'You ran all the way up there?' Lasser asked in astonishment.
'Well, he carried me some of the way, but he kept slipping in the mud, that's why he cut the tape on my legs because he couldn't manage to get up there with me on his shoulders,' she explained.
Lasser looked up at the steep incline and shook his head as he pictured Clara managing to stay calm and make her escape in such a nightmarish situation.
Then Bannister started to toil upwards, they followed and before long they were all struggling to keep their forward momentum, the water sloshing over their boots as they sank in the mud. The higher they climbed the further forward they had to lean until they were grabbing tree roots and clumps of sodden grass in an effort to keep moving.
The more they laboured, the more each of them felt astonished by how she had managed to dash up here and make her escape.
'I think this is where he dropped me to the ground,' Clara suddenly said.
'And where you pushed him?' Spenner asked, as he turned and shone the light back down the slope, imagining her attacker flying backwards and rolling down towards the rushing water below.
'Yeah, he went flying,' she said, her voice sounding tight with emotion.
'And you're sure he didn't go into the water?' Spenner asked hopefully.
'He shouted up at me, he was angry, so I know he didn't fall into the water.'
'Pity,' Bannister growled as they started to labour forward again.
They fell silent, each breathing rapidly as they continued to toil up the treacherous slope.
Lasser could feel the rain and sweat mingling on his face, his eyes mere slits, the torchlight quivering as it lit the way.
'I recognise that tree,' Carla said a slight pant in her voice.
They paused for a moment to look at the giant oak looming above them, the branches thick, though the rain was washing away the soil leaving huge roots visible.
Wiping the rainwater from his brow, Bannister set off again, almost bent double, the water gushing down around them, giving the sensation that they were actually walking through a fast-moving river of mud and rainwater, suddenly Lasser understood completely how landslides happened.
'Jesus Christ!' the DCI suddenly gasped as he seemed to fall forward, Lasser saw him scrabbling at something that came tumbling down the washed-out slope.
With a frown, Lasser moved to his side, and then he came to a shocked stop as Bannister picked up the human skull, rain washing away the mud as Spenner trained the light on the macabre finding.
'He was bringing me here to do that to me, wasn't he?' Clara suddenly asked as she moved to Lasser's side, her eyes wide in shock.
The three of them turned to the girl, her eyes were fixed on the skull in Bannister's hands, the tears sliding down her ashen cheeks.
'Do you know who it is?' she broke eye contact with the skull and looked at Lasser for an explanation.
Lasser pictured Penny Salter, the girl who had vanished from the bus stop in nineteen seventy-three on the same day that Norma had been murdered, but before he could respond, Bannister was speaking.
'We have no idea, Clara, but believe me we will find out and then we'll catch the man who took you and…'
'But whoever that is,' Clara pointed to the skull, 'then the man who took me can't have killed this person.'
'Copycat,' Lasser mumbled to himself as he pulled the phone from his pocket and tapped at the screen to call in the cavalry.
82
Hannah Pence woke with the scream on her lips as the horror of the night before came crashing into her mind, for the briefest of moments she almost thought the whole thing had been a terrible dream, then the truth re-asserted itself and she felt her heart break.
When Sally Wright appeared in the doorway with a cup of something hot in her hands, Hannah started to cry, Sally moved forward and placed the cup on the table before sitting down by Hannah's side and putting an arm around her shoulder as she cried.
The rain still hadn't stopped, it hit the front window sending rivulets of water racing down the glass.
'I thought it was a dream, I thought my Morgan was still here,' Hannah said through the sobs.
Sally said nothing as she tried to think how she was going to tell Hannah Pence that Clara Bell had been found alive and seemingly unharmed.
The truth was she had no idea how the woman would react, hopefully she would see it as a positive but then there was always the chance that it would only make her feel worse.
'Please tell me what you're doing to get Morgan back?' Hannah asked, her voice breaking as she wiped at her eyes before turning her head to look at Sally.
'Listen to me, Hannah, there has been some good news and…'
'You've found her!?' Hannah's tear-filled eyes sprang wide in hope.
'Not yet,' Sally paused, 'but they have found Clara Bell.'
Hannah blinked several times and then she eased away, Sally waited, cringing inside as Hannah licked her lips. 'Clara?' she asked as if she had heard wrong.
'Yes, she was found late last night and…'
'But what has that got to do with my Morgan?'
Sally suddenly knew how this was going to go, she could see the spark in Hannah's eyes, part confusion and part burgeoning anger.
'I spoke to DCI Bannister about an hour ago and Clara has told us that she saw Morgan and…'
'Saw her, saw her where?' Hannah demanded as she grabbed Sally's wrist.
'Please, Hannah, the situation is fluid, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what's happened, but Clara has said that Morgan was alive and seemingly unhurt.'
'''Seemingly''!?''
'Yes and…'
'But if she's seen Morgan then I need to talk to her, I need her to tell me exactly what happened and how she saw my daughter and why didn't she get help, I need to know, I need to know right now.'
'Look, I can assure you that DCI Bannister will make sure you know everything about the situation but as of right now they are still investigating how Clara managed to escape.'
'Escape from where?' Hannah asked as she suddenly bolted to her feet.
Sally felt the weight of her words drop into the loaded atmosphere, knowing that she was only making matters worse with every word she uttered. 'We know that the man who took her is also responsible for attacking you and taking Morgan, but…'
'And he shot that Scott Clark dead, didn't he?' Hannah demanded, her hands fluttering close to her mouth in distress.
'It looks that way but, as I said, the situation in ongoing, I know that everyone is working hard to get Morgan back.'
'But why didn't this Bell girl help my daughter, how could she escape and not take Morgan with her?'
'I'm sure it wasn't as simple as that, you have to remember that Clara had been taken as well, she wasn't there of her own free will, and as far as I can gather, she's been through a lot.'
'I don't care what she's been through, I want to ask her about Morgan!' Hannah's voice rose in anger, somewhere deep inside she cringed at the way she was acting and the words that flew from her mouth. Yet she couldn't seem to stop herself, all that mattered was getting her daughter back and… Suddenly, she remembered the fact that James was still at the hospital and was due to have surgery that very morning. Her mind was awhirl with the horror of the situation – her husband fighting for his life, and their daughter in the hands of a maniac. Whoever had taken Morgan had already shot the boy dead and snatched Clara Bell, she had escaped which meant that the killer could be furious, and he could take out that fury on her only child. Suddenly her thoughts imploded as she pictured Morgan, a pair of large hands around her throat squeezing the life from her body, her eyes huge and full of terror and desperate to be saved yet knowing that no one would come to help her. The image was so acute, so mind numbingly real that for a few seconds Hannah Pence couldn't even breathe, she could take in the air, but couldn't release the pressure that was building inside.
'Are you OK?'
As soon as she felt
Sally's hands on her shoulders, the air escaped in a massive rush, Hannah gasped in terror as she broke down into floods of desperate tears, this time she fell forward, and Sally held her as she cried.
83
Bannister cracked a yawn and rubbed at his eyes, Lasser grimaced as he checked the clock on the dash as it approached midday. Their clothing was still wet and coated in mud, glancing in the mirror Lasser sighed at his reflection, he looked totally knackered and then he shook himself.
'Soft arse,' he mumbled as he took the right fork and headed out into the countryside.
'What are you waffling on about?' Bannister asked, the need for a cigarette growing though he felt too worn out to even bother lighting one.
'I was just feeling sorry for myself and then I thought about Clara Bell and what she's been through.'
Bannister grunted in agreement. 'A remarkable young woman,' he said.
When Lasser lit a couple of cigarettes, Bannister eagerly took it.
It had been daylight by the time the search had taken place with other bones being found higher up the slope, a mish mash of white against the saturated black earth. Shannon had arrived though he had waited at the bottom of the slope for the bones to be brought to him before heading back to the hospital to have them analysed.
In the meantime, they had taken Clara to the hospital where her mother had been waiting, and it had been emotional to watch as they clung to one another, then they had left as Clara was having the wounds in her wrist cleaned and bound, her mother by her side, her eyes crammed with emotion and disbelief that she actually had her girl back.
'Do you think the bones belong to Penny Salter?' Lasser asked.
'No idea, but they belong to someone, hopefully Shannon will be able to tell us more.'
'What about Morgan Pence?'
'Jesus, Lasser, I don't have the answers to everything,' Bannister barked in frustration.
Lasser could hear the heartfelt pain in his voice and decided to keep his mouth closed.
They knew that the same killer had taken both girls, Clara by her own iron-hard resolve had managed to make her escape after three days and nights of terror and had somehow kept hold of her sanity. How she had done that was still something that amazed him, but the fact was that the bastard still had Morgan, he had no idea how her captor would respond after Clara had escaped. The thought that he would somehow take his frustration out on Morgan was a distinct possibility, after all, he had gone to all that effort to take Clara to the woods and… Suddenly Lasser's mind took a swerve and the scowl settled on his face.
How had the bastard even known that there were bones in the woods, how was that possible?
He tried to find a rational explanation and he couldn't. The truth was the incessant rain had dislodged the earth from the shallow grave and the bones had been revealed, the skull washing down the steep incline, but all that had happened after the killer had done a runner.
'I don't get any of this,' Bannister suddenly piped up as he blew smoke towards a gap in the window. 'How the hell did the killer know there was a body buried in the woods, how did he know where to go?'
Lasser's mind was steaming ahead as he tried to find an answer, suddenly the stretch of flooded road appeared before them and he pulled to a stop.
'Fucking hell, I'd forgot about this,' Bannister complained as he took another drag on the cigarette.
Lasser watched as the wind rippled across the surface of the water but his mind was elsewhere, he was back in the woods watching the bones being collected in the grey morning light. They had been found about ten feet down from the field above, all close together apart from the skull that had somehow worked free and been washed down the hillside, almost as if the spirit of the unknown victim had tried to help them from beyond the grave. The notion seemed preposterous and Lasser dismissed it, though the fact remained that the killer had been heading to where the bones had been found, somehow, he had known of their existence and there were only two explanations.
'Are we going to sit here all day like a pair of wankers or are we going to risk it?' Bannister asked.
'How long do you think the bones had been there?'
'Years,' the DCI replied, but before he could say more Lasser hit the accelerator and the car shot forward into the flood. 'Mad bastard!'
Water sloshed left and right, the engine screaming as it had hours earlier and then they were through, and Lasser grabbed another gear.
'Which means we're either looking for an old man who's still killing or…'
'That's bollocks, Sergeant, are you honestly trying to say that some geriatric carried Clara through those woods and halfway up that incline? I mean, we could hardly get up the sodding thing so that shoots your theory to shit.'
'Agreed.'
'So why the hell come out with it?' Bannister demanded as Lasser drove around a series of S-bends.
'I said there were two options.'
They fell silent for a moment and then Bannister sighed. 'OK, let's hear it.'
'We agree that an elderly man couldn't have carried Clara…'
'Already been over that, so stop waffling and get to the point.'
'OK, then if that's the case then it means the original killer has to be in touch with whoever took Clara Bell and Morgan Pence,' Lasser said and waited for the DCI to respond.
'Are you bloody serious?' Bannister asked, though there was no goading in his voice, just a hushed sense of shock.
'How else do you explain what happened not only to Clara,' he paused as he made the link, 'but to Julie Rawlins as well?'
Bannister took another pull on the cigarette, his eyes narrowed in thought as he tried to come up with another option.
Lasser filled the silence. 'It took Roger a while to find out the details of how the murders of Ethel Brab and Julie Rawlins match up, and we both know how shit hot he is at getting at the details.'
Bannister nodded as they approached the humpbacked bridge, the traffic lights were on red and Lasser brought the car to a stop.
'True enough,' the DCI agreed.
'Now we have bones in Borsdane woods, we both know they have been there for years and who would know about that other than the bastard who killed the victim and placed them there?'
'OK, OK I get that,' Bannister paused, 'but why would the original killer tell someone else what they had done?'
The lights changed, Lasser drove over the bridge before turning immediately left onto the small patch of gravel at the side of the canal. 'I have no idea but it's the only thing that makes any kind of sense, there is no way anyone would have known about those bones unless they had been told and the fact that he was taking Clara there proves he intended doing another copycat killing.'
Sliding the window down a little further, Bannister dropped the cigarette stump to the wet earth. 'OK, I will admit it sounds plausible, but if what you say is true then whoever is passing on this information then they would have to be in their seventies at least or even bloody older.'
'So what, when he was originally killing, he wasn't an old man, was he?'
Bannister scowled as he thought about what Lasser was saying. 'I guess not.'
'We now know that whoever killed Ethel Brab could have killed again and left the bones of his victim in the woods,' Lasser paused, 'the question is how many more did the bastard murder?'
'Well, the killer of Scott Clark still has Morgan Pence, so if he is following instruction then it means the original killer must have murdered at least three times. And Christ knows how he's going to respond to being outsmarted by a fifteen-year-old girl, he could already have lost the plot and Morgan could even be dead as we speak.'
Taking a final pull on the cigarette, Lasser opened the door and dropped it to the ground as he unclipped the seat belt, ignoring the wind and rain that blew into the vehicle.
'There's still a chance that she's alive.'
'What makes you say that? Bannister asked as he followed suit.
Climbing out of the car, Lasser
set the alarm and then they were trudging towards the towpath. 'It all depends on how closely he wants to follow the original killer's pattern.'
'What difference does that make? The DCI asked as they went under the bridge.
Lasser thought for a few seconds before answering. 'Well, if the original killer is feeding him details of his crimes then the bastard we are after could be doing exactly as he's told, without question.'
Two swans bobbed up and down on the water, their feathers being ruffled by the strong wind.
'I guess that's what being a copycat is all about,' Bannister said as they stepped onto the back of the boat.
As soon as Lasser opened the door, the whippet was there waiting for them, tail wagging furiously.
Jackie was in the kitchen area, her eyes widening when she saw the pair of them trudging towards her. The air was full of the scent of cooking bacon, and Lasser felt his stomach rumble as he dipped his head and kissed her lips.
'There's plenty of hot water, so why don't you two get a shower and…'
'Not together,' Bannister interrupted, and gave her a tired smile.
Jackie shook her head and returned the smile though she felt concern for them both, they looked worn out and drained. 'There are two cooked breakfasts in the oven, so the sooner you get clean then the sooner you can eat,' she lifted her jacket from a peg on the wall. 'I'll just take Poppet for a walk, give you two the chance to get yourselves sorted.'
By the time she left the boat, they had shrugged out of the jackets.
'You go first,' Lasser said as he snatched his tie free.
'That's superiority in action,' Bannister said as he headed along the narrow passage before vanishing into the bathroom.
Pulling out a small stool Lasser sat down and looked out of the window at the field opposite, a herd of cows looking miserable in the driving rain.
Under normal circumstances he would have cursed the weather but this time it had unearthed the bones, and no doubt the rain had played a part in enabling Clara Bell to escape.
Leaning forward, he pushed the window open before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, his face thoughtful, his eyes fixed on the view, though in his mind he was going through the facts.
Third Eye - DS Lasser Series 25 (2021) Page 27