‘I’m fine, thank you.’
They watched the pilot episode. A group of people had crash-landed on an island in the middle of nowhere. Some died, some survived, waking up on the beach, not knowing what had happened. Luggage, clothing, and people were everywhere, some covered in blood, with body parts missing while others were untouched. Parts of the plane had been ripped off during the crash. The main character, Jack, was helping someone who was struggling to breathe. Byrd assumed he was a doctor.
Claire made a strange sound. Byrd looked over.
‘I feel dizzy. I’m going to be sick,’ she whispered, then tried to shuffle up. Byrd jumped up, went over, and gently grabbed her arm to aid her.
‘Here, let me,’ he offered.
‘No.’ She frowned at him. ‘I’m fine. I can go myself.’
‘I’m trying to look after you, Claire.’
‘I can do it myself,’ she said quickly, brushing his hand away.
He held his palms up. ‘Okay. I’m here if you need me. Just tell me what you want.’
It wasn’t like her to be that abrupt with him. Byrd put it down to the pregnancy hormones and certainly wasn’t going to push it. He wanted to make sure she was okay and followed her out of the room and watched her struggle up the stairs. He waited at the bottom, heard the bathroom door close, followed by the sound of heavy retching that filled the house and made him wince.
He returned to the living room to check his phone. There was a text from one of his friends about five-a-side football at the weekend. He replied to him, then checked his personal emails. After that, he opened the security app, checking the camera out the front which covered the driveway and road, and noticed a car pass. It looked like Roger’s Bentley, a guy who lived five doors down. Pleasant bloke. One of the ones who walked his dog three or four times a day and always said hello. He changed the camera to look what was happening out the back of the house. The camera was positioned just above the back door, covering most of the garden.
He was so focused on his phone he hadn’t heard Claire come back into the room.
‘Max…’
He looked up at her.
She was standing, hunched over with both hands on her stomach. Below, around her groin, there was blood. A lot of it.
‘God…’ he said.
‘Max, I think something’s wrong with the baby.’
48
Thursday Morning
Police Station
Tanzy arrived just after seven, applied the handbrake and glanced to his right, noticing Byrd’s X5 wasn’t in its usual spot. He rarely got to the office before Byrd did; Tanzy could probably count on his hand how many times in the last year he’d beat him; not that it was a race.
Tanzy remembered once, after getting an earful about how Byrd always arrived first, they said the one who turned up last would have to buy the breakfast the following morning. So, to make sure he was there first, Tanzy set off half an hour earlier, smiling and checking the time on the dash until he hit a deep pothole driving along the A167 from Aycliffe. He had to pull over and change the tyre. By the time he’d arrived, Byrd’s X5 was already there.
Tanzy scanned the car park for Byrd’s car with curiosity but failed to see the X5. He went in through the sliding double doors, passing the receptionist, Lisa, who looked up and waved. Lisa had been there for a few years now. Tanzy didn’t know much about her but she seemed pleasant. Apparently, she’d had a little trouble with past boyfriends and was currently single, and according to some, spent most of her weekends living a completely different life than she did during the week. Each to their own.
After grabbing a coffee, Tanzy made his way through the office, stopping to speak with DC Leonard, DC Cornty, and DS Stockdale, who were at their desks, located a few metres apart. They told him that the senior forensic, Jacob Tallow was already in the lab, and had received the fingerprints from the box they found the head in yesterday and the results of who it belonged to. Tanzy or Byrd would do a conference at some point later today about the identity of who it is. Doing conferences was something Tanzy didn’t like, and no matter how many times Byrd had let him do them to build up his confidence, it hadn’t worked.
‘Thanks, I’ll go down and see him,’ Tanzy said, turning away, noticing Linda Fallows sitting at the desk that she’d been assigned to at the back of the office. Before he went to see Tallow, he walked down the central walkway and placed his coffee on his desk.
‘You beat Max,’ Fallows said, smiling.
‘Doesn’t happen very often, let me tell you.’ He took off his thin, dark-blue jacket and hung it on the back of his chair. ‘What time did you get in?’
‘Just after seven, Ori.’ She pointed to the screen. ‘Been looking for information on Mackenzie Dilton. Not much is coming up though. The last known address is where you and Max went – Victoria Embankment. After that, there’s nothing. No jobs after the IT position with the company in Newcastle. No social media profiles matched the images we have of him from the CCTV footage. It’s like he’s just vanished.’
Tanzy nodded.
Seven years ago, Fallows didn’t know it was Mackenzie Dilton she was looking for or if it was the same man Byrd and Tanzy were after. She did, however, know the name, Roger Carlton. It was the name of the uploader who put the videos online seven years back.
‘It’s only a matter of t—’
Fallows stopped what she was saying and frowned at Tanzy, noticing he’d pulled his phone from his pocket and froze.
‘What is it, Ori?’ She swivelled fully towards him.
‘Shit.’
‘What is it?’
‘Max texted me last night. I’ve only seen it now. He took Claire to the hospital. She wasn’t feeling very well.’ Tanzy fell silent and re-read the message. He didn’t want to mention the part where Byrd had told him she had been bleeding and feared there might be something wrong with the baby, so didn’t mention it to Fallows.
‘Oh, no… I hope she’s okay.’
When Tanzy didn’t reply, she slowly turned back to her screen, continued typing and moving her mouse cursor across the screen.
It made sense why Byrd wasn’t here. He pressed CALL and listened to it ringing until Byrd picked up.
‘Hey, Max. It’s Ori. Listen, sorry I didn’t text you back last night. I’ve just seen the message now.’
‘It’s okay, Ori.’ Byrd sounded flat and tired.
‘Is… is everything okay, Max?’
Byrd didn’t answer straight away and Tanzy didn’t want to ask again.
‘She was bleeding pretty bad so we went to the hospital straight away. The doctors had a look at her and did a scan. Luckily, the baby is still there and his heart is beating so that’s the main thing.’
‘Aww thank God, Max.’ Tanzy tilted his head back and sighed in relief.
‘But they don’t know why she bled in the first place. So we’re here now, doing more tests. And until the results come back, we have to wait here.’
‘Okay, Max. Hope she’s okay.’
‘She’s okay in herself. Just pain in her belly. She’s been given some tablets. I spoke to Fuller early this morning so he’s aware.’
‘Is there anything you need me to bring?’
‘No, we’re okay, thanks, Ori. We’re in our own room. There’s a shop downstairs if she wants anything and I can go home to get anything else she needs.’
‘Well, if there is, let me know, Max.’
Byrd thanked him and hung up. Tanzy put the phone back into his pocket and looked over to Fallows, who was staring at her screen but Tanzy had the feeling she was listening to his side of the conversation. ‘They’re at the hospital now. She’s staying in for tests to make sure things are okay.’
She smiled and crossed her fingers.
Tanzy then left the office and went along the corridor to the forensics lab, knocked on the door, and opened it. Inside the lab, Tallow was hunched over his desk at the far side, typing away. After he finished whatever he was doing, which look
ed to be some type of report, he looked over and waved Tanzy in.
‘Morning, Jacob.’ Tanzy closed the door and went over, pulled out a chair, and sat down near him. ‘Are the results back?’
Tallow nodded and slid along a few inches to the left to pick up a piece of paper from the desk. ‘The blood and DNA came back matching Lorraine Eckles. The head is currently at the hospital with pathology.’
Tanzy nodded. ‘No relation to the superintendent, Barry Eckles, is it?’
Tallow smiled thinly and shook his head.
‘What about prints on the box? I know Amy handed it to me, so I’m assuming hers will be on it.’
Tallow handed Tanzy a smaller slip of paper which he’d handwritten a list of names on.
‘Max, yours, Amy’s, Phil’s, and Lisa’s.’
Tanzy studied the list. ‘Lisa from reception?’
A nod from Tallow. ‘That’s right.’
‘Which Phil?’
‘Cornty.’
Tanzy nodded. ‘I suppose if you were to send a box to the police station addressed to a detective, with a head inside, you’d most likely wear gloves.’
Tallow smiled. ‘Well, that’s what I’d do…’
Tanzy stood. ‘Thanks, Jacob.’ He looked around at the empty room, not seeing Emily or Amanda. ‘Where’re the girls?’
‘Emily is getting coffee in the canteen. Amanda isn’t here yet.’
‘How’s she getting on – Amanda?’
‘She’s coming on well. This job takes time, a lot of time. Tony is happy with her so far, so that’s all that matters really. How’s the great DCI Fuller coping in the big office?’
‘He’s… okay.’ Tanzy winced a little. ‘Under a lot of pressure from Eckles at the moment. He’s always on the phone. Fortunately, or should I say, unfortunately, Max and I sit right near his door, so when he comes out, raging, he can vent his frustration on us. You don’t know the half of it...’
Tallow laughed. ‘I bet.’
‘Anyway, thanks, Jacob.’
Tanzy left the lab and made his way back down the corridor, through the office, and took a seat back at his desk. The office was warm, the morning sun shining through the windows to his right. Not long after he sat down, DC Cornty appeared at his side, wearing a black tight-fitting shirt and black trousers. His hair was gelled slightly different today.
‘Morning, boss,’ he started, looking down on Tanzy through his square-framed glasses. ‘Did you see forensics?’
Tanzy looked away from the computer screen and nodded up at him. ‘I did.’
‘Who does the head belong to?’
‘Lorraine Eckles. One of the missing four women. The one whose body parts were laid out on the A66.’
‘What about the prints on the box?’ asked Cornty.
‘No good. Mine, Max’s, Amy’s, Lisa’s from reception, and yours.’
Cornty dipped his head and gave a beaten sigh. ‘Never mind.’
‘What are you doing now?’
Cornty explained he was looking for blue Volkswagen vans in the local area. ‘I have a small list. There are three in Darlington. Going to knock on some doors later this morning, hopefully speak to the owners of them.’
‘Take Leonard with you.’
Cornty was going to ask why but nodded instead. ‘Okay, he’s aware of what I’m doing so I’ll let him know when I head out.’
‘What’s he doing right now - Leonard?’
Cornty frowned and looked down the office, seeing the top of Leonard’s head where his desk was located. ‘Think he’s doing a report. I’m not sure, though.’
Tanzy smiled. ‘How about DS Stockdale?’
‘I – I don’t know,’ Cornty said. ‘I haven’t seen him for a while. He was on the phone earlier, speaking with someone at his desk. Not sure who, though.’ Cornty was about to turn but stopped, appearing he had something on his mind. ‘Excuse me for asking, boss. Why the questions?’
Tanzy looked up at him. ‘No reason, Phil.’
Cornty walked away back to his desk, wondering what was on Tanzy’s mind.
49
Thursday Morning
Darlington
Brad locked the blue van and carefully looked around, making sure it was clear. He walked along the side of the building, rounded the corner then went to the front door. He was told to keep the van out of sight in case anyone noticed it. At the yellow double metal doors he used the key from his pocket to open it and went through, then locked it once he was inside.
He flicked the switch on the right-hand side. The wide hallway flooded with harsh bright light. He walked down the hall, his boots echoing off the hard wooden floor, until he reached a door on the right and opened it. The room where the two computers were.
He turned on the light, dropped into one of the seats at the desk and looked at how the votes were going so far.
‘Ooo, interesting,’ he whispered.
Sarah had fifty-six percent and Lisa had forty-four.
When he phone rang, he pulled it out. ‘Hello?’
‘How are things going there, Brad?’
‘Okay, Mitch. Gonna be close on votes I think.’
‘How they doing? They still alive?’
Brad concentrated on the screen.
‘They’re awake. Sat against the wall. Not saying much, though.’
‘You fed them yet?’
‘Just about to.’ Brad went back over to the chair and sat back down. ‘Hey, I was thinking…’
‘Yeah…’
‘We’ll be okay, won’t we?’
‘How do you mean?’ replied Mitch.
‘I mean about the van, you know. ‘Cos I messed up with the body parts. Think the police will trace us?’
Mitch didn’t answer him, which sent butterflies through Brad’s thick gut.
‘Mitch, I mean—’
‘They’re fake plates anyway, Brad. Don’t worry about it.’
Brad sat in thought for a moment, then said, ‘They can’t track us, can they?’ He pointed to the computer screens as if Mitch was there, knowing what he was referring to.
‘I’ve been doing computers all my life. There’s no way the site can be traced, never mind traced back to you or me. It doesn’t work like a normal website.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘You heard of the dark web?’
Brad frowned. He had heard of it, but that’s as far as his knowledge went. ‘Yeah?’
‘It’s like that.’
‘Okay…’
‘Don’t worry, big fella.’
Brad smiled. ‘Good. Just concerned for a moment there.’
Brad hadn’t known Mitch very long. They had first met a few months ago in The Green Dragon pub in the middle of the town. It was a Friday night, the place was busy with loud music, fancy disco lights, and a DJ who didn’t make much sense when he spoke but played some classic dance tunes when he finally put the mic down. Brad had gone for a smoke out the back. The place was busy, groups of men standing, laughing, and large groups of teenagers, smoking and cracking jokes to impress the people drinking with them. Brad was minding his business when Mitch came over, introduced himself, and asked him if he needed a job. Brad explained he had a job but asked what it was out of curiosity. When Mitch had explained he needed someone strong, he told him he was okay for work at the moment and Mitch handed him a business card anyway, telling him to call him if things changed. Things did change. Brad lost his job at Argos warehouse after an argument with a colleague ended up physical and he was sacked. As soon as Brad left he phoned Mitch asking him if the offer still stood. It did.
‘Well, rest assured, Brad. It’s safe. The police won’t track the van and the computer site is untraceable. Trust me.’
‘Good. I’m just worried, that’s all.’
‘What about, Brad?’
‘Well, when I heard about Danny Walters and Jane Ericson, I started to think someone knew…’
‘Go feed the girls mate, keep them alive, okay. I�
�ll get over there this afternoon at some point. Remember, only two more to go and we’ll have enough money for ages, Brad.’
Brad smiled, placed the phone down on the desk, went over to the valve on the wall, and turned it on. When Lisa and Sarah slid down the wall and fell asleep, he turned the gas off, then used a button on the wall for the fans to clear the room before he went down.
Grabbing the tray of food from a desk to the left, he made his way through the door, down the set of steps illuminated with the blue neon hand rail, through another locked door, and into the dark room. Sarah and Lisa were in a deep sleep over to the left as he entered. He placed the tray of food down on the floor near them and walked out.
‘It’ll be the last meal for one of you,’ he said then walked out and locked the door.
50
Thursday Evening
Dolphin Centre, Darlington Town Centre
Usually, the police held their conferences at Darlington Business Centre but tonight would be different. The manager of the business centre had informed the police that, due to severe damage caused by a small, rowdy crowd they had in two days ago, the walls, chairs, and tables had been broken. The manager apologised and told them it would be fixed as soon as possible.
Because of this, Press Office got in touch with the manager of the Dolphin Centre to ask if there was enough space in one of their function rooms. Fortunately, up on the second floor, near the football courts, was a room more than capable hosting a press conference; it also catered for wedding receptions and political events.
Sitting in the rows of chairs in the middle of the room were reporters, members of the public, and town officials. At the front, sitting behind the long rectangular desk, made from three desks connected from end to end, was DI Orion Tanzy. Next to him was a very attractive woman in her mid-thirties, dressed in a blue two-piece suit with long, dark hair. She was responsible for organising it. On the other side of Tanzy, was a man representing the PR department of Darlington Borough Council, who’d asked to sit in, wearing a plain, black suit with a black tie.
The woman in a blue suit stood and raised a palm, quietening the idle chatter until silence descended on the room.
No One's Safe: DI Max Byrd & DI Orion Tanzy book 3 Page 16
