Kill Chase (A Detective Ryan Chase Thriller Book 1)
Page 11
“Nah, my body is a temple and all that. I’d rather keep it free from ink that I’m only going to regret in a few years anyway.”
She shrugged. “Each to their own.”
They stopped outside of the house, and Mallory rang the bell.
A woman around Mallory’s age answered the door. Her thin hair looked a little greasy and was parted down the middle and tied back, and she had a ring through the central cartilage of her nose.
She eyed Ryan and Mallory up suspiciously. “Yes?”
“Mrs Braun?” Ryan asked. “Eleanor Braun?”
“My name’s Ellie. Who are you?”
“DI Chase and DS Lawson. Can we come in and have a chat?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What about?”
“It’s better that we don’t do this on the doorstep.”
She stepped back to let them in but didn’t show them down to the kitchen or living room. Instead, her body blocked the way, leaving the three of them standing awkwardly in the hall.
“We’re here about your missing husband, Luke,” Ryan said.
Her jaw tightened. “What about him? Did you find him? Is he okay?”
Ryan avoided the question for the moment. “Ellie, can I ask you if Luke has any kind of tattoos on his forearm at all?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes, he does. He has a whole heap of tattoos on both arms. He likes his sleeves. He’s spent a fortune on the bloody things.”
“Can you describe any of them.”
Her forehead scrunched up as she thought. “He has lots of different images, all blended together. Roses, and an all-seeing eye, and a dove.”
“Does he have a clock at all?”
“A pocket watch,” she said. “He has a pocket watch tattoo.”
Ryan exchanged a glance with Mallory.
Ellie sucked in a breath and folded in half, using the wall to hold herself up. “Oh my God. It’s him, isn’t it? I saw the newspapers reporting that parts of a man’s body had been found in the river, but I convinced myself it wasn’t Luke, that something so dreadful couldn’t possibly have happened to him. But it has, hasn’t it?”
Ryan pressed his lips together and nodded. “We don’t know that for certain, but yes, it’s a possibility. We’ll need to take something we can get a DNA sample of Luke’s from—his hairbrush or toothbrush.”
She blinked away tears, her features softening. “Yes, of course. Take whatever you need.”
“Perhaps we should go through and sit down,” Mallory said gently, nodding down the hall.
“Sorry. This way.”
Ellie turned, and they followed her down to a small living room where she sank into one of the armchairs, her fingers at her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
“Can I get you a drink of anything,” Mallory offered. “Some water.”
“No, I’m fine. Just tell me what you know, please.”
Ryan took a seat opposite Ellie and sat forward, his elbows on his knees. “We’re still working on our enquiries to find out what happened to Luke. It would be really helpful if you could answer some questions for us. Is that all right?”
Ellie nodded, her hand still at her mouth.
“You waited several days before you reported Luke missing. Why was that?”
“It sounds awful, but honestly, there was a part of me that was pleased he was gone. We’ve been having problems for some time now, always fighting.”
“Were the fights ever physical?”
She glanced down as though ashamed. “Not punches or anything like that. But we’d push each other, and I’m not proud to say it, but I did slap him. He’d throw things and break stuff.” She pointed out a hole in the plasterboard near the living room door. “He did that one time when we were fighting. He punched the wall instead of punching me.”
“What were the fights about?”
She shrugged. “We’d fight about money, about him going out and spending it on booze. If I went out, he’d get jealous about who I was with and what I was doing. We’d fight about the bloody cleaning. Basically, everything and nothing.”
Ryan clasped his fingers together. “You said you’d fight about money. Why was that? Did he have any gambling or drug issues?”
“No, nothing like that, but he always spent too much at the pub, and I thought the money would be better spent on other things.”
“How long had the two of you been together?” Mallory asked.
“Five years. We got married too young.”
“Tell me about the last day you saw him,” Ryan said. “Start with that morning.”
Ellie blinked back tears. “I don’t know what to say. It was just a normal morning. We got up and both went to work.”
“Where was that?” Ryan interrupted.
“For me or him?”
“Both.”
“I work as a store manager in the city centre, and Luke works in construction.”
“And he got to work okay?”
“Yes, as far as I know. Nothing strange happened that day. He came home like normal at six-thirty. I get back earlier, so I’d already made dinner. He was in a mood about something, though that wasn’t unusual. He was quite often in a mood, and he ate dinner and just chucked his plate in the sink and went and sat in front of the television. I’d done a long day at work as well and had been on my feet all day, and I’d cooked dinner, and he clearly expected me to do the dishes, too. I made some comment about having to do everything, and of course it blew up into a massive argument about who does what. It turned into a screaming match, and he stormed out. I thought he’d go to a mate’s house and cool down, and come crawling home, but he didn’t.”
“Did he leave on foot or take a car?”
“We don’t have a car. He was on foot.”
“Did you make any attempt to find out where he’d gone?”
She shook her head. “Not that night. I was just mad at him and thought he was being an arsehole. He didn’t come home that night, but it wasn’t as though it was the first time he’d stormed out and not come home. I was fuming all the next day that he hadn’t even texted me an apology, but I still wasn’t worried. Then he didn’t come home that evening either, and so I started phoning around, and that’s when one of his work colleagues mentioned that he hadn’t shown up for work that day.”
“Did you phone the police then?”
Her teeth dug into her lower lip. “No. Maybe I should have, but I figured he was just sulking. I did try phoning him, but it went straight to answerphone. I left a couple of shitty messages, telling him to phone me back. When Monday rolled around and he still hadn’t shown up, I was starting to properly worry. That’s when I lodged an official missing person’s report, but to be honest, I didn’t really feel like it was taken seriously. The police didn’t see him as a vulnerable person, and because we’d fought right before he’d stormed out, they thought he’d just left me. It was very frustrating.”
“What about his family? How did they feel about him going missing?”
“They live up in Sheffield, and I haven’t really seen them that much. We’d only met a handful of times, during things like Christmases or weddings. They came down after Luke went missing, but there wasn’t much they could do. The police suggested to them that Luke might go home to Sheffield and they’d be better off staying there, but there was a part of me that just felt like they wanted to get his parents off their backs.” She lifted her gaze to Ryan. “Sorry, not saying you’re like that or anything, but I never felt they really cared about Luke going missing.”
Ryan frowned. “I’m sorry you felt that way. Obviously, with Luke’s body possibly being found, the case will be reopened, and actions of the officers involved at the time will be looked into. Unfortunately, we have thousands of people going missing in Bristol alone every year, and the high-risk cases such as children or those with mental health issues do end up taking priority.”
“Luke takes priority now, though, doesn’t he? Now he’s—” Her voice broke off.
Her gaze flicked between Ryan and Mallory. “Do you think there’s much chance it isn’t?”
“I’d say it’s unlikely, but we have to be sure.”
Ellie rose from her seat. “I’ll go and get his toothbrush. If there’s anything else you need, just say. I’ve still got all of his things here. I didn’t know what else to do with them. I didn’t believe he’d just left me, even though that’s what the police said. We might have had a toxic relationship, but I still believed that he loved me.”
Ryan offered her a sympathetic smile. “Of course.”
Love wasn’t enough in a marriage, though, was it? He’d experienced that for himself. He and Donna had loved each other, but even before Hayley had been killed, they’d been drifting apart. Life got boring and monotonous, and people fought over stupid things like the dishes. Maybe Ryan had become jaded to the whole idea of marriage, but from the description Ellie Braun had given of hers, he highly doubted his and Donna’s would have lasted much longer, even if Hayley had survived.
Chapter Sixteen
Back in the office, Ryan knocked on DCI Hirst’s door and waited for her to call ‘yes?’ before he entered.
“Ryan,” she greeted him. “How are you getting on?”
“I believe we’ve just ID’d the second body that was found in the river.” He ran her through everything he’d learned from Luke Braun’s wife, and brought her up to date with where they were on the other cases. “Trouble is, we’re now effectively investigating three cases, and I think I’m going to need more manpower. It’s too much for my team to handle on their own.”
“Agreed. This is a high-profile case now. If you need to pull in people from other teams, I’m happy to support you on that.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
He exited the office and went back to his team.
“Can I get your attention, everyone. We’re waiting for a DNA confirmation that Luke Braun is our second victim, but at this point I believe we can assume that he is. Just like with Matthew Gordon, we need to learn everything we can about Luke’s final moments. Right now, it would appear the thing that ties each of these men together is that they were all around a similar age, in particular Luke and Matthew, white, and all had somewhat of a connection with drugs and alcohol. They also all had difficult relationships with the people closest to them, their parents or wives or girlfriends. Angry young men who were into substance abuse.”
“This is most likely to be drug related then?” Mallory asked.
“I know we’ve touched on that before. I think it’s something we need to look into in more detail. Who are our dealers in the area? Were they also around ten years ago when Jacob Tater was killed? I also want to know Luke Braun’s movements after he left his home following an argument with his wife. Where did he go? His wife says he didn’t take a car, so can we catch him on foot in any CCTV footage of the local area. He must have gone somewhere, perhaps to a dealer’s house to score? Or maybe someone picked him up? I’m going to speak to the detective who was working on Luke’s missing person’s case and see what they found out as well.”
Ryan’s phone rang, and he glanced down at it with a frown. Donna’s name appeared on-screen.
Why was his ex-wife calling him? It wasn’t as though they had anything but a mutual tragedy that bound them now. She’d bought him out of his share of the house—money he’d used to buy his crappy flat, one half of a house could not another house buy—and they’d split any saving and investments, which hadn’t been a lot to start with.
He debated not bothering to answer for a moment, and then changed his mind. “Donna? What’s up?”
“Hi, Ryan. How are you?”
It was strange hearing her voice again, simultaneously as familiar as his own while also feeling like a stranger’s.
“I’m okay, Donna. Why are you calling?”
“I wanted to say happy birthday for yesterday.”
“Really?”
“I still care about you, Ryan. You’re Hayley’s dad.”
“I was Hayley’s dad,” he said, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice.
“And you always will be, just like I’ll never stop being her mum simply because she isn’t with us anymore.”
He sensed her pain radiating down the line. This was part of the reason they’d been unable to stay together. The hurt was just too great. When Donna wasn’t around, he could at least pretend that he was a whole person, and not a shell who just knew how to act like a human being.
“I wondered if we could meet up.”
“Why?”
“I have something I need to talk to you about.”
He let out a sigh and dragged his hand through his hair. “Don’t tell me. You and Mr Investment Banker are getting married.”
“No, Ryan, we’re not, and I’d really rather not talk to you about this on the phone. Please.”
That final word sounded too much like she was begging, and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to say no. “Okay, fine. When do you want to meet?”
“Can you meet me in an hour? How about that café we used to go to on Saturday mornings?”
He didn’t really want to go anywhere that was going to remind him of his old life, but he also just wanted to get Donna off the phone now. “Okay, fine. But I can’t stay long. I’ve got work to do.”
“Where have I heard that one before?” she replied, but instead of it being nagging, she was teasing him, and underneath all of that, a sadness.
“I’ll see you later.”
He hung up.
“Everything all right, boss?” Mallory had approached his desk with a cautious smile.
“Yeah, it’s all good. What have you got?”
“CCTV footage from outside the club on the night Jacob Tater went missing. I thought if we could track down some of the people who saw him leave, they might have an idea about where he went next, or if he was talking to anyone.”
“Good idea. You okay to hold the fort here for an hour? Donna wants to meet for a coffee.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “That’s not like her.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what worries me. She says she needs to talk to me about something. No doubt it’ll be to do with how great her life is going now that I’m out of it.”
“I’m sure that’s not the case, but yes, of course. Take as long as you need.”
“Thanks, Mallory. I know it’s not ideal, me ducking out, when we have so much to do.”
She flapped a hand. “Go. We can manage without you for an hour. You’re not that important.” She threw him a wink to show she was kidding before turning back to her desk.
THE CAFÉ WHERE HE’D arranged to meet Donna was busy. The few tables that lined the street outside were all taken, people making the most of the lovely weather. Ryan didn’t mind—he was happy to sit inside where it was a bit cooler. Plenty of others must have had the same idea as the place was busy with people eating and chatting.
Ryan found an empty table in the window. Donna wasn’t here yet, but then he was a little early. He hoped she wasn’t going to be late, since she was the one who wanted to do this.
He ordered a coffee for himself and a pot of tea for Donna, then checked his phone in case he’d missed a message. The door pinged, and he glanced up to see her enter. Donna was tall and blonde and willowy, and turned heads the moment she walked in. He’d never known her to leave the house without her makeup on, but he knew it was war paint worn against the cruelties of the world. She spotted him, gave a tired smile, and walked over.
He stood and kissed her cheek. “Hi, good to see you. I ordered you a tea. Hope that’s okay.”
“Thanks.” She dropped her handbag to the floor and slid into the seat opposite.
Ryan sat back down as well. “How have you been? How’s Mr Investment Banker?”
; “His name is Tony.”
“Tony, sorry. How is Tony?”
Her smile was tight. “I wouldn’t know. He moved out a couple of weeks ago.”
He hadn’t been expecting that. He’d thought this conversation was going to go another way, and she was going to tell him they’d got engaged, or, his bigger fear, that she was pregnant. Donna was in her early forties and still had the opportunity to start again. So did he, he supposed, but it wasn’t something he could see happening. He couldn’t imagine ever opening himself up to that kind of pain again. Having another child in the world would mean also having the possibility of losing him or her hanging over him, and since he was struggling just to get by each day, he didn’t like to think how he’d cope with the threat of that as well.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
The side of her mouth tweaked. “No, you’re not. You hated him.”
The waitress arrived, sliding their drinks from a tray onto the table. Ryan thanked her and then turned back to Donna.
“Hate’s a strong word. I wouldn’t say that. More ‘took an instant disliking to him’.”
In Ryan’s mind, Tony had been a posh boy ponce who looked down on everyone else. He was one of those people who drove a flash car and thought it was okay to drive ahead of people in two lanes of traffic rather than merging when he was supposed to. Ryan imagined Tony probably clicked his fingers at waitresses and never returned his supermarket trolley to the right place.
He took a sip of his coffee. “So why did you break up?”
Donna glanced down at her cup. She hadn’t even bothered to pour it from the pot yet. “He found out I was ill.”
Alarm jarred through him. “What do you mean? Ill? How?”
“I have cancer, Ryan. Cervical cancer. I’m going to need a full hysterectomy and then chemotherapy.”
His world dropped out from beneath him. “What?”
“I’ll be okay. They caught it early enough. It hasn’t spread or anything, so with the operation and chemo, chances are I’ll be fine.”
“And Tony left you because you have cancer?” He could barely believe he was saying the words. “That fucking prick!”