He met her in the hall as he carried the bowl of hot water through. Balancing the bowl on the hall table, he took the cotton buds from her and wrapped them in a tissue, then placed the tissue in the sandwich bag.
Amanda chewed her lip, her brow wrinkled.
“Don’t worry, Mand.” He bent forwards and kissed the tip of her nose. “Go and watch TV. I won’t be a minute.”
At the car, he placed the bowl on the bonnet and took out the sandwich bag. After taking several photographs, he ran the tips of the cotton buds through the faeces smeared on the windscreen, wrapped them in the tissue and shoved it all back in the bag.
Using a scrubbing brush, he set to work cleaning the windscreen message. NICE CAR. The bastard was taunting him. Worse still, he now knew where he lived!
***
Holly and Val took turns to sit with Steve throughout the night. He was awake, on and off. But as the night turned to morning, his breathing became shallow and a strange rattling began in his throat.
“What’s going on?” Holly asked, as she appeared in the doorway to take over.
Val shook her head, her eyes full of unshed tears. “I don’t know. I was about to shout you. He’s awake but not awake, if that makes sense.”
“What should we do? Are the nurses due soon?”
“Not for a few more hours. We could call them, though.”
“Maybe call the doctor, instead,” Holly said.
Val nodded. “I’ll do that now.”
They swapped places, and Holly leaned over her husband and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll make sure you feel better soon.”
Steve’s eyes opened briefly before closing again. The rattle sounded like someone was sucking up the dregs of a cup through a straw, and it terrified her. No matter how much she tried to block the memories of her father’s death, she remembered the noise well. The Macmillan nurse told her it was known as the death rattle.
Val returned and pulled Holly to one side. “Doctor Ing will be here shortly.”
Holly nodded, and gripped the older woman’s arm. Their eyes held, saying much more than words ever could.
Val sighed. “He said this probably means...”
“I know. I’ve heard it before.” She closed her eyes tightly trying to find some strength to deal with the next few days. “What time is it?”
“Nearly six o’clock. The nurses should be here by nine,” Val said.
“Too early to phone Adam. I need to take time off work.”
“Good idea, lovey. I’ll make us a nice cup of tea.”
“Thanks, Val.”
Chapter 25
Adam arrived at the station a few minutes before eight and Les and Julie came in together soon after.
“Do you have much on today?” Adam asked.
“Not much, apart from tidying up some paperwork and preparing ourselves for court,” Les said. “The Jenkins trial starts Wednesday, you remember? The woman who was thrown out of the moving car?”
“Great. Then, after that, maybe you can help build a profile for Muldoon. I could do with you going through every little detail with fresh eyes. Find out if he had another Facebook or an Instagram account, anything at all.”
“Has something else happened?” Julie eyed him, a worried expression on her face.
“You could say that.” He walked to the printer and handed her the photographs he’d taken last night.
“Whose car’s this?”
“Ours. Mine and Amanda’s”
“Far out, boss.”
Les got off his chair and looked at the images. “He knows where you live?”
“Clearly. And more worryingly, he’s taunting me with it. So what does that tell you?”
“He’s a cocky shit, is what it tells me.” Les fumed.
“He is, that. And he obviously feels confident we’re nowhere near catching him. We must be missing something.”
His phone rang and he looked at the screen. “It’s Frances. I need to take this.” He strode to his office and accepted the call. “Can’t help yourself, can you, missus?” he teased.
“Adam.”
The tone of her voice gave him the chills.
“Are you okay?”
“No. I need time off.”
“Of course, take as long as you need. Is Steve...?”
“He’s had a bad night. The doctor’s just left. It won’t be long now.”
“Oh, fuck, Holly. I’m truly sorry. You need anything, anything at all, you ask.”
“I know.”
He hung up, feeling the weight of helplessness settle in the middle of his chest. He picked up the phone again and dialled.
“Cal, Frances called. Bad news, I’m afraid.”
He gasped. “Has he died?”
“Not far off. She won’t be in for a while. I thought you’d want to know. I’ll tell the others shortly.”
“Thanks for calling. Any developments with the case?”
“No more homicides, but he left a shitty message for me on Amanda’s new car last night.”
“I’m coming in.”
“There’s no need.”
“Well, all I’m doing is dossing around the house. I may as well come in for a couple of hours, at least.”
“Please yourself, but don’t feel you need to.”
***
After the doctor left, Holly took herself off for a shower leaving Val to sit with Steve. In the bedroom, she made the call to Adam, and, after actually voicing the situation, she crumpled into a ball on the bed and sobbed.
If she packed a few things, she could be on the other side of Pinevale within fifteen minutes. She wouldn’t have to watch her darling husband take his last breath or see the total devastation on Val’s face as she lost her only son.
But, no matter how strong the desire was to flee, the need to stay close and help Steve on his final journey won hands-down. So, she sat upright on the bed and gave herself a mental shake. She could do this—she owed it to them to be in control and make her husband as comfortable as possible.
She showered, changed and returned to his side with a newfound strength.
“Why don’t you go and take a shower, Val?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to. What if...?”
“He’ll wait for you, won’t you Stevie?”
Steve moved his eyes although the lids didn’t open this time, not even for a second.
“See? You go and freshen up. She’s beginning to pong, isn’t she, Steve?”
Steve’s eyes moved again.
“There you go. He agrees with me.”
Val smiled sadly. “Okay, you pair of bullies. I’ll be back in two ticks.”
Holly sat beside the bed and stroked Steve’s hair, mumbling words of love into his ear.
Ten minutes later, Val returned with her wet hair scraped back off her face. Her eyes were red from crying, but she’d changed into a freshly laundered dress and did appear more in control.
“The nurses are here.” Val bobbed back into the hall to answer the door.
Steve seemed to stiffen at her words, and she realised he was still aware of everything. “Don’t worry, baby, I won’t let them change you, not today.” His reply was more rapid eye movement.
Susan, the cute blonde nurse, who tended Steve’s sores daily, breezed into the room. Although petite, she more than made up for it in the strength department.
Her bungling, yet extremely loveable sidekick, Neil, entered close behind.
“Val tells me Steve isn’t himself today!” Susan’s booming voice cut through the silence of the room and had Steve’s eyes flickering wildly.
“No, he’s not. And we don’t need you today. I’m sorry, Susan. Can you come back tomorrow?” Holly said, in a no-nonsense tone.
“Can I just have a quick look at the bed pad? If the sores are oozing, which they will be, we can possibly just replace the bed pads, underneath him.”
Holly looked at Steve. His eyes had stopped their
dance. “Susan’s going to replace the bed pad, Steve. Don’t worry, she won’t touch the dressing.” He moved his eyes gently in response.
“Okay, but keep it to the bare minimum, I don’t want him distressed today.”
“Fair, enough.” She lifted the bedclothes.
The rotten stench hit the room, and Holly, whose stomach had never been very strong, gagged. “I’ll go and put the kettle on,” she said, rushing for the door.
She found Val busily brewing a pot of tea in the kitchen.
“You beat me to it,” Holly said.
“I can’t be in there when they do their thing. I usually go outside if he cries. I hate it.”
“I know, and I’ve told them not to do his dressings today, although the stink that came from the bed tells me they desperately need changing. But I can’t allow them to put him through it, not today.”
“Good call, so what are they doing?”
“Changing the absorbent bed pads. If he’s still with us tomorrow, they’ll have no choice but to change the lot, but from what the doctor said he probably won’t see out the rest of the day.”
Holly didn’t think about the effect her words would have on her mother-in-law until Val bent double and crumpled to the tiles. Her face wore an expression of total anguish.
Horrified, Holly dropped to her side concerned when the older woman didn’t appear to be breathing. “Val, I’m sorry, Val.”
Val finally took a deep breath in. They held each other, both sobbing, until the two nurses appeared at the kitchen doorway.
Holly uncurled herself and helped Val to her feet. “I’m sorry,” she said. “We had a bit of a melt-down.”
“Understandable.” Susan helped get Val seated at the dining table.
“Have you finished?” Holly asked the nurse, as she handed Val a paper towel and proceeded to pour hot water into the teapot.
“Yes. He wasn’t disturbed too much. There is a big change in him since yesterday,” Susan said.
“Did you hear the rattle?” Holly placed the teapot on the table and reached into the cupboard for the cups.
Susan nodded.
“When the doctor came out this morning, he said if Steve seems to be in discomfort then he’d order a suction machine to remove the excess fluid from his throat.” Holly sat beside Val and poured four cups.
“To be honest, the suctioning would cause him more discomfort than the pooling itself. The sound is often much more upsetting to us than it is to the patient.” Susan took the cup off Holly and scooped two heaped sugars into it.
“That’s what we thought. Didn’t we, Val?”
Val nodded seeming a little more in control.
“Are you still happy to care for him? We could arrange for him to go into a hospice for the final stage if that would be easier?” Joanne frowned.
Holly shook her head. “He’s going nowhere. We’re doing fine.”
Val agreed.
“I’m not suggesting for one minute that you haven’t done a wonderful job. But this stage is the hardest on the family, even though it’s easiest for the patient.”
“He’s not been fully conscious since last night,” Holly said, “but he’s still awake. His eyes move when you speak to him.”
“There’s a chance he won’t wake again. He’ll drift off into a deep sleep and then he should pass peacefully. Neil will administer his morphine once Steve’s had time to settle down.”
“I couldn’t extract anything from his stomach this morning,” Val suddenly said. “Sorry, I meant to tell you. But with everything else, it just slipped my mind.”
“No problem.” Susan glanced at Neil who headed back to Steve’s room.
When he returned he was carrying the feeding tube.
Val gasped. “Is that...?”
“You were right. It had come loose,” Neil said softly.
“Are you going to replace it?” Val sounded a little irate once again.
Susan placed her hand on Val’s arm. “We won’t replace it now, Val. There’s no point.”
“But what if he gets hungry? It’s not fair.”
Neil got to his feet. “I’m going to call Doctor Ing and ask him if we can up the morphine dose. Steve won’t feel anything, I promise you.”
“I’m sorry. I need to get back in there.” Holly jumped to her feet and rushed from the room.
Chapter 26
Adam scratched his head irritably. They’d trawled through every bit of evidence several times, yet nothing had come to light.
Picking up his notes, he walked into the main office and pulled a chair up to Cal’s desk. “So tell me. Who is Miles Muldoon?”
Cal cleared his throat and pushed his keyboard away. “He’s a hardworking, extremely private individual. He doesn’t drink, except for the occasional glass of wine with dinner, doesn’t do drugs, and doesn’t have any real friends out of work.”
“What about his work life?”
Cal shrugged. “He’s ambitious, always striving for perfection and recognition.”
“Exactly, which is why this random behaviour doesn’t make any sense. What else?”
“Last seen by Lana and her dad on Tuesday around 5.30pm after which he withdrew £500 in cash, the maximum allowed. CCTV footage, from the ATM he used, confirmed he arrived there alone at 5.45pm. He let himself back into the hotel room at 6.00pm. Sally Kemp received the last known communication from him at 8.15pm, and she said he was very angry with her.
“After that, it’s a mystery. He left the hotel leaving behind his car, his phone and his wallet. We don’t know how he got to Sally’s apartment or anywhere else.”
Adam tapped a pen on his teeth. “Has anybody checked if there were any stolen cars in the area that night?”
“I sent a request out, but I don’t recall getting a reply. I’ll check in a minute, boss.”
“What else?”
The team were used to him going through cases like this. He would often have light bulb moments as he listened to them verbalise what he might have read several times.
Cal checked his notes. “Nobody saw or heard anything during any of the attacks. I suspect the first murder was a catalyst. If Michael Curtis disturbed him ransacking Sally’s apartment, then maybe he acted in blind fury. The others could be a case of in-for-a-penny, in-for-a-pound. He’s already in trouble, so he may as well make everybody pay before he’s banged up for the foreseeable.”
“Your theory would explain why one of Sally’s kitchen knives was used in Michael’s attack. The blade snapped in the old man’s skull, so Muldoon made sure he had a weapon fit for purpose after that and acquired some kind of hunting knife.”
The desk phone rang and Cal reached for the handset. “Okay, I’ll tell him.” He hung up. “Boss, Sally Kemp’s here to see you.”
Adam groaned. “We need to set up some sort of cover for tonight. Can you arrange it?”
“Did you speak to the DCI about it yesterday?” Cal asked.
“I mentioned it, and he wanted me to send him all the updated case notes which I’ve done. Do you want to bring Ms Kemp up while I call him?”
Cal breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief and got to his feet.
“Pussy!” Adam laughed, heading to his office.
The DCI didn’t answer so he left a message. Chances were, with it being the weekend, he wouldn’t get back to him in time. Adam made the decision to arrange for two more nights’ surveillance.
After calling the department, he quickly read the surveillance reports. On both nights, Sally had presented the officer with a flask of tea and soon after the upstairs lights had gone out. Other than the nurse, nobody had left or entered the property.
DCI Williamson would probably say it was a total waste of their resources, but he couldn’t chance it. Sally was the only other person they knew that had upset Muldoon. In fact, she’d caused the initial outrage that put him in this position. No. He suspected her crazy ex wouldn’t just leave it at that, and neither would he.
“Knock, knock.” Sally, looking exquisite in a bottle-green jumpsuit, popped her head into his office.
“Ah, come in, Sally. Take a seat. I did intend to call you this afternoon. I managed to arrange another two nights of surveillance.”
“Phew!” she said, sitting down opposite him. “I didn’t tell my dad what’s going on—he’s too sick. But I was dreading having to move him into a hospice, his worst nightmare, by the way.” She gathered her mass of red curls into her hand and brought all her hair forwards over her right shoulder.
Adam noticed the colour of the jumpsuit made her green eyes stand out more than usual.
She smiled at him seductively.
Flustered, he cleared his throat. “Hopefully it won’t come to that. I don’t suppose he’s tried to contact you?”
She shook her head rapidly. “No.”
“Any unexplained occurrences? Silent phone calls? Anything at all?”
“Absolutely nothing. He could’ve left the country already.”
“No, he hasn’t. He left his calling card on my car last night.”
“His calling card?”
“A message smeared in faeces on the windscreen. We haven’t had the lab report back yet, but it’s got to be him. The excrement detail hasn’t been released to the public at this stage.”
“That’s disgusting. And worrying too. Was your car outside the station?”
“It was parked outside my house.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “How did he find your address?”
“I’ve got no idea, but yes, it is worrying. Especially given the fact I have a heavily pregnant wife and three children at home.”
He wouldn’t normally divulge so much information about himself, but he wanted Sally to appreciate that he was a happily married man.
***
At 5.22pm Steve took his last breath.
Holly and Val were sitting on either side of the bed, each holding one of his hands. Both of them stared at him, holding their own breath as they willed him to take another, but silently praying he wouldn’t.
After a minute, Val said, “Is he...?” and gulped.
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