Death Track

by Sally Rigby

  ‘Can we go now? Shall I get my coat?’ her mum asked, her face bright.

  ‘Sorry, Mum. I can’t. This is a fleeting visit. I’m really busy at work.’

  ‘You’re always busy. What is it this time? Another murder?’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘I can tell. It’s the way you become all serious and anxious.’

  Tears pricked her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away before her mum noticed. It was like listening to her mum how she used to be. She’d always had an uncanny knack of knowing exactly how Whitney was feeling at any given time.

  ‘Well, you’re right. But don’t tell anyone. I’m not allowed to discuss my investigations.’

  ‘Your secret’s safe with me.’ Her mum tapped the side of her nose. ‘We don’t want the witch to hear about it. She might put a spell on you, to stop you from finding out who did it. Especially if she knows I’ve got some chocolate and won’t give her any.’

  Whitney’s heart wrenched. The fucking disease. It was unbearable to watch what it was doing to her mum.

  ‘Thanks, Mum. I’ve got to go now. I’ll arrange a time for us to visit Rob. It will be soon. I promise.’

  She kissed her mum on the cheek and headed out of there. Thank goodness she had her work to throw herself into.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Friday, 14 June

  Whitney tried to push all thoughts of her mum and brother to the back of her mind as she walked into the incident room. It was mid-afternoon and the majority of her officers had returned.

  George was sitting at one of the desks, peering at a computer screen, and she wandered over.

  ‘Are you okay?’ George asked as she looked up.

  Whitney tried to speak, but couldn’t, and shook her head.

  ‘Let’s go to your office.’ George led her through and closed the door.

  ‘It’s Mum,’ Whitney said, unable to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. She’d managed to contain it so far, until she was actually asked, and then the floodgates opened.

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Nothing more than we should expect,’ Whitney said, sniffing. ‘It’s just the way she can suddenly be back to her old self, and then the next sentence she sounds away with the fairies and says the most ridiculous things.’

  ‘It’s hard to deal with, but what you have to remember is she doesn’t seem to be suffering.’

  ‘You’re right. I think it’s also because I feel guilty for neglecting her. I’ve been so busy it’s hard to find time to visit her and Rob. But that’s going to change, or I couldn’t live with myself.’ Leaning across the desk, she pulled out a tissue from the box and wiped her eyes.

  ‘She understands that sometimes your job has to take priority. She’s always known that.’

  Whitney glanced at George. How had she suddenly become so insightful when it came to human emotions? ‘True. Come on, let’s go back out. We don’t have time to waste.’ She sucked in a calming breath; she had to stay focused.

  ‘Okay,’ George said.

  ‘Listen up, everyone,’ Whitney said when they were back in there. ‘I want to go through where we are.’ She stood by the board. ‘So far, we have two murders, Hugo Holmes-Reed and Lena Kirk. The only connection is they were on a train going to, or through, Lenchester. We know from what’s happened in other areas, there are likely to be two more murders before the end of next week. Ellie, what have you discovered about the rail operators, aside from them being part of Transwide?’

  ‘Nothing new, yet. All sets of murders have been on different train lines. The line running through Lenchester is Central Group. The other murders took place on Coastal Rail, Pathway Trains, and Link Railway.’

  ‘Terry,’ Whitney said to the older officer from the RF. ‘You researched the different rail operators. What conclusions did you come up with?’

  Gardner walked over to Whitney, stood by the board, and turned to face the rest of the team. ‘DCI Walker hasn’t yet officially introduced me. It’s good to meet you all. I’m DI Terry Gardner and over there is DS Vic Rowe.’ He pointed to where the other officer was standing. ‘We’re here from the Regional Force to help you with the case. As you know, there have already been twelve other murders over the last two years. Four in Glasgow, four in Liverpool, and four in Bristol. So, any information you have, please run past me and we can see how it fits with the rest. We’re going to catch this murdering bastard.’

  Whitney seethed. What was his game, trying to interfere like that? Acting like he was in charge. So what if she hadn’t remembered to introduce them. She was the SIO. All she wanted was his input regarding the rail operators.

  ‘Thank you, DI Gardner. Back to what I was asking, what can you tell us about the rail operators?’

  ‘The main link is Transwide, but we investigated the company and didn’t come up with anything significant.’

  ‘What about the redundancies in 2014? Did you speak to any employees who were let go?’ she asked.

  Gardner frowned. ‘Redundancies?’

  ‘Yes. A thousand of them.’

  ‘Vic?’

  ‘I’ll have to check, but 2014 is three years before the murders started,’ Rowe said.

  Whitney exchanged glances with George. Were they for real?

  ‘We don’t have time to look into something which occurred five years ago,’ Gardner said. ‘We’ve got two more murders coming up.’

  ‘Yes, murders we’re going to prevent, as we don’t intend to sit back and wait.’ She’d sooner hunt the killer than sit pontificating over his expected next move.

  ‘That wasn’t what I meant,’ Gardner said.

  ‘So, what do you suggest we do?’ Whitney asked, trying to keep the facetious tone from her voice but not succeeding.

  ‘We need to take a note of all possible trains coming through Lenchester over the next ten days and try to ascertain which are the most likely ones for the murderer to target.’

  Whitney knew it was a good idea, and it was what they were going to be doing, anyway. ‘Agreed. Tell me about the previous murders. Were any of them committed during rush hour?’

  ‘All were at different times of the day, but never when the trains were very busy.’

  ‘Our second murder took place on a train that could’ve been busier than it was. It was one going to London first thing in the morning.’

  ‘He must have done his research,’ George said. ‘Those first few stops are always quiet, according to Logan.’

  ‘Who’s Logan?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘Someone we brought in for questioning. He isn’t our guy, but he did steal something from the victim,’ Whitney said.

  ‘You should have told me. There have been other instances when items were stolen from the victims.’

  What? Why weren’t they aware of that? It would have made a difference to their interview with Logan, even though they now knew he wasn’t in the frame.

  ‘That information wasn’t in the files you gave us.’

  ‘We didn’t think you needed to know.’

  She couldn’t stand there and let that pass. She wanted answers.

  ‘I think we’ll take this discussion to my office,’ she said quietly. ‘Okay, team, carry on with what you’re doing. I’ll be back shortly.’ She marched into her office with Gardner following. She closed the door.

  ‘What else haven’t you told me?’ she demanded.

  ‘You have our files, which contain everything you need to know, apart from the fact items were stolen from victims.’

  ‘And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell us. What is it with you? You’re just here to pick our brains. So we can solve the crime, and you can take the kudos. Let me tell you, that isn’t going to happen. We’ll be solving it, and my team, who are the best, will rightly take the credit.’

  She stared up at him. He wasn’t going to intimidate her, despite being a head taller. She was the higher-ranking officer, and he needed to respect that.


  ‘We kept quiet about the items being stolen in case of copycats.’

  ‘That doesn’t wash. I’m SIO. You should’ve told me. I’m not happy about this. I didn’t want to bring you in in the first place, and I’m being proved right. All you’re doing is putting yourself before the case.’

  ‘You know now.’ He folded his arms and locked eyes with her.

  ‘Do you have a list of items that were stolen?’

  ‘I’ll get it to you. There were a variety of things taken, ranging from items of clothing, like gloves and scarves, to make-up or trinkets from handbags.’

  ‘No purses or wallets? Anything of value?’

  ‘No. Just trinkets.’

  ‘So, the fact we arrested the guy with a laptop doesn’t actually coincide with the other items taken.’

  ‘Not unless the murderer has changed his MO. Why didn’t you tell me you’d found someone of interest?’

  ‘I didn’t feel it was necessary. A ticket was found on the train, and we discovered who it belonged to. I don’t have to share everything with you, the same as you believe you don’t have to share everything with me.’

  ‘You need our expertise on this case, so instead of giving us the cold shoulder, maybe you should listen to what we have to say and include us,’ Gardner said.

  ‘I’ll include you when I think it’s necessary. In the meantime, what do you and your partner intend to do to assist us? Are you prepared to sit down and scroll through mountains of CCTV footage, like the rest of the team?’

  ‘I’m a DI. I don’t involve myself in that.’

  ‘What do you “involve yourself in”?’ She held up her hands and did quote marks with her fingers.

  ‘Do you have the pathology report on the first victim? You were going to email it to me.’

  ‘I’ll forward it to you shortly. What about Rowe? Will he look through the CCTV footage with the others?’ She walked around her desk and made a note on a scrap of paper to send him the report.

  ‘Yes. When is the pathologist likely to have something on the second murder?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘When she’s ready.’

  ‘So, you allow her to set the pace, do you? If it was my case, I’d make sure she operated in accordance with our timelines.’ He shook his head, and it took all Whitney’s will power not to slap the disdainful look off his face.

  ‘That’s not the way things work here. We have a very good relationship with the pathologist.’

  If she wasn’t so intent on stopping him from taking over, she’d send him to Claire for some of her treatment. That would soon sort out his ‘work to our timelines’ nonsense.

  ‘As do we, as long as it doesn’t hinder the investigation. But in your case, it seems like the tail is wagging the dog, and not the other way around.’

  ‘That’s your opinion and not mine. Go back to the incident room. I’ve got something to do.’

  She walked out from behind her desk and opened the door for him to leave, slamming it behind him. This wasn’t going to work, and she intended to do something about it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Friday, 14 June

  Whitney knocked on Jamieson’s door and waited impatiently, moving from foot to foot. She could hear him on the phone, as usual, but it didn’t sound like a work call. After five minutes, she knocked again and heard him end the call.

  ‘Come in,’ his voice boomed out.

  She opened the door and marched in, standing in front of his desk with her hands on her hips.

  ‘If you’ve come about the press conference, it’s arranged for five, this afternoon.’

  It had totally slipped her mind.

  ‘No, I’m not here about that. It’s something else.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘This can’t carry on. Bringing in the Regional Force was totally ridiculous. All they’ve done is annoy everyone and withhold evidence. How can that be cooperation? I told you it was a mistake, and I stand by my view. I think you should send them back. We don’t need them.’

  ‘Sit down and tell me exactly what happened.’

  He was being remarkably calm, which was totally unlike him. It was unnerving.

  ‘We brought a man in for questioning after discovering he was at the scene of the second murder and had no alibi at the time of the first. Also, he stole a laptop from the second victim. When Gardner found out about our man, he informed me that the murderer had stolen something from each victim, and when I asked why the information wasn’t in the files, he said he’d deliberately omitted it.’

  ‘Did he give a reason why?’

  That was immaterial. It shouldn’t matter what the reason was.

  ‘He said he wanted to prevent a copycat, but that’s not good enough. We can’t have them withholding information. How are we expected to do our job properly if we don’t know the full facts?’

  ‘It makes sense to me,’ he said.

  ‘I disagree. It’s acceptable to keep certain facts from the media, but it doesn’t make sense to keep them from your colleagues.’

  ‘You have the information now. What did Gardner say about the man we have in custody?’

  ‘He doesn’t know anything about him, other than I mentioned the laptop had been stolen.’

  ‘So, you kept something from him. Something which could affect the investigation?’

  ‘We were pursuing a line of enquiry. I didn’t believe it necessary to include him at that stage.’

  ‘Let me get this straight. You withheld information from him, in exactly the same way he withheld it from you. Have I got that right?’

  ‘No, that’s not what I’m telling you. I’m SIO, and the highest-ranking officer on the case, so it’s up to me to decide what he knows. He should do as I say. He’s also trying to ingratiate himself with the team and making out he’s in charge of the case.’

  She could have kicked herself. She sounded like a petty schoolgirl.

  ‘And what do you suggest I do?’

  Whitney frowned. It wasn’t like him to ask her advice.

  ‘We have the files, or partial files, so I suggest you send Gardner and Rowe back to their station. We don’t need them, and if it turns out we need any assistance, we can get in touch by phone. But like I’ve said, so far they’ve done nothing to help. Not only have they omitted information from the files, there’s been no proper investigation into Transwide, the company who owns all the rail operators targeted. If I hadn’t been to visit them, we wouldn’t have known about the mass redundancies they made a few years before the murders started.’

  ‘A few years? I hardly call that relevant.’

  ‘We don’t know for sure. Also, Gardner isn’t prepared to do anything in terms of going through CCTV footage or any of the other mundane investigative work that needs to be done. He just wants to swan around. The pair of them are getting in the way, and I don’t need them here.’

  Jamieson leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head. His manner was relaxed and difficult to read. Was he going to side with her, for a change?’

  ‘I’m not going to send them back, as I think they can help with the investigation. It’s just a matter of you accepting they’re here and making use of them in an appropriate way. We don’t expect DIs to do the work of a constable.’

  ‘When it comes to necessary grunt work, there’s no hierarchy in my team. We all muck in.’

  ‘Well, it’s not going to work that way now. The RF is a prestigious force, and it’s not going to do us any harm to have links with them. Links we could maybe exploit sometime in the future.’

  Now she understood. He was thinking of himself. If a position came up at the RF, he believed he’d have more chance if he already had a good relationship with them.

  ‘I’m still not happy about having to work with them.’

  ‘I can always take you off the case as SIO and give the role to Gardner.’

  He couldn’t be serious.

  ‘Fine, if you want to see the federation rep, sir. You ca
n’t bring in someone from an outside force and make them SIO. It doesn’t work that way.’

  ‘Don’t push it, Walker. I expect you to work with Gardner. Put your differences behind you and concentrate on what’s more important. Making sure we put an end to these murders. Do you understand?’

  She drew in a breath. ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Good. I don’t want to hear any more complaints from you. Get back to work. You have a job to do. I’ll handle the press conference myself.’ He dismissed her with a nod of his head and started reading something on his desk.

  She stormed out of his office and down the corridor.

  How could anyone be so insufferable beat her. Just when she thought they’d begun to get on a little better, he acted like a total arse. It was times like these she wished she smoked.

  She stopped at the ladies’ on her way back to the incident room, and splashed water on her face. By the time she had returned, she was relatively calm.

  ‘Listen up, everyone,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to try to work out potential trains our guy could target next, and once we’ve done that, we’ll put officers on them. Sue, contact the victims’ families and find out what was taken, as we now know the killer has always stolen something from each of them.’ She looked for George and saw her standing close to Ellie. ‘George, with me in my office.’

  The psychologist nodded, her face set hard.

  ‘What’s that all about? I don’t appreciate being ordered around,’ George said once they were alone.

  ‘Sorry, I only did it so Gardner didn’t think we were discussing anything to do with the case without him.’

  ‘What do you want to talk about?’

  ‘I went to see Jamieson and asked him to take Gardner and Rowe off the case, but he refused. I wanted someone to vent to.’

  ‘That’s fine, but if they’re not going, we need to work with them and make use of what they’ve got, rather than spending all of our time being antagonistic towards them,’ George said.

  ‘Whose side are you on?’

  ‘I’m on the side of solving the murder. Look at it this way, they’re here and we can make use of two extra bodies. Instead of wasting time looking at how we can work without them, let’s use their knowledge. Remember they’ve got experience of the case that we haven’t.’