by Jacey Ward
Shaking her head to herself, Sasha focused on the details on the right-hand side of her screen. Pulling out a notepad, she jotted down the name of Thomas’ brother, his age and address. Apparently, he lived within the whisky distillery site, in a little cottage behind the main plant. It was a remote location, which meant that someone was going to have to take a few hours out of their day to go up to visit him.
Curious as to what this ‘Torin McBain’ might look like, Sasha typed his name into the database, but nothing came up. No unpaid parking tickets, nothing. He was as clean as they came. Shrugging to herself, Sasha pushed back her chair and wandered over to Stephen’s office.
“I’ve got Torin McBain’s address,” she said, seeing him look up. “Want me to go up there?”
Stephen shook his head, looking as exhausted as she felt. “Sasha, you’ve got a bad arm, and you’ve been attacked. The only thing you’re going to do is go home and get some rest.”
“I can’t!” Sasha protested. “I’ve got work to do!”
“Go home and do it tomorrow…. or later today,” he chuckled, shaking his head. Getting up, he took the notebook from her hand. “I’m serious, Sasha. You’ve been through something huge and I want you to get some rest.”
Sasha sighed, even though waves of exhaustion were sweeping through her. “How about if I kip on the sofa for a while?”
He sighed, rolling his eyes at her.
“And then I’ll go home,” she promised, practically begging him to let her stay. “In fact, I’ve got some holidays I need to take – so I’ll even take a few days off! How does that sound?” She saw the considering look in his eyes and decided to press her advantage. “Come on, Stephen. Let me finish up everything that I need to do on this case and then I swear you won’t see me for a week or two.”
A long breath of air left his mouth as his eyes narrowed. “Two weeks.”
She chuckled, knowing she’d won. “Fine, two weeks off. Does that mean I can stay?”
“Only if you take a nap on your sofa like you said,” he warned, although his eyes twinkled. “You can’t keep pushing yourself like this, Sasha.”
Pushing herself away from the door, Sasha grinned back at him. “I won’t have to any longer, not now that we’ve caught him.” Eyeing the notebook in his hand, she nodded towards it. “Do you want me to go visit him?”
After a moment of considering, Stephen shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’ll work. This is going to come as a big shock and I don’t think that seeing the woman his brother tried to kill is a good idea. I’ll go up myself with another officer.”
Sasha nodded, a jolt of sympathy for Torin going through her. “I know, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to hear that your brother is a murderer.”
Stephen grimaced, but waved her away. “On you go now,” he ordered, firmly. “Go and get some sleep. And don’t let me see you up and about for a good few hours!”
Chapter Four
Sasha was surprised at just how long she’d slept for. The couch had always been comfortable, even if she did have to squash herself into it. Stirring, she pushed herself up with her good hand, feeling pain ripple down from her shoulder into her arm. Her whole body was stiff and sore, making her grimace as she rose to standing.
“Coffee?”
Donna was at her door, a cup of coffee in her hand. She grinned as Sasha groaned, rubbing her hand over her eyes. “Bad night?”
“Long night,” Sasha corrected, accepting the coffee gratefully. “Thank you for your work. It was invaluable.”
“Just doing my job,” Donna replied, smiling. “Listen, I just stopped by to drop this off. It’s all the evidence, listed and organized.”
Sasha put down her coffee and picked up the sheaf of papers. “You did this?”
“Not just you who can stay up late,” Donna replied, with a chuckle. “I knew this was important to you and Stephen said you were going on holidays, so I wanted you to have this before you go.”
“Is there enough here to prove that it was him, then?” Sasha asked.
“More than enough,” Donna replied, firmly. “The blood samples match various victims, and the mementos and photographs they found….” She trailed off, shaking her head. “That man was flat out evil.”
“You can say that again,” Sasha murmured, remembering how he had looked when he’d attacked her. Looking back at Donna, she tipped her head a little, wondering whether to ask what was on her mind.
Donna grinned. “Something on your mind?”
“You can always tell,” Sasha replied, with a laugh. “Yes, actually. I know this sounds really strange, but did he have anything that might change the color of his eyes?”
“Change the color of his eyes?” Donna repeated, frowning. “No, I don’t think so. Do you mean colored contacts?”
“I don’t know what I mean,” Sasha sighed, thinking just how ridiculous she sounded. “Last night I was sure I saw his eyes practically glow yellow, but I must have imagined it.” There had been the lengthening nails and the sudden shock of dark hair, but Sasha put it down to her mind going crazy at the time. She wasn’t about to let Donna in on those details!
“You need to go home and rest,” Donna replied, firmly, her expression sympathetic. “You’ve put everything into breaking this case for months on end and now, finally, you’ve done it. It’s no wonder Stephen’s made you take two weeks off!”
Sasha laughed softly. “I know, although the only reason I agreed to two weeks was because he let me finish off all the paperwork first!”
“Well that’s done,” Donna said, firmly. “So what’s keeping you?”
The truth was, it felt odd to be going home, knowing that the case was closed. There would be a lot of different things to deal with in the next few days – the family, the funeral and even the newspaper reports that would be out in force. Was it strange that she didn’t really want to miss that? At the same time, Sasha felt her body grow tired, even just standing and talking to Donna. Her arm was aching again, which meant she needed more painkillers and that would probably make her mind a little bit fuzzy.
“You’re right, of course,” she muttered, shaking her head. “It’s weird to want to stay, right?”
“Not weird, no,” Donna replied, quietly. “Understandable, but not weird. But for your own good, I’ll be calling you a taxi and getting you home before lunchtime.”
Sasha opened her mouth to protest that she could drive, only to look down at her strapped up arm.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Donna chuckled, as if reading her mind. “A couple of the officers drove your car home for you this morning. The keys are at the front desk.”
“That was very good of them,” Sasha said, truly appreciating their thoughtfulness. “Well, I’d better get my desk cleaned up and then head on out!”
“I’ll call that taxi for you in about an hour, shall I?”
Mentally calculating everything she had to do, Sasha nodded, thanking Donna as she left.
Sitting back down at her desk, Sasha put down the sheaf of papers and began to leaf through things one at a time. There was so much information to take in that Sasha found herself almost overwhelmed with all the evidence that stacked up against him. It appeared that, even though Thomas Clifford McBain was part owner of the whisky company, he had very little to do with it. He lived apart from his brother, out in the back of beyond, with only a dirt track leading up to his house.
The house itself, from the evidence photos, was in quite a state. There were things everywhere, with a mixture of dirt and blood on the floor of one of the bedrooms. It was assumed that room had been where he’d taken his clothes off after a kill, and had just never gotten around to cleaning it. He’d been so arrogant that Sasha guessed he’d probably believed he’d never be found out.
“A mixture of animal and human blood,” she murmured, reading the evidence beneath the photos. Animal blood? A shudder raked through her as she wondered whether or not he’d practice
d his killings on animals first, before moving onto human victims.
However, there were no tools present at his home, which made Sasha wonder what he’d used to take his victims apart. They’d found claw like marks, and wounds that had a serrated edge to them, but there was no evidence of the tools he’d used to make those marks. Sasha frowned, something niggling at her. That didn’t make sense. He had to have used something, although they’d never quite been able to put a name to the tools used to make the marks. It was frustrating that they hadn’t been able to tie up that end of the investigation.
“It’s not for you to worry about, Sasha,” she told herself, signing off on all the evidence and adding her own notes to the pile. Turning to her computer, she set up an ‘out of office’ email response, shut it down and got to her feet, swaying slightly as she did so. She was tired. It was time to go home.
Putting her key in the door, Sasha laughed aloud at the sound of barking coming from inside her house.
“Okay, okay,” she laughed, managing to get the key turned with her one good hand. “It’s just taking me a bit longer than usual.”
Bramble, her sweet little dog, barked happily as she stepped inside. Bramble had been a stray she’d found amongst the brambles down by one of the lochs. That had been a few months ago now and, at the time, Sasha had no intention of keeping the animal. She had phoned the local animal rescue center and had said she’d take her in the following day, only for it to snow heavily and close the roads near Sasha’s home. Bramble had become a permanent fixture ever since.
Truth be told, it was nice to come back to Bramble every day. She was always pleased to see Sasha and it brought a smile to Sasha’s face to see Bramble.
“It’s cold out there,” she warned, as Bramble rushed outside, her tail sticking straight up as she put her nose to the ground.
Sasha lived by herself in a house that was far away from all the small villages. She liked the isolation, as well as the views of the land all around her. She could see the deep green forest on one side, and the sea on the other. The sunrises and sunsets could be breathtaking, and, occasionally in the depths of winter, there was the northern lights that lit up the sky. She never felt afraid, living out here by herself.
“Come on, Bramble!” Sasha called, seeing Bramble disappear into the long grass, after having seen a pheasant. “I’m freezing out here!”
With a happy bark, Bramble came back to the house, her entire body quivering with the cold. It was a relief to step into the warm house, although Sasha made sure to lock the door behind her.
There were a couple of messages on her answering machine that she made a mental note to take care of later on.
Kicking off her shoes, she walked to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of wine. It might only be early afternoon, but after the last few days, Sasha felt as though she deserved it.
Chapter Five
“Now, you’re to turn off your work phone, do you hear me?”
Sasha chuckled. “Yes, boss.”
She could hear Stephen sigh at the other end of the phone. “It’s been five days, Sasha, and the station hasn’t burnt to the ground just because you’re away.”
Hearing the note of rebuke in his voice, Sasha cringed inwardly. “Yes, I know, she replied, her stomach twisting. “I just had to know what’s been going on.”
There was a brief pause. “Everything’s under control. All the paperwork’s been released, the family have been informed and the body was released to them a couple of days ago.”
Sasha bit her lip. “Did they take the news well?”
“What do you think?” The wry response told Sasha more than his words ever could.
“I’m sorry,” she replied. “Not that it’s unexpected, of course, but I know that must have been hard for whoever broke the news.”
“I did it myself,” Stephen answered. “Thought it would be best coming from me.”
Sasha nodded slowly, chewing on her bottom lip. She had, of course, needed to break some devastating news to families before, but it never got easier. In fact, it only got more and more difficult. She’d been shouted at, cried on, and sometimes even ordered to leave. To find out that your brother was dead was one thing, but to discover that he was a murderer, was quite another. She didn’t envy Stephen.
“Now,” Stephen said, briskly. “I’ve looked at your hospital records and I’ve decided that you’re taking the entire month off.”
Sasha gasped down the phone.
“And don’t argue with me either,” Stephen warned, as though he could see her preparing to disagree with him. “You need to heal, so I’m adding two weeks onto your leave. Two weeks of recovery, and then two weeks of holiday. You need it Sasha.”
“I’m fine.”
He laughed. “Tell me the truth, Sasha. And don’t forget, I know when you’re lying.”
She sighed heavily, aware that her body was still aching with pain. “I’m sore still but that doesn’t mean I can’t work.”
“I’m aware of that,” he said, gently, “but you’re not one to take time off, Sasha, and I think this is important for you, both physically and mentally. What you’ve been through is emotionally draining and I need you to take the time to recover. Do you understand?”
Sasha wanted to argue, wanted to make her case, but his reasoning was fair. “I guess so.”
“Good,” he replied, evidently grinning from the lightness of his tone. “And will you promise me to turn off your work phone now, please?”
“I promise,” Sasha mumbled, rolling her eyes.
“Excellent,” Stephen returned. “Okay, I’d better go. Take it easy and see you in a few weeks’ time!”
“Bye,” Sasha muttered, hanging up the phone and, before she could change her mind, turned it off. The blank screen seemed to mock her, teasing her for being so antsy about being so disconnected from work.
“I suppose I have to try and take that time, like he said,” she mumbled to herself, laughing aloud when Bramble came running over to her, jumping up at her leg.
“More time to spend with you, huh?” she chuckled, bending down to rub Bramble’s belly. “Okay, how about we go for a walk?”
Bramble barked and ran off towards the direction of the front door. Sasha grinned and went to pull on her boots, pausing only to pick up the newspaper that had been pushed through the door.
The news about the killer’s capture and death was headline news, and Sasha’s name had been mentioned several times. There had been the interview with the coffee shop owner, just like Sasha had expected, although not much was said. In this quiet spot in the Highlands, news like this spread quickly, with everyone wanting as many details as possible.
Of course, it was wonderful news that the killer had been finally taken out, although Sasha’s couldn’t help but feel sorry for the family of the killer. The McBain’s ran a good business and she hoped things wouldn’t be badly affected. Shrugging on her coat, she shook her head to herself, knowing that on many occasions, sales went up after something like this. It was as though people wanted to be associated with the terrible situation, in whatever way they could. It was pretty morbid.
Shuddering, Sasha shoved her hat on her head, before struggling to zip up her coat. It was difficult with one hand, although she could at least move the fingers of her strapped up arm without too much difficulty. Eventually, after multiple tries and a few frustrated exclamations, Sasha managed to zip it up and made her way out the front door.
She didn’t need to keep Bramble on the lead since she had such good recall, as well as the fact that there was no one else around these parts. She hadn’t heard another car in the four days she’d been at home. Locking the front door, Sasha slipped the keys into her pocket and walked down the path towards the forest at the back of her property.
“Come on, Bramble!” she called, turning left towards the trees. “This way!”
Bramble came at once, running as fast as she could. Sasha laughed as, together, they made their way
into the woods.
The paths were so familiar that Sasha walked without thinking, hardly aware of where she was going. Lost in thought, she made her way through the trees, across two small streams and towards the very center of the forest. It was a cold, crisp day and the fresh air brought a tinge of red to Sasha’s cheeks.
The sharp retort of a branch cracking made her pause. She was all alone as far as she knew, but that had sounded like someone walking somewhere nearby. Looking all round her, Sasha saw that the paths were clear, but that didn’t mean that someone wasn’t walking in between the trees. Bramble, who evidently sensed that something was wrong, barked once before lapsing into silence, coming to stand next to Sasha.
Another snap had her jumping with surprise, her skin rippling with tension.
“Is someone there?” she called, her voice making its way through the trees. “Hello?”
Silence.
Slowly, Sasha drew in one long, deep breath, telling herself that she was being ridiculous. She’d been walking in these woods for months now and had never had anyone try to attack her. In fact, the only other people she’d met had either been dog walkers or cyclists. Why was she so tense all of a sudden? It didn’t make sense.
“Come on, Bramble,” she muttered, giving herself a mental shake before following after her dog. The sound had probably just been a deer.
Sasha walked for another mile or so, her ears still alert for any kind of strange sound. Seeing the small wooden bird hide in front of her, which alerted her to the fact that she was now right in the middle of the forest, Sasha headed right for it. She was tired and sore, her body still aching from her fight against Thomas Clifford. Maybe she shouldn’t have walked so far.
Finding an old tree stump, Sasha sat down carefully, glad to have some time to rest. Laughing, she watched as Bramble ran, full tilt, towards a pond.