by Wyer, Carol
‘At least half an hour, probably longer. There’s something else too. She was wearing false nails. Four of them have broken off recently and two have cracked, and there’s slight bruising to the side of both hands and the outside of her little fingers.’
Murray balled his hands to imagine the scenario that would cause such bruising and said, ‘From bashing against a door?’
Ben nodded. ‘That would certainly cause it.’
‘Is there anything more you can add?’
‘Sadly, no, but I’ll examine her fully as soon as she comes into the morgue.’
Natalie thanked him and walked away from the shelter. The rain was still tumbling onto gleaming leaves and small yellow flower heads that bowed and swayed under the weight of the water droplets as if nodding at Natalie. Stopping some distance from the body, she turned towards Murray. ‘It’s the same MO: a girl disappears, the girl is then found strangled near rubbish. First Savannah was found by a waste bin near her home and now Harriet’s been strangled and left on a fly-tip close to her house. There’s definitely a pattern emerging.’
‘And she’s not wearing a jacket or carrying the red backpack we saw her with on CCTV.’
‘That’s true. I wonder if we were right and the killer is hanging onto clothing as trophies. To my knowledge, Forensics still haven’t recovered Savannah’s bag or uniform yet. Have you seen Mike anywhere?’
‘Is that him, over there?’ He pointed him out.
‘Oh, yes. I need to talk to him. We haven’t tied up that loose end regarding Duffy so can you return to the dentist and confirm his appointment on Monday? I’ll sort out transport back to the station and meet you there.’
‘Roger that.’ He set off, and she looked about the clearing. It wasn’t huge but it was filled with garbage that couldn’t have come from one person alone. She approached Mike.
‘Hey!’
Mike looked up, eyes scanning her face for signs of dismay. ‘I’m sorry, Nat. Really sorry.’
‘I had that shitty feeling it was too late and I couldn’t shake it off. Sometimes… sometimes you know you’re not going to make it in time.’ She looked away briefly then pulled herself together. ‘She’s missing a black jacket and a red backpack. She had both when she passed a CCTV camera yesterday afternoon.’
‘Okay, we’ll hunt for them. It’s bloody difficult though. Talk about a needle in a haystack. Fucking killer knows how to make our lives difficult.’ He glanced about the mess scattered in front of him.
‘Is there any other way to reach this spot?’
‘Quite a few if you’re willing to trudge through several hundred metres of woods and uneven terrain, but no other easy access like the one we used. It’s unlikely the killer carried her body through the woods to this point if that’s what you’re asking, but we’re examining the entire area all the same.’
‘It’s mostly builder’s rubbish rather than household waste.’
Mike agreed with her. ‘Yeah, the sort of stuff people chuck out of houses when they’re renovating them. Reputable builders usually take it to recycling depots or have skips or even take it back to their yards, not dump it. Could be cowboys or DIY-ers who use this spot as a fly-tip.’
Natalie could think of one firm that wasn’t very far from this spot: Tenby House and Garden Services. Here was yet another potential link to Stu Oldfields.
An officer called across. ‘Sir, we’ve found a mobile phone.’
Mike stopped his search and leapt to his feet, crossing the site at speed to the man who offered him the phone. Mike took it in his gloved hand. ‘Get me the kit,’ he ordered. Natalie waited while he dusted it for prints but he gave an exasperated hiss and said, ‘It’s been wiped clean.’
‘Can we turn it on?’
‘Sure.’ He switched it on. A photograph of Harriet and her friend Emily.
Natalie glanced at Mike. ‘It’s definitely Harriet’s but this doesn’t add up. Her body’s over there but her phone was in a different spot and it’s been wiped clean. Why not leave it on her person or close to her? Where exactly did you find it?’ she asked the officer.
‘By the marker.’ He pointed towards the middle of a pile of bricks.
Mike shook his head. ‘You’re right. It can’t have fallen out of her pocket or even out of the killer’s pocket. They won’t have clambered over those bricks for any reason.’
Natalie walked towards the stick marking the spot, taking care not to slip on the upended and broken bricks, and knelt down. The marker was slap bang next to a black bag marked with one word: ‘rubbish’. She was even more convinced it had been placed for them to find. ‘The bastard’s playing with us. Whoever it is has put the phone there for us for some reason.’
Mike’s voice was wary. ‘That might well be the case, Nat. The screensaver’s disappeared and I’ve clicked onto a video entitled “Choke Dare”. You need to see this.’
Mike joined her and held the mobile closer so she could see the screen, and her mouth opened at the sight of Harriet, a noose around her neck, hanging from a beam, her eyes growing large and pupils dilating. Natalie held her breath as she watched the girl begin to fade, her eyes rolling back into her head. Without warning, Harriet stepped back onto a chair, bent over and gulped in lungfuls of air, dry-coughed several times. Then she stood up, a wide smile on her face, and swaggered up to the camera. She laughed and said, ‘I dared do it… Do you?’
‘What the fuck?’ Natalie said.
‘I don’t get it. Hang on. There’s another video on the home screen named “Dare”,’ Mike replied and clicked onto it. Natalie recognised it as the same one that had been uploaded to the website, Disappear. She listened to Harriet’s screams for the few seconds the video lasted.
‘There’s another one. “Ice Bucket Dare”. I’ve heard of that one.’ They watched as Harriet introduced herself and announced she was about to take the Ice Bucket Challenge. She removed her dressing gown to reveal a bikini and squealed noisily as icy water was tipped over her by an unknown person.
Natalie spoke once more. ‘Her friend Emily said she was keen on social media challenges. There are all sorts of crazy ones and some are more dangerous than others.’
‘At first glance there are only three videos. Do you want to look at the phone first and see if there’s anything else on it that might be of use to you, or should I send it directly to the lab for analysis?’
‘Best if you handle it. Can you make the second one any clearer? I’d like to know where it was filmed. It’s too dark at the moment to make out where she is.’
‘We can try to. Actually, I’m going back to the lab myself in a couple of minutes. I was working on some fibres we picked up at Western Park. You want a lift to the station or is Murray returning for you?’
‘I sent him to check out an alibi. A lift would be welcome.’ She pressed hard on the point directly above her left eyebrow. It was tender and she had the beginnings of a blinding headache, and it was still only nine fifty in the morning. It had all the makings of a very lengthy and arduous day.
‘You holding up?’ Mike asked as they whizzed along the main road towards Samford. He’d been strangely silent up until that point, which had suited Natalie. Her thoughts had been on the investigation.
‘I’m fine.’
‘You look a bit—’
‘Old and fat,’ she finished his sentence for him.
He laughed. ‘Not at all. Jaded. That’s all. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Nat.’
She sighed. She wasn’t good at handling compliments.
‘I know we signed up for all of this shit but it’s bloody hard some days, isn’t it?’ he continued. He felt for a packet of Marlboro in the plastic tray between them. ‘You mind if I smoke?’
‘Go ahead. Wind down the window a bit though. I don’t want to get too tempted to steal one from you.’
He smiled winningly, extracted a cigarette from the pack adroitly with one hand and placed it between his lips, keeping his other hand on the
steering wheel. He felt about for his lighter and cursed. It had slipped out of reach. Natalie bent forwards, retrieved it and flicked it into action, holding it while he leant into the flame and illuminated the end of his cigarette. She breathed in his aftershave – a light citrus scent that brought back a brief memory of his arms wrapped around her.
He inhaled and lowered the driver’s window a few centimetres. An icy breeze rushed in instantly, chilling the side of Natalie’s face and bringing light rain that didn’t appear to trouble Mike.
‘The last time I saw David, he hinted you and he were going through a rough patch. Glad you’re sorted,’ he said.
Heat rose up Natalie’s neck. She ought to have guessed David would have told his best friend about their troubles. ‘Did he tell you why?’
‘Only that you’d jumped to conclusions that he was gambling again and he was majorly pissed off with you.’
‘Then you understand why we fell out.’
‘Was he? Gambling?’
‘No. I got it wrong.’ She stared out of the window and watched the other drivers in their vehicles headed alongside. They passed a man in a mauve shirt and dark-blue tie, face red and lips moving as he spoke to an invisible person on the end of the phone. He lifted a finger and wagged it angrily. People didn’t need to wait until they got to the office to become stressed these days. They could manage it on their way there, she mused. She felt horribly flat. It wasn’t because of David sharing details of their marriage with Mike. It was because she hadn’t reached Harriet in time. Could she have done more to save her? She’d been up all night but still she hadn’t located the girl in time, and she was no closer to finding Savannah’s or Harriet’s murderer. The chances were it was one and the same.
Her mobile buzzed. ‘Natalie, I’ve just left the dentist surgery and I thought you’d want to know that the receptionist checked the diary. Duffy definitely had an appointment for four p.m. and it was crossed off as attended. I also rang his friend, Jaffrey McCarthy, who confirmed he was with Duffy from about six until almost midnight. Tuesday night is when the band practises.’
She hadn’t really expected any other outcome yet Duffy’s mannerisms had convinced her he was withholding some nugget of information. ‘Okay. Head back then. I need to brief everyone.’ She ended the call, rested her head against the headrest and shut her eyes. ‘I don’t know which way to turn, Mike. I don’t know if I’m close or miles away from working out who’s behind these murders.’
‘What have you got so far? Let’s see if it makes any sense,’ he replied.
She opened her eyes and spoke. ‘Both girls visited the phone shop in Watfield immediately before they disappeared, but the guy they spoke to, Duffy, denies knowing them well and says he had no idea that they were planning on disappearing.’
‘And do you believe him?’
‘I don’t know. He seems upfront but there’s something about him that doesn’t ring true.’
‘Copper’s instinct,’ Mike said with a smile. She returned it.
‘Now we’ve got the video we believe to be of Harriet, and a website – Disappear. Maybe she did upload that video as a prank or maybe the killer did. I can’t be sure. The girl was willing to post a video of herself hanging, for fuck’s sake, so she might have posted this one too for a laugh. I won’t know until we can work out who uploaded it. Then there’s the fact that both bodies were left near their homes and in places connected with dumping rubbish. The killer must have known something about both girls to know where they lived. It could be somebody they’re acquainted with.’
‘Seems logical and might take you back to Duffy.’
‘But there’s also Harriet’s boyfriend Stu. Harriet was key to his alibi for when Savannah went missing. He works for Tenby House and Garden Services, which is close to where we found Harriet, and he might even use that fly-tipping area to dump waste.’ She didn’t pause to let Mike speak but continued with, ‘And then, we have Anthony Lane, charged a few years ago for exposing himself to young girls, and who’s been captured on camera following both Savannah and Harriet. Am I getting closer or just more tangled up?’
‘For what it’s worth, I think you’re working it like you usually do. You’re checking every option and that’s the way you’ll find whoever’s responsible. It takes time.’
‘I don’t have time, Mike.’
‘You can’t make it happen any faster no matter how much you want to. You’ll get there. Sometimes it takes longer than we’d like.’
She heaved a sigh. ‘I hope you’re right.’
‘Sure I am. Come on. It isn’t like you to doubt yourself.’
She rubbed at her face. ‘Tiredness. I can’t think clearly.’
‘Grab a power nap. Even if it’s only for ten minutes. It’ll help. Go on. Try now. I’ll wake you when we get there.’
She nodded and fell silent, closing her eyes again. She might have been wrong about David gambling again but she could ill afford to make similar bad judgements during this investigation and jump to incorrect conclusions. Lives were at stake and that led to her greatest anxiety, the one gnawing at her stomach at the moment, that there would be another victim.
* * *
He rubbed his hands, relishing the sudden heat produced by such vigorous friction. The police were bamboozled. They were scurrying about like headless chickens. Had they picked up on the clues left for them? He snorted. It was unlikely. He’d planned this meticulously and left nothing to chance. The police liked logic and order and getting a sense of what sort of person could be behind these ghastly crimes. He hadn’t given them anything to go on. As far as they knew, the attacks were random, and they could have no idea of when he would strike again. They must be frantic with worry. What sort of person could succeed in two kidnappings and two murders within two days? He smiled broadly. He wasn’t the timid little fraidy-cat now, was he? In fact, he would really show them all how brazen he could be. He’d pounce again. Today.
Sixteen
Wednesday, 18 April – Late Morning
Natalie finished reading through the information from Manchester regarding the murder of Alisha Kumar, who’d been strangled and dumped by rubbish bags. She highlighted a couple of facts before addressing the others, who were waiting for her to speak. She rubbed her forehead. The throbbing in her head was intensifying. She’d grab a couple of pills after the briefing. She stood up, a signal she was going to speak.
‘We’ve got a load of information to sift through and this is going to be quite a task. Let’s start with the two victims. They were both female, teenagers and from the Watfield area. Savannah went to Watfield Secondary to the south of the town, and Harriet, Lincoln Fields Secondary School to the north. At first, we believed they’d both run away. We knew Savannah was unhappy at home and school and annoyed with her mum because of her new boyfriend, Phil Howitt. As for Harriet, she missed her father, Shane, who is in prison, and was irritated at times by her little brothers. However, I think we ought to be moving away from the assumption they ran away, or at least consider the possibility they might have run off initially and their plans went horribly wrong. Unless we come across another reason for the girls to decide to take off, I think we should look at the possibility they did this for a dare. So, we need to know if Savannah went on the Disappear website. Maybe that is our connection.’ She rubbed her head and carried on.
‘As far as we can make out, they weren’t friends or even acquaintances, and they didn’t have anything in common, except both of them knew Stu Oldfields, a labourer for Tenby House and Garden Services, and Nick Duffield, otherwise known as Duffy, from the local phone shop.’
She paused to ensure everyone was keeping up. ‘These two men have alibis for around the time Savannah disappeared although Stu’s alibi is now in doubt. With Harriet dead, we can’t prove he met up with her on Monday afternoon. I’d like to know his movements yesterday too. Not only has he got a flimsy alibi for Monday, he works only down the road from where Harriet’s body was found
. That fly-tipping spot in Bramshall woods appears to be used by builders rather than householders, so Murray, can you talk to Stu again and to Noel Reeves, the owner of Tenby House and Garden Services, and ask if they’ve ever dumped rubbish there? He’ll probably deny it but push him on the matter. If they didn’t, we’ll have to widen the search to other builders. I can’t imagine somebody from out of town would know about that clearing in the woodland. It has to be somebody with local knowledge.’
She stood up and moved to the window. There was almost too much information to process. They were going to be stretched to the limit. She might have to ask Superintendent Aileen Melody for assistance, although she could already imagine the response to her request. The force was ridiculously understaffed and overworked at the moment. She picked up her train of thought, wishing the banging in her head would subside.
‘I’m not sure why Savannah changed out of her school clothes or why Harriet applied false nails but it seems significant. They might have intended meeting up with somebody, or simply got dressed up ready to post a video on this bloody website, Disappear. However, both of them must have had an idea of where they were headed and might have made arrangements to stay with someone. The question is who?
‘One other person of interest is Anthony Lane, who we spotted on CCTV cameras in the pedestrian precinct, trailing both girls. Thanks to the camera on Church Road being out of action, we can’t confirm his whereabouts either.’ She had to stop for a moment. The headache was making her nauseous and she suddenly felt quite sick. ‘Lucy, do you want to step in at this point? You have some info on Lance Hopkins, Savannah’s stepfather.’
‘That’s right. West Midlands Police confirmed that there’s a travellers’ site in Erdington and spoke to Lance Hopkins’ mother, Christine. She wasn’t very helpful and said she had no idea of his whereabouts, but one of the others let slip Lance has been working at a building site in Sutton Coldfield the last few months. No one else knew anything about it or had any contact details for him.’