RISK

by Sam Skyborne

  “Oh? That’s nice.” Toni did not want to push too far. She lifted her phone to show she wanted to finish the text message.

  “Oh, she can fetch you at Terminal 1, 2 and 3.”

  Toni typed, “T123” and hit send.

  A text message beeped on Aiden’s phone and within seconds he shouted to another officer who was waiting outside, “We got him!” He waved to two other officers to follow him as he shot off to the nearest patrol car.

  Maxine was not going to be left behind. “Follow them!” she shouted at the officer waiting in the driver’s seat, as she jumped in the car next to him.

  The traffic jam was not as bad as Toni had hoped and far too soon the taxi took the turn-off to Terminal 1, 2 and 3 at Heathrow. Toni was now getting a little anxious. What if Aiden did not get there in time?

  By now Toni had run out of questions to ask Donald and she had started feeling exceedingly uncomfortable because he had developed a habit of watching her. The more he watched her the more uncomfortable she got, the harder she had to concentrate not to fidget.

  “Ms Mendez,” Donald finally said. “You are not really looking into Lucille Ransom-Evans are you?” There was a long pause. “Why did you really come to see me today?”

  “This is a complicated case, Antoinette,” Toni said playing for time. “There are many angles we are investigating.”

  “You already knew everything you asked me,” he observed.

  Toni could see the cogs turning as he put the pieces together.

  “Oh, I see.” Donald clutched the top button of his blouse. “You can’t possibly think I would have anything to do with dear Erika’s death, do you?”

  Toni saw the sign out the window as they turned into the Departures drop-off area.

  Toni realised her only option now was to go for broke.

  “Antoinette,” she said as kindly as possible. “I have to look at all angles and often the person closest to the victim is the person responsible.”

  “And you have proof?”

  “No, I don’t have proof,” Toni admitted.

  “So this,” he said, waving his hand inside the taxi. “This was all an elaborate ploy to see if I would open up to you and confess?”

  Toni nodded. “I had no choice.” She was not about to tell Donald about the DNA match.

  Just then the sound of sirens wailed past on the hard shoulder and pulled across both lanes stopping the traffic up ahead.

  Donald and Toni looked back to see a further two patrol cars pulling up behind them. Toni saw Maxine jump out the one at the back.

  Donald took a deep breath. “So then I have nothing to fear.” He handed the taxi driver a fifty pound note. “You can keep the change if you help me with my bags,” he said and calmly got out of the taxi.

  The driver got out the front, seemingly oblivious that the police presence might have anything to do with the occupants of his car.

  Toni jumped out and looked around for Aiden, desperately hoping he was in one of the patrol cars.

  Toni saw Maxine making her way over to the taxi at top speed.

  “That’s him,” Maxine said to the officer accompanying her. “Arrest him.” Maxine turned her attention to Toni. “What are you doing? Assisting a known felon escape?”

  “No! Of course not.” Just then Toni saw Aiden jogging up towards them followed by two other officers.

  “Thank goodness you are here. Have you got the warrant?” Toni asked him.

  Aiden nodded and produced the warrant from his jacket pocket.

  “You can arrest him but you are not going to obstruct the extradition!” Maxine said.

  Toni could see she was livid. She could only imagine her and Aiden at loggerheads.

  “This is my collar.” Maxine said. “Besides, you have no proof for this case so the only way he will be brought to justice is if I take him back with me.”

  “It’s not that simple. Toni obviously has not updated you yet.” Aiden glanced at Toni and back at Maxine. “We know Donald Cadwell came back into the country and was here during the time of Erika’s murder.”

  “At best that is circumstantial,” Maxine said. “We have DNA evidence that puts him at my crimes. He needs to come with me!”

  Toni had to admit Maxine had a point. They still had nothing to relate Donald Cadwell to the actual murder of Erika.

  Just then she noticed the taxi driver offload the last of Donald’s three suitcases. This one was a little smaller than the other two and looked very different. It was made of a sensible durable fabric with zips whereas the other two were made from the same egg-shell plastic casing.

  As the taxi-driver put it down and dragged it towards where he had deposited the other two, she noticed that one of the wheels was broken.

  “It’s her suitcase,” Toni said aloud.

  “What?” Aiden asked, his words laced with impatient irritation. “What suitcase? Yes, I know that’s his luggage.”

  “No!” Toni said. “Check the suitcases. The little one. I bet that was Erika’s.”

  Aiden and Maxine now looked at her confused.

  “Trisha, the neighbour said Antoinette made a real racket with her luggage when she came back from her trip after Erika’s death, remember?” Toni said. “She was struggling with too much luggage, just like today.”

  Maxine thought for a moment and then nodded slowly, obviously still not quite following what Toni was on about.

  “Erika was last seen, the night she died, leaving with a trolley-dolly suitcase.”

  “And then Antoinette returns with an extra suitcase.” Maxine had caught up.

  Aiden propelled himself forward, ordering an officer to open the suitcase.

  By this stage a number of officers had gathered on the periphery around them, cordoning off the area and discouraging prying eyes.

  “You can’t invade someone’s privacy like that,” Donald protested frantically when he realised what was happening. “You have no right to search though my stuff! This is prejudice! This is trans-bashing!”

  The officer donned a pair of gloves and then jemmied open the suitcase in one quick easy stroke by jabbing a Biro pen into the zip and sliding it along all the way around. Toni, Maxine and Aiden gathered in close around the suitcase. The officer lifted the top of the suitcase.

  The first layer of clothing was a pair of jeans and a few t-shirts.

  Aiden took the Biro off of the officer, bent down and gently, using the back of the pen, scooped the T-shirt to the side. As the clothes were moved, Toni saw a large blue protrusion underneath the top layer.

  “Gloves, please,” Aiden ordered. One of his officers handed him a set of thin white forensic gloves. He put one on his right hand and proceeded to move more of the top layer aside.

  Toni recognised the protrusion as a large blue dildo, still in a leather harness. Dried remnants of body fluid and blood were still visible on the harness.

  Aiden moved the jeans.

  Under that there was a woollen grey suit and squashed trilby. Aiden moved the hat and shifted the clothes to reveal the suit jacket.

  They all saw it at the same time. Large dark brown stains of splatter on the front of the jacket.

  “Who wants to bet that is Erika Ransom-Evans’s blood?” Toni asked.

  “And that dildo probably still has remnants of her fluids,” Maxine said. “The sick fuck!” She whispered as she threw Donald a scathing look.

  He had now stopped wrestling the two officers who were restraining him and stood watching the suitcase unveil his guilt.

  He caught Maxine’s eye. “God judges, not you or I,” he said calmly, closing his eyes. His lips began to move in silent prayer.

  “Antoine Donald Cadwell, you are under arrest. Officer, please read him his rights and take him away.” Aiden said to one of the two officers moving in to flank Donald.

  Just then Toni noticed that two of the officers responsible for barricading the area were none other than Dwight and Kevin.

  Toni pulled
Aiden aside. “What are they doing here?” she hissed and cocked her head in their direction.

  “You said you wanted me to look into them. So I am.”

  “I didn’t ask you to bring them in on this case!”

  “Toni, you asked me to do something. You should be glad I decided to do it for you.”

  “But Aiden—”

  “No more. I have my methods and you have yours. And since you are not my partner anymore, you no longer have the right to boss me around. Right now, I have far more important things to think about, like explaining to my boss how the hell you ended up escorting a suspect for murder to the airport.”

  Toni did not know what to say.

  Aiden nodded at her silence and then pushed past her.

  “You’ll let me know what happens?” Toni called after him.

  He did not answer.

  Toni felt her frustration mount. There was nothing more she could do after Donald had been arrested. It was now up to Aiden and the legal process. She could just hope that the initial hearing concluded that there was enough evidence in the suitcase to find Donald guilty of Erika’s murder. The extradition hearing, after that, would determine whether Donald would be sentenced in England for Erika’s death first, before being shipped off to the States to stand trial for the serial murders Maxine had been working on.

  Maxine, on the other hand, had quite a lot to do to prepare for the extradition hearing, not least update her colleagues in the States on the recent developments. So, after the events at the airport, they each went their separate ways.

  Toni felt pleased that Maxine had suggested meeting up for a celebratory drink later. Thankfully, she had not taken offence at Toni’s intervention in Donald’s arrest and Toni was beginning to think that there really could be a win-win outcome to this situation.

  Toni had heard that The Vox had been reopened, until further notice, while the police tried to gather more evidence regarding the drug bust. So, to show willing, she suggested that they invited Lizbeth and the three of them go to the club together for a drink.

  At 5.30pm Toni was the first to arrive at The Vox—a little earlier than expected but she took a seat at a booth and ordered a drink.

  “Hello, Handsome.” Toni instantly recognised Sasha’s voice over her shoulder. She looked up and smiled.

  Sasha placed a pitcher of beer on the table. “Word has it you caught the bastard who murdered my girl Erika?”

  Toni was shocked.

  “News travels fast in these small circles,” Sasha offered by way of explanation.

  “Well, I hope we did it good and solid,” Toni said.

  “Sure you did.”

  “What’s this?” Toni indicated the jug.

  “That is a thank you to you and your friends, when they get here, for looking out for us. I assume you are meeting them here?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “I did not get where I am with closed eyes, Honey.” Sasha tapped the tip of her nose and smiled at Toni.

  “Well, that is very kind, but I can’t—”

  “Yes, you can. And you will. Enjoy!” Sasha winked at her and sashayed her way back to the bar.

  Toni could not help admiring Sasha’s well-defined form, which was contoured by the long, tight fitting red sequinned dress. She noticed it had a long slit on the back of her right thigh that went all the way up to her buttocks. Toni caught herself wondering if Sasha was wearing any underwear.

  An hour later Maxine and Lizbeth turned up. Lizbeth had picked Maxine up in her cab after work. By this stage Toni had drunk her way through at least half the jug of beer.

  On seeing their arrival, Victor trotted over. He greeted Lizbeth with a warm hug and shook Maxine’s hand. He nodded at Toni.

  Lizbeth ordered a glass of white wine and when Maxine opted for beer, Toni filled one of the empty pint glasses for her from the pitcher.

  Maxine and Lizbeth made themselves comfortable in the booth with Toni and a few minutes later Victor reappeared with Lizbeth’s wine.

  “Cheers,” Lizbeth said. “Here’s to the dream team. Well done both of you for solving this Erika case!”

  “Yes, we did rub along quite nicely in the end,” Maxine said, smiling at Toni.

  “So, no hard feelings over your collar then?” Toni asked.

  “No, it seems that if everything goes according to plan Donald will get his just desserts, both here and in the US.”

  “I’ll drink to that!” Lizbeth said, holding up her glass. Maxine and Toni followed suit and toasted the happy occasion. As they sipped their drinks the music changed to the catchy tunes of Dancing Queen.

  “Oh, goodness.” Maxine said, “I haven’t heard this in ages. Come on. Please dance with me!”

  Lizbeth just managed to put her glass down before Maxine grabbed her hand and whipped her towards the dance-floor.

  Toni remained in her seat and worked her way through the rest of the pitcher while she watched Maxine twirl Lizbeth around the dance-floor to a few different tracks, including a couple of long slow dances.

  By the time a laughing Maxine and slightly out of breath Lizbeth sat back down at the table, Toni had also done a good job of denting a second pitcher of beer.

  “So, does the evidence confirm your guy did kill Erika and is responsible for all those unsolved cases back home?” Lizbeth asked Maxine.

  Maxine swallowed down a large gulp of her beer and nodded. “Turns out, not only does the blood on his clothes and the fluid on the dildo link him to the murder, once in custody he sang like a bird. He called it ‘his confessional’.”

  “What happened?” Lizbeth asked.

  “Toni, you want to tell the story?” Maxine asked.

  “No, feel free.” Toni slurred her f’s slightly and waved Maxine on before she leant back in her seat, looking around the room, seemingly for something more interesting to occupy her attention.

  Maxine nodded and focussed back on Lizbeth.

  “In Erika’s case, apparently Antoinette came home unexpectedly one night to find her fucking a woman in the flat.”

  “Oh dear,” Lizbeth said, pulling a cringing face.

  “Apparently, Antoinette flew into a mighty rage. She told Erika that she was going away for a week, out of the country, and that she had to ‘repent her ways in those few days or the wrath of God will strike her down’.

  “A few days later Antoinette returned to the UK as Donald to check if Erika had done as he had said. He came to the club to find her in flagrante delicto with her long time female lover, Sam, whom she had sworn she had left when she first met Antoinette at the self-help group.

  “This set Donald off into even more of a rage. He took her home and, get this, ‘correctively raped’ her to ‘cure her’ with the dildo that we found in the suitcase.

  “After all that, she still came out as truly being a lesbian. She told him she was leaving and moving back in with Lucille, with the hope of getting back together.

  “He left her in the flat to pack and get her stuff out by midnight. At that point, he went and waited for her in the alley, which he knew was on her route to the station. Then, when she came past, he jumped her and beat her with a bat and framed the unconscious James Walker for it.”

  “You said he was never a trans woman to start?” Lizbeth asked with a frown.

  “No, he was a sex offender who opted for chemical castration to be allowed his freedom.”

  “And that allowed him to hide amongst the same community he preyed on?” Lizbeth shook her head and took a large sip of her wine. “I’ve been working in the law for a decade now and am still surprised at how justice can backfire, even with the best of intentions.” She looked towards Toni who was very quiet. “I thought the general consensus is that chemical castration is supposed to stop sex offenders from re-offending?”

  “Yes, in theory. But in Donald’s case, his impulses are not based on sexual urges but rather on unmanaged anger and hatred. On top of that he has a huge Messiah complex.�
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  “He thinks he is saving his victims?” Lizbeth asked.

  “He is helping them to change their, in his mind, ‘evil ways’,” Maxine said.

  “And if his methods do not work, setting them free?” Lizbeth asked.

  “Corrective rape, is helping?” Toni snorted into her beer mug.

  Both Lizbeth and Maxine looked at Toni expecting her to say more, but she didn’t. She just took another large gulp of her drink.

  “How does someone become like that?” Lizbeth asked after a bit.

  “I don’t know,” Maxine said. “According to his psych records, his mum left him and his very zealous fanatical dad for another woman when he was just a toddler. I guess between having his anger stoked by his condemnatory abusive dad and his own personal feelings of loss, he didn’t have much chance of a normal upbringing.”

  “That is just mumbo-jumbo and no excuse!” Toni scoffed.

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong, Toni,” Maxine said. “I am not excusing the psychopath. I think what he did is absolutely unforgivable and despicable. The fact that he did this in the name of his religion I find even worse.”

  “What do you mean?” Lizbeth asked.

  “Apparently, he had vowed to God to ‘rid the world of hexes and harlots’,” Maxine said.

  “By correctively raping them? And then when he decided they are ‘unsaveable’,” Toni made double quotes signs in the air, “he kills them? Really? And this psycho mumbo jumbo makes that okay?” Toni challenged, with a more pronounced slur.

  “No, Toni,” Lizbeth soothed. “No one is saying that it’s okay.”

  There was an awkward silence as they all three sipped their drinks.

  “Did he think they were ‘unsaveable’ and that is why he killed them?” Lizbeth asked. “I gather he had found Erika in bed with women before? Why decide to kill her now?”

  “In the end, when he is unable to ‘save them’ he feels betrayed and certainly, we know that in Erika’s case, she threatened to literally leave him for another woman, like his mother did.” Maxine shrugged her shoulders and drained her glass.

  “Pretty messed up.” Lizbeth said thoughtfully, staring into her wine glass. “What I don’t get though is, if his attraction to her, and his other victims, or motivation, was not sexual but anger and violence, where does the betrayal kick in?”