’s me money Tutt,’ Nellie growled at the terrified man in the bed…who just shook his head at him, his eyes wide with panic.

  ‘Fucking tell me…or I will slice you up like a ripe tomato,’ Nellie hissed furiously, putting his knife into Tutt’s face. Tutt seemed to be too petrified to speak his eyes fixed in horror on the knife in front of him.

  Frank stood rooted to the spot and watched with an almost primal fascination, as Nellie place a huge gloved hand firmly over Tutt’s mouth, smothering the high pitched animal scream that came from deep within him. He plunged his knife into Tutt’s fleshy cheek and dragged it over to the other side of his face, slicing him from ear to ear. Blood spurted over the snowy white pillows and onto the walls as Tutt shook his head from side to side in his terror and agony.

  ‘The fucking money fella…where is it?’ Nellie repeated urgently looking over his shoulder, he knew that anyone could come in to this room at any time…still Tutt didn’t answer he seem to be incapable.

  ‘You’d better tell me now Tutt or I will finish you,’ Nellie was getting desperate now, Frank could hear it in his voice…he knew he had to act soon…or he would be witnessing a murder.

  Nellie seemed to have come to the end of his patience with another growl of anger he grabbed hold of Tutt’s tongue nearly pulling it out of his mouth…then he placed his knife against it…Tutt screamed from his chest loud howling screams muted by Nellie’s glove.

  ‘NOW…FRANK NOW…DON’T LET HIM DO THIS!’ the voice in his head bellowed at him and despite himself Frank couldn’t stand by and watch this man being tortured any longer…at last his inbuilt sense of right and wrong kicked in and he charged out from his hiding place and tried to grab the knife from Nellie’s hand.

  CHAPTER 67 - CARLA

  Carla ran down the corridor as quietly as she could, backup would be here very soon but she needed to make sure that Nellie didn’t get away and that he didn’t harm Clive Tutt.

  As she got closer to Tutt’s room she could see that the blinds on the window in the door had been closed, but not quite…there was a gap at the bottom and she could see into the room. She crept up closer and peered through the gap.

  Carla put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out. Nellie was there just a couple of feet away from her, he was leaning over Tutt, holding him down while he sliced at his face with a knife. Tutt’s face was a mass of blood…his cheeks had been cut through to the bone, his gums and teeth visible through the awful gaping wound giving him a skeletal appearance. Carla felt the bile rising up her throat and determinedly swallowed it down.

  ‘Keep it together Carla…come on you can do this,’ she said to herself as she prepared to rush in and try and apprehend this monster, she knew she couldn’t wait for backup…Tutt would be dead unless she acted fast!

  She took a deep breath and forced herself to move….

  But before she could rush through the door, Frank appeared in the room as if from nowhere, and grabbed Nellie from behind grappling with him for the knife. Frank had the element of surprise on his side but Nellie was a formidable foe and soon recovered enough to push Frank away from him. That was when Carla threw the door open with a bang surprising Nellie even more, he lunged at her with his knife but Frank had found his footing by this time and grabbed Nellie by the back of the neck pulling him away from her. Nellie swung out and caught Carla on the side of the face with his fist sending her reeling, meanwhile Frank had managed to knock the knife out of his other hand, and had got both of his arms wrapped round Nellie’s chest from behind, immobilising him after a fashion. The knife clattered to the floor inches away from Carla who quickly grabbed it and jumped up holding it up against Nellie’s throat. He stopped struggling then…looking at the knife in Carla’s hand in disbelief...and realising it was over, he began shouting abuse at them both as Frank struggled to hold him.

  ‘Elliot Dentch, you are under arrest for the murders of Lucy Hunt, Amish Patel and Tony Lahars…’ Carla shouted over his roars of fury, as eventually Frank managed to pull his arms behind his back and cuff him. Carla radioed once again for backup and they secured Nellie to one of the chairs with Carla’s handcuffs and waited for help to take him in.

  Carla pressed the call button for a nurse to come and deal with Tutt who had been crying and screaming the whole time. Frank went over to the bed and looked down at him in disgust for a moment before telling him to shut the fuck up! Then he had stormed out of the room, leaving a worried Carla to deal with the sobbing Tutt and a furious ranting Nellie. Until at last, a nurse came and dealt with Tutt and two officers arrived and dragged Nellie down to a waiting police car.

  The officer that had been guarding Tutt was found about fifteen minutes later in a linen cupboard…his throat had been cut…another victim to add to Nellie’s tally.

  Furiously, after looking everywhere for him, Carla caught up with Frank outside the front entrance of the hospital, ‘Let’s go and get a coffee’ she said in a tone that brooked no argument.

  Frank followed reluctantly as she led him to the hospital café where she ordered two coffees and sat down at a table in the corner.

  ‘Ok,’ she said trying to control her anger as he sat down opposite her, ‘now you are going to tell me what the fuck was going on before I turned up at Tutt’s room.’

  Frank kept his head down, ‘Nothing…I just saw Nellie come in and I jumped him, you know the rest…’

  ‘No no no…that doesn’t make any fucking sense Frank…you were in there when Nellie arrived, he had been with Tutt long enough to cut his up his face. Why didn’t you try and stop him before then…were you…what were you doing Frank…were you watching him, were you going to let him kill that man?’ she finished in disbelief.

  ‘NO!’ Frank shouted, ‘I don’t know,’ he put his head in his hands, ‘Tutt…you don’t know…he�
��s a monster Carla, the bastard doesn’t deserve to live…’

  ‘For fucks sake Frank,’ Carla interrupted furiously. ‘I know the man is an animal, I’ve read Andy’s statement and the statements that Ted had got…but that doesn’t mean that we can hand down justice ourselves, we have to get him in a court of law, make a good case, find the evidence to convict him and then move on.’

  Frank didn’t say anything, he just sat and stared at something over her shoulder, Carla tried again.

  ‘Frank…there’s more to this isn’t there? You’ve been like a cat on a hot tin roof ever since we started investigating these homes…please tell me, I know there’s something,’ she asked gently placing a hand over his.

  Frank still said nothing, but Carla stared in amazement as a tear rolled down the side of his face, he brushed it away furiously…Carla squeezed his hand, and went to get up.

  ‘He did it to me,’ Frank said in a voice so low that Carla almost didn’t hear him. ‘When I was seven my mother killed herself and I was taken into care…’

  Slowly and hesitantly Frank told Carla about his mother and how she had suffered for years with depression until one day she took her own life. He told her about how he was violently raped by the caretaker Robert Gray, or Clive Tutt as he now knew him, and his lonely time in the care home, until at last he was fostered and then adopted by Gillian and Paul Hill and his nightmare ended.

  Carla was in tears herself by the time he had finished talking. ‘Well he won’t be doing it to anyone else sweetheart,’ she said to Frank, ‘thank you for telling me Frank, this must have been so hard for you…’

  ‘I nearly let him do it Carla,’ Frank said ashamed, thinking back to Nellie again, ‘I never thought I could hate someone so much…’

  ‘Yes but you didn’t…in the end you put a stop to it…you did the right thing, focus on that Frank and on the fact that we finally have Tutt and that psycho Nellie off the streets. You did a good job in the end sergeant…just remember that ok?’

  CHAPTER 68 - CAULDRON MEETING

  Three weeks later at The Bull

  ‘I’m sorry Trace but I promised you,’ Carla said teasingly holding a bag of cheesy wotsits just out of reach. ‘You asked me not to let you have any tonight…it’s for your own good.’

  ‘You are a hard bitch Carla Right,’ said Tracy sulkily. ‘Maggie always lets me have them, even if she has promised don’t you Maggie?’

  ‘Yes but that’s why I’m not a policewoman Tracy love. I crumble at the first sign of violence and I know what you’re capable of if you can’t have your wotsit fix.’

  ‘Yeah well Carla will find out soon enough if she doesn’t hand them over!’ said Tracy looking at Carla threateningly.

  Carla just laughed at her and threw her the bag of wotsits which she tore open hungrily.

  ‘How did it go in court today love?’ Helen asked Carla in her quiet voice.

  ‘Well he’s been charged and remanded in custody, he’s still not told us where Louisa’s body is though…we’re digging up the grounds of the Robinsons’ house now so maybe we’ll get lucky there…’

  ‘Is that Tim you’re talking about Carla…he looked like a broken man didn’t he?’ Tracy had been in court to see Tim Boulter charged with the murder of his wife. ‘I almost felt sorry for him…almost but then I remembered Louisa…he deserves everything he gets,’ she finished with a shake of her head.

  ‘Andy has been so good,’ Carla said turning back to Helen, ‘he was interviewed by a lawyer on camera and he was so clear and concise when he answered the questions. Poor little chap, well at least he doesn’t have to be in the court room with Nellie. He’s given us enough to be able to charge all those men with child molestation, and he’s given evidence about his little sister’s murder. Tell him I think he’s really brave will you…how’s he settling in with you, I bet he loves it doesn’t he?’

  Helen smiled, ‘Oh he’s such a sweet boy, but I think it’s going to take time for him to think of our house as home. He’s still on his best behaviour at the moment, Maya can’t wait for him to be naughty…then at least we’ll know he’s finally feeling at home.’

  ‘I think that was the kindest thing Helen,’ said Tracy, ‘giving that poor little lad a home, after all the different kinds of hell that he’s been through…you two are just what he needs.’

  ‘I can’t believe that no one else knew what was going on at those homes, Carla,’ Maggie put in. ‘I mean what was that woman doing, you know…what’s her name Miss Taylor, what was Miss Taylor doing while those poor kids were being pimped out at night?’

  Carla pulled a face, ‘Apparently she had no idea…she was absolutely distraught when it all came to light…mind you, I think that was just because she knew she would have to resign. She came across as a very hard woman…no empathy for the kids at all, makes you wonder why these people go in for those types of jobs…’

  ‘Well I am so glad that the dreadful Right Honourable David Wesley got what he deserved,’ said Helen with relish, ‘even if it does mean my portrait of him has been taken down and stashed in some cupboard somewhere. I always knew he was a nasty piece of work, didn’t I say…’

  ‘You did indeed honey…several times,’ said Maggie laughing.

  ‘You any closer to finding Gordon Robinson Carla?’ asked Tracy. Trying to open yet another pack of cheesy wotsits without attracting attention.

  ‘Well we know he’s in Spain…but the Spanish police aren’t being very cooperative, so without their help it’s going to be a hard job finding him. Freddy Robinson has been charged with conspiracy to murder though, amongst a whole host of other things. He was the one who gave the order to kidnap you love,’ Carla said giving Tracy’s hand a squeeze, ‘you had seen and said too much I’m afraid sweetheart.’

  Maggie obviously thought the evening was getting too maudlin, ‘Have I told you the latest Mayleeism,’ she interrupted loudly. ‘She was telling Dom that her uncle, who is a keen Liverpool FC supporter, could get Dom and Jed tickets for an up and coming game at Anfield and asked him if he would be interested to which he replied, ‘Is the pope a catholic?’, anyway,’ Maggie giggled, ‘Maylee sort of looked at him as if he’d gone mad and said, ‘How the fuck should I know…and what’s that got to do with these tickets anyway…sometimes Dom I think you don’t hear a word I say…and anyway of course he’s not catholic he’s a Samaritan isn’t he…a good Samaritan…like Jesus was…I would have thought you would have known that. Now do you want these tickets or not?’

  The girls burst out laughing as Maggie had known they would…Duncan, who was serving at the bar looked over at the girls’ laughter, Maggie caught his eye and blew him a kiss. She looked at her three witchy friends all laughing and chatting at once. With Simon’s tender care, Tracy had bounced back from her nightmarish ordeal as she had known she would, and Helen was blossoming in her role as mother and protector of her ever increasing family. Carla…well Carla was the same as ever, dependable, unflappable.

  She reminded Maggie of a recent article she had read in a newspaper, about different countries ways of coping with increased security alerts. It described the stiff upper lipped Brits as maybe getting a ‘bit miffed’ which could be raised to ‘peeved’ as the danger increased but said that the level of ‘a bit cross’ hadn’t been reached since the London blitz, and the last time a ‘bloody nuisance’ level was issued, was during the great fire of London in 1666. That was Carla to a tee; no dramas…no matter what happened she was there dealing with it…Maggie was just thankful she had her as a friend. And more than that she was so relieved that they were all here, all four witches. Righting the world wrongs, giving each other strength through everything that life threw at them, all that and dieting and fashion tips as well…what more could any girl want.

  CHAPTER 69

  Andy snuggled down beneath the warm duvet. He could hear the quiet regular breathing coming from Benji, as he slept peacefully in his little bed on the other side of the room.


  Andy turned over so that he could see the photo of Lucy that Maya had found for him, propped up on his little bedside cabinet. She was smiling…a big smile at the camera…and holding up a grubby doll. Andy remembered that doll…she had called it Samantha, nobody knew why…and she had loved it, taken it everywhere with her, Andy remembered.

  The moon was shining through the curtains, lighting up the little room. He was wearing new pyjamas, they were ‘Star Wars’ ones…he had chosen them himself, they felt comfortable and warm…he felt comfortable and warm.

  He knew that Mum would come for him one day…he knew she would. But for now he would stay with Maya and Helen and Nonna…he loved Nonna. She had read him a story at bedtime…even though she hadn’t known all the words and he’d had to tell her some of them. Yeh she was great Nonna was…with a contented sigh, Andy settled down under his warm covers, his eyelids began to droop as he drifted off to sleep…he was safe at last.

  THE END

  A NOTE FROM KAY

  Thank you for reading my book, I hope you enjoyed it!

  If you did, could I ask you to share your experience with someone else. Either by recommending it to your friends or to any book groups to which you may belong or simply by writing and posting a review.

  ‘Lost Girls’ is my fifth novel; and also the fifth in the ‘Witches of Glory Woods’ series, the first four books being ‘Mummy’s Little Girl’, ‘Bad Things Happen’, ‘Nasty Bitch’ and ‘The Girl in the Rug’. All books can be found on Kindle. You can find the descriptions on the following pages.

  Thank you once again.

  You can contact me and find details about my books on my website http://www.kay-leitch.com. I always love to hear from my readers.

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