Deadly Cry: An absolutely gripping crime thriller packed with suspense (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thiller Book 13)

by Angela Marsons

  She paused at the front door to ask the question that was playing on her lips.

  ‘What the hell is she doing there?’

  Forty-Three

  It was almost eleven when Bryant pulled up at Stevens Park. A light drizzle had just started to smatter against the windscreen.

  Kim headed straight for Penn, who was to the left of an open-booted squad car.

  ‘Are you sure it’s her?’ Kim asked, continuing the conversation they’d started as she’d been leaving the graphologist’s home.

  Penn reached into the boot and took out a sheet of paper.

  ‘Says here Ella Nock arrived at 8.55 a.m. and was paired with a woman called Dorothy Birch to search down to the traffic island, along Caledonia and back up the other side.’

  ‘Has she been back yet?’ Kim asked.

  Penn shook his head as the drizzle turned to heavy rain.

  ‘Here come a batch of volunteers now,’ Penn noted, nodding towards the walkway to the main gates.

  A group of four women and two men were approaching the co-ordination point at speed, driven by the rain no doubt.

  Kim picked out Ella pulling up her jacket collar around her neck.

  Inspector Plant appeared at the car as the group approached.

  ‘Thank you all for coming out to help,’ he said as the three sets of two offered their names and declared their area searched.

  ‘Ella,’ Kim said, stepping forward, ‘I’m surprised to see you here.’

  Ella shrugged as the others headed back to their cars. ‘It’s the least I could do, Inspector. I saw the news report that a child was missing. We were lucky. We got Mia back but…’

  ‘And we’ll get Archie back too,’ Kim said with more confidence than she felt. ‘I’d just have thought your brother needed you more.’

  ‘He wanted to come, but I insisted he stay home with Mia. She’s now realised that mummy isn’t coming home.’

  Kim wondered if Andrew Nock always did what his sister told him to do.

  ‘And how is your brother doing?’

  Ella raised an eyebrow as if there was little point offering an answer to that question.

  ‘Well, if that’s all, Inspector, I’d like to get—’

  ‘Of course,’ Kim said, noting that her hair was now flattened against her head.

  She watched Ella walk away and tried to quiet the uneasy feeling in her stomach. On the face of it, she was a woman doing her civic duty and offering a helping hand. But the fact she was related to the first victim added an unusual flavour to the selfless gesture.

  Kim was still watching as the woman got into her car and drove away.

  Kim took out her phone. Stacey answered almost immediately.

  ‘Those background checks on family members, Stace.’

  ‘Yeah, boss,’

  ‘Move Ella Nock to the top of your list.’

  Forty-Four

  Stacey turned to the page that held the list of the names of family members and put an asterisk next to the name of Ella Nock.

  She turned back to her most recent page of notes and the phone number she’d just scribbled down.

  She would get on to Ella Nock as a priority, but she just had one phone call to make first.

  After poring through the court documents of Sean Fellows’s trial, she was no more settled in her mind than she’d been before.

  From the court transcripts, Stacey was sure that Gemma Hornley had been a compelling victim and after speaking to the woman herself she could see why.

  Sean Fellows, on the other hand, had been aggressive and hostile and had been warned twice by the judge to mind his language and calm down.

  The court record had revealed nothing that she didn’t already know. There was no additional evidence, no sudden and dramatic courtroom admission, which left Stacey with one single burning question that she hoped to have answered if she dialled the number on her pad.

  Getting hold of the juror’s information wasn’t a difficult task. Thelma Bird had chosen to speak to the press the day after the verdict. Not allowed to speak about jury deliberations, she had instead chatted about Sean Fellows’s conduct in the courtroom. The woman had been noted in the article as being from the Willenhall area, so a number had not been too difficult to track down.

  The phone was answered with a simple and friendly ‘Hello.’

  ‘Is that Thelma Bird?’ Stacey clarified.

  ‘Speaking,’ she answered brightly.

  Stacey introduced herself and added, ‘I’m looking into the case of Sean Fellows, who was convicted of rape—’

  ‘Oh, I know who he is, my dear,’ she answered. ‘Wait a minute.’

  Stacey waited, hearing sounds of movement in the background.

  ‘Just closed the door to the lounge. Hubby’s taking a nap. How can I help?’

  Stacey had thought about the many different ways to phrase this, but there wasn’t really any way to dress it up.

  ‘I’d really like to know why you convicted him.’

  ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘Please, don’t misunderstand me,’ Stacey said, not wishing to cause the woman offence. ‘I’m not saying you were wrong, but I’d just like to know what the deciding factor was. Was it the testimony of the victim?’

  ‘Partly; she was very credible and convincing. But no, it wasn’t completely that.’

  ‘Was it because of his anger, or the fact he was seen leaving in the same direction as the victim?’

  ‘Not really. We all understood that was circumstantial.’

  Stacey was confused. That was pretty much the sum of the evidence against him.

  ‘So…’

  ‘It was him, his manner, his attitude. He was cocky and arrogant, as though he was just going to get away with what he’d done to that poor girl. I mean, the majority of rape cases don’t even get to court, do they?’ Thelma asked, finding her stride. ‘I looked it all up, you see, and approximately eighty-five thousand women experience violent sexual crime every year and only fifteen per cent of those women report it to the police. Very few cases make it to court and conviction rates for rape are lower than other crimes: only around five per cent if memory serves me.’

  ‘So the numbers swung it for you?’ Stacey asked.

  ‘Not the numbers as such – but we knew we had a rapist sitting right in front of us. It’s like, well, if the victim believes he did it, the police believe he did it and the CPS as well, there must be something in it. If the case has made it this far in the process given all those negative numbers, how can we possibly let this man go?’

  Stacey glanced at the jury demographic again. Seven women and five men. Was this some kind of sisterhood vote? Or had they treated the case like a civil case, on the balance of probability? Was it more likely he did it or not?

  ‘I stand by our decision. I still think he was guilty, and you should have seen his face when the verdict was read. Knocked the cocky smile right off his face.’

  Yes, she was sure it had, and Stacey had a feeling she could guess exactly why.

  Forty-Five

  ‘Where are you, Stone?’ Woody asked when she answered the phone.

  ‘En route back to the station for a check-in, sir,’ she replied as the rain from her hair continued to drip down her neck.

  She and Bryant had continued to stand in the rain for a few more minutes, getting an update of the search areas from Inspector Plant. After realising there was nothing she or her team could add, she’d instructed Penn to head back to the station after lunch. Any updates would come directly from Inspector Plant.

  ‘Perfect. A slight detour, if you don’t mind.’

  She frowned. ‘To where?’

  ‘Halesowen: the shopping centre. The EPT is meeting for a walk through.’

  She wondered if she’d heard correctly. ‘Sir, you do know I’ve got—’

  ‘Don’t insult me with those next words, Stone. It’s ten minutes and we need the continuity. It’s just the operational staff, so it’ll
be brief.’

  She had never known any of these meetings to be brief.

  ‘Sir, I really think…’

  ‘Stone, you’ve been requested so just do it.’

  The phone went dead in her hand as another protest was forming on her lips.

  ‘Bloody great,’ she growled, putting the phone back in her pocket.

  ‘What’s up?’ Bryant asked. ‘You gotta go play nice with the EPT crew?’

  ‘For that smug look on your face you’re now coming with me,’ she said as more rainwater seeped down her neck. She looked around. ‘Jesus, Bryant, don’t you have anything in this bloody car that I can use to dry myself?’

  ‘Nah, sorry. I had the mobile spa taken out. It took up too much room.’ He thought for a second. ‘The dog’s towel is in the back if you wanna use that.’

  ‘Bryant, you really can be a f—’

  ‘Think you’d better call Stace?’ he asked, cutting her off.

  ‘Good idea,’ she said, taking her phone back out.

  ‘Hey, Stace,’ Kim said when she answered. ‘Slight delay but should be with you in about half an hour.’

  ‘No probs, boss.’

  ‘So what you been doing for the last twenty minutes?’ she asked, preferring to speak to the constable rather than her colleague in the car.

  ‘Just had to finish something off on the—’

  ‘Stace, I did tell you that our current case takes priority. If I ask you to do something I expect—’

  ‘I know, boss, I’m sorry but this shuffle case just got complicated.’

  ‘Why? You no longer think your guy raped the second victim?’

  ‘To be honest, boss, it’s even more complicated than that cos I no longer think he raped either one of them.’

  Forty-Six

  ‘Well, ain’t that just a whopping can of worms?’ Bryant asked, pulling into the service yard of the shopping centre.

  Kim’s thoughts were also on Stacey’s admission. She’d told the constable they’d talk more when she got back to the station, but if she was right, a lot of people were going to be pissed off, not least their colleagues at Brierley Hill. The purpose of the shuffle was to solve unsolved cases, not pry open the lid of cases that had been sealed shut. For once she was hoping her colleague was wrong.

  ‘Looks like the show has already started,’ Kim said, spotting the representatives from the ambulance and fire crew. Superintendent Lena Wiley stood between them both.

  Kim tried to ruffle some life into her rain-dampened hair.

  ‘Bloody hell, guv, you don’t normally care about your appearance.’

  She offered him a look.

  ‘And that didn’t come out quite the way I meant it.’

  ‘Come on, let’s get to it,’ she said, getting out of the car as a black BMW pulled up beside them.

  Bryant paused as the man got out the car.

  Christopher Manley smiled widely and immediately offered his hand. Bryant shook it warmly.

  ‘Hey, Chris, heard you’d done well for yourself.’

  The man reached into the back of the car for a hanging jacket.

  ‘Can’t complain, mate. Picking up the slack for you guys.’

  Bryant laughed out loud. ‘Someone’s gotta do it, pal.’

  Chris briefly looked from one to the other.

  ‘Aah, partners.’

  ‘Colleagues,’ Bryant offered quickly, before taking a look around. ‘Wasn’t there some kind of incident down here once?’

  Chris smiled. ‘Oh yeah. Popular boy band turned up to perform a short gig at the record shop. Turned up pissed as farts and were kept secret down here until performance time. Except, lead singer wasn’t happy there were no adoring, screaming fans, so started posting on social media to let everyone know where they were. Girls came running, broke the barriers and surrounded the tour bus.’

  ‘What happened?’ Kim asked, amused.

  ‘Three minor injuries, event was cancelled and the tour bus sent packing.’

  ‘Yeah, I remember hearing about it,’ Bryant said.

  ‘Yeah, you guys turned up, eventually,’ Chris said with a wry smile.

  He glanced over at the crew already gathered.

  ‘Well, suppose we’d best get over there before her majesty gives us detention.’

  ‘Nice guy,’ Bryant said, nodding towards the security manager. ‘Almost one of us.’

  She wasn’t surprised. Many security personnel had aspired to the force but had diverted for different reasons.

  ‘Money?’ she asked. Everyone knew the pay wasn’t great. And he was making a decent living for himself with his own security company.

  ‘Nope. He was doing the training. I had him for a couple of shifts then one night at the pub he stepped into a domestic. The guy got belligerent and smacked him. It all got physical and the drunk guy pressed charges. Police career over.’

  ‘Okay, officially bored now,’ Kim said, although she did think it was a shame he’d lost his career by trying to do the right thing. She hoped his company balance sheet helped to soften the blow.

  ‘Inspector Stone, thank you for making it,’ Lena said, leaving Kim in no doubt who had requested her presence.

  Her failure to acknowledge Bryant demonstrated once again her disregard of people she felt were beneath her or not worth her time.

  Chris and Bryant shared a look. His arrival had clearly been met with the same level of enthusiasm.

  ‘Okay, now we’ll begin,’ Lena said, pointing to the barriered entrance to the service yard through which they’d all just driven. ‘Deliveries will be cut off to this area one hour before Tyra’s arrival. This area should be—’

  ‘I’ve got a guy on it from 2 p.m.,’ Chris said without looking at her.

  Lena turned a complete circle.

  ‘I’m not sure one guard is sufficient for the whole—’

  ‘I’ve got two guys down here patrolling from 1.30 p.m.,’ he added wearily, as though this wasn’t his first rodeo.

  ‘Splendid,’ she said, turning to the ambulance rep. ‘Is this a good place for you to be stationed?’

  ‘Ain’t nobody gonna get hurt down here,’ Kim offered.

  The point of medical assistance was for the public. In crowd situations people got crushed, they got hot and giddy, they fell over. All that would be happening on the upper level in the mall area.

  ‘There’s a fire exit right next to the shop. We’ll be stationed there,’ said Nikita Jackson.

  ‘Very good,’ Lena said. ‘Okay, Tyra will arrive with her agent, Kate Sewell. I will be right behind. Once she is safely delivered to the rear of the store, myself and my officer will stand down.’

  Kim heard the underlying message in her words: once I’ve done that I couldn’t care less what happens.

  ‘So if we could just walk the route from here to the rear of the store, I’ll be satisfied that we’ve covered everything and we’re ready for tomorrow.’

  They continued across the service yard to the service corridor that led up the stairs in two sets of three. Lena was between the fire officer and the paramedic and Kim between Bryant and Chris.

  ‘Why do I feel like we’re the naughty kids back here?’ Bryant asked.

  ‘Shush or she’ll hear you and we’ll all be doing lines,’ Chris said.

  ‘Looks smaller than she does on the telly,’ Bryant observed.

  ‘You should tell her that,’ Chris said, smirking.

  ‘Yeah, sure, I’ve learned over the years when to keep my mouth shut around ballbrea—’

  ‘Ahem,’ Kim said.

  ‘Strong women,’ Bryant corrected himself.

  ‘Doesn’t it piss you off when she does that?’ Kim asked Chris.

  There was nothing wrong with strong women in powerful positions, although she preferred a more generous sprinkling of manners, which was rich coming from her.

  ‘Does what?’ Chris responded as they neared the fire exit door.

  ‘Speaks to you like dirt or doesn�
��t acknowledge you at all.’

  ‘I’m used to it,’ he said, shrugging.

  ‘You’ve worked with her before?’

  ‘I meant in general. There are police officers that appreciate what we do and others that don’t. The good ones make up for people like her. And I like to remember that she started out in the security industry too.’

  ‘Really?’ Kim asked.

  ‘Yeah, close protection officer, bodyguard to important people,’ he said, widening his eyes.

  Surely the woman should have some empathy for the thankless job Chris was trying to do.

  ‘Any time you want to stop gassing and catch up would be fine,’ Lena Wiley said, shooting daggers at Chris.

  None of them were aware that she’d come to a stop just inside the door.

  ‘That’s the door I was talking about,’ Kim said, ignoring her and nodding to the right as the lift from the upper level sounded and a cleaner with roller cages exited.

  ‘Noted,’ Chris said. ‘There’ll be an officer stationed right here.’

  ‘I want those lifts shut down for the duration of the visit,’ Lena said, even enough she was absolved of all responsibility once she got Tyra to the rear of the store.

  She trotted to the top of the stairs and then stopped. The sameness of windowless corridors was discombobulating and messed with your sense of direction.

  ‘I’m not sure which…’

  ‘Oh, please, let me help,’ Chris offered smoothly, moving to the front of the group. ‘I’ve assisted with many signings here.’

  Lena’s face reddened, but she said nothing.

  ‘If we go left, it’s a complete circuit to another service yard on the other side of the shopping centre. The right turn services all the shops on the upper level of this part of the site.’

  He began walking and the group followed.

  ‘Just around the bend here and the shop is on your left-hand side.’

  ‘Well, that wasn’t too difficult,’ Lena offered snidely.

  ‘Yeah, but none of us knew the way, did we?’ Kim snapped, getting a little narked at the woman’s dismissive attitude. He was not less of a person because he wasn’t a police officer.