by Jason Ayres
According to the presenter, there had been huge snowfalls on the Eastern US coast over Christmas. Kay vowed next year she was going to go somewhere snowy for Christmas. Perhaps she should go back to Rovaniemi, but for the winter solstice this time. Then she could see the Aurora Borealis. There was nothing and no one stopping her now from doing these things.
At 5pm exactly, the main national news came on. The local murders were once again the lead item. Kay watched as the channel’s main news anchor, a middle-aged man in a grey suit and hair to match, delivered the latest update.
“Detectives hunting the killer of three women in Oxfordshire who were raped and stabbed during the past week have today issued a £25,000 reward for information to help catch ‘The Christmas Killer’, as the murderer has become known.”
The picture on the screen behind the newscaster switched to the road next to the woody path, just as Kay had seen it earlier that day, with police and media everywhere.
“The latest victim, Polish national Anna Wiśniewski, died after being knifed less than 200 yards from her home late last night.”
Kay looked on, horrified, as the image of Anna, the kind and downtrodden girl from the chip shop, was flashed onto the screen.
Chapter Eighteen
December 2018
Suddenly things had become all very horrible and all very real.
The news reported terrible events like this all the time, but they were always things happening far away and to people she didn’t know. Being local, this story had caught her attention more than most but until now, not personally knowing the victims, had still left her with a fair degree of detachment.
Now things were different. The loss of the lovely, young girl’s life, who had been so kind to Kay at a time when no one else would, caused her to begin sobbing uncontrollably. How could anyone have done this to her? Anna would never have harmed a fly. It was bad enough that the poor girl had been bullied and abused by McVie while she was alive, but to lose her life in such horrific circumstances was an absolute tragedy.
The footage switched to a picture of a policewoman she recognised from the scene earlier, identified by an on-screen caption as D.I. Hannah Benson, head of the local police. She had never met her personally, but knew of her. Kent had mentioned a while back that it was her who had taken his old job. She was being interviewed by Seema Mistry at the scene.
“We’re offering this reward because it’s vital that we catch this evil man before he kills again,” said Hannah. “Someone out there must know something. Please, if you have any information, anything at all, that you think may help our investigation, come and talk to us.”
Kay switched off the television, grabbing a tissue to wipe the tears away from her eyes. She didn’t have any information she could give Hannah yet, but she was going to make damned sure she soon would. The evil animal that had killed Anna was going to be brought to justice and she was the one who was going to make it happen.
She decided against ringing Kent in case his wife wanted to know who was calling and sent him a text instead, confirming that she would meet him in the pub later in the evening.
Kay was nervous walking to the pub and stuck to the well-lit main roads. Even if she didn’t fit the profile of the other victims, she certainly wasn’t taking any chances.
By 8pm, she was banging on the thick, wooden door of The Red Lion. The curtains were closed and the place looked deserted, but a few seconds later, the door opened a crack and she was surprised to see Andy peering around from the other side.
“It’s alright!” shouted Andy back into the pub. “It’s just Kent’s bit of stuff.”
“Let her in, then,” she heard Craig call.
Andy opened up the door and said, “Sorry about that. Craig doesn’t want anyone to know he’s open tonight. It’s strictly a private party, just for his friends.”
“How come you are here, then?” quipped Kay.
“Me and Craig, we’re old muckers, we are. Go back years, we do,” protested Andy.
“I expect you are,” remarked Kay. “You’ve probably paid for his pension by now.”
“Any chance of a Christmas kiss, then?” he asked, gesturing at a sprig of mistletoe he had crudely attached to the top of his trousers directly above his crotch.
“You must be joking,” replied Kay, thinking what a twat he was. Still, the little exchange of banter had temporarily alleviated the distress she still felt at the death of Anna.
Making her way over towards the bar, Kay could see that there was a small but select group of drinkers in the pub, about fifteen in total. They were all people she recognised, mostly long-time regulars, middle-aged divorcees and losers like Andy who had no one else to spend Christmas Day with.
It was quite a sorry-looking crowd, if she was being honest, the sort of people she used to feel sorry for until she become one of them herself.
Kent was at the bar with Nobby, who was rabbiting on about the horses as usual. She also recognised the captain of the pub’s newly formed quiz team. The others had nicknamed him ‘The Beast’ after a character on a teatime TV quiz show on account of his vast knowledge and opinions on all manner of trivial subjects. He had been boring her silly at the bar a few nights ago with some theory about the Star of Bethlehem being an alien spaceship.
“The worst thing about Christmas is that there’s no racing for three days,” said Nobby. “Thank God it’s Boxing Day tomorrow and we can get back to normal: I’m getting withdrawal symptoms.”
“Can’t you go on the fruit machine or something?” said Kent, gesturing towards the large, noisy box with flashing lights in the corner.
“There’s no value in them things,” said Nobby. “Strictly for mugs, they are. Now, listen, you want to take my advice. I’ve been running tomorrow’s cards through the computer and I’m telling you now, I’ve got the winner of the King George at Kempton Park. It’s going to piss down tonight and this thing’s been waiting for soft ground. Absolutely nailed on, it is.”
“Well, good luck with that, then,” said Kent, who had lost interest in betting after an attempt at a time-travelling betting coup on Auroras Encore in the 2013 Grand National had gone awry.
“I can name every King George winner since it started in 1937,” boasted The Beast, who was like a walking Wikipedia on such matters. He wasn’t captain of the quiz team for nothing.
“I bet you can,” said Kent, who had spotted Kay approaching the bar and needed an out from the conversation. “Why don’t you tell them all to Nobby here.”
The Beast turned to Nobby and started listing horses, giving Kent an opportunity to greet Kay.
“What are you drinking?” he asked her.
“The usual,” replied Kay. “Double vodka and Coke.”
Kay had decided that now she was getting her life back, she was going to cut out the binge drinking. When she was at rock bottom, she had drunk to drown her sorrows, but those particular problems were behind her now.
However, tonight was an exception. The news of Anna’s death had hit her hard. She needed a drink tonight. She could make staying off the booze her New Year’s resolution, once all of this was over.
The two of them made their way over to their usual table and sat down, ignoring the usual jibes from Andy who was still revelling in his role as impromptu doorman. He seemed proud of his temporarily acquired status, unaware that he had only been sent over there to give the others at the bar a bit of peace from him.
“I can’t believe poor Anna’s dead,” said Kay.
“You knew her?” asked Kent.
“Yes, she worked in the chip shop below my flat. She was a lovely girl, always friendly and hard-working, even though her boss exploited her and treated her like crap. I just can’t believe this has happened.”
Kay began to cry again. Kent reached over and took her hand, not caring whether Andy noticed or not.
“Don’t let her death be in vain, Kay,” said Kent. “I’m sure you’ve thought this over. You know what
you have to do.”
“Yes, I have,” replied Kay, “I have to go back two days and find the killer. I can’t save her, though. Whatever I do back there, she’ll still be dead here.”
“I know. It’s too late for Anna now, but you can potentially save future victims. It’s vital this monster’s caught before he kills again. That’s three in eight days. We need to move fast.”
“Even if I do find out, will the police believe us? Would you have believed me?”
“I don’t know, to be honest,” replied Kent. “I’ve never been put in this situation. Would you believe it? All those years in the police force and I never got anywhere near a murder. As soon as I retire, three come along at once. But I’ve still got contacts on the force. Now would be a good time to use them.”
“So what’s the plan, then?” asked Kay.
“Find out who the murderer is,” replied Kent. “Then, when you get back, we’ll go and see Hannah together. She’ll have to hear me out. She owes me that much after all our years working together. Even if we don’t have any evidence, we’ll find a way to make her listen.”
“OK, well, before I go back, I need to find out as much information as I can about the night of the murder,” said Kay. “I only know what we’ve been told by the TV news. I know where she was killed, but do we know when?”
“Not exactly,” said Kent. “I could try and find out more from Hannah, but it might look a bit odd, me making enquiries, bearing in mind it’s not supposed to be anything to do with me anymore.”
“So what do you suggest, then? I go and camp out in the woods all night, wait for her to come along and then watch her get butchered to death?”
“There’s no need for you to freeze your tits off in the woods,” replied Kent. “That lot up there at the bar were talking about this earlier and apparently Anna was in here last night. So was I, but I don’t recall seeing her, but then I’ve never met her before, so I would have been unlikely to have noticed her – it was packed again last night. Craig reckons she was hanging out with that group of teenagers that’s always around the pool table.”
“If that’s true, then surely all I’ve got to do is go back to yesterday, come down here for the evening and then follow her home?” asked Kay.
“In a nutshell,” replied Kent. “And I’ll be here, too. I can help you.”
“But you won’t know about any of this then, will you?” asked Kay. “It’ll be a different version of you from before the murder happened.”
“You’re right, I won’t, but I’m sure I’ll believe you if you explain it all to me. Then I will be able to help.”
“I hope so,” said Kay.
“Well, that’s settled, then,” said Kent. “You are about to become the world’s first time-travelling detective. I wish I could come with you, but I’ve used all six of my days up.”
“At least one version of you will still be involved,” said Kay. “It’s just you that won’t remember any of it. It will be just the same as when I met your other self at the summer ball.”
“All these different versions of us running about could make this quite complicated,” replied Kent. “It is a shame we can’t go back in time together. If only the angel had given us unlimited trips back in time. We could have set up our own time-travelling detective agency.”
“Partners in time,” suggested Kay.
“Brilliant,” said Kent. “Perhaps we should pitch that idea to the angel. You never know.”
Kay liked that idea. She would bear it in mind.
“I think I’m more or less ready to go, then,” she said. “I will be leaving tomorrow morning, so make sure you are free afterwards. Like you say, the sooner he is behind bars, the less chance he can kill again.”
“Agreed,” replied Kent. “Now let’s go back to the bar and see what else we can find out.”
They didn’t get much more information out of the regulars. Andy was back on his stool, having reached his usual level of drunken incoherence where it was not worth attempting to have a conversation with him about anything. Meanwhile, The Beast and Nobby were taking it in turns, seeing how many teams they could name that had played in the Premiership since it had started in 1992.
But Craig was a little more helpful. Apparently the police had been in and spoken to him. He was pretty sure that Anna had left some time after midnight and long before the pub had closed at 2am. It was a bit vague, but a useful starting point.
When Kent offered to walk Kay home, it was an offer she gratefully accepted. Deep down, she knew that she probably wouldn’t be a target for the killer. All of the girls had been young and all had been of Eastern European origin. But even if she didn’t fit the profile, there was still fear in her heart.
It wasn’t irrational. No woman in her right mind would have wanted to walk home alone after what had happened the previous night, no matter what her age or race. It simply wasn’t worth the risk.
She enjoyed being escorted home by Kent. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had bothered to walk her home unless he was expecting to get some sex out of it.
At the door she bid him goodnight with a quick peck on the cheek and decided to go straight to bed. She needed to be razor-sharp for the mission that lay ahead of her the next day.
Chapter Nineteen
December 2018
Kay was woken early by heavy raindrops lashing against the bedroom window. The gloomy weather forecast had been right.
Her thoughts were preoccupied with the day ahead. What would the angel make of what she was planning to do? As far as Kay could see, it wasn’t breaking any rules, just as her quest to get her house back hadn’t. Wanting to get started as quickly as possible, she got straight up and started to get dressed.
With bathroom functions concluded and two cups of coffee inside her, she again faced her youthful reflection in the wardrobe mirror. There was no point trying to hide her intentions: she may as well just come straight out with it.
“I only want to go back two days this time,” she began. “A young girl was murdered in this town on Christmas Eve and I want to find out who, did it. Is that OK?”
“There’s no reason why you can’t do that,” replied the angel, as Kay had hoped. “You are not the first to make such a request. However, you are going to need to be very careful.”
“How do you mean?” asked Kay.
“Remember, as soon as you arrive back there, you are starting an alternate timeline. Everything you say and everything you do could potentially change things from that moment onwards. If you really want to find out who committed this murder, you can’t risk doing anything that might change the natural course of events leading up to it.”
“I have already thought about that,” said Kay. “I am going to speak to Richard when I get back there and work out a plan.”
“That just emphasises my point,” replied the angel. “Just by talking to him, you are making a change. What if he was the murderer? He might decide to kill you instead, and then where would you be?”
Kay dismissed this suggestion without a second thought.
“There’s no way it could be him. I’ve known him most of my life and there’s no way he’s a murderer, not in this universe or any other.”
“Are you sure about that? They do say it’s the ones you least suspect,” said the angel.
“Well, I’ll take that risk,” replied Kay. “It was partly his idea that I do this anyway, I hardly think he would have suggested it if he was the killer. As for changing things by talking to him, that doesn’t worry me. He’s an old hand at this time-travelling lark by now. He knows the rules and wants to find out who the murderer is just as much as I do. He won’t do anything to jeopardise that.”
“Well, I shall be keeping a close eye on you to see how you get on,” said the angel. “Are you ready to go?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” replied Kay. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Complying with her request, the angel sent her on her
way. The room dissolved as she took her short temporal trip back by 48 hours.”
“I thought I’d seen the last of this place,” she said out loud as she once again found herself looking around her gloomy little flat. She was back where she had started two days ago, on Christmas Eve. It felt like a lot longer than that. From her perspective it was, considering the extra days she had spent away time-travelling since then.
She remembered what the angel had said about not altering things, but what about things that had nothing to do with Anna’s death? She did not see any point going through the exact routine she had on Christmas Eve before. There was no need to go back to her old house to evict Alan and Lucy all over again. That was done and dusted in her original timeline, and there was no need to re-enact it.
Not following that path surely would not have any impact on what was going to happen to Anna. The events were completely independent of each other. Unless by some unlikely twist of fate Alan was the murderer, Kay didn’t see how he could be, as he would have been safely tucked up in bed with Lucy in The Oxfordshire at the time of Anna’s death.
Her thoughts turned again to the ill-fated Anna. Kay wanted so much to see the girl again one last time, but how could she look her in the eye, knowing the grisly end that awaited her? She simply couldn’t face it. Every gut instinct would want to warn her or to drop some hint to help her get home safely.
But that would defeat the whole object of coming back here, and for what? To give her a few more hours of life in a universe that was soon to be deleted? No, she had to keep her distance from Anna, at least until the time of the attack.
How else could she spend the day? She certainly had no intention of going to work. She hadn’t gone in her original timeline, risking being sacked, so she certainly wasn’t going in this universe where it didn’t matter.
The best thing she could do would be to stay out of everyone’s way until the evening. This meant either getting out of town or staying in the flat all day. The latter wasn’t exactly her idea of fun but with barely two pennies to rub together she could hardly go off enjoying herself.