Mystery: Quest for Justice: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery)

by James Kipling

  "Really?" said Miranda. "Where was he?"

  Miranda knew that Tammy hated talking or even hearing about Barry Scott, but she continued to speak about him. She did not care for Tammy much, perhaps because she was jealous of her amazing sleuthing abilities.

  "He was in the nearby shopping centre," replied Pam, "looking as happy as Larry, as always. He just makes me want to kill him!"

  "I'm sure he'll get his comeuppance one day," said Graham Mitchell.

  "He won't," Tammy replied. "He's too clever to be caught out."

  "People know who he is," Pam said to her, reassuringly.

  "But not enough people. This case had to be thrown out, even though he pretty much confessed to me that he was the killer, and that's what gets to me!" cried Tammy, beginning to get passionate.

  Nothing else was said on that topic. Instead, they started to talk about the job they were currently working on, in order to try and distract Tammy.

  "Anyway, does anyone fancy going out for a drink tonight?" said Pam.

  The others agreed to go before Tammy did. Perhaps a drink was one easy way to forget about her troubles, she thought.

  Chapter 38

  They arrived at the bar, immediately after work. They needed a drink, all of them, because the week they were having was rather stressful and tiring; nothing ever changed much, and they were all getting extremely bored of the same routine. Tammy just wanted something dramatic to happen, as it had in Paris. Although that was a rather morbid thought, she wanted something to challenge her brain, for she feared the lack of exercise was slowly killing it, eating away at it so that she would not be able to use it like she used to. Times were changing, and Tammy had to accept that. Things were never as simple as they used to be.

  As soon as Tammy entered the bar, she received the shock of her life when she noticed Barry Scott standing there! Time stood still at that moment, and Tammy's eyes widened. She just could not believe her luck. He was standing there with friends, laughing and joking, and there was nothing Tammy could do about that. Barry then noticed Tammy, and said to her, "Oh, hello, Tammy! How are you today!"

  He winked at her. That made her feel physically sick. She just wanted to turn round and vomit on the floor, but she knew she had to face up to him sooner or later, to try and show that he had not defeated her, even though he had. She hated him for that. Tammy then turned her head and saw another group of people. They were staring at her, making snide remarks. Tammy wondered why they would do something like that – she had never seen them before, or at least she thought. She came across many people in the job, so she did not know whether she had seen them before or not.

  The group got the drinks ordered and sat down in view of Barry.

  "We can't let him get to us!" cried Miranda.

  "How is that possible?" Tammy asked her, trying to resist the temptation to look in Barry's direction, to see if he was looking.

  "Well, we’ll just show him that we’re happy. That might make him upset."

  Tammy gave in to temptation. She turned around and, just as she felt, Barry was standing there, looking at her, as if he was waiting for her to turn round, knowing that she would. He winked at her for a second time, making her feel even more angry.

  "So, anything interesting happen to anyone lately?" said Pam, trying to start the conversation.

  Tammy turned her head slightly, but not in Barry's direction. Instead, she was looking at a woman in red clothing who stood sipping on a glass of red wine. She was eyeing Barry, and it was clear she was flirting with him, even though she did not speak a word to him. Tammy just felt like getting up and screaming, "Don't do it! Your life is at risk!" but she didn't. She knew that she could not accuse Barry Scott of murder because there was no official evidence implicating him, even though she knew for a fact that it was him.

  Then, Tammy remembered the last thing that Barry had said to her: "Do you like to hunt?"

  She then started to have sinister thoughts. Perhaps he was planning on killing her next? She knew that she could not think about it, because she just wanted to get out of there.

  Then she felt a sudden urge to go to the toilet. It came on her suddenly, so she was not expecting the need to go. She started to look for the bathroom, and unfortunately, the door was right next to Barry Scott.

  "Can you look after my keys?" she said.

  Knowing there was no escaping it, she got up to walk to the toilets. She knew that she needed to think fast about how to approach Barry Scott. Perhaps she would ignore him, but she knew he would talk to her, making some sort of smug comment about how she failed to solve the murders.

  She was right. As Tammy walked past Barry and toward the restroom door, he said to her, "So, we still ready for that hunting trip?"

  Tammy plainly ignored him. She went into the bathroom, and when she came out again, two minutes later, Barry was still there, laughing and joking with a bunch of half-drunken men.

  "Are you alright?" Pam said, as Tammy sat down again.

  It took Tammy about five seconds to answer that, but she lied when she replied.

  "Yeah," she said, trying to put on a brave face.

  Chapter 39

  Tammy looked at the table where the five people were sitting. Tammy did not know them, but they knew Tammy. She tried her best to listen to their conversations, to see if she could work out who they were.

  "I wish he was dead!" cried Linda Bell, a middle-aged woman who was sitting there. She then turned around and glared at Barry, although he did not see her, not caring to notice her.

  "I can't believe he murders our relatives and gets away with it!" yelled an enraged Joseph Hart, who was an elderly man. He was the father of one of the victims.

  Tracy Bradley, the mother of the youngest victim, just sat there, crying again.

  "I'd do anything to bring justice for my boy!" she said.

  "Believe me, love, any one of us would!" cried Bethy Sanders, the young daughter of one of the victims.

  "And there's that bitch detective who failed to solve the case!" cried William Sanders, the brother of Bethy, who was considerably older than his sister.

  Tammy knew they were talking about her at that point, but she did not want to make it obvious. She sipped her drink, continuing to listen.

  "I agree with you there," said Linda. "She deserves to be sacked!"

  Tracy Bradley had had enough.

  "I'm going out for some air," she said.

  "I'll join you," added Joseph Hart, quickly jumping up to follow her.

  Tammy thought that was rather strange. She began to think rather sinister thoughts – perhaps they were plotting to murder Barry Scott? It was certainly a possibility, and it had happened before, and given the mental state that group was in, it was certainly likely, although Tammy did not want to get involved in any way – if they were going to do it, she would let them get on with it.

  Tammy then turned around and saw Miranda talking to the woman in the red clothes. She looked like a tart, in Tammy's opinion, but since Miranda was chatting with her, she must be a decent person, thought Tammy.

  "Don't say anything," said the woman, whose name was Angela. "But I'm planning on getting with that man tonight!"

  "Which one?" asked Miranda, dreading the inevitable answer.

  Angela pointed to Barry Scott. Inside, Tammy felt sick. Could Angela be his next victim?

  "He's a dangerous man!" Miranda tried to explain to her, but Angela did not listen. Angela then stopped talking to Miranda and approached Barry, who was still at the bar, and started dishing out flirtatious compliments to him.

  Five minutes later, Tammy had had enough. She walked out, unable to face that man any more. Unfortunately, on her way out, she caught Barry Scott kissing Angela around the side of the pub.

  "Ah, hello!" said Barry.

  Tammy was so sick of it. By now, four or five other people were standing outside of the pub, smoking cigarettes.

  "You make me sick," said Tammy, in a slow tone of voi
ce.

  "Do I?" he said.

  "You know that you won't be free forever! You'll be behind bars sooner or later!"

  By now, Miranda and Pam had also left the building.

  "Really?" said Barry. "And why do you think that is?"

  "Because you're a serial killer!" cried Tammy, getting excited.

  "We've been through this," Barry replied. "I did not kill anybody. You have no evidence of that, and you never will find any evidence of that. I'm sorry, but you've lost on this one!"

  "So, you're confessing?" said Tammy, trying to force it out of him once and for all.

  "No," said Barry, "just telling you the facts. You will never catch the killer if you keep going on at me. Let's face it, even if I were the killer, you would not have been able to catch me, so that makes you a really crap detective, doesn't it?"

  Tammy felt so small inside.

  "I'll tell you something," she said to him quietly, going right up to him. "I'll see you get what you deserve one day, even if it's the last thing I do!"

  Barry said nothing and laughed.

  "I'll get you!" screamed Tammy, almost slapping him on the face. However, she was stopped by Pam.

  "Come on, get back inside," said Pam.

  Tammy was almost dragged back in, but she did not go back into the pub.

  "I'll walk home!" she said, extremely frustrated.

  Before she left, Tammy gave one last look at Barry Scott. He smiled and winked at her.

  "See you soon," he said.

  "Do you think Tammy will be alright?" said Pam, back inside the pub.

  "She'll be fine," said Graham, more interested in drinking his beer.

  About twenty seconds later, a scream was heard. Everyone rushed outside, where they found Angela standing over the body of Barry Scott. She was in shock, for she could not move.

  In the dark background, Tammy emerged and saw what had happened. Barry Scott had been standing in exactly the same place as he’d been when he was last seen by Tammy. Everyone gathered round the body of Barry Scott, not knowing what to think. Tammy approached him and looked deep into his eyes. They were bloodshot. It was clear that Barry had suffered a terrible, painful death.

  Chapter 40

  The police returned to the station, surprisingly. Miranda was the first to speak.

  "So, Tammy, what is the name of that perfume you always wear again?"

  "Euphoria," Tammy replied, enjoying the fact that she did not care about the death of Barry Scott.

  "Alright, you've made your point", said Pam, "but you know that we are going to have to investigate this murder?"

  "Yes, I know," Tammy sighed.

  "I hated that man! I don't understand why we have to investigate," Miranda said rather defensively.

  "It's our job," Tammy replied in a pessimistic attitude.

  "The first thing you can do is sort out the alibis of the five people at that table. They were relatives of Scott's victims, so they had a strong motive. We need to establish where everyone was then," Pam said.

  "I'll get to it," said Tammy, knowing it was her duty. If she did not at least try to work out who the killer was, she would be in deep trouble, and she would not want to ruin her reputation as an amazing detective, even if half the town wanted Barry Scott dead, especially in that horrible, gruesome way.

  Tammy tracked each of the five suspects on the same night, as they were still in the pub, excited about what had happened. They were celebrating, at least until Tammy came in.

  "Oh, look!" cried Tracy. "Here she is!"

  "Here who is?" asked Tammy.

  "Well, you murdered Barry Scott, didn't you?" asked Joseph.

  "Why do you think that?" Tammy asked them, intrigued.

  "Well, you were caught shouting at him, and not a moment later, he was dead! It does not take a genius to work out it was you!"

  "Well, maybe you're not a genius," said Tammy. "As much as I hated him, the five of you had stronger motives, didn't you?"

  "But we have alibis!" said a drunken Bethy.

  "I'll have to talk to each of you individually," said Tammy, looking at the five of them and thinking it could have been one of them.

  The first person who Tammy talked to was Tracy. As the mother of a murdered victim, Tammy did not think a prison sentence would make her suffer any more than she was suffering now, so Tammy did not care if she was the killer, as Tracy had been through the worst thing that could ever happen to her in her life.

  "So, Tracy, do you mind telling me where you were between the last time Barry Scott was seen alive, and when Angela found him dead?"

  "Well," said Tracy, "to be precise, I was in the toilet, with Bethy Sanders."

  "Right," said Tammy. "I'll check up on that. Anyway, do you mind telling me about Barry Scott?"

  "I'm glad he's dead, if that's what you're asking?" replied Tracy, "but I didn't kill him, because my son would not have wanted it to be resolved in that way. Barry Scott would have suffered in prison. That's where he should have gone - he'd have suffered more there!"

  Tammy agreed with that, but since that could not be achieved, making him suffer a horrible, painful death would have been the next best thing. Tammy did not need to know much else, because this was a rather simple case. She moved on quickly to Bethy Sanders. She asked Bethy where she was, and Bethy said that she was in the toilet with Tracy. Tammy needed to think about that later on. Next to be interviewed was William Sanders, the brother of Bethy. He said that he was at a table with Linda. Linda said the same thing, although there were no witnesses to this, and the CCTV evidence was waiting to be recovered. Finally, Joseph Hart said that he was outside, taking some air. Tammy was the most suspicious of him, although he was not definitely the killer yet. Evidence needed to be gathered.

  "Why don't you just stop investigating this?" said Joseph, "he made a fool of you! Why don't you just accept that justice has been done and let the killer get away with it!"

  "Because it's my job, unfortunately", said Tammy, "and I don't think a prison sentence would hurt any of you much more than you've already been hurt!"

  Joseph shut up after that.

  Tammy returned home that night, and sat down with a nice glass of fresh orange juice - she had a big day ahead of her, so she needed to relax while she had the time.

  Suddenly, she heard a piece of paper get shoved through the door. It's half past ten at night! She thought to herself. She opened the door to see who it was, but nobody was there; they had vanished. She picked up the piece of paper, and read it:

  "Stop the investigation now or you will pay the consequences."

  Chapter 41

  The following morning was an early one. Tammy could barely sleep; she was too busy debating with herself about whether or not going ahead with the investigation was the right thing to do. Ignoring the threat that she had received the night before, Tammy thought about the morals of it all. On one hand, she should go ahead with the investigation, because it solves the murder of somebody, and that is what she was paid do. On the other hand, she should not, because that would upset the relatives of his victims. It could have been argued that whoever killed Barry Scott was actually a good person, as doing a bad thing to a bad person cancels itself out, and therefore, a good person would have killed Barry Scott. However, Tammy decided to proceed a little while longer to see how things worked out.

  That morning at the station, the others were still reeling with excitement about what had happened the night before. Barry Scott was dead! Tammy had to tell the truth to herself - it was like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders, because she knew that she would never give up fighting until he was behind bars, or at least, until justice was brought to him. Then Tammy thought about something: the night before, when she received the threatening note, where did she put the note? She had forgotten where she had put it. As a matter of fact, she could not remember much about the night before - was there a chance that she had dreamed it?

  She walked in the room,
and the rest of the team were sat in silence. A knife could be cut through the atmosphere in there.

  "What's the matter?" said a confused Tammy.

  "We have nothing against you", said Pam, after a few awkward seconds of silence, "but we think that it is wrong, you doing the investigation".

  "I went through this with you last night!" Tammy said passionately.

  "Just this once, let it be", Pam said, as if she were giving an order.

  "I'm sorry, but I'm not", said Tammy, "not yet, anyway".

  "You look a little shaky", Miranda said suddenly, even grinning slightly.

  "I'm fine", Tammy replied.

  Miranda decided to put pressure on her.

  "You sure about that?" she asked.

  "I'm fine!" said Tammy, "anyway, I'm more than fine! I am happy that Barry Scott is dead, if that is any consolation to any of you!"

  Tammy then sat down.

  "I remember the times he was acting really smug", said Graham Mitchell, "well, we all had the last laugh, because he paid for what he did! I don't care which of the five of them did it, but I hope they don't get caught! They've lost their relatives, for crying out loud! Why would prison help them?"

  "Alright, you've made your point!" exclaimed Tammy, feeling rather left out.

  "What kind of upbringing do you think he had?" asked Pam.

  "Probably sadistic", said Tammy, "judging from what I know about most serial killers".

  "Libby...what's her name was not abused growing up. She was crazy!"

  "Well, that's just one in a million", replied Tammy. "The vast majority of the time, serial killers have been abused, and there is a real reason as to why they kill people".

  "Now it's that age old question", said Miranda, jumping in, "is evil created or are people born evil?"

  "We'll never know", said Pam, finalizing the conversation.

  In all of a sudden, the boss rushed in.

  "Tammy, I need to speak to you!" he cried.