Corpse Road

by David J Gatward

  ‘Stacy and Chad? No! Why?’

  ‘So, you don’t know anyone called Stacy or Chad? The names mean nothing to you at all?’

  ‘Not a thing,’ Adam said.

  Harry pulled a small bag from his pocket and placed it between himself and Adam.

  ‘Can you tell me what these are?’ he asked.

  Adam picked up the bag to examine its contents.

  ‘It’s a bag of plastic BBs,’ he said. ‘Like the ones you saw in my office.’

  ‘You mean these?’ Harry asked, then from his other pocket removed the container he’d spotted at the priory.

  Adam and Matt stared at the BBs.

  ‘I didn’t find those ones in your office though,’ Harry said, pointing at the evidence bag that Adam was still holding.

  ‘Where are they from, then?’ Adam asked, the frown turning to confusion.

  ‘The crime scene,’ Matt said. ‘Most of them were in the victim’s tent, the rest were dotted about in the grass nearby.’

  ‘And what’s that got to do with me?’ Adam demanded, sitting up in his chair. ‘Just what the hell are you implying?’

  Harry ignored Adam’s rising indignation and changed subjects. ‘You said it was just a short run from Gunnerside up to where the crime scene was. How short?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘How long would it take you to run up the gill to where Kirsty had set up camp?’

  ‘Twenty minutes I suppose.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ Matt said under his breath. ‘That’s proper quick, that is.’

  ‘Not really,’ Adam shrugged. ‘I run a lot, that’s all.’ Then he turned his attention back to Harry, his eyes piercing. ‘You think I did it, don’t you?’

  ‘We’re just asking questions, that’s all,’ Harry said. ‘Just trying to get a few details straight, like I said.’

  ‘Like the fact that I don’t actually have an alibi to prove I was at work all Friday evening, right? Because no one saw me leave?’

  ‘You can see the problem though, can’t you?’ Harry said. ‘You were first on the scene, answering an emergency call of sorts.’

  ‘Of sorts? What the hell do you mean by that?’

  ‘We’ve only got your word for it,’ Harry said.

  ‘And Gary’s!’ Adam spat back. ‘He called me, remember?’

  ‘Yes, I remember,’ Harry said and pulled something else from one of his pockets.

  The small blue torch sat on the table and held the attention of the three men almost as though they half-expected it to grow legs and scuttle away from them at any moment.

  ‘Do you recognise this?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Should I?’

  ‘This was the torch that Kirsty used to signal for help.’

  ‘That torch?’

  Harry noticed an odd change of tone in Adam’s voice. It was still angry, still indignant, but there was a mocking note in there now as well.

  ‘Yes,’ Harry nodded, dropping a pointed finger onto the object in question. ‘This very torch. The one Kirsty used to signal for help. The one your brother spotted on his way home.’

  Adam let out a small laugh laced with contempt. ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’

  ‘He’s rarely anything else,’ Matt interjected.

  ‘You just mentioned that you knew your brother would be at the pub,’ Harry said, ‘because he goes there every Friday night, right?’

  ‘Yes, but—’ Adam began, but Harry’s question had been rhetorical, and he wasn’t done speaking.

  ‘You knew where he would be. And, as we’ve established, you had more than enough time to leave work, run up the gill, kill Kirsty, then use this torch to get Gary’s attention.’

  Adam was on his feet. ‘You’re not listening to me!’

  Harry continued with his line of thought but didn’t get to his feet, instead following Adam’s eyes with his own. ‘And you knew that he would call you, because his big brother is in the mountain rescue, so who else is he going to call, right?’

  ‘No!’ Adam roared, and his voice crashed around the room, a tiger let loose and filled with rage.

  ‘No?’ Harry said. ‘You’re saying you didn’t do it?’

  Harry had a fleeting worry that Adam was about to do a runner, but the man sat down.

  ‘Yes,’ Adam said, his voice quieter as he worked to get himself under control. ‘But I wasn’t talking about any of that. I was talking about the torch. That torch.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Harry said.

  ‘You really don’t, do you?’

  Adam reached over and picked up the torch.

  ‘So, this is the torch Gary saw, right? The one Kirsty used?’

  Harry nodded a yes, then said, ‘What’s your point?’

  ‘This is my point,’ Adam said and switched the torch on.

  Harry and Matt stared at the light struggling to escape the lens.

  ‘Not quite sure I’m getting what you’re on about,’ Harry said.

  ‘Nor me,’ agreed Matt.

  ‘There’s no way this is the one found at the crime scene,’ Adam said. ‘It just can’t be.’

  ‘And why’s that?’ Harry asked.

  Adam shone the torch beam directly into Harry’s eyes.

  ‘Because,’ he said, his voice growing loud once more, ‘I wouldn’t use this to find the end of my own sodding nose, never mind to signal for help, because it’s absolutely bloody useless!’

  Harry and Matt stared at the torch, the light from it barely enough to have them turn away from it.

  ‘So, how did your brother see it, then?’ Harry asked. ‘Answer me that.’

  ‘I . . . I can’t,’ Adam said.

  And Harry was sure that the room had suddenly become very, very cold.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Harry raced out of the room, leaving Matt and Adam more than a little bemused behind him, and crashed through into the main office. Three very confused faces looked up at him. Fly stood up and gave a half-arsed attempt at a bark before crashing back down onto the floor.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Jim asked, standing up to meet Harry halfway across the floor. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Where’s Jen?’ Harry asked, his mind racing now, desperate to prevent all the bad things happening which were now painting themselves across the inside of his skull. ‘Where is she? Where’s Jen?’

  ‘She’s out,’ Jim said. ‘Oh, and about those names, Stacy and Chad—’

  Harry cut in over Jim, his voice sharp and desperate. ‘Has anyone spoken to her? Did she tell you exactly where she was going? Do we know where she is?’

  Harry knew that his words were tumbling over each other, but he didn’t care. They needed to find Jen. They needed to get her safe.

  ‘She was just popping over to Swaledale, that’s all,’ Liz said. ‘Helping that Gary lad find his old next-door neighbour.’

  ‘She’s not back then?’

  ‘She’s only been gone an hour,’ Jadyn said.

  ‘Shit!’

  Matt scuttled into the room behind Harry.

  ‘What’s going on, boss? What’s wrong? You raced out of there like your arse was on fire!’

  ‘Gary!’ Harry said. ‘That’s what I’m thinking! Gary! We need to find him! Now!’

  Matt looked confused. ‘You mean Adam’s brother? That Gary? Why?’

  Harry ignored Matt. ‘Liz, call her now! Call Jen. Get her on the phone! I need to know she’s okay!’

  Jim tried to get Harry’s attention, but Harry wasn’t taking any notice, his focus still on Liz.

  ‘And when you’re done with that, I want you to keep Adam here, okay? Just look after him, feed him if you need to, but don’t let him leave. Arrest him if you have to. But right now, I don’t want him getting in on any part of this.’

  Harry had no idea how Adam would react to his new train of thought, but he knew that what he didn’t need was an older brother wading in and trying to help. If he was right, then what they were dealing with was someone w
ho had already murdered two people in cold blood and was moving on to more. The why of it all, now that was what was bugging him, but he’d get to that soon enough. He’d have to. But first things first.

  ‘No problem,’ Liz replied, phone to her ear now. ‘What’s happening? Where are you all going?’

  Harry turned to the rest of the team. ‘I suggest we take two cars,’ he said. ‘Just in case.’

  ‘Just in case of what?’ Matt asked.

  ‘Right now, I’ve not got the faintest idea,’ Harry said. ‘But two is one, one is none, remember?’

  That got a solid nod from Matt, remembering their conversation the night before.

  ‘Come on then,’ Harry said. ‘We need to get over to Swaledale right now. And Liz?’

  ‘Yes, boss?’

  ‘You keep trying Jen, okay?’

  ‘There’s no answer yet—'

  ‘Well, you just keep on trying until there is!’ Harry bit back. ‘And as soon as you do, you let me know!’

  ‘Of course—’ Liz began, but Harry cut her off once again.

  ‘I mean it, Liz! You don’t stop calling until you get through, okay? She’s in danger! And as soon as you get her you tell her that we’re on our way and that she needs to get the hell away from Gary sharpish. Understand?’

  ‘Of course!’

  ‘I don’t want any heroics from her, nor from any of you lot either!’ Harry glared fiery eyes at Matt, Jim, and Jadyn. They stared back, faces stern. ‘If what I think is true—and right now, even though I haven’t connected everything together, I think it bloody well is—then Gary is a hell of a lot more dangerous than he looks, or wants any of us to think. Now let’s move it!’

  Outside, Harry raced over to where the patrol cars were parked, the footsteps of the other three chasing after him, their urgency clear for anyone who saw them.

  ‘Jim, you’re with me. Matt, you know where we’re going, right?’

  ‘I’m guessing Adam and Gary’s place? Jen and me, we were over there on Monday, and I was back there yesterday to have a chat with Mr Harker.’

  ‘We’ll follow you, then,’ Harry said. ‘And don’t drive like a complete idiot. We want to arrive alive.’

  Jim opened the other patrol car and Harry joined him.

  ‘You sure you’re okay driving this?’ Harry asked, clipping his seatbelt in. ‘I mean, it’s not a Land Rover, is it? And I’m pretty sure you were born in one of those, right?’

  ‘Best you hold on then,’ Jim said, and started the engine. ‘Blues and twos?’

  ‘Too bloody right!’ Harry said. ‘If I had access to a police helicopter right now, then we’d be in that for sure.’

  Jim hit a switch and the siren blared out at the same time as the lights on the roof started to flash. The faces of pedestrians turned to stare at them with the bewildered, wide-eyed looks of hungry vultures, the lights strobing across them.

  Harry saw and heard Matt do the same and then both cars were on the main road and heading down through town and out towards the Buttertubs Pass.

  Once out of Hawes, both drivers accelerated. Harry was immediately impressed with Jim’s driving skills. He was young, and just a PCSO, but there was no denying that he could drive. He’d not checked how much additional training the lad had done, but there was reason enough to believe he took his driving skills seriously. Corners came and went, smooth and careful, but with such speed that Harry barely had time to register them. Around them, the deep, vibrant greens of the fells blurred as the fields sped past, bleeding into each other through the gaps in the walls separating them. High above, the tops stayed steady, staring silently down. Harry wasn’t sure if there was sorrow in the shadows cast down by the great mounds, but it certainly felt like it, almost as though they were following on behind, mourners to the funeral he was desperate to prevent. Because there was no way that he was going to lose an officer. No way in hell.

  Jen wasn’t exactly sure where she was or what had happened. She remembered arriving at Gary’s little cottage and giving the door a knock. She remembered him coming to the door, thanking her for coming over. He’d seemed more confident than the last time she’d seen him when he’d popped into the community centre to offer her a ride in his car. Cocky, almost. And then she remembered entering the house to wait for him while he went to grab his coat. But that was it. So what had happened since? And where on earth was she?

  Jen went to stand up but couldn’t. She tried to move her arms, but she couldn’t do that either. And why couldn’t she see? What the hell was going on?

  Jen struggled, realising that she was not only bound to something and lying down, but that she was blindfolded as well. And she was cold, not just from the wind she could now feel against her skin, but whatever she was lying on.

  Panic crashed into her, a gut-punch of terror that sent a choked scream out of her throat.

  ‘You’re awake then. That’s good. It’s right that you are because there’s a lot we have to get through now.’

  ‘Gary?’

  ‘Don’t try to move. Not that you can. I made sure of that. Made it easier for me to carry you. Like they used to in the old days, when they brought their dead along here. Can you imagine that? Having to carry your dead mum or dad, brother or sister, hell even your own kids, to church to bury them?’

  Jen wasn’t listening. She could feel panic roiling up in her stomach, reaching tendrils of cold dread through her body, thin wires of electric fear. ‘Gary, whatever it is you’re doing, you need to let me go. Now.’

  Gary laughed and the sound was childlike, excited, but edged with meanness. ‘But I don’t want to. Do you want to know why? Do you? I’ll tell you. I didn’t tell the others, but you’re different. You’re more important.’

  ‘If I’m important, then you need to help me understand and to help,’ Jen said, fighting with everything she had to not just lose it, to instead try and do something, anything, to get out of whatever situation she was now in.

  ‘I’m sorry it’s not very comfortable,’ Gary said, and this time his voice was closer, and Jen felt his warm breath across her face. ‘But then it was never meant for that, you know. The dead don’t really need something to lie on, do they? To keep the cold out. Because it’s already there.’

  Jen wanted to cry. It was all she could do to just hold onto that part of her which was strong enough still to keep her tied to what little sanity she had left.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ she said. ‘What are you doing? What do you want with me? What is this about?’

  For a moment, there was no response from Gary, just the sound of him scuffling about.

  ‘We’ve not got long you know,’ he said. ‘Someone might come along and see what’s happening, but I think we’ll be okay. I think there’s enough time. But if someone does, I’ll be able to deal with them. It won’t be a problem. You don’t need to worry.’

  ‘Worry?’ Jen said, her voice catching in her throat. ‘I’m bloody terrified, Gary! What the hell is this? What are you doing? What do you want with me? WHAT?’

  ‘It didn’t have to be like this. You know that, don’t you?’ Gary said. ‘All you had to do was say yes. When I came over, remember? To see if you wanted to have a bit of a spin in my car? I thought you were different, then, thought we had a connection. But you’re just like the others. All of you, looking down at people like me, not seeing us for what we are.’

  Jen was confused as well as scared now.

  ‘Others? What others? What on earth are you talking about, Gary? Let me go! LET ME GO!’

  ‘I’m a gentleman, you know that, right?’ Gary whispered, the closeness of his voice to her ear causing her to flinch. ‘The ultimate gentleman, actually. Not that the world gives a shit. Because it’s all about you, isn’t it? You perfect little bitches and your perfect lives and perfect boyfriends!’

  Tears came then and Jen couldn’t stop them. Her mind was crashing, fear shooting her body with adrenaline and causing it to shake. She wrenched hard agains
t the ropes that held her, a scream scorching her throat as she roared out to be let free.

  ‘Let me go, Gary! LET ME GO!’

  ‘You had your chance,’ Gary said, his voice further away now, floating somewhere above her. ‘But I see you now for what you are. You’re a Stacy, Jen. And that means you have to die.’

  Then something hammered into Jen’s cheek, the pain like a nail being driven into her flesh, and she screamed.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Harry was out of the car before Jim had pulled it up to a dead stop, feet hitting grit on the run.

  ‘Which is Gary’s house?’ he shouted, as Matt, Jim, and Jadyn jumped out of the cars. ‘Which one?’

  ‘That one!’ Matt said, pointing at the small cottage at the end of the row. ‘Mr Harker’s next door. Gary’s car’s gone, though.’

  ‘Could be at the garage,’ Harry said. ‘He was over there on Monday.’

  ‘Yeah, actually, that was weird, thinking about it,’ Matt said. ‘I didn’t really think anything of it at the time, but there’s a garage in Reeth as well. So, why did he say he was over at Mike’s?’

  ‘There might be something inside that tells us where he’s gone,’ Harry said. ‘Matt, Jadyn, you take Gary’s. Jim, you and me are in here.’

  Harry was up at the door, fist hammering hard. ‘Police! Open the door! OPEN THE DOOR!’

  Just a few metres away, Matt’s voice joined in.

  ‘Jadyn, Jim! Go round the back! See if you can get in!’

  Jadyn and Jim headed off round to the left, disappearing round the corner of Gary and Adam’s cottage.

  ‘Open the door! OPEN THE DOOR!’ Harry’s fist was hurting, but he didn’t care. ‘OPEN TH—’

  The door opened and there, standing in front of him, was a very confused old man.

  ‘Mr Harker?’

  ‘Yes? I was having a nap. Think I had rather too much for breakfast! Can I help?’

  Harry pushed past and into the old man’s cosy little lounge. ‘We’re looking for Gary. Have you seen him?’

  ‘Gary? Yes, he was here last Friday. Lovely lad. Comes round to keep me company sometimes, play a game of draughts. Is everything okay?’