Christmas Killing

by Chrissie Loveday

  ‘What happened to the knife then?’

  ‘Chucked it in the river. Dunna worry about me. I’ll be all right. I’ll manage somehow.’

  ‘Yer and look where it gets you. Hang on till the end of the week when I get my wages. Our Matti will have some wages then as well. That’ll give you a decent start.’

  ‘Ta. It’s good of you.’

  ‘Sylvia will let you stay here till then, won’t you Sylv?’

  ‘As long as he stays in his own room.’

  ‘I hope he’ll do that. You’d better or you’ll have me to answer to.’

  ‘Course I will. You can trust me.’ Dickie sneaked a grin at Sylvia.

  ‘Right. Let’s go and get a few drinks inside us. Make life easier, don’t it?’

  *

  Detective Chief Inspector Ray Jones stood in front of his group the next day. He addressed various members of the team and everyone came back with the same answers. Nothing had been found.

  ‘Right well we’d better start interviewing again. Anyone who didn’t provide a decent alibi needs to be brought down here and I or Ted will conduct another interview. Any suspicions you might feel, any answers that differ from earlier interviews, we’ll see them again. Go round to Jimmy North’s place, the chap who played Santa and have another look round. I’ll see Miss Pringle again and someone go and check up on Dickie Pryce, Bert’s brother. And see Bert again. Someone find out where he’s been for the past few days. Leave no stone unturned. Any questions?’

  There was a murmur of No sir and they all collected their notebooks and papers and left the room. Ray knew someone would take charge and organise them into groups to go and do interviews. Meanwhile, he planned to go and see Miss Pringle again.

  ‘Shall I come with you, sir?’

  ‘Possibly not a bad idea. I may need a witness.’

  They drove the now familiar route to Foredyce’s and found Miss Pringle. She looked very upset to see them here again and sounded terrible.

  ‘What can I do for you?’ she managed to stutter.

  ‘Just a few more questions. Shall we go into your office rather than talk out here?’

  ‘Oh, yes, if you want to. I am rather busy today. Catching up on things, you know.’

  ‘It shouldn’t take too long. We need to go back to the time of the elf’s murder. Where exactly were you at the time?’

  ‘I’ve already told you. I simply don’t know. I’m always in and out of my office, visiting different departments and so on. It wasn’t me who murdered Julie. I do know that.’

  ‘Convince me then,’ said Ray in a somewhat unfriendly way.

  ‘How do I do that? I’ve told you everything I can.’

  ‘Do you have a letter opener?’

  ‘A what?’

  ‘A letter opener. You know, a sort of knife to slit envelopes to open them.’

  ‘Well yes, of course I do. I keep it in my drawer.’

  ‘May I see it?’ She opened her drawer and took out a slim bladed knife and handed it to Ray. ‘I’d like to take this for testing if you don’t mind.’

  ‘But why? Oh you can’t think it was me that killed Jimmy? Surely not.’

  ‘Have you got an evidence bag Ted?’ He produced a plastic bag and he slipped the knife inside. ‘Don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. Very remiss of me.’

  ‘When will I get it back?’ she asked.

  ‘When the tests are finished. Tell me, do you ever see your mother?’

  ‘My mother? No of course not. I want to forget all about her.’

  ‘So who brought you up? I mean she was imprisoned when you were ten, weren’t you? Someone must have looked after you. A grandma or aunt.’

  ‘I was taken into care. It was dreadful. I stayed in a children’s home and hated every minute. But that was a long time ago. Something I never want to think of again.’

  ‘Where was this?’

  ‘In the Midlands somewhere.’

  ‘A long way from here.’

  ‘It was. Not really far enough.’

  The DCI sat quietly for a moment. He was wondering how to ask someone whether she could have been batty enough to commit these crimes.

  ‘And you are quite over it all now? Your childhood. The fact that you have a mentally unstable mother who is in prison for unmentionable crimes?’

  ‘I try never to think about it ... her.’ She gave a shudder.

  ‘Where did you say you were on Wednesday afternoon?’

  ‘I told you. I don’t know exactly. Why do you keep asking me the same questions?’

  ‘Just wondering if any more thoughts had occurred to you.’

  ‘None at all. And for your information, I did not kill anyone. I haven’t inherited any of my mother’s tendencies in that direction. Now, if we’re finished? I have work to do.’

  He rose from his seat and nodded to his colleague.

  ‘Very well. We’ll leave it now. I’ll let you know the results of the tests on your knife.’

  ‘You won’t find anything more than a few paper shreds on it. At least I’m certain of that.’

  The two officers left her office and went back to their headquarters, deciding to wait until their team came back with any information.

  At last, a call came in from one of their colleagues.

  ‘We’re bringing Bert Pryce in. He hasn’t got any satisfactory answers about where he’s been for the last few days.’

  ‘Right. Let me know when you arrive and I’ll come and talk to him.’

  ‘Will do, sir.’

  Fifteen minutes later, Ray got the call. He sent Ted down first to ask him if he’d like some tea.

  ‘Lull him into a sense of security. I’ll be down in a few minutes.’

  ‘Good cop, bad cop eh?’

  ‘Something like that. I want him to feel secure and happy before I pounce,’ he said with a smile.

  When he arrived at the interview room, Pryce and Ted were chatting like old friends. He stood and watched them. Like an irate teacher waiting for his class to settle down, it took a moment before he stopped talking. He went through the information for the tape.

  ‘Tell me about your brother,’ said Ray.

  ‘Me bruver?’

  ‘Yes. Dickie Pryce.’

  ‘What d’ya wanna know?’

  ‘Where is he now?’

  ‘At home I s’pose. Why?’

  ‘Not at your home I understand.’

  ‘Nah. Well the wife doesn’t get on with him. Not since ... well you know that.’

  ‘Not since when?’

  ‘Not since he got done for nickin’ stuff. It was a case of mistaken identity, you know. He was fitted up for it.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘He got fitted up. Your lot wanted to find someone guilty and he got done for it.’

  ‘So who was it then? Who really was stealing stuff?’

  ‘How do I know?’

  ‘Perhaps it was you? Perhaps you were the guilty one and he served time for you?’

  ‘Hey, who are you accusing? It weren’t me. I was let off.’

  ‘Let off were you?’

  ‘Found innocent then. What’s this got to do with anythin’?’

  ‘Where is Dickie living? Exactly where?’

  ‘How do I know?’

  ‘You know it all right. Is he staying with your lady friend?’

  ‘Dunno what ya mean.’

  ‘Oh I think you know perfectly well. We know you have a second home apart from your poor wife. I gather your daughter looks after her and you come and go as you please.’

  ‘A bloke’s entitled to do what he likes, ain’t ‘e?’

  Ted spoke for the first time in a while.

  ‘Must be hard living with someone as disabled as your wife. Very difficult for you.’

  ‘Yer, well it is. She don’t do nothin’ all day and she’s useless at night as well, know what I mean?’

  ‘Very difficult. So you have someone else to go to?’


  ‘She’s bin a good friend to me, has Sylv.’

  ‘Sylv ... Sylvia who?’

  ‘She’ll hate me for tellin’ you. Sylvia Edwards her name is.’

  ‘And where does Mrs/ Miss Edwards live?’

  Selby Grove. Number six.’

  Ray spoke again.

  ‘Thank you. And is Dickie living there? Temporarily of course.’

  ‘Well, he needed somewhere to stop, dint ‘e?’

  ‘I’m surprised you trusted him to stay with your friend.’

  ‘He’s all right is Dickie.’

  ‘She must be very trustworthy to have him stopping there. Especially after him being incarcerated for what was it? Four years?’

  ‘What are you hinting at? Sylv wouldn’t do nothing with him.’

  ‘That’s what I was thinking. Double negative, you understand.’

  ‘Dunno what you mean.’

  ‘You had three days off recently. Where were you then?’

  ‘I was took bad.’

  ‘And where were you?’ Ray repeated.

  ‘At home of course.’

  ‘No you weren’t. We went round several times and you were never there.’

  ‘Oh no. That’s right. I stayed at Sylv’s place. Real bad I was. Sorry, I didn’t remember for a minute.’

  ‘You stayed there with your brother? Must have been nice to see him again,’ Ted said.

  ‘Yer, it was good.’

  ‘Did you go to the pub while he was there? Have a few beers.’

  ‘Yer, that’s right.’

  ‘Before you were ill, I presume.’

  ‘Oh.’ He paused. ‘Yes.’

  The interview dragged on, with Ted playing good cop and Ray being bad cop. Slowly, they gleaned some information out of him, not least that Dickie had been staying at Sylvia’s home for the past couple of weeks and also that he was still very bitter about being sent to prison.

  ‘He worked at Foredyce’s too didn’t he?’ Ray asked.

  ‘Yer. It was them bastards wot accused him of nickin’ stuff.’

  ‘Not without good reason.’

  ‘But everyone was at it. Everyone found ways of cheatin’ them. Crikey, even my girl is findin’ ways of makin’ an extra few quid.’

  ‘Really?’ asked Ted. ‘How does she do that?’

  ‘Pockets the odd bit when someone pays to see Santa.’

  ‘I thought they had it all sorted with tickets and so on.’

  ‘Nah. It’s easy. She lets them into the queue and takes their money directly like. Oops. I should never have said that should I?’

  ‘And where else do you know of staff cheating the store?’

  ‘Everyone does it. I sees ‘em. Some folks borrow dresses for an evenin’ out. Nick the odd handbag and say they were damaged and had to be sent back. Nobody ever checks up on invoices.’

  ‘I suppose it was easy for you in Goods Reception. You simply had to say things had never arrived. I can see that. So, Dickie became more and more frustrated that he was caught.’

  ‘Yer, I s’pose he did.’

  ‘So much so that he really wanted his revenge on the company that had put him in prison?’

  ‘S’pose he did.’

  ‘And did you help him?’

  ‘Dunno what ya mean.’

  ‘Oh but I think you do. Did you suggest he killed the elf? Make a space for your girl to get the job?’ Bert looked very apprehensive and began to bluster his way out of it. Ray straightened up.

  ‘Bert Pryce, you are under arrest on suspicion of being connected with the murders of Julie Bennett and Jimmy North.’ He then gave him the usual caution and instructed Ted to take him away. ‘You can’t do this. You ain’t got nuffink on me.’ But Ray wasn’t listening.

  *

  ‘Let’s go round to Selby Grove, wherever that may be,’ said Ray. ‘We’ll bring Dickie in and see what he has to say. I’m not sure Bert actually killed either of the victims but he certainly knew about his brother’s probable involvement. And I certainly wouldn’t put it past Dickie. He was always the stronger of the two.’

  ‘But why choose an elf and Santa?’

  ‘Maybe he hoped to ruin Christmas sales here. We know he wanted revenge and this was a good way of doing it, in his mind.’

  ‘Come on then. Let’s go find Dickie Pryce and hope he’s in at Mrs Edwards’s place.’

  Chapter Fourteen

  As they drove to Selby Place, the two officers were silent, thinking about the case and people involved.

  ‘Shouldn’t we call for back up?’ asked Ted.

  ‘See if he’s there first.’ They parked outside number six and saw the curtains twitch. ‘We’ve been seen. You go round to the back make sure he doesn’t do a runner.’

  Ray got out and went to the front door. After a moment, he rang the bell. It was a rather run down looking bungalow, despite it sounding quite a decent address. Well overdue a coat of paint on the door and windows. He rang the bell again. Eventually, a woman came to the door.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Mrs Edwards? Mrs Sylvia Edwards?’

  ‘Miss to you. What do you want?’

  ‘Detective Chief Inspector Jones,’ he said showing his warrant card. ‘May I come in?’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I understand you have a Dickie Pryce staying here. We need to see him.’

  ‘We? There’s only one of you here.’

  ‘My colleague has gone round to the rear of the property to make sure he doesn’t leave through that way.’

  ‘Ain’t nobody here with that name.’ She made as if to shut the door but his foot was in the way. ‘What you doing?’ she protested.

  ‘I can send for back up and also get a warrant to search this place. If you let me in now, I won’t need to do that.’

  ‘Please yourself. You won’t find he’s here anyway.’ She held the door open to admit him, looking slightly anxiously behind her.

  Ray walked in and went straight to the back door. He opened it and let Ted inside.

  ‘This is Detective Sergeant Ted Wilkes.’ Ted produced his warrant card which she glanced at briefly.

  ‘As you can see, nobody else here.’

  ‘So where has he gone?’ asked Ted.

  ‘Dunno what you mean. I said he wasn’t here.’

  There was a sudden noise from one of the bedrooms across the landing. Ted swung round and went to look. There was the sound of a gunshot and Ted fell down to the floor, groaning.

  ‘Ted,’ yelled Ray.

  ‘Get away from him or I’ll shoot you too.’

  ‘Okay, okay. Calm down Dickie. I was just going to look at him, make sure he’s all right.’

  ‘Go over to that chair and sit down. Sylvia, get that roll of gaffer tape. The silver one that’s really tough.’

  ‘Dickie, are you sure?’

  ‘Do it, I say. Unless you want a bit of the same.’ She went to the drawer and produced a roll of gaffer tape.

  ‘Peel off the end and wrap it round his legs. Go round the chair as well. That’s it.’

  ‘Miss Edwards, don’t do this,’ begged Ray. ‘Was it you who killed the elf and Santa?’ he asked.

  ‘Shut up,’ snapped Dickie, hitting him round the head with his gun. Ray almost passed out but felt his arms being pressed against the arms of the chair and tape was wound round so he couldn’t move. Tape was then wound round his mouth so he couldn’t speak. He sat there, totally helpless. Ted moaned and he glanced over to him. He couldn’t even offer him any comfort and didn’t know where he’d been hit. What a mess. He cursed himself for not calling for back up. In fact, nobody even knew where they were. What the hell did Dickie think he was going to do with them?

  ‘What money have you got in the house?’ he asked Sylvia.

  ‘About sixty quid.’

  ‘Get it and give it to me. What about your bank? Where’s that?’

  ‘In town. I don’t have much in my account though.’

  ‘I’m sure it’ll be
better than nothing. Get your cash card and come with me. Come on woman. Do it. Get his keys out of his pocket. We’ll take his car to save time.’

  ‘What are you going to do with them?’

  ‘Nothing. Get on with it. Come on then.’

  Sylvia did as she was told and looked anxiously at Ted, lying as he was on the floor, blood pouring out of him.

  ‘He looks bad. Shouldn’t we call someone?’

  ‘Forget it. Come on. Oh, you can get their phones too. Go on, look in their pockets. They must have them.’

  She found Ray’s phone and resisted his look as she took it. She handed it to Dickie who crushed it under his foot.

  ‘I don’t want to look for his phone,’ she told him, indicating the blood.

  ‘Well, never mind then. He’s in no state to use it. And our other friend couldn’t use it either. Got your bank card? And give me the money.’

  Sylvia ferreted in her bag and produced her wallet. He snatched it from her and stuffed it in his pocket.

  ‘That’s got my cash card in it too.’

  ‘Good. Now I know you’ve got it with you. Come on.’ He threatened her with his gun and she walked out in front of him. She glanced back at Ray and actually looked apologetic.

  ‘Do you think the other chap’s going to be all right?’

  ‘What’s one more death to add to my score?’

  ‘You’re a hard bastard. Why not leave me behind? I don’t want to go with you.’

  ‘I need you to draw out money.’

  ‘I could tell you my number.’

  ‘Shut up and get outside. Go on with you.’

  They went out and he heard his car start and drive away. He struggled to move but between them, he’d been fastened very securely. He couldn’t even ask Ted how he was feeling not that it would have done much good ... he was obviously semi-conscious. What a predicament. As he sat there so helpless, he felt his blood boiling. He couldn’t think of any way he could escape and Ted was lying there, probably dying. Why the hell hadn’t he told anyone where he was going? His stomach rumbled. How could he even begin feel hungry at a time like this? He looked round the room for a clock. If he was feeling hungry, it must be well after lunch time. Feeling somewhat resigned, he tried to relax and hope that someone would come and find them.

  It soon got dark and so he knew it must around three-thirty, four o’clock and still he sat there cursing. Perhaps Sylvia would come back soon and maybe she would release them. Small hope of that but one could never tell. Someone at the office must realise they were missing. Perhaps Bert would tell them where they were or where he thought they might be. Ted made a different noise. He made a sort of squeaking noise. He stirred and tried to get up. Obviously he was in a lot of pain as he tried to move. It was very dark and he couldn’t even see his colleague. He struggled to sit up and eventually almost managed it. He felt in his pocket for his phone and dialled the office. The light from his phone showed him where Ray was.