“That’s great,” Mitch said. “I’m glad you finally have a lead to follow.”
“Thanks to you, sir. That was quick thinking, kicking the knife away into those weeds.”
“It was purely reflex,” Mitch said. But he felt a glimmer of pride. If this knife led the police to arrest Sarah’s killer, then he’d helped her in some way after all.
Preston smiled. “We’ll get this to the lab and have it processed. Have a good day, Mr. Walker.” She and the constable got into their car and left.
Mitch didn’t bother going into Edge House. He had no taste for the place anymore. He’d even consider selling it to Silas now, if the man turned out not to be a killer.
He went to the Jeep and put the sports bag into the boot. He’d stay at a hotel tonight. He climbed into the Jeep and felt a stab of hunger as well as pain. He wondered if Elly had eaten lunch yet. Maybe he should pick up something on the way to her cottage and they could eat while they went over the case. He set the GPS to the postcode Elly had given him and put the vehicle into gear.
As he set off, it began to rain. Typical, Mitch thought. Just when my mood is lifting, the weather tries to dampen it.
He turned on the wipers and turned up the radio. It was tuned to an eighties station and Duran Duran were singing “Hungry Like the Wolf.” Mitch took that as an omen; he needed to get food.
When he arrived at Windrider Cottage, he was ravenous. He’d stopped at a supermarket on the way and picked up baguettes, cooked ham, cheddar, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, cream, and a bottle of red wine.
If Elly had already eaten, then he could use her kitchen to make himself a ham-and-cheese baguette. If she hadn’t, he had enough food for both of them. Even if Elly wasn’t hungry, he was sure she wouldn’t say no to a dish of strawberries and cream and a glass of wine.
He wasn’t exactly sure why he’d bought fresh ingredients and wine rather than just grab some pre-packaged sandwiches and a couple of cans of Coke, but he thought it was something to do with the fact that he was going to see Elly.
The truth was, he liked her. She was a strong woman who exuded confidence, and Mitch found that attractive. And they worked well together. He didn’t have any designs on her but he also didn’t want her to think he was a pre-packaged-sandwiches type of guy.
Yet one of the things he found attractive about her was that he knew she wouldn’t mind even if she thought he was that type of guy. Elly didn’t have any airs and graces at all.
Yet you’re still trying to impress her.
No, I’m not. I just want us to have a nice lunch.
With wine. You never have wine at lunchtime.
Mentally switching off his internal monologue, he parked the Jeep next to Elly’s Mini and got out into the light rain. The cottage stood alone overlooking the moors. It was quaint but looked like it had been built to withstand the harsh weather up here on the hillside.
Pretty and tough, just like Elly.
“Shut up,” he muttered at his own thoughts.
The front door opened and Elly came out. She was wearing jeans and a red long-sleeved top with the Nike swoosh on the left breast. She gave Mitch a wave and came over to him, smiling. “Hey, good to see you’re still among the living.”
“Yeah, it feels good,” he said. “Have you eaten? I’ve got some food.”
“Not yet. I’m starving.”
Mitch congratulated himself for his quick thinking. He unloaded the shopping bags from the boot and followed Elly into the cottage. She led him to the kitchen, where the windows offered a view of the moors and the distant peaks.
“Wow,” he said, putting the bags down on the table. “That’s a view.”
She grinned. “At last, someone who appreciates it.”
“What do you mean? Who didn’t?”
“My sister. She said she’d rather look out her window and see shops.”
He laughed and indicated the bags. “I’ve got some baguettes and ham here, that kind of thing.”
“Sounds good. We can have a working lunch.” She opened the cupboards and took out a couple of plates. She took a packet of butter from the fridge, and from a drawer near the sink, she produced a selection of knives and put them on the table next to the plates.
“That reminds me,” Mitch said. “The police found the knife I was stabbed with. It was still in the garden at Edge House. Apparently, it’s a diver’s knife.”
She raised a quizzical eyebrow. “An odd choice of weapon. I don’t think any of our suspects are divers.”
“Jack might be. Tilly told me that he’s into that kind of thing. She didn’t mention diving specifically but apparently he broke his leg once while hang-gliding.”
Elly nodded slowly. “Okay, so it could be him. It’s a bit circumstantial, though.”
“I guess we just have to hope the police might connect the knife to him. Or if it’s not him, then to whoever used it to stab me and probably kill Rhonda Knowles.”
Elly began cutting into the baguettes with the bread knife. “Let’s say it was Jack who killed Rhonda and stabbed you while he was retrieving the journal from your house. Are we saying he was Michael’s accomplice and that Michael carried out the earlier crimes?”
“No, I don’t think that’s the case,” Mitch said, opening the cherry tomatoes and placing some on each plate. “I think Michael was innocent and Jack is doing the dirty work for Silas.”
She thought about that for a minute and then nodded slowly. “It’s possible but are you sure you’re not being biased, though? Michael is your dad, after all.”
Mitch told her about the photograph he’d seen hanging on the wall of the orthopaedic ward. He told her about Silas coming to the hospital room and telling him to stop digging. And he repeated what Tilly had said about Jack doting on his father and doing everything Silas told him to do.
By the time he was done, the baguettes were ready and the strawberries and cream were in the fridge.
“I brought wine,” Mitch said, pulling the bottle out of the bag.
“I’ll pass on the wine,” Elly said. She reached into the fridge and took out a bottle of Coke.
Mitch put the wine on the table. “Coke sounds good to me too.”
They took their food and drinks into the dining room, where Mitch was surprised to see the whiteboard Elly had filled with bits and pieces of the case.
“This is impressive,” he said. Then he noticed the photo of him and Sarah and added, “Where did you get this?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She went to the board and grabbed a red marker. “Based on what you’ve told me, we can now draw a line connecting Silas to Josie Wagner.” She drew the line. “He’s already connected to Olivia and Sarah, of course. That leaves the Hatton sisters and Lindsey Grofield.” She frowned at the board. “There must be a connection, we just don’t know what it is yet.”
Her phone, which was sitting on the dining room table, began to ring. Elly picked it up and rolled her eyes when she looked at the screen. “My mother,” she said. “I’d best take this.” She walked into the hallway and Mitch heard her say, “Hi, Mum.”
He studied the board. Elly had done a good job of listing everything relevant to the case and drawing connections where they existed. The board didn’t give Mitch a flash of inspiration or show him anything he didn’t already know but it sorted the information into a neat, visual form.
Elly returned to the room, a look of concern on her face.
“Something wrong?” Mitch asked.
“I don’t know. My mum said Jen hasn’t arrived home yet. She was ringing to see if she left later than planned this morning. She didn’t. She should be home by now.” She sighed. “Maybe the traffic’s just bad.”
“The motorway can get really busy,” Mitch offered. “Especially if there are roadworks.”
Elly smiled but it was thin. “Yeah, Mum’s probably worrying about nothing as usual.”
Mitch pointed at her phone. “Have you tried ringing your sister?”
She shook her head. “No, but Mum’s rung her about a dozen times, I think. No answer.” She began pressing the phone’s screen and then held it up to her ear. After a couple of minutes, she said, “No, nothing,” and ended the call.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Mitch said. “What’s her car like? Is it possible she broke down?”
“It’s a brand new Nissan. She could have gotten a flat, I suppose, but then she’d call the AA and she’d be answering her phone.” She went to the window and looked out, as if expecting to see her sister standing there in the rain.
“I’ll check the traffic report, see if there’s any hold up on the motorway,” Mitch said, fishing his phone out of his pocket. “There could be an accident or an overturned lorry or something.” He brought up the news and a headline caught his eye.
“They’ve arrested someone,” he told Elly.
She turned to him with a questioning look. “What?”
“Put the telly on. They’ve arrested someone for Rhonda Knowles’ murder.”
She went into the living room and Mitch followed. Elly used the remote to turn the TV on. The headline that Mitch had just read on his phone was written across the bottom of the screen: MAN ARRESTED IN RHONDA KNOWLES MURDER CASE.
The screen was showing video footage taken from a helicopter. Mitch could see a country road and four police cars surrounding a blue Land Rover. It looked like the police cars had forced the Land Rover to stop because its front end was partly embedded in the bushes at the side of the road.
The voice of the female newsreader was saying, “This is the footage we’re getting at the moment. Apparently, the police were involved in a high-speed chase, which resulted in the suspect crashing his car. He was then arrested and taken to Buxton police station where he is currently being held in custody. I can confirm that the suspect is a man in his thirties who lives close to Blackden Edge, the place where Rhonda Knowles’ body was found in the early hours of yesterday morning.”
On the screen, a police van arrived and three white-suited SOCOs got out and went over to the Land Rover. They began inspecting it inside and out.
“We can confirm that the police will give a statement later today with more details but what we know at the moment is that a man in his thirties, who is local to the area, has been arrested in connection with the murder of Rhonda Knowles.”
“It’s got to be Jack,” Mitch said. “He’s the right age and he’s a local.”
“So are a thousand other people,” Elly said. “We have no way of knowing if it’s him or not.”
There was a knock at the door that made them both jump. Mitch looked out of the window and saw Battle’s dark green Range Rover parked on the road.
Elly went to answer the door and Mitch followed.
DS Morgan stood on the step, her face grim. “Can I come in?” she asked Elly.
“Yes, of course,” Elly said, ushering her inside. “Have you come to tell us about the man who’s been arrested?”
“That isn’t why I’m here, no, although I’ve come about something that’s connected to the arrest. I think you should sit down, Miss Cooper.”
Elly frowned, confused. “What? Why?”
“Please,” DS Morgan said, indicating the living room.
Elly complied, her face suddenly worried. She sat on the sofa and Mitch noticed that her hands were clasped tightly together in her lap. “What is it?” she asked Morgan.
“The man we arrested earlier today was Jack Walker. His fingerprints were found on the diver’s knife we discovered at Edge House.”
“But he was wearing gloves,” Mitch said. “When he attacked me, he was wearing gloves.”
DS Morgan nodded. “He wore gloves when he broke into your house, sir, but he’d touched the knife before then and not bothered to wipe it down. As you can imagine, DCI Battle is having a field day with that one.”
She turned back to Elly. “We arrested Mr. Walker on a road twenty minutes south of here. He made a run for it but we caught him. When he was arrested, he was in possession of another knife, similar to the one we found at Edge House. The blade was bloody. When asked about it, Mr. Walker refused to comment.”
She cleared her throat. “We made another discovery on the same road, an abandoned Nissan X-Trail that belongs to your sister, Jennifer Townsend.”
“Oh, my God,” Elly said. A stricken look crossed her face. “You said abandoned. You mean Jen wasn’t in it?”
“No, she wasn’t. We have reason to believe that before he was arrested, Jack Walker had some sort of contact with your sister.”
Elly looked at her with fury in her eyes. “Some sort of contact? You mean he killed her?” Tears spilled from her eyes. “Jen,” she said weakly.
Mitch sat next to her on the sofa and put his arm around her shoulder. Elly collapsed against his chest and sobbed.
“No, I don’t mean that at all,” DS Morgan said. “We found blood on the Nissan’s driver’s seat and door but we don’t know what’s happened to your sister. We have the entire force out looking for her.”
“But Jack Walker knows,” Elly said, pushing away from Mitch and getting up. “I want to speak with him.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible, miss. DCI Battle is interviewing Mr. Walker at the moment and he’ll get all the information we need regarding your sister.” She checked her watch. “Now, I have to get back to the station but I promise we’ll call you the moment we know anything.”
Turning to Mitch, she said, “Will you be able to stay with her, sir?”
Mitch nodded. “Yes, of course.”
“I’ll see myself out.” She left and Mitch heard the front door close.
“Oh God, I don’t believe it,” Elly said. “Not Jen. She wasn’t involved in any of this until I dragged her into it. It’s all my fault. She’s dead and it’s all my fault.”
“It isn’t your fault and we don’t know what’s happened to her,” Mitch said.
“Jack knows,” she said, “but they won’t let me speak with him.”
“Whatever he knows, Battle will get it out of him,” Mitch assured her. “I’m sure Battle is like a dog with a bone in the interview room.”
She looked at him and wiped at her tears with the sleeve of her top. “Silas,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re right about Jack doing this for his father, then Silas knows what happened to Jen. I’m going to go and see him.” She strode into the dining room and snatched her keys from the table.
“Let me drive,” Mitch said.
She nodded. “Okay.”
They went out to the Jeep. The rain was falling softly now, gently whispering over the cars and the road.
“I guess he’ll be at Blackmoor House,” Mitch said.
“I know the way.”
Mitch started the engine and reversed onto the road.
“That way,” Elly said, pointing north.
Mitch followed her instructions and headed north. He had no idea what they were going to say to Silas when they got to Blackmoor House or if he was going to have to restrain Elly from assaulting the man.
They were probably going to have to confront Alice too. Did she know about her husband’s and son’s crimes? Mitch thought she must know. A secret like that was too big to hide from someone you lived with. But he’d heard of murderer’s spouses being unaware of their partner’s misdeeds. Could Alice be unaware that she was living with not one but two murderers?
“You need to go faster,” Elly told him. “If Jack confesses to Battle and incriminates Silas, the police will be on their way to Blackmoor House. I have to talk to Silas before they arrest him.”
“You think Jack will snitch on his dad?” Mitch asked her.
“Probably.”
Mitch put his foot down and the Jeep sped north towards Dark Peak.
31
Interview
Battle was tired. The events of the last couple of days had taxed his mind and given him s
leepless nights during which he had lain in bed with a million thoughts tumbling through his head.
Now, at last, they had Jack Walker in custody. Jack couldn’t be responsible for the earlier crimes but he was certainly responsible for the murder of Rhonda Knowles. His fingerprints were on the diver’s knife and the pathologist had matched that knife to the wounds on Rhonda’s torso.
Battle looked across the interview room table at Jack and his lawyer. So far, Jack hadn’t said much, but it was coming, Battle could sense it. The lad desperately wanted to say something. What it was, Battle had no idea, but he knew that his patience would be rewarded if he just sat it out.
“Come on, Jack,” he said, “tell me why you did it. Tell me about Rhonda Knowles.”
“She was nobody,” Jack said.
“So you did know her, then?”
Jack shrugged. His eyes were fixed on the table between them. “No, not really. I’ve seen her around, that’s all. What happened to her wasn’t right.”
“You mean her being killed?”
Jack shook his head. “No, I mean the way it was done. It was all wrong. A pale imitation.” He looked up at Battle. “I don’t understand, you see. I want to make him proud of me but I don’t understand the meaning behind what he did. I thought it would all become clear when I killed Rhonda, but it didn’t.”
“Jack,” the lawyer said quickly, “I advise you not to say anything else.”
“Shut up,” Jack said. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s going to all come out anyway. And it’s about time it did.”
Not too much patience required after all, Battle thought. He’s going to give me everything gift-wrapped and tied up with a neat little bow.
Jack pointed at Battle. “You are going to be so humiliated when you find out what he did, how many years he evaded you.” He laughed. “He’ll go down in history as the greatest killer of all time.”
“Who will?” Battle asked.
Jack paused, seemed to be thinking, and then said, “My father. Silas Walker. He’s had you lot baffled for decades.”
Battle raised an eyebrow. “Your father? I’d be interested to know how he’s managed that. It can’t be easy killing fit young girls when you’re in a wheelchair.”
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