by A L Fraine
“But you have used it?”
“Ages ago. Why?”
“Tell me about your interest in the occult,” Kate said.
“Really?”
“You are interested in it, right?” Kate continued.
“I guess. It’s cool.”
“Are you a follower of Wicca?”
“Not really. Robyn is into that more than me,” Patrick answered. “I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in any religion.”
“But you like the occult?” Nathan asked.
“What do you like? Football?” Patrick asked Nathan and then looked at Kate. “EastEnders? I like myth, fantasy, and the occult. So what? Look, where are you going with this? It all seems like a giant waste of time to me,” He said, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest.
“How well do you know Jordan Donaldson?” Nathan asked.
Patrick's eyebrows shot up. “You think I killed him?” he asked, his voice incredulous.
“That’s not what I asked,” Nathan said.
Patrick sighed. “I don’t, really. I’ve seen him a couple of times when I’ve dropped Robyn off to work, but that’s it really. Don’t know the dude.”
“But you know he bullied your girlfriend.”
“He was a bit rude to her a couple of times. Hunter is worse. They’re idiots. I’ve told Robyn she can change jobs whenever she likes.”
“Were you angry when you heard about the bullying?”
“A bit, I guess. Is that what you think might be my motive?” He laughed. “Pretty weak sauce, guys.”
“But you were angry.”
Patrick sighed. “For half an hour or so, months ago, maybe. Robyn’s a big girl you know, she can handle herself.”
“I’m not sure I believe you,” Nathan said. “You’re a drug user with an interest in blades and the occult, and your girlfriend was being bullied by the man who’s currently lying dead in the morgue. A man who was killed with a blade in a ritualistic, occult fashion. You can see why I’m a little suspicious of you.”
Patrick frowned and leant forward. “You can be suspicious all you like, but I didn’t do it, and you can’t prove that I did. Also, I have a witness that I was at home all night.”
“Unless Robyn, the victim of the abuse, who also has a keen interest in the occult, was in on it with you.”
Patrick laughed. “That’s funny. In fact, hang on, there should be a record of us being online and active that night… Yeah. We were both logged into the PlayStation Network that night. There’ll be a record of us being online.”
“Is that right?” Nathan asked.
Kate sat back and pressed her lips together. If he was telling the truth, she knew he was right. She’d not indulged in much gaming in her life. It wasn’t something she took a significant interest in, but she was aware enough to know that if they were playing online, there would likely be a record of that somewhere.
“Yeah, it is. In fact, I can check on my phone, I think. I can see when I was logged in on the website. Can I have my phone back, please? I’ll show you.”
***
Kate watched Nathan practically throw the file he was holding onto his desk as he walked up to it. She knew how he was feeling.
The records of Patrick’s online gaming were about as solid an alibi as anyone was likely to have. They clearly showed he was online until the early hours on the night of the murder, and so was Robyn. With them backing up each other’s stories, added to the possibility of them getting witness statements from the other people they’d been playing with online, it was crystal clear that Patrick and Robyn were almost certainly, not the killers.
“Looks like we’re back to square one,” Nathan muttered.
Kate nodded. “Yeah. Now what? It feels like a step backwards.”
“Nathan sighed as he sat down. “You can’t think of it like that. We’ve eliminated two possible suspects who we now know, are not the killers.”
“I know. It just felt right, though. Everything seemed to fit.”
Nathan shrugged. “And yet, it didn’t.” He turned to his desk as Kate took her seat and logged into her computer. The next hour was taken up with entering details in the system and passing reports around.
An hour after the interview, the system alerted her to a new piece of evidence that had just come in.
“Are you seeing this?” Nathan asked.
“Just looking now,” Kate said and opened up the report. It detailed emails between Jordan and Naomi, through an account on Jordan’s computer that was not affiliated with his work.
It didn’t take much reading for her to find some of the juicier parts.
“Alright, well, I think that makes it abundantly clear that something was going on between Naomi and Jordan,” Kate said as she read an email from Naomi describing what she was going to do to Jordan that night when they worked late.
“It certainly does. We’ll have to read through these, but we should look at getting Naomi back in to answer some more questions.”
“She’ll have a hard time denying all this,” Kate agreed, as she saw DI Mason wandering over.
“You know, I always enjoy my visits to this part of the office,” he said.
“We sent you the report from today,” Nathan said.
“I know. I read it. So, what was all that in Guildford town centre earlier on? Couldn’t be a little more discreet perhaps?”
“He made a run for it; we couldn’t let him get away.”
DI Mason sighed. “Good thing you had Kate with you, otherwise he would have.”
Kate caught Nathan’s glance at her and then looked up at Sam. “Nathan was right behind me, he would have caught him part way up Tunsgate had the chase not ended when it did.”
“Would he now?”
“He would,” Kate replied, her voice full of confidence.
“And you’ve just let him go?”
“Despite good intelligence that led to our suspicions about him, he has a solid alibi backed up by multiple witnesses and evidence. He didn’t do it,” Kate replied.
“Alright. So you have some more leads?”
“We do, we’ll follow them up tomorrow,” Nathan answered.
“See that you do.”
CHAPTER 15
He watched the counsellor enter the room and sit opposite him.
The older man took his time, settling himself into the chair, before looking up and meeting his eye. He was thin, wearing a long dark coat with a suit beneath. His hair was slicked back and greying, but there was an intelligence behind those eyes.
A great intelligence, as well as a feeling of threat. He was a dangerous man who’d seen much throughout his life.
“Doyen,” he said in greeting to the counsellor.
The counsellor gave him a thin smile, but there was no joy in it at all. “Proselyte. We’re worried. The council is worried. The Herald is concerned too. Your recent actions. They’re a little concerning, a little too public.”
“I have it under control,” he reassured the councillor.
“Do you? You have the police after you after the mess you left in the woods. You know that, right? ”
“The police do not concern me, and they should not concern you. I’m monitoring them, but compared to the great work, they’re of little importance.”
“Be aware, Proselyte, should things progress to the point where they pose a threat to us, we will take action.”
He nodded once. He’d seen it happen before. The secrecy of the group outweighed everything else. Even the great works such as what he had embarked upon, were secondary to the group’s secrecy.
He knew the cost of failure, and he would gladly accept the Chasm if he failed his self-appointed task.
“I will be careful, and I know the cost. You have nothing to fear from me. Preparations are progressing well, and I shall be ready for the second dedication shortly.”
“I wish you luck, Proselyte. It’s a lonely path you walk, but the Herald will reward
you greatly should you succeed.”
“Thank you, Doyen. I will not let you, the Herald, or The Hand down.”
“See that you don’t.”
CHAPTER 16
Kate woke with a yell, as fear gripped her. She sat up in bed, breathing hard, her skin wet with sweat as she stared into the shadows of her apartment.
It was the usual nightmare.
She was alone, in Ireland, hunting for her aunt’s killer. She’d been convinced about who it was and had finally confronted him late one night in a car park. Her mind had been filled with the usual flashes of violence as the man attacked her.
In some of the dreams, she fought back, in others, she was the victim, and suddenly the man was standing over her in the same stone circle that Fiona had been killed in, a knife in his hand.
But that man, Duane, hadn’t been the killer. She’d been wrong.
But this time, it hadn’t been Duane attacking her, this time it was Patrick.
She’d been in the car park, waiting, when Patrick walked out of the shadows carrying his samurai sword. He’d gloated about being the real killer before swinging the blade.
That’s when she’d woken up.
She wiped her forehead as her breathing slowed. As she calmed down, her eyes looked over to the bookcase, and the cardboard folder sitting on the shelf between her other books.
It was at times like this when the contents of that folder weighed heavily on her mind. But there was nothing she could do.
With a sigh, she dropped back into the soft, welcoming embrace of her pillow, and pulled the duvet tight around her as she went back to sleep.
She didn’t see or hear the envelope being pushed under her door as she drifted back to sleep.
***
Kate walked right up to Nathan’s desk and stood over him, holding up the plastic sandwich bag before her. Nathan looked up and took a second to focus on the bag with the envelope inside it.
He frowned. “He didn’t…”
Kate nodded. “Oh, he did. Found it this morning, pushed under the door to my flat. He knows where I live.”
“Shit. Have you opened it?”
“Once, carefully, with gloves on. It’s the same thing. A photo of Mark, with ‘1 Day’ written under it.”
Nathan sighed. “Are you okay?”
Kate shrugged. “I’m a little shaken up, but I’ll be fine,” she answered, thinking back to the moment she opened the unmarked envelope and the feelings of fear and nausea that rose up within her as the realisation that the killer had been right outside her door, settled into her mind. The memories of visiting the stone circle as a teenager where her aunt had been killed came rushing back as well. She didn’t get the feeling she was a target for this killer, though.
“Do you want someone placed outside your flat, like Kay?”
Kate smiled. “No, I don’t think so…”
“Are you sure?”
“Don’t worry about me. I think he’s just showing off.”
“Taunting us,” Nathan added, mimicking her comment about him yesterday.
Kate nodded. “Something like that,” she said and placed the bag on Nathan’s desk. “I’ll let you deal with that while I get myself settled,” she said and went about getting herself a coffee and pulling open the reports and files on the system. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sat there, typing and cross-checking things when Nathan called her name from behind her.
“Hey, what’s up?” Kate said, turning to look at him.
“Want to leave that paperwork for a bit and come look at some CCTV footage?” he asked, like a parent tempting their child with some sweets.
“Ugh! Do I ever. Get me away from this computer, please!” she answered.
Nathan smiled. “Over here.”
Kate scooted her chair over to Nathan’s desk, where a video was paused on his screen, showing the street outside Donaldson’s Estate Agents at night.
“Alright, our team’s been working all night going through footage from across town, as well as from outside the Estate Agents. Now, watch this,” he said and clicked play. The speed was set slightly faster than real life, but it was clear what was going on. “See this car pulling in there?”
“Yeah. Who is that?”
“That, we’re reasonably sure, is Joanna. The video isn’t super clear, we’ve had it enhanced, but from what we can make out of the number on the plate, and the make and model of the car, it’s extremely unlikely to be anyone else.
“This is the night of the murder?” Kate asked
“Correct. So Joanna was there, at the office that night.”
“But she’s still in the car.”
“She is, and if we keep going… There, you see that?”
“The car?” Kate asked, watching another vehicle move into frame and drive in front of Joanna’s car and through the gap between the buildings to the back of the shops.
“Guess whose car that is?”
“Naomi’s?” Kate guessed.
“Correct. Which fits with her statement. She was there, and she drove right past Joanna. And there she goes,” he said, as Joanna’s car drove away.
“She saw Naomi, didn’t she?”
“That’s what I think. I think she saw Naomi pull up and drive around back.”
“She was there to catch them. She wanted to see them or maybe confront them,” Kate hypothesised. “So she either knew or suspected that they were having an affair and wanted to confirm it at the very least.”
“Looks that way. I’m wondering why she left though.”
“She’ll have bottled it,” Kate suggested. “Or maybe she planned to confront him later. So, how long was Naomi there for?”
“Hold on,” Nathan said and checked something before jumping the video forward a stretch. “Here’s Naomi leaving. We don’t see her at all the whole time she’s back there, and she’s behind the office for twenty minutes.”
“That’s quite a while,” Kate said, sitting back.
“Long enough to subdue someone, and drag them into the back of a car,” Nathan said.
“Maybe…” Kate answered, unsure if she believed that Naomi was capable of that. “Either way, they both lied to us.”
“That they did. So, we know that Jordan and Naomi were having an affair and that Joanna, at the very least, suspected something was going on. So much so, that she drove into town to catch them in the act,” Nathan said, summarising the evidence.
“That’s a strong motive right there,” Kate said. “She knew that her husband was having an affair, or at least found out about it or suspected it that night, only for Jordan to be found dead the next day.”
“It doesn’t look good for her,” Nathan added.
“Which she will know, which is probably why she lied.”
“Covering her tracks.”
“Exactly,” Kate agreed. “But while Joanna has a motive, Naomi had the opportunity. I’m guessing there’s no footage of the back of the shops?”
“Not that we can find, no,” Nathan answered.
“So, we can’t rule her out either. I’m not sure what Naomi’s motive would be to kill him, but she was right there on the night of the murder.”
“At the very least she might have seen something,” Nathan suggested.
Kate nodded. “She might have. I have to say, I don’t get the feeling that she would be a killer. She’s slim and doesn’t show any signs of working out either, so I’m not convinced she’d be able to move the body.”
“Adrenaline is a powerful thing, though,” Nathan countered.
Kate nodded in agreement.
“But I agree. I think Joanna is a more likely suspect. She has a much stronger and clearer motive and is much more invested in Jordan than Naomi is.”
“A crime of passion,” Kate answered.
Nathan nodded, but he still looked a little troubled. “There’s something that doesn’t fit with all this. The ritual and occult aspect of it.”
“Yeah, that is a bum
p in the road. I’m not sure how to account for it either.”
“There is one possibility…” Nathan suggested.
“Oh?”
“Joanna is clearly something of a socialite. She’s well off, attractive, and is friends with some of the local movers and shakers,” Nathan said, navigating to a folder on his computer filled with screenshots. He opened them up to show photos clearly taken at various events with people being handed awards or large cheques while dressed in their finery. In each photo, Joanna was there, smiling away at the heart of the action.
“What are you saying?”
“Look, I agree. I’m not sure she could, on her own, drag Jordan out to that tree and string him up. But if she had help. Help from people who might have some interest in ritual and secrecy…”
“You’re suggesting a conspiracy?”
“We know they exist,” he said, looking at her.
“Do we?” Kate asked, eyebrows raised.
“The Freemasons. Skull and Bones in the US. They’re everywhere.”
“And you think there’s one in Surrey?” she asked, as she started to see some of what the other detectives had warned her about.
“I’m certain of it. I’ve been tracking their activities for months. Years even. We have unexplained disappearances, accidents, cover-ups. It happens all the time, but it’s never investigated, and whenever someone gets close, they either disappear or suddenly lose interest.”
“But not you. You won’t be bought,” Kate said.
“They demoted me,” Nathan replied, his voice flat.
“They? You mean your superiors.”
Nathan nodded, his eyes darting around the room.
Kate narrowed her eyes and felt like she was seeing Nathan in a new light. Witnessing a side of him that she hadn’t seen before. Those in power certainly wanted to keep a hold of that power and would fight to keep it, but to accuse them of conspiracy felt like a step too far. “Alright, why don’t we put that to one side for a moment. Let’s forget this conspiracy thing for now and focus on who actually killed Jordan. We can worry about everything else later.”
Nathan sat back. “You don’t believe me.”