The Binford Mysteries: A Collection of Gritty Urban Mystery Novels (3 - BOOK BOX SET)

by Rashad Salim

  “You honestly thought he was involved?”

  “It wouldn’t have surprised me. Suppose he had an axe to grind with Ravinder? What if he had got someone to do away with him?”

  “I’ve never heard of school boys hookin’ up with a hitman.”

  “Stick around Binford and you might.”

  The way he challenged me showed how he didn’t like being challenged himself.

  “Anyway, this one could’ve been a gang thing. One of Ravinder’s enemies hookin’ up with a gang to settle a vendetta.”

  “That boy who nearly pissed his pants? Are you havin’ a laugh?”

  “Whoever, mate. Whoever.”

  “You don’t really think it was one of those things, do you?” I asked. “Boys killin’ boys?”

  “...No, it seems unlikely but I can’t rule it out. It’s happened before around here. That’s all.”

  “Rishi never bothered anyone and even though Ravinder was a bit of a rascal, he wasn’t mixed up with anythin’ dodgy neither, drugs and stuff.”

  “Look, maybe they’re linked after all. Rishi and Ravinder.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, you were bangin’ on about it before.” I looked at him hard. “...So we’re lookin’ at the same killer?”

  “What d’you think?” The words were laced with sarcasm.

  Just a second ago Richardson had speculated about this murder being gang related and now he was back to his initial prediction. I could see he was struggling to keep up with the events over the last couple of days.

  Making sense of it all was our job but I had more difficulty making sense of him.

  24

  Asim

  The night they found Ravinder’s corpse I stayed awake for most of it. I couldn’t sleep and no amount of fantasising about Shazia made me feel any better.

  I couldn’t get Ravinder’s face out of my mind. He looked so different no longer alive. I didn’t think I could face everyone at school in the morning. It was too much.

  I wanted to phone Omar when Rizwan and I returned home just to fill him in on what happened but it had been past midnight so there was no chance of that happening. I needed a friend to talk to but had to wait for that.

  I thought about Max but by this point I didn’t think we were friends anymore. I was so sad about the state of everything that I began to cry. The more I thought about the possibility of Ravinder’s friends or others at school suspecting I had been involved in his death, the more I wept.

  I thought about Max, Ravinder, Omar and myself. The way we were with each other.

  Up until recently, Max was my best friend and Ravinder had been a pest. But it wasn’t always like that.

  I thought about our entire history – the five years we had almost spent together in secondary school. We had seen each other grow up.

  Not only that but when I first started high school with just one friend, Omar – both Max and Ravinder had been strangers – I had been closer with Ravinder than I had been with Max back then. It was only after the second year of high school that I got on the wrong side of Ravinder and ended up getting to know Max much better.

  Now one of them was dead and I was dead to the other one.

  When I woke up for school I thought about pretending to be sick but as always I could never convince my mother I was for real. So when that didn’t work out I thought about skipping school that day.

  I told myself I’d just fuck around town – in places I knew none of my family members would spot me – and if anyone questioned me about why I wasn’t in school I’d tell them I was on my way home from my doctor’s/dentist’s appointment.

  It sounded like a good plan but then I started to psyche myself out of it by second guessing the plan. I wondered what would happen if I slipped up somehow and my parents found out I had truanted while there was a killer on the loose looking for boys like me.

  When thoughts about the killer entered my mind I lost all the confidence I needed to pull off the truanting plan and by the time I left the house, I decided to just go ahead and face everyone at school.

  The way I saw it, a thousand judging eyes on me and potential accusations were a lot less painful than ducking and diving around town, looking over my shoulder for the faceless killer responsible for murdering Rishi Malhotra and Ravinder Singh.

  I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed – that it was perfectly understandable – but when I met up with Omar on the walk to school, the moment we locked eyes, I burst into tears. I put a hand over my face to hide the tears and felt ashamed.

  He didn’t say anything. He had a newspaper, which he tucked under one arm while he rested his free hand on my shoulder as we walked. I was glad he was there to console me and that I still had him.

  He probably thought I was crying for Ravinder but I wasn’t.

  I was crying for myself.

  I stopped crying after about a minute and we walked in silence for a while.

  “...Can’t believe this happening,” he said eventually.

  I nodded.

  “It’s all over the news, man. But it ain’t like the last time. This time it’s worse.”

  He handed me the newspaper he still had under his arm.

  I saw the front page headline, ‘The Binford Snatcher strikes again’, and felt sick.

  The article was quite long and I didn’t have the heart to read it just yet so I handed it back to Omar.

  When we reached school it became clear there was another emergency assembly about to start for us Year 11 students.

  This time, there wasn’t much of a buzz in the corridors the way there had been after Rishi Malhotra’s corpse was found. The mood was tense. I surveyed the expressions on everyone we passed on our way to the assembly hall. Unlike last time, hardly any boys exploited the distraction from morning registration by fooling around.

  They must’ve all been talked to by their parents and understood the kind of threat out there. The possibility that any one of them could be the next victim was being taken seriously.

  Mrs Taylor had our class gathered together before she was to lead us into the hall. Omar and I joined our classmates and they exchanged uneasy glances with me. I looked at Max and Shazia. Neither of them noticed me.

  We entered the assembly hall and took our seats. At the front of the hall facing all the rows of students were our Head of Year, the school Headmaster and much to my dread – DC Cole and another man I didn’t recognise but had to be a cop too.

  Once all the students were in their seats Mr White, the Head of Year, made the opening announcement.

  “Thank you all for arriving on time. As some of you may have already heard the tragic news, Ravinder Singh was found dead in the local area last night.” Many of the students shifted about in their seats and exchanged looks with those beside them. White paused to let his words sink in. “Speaking on behalf of all members of staff that knew him here at the school, our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. I’m sure this tragedy is hard for all of you to take in and you have my sympathy in this difficult time. I want you to know we are working with the police and authorities to solve this crime as quickly as possible. I would also like to make an announcement on behalf of the local police department – two of their officers are with us today.” He pointed at DC Cole and the other cop who stood beside him. “If any of you have any information – regardless of how insignificant you may think it is – please come forward and share it with them or with us and we’ll make sure it gets passed onto the right people.”

  He went on about a few other things after that – the usual shit about how our GCSE exams were coming up soon and how he expected us to do our best.

  When Mr White said he was going to get our respective form teachers to take us back for morning registration, we prepared to leave and started talking to those near and he called out to silence us. When the noise died down he repeated his request which we missed the first time: “Can I just ask that all the boys stay behind?”

  Suddenly there
was a lot of hushed talk among everyone and the noise rose again.

  Omar and I exchanged glances. Whatever this was about, I was dreading it.

  25

  DC Cole

  We didn’t waste any time showing up at Ravinder Singh’s school. DI Clark and I got their first thing in the morning.

  The Chief had insisted we do this to. He had Richardson and PC Enfield sent to Rishi Malhotra’s school to do the same thing – be seen and reassure the town’s kids that they were safe.

  Of course, it wasn’t just a PR stunt – we had to find out whatever we could too and we had to dig anywhere and prod anyone we thought necessary.

  I was glad DI Clark came with me to Binford School instead of Richardson. It gave us time apart and I really needed that. Being around Richardson all day was gruelling sometimes.

  We were relieved that the school was co-operating as best as they could and had set up a meeting so we could address the rest of Ravinder Singh’s school year.

  Mr White, the Head of Year made a few announcements before getting us alone with all the boys so we could talk to them.

  I noticed the majority of them were Asian. Just like Ravinder and Rishi.

  Once we had the boys’ attention Clark got started.

  “Okay, I know quite a lot of you are concerned about what happened with your classmate and just to repeat what Mr White has said, we’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this and find out who was responsible for this tragedy.” Clark and Mr White had been very careful not to use the word ‘murder’ when addressing the boys.

  “I’m not going to lie to you boys,” Clark said. “Some of you may be aware Ravinder was the second school boy to die in Binford recently and while we can neither confirm nor deny whether there is a connection between deaths I can tell you that you’re best off being vigilant.

  “I want you to be aware of your surroundings and be careful what you do, where you go and who you meet. At this point in time, we don’t have a profile of the suspect behind these crimes so I can’t tell you who to be wary of. All I can say is use your best judgement and don’t let your guard down at any time.

  “While I can’t tell you how to spend your time out of school, I can recommend that you try to go straight home when the school day ends. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

  “Some of the boys have after-school football and cricket practice,” White said.

  Clark nodded. “I recommend those of you with after school sports go home as soon as practice ends. And try to go home together when you do. That goes for all of you – don’t walk home alone.”

  “In regards to anything you know that could help us in this investigation, you can either come to me or your teachers afterwards. Please don’t be reluctant if you know something. Just think about Ravinder and his family. They wouldn’t want you to hold back. Do the right thing and get in touch. Any questions?”

  The boys murmured. One of them raised his hand. Clark prompted him.

  “Is there a serial killer on the loose?”

  Mr White glared at the boy but calmed down. The two of us waited for Clark to answer that.

  “The term serial killer is a confusing one and it’s best not to think in those terms.”

  I thought it was an impressive answer. Clark was as slick as a politician. I could see him going far.

  “But two boys have been murdered,” another boy said. “The killer is lookin’ for his next target, right?”

  “We can’t make any false assumptions like that since we don’t have all the information just yet.”

  “Do you think it’s the NF?” someone else asked. “What about the BNP?”

  The question triggered a few giggles in the audience but Clark ignored that.

  “How do you mean?” he asked the boy.

  “The National Front and the British National Party don’t like black and Asian people,” the boy said.

  “Yeah,” another boy said. “Have you checked them out? It’s probably a bunch of skinheads attacking Asians.” The comment provoked a few other boys to agree loudly.

  “Right now we haven’t eliminated any possibilities,” Clark said. “We’re going to keep your teachers informed of the investigation’s progress as we move forward.” He turned to White and told him we were done here.

  White told the boys to keep in mind what we discussed before dismissing them.

  The boys left the hall while Clark and I talked with White. White was saying something when I spotted Asim Patel among the crowds. I excused myself and followed Asim out of the hall.

  When I reached him and called out his name, he turned around to face me with a fearful expression. I recalled what happened the night before between him and Richardson and felt bad for the boy. He probably still had that photo of his dead classmate in his head.

  “What do you want?”

  I told him I needed to talk to him and led him to the side, away from the crowds so we could talk in private.

  When we were alone I apologised to him about Richardson’s attitude towards him and that both Richardson and I had been grateful for his concern. I meant it but wasn’t sure how much of the apology was for covering my own arse in case he had told anyone about what had happened.

  He sighed. “Forget about it. Doesn’t matter now.”

  I asked him if he told anyone about Richardson showing him the photo. He said he hadn’t, which was a great relief.

  “Well, keep your head up and take care.” I turned go back inside the assembly hall.

  “Did you ask anyone if they saw a white van last night?”

  I looked at him over my shoulder. If anyone had reported seeing a white van I wasn’t aware of it. “The other officers questioned witnesses.”

  I knew I hadn’t answered his question and it was obvious to him too.

  The truth was I didn’t think anyone had asked about the white van. None of the uniformed officers who talked to the locals would have. It was a loaded question. If we asked ten people if they had seen a white van, half of them would’ve said yes even if it hadn’t been part of their experience.

  Asim remained silent so I told him I’d look into it and went back into the hall to join Clark and White.

  White was still nattering on about something I had lost interest in a long time ago.

  I stood there beside Clark, pretending to listen to White, while my mind was occupied with the white van, which I felt was the key to solving the case.

  26

  Asim

  The rest of the school day was a total meltdown. Nobody paid attention to anything other than Ravinder’s murder.

  Even the teachers didn’t give us shit for not focusing on our class work. They let their students gossip away while they stood by classroom doorways gossiping amongst themselves about the same topic.

  From the moment we walked out of the assembly to the end of the school day, the only thing my fellow Asian schoolboys were saying was how they were being hunted down by some Hannibal Lecter-type serial killer. And despite the impressive speech the cops gave us in the assembly, not a single one of my fellow classmates was convinced the cops could do anything to stop the killer out there from killing again.

  One thing I was glad about was how no one had suspected me of being involved – at least not that I knew of – and the other students seemed to have stopped asking me if I knew anything about the cases now that it had been plastered all over the media.

  During the lunch break I noticed most of the boys who regularly ate out at the nearby fast food outlets had opted to for school dinners – something most of them normally never did. Nobody commented on it because nobody wanted to let on how much the murders had affected them.

  During the afternoon science class, our teacher asked us to raise our hands to let him know who still intended to show up at the well-attended after school revision sessions he had set up months ago. Not a single boy raised his hand.

  And when our English teacher caught one of the boys passing
around a newspaper clipping of ‘The Binford Snatcher’, he was so furious he tore the clipping into pieces and had the boy stand outside the classroom door for the remainder of the lesson.

  When the school day was over I couldn’t wait to get home. Walking out of the school gates I noticed the traffic was extra busy. There were a lot more parents coming to collect their children than usual and I wasn’t surprised to find Rizwan waiting for me in his car too.

  Ravinder’s murder had everyone on edge.

  27

  DC Cole

  Clark and I returned to the station right after the school assembly at Binford School. On the drive back to the station I told Clark about the white van.

  He listened carefully while driving and didn’t interrupt. I told him about how Richardson didn’t think much of it and he snorted.

  “What do you make of it?” I asked.

  “It could be the key to the case but obviously it’s no use without anything to help us track it down like the number plate.”

  I fought off the false hope of a witness handing that to us from the night before.

  There was a lot to go over and check in with all the other investigation team members once we got back. Clark was part of the team as well now.

  Stein had called us all into his office first thing in the morning – me, Richardson and Clark – and told us we were going to have to work together now that the Rishi Malhotra and Ravinder Singh cases were connected. The decision made sense since the team needed all the help we could get.

  I knew Clark and Richardson didn’t like the notion of working together – something Stein brought up out into the open when we were in his office – but he told us he didn’t give a shit what any of us thought about it.

  Both Richardson and Clark agreed to co-operate with each other. Clark seemed sincere about it. On the other hand, Richardson had been fuming about it afterwards and begrudgingly accepted the arrangement because he had no other choice.