STALKER ON THE FENS a gripping crime thriller full of twists

by Joy Ellis

‘Ma’am?’ Joseph stuck his head around her door. ‘Have you got time for me to update you on what we found at the crime scene out at Wisdom Creek?’

  She beckoned him in and pointed to a chair. ‘Sorry, Joseph. Before we discuss anything, we have to ensure that your friends in the IT department keep that damned program away from the police computer. Andrew said it must be destroyed. Apparently it’s seriously dangerous and I don’t think I’d be flavour of the month if I brought the PNC down, do you?’

  ‘Don’t worry, ma’am. All of Norman Hebbenstall’s investigative work is done on a totally separate system, for just that reason. I was speaking to him earlier, and he’s fully aware of the potential for damage of Andrew’s little toy.’ Joseph looked at her. ‘Are you okay, Nikki? I can’t imagine how awful the last few hours must have been for you.’

  Nikki felt a rush of affection for him. Most people assumed that her professional position, and her cool, would allow her to sail unscathed through every adversity. Joseph knew her better. He had the courage to treat her like a human being.

  She rubbed hard at her sore eyes. ‘It’s been horrible, absolutely horrible. You sit there, knowing a friend is dying, and yet you have to keep vigilant, detached. You have to practically grill the poor guy in his last moments, when all he wants to do is reminisce about his girlfriend and their food fights.’ She exhaled loudly. ‘It sucks.’

  ‘Then I hope he managed to help in some way. Because whoever killed those people at Wisdom Creek is a sadistic bastard and an expert at cleaning up after himself.’

  ‘Well, here’s the bummer, Joseph. There were three of them. Andrew gave me two names, Fabian and Venables, and a damned good description of the third, the nameless one.’

  Joseph’s face screwed up in concentration. ‘Fabian? I’ve heard that name before, haven’t I? Wasn’t he the hitman in the contract killing of that East End gangster last year?’ He scratched slowly at his chin. ‘Mediterranean type, something of a mystery man, apparently.’

  Nikki suddenly knew who he meant. ‘Which brings me to the third man. If I said tall, dark haired and with a badly scarred face, would it conjure up any thoughts?’

  ‘Cox! Stephen Cox! But what on earth would he have to do with Andrew and his company?’

  ‘Well, from what Andrew said it would appear that Cox has gone into the protection racket, and on a very large scale if he’s using men like Fabian.’

  Joseph looked pale. They wanted to get Stephen Cox behind bars more than any other criminal they had ever had to deal with. But he had hurt them both in the past and even seeing Cox again would jump start some pretty powerful emotions. For Joseph in particular.

  Nikki looked at him with a mixture of compassion and excitement. ‘This is our chance, Joseph. He’s right in the middle of our investigation. This time we are going to get him.’

  Joseph nodded. ‘I’ll do everything in my power to make that happen, you can rely on that.’

  ‘I know. You don’t have to tell me. But right now I have to fill you in on a rather unfortunate conversation I had earlier, with Eric Barnes.’

  Joseph listened, his habitual calm expression growing angrier by the moment.

  Joseph spoke through gritted teeth. ‘What? Even I never had him down for such a callous bastard! The whole mess room is calling him today’s super hero. Wonder what they’ll think of golden boy when they hear about this?’

  ‘They won’t. Well, not from us, okay? I’ve given Barnes a few options to consider, and if he’s got a decent bone in his body and he’s the good detective that some people, you included, believed him to be, he has the chance to do the right thing. It’s up to him.’

  Joseph shook his head sadly. ‘And you had to deal with that after everything else that happened?’

  ‘One of those days, Joseph. I can’t wait for it to end.’

  ‘Ah, would you throw something heavy at me if I mentioned the name Oliver Kirton?’

  She allowed herself to smile at her sergeant. ‘No, I haven’t got the energy, but I hadn’t forgotten about him. I’ll attend to him next, okay?’

  When Joseph had left, she picked up her coat and bag, and went to find Niall Farrow. No matter how much she wanted to go home and bury herself under her duvet until she fell asleep, it was business as usual in the murder room.

  * * *

  Oliver Kirton had not been at home, so an hour later she was back in her office, to find a neatly typed letter from Eric Barnes. After reading it through, she opened her computer and carefully worded a reply. It wasn’t easy, but it would be a damned sight easier than trying to explain what had happened to Superintendent Woodhall. Well, she knew how to explain it. The difficult bit was to do it without him hitting the roof, and taking her with him.

  She got up and closed her office door. Her heart sank as her phone started to ring. It was so tempting to leave it. Hardly anyone knew she was still here, and it was very late. Even Joseph had gone on ahead, promising to get them some sort of food together.

  With a sigh she returned to her desk. ‘DI Nikki Galena.’

  The voice on the other end was soft, full of emotion. ‘I’m so glad to have caught you, Inspector. It was a shot in the dark, hoping to find you still there. It’s Carolyn Chambers, Paul Brant’s doctor.’

  Nikki stiffened. It was too late for an informal chat, and the doctor sounded pretty upset. Oh please don’t tell me Brant’s done a bunk! The super would be apoplectic if that were the case. ‘I was just off home actually. But what can I do for you, Dr Chambers?’

  ‘It’s Paul, DI Galena.’

  Nikki’s stomach turned over.

  ‘I’m afraid he killed himself earlier this evening.’

  A tiny part of Nikki was rather relieved. She had never been one hundred percent sure she had done the right thing in letting him go. Well, at least he wasn’t running wild through Greenborough, terrifying more women. ‘How did it happen, Doctor?’

  ‘He hanged himself, Inspector.’ She almost choked on the next words. ‘I found him.’

  Nikki felt the blood drain from her face. It happened in her job more often than she would have liked. You found dead people. But when it was someone you knew . . . She tried to speak, but the words stuck in her throat.

  ‘Inspector?’

  Still she could not speak.

  ‘DI Galena? Are you still there?’

  ‘Yes, yes. I’m so very sorry.’ The hand that held the telephone receiver shook almost uncontrollably. ‘Finding someone like that. It’s unimaginably horrible. Are you all right?’

  ‘It was only a few hours ago. I’m still trying to get my head around it. I just thought you should know immediately.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Nikki sunk back into her chair and attempted to find the right words. ‘If it helps any, I do know how you feel, Doctor. I’ve been in the same situation myself.’

  ‘In your line of work, I suppose you would.’

  Before she had time to think, Nikki said, ‘We do, but I was thinking about my friend, Helen Brook. I had taken round a Chinese meal and a bottle of wine. We were going to spend the evening together. Instead I found her murdered.’

  ‘I’m so sorry! I didn’t think. I shouldn’t have been so blunt.’

  ‘It’s okay, honestly. I just wanted you to know that I understand how you feel.’

  There was a sigh. ‘It’s the shock, isn’t it? I can’t get the sight out of my mind. I really let him down, didn’t I?

  ‘Good Lord! It’s not your fault, Dr Chambers. Paul Brant was a mess, poor guy, and you really did your best for him.’

  ‘It wasn’t enough though, was it? I think he truly believed that Helen Brook never knew about him watching her. Then to find out he had scared her so badly, it must have been too much for him.’

  ‘Did he leave a note?’

  ‘No. I suppose he didn’t need to. We’d tried to talk it through. I thought he was beginning to see that her death had absolutely nothing to do with him, but it seems I was wrong there as well
.’ She sighed. ‘Well, I’m sorry to have rung so late. You did put your neck on the block by letting him go, and I really appreciated it. At least you know he’s not a threat anymore.’

  ‘I’m still very sorry that it had to end that way. He was an innocent party really. He just got caught up in a difficult situation and inadvertently made things worse.’

  ‘I suppose. Anyway, thank you for what you did for him. Take care.’

  When the doctor had ended the call, Nikki sat in her office and thought about her reaction to the news of Paul’s suicide. It had been extreme, even after the day she’d just had. She was horribly overtired, and suddenly the reality of Helen’s death had caught up with her. She picked her coat off the back of the door and pulled it on. ‘No more, not tonight. Time to go home.’ As she closed the door, Andrew’s words came back to her. “I thought he was handsome, until he turned and I saw his face was badly scarred.”

  Stephen Cox. Nikki gave an involuntary shiver, pulled the coat tighter around her and hurried down the corridor to the stairs.

  * * *

  Nikki drove directly to Knot Cottage and parked outside. Light streamed from the windows of Joseph’s tiny home on the marsh, and it was the best thing she’d seen all day. He greeted her at the door with a large glass of red wine.

  ‘Lifesaver!’ Nikki took the glass and had a long, slow drink even before the door closed. ‘As days go, that was one of the shittiest. And there have been far too many shitty days of late.’

  Joseph took her coat and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. ‘Sit. I’ll get the food.’

  ‘Haven’t you eaten?’

  ‘I waited for you. It’s a bit basic, I’m afraid, but it’s hot and it’s not a takeaway.’

  ‘Whatever you cook is always perfect, Joseph, but before we eat, I have to tell you about Paul Brant.’ She told him the sad story, then sat back and closed her eyes. In the quiet of the little kitchen she finally let herself relax. Knot Cottage was exactly the right place to be after the day she’d just had. Suddenly she had a memory from years ago.

  She was with her young daughter, Hannah, and Martin who had owned the cottage before Joseph. They had sat around this same table and played Hannah’s favourite game of Cluedo. In her head she heard Hannah call out excitedly, “Miss Scarlett in the study with a rope!” Nothing pleased the child better than to get one over on her detective mother.

  “Wonderful, sweetheart, although in reality that would be highly improbable. Women don’t often strangle men.”

  “Bad loser! Isn’t she a bad loser, Martin?”

  “Very bad indeed. Shame on you, Nikki!” Martin would smile his lopsided smile and say, “Time for another game?”

  As they always did, thoughts of her daughter brought a lump to her throat and a terrible sadness in her heart. Such a waste! Such a terrible waste. It was something she would never truly get over.

  ‘Penny for them? Or second thoughts, maybe not after today.’

  ‘I was thinking about my girl, actually.’ Nikki brightened. ‘And talking about our girls, what did Tamsin need to see you about so urgently the other day?’

  Joseph placed a bowl of delicious-smelling food in front of her. ‘Thank heaven for slow cookers. Beef and vegetable casserole, and there’s plenty more in the pot. Eat, and I’ll tell you about my evening with Tamsin.’

  Nikki smiled up at him. Thank heaven for slow cookers indeed!

  Joseph sipped his wine. ‘As you know, Tamsin has been going out with Niall Farrow for a while now, and the crux of it is, they are pretty serious about each other and she wants to move in with him.’

  Nikki shrugged. ‘How is that a problem in this day and age? Surely you are open-minded enough to let them do what they want?’

  Joseph grinned. ‘Not a word about this to anyone, right?’

  Nikki laid her knife and fork down. ‘Promise. Now tell me all.’

  ‘Niall wants to wait.’ His grin widened, ‘And not because he has cold feet. Our Niall is a waiting-until-marriage kind of guy.’

  Nikki sat back and shook her head. ‘How refreshing! I knew I liked that lad.’

  ‘Fine, but Tamsin isn’t, and she is climbing the walls!’

  Nikki laughed. ‘Oh dear! The course of true love and all that.’

  ‘And now she wants me to talk to him.’ Joseph was almost beside himself. ‘What do I say, for goodness sake?’

  Nikki made a few unhelpful suggestions. So, finding no sensible solution to Tamsin’s problem, they fell into an amicable silence while they ate.

  Surprisingly, considering that most of the day her stomach had been clenched in a tight nervous knot, Nikki managed to clear her plate and have another ladleful.

  She leaned back and stared vacantly at her empty plate. ‘I’m dreading tomorrow and this vigil. There are so many things that could go wrong. The timing is incredibly bad.’

  ‘But the super won’t cancel it?’ Joseph scratched his chin thoughtfully, then answered his own question. ‘But I guess he can’t really. That would cause just as many problems.’

  ‘He wants it out of the way and a line drawn under it. Until it’s over, that part of town will continue to be a nightmare.’ She finished her wine, then put her hand over the top of the glass as Joseph offered another. ‘Better not. I might finish up in the dyke.’

  ‘You could walk up the lane, and pick up your car in the morning.’

  She looked longingly at the bottle, but shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think so, thanks.’

  ‘Sensible I guess.’ Joseph pushed the cork back into the half empty bottle. ‘We need to be as sharp as we can be.’ He sat back down and stared at her. ‘How are you holding up?’

  Nikki thought for a moment. ‘I’ll tell you when these investigations are over. Right now, seeing Andrew in that terrible state, I just want to catch the evil bastards who think nothing of killing, maiming and torturing people.’

  ‘And we also have the body in the river to worry about.’

  Nikki bit her lip. ‘He’s connected in some way. Don’t ask me how, but he’s part of it.’

  ‘If Cox is using professionals, then that single stab wound to the heart could have been pure expertise.’

  ‘We’ll get them, whatever it takes,’ she whispered, almost to herself.

  Joseph nodded, his eyes narrowed. ‘Yes, whatever it takes.’

  The moment was tense, and they both jumped when Nikki’s mobile rang.

  ‘Sorry for the late call, Inspector, but guess what? I have a name for your body, and it isn’t Mr Arturas Kubilius from Lithuania.’

  ‘Rory! You are a mind reader! We were just talking about him. Who is he?’ She tapped the loudspeaker button so Joseph could hear.

  ‘Well, I’d love to tell you that discovering his precious identity was achieved using my ingenuity and considerable guile, but I can’t.’ He gave a theatrical sigh. ‘It turns out he’s known to the police in several counties, and we already have his DNA on file. Boring!’

  ‘And?’

  ‘Oh yes, his name is Derek Lyle. He’s from the Horncastle area, and no doubt you will discover all about him from your lovely PNC. And so to bed! Night night, both.’

  ‘He’s in the system,’ Joseph murmured. ‘But what did he do to get himself topped?

  ‘Another little puzzle to be addressed tomorrow, I think. But at least we have a name, praise be.’ Nikki stood up. ‘Thank you for the meal, it was delicious. Now I really need to get home.’

  Joseph got her coat. ‘I’ll see you bright and early.’ He touched her arm as she moved towards the door. ‘And ring me if you can’t sleep or just want to talk, okay?’

  Nikki squeezed his hand and felt tears forming. ‘Thank you. I’ll remember that.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  ‘Quiet!’ Nikki watched as her team found chairs, then stopped talking and turned their attention to her. ‘First, I have to tell you all that Paul Brant, Helen Brook’s inadvertent stalker, has killed himself. He died last ni
ght.’

  There was a ripple of whispered voices.

  ‘Ma’am? Was it guilt? Did he leave a note? Did he confess to anything?’ asked Dave Harris.

  ‘No note, and although we obviously can’t rule him out, I really don’t believe Paul Brant was capable of killing anyone, other than himself. His doctor confirms that, although she admits she has been wrong about his state of mind on two occasions before. I think he was an unhappy victim of circumstance, not a stalker or a killer. He had been dealt some pretty rough blows, and I’m sorry he took his own life. And of course, you are all aware that Andrew Gregory died yesterday. Information received from the property where he was found, and from his extensive and eventually fatal injuries, indicates that he was tortured and left for dead by a professional assassin, or assassins. They were trying to find the whereabouts of a certain computer program, one that, thankfully, we already have under lock and key. The killers also tortured and killed the owner of the property, Teresa Starr, and a young man we believe to be named Alex Power, both employees of Seymour Kramer Systems. Professor Wilkinson has intimated that he thought the woman, Teresa Starr, although badly beaten, actually died of a massive heart attack before the men had finished with her. They then turned their attentions to the younger victim, and finally to Andrew.’

  ‘Did he give them the information that they wanted?’ Jessie Nightingale looked pale.

  ‘No. Andrew believed that they thought he was dead, and gave up. He lasted long enough to tell us everything we wanted to know about his actual whereabouts at the time of Helen Brook’s death, and about the private cyber-scam that he, Teresa and Alex were involved in.’

  ‘So is Gregory off the suspect list?’ a uniformed constable asked.

  ‘He was never on it as far as I was concerned. But yes, he did not kill Helen. He stayed alive long enough to spend his last moments holding her hand. I was there with him, and he was certainly not acting.’

  ‘So with our two main suspects gone, is it down to one of her patients?’ Cat asked.

  ‘It looks that way. We have practically eliminated the man in the cellar, it was not her lover, and she had no known enemies. Well, none that we know of, so that leaves her clients.’