by Helen Phifer
Annie squeezed her shoulder. ‘You do have good taste though Margaret, that watch was lovely.’ They both laughed and Margaret turned to shuffle off towards the bus stop.
Annie turned the other way and began to walk up the steep hill towards the station; she needed to see if Will had emailed her that picture. Her stomach let out a loud rumble, it was almost two and she was starving. The station was empty when she walked in and the smell of burnt toast still lingered in the corridor. She shut the door and made her way to the office. It was dark inside, very little light came through the window because of the large trees and shrubs planted directly outside it. She didn’t bother to turn the lights on, instead she sat down at a computer to log on and check her emails. There was one from Will with an attachment which she opened and she felt her stomach drop to her feet to see a grainy black and white photo of Laura with this mystery man. It was probably the last photo of Laura alive and it gave her a cold shiver. A door banged somewhere in the building, Annie turned her head and caught a shadow flit past the open office door. ‘Hello?’ There was no answer and her skin began to prickle, someone had shut that door. She pressed the print icon and then stood up to go and investigate. She checked every single room but the building was empty. Unsettled, she walked back into the office to collect the picture from the printer, picked up her hat and went straight out of the door that she had not long come through. Her heart was racing and she had no idea why. Within five minutes she was back at the presybtery and once again she was greeted by Father John, who this time actually looked like a priest in black chinos with a pale blue shirt, dog collar and a large gilt crucifix around his neck.
‘Perfect timing, I’ve just got back myself and I’m starving. Absolving people of their sins doesn’t half give you an appetite.’
Annie laughed. ‘If I’m honest, so am I.’
‘Good we’ll eat first and then talk shop if that’s okay with you, at my age I have to eat regularly or I’ll pass out.’ He opened the door and she followed him once more into the cool hallway, relieved to be out of the sun for a while. He unclipped the starched white band from his collar, then pulled the heavy cross over his head, placing it on a silver platter on the sideboard. Then he undid the top three buttons of his shirt and sighed. ‘That’s better, I can breathe now. Your turn, I’ve practically undressed myself in front of you. Get that stab vest or whatever you call it off and let your body breathe.’
Annie did as she was told, first unclipping her heavy-duty belt and then unzipping the vest.
‘Tell me Officer, do you always strip on a first date?’
Annie felt her cheeks begin to burn but he laughed so loudly it echoed around the hall, ‘Sorry; sometimes my sense of humour is not entirely appropriate for a priest.’
Annie began to laugh and followed him into the kitchen where an invisible housekeeper had cleared away the mugs and plate from earlier. She took a seat and watched as he went over to the fridge and began pulling plates and bowls out. Soon he had put plates, cutlery and napkins on the table. He added a huge dish of salad, plate of homemade quiche and an assortment of mixed sandwiches. It looked delicious and Annie had to check her chin to make sure she wasn’t drooling.
‘Help yourself my dear; I have to say one thing for Simon’s housekeeper, she knows the way to a man’s heart. I think the reason he may have had his heart attack is because she is killing him with kindness, but what a way to go.’
Annie totally agreed with him, she loved her food as her less than perfect figure showed but she was beginning to feel comfortable with it. Will would tell her how much he loved her just the way she was and it had done wonders for her confidence. ‘Thank you John, this is wonderful and it’s very kind of you.’
‘My pleasure Annie, never believe what you hear about priests. We’re not all a bad bunch; I suppose it’s a bit like police officers. Some of them are total…’
‘Pricks.’
He grinned and nodded in agreement. ‘You took the words right out of my mouth. But some of them are wonderful, just like you. I bet you are brilliant at what you do and I get the impression that you actually care about people as a whole.’
‘I do try, although sometimes it’s very hard. I like to treat everyone the same regardless of their past or upbringing.’
‘And that my dear is a very rare quality, far too many people are so consumed in themselves they rarely have time for anyone else but you are different. I knew that straight away.’
They ate the rest of their lunch in silence until John stood up and went to the fridge again. ‘Would you like a cold drink?’
‘Yes please.’ He passed her a can of ice cold cola and put one down next to his plate. Annie was full; she had eaten some of everything and a large plate of salad. She normally hated eating in front of strangers but there was something about John that made her feel as if she’d known him a lot longer than four hours. ‘That was lovely, I’m so stuffed I don’t think my body armour will fasten.’
He shook his head, ‘I’m quite sure it will. Now what have you come to show me?’ He pushed his plate to one side and pulled a pair of gold-rimmed oval reading glasses from his shirt pocket. Annie stood and pulled the folded up piece of paper from the deep pockets of her combat trousers then passed it to him. ‘Sorry it’s not very good quality but it’s the best that we have. We believe the woman was killed not long after she left the pub with the man but no-one has a clue who he is. It’s a total mystery.’
John bent his head and lifted the picture nearer so he could study it, Annie watched as the colour drained from his face and she felt a prickle of excitement, he knew who the man was – bloody brilliant. Will would be well chuffed. John held it a bit further away then brought it up close again. He whispered, ‘I know that man, in fact I know him very well. It’s my nephew.’
Annie felt the excitement disappear as fast as it had come. ‘Really? I mean are you sure, it’s not a very good quality picture.’
John nodded his head, ‘It’s Ryan, he came to visit last week. He got a job which starts next week at the local gas terminal so he’s looking after my house while I’m up here. Have you not tried knocking at St Mary’s presbytery? He should be there.’
Annie assumed that whoever had been tasked with the house-to-house enquires would have knocked. ‘They will have, he can’t have been in when they tried.’ John pulled a phone from his trouser pocket and rang his nephew, it rang out. It didn’t even go to voicemail, just kept on ringing. He ended the call and tried again, still no reply. Then he tried his house phone which rang and rang. He looked at Annie. ‘I’ll try his mum, my sister. Hello Maureen, I can’t get hold of Ryan, has he phoned you in the last couple of days? No, oh okay, it’s not important I just need him to do me a favour; I’ll send him a text. Bye.’
She noticed that his hand was trembling. ‘Something is wrong, he phones his mum almost every other day without fail and she hasn’t heard from him for three days. I need to go back to Barrow now.’
Annie nodded, ‘Let me ring my colleague down there who asked me to come and speak to you. Then I’ll go get a police car and we’ll blue light it all the way.’ She stood up and dashed into the hall to put her gear back on. She rang Will, who answered on the first ring, ‘I know who the man is, it’s the priest’s nephew Ryan Trelmain and he’s living at St Mary’s presbytery. No-one has heard from him for three days.’
‘Right, thanks Annie. I’ll get a task force team and we will go and search the house. Thank you so much.’
‘I’m bringing Father John through, he thinks something has happened to Ryan and wants to see if he’s okay.’
‘Shit, what if this Ryan is our man? It might totally mess things up.’
‘I know but if I don’t bring him he’s going to come down himself anyway. At least if I bring him I can keep an eye on him. Oh and Will go easy on John, he’s a really nice guy.’ She ended the call and turned to see John standing in the doorway and felt a wave of embarrassment. ‘I’m really sorry
John but you do understand how serious this is, we have to cover every eventuality.’
‘Yes I do and I understand that you need to do your jobs, I’m just a little overwhelmed to think my nephew could be involved in any of this. He’s always been such a good boy, this will kill my sister – she dotes on him.’
‘Well let’s hope it’s all a huge mistake. It doesn’t mean that he’s involved. You wait here and I’ll go and get a car.’
‘If you don’t mind I’d rather walk down with you, I need some fresh air.’
They left the house and walked briskly down to the police station. John perched on the dry stone wall which bordered the car park. ‘I’ll wait here.’
Annie went inside and heard Cathy’s voice coming from her office; she knocked on the door and walked in.
‘Ten o’clock and if you’re a minute late I will know because I have an officer stationed at the bottom of our street just to keep an eye on you.’ She ended the call. ‘What’s up?’
Annie launched into a condensed version of the last ten minutes.
‘Shit, really – the priest’s nephew? Bloody hell that’s one for the books. Take the panda, no-one needs it tonight so it won’t matter if you don’t bring it back until tomorrow. You’ll just have to park it outside your house when you finish, oh and Annie you be careful.’
Annie nodded and ran into the office to get the keys off the hook. She felt terrible for John and that lovely lunch was now sitting in the pit of her stomach feeling like a lead weight. She went back outside, his face was grey and she hoped that he wasn’t about to keel over. She got into the car and he followed, no sirens because it wasn’t technically an immediate response but she did put the blue lights on to get through the busy traffic.
Chapter 24
For once luck was on Will’s side, Task Force, the armed response unit were actually in Ulverston which was only eight miles away and they would be armed and here for the briefing in fifteen minutes. The DI was running the briefing and Will was glad that he was here to take over; it had been a long few days. He wasn’t too happy about Annie bringing the priest but the man deserved to know if his nephew was involved and it was his home they were going to be storming into with rifles, tear gas and tasers. He just hoped that none of them were needed and the man would come in without any hassle, they didn’t know if he was the killer or not but he was the closest thing to a lead they had and they weren’t taking any chances. Will walked into the large briefing room on the first floor which was almost full and would be once the armed officers arrived, the thunder of footsteps coming up the stairs signalled their arrival and he began to feel better than he had in days. They came into the room dressed from head to toe in black and looked a formidable sight. They all wore black baseball caps, black jumpsuits and black body armour, they lined up along the back wall ready for their orders. Will nodded at them and got a collective nod back, this was serious and everyone knew that, there was no laughing and joking like at any other briefing, everyone was eager to get on with it.
Thirty minutes later they took their positions surrounding the presbytery; Will had walked the perimeter of the church and house, uncomfortable in his stab vest under his shirt and suit jacket. There was no sign of life from the house, two of the men in black had practically given one old woman an instant heart attack as she had come out of the church with a bunch of wilted flowers. They had escorted her away from the area and placed her in the back of a marked police car until it was over. Officers had closed the road at either end to stop traffic and members of the public strolling down and getting caught up in anything. The atmosphere was tense. Will walked back and gave the all clear over the radio. The entry team moved in, the heavy red battering ram held securely between them. Four loud bangs and the wooden door splintered, giving way, and then they were in. The first officer inside gagged on the smell it was so bad. One of them waved Will over and lifted up his mask. Will jogged over towards the door and felt his stomach lurch, someone or something was dead in there and it stank. He lifted his hand to his nose and nodded his head. Stepping back he waited until the entry team did a sweep of the building. He wasn’t sure what to expect but he knew it was going to be bad, maybe the killer had topped himself and would save them the trouble of putting him before the courts. The three officers who had gone in came back downstairs and removed their hats. The sergeant spoke, ‘There’s a dead male in the upstairs bedroom. Looks like he’s been there a few days, decomposition is quite advanced. Probably due to the fact that someone turned the heating up full in the room. It really stinks in there Will but from first impressions it looks like he’s your guy.’
‘Bollocks, thanks guys. We’ll take it from here.’
Will turned to the DI who had been talking on his phone the whole time giving a running commentary to the control room inspector. ‘It’s time to get suited and booted sir.’
A car drove into the street, blue lights flashing. Annie’s familiar figure got out of the driver’s side and a grey-haired man got out of the passenger side. Double bollocks. He was glad to see Annie but not so glad to see the priest. He watched as she turned to the man and must have told him to stay put because he ran his fingers through his hair, then shrugged and leant against the bonnet of the car.
Annie walked towards Will, ‘Anything?’
‘Dead man in the upstairs bedroom, I haven’t been up there yet but Task Force said he looks like our guy. We can’t let him in.’ His head nodded in the direction of the priest.
‘Really? Bloody hell I suppose that would explain why no-one has seen him since that night. Okay I’ll keep John out of the way but he’s not daft, what do I tell him?’
‘You’re going to have to tell him that we’ve found a body but we don’t know any more than that at this moment in time. His house is now a crime scene and it will some hours, possibly days before he’ll be allowed access to it. Is there anywhere you can take him? You know how long this is going to take; he could be here until tomorrow.’
Annie shrugged; she’d never had to babysit a priest before. ‘Can he not go inside the church, or is that a crime scene as well?’
‘Not as far as I know, I want him near in case he has something to do with it but not too near that he’s going to get in the way. I’ll get Scott and Ian to give inside the church the once over and then you can both go and wait in there. Thanks Annie, I appreciate everything that you’ve done today.’
Will turned and walked across to where the team of armed officers were huddled, for the time being they had been stood down and were in the process of putting their weapons back inside the armed response vehicle.
Two of them headed in Annie’s direction. ‘It stinks in there; it’s going to take more than some fabric freshener to make that house smell as fresh as a daisy again.’
‘Is it that bad? This is turning into a living nightmare when bodies are turning up in churchyards and presbyteries. It’s just not right.’
Both of them nodded in agreement with her and all three of them walked towards the church. It was open thanks to the flower-arranging old lady who couldn’t have noticed anything amiss or she wouldn’t be alive and breathing. But it was better to be safe than sorry. Annie waited at the church door while the two officers went inside and checked the building, five minutes later they came out.
‘All clear, maybe you should let that old woman out of that car and send her on her way, she’s been in it since we came.’
Annie looked across at the car and the woman who was staring earnestly at John. Shit, two for the price of one. She walked over and opened the car door. ‘Would you like to come back inside the church, it’s a bit warm to be cooped up in here.’
The woman nodded and got out of the car, making a beeline for John. Annie saw him grimace and she followed her over. ‘Actually if you give me a quick statement you can get off home now and if we need anything someone will be in touch.’ Annie had interrupted the woman’s interrogation and John threw her a look of thanks.
/> ‘Oh are you sure, do you not want me to wait here with Father John, it’s no trouble, we can have a nice catch up.’
‘No it’s okay thank you, this is a crime scene and we need to keep it closed for some time, probably hours, so you will be better off going home.’
The woman told Annie what she knew which amounted to nothing and Annie wrote it all down. Then she escorted her to the end of the street. ‘Thank you.’ Annie watched her walk away, her head in the air and obviously put out that she had just been told to go home. Heading back to the church and John she felt sorry for him, he looked defeated and grief stricken.
‘Thank you Annie, I fear an interrogation from Hilary more than I fear God himself. Are you going to tell me what’s happening? Or do I have to wait?’
‘I’m sorry John but we don’t know an awful lot ourselves at the moment. All I can tell you is they have found a man’s body in the upstairs bedroom.’
His hand flew to his mouth and he shrank before her very eyes. ‘Do they know who he is, is it Ryan?’
‘They can’t say at the moment, the search team went in and only took a cursory look around. I’m sorry John but this is going to take a while for them to process, but as soon as they do know something they will come and talk to you. Is there anywhere you want to go, should I drive you back to Windermere?’
‘No thank you Annie, if there is a dead man inside my home and the only other person to live there is my nephew who no-one has spoken to for three days then I think it’s pretty clear who the dead man is.’
‘It does look that way but you never know, there’s a slim chance it could be someone different.’
Annie spotted the photographer from the local paper across the road and took hold of John’s elbow. ‘Come on; let’s get you inside the church away from prying eyes.’ It was thirty seconds too late though, the photographer had already taken a picture of the harrowed-looking priest, head bent in deep conversation with Annie. The picture would make the front page of the local paper tonight and the nationals the next day with the headlines ‘God’s House of Death’ in bold, black print.