by Joy Ellis
Kate told him that that point had already been made.
‘I thought so; and for that reason, I did a close examination of the room, in particular the wall construction. It is almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but one wall is plastered differently to the others, and with the halogen lamps that we have now, there is the faintest outline of a doorway visible under scrutiny.’
Kate felt a little thrill of excitement. ‘So the beds, and everything else, were brought in from an entrance located somewhere on the Windrush property itself?’
‘Oh I think so. I suggest that the room was all set up, and then the entrance sealed, either to stop anyone from Windrush stumbling upon it, or simply to make it appear that it has nothing to do with the owner. The beds are almost certainly a legacy from the time when the house was used as a sanatorium; the design and the age verify that.’ Tommy took a breath, and then continued. ‘When we hand the scene back to you, maybe your young man from the University could use some of his equipment and investigate what is on the other side of the wall?’
‘I’ll do that, Tommy. Believe it or not, he’s still here. He and one of our IT lads have their teeth buried into correlating all the underground tunnels and old structures into some sort of computerised map of the estate.’
‘Excellent. Do you think that you could you ask him if he knows of a locally-based forensic anthropologist that would be prepared to give us a hand with the oldest skeleton? I’ve got my hands full trying to organise all this and I’m pretty sure that that lady holds some big secrets.’
‘I’ll ask him, but what do you mean ‘big secrets’?’
‘Well, I can tell you that this is not the first place where that girl was laid to rest.’
Her brow drew together in a concentrated frown. Exhumed? Dug up? ‘Can you elucidate on that? My mind is throwing up some rather bizarre scenarios right now.’
‘Probably no more outlandish than the truth, whatever that turns out to be. This lass was most definitely brought here some time after her original passing. Don’t ask me how I know, my report will fill you in on that. Just believe me, I know what I’m talking about.’
Kate let out a long exhalation of breath. ‘I’ll definitely ask Ted about finding someone to help you with her. As you said, she could be the key to what happened.’
‘I better get back, Kate. I cannot tell you how much work we have to do tonight.’
‘How are you going to cope, Tommy? I mean once you’ve got all the bodies ready to transport? The morgue is not geared for all that, plus your everyday stuff.’
‘It’s all right. I have a special facility down in the bowels of the hospital. It’s not widely known about, but it was set up yonks ago to enable us to handle a major epidemic or a natural catastrophe. It hasn’t been used for years, not since that heat wave that took so many of our old people, but right now, I’ve got some of my technicians down there getting it powered up and ready to roll. So, don’t worry, there’s plenty of room for all. Now I must go, we’ll talk later.’
She closed her phone and wondered about that first girl.
Had he murdered her, buried her, then returned much later and exhumed her body in order to place her in a hospital bed with pretty flowers on the locker? Her head spun with weird thoughts, but conjecture was getting her nowhere.
With a snort of disbelief, she went in search of Ted Watchman.
She found the young archaeologist still poring over ancient maps and computer print outs. On hearing about the wall and a possible door in the underground chamber, his eyes lit up and he said he’d love to investigate it. Then, to Kate’s relief, he said that one of the University’s faculty members, Professor Jan Wallace, was a brilliant forensic anthropologist, and he’d ring her first thing in the morning.
Kate ordered him to go get some sleep, and then went to look for Jon.
‘Harlan Marsh were not particularly helpful.’ muttered Jon. ‘But hopefully everything will be in place for the morning. They reckon Micah Lee is pretty flaky.’
‘Tell us something new.’ Kate screwed up her face in annoyance. ‘I really wanted to talk to him tonight, but the bloody Police and Criminal Evidence Act won’t allow it.’ She sighed. ‘But there it is; a load of wrist-binding red tape, and we are stuck with it.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll see him first thing.’ said Jon stifling a yawn.
Kate yawned with him. ‘Let’s hope we find him a little more amenable than he was earlier.’
‘Mm, you’d think he owned the place. I’ve never seen such an angry man.’
‘Maybe a night in the cells might make him a tad more helpful.’ Kate let out a sigh, ‘Let’s go find the others, then get home. What a bloody awful day!’
They found the rest of the team in the CID room. To a man, they looked grey with tiredness.
‘Okay, guys, pack up whatever you’re doing. Our suspects have all been tucked up for the night by their custody sergeants, so we can do no more. Go home, all of you.’
‘Ready, flat-mate?’ Jon asked Gary. ‘My guest room awaits you, and so does the meagre contents of the fridge, unless you fancy picking up a microwave meal in the 24 hour supermarket on our way home?’
‘I’ve got some food in a freezer bag in my car, Sarge. I can rustle us up something in half the time that it would take to get through the checkout, even at this time of the night.’
Jon’s eyes lit up, and he smacked his lips hungrily. ‘How long did you say you were staying, my old friend?’
Kate listened to the easy banter and felt a huge relief that Gary knew about Jon’s unusual gift. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about that.
‘Night, ma’am. See you in a few hours.’
She lifted her hand as they left, and then made her way slowly to her office. She wanted to get home. To feel David’s arms around her. To look in on her boys, and see their sleeping shapes under their duvets.
But she also had a feeling that she should use the comparative quiet of the night in the police station to think through everything that had happened.
She went in and closed the door. The air condition hummed softly, and a few voices called out in different parts of the building, but compared to the day time, the office was as peaceful as an empty chapel on a Greek hilltop.
She sat at her desk, elbows on the polished pseudo-wood surface, and placed her chin in her cupped hands. She closed her eyes, and felt them sting and burn with tiredness, as if she’d rubbed grains of salt into them.
A lot of terrible and quite bizarre things had shown themselves to her in the last twenty four hours, but the main thing that she saw behind her sore, closed lids, were those little vases of flowers on the lockers.
Was it sick, or sincere?
It had to be sick, of course it did; they were talking about a cold-blooded psycho-killer. So why did that small gesture seem so, so tender? So loving?
Kate opened her eyes and rubbed them gently. She had the feeling that if she knew the answer to that, then she would be right at the heart of what had happened at Windrush.
She wished they had a profiler, someone to talk to about the intricacies of the human psyche, but this was the Fens, and in reality no-one in the smaller Forces ever had such a thing. Neither did the larger ones, if the truth be known. And even if they did, their little station wouldn’t have one because the Super was dead set against the idea of profiling. Kate wasn’t sure if it was because of the actual science involved, or more likely, the dent it would make in her budget.
Kate yawned and thought about lying in her bed with her husband’s warmth surrounding her. It really was time to go home. She stood up and slowly pulled on her jacket. The thought of David had allowed a little niggle of concern to thread its way into her mind. She couldn’t deny that he’d had been pulling out all the stops to support her this time, but how long would it last? There had been so many times in the past when she’d allowed herself to believe that everything was plain sailing on their private pond, and then she’d
got home late, and David had thrown a tantrum and sunk the boat. And she couldn’t deny that she’d done her fair share of boat rocking; especially by taking everything that he did for granted.
As she picked up her car keys, she prayed that between them, they could keep the peace for a little longer. It was bad enough working in a war zone, without going home to one as well.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Gary walked around Jon’s kitchen and made appreciative noises. ‘I like big kitchens.’ Then he opened a few cupboard doors and looked at Jon reproachfully. ‘Don’t do a lot of cooking, do you, Sarge?’
Jon grinned. ‘’Fraid not. Never really been my forte, although I am a dab hand at mixing drinks. Could you cope with a small restorative? Or a very large one?’
‘I’d settle for a beer, please, if you have one?’ said Gary, unpacking his freezer bag.
Jon nodded. ‘I’ll join you.’ He took two bottles of Oldershaw’s Alchemy from the fridge, and Gary’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh my! Your lack of culinary skills, Sarge, are totally forgiven in the light of your taste in beer!’
Jon flipped off the tops and passed one to Gary. ‘Cheers. And welcome to your new home. Treat it as your own. I’ve no secrets here. Well, not any more.’ He took a long swallow of the beer and added, ‘Thanks for listening earlier. Clairvoyance isn’t an easy thing to talk about.’
Gary took a sharp knife from the block and began to prepare some vegetables. ‘I’m sure it isn’t, Sarge, but it’s something I’ve kind of lived on the peripheries of all my life.’ He deftly chopped an onion into thin slices. ‘Since a nipper, I’ve lived in a superstitious community, and although I know most of what the old-ancients believe are old wives tales, I also know that there is a lot out there..,’ he waved the knife around in the air. ‘…that passeth our understanding.’ His look became a little more serious. ‘And I don’t knock it.’
‘I thought so.’ Jon leaned against the counter and watched the man work. ‘Would it surprise you to know that your sister Anne is around you? That she looks out for you?’
Gary lifted down a large flat-bottomed pan from the rack above the stove. ‘Not in the slightest.’ He placed the heavy skillet on the hob and lit the gas. ‘Although it is a relief to hear someone confirm what I believe, in here.’ He tapped his fist against his chest. His voice caught a little as he spoke, and Jon saw raw emotion on the policeman’s face.
‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘You haven’t. It’s just that it’s still pretty hard to get my head around. She was always the strong one. Neither of us married, and Anne was my rock, and then she was gone in a matter of weeks. It was surreal.’
‘She’s not gone. She’ll never leave you.’
‘I know that, and thanks, I appreciate what you’ve told me.’
The meal was quick, simple, and probably the best thing Jon had tasted in years. The two men talked for a while about the horrors of the Children’s Ward, then loaded the dishwasher and decided to turn in. Sleep would not be high on their priority list until their killer was behind bars.
Jon went to sleep as soon as the light was out, and he seemed to wake up almost as swiftly. Outside the night was warm, almost balmy, but the temperature his room had dropped radically; and Jon knew instantly that he was not alone. He eased himself free of the bedclothes and sat up.
A slim, fair-haired girl was standing right next to him, and it was all he could do not to jump back in surprise.
‘Hello.’ He said quietly, not wanting to frighten her. She was only a kid. Quite beautiful, if a bit oddly dressed, but no more than a teenager. He tried a smile, and suddenly thought it unbelievably funny that he, the living human being, was trying not to frighten the ghost!
She didn’t answer, but just looked at him intently.
Jon felt a wave of intense emotion surround him. There was so much pain and grief and sadness that it could have broken his heart, but there was also a great rush of relief, and it almost took his breath away. He knew instantly that she was one of the victims.
‘Who are you?’ he asked gently.
The girl remained silent, but then she reached forward, long blonde hair falling in a cascade, and gripped his arm, and Jon’s room slipped away and suddenly he was watching a moonlit scene.
He didn’t recognise it immediately, but there was something vaguely familiar about it. He tried to make mental notes of what he was seeing, as the visions did not always last more than a few seconds.
The girl stood beneath an archway. It looked old and uncared for. There were flowers growing up it, yellow roses draping in golden showers across the old brickwork, but it was all overgrown. He looked away from the arch, and saw a sign on a fence. Keep Out. A building work sign.
And then it and the girl were gone.
Jon let out a long breath, reached for the light and looked at the clock. Just after five thirty. He rubbed at his arm where the girl had held him, and sat back against the pillows. He had actually slept for three hours before the kid arrived. And he really needed to tell the boss what he’d just seen.
He pushed back the duvet, then quickly straightened the bed and padded into his en-suite shower room. He’d give Kate another fifteen minutes, then ring and get her to call in on her way into work. It would be far easier to explain here than in the office, and he knew exactly what would give her an added incentive to call by. He’d already heard Gary making his way down to his beloved kitchen, and the sound of a frying pan being removed from the rack.
With a smile he turned on the hot water and stepped underneath.
Gary dished up scrambled eggs on toast with crispy bacon and grilled cherry tomatoes.
‘It’s his sister’s fault.’ whispered Jon to his boss, as Gary went back to the kitchen for some ketchup. ‘She won’t let him out of the door unless he eats properly. He doesn’t see that himself, he just thinks he’ll be letting her down if he doesn’t look after himself.’ Jon gave a little smile. ‘She loves him to pieces; it’s like having two new flatmates, not one.’
‘And what else have you seen, my friend? What got you on my phone before 6 in the morning? Apart from this delicious fry-up.’
Gary returned and Jon told them both exactly what had occurred in his bedroom a few hours earlier.
Kate frowned. ‘So she was one of the victims of the Children’s Ward?’
Jon nodded, and forked in some buttery yellow eggs. ‘Mm, definitely. The relief that flooded from her was overpowering.’
‘So do you think the archway is on the Windrush estate?’
‘No, although I’m pretty sure that I recognised it from somewhere, and quite recently.’ Jon rubbed at his arm.
Kate glanced across to Gary. ‘You know that area better than us. Thinking about that builder’s sign, is anyone having any work done on that stretch of the fen?’
Gary swallowed a mouthful of food and sat thoughtfully. ‘Well, there’s a new barn going up at Goddard’s Farm, although I can’t place an arch of any kind there. Old man Goddard goes for smart livestock fencing and well-sprayed wooden gates. He doesn’t do overgrown.’ Gary sipped at his tea. ‘The only other place is closer to Hurn Point. They began clearing a few acres of ground a month or two ago, but to my knowledge, no work has started yet. There’s a rumour going round that the council are considering an onion waste processing plant in that area. It’s quite close to the marsh, but the locals who live around there are objecting due to the stink it’ll cause.’
‘Could we drive out there before we go in to work?’ asked Jon, absent-mindedly massaging his arm. ‘I’m certain it’s all connected, that girl was insistent that I see that arch for some reason.’
‘Not this morning, we have too much on, including seeing Mad Micah.’ Kate finished her tea. ‘Later maybe. What’s wrong with you arm? You keep rubbing it.’
Jon slowly pushed up the sleeve of his jacket and revealed a clear hand mark on his arm. Pure white indentations of where thin fingers had gripped him.
&nbs
p; ‘Jesus, Jon!’ Kate’s eyes widened. ‘She did that?’
‘Oh, it’s nothing.’ said Jon nonchalantly. ‘I just need to get my circulation to flow a bit faster.’ He flexed his hand into a fist and stretched it a few times. ‘It’s happened to me before. It’ll pass.’
Kate stared at the white flesh. ‘All the same, that’s horrible.’
Gary cleared the plates, whilst Jon picked up his warrant card and keys. ‘This girl is my only actual spirit connection with the Children’s Ward, ma’am.’ Jon pulled on his coat. ‘I really would like to try and find that arch. I’m not being melodramatic, and I won’t go against your wishes by chasing off alone, but I believe it’s vital.’
‘I realise that.’ Kate looked at him steadily. ‘And I promise that as soon as we are free, we’ll take a drive, okay? Now, I’m off. I’ll see you two at the station.’
Jon nodded. It was the best that he could ask for, all things considered.
Understandably the station was chaotic, and it was nine thirty by the time Kate was ready to go to Harlan Marsh to interview Micah Lee.
‘Sorry, ma’am. I’ve hit a problem.’ Gary entered her office, his expression full of concern. ‘You asked me to check the last of those CCTV pictures of Nic Barley with those hoods from the drinking club.’
Kate looked at him, ‘What did you find?’
‘I found nothing, because they’ve disappeared.’ He shifted uncomfortably. ‘Well, not actually gone missing. They have been appropriated by Chief Superintendent Cade. When I asked why, I was told that his CID officers had cleared their back-log and were eager to help you out. And as the original girl was abducted from the Harlan Marsh area, they’d be more likely to know any of the men seen talking to young Barley.’
Kate’s teeth set themselves firmly into a locked position.