by Carla Kovach
‘Jacob and I found a bloodied nail file in Caro Blakely’s bedroom too. We need the blood results to make full sense of who hurt who and the question is why. Anything else?’
‘Yes, a sachet of powder that looks like it could be Rohypnol. Oscar kept it in a plastic box under his bed.’
‘Does Mr Spalding know anything about this and how is he?’
‘His father says he knows nothing about the powder and he seems vacant. He keeps staring out of the window. He’s in a real panic over where his son might be and he keeps muttering about him being out of control. When I try to ask him more, he walks out of the room. It’s like he’s having some sort of breakdown.’
‘Keep pressing as best you can and try to access any tech that Oscar had access to. We need to know where Oscar and Caro might head to.’ Gina swallowed. ‘We can’t rule out that someone else is involved which is why I’m here now, at Naomi’s house.’
‘If we crack the tech, I’ll call you straight away. I’m also heading straight over to the James’s residence. There’s a FLO with Elsa at the moment so hopefully we might have some more information to work with soon.’
Time was slipping away from them. They were dealing with a double murderer who had killed with no hesitation each time.
‘More blood, I gather?’ Jacob followed Gina up the garden path.
‘Sadly, yes.’ Gina knocked loudly and heard scuffling behind the door.
Dina Carpenter answered. Her pale skin was more a shade of grey today with red rimmed baggy eyes. Her white blonde hair tied up in a messy stack was threatening to fall into a matted entanglement. ‘Come in. Sorry about this. I didn’t sleep. We’ve been so worried. Naomi has been up half the night and we keep thinking about what’s happening.’ She pulled the door open and stepped aside. ‘Your family liaison person arrived a short while ago too. Come through.’
‘We’re sorry to have to question Naomi again but as you are aware, two of her friends are now missing.’
‘Who’s killing our kids?’ Her lip quivered.
Gina stepped into the long narrow kitchen with a view of the small but well decked out garden. Several trimmed conifers hid the back fence. She nodded at Ellyn who was spooning instant coffee into a row of cups. ‘We urgently need to speak to Naomi.’
‘She’s just taken the dog for a walk around the block. I didn’t want her to go but she said I was being suffocating. So much for being a parent who cares.’ The woman looked at her watch. ‘She’s been gone a while so she shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes.’
They all turned to look through the window into the garden as they heard a dog barking, but Naomi didn’t come through the back gate.
‘That’s probably her now.’
Only Naomi still didn’t open the back gate and come into the garden. The dog’s barks got louder and more frequent. Then came the yelping. ‘Is he okay?’
‘He doesn’t normally make that sound.’
Dina went to open the back door but Gina nodded and went out first. Ellyn came to her side. ‘It’s okay, I’ll check on the dog.’ Something was wrong. Gina could tell and the confused look on Dina’s face showed that she thought the same. The woman moved aside for Jacob to follow and she began to visibly quiver.
Opening the back gate, Gina turned quickly to see a large St Bernard tied up to a stump in the grass. Abandoned and pleased to see her, it wagged its tail. The dog slobbered and licked her hand as she untied it and walked it back through the garden. ‘Your dog was tied up outside.’
Dina almost crumpled and leaned against the worktop. ‘They’ve taken her too.’ Her tears came out like blubbering sobs as the shock sunk in. ‘I shouldn’t have let her walk the dog.’
Ellyn led Dina to a chair and sat her at the table.
That’s when Gina spotted the Fixodent tooth glue on the side. ‘Who uses this?’
‘What? My daughter is missing and you’re asking me about this?’ She picked up the half-used tube and dropped it on the table.
‘I’m sorry, Mrs Carpenter. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.’
‘Naomi. She uses it. She has a missing tooth and uses it to fix her denture.’
‘Which tooth?’
The woman slapped her hand on the table. ‘Why are you going on about the bloody denture? You need to get out there now and find our missing kids.’
‘Please, it’s important.’
‘Top right.’ Dina began to count and closed her eyes. ‘Third one along from the meat-eating tooth.’
‘What was she wearing when she left?’
‘I don’t know.’ Mrs Carpenter looked around. ‘Her short-sleeved yellow hoodie.’
Gina nodded to Jacob. ‘I need to make a call.’ She hurried towards the front door.
‘What’s going on?’ the woman shouted.
Gina went out the front and phoned Briggs immediately. ‘Naomi has to be considered a suspect in this too. She made up some story about needing to get out with the dog, then left it neatly tied up. She’s now gone or maybe she’s been taken, blackmailed. I don’t know yet but I know this isn’t good.’
‘Harte, slow down a little.’
‘Sir, that’s three missing kids now. Naomi Carpenter isn’t at home and get this, she has a missing tooth, third from the canine, top right; that could make her Leah’s biter.’
‘I’ll make sure everyone knows. The techies have all the laptops and gadgets that the kids own and they’re trying to work through the info and crack passwords. Wait, I have an email.’
‘What is it?’
Briggs went silent for a few seconds. ‘The lab rushed the blood testing through, the blood at the back of the Spalding’s fence. It doesn’t belong to Oscar but it does match up to Caro Blakely’s. What’s more is that the samples that you delivered straight to the team a short while ago from Caro Blakely’s bedroom matches that of Oscar Spalding.’
‘Are we saying that Caro stabbed Oscar with that nail file?’
‘That’s what the evidence shows.’
‘Opening night, Leah’s murder. Second night, Jordan’s murder. Third night, possibly, Oscar is stabbed with a nail file. Was he trying to kill Caro so she attacked him with her nail file or was she trying to kill him? And where is Naomi and, based on a very possible working theory, why did she bite Leah? What’s going on with these kids?’ Gina paused and smiled at the postie as he walked past. ‘Have you read the contents of the notebook which I also dropped off, the one we found in Caro’s bedroom?’
‘I have. At least we know why Caro didn’t want to go to another camp out party given what happened to her.’
‘They drugged her with Rohypnol. That’s sinister. And something that looks like Rohypnol has just been found in Oscar’s bedroom. Call me as soon as you have any updates on the tech. We need someone to report on that fast. Lives depend on it.’
‘Wait, there’s someone knocking.’
Gina listened as Briggs spoke in his office.
‘They’ve cracked Oscar’s laptop and I’m going through it now. I’ll call you back.’ Briggs hung up and Gina swore at her phone before dropping it back into her pocket.
Jacob hurried out of the Carpenters’ house and ran down the path. ‘Mrs Carpenter said that there was a hang-out that the kids used to go to but Naomi never said where it was. She remembers overhearing a conversation between Naomi and a friend. They complained about the dust and a leaky roof. She doesn’t know any more, but she gave me this.’ Jacob held up a tablet. ‘A team is also on the way. Mrs Carpenter has also agreed that Naomi’s room can be searched.’
‘As soon as the team arrives, we need to get over to Elsa James’s house. She might be the missing piece to all this. I’ll call ahead so that she’s not let out of sight until either we or Wyre gets there. We can’t afford for her to go missing.’ Gina grabbed her phone again to make the call.
Sixty-One
Wasting no time, Gina turned off the ignition. Jacob followed her up the path to the house where E
lsa James and her parents lived. Banging loudly, she waited and Wyre answered. ‘Please tell me that Elsa is here.’ The beating midday sun was now almost at its peak and there was no breeze to speak of. A humming of insects flew around the overflowing bin that turned Gina’s stomach as she inhaled.
‘She’s safe and sound in the living room, guv. It’s a bit crowded in there. One of Ellyn’s team is here too.’
‘Before I go in, do we know any more from Elsa?’
‘No, guv. She’s upset and agitated, as expected. None of her friends are answering their phones or the messages she’s been trying to send to them. We’ve managed to keep her off social media, which is good.’ Wyre gave a half smile.
‘Okay, with Naomi now missing, she’s all we’ve got.’
‘Naomi’s missing?’ Wyre’s brow furrowed. ‘Since when?’
‘Over the last hour. She went out to walk the family dog and left it tied to a post outside the back gate and is now nowhere to be seen.’
‘Not good.’
Gina and Jacob stepped into the crammed hall, knocking several coats off the coat hook. Jacob nudged them into a neat pile against the wall along with the stack of shoes. A terrier bounded over, wagging its tail.
‘Buster, get back now. Sorry about the dog.’ Mrs James stood there, still in her dressing gown.
‘That’s okay.’ Gina patted the yappy dog and it kept running in front of her feet as she headed to the living room. Elsa was sitting in the chair by the window, head in hands, staring at her blank phone as if waiting for news.
‘Mr James, Mrs James. I know we met on Sunday morning but I’m DI Harte and this is DS Driscoll. I don’t have time to explain everything but what I can say is that right now we have three missing teenagers who are all part of Elsa’s group of friends. We are deeply concerned for their safety and just want them brought home.’
‘Three, I thought there were two?’ Mr James stepped forward as he scratched his beard.
‘There were but now another has gone missing.’
‘Who is it?’ Mrs James asked, worry lines spread across her forehead.
‘Naomi Carpenter.’
‘Not Naomi! She’s Elsa’s best friend. She stays with us all the time. Her mother must be distraught. I should call her—’ Mrs James went to grab her phone.
Gina held her hand up. ‘Please, someone is looking after her at present and we urgently need to speak to Elsa. May we use your kitchen?’
The woman dropped her arm, clutching her phone against her side and nodded. ‘Elsa, love. The detectives need a word with you. It’s about Naomi.’
Elsa tightened up her high ponytail and stood, pushing her phone into the pocket of her jeans. ‘I was waiting for her to message me back but she hasn’t.’
As they entered the kitchen, Gina and Jacob left the FLO and Wyre with Mr James in the living room, where Wyre was filling him in on the updates with Naomi.
‘Elsa, can you tell me why Naomi was messaging you today?’
The girl glanced back and forth between her mother, Gina and Jacob. She began to pick a spot on her head, lifting the thick coat of foundation away. ‘Err… she said she couldn’t get hold of Oscar and she was worried. I said it was probably nothing and that he was probably having a lie-in but we’ve been checking in with each other every morning since what happened to Jordan. We were scared.’
‘And?’
‘Oscar didn’t message Naomi and she was panicked so she said she was going to look for him. Now she’s offline and I can’t get hold of her, see.’ Elsa held her phone up on Facebook Messenger and the conversation was just as she had described.
‘May I read the whole message chain?’ Gina reached over to take the phone but Elsa snatched it away.
‘It’s private.’ She began to gnaw at her knuckle.
‘Elsa, we believe that Naomi, Oscar and Caro are in immediate danger. Two of your friends have been murdered. I want to bring them home safely and you can help me.’
The girl’s face began to redden and her eyes watered up. ‘I’m sorry, Mum. We were just being stupid and it all went too far.’ She handed the phone to Gina. Mrs James hugged her daughter.
Gina scrolled through the messages. Before Saturday night, they were just about who Naomi and Elsa fancied, what A-levels they were taking and what was on at the cinema. Then the night in question came. They talked about the meetup at the woods and all the alcohol each of them would be bringing. Then came the check in messages between Elsa and Naomi. It was like bits of the conversation were missing. The roofie was mentioned and both girls swore that they wouldn’t say a word as they’d all be in huge trouble. Then came the source of Elsa’s worry, where she told Naomi that Leah had sex with Oscar. ‘Do you carry on these conversations on other platforms?’
‘We use Snapchat.’ Gina knew those messages vanished after the recipient had read them. Not her favourite kind when it came to a murder investigation.
‘Tell me about the relationship between Oscar and Leah.’
The girl shook her head rapidly. ‘I can’t.’
Something was holding Elsa back. ‘Why not?’
‘He said not to tell or something bad would happen.’
Gina leaned in. ‘Something bad has already happened and it could get worse. Three of your friends are missing and I’m truly scared that someone will get hurt.’
‘I swear I didn’t know on the night and neither did Naomi. Caro Snapchatted me the other day and told me something that Anthony had told her. That at the last party, Anthony had been fighting with Oscar over it. I know he had a funeral to go to but Ant then said he wanted nothing more to do with us and the parties.’
‘What is it you’re trying to tell me?’
‘Oscar roofied Caro’s drink at the last party and the one last week, he did it again with Leah.’
‘Thank you for being honest with me.’ Gina already new about Caro’s drugging from the notebook entries.
‘I’ve been getting these threatening messages saying that if I tell anyone, I’ll die. They were on Snapchat too. Naomi received a few and we’ve been panicking which is why we didn’t say anything. We know it was Oscar even though the sender was anonymous. It had to be him. Someone has also been following me about here and there and I know that was Oscar too. I caught him looking up at my bedroom window. He’s been following Caro too. She was so distraught, trying to piece together what happened to her but then she had a go at me too.’
‘Why was that?’
‘Does my mum have to be here?’
‘It’s okay, love. I’m not angry. Just tell the truth.’ Mrs James gripped her daughter’s shaky hand.
‘I slept with Oscar on the night Caro was drugged. I was so wasted, I don’t know why but I did. She sort of came around and stumbled into the tent we were in but Oscar shooed her back out and she got into such a weird state. Shouting incoherently. She was barely standing though.’
‘Were you drugged?’
‘No, I thought he liked me and I liked him but after, he ignored me.’
‘I hope you used protection.’ Mrs James rolled her eyes.
‘Mum! Neither of us wanted to become parents. We’re not stupid.’ A wash of relief filled Mrs James’s face. ‘Please don’t tell Dad.’
Her mother pursed her lips.
‘Why did Oscar drug Caro?’
‘It wasn’t what you think.’
Jacob scribbled away and Gina tilted her head a little and looked sympathetic. ‘So tell me in your own words.’
‘It was a joke. Nothing more than that.’
‘Drugging people is dangerous and it’s definitely not a joke,’ Mrs James said.
‘I didn’t do it, Mum. I didn’t know Caro had been drugged until I saw Oscar and Ant scrapping over it. It was too late as she was already slurring her words and looking a bit odd.’
‘What happened then?’
‘They just did silly things like drew on her with a pen, like a moustache, things like that, then Caro started
waking and getting really agitated. It was like… she was having anxiety attacks or seeing things. Oscar said it was a bad reaction and that shouldn’t happen, that she was just meant to be a bit chilled out. Eventually they managed to calm her down and put her to bed in her tent. We carried on with the party and just thought she’d sleep it off.’
Gina frowned. ‘But then Oscar drugged Leah at the second party? Did he rape her?’
‘He’d already slept with her earlier. We all knew that the drugging was wrong which is why he’s been threatening us if we said anything. I’m scared of what he might do and I don’t think Caro knows that he’s been sending the horrible messages to her to try to scare her into staying silent.’
‘But you’d all been checking in with each other every day, Oscar included?’
‘Oscar said we had too. I think it was more about him controlling us. Making sure that we hadn’t spoken. Naomi went looking for him. She Snapchatted me. I told her not to bother after how he’d been with us but she said we’d all done things we were ashamed of and that we needed to stick together so that our secrets remained just so. That’s why she went. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of.’
If Oscar thought Caro or Naomi would say something, then they were both in immediate danger. ‘I’d like to talk more about this later but could you tell me where they might be? Is there a hang-out that you meet at?’
‘There are a few.’
‘Okay.’
Jacob waited, ready to note them down.
‘There’s an empty house on Guild End. Right at the bottom. It’s been boarded up for years. That’s one of them. Then there’s Ant’s dad’s allotment shed but we haven’t hung out there for months. That’s on Pickering Green.’
