by M A Comley
“Mrs. Fuller. I’m DS Lorne Warner. We’ve been trying to contact you all night and today. Have you had your phone switched off?”
The woman rummaged in her bag and pulled out her mobile. She looked at it and shook it. “Darn thing needs replacing. I only keep it for emergencies. Where’s my daughter?” The phone tinkled to life. She stared at it dumbly, then looked at Lorne standing before her. “What in God’s name is going on here?”
Lorne took the woman by the shoulders, turned her around, and made her sit on the second from bottom step on the stairs. Then she crouched down in front of her, clasping her hands in her own. She said quietly, “I’m sorry, Gina, Wendy died in the early hours of this morning.”
“Noooooo! Not my baby.”
Lorne nodded. “I’m sorry. We’re trying to find clues as to what went on.”
The woman sat there stunned, seemingly not breathing, as if her body had forgotten how to function normally.
“Your sister was at the hospital. Do you want me to call her? Ask her to come over to be with you?”
Still too dumbfounded to speak, Gina Fuller nodded. Her eyes glazed over momentarily before small tears emerged from her tear ducts and trailed down her cheeks.
Lorne rang Gina’s sister and asked her to make her way over to the house. “She’ll be here in just a few minutes, Gina. Hang in there with us now.” Katy appeared in the doorway of the lounge. “Do you want me to make you a cup of tea, Gina?”
Dazed, Gina’s head bobbed up and down.
“Thanks, Katy.” Lorne rubbed the woman’s cold hands between hers. Shock was setting in, fast. “Do you want me to take you to the hospital? To see Wendy.”
“But she’s dead…?” The poor woman was completely confused, Lorne could tell. “You’ll need to go and see her in the next few days anyway. My advice would be to do it sooner rather than later. You should talk about it with your sister. She can go with you. Okay?” Lorne stumbled over the words, trying her hardest not to sound too distant and to be respectful of the woman’s grief. From experience on the job, Lorne knew a valuable sense of reality often set in faster for those who viewed their deceased loved ones sooner rather than later. Of course, that decision was for the grieving person to make. And often they chose to avoid it, understandably. “I don’t know. I’m so confused. When I left here last night, before the party started, she was so happy. Blissfully happy that I was trusting her not to let the party get out of hand. Now this…”
“You have my word that I’ll get to the bottom of this, Gina. Charlie accompanied Wendy to the hospital. It could have easily been my daughter lying in the mortuary today instead of Wendy.”
“Is Charlie all right?”
“Yes, everyone else at the party was unharmed.”
Gina’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. Why only Wendy? Was she attacked?”
“In a way, you could say that.” Lorne filled the grieving woman in on what they knew about the incident so far.
Horrified at the known facts behind her daughter’s death, Mrs. Fuller began to wail again. Rocking back and forth, she moaned, “Why? Why did I let her have that blasted party? I’m responsible for this.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself, Gina,” Lorne whispered.
Katy brought the mug of tea and handed it to Gina, who cradled it, capturing its warmth in her hands. The front door opened, and Wendy’s aunt entered the small hallway. Lorne and Katy left the grieving women to mourn their loss and headed back to the lounge.
“We’ll have to section off the house, comb the area for the next few days. Can you ask the homeowner to stay elsewhere for forty-eight hours? We should be done by then,” Patti asked quietly.
Lorne nodded and said, “I will in a second. Let’s leave them for a few minutes. No family should have to deal with this shit after what should have been a joyous occasion.”
“Granted. Lorne, you do realise we’re going to have to question Charlie, don’t you?” Katy said, walking over to the window and looking out at the road.
“Yes, I know. Maybe we could do house to house here first and then question Charlie later.”
“I was thinking the same thing. If the partygoers left here and were rowdy, I reckon most of these people would have seen them or heard them. Maybe someone can even give us a name.”
“Good idea,” Patti replied, nodding thoughtfully. “I hate to be such a grouch, but the sooner I can get this place sectioned off, the better.”
“All right. I’ll nudge things along,” Lorne said, adding, “Patience was never your strong point was it, Patti?” She winked at the forensic pathologist.
“Busy people lack the ability to be patient with others…you, of all people should understand that, Lorne,” she sniffed.
“Touché,” Lorne mumbled, leaving the lounge and returning to the two grieving sisters. “Sorry to interrupt.” She directed her question at the sister. “Is it possible for Gina to stay with you for the next few days?”
“Of course, why?”
“This is now regarded as a crime scene, and forensics will have to carry out a thorough investigation in every room. I’m sorry, Gina, I know this is the last thing you’ll want to do right now, but the quicker we get this under way, the quicker we’ll find the culprits.”
Resigned to leaving her house, Gina rose to her feet and trudged upstairs without saying a word.
“I’ll go and help her pack. Please find these people quickly, Sergeant.”
“We’ll certainly do our best. I’ll see to that personally.”
Half an hour passed before the two women reappeared carrying two bulging holdalls. “We’re going now. Here’s my phone number. Please ring us with any news.”
Lorne took the small piece of paper Wendy’s aunt had torn from her diary. “Thank you. I’ll certainly keep you posted.” Lorne looked at Gina. “Would you like me to arrange for you to see Wendy?”
The shattered woman pulled her shoulders back and looked her in the eye. “Maybe later today.”
“I’ll get the pathologist to call you later.”
With that, the women left the house. Lorne and Katy set off on foot and started knocking on the neighbouring houses to see if they could learn anything about the events of the previous evening. The nearest neighbours said they heard nothing untoward during the evening, and were horrified to hear young Wendy was dead. Lorne walked away, suspecting if the closer neighbours hadn’t heard anything, then the likelihood of anyone else in the street knowing anything was extremely remote. That turned out to be the case after she and Katy spent another pointless hour ringing doorbells.
“Shall we call it a day? Maybe we could get a couple of uniformed officers to call back later when more people are at home,” Lorne suggested, crossing the road to join up with her partner.
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s say goodbye to Patti and get back to the station.”
• • •
Upon their arrival back at the station, Lorne rang the BBC to go through the details of the case of the headless dead woman. Everything was in order there. Lorne turned to Katy. “Can I be cheeky and ask to leave early? I want to see how Charlie is coping, but I won’t be skiving off. I’m going to get Charlie’s statement down, while things are fresh in her mind.”
Katy turned her wrist and stared at her watch. “Why not? It’s almost three now, and we didn’t have a lunch break today. You shoot off. Give Charlie a hug and send her my best wishes.”
“Will do. I’ll come in early tomorrow to make it up to you, I promise. Don’t forget to watch Crimewatch tonight.”
“Nonsense, come in at your usual time. I’ll be tuned into it, don’t worry.”
• • •
Charlie sat with her arms stretched around her knees at the kitchen table, sadness etched into every crevice of her face. Lorne walked up to her daughter and tugged her arm gently, inviting her to stand and have a cuddle. Mother and daughter wept together for a few minutes. Lorne had never loved her daughte
r so much as that moment. The thought of nearly losing her, not for the first time in her short life, made her give Charlie an extra squeeze before she finally released her.
Tony walked into the kitchen, saw his two ladies in their moment, and walked straight back out again, not wishing to disturb them.
Lorne stopped him. “Hey, come back in here you. We’re done being soppy.”
Returning, her husband kissed her. “You’re home early. Everything all right?”
“Yes, I need to take a statement from Charlie.” She turned to her daughter. “That is, if you’re up to it, love?”
Charlie stared at her clenched hands on the table in front of her. “I suppose so, Mum. Do you want to do it now?”
“Would you mind? We can get it out of the way before dinner.”
Lorne sat down at the table and took out the A4 pad she kept in her bag cum briefcase. “Let’s start at the beginning.”
Charlie expelled a large breath and wrung her hands together. “The party started at around eight. People were pretty slow to show up at first, Wendy was getting more and more worried that her party was going to go down as a flop. She needn’t have worried though, because after eleven, people arrived by the carload.”
“Not wishing to put added pressure on you, sweetheart, but I’ll need a list of names who attended…those you recognised anyway?”
“I knew most of them, Mum, but some of the people were friends of Wendy’s through her part-time job, so I only know their first names.”
“That’s all right. If you think their relationship with Wendy is job related, providing we have a first name, I’m sure it won’t take much to track them down via their employee records.”
“I see. Shall I do that later or now?”
“We’ll take care of that for you, dear. You just do your best to remember their names. So, give me an estimate, how many people do you think turned up? I’m talking about the people who were actually invited, of course.”
“Wendy sent out invitations to about forty people, I believe, and some of them brought their friends along too. Initially, she was okay with that…until those boys turned up.” Another tear dripped onto Charlie’s cheek.
Lorne scribbled the details down and looked up at her daughter. “Do you want to take a break?”
Tony jumped into action. “I’ll put the kettle on.”
“No, I’d rather get this over with, Mum.”
“So what time did these boys intrude on the party?”
“I suppose it was around midnight. I wasn’t really watching the time. Too busy enjoying myself. Perhaps if I’d paid more attention to what was going on, Wendy…might still be alive.”
Lorne dropped her pen and took hold of Charlie’s hands. “Don’t go blaming yourself for this, love. None of it is your fault, you hear me?”
“It’s hard not to blame myself. I’ve always considered myself the more responsible out of the two of us, lately anyway. I should have been more aware of what was going on.”
Lorne reached up and wiped the tears from her daughter’s cheeks. “The only ones to blame in this, love, are those boys.”
Charlie nodded, a slow thoughtful nod. She closed her eyes as if trying to remember how things had progressed at the party. “At first, the boys seemed okay. I can see now that they were pretending to be nice, gaining everyone’s trust until they were able to seize their opportunity.”
“So, how long before things kicked off?”
Tony placed the mugs of coffee on the table in front of them and sat beside Lorne.
“Around twenty minutes to half an hour. The leader switched the stereo off and started mouthing off. Wendy stood her ground and asked them to leave politely. I probably should have said something too, but it was Wendy’s party so I didn’t want to interfere. The leader laughed in her face…and the rest of the night went like I told you at the hospital. Some of the invited boys started to get upset, and Wendy was eager not to get her mum’s house damaged by any fighting. The leader challenged Wendy to drink from that bottle of vodka. I begged her not to. She smiled, said there was no other way out of the situation, and that everything would be fine. Which, of course, it wasn’t.”
“And the boys left soon after?”
“Within ten minutes I’d say. About the time Wendy started to feel dizzy and unwell.” Charlie shook her head. “She just keeled over in front of me. I didn’t even have time to break her fall. She hit her head on her mum’s sideboard. Do you think that’s what killed her? I know how damaging a blow to the head can be.”
“I don’t think so, love. Patti will be carrying out an autopsy soon. The cause of death will be discovered then.”
Charlie shuddered. “Poor Wendy. Does she have to be opened up, Mum? Couldn’t they do numerous tests rather than take the knife to her?”
“You’ve read enough forensics books to answer your own question.”
“I know, I just thought…”
“Patti will take care of her, you know that. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“No, nothing. I called 999, and we all stood around, stunned, waiting for the ambulance to arrive.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through this, sweetie. You have my word that I’ll track these boys down.”
“I have every confidence in you, Mum. I’ll start writing a list of people now, if you like?”
“Thanks, that’d be helpful, but take a break if you need one, all right?”
Charlie took her mother’s notebook and picked up her mug. “I’ll go and do it in my room. Only a small dinner for me please. A sandwich will do.”
“You need more than that, love. I’ll cook you up a cheese and tomato omelette when you’re ready.”
With Charlie out of earshot, Tony placed a reassuring hand over hers. “She’ll be all right. She has her mother’s dogged determination running through her core.”
“Will she? She’s been through her fair share of trauma already in her young life.”
He nodded and leaned forward to kiss her on the lips. “Don’t doubt her abilities, Lorne. She’s much stronger than either of us give her credit for. Every time she has been challenged, she came out the other side a much stronger character. Just like her mother.”
“Yes, but there will come a time, Tony, when her body or mind will say ‘that’s it, I’ve had as much shit thrown at me as I can cope with.’ Don’t you think?”
“Maybe. She seems okay to me. We’ll keep a watchful eye on her the next few days just to be sure. Now, did you mention something about making dinner? Does that mean I can have a night off?”
“Geez…one day of cooking the main meal around here, and you’re already thinking of throwing in the towel. How on earth do you men think us women cope, day in, day out?”
Tony cringed and sank back in his chair. “I was only asking. No need to bite my head off.”
Lorne stood and collapsed into his lap. “I’m only kidding. I’ll do my share when I can, you know I will.” Tony opened his mouth to say something else, but she planted another kiss on his lips. “I’d be lost without you.”
Coming up for air, Tony smiled and traced her cheek with his finger. “The feeling’s mutual, wifey dearest.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lorne, armed with her notebook, which had Charlie’s important statement written out in full, arrived at the station before eight thirty the following day. She was feeling upbeat and excited about learning if the TV programme had brought any good news overnight. Her hopes were dashed when AJ greeted her with a nonchalant shrug.
“Nothing yet. I think it’s a little too early.”
“I suppose you’re right. I’ll be typing up Charlie’s statement if you hear anything,” she told her colleague, pulling out her chair and settling down at her desk.
Katy walked into the incident room about ten minutes later. She made a beeline for Lorne’s desk. “How’s Charlie?”
“She’s fine. Sad, but fine. I’m just typing up her stat
ement now. Shall we put your name on it rather than mine?”
“I’ll have a read through it first and then sign it. I can always question Charlie at a later date if necessary.”
Katy left to get on with her own morning routine. Lorne had reached the last sentence of Charlie’s statement when the phone rang on her desk. “Hello, Detective Sergeant Warner, how may I help?”
The person on the other end of the line was breathing heavily and cursing the odd word under his breath. “Sir, can I help you?” Lorne asked, her tone sympathetic.
“I know.”
“You know what, sir?” Lorne clicked her fingers to get AJ’s attention. He ran across the room to listen in on the call as Lorne hit the speaker button.
“I know,” the man’s voice sounded as though he was in some kind of pain—whether that pain was physical or emotional, she couldn’t tell.
“You need to give me more than that, sir. You know what?” Lorne knew she had to proceed with caution, and not scare the man off. He obviously had something he needed to get off his chest. The question was what? Something triggered in her brain. “Does this have anything to do with the case featured on the TV last night, sir?” The man inhaled sharply. So it was to do with that. “Sir, please, just tell me what you know?”
“I know. I didn’t want to be part of it. I’m sorry.” With that, he hung up.
Lorne exchanged disappointed glances with AJ. She slammed the heel of her hand onto the desk. “Shit. Why couldn’t I keep him on the phone?”
“Don’t beat yourself up. I’m sure if he’s made contact with you once, his conscience will prod him to do it again. He’s clearly riddled with guilt; you can hear it in his voice.”
“You’re right—all the more reason for me to have coaxed more information out of him.”
“You better tell the boss,” AJ said, making his way back to his own desk.
With a certain amount of reluctance, Lorne went to tell Katy. “Knock knock. Sorry to intrude, but something important just occurred.”