[Kitt Hartley 05] - A Witch Hunt in Whitby

by Helen Cox

  Kitt resisted the urge to sigh, but only just. Perhaps she shouldn’t have expected a serious theory from somebody who ran a podcast called The Cloven Cast but she had hoped, given the urgency of the matter, he might have offered a more credible theory than that. She could have got that kind of suggestion out of Ruby, if she’d wanted it. But then, on thinking about Ruby, Kitt’s stomach tightened. If she didn’t catch this killer, and quickly, she wouldn’t be hearing any more of Ruby’s wild theories and, for all her protestations, she knew that she would miss them, and the bewilderingly eccentric woman who delivered them.

  ‘Oooh,’ said Grace. ‘That would make the killer impossible to catch. They’d always know the risks of everything, how they might get caught.’

  Kitt glared at Grace for encouraging Tremble.

  ‘What about if they weren’t clairvoyant?’ said Kitt, keeping her tone of voice as level as she could. ‘Are there any other theories you’d care to venture?’

  ‘There is one thing I wondered about. To do with the marks on the victims’ necks. There are a few different vampire cults across the UK.’

  ‘Vampire cults? What does that entail?’ Grace said warily.

  ‘There are people out there who think they’re real vampires and they form these kind of exclusive clubs. People pay a fortune to be part of them.’

  ‘Please don’t tell me they drink blood?’ said Grace, grabbing her throat and making the most outlandish of expressions.

  ‘The rumours are that they do but all the groups that I’ve heard of say it’s all animal sacrifice, not human. Otherwise the police would be onto them like a shot,’ Tremble said, clicking his fingers. ‘They use rabbits, apparently.’

  ‘Poor bunnies,’ Grace said, her eyes widening.

  ‘Haven’t I seen you eat rabbit once or twice, when it’s on the menu?’ said Kitt.

  ‘Er, well yes, but that’s different,’ said Grace. ‘Oh all right, maybe it isn’t. Now I’ve got a sudden hankering to go vegetarian.’

  Kitt, though in agreement with Grace’s sentiments, didn’t want to be sidetracked and thus turned her attention back to Tremble. ‘So, you think one of these cults might be behind the killings? Wouldn’t the police in other districts have looked into such organizations?’

  ‘For all I know, they already have and found nothing,’ said Tremble, ‘which is why they have to come around taking pot-shots at me.’

  ‘Thinking about it though,’ Kitt said, while making a mental note to ask Halloran if anyone had spoken to any groups of that nature, ‘it’s a bit obvious, isn’t it? I mean, given the profile of groups like that and the nature of the murders, wouldn’t the finger point straight at them? Seems like a pretty quick way to incriminate yourself.’

  ‘I’m not sure if it’s a member of the group themselves,’ Tremble clarified. ‘It could just be a disgruntled wannabe who doesn’t have the money to get into the club.’

  ‘If that was the case,’ said Kitt, ‘they might want to commit crimes that incriminated a cult like that. Make it seem like they were responsible for the crimes as payback for their rejection. Do you know of any cults like that in the Yorkshire region?’

  ‘There is one I can think of,’ said Tremble. ‘One of our listeners noted that the locations that have been targeted so far, they all sort of revolve around Whitby.’

  ‘Whitby,’ said Kitt. ‘They think the killer might use it as a base to work from while committing the murders in other places to avoid immediate suspicion?’

  ‘One of my listeners floated that idea on the forum early this morning after the news broke about a possible fourth victim in York. Quite a few people thought it was an interesting idea. Middlesbrough was hit first, if you remember. Then Scarborough. Doesn’t seem to be any geographical link between those two except for the fact they’re both in Yorkshire, but then Malton was hit and now someone in our city has been threatened. If you draw a line between all these places Whitby is the major settlement in the middle of it all.’

  ‘And there’s one of these vampire cults in the Whitby area?’ said Kitt. ‘I suppose that might be the case given the town’s link with the most famous vampire of all – Dracula.’

  ‘Exactly, and actually, the group I’m thinking of call themselves the Creed of Count Dracula. I know, how’s that for subtlety?’

  A small shiver ran down Kitt’s back at the sound of that name. Tremble was right about the locations now that she thought about it. You couldn’t quite draw a perfect circle and put Whitby at the middle because on one side of the town, there was nothing but the North Sea. On land however, it was a different matter. As Kitt pictured the map in her mind, she noted that there was a bit of a gap in the circle to the north-west between York and Middlesbrough – forty miles or so – but all of the towns between those two places were quite small. Places such as Thirsk, Northallerton and Yarm. Towns like that were more tight-knit. Residents there were probably more likely to notify the Neighbourhood Watch scheme of suspicious behaviour. With that in mind, perhaps the killer had thought such a target too big a risk, at least at first. Perhaps they planned to fill in that gap once they were done with Ruby.

  If one considered only the larger towns however, the major settlement at the heart of all the locations targeted was Whitby. And with a group like the Creed of Count Dracula operating there, doing who-knows-what after sunset, this seemed like a nugget of information that shouldn’t be ignored.

  Seven

  ‘Kitt, come on, this is nothing more than a hunch at best,’ said Halloran, sitting on their bed watching Kitt pack the last few things into her suitcase.

  ‘Oh, and you’ve never acted on a hunch, I suppose? I doubt you and I would be here together right now if you didn’t,’ said Kitt, struggling with the zip on her suitcase, which, due to the fact she’d had this luggage as long as she could remember and always packed more books than she could ever possibly read while she was away somewhere, was on the brink of breaking from the strain. ‘We’ve mere days left before this killer strikes again, Mal, I can’t afford to dither about.’

  ‘I’m well aware of how little time we’ve got. But that’s all the more reason not to squander that time on dead ends. Not one line of enquiry we’ve explored has pointed to Whitby,’ said Halloran. ‘Only one of the victims had been anywhere near Whitby in the months preceding her death and that’s because she lived in Middlesbrough and had had a daytrip to the coast. The police in Boro have already interviewed the guy who heads up the Creed of Count Dracula – Stoke Bramley—’

  ‘A name changed by deed poll if ever there was one,’ Kitt interjected, shaking her head.

  ‘And DS Johnson at the station in Boro said that, other than being one of the smarmiest guys they’d ever crossed paths with, they couldn’t find anything incriminating about Bramley,’ Halloran cut back in. ‘Apparently, he debunked the idea that they engaged in animal slaughter right out the gate. I asked for a list of their members anyway – they’re quite selective so even after five years in operation there are only thirty people from across the UK on that list – and none of them are engaging in any kind of suspicious activity according to the local stations where they live. They’ve all got alibis for at least two of the murders, to boot.’

  ‘Stoke Bramley and his members might not be involved though. This might just be the work of someone in the Whitby area who wants to harm them or discredit them. See them shut down. I can’t think that many of the local residents are at ease with the idea of a group of people like that living on their doorstep. I think it warrants further investigation,’ said Kitt.

  ‘I respectfully disagree,’ said Halloran. ‘The list of prescriptions for Xylazine are a much surer bet.’

  ‘But you haven’t had even one suspect come out of that list yet,’ said Kitt. ‘All lines of enquiry are leading nowhere. Grace was researching from dawn until dusk yesterday and we spent the evening after my library
shift visiting evangelical institutions. Not exactly my preferred Saturday night activity as it stands but to add insult to injury not one of those visits brought us any closer to finding the killer.’

  ‘Like any investigation, it’s a process of elimination, you know that.’

  ‘Yes, I do. But I could have done without that visit to the Priestesses of the Virgin Mary. Grace, the little imp, filled out an application form to become a member on my behalf. I only just caught it before she slipped it into the letter box.’

  Halloran chuckled. ‘Maybe she thought it was a good undercover opportunity.’

  ‘You might not think it’s so funny – they make you take a vow of celibacy, you know?’

  ‘I never would have let you take your undercover work that far,’ Halloran said with a smile before kissing her hand.

  Kitt gave him a grudging smile in return but then, in a flash, her thoughts were back on the case. ‘I know you think it’s a long shot, but we’ve got to start thinking outside the box on this one. I thought for sure we’d get something out of the list of satanist organizations but even that was a dead end.’

  ‘Have you considered the reason we haven’t had any more breaks is because Tremble is involved in these killings, and we just haven’t found any proof yet?’

  ‘I thought you’d already been through his phone and financial records?’

  ‘We have, but just because we didn’t find anything doesn’t mean he isn’t involved with it. We don’t have sufficient evidence to search his property so who knows what’s going on behind closed doors. He couldn’t prove where he was during the second murder either, which means he could be an accomplice.’

  ‘I have to admit I did find him a little bit odd.’

  ‘Maybe you were picking up on something deeper; maybe your instincts were kicking in because you knew that something wasn’t right about him. We are still keeping track of his movements through his phone. We haven’t totally ruled him out yet.’

  ‘So you think, what? That he’s sending me off to Whitby on a wild goose chase to throw us off the track?’

  ‘It’s possible.’

  ‘It’s also possible, given the locations involved, that the killer is based in the Whitby area. When you think about it, it makes total sense.’

  ‘How exactly does it make total sense?’

  ‘Well, the killings are vampire-esque in nature and—’

  ‘Don’t.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Don’t argue that because Dracula is set in Whitby, it’s a clue to catching a serial killer.’

  ‘It’s not just that,’ Kitt said, though she privately admitted that that was going to be the main thrust of her argument before Mal had so quickly dismissed it. ‘Think about it in a broader context. Whitby is the home of all things occult. The spring goth weekender is just a week away. The place has become something of a Mecca for all things weird and esoteric. It’s not unthinkable that someone as obsessed with the occult as this killer might base themselves there.’

  ‘I suppose that’s true,’ Halloran said, rubbing his beard. ‘But with the goth weekend so close how have you even managed to secure accommodation in Whitby at such short notice?’

  ‘It turns out the pressure the councils are putting on your chief constable isn’t totally unfounded. When we went to book online there was plenty of availability. There’s no doubt a serial killer on the loose is keeping people away, particularly from the goth weekend. Granted, not every person of the gothic persuasion has occult leanings, but quite a few do.’ Kitt tutted then as her phone started buzzing. ‘It’s Ruby,’ she said, with a note of concern in her voice.

  ‘What? She’s not supposed to be making any bloody phone calls. If she talks to anyone and lets slip where she is, the safe house is not going to be safe for long,’ said Halloran. ‘Put it on speaker, will you?’

  Kitt swiped the phone and hit the speaker phone button. ‘Ruby?’

  ‘’Ello, love,’ came a familiar voice down the line.

  ‘Ruby,’ said Halloran. ‘Is DS Redmond there?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Put him on for a minute, will you?’

  There was a shuffling sound and then Redmond’s voice sounded over the speaker. ‘Sir?’

  ‘Mind telling me what happened to the “no phone calls” policy?’

  ‘This is the only phone call I’ve let her make, honest, sir. I weren’t going to. I’ve been telling her that it’s against protocol, like. But then she started giving me this look, like she were secretly putting a hex on me and was going to turn me into a frog or something. Put me right on edge, it did. After what I found in her spare room, I couldn’t take any chances. So, on balance, I thought it was safer to let her call. Didn’t think you’d mind since it was Kitt.’

  ‘A word of advice, Redmond,’ said Halloran. ‘Hexes are not real. Serial killers are. Make sure there are no phone calls to anyone else.’

  ‘Yes, sir. Of course, sir.’

  There was a moment’s pause while Ruby grabbed hold of the phone again.

  ‘’Ello?’

  ‘I’m just about to set off for the coast, Ruby,’ said Kitt. ‘So I’ll need to make this quick.’

  ‘Aye, I know, not a minute to waste. But DS Redmond told me you were planning to go to Whitby and I just thought I’d better let you know about a few things that have come out of my meditations and visions over the last few days.’

  ‘Ruby, I don’t think—’

  But it was too late, Ruby had already worked herself up which, Kitt knew from past experience, meant there was absolutely no stopping her.

  ‘We mustn’t ignore the signs, love, never ignore the signs. They’re always trying to point the way, guide you to where you’re meant to be. To our ultimate destiny and—’

  ‘Ruby!’

  ‘Yes, love. Sorry, love, you know how I get about my signs.’

  ‘Well, right now all omens are pointing to a vampire cult based in the Whitby area. Some people think it’s just a hunch, but I think it’s an important sign.’ Kitt gave Mal a pointed look, enjoying the look of bemusement on his face as he shook his head at her.

  ‘No, no, no,’ said Ruby. ‘That’s nowt but balderdash. Based on what I’ve been seeing, I don’t think you’re looking for a vampire.’

  ‘You don’t,’ Kitt said, narrowing her eyes. Ruby was usually the first in line to float implausible theories.

  ‘No, I think you’re looking for a witch, like me.’

  ‘What makes you say that? The fact that the killer is targeting other people associated with the occult?’ said Kitt.

  ‘No – each of the killings has taken place on a full moon. That’s a very witchy thing to take notice of. Vampires aren’t so bothered about it. I suppose now that I think about it, you could be looking for a werewolf or similar shapeshifter but on balance I’d have to say it’s most likely the work of a witch.’

  Kitt opened her mouth to respond to Ruby, but wasn’t quite sure what to say. Did she think Kitt believed she was looking for a real vampire rather than a man who had watched one too many Hammer Horror films? Or that she thought werewolves really roamed the moors on a full moon?

  ‘Can that be right?’ said Halloran. ‘That all the killings have taken place on a full moon?’

  ‘I wouldn’t know, my moon diary is in my other handbag,’ Kitt said with a smirk.

  ‘It’s right all right, I know because I keep track of the moon’s movements, just like the other witches out there. Just like the one who I think you’re looking for. Eeee. I wonder if it’s a descendent of the Yorkshire Witch who’s behind all this.’

  ‘If that’s the case, Whitby’s going to be a dead end. Mary Bateman hailed from Thirsk,’ said Kitt, wondering why she was even bothering to debate this with Ruby. Her wild theories never panned out.

  ‘Oh aye, I suppose
you’re right. Ooh, maybe it’s a descendent of Jeannie.’

  ‘Who?’ Kitt said, knowing at once she would regret asking.

  ‘Jeannie were a witch who lived in a cave in Mulgrave Woods near Sandsend. She tormented local farmers, or so they say – any loss of livestock was blamed on her. She was probably just a scapegoat but that doesn’t mean that her great-great-great-great-grandchild isn’t taking revenge on the uncaring society that excluded their ancestor. I recommend going straight to Hob’s cave if you want answers about this case.’

  ‘But Ruby, if a witch is behind this, why the red marks, like a vampire, on the victims’ necks?’

  ‘Well that’s just the perfect disguise now, isn’t it?’

  Kitt shook her head at Halloran and rolled her eyes. Though the fact that the murders were all committed on a night where there was a full moon might be significant to the killer, and there was a chance the killer practised witchcraft, she doubted they were looking for a descendent of someone who – for all Kitt knew – was a fictional character in a folktale. More likely they were looking for somebody obsessed with witches and witchcraft. Yes, there was a chance as she had discussed with Grace and Evie in the park that the killer did engage in occult practices and was viewing the victims as a sacrifice, but surely those that had been targeted so far were people that a witch would consider associates, or at the very least like-minded.

  ‘There’s another thing too,’ Ruby said, just as Kitt thought she’d had her designated quota of weird for the day. ‘I saw a butterfly tattoo in my vision last night. It was the main image. I think the murderer has a butterfly tattoo. So look out for that and beware, beware!’

  ‘OK,’ said Kitt, doing all she could to keep her tone polite as Ruby continued to get herself far too overexcited. ‘I’ll definitely make a note of that, Ruby. I don’t want you to worry, OK? We’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this.’