by Lee Shepherd
‘Give me one good reason why I should let you live?’
If he wasn’t in one hundred percent panic mode before, he certainly was now as he could sense his impending doom. Charles let him dwell on the question and pulled his chair closer to where Brian was sat to let him get a better look at his face. Charles then sniggered as he saw a stream of urine make a trail from Brian’s groin, all the way down his beige pants trouser leg to his feet.
‘What’s the matter, Brian, scared are we? Not a nice feeling is it, being scared and alone and with no one to come to your aid?’ Charles was starting to get a real buzz out of humiliating Brian by this point and spoke to him again. ‘Let me fill in the gaps for you, Brian. The last time you saw me was in 1989. It was also the year I left the Beatties’ farm. The farm in which you placed me, you know the one I am talking about don’t you, Brian? The one you used to go and sit in and drink with your good friend Jim!’
Brian knew in that moment exactly who he was now faced with, and knew after the death of Jim that this was not going to end well for him. He just hung his head in shame, as he knew nothing he could say would take away the traumas Jonathon had had to endure.
‘What was it you said to Jim all those years ago, Brian? Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t it, “THAT BOY NEEDS A FIRM HAND”, or something to that effect?’
Brian knew, of course, he was referring to the time Jonathon had told him about the incident where Jim had struck Edna and totally dismissed him.
‘Well how do you like my firm hand? Not very pleasant is it?’ Charles smiled maliciously. ‘Back to what I said before, Brian. Give me one good reason why I should let you live, and maybe I just might.’
Brian knew full well that Jonathon, or whatever his name was these days, had no intention of letting him live, as he wouldn’t even remove the tape from his mouth to let him respond. He just took one last look at Charles and hoped in that moment that he would maybe make it fast and painless before hanging his head yet again and awaiting his punishment. He was to get his wish as Charles spoke and said, ‘See, just as I thought’, then removed the Stanley knife from his bag, approached where Brian was sat and grabbed him by his hair, lifting his head and forcing him to face him before looking into his eyes and dragging the blade across his neck slowly, totally severing his jugular in doing so. Charles held his head aloft for a few seconds and watched as Brian began to bleed out and choke on his own blood before finally letting go and allowing Brian’s head to fall to his chest. Charles cleaned the blade by running it down the side of Brian’s trouser leg, and again smirked at his urine-stained clothes and realised how pathetic and helpless the old man was in his final moments. Charles just had one last thing to do before leaving the house and once again removed the spray paint from his bag and proceeded to write:
AND GOD SAW THAT THE WICKEDNESS OF MAN WAS GREAT IN THE EARTH, AND THAT EVERY IMAGINATION OF THE THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART WAS ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY. AND IT REPENTED THE LORD THAT HE HAD MADE MAN ON THE EARTH, AND IT GRIEVED HIM AT HIS HEART. AND THE LORD SAID, I WILL DESTROY MAN WHOM I HAVE CREATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH; BOTH MAN, AND BEAST, AND THE CREEPING THING, AND THE FOWLS OF THE AIR; FOR IT REPENTETH ME THAT I HAVE MADE THEM. BUT NOAH FOUND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD.
Charles covered an entire wall in doing so, and was pleased as he surveyed his work once more before making his way out of the house unnoticed and back to where his car was parked.
***
The next morning Taylor informed Georgie that they would be taking a drive to Whitehaven to once again speak with Brian Jenkins, although he didn’t disclose to her at this point his recent findings and suspicions. It wasn’t until he got her away from the station and they were well on their way towards Brian’s home that he pulled the car over and asked her to get out, just on the off chance that the vehicle may have been bugged by Chief Inspector Messenger; he’d decided to entrust and confide in Georgie all about his discoveries.
‘All of what I’m about to tell you is private and strictly confidential. It stays between us. I have been monitoring Brian Jenkins’ calls and internet activity, and it seems as though the Chief Inspector, Ian Messenger, was secretly a member of the paedophile ring.’
Georgie gasped, but Taylor continued.
‘This would explain why none of the victims came forward, as there were high-ranking figures of authority involved to dissuade them. We’ve found out that victims have recently mentioned the police being involved in cover-ups, which also makes sense if Messenger is a suspect. Now, I trust you and your opinion and would very much like your help in building a case — off the record, of course — against the paedophile ring.’
Georgie pondered his request as they walked slowly back to the car. She knew the pair of them could potentially be about to commit career suicide if they were to be discovered and then discredited. But, apart from his indiscretions towards his wife, deep down he was a moral man and genuinely wanted to put an end to the corruption and abuse that had plagued the victims’ youth.
‘Okay, you’re on.’
‘Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you.’
They re-entered the parked car.
‘Once we’ve visited Brian,’ Taylor said, ‘we can go back to speak with all the victims and bring photographs. See if that jogs the victims’ memories; maybe they would be willing to come forward and testify in court.’
Georgie once again admired her partner and respected his decency and professionalism.
***
As they pulled up outside of Brian’s home, Taylor immediately sensed something was amiss. It was a bright, spring morning, yet the curtains were still drawn in the front room, and two full milk bottles still sat on the doorstep. He thought it possible that Brian was maybe having a lie in. No, Brian didn’t strike him as the kind of man that would lay in his bed till near lunch time… Taylor started thinking he may have committed suicide as he thought the net was closing in on him. At this point Taylor was just speculating but after ringing the bell, then knocking on the door without reply, he looked closer through the stained glass window and could make out a glimmer of light that flickered through what looked like an opening to another room, which convinced him that the TV was still on in the house.
Taylor at this point decided to attempt the door handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. He looked at Georgie in a manner that told her that he thought something wasn’t quite right, before calling down the corridor from the doorstep.
‘Mr Jenkins, Mr Jenkins, it’s Detective Taylor and Georgina Riley, may we come in?’
He could clearly tell by this point that the TV was definitely on, as he heard advert jingles coming from the room, but still did not hear a reply from Brian.
‘Stay here!’ Taylor whispered to Georgie. His intuition was telling him that something was definitely not right, and he was barely wrong when it came to his gut instincts. The hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention as he cautiously made his way down the hall towards the room where the noise of the TV was coming from.
With the fear of the unknown and thoughts racing through his mind at what he was about to discover, he nervously kicked open the door that led to where Brian’s blood soaked body was slumped over on the floor after falling off his chair post mortem.
Taylor could barely look at the magnitude of blood that surrounded the body, and had to cover his mouth and nose with his hand to prevent him from being sick as the stench filled his nostrils.
‘You might want to come and take a look at this, but I shall warn you, it’s not a pretty sight!’ he called back to Georgie.
The first thing she noticed as she entered the room was not the body, but once again the biblical verse upon the wall, confirming that this was once again the work of the same person they were searching for, and also cemented her suspicions of him striking again and again.
Taylor called his findings in to the station, and the two of them inspected the house for any signs of clues until the forensic team atte
nded. Taylor instructed the officers that arrived first on the scene to knock on all of the surrounding houses to see if anybody witnessed anything, but he suspected due to the caution shown in the other cases that once again nothing would arise. He then instructed Georgie to once again follow him to his car.
‘It looks as though we need to go back and speak to Minister Davies yet again,’ he commented. ‘And we also need to speed up our other investigation before the killer gets to everybody else before we can bring them to justice!’
‘Look on the bright side, Taylor.’
‘What bright side?’ he asked.
‘Well, at least we have a number of names that he could be possibly targeting next. That at least gives us a bit of an upper hand. If he was to go after them next, we could monitor those people and see if anything suspicious happens.’
‘Excellent plan, Georgie, I never thought of that. We make a good team, me and you. The only problem is though, how do we get the manpower without making the Chief Inspector aware?’
‘I haven’t quite thought that far ahead yet, but leave it with me, I’ll try and think of something.’
With that, the two of them set off back towards Carlisle to once again go and speak with Minister Davies.
***
‘I half-thought I would be seeing you again, Detective Taylor. And you, Miss Riley. It is a pleasure as always. I wondered how long it would take before the man struck again. I am right in assuming it is the same suspect, aren’t I, Detective?’
‘I am afraid so, Minister. And what made you so sure he would strike again if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘It was the anger and revenge-driven meaning of the verse that the killer used, and the brutality in the way he exacted his revenge. Can I ask, Detective, did you find anything to suggest that the victim led a secret life like I previously suggested, maybe hiding his sexuality?’
‘Interestingly enough, I was just about to get to that. It appears that the victim, Mr Beattie, was part of some kind of paedophile network that took in vulnerable young children in the care of the local authorities, then subjected these youngsters to prolonged periods of abuse. Going off what you told us, we believe that one of those victims could be the one targeting these men now.’
‘But what about the girls, Detective? That’s the one thing I just don’t get. How are they involved in all of this?’
‘That is the million dollar question, Minister. We just don’t know either.’
‘Back to the matter at hand, then. What can I help you two with this time?’
Georgie spoke next and proceeded to tell Minister Davies all about this morning’s gruesome discovery, and repeated the verse that was found on Brian’s wall.
‘Ah, Genesis 6:5-8. Now this is starting to become clear,’ the minister said to a puzzled Taylor and Miss Riley. ‘Can I ask you both, how was this victim connected to Mr Beattie?’
‘He was the Social worker who referred the majority of the children that passed through the Beattie household throughout this period,’ Taylor informed him.
‘And do you two believe this man was part of the abuse that took place?’ he again questioned.
‘We believe at this moment in time that he had some involvement in it. If not the physical act, then he was still most definitely the orchestrator of these children being put into that position, and he was guilty of idly sitting back and allowing it to happen.’
‘Well let me tell you what my thoughts on the matter are, and see if that helps you both. This murderer associates himself with Noah, and sees his abusers as the wicked men that God will wipe out. I think you’re right; if he wasn’t involved in the direct abuse, then the killer would probably associate him with the “creeping thing” from the verse.
‘Do you have an extensive list of people who might be involved in the abuse? I can guarantee that the killer, who justifies his actions by believing he is doing God’s work by “destroying man from the face of the Earth”, will most definitely be targeting these people next. I think you’re right that it is undeniably a past victim returning to exact his revenge upon his abusers. The sooner you find your man, the better; his rage and reasoning for his actions are without doubt taking control of his every thought, and he is being driven by carrying out the work of God in his own mind.’
***
Over the next couple of days Taylor and Georgie re-visited all of the people with whom they had previously spoken to regarding their time with the Beatties. As planned, this time they were armed with pictures of all the individuals on the list of people that Brian had contacted in the week leading up to his death. Nearly each and every one of them identified the majority of the men as being their abusers, and over half of them confirmed Taylor’s suspicions about Chief Inspector Messenger being involved. They repeatedly pointed him out as being one of the more forceful ones and quite a few of them all stated the same thing, which was that he used to tell them that it was pointless going to the police with any allegations, as he was the police and nobody would believe them and they would find themselves in a world of trouble as a result of making up lies.
However, hardly any of them were willing to testify against these men as they were all well-respected pillars of the community, and they thought nobody would believe them due to the amount of time that had passed. Furthermore, they didn’t want their pasts to be dragged through the media; they resented having to re-live the awful memories already.
Only one victim agreed to testify in front of a courtroom, on one condition: she wanted to be placed in protective custody until the trial was over. She had lived her whole life in fear of her abusers one day coming back for her, and decided she did not want to live in fear any longer. Taylor agreed to her requests, but knew realistically he could not offer her that at this moment in time as that would involve informing Chief Inspector Messenger of his findings. He decided to pull Georgie to one side and asked her to do him a huge favour for the sake of the case and have the witness stay at the hotel with her; nobody at the station would suspect that. She could stay with Georgie at least until they could gather enough evidence from her about the details of the abuse so he could present a solid case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) against Messenger and the others. They would try to bring the paedophile network to its knees from the top down!
This didn’t sit well with Georgie, who already suspected that she was in over her head, but she trusted Taylor, and reluctantly agreed to his request. They gathered the woman’s belongings and returned to the hotel where Georgie was staying and informed the woman that she would not be able to leave until she received instructions that it was safe to do so.
***
Taylor went to work by himself the next day as Georgie decided to take the day off and find out as much information as she could from the woman. He made up an excuse on her behalf to the Chief Inspector and told him that he had a couple of leads to follow up on regarding the death of Brian Jenkins. Messenger was by this point starting to become extremely impatient with Taylor and threatened to replace him as lead detective on the case as he suggested that he wasn’t up to the job. Taylor did his best to reassure him that he was, and convinced Messenger to give him another few weeks to try and locate the missing Jonathon McMullen, as they had managed to rule out all the other names on the list they had received of all the children that ever stayed with the Beatties.
Taylor addressed his team and asked if there had been any recent developments on the case and, more importantly, in the search for Jonathon McMullen. Everybody was baffled; there were just no leads on his existence, let alone whereabouts turning up. Taylor knew that he was running out of time before the killer struck again, it could be weeks or even days. If only they knew who his next target was going to be, then he might just be able to catch him in the act by having around the clock surveillance on the intended victim. But once again he knew that he could not put that suggestion forward. He just knew that it was probably going to be someone on his list!
As a frustrated Taylor made his way into his office he received a phone call from one of the forensic experts involved in all of the recent deaths.
‘Detective Taylor?’ the voice on the end of the phone asked.
‘Yes? Can I help you?’
‘Maybe quite the opposite, Detective. I’m thinking I might be able to help you.’
‘How so?’ Taylor asked.
‘Well, Detective, my name is Frank Sinclair, and I am one of the leading forensic experts that attended at the scene of not only Amber Thompson’s body, but the bodies of James Beattie and Brian Jenkins also.’
Taylor’s interest was roused. ‘Please tell me you’ve got something good for me?’
‘Well, I believe that one of my colleagues has told you already that we picked up a partial foot print on the river bank where Amber’s body was discovered?’
‘Yes, yes, go on.’
‘Well we also managed to get a footprint from the home of Mr Jenkins due to the amount of blood that was on the floor. And I can now confirm that they are the same size eleven, and exactly identical shoe patterns, which probably confirms that the two murders was committed by the same lone attacker.’
Taylor immediately started to feel deflated at being told something he already knew. ‘Is that it?’
‘Actually no detective, if you let me finish, I was just about to get to the good part!’
‘Which is?’ he pressed.
‘We also managed to get a partial finger print from the door knob at Haywood farm, which isn’t that of Mr Beattie. And that’s not all — we also managed to find a hair fibre near to where the body was found that doesn’t belong to the victim.’
Taylor thanked the man and told him to get back in touch as soon as the two pieces of evidence had been analysed, and let him know if they manage to present a match. Taylor then immediately left his office and was heading towards Chief Inspector Messenger’s to let him know of this recent discovery, but stopped as he approached, deciding against informing his senior. If he was to identify the man responsible he wanted to question him first, before Messenger could take over proceedings and possibly collapse the case Taylor was building against him.