HE WILL KILL YOU an absolutely gripping crime thriller with a massive twist

by Charlie Gallagher

  ‘Two days ago. He had some washing. I only ever saw him when he needed me. But I never minded that. Rather that than never at all.’

  ‘Were you close?’

  Sharon’s lips creased into a smile. ‘I don’t reckon you get too many mums who got a good relationship with their seventeen-year-old boy — not day to day, you know what I mean? Day to day we bickered — we got on each other’s nerves. That boy put me through a lot when he lived here. Constantly getting nicked, and at all times of the day and night. You lot round here searching the place, asking to come in to check he weren’t here, no matter what I said. And me pregnant or with a newborn or just trying to get on with my life. It never mattered. You lot were going to do what you were going to do. I blamed the police at first . . . you wouldn’t have got me sat talking to you a year ago. But then I worked it out. It was Toby bringing this to my doorstep. So I got him out. I warned him. I said one more night like it and he was gone. You lot turned up less than a week later and that was it. It weren’t fair on me and it weren’t fair on his sisters.’

  ‘We are intrusive,’ Harry said. ‘We don’t turn up when it’s convenient and we see it all the time — the family getting the brunt, I mean. It’s tough.’

  ‘It had to stop. But it ain’t easy kicking your son out. He didn’t talk to me for a while, but I thought maybe it would do him a favour. He would have to run his own house, see what that was about. The council got him a little place. Someone pulled some strings at the Social. They did it to help me out. He never saw what people were doing for him. He only ever saw people as having it in for him. We were just starting to get better. He would turn up with his washing but he would stop for a bit, have a cup of tea. Play with his sister. I could see he was missing us. Then he got different. It was sudden.’

  ‘Different?’

  ‘Yeah. Like moody. More moody than before. He was talking about how he weren’t a bad person and he was trying to be good. I thought it was just part of growing up. But it seemed to change. He seemed to get scared — more and more.’

  ‘When was this?’

  ‘Last couple of weeks. He didn’t want to go home and at first we argued, but then I said to him he could camp out if he needed. He crashed on the sofa. He probably stayed here more than at his place in the last week or so. But then you lot sent him to court and he got that tag thing to monitor a curfew — he had to be in his own place before six. He told me he wanted to stay over here. I could see he was scared, but if he stayed here I knew what would happen . . . I knew you lot would come for him late at night again. I didn’t want him getting nicked no more. I told him that. I said he had to do what the court said and he had to sort out whatever shit he was in. We argued.’ Sharon turned back to the window. Maddie heard a sniff like she was upset. She considered standing, going over to her and comforting her. She stayed seated for now. She would give her some space.

  ‘The last time I saw my boy, we argued. That’s the hardest thing . . .’

  ‘He knew you loved him. He still knew that, of course he did.’ Maddie tried to be soothing.

  ‘I know that. I do know that. I told him I loved him. I said that was why I was doing it. But if I hadn’t, if I had let him stay here on that couch . . . the worst thing that woulda happened would be your lot sticking him in the back of your car. Maybe the court woulda sent him for a stretch in the young offenders. Nothing major. Safe, at least.’

  ‘What was he scared of, Miss Lyons?’ Harry said.

  ‘I don’t know. I been wracking my brain. I know a lot of people. I put the word out, trying to find out who he’s upset, what he owes and who to. I got nothing back. A few weeks ago I heard he was working with some older fella, but no one seems to know who that was. I thought I knew all his mates. This fella was driving him about so he could screw some new places. I didn’t ask him about it. If I had, he woulda shouted the house down, I know that. And I know he was using the lock-up. One of the neighbours saw him coming away.’

  ‘Lock-up?’

  ‘Yeah. It’s a garage really. It comes with this place. It’s in a separate block. Your lot searched it, day before yesterday. I can’t remember the last time I stepped foot in there. He’s had the keys for years. He always made me promise I wouldn’t talk to the police about it when they came here. I never did. I was surprised when they turned up and said that he had told you to look there. They already had the keys. They said Toby had given them over. They found stuff too. I had some paperwork to sign and it listed a load of stuff. All nicked, they reckoned. I know he weren’t perfect. I knew he was out screwing places but I reckoned it was scrap metal — shops maybe. Not people’s houses. I guess I just hoped. He weren’t a bad kid. Seems a strange thing to say. Easily led.’

  ‘I think you’re right. I don’t think he really considered what he was doing. But he was always good at covering his tracks. He gave us the right run around. Not this time, though, he just gave it all up. He told us what he was up to and where to find it.’ Maddie paused, she watched for any reaction. ‘Why would he do that?’

  Sharon perched on the arm of the sofa closest to the window. There was a glass ashtray on the other arm. She squashed her cigarette into it. She kept hold of the ashtray. It was nearly full.

  ‘We didn’t always get on. The older he got the further apart we got, but he was starting to come back. He was starting to grow up a bit. No matter how much we argued, how much we upset each other, I always understood him. If he turned up angry or got angry I always knew why. He had a lot of front too, but I seen him scared a few times before and I always knew why. This time though . . . I had no idea. He wouldn’t talk to me either. We had a conversation a couple of nights back. Must have been Sunday night ’cause I’d watched a Poldark. He was on the sofa there and I was going to bed and he said, “Mum,” he said, “remember that I’m a good lad really, no matter what people say. And a good son. Don’t ever forget that.”

  ‘It sent shivers down my spine it did. I made him promise he weren’t depressed or nothing, or sick or dying or nothing like that. He promised me. He just said that he wanted to say that. He said he loved me. I ain’t heard that since the first day he got nerves at the gates of his primary school.’ Sharon bowed her head. She sniffed again. She put the ashtray back down and reached into her pocket. She lit another cigarette in a smooth movement and raised her head to blow the smoke upwards.

  ‘I don’t care what you say about him falling asleep or taking drugs, or fitting and slipping under in that bath, or about how there’s no foul play. My boy, he knew something was coming — and then it came. He needed help and I just don’t think he knew how to ask for it. He ain’t never asked for no one’s help before. Toby weren’t like that. Too proud. Even at seventeen. And look where it got him . . .’ She faded out again. She stood up. She picked the ashtray back up and walked through to the kitchen. She sidestepped her tiny daughter in the walker who was now transfixed by Peppa Pig playing softly on the television. Maddie felt a nudge as Harry got up and followed her. They walked into a messy kitchen. The floor was sticky where the flooring had been pulled up and not yet replaced. It had left black rubber stains on bare screed. There were remnants of cat biscuits and a dog bowl with floating hairs. Sharon was bent over the bin, tipping ash. Harry spoke.

  ‘Miss Lyons, I don’t know what impression you have from my colleagues, but personally, I’m not happy with the circumstances of your son’s death. Right now I am treating this as murder and I’m in charge, which means we’re all treating this as murder. I don’t know who or why, but this is Day One of our investigation.’

  Sharon lifted eyes that were swelling with tears. She ran the back of her hand across them. ‘Okay then,’ she said.

  ‘I’ll keep you informed. We have an autopsy that may give us some answers. That will be in the next day or so. But there are other lines of enquiry too. We will find out what happened.’

  Sharon forced a laugh through her tears. Maddie was a little taken aback. ‘Sorry, I don’t
mean to laugh. It’s just Toby, he always said you lot always find out. He said you have a knack. I guess he’ll be looking down on us all now, hoping he was right.’

  Maddie smiled. ‘I reckon he will.’

  Sharon managed a weak smile back. ‘Well, you will let me know when you find your knack, won’t you?’

  ‘No problem.’

  * * *

  When they stepped back out, the snow clouds had cleared and the sun was low enough to force Maddie to shield her eyes as she walked back to the car.

  ‘She’s had a tough few years or ten.’

  ‘Seems like it.’

  ‘What more is there to do today?’

  ‘Not much. You’re due off shift. The way I see it, if we head back in we’ve got more chance of getting caught up in the tunnel job. There’s not much more we can do today. I tasked Rhiannon with having a quick look through what came from the door-to-door stuff. Maybe we got lucky and there was some disturbance at Toby’s place. I also tasked a team to go out and find his associates, we need to find out what trouble he was in and who with. I think most of the team I tasked I lost to this other job, so it’s possible none of that got done. Go home, Maddie. Tomorrow I should know what still needs doing and who I’ve got left to do it with. It might just be me and you.’

  ‘You could do a lot worse. You tasked Rhiannon?’

  ‘Yeah. I know she’s one of yours but she comes highly recommended.’

  Maddie chuckled. ‘I didn’t think you’d listen to my recommendations.’

  ‘And she was the only spare detective I could find.’

  ‘You just couldn’t let me have that, could you?’

  ‘If they’re not done, tomorrow is CCTV reviews, knocking doors, media appeals — the standard stuff. Someone needs to do it and I would prefer it wasn’t a senior detective. We’re better used elsewhere.’

  ‘There’s a compliment in there somewhere.’

  ‘Then it was accidental. I’ll drop you back. Go home. We’ll start again at seven in the morning.’

  ‘What happened to you doing four hours a day and staying in the nick, anyway?’

  ‘Two explosions and a murdered boy, Maddie. I won’t tell if you don’t.’

  Maddie shrugged. ‘My lips are sealed.’

  Chapter 24

  Friday

  The 7 a.m. meeting was a short one for two reasons and both stemmed from the same issue: first, there was very little to update; second, Harry Blaker was in a foul mood. Harry led the meeting. Maddie was present, along with Rhiannon and two other detectives from Major Crime.

  Toby Routledge was on the autopsy table later that day. That was an important step. The initial CSI report gave a confident summary of drowning as the cause of death. They had also found some evidence of bruising on his shins and significantly they were at places that could be attributed to thrashing against the solid side of a bath, but it wouldn’t be enough to prove foul play beyond any reasonable doubt. They would need more defensive wounds. Injuries sustained at the time of death didn’t always show externally, but they would show on the inside. When Toby’s skin was sliced down the middle and peeled back, they could only hope that it had some secrets to reveal. The flat also had numerous sources of DNA and fingerprints, but it was noticeable that there was nothing in the bathroom. Another case of what was not at a scene. Someone had cleaned up.

  The verbal summary of the door-to-door enquiries in Toby’s block and neighbouring blocks reported that there was nothing of significance. Maddie was disappointed. She knew the area and the people that occupied it and she didn’t think for a moment that they could be relied upon to talk to the police without a little encouragement. Maybe there was something there to revisit. The same pair who had knocked the doors had also identified a parade of shops nearby where there might be CCTV covering anyone on foot walking towards his flat, but it was a long shot and there were no resources to follow it up. Inevitably, the two Major Crime detectives had quickly been tasked by Julian Lowe to do a couple of ‘just’ jobs in relation to the latest vehicle explosion. Maddie knew they would not be coming back and Harry’s mood had blackened even further.

  When the meeting ended, Maddie offered to pick up a takeaway coffee and stepped out for a walk while he calmed down a little. She was frustrated too, but she could appreciate how their investigation was further down the priority sheet than a car bomber who might not be finished.

  She went back to her own desk with her coffee. Harry had refused one with a wave of his hand. She saw an opportunity to spend half an hour doing some work on the reports she was being pushed for.

  It was still early and the office was quiet. The opening of a door down the far end of the office was enough to stoke her interest. Even from this distance, she recognised Jim Sutton; he was unmistakeable. He handled the post for the station and Maddie was pretty certain he did it on his own, having never seen anyone else doing it. All the officers had pigeonholes in a rack halfway up the office. He had a cart with a squeaky wheel that he pulled behind him. As he stopped at the trays, Maddie was amused that he hadn’t noticed her.

  ‘Don’t you ever take a holiday, Jim?’ Her amusement increased as he jumped at the sound of her voice.

  ‘Sergeant Ives! I didn’t see you there. I do apologise.’ He pushed his glasses up his nose. He always referred to everyone by their formal rank. Maddie had given up correcting him. And he always apologised. She had given up correcting that too.

  ‘Don’t you worry. I’m an early bird this morning, Jim. Shame, I’ve just been out for coffee, I could have grabbed you one.’

  ‘Very kind, Sergeant, but I don’t really drink it, see. It’s not good for my sleep.’

  ‘Very wise. Anything for me this morning?’

  Jim put his finger in the air like he needed a minute. He dipped his whole torso into a large, white sack and presently emerged with a brown paper parcel and two letters. He walked them over. ‘Just these two bits, Sergeant. At least you can be sure they’re not bills here, eh!’ He put his hands on his hips. Always the same phrase, whenever he brought her post.

  ‘No, it will be far worse, it will be more work!’ She gave her standard reply and he seemed delighted as usual. He whistled as he walked back to his trolley and was gone a short time later.

  Maddie handled the parcel. It was from an external source and it felt heavy. The postage mark was local and the address handwritten. The sender had used her full title. She pulled it open at one end and a small plastic memory card fell onto her desk, the sort that could be pushed into a mobile phone as extra storage. She had no idea who might send her a memory card. Certainly she wasn’t expecting one. A second item was bigger. It wouldn’t slide out at all. She ripped more of the envelope. It revealed an A5-sized hardback book with a plain cover. She opened the front page to see a handwritten message.

  DS Maddie Ives,

  You told me to write everything down.

  Here it is. Everything.

  You have to promise me he goes away for ever. You said you would help me, you said you would keep me safe and I believe you.

  You said I needed to be brave. The time has come for me to make a stand. I will do whatever you need me to.

  Grace Hughes xx

  Maddie inhaled sharply. She realised immediately what it was. Grace had taken her advice! She flipped on another page. It was dated. The first page was late November. Grace had called it Day One in brackets. That day was a short entry.

  Craig got back from work. He was angry. I don’t know why. I did ask but he told me to mind my own business. He talked down to me. He said it was adult stuff that I shouldn’t worry about. He was really nasty. I didn’t push it. Craig got undressed. We were in the kitchen and he just took his trousers off. He demanded oral sex, right there and then. He said that was what women did for their men when they had been at work all day. He told me to get on my knees and do it. I was too scared to say no. He kept slapping me on the back of the head. He called me ‘Good Grace’, and he ke
pt saying that I knew what I was good for.

  When he finished he went for a shower. He got changed and went out. He didn’t speak to me again.

  I wasn’t going to do this. I wasn’t going to write it down, I didn’t think it was a good idea, but I do have to tell you, I know that. He’s getting worse. Tonight was the worst he’s been. I cried in the toilet after so he wouldn’t know.

  Maddie sat back and ran her hand through her hair.

  ‘Jesus, Grace,’ she uttered. She flicked ahead. Trying to see if there were any contact details — a telephone number. There wasn’t. She remembered the update from yesterday. The patrols had gone round there to speak with her, to break the news. They had found a note that was meant for Craig and evidence that she had left in a hurry. She was being treated as a missing person. Maddie was sure that Grace would know that he was dead. The news was full of the bomb incidents and they were giving the description of the car, the location and the fact that members of the public had seen a thirty-five-year-old, white male in the car just before it had gone up. It was rolling news; you couldn’t miss it.

  Maddie didn’t think that changed much. She still expected Grace to get in touch with her specifically and she doubted she would have to wait long. It had to be a strange time for Grace. Maddie had experience with victims who had suffered years of abuse at the hands of a partner and finally reached a point where they had asked for help. Suddenly the police would swoop in and remove the aggressor and the victim would feel totally lost — beside themselves, almost. Years of being controlled, of being told what they could and couldn’t do — and then absolute freedom, just like that. It was often baffling, overpowering almost. Some started wanting their partner back. Mistaking their confusion and dependence for love. For Maddie it was hard to believe that the two lines could blur but she had long since given up trying to understand the workings of the human mind. Abusive partners don’t just bruise the skin of their partners, they get right under it.