by Anita Waller
Flick felt a lurch of excitement. ‘And you never saw anyone in it?’
‘I once saw it pull up outside in pouring rain and the driver offered a lift but Iola shook her head and the car drove away.’
‘Iola?’
‘Gym member. Sorry I don’t know her other name, but her first name is spelt IOLA. It’s quite unusual so you can probably track it down pretty easily. She’s a customer here, but only when she visits the gym.’
The café door opened and Flick leaned forward slightly to snap the woman as she entered. She paused in the doorway to shake her umbrella before heading for the counter.
‘It’s starting to get busy,’ Georgia said. ‘I’d best get back to work. I’ll see you tomorrow with your photos?’
‘You will. You have a phone number in case anything happens to prevent it?’
Georgia scribbled her number on Flick’s notebook, and stood. ‘And might I say, Flick, I’ll never become an author by talking to you.’ She laughed and headed back behind the servery.
Erica had filled her Super in on all developments, and he had agreed with her that they needed to tread carefully until the suspect was in custody. After the hour-long conversation in which she had shared everything her team had given to her, she returned to her own office, made a strong coffee, and pulled her phone towards her.
She stared at the rain pouring down her windows, and bleakly wondered if this was it for ever – torrential rain, unending sludge and wetness, rivers flooding. Maybe they would all buy boats in the future instead of cars…
She was about to disconnect when Frannie answered.
‘Sorry, lovely. I was leaving a client’s home when I heard my phone ring. I’m sitting in the car now, so I can talk. It’s pissing it down again.’
‘I know. I was thinking we might buy a boat.’
‘Good idea. Can you row?’
‘No, but I bet you can.’ She laughed. ‘And I’m good at putting on waders now, in case you overturn us.’
‘Did you want something sensible, or shall I go boat shopping?’
‘I wanted to hear your voice really. I needed to talk to somebody who has no connection to this case. I’ve spent an hour in with the Super, and I feel drained. He insisted on me crossing every i and dotting every t.’
‘Now I know you’re tired. That was ever so slightly the wrong way round. Good job I understand Erica-speak. Has something happened to need an hour with him?’
‘It has. I’ll maybe tell you tonight when I’ve thought it through again, and when my team start to report in. They’re all over the place today. What time will you be home?’
Frannie hesitated. ‘I was going to the gym…’
‘Not the Starlite?’ Erica knew the stress showed in her voice and that she was being irrational.
‘No, not the Starlite. You know I don’t use that one. This one near the office. And you really don’t need to fret about me. I’m hardly in the young and beautiful category. And I’ve got my own car, so not likely to need a lift to anywhere, am I? It’s sending you ever so slightly off kilter, this case, methinks.’
‘Methinks so too.’ Erica forced a laugh. ‘I’ll let you go. Try not to be too late home, I could do with a hug.’
‘Then a hug you shall have, and I’ll skip the gym. We’ll have a pizza and watch a film and drink wine. That sound good?’
‘Copious amounts?’
‘You can’t, but a full glass may be called for. You’re in the middle of a case that seems to require your presence at all strange hours of the night, so I’m limiting you to one glass of wine, sipped slowly to make it last. I’ll let you choose the film, though, to make up for it.’
Erica smiled as she disconnected. Her wife seemed to have the knack of making life simple. It usually involved wine, but she never let anything faze her, not even the most difficult of cases she had to deal with in her own job. Traumatised children, battered wives, even the occasional battered husband would be enough to flatten anyone, but she handled it, almost compartmentalised it so that it didn’t impinge on her own life, but she never had a bad word to say about anyone. Erica knew their years together had been special, and she hoped they would have many more.
She turned on her computer and pulled up Google Earth. She wanted a close look at the garage site; there had to be some way of keeping observation on the comings and goings. She fiddled around for a while until she got the angle and clarity she wanted, and realised quickly that with such a narrow entrance, once the suspect was inside the garage site, a vehicle could easily be positioned across the entrance to block her exit by vehicle.
She identified Adam’s garage from the description given to her by the two officers, and she wondered how they could make sure he was absolutely safe once the action started. If it started. First of all they had to know when she was there. There was no CCTV, nowhere to put cameras, and did she arrive in a car, or even by taxi? She would ask Sam to go find the lad, and ask if the suspect ever arrived in a different car before leaving in the Fiesta.
Erica took out two paracetamol from her drawer and swallowed them with the rapidly cooling coffee. This bloody case was one constant headache, and she doubted if paracetamol would help in any way.
34
Adam was eating a bowl of vegetable soup when he heard the knock on the garage door.
‘Adam, it’s Sam. You in?’
‘I am.’ He watched as the door slowly rose a few feet. Sam entered quickly, then pulled the door back down to the bottom, carefully balancing two takeaway coffees.
‘Finish your soup, then we’ll chat.’ The police officer smiled. ‘This is starting to look like a proper home.’
‘Central heating’s crap.’ Adam grinned. ‘Your mother’s a lovely woman, by the way. Please thank her for me; she’s sent loads of stuff that’s easy for me to cook, or doesn’t need cooking.’
Adam had brought in a few bricks he had scavenged from outside and created a raised plinth on which to stand the camping cooker. The rug was underneath the sleeping bag, an extra layer of protection against the cold that struck upwards with some brutality from the concrete floor.
‘It was good sorting through it all after you’d gone. I think,’ he hesitated, trying to find the right words, ‘that what your mum and you have done is possibly the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me, and you don’t even know me. I could be a real blagger, lying to you, into drugs, and you wouldn’t know.’
Sam laughed. ‘Credit me with some intelligence, Adam. Of course I’d know. Yes, I’ve been lucky to be blessed with the parents I have, but I’ve been in this job long enough to see the dark side and you’re not part of it. You’ll get yourself out of this, I know.’
‘Started already.’
‘Started what?’
‘I’ve got a job. Begins next week. I nipped round to the shop for some milk and the feller who owns it was having a right bull and a cow with his cleaner. She walked out, and I jumped in. I’m going round there on Sunday at twelve, when he closes, and he’s going to show me what he wants doing. You’ve done this,’ Adam said, looking up at Sam.
‘Me?’
‘You and Mike. I was pretty down when you turned up.’
‘Invading your space.’ Sam laughed.
‘Yeah. You did. But you bought me a McDonald’s. You didn’t have to do that. And then you turned up with the contents of your loft. And now you’re here again with a warm drink, and I know you’re checking on me, but I can take that.’
‘I’m not checking on you, I’m here to ask something. And to tell you something.’
Adam sipped at his coffee. ‘Oh?’ His eyes searched Sam’s face; he was instantly on his guard.
‘Stop worrying. It’s about the black car. At least, it’s about its owner.’
‘I’ve told you I don’t know her name. She’s never said it.’
‘You say she doesn’t arrive here to collect the car before five.’ Sam glanced at his watch. ‘It’s not three yet, so I should be s
afe. It’s important no police are here when she arrives. The car is of little use to us if its owner scarpers and we lose her. It’s been damned hard work tracking her down, and we’ve only done that because we had the happy accident of finding you. Luck like that never happens twice, I can assure you. It doesn’t usually happen once. So after this, I won’t be able to contact you until we’ve got her. However, we will be in the area. I don’t have details yet, but if she does come she’ll probably bring you food. That’s what she usually does?’
Adam nodded. ‘Yes, then she goes down to her garage, gets out the car and disappears. In the summer she used to take it out for ten minutes, then come back and leave after a wave towards me. But this past couple of weeks she’s kept it out for longer, and brings it back after I’ve nodded off. I don’t hear her. The rain’s drowned out all other sounds.’
‘How does she get here? Does she have another car?’
‘No idea. If she does, she leaves it out on the main road, because I only ever saw her walk up that alleyway to get to the garage. I used to think she maybe had a van or something that was too big to get down here, but I never saw anything. Sorry I can’t help with that.’
‘No problem. Now we come to the tricky part because I know you like her, but she’s killed nine young women, Adam. She killed four in twenty-fourteen, then stopped for five years and now she’s killed another five over the past couple of weeks. She’s an extremely dangerous woman who wouldn’t hesitate to kill you if she thought it was necessary. We’re instigating surveillance as we speak, and the second she enters this site a large vehicle, probably a car recovery truck because that’s something you would expect to see parked on a road rather than a car park, will move into position and block the exit. If she does come to see you first, the second she leaves here,’ he swept his hand around the garage, ‘I want you to press this.’
He handed Adam a small gadget. ‘It’s a simple alarm, but it will notify us of where she is. Make sure she has closed your door behind her before you press it. Act as you have always acted towards her, and we’ll take care of everything else. And stay in here. I’ll let you know as soon as we have her in the back of a police car. Do not respond to anyone then but Mike or me.’
Adam turned over the alarm, twisting it between his fingers.
‘Press it now,’ Sam said. ‘We need to test it. We have someone outside with the receiver in place.’
Adam gave a small nervous laugh, and pressed down on the red button. Nothing audible happened, but after a few seconds Sam’s phone rang. He spoke briefly, and turned to Adam.
‘That’s fine. So I’ll disappear as soon as I’ve finished my coffee, and you’ll be on your own. I know this sounds strange but we don’t think she’ll be here tonight because rain isn’t forecast. However, we’re back to gale conditions and torrential rain tomorrow, and that’s when she usually operates. You okay with all of this? Say if you’re not, and we can move you out of here and leave everything to chance.’
‘You kidding? This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me!’
‘As soon as we have her we’ll get you into the station for a statement, an identity parade probably…’
‘It won’t be in the papers, my name, will it?’
‘No, I promise you that. Make sure you don’t open your mouth to talk about it, because there’s always somebody who’ll have loose lips, believe me. I realise you don’t want your family tracking you down.’
‘I fucking don’t.’
Sam realised that it was the first time he had heard Adam swear.
Sam walked out of the garage site and sat in his own car. Mike was in the passenger seat. ‘Worked perfectly, that alarm. Adam okay?’
‘He is. Wait while you see his garage now. A proper little home. Still freezing cold at night though. He’d warmed himself a tin of soup when I got there. I gave him the option of us putting him somewhere safe until it’s over, or helping us as we’ve discussed with the boss. No contest. He wants to help.’
‘Nice lad.’
‘Yep. Wanker’s certainly got a lot to answer for. Anyway, Adam’s picked up a little cleaning job, so maybe the garage will be passed on to one of his mates in the near future. Hope so. It’s going to be a long cold winter if not. I’ve explained to him that although we’ll be here, we’re not expecting her to come tonight because it’s not raining, and it’s not been forecast. He’s on the alert for tomorrow night though.’
By eleven o’clock that night all surveillance vehicles had moved half a mile away from the area, leaving one newly arrived car containing Ian Thomas and Kev Ward to take the token overnight watch. No activity was expected, their OCD suspect liked the rain.
It was dry and slightly warmer than of late. A good autumn evening, reminiscent of bonfire nights he remembered from his youth, Ian thought. The sky wasn’t quite the deep black they had been experiencing recently, the moon helping to wash the clouds with a paler blue hue. His thoughts drifted back over the case; there was a mild sense of anticipation that tomorrow would see the end. This woman, this killer, could have no idea how close they were, how fortuitous Sam’s instinct to go back and talk to the resident of the garage would prove to be. When this was all over, Ian would like to go and shake the young lad’s hand.
Ian leaned against the car sipping at the coffee he had collected from the late-night burger van, contemplating his proposed career move. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but it would mean more money…
His phone rang and he saw ‘Boss’ on the screen.
‘Boss?’
‘Only checking in, Ian. Everything quiet?’
‘It is. Go to sleep. We’ve a busy day tomorrow.’
‘I’m still at work. Rereading reports, linking one thing with another…’
‘And?’
‘And nothing. I’ve had a bollocking from the wife for still being here, so I thought I’d check everything was quiet, then go home. Frannie’s gone to bed because she’s got an early start tomorrow, so it’s Horlicks and bed. Sweet dreams, boys. See you tomorrow afternoon.’
Ian disconnected and shook his head. No wonder Frannie had been pissed off, still in the office at nearly midnight. He took out a cigarette and lit it. It really was a peaceful night. They had a full view of the opening to the garage site, and an equally full view of any traffic using the road on which they were currently parked.
He let his eyes roam, saw nothing to cause him any concern so dropped the last of the cigarette into the dregs in the bottom of his coffee cup. He collected Kev’s and walked back to the burger van to deposit the two cups into the litter bin.
‘On surveillance then?’ the burger van owner asked.
Ian grinned, and walked back towards Kev. ‘So much for being bloody undercover,’ he grumbled, as he slid back behind the steering wheel. ‘Even the burger bloke knows we’re police.’
Flick spent most of her evening at home collating all the pictures she had taken at The Coffee Pot. She was surprised to see that there were thirty-four pictures, spread over five sheets of paper. She left a small block under each one for any names to be added that Georgia might be able to provide, then Flick emailed it to her police address. She would print them out before the briefing, and distribute them around.
She read through the plan for the following day that Erica had started before bringing her in on the finer details, and knew it was a good plan. That it relied on rain was a minor problem. If the weather didn’t follow the forecast, it would one day before much longer; that was a given in South Yorkshire. She moved to close down her computer, then stopped herself. She’d had a couple of additional thoughts about the following day and had included them in her own copy. She decided to send it to Erica, along with her rogues gallery of café visitors.
Clicking send, Flick finally closed down the laptop and headed for bed.
35
Erica walked into the kitchen as Frannie was leaving. They exchanged a brief kiss, and Frannie zipped her coat.
‘Y
ou got a late start?’
‘I’ve taken a late start.’ Erica smiled. ‘I didn’t get in till midnight, and it’s another late one tonight probably.’
‘Oh? I might go with the others for a meal then, if you’re not going to be here.’
‘It’s this case,’ Erica said in a half-hearted fashion, swinging her arm around as if to include the whole world in the statement. ‘I’ll be bloody glad when it’s over.’
‘So will I,’ Frannie said as she went out into the hallway. ‘Don’t work too hard, and I’ll see you tonight at some ungodly hour. Love you.’
Erica heard the front door close, and she poured herself a coffee, sank down at the table and dropped her head onto her arms. She was tired, she was scared they had it wrong and their plans for the surveillance wouldn’t lead to anything, and she needed this case to be done with.
‘Alexa, play Radio Two,’ she called, and the little round box responded. She listened to the eight o’clock news, and a Billy Joel track filled the room. ‘I am an innocent woman,’ she sang along, changing his words slightly, then sipped at her coffee. She would work from home until the two o’clock briefing, going over everything one more time to make sure there would be no slip-ups if the killer did take advantage of the promised rain. The longer-range forecast said hardly any precipitation over the next two weeks, so if nothing happened tonight it gave them breathing space if she followed her routine, but experience told her murderers rarely followed rules.
Showered and dressed in jeans and a thick jumper, Erica settled herself in the lounge with her laptop. She opened Flick’s email first, and smiled. She knew it would be some carefully thought addition to the evening’s stakeout, and she read through the highlighted parts Flick had included, nodding as she agreed with them.