by Alex Pine
‘I need to talk to you, James,’ she said. ‘Is now a good time?’
‘I’ve got a few minutes; fire away.’
He thought she was going to ask him to update her on the investigation. Instead she wanted to tell him that her Uncle Bill had gone AWOL again.
‘He’s not answering his phone and I haven’t got a clue where he is,’ she said.
‘Well, he won’t be going far without his car so I don’t think you need to worry.’
‘But I can’t help it. His behaviour concerns me.’
James felt sorry for Annie, but he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by her uncle.
‘Look, I’ll keep an eye out for him,’ he said. ‘If I spot him, I’ll call you. But have you checked to see if he’s at The King’s Head?’
‘Of course I have. I left there a little while ago. I spoke to Martha Grooms and she said he went out about eleven.’
‘He’s probably wondering around the village then.’
‘But she also told me that he went out last night after the pub closed.’
‘So what? He obviously got back safely.’
‘Yes, but Martha didn’t know what time that was. He could have been out all night. And who the hell knows what he got up to.’
It was a change in the tone of her voice that made James twig what she was getting at.
‘Jesus, Annie, do you seriously think that he might have something to do with what happened to Lorna Manning?’
‘I don’t know what to think,’ she said, her voice faltering. ‘But he also went missing on Saturday night, and that was when Charlie Jenkins was killed.’
James knew that Annie would have struggled with her conscience over whether or not to mention this to him, but he was glad she had.
‘You shouldn’t work yourself into a panic over this,’ he said. ‘There’s absolutely no reason to suspect that Bill had anything to do with either murder. You know he wouldn’t be capable of doing something like that.’
‘But you’re forgetting that I don’t really know him any more,’ Annie said. ‘The last time I saw him before this weekend was eighteen months ago when he was vile to me at Mum’s funeral. Now he’s like a stranger to me. And there’s another thing to consider. He arrived in the village on Friday, about the time that parcel was put on our doorstep. That in itself strikes me as odd.’
‘Then to put your mind at rest I’ll make some enquiries and ask my officers to look out for him,’ James said. ‘But in the meantime, you need to stay calm. If you see him or he turns up then call me right away. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘Are you going back home now?’
‘No. I’ve decided to pop along to the school and then to the church for Charlie’s service.’
James decided not to tell her that he’d just left the church. She would only freak out even more if she knew about Lorna Manning’s photograph being left on the grave.
‘Try not to overthink this, Annie. I reckon it’s more likely that the murders were carried out by an alien than your doddery old Uncle Bill,’ he said, trying to lighten the mood.
They said their goodbyes and when James came off the phone he said to Stevens, ‘We’ve another suspect, but would you believe he’s my wife’s own fucking uncle?’
Annie called James again just as the patrol car dropped them outside the village hall. He told DS Stevens to go in ahead of him while he answered it.
‘What’s up now, Annie?’ he said. ‘Has Bill shown up?’
‘Not in the last few minutes, he hasn’t,’ she said. ‘But that’s not why I’m ringing. There was something I forgot to tell you before. It’s about Lorna.’
‘I’m listening,’ he said.
‘Martha Grooms told me that she last saw Lorna on Wednesday evening at The King’s Head. She was having dinner there.’
‘What’s so unusual about that? I’m sure she could afford to eat out occasionally.’
‘Yes, I know, but she was with Giles Keegan and Martha made it sound like they were on a date.’
‘I thought you said she wasn’t in a relationship.’
‘That’s the thing. I didn’t think she was, and it might well have been a first date or just two friends getting together. But in view of what’s happened I thought I should tell you.’
‘And you were right to do so, Annie. It’s really helpful. We need to find out as much as we can about Lorna and the people she spent time with.’
‘So, will you be speaking to Giles?’
‘You bet we will. And we’ll do it before the day is out.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The village hall had been turned into a makeshift incident room. Several tables were being used as desks and the wall-mounted display panel was now an evidence board.
James was surprised and impressed that so much had been put in place so quickly. But it made perfect sense to set up an operational base as early as possible.
There were twelve officers present – four detectives, a SOCO, and seven uniforms, including Inspector Boyd. DCI Tanner had arrived and was deep in conversation with DS Stevens.
It was a fairly small hall and so it already looked pretty crowded. Meanwhile, more officers were still up at the crime scene in Willow Road as well as at the nearby primary school.
James went straight over to Tanner who, as usual, was well-groomed and sharply dressed in a dark grey suit, pale blue shirt and striking red tie.
He was a thick-set middle-aged man with cropped greying hair and a goatee that didn’t suit his plump face.
James still didn’t have the full measure of the man, but had already given him seven out of ten as a DCI. His big weakness was his habit of delegating as much as he could to more junior detectives, and his reluctance to get out of the office to attend crime scenes. But he was here now, which was a clear indication of how concerned he was about what was happening in Kirkby Abbey.
‘Are you up to speed on everything, sir?’ James asked him.
Tanner nodded, grim-faced. ‘DS Stevens has just told me about the card found in Miss Manning’s dressing gown pocket and he’s shown me a photo of the picture that was left on the grave in the churchyard. This is a real shit fest, James. In all my time as a police officer I’ve not known anything like it.’
‘Me neither, sir. I was hoping the message I received on Friday was a prank, but I’m certain now that it isn’t.’
‘I’m afraid I have to agree. I’ve spoken to the Chief Constable and she wants me to update her as soon as possible so I suggest we steam ahead with the briefing. We’ve got some important decisions to make and I’m under pressure to stage a press conference back at headquarters later in the day.’
Tanner called everyone together and launched into a short introduction. He explained that evidence had come to light that established a clear link between the murders of Charlie Jenkins and Lorna Manning.
‘We also have reason to believe that this could be the start of a killing spree targeting other people in this village,’ he said. ‘So this is now the Constabulary’s biggest and most high-profile case. It’s already attracting the attention of the media and that means the pressure will be on us to resolve it quickly.
‘We can count ourselves lucky in one respect – the senior investigating officer, DI Walker, actually lives here. He’s therefore perfectly placed to carry on heading up the investigation from this end. It’ll be my job to coordinate things back at headquarters and to liaise with the media and those upstairs. But we need to prepare ourselves for a tough time ahead because it seems like we’re dealing with a ruthless killer who has embarked on a mission that’s probably been a long time in the planning.’
After delivering his ominous warning, Tanner handed over to James, who began by referring to the timeline.
‘It started on Friday when I arrived home to find the parcel with the dead partridge and Christmas card on my doorstep,’ he said. ‘Then the following morning I got a call from Father Silver. Another card, with t
he same Twelve Days of Christmas design, had also been left in the church porch on Friday night.’
He read out both messages for the benefit of those officers who hadn’t been made privy to them. He then explained that he’d spoken to Keith Patel because Annie had spotted him on Friday evening close to their home.
‘I wondered at first if he was responsible because of his deep-rooted grudge against the villagers,’ James said. ‘He’s gone so far as to accuse them of being racist, but when I spoke to him about the cards he claimed not to know anything about them, even though I saw several cards with the same design in his home. Unfortunately, the only fingerprints on the card and parcel sent to me were my own. I’m still waiting to hear about potential prints on the card left at the church, but I suspect they will only belong to the priest.’
James said he had checked in at the village shop and discovered that those same cards were in stock and quite a few packages had already been sold.
‘Back to the timeline,’ he continued. ‘On Saturday night, Charlie Jenkins was murdered and his body was found in the field on Sunday morning. Suspicion fell initially on his wife Sonia, and the carer Janet Dyer. Charlie had an affair with Janet and she recently told one of the elderly gentlemen in her care, Ron Curtis. He then told someone else and it got back to Sonia who went apeshit, partly because it wasn’t Charlie’s first affair.’
James told the team how Charlie then confronted both Janet and Ron.
‘So that was where we were up to when the postman found Lorna Manning’s body this morning,’ he said. ‘The victim received two knife wounds just as Charlie Jenkins did and the pathologist suspects the same knife was used. But on Lorna’s body the killer left another card. The message inside was short and to the point. It read: Two down, ten to go. Merry Christmas to the people of Kirkby Abbey.’
James paused for a few moments to let this sink in and several of the officers let out audible gasps.
‘This is why we’re now taking the threat deadly seriously and treating it as a single investigation,’ he added.
James held up the framed photo of Lorna Manning and explained how it was taken from her home and placed on Nadia Patel’s grave. He said they had questioned Keith Patel a second time and he claimed to have no knowledge of the photo or how it got there.
‘So there are a whole bunch of questions that need answering,’ he went on. ‘And one of them is how much of what we’ve just talked about do we make public.’
At this point, DCI Tanner spoke up, saying that the briefing needed to be paused for a short time so that he could respond to a text he’d just received from the Chief Constable.
James was happy with that for two reasons. Firstly, it gave him the opportunity to find out if any useful information had resulted from the house-to-house in Willow Road.
Secondly, it allowed him time to work out exactly how he was going to point the finger of suspicion at one of his own relatives.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Annie was finding it hard to get through the day. It felt like she was caught up in an emotional whirlwind. Fear, grief and guilt were raising goose bumps on her flesh and causing her stomach to knot like a ball of twine.
She was terrified that more murders were going to be committed. Her heart was in pieces over what had happened to Charlie and Lorna. And she was feeling bad for allowing the irrational part of her brain to latch onto the possibility that her uncle might have been responsible.
She had spent an hour at the school with some of her shell-shocked colleagues. Flowers, tributes and cards had already started arriving. Tears flowed and fears were expressed. Everyone was in an awful state.
The police had been there too, searching Lorna’s office for clues and talking to her deputy, Francine Moore, and the school secretary, Tabitha Reynolds.
Annie had sobbed along with the others and it took every ounce of her willpower not to tell them about the threat contained in the Twelve Days of Christmas card.
Now she had arrived at the church and the scene was just as distressing. There were several uniformed police officers outside, along with two television news camera crews. A number of villagers were giving interviews, while others were wandering in and out of the churchyard as though in a semi-trance.
Inside, the service for Charlie Jenkins was about to begin, and forty or so people had turned up. Charlie’s widow, Sonia, was among them and was sitting in the front pew between two women Annie didn’t recognise. Others she did recognise included Maeve King, who was in her wheelchair, and next to her was her husband, Peter. Janet had stayed away and Annie considered that a wise move on her friend’s part.
The whispering among those present ceased abruptly when a fully robed Father Silver took up position in front of the altar. Even from a distance, Annie could see the strain etched into his features and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man. His beloved God had treated him cruelly after his years of devotion to the faith. There was the diagnosis of terminal cancer, the imminent closure of his church, and now these shocking murders in his own parish. It was a dreadful burden to carry during the final chapter of his life.
He held his head high and paused for about five seconds before speaking.
‘As you all know, I decided to hold this special service in order to bring people together following the tragic death of Charlie Jenkins,’ he said. ‘I wanted to give you all the opportunity to pay tribute to the man and to pray for his soul. But sadly, Charlie has now been joined in the hereafter by Lorna Manning, another much-loved member of our community.
‘I am therefore devoting this service to both of them. Their sudden, unexpected passing is a blow to us all and will test the strength of our faith in God. The devil himself has descended on our small village, but we must not let his dark shadow extinguish all the light in our hearts. We have to remain strong and resilient in the face of this despicable evil.’
Father Silver spoke about Charlie first and said he had left behind a wife and daughter who had loved him very much.
‘Sonia is here today and she knows that our thoughts are with her as she grieves for the husband she has lost,’ he said. ‘And I believe I speak for us all when I tell her that we will do what we can to help her through this difficult time.’
Annie looked over at Sonia and saw that she was leaning forward and weeping silently into her hands, while the woman to her right had an arm around her shoulders.
Father Silver talked for several more minutes about Charlie and how he and his wife had made such a success of The White Hart pub. Then he moved on to Lorna Manning and described her as a kind and committed teacher who had dedicated herself to helping the children of Kirkby Abbey.
By now, most of the women sitting in the pews were sobbing, including Annie, and so were some of the men. Several prayers were then read out, followed by a few minutes of silent reflection.
Annie was pleased that she’d made the effort to be here, and she felt that what the priest had said had been both moving and relevant. But it pained her to think that this was just the start of the grieving process. There were the two funeral services to come – or perhaps more, if James and his team failed to find the killer soon.
It took a while for everyone to leave the church. Annie was among those who held back in order to offer her condolences to Sonia.
‘Thank you so much, Annie,’ Sonia responded tearfully. ‘I’m grateful that you and so many other people came along.’
Back outside, Annie noticed that the wind had picked up and was blowing dark, threatening clouds over the village. She could feel the cold sting of it on her face as she walked through the churchyard. She made a point of stopping by the graves of her parents. They were next to each other, close to the path. The granite headstones were both black, and the graves themselves were covered in glass and stone chippings.
Annie closed her eyes and silently told her mum and dad how much she missed them and how sorry she was that she had stayed away for so long.
The
re was so much more she felt like telling them. She wanted her father to know how sorry she still was that she didn’t reconcile with him before he died. And how grateful she was, in hindsight, that he had stepped in to stop her from ruining her life.
And she wanted her mother to know that she was sorry that she hadn’t given her a grandchild while she was alive. It was something she deeply regretted, even though it wasn’t her fault.
But she knew that if she hung around she would start crying again and she didn’t want that to happen, so she moved swiftly on.
When she reached the street, she joined a group of mothers who were discussing how to tell their children that their headmistress would not be returning to the school because something bad had happened to her.
They thought that Annie, being a supply teacher, could offer some advice. She told them it was probably best to be open and honest but not to go into too much detail.
‘The one thing to remember about children is that they move on very quickly,’ she said. ‘Unlike us, most of them won’t have many sleepless nights.’
As she spoke, she wondered how the mothers would react if she came clean about the threat in the Christmas card. Would they panic and flee the village with their children? Would they demand to know why they had been kept in the dark for so long? Would they condemn Annie for toeing the police line despite her own reservations?
These questions were still causing her pulse to race as she headed home a few minutes later. And she only stopped thinking about them when something caught her eye as she was approaching the village square.
It was a shiny white Range Rover that had slowed down to allow an elderly woman to cross the road.
Annie spotted her Uncle Bill in the front passenger seat. Her first instinct was to rush forward and wave, to seize his attention.
But she stopped herself when she saw the face of the driver. Even after all this time, and even if he’d lost most of his dark, wavy hair, she couldn’t fail to recognise the man she had once been in love with – convicted child abuser Daniel Curtis.
