The Ghost House

by Helen Phifer

  ‘Are we sure she isn’t sulking somewhere, making him feel bad?’ Kav pulled the folded-up incident log from his trouser pocket and began to read. ‘Not according to her sister. Emma wouldn’t worry her, they are very close and she would have told her she wasn’t coming home. It’s all wrong, Will, two girls have gone and, as much as it pains me to say this, I don’t think they are still breathing, if you get my drift. I reckon we have a serious problem and one I hoped I would never see in my career.’

  Will did get his drift and he felt the same. Another van arrived and they turned to watch as the dog handler let Molly out of her cage. The dog was given one of Emma’s blouses to smell and then told to go find. It did a couple of circles then headed towards the museums entrance where after a brief sniff around it came back and sat down beginning to whine.

  ‘Terrific,’ muttered Will. ‘The bloody dog hasn’t got a clue either.’

  There wasn’t much more he could do here. They would keep the area closed for a while longer but at this moment they didn’t know if it was a crime scene. He left by the other exit not wanting to face Jake again, not until he’d calmed down. Will tried ringing Annie but it went straight to voicemail. He had to let her know something bad was happening around here and to keep the doors locked. He didn’t want her getting caught up in it.

  Chapter 17

  Mary Grieve walked her dog every day at seven in the morning and seven at night, regular as clockwork. She had done for the last five years, since she had been given the puppy as an anniversary present from her late husband. Her grandson had bought her a shiny fuchsia pink iPod shuffle for Christmas and put all of her favourite songs onto it. He even had the words ‘Best Nan xxx’ engraved on the back of it. She didn’t understand how it worked but all the same it was the best piece of modern technology she had ever been bought.

  As she passed the old paper mill, dormant for at least forty years, she paused. Spot was acting strange this morning; his hackles rising he began to whine. Pulling her earphones out she looked around. Mary didn’t get scared – well very rarely. She had lived through World War II and a car crash in which her husband had been killed. No, she was a survivor and believed that when your time came that was it and there was nothing you could do about it. She had studied the buildings over the years and had seen it all: smacked up druggies so off their heads that they were asleep in puddles of their own urine; drunken teenagers getting frisky and doing things which made her hair stand on end. And then she saw the girl inside the doorway to one of the buildings and gasped.

  ‘Hello, lovey, are you OK? I’m going to call an ambulance, you hold on there.’ The lifeless, naked body made Mary sob out loud. As she got nearer to it she knew there was nothing she could do to help this poor girl but she had to keep talking as if there was otherwise for the first time in sixty years she might lose control and that would never do. As she got closer she shuddered at the girl’s open eyes, which stared straight at her. They were locked forever in the nightmare that had ended her life. Her forehead was a mess of grazes and dried blood. Mary took off her jacket and covered the girl as best as she could to give her some dignity. She couldn’t let the poor thing be stared at by every Tom, Dick and Harry. Mary dialled 999. Not sure who to ask for so she asked for all three emergency services.

  Will grinned as he squeezed his car into the last free parking space near to the station and then his phone rang. It was a control room operator to tell him that an emergency call had come in from Salthouse Mill’s reporting a dead body.

  ‘Crap, I’ll be there in a minute.’ He pulled back out and followed the flashing lights of an ambulance and a fire engine to the crime scene, wondering who the hell had phoned the fire service; not much they could do. He parked behind the ambulance and watched the paramedics as they jumped out of it and made their way over to a uniformed officer who must have been first on scene. Will got out and opened the boot to take a pair of the blue paper overalls from his emergency stash. After fighting for a minute to get his arms and legs into the thing without bursting it at the seams, he slipped on some boot covers and a pair of latex gloves. He was relieved to see the officer had taped the area off and was actually holding a pale green scene log. He noticed an elderly lady sitting in the back of a patrol car. She had a small Shih Tzu on her lap. Will rustled his way over to the officer who was just signing the paramedics back out of the crime scene.

  ‘Has death been pronounced?’

  The paramedic nodded to confirm. ‘We’ll leave it in your capable hands, poor lass.’ They went back to sit in the ambulance and complete their paperwork until they were told they could leave the scene.

  ‘Sarge, I only went in there to lead the old lady who found her away from the scene and sit her in the back of the car. Nothing has been touched apart from Mary placing her coat over the body to give her some privacy, but she said she never physically touched her.’

  ‘Excellent, well done, mate. It’s nice to see that someone actually paid attention on their training.’

  The officer, who looked about nineteen, smiled.

  Will ducked under the tape. This wasn’t how he had envisaged meeting Jenna White. As he got closer he focused on her face, it was hard to tell. Teenage girls change so much and she had no make-up on. He thought this girl looked a little bit too old to be Jenna but he couldn’t be sure, he would need her parents to make a positive ID. It was then that he looked at the blood-soaked matted hair.

  ‘Fuck.’

  This girl had long brown hair; Jenna’s was brown but shorter, more spiked. He stepped back feeling defeated. This thing was something bigger than he had ever dealt with. There was nothing he could do now until CSI arrived to work their magic. Debs was the only one on call for South Cumbria. Like every other department they were short-staffed and she was tied up at the other scene so wouldn’t be allowed to process this one for fear of cross-contamination. It would be at least an hour before they drafted someone in.

  He looked around. There were no obvious signs of anything being left behind; just the body. He turned to walk back to the patrol car and to speak to the old lady while he waited. He opened the car door.

  ‘Mrs Grieve, my name is Will, I’m a Detective Sergeant with the police. That must have been quite a shock for you. How are you doing? Do you need any medical assistance?’

  ‘Just call me Mary; Mrs Grieve makes me sound ancient. To be honest with you, young man, I’m not actually sure how I’m doing. How could someone do that to such a pretty young thing? What is this world coming to?’

  ‘I know, it makes me sick to my stomach. It’s dreadful. Mary, can you tell me exactly what happened?’ He listened as she described everything in minute detail; she was precise and straight to the point. ‘Mary, when you were walking on your way here did you pass anyone in a car or a van, any cyclists?’

  She shook her head. ‘Not a soul. Usually there is the odd person around but this morning it was just me, Spot and that poor girl.’

  ‘Thank you, Mary. I’m going to get someone to drive you home now. An officer will come and speak with you later and take a statement. Is that OK?’

  ‘Yes that’s fine and thank you, officer, but I can walk. Spot needs his exercise and so do I. I will be in all day until I walk him again at seven.’

  Will smiled at her and she nodded her head. ‘If you’re sure, it’s up to you.’ He watched her untangle some earphones and then push them into her ears.

  ‘I’m positive, thank you, Just make sure you catch the monster who has done this because until you do I don’t think I will sleep at night.’ She stepped out of the car and walked off briskly pulling the small dog behind her.

  It took six long hours before the body could be removed from the scene and taken by the undertakers to the pathology lab at the hospital. Six long hours of the scene being guarded and processed. The officers left at the scene all bowed their heads as a mark of respect when the undertakers wheeled the gurney past them with the girl’s body and loaded her into
the back of a waiting black Mondeo estate.

  In the last two hours quite a crowd had gathered, which meant more officers and PCSOs had to attend to keep the scene secure. The local press were here. The guy Will hated had been caught trying to sneak around the back and take photos of the body. For once Stu had used his initiative and arrested the prick for obstruction and had him handcuffed in the back of a van where he was shouting about public interest and freedom of speech. No doubt the custody sergeant would have a hissy fit and let him go without charge but at least he was taken care of for now. When they had done what could be done they left the scene to be guarded by the PCSOs so they could go back to the station for a briefing. Will was angry, hungry and fed up. When they got out of the meeting and everyone had been given multiple tasks Will and Stu headed back to their office.

  ‘I’m starving, Will, should we go up to the hospital canteen for some breakfast before we have to go to the path lab for the post mortem?’

  ‘Stu, that is a bloody brilliant idea. That’s twice in one morning you’ve excelled yourself. Don’t make a habit of it though, I can’t take the excitement.’

  Will had just come off the phone to the White family liaison officer to let them know that a body had been found but it did not match Jenna’s description. He didn’t want them hearing about it on Facebook or anywhere else. Laura and Paul, who had recently done their family liaison officer training, had been dispatched to prepare Emma’s family for the worst and to bring them up to the hospital to see if they could identify her. Will felt like crap, his head was banging and he wanted it all to be over.

  Derek Edmondson was sitting at the table drinking his second cup of tea. The Times was laid out in front of him but he wasn’t reading it. He needed to find the woman and the only thing he could think of was to go to the police station and ask for some help. He didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

  Chapter 18

  Will and Stu had missed the all-day full English breakfast: the cook had just removed the last pieces of bacon as they joined the queue so they both opted for steak pie and chips.

  ‘Glad to see you eating healthy, Stu. Debs hasn’t managed to convert you to that eat no carbs for the rest of your life diet then?’

  Stu laughed, spitting flakes of pastry all over the table. ‘Come on, Will, seriously do I look like I do everything my wife tells me to?’

  Will took a moment to consider the question. ‘Yes, actually you do but I’d never hold it against you.’

  Shoving a huge forkful of chips into his mouth Stu mumbled, ‘Get lost.’

  They finished eating at the same time, stood up and wiped their mouths on some paper napkins. Carrying their trays over to the big trolley near to the counter Will turned to thank the women behind it who all blushed simultaneously.

  Once they were outside Stu lowered his voice. ‘How do you do it? How come every woman you speak to goes red and gets their knickers in a twist? I don’t think you’re that fantastic, no offence and all that. I suppose you’re not bad for your age. I even asked Debs the other night and she said she didn’t know, there was just something about you.’

  ‘What do you mean? Every woman I speak to does not get like that at all, you soft git.’

  Stu rolled his eyes. ‘All right then, tell me one who doesn’t get all giggly around you.’

  Will could think of one but couldn’t say her name because Stu would tell Debs and she would tell someone else and within ten minutes the whole station would know and he didn’t want to cause Annie any embarrassment. He shook his head. ‘None of them, do you daft bugger.’

  Stu scrunched up his face. ‘Unbelievable, you don’t even care do you?’

  They walked the rest of the way to the pathology lab in silence; Stu sulking and Will trying to think if every woman he spoke to turned into a gibbering wreck.

  The Coroner’s Officer, Lisa, and Matt, the Pathologist greeted them at the pathology lab. Lucky for them it was his day to be down here; he was normally based in Lancaster. Both of them looked grim. Will nodded at Matt and winked at Lisa, watching for her reaction. He was surprised when a faint redness appeared at the bottom of her throat and began working its way upwards, she let out a small laugh. Stu glared at Will who shrugged back at him. Matt broke the silence.

  ‘The boyfriend and sister have just made a positive ID: it’s Emma Harvey.’ Matt led them into the male changing rooms to get scrubbed up. The strong smell of disinfectant hit Will’s nostrils. It had been a while since he’d been in here yet it felt like yesterday. Another dead girl, this time killed by a drunk driver.

  When they walked through Dr Frankenstein’s lab, as Will referred to it, he positioned himself at the top end of the table where her head was, as far away from the stomach as possible. He could stand just about everything except the stench when they opened the stomach cavity and the smell of everything from faeces to puke filled the air. He smiled as Lisa took her position next to him; he left Stu to stand further down near to the stomach. Will knew how much Stu disliked post mortems and that Stu hadn’t figured out what it was about them that he disliked so much, apart from the obvious. Will had been meaning to tell him about the stomach gasses but he’d wound him up so much with his earlier comments he couldn’t be arsed. It served him right.

  Lisa was talking to him but he watching Matt as he pulled the sheet down and was making his initial observations. Lisa took some photographs and then Matt began to unwrap the brightly coloured scarf that looked out of place on the dead girl’s body. Will thought it looked familiar; he’d seen one like it before but couldn’t remember where: women’s fashion wasn’t really his thing. Lisa took a sharp intake of breath as she saw the gaping wound the scarf had been covering; it was crusted with dried blood.

  ‘I think it’s pretty obvious what the cause of death is, folks. That is one nasty cut.’ Matt began to measure, photograph and record every injury on Emma’s body. He occasionally looked to Lisa who was writing everything down.

  She talked even though she was busy. ‘I suppose it was going to happen one day, I mean, look at Bradford. It’s inevitable with all the inbreeding around here. It’s no surprise that some twisted sicko would eventually realise he wanted to live out his fantasies instead of dreaming about them in bed every night.’

  Stu looked at her and Will. ‘Are you having a laugh, a serial killer around here? No one is that clever or that stupid, come to think of it, to want to start a killing spree around here. I mean, why would they? It doesn’t make any sense.’

  Lisa paused. ‘We’ll see. Girls just don’t disappear and bodies turn up without there being some connection. Not in this town.’

  Will agreed with her on that point.

  Matt was carefully weighing the heart and looked over to Will. ‘Shall we see what the results are first and then we could set up a sweepstake for the number of victims we’ll end up with before you and your shit-hot team manage to catch the killer.’ He winked at Will. ‘You can put me down for a fiver that this town has given birth to a serial killer and I reckon we’ll end up with four bodies before you catch him or he kills himself.’

  Stu tutted. ‘You’re sick, you lot, you know that, don’t you?’

  Three heads nodded in agreement with him and Lisa smiled giving him her sweetest smile. ‘Come on, Stu, you got to laugh about it or you would go home and hit the bottle and end up a raging alcoholic. I suppose we are but we’re not as sick as whoever did this and besides you won the last one we had so I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I’ll go for five before he kills himself.’

  Will shook his head. ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence in my team of detectives. What are you two trying to say?’

  Will felt his nostrils flare and his insides cramp as he got a whiff of the freshly opened stomach. He looked to Stu whose face had turned the same colour as the dead girls.

  ‘Urgh.’

  Will smirked like an eight-year-old and continued breathing through his mouth, knowing he couldn’t wi
n. He would be able to taste the smell in the back of his throat all night. He thought about Annie to take his mind off it and wondered if she had received his last text message. If Lisa was right, they were in trouble because he’s already taken two girls in such a short space of time that he would already be planning his next one. He had a thing for the Abbey so it was likely that Jenna White was hidden there somewhere. Will would get his posse of PCSOs to canvas the area again, revisit all the houses and search all the outbuildings and barns. Matt was talking fast and Lisa, head bent, was busy taking notes to type up later. The cities had state of the art mortuaries but down here it was still good old-fashioned pen and paper.

  Chapter 19

  The cold woke Annie from her sleep. The room was freezing and her left hand, which was sticking out of the duvet, was so cold she could barely feel her fingers. It was dark. The room was full of shadows so she reached across to switch the lamp on. She pressed the button but nothing happened. Throwing the duvet back she stood up to try the main light switch, hoping there wasn’t a power cut. Her teeth began to chatter and a feeling of dread settled over her: something was wrong. She opened the kitchen door and breathed out, watching her breath turn into a swirling white mist; it was even colder in here.

  Sensing movement in the corner she looked to see dark shadows swirling around. They began to gather substance and formed a black mass, which began to swell. I must be dreaming, I’ll wake up now. She pinched her arm and let out a yelp. Nope, wide awake. The shadow mass was getting denser. It was still in the corner but it was huge and looked more solid, not as transparent. It was forming into the shape of a man. Alarmed she backed into the snug, slamming the door shut behind her and pressed her back against it. She was unsure what good it would actually do but it was better than nothing. What she wanted to do was scream but who was going to hear her. Silent tears began to stream down her cheeks and she reached for her phone, which was on the side table. Her fingertips brushed against it and she clutched it tight bringing it towards her. She dialled Jakes number: no signal. Who was she kidding? She had known there wouldn’t be. Tess had backed herself into the far corner and was shaking more than Annie was. She closed her eyes and began reciting what she could remember of the Lord’s Prayer, the rest she made up not knowing what else to do. She didn’t even believe in this sort of stuff so what the hell was happening and why to her?