“We have one or two leads. Have a look at this photo.” The DI handed her the photo of the man who’d been seen with Oliver outside the newsagents.
“I don’t know him. Who is he?”
“Is that the policeman who took Alan Fisher from Victoria Station?”
Bella looked at the image again. It was taken from the side, so there was no clear view of his face. “No, it’s nothing like him. This man has long hair, and look at those arms. The policeman had short hair. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt too. There were certainly no tattoos on his arms.”
“You don’t know him from anywhere else?”
Bella shook her head.
“Ms Richards, two days ago and again today, you went off somewhere on your own. Where did you go?”
She looked away. “That is none of your business.”
“We also know that you have a second mobile phone,” he said.
“What if I do?”
“You took the second phone into Manchester with you the day before yesterday. You left your usual phone here in the house. We saw the second one on CCTV footage of you at Victoria Station. Who do you use it to contact?”
“As I said, it’s none of your business. Lots of people have more than one phone.” She tilted her head, her tears gone. “If you spent as much time looking for Olly as you do spying on me, you might have found him by now.”
“Do you believe that Oliver’s disappearance has anything to do with your life before you moved to Meltham?”
Bella shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I am, and that’s all I’m prepared to say.”
* * *
Back in the car, Matt looked at the photo of the man again. “She really didn’t know him,” he said to Lily. “I could see that much in her face.”
“She seemed positive that Oliver’s kidnapping had nothing to do with her old life.”
“I’m not sure I believe her on that one.”
“So what’s going on, sir? What are we missing?”
Matt frowned. “I think she’s lying. Trying to protect herself. Or perhaps we’re looking in the wrong place, at the wrong things. We’re looking at her past because the super reckons we should. To be fair, it was always a possibility, given that we believe she’s in witness protection. I think Bella was thinking along the same lines. But something has changed. Bella went out this morning. Try as I might, I can’t find out where she went.”
“But it’s got you thinking, hasn’t it, sir?”
“It’s a hunch, nothing more, but think about it, Lily. If you thought someone you were being protected from had taken your child, what would you do?”
“That would depend. If that person was someone I’d been close to once, and if it was possible, I would go and ask him.”
“Exactly. I think Bella Richards went on a prison visit earlier today. The arrangements were made quickly, and maybe the visit was outside normal visiting times. If we knew which prison, they will have a record of it.”
Lily smiled. “I could make some discreet enquiries, sir. She was there and back in a day. So it’s reasonably local — Strangeways or York perhaps.”
Matt Brindle was warming to Lily. She was bright and keen to do well. He’d no idea how long they might continue to work together. He was still on probation, as it were, and Lily was sent wherever she was needed. He’d worked with DS Paula Wright for years. By the end of their time together, they would invariably come up with the same theories, share the same hunches. Matt didn’t know if he’d ever find that sort of relationship with another detective, but Lily was doing alright.
Chapter 20
Bella rang Robert and asked if he would see her. He came straight away. “I’m worried that the police are not doing enough.”
“I know it’s been several days now, but they are doing everything they can,” he reassured her. “It’s very difficult. They have nothing to go on.”
“You don’t understand. They know something about me, and that has coloured their view of the case. The police believe that someone from my past may have taken Olly in order to punish me. Before today, I thought so too. To be honest, that’s what kept me going. I knew that the person I had in mind would never hurt Olly. But now I know they had nothing to do with his disappearance.”
Robert looked confused.
“I have a past,” she explained. “It’s not something I can discuss with anybody, not even you. If I did, it could put both me and Olly in danger.”
“I’m sorry, Bella, but you’ll have to explain a little further. I’m your solicitor, you can trust me. Anything you say is in the strictest confidence.”
Bella was torn. She wanted to tell him. She needed someone to talk to. She wanted to discuss what Ronnie had said to her. Robert was the only person left that she could confide in.
She sighed. “I’m in the witness protection programme. You realise what that means?”
He was staring at her, his face a blank. “It means you are not who you say you are. That your current life is a sham.”
Harsh, but nonetheless true. “If there had been any other way, Robert, do you think I wouldn’t have taken it?” He didn’t answer. “I did think that the man they are protecting me from had taken Olly, that he’d found me and was taking his revenge. Not against Olly, against me. It is exactly his style.”
“How do you know that isn’t true?”
“The man was once my husband, Olly’s father. I know he loves his son and that he would never hurt him. I visited him in prison and asked him.” She paused. Robert looked shocked. “He did not take Olly, so I am back to square one.”
“Who is he, this man?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“You have to be absolutely sure that he is not involved.”
“He isn’t,” she insisted.
“Okay, I’ll speak to the police, push them into doing more.”
* * *
It was getting late but there was still work to do. Matt needed to formulate a plan for moving forward with the case. He and Lily returned to the station and checked what had come in. If they were not looking at Bella’s past for an answer, where were they going to look?
“There was DNA under Agnes Harvey’s nails.” Lily was looking at the results on her computer screen. “But no match I’m afraid.”
Matt sat at his desk. If what Bella had told them was true, they had been seriously side-tracked by their belief that she was in witness protection. But if she wasn’t, then who was destroying her life? She was an ordinary woman, living a normal life. Who could she have upset so much that they would do this to her? “This has to be retribution,” he decided. “Perhaps a rival villain with a grudge, getting even.”
Lily shrugged. “It would be helpful if we knew who her villain boyfriend, husband or whatever is.”
“The other five ‘Mr Apology’ murders — do we have the case files?”
Lily peered through the window into his office. “They will be with DI Carlisle. He’s out. He’ll have left them on his desk.”
Matt went to get them. It might be Carlisle’s case, but Oliver Richards’s disappearance was part of it. He spent the next hour or so poring over the files.
Finally he closed the last file. “There’s nothing much. As far as I can see, the killer hasn’t put a foot wrong — except for the dog. The killer thought the dog belonged to Marjory Bentley, one of the green stamp victims. But it didn’t, she merely looked after it. Do we know who for?”
Lily looked up. “It should be in the file, sir. Whoever did own the poor thing must have been told.”
But it wasn’t in the file. In fact there was no mention of who the dog belonged to.
“Mind you, the dog wasn’t found straight away. It turned up after a few days.” Lily shuddered. “Bit too gruesome for me, a skinned dog.”
“Are we sure it was the right dog?”
“The collar had a tag on it, sir. There were two addresses
— the owner’s and that of Marjory Bentley.”
Matt decided to have a look at it. “Finish off and go home, Lily.”
“What about you, sir?”
“I’m going to have a look at the evidence for this case, then I’ll call it a day.”
“You’re after that dog tag, aren’t you, sir?”
“That’s where I intend to start, Lily.”
* * *
Bella was tired. It had been a long day. A knock on the door so late in the evening made her heart sink.
“Joel!” She was surprised to see her friend and colleague standing on the step.
“I’ve been really worried about you, Bella. You must be going out of your mind. I’ve heard conflicting reports on the news. This morning they were saying the police knew where Oliver was, and now they’re saying he’s still missing. Do you know what’s going on?”
Bella let him in and he followed her down the hallway into the sitting room.
“Everyone at college sends their best.”
She shook her head. “I’m tired, Joel. I’m not up to conversation, not tonight.”
“I saw that solicitor leave. He was here a while. Has he been pestering you?”
Bella gave him a quizzical look. Had Joel been watching her? “Robert is a great help. He’s acting for me, so we have things to discuss. He isn’t charging me either. Have you been spying on me?”
His face fell. “I worry that whoever took Oliver might come back and try to harm you. If I’m close, keeping an eye out, at least I’ll know you’re safe. If anything does go wrong, I’ll be able to tell the police straight away.”
Bella gave a little shiver. “That’s not necessary. Besides, I don’t like to think of you hanging around out there. I know you mean well, but the idea of someone spying on me freaks me out. You have to understand. Things are bad enough as they are.”
It wasn’t just her imagination. On one level Joel was fine, but if you delved below the surface he was creepy.
“You got into a strange man’s car today. He met you off the bus in Meltham. I was worried so I tailed you. Why did you go to that prison? Do you know someone there?”
He had followed her! This was far worse than creepy. This bordered on obsession. “You have no right to follow me, Joel! You have to stop it. You must believe me when I tell you that I’m fine.”
“So who was he?”
“Just someone I know. A friend who is helping me.”
“Like Nolan?”
“Yes, but in a different way. Look, Joel, this has to stop.” Bella knew he meant well, but Joel Dawson could become a liability. If he found out about her old life and told someone . . . “I have secrets. I’m not prepared to talk about them, so don’t ask, and don’t gossip about me either. That man you saw me with is part of a life I’ve walked away from.”
“I won’t breathe a word. You can trust me, Bella. I’ve noticed that you don’t talk about the past.”
“That’s deliberate. And I don’t want to talk about it now. It’s safer all round.”
“After Emma, I hated being alone. I thought you might feel the same, want some company. Need a friend to talk things over with.”
Bella sighed. “There is a policewoman staying with me. And I’ve got Robert on speed-dial.” His face fell. “Go home, Joel. Stop worrying about me. I need to get some rest.”
“How does he help you? He’s a stranger. Robert doesn’t know you like I do. Why won’t you let me in, Bella? I can help, bring you some comfort.”
Bella looked at him. His face wore that earnest expression she knew so well. “Olly’s disappearance is complicated. There are things about me that no one knows about. I’ve told Robert a little, but I can’t reveal any more. It might put me in danger.”
“I can’t begin to understand what you’re talking about. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He made a grab for her arm. “I want to help. I need to help, to be near you. You have to let someone in, Bella, so why not me?”
“You shouldn’t get involved, Joel. I’m trouble. I have a past. I used to know some bad people, one man in particular. If he finds out where I am, he’ll have me killed.”
Joel looked shocked. “Someone is looking for you, that’s it. You have run away from something awful, and hidden yourself in this backwater.”
“Something like that. Now let it drop, please.”
Chapter 21
His information about Bella’s life was almost complete. But until he was ready, it was imperative that no one came looking. The obvious contenders had been dealt with. But the police were tenacious, particularly that Brindle bloke. And the boy was an irritation he could do without. His face was plastered across every newspaper in the country, and he was hardly ever off the TV news. He would have to be careful. One solution to the problem of the boy was to get rid, so that he would never be found. If need be, Cora would help him with that. The problem of Brindle, however, would need some thought.
Still, he was certain that Bella would soon be with him. A little while longer, once the hullabaloo over the boy’s disappearance had quietened down, and then he would take her. But before he could even contemplate that, he would have to deal with Bella’s predecessor.
The young woman who’d been his for nearly eighteen months was stretched out naked and still on a bench in the cellar. In life she had been a beauty. However, in death she was fast turning rancid, despite the cold. Her milk white skin had taken on a yellowish hue. He wasn’t good with a needle. He had inflicted a number of deep cuts with a sharp blade, which had bled profusely. He’d stitched the wounds on her thighs and torso and made her body look like a patchwork quilt. But the ones on her face were worse. A deep cut down one cheek, crudely stitched up, had left her face lopsided.
It was a shame. In the beginning she’d been beautiful and had held such promise. He’d truly believed that she was the one. But she was like the rest, ungrateful and fickle. She had wanted more, more than he was prepared to give. In the end, it had been a pleasure to kill her.
It should have been a simple task. All he’d ever wanted was a replacement for Kitty. Pretty young women with blonde hair were everywhere, but still it never worked out right. He slammed his fist into the bench, angry now. Thinking about his wife always upset him. He’d given her everything, made sacrifices, but all she’d done in return was ask for more, and she’d cheated on him. He mustn’t think like this. Things were set to change. Bella was different. She would be the one, he felt sure of it.
He’d chosen the final outfit for Bella’s predecessor carefully, clothes that would suit her personality. A dress of pale green silk, with a low neckline and a figure hugging skirt. Like all the women that attracted him she had pale, blonde hair. Green suited her, it mirrored her eyes. As he began the slow task of dressing the body, he thought about their time together. This one had been entertaining. In the beginning, when she’d been new, he hadn’t held back. But, despite the pain, she hadn’t screamed or cried like the first one. This beauty had simply stared at him throughout with those limpid green eyes of hers. She had suffered her pain silently, kept her curses to herself.
He dressed her with care, brushed her long hair and applied a red gloss to her colourless lips. “Goodbye, my dear.” He kissed her forehead lightly, lifted her in his arms and walked the few metres to the pit.
* * *
Matt spent the next hour or so digging around in the station evidence archive. The skinned dog incident was at least eighteen months old, and all the evidence was neatly stored away. The problem was, in the interim there had been alterations to the building due to flooding, so everything had been moved.
Finally, his perseverance paid off, and he found the see-through bag containing two dog tags. As expected, one had Marjory Bentley’s name and address on it. But she was not the owner. Matt did not remove the tags in case further tests were needed on them. He held the bag up to the light. The name on the second tag was ‘Caroline Sheldon.’ She lived only a few doors down f
rom the dog sitter.
He decided to call and have a word with this woman first thing in the morning, on his way in. He’d text Lily and tell her. Matt wasn’t sure what he’d learn from talking to Caroline Sheldon, but she was a piece of the puzzle.
* * *
It had been a long day. He’d been gone since early morning. It didn’t please his mother.
She greeted him with the words, “Dinner is ruined. A shame, because Mrs Hurst did her lamb roast.”
“The woman is called Irene, Ma. We will soon be employing many more people. Attitudes will have to change.”
“By that you mean mine, Matthew. I’m finding the prospect quite frightening. Strangers all over my property, poking about in the rooms, putting their hands all over our furniture and antiques. God knows what rubbish they will leave lying around the estate. I don’t think you have thought it through. It worries me to death. What with that, and your job.”
Matt sighed. They’d been over it all so many times. He’d thought she’d be reconciled by now to what was happening to the estate. “My job is fine, I’m fine. I’m not about to take any risks.”
“I don’t see how you can be fine. How will you cope? They’ve given you a child as a work partner.” She stuck her nose in the air. “And she was chewing gum when you introduced her to me. At the first sign of things getting rough, that one will be off. I know the type.”
“You know nothing about her, Ma. Lily has the makings of a good officer. I’d appreciate it if you kept your comments to yourself. You might try dealing with the world as it is, rather than how you would like it to be.”
“You have no idea, Matthew. I have a lot to think about. Your job, this house, and the hordes who will come here next year. I worry that we won’t have any control over them, and they’ll trash the place.”
“We will employ security people. The more valuable pieces will be alarmed. The furniture and the cabinets will be roped off. The visitors will be able to look but not touch.” He went over it all for the umpteenth time.
“Rope! What use will that be against reprobates who will chance their luck? I’m really not sure about any of this anymore, Matthew. And now Sarah has taken up with that builder friend of yours. They are down the pub tonight. I ask you, Matthew, what is she thinking?”
His Third Victim Page 10
