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

by Stephen Edger

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Harold Watson.’

  She stifled the urge to burst out laughing. ‘Wait, you think Watson was a police informant? No way!’

  He was nodding rapidly. ‘That’s why I started seeing Nicola on the side. I thought if I got close to her, he might let something slip, but I didn’t find anything. Watson was livid. We were only messing about, but I made him think it was more. I needed to turn up the heat on him and see if any cracks appeared. I phoned him on Monday night and told him that the copper in protective custody had reached out to me: he was ready to name the informer on our side. I told Watson I was meeting the turncoat at my warehouse. I wanted him to fear that his lies would be exposed. I figured that if he went to the warehouse, I’d have enough proof that it was him. I waited in the car park for him to leave.’

  ‘Nicola said she followed him to the docks.’

  ‘She did. We were a couple of cars behind her. I saw Watson enter the warehouse. About five minutes later, I saw another figure pull up and enter, but it was too dark to see who it was. I stayed in my car, waiting for Watson to come back out, so I could confront him, but he didn’t.’

  Kate remained sceptical. Although it worked with what she already knew, she had to remember who she was talking to. ‘What happened to this other person?’

  He looked genuinely concerned. ‘I don’t know. I hung around waiting for them to emerge, but panicked when I saw flames licking the side of the building. I scarpered because I knew what your lot would think if I was found anywhere near the scene.’

  Kate shook her head. ‘I’m not convinced it proves anything.’

  ‘Whoever he met at the warehouse killed him. If I wanted Watson dead, I wouldn’t do it somewhere that would shine a light on me. And you definitely wouldn’t have found the body.’

  She closed her eyes and pretended she hadn’t heard. ‘Who was the man he met with?’

  ‘I don’t know. I told you: it was too dark to see what he looked like. That’s why I need your help. Whoever killed Watson is either on the inside, or works for someone who is.’

  62

  Kate shook her head. ‘No, I’m not buying it.’

  ‘You think I’m making this shit up?’

  ‘Why not? You’re facing life in prison for murder, you’d say anything to keep yourself out of the clink.’

  ‘I swear to you, I’m not lying. What’s it going to take for me to convince you?’

  ‘For starters, why did Nicholson say you were at his party when you weren’t?’

  ‘He’s not technically lying. I was there at the start. I even left Jimmy and Len there to cover. Once the fire started, I headed back to Nicholson’s party.’

  ‘But his statement was so shaky.’

  ‘He owes me a lot of money. I told him to confirm I’d never left and I’d wipe it out.’

  ‘Now that’s something I can believe, but it still doesn’t mean the rest isn’t horse shit.’

  He leaned closer to her. ‘But think about it. When you consider everything I’ve told you about my relationship with Watson, and everything you know about the fire, isn’t there even a little part of you that thinks it’s all a bit too convenient? One crook kills another in his warehouse and torches the place. You have to know I wouldn’t be so careless. Do you really think someone like me has managed to avoid significant prison time without learning how to cover himself?’

  She couldn’t argue against the point. She was done burying her own doubts about the case. And despite her misgivings about Fenton’s background and possible motive for confiding in her, his body language supported his argument. But could she trust him?

  He stood to pace the room. ‘Tell me, honestly, what led you to my house yesterday?’

  What was it they said about the enemy of my enemy being my friend? If the stalker had set up Fenton to take the fall then it was possible Fenton could help her identify him. It was too good a chance for her to ignore.

  She took a deep breath ‘Someone broke into my house, tied me up and put a knife to my throat. He told me that you’d killed Watson and stashed the machete at your house. He said if I didn’t get you in to custody, he’d return and kill my daughter.’

  He stopped pacing. ‘You serious? Jesus!’

  ‘I believe the same person has been slipping me intelligence linking you with two other murders in the last week.’

  ‘Who were the other victims?’

  ‘A nurse who treated you at the general hospital a couple of weeks ago, and a defence barrister called Eleanor Jacobs.’

  ‘But I don’t know these people. I swear to God, I didn’t kill any of them! You have to believe me now, surely?’

  ‘I have footage of the first victim treating you. You were in hospital recently?’

  ‘Um, yeah I was. The Thursday before last, I’d been in a fight and sprained my wrist.’

  ‘Who treated you?’

  ‘I don’t know, some Chinese girl, I think. Is that who you mean? Is she dead?’

  Kate nodded. ‘Drowned. Her body was found on Sunday morning.’

  ‘Fuck!’ He ran a hand over his stubble. ‘What about the other one? The lawyer: I don’t recognise her name.’

  ‘Eleanor Jacobs. It may not be the same killer. I don’t know yet.’

  ‘You have to help me, Kate. I swear on my life I’m not lying to you. Someone is seriously fucking with me.’

  She turned and looked at the door, quietly aware she couldn’t hear Chloe giggling anymore. ‘With us both, I think. It must be someone close to you.’

  ‘Like who?’

  Her gaze returned to Fenton. ‘Jimmy Torero, maybe?’

  He snorted. ‘Jimmy? Ha! Jimmy’s not smart enough to organise something like this.’

  Kate rolled her neck to relieve the tension in her shoulders. ‘Okay, if not him then someone else in your crew? I don’t know, but whoever it is, they’re pretty determined. Slips around like a ghost, avoiding detection. Sound like anyone you know?’

  ‘Do you think if I knew who’d set me up, I’d be hiding away in this old place?’

  ‘I don’t know what to believe anymore. I feel like the answer is staring me in the face, but I can’t see what it is.’ She stood, keen to check on Chloe. ‘I need something to drink.’

  ‘I’ll get you something.’ He opened the door out to the corridor and shouted for Len. When no answer was returned, they both stepped out and saw the front door wide open.

  Kate sprinted to the kitchen, calling out Chloe’s name. Len’s eyes shot open.

  ‘Where’s my daughter?’

  He looked around the room, expecting her to emerge, but when she didn’t, he could only shrug.

  Kate raced outside. She’d promised not to take her eyes off Chloe, but here she was again.

  Fenton appeared beside her. ‘Don’t worry: we’ll find her.’

  ‘But she knows not to go outside by herself. What if he’s taken her?’

  ‘Nobody knows we’re here. You go left, and I’ll go right.’

  Kate ran off to the left of the bungalow, anxiously calling out Chloe’s name. She reached the end of the cul-de-sac, but there was still no sign of her. She turned and ran back up the road, past the bungalow and back in Fenton’s direction. The road bent to the right, but to the left she spotted a field of green, and beyond it, a park. About a hundred metres away, she saw Fenton crouched low, talking to Chloe.

  Kate’s heart skipped a beat as she raced forwards, not knowing whether to laugh or cry as she embraced her daughter. ‘You shouldn’t have gone off alone, Chloe. Do you know how worried I was?’

  ‘I’m sorry. The old man fell asleep in the kitchen and I was bored. I spotted the climbing frame from the kitchen window, and thought it would be okay if I went to play. I knew how to get back.’

  ‘You mustn’t go off without telling a grown-up first.’

  ‘Don’t be too hard on her,’ Fenton offered. ‘The important thing is she’s okay.’

  She scowled at
him. ‘Unless you have anything else to tell me, I want to be taken back to my car. Now.’

  63

  He’d found the Audi, but no trace of Kate. His time was up, this needed to end tonight.

  At the end of the corridor, he knocks on the door and lets himself in. She looks up from her book and smiles when she realises who it is.

  ‘Hello, Greg dear. I didn’t realise you’d be dropping by today. Did I forget we were meeting?’

  He nods. ‘I thought we could go for a little trip. The doctor thought a bit of fresh air would do you some good.’

  64

  Kate cuddled Chloe up close to her as the van bounced along the road. She had no reason to trust a lowlife like Fenton, but she knew deep down he was telling the truth. And that meant whoever had been threatening her was trying to protect the real killer, or could be the very person who’d killed Yen, Watson, and Jacobs. Someone familiar with their procedures and with each of the victims; someone desperate to pin the blame on Fenton.

  Chloe snuggled into Kate’s chest, and pulled Kate’s protective arm closer.

  Of all the twists the week had taken, her feelings for Chloe had been the biggest surprise. She’d been so afraid when Rob had suggested she look after their daughter for a few days, but now she wasn’t sure she wanted to let her go back to her father. It was a ridiculous thought. Her all too dangerous job, long hours at the office and complete lack of structure were not lifestyle choices that lent themselves to raising a child. In Oxford, Chloe had a routine: she had school, she had friends, and she had two guardians who cared dearly for her. In Southampton, all she had was the woman who’d made her but never dreamed she could care for her. And, in many ways, she was right; in just a week in Kate’s care Chloe had been taken, threatened, and offloaded to a childminder. But something in Kate had suddenly clicked; Chloe being around her was risky, but there no one who wanted to protect her more.

  Kate kissed the top of her head. ‘I’m sorry that we never made it to the beach today.’

  ‘That’s okay. I know it wasn’t your fault.’

  ‘I was thinking – and you can say no, if you want to – I don’t want you to feel any pressure in answering the question, but what would you think about the two of us going on holiday somewhere soon. Together. Just you and me. Is that something you might like to do?’

  ‘Where to?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’d have to check with your dad that it’s okay, but wherever you’d like to go. Is that something you’d like to do?’

  Chloe didn’t answer, but squeezed her arms tightly around Kate’s waist.

  The van slowed, and finally stopped. The driver slid open the door and helped the two of them out. Kate went straight for her phone in the boot, relieved that the car was still in one piece.

  She’d missed calls from Ben, the supe, and an unknown number. She ignored the list and opened an Internet search browser.

  There’d been no windows in the back of the van, and she’d had no idea what route the driver had taken to return them to the services, but she did know something they didn’t realise. When they’d been searching for Chloe at the park, Kate had seen the name of the road the bungalow was on. And as she’d led Chloe back to the house afterwards, she’d seen the bungalow’s number. She knew it wouldn’t take much searching to discover the postcode and area of 13 Mawkes Close.

  Her search was interrupted by Ben, calling from the mortuary. She reluctantly accepted the call.

  ‘Kate? I’ve had a look at Olivia Yen’s post-mortem report and I’ve found a link to Eleanor Jacobs. As well as the traces of flunitrazepam in both blood samples, the same ammonia solution was used to clean away the killer’s DNA from both crime scenes.’

  65

  ‘The victims are the key to identifying our killer.’ Kate stepped back from the whiteboard in the lab. She’d written the three names beneath the autopsy photographs of the victims that Ben had stuck up.

  Ben was the first to interject. ‘Identify the killer? I thought we were trying to link them to Fenton.’

  Kate had rushed home from the services and reluctantly left an exhausted Chloe being watched by an even more reluctant Trish. ‘I don’t believe Fenton did it.’

  Laura sat forward. ‘What’s changed? You were utterly convinced yesterday.’

  Kate hadn’t explained where she’d spent the day. ‘I spoke with him earlier—’

  Laura leaped to her feet. ‘Where is he? There’s an arrest warrant out for him. If you know where he is, you need to—’

  ‘He didn’t do it, Laura. I can see that now.’

  ‘What about the murder weapon being at his house? And the DVD of him with Yen. What about Torero’s tip-off?’

  She could have wasted the next ten minutes explaining but she settled for raising her hands. ‘I was wrong. I still believe the crimes are linked and that we’re looking for a single perpetrator, but it isn’t Fenton. Please just trust me: he didn’t do it.’

  Laura’s face knotted with confusion. ‘Tell me you have someone else in the frame.’

  ‘Yes and no. I’m starting to piece together a profile of the killer in my mind.’ She stepped to a clean piece of the board and wrote ‘Killer,’ drawing a large question mark where a photograph would hang. ‘He’s told us a lot about his nature by his actions: he drugged Yen and Jacobs with flunitrazepam, so they wouldn’t give him any trouble. Does that mean he was worried they would overpower him? I don’t think that’s the reason. When he broke into my flat and threatened me—’

  ‘What?’ Laura shouted.

  ‘There’s a lot you don’t know, Laura. Just hear me out.’ She paused and began scribbling on the board. ‘I didn’t get a look at his face, but I’d say he was at least six feet tall.’ She closed her eyes and focused on the memory. ‘He stank of cigarettes and kept wheezing. That he managed to break into my flat without leaving a trace suggests he is familiar with gaining access to homes. So possibly a history of burglary.’

  Laura was shaking her head in disbelief.

  Kate could see the hurt look in her eyes, and fought the urge to reach out to her. ‘He left photographs in my home. Images we hadn’t managed to dig up in either investigation, which means he has access to resources we don’t have. He is familiar with hacking computers and proficient with technology. Remember what we said about Jacobs’s killer: he was patient and methodical. Her death was meticulously planned and executed, but there was a ruthlessness to the way in which he beheaded Watson. Whatever his reasons for killing, there was more anger in his dispatching of Watson, and more revulsion in what he did to Jacobs. That tells us about his personality. This is not a normal individual. But it might be that he keeps that side of his personality hidden. The most successful sociopaths compartmentalise their darker sides and can live undetected for years.’

  Laura was studying the board. ‘Watson and Jacobs were left where he’d killed them, but he moved Yen’s body. He cleaned any traces of DNA from her with ammonia solution, suggesting he knows what we’d look for.’

  Kate snapped her fingers. ‘Good, yes.’ She added it to the board. ‘He wanted us to pin this on Fenton: staging Watson’s execution and hiding the murder weapon at Fenton’s home. He has a vendetta against Fenton for some reason. He wants to see Fenton suffer.’

  Ben had been sitting back, carefully observing the analysis. ‘I don’t see how this helps us find him.’

  ‘It helps narrow down our potential pool of suspects. We need to look at those people connected to the victims again. He won’t be easy to find; he’s done too good a job of keeping his identity a secret, but I think… I think he wants me to find him.’

  ‘Why?’

  Kate couldn’t explain why. ‘It’s just a feeling. He’s always been several steps ahead of us from the start. He thinks he’s clever, and he’s enjoyed stringing us along, but he wants notoriety. I think he wants the truth to come out. That’s why he’s been playing this game. If he just wanted Fenton arrested for the three crimes he
’d have phoned in anonymous tips to the weapon and the security camera footage. Every contact he’s made with me over the last week has been building up to this.’

  ‘This?’ Laura asked.

  ‘I think he has one final murder in mind, and he wants us to see it. All of this has been for a reason. He’s putting on a show, and we’re his audience. We just have to figure out who, where and why before it’s too late.’

  66

  Ben had listed each of the victim’s vitals beneath their images on the board: age, place of birth, height, body mass, eye colour, home address, and nationality. He passed Kate the pen and retook his seat. The three of them studied the information, looking for anything that pinpointed why the killer had chosen each victim.

  Kate asked Ben: ‘Do you have a map? It would be useful to match their home addresses.’

  ‘I don’t think so, but I could probably print one off. I’ll be back in a second.’ He left the room.

  Kate made them fresh cups of coffee, wishing it was something stronger. ‘Maybe I should have asked Patel to join us, but he would have said no. You’re risking enough just by being here.’

  Laura batted the concern away with a wave of her hand. ‘I can look after myself. Besides, I haven’t seen Patel all afternoon.’

  ‘How come? He was in the office at this morning’s brief.’

  ‘The supe took him off for a word just before lunch, and then we didn’t see him again afterwards.’

  ‘He wouldn’t have come here anyway. Tell me, what did you manage to dig up on that newspaper clipping found with the photographs at Yen’s house?’

  Laura pulled out the large notepad she’d been using all day, and turned over several pages. ‘Bill Corsky was a former telephone engineer and convicted sex offender. He spent fourteen years inside for grooming and assaulting three boys under the age of thirteen. But he’s not our killer. He died three years ago.’

  ‘Even so, I can’t see how he fits in to this. Why leave that article at Yen’s house?’

  ‘Assuming the killer did leave it there. We don’t know for sure.’