Another shuffle came from behind the gate. She checked her pocket and all she could hear was her booming heart. The panic alarm was on the kitchen worktop. She’d changed her mind. It wasn’t overkill. The gate rattled and she spotted something that sent her head in a whirl – they’d forgot to lock the gate after all that talking about security. She took another step away from it. The bar on the catch lifted. He was coming for her, the third and final bridesmaid. She didn’t want to believe it but she knew he would find her and he had.
She turned to run and stumbled on the mossy slab. Glancing back, she caught sight of the hooded figure entering her garden. Run – she had to run. She darted straight over the rest of the slabs in her slippers, treading as carefully as she could as her assailant sped up. She felt the air of his chase on her back as she reached for the door handle. It was no good. He wrenched her back by the hood of her dressing gown. As she tried to scream a hand covered her mouth. She thought of Ben and his cute little chuckles as she willed Brendan to wake up. He was normally a light sleeper but not tonight. Then she thought of the panic button on the side. How could she have been so stupid?
Chapter Fifty-Five
Knees knocking, Gina entered the red room to catch the back of a man. The hulk-like figure brought the cleaver down onto the butcher’s block. Blood splattered and Gina let out a yelp. She shouldn’t have said a word. Now he knew she was there and she was going to be next. He turned. Through the welder’s mask, she could see his beady eyes but what startled her more was the cage that his bulky frame had been masking; the cage containing Hannah as she held a single carnation. She wanted to run but she couldn’t leave her own flesh and blood. As he removed the welder’s mask, she recognised the face instantly but the face wasn’t the owner of the eyes she’d seen only a few seconds earlier. Hannah’s sobs had turned into laughter as Nanny Hetty came at her with the meat cleaver. ‘Whose eyes were they?’ she yelled as she ran from the red room, into the vacuous dark space. The figure had gone but she was alone with no answers. Whose eyes had she been staring into?
Gina tipped the glass of water into her lap as the phone’s ringing brought her out of her nightmare. She grabbed the lit-up phone. ‘Jacob. What have you got?’ She placed her hand on her chest hoping that her heart would calm down. Glancing around the dark room, the moon shone a beam against the main wall through her open curtains. There was no cleaver-wielding Hetty chasing her. She was safe, alone and in her living room. Ebony jumped onto the settee and changed her mind about nestling into Gina’s lap when she realised it was soaking wet. ‘Damn!’
‘You okay, guv?’
‘Yes. I fell asleep holding a glass of water and now I’ve poured it all over myself. What an idiot.’ She grabbed the snuggle blanket that had slipped off her knees and mopped up what she could as she balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder. ‘What you got?’
‘The panic button has just been pressed over at Lilly and Brendan Hill’s residence. Uniform are on their way over. They let us know as soon as the call came in. Did you want to head over? I can meet you there?’
She threw the blanket to the floor. ‘I’m on my way.’ She ran up the stairs for a quick wash and change, yawning as she ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced at the shower, almost gutted at not having time to soak under a flow of warm water to properly wake herself up.
Grappling with the closest pair of trousers and a light V-neck jumper, she checked her appearance once before running out of the door. An image flashed through her mind. The eyes in her dream before the mask had been lifted wouldn’t leave her alone. The slight crinkle to the corners as the assailant smiled behind the mask, and the way he – it was a he – the way his brows raised as he spoke. It couldn’t be. She knew exactly who that drunk driver in Wales reminded her of and he had a lot of explaining to do.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Shaking his arm several times, he managed to ease his battered muscles. He hadn’t banked on her grabbing him the way she had. She was definitely stronger than Frannie. Unrolling the scarf from around his mouth and nose, he dropped it to the floor. Not the best disguise but with his oversized hood, a lot was concealed. Mummy bridesmaid would keep. That was his nickname for Lilly.
He removed the hoodie and grabbed the phone off the side. It wasn’t his phone. He’d never be seen dead with a purple diamanté case and a screensaver of a dog wearing a crown. The messages on the phone had been interesting; they’d definitely brought a smile to his face. That poor desperate girl certainly was a needy one but he’d seen that in her already. As he followed her the other night from Lilly’s house, he sensed her tension, but she had interrupted his plans. The odd bang of a fence panel here, the throwing of a stone there. That’s why she’d started to run although he had to chuckle, she wasn’t good at running. He’d go as far as to say, he thought she was flat-footed and her moves reminded him of a duck trying to balance on a frozen pond.
Her pitiful life was worthless. She wasn’t his type, not like Holly or Frannie but they all looked the same when they went purple while being gripped around the jugular.
The chair below screeched across the tiled floor. The woman in the cellar had woken up.
He pressed send on the message.
I’m so sorry about earlier. Everything has been getting to me. I shouldn’t have cut you off like that. Forgive me. I’ll message you tomorrow. I promise. K. Xxx
And he would. He wouldn’t leave her wondering if a message would come but he had to get this right. This wasn’t for him; tomorrow he would share this pleasure with another. Someone who deserved the gift he was about to give them.
He smiled as he read her message.
I totally understand and I just want to help you, as friends do. Message me tomorrow and we’ll talk or we can talk now if you want. I’m always here for you. Shall I call? C. Xxx
His new friend had responded in exactly the same way as he had messaged. Three kisses and an initial. She trusted him. He smiled as a fuzzy feeling washed through his body. Trust – given far too easily once again. She trusted a message on a phone sent by someone she couldn’t hear or see.
I’m a bit tired at the moment but I’d love to talk tomorrow. Can’t wait. Take care and sleep well. K. Xxx.
He turned the phone off and placed it into his pocket. Again, there was a scraping noise coming from the cellar. There was something far more important that he needed to attend to and she was waiting exactly where he’d left her. He kicked the hoodie out of the way and opened the door to the cellar.
Tomorrow, he will have his answer. Who was he coming for? Only one of them would be the lucky winner. Time was ticking and he had a new life waiting for him.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Gina pulled up behind the police car on the road beside Lilly and Brendan Hill’s house. A couple of lights were on despite the hour and a woman cradling a baby let go of her curtain when Gina glanced her way. She hurried to the door and knocked. Lilly answered, her hair scooped messily into a topknot. ‘Come in. The police are just talking to Brendan in the lounge.’
‘Thank you.’ Gina stepped into the hallway and followed Lilly into the lounge. Jacob smiled as she sat in the same seat as she’d sat on last time she’d spoken to Lilly Hill. She glanced around the room. PC Kapoor had just finished making notes and was ending her talk with Brendan. The man stood and pulled the back of his T-shirt out of his checked lounge pants. Lilly tied the belt of her dressing gown that covered her blue pyjamas. Gina smiled at PC Kapoor. ‘Can I just have a quick word?’
The young officer nodded and followed her into the kitchen as Jacob continued speaking to the Hills.
‘I thought I’d ask you what happened before speaking to Mrs Hill.’
In a squeaky half whisper, Kapoor began to relay what she’d been told with added hand movements for emphasis. ‘When I got here, guv, Mrs Hill was a bit shaken. She has a grazed wrist. As she went to open the back door, she fell into the wall and scraped her arm. She said the intr
uder grabbed her from behind by the hood of her dressing gown and placed his hand over her mouth. She managed to wriggle free and scream. She thinks she scared him off as he ran away at that point.’
‘What time was this?’
Kapoor glanced at her notes and her black eyebrows arched. ‘About one thirty. She said she was in the garden, alone, and she heard a noise coming from behind the gate. She then saw the gate open so she ran. The intruder chased her into her garden.’
‘Do we have a description?’
She scrunched her nose and shook her head. ‘Not really. The intruder was wearing a black hoodie and gloves. That’s all she saw. She said it happened too quickly.’
‘Would you call forensics while I sit with Mrs Hill? Has anyone been in the garden since the attack?’
‘PC Smith is still out there looking but we saw no one when we checked. Just us. Lilly and Brendan Hill haven’t been outside since the incident.’
Gina hoped they hadn’t trampled any evidence but she knew that they’d have to go out and check to see if the intruder was still around. The security light flashed on in the garden seconds before Smith entered through the back door. ‘Alright, guv. Definitely no one out there now. I’ve walked through two streets and there’s not a soul around.’
Gina glanced through the window into the garden. ‘After forensics have been called, could you please start a door to door, find out if any of the neighbours saw anything. Start with the houses that have lights on.’
‘On it, guv.’ Smith nodded and left with Kapoor in tow.
She continued glancing out of the window. The gate had to have been about fifteen meters from the door. The slabs were a little mossy. She scrunched her eyes so that she could see a little better. A skid mark across the slimy garden slab caught her attention. Maybe this time the attacker had left them a little more to go on. That’s if the intruder had anything to do with Holly and Francesca’s murders. With the gate closed, the garden scene was secured for now. It wasn’t a particularly breezy night and there had been no rain. For a change, the weather was on their side.
‘Lilly, may I speak with you?’ Gina asked as she entered the living room.
The young woman nodded and followed her to the kitchen, leaving Jacob with Brendan Hill.
‘PC Kapoor has briefly gone through your statement with me. I’d like to ask a few more questions. First of all though, would you like to be checked over by a paramedic? That scrape to your hand looks sore and you look a bit pale.’
Lilly shook her head and took a seat at the kitchen table. A tear slid down her cheek. ‘My heart has just stopped thumping but no, I don’t need a paramedic. It’s nothing a little antiseptic won’t sort.’
‘Okay, this happened about one thirty, is that correct?’
‘Yes, I pressed the button a couple of minutes after that so it must have been about then.’
Gina opened her notebook and titled up the page as she continued to speak. ‘Were you still up or had you gone to bed and woken up? How did you come to be in the garden?’
Lilly shrugged and sat back a little. ‘I don’t want Brendan to know.’ She stood and closed the kitchen door and continued speaking in a hushed tone. ‘I couldn’t sleep. With what happened to Fran and Holly, I kept having weird dreams and waking up. At one point I was shaking and I just had to get out of bed. Brendan doesn’t know, but I vape. I didn’t want the smell to fill the house. Sometimes I do it in the garden when he’s asleep. That’s what I was doing. While I was out there, I heard a shuffle outside the gate. I guess this was about one twenty-five. It all happened so fast really.’ She pulled the sleeve of her dressing gown over her hand and wiped her cheek and sniffed. ‘I saw the latch on the gate move. The bar, it lifted. I knew someone was coming in so I ran back to the house. I was so scared, especially when I slid on the slab. I thought that was it. I thought he’d get me but I kept going and reached the door.’ The woman traced the wood grain on the table with her finger.
Lilly had slipped, not the intruder. Gina made a note so that she could pass that information onto forensics. ‘Can you tell me anything else? You say the intruder was wearing a hoodie and gloves.’
She bit her bottom lip. ‘I can’t think.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I think he was wearing boots, dark boots. Yes, I’m sure I saw boots and laces. I can’t remember anything else. The hood hung over his eyes, oh, and he seemed to have a scarf wrapped around his mouth – a black or dark coloured scarf. The figure looked masculine. He was white. I caught a glimpse of his cheeks.’
‘Did you by any chance see or hear in which direction your attacker ran away?’
Lilly clasped her lips together. ‘No. I was so upset and I slammed the door as quick as I could and locked it. I don’t know which way he went.’
‘Thank you. If something else comes to mind after we’ve spoken, call me at any time. Sometimes after the initial shock has worn off, further details may come to mind.’ Gina knew that most of what she’d get from Lilly was right here and now, but she still hoped that something else would come to light. ‘Forensics will be here soon. They will want to have a look at your back garden and they’ll look for evidence outside your gate and along the path. They’ll also need your dressing gown. PCs Smith and Kapoor have already started door-to-door enquiries. It’s possible that one of your neighbours may have seen something.’
Another tear slid down Lilly’s cheek. ‘Why is this happening to us? Holly and Fran were both harmless. I don’t think they had an enemy between them and now someone’s after me. I was so scared when he grabbed me. I really thought my time was up and now I feel guilty. I shook him off but the others were killed. I keep thinking, if I hadn’t have fought back and screamed, I’d be dead, like them. My baby boy wouldn’t have a mummy and Brendan would be on his own and I can’t bear those thoughts.’ She grabbed a green stuffed rabbit from the chair beside her and hugged it.
A loud cry pierced the air. ‘Mummy.’
‘I best go to him.’
As Lilly left there was a knock at the door. Jacob almost bumped into Gina in the hallway as they both went to open the door at the same time. Gina stepped aside and thanked Keith, the crime scene manager, for coming as they led him into the kitchen.
‘What a week it’s been.’ Keith struggled past with a bag and his sample box.
‘Do you want a hand?’
Gina took the bag from him and he gave out a slight yelp as he placed the box on the kitchen table. ‘My back is getting worse.’ He ran his hand through his grey comb-over and exhaled. ‘Right, the intruder was in the back garden. Is that right?’
‘Yes. He chased Lilly Hill over the slabs to her back door. He grabbed her from behind but she managed to fight him off while screaming. He ran away after that. In which direction, we don’t know. That streak of mossy slime on the slab was caused by Lilly. She said she slipped. She did say that the attacker was wearing boots. Boot covers weren’t mentioned. If you can find another imprint in the garden or outside, that might just prove that our assailant was the same person who was at Cleevesford Manor and Francesca Carter’s house.’
‘I’ll get my creaky old back out there now. One of the assistants should be here in a moment but I’ll make a start for now. As soon as I have anything, I’ll call you. It’s a big enough garden and then there’s the path outside. Could be a while.’
‘Thanks, Keith.’
He unlocked the door leaving Gina and Jacob alone in the kitchen.
‘Can we speak outside?’
Jacob followed her through the front door and over towards her car. ‘What is it?’ He suddenly looked more awake than he had a few moments ago as he waited for her to speak.
‘That drunk driver that they arrested in Cardiff, I see a resemblance to someone we’ve interviewed recently and I wanted to run it by you to see if you could see it too.’
‘Who?’ He leaned against her car.
As she went to speak, her phone rang. ‘It’s a Cardiff number. Before I answer this ca
ll: I see Edward Powell in her.’ As she listened to the officer with the Welsh accent reel off the name of the woman, she smiled before relaying the information for Jacob’s benefit. ‘So just to confirm, the woman’s name is Sally Powell. Thank you so much. That’s really helped us. If you could send all information you have on her, that would be fantastic.’ She ended the call. ‘There are a couple more checks we can do just to confirm my suspicions but DNA doesn’t lie and the surname matches too. I want Edward Powell brought in as soon as possible. He is without a doubt the person who got Holly pregnant and he’s yet to provide an alibi as to where he was on the night of Fran’s murder. As far as I’m aware, no owner of a Red Setter dog has come forward since the appeals have been put out. He’s well in the frame.’ She paused. ‘Maybe Holly was blackmailing him or maybe he was helping her out with money. She had regular payments going into her account. We need to concentrate our efforts into nailing who owns that account number and sort code. Where exactly is the money coming from? It’s possible Holly was about to tell Kerry of their relationship. Did that push him to murder her? Why would he kill Francesca? Did she know about Holly and Edward? He has a cushy life with Kerry. A gorgeous home, plenty of money and a job that came with the package. He’d lose it all if everything came out in the open. Bring him in.’
‘Where does all this leave Robin Dawkins?’ Jacob rubbed his eyes and yawned.
Gina stared at the pavement for a moment as she processed all that had happened. They had until five in the afternoon to prove he had something to do with Holly and Francesca’s murders. ‘He was in custody when Lilly was attacked but until we know more, he is still a suspect. I can’t eliminate the possibility that there might be more than one person involved and he won’t tell us where he was at the time of Francesca’s murder. Let’s hope the search of his apartment sheds some light on the case. I also want to speak to his girlfriend. Let the search commence.’
Her Last Mistake - Detective Gina Harte Series 06 (2020) Page 23