A Deadly Sin: An epic dark thriller that will have you wanting to leave the lights on.

by Tracie Podger

  To my surprise, Google maps showed the house and the surrounding woodland. Although the image was a couple of years old, there was an obvious track through the trees, wide enough for a vehicle, to a clearing. We zoomed in and could see that it was man-made; tree trunks lined the clearing.

  “Why was this clearing not noticed when we searched the area?” I asked.

  “Because, from the ground, this isn’t that noticeable, it’s just a gap in the trees, Mich. And I guess we weren’t looking for something underground,” Dean said. He had valid point.

  “I want us there, as soon as,” I said.

  An undercover team was sent to investigate, initially. Two officers from the K9 team, posing as a couple with a dog, were called upon.

  Waiting was probably my most hated thing and something I wasn’t particularly good at. I wanted to be with the rest of the guys, out on the street, knocking on doors again. I didn’t want to be sitting at a desk with a frantic buzz going on around me and watching my cell, waiting for it to ring. I didn’t want to listen to conversations, planning, and preparations that I was no part of. As much as I still, technically, had a job, I’d been pushed to the periphery of the investigation. I remembered back to a case I’d worked, many years ago, when a cop’s daughter had gone missing. We’d done the same thing, pushed him off the case because he couldn’t think rationally, he would react out of emotion and when his daughter’s abductor was brought to court, we lost. The father had beaten the shit out of the kid in custody, violated his human rights, and he walked. Sometimes the bad guys win. Sometimes justice was an ass.

  Pete was on the phone to the local authorities. We wanted plans for buildings that may have been demolished and that might have had basements still accessible from ground level. We were a small town, but one that had seen it’s fair share of development and regeneration over the years. We might have been clutching at straws, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hiding underground.

  “Oh, fuck. Shit!” I heard. All heads turned toward Pete.

  He held the phone to his ear, nodding as he listened and frantically writing on a pad.

  “Okay, okay. I need those plans, and now would be good,” he said.

  Corey walked toward him and Pete tapped the pad with his pen. I sat and stared at them both.

  “Where is Tanner Street?” he asked.

  “Around the corner, why?”

  “The old coroner’s office…” Before he could finish his sentence I was up out of my chair.

  “Wait! Mich, hold your horses,” he said.

  “The old coroner’s offices had a morgue in the basement,” I said.

  I’d had the misfortune of visiting the place only once before it was demolished. It was an eerie place, originally built in the early 1960’s and resembled a sanatorium with its white tiled walls and sterile rooms. It was deemed to be too small when the coroner at the time had retired, and it was decided a new facility was needed to house the state medical examiner, which would cover a wider area.

  “What’s there now?” Corey asked.

  “A convenience store, not that it’s open that often. Can we find out who owns it?” I said, directing my question to Pete.

  “Okay, while we’re waiting on information about the clearing, let’s get over to this building and investigate. Get organized, people” Corey said.

  The rush of people around the room, gathering the necessary equipment, protective clothing, and calling the judge for a warrant, had my adrenalin spiking. I grabbed a bulletproof jacket and placed it over my t-shirt, making sure the badge I wore on a silver chain was visible.

  “Mich…” Corey started.

  “Don’t even go there, Corey. I’m going, there’s nothing you’ll do to stop me.”

  I checked the clip in my gun and placed it in my hip holster. In the meantime, the plans for the old building, and the new, had been emailed over. Pete projected them to the whiteboard as I was rubbing off my thoughts.

  The old building showed a small extension that appeared to have been added as a fire escape from the basement. That small extension wasn’t present on the new plans and I prayed it had been left, otherwise it meant accessing the basement, if it was still there, through the store.

  One of the team was trying to get hold of the owner for a set of keys, but if necessary we’d break in. It wasn’t ideal because we ran the risk of alerting Thomas, if he was there. Raiding a property wasn’t something that we’d normally do in the middle of the day, but time wasn’t on our side. Thomas worked at a far greater pace than the average serial killer, if there was such a thing, deliberately to keep us in a spin, I believed.

  Within a half-hour, the team was ready and we were about to leave the station when Joe, the head of our forensic team, stopped me.

  “Mich, I’ve got something I think you should see,” he said.

  “Can it wait? We’re about to hit the old coroner’s office.”

  He would have already been informed that we might need them should we find anything.

  “I don’t think so.” The tone of his voice sent a chill over my skin.

  “What’s wrong?” Corey asked, as he walked to stand beside me.

  Joe took a deep breath. “The DNA results are all in. You know that was your mother but we found…” He took another breath. “We found further semen on her dress, that didn’t belong to you.”

  “Yeah, come on, Joe, out with it.” I’d sort of expected them to find something else.

  “The DNA belongs to your guy, Thomas James, but…fuck, Mich. There’s no easy way to say this. Thomas James’ DNA matches your mother’s.”

  I stared at him, blinking rapidly. “There’s got to be a mistake,” I said.

  He slowly shook his head. “I ran the tests a few times to be sure. Thomas James shares your mother’s DNA. There are enough markers to confirm that you and Thomas are half-brothers.”

  “How…?”

  “Mich, you need to stay here,” Corey said.

  “No fucking way. Joe, I can’t process what you’re saying right now. I need to go deal with this.” I turned away and carried on walking.

  Thomas James was my mother’s son, my half-brother. How the fuck did that happen? I mean, I know biologically how it could happen, but it had to be a mistake. I’d make them run the tests again when we got back. My head was spinning as we left the station.

  “No. Fucking. Way,” I muttered to myself, as I climbed into the car beside Dean. He looked over to me.

  “Mich, I’m pulling you off the case, immediately,” Corey said, holding the car door open before I could close it.

  “What’s happened?” Dean asked.

  “Thomas James is Mich’s half-brother.”

  I shook my head and grabbed for the handle. “No. No, he fucking isn’t. It’s a mistake, now get in the car.”

  “Fuck’s sake,” Corey said, letting go of the door. He opened the rear one and climbed in.

  We didn’t speak as we drove the short distance to the old coroner’s office. We were in an unmarked vehicle and passed another parked outside the front entrance. Its occupants nodded, just the once, as we passed to drive to the rear of the building. We parked a short distance away and for a moment no one spoke.

  “Have we gotten hold of the store owner?” I finally asked. Dean shook his head.

  “We have someone to break down the door?” I asked, he nodded that time.

  “Then let’s go,” I said.

  Using the neighboring buildings as cover, we made our way to the rear of the building. My heart picked up pace when I saw the extension still standing. We scanned the area for any CCTV, and satisfied that there was nothing obvious, we made our way to a metal door, fixed shut with three large padlocks and bolts.

  One of the officers used bolt cutters to release the padlocks and on my nod, Dean gently pulled the door open. We were met with a short flight of stairs leading down to a corridor. With guns drawn, we crept down.

  We were breaking all p
rotocol but I didn’t care. We had a warrant, and no time to plan a proper raid. Eddie’s life was at risk. I refused to entertain the idea that she was already dead.

  The corridor was dark and I pulled a small penlight from my pocket. It was enough to light the way without notifying anyone we were coming. The place smelt of damp, of death, with chemical overtones. Halfway along the corridor was a door. We paused before it. Bringing up the rear were two armed officers. I signaled to them to carry on to the only other door, at the end. I raised my hand, using my fingers to count to three. On the third, I kicked open the door at the same time as the other officers kicked open theirs.

  I swung my gun, left to right, as I entered the room. It was empty save for a metal table bolted to the floor in the middle. However, there had been evidence of recent use. On the floor were some bloodied rags and in the corner, and an old furnace. I heard my name being called and backed out of the room.

  We ran along the corridor and into the second room. I closed my eyes at the sight that greeted me.

  Written in red, presumably blood, across the back wall was one word.

  P R I D E

  Red dripped down the wall from each letter.

  In the center of the room was a metal chair, rope was still attached to the legs, the same rope we’d seen used on Casey. On the seat was a piece of paper. I walked over to it. It was a note, written in red ink, I hoped. The font was scratchy, italic looking as if written with an ink pen.

  Pride – The ultimate sin, Lucifer’s downfall. Love of self, perverted to hatred and contempt to one’s neighbor.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Dean asked, looking over my shoulder.

  “Love of self…hatred for anyone else. I don’t see how that applies to Eddie,” I said.

  “Maybe this isn’t about her. Maybe it’s him, or you,” Corey said.

  Dean had walked back to the entrance to inform the team of what we’d found. It seemed ironic, and I guessed that was the point, to have held Eddie in the old coroner’s office. That had me thinking.

  “Casey was found in the school hall, what was it used for?”

  “Games, basketball, that kind of thing?” Corey answered.

  “Somewhere she’d be doing her cheerleading thing, I imagine. He’s leaving them in a very obvious place, according to their sin. Dale was gluttony, an over indulgence of anything. Louis said he liked to show off where his wealth was concerned. Gluttony and a garbage truck make sense. Vicky was greed, she had molten gold poured over her and was left at a jeweler’s. So where would you leave pride?”

  “Somewhere obvious to you,” Dean said.

  I couldn’t think beyond the fact that he had hurt her. Her screams, her blood, if it was her blood, were all I could think about.

  “She has a secret, what if he knows what it is?” I said, quietly.

  “What secret?” Corey asked.

  “I don’t know, she said ‘we all have secrets’, or something like that.”

  “Mich, what do you know about her?”

  I stared at the wall, at the word whose letters still dripped. “Not much,” I whispered.

  Eddie never spoke about family; I just assumed she was estranged from them. She never spoke about her past, other than what she had done professionally. My head pounded to the point my eyes started to water, as if I was heading for a migraine.

  “They want us out of here,” Dean said, noticing forensics had arrived.

  “Mich, the blood at your house? It’s not hers,” Joe said. I nodded.

  “Can we talk, when you’re done here?” I asked.

  “Of course, I’m sure you’ve got a ton of questions.”

  I walked out of the room, along the corridor that had been flooded with lights set up and out into the afternoon sun. I stood and looked around, wondering if he was watching me.

  “You want me? You fucking come and get me, you prick!” I shouted.

  If I smoked, now would be the perfect time to light a cigarette. In fact, I tore a piece of paper from a pad and rolled it, held it between my fingers and placed it to my lips while I stared at her.

  Post-coital bliss I think it was called. I’d fucked a woman for the very first time, well, a live one. I’d apologized for my clumsiness, I guess I had a lot to learn, but I was sure she’d be able to teach me. My body felt strange, my skin prickled, more so as the sweat dried on my naked frame. I smoothed a piece of hair from her forehead. Her eyes were wide; she stared straight ahead as if the ceiling held her attention more than I should. She blinked slowly when I slapped her cheek.

  “Why don’t you want to look at me?” I asked her.

  She didn’t answer. The only noise she’d made were screams when I’d slowly sliced down her biceps with the same knife she’d stuck in mine. I thought it only fair that she felt what a knife wound was like.

  It had been fun to watch Mich and his cronies sneak around the old coroner’s office. I’d only stayed there long enough to draw enough of Eddie’s blood to leave him a message. I would have given him a clue had he not figured it out himself.

  I’d been surprised at the length of time it had taken them to figure out I wasn’t in the derelict barn on the outskirts of town, nor the abandoned meat packing plant. I wasn’t stupid enough to stay above ground when there were so many wonderful ‘caves’ I could hide in. I liked being underground, the dark and cold comforted me.

  My only mistake had been my father’s house on Perry Street. It was why I had my fun with those kids. They knew I was there. They tormented me, threatening to expose me, accusing me being of a pervert. Agreeing to supply them with drugs, pandering to their stupidity got them on my side; got me close enough to silence them, some of them. There was still time for the rest.

  She moaned, I think she’d been in shock. “Eddie, shall I get you something to drink?” She gently nodded.

  Her pretty lips were chapped and I didn’t want to kiss chapped lips. I’d need to take care of her. I rose from the floor and walked to a bench. I poured some water from a jug into a plastic glass. When I returned I knelt beside her and placed one hand under her head. I gently lifted it and placed the plastic glass to her lips.

  “There, see, that’s nice isn’t it?” I said, as I poured the liquid. Most of it spilled down the sides of her face, but I watched her sip enough to moisten her lips and mouth.

  She was tied to the floor, spread-eagle. Before I stood to replace the glass on the bench, I gave one rope, connecting her wrist to the metal ring bolted to the concrete, a tug. It was secure. I ran my hand over her stomach and it angered me to see her muscles recoil. I dug my fingernails into one of her knife wounds and tore. She screamed out. I smiled. I’d take that reaction; in fact, I’d take any reaction from her.

  We drove back to the station in silence; I was beyond conversation. I had no words to express the fear, the anger, the sadness, that washed over and through me second by second. I felt physically sick, unable to eat or drink anything for fear of throwing up. The acid that bubbled in my stomach burned. When we arrived, we walked into the incident room. I was hoping that plans were underway to search the clearing near Thomas’ home.

  “Mich, I really can’t have you involved anymore, you know that, don’t you?” Corey said, as he sat opposite me.

  I stared at him, not answering. “If those DNA tests are correct, and the fact that he has your partner, I can’t risk any compromise to this case.” I nodded my head.

  “I can’t trust you to not act on emotion and give the state a reason that this won’t get to court,” he added.

  I knew only too well what he meant. The cult I’d investigated had ended up with multiple murders and a couple of suicides. We weren’t able to bring anyone to court, and I understood the frustration that Gabriel, a guy I’d grown to like, lived with. When there was no satisfying ending, life was spent going around in circles and not moving forward. But like Gabriel had wanted, my ending of this case would be very different to Corey’s.

  I decided
I needed to know more about Eddie. I might not officially be on the case, but I certainly wasn’t going to go home and sit on my ass, doing nothing but wait. I left the station and drove to Eddie’s office.

  I called ahead, asking if Charles, Eddie’s second-in-command was available. Thankfully he had a half-hour before leaving for a meeting.

  “Mich, I don’t know what to say. Is there any news?” he asked, as I shook his hand.

  “We have some leads we’re chasing up. Can we talk somewhere private?” I asked. I wasn’t up for a conversation in the corridor.

  “Of course.” I followed Charles to his office, one down from Eddie’s.

  He gestured to a chair and I sat.

  “I’m concerned, Mich, that Eddie won’t have her medication with her,” he said.

  “Her medication?” Charles wasn’t, as far as I knew, aware of our ‘relationship’ so there’d be no reason for me to know of any medication she took.

  “She has a heart condition, something she wanted kept private. I knew, of course, but she has to take certain medication daily.”

  “I didn’t know. What do you mean, a heart condition?” I tried to keep my voice even, but I was shocked to the core by his revelation.

  “She was diagnosed a couple of years ago with Atrial Fibrillation. It’s a condition where the heart beats irregularly. She has to take medication to keep the heart beating normally.”

  “What happens if she doesn’t take her meds?”

  “The risk is her heart will go into AFib. If that isn’t brought under control quickly, it could result in a stroke or heart failure.”

  “Fuck! What’s the prognosis for someone with this?” I asked.

  He sighed. “Most people can live relatively normal lives, but for Eddie, she has a further complication. Her AFib came about because she has congenital heart disease and has had it since childhood.”

  “She never said,” I said, quietly, more to myself.