Watching the Dead

by Wendy Cartmell

  ‘The book that details the story of Enoch is extensive with over 100 chapters dispersed throughout several books, detailing accounts of the Nephilim and the Watchers.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of those before,’ said Jill.

  ‘Ah, well,’ Osian smiled, ‘these giants, known as the Nephilim, are also described in the Book of Genesis. The giants are said to have been the children of angels, known as the Watchers, and female humans. Some believe that these giant beings may have been the reason for the great flood, as they were seen to be unnatural and harmful to the human race. That is the traditional biblical stance.’

  ‘And the non-traditional?’ asked Jo who was beginning to feel decidedly unnerved by what she was hearing. Talk of beings called Watchers and giant offspring was chilling her blood.

  ‘There are theories that suggest our ancient ancestors were visited by a race from another planet. They point to the Watchers as the most likely to be those ancient astronauts. At the time, they were looked upon as angels, some good and some bad, who eventually procreated with select female humans’

  ‘And was that good or bad?’ Byrd asked.

  Jo hadn’t realised Byrd had joined them.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Procreating with humans?’

  ‘Oh, I see, very bad. That’s why they became known as the fallen angels.’

  Jo saw that Byrd was looking very sceptical, Jill looked fascinated and Sasha was trying to carry on working surreptitiously.

  ‘Can you confirm that these three messages are quotes from The Book of Enoch?’

  Osian took the paper Jo was holding out and quickly scanned the contents.

  ‘Oh yes, without question. I brought a copy of the Book of Enoch for you. I thought you might find it useful.’

  ‘Thank you so much, Osian,’ Jo said. ‘Could you give it to Jill. Now as my colleague has just returned from two post-mortems and needs to tell us the findings, I’m afraid we’re going to have to cut this short, for now at least.’

  ‘Oh, right, I see.’

  Jo wasn’t sure that he did. Like all academics he could probably talk about his chosen subject, the Book of Enoch, all day. He looked just the kind that would enter Mastermind, with the Book of Enoch as his chosen subject. Jo pushed away such fanciful thoughts as the theme music of the television show filled her head and said, ‘Perhaps we could contact you again if we need to?’ The harsh notes of the music in her head sounding more and more melodramatic.

  ‘Yes, absolutely.’

  ‘Lovely. Jill, could you take the Curate back to reception?’

  Jill nodded and moved away, but not before Jo caught Jill blushing and smiling shyly at Osian Price, and Price placing his arm across Jill’s back as he let her lead him to the lifts. Well I never, thought Jo, not having seen such a reaction from her young DC before. Normally Jill was quiet, reserved, very hard working and determined to keep her place in Major Crimes. Not that that meant she couldn’t have a private life, but Jo knew only too well that once you joined the Police Force, your private life pretty much went out of the window. The Force had the highest divorce rate of all the services. You had to have a pretty special partner who could understand the total dedication it took to be a copper and the destructive effect it could have on relationships and family life.

  After they’d gone, Jo looked at Byrd. For a moment sadness clouded her thoughts. Was Byrd her special partner? The one person who would understand the job and its demands? At one time she had thought so, but not now. Jo said, ‘Did you hear all that, Byrd?’

  Byrd nodded. ‘And how does that help us, Boss?’

  ‘I’m not sure, yet. Sasha? Please find out what you can about students turning to sex work to fund their courses.’

  Sasha nodded and turned to her computer, fingers flying over the keyboard.

  ‘Come on, let’s talk,’ she said and Byrd followed Jo into her office.

  Chapter 28

  ‘Well?’ Jo didn’t use any pleasantries, more interested in hearing Byrd’s news about the two post-mortems.

  ‘Jeremy will be sending over a formal post-mortem report, but in the meantime…’ Byrd paused.

  Jo grinned, ‘For goodness sake, Eddie, spill the beans.’

  ‘John Holt died of excessive strain on the heart.’

  ‘A heart attack? What from?’

  ‘Could have been exertion. Could have been fear. Maybe sex three times in one night with three different girls was just too much for his heart to cope with. I don’t know what else to say, really. Jeremy said there doesn’t seem to be any strange circumstances surrounding the death.’

  ‘Was there any sign of heart disease?’

  ‘No there wasn’t. It could just have been a blip, that didn’t self-correct itself, apparently.’

  Jo wondered what would have caused a blip in the beating of John Holt’s heart. She was beginning to have an inkling, but decided it was best to keep that thought to herself for a while.

  ‘And our dead girl?’

  ‘As we thought, strangulation. Taken in the context of the other two attacks, Jeremy thinks it was an accident, rather than deliberate as there was bruising all over her neck, not just from the fatal squeeze.’

  She thanked Byrd and sat at her desk, pulling paperwork towards her. He took the hint and left her office.

  Once he’d gone, Jo thought back to last night. Byrd had had a hurried conversation with her. He was trying to come to terms with Jo’s gift and had told her that in order to help him understand her and her gifts better he wanted to chat to Keith Thomas and also her father, Mick, if that was okay with her. She’d agreed but Jo wished this was all over. It was like sitting an exam when you didn’t know the answers, hell when you didn’t even understand the questions. The thing was, it was probably the same for Byrd.

  She wasn’t sure what Byrd was looking for. Evidence that she was mad? Or evidence that she was sane but was just more tuned-in than most people? The accident and the coma seemed to have triggered something in her brain that had given her this gift. Awakened her third eye, or whatever you wanted to call it. But the waiting was getting to her. At work he was fine with her, but cooler. More formal. There were no shared secrets anymore. No lingering touches or looks, no evenings to look forward to. No weekends

  Oh for goodness sake, pull yourself together, she admonished herself. Since when had life really been a bed of roses. Take off those tinted glasses.

  Sasha wandered in, without knocking or asking permission and handed Jo copies of newspaper reports. ‘They’re about sex work and students,’ she said.

  ‘Oh, thanks, Sasha,’ said Jo. No longer did Jo bother to admonish Sasha for her strange behaviour, in favour of accepting the woman for who and what she was. ‘Have you copies for the others?’

  Sasha nodded.

  ‘Great, hand them out then, would you?’

  Once more Sasha mutely nodded and left Jo’s office. On the copies there were no details of what newspapers the quotes or reports had come from, nor any dates. But to be honest it didn’t really matter. For now they just wanted information. Jo turned back to the first page and began reading:

  During a fitness-to-study meeting, university staff said they were going to take disciplinary action against one of their students because she was bringing the university into “moral disrepute”.

  She said: ‘I was very open with them about the sex work in the meeting. It was quite striking that the meeting was set up to help me – and then I was being met with punishment at the end.

  ‘I thought, you want me to escape sex work but then in order to punish me for doing sex work you are going to remove the only opportunity I have, my degree, to escape it,..’ was the girl’s response.

  And she is not alone. ‘The ECP have fought a number of cases recently where universities have threatened to throw out students if they do not stop doing sex work,’ Ms Watson said.’

  The University of Brighton launched an investigation at the start of the academic yea
r after its student union faced heavy criticism for allowing a sex worker outreach stall at their freshers’ fair.

  Critics suggested that the presence of the support group – which also had a stall at the University of Sussex – was advocating and encouraging sex work among students.

  Collating official figures on the number of sex workers is difficult because many are worried they will face negative consequences by becoming more visible.

  But figures from money advice website Save the Student this year found more than one in 10 students use their bodies – including sex work, sugar daddy dating and webcamming – to make money.

  Sugar daddying, where younger women are paid to go on dates often with older men, is becoming increasingly popular, data suggests. Last year, sugar daddy website Seeking Arrangement saw hundreds more subscriptions from university students.

  The rise of technology has meant webcamming has also become a more attractive option to students due to its flexibility and ease – and because there are less risks than face-to-face work.

  Another student at a university in Wales, who did not wish to be named, said she would not have considered sex work if it had not been online.

  ‘I have an anxiety disorder, and meeting new people is quite a stressful thing for me. Face-to-face doesn’t appeal to me at all,’ she said.

  The 23-year-old, who started making sex videos in her second year, said her friends were not surprised when she told them about her work. ‘It is probably becoming more normal because it is more accessible with the internet,’ she said.

  The student makes around £70 a week for recording videos, and the money pays for her food and petrol.

  She said: ‘I would like to think there is less of a stigma among students because most students probably know someone who does it. I think more people are choosing it.’ But there is still a lack of support for students who do sex work. ‘It doesn’t get spoken about,’ she said. ‘It would be nice to have a support network within the university.’

  The National Union of Students (NUS), as well as some student unions (SUs) and societies, have tried to raise awareness and support sex workers to reduce the discrimination they face.

  But very few universities signpost support networks for sex workers on their websites. And some SU officers who asked for resources were blocked by the institutions, according to ECP.

  ‘Universities are worried about the bad press,’ Ms Watson said. ‘They are relying on good press and people’s money coming in.’

  A student sex worker in the southwest of England told The Independent: ‘Most universities have a tendency to deny that students are sex workers.’ She added, ‘The first step would be to address it. Only from acknowledgement would be a realisation that this is something that is happening and something we need to tackle. Universities have a duty to their students to provide support regardless of the backlash.’

  Sarah Lasoye, women’s officer for the NUS, said: ‘Universities as a whole need to take a much less judgemental outlook on the types of work that students are doing. Their priority should be making sure these students are safe and healthy’, she added.

  Jo put the papers down. So that’s why the three girls had turned to sex work. Money. Pure and simple. Desperate for a university degree but equally desperate to avoid the money trap that three or four years at Uni could become. Money-savvy students were turning to selling sex, in one form or another.

  It was possible that someone had been ‘watching’ the girls and had chosen them specifically. They were young, mostly drug and alcohol free, better mother material than the older women, or the obviously under age girls, who also patrolled the streets.

  Judging from the messages left by the Pumpkin Man and the refusal of him to wear a condom, Jo figured it was a safe bet that he was hoping that the girls would become pregnant.

  Chapter 29

  Byrd was still having problems adjusting to Jo’s new normal and that was something he’d have to face up to. Sometimes he thought it was the ‘gift’ and at others he was sure it was because she’d kept it from him for so long. Didn’t she trust him with her secret? Didn’t she think she could rely on him, or lean on him? As a result he was sure of one thing. She didn’t feel about him the same way that he felt about her. And he wasn’t sure how to get past that.

  At her suggestion, he’d agreed to meet with Keith Thomas, her contact at the Spiritualist Church, but he hadn’t arranged anything yet. Again, he was aware that he was prevaricating, trying everything he could to not turn and face the problem. He’d backed himself into a corner and didn’t know what the next sensible move would be. He sighed as his desk phone rang. He really didn’t want any interruptions. He’d been tasked with locating any CCTV footage they could find of the three incidents. Jill and Ken were concentrating on Storm and Suki and Byrd was dealing with the dead girl’s murder.

  He answered his phone with an abrupt, ‘DS Byrd.’

  ‘Hi Eddie,’

  Byrd sat upright from the slouching position he’d adopted as he stared at his monitor.

  ‘Oh, hi, Mick. Did you want Jo?’ Byrd said, thinking that the call had been put onto the wrong phone.

  ‘No, I wanted a chat with you, actually.’

  ‘Really?’ Eddie was instantly on his guard.

  ‘Yes, um fancy and pie and a pint?’ Byrd grinned. Mick hadn’t changed at all.

  ‘Sure thing, but I’ll have an alcohol-free pint. I’m on duty.’

  ‘Oh, sorry, yes, of course.’

  ‘What time?’ Byrd looked at his watch, it was 12.30 pm.

  ‘Um, now? I’m outside?’

  ‘Of course you are, Mick. Yes, give me a couple of minutes.’

  ‘Great. See you in a bit.’

  Byrd replaced the receiver. He wondered what Mick wanted, but if he were a betting man, he would say it was about Jo.

  Byrd popped his head around Jo’s office door. ‘Just off for a lunch break, Boss.’

  Jo nodded. ‘Thanks, Byrd.’

  He could feel her eyes on him as he left the floor. Before Odin, they’d have tried to lunch together, if they got a break at all. Now, post Odin, he did his own thing and didn’t tell her where he was going or if he was meeting anyone. And if he was, who he was meeting and why.

  A petty dig, maybe, but a way of keeping himself separate. On his own, rather than part of a couple. The trouble was, if he was honest with himself, the whole thing just made him feel lonely and alone.

  As Byrd walked out of the police station, he saw Mick across the road, waiting for him.

  Shaking hands in greeting, Mick led the way to his chosen pub. Byrd wasn’t very hungry but readily agreed to lunch. Somehow the process of choosing something to eat, then actually eating it, would lighten the intense conversation they would no doubt have.

  Taken up with that, Byrd didn’t take much notice of a man sat at their table. The pub was crowded so it made sense to share. It wasn’t until Mick introduced the man as Keith Thomas from the local Spiritualist church, that the penny dropped.

  ‘Mick…’ Eddie warned.

  ‘Look, Eddie, this was the quickest way to get you to hear us out. If I’d have phoned suggesting a longer meeting, with myself and Mr Thomas here, then you’d have declined the invitation. Am I right?’

  ‘Too right,’ Eddie confirmed.

  ‘So as you’re already here, and you’ve just ordered some lunch, why don’t we have a conversation?’

  ‘Oh, go on.’

  Mick grinned. ‘Thanks, Eddie. I’ll let Keith introduce himself.’

  Keith Thomas looked nothing like a pastor or priest. He didn’t wear a clerical collar. He had sandy blond hair that fell straight over his forehead. He was wearing a checked shirt with a v-neck jumper over it and no tie. Very normal. Very non-threatening.

  ‘Hi, Eddie. Can I call you Eddie?’

  ‘Of course, Eddie or Byrd, I answer to either.’

  ‘It might be best if I tell you upfront that neither Mick nor Jo attend our
Spiritualist Church. They don’t treat Jo’s gift as a religious experience. In fact their attitude is refreshing. They remain open to possibilities without getting stuck in the dogma.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So, the church exists to promote spiritualism, to provide a meeting place where people can come together in peace and love and provide an opportunity to search and discover spiritual truth. Through spiritual communication we hope to provide evidence of survival of the human spirit after the physical death. We do not profess to provide proof. And I feel that’s vitally important, especially in Jo’s case. For you, witnessing a demonstration of Jo’s mediumship should be viewed as an opportunity to gather your own evidence; it is for you to decide whether the evidence is substantial. Obviously, in time, the three of us hope you will gather sufficient evidence to swing the balance of your opinion to accept the concept of survival of the spirit.’

  Keith fell silent and took a drink from his pint glass. ‘And that’s it?’ Byrd was confused.

  ‘Yes. In essence, that’s it.’

  ‘None of us want to pressurise you into anything, Byrd. We’re not trying to brainwash you.’

  Eddie coloured at that one, because to an extent he’d thought Mick and Jo were.

  ‘You’ve seen with your own eyes what the spirits can achieve. You either believe that and trust what your eyes saw, or you don’t. But if you decide you’re not convinced, then that’s fine. But why should that interfere with your relationship with Jo?’

  Eddie drank from his own drink, mostly to give him time to reflect on his answer. He was also grateful that the food arrived at the same time as well. By the time they’d sorted out knives and forks and condiments, he was ready to answer.

  ‘Put like that, well no.’

  ‘No?’

  ‘No it shouldn’t interfere with my relationship with Jo.’

  Mick nodded, but it was Keith who spoke up. ‘Think of it as one person being Catholic and the other person being Protestant. Or even Jewish and Muslim. How about one black and the other white. Take your pick.’