by Luca Veste
Things had become blurry for some time after that. When her senses had come back to her, she couldn’t move her arms or legs. Strapped to a chair which she couldn’t rock over without hurting herself. Made to wait in silence, her shouts and screams muffled. Only audible in her own mind.
The man now stood behind Greg, Hannah’s eyes locked on his position in the darkness. She couldn’t see features, only his form, guessing that even if there were light in the room she still wouldn’t be able to make out what he really looked like behind that mask.
Greg stopped talking, finally sensing the presence behind him. He tried to crane his neck to see, but he was too fixed in place to do so.
‘Well, this was disappointing,’ the man said. ‘I was hoping you would have saved all this bother and told Greg the truth, Hannah.’
‘I knew it . . .’
‘Be quiet, Greg.’ The man spat out the name with a disgust that shook Hannah. ‘You’re just like the others. You don’t know what love is. There is no truth in this room, only lies. You could be better people, but you’re not listening to me. You don’t believe what I can do.’
It wasn’t just her he was angry with. She should have guessed that, otherwise only she would be the one who was strapped down and unable to move.
‘I think it’s time we played a game,’ the man said moving between them. He settled on his haunches between them, Hannah saw the flash of a grin in the darkness. ‘It’s called, how long can I hurt Hannah before she tells you the truth, Greg.’
Chapter Twelve
Murphy read the report on Chloe and Joe in silence, waiting for answers to appear as if by magic from the page. Forensics. Not as useful as they make out on TV, but usually useful all the same.
In this instance, not really useful at all.
It was the afternoon of the second day, already coming up to the thirty-hour mark of that magical forty-eight-hour period when the case was supposed to stand or fall. Not that Murphy ever bought into that kind of thinking. If anyone wanted to see a police service who didn’t give up because they hadn’t solved a case within the first few days, it was Merseyside Police. Sometimes a few months wouldn’t even be a cause for worry. Two high-profile cases in the previous decade had taken more than a year before a charge was made.
Murphy focused on the forensics report once more, trying to discover the key thing that he may have missed in his first three reads. It hadn’t taken him long to read it, it was mainly a list of items from which no usable information could be gleaned.
‘Laura, you got anything from this?’ Murphy said, giving in and throwing it open.
‘Not really,’ Rossi replied.
‘That’s not a no. What are you thinking?’
Rossi was still staring at the report across from him, one foot raised up on her chair, an arm casually strung around her knee. ‘Just how clean it is.’
‘I got that too. Could just mean we have someone who knows about forensics? They’d only have to watch any cop show on TV these days.’
‘Guess so. Still, all that preparation with the magazine covers, the newspaper articles, and not one bit of DNA at all? That’s strange. Not a fresh fingerprint in that room, or the area we found the victims? It feels . . . I don’t know . . . prepared in some way.’
Murphy thought about it for a second, decided there was something he’d been considering himself.
‘A kill site?’
‘Yeah,’ Rossi replied, letting her foot fall to the floor and pulling herself closer to her desk. ‘Which could mean knobhead’s case from over the water isn’t linked to this one at all.’
‘Killed in their own home, whilst our guy kills in a specific place outside of it? Unless there’s another reason we’re not seeing?’
‘Possibly.’
‘The set-up is too similar though. Bound to chairs facing each other. One killed by asphyxiation, the other by overdose of unknown origin. No, there’s something else there. The security at their apartment, CCTV and the like. Bet that could put off someone . . .’
‘Bet you’re right. That could be why it was a different location. The killer scouts out his victims, decides it’s too risky killing them in their own home.’
‘Let’s speak to that agent again,’ Murphy said, standing up and grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. ‘See if there’s anything he’s not told us yet. Or that we just haven’t found out.’
* * *
The media presence outside the station had dispersed. Murphy had heard the house in Anfield was still attracting a few ghouls who wanted to stand by police tape and look at a couple of bored uniformed coppers. Outside Thomas Parker’s house, it was different. A cavalcade of journalists descended on them as Murphy and Rossi pulled up to the driveway of Parker’s house, flashes going off in the afternoon light.
It was the questions which always struck Murphy as odd.
‘Are you here to arrest Thomas Parker?’
‘Is Thomas Parker a murder suspect?’
‘Did Thomas Parker kill Chloe?’
Murphy wondered if they actually expected an answer. It was as if they were hoping there would be a slip and the two detectives would suddenly give up all their information. It must have worked at some point, as what type of person tries the same thing over and over, expecting different results?
Murphy waited for the gates to open, spying the CCTV affixed to the pillar on the driver’s side of the car, and angled towards them. They had phoned ahead, so Murphy hadn’t expected too long a wait to gain entry, but thirty seconds was beginning to feel like thirty minutes.
Murphy had known from the address that they weren’t going to be visiting a three-bedroomed terraced house. Or even the nice semi-detached where Chloe’s mother lived. He knew where the money was located within the city, the houses kept for footballers, local celebs and people with much better-paid jobs than a detective inspector.
Formby.
‘Not far from the professor’s house this,’ Murphy said as they waited. ‘Not been back here since.’
‘I’m not surprised. You were almost killed that time. Lucky that you had Jemma Barnes on your side. Wonder how she’s doing . . .’
Murphy thought of the young woman who had been held in captivity for almost a year. How she had emerged from a dark basement and killed her captor, saving Murphy’s life in the process. His thoughts turned to Amy Maguire and whether she was safe somewhere or in trouble like Jemma Barnes had been, without anyone suspecting.
Or, whether she was dead already. Her body waiting to be found.
‘From what little I hear, she’s doing well,’ Murphy said, nosing the car onto the drive as the gates finally opened. ‘She’s kept out of public life as much as she can. Three years ago that was now.’
‘Time flies and all that.’
The house was concealed within high, red-bricked walls. The house itself eventually revealed itself, the car’s tyres crunching on gravel stones as they drove the short distance to the entrance. It wasn’t palatial but it still screamed money. Built from dark red brick, with large windows, trimmed in a deep brown colour. Murphy could see a multitude of outhouses to one side and a front entrance framed by large pillars of brick masquerading as marble.
‘There’s even a bloody fountain,’ Murphy said, pointing to Rossi’s side window.
‘Honestly,’ Rossi said, taking in the grounds and shaking her head. ‘You would never think places like this exist only a short drive from some of the shite we see on a regular basis. Like a different world. It’s still in Liverpool and not bloody Southport though. No matter how hard they try to make it so.’
Murphy pulled to a stop near the entrance, gave Rossi a look. ‘Don’t let the money intimidate you,’ he said, earning himself a muttered response from Rossi. ‘I’m just saying, we treat him like any other guy.’
They were greeted at the door by a woman in an old-fashioned tabard apron – the hired help, Murphy assumed. She was the epitome of old English maid, with silver hai
r in a bun, wrinkled skin and thick gold-framed glasses. She ushered them through to the main living area, where Parker stood with his back to them, speaking on his mobile and gesticulating with one hand towards an ornate mantelpiece.
‘Real marble that,’ Murphy said pointing towards the fireplace. ‘Classy.’
‘And you’re telling me not to be intimidated . . .’
Parker turned as they spoke, covering the mouthpiece of the phone.
‘Thanks, darling,’ Parker said to the woman who had shown them in before speaking into the phone again.
Rossi nudged Murphy as she turned to watch the woman leave. ‘Bet she came free with the house,’ she said covering her mouth slightly with one hand.
Murphy waited patiently for a second or two before clearing his throat and speaking louder. ‘When you’re finished.’
Parker turned, almost bowing with apology, before going back to his phone call. ‘Course, course. I’ll call you back . . . I don’t know when, just don’t say anything until I tell you to.’
Murphy decided to cross the room to get closer to Parker, drawing himself up to his full height in the vast space of the living area.
Parker stabbed at his phone, shaking his head as he turned to face Murphy and Rossi once more. His eyes widened as he took in Murphy’s size directly in front of him.
‘S . . . sorry about that,’ Parker said, a slight shake to his hands as he returned the phone to his trouser pocket. ‘Is, erm, everything okay? I mean . . . obviously not, but . . . erm . . . what’s going on?’
Murphy fought against the temptation to grin madly and get even closer. ‘Well, things are progressing, Mr Parker,’ he replied, his voice flat and non-committal. ‘We’re here about Chloe and Joe, of course.’
‘Yes, of course . . . sorry again about that,’ Parker said, pointing to his empty hand before realising he’d already replaced his phone. ‘It’s all gone very mad around here, as you can imagine.’
‘No, actually. Tell us what’s been going on?’
Parker frowned. ‘In what way?’
‘Who you’ve spoken to, that sort of thing.’
Murphy allowed Parker a few seconds to think before sighing and checking his watch.
‘Well, there’s all the press of course. They all want to speak to me. Trying to get access to the families and that. I’ve been putting them off for now, but eventually it’ll get to the point where we’ll have to say something.’
Murphy shook his head. ‘How about – just for once – we concentrate on things other than stories in newspapers and magazines, Mr Parker? Leave dealing with the press to us.’
Parker let out a nervous laugh, before realising the gravity of the situation. ‘I didn’t mean that . . . I understand, but these people won’t stop until they get something they can write, tweet, or blog about. That’s just the way things are.’
Rossi stepped up in line with Murphy. ‘Let’s leave this conversation for now, what do you reckon? Talk about dead Chloe Morrison and dead Joe Hooper. You know . . . important things?’
Murphy bowed his head, took a step back and leaned on the arm of one of the large sofas. Parker raised his hands in mock surrender but didn’t move. ‘I want to help. I’ll do anything I can, of course.’
‘Good,’ Rossi replied, flipping through pages in her notebook. ‘Then we’re going to ask a few questions and let you get back to whatever it is you were doing. Sound fair?’
Parker nodded, his eyes still wide enough for Murphy to see the red streaks of blood in the whites. Coupled with the dark rings underneath his eyes, Murphy guessed sleep had evaded Parker since seeing the bodies of his two clients.
‘What was the state of the relationship between Chloe and Joe?’
‘I . . . in what way?’
Rossi didn’t look up, still standing with pen in hand. ‘How were things between them? To the best of your knowledge.’
Murphy watched Parker clasp his hands together lightly. One hand massaging the other.
‘Things were good, I think.’
‘No arguments or disagreements?’
‘Everyone has those,’ Parker replied, his hands still wringing together. ‘I hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary.’
‘What about Joe?’
Parker’s face darkened a little, his expression becoming even more drawn in on itself. ‘What about him?’
‘How was he taking to the celebrity lifestyle?’
Hesitation. Murphy could see words being discarded, chosen carefully.
‘It’s a shock to the system for those who have no experience of it. Everything is scrutinised. Your whole life is there to be commented on. They build you up, then spend all their time trying to knock you down. Joe . . . he enjoyed that. He didn’t get anywhere near the scrutiny Chloe got, of course, but he loved it all the same. Couldn’t believe the money they were getting for doing events, interviews, that sort of thing. I know he was earning a tidy sum playing football, but even at that level, he was earning a month’s wages just for turning up at a restaurant or a club, being photographed next to the sign, then going back home.’
‘Explain that to me,’ Murphy said, losing track of what was being said.
Parker looked towards Murphy then back to the relative safety of Rossi’s pen on her notepad as she scribbled notes. ‘He could get five, sometimes ten grand from a restaurant in town, just for pretending he was going for a meal there. Papped – photographed – outside, the restaurant sign all lit up, then five minutes inside with the owner. Few more photos for their walls, then back home. Didn’t even have to eat there. Five grand for an hour’s work. Tops. Next day, photos are in all the local papers and sometimes a few nationals. Same thing with clubs, shops. All that sort of thing. The news websites lap that sort of thing up. Five hundred words on what they were wearing, all that stuff. Chloe and Joe get their faces out there, keep in the spotlight, everyone’s happy.’
Murphy looked away, tugged on his bottom lip with his teeth to stop himself saying something he would regret. ‘Five grand . . .’ he said under his breath.
Parker shrugged his shoulders. ‘That’s just the way things are.’
‘Chloe would be with him when he did this sort of thing?’
‘Of course,’ Parker replied, the pitch of his voice higher now. ‘The story was always about them. It was Joe who pushed those things, though. Always wanted to know when the next one was coming along.’
‘And Chloe wasn’t always happy to go along with that?’ Rossi said, looking up at Parker finally.
Another hesitation. Murphy tried to catch Parker’s eyes to make him aware that he wasn’t happy at that, but they were fixed firmly on his own shoes.
‘She wanted to do other things,’ Parker said. ‘Didn’t want to be known for turning up to the opening of an envelope. Joe didn’t care. He just wanted to make money.’
‘Do you think they were in love, Mr Parker?’ Murphy asked, seeing the answer already.
‘I think . . . yes. I think Chloe loved Joe.’
‘We know he was stopped from making a move to a bigger football club.’
Parker looked up, glancing at Murphy now. ‘That wasn’t her,’ Parker said, his voice quivering a little, but attempting to be firm. ‘That was me. Not that I thought he listened. He was still in talks until the end of that transfer window thing they have in January. I think Chloe convinced him she wouldn’t be going with him if he moved. He knew that would bring an end to the way things had been. No wedding either, so the whole lead-up to that would be lost. Took a while though.’
Murphy went back over what Parker had said in the previous minute, trying to work out what it was that was niggling him.
Rossi got there before him.
‘You said Chloe loved Joe,’ she said, removing the pen that had been nestled on the corner of her mouth as she’d waited. ‘You don’t think he loved her, do you? You think the wedding was a sham. That he was just in it for the money, the fame.’
Parker sighe
d, the weight on his shoulders becoming harder and harder to bear, Murphy thought.
‘I don’t think he ever felt anything for her,’ Parker said, his voice almost lost in the space between them. ‘Nothing at all. Not from the start. She was a meal ticket and he got lucky.’
Chapter Thirteen
Murphy had moved to the sofa once the drinks which hadn’t been offered arrived. He sipped on too hot coffee, enjoying the taste alongside the burning sensation on his lips. He chanced another sip before placing the cup down. ‘They were having issues. I think we can say that much about Chloe and Joe.’
Parker nodded. ‘I guess so. They always do, these types of couples. Everything starts out as a whirlwind romance, but it all calms down and reality hits. And not the distorted one we see on TV. It’s when it’s just the two of them alone, with no cameras, or other people watching, that things change. Then, you get to know the real person. How many times has it happened?’
‘Loads,’ Rossi said. ‘I don’t know this particular story, but there’s Peter Andre and Jordan. TOWIE shite. Any Big Brother couple . . .’
‘You could go on and on,’ Parker said, a smile disappearing as quickly as it appeared. ‘I’ve repped a lot of them. It’s my job to make sure they make as much as possible before the bubble bursts and we’re on to the next lot.’
‘Did they keep in touch with any of the other people on the show?’
‘I don’t think so. They were nothing but friendly, but I never met them. I took Chloe and Joe on, but they were the only two of interest to me. The others have done bits here and there, but they don’t have anywhere near the kind of pulling power Chloe and Joe had.’
‘How did we get here, though? To the point where they’re both gone?’
‘I just don’t know,’ Parker said, his head in his hands. ‘I mean, the stuff that is said to them on all that social media is bad. Really disgusting stuff that taken at face value could be threatening. But, this . . . I never thought it could lead to this.’
