Behind the Walls: A British Crime Thriller (A DCI Pilgrim Thriller Book 4)

by A L Fraine

  “No,” Jon said. “Kate’s right. It can be a little rough in the city sometimes. No different to London, though, I suppose, but that’s just cities.”

  Ellie laughed. “As opposed to rural Surrey, where no one is ever murdered… Um, oh, wait… no. That’s not right.”

  Jon smiled as he finished his coffee, and Ellie took the cardboard cup. “Right then. Shall we?”

  Ellie led them up towards the house.

  “What was your impression of Rose when you met her?” Jon asked.

  “She seemed nice enough. She’s a housewife, and he’s retired according to what she told me. She seems fairly traditional in her views.”

  “Okay,” Jon replied, as they approached the front door and Ellie pressed the doorbell. Moments later, a woman in her sixties answered it.

  “Aah, good morning, detective. Right on time, I see. Please, come in.”

  “Thank you, Rose. These are my colleagues, DCI Jon Pilgrim, and DS Kate O’Connell.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Rose said, shaking their hands as she smiled at them. “Please, come through.”

  They were led through to a sitting room, where a man of similar age to Rose waited. He stood and shook Ellie’s hand, introducing himself as Robert, then moved on to shake both Kate’s and his hands before they settled into the seats.

  “Thanks for meeting with me,” Ellie began.

  “So, you have some news for us?” Rose asked.

  “A little, yes,” Ellie said. “But I’d just like to ask if you’ve heard from Helen at all first?”

  “Why would we have heard anything?” Robert asked.

  “Because most people who disappear either contact their loved ones at some point or just turn up.”

  “We’ve not heard anything,” Rose answered, placing her hand on Robert’s knee.

  “Very well. Okay, well, I have something here that I just want to show you. My colleagues found what we think is Helen’s purse. Forensics confirms it has her fingerprints and DNA on it, but I’d just like for you to have a look at it as well.”

  “Of course.”

  “Can you remember what it looked like?”

  “Yes. It’s a pink purse, leather, and it has her ID in it. A driver’s licence, I think.”

  Ellie pulled out the clear plastic bag. She handed it to Rose. “Don’t open the bag, please, but if you can just confirm that this is indeed your daughters.”

  Rose sniffed as she looked at the wallet, tears twinkling in her eyes. “Yes, this is hers. Where did you find it?”

  “I can’t be too precise, but it was in a house in Redhill.”

  “Redhill?” Robert asked. “Why Redhill?”

  “That’s what we’d like to know,” Ellie said. “Did she have any links to Redhill?”

  “No,” Robert said, sounding offended. “We have no links to that dump.”

  Jon raised his eyebrows at the comment. It was true that Redhill had an image as being one of the less affluent areas, but he wasn’t sure how true that was in real life. He’d not been down here long enough to know for sure.

  “Mark…” Rose whispered, almost to herself.

  “Sorry?” Ellie said.

  “Did you say, Mark?” Jon asked.

  Rose nodded.

  “He’s got nothing to do with this,” Robert snapped.

  “How do you know?” Rose asked him.

  “Because I know.”

  “Is that your son? Mark?” Jon asked.

  “That’s right,” Rose replied.

  “If you say so,” Robert muttered, rolling his eyes and sighing.

  “Why did he come to mind?” Jon asked, letting Robert’s comment go.

  “Because that’s where he was, last,” Rose replied.

  “You can’t know that,” Robert snapped. “You have no idea where he is. He could be anywhere. But we’re talking about Rose, not Mark.”

  “Oh shush,” Rose snapped back, before turning to Jon with another smile. “When I last spoke to Mark, he said he was in Redhill, looking for a friend.”

  “Lord have mercy on my soul,” Robert said.

  “Um, sorry,” Jon said, “but, I just need to ask, is Mark missing too?”

  “No,” Robert said, a little too quickly.

  “Not… really,” Rose said. “He moved out not too long ago. We don’t see quite as much of him.”

  Robert grunted.

  Jon frowned, sensing something was going on here. Something wasn’t quite right with regard to Mark. “Was Helen looking for Mark?”

  “I told her not to,” Robert said. “He’s made his choices in life.”

  “Choices?” Jon pressed.

  Rose sighed, looking thoroughly exasperated by the whole thing.

  “That’s right. It’s his life, and if he chooses to squander the divine gift of life that he’s been given and turn to the Adversary, that’s on him. But I will not turn from the path of the righteous.”

  “He came out as gay a little while ago,” Rose explained, sounding tired.

  “And you don’t approve,” Jon said, making the logical leap.

  “God loves all,” Robert said, “but I cannot condone his life choices.”

  “I’ve… I’ve struggled with it, but…”

  “You know the Bible’s position on this, Rose, it’s clear—"

  “I know!” Rose snapped, cutting him off. “But he’s my son, and I love him. Helen loves him, and you do too. I know you do.”

  Robert grimaced and took a deep breath. “I… can’t… It’s against—”

  “Oh, do be quiet. Our daughter is missing, Robert. Just get off your high horse for one moment. I don’t care what you think the Bible says. God loves Mark just as much as he loves you or me. I know it. He wouldn’t want families to split over things like this. It’s ridiculous.”

  “You don’t understand—”

  “No, you don’t!”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Jon said, “but if we can try to stay focused on the case of your missing daughter, and where your son might be? This links back to a case we’re investigating, a murder case, and we need to know if and how this is linked.”

  “Murder?” Rose asked, shocked.

  “Yes. Now, you said you knew he was in Redhill, right?”

  “He said so the last time I spoke to him on the phone. But that was a few weeks ago. I’ve not heard from him since.”

  “And is that typical?”

  “It wasn’t until he moved out. Then it became more normal,” Rose replied.

  “And you said he went there looking for a friend?”

  “Yes, Duncan, I think.”

  “I see,” Jon said, the links forming in his head. “Was Duncan a friend, or a lover?”

  Robert grunted, but said nothing.

  “I… I don’t know,” Rose admitted.

  “And, Helen went looking for him?” Kate asked.

  “She did. She knew the last place he’d been was Redhill. She might have spoken to him more than I did, actually. She might have known where he lived.”

  Jon nodded, certain that she did know where Mark had been living. But, did she know her brother as well as she thought she did? Had he taken her? But then, what was the link to Duncan?

  “And, you have no idea where Mark might be?”

  “No… although, I think I might know one person who might.”

  “Oh, really?” Ellie said.

  “Yes,” Rose replied. “Sorry, detective. I followed your advice and went looking for clues after our interview yesterday, to see if there was anything that might help either of them.”

  “And you found something?”

  “I think maybe, yes. I remembered one of Mark’s close friends was a girl called Skye Simpson. I think if anyone might know where he is, she might.”

  “And what about friends of Helen?”

  “I’ve already called around them all. I know them better than Mark’s friends. But no, no one seems to know anything.”

  “Can yo
u give me their details?” Ellie asked.

  “Of course, I made a list. Look, here,” she said, and handed a sheet of paper to Ellie.

  “Thank you, Mrs Cooper. I wish you’d given me these earlier.”

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  Jon turned the conversation to Mark again and asked if they knew Evan Reid or Corey Grant, but Rose didn’t recognise any of the names he mentioned. But it soon became clear they were at the limits of the Coopers usefulness. Plus, Robert was being singularly unhelpful.

  “Was that useful?” Ellie asked as they walked back to their cars.

  “I think so,” Jon replied.

  “Certainly,” Kate added. “Thank you for arranging this for us.”

  “My pleasure. Seriously. And, if I can help further, let me know.”

  “We will,” Kate agreed.

  “So, what will you be doing next?” Ellie asked.

  “Heading back to the station and seeing where we are with our investigations,” Jon said. “I think you should get Forensics onto that house in Redhill, by the way.”

  Ellie smiled. “Way ahead of you. They’re probably already there by now.”

  “Good job.”

  21

  “I hate family drama like that,” Jon said as they made their way back into Horsley Station. “It always causes way too much pain and heartache.”

  “And murders,” Kate added.

  “That’s what I was referring to,” Jon replied with a smile on his face. “My pain and heartache at having to deal with the paperwork.”

  “Very droll. So, I take it we’ll be going to visit this Skye Simpson?”

  “I think so. I have no idea if Mark is linked to these bodies in the walls, but providing we don’t have any further big leads to chase up, we need to tie up these loose threads and see where they take us.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Pilgrim!” It was the Superintendent, standing at his door with a face like thunder. “Get in here, now!”

  “Sir,” Jon replied, and gave Kate a glance.

  She shrugged, apparently as mystified as he was about why the Super would be so angry at him. “I think you’d better go and see what’s up,” she said.

  “Yeah, I think so,” he said. He went to walk to the office door and then turned back to her. “If I should die, see that my body is used for science.”

  “You’re not going to die,” Kate stated.

  “How do you know? He looked about ready to gnaw my limbs off. This could be the end for me. Maybe start thinking about what you’d write on my gravestone.”

  “Here lies Jon Pilgrim, he made tea the wrong way.”

  “You spelt ‘right’ wrong.”

  “Pilgrim!” It was Ray again.

  “Ooops,” he said and set off for the office, leaving Kate behind. He was making light of the situation, but Stingray was clearly annoyed about something, so Jon made sure to take a breath and remove the smile from his face as he walked into the office, shutting the door behind him.

  “What the hell are you up to, hmm? Why have I got DCI Malcolm Dean calling me up from Mount Browne, asking why the hell you’re interfering with a case over there?”

  Aaah, Jon thought. He hadn’t actually thought that DI Taylor would pass the issue up the chain of command, but clearly, he’d underestimated how much the man thought of himself.

  Jon took a breath and collected his thoughts before answering. “We were not trying to interfere with any investigation, sir. We were following a lead we found at one of the properties we were looking at, and it led to a missing person’s case over at Mount Browne. We spoke with the officer who had taken the case, and her superior took offence to that.”

  Ray sighed as he listened, staring at Jon with his dark eyes. “This is two complaints about your conduct on this case in as many days, Jon. This doesn’t look good. You’re putting me in a very difficult position. If the ACC gets wind of this…” he sighed.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t believe I was doing anything wrong. The Millers are legitimate suspects, and we were not trying to cause problems at Mount Browne. DI Taylor clearly hates Kate and Nathan, and by extension, me and the SIU as a whole. He used to work with Kate on the murder team. That’s all it is.”

  “I’m aware of his history, and his poor reputation is well known.” He let out a long breath. “Watch what you’re doing, Jon. Tread carefully.”

  Was that sympathy from the Superintendent? “Are you starting to like it here, sir?”

  Ray raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

  “It’s okay if you do,” Jon pressed, trying on a hint of a smile to see how it went over.

  “Shut that smart mouth of yours, Pilgrim,” Ray snapped. “It’s no wonder you rub people up the wrong way.”

  “I’ve not been rubbing anyone in the office yet, sir.”

  “Get out and solve this case. I’ll have less of your cheek, too.”

  “Sorry, sir,” Jon apologised and walked out as Ray collapsed back into his chair.

  Jon strode across the office, making for Kate, who was standing with Nathan.

  “Fox,” Jon said as he drew close, calling him by his nickname.

  “Loxley,” Nathan said in greeting, using the nickname Nathan had coined for him.

  “What have you got for me?”

  “We’ve got the identities of some of the bodies we found in the wall at the Woods’ house. I won’t go into details, but they’re all either runaways or disenfranchised people who didn’t have many people looking out for them. People who wouldn’t be missed, in other words. A couple were homeless, most were out of work. They’d already slipped through the cracks when the killer found them.”

  “They were targeted then,” Jon surmised. “The killer was looking for people who wouldn’t be missed. He, or she, I suppose, was being clever about this.”

  “That was my conclusion, too,” Nathan replied. “So far as we can tell, none of the victims knew one another, and there was no link between them and either Duncan or Evan. However, one of them did have a link to Corey.”

  “What kind of link?”

  “He was a user, a druggy. He was caught dealing and using several times, and seemed to know members of the Miller family. I don’t know if he knew Corey directly, but it’s certainly possible.”

  “Shit. We need to find Corey,” Jon said. “Any luck on that front?”

  “No, nothing,” Nathan replied.

  “Damn. Alright then,” he looked over at Kate, “Skye Simpson it is then.”

  22

  “Well, I’m sure this is going to go down like a lead balloon,” Jon said as they pulled up outside the Leatherhead primary school that Skye worked at.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet the head will want a word with Skye after we pay her a visit.”

  “Aye. Nothing for it, though. I’m not waiting. Come on.” Jon led the way in, following the signs for the reception as he thought about the case and the merry chase it had led them on. No sooner had they found one clue, before another popped up, leading them further and further away from the bodies in the wall.

  At this rate, he was beginning to doubt they’d ever actually find out who killed them. For all they knew, it was someone they hadn’t even met yet. Someone who’d snuck into the house while Corey was renovating it and proceeded to seal up the bodies in the wall without either Corey or anyone else knowing.

  This was a messed up and messy case, and he was starting to hate it, not least because it was getting him into trouble with the top brass.

  Jon sighed as he walked and wondered if he was being a little more reckless than usual? But if he was, what was causing it? Ariadne, maybe? Or the threats from the stranger? He’d not seen them for over a day now, and he was starting to wonder if maybe that was it. Would they show up again? Would Ariadne grace his doorstep, or would the man follow through on his threats?

  He wasn’t sleeping well; he knew that much. Was he stressed? Maybe.

  Having Kate over last night had
settled him a little better than previous nights, but he still found himself waking up in the middle of the night, disturbed by some tiny noise that was probably the house settling or the pipes expanding or something.

  Jumping at shadows wasn’t what he usually did, but something about recent events had put him on edge. He didn’t have the luxury to think about it too much right now, though. He had a job to do and a killer to find.

  “Good morning,” Jon said to the receptionist in the entrance hallway.

  “Morning, how can I help you?”

  He held up his warrant card. “We’re looking for Miss Simpson. We’d like to speak to her.”

  “Oh, really? Okay, um, erm… She’ll be teaching. I’ll need to find someone who can take over for her. Can you bear with me for a moment, please?”

  Jon nodded and stepped away from the desk. He looked over at Kate. “Lead balloon.”

  “Yup,” she agreed, as they waited. The receptionist spoke to a couple of people on the phone before someone appeared and introduced themselves as Mrs Carr, the headteacher, before leading them through the school. The corridors were filled with the sounds of young children playing, talking and shouting as they went about their lessons.

  It was the sound of innocence, and it made Jon smile to hear it, but also gave him a heavy heart when he thought about the terrible people that were out there, just beyond those gates.

  “Is she in trouble?” the head asked as she led them through the hallways.

  “No,” Kate replied. “We just want to ask her a few questions. She might know something that could be useful in a case. That’s all.”

  “Oh, okay. That’s good.”

  Jon pressed his lips together and read between the lines of the head’s question. She wanted to know if Miss Simpson was a danger to the young children she was teaching and if they needed to send her home.

  “We’d tell you if we thought there was anything you should be worried about,” Jon added.

  The headteacher smiled and looked a little embarrassed as she realised the true nature of her question had been rumbled. “She’s in here. If you’d just like to wait out here?”

  “Of course,” Jon said, and stood back while the head popped in and summoned Skye out of the classroom. She walked out, handing the class over to a teaching assistant. Her expression was one of curiosity as she eyed them.