by Ali Carter
Jenny looked up at the lounge clock and lit one of her emergency cigarettes. Jason’s release had been good news, and relieved, she had gone to pick him up. However, his meeting a friend of Andrew’s that evening definitely wasn’t. She’d tried to cajole him into staying at home with her, said she’d cook a nice meal, even promised to eat properly too. But he’d insisted on going out to meet that Molly from the pub Andrew had taken her to that day. She was far too cute for her own good that one thought Jenny, squinting as the smoke rose, making her eyes sting and water a little. A vivid memory played out of Molly noticing her vomit-splashed jacket after returning from posting her lunch down the toilet. If anyone was going to dig for information it was that one.
And so she had eaten very little again that day too, but surprisingly was now feeling a bit hungry. She ignored the pangs. Better to be totally in control of a least one thing than nothing at all she reasoned irrationally. The minutes ticked by. Eleven o’clock – eleven fifteen – eleven thirty… Eleven forty-five and still he wasn’t back. By midnight she was really beginning to get worried. Had he been taking his tablets properly she wondered? Did he remember to take them regularly and without breaks? She drew heavily once more on the nicotine and flicked the end off into the ashtray. The police had suggested the tablets found at the last murder scene were his, but they both knew the dosage on the bottle was incorrect. They couldn’t have been one of his prescriptions. That meant somebody was trying to frame him for murder – but why? Why Jason? It didn’t make any sense. It was then the obvious occurred to her for the first time, and the reason slapped her right in the face. Had his prescription changed? A sharp pain shot straight into her already aching stomach.
Jenny stubbed out the cigarette and jumped up from the sofa. She walked quickly through to the spare room where he’d been sleeping and began rummaging franticly through his holdall, throwing tee-shirts and jeans this way and that. They weren’t there. Her heart began to thump wildly as she spun round. Where could they be? They had to be here, they just had to be! In one crazy moment she had turned the room upside down. Wardrobe open and rifled, dressing table cleared, chests of drawers pulled out! Nothing! In a frightened daze she lowered herself gingerly onto the edge of the bed and began to feel the threat of tears welling up. She was shaking visibly now. It was only when she reached for a tissue that she noticed the Clozapine had fallen behind the large Kleenex box on the bedside table. A nervous laugh escaped as she heaved a huge sigh of relief and picked up the bottle to check the dosage. Thankfully it was the usual strength – she felt guilty then for doubting her own brother. Her relief was short lived however – the bottle was almost full and the date stamped on it was more than a couple of months old. Silently and carefully Jenny replaced it back on the table with slow deliberation, as if the tablets were some form of miniature explosive device.
Nausea washed over her then, she knew from past experience that seeing the quantity left unused…… could represent exactly that.
SEVENTEEN
The warm summer nights had suddenly disappeared as the first September evenings opened with a distinct chill. Gina shivered, wishing she’d brought a jacket out with her, or at least a cardigan. Andy sensed it immediately and pulled her in closer to him as they followed Molly and Jason down the high street, holding well back to avoid being seen. Their distance further behind meant they still couldn’t hear anything – they just had to be satisfied knowing Molly was safely under surveillance. Both of them watched carefully for any change in Jason’s behaviour, but none was apparent, and Molly appeared to be relaxed and happy in his company. That was, until they reached the market square.
It was quite subtle at first, the strange movements the young man made as he walked beside her. Initially Molly thought he’d just tripped on a raised paving slab, but after a few more yards realised he’d begun to walk a step behind her. She saw he was shaking then, having some form of spasm, bending down, holding his head and rocking as if in pain. When he began talking to someone ‘else’, then progressed to have an argument with ‘them’, she really began to get worried.
“No! No I won’t do that, I won’t, you can’t make me!” He spat the words out under his breath, struggling to control his composure, horribly but only partially aware that Molly had now noticed his seizure.
“Jason! For God’s sake – what’s wrong?!” Molly tried to put an arm around him, but as himself, he cowed away, trying to protect her.
“Not her, I won’t, no, don’t say that! I won’t listen to you I won’t!”
He tried to walk away in the opposite direction but it was as if his legs were wading through treacle, then his whole body was being held back. Molly pulled him round to face her and tried again.
“Jason look at me, it’s Molly, look at me!” He tried his best, fought as hard as he could, telling them to leave him alone, to leave her alone, but as the voices grew stronger he knew he had no choice. They were shouting now and the pain inside his head was just too much, he had to stop that yelling. He had to.
Suddenly he looked up, his eyes seemed to be staring straight through her, not seeing Molly, not seeing anything at all. It happened in seconds. He grabbed her by the shoulders marched her into the next side street where Jenny’s yellow Mini was parked, and before she realised what was happening, Molly found herself in the car with the doors locked and Jason behind the wheel. He had the car started in seconds and dived out from the kerb just as Andrew and Gina came flying round the corner.
“Stop! Jason – stop the damn car!” Andrew yelled helplessly.
“Molly! Molly!” Gina cried out as the car screamed up the road and around the next bend.
“Damn! Damn! Damn!” Andrew flung his arms in the air, whizzed round full circle and punched the wall. Pacing up and down – he clasped his hands behind his head, angry and disorientated, clueless as to what to do next. “This is my bloody fault. I should never have agreed to her meeting him.”
“It was… down to her Andy,” gulped Gina through frightened tears. “She would never have backed down once she’d decided… you know what she’s like.” As she spoke she dug into her trouser pocket, retrieved a tissue and dabbed the blood from his knuckles. He let her tend his hand without even noticing.
“What do we do now Gee? Is it the police or do we try and track her down ourselves? The police are gonna want to know what we were doing setting up a surveillance, but… oh God why does every frigging thing go wrong?!”
Gina fished in her handbag and pulled out her mobile. She pressed a preset button. The line connected and she willed her friend to answer as she cradled it against her ear, groaning loudly as Molly’s phone went straight to voicemail. Andrew had his phone out then – decision made – he punched in 999 just as the yellow Cooper appeared at the top of the street. Hearing the engine, they both looked up as it sped down the road towards them. He slapped the phone cover shut. The brakes shrieked as the car came to a sudden halt and the passenger door flew open. Jason was screaming at their friend, begging her to get out of the car.
“Molly GO now! GO! For God’s sake before they come back – I can’t fight them anymore, I’m sorry, PLEASE hurry!!” There were tears on his cheeks as Molly faltered, not knowing what to do for the best, knowing this wasn’t his fault, this wasn’t the real Jason, but also knowing she couldn’t help him. She hesitated for just a second longer before leaping from the car and landing in Gina’s arms. The moment she was safely on the pavement he drove off at speed steering the Mini erratically through the market square, past the Soldiers monument, clipping the kerb and heading out towards Riverside Park before disappearing from view. All three watched helplessly, stunned at how everything had happened so quickly but grateful Molly was unhurt, if a bit shaken up.
“It’s not his fault!” she sobbed. “He wouldn’t have hurt me – it’s the condition, he’s hearing voices. All the way up the road and back he was… fighting… fighting hims
elf! Arguing with… nobody… it was horrible!” Gina pulled Molly’s head down onto her chest and stroked her hair, talking comfortingly, trying to calm her down as Andrew wrapped protective arms around them both. These two girls were the most precious people in the world to him, but he’d let them down this evening – badly. They stood there numb, huddled together on the street, staring at the space the car had left behind.
Once they were all safely back at the pub, and several strong coffees consumed all round, Andrew called a cab so he and Gina could head back to his flat. It had been a tough night and they were feeling the need to be together more and more as events unravelled. Andrew had been toying with the idea of asking her to move in with him recently anyway, but the flat was so small, he’d ideally wanted something bigger and better for them. As it was, she was there most nights anyway so it probably didn’t make that much difference, but her gear would take up major amounts of space and that was something he didn’t have.
All these thoughts were milling around his head along with what had happened to Molly, as the cab swung into the twelve-block car park and came to a stop. Andrew paid the fare then hand in hand they walked to the entrance hall door and made for the stairs. They first became aware something was wrong when Missy met them halfway to the first floor mewing plaintively. She danced up and down the steps in front of her friends, entwining herself gratefully around his and Gina’s legs in a figure of eight and then began jumping up at them. Andrew’s heart lurched at the thought she could have got outside, at least she’d had the good sense to stay within the building and not go roaming when the exit doors had been opened. To him, this was more important than the state he expected to find his flat in…
He swept her up into his arms and made comforting noises as he and Gina climbed the rest of the staircase. They could see the crowbarred door through the window of the hall landing when they got to the top. On reaching it, Andrew put a finger to his lips indicating quiet and passed Missy to Gina, then held both hands’ palms upwards to signal she should wait there. Gina nodded swallowing a large lump in her throat as Andrew gently pushed at the already open door. It creaked as it moved a little further ajar. After checking behind it he walked inside and disappeared from view…
When Missy suddenly mewed in protest, Gina realised she was stroking her harder and faster than normal just through sheer tension. At that moment Andrew reappeared.
“All clear, there’s no one about and not much mess either considering what they could’ve done. It’s not a typical break-in though, obviously looking for something specific but heaven knows what. Unless it’s just another warning – letting me know they can get to me.” Gina walked into the hallway and through to the lounge before letting Missy jump from her arms onto the sofa.
“You’ve really attracted someone’s interest haven’t you Andy?” she stated pointedly, looking around her as Andrew began to pick up books from the floor and place them carefully back on the shelf.
“Yeah – certainly looks that way. This isn’t an opportunist thief; whoever did this probably is linked to my old car being trashed, and maybe even tied in with everything else. If we involve the police though it’ll just magnify Longbridge’s attention on me – and that I can well do without. I’m pretty sure nothing’s gone missing and I can sort the door out temporarily for tonight. I’ll call a locksmith first thing in the morning.”
“Just promise me one thing Andy,” said Gina firmly, “if things get really dangerous, you will stop this damn competitive male pride thing from getting in the way, give up this amateur murder hunt and call them!”
Andrew stopped fitting various crime thrillers back in their respective order and placed the ones he was holding down on the coffee table. He turned to face her and for the first time saw raw fear in her eyes. He reached over, took her by the shoulders and brought her in close to him brushing his lips across her hair.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, I’ll be fine… we’ll all be fine. This is just a setback.”
“Promise me Andy,” she repeated looking up at him with eyes brimming.
“I promise,” he replied as he stroked her hair and then gently tipped her chin up to kiss her lovingly on the mouth. “Now, let’s get that door secured, some food inside us all, and bolt the hatches down for the night.” They smiled weakly at each other, both understanding what was needed, what was important – both knowing where the line would finally have to be drawn. Gina just hoped her boyfriend wouldn’t be too late with his pen…
In the early hours of the following morning, sleep was determined to evade Andrew. Gina slept restlessly beside him and he instinctively placed an arm across her. She stirred and turned over to face him, snuggling deeper into his body as if trying to prevent anything, or anyone from capturing her in her dreams.
Andrew knew he couldn’t risk anything happening to either her or Molly, and given the choice of this serial killer’s method of operation, it was only women he was interested in. Or she… She…? She? Where did that come from? What made him suddenly think it could be a woman? He rolled over abruptly onto his back and stared at the ceiling, wide awake now. Gina moaned at the sudden movement, turned over and pulled the quilt higher up around her shoulders. This little revelation was not something he’d expected to come up with, but it must have popped into his subconscious none the less and catapulted straight from there into stark clarity. Not Jenny though, he thought, brain ticking over at full throttle now, no not Jenny, although she was also new to the area, but she was with Miles shortly after murder three took place. Made both their alibis a touch awkward should they need one though. Andrew smiled grimly in the darkness. So who then? He couldn’t imagine any of his secretarial colleagues being a suspect. Rachel didn’t exactly socialise with any of the staff, but had got on well enough with all of them when she was at work. He didn’t know either of the other two women who’d met their death at the hands of this freak, so maybe they’d had a contact with him… or her…
Dawn broke – Andrew was still thinking. Still analysing the small amount of information, adding it to possibilities, impossibilities, probabilities and improbabilities – in fact scrutinizing it so succinctly, it was bordering on OCD.
Gina screwed her eyes up at the light that shone through the gap in the curtain and stretched. Yawning, she slowly awoke to see Andy looking down at her with that decisive look on his face and blinked hard.
“It’s a woman,” he said. Then threw back the quilt swung out of bed and headed for the kitchen. “Coffee? I’ve got the Calino, you said you…” Gina was quickly behind him as he reached up to the cupboard for the strong Italian blend.
“A woman Andy? Where did that come from? What makes you so sure?” He picked up the coffee, shut the cupboard door and turned round to face her.
“I’m not a hundred per cent certain, but we’ve always assumed it was a man and I’m pretty damn sure the police are thinking the same thing. A strong woman of average height could overpower one of her own sex just as easily as a man, and none of the victims were particularly tall or heavy.”
“You may have something,” said Gina thoughtfully… “It’s a horrible thought though, bad enough it’s happening – but a woman?! That’s creepy… although… after Dr. Peterson, Charlotte that is, looked at me weirdly the other day even Molly and I were throwing around a woman’s name – hers! We dismissed it though – as Molls pointed out she’s been nothing but lovely with my Gran.” Andrew agreed;
“I know you’ve mentioned before Charlotte can be odd sometimes, but then we all have our foibles…”
They sat in the lounge drinking the rich dark Calino, his black as always, hers as ever topped with evaporated milk, Missy getting a good half a can in a saucer and whiskers duly creamed.
Gina, now in one of Andrew’s shirts, was nursing her mug and sat crossed legged in her favourite squashy old leather chair. She still had the rest of the week off work and was in no
hurry to get dressed, but Andrew still needed to get into the Courier by 9.00 a.m.
Once the last of the cafetiere was finished he began to get ready, and as he dressed, decided to pay a certain person a visit later that morning. Someone who because of a leg injury had been left out of the murder hunt up until now – someone who because of that, wasn’t at all happy.
Stella Gray had lived in Kirkdale all her life, run the local paper with her husband Peter for two decades, and was the best damn ‘digger and sifter’ he knew. She’d known Rachel since she was a child and had gone to school with her mother. If anyone could shine a light on this – Stella could. Maybe she’d have some information from the past that could help. Something, anything, however small, that might just lead him in the right direction. It was time to bring her in from the cold.
He told Gina of his intentions, and left her to have a lazy day with Missy cat and a pile of magazines whilst she waited for the locksmith to turn up.
The river flowed past the garden of the Carpenters in just the same way it always did. In the height of summer it was so beautiful with the sun sparkling on the water and Kirkby Pike rising up majestically behind it, vast and breathtaking. It was a sight she’d always loved – always pointed out to visitors enjoying a drink on the garden terrace. Now Molly stood alone in the bay window of her room and watched the trees begin to lose their foliage to the rushing water. Reds and golds dancing on the moving surface tossed helplessly downstream, disappearing forever into the autumn.
The sky had turned grey. It seemed summer had all but gone. She pulled the dressing gown around her more tightly and shivered as she looked out beyond the river – beyond the Pike. But it wasn’t cold that made her hug herself, made her wrap her dressing gown more tightly across her chest…