The Other Killer

by Noelle Holten

  ‘You’re right. We can’t take anything for granted. Maybe the killer has done this deliberately or …’ she pointed around the area, ‘an animal could have moved the body parts somewhere else. There won’t be anyone arriving for about half an hour, so why don’t you join the search?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’ He swallowed.

  Maggie remembered how it felt to be a new officer suddenly thrown into the deep end. But she also knew that sometimes facing your fears was the only way to defeat them. She gave him a nod then walked towards the forensic tent that had been set up over the body parts.

  She ducked inside and found Nathan speaking with the duty SIO. ‘What have you got?’ Maggie asked, as she peered down at the plastic bags on the floor.

  ‘Not much at the moment.’ Nathan crouched down and pointed at the two blood-spattered limbs lying in plastic bags on the floor. ‘A local walker and his dog nearly tripped over these this morning. The witness didn’t see anything here when they went out yesterday morning, so these were dumped within the last twenty-four hours. It might be an idea to put out an appeal for any walkers who were in the area. Where is the rest of the victim? That’s what I’d like to know.’ Nathan blew on his hands and rubbed them together.

  ‘You and me both. Probably strewn across the area; we just haven’t found them yet. Might be worth contacting local officers in the surrounding area, see if they’ve found anything.’

  ‘We’re going to have to wait until we have more information on the victim. The witness gave a statement to the first responder but will be coming into the station tomorrow. Other than that, not much else we can do here except freeze.’

  ‘Any trace evidence?’ Maggie was stalling, she wasn’t ready to leave.

  His brows drew together. ‘It’s all being collected. I’ll just check in with the guv and see if there is anything more she wants from us here.’ He pulled out his phone. ‘It looks like Dr Blake is heading out too.’

  ‘OK. I’d like to speak to Fiona before we go if I can?’

  He saluted and then laughed. ‘Yes, ma’am. I thought I was the DS here.’

  Maggie punched him on the arm and ducked out of the tent. She headed towards Dr Blake, her eyes scanning the area as she went. Taking a mental picture of the landscape. With what was found so far, she hoped that the latest victim was still alive. There was always a chance, and Maggie wouldn’t rest until they knew for sure.

  She stopped in her tracks when she saw a white shape running through the woods. Dr Blake, her eyes wide, her coat flapping in the wind. Maggie pulled out her baton. A crow took off from a branch high above and flew up into the sky, while a gust of wind shifted a pile of fallen leaves. Maggie started running after the doctor. That’s when she heard the scream.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

  Her heart raced as she made her way through the long grass towards the sound. Nathan burst out of the tent and sprinted after her.

  Maggie caught her breath and carried on running, her baton out and ready in her hand. The long grass made it heavy going.

  ‘We’re almost there.’ Nathan reached her side and pointed ahead to two figures crouched down beneath a tree; it was Dr Fiona Blake and the young officer who had signed Maggie in when she arrived.

  They slowed to a jog and approached them.

  Dr Fiona Blake looked up at them with a frown. The young PC was visibly shaken, his breathing heavy and his eyes wide.

  ‘More black bags?’ Maggie stepped closer.

  Fiona was still catching her breath. ‘Another arm and a head to be exact.’

  ‘I … just stumbled on them.’ The young PC stammered. He stood up and started pacing back and forth. ‘Thought I smelt something and then just walked right over them.’ He shuddered.

  ‘All right, son.’ Nathan stepped forward and put an arm on his shoulder. The PC stopped walking. ‘Why don’t you get a cup of tea from the tent and have a sit down?’ Nathan nodded back the way they had come.

  The PC nodded, took one final glance at the bags, then hurried off towards the tent. Once he had gone, Maggie and Nathan crouched down beside Fiona. ‘What can you tell us?’ Maggie leaned forward to get a closer look.

  ‘I can’t tell you the gender, but if I had to take an educated guess, I’d say female. If I compare this arm to the one over there,’ she gestured across the field, ‘I’d say they were from the same person. The hands are quite delicate and the nail polish would seem to match.’ Reaching down she pointed at the arm. ‘See here, two broken nails. I’m hoping that there may be some DNA.’ She carefully moved the arm in the bin bag to seal the hand inside a clear plastic bag. ‘And look at this.’ She pointed at the second bag, which had been ripped open to reveal a bloody head, the face mauled by animals. ‘ID will be difficult as the foxes beat us to it.’

  ‘Anything else?’ Maggie put a hand over her mouth to cover the smell.

  ‘The bags were wrapped tightly with silver gaffer tape, like parcel packages. Except this one, of course, which had been torn open. The officer walked right over them.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Maggie stood up and her knees cracked. She blew out a sigh. ‘Going to be difficult to establish which direction the offender came from.’ Maggie looked around. The body parts were dumped in two separate areas both with various entry points; the team would be busy.

  ‘Let’s grab a coffee soon. It’s been too long.’ Maggie nodded to Fiona and began to walk back towards the tent. Nathan stayed with Fiona to help photograph the scene.

  As Maggie walked, she spotted that same flicker of colour off to the left, but this time she knew it wasn’t a fox. She walked carefully towards it, treading quietly through the long grass.

  A figure was standing in the shadows, watching the forensic tent from a distance, chewing his finger and shifting from foot to foot. She noticed it was a stocky male, with a black hat covering what looked to be short brown hair.

  ‘Stop! Don’t move,’ Maggie shouted. The man froze as she walked up to him. ‘My name is DC Jamieson. Can you come out from behind that tree, so I can have a word?’

  The man’s eyes darted around, but he wouldn’t look at Maggie directly. ‘Erm … OK, but I didn’t see nothin’.’ He stepped out and began rubbing the back of his neck, looking past Maggie at the crime scene.

  ‘Are you OK? There’s nothing to be worried about. I just want to ask you a few questions.’

  ‘I told you. I didn’t see nothing, all right? Just minding my own business. Nothing wrong with that, is there?’ His pupils appeared dilated.

  Taking her notepad out, she raised a placatory hand. ‘Calm down, sir. There’s no need to be defensive. Can I get your details? You may not think you saw anything, but you could be in shock.’

  ‘I don’t have anything to say …’

  Before Maggie had a chance to react, the man shot off running through the trees towards the road.

  ‘Stop!’ Maggie shouted and gave chase, but he was too quick. When she reached the top of the road, she couldn’t see him anymore. Looking left and right, she hoped to see a door close or a gate swinging open, but there was no sign of movement.

  ‘Fuck.’ She muttered as she tried to catch her breath. She leaned into her shoulder, clicked the button and radioed Nathan. ‘Can you come around to Knowle Hill and pick me up?’

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Long story.’

  ‘Gimme five.’

  As she stood waiting for Nathan, Maggie recorded a description of the male in her notepad. He must live in the area to have disappeared so quickly. The house-to-house enquiry might find him. Maggie would be sure to include him as a person of interest at this stage and make sure the computer was updated for the field officers. Something about his defensiveness didn’t sit well. There was also something odd about him and the way he made her feel, the way he shifted from foot to foot and couldn’t meet her eye.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

  Nathan arrived five minutes later and pulled up in front of Maggie.

  A
s she sat down in the car he let out a sigh. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I saw a man hiding at the edge of the forest, watching the crime scene techs. When I started questioning him, he started acting strangely.’ Maggie tried to sound positive, but she knew that she had messed up again. ‘He wouldn’t look me in the eye and the next minute he ran off. I lost him up here somewhere.’ She stared out the window and they sat in silence for a moment.

  ‘Did he go left or right at the top of the road?’

  ‘Left.’ She pointed. ‘Down that way.’

  ‘Maybe he’s still hiding behind some of these bushes.’

  ‘No, I checked it out. But we might as well do a slow drive by to make sure. If he’s there and tries to run off again, we’ve a better chance of keeping up in the car.’

  Nathan put the car into gear and made his way up Knowle Hill at a snail’s pace. As they rounded a corner, Maggie noted the road branched off and told Nathan to stop. He pulled over.

  ‘See anything?’

  ‘Not even a curtain twitching,’ Maggie said.

  ‘Where the hell could he have gone?’

  ‘Let’s head back to the station. I’ll ask the field officers to keep an eye out and contact us if they come across him.’

  Maggie wished she had been in better shape, but she was grateful that Nathan hadn’t had a go at her for messing up the chase. As they drove back along the windy country lanes, Maggie couldn’t help but wonder whether the man in the woods was their killer. Whether she had just let him get away.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

  Kate hated how jumpy she was feeling lately. She had worked very hard on identifying and managing this aspect of herself and she didn’t want all that work to become undone because of some sick creep.

  After delivering the items to the police station in Markston earlier that day, and saying goodbye to Maggie, Kate noted the crime number but understood that unless the person sending the things left a fingerprint or some other evidence, it was unlikely to lead anywhere. She was advised to keep a log of anything out of the ordinary and told not to touch any suspicious post. She was determined to continue as normal, to not let this consume her. When she had shown Maggie the letters and the box, she hadn’t seemed overly concerned, at least not to her face. Kate would take that as a good sign. For all she knew, the items could be nothing more than coloured water and pork scratchings.

  The last time Kate had been overcome with anxiety, she had locked herself away. Lost a considerable amount of weight and basically stopped associating with people. That had been a time when she felt lonely and isolated in London, far away from everyone she knew. She couldn’t even pinpoint the trigger, but it had felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Getting the job in Markston helped, or rather forced her out of the shell.

  Her focus this time would be the case. Kate found it helped to target her energy on the most gruesome and gory aspects of life. It was probably the knowledge that she was helping to put one more evil individual away. And if saving someone else helped her save herself, then that was something she could believe in.

  She stood at the bottom of the path that led to the entrance of her flat. The postie had a key to deliver inside the property and there was no box outside the security door. Once inside the main entrance, she took a deep breath and walked towards her front door. Her hands shook as she placed her key in the lock and twisted it. She closed her eyes as she pushed open the door.

  ‘I hope you open your eyes soon, or you’ll miss your post,’ her neighbour said. She opened her eyes and saw that he was standing in his corridor, pointing at the post just inside her door.

  ‘Thanks.’ Her breathing quickened. ‘You scared the hell out of me.’ The neighbour took a step forward and Kate shuffled back into her flat.

  ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I seem to be making a habit out of scaring you. I just thought I would say hello, make sure you’re all right.’ He took another step closer. ‘Is your lady friend around if you need someone to come over?’

  ‘Pardon?’ Kate stared at him. ‘Have you been watching me? Are you the one sending me the cards and the gifts?’ She backed away holding her keys tightly in front of her.

  ‘What? No. No. I think you have the wrong end of the stick. I just want to make sure you’re all right. Oh jeez. I’m really sorry. I just happened to see you and your friend together.’ His faced turned red and he raised his hands. ‘Look, if you really want to know, I thought I might ask you out for a drink sometime and I was trying to sort of – you know – make conversation.’ He let out a nervy laugh. Instantly Kate felt awful for being so accusatory.

  ‘Sorry. I’m just a little on edge. Can we just start again?’ Kate sighed. ‘I’m too busy to go for a drink at the moment, sorry.’ She tried to smile reassuringly but he went an even darker shade.

  He nodded. ‘Have a good evening. I’ll keep an eye out for anyone hanging around. We do look out for each other in this building.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you. Goodnight, then.’

  She entered her flat and shut the door behind her. Turning the key in the lock she let out another long sigh. Her foot kicked the letter on the floor. Another black envelope. No postage mark. Same gold writing. Kate stepped over the note, and got out the plastic gloves. She didn’t even bother to open or read what was inside. She would leave that to the police now.

  She dashed over to the windows and checked the locks, then closed the curtains. She wouldn’t leave them open anymore when she went out to work.

  Kate placed her laptop bag on the coffee table, went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. Returning to the living room, she relaxed into the comfy chair. Opening her laptop, she decided to check her emails before she started working on the profile she promised Maggie. Her eyes paused on the email at the top of her inbox. She didn’t recognize the sender, nor did she realize that the glass of wine had slipped from her hand. Glass shattered across the floor and she felt the cold splash of the wine on her leg. A red stain spread out in front of her across the carpet. It looked like blood …

  The email wasn’t long, but it had been sent to her office email – something which very few people outside of the police and other agencies knew. She read the message again.

  Why did you have to involve the police?

  CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

  DI Rutherford stood in her doorway and looked out at the open-plan office. She watched as Bethany went through the CCTV evidence, hoping to find that one clue that could identify their killer. With each passing day and no new leads to follow, the strain on her team was evident. The latest body parts from the woods had caused DCI Hastings to add his own pressure, threatening to give the case to a more experienced DI. She couldn’t let that happen. This job had already cost her enough.

  She smiled when Bethany looked up and caught her gaze. She didn’t want to disturb her, so she turned and headed back to her desk. Once the door was shut behind her, she opened the police records and read each new statement carefully, searching for any inconsistencies. If Hastings knew she was doing this, he would remind her that this wasn’t her job – but Abigail always felt the best way to understand her team was to keep a hand in the operational side. After all, how could she question or challenge her officers if she didn’t understand their job?

  ‘Do you have a minute, guv?’ Bethany stood at the door waiting to be asked in.

  ‘Of course, have a seat. What’s up?’

  ‘Well I’ve been looking into Dr Vraines. It seems he has been accused in the past of falsifying records, accepting bribes and erm …’

  ‘Spit it out, I don’t have time for this.’ Rutherford crossed her arms.

  ‘He’s never been charged and the matters were dropped, but the police still flagged it on the system. The doctor had changed his last name to his wife’s. Probably why we couldn’t find anything sooner.’

  DI Rutherford smiled. It was a solid lead, even if there were still things that needed to be worked on. ‘Goo
d job! Gather the intel together and hand it over to the fraud department. If Raven paid this doctor off, we could be one step closer to stopping his bail.’

  ‘Will do, boss.’

  DCI Hastings should be pleased with the news. Abigail finally had something worth sharing. She bet the press would be interested too.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY

  Maggie hadn’t even had the chance to put her coat down before she noticed Bethany waving her arms frantically at her.

  ‘What is it?’ She walked over to Bethany’s desk and waited for her to calm down.

  ‘Just had a call from downstairs. You’ve got a visitor.’ She grinned. ‘One of the field team was out last night and noticed a suspicious-looking male matching your description of the guy from Burley Woods.’

  ‘Where was this?’

  ‘Not far from Knowle Hill where you initially lost him. When the officer approached him, he made off again. But he tripped and they made the arrest. He’s downstairs in an interview room.’

  ‘What was he arrested for?’

  ‘They found a wrap of heroin in his pocket.’

  Maggie fist pumped the air. ‘Let them know I’m on my way down.’ This could be the break they needed.

  Grabbing a pen and checking she had her notebook, Maggie headed to the custody suite. She found out which interview room the man was in and jogged the short distance to the door. She stopped outside and caught her breath, before knocking.

  ‘Come in.’ She was greeted with a smile from a young PC. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

  ‘Thanks. I’ll catch up with you after I’m done.’

  She waited until the PC left the room before she took a seat opposite the man. Maggie clicked on the digital recording device and reminded him he was under caution before introducing herself. ‘Hi …’ looking down on the statement she found his name, ‘Craig. I’m DC Jamieson. You may remember me?’