Deadly Reprisal (Detective Zoe Finch Book 5)

by Rachel McLean

As she reached the first floor, she spotted Lin on the ground floor, which was visible from the stairs. She was leaving the building.

  Kayla drew breath to call out, then thought better of it. She ran down the remaining stairs and headed towards the door.

  Lin was walking up the driveway, almost at the road. Kayla’s gut was telling her to call after her friend and confront her. But her head told her to stay quiet and follow.

  Lin turned right, heading along Edgbaston Park Road. Kayla followed at a distance, tucking herself into the hedge to avoid being seen. A car pulled up ahead and two men got out, walking between her and Lin.

  It meant Lin was harder to see, but would make Kayla less noticeable. Good.

  She crept after Lin, her heart racing, until they came to the Bristol Road. Lin picked up pace and eventually turned into Bournbrook Road.

  Where was she going?

  The two men had long since turned off. A bus stopped at the junction, a young woman with a pushchair putting herself between Kayla and Lin. Kayla followed, keeping the woman between her and her friend.

  Chapter One Hundred Three

  Zoe drummed her fist on her knee as the phone rang out. She was sitting in her car, en route back to Selly Oak from Ian’s. She’d parked in the city centre, next to the Peace Gardens.

  “Come on, Adana,” she muttered. She checked her watch; the pathologist couldn’t have left yet, surely.

  “DI Finch.” Adana sounded as if she was walking.

  “Adana. Thank God I got you.”

  “You’ve spoken to DC Hughes?”

  “He told me about the formalin. I need to know when it got into the victim.”

  “Sorry?”

  “The woman who found him, Lin Johnson. She told me she’d put on gloves and then taken a look at him. She had the gloves with her because she’s a medical student and she’d been in an anatomy class.”

  “Very convenient for her.”

  Zoe sucked in a breath. “What makes you say that?”

  “He breathed it in, Zoe. It was in his lungs. When did she find him? How long after death?”

  “Long enough.”

  “The formalin I found didn’t come from a pair of gloves after he was found. It got there while he was breathing his last breaths. If you asked me to speculate, I’d say it was on the hands of the person who pushed the drugs down his throat.”

  “Or on a pair of gloves they were wearing.”

  “Exactly.”

  Zoe had stopped drumming with her fist. She pushed it into her thigh, her skin prickling.

  “Thanks, Adana.”

  She hung up. Now to talk to Dawson.

  Chapter One Hundred Four

  “I’ll go,” said Connie. “You stay here.”

  “You sure?”

  “I may look like a fat Jamaican woman to you, but I cycle everywhere. I’m fitter than I look. I can be at Boulton Hall in… twenty minutes, I reckon.”

  “OK. Tell me what you find.”

  “I will.”

  Connie got out of the car and started jogging. She knew better than to sprint: she needed to hold her pace.

  She rounded the corner into Bournbrook Road. A woman was walking the other way: Lin. Connie sprang back, darting back round the corner so Lin wouldn’t see her.

  She looked into the front windows of the house nearest to her. They were dark. She crept into the front garden and ducked behind the hedge.

  Lin walked past, her footsteps regular. She was muttering to herself.

  Connie waited a moment then emerged from her hiding spot just as another woman turned the corner. Connie suppressed a yelp and slammed herself back down behind the hedge.

  Had Kayla seen her?

  Why was Kayla following Lin?

  She waited for Kayla to pass, then peered round the corner into Raddlebarn Road. The chances of a third person following Kayla were slim but Connie wanted to be sure. The road was quiet, just a group of teenagers halfway up.

  Connie turned back into Raddlebarn Road, picking up pace to get closer to Kayla. Kayla kept squeezing herself into the hedge. Not the stealthiest surveillance operation, Connie thought. But then she’d almost crashed into both the women she was now following.

  She reached Mo’s car. His gaze was on the house. Lin had gone inside.

  “You see them?” Connie panted.

  He nodded. “Gina came to the door and let Lin in. Not sure what Kayla’s planning.”

  Connie nodded. She focused on her breathing, trying to bring it back into line. Kayla approached the house, her body hunched.

  Connie held her breath.

  Kayla stood outside the house, staring up at the windows.

  “What’s she doing?” Connie breathed. Mo shrugged.

  The door opened. Lin emerged, her mouth moving, arms waving.

  “I can’t hear anything,” Connie said.

  “We can’t risk getting any closer. We’ve already been accused of harassment.”

  “But if there’s a credible threat to one of them…”

  He nodded. “Then we go in. Not before.”

  Chapter One Hundred Five

  “You’ve got nowhere near enough for a warrant,” said DI Dawson.

  “Frank, we have the formalin,” Zoe reminded him. “Adana says Laurence breathed it in. Lin Johnson admitted to wearing gloves from an anatomy class. I think she sent her girlfriend round to Jenson’s house to cover for her, to throw us off the scent.”

  Two men walked past her car, glancing in at her. She gripped her phone, her heart racing. She needed to get moving, to be in Selly Oak.

  “What about the DNA from the first scene?” Dawson said. “The boot print you still haven’t matched up to anything?”

  “The boot at the Jenson Begg scene was a woman’s boot. If we have a warrant to search Lin Johnson’s room, we can check her footwear, it’ll help us get closer to a definitive—”

  “Exactly. You don’t have enough for a warrant. Not yet.”

  Zoe slammed her fist into the steering wheel. She knew Lesley would have given her the same answer. She was working on a hunch of Connie’s and a single piece of forensics evidence in the middle of a heap of other forensics pointing in other directions.

  “I’m going to question her, Frank. If she consents to talk to me, you can’t stop me doing that.”

  “Don’t go doing anything stupid, Zoe.”

  She tightened her fist. “I won’t.”

  She hung up just as her phone rang: Mo.

  “Zo. Lin and Kayla have turned up at Gina’s house. You need to get over here.”

  Chapter One Hundred Six

  Zoe parked further along Raddlebarn Road, careful to stay out of sight of the house. She hurried to Mo’s car, scanning the street. She wondered if this road had nosy neighbours like Mrs Anderson.

  She knocked the window lightly and Mo wound it down. “Boss.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “Lin turned up about ten minutes ago. Kayla was following her.”

  Connie leaned across Mo to speak to her. “I almost crashed into the two of them.”

  “And they’re all inside now?”

  “Yup.” Mo looked towards the house. “No idea what’s going on.”

  Zoe nodded, following his gaze. “I’ll get in the back.” She pulled open the back door of the car and slid in.

  Mo turned to face her. “How’d it go with DI Dawson?”

  She shook her head. “No go. I’m not surprised really.” She gave Connie a shrug. “Sorry, Constable. But we need more than your hunch.”

  “What about the formalin?” Connie asked.

  “Adana says he swallowed it, it didn’t get there after Lin found him.”

  “Surely that’s what we need?”

  “Lin isn’t the only medical student in Boulton Hall,” Zoe said.

  Mo sighed. “And she may not be the only medical student with a reason to hurt Laurence.”

  “Yeah.” Zoe thought of the women he’d assault
ed. The women they didn’t know about. The guy was only eighteen. Where did an eighteen-year-old learn to behave like that?

  “I saw something,” Connie said. “Front window.”

  Zoe leaned forward to look out of the windscreen. “Can’t see it.”

  “It’s gone.”

  “They might have spotted us. Gina knew we were here. She might have seen us getting into the car.”

  “Do we have a good reason to go back in there?” Zoe asked.

  Connie looked at Mo, her eyes shining. “We do.”

  “Connie’s right,” he said. “We need to talk to Gina’s housemates to establish an alibi. I believe one of them is in.”

  “And even if they’re not, there’s no reason why Lin shouldn’t provide her alibi.” Zoe opened the car door. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter One Hundred Seven

  Lin led Kayla into the back room of the house, her hands fidgeting. Gina sat behind a dining table, holding a small brown dog by its collar.

  “What are you doing here?” Lin asked her.

  “I followed you. I want my keys back.”

  Lin went to Gina and sat next to her. She put a hand over the other woman’s. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She leaned down and stroked the dog.

  “What’s going on, Kayla?” Gina asked. She looked concerned, but Kayla couldn’t be sure she wasn’t faking it. “Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine. I just want to know what’s up with Lin.”

  Lin stood up. “Let’s talk in private. You and me, we’ll get this thing sorted once and for all.”

  Kayla bit her lower lip. This was her friend: why was she feeling scared?

  She nodded. “OK.”

  Lin turned to Gina. “Can you get some coffees, hun?”

  Gina smiled. “Of course.” She left the room.

  Lin gave Kayla a dry smile. “Let’s go upstairs.”

  “I’m fine here.”

  “I don’t want Gina’s housemates walking in on this. She won’t mind if we use her bedroom.”

  Kayla was determined not to show Lin how nervous she was. “OK.”

  She followed Lin up the narrow stairs to a bedroom at the back of the house. Lin stood to one side, holding the door open.

  Kayla span round as soon as she entered the room, checking Lin wasn’t about to lock the door. Lin followed, her hands up in a gesture of innocence.

  “Take a seat,” Lin said.

  There was an armchair in the window. Kayla sat in it while Lin perched on the bed. Lin leaned forward, her hands sandwiched between her thighs. The door was open.

  Kayla forced herself to breathe. Stop being so stupid.

  “You’ve been acting odd lately,” she told her friend.

  “Odd?”

  “You came to the English department with Gina and dragged me across campus. You locked me in my room.”

  “I didn’t lock you in your—”

  “And there was the way you reacted to Laurence’s body. To finding him like that. You weren’t upset by it.”

  “I’m a medical student, Kayl. I see dead bodies all the time.”

  “Not ones that have been murdered.”

  Lin shrugged. “Some of us are squeamish. Some of us aren’t. I guess I’m not. Sorry if it disappoints you.”

  “It’s not disappointment. It’s…”

  What was it? Surely she didn’t think Lin had anything to do with Laurence’s death?

  Lin rose from the bed. She went to the door and pushed it shut. She turned back to Kayla.

  “What about Gina?” Kayla asked. “The coffees?”

  “We need to be quick, Kayla. I don’t want her finding you like this.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like I left Laurence. Jenson, too. Bastards, both got what was coming to them.”

  “What?” Kayla breathed.

  Lin stood over the chair. She reached into her pocket.

  She held something out: white, wrapped in a scrap of clingfilm. Kayla shrank back.

  “Jenson gave you drugs, didn’t he?”

  “I don’t see what—” Kayla focused on the object in Lin’s hand.

  Lin grabbed Kayla’s arm with her free hand. Kayla tried to pull back but her friend was too strong. Lin’s knee went forward, into Kayla’s stomach.

  She cried out. “Lin! You’re hurting me!”

  Lin leaned on Kayla with her knee. She had Kayla’s arm in a lock, bent round at the side. Pain shot into her elbow.

  “Stop!”

  Lin pushed her hand into Kayla’s mouth, the white object still in it. Kayla sputtered. She shook her head violently, pushing Lin’s hand away.

  She took the deepest breath she could and screamed.

  Chapter One Hundred Eight

  Zoe approached the house, scanning the windows for movement. Mo was behind her.

  As she stepped onto the front path, she heard a scream. She ran for the front door and hammered on it.

  “Police! Let us in!”

  The screaming came again, muffled this time. Zoe turned to Mo. His eyes were wide.

  “Kayla?” he whispered.

  “No idea.” But whoever it was needed their help.

  She bent down and lifted the letterbox. A dog was barking inside.

  “Gina’s terrier,” said Mo. “Not dangerous.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” Zoe told him.

  “We have to go in there.”

  “Of course we do.”

  Connie was behind Mo, her body tense.

  “Connie, call for emergency response. Suspected assault under way at 34 Raddlebarn Road.”

  “Boss.” Connie stepped back and took out her phone.

  Zoe let the letterbox clatter shut. The house was quiet.

  “We need to be quick,” she muttered. She turned to Mo. “Stand back.”

  “We need the enforcer,” he said.

  “She needs us in there right now. I said stand back.”

  Mo did as he was told. Zoe took a few steps away from the door, eyeing it, sizing up the best target for her foot. She’d learned to kick in her karate lessons, but knew she could injure herself doing this with a solid wood door.

  She ran at the door and raised her leg, aiming her foot at the spot just under the latch. The door didn’t budge.

  “Damn.” She backed up again.

  “Zo,” said Mo. “It’s too heavy. We need to find another way in.”

  “You do that. Find a window. A back door. Anything.”

  Another scream, followed by yelling. It came from upstairs. Mo ran off. Connie finished her call.

  “Uniform six minutes away, boss.”

  Zoe nodded. She eyed the door again. She’d strike a little lower this time. She’d felt weakness there.

  As she began the run up to it, the door opened. Zoe managed to stop herself from bringing her leg up but couldn’t halt her momentum. She crashed into Gina Lennon, who was standing in the doorway.

  “I don’t know what’s happening,” Gina said. “There’s screaming…” She gestured up the stairs.

  Zoe ran past her. She heard a door burst open at the back of the house: Mo.

  “Where?” she snapped.

  “Back bedroom.”

  “Stay where you are. And shut that bloody dog up!”

  Zoe raced up the stairs and thundered into the door at the back. It gave, thank God. She stumbled into the room.

  Two women turned to look at her. Kayla sat in a chair by the window, her eyes wide. Lin stood over her, a wrap of drugs in her hand. Flecks of white ringed Kayla’s lips.

  “Police!” Zoe shouted. “Don’t move.” She dived in and grabbed Lin by the wrist. “Lin Johnson, you’re under arrest.”

  Chapter One Hundred Nine

  Zoe leaned against her car, watching as the flashing blue lights reflected off the house fronts. Kayla had been taken away in an ambulance: she needed to be observed, as neither she nor Lin had been able to say how much of the methamphetamine had got into her system.

&nb
sp; Lin was in a squad car parked outside the house. Zoe watched as it pulled out and drove off towards Harborne.

  Gina sat on the front step of the house, crying. Connie was next to her, her arm over the blanket that had been placed around the woman’s shoulders. Zoe still couldn’t be sure if Gina had really known nothing about what Lin had done, but she didn’t have the evidence to arrest her.

  She sighed and pulled her neck back to stare up at the sky. It was clear tonight, stars peppering the heavens.

  She had a call to make. Should have made it hours ago.

  She slid into the car as she dialled.

  “Zoe, you OK?”

  “Hi, Carl.” She felt her eyelids droop; the day had caught up with her.

  “You sound tired.”

  “I just made an arrest.”

  “The case at the university?”

  “The very same.”

  Silence. She stared out of the windscreen, watching two uniformed constables try to keep the neighbours away from the house. Connie squeezed Gina’s shoulder and guided her inside. A family liaison officer would arrive soon.

  “Zoe. You didn’t call me to sit in silence.”

  “I might have. It’s nice, companionable silence.”

  “I know it is. But you’ve just arrested someone, you’re buzzing with adrenaline. You’ll have an interview to do, paperwork to plough though. You’re not ringing me to pass the time of day.”

  “I’ve been passed some evidence.”

  “What kind of evidence?”

  “I’m going to send it to you now.” She had the photo ready to go on her phone. She hit share.

  “Who’s the woman?”

  “Her name is Alina Popescu. She’s the New Street bomber.”

  “Shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Where did you get this?”

  “The Hotel Belvista. Apparently. You’ll have to speak to Sheila Griffin.”

  “She found it?”

  “Her team did.”

  “She should have come direct to me.”

  “She knew about our relationship, Carl. She was wary of going to PSD, I guess.”