Dead to Me: A serial killer thriller (Detective Kate Matthews Crime Thriller Series Book 1)

by Stephen Edger

  ‘Can’t you work from home instead? That’s what Mum does when I’m too sick to go to school.’

  Kate glanced at her watch; her team would already be in and working, there was little choice. She phoned Laura and told her she would log on remotely and could be reached on her mobile.

  With Chloe belted in the car, she started the engine. She didn’t want to return to the flat until she’d spoken to an alarm installer, so followed the childminder’s advice and drove to the home of the only family she had in the area.

  Hilary was sitting up in bed reading when they arrived at the Happy Acres care home. As she looked up, Kate was taken aback by the mess of purple and yellow skin hanging from her mother’s small, narrow face. Nudging Chloe out of sight, she crouched down at her mother’s side, overcome with guilt at not coming sooner. ‘Oh, Mum. That looks so painful. Can I… Can I get you anything?’ she said, hopelessly.

  Her mother waved a dismissive hand. ‘I can take care of myself, dear.’

  Kate gazed around the room, regretting not stopping to buy some flowers, but kept returning to her mother’s face, unable to look away from the bruise. ‘I’m not sure the hospital should have sent you home so soon.’

  ‘I’m better off here than in some stuffy hospital ward. My things are here, and…’ Her words trailed off as a look of confusion passed over her.

  Kate continued to watch in silence as her mum returned to the book she’d been reading before she had come in. She knew that look, it was like London all over again.

  It was only after her father had died that Kate really started to notice her mother’s strange behaviour: constantly trying to declutter the house, forgetting to wash, and often disappearing for extended periods without warning. In hindsight, the symptoms had been there for years before, but her dad had done a lot to cover for the lack of affection and burnt dinners. Kate and her brother had done what they could to care for themselves and fill in the blanks, but when he left for university the symptoms worsened and Kate just couldn’t cope.

  She could still recall the morning she’d woken to find her school uniform in a bin liner in the dustbin. When she’d questioned her mother, she’d denied doing it, screaming at her and calling her a liar and a bitch. But there it was, the following morning, back in the bin. That was the moment Kate had started hiding her own possessions and locking her bedroom door when she was out of the house. Things only went downhill from there.

  A month or so later, Kate had returned from school to find the front door open and the house empty. She waited up until past midnight for her to return, and awoke on the sofa the following morning to find her still missing. Hilary had suddenly appeared as the police patrol car was pulling out of the driveway to go and look for her. She told them she’d worked a nightshift and that Kate must have forgotten. Kate was mortified, and couldn’t bring herself to try and persuade them otherwise.

  That was part of the problem. The erratic behaviour wasn’t there all the time, and unless anyone spent a considerable period of time with Hilary, they wouldn’t see the issues.

  When Kate graduated from police college, she begged her mother to seek medical help, knowing that her illness was far beyond her capabilities now. Of course, Hilary had refused. In the end, Kate had called the GP to visit and, despite Hilary’s protests, he had referred her to a specialist and then a home. Kate had to work hard to pay for her mother’s care, but by working such long hours she wasn’t able to care for her mother. It was a vicious cycle.

  ‘Mum?’ Kate said softly, stroking her hand.

  Hilary looked down at her, surprise turning to a smile. ‘Hello, dear, what are you doing here?’

  ‘I brought someone to see you.’ She ushered Chloe closer.

  Hilary removed her bifocals and rested them on the sheet. ‘Ah, little Katie. What a lovely surprise.’

  ‘No, Mum, I’m Kate, this is your granddaughter Chloe.’

  ‘What? Oh, of course. Hello, Chloe, dear.’

  Chloe remained where she was, squeezing Kate’s leg. ‘But it smells funny in here,’ she whispered.

  Kate couldn’t disagree. The faint smell of urine had hit the second she’d stepped into the room. How the care home could justify the extortionate monthly fee for residents was beyond her. The bedroom they were currently in was large enough for a single bed and a wardrobe, with the door to the en suite shower and toilet in the corner.

  Kate had vowed she’d never wind up in a place like this, where each of the rooms had the same maroon-coloured carpet and floral-patterned wallpaper, but her mother had accepted it, at last, and that was all that mattered really.

  She decided to lie, for Chloe’s sake. ‘They spray all these rooms with air freshener. That’s all it is.’

  ‘I don’t want to stay here. I want to go home.’

  ‘It’s not safe there at the moment. Listen, I really need to do some work. You know, your grandma is really good at telling stories and she has a stash of sweeties that the nurses don’t know about. I bet, if you asked her really nicely, she’d read you a story and give you some sweets.’

  Kate lifted her onto the bed, and moved a chair to the far side of the room, before turning on her laptop. She plugged in her mobile to use as a modem, and opened a new web page. She half-expected the online portal to load up with a new message, but was relieved when it didn’t. She typed in her password and opened her work emails. The connection from her phone was ridiculously slow, but it would have to do.

  The first email was from DC Olly Quinlan, who said he’d found footage of Eleanor’s 4x4 being left at the supermarket car park, but unfortunately the image of the individual exiting the vehicle was grainy at best. Olly described him as taller than the vehicle, so close to six feet in height, wearing a jacket, with the hood pulled up: facial recognition was a no-go.

  Kate cursed under her breath. At least it restricted the window. Assuming he dumped the car immediately after leaving the pub, then Eleanor Jacobs was dead by six a.m. on Thursday morning, as the pathologist had estimated. Olly concluded that the 4x4 was fitted with a GPS security tag, and that the High Tech Crime Unit were hoping to be able to trace its location in the hours before death, to help narrow down where he’d abducted her.

  A tentative knock caused the three of them to turn, as the care home’s manager popped his head around the door. ‘Hello everyone. Ms Matthews, I wonder if I could have a word with you in private.’

  Kate looked over to Chloe. ‘Will you be okay if I just go and talk to the man? I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

  Chloe nodded as she placed a second marshmallow in her mouth.

  Kate followed the manager back to his office, and sat when he directed. His dark hair was carefully sculpted into a quiff, and resembled the plastic hairpieces worn by Lego figures. She’d never liked him. He oozed smarm and smugness, always so submissive to the clients who paid the vast fees to offload their parents.

  ‘Thank you for stopping by. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but there is a matter I need to discuss with you.’ He placed a piece of paper on the desk in front of her.

  She stared down at the bill. ‘This again? I’ve told you before, my brother and I share the cost of our mother’s care here. If he hasn’t paid his half, you need to take it up with him.’

  ‘Here at Happy Acres, we operate a no credit policy. I’m afraid if this bill can’t be settled by the end of this week, we will have to evict your mother.’

  ‘Why am I only just hearing about this now? Why didn’t you inform me sooner there was an issue?’

  ‘We tried. We phoned several times, and left messages but didn’t hear back from you.’

  ‘This isn’t anything to do with me. It’s my brother you should be contacting. I’ve paid my half.’

  ‘It isn’t the home’s policy to become embroiled in our client’s financial affairs. If you can arrange for settlement this week, we can forget all about this issue.’

  ‘You have my brother’s number. Why don
’t you phone him about it?’

  ‘Your brother still lives in Scotland, doesn’t he?’

  ‘Edinburgh, yes, but they have phones there as well.’

  ‘Yes,’ the smarm was back, ‘even so, you are listed as your mother’s primary contact point, so we will always contact you first. If there are financial difficulties, there are other less expensive facilities in the area. I can refer your mother’s care to one of them if you’d—’

  Kate dropped her credit card on the table. ‘Can you charge it to that? And I’ll have to get my sod of a brother to pay me back.’

  His eyes lit up as he picked up the credit card. ‘I did try to phone your brother directly, but the number we had on file for him didn’t work. Do you know if he’s changed his mobile number?’

  It had been months since she’d actually spoken to her brother directly. Usually they exchanged birthday and Christmas cards, but little else. He had a decent job; there was no way he shouldn’t be paying his half of their mother’s care.

  ‘I’ll get hold of him, don’t worry,’ she said, as he passed her a paddle and asked her to key in her PIN. The device whirred and spouted out a receipt, which he tore off and handed to her.

  ‘That’s great. Thank you for your understanding,’ he said, giving her a fake smile.

  She didn’t want to hang around for his usual charm offensive. Now that he’d got his payment, his smugness was back on full volume. She made her excuses and headed back to her mother’s room.

  ‘Sorry I took so lo—’ Kate stopped when she saw that the room was empty.

  Her mother and Chloe were gone.

  40

  Lost in a maze of magnolia-coloured walls, Kate pounded the corridors looking for Chloe, calling out her name and trying to hold back the panic in her voice. They had to be in here somewhere. It wasn’t as if strangers were allowed to come in: this place was like a fortress.

  She hadn’t passed them on her way back from the manager’s office, so they couldn’t have gone out the front door. She could hear her own voice getting louder, so much so a nurse stopped and asked what was wrong.

  ‘I’m looking for my daughter and my mother. Have you seen them?’

  ‘You’re Hilary’s daughter, aren’t you?’

  ‘That’s right, yes.’

  ‘I’m pretty sure I saw Hilary heading for lunch. I’ll take you to her.’

  Kate sighed with relief, and followed the young nurse along a different corridor and towards the smell of roast chicken.

  The nurse held the door open, and led Kate through to a room with several square tables, each with four residents seated around them. ‘Here you go. Hilary, your daughter is here.’

  Kate’s mother put down her knife and fork, before turning to look at her. ‘Tracey, what are you doing here? Have you left mother in charge of the salon again?’

  Kate waited for the nurse to leave, before crouching down next to her mother. ‘Mum, I’m not your sister, Tracey. I’m your daughter, Kate. Remember? I came here today with your granddaughter, Chloe. Mum, I need you to concentrate. Where is Chloe?’

  ‘Where’s who, dear?’

  ‘Chloe. Your granddaughter.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, dear. Could you come back later? I’m in the middle of my lunch now. I’ll chat with you when I’m finished.’

  Kate looked around the room to make sure she hadn’t missed the six-year-old sitting at one of the other tables. ‘Mum, please, I need you to listen to what I am saying. I left you with Chloe in your room. It was ten minutes ago, at most. I need you to tell me where she is.’

  ‘I don’t like your tone. You’re speaking to me like I’m stupid.’

  Kate gritted her teeth. ‘Where is Chloe, Mum?’

  ‘If this is some kind of joke, I don’t understand it. How you’ve got time to leave that salon to come here and crack jokes, I don’t know.’ She picked up the knife and fork and continued eating, and took up whatever conversation she’d been having before Kate’s interruption.

  ‘Please, Mum. I just need the real you back for a moment. Please, just tell me where my daughter is.’

  A terrifying thought popped into her head.

  Without a second passing, she was on her feet, sprinting from the dining room, back along the corridor, and then along the second corridor, to her mother’s room. She burst through the door and grabbed the laptop. The emailed report she’d been reading earlier stared back at her from the screen. There was no message from the stalker.

  She dropped to her knees, the laptop slipping from her hands and crashing to the floor. It felt as if someone had reached in and torn out her insides. The pain was so deep, so agonisingly physical, as though she’d never have relief. The room closed in around her.

  She’d warned Rob that she wasn’t fit to take care of Chloe. She’d sensed deep down that something like this would happen. Whenever she allowed someone close to her, she ended up losing them: her father’s death, her mother’s dementia, her brother’s absence, Rob’s affair, Amy Spencer’s murder, and now, worst of all, she’d lost her own daughter. And she had absolutely no clue where she was, or how to get her back.

  As hard as she tried to balance her responsibilities, she continued to fail at life. In the past, she’d always hidden behind her career, but even her professional life was in pieces. And though it seemed insignificant now, with Chloe missing, she couldn’t help thinking that if she couldn’t find Eleanor Jacobs’s killer, she could kiss her job goodbye. She rocked back and forth, too numb to cry.

  A noise.

  Her head snapped round at the sound of someone coming into the room.

  ‘CHLOE!’ She laughed hysterically, her eyes brimming. She wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and never let go, but her body wouldn’t move. Opening her arms wide, she tried to call to her, but the words wouldn’t come out.

  She held her breath, and her heart felt as if it would burst as Chloe sheepishly stepped into the room, followed by the young nurse Kate had spoken to earlier.

  ‘Does this young lady belong to you?’ the nurse asked, with an empathetic smile.

  Nodding vigorously, Kate opened her arms wider, as Chloe rushed into them. ‘Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. I thought I’d lost you. Where did you go? Where were you?’

  The nurse interjected. ‘One of our volunteers found her wandering the corridors and brought her over to me. The corridors in this place look so similar, it’s easy to get confused. They really should change the décor.’

  Kate squeezed her daughter tight, taken aback by the euphoria spreading through her. ‘I was terrified. Why did you wander off?’

  The nurse coughed gently. ‘Don’t be too hard on her; I don’t think it was her fault. From what she told Greg, when the lunchtime bell sounded, Hilary got up and left. A lot of the residents become institutionalised in here. They know to go to the dining room when the bell sounds. It’s actually pretty funny: we test the fire alarm here every Wednesday, and we always find at least half the residents in the dining room immediately after. I guess the bell distracted your mum, and she left Chloe in the room. Chloe told Greg she was looking for you when he found her. The main thing is she’s back now, and no harm came to her.’

  ‘Greg, the volunteer?’

  ‘Yes, he comes in and reads to some of our residents. He’s very popular.’

  Kate nodded at the nurse. ‘That’s right. I think one of your colleagues mentioned him. Please pass on my thanks.’

  ‘I will do.’ She closed the door as she left.

  Kate looked into Chloe’s eyes. ‘You really frightened me, Chloe. Are you okay?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Good. I’m sorry you got lost. I won’t let that happen again. Do you hear me? I promise: from this moment forward, I won’t let you out of my sight.’

  41

  ‘I’m hungry,’ Chloe whined gently, tugging Kate’s hand. ‘Wake up.’

  It took Kate a moment to register where she was, but as she rubbed her
eyes and let out a yawn, she recognised her living room, and the sweet face of Chloe on the sofa next to her.

  ‘The film has finished,’ Chloe continued. ‘Can I have something to eat?’

  Kate glanced towards the window, trying to determine just how late in the day it was. She couldn’t remember falling asleep, but she could recall the final moments of her nightmare before Chloe had woken her.

  Kate studied her watch. ‘It’s nearly five, do you want an early dinner?’

  Chloe nodded eagerly. ‘Can I have my cartoons on now, too?’

  Kate could see the credits rolling across the television screen. ‘Of course, of course. Did you enjoy the film?’

  ‘It was so good. Have you seen it before?’

  She couldn’t even remember what film had been playing, but gently shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘I love Anna and Elsa,’ Chloe said before breaking into a chorus of “Let It Go”.

  They’d waited at Happy Acres until Hilary had returned to her room, but with her mum continuing to call her Tracey, and getting increasingly distressed, Kate had been left with little choice but to bring Chloe home, promising she could watch one of the DVDs Rob had sent with her. As Chloe had settled down to watch Frozen, Kate had loaded up her laptop, trawling through Fenton’s known associates, looking for any clue that might confirm he’d killed Watson. It wasn’t her case, but she couldn’t ignore the photograph that had been left in her flat. Hendrix could be wrong to dismiss him as a suspect.

  The laptop was still on her lap, but the screen was black. She yawned again and forced herself to stand, carrying the laptop through to the charger in the kitchen and switching on the kettle. Chloe followed a moment later.

  ‘What do you fancy for your supper?’

  Chloe shrugged. ‘Pizza?’

  Kate clicked her fingers. ‘I like that suggestion, young lady.’ She wasn’t in the mood to cook, so reached for a takeaway menu, hanging from a fridge magnet. She was about to pick up the phone and order, when the front door buzzer sounded.

  She wasn’t expecting a visitor.

  She could feel the blood draining from her face. ‘Chloe,’ she whispered, ‘go to your room and close the door.’