Saffina Desforges' ROSE RED Crime Thriller Boxed Set

by Saffina Desforges

  Mackenzie acknowledged with a wry smile. “Oh, it’s worth it, Guv. Just hope you haven’t had breakfast yet.”

  Red ducked under the tape, following Mackenzie into the men’s washroom. She ran an experienced eye over the urinals as she took in the room clockwise from the entrance, before her gaze settled on the pool of blood congealing beneath a cubicle door.

  “Our witness found the victim about four this morning. Late night reveller called in for a slash. Saw the blood and pushed open the door.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “In my car. Couldn’t get much out of him.”

  “Drunk?”

  “In shock.”

  Red caught her breath. “One second, Jim.” She cast her eyes back around the washroom, slipping into professional detachment mode, her mind capturing visual images like a digital camera, storing them for later retrieval. Best to view the environment before seeing the body. Apart from the blood, nothing looked out of place. But then, she was no expert on men’s public toilets. “Okay. The door when you’re ready.”

  Mackenzie’s gloved index finger gently poked the door wide.

  “You did warn me.” Red forced herself not to look away. She made mental notes of the scene, breaking it down into its component parts.

  The man hung suspended by a blue nylon rope that disappeared over the dividing wall to the next cubicle.

  The legs bent at odd angles beneath him, the taut rope taking his weight. The head lolled awkwardly to one side, as if no longer attached to his neck.

  A blood-smeared polythene bag clung to every contour of his face, obscuring his features. It bulged around what Red assumed was the tongue protruding from his mouth, in a desperate, futile effort to find air.

  One hand was still wedged tightly between neck and nylon, a failed attempt to thwart the noose. The other hand dangled loose at his side, fingers already starting to mottle purple as blood settled under gravity to his lower extremities.

  As Red’s gaze moved down to settle on the groin a wave of nausea hit. The blood-sodden jeans hung open, dripping boxers at mid-thigh.

  “Oh my God! Someone’s chopped his…”

  Her eyes moved slowly back to the polythene bag over the head, the blood and protuberance around the mouth suddenly taking on new significance.

  She eased her way backwards, taking deep breaths. “I’ll be outside.”

  Chapter 1.

  “Ouch! Cassie, that hurts!”

  “Sorry, gorgeous.” Red dragged the brush through the child’s tangled mass of golden hair. “But if I don’t do this now, you’ll look like Worzel Gummidge by the morning.”

  Ruby winced, pulling tiny shoulders up to her ears. “Is he in my new story?”

  “No, sugar. He’s a scarecrow that used to be on telly when I was your age, but he’s most definitely not in Rapunzel.”

  Ruby digested this information solemnly, before turning a freshly scrubbed pink cheek up to Red, huge brown eyes wide. “Was you four as well, once?”

  “A long time ago, Rubes. Way before you were even born.”

  “And did you have to have your hair brushed when you got out of the bath?”

  Red flinched as a vision of her mother flashed before her eyes. “Sometimes, babe,” she said softly. “There, you’re done! Now how about we go downstairs and get you some milk and biscuits and kiss Mummy good night.”

  Ruby turned to face Red, folding tiny arms across her chest, a miniature imitation of her mother. She glared at Red the way only a four year old could. “You promised, Cassie! Rapunzel, when my hair was brushed.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “You promised. Pleeease?”

  Red’s face melted into a huge smile. She pulled the child towards her, still warm from the bath, holding her close. “Okay, Rubes, you win. Pass me the book.”

  “Yay!” Ruby clapped her hands together. She leant over to her dressing table, grabbing the colourful book in tiny hands.

  Red threw back the covers. “Come on, hop in.” She tucked the child in, pulling the duvet up to Ruby’s neck. “Ready? Here we go. There was once a man and a woman who had longed in vain for a child of their own…”

  “Cassie?”

  “Yes, Rubes?”

  “What does vain mean?”

  Red sighed. Catching criminals was far easier than this.

  Chapter 2.

  Red flopped into the armchair, an exaggerated sigh aimed at her partner.

  “Finally. I thought Rubes was never going to fall asleep tonight.”

  Pippa didn’t seem to hear. Red persisted. “You know, sometimes I wonder if these fairy tales are really suitable for young children. I mean, there are some pretty adult themes beneath the surface.”

  Red pulled the cork on a fresh bottle of Merlot. “Take Rapunzel. It starts off with a woman unable to conceive, and then it’s about a poor girl being held hostage. Is that really what kids Ruby’s age need to...”

  Red shot a glance across the room. Pippa was staring rigidly at the television.

  “Hello, Earth calling Pippa. Come in, Philippa Crichton-Ward. Over.”

  No response.

  “Pip?”

  Still no reply.

  Red groaned. “Are you still mad at me, babe?”

  “No.” Pippa’s eyes never left the television. “I just happen to be watching this programme, which is rather more interesting than an analysis of Ruby’s bedtime story.”

  “Ah, so you were listening then.”

  “Hard not to when you were jabbering away. Cass, I’m trying to watch this programme, if you don’t mind.”

  “Pip, be serious. It’s Celebrity Big Brother.”

  “So I’m slumming it.”

  Red poured herself a glass of wine, making a point of not topping up her partner’s. Pippa’s eyes flickered to the glass and back to the television.

  Red focused on the screen. “Right. So who’s that one then?”

  “Cass, I’m trying to concentrate.”

  “Pip, you’ve never watched a reality TV programme in your life, and you’re not watching it now. This is just an excuse for your latest sulk-fest.”

  “Cassandra, please. This happens to be very interesting.”

  “Big effing Brother?”

  “Celebrity, Cass. These people aren’t just nobodies plucked from the streets in pursuit of Andy Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame. These people are achievers. They’ve earned their place here.”

  “Okay, so name one of them. Anyone you like.”

  Pippa increased the volume.

  “As I thought,” Red said. “You haven’t the foggiest.”

  “That’s Amy Winehouse,” Pippa ventured, her tone lacking any confidence.

  “I don’t think so, lover. She’s dead.” Red turned on a sorrowful expression. “Hun, I tried to get back earlier but the press are all over this case. And I had the Super to deal with. I have to report direct now, don’t forget.”

  Pippa shrugged, sipping from her nearly empty wine glass. “I had to re-schedule all the interviews, Cass. How did that make me look?”

  Red palmed her forehead theatrically. “Yeah, silly me, thinking a man having his dick chopped off is more important than the next au pair.” Red shifted next to her partner on the sofa, draping an arm around Pippa’s shoulders. “Look, you knew my lifestyle long before I moved in. Don’t hold it against me now.”

  Pippa turned the volume down a little.

  “How about I take you out to dinner to make up for it?”

  A smile twitched at Pippa’s lips as she tried to maintain her disinterested stare at the television. “We’d never get a table at this hour. Not at a decent restaurant, anyway.”

  “Well we could catch a movie or something.”

  “We call them films in this country, Cass. That Terri Miller is a bad influence on you. And who would look after the children? It’s mother’s whist drive this evening.”

  “I’m sure Richard wouldn’t mind if –”

&nbs
p; “Cassandra!” Pippa hit the remote, banishing the celebrity farce from the room. She turned on Red. “You just don’t get it, do you?” Hurt clouded chocolate eyes. “Every time we do this – mess arrangements around, asking Richard to bail us out – he’s chalking up points. We’re just giving him ammunition.”

  “Ammunition for what?”

  “For custody.”

  Red let out a long sigh. “How many more times? Richard does not want custody. He could never look after three kids with his commitments. And Barbie Girl certainly couldn’t cope.”

  “You know he wants to spend more time with them.”

  “He wants them to spend less time with me, more like. He loathes the fact that you and I are together.”

  Pippa stared into the distance, fingering the rim of her glass. “He wants Jack to live with him. I know he does.”

  “Don’t be so melodramatic. Richard has never mentioned custody. Besides, you’re a barrister. He’d never take you on in Court.”

  “I’m a criminal lawyer, Cass. I know about as much about family law as you do. Any third-rate high street solicitor could run rings around me in a family court. And I also happen to be living with the female police officer who almost got us all killed chasing that Huntsman lunatic. It doesn’t look good, does it?”

  Red withdrew her arm. “The Huntsman that you want to defend when his trial comes up, do you mean?”

  Anger blazed in Pippa’s eyes. “I have a job to do, Cassandra. Just because your family is sick and twisted and you choose not to deal with it, does not mean that my career has to suffer.”

  Red winced, pain settling on her features, tears stinging her eyes. “You bitch. You complete bitch.”

  Pippa reached out a hand of contrition. “Cass, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I’m—”

  “Don’t! Just…” A palm thrust in Pippa’s face made clear the conversation was over. “Just don’t.”

  “Cass, please.”

  Red grabbed the remote control, switching the television back on. “There, watch your poxy z-list celebrities. Is that what you’ve been reduced to, Philippa Crichton-Ward, QC? Defending celeb’ criminals so you can make the headlines on Sky News? What happened to the woman I moved in with, who put justice above all else?”

  “Nathan Hunter has as much right to a fair trial as anyone, Cass. He has as much right to choose his legal team as anyone.”

  Red glared at Pippa. “You don’t seriously think he picked you because he thinks you’ll get him off?”

  “Of course not. He picked me to drive a wedge between you and I, obviously. That doesn’t mean I can just turn him away. I happen to be above that, Cass. I will defend him objectively, to the best of my abilities, just like any other accused person.”

  “You won’t, Pip, I can assure you.”

  “Don’t question my professional integrity, Cassandra.”

  “I am not questioning your professional anything. I’m stating a fact. You will not be defending Nathan.”

  Pippa folded her arms. “I was not aware the police had a say in who the accused might appoint to defend them?”

  “Normally, no. But in this case the Prosecution have already filed an insurmountable objection. It will be on your desk first thing Monday.”

  “And what insurmountable objection might that be?”

  “The one where you’re the key witness for the Prosecution.”

  Chapter 3.

  “Morning, Guv.” DS Anna Hargreaves threw her bag over a chair, joining Red before the digital wall. “Just us two?”

  “Terri’s with Jim, getting coffee.”

  “How about Batman and Robin?”

  “Barry’s on his way. Just texted to say he’d slept through the alarm. No word from Jez.”

  “Not like Jez to skip paid overtime.”

  “Probably too busy with that silicone tart of his.”

  “That’s a bit harsh, Guv.”

  “You haven’t seen her. No way they are real.”

  “Met her the other day, actually. Bumped into her and Jez coming out of the cinema. He was laying it on with a trowel when he introduced me as his superior officer.” Anna smiled. “Yeah, silicone tart is about right. What’s the betting he –” She cut her observation short as Jez Harris lurched through the door, stifling a yawn. “Speak of the devil!”

  “Morning, Guv. Anna. Count me in. I need all the OT going. If I can stay awake long enough, that is.”

  Red glanced at her DC. “Busy night then, Jez?”

  Harris’s face broke into an inane grin. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Don’t call me ma’am, Jez. How many more times?”

  “Sorry, ma’am. I mean, Guv.” Harris looked across at the white wall, taking in the photos. “So, any news on our queer-basher?”

  Red pointed her digital wand at Harris, a red dot dancing on his forehead. “The term you’re looking for is homophobic assailant, Jez. Maybe another awareness course is in order?”

  Harris adopted an apologetic countenance. “Can’t I just say gay, Guv? It’s easier.”

  “What, as in The Flintstones gay, Jez? Fred and Barney? We’ll have a gay old time? That sort of gay?”

  Jez looked bewildered.

  “Guv, give the kid a break,” Anna said. “Can’t you see the poor boy’s in love?”

  Harris mounted an appropriately embarrassed expression, his awkwardness bringing a smile to Red’s lips.

  “Ah yes. Young love. I remember it well. So how is… Nicola, isn’t it?”

  “Nikki. With two kays.”

  “Nikki with two kays, Jez? Well I’m Cass with two esses, and this is Anna with two ens.”

  “Very funny, Guv.” Harris looked around, desperate for a distraction, wishing Barry Taylor was there. “Bazza not coming in today?”

  “He’s on the way. But I’m thinking of separating you two on this case, Jez.”

  “Ma’am? I mean, Guv? I mean… Separate? What, like not together separate?”

  “As in I’m assigning you both different working partners Jez. Just for this case.”

  “But Guv… Me and Bazza are a team. The Super commended us.”

  “The Super was not fully aware of the facts though, Jez, was he. I am. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, you and Barry are far too –” Red’s gaze drifted to the doorway. “Morning, Barry. We were just talking about you.”

  “Sorry, Guv. Not used to setting the alarm on a Sunday.” Taylor shuffled through the door, a crumpled shirt-tail dangling from his belt, hair in disarray. He winked at Harris. “You look knackered, Jez. Kept you up all night, did she?”

  Harris’s eyes lit up, a smile spreading across his face, chest puffing out. “At it like rabbits, Baz. My knob is so sore I can’t…” Harris stopped himself, squirming under the joint gaze of Red and Anna.

  Taylor chuckled. “I bet that’s put you right off your breakfast, girls.” His eyes shifted to the images on the wall. He grimaced as he saw the close up of the mutilated groin. “I think I’ve lost my appetite too, now. So, anything new on our queer-basher?”

  Red rolled her eyes. “That’s it. You’re both on awareness courses from next week. And until you’ve completed them you’re both assigned new working partners. I don’t want you two even talking to each other about this case.”

  Taylor displayed his palms theatrically, looking in bewilderment at Anna and Harris. “What did I do? What did I do?”

  Chapter 4.

  Mackenzie and Terri distributed the coffees to grateful recipients in the briefing room.

  “What are you two looking so miserable for?” Terri demanded of Taylor and Harris. “Mac, which one of these has no sugar?”

  “Just ignore them, Terri,” Anna advised. “They’re sulking. The Guv’s swapping team partners. The dynamic duo are going to be split up.”

  Mac spluttered into his coffee. “Guv?”

  “Just for this case,” Red assured them, ticking off points on her fingers as she spoke. “Firstl
y, the genital mutilation means there’s understandably a lot more public interest than we’d normally get for a murder investigation. Secondly, rightly or wrongly, the media are playing this as a homophobic assault. We need to be extra careful what we say and how we say it, or we’ll all be slaughtered on the altar of political correctness.” She made a point of staring at Taylor and Harris.

  “And thirdly…” Red paused, surveying her audience. “This is my first big case as DCI. So far we’ve been lucky with the tabloids. Although they’re running this as a homophobic crime they haven’t made the connection yet with the personal life of the senior investigating officer. They will.”

  “I don’t follow, Guv,” Taylor ventured. “Just coz you’re… You know. I mean, it’s not like you’re a bloke and the perp’s gonna come after you. You ain’t got nothing to chop off.”

  “And she wouldn’t be trying to get it off in the men’s bogs anyway,” Harris added. “She’d be in the ladies, wearing a kinky…” Harris’s voice trailed under Red’s stern gaze.

  “I rest my case,” Red said with a long sigh. “Right, Barry, you’re working with Jim for the duration. That okay with you, Inspector?”

  Mackenzie shrugged. “Fine by me. If Barry’s happy.”

  Taylor glanced across at Terri. “I was thinking maybe Tex’ could better benefit from my years of experience, Guv. I owe her anyway for saving my life that time. Only right I should pay her back in my own special way. Besides, now Mac’s a DI he’ll be bogged down with paperwork.”

  “Which is precisely why Jim needs someone as experienced and worldly-wise as you to lighten the load,” Red said firmly. “Barry and Jim it is. Which brings us to playboy here.”

  Harris’s eyes lit up. “Me and Terri, Guv?” He shot a broad grin at Taylor.

  “And what, pray tell, would Nikki Two-Kays think if she saw you and Terri out together?”

  Harris hesitated, thinking fast. “I could say she’s my sister.”

  “How could anyone that gorgeous have an ugly bastard like you for a brother?” Taylor asked.