by Anita Waller
They walked down to the car park together.
Flick clicked her key fob. ‘We’re doing the WEA and Starlite membership listings tomorrow?’
‘We are, so don’t throw a sickie.’
Flick laughed. ‘As if. I tried to make a start on them today. Night, boss. See you tomorrow.’
27
It was their salad night, and neither wife looked particularly enthusiastic about it. Frannie moved her lettuce around her plate, trying to make it look as though she’d eaten some of it, and Erica stabbed it with her fork, and loaded several prawns on to the prongs so she didn’t have to taste the lettuce.
‘Tell me again why we decided to have a weekly meal of salad,’ Frannie said.
‘Because we didn’t want to put on weight.’
‘Is it working?’
‘No, but that’s possibly down to Haribos.’
‘So we could have chips with our salad?’
‘We could.’
‘And steak?’
‘We could.’
‘And swap the lettuce stuff for peas?’
Erica looked at her partner. ‘We could, but I think you’ve cancelled out the whole salad evening bit.’
‘You’re right. Chips, steak and peas sounds nothing like prawn salad. I really don’t like salad.’
‘Let’s discuss this properly. Why don’t you like salad?’ Erica waved her fork towards Frannie, a fork already spearing her next mouthful of lettuce.
‘It’s green.’
‘Not all of it. Tomatoes are red.’
‘I don’t like red stuff either.’
Erica sighed. ‘Look, be a good girl and eat it all up and you can have a bar of chocolate afterwards.’
Frannie smiled and punched the air. ‘Yes! Result!’ She ate a little more enthusiastically, and washed almost every mouthful down with wine. ‘What are we doing tonight? I have some notes to write up but they’ll only take me quarter of an hour or so. We could go to the cinema for a late showing.’
Erica shook her head. ‘Best not, I want to get off early in the morning. I feel as though we’re getting close to cracking this, so close I can almost taste it.’
Frannie stopped loading her fork. ‘What? Have I missed something? It was only last night that you were using the phrase headless chickens. Has something happened?’
‘It has. We know how she moves the bodies now, she was caught on CCTV last night.’
Erica stood and carried her plate and cutlery to the dishwasher. ‘But let’s not talk about it tonight. I go over it all day long, and it’s not fair if I bring it home.’
Frannie said nothing, picked up her plate and rinsed it before stacking it in the dishwasher. Just for a second Erica wondered if she had upset Frannie by not telling her everything about the CCTV footage, but dismissed it from her mind. It was enough that it was constantly in her own head, without it being in Frannie’s as well.
‘Coffee?’ Erica asked.
Frannie hesitated for a moment. ‘No, I think I’ll have another wine after I’ve caught up with these notes.’
Ouch, Erica thought, So she’s not too happy with me.
They were in bed a few minutes after ten, although neither woman felt settled. With stressful jobs and a caseload that wouldn’t stay at work because it buried deep into the brain, sleeping wasn’t always easy.
‘You awake?’ Erica asked, and Frannie mumbled that she was.
‘How often do you go to the gym?’
‘Once or twice a week.’
Erica sat up and switched on the bedside lamp. ‘Ever been to the Starlite?’
‘I had a look at it in a flurry of getting fit after our Christmas pig-out, went once at the beginning of January, wasn’t impressed so haven’t been back. Why?’
‘Just asking, really. So it’s not a good gym?’
‘It wasn’t what I wanted. The one near my office is heaps better. I don’t go often, but it’s quite good. Better than the Starlite, anyway.’
‘So you wouldn’t know anybody who was acting suspicious at the Starlite?’
Frannie laughed. ‘No, my love, I wouldn’t. I don’t know anybody at all, full stop.’
‘Then you’re rubbish, Frannie Johnson,’ Erica grumbled, switching off the lamp and snuggling under the duvet. ‘How can I send you in as my mole if you don’t know anybody and aren’t even a member?’
The Porter was losing the power it had showed at the height of the flooding. Named Porter because of its brackish colour it picked up from the hillsides of Derbyshire before pulsating out of the ground in Sheffield’s hills, it was still a force to be reckoned with, and clearly a magnet for the woman who was currently putting the fear of the Almighty into Sheffield’s residents.
Three officers had been left on duty for the night at various points on the river, and all had instructions to check in with each other hourly. They did so, working their way through the flasks of coffee they had brought with them, and the packs of sandwiches.
It was a long night, but not one of them dared to relax for even a second. There would be no more dead women on their watch. Fortunately, it was also a dry night, although cold, and they kept moving as much as they could. They were relieved at six o’clock and a second group of three officers took over. The first group had nothing to report, the second felt thankful.
A team from Forensics arrived at ten and searched the track leading from the newsagent’s shop to the body-dump site, but found nothing. Slowly most of the crime scene tape was removed, leaving a small circular area around the body space. It would probably remain there until the winter gales took it, trailing it like a flag across the Ringinglow moors.
Erica arrived early and switched on her computer before removing her jacket. She grabbed a coffee and headed back to her desk, hearing the ping of an incoming email as she sat down. The email from the Tech people with the polished CCTV from the newsagent’s shop arrived almost without fanfare until she saw the final sentence. Watch it through to the end!
She felt a small surge of anticipation and knew what had been bothering her. In the rush to get the grainy and inefficient film downloaded safely they had watched the arrival of the Fiesta, the removal of the suitcase and its disappearance over the grassed area, pulled by the killer. The woman. They hadn’t watched her return.
Now there was no longer the fear they might lose the precious pictures by incorrect handling of such old equipment, the whole episode would be seen. She sat down at her desk, glancing around the main office to see who was in. Nobody. Had she really expected anybody to be in at six?
Her door opened and Flick said, ‘Morning, boss.’
‘Flick! Take your coat off, grab a coffee and come and watch this with me.’
They sat side by side and Erica clicked her mouse. The film opened two minutes before the arrival of the car, and they watched it through to where the killer dragged the suitcase up the grass incline. A second car pulled up behind the Fiesta after five minutes twenty seconds, but nobody got out. It remained for three minutes sixteen seconds, then pulled away and disappeared.
‘I don’t think that’s connected,’ Erica said slowly. ‘They probably needed to answer the phone or something. If it was connected all we know is that it’s a Corsa, I think, and we have no idea of its registration, although no doubt we can find it using ANPR. We’ll check it out, I’ll put the request in after we’ve finished watching this.’
They were sipping second cups of coffee by the time the killer returned with the suitcase.
‘It’s definitely a woman,’ Flick said. ‘She has a woman’s walk. I know that sounds sexist, but it’s true. We do walk differently. She’s stepping carefully down from the edge of that grass onto the pavement. A man wouldn’t do that.’
They watched as she opened the boot and stashed the suitcase inside it, then she took a cigarette from a packet in the top pocket of the black jacket she was wearing, lit it and climbed into the driving seat. There was a pause of over a minute, and the car mov
ed. It did a U-turn across the width of the empty road and Erica clicked pause.
‘Now we’ve got the bitch’s number plate.’ She scribbled down the number. ‘ANPR can check this one as well. I know we’re not going to be able to trace this to her, she’s far too clever for that, but it will hopefully lead us to the general area where she stores it.’
They watched for a further five minutes, then the film ended.
The briefing room had filled up, and everybody seemed to be talking. They stopped as Erica entered, and she walked across to the whiteboard.
‘Before we move on to today’s activities, I’m going to see DS Machin. She’s improving, and I don’t think it will be long before they let her go home. I think they’re keeping a close eye on the head injury, but her other injuries are healing nicely, according to her mum. I’ll be taking that enormous card to her, and I’ll tell you later what she says.’
There was a smattering of applause at her news, and Erica turned to the whiteboard, attaching a picture of Victoria Urland.
‘In the meantime, let’s catch a killer. I have forwarded the CCTV from yesterday to all of you. Make it your first job to watch this, and I’ve already asked for ANPR help in tracking down the two vehicles you will see on screen. I don’t think the Corsa is involved, but because I think that it doesn’t mean I’m right.’
She looked around the room and spotted Ian. ‘Ian picked up a cigarette end at the scene which you will see the killer throw away. It has returned a positive DNA result, so the rain and damp didn’t do too much damage. Unfortunately that DNA isn’t on our database, but hopefully it will be used to convict her when we bring her in.’
They all drifted towards their computers, and silence descended as they watched the CCTV footage. It was hardly any clearer than when Erica had watched it in Winston’s back room, and she saw one or two of her team pull their monitors closer, not wanting to miss one second.
Flick followed her into her office. ‘Never been so quiet,’ she joked.
‘Yes, they all like a good movie. Is she getting careless?’ The question was abrupt.
‘She is. The only other CCTV we’ve found her on was that first one where she picked up Susie Roebuck, again on a main road. But I’ve always thought that pick-up was a spur-of-the-minute thing. I think Susie would have been abducted at some point, but she saw her on her own, waved at her and Susie recognised her or her car, and bang, Susie’s dead.’
Erica looked at Flick. ‘She’s running out of options on the river. Isn’t she? We’ve got crime scene tape all over the bloody place, intermittent police officers on duty and unless she’s actually working for us she won’t know when that is, and she’s obviously OCD with the damn river. It has to be there where she leaves her bodies. She fixated on the Ls, now she’s fixated on the Porter. I thought she was fixated on the gym, but it seems Victoria Urland was taken because she went to a local bonfire. Our job for today is to find out more about her, where this bonfire was, and who she was with.’
‘Her parents didn’t know?’
‘Funnily enough, they thought they did. She told them she was going to a municipal bonfire with some friends, and she would check in frequently because it was the first time they had looked after baby Noah on their own. The only check-in was a text to say change of plan, she was going to a local bonfire instead. She gave them no details, so we’re going to have to track down her friends. We’ll go see her parents today, and take it from there. I’ve asked ANPR to contact Ian, and I’ll tell him to ring us if anything significant comes in because of that. Fingers crossed he can tell us where the car’s kept, but I’m not holding my breath.’
28
Flick grinned at her boss. ‘This membership and WEA list is fading into the distance.’
‘I know. I feel the membership list can’t help, because all we needed was the attendance records, and we’ve done them. The WEA ones need checking because they refer to the twenty-fourteen killings, and if this woman would desist in her murderous ways for a couple of days, we wouldn’t have to be distracted with a new addition to the case. My God, I sound a proper cow, don’t I?’
‘Yes.’
‘You didn’t have to agree, but I think I chose the wrong words. You know what I meant. We start to get a foothold, and we have to stop because there’s a new death. It’s why I’m going to see Beth. I need time out.’
‘Can I check something? These attendance records. Everybody has to sign in to get through those double doors into the gym itself?’
‘Yes. She was quite emphatic about it. They don’t all sign out. The way she put it was that some of them are too knackered to lift the pen.’
‘Okay. When are you going to see Beth?’
Erica glanced at her watch. ‘I’ll go now. If they say she’s been moved out of HDU I’ll use the warrant card and get in anyway. Do you want to come?’
For a brief moment there was a look of panic on Flick’s face. ‘No, I’m fine thanks. Don’t like hospitals.’
Erica smiled at her stand-in sergeant. ‘You might need to get used to them. It’s part and parcel of the job.’
‘I know, and it doesn’t bother me if it’s a result of some crime or other, but to go and visit people, not knowing what to talk about…’ She gave a shudder. ‘No, I’m going to the gym.’
‘Starlite? Is there a reason?’
‘Might join it.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t panic.’ Flick laughed. ‘You can join for free for the first month, but then you either leave or pay for the pleasure. I thought I’d go and mingle, but can you hurry up and catch her because I don’t actually want to get fit by using treadmills and suchlike. Does my police life insurance cover me for a heart attack while on duty?’
Beth’s face was badly bruised. The bandage around her head had been reduced in size, and her eyes sparkled as Erica came into the room.
‘I understand I owe everything to you,’ Beth said. ‘You sent in the cavalry.’
‘You would have done it for me,’ Erica said awkwardly.
‘I wouldn’t have needed to do it for you. Frannie isn’t a psychopathic maniac, unlike the partner I chose. So stop being all shy and retiring, that’s not like you. Thank you for what you did, Erica. He took me completely by surprise. I expected a ghost or a skeleton, but as soon as I released the lock on the door he started on me. I think he was drunk, but that’s no excuse.’
‘He was extremely drunk. We had officers out on the streets immediately, looking for him. They found him sat on the floor in a bus shelter, absolutely legless. It was drugs and alcohol. He was locked up by the time they’d wheeled you into surgery. Your mum and dad not here?’
‘No. I’m being moved to a different ward today. It’s not HDU, it’s something one step down from that, but it means they can’t be with me all the time. It’s a relief really. I’ve told them to check out of that hotel and go home. Dad’s been travelling backwards and forwards checking on things and feeding the budgie, and I can see they’re both exhausted. They’ve said they’re coming back tomorrow, so today I’ll concentrate on my recovery. I want out of here, and I think possibly three more days, if I’m a good girl, will see me back at home.’
‘Alone?’ Erica asked, concerned that maybe Beth might need help.
‘Alone. I’ve got a phone if I need help, and if you’ve charged Evan with attempted murder, as I expect you have, he’s not going to get anywhere near me for a long time, is he?’
‘If you want to come to us for a week or so, till you’ve got your sea legs back, so to speak, you’re more than welcome.’
‘No, I’ll be fine, honestly. I can go to sleep when I want if I’m on my own, and they’ve warned me to expect that for a bit. The head injury was pretty bad apparently.’
Erica looked at Beth through tear-filled eyes. ‘I thought you were dead.’ She handed Beth the large white envelope she was clutching. ‘And everybody who’s signed this thought you wouldn’t recover, but they’re bloody gla
d you have.’
Flick parked in the gym car park and walked around checking number plates and black cars. Nothing matched the information they had obtained from the CCTV footage. She walked around to the front door, and pushed it open.
The girl on reception didn’t have a name badge; Flick took that as a good sign that maybe she didn’t normally work on reception and might not worry too much about client confidentiality.
‘Hi, I’m thinking about taking up your offer of a free month to decide if it’s the right gym for me.’
‘That’s fine. Fill in this form, and I’ll process it for you.’ She pushed across a basic type of form and Flick took it, moving to sit beside a small square table. She filled in her details, putting accountant in the box marked employment. She used her own name and address, reckoning they might check up on that.
She finished, headed back to the still-unnamed girl, and gave it to her. ‘What do I do now?’
‘I’ll log these details into the computer and then I’ll show you the facilities.’
Flick waited patiently, walking around the room and inspecting the certificates hanging on the wall. At the end of the reception desk were two large doors that she presumed led into the gym, but opposite the desk were further double doors that said The Coffee Pot in curly gold letters.
A coffee shop… she put that to the back of her mind as she was summoned by the receptionist.
‘Are you here for a workout today?’ She looked Flick up and down as if to say you’re not wearing the correct gear.
‘No,’ Flick said. ‘I don’t have the right stuff, I thought I’d check I could join first, then go shopping. I’ll be back tomorrow.’
‘Okay, no problem. When you come tomorrow, you need to sign in. It’s for health and safety purposes. This is the book, and it’s always on the reception desk.’
Flick nodded her understanding.
‘If you’d like to follow me.’