Ultimate Dilemma (Justice Again Book 2)

by M A Comley

  “Are we, though? The rug is here even if her body isn’t. We’re thinking along the lines that maybe one of the men might have returned to dig up the body. Jesus, we need to go and see Keith.”

  Patti frowned and thrust her hands on her hips. “Who’s he?”

  “He’s the surviving member of the group, the only one still alive. I have him under surveillance in case the murderer goes after him. Come on, Charlie, sod waiting around here for something that’s not going to materialise.”

  They ripped off their suits, deposited them in the black bag and raced back to the car.

  Once they were on the way, Katy asked Charlie to call Patrick and put it on speaker phone. “Patrick, it’s me. Anything?”

  “He’s inside, boss. No sign of him going out, and no one has shown up from what we can tell.”

  “Good. We’re on our way over there to see him. We’ve just located the burial site, except the body was nowhere to be seen. I’m banking on him telling us what he knows. We’re thinking along the lines that one of the men may have possibly returned and dug the woman up, maybe to give her a proper burial. Ugh…pure speculation, who sodding knows if that’s true or not?”

  “Whoa! That’s some wacky theory, boss, if you don’t mind me saying? How long will you be?”

  “Tell me about it. We’re twenty-five minutes out according to the satnav.”

  “See you soon then. Any movement, we’ll give you a bell.”

  “Do that.” She nodded for Charlie to end the call.

  They pulled up outside Keith Pittman’s house. Situated in a quiet suburban road, it was semi-detached with a pretty front garden in full bloom with dahlias planted amidst dozens of rose trees of various colours and varieties.

  Katy stopped off to talk to Patrick and Graham first. “We’ll go in. Any problems…just be alert at all times.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want either of us to go in there with you?”

  “I think we’ll be fine. I’ve got a few questions to ask, and then we’ll take him down the station to book him on a murder charge.” Katy joined her partner at the gate. “You ready for this? It could go one of two ways, you know that, don’t you?”

  Charlie withdrew her hand from her jacket pocket and waved the can of pepper spray. “I’m all prepared.”

  “Let’s go.” Katy rang the bell.

  A man in his mid-fifties answered the door almost immediately. “Yes. Can I help?”

  “I think you can, Mr Pittman.” Katy flashed her ID in his face. “All right if we come in for a moment?”

  “Not until you tell me what this intrusion is all about.”

  “Intrusion? Okay, we’re investigating several murders in the area and—”

  “And what? You think I have something to do with them? Are you crazy? I’m a law-abiding citizen, I would never…”

  Katy smiled and inclined her head. “You were saying? Don’t let me stop you. Why pause? Unless you know that’s not the truth, sir. Are you going to let us in?”

  He spun on his heel and stormed ahead of them, up the hallway and into the first room on the right, which turned out to be a through-lounge divided by an arch which led into a dining area.

  “What do you want from me?” He paced the floor, close to the TV.

  “Take a seat, sir. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  The three of them sat, and Charlie withdrew her notebook from her pocket and flipped it open.

  He stared at Katy and said, “I know nothing.”

  “I haven’t asked you anything yet. As I said, we’re investigating several murders in the area which took place in the past week or so. I believe the victims are all people you know, sir.”

  “What? Who?”

  “Bruce Crawford, Robin Hewitt, Dale Peters and Ellis Bird.”

  With each name she mentioned, his mouth gaped open wider, and the colour drained from his reasonably tanned face.

  “No way…this can’t be true.”

  “I’m afraid it is. Now, what we’d like to know is, who do you think killed them?”

  “How should I fucking know? What is this? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Let’s set the recent murders aside for a moment. How about you tell me why you and the four men I’ve just mentioned killed Sonia Crawford?”

  His left hand covered his eyes, and he wailed, “It wasn’t down to me. I wanted no part in it. He forced me to do it.”

  “Who did?”

  “Bruce. He was a bully. If you didn’t do as he said, he could cause trouble for you, if you see what I mean?”

  “So rather than stand up to him, you went ahead and robbed that poor defenceless woman of her life.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve regretted my actions all these years.” He pointed to a shelf on the bookcase. “I take forty-odd tablets a day because of what happened back then. I’ve been in and out of hospitals, mental hospitals because I can’t get rid of the images from that night.”

  “So, what you’re telling us is you have a conscience, yes?”

  “Yes. I suppose so.”

  “Not enough of one to want to turn yourself, and the others, in to the police, though, right?”

  “I’ve tried numerous times. Plucked up the courage to go down the cop shop, only to back out at the last minute. Please, you have to believe me.”

  “Oh, I do. Unable to fight your conscience any longer, you thought you’d kill your so-called friends instead, is that it?”

  He stared at her, his expression one of horrified confusion as her words sank in. He eventually jumped out of his seat and paced the room again. “No, you’ve got this all wrong. I would never…”

  “What? Commit murder? That’s a lie, and you know it, Mr Pittman.”

  “It was an accident all those years ago. We didn’t mean to kill her, we were only having a laugh.”

  “You perceive raping and strangling a woman as a laugh, a game? How warped are you? All of you.”

  He paced and fell silent. After a while, he stopped and stared at them. “I didn’t want any of this. It’s so wrong for you to come here and challenge me about this after all these years.”

  “We found the burial site.”

  “What? That’s impossible.”

  “It’s not. We found it. The only trouble is, Sonia Crawford’s body wasn’t there. Now, why do you suppose that is, sir?”

  “Shit! How the fuck should I know? She was there. We all saw her placed in the ground. We all did our bit to dig that hole deep enough so that she would never be discovered.”

  “If you were all involved, why kill off your associates?”

  “I haven’t, I’m telling you. You have to believe me, why would I lie? I’ve told you the truth about the woman. I did not kill my…friends.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Why shouldn’t you? I’m telling you the truth. Oh God, it’s just occurred to me. If they’re all dead, that means someone is out there still, they could be coming for me next. You can’t let that happen. I don’t want to die.”

  Katy hated this man. He was a snivelling wreck with no morals or remorse running through his veins. But, unfortunately, he had every right to receive protection from the murderer. However much that stuck in her craw. “Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to accompany us to the station where you’re going to make a full confession to the murder of Sonia Crawford twenty-four years ago.”

  He sank into his chair and covered his head with his hands. “If that’s what it takes to get you to protect me, then I’ll do it.”

  “Do you need to collect anything or tell anyone you’re coming with us?”

  “I have no one. I live alone.”

  “Do you want to call your family solicitor or use the duty one at the station?”

  “The duty one. Thank you. I’ll just lock the back door.”

  “No, stay there where I can see you. DC Simpkins, will you do it, please?”

  Charlie went thr
ough to the kitchen and nodded when she returned. “All done.”

  “Let’s go then.” Katy grabbed Pittman by the elbow and exited the house.

  Charlie secured the front door behind them. Pittman was put in the back seat. Katy motioned for Patrick and Graham to go on ahead. Patrick gave her the thumbs-up and drew away slowly, waiting for Katy to get in the driver’s seat and start up.

  She followed Patrick back to the station but got cut off from him when the lights changed to red. “He’ll wait up the road,” she said to Charlie.

  The car lunged forward. Katy hit her head on the steering wheel, and Charlie’s forehead smashed into the dashboard.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Pittman’s panicked voice rifled around the inside of the car.

  Dazed, Katy opened her car door and staggered out. A fist connected with her cheek, and she went down. The back door opened, and a screaming Pittman was yanked out of the car.

  “He’s mine. You’re not taking him. I have plans for him.”

  Katy peered through the misty fog blurring her vision. “Who are you? No, you can’t take him. He’s our prisoner.”

  “He deserves to be punished for what he did.”

  “What did he do?” Katy tried to form her words into suitable sentences through the pain in her cheek. It was a struggle, but she just about managed it.

  “Him and his mates, it was despicable the way he treated…week after week, year after year. No remorse whatsoever.”

  Katy peered up at the outline of the person, the sun blinding her, making it impossible to figure out who she was talking to. Car horns beeped as the lights changed colour.

  Then the person ran, dragging the screaming Pittman with them back to their car.

  “Charlie, are you all right?” Katy shouted.

  “I think so.”

  “We have to help him.”

  “I know. I can’t move, my head hurts so badly.”

  “Ring Patrick. Tell him what’s going on. Call for help, Charlie.” Katy struggled to get to her feet. It was imperative she didn’t let this person get away. Her career would be on the line if she allowed that to happen. It gave her the impetus to get moving, to fight the fog of confusion surrounding her and go after the two of them.

  The car pulled out from behind hers, and the driver put their foot down, heading straight towards her. Katy hit the ground and rolled out of the way. Damn, they’re getting away!

  A few hundred yards up the road, the sound of crunching metal and screeching tyres filled the air. Katy glanced up and was relieved to see Patrick and Graham tussling with the driver.

  Charlie appeared before her. “Are you all right?”

  Katy waved away her concern. “We have to find out who that person is, Charlie.”

  “The boys have the situation under control, and I’ve rung the station for backup. Let me help you up.”

  A couple of the drivers in nearby vehicles came to their assistance, better late than never, and helped them back to their car. Katy sat in the driver’s seat for a second to catch her breath, but the pull to get involved proved too much. She staggered towards Patrick and Graham—she had to find out who this person was.

  Patrick glanced up, his expression one of sheer horror and disbelief. “Tell her who you are,” he ordered the mystery attacker.

  “I’m the one he and his disgusting friends ‘killed’ all those years ago, except they didn’t. I survived. I crawled out of the grave and survived.” Tears ran down the woman’s face. “I’ve come back to avenge my ‘death’ and what they put me through. No one can blame me for killing them. Ridding the world of such evil. I took pleasure in seeing their horrified expressions, thinking that a ghost had come back to finish them off.”

  Katy was rendered dumbstruck. Of all the conclusions they’d thought of, this wasn’t one of them.

  “Do your daughters know you’re alive?”

  “No. I’ve watched them both from afar for the last few months. I’ve been tempted a number of times to make myself known to them but was worried how they would take the news. I was determined to carry out my plan first and then I had every intention of revealing the truth to them.”

  “Why? After all these years, why start killing these men now?”

  Her head dipped. “For years I’ve lived with amnesia. In one way, I wish I’d never recovered, and yet in another, I’m glad I did. Those men deserved to die. They should have been punished long ago. Why weren’t they punished? Why did the truth never come out?”

  “Because you’re right, they were all cowards. Pittman admitted his life had been ruined by the events of that night…”

  “Not enough for him to come forward to the police and reveal the truth, though.”

  “That’s true. As much as I want to slap you on the back for what you’ve achieved this past week, I can’t do it. These men shouldn’t have died at your hands, they warranted being banged up for the rest of their lives. I’ll ensure that happens to Pittman, you have my word on that.”

  “I did it for my girls. All of this was done so my girls no longer had to live in fear. I’m sure these men would have abused them the way they’d forced themselves upon me time and time again.”

  “You’re wrong. The group split up after they thought they’d killed you, although both of your daughters have told me that their father abused them over the years.”

  “The bastard. That man was full of hatred for me. After the birth of Penny, my youngest, he turned on me, all because I’d neglected in my duties to reward him with a son. I told him we could try again, have another child, but he didn’t want to take the risk of having yet another daughter. I tried to fend him off every night, took the beatings handed out to me, in the hope that he wouldn’t take his anger out on the girls, and then he upped the ante, invited his friends to become involved in vile sex acts.” A stream of tears fell, and her legs gave way beneath her.

  Patrick broke her fall.

  “All right, that’s enough. Let’s get her back to the station, boys. She can tell us the rest later,” Katy muttered.

  “What about you and Charlie, boss?” Patrick asked.

  “Leave Pittman with us. Backup is on the way. We’ll get my car recovered and hitch a ride with uniform. Treat her well, Patrick, she’s been through hell.”

  He nodded and helped Sonia to her feet and into the back of the car.

  Epilogue

  The next few hours flew past in a torrent of emotions. Katy charged Amy and then set her free, promising to see her in court for her part in covering up the heinous crime all these years. Then Katy took the decision to call Nadia with a request for the young woman to join her at the station.

  Nadia showed up, fearing the worst. “Please, I know you’re going to arrest me, Inspector. How many times do I have to tell you? I had nothing to do with these murders. I’m mourning the loss of my father right now.”

  “I know that. Please, don’t misconstrue why I’ve asked you to come here today. I want to reassure you that I now believe you weren’t involved in the killing spree.”

  “That’s brilliant. Does this mean you’ve caught the killer?”

  Katy’s throat suddenly clogged up. She swallowed, trying to shift the lump which had formed. “Yes. Oh God, I have some news for you and I’m not sure how you’re going to react to it.”

  Nadia frowned and inclined her head. “What news?”

  “Come with me.” She led Nadia down the corridor to Interview Room Two and entered it. Sitting at the table were Charlie and Sonia. Sonia slowly turned to face her daughter.

  Nadia shook her head and glanced at Katy. “I don’t understand, who is she?”

  Katy fought back the tears and whispered, “She’s your mother, love.”

  Nadia’s gaze swiftly shifted back to Sonia. “That’s impossible…what kind of sick joke is this? My mother died that night…I saw what those men did to her…”

  Sonia stood and held out her arms. “I’m sorry you had to witness that, my d
arling. It is me, I swear it is.”

  “But… but…they killed you?”

  “They thought they had, they were idiots, they couldn’t even do that properly.”

  “If what you’re telling me is true, where have you been all these years?”

  “Someone took me in, helped me to rediscover who I was. I had amnesia up until a few months ago. The psychiatrist told me that it was the mind’s defence mechanism, to block out all the bad things pertaining to my previous life. I only ever had two good things happen, that was giving birth to you and Penny.”

  Nadia sobbed and ran into her mother’s outstretched arms. After a few minutes, she stepped back and asked, “Does this mean you’re going to be taken from us all over again?”

  “I’m sorry, I suppose it does. I couldn’t let them get away with it, love. The thought of those bastards subjecting other women to the demoralising acts they made me go through… I just couldn’t let them get away with it.”

  “I understand, Mum.”

  Sonia smiled and touched her daughter’s face. “I’ve missed hearing you say that word.”

  “I’ve thought of you non-stop over the years. I love you.”

  “Believe me, there’s no greater love than a mother’s love. How’s your sister?”

  Nadia gasped. “Oh God, she’s going to be blown away by this news. I need to contact her.”

  “All in good time, sweetheart.”

  “Yes, all in good time. I’m sorry to have to break this reunion up, but we need to get on.” Katy smiled apologetically at the two women clutching each other’s hands.

  “Just five more minutes,” Nadia pleaded.

  “DC Simpkins, we’ll go grab a cup of coffee and leave these two ladies to get reacquainted for five minutes.”

  Sonia smiled at Katy. “Thank you.”

  Two female constables were stationed outside.

  “I don’t think they’ll be any trouble, just keep an eye on them. We’ll be back in ten minutes.”