Last Light: An absolutely gripping thriller with unputdownable suspense

by Helen Phifer

  * * *

  She parked outside Natalia’s house and prayed that she was home; she also prayed that it wasn’t the same breed of cat because it could spell disaster for them all.

  Natalia opened the door, smiling to see Lucy standing there.

  ‘Hello again, is everything okay?’

  She nodded. ‘Sorry to bother you, Ellie is driving me mad. She wants a cat like Bella’s for her birthday; she hasn’t shut up about it. I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of cat it is. She said if I got her any old moggy, she wouldn’t speak to me again.’

  Natalia laughed. ‘Wow, she’s a girl who knows what she wants. I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with that.’

  Lucy shrugged. ‘I suppose not.’

  ‘Come in and you can see her, she’s a lovely little thing.’

  She stepped to one side, and Lucy felt her heart begin to race, praying that she wasn’t stepping into the most dangerous situation she’d ever been in. Natalia led her into the lounge where she pointed at the sofa.

  ‘Bella, is Bluebell in with you?’ she shouted.

  Bella appeared carrying the cutest cat Lucy had ever set eyes on.

  ‘Oh my goodness, she’s even cuter in real life than on the photo Ellie showed to me.’

  Bella smiled and carried her over to Lucy, sitting her on her lap.

  ‘She’s my baby; she always wants cuddles and food, don’t you, Bluebell?’

  Lucy took hold of the cat and began to stroke behind it’s ears, and immediately it began to purr and rub against her. ‘Aw, I was hoping it would be really ugly so I wouldn’t have to buy her one.’

  Natalia laughed. ‘Nope, she’s pretty cute. Even Tony likes her and he’s not a cat person.’

  ‘I can understand why. Are they hard to get hold of?’

  ‘You might have to search around for one and travel some distance. I don’t think there are many around here. We had to go to Manchester for her.’

  ‘Are they expensive?’

  ‘We paid six hundred for her.’

  ‘Really? I never knew a cat could be so expensive.’

  ‘She was worth every penny though.’

  Passing her back to Bella, Lucy looked down and saw some cat hairs attached to her trouser leg. She stood up.

  ‘Thank you so much. I guess I better start looking, she’s gorgeous. I can see why Ellie keeps pestering me now.’

  She walked to the front door, her heart pounding in her chest.

  Natalia followed her.

  ‘I can look up the details of the breeder we bought her from when I get a minute and text them to you, if you want. They might have some for sale, save you messing around.’

  ‘That would be amazing, thank you so much.’

  Lucy opened the door and stepped outside. Now all she had to do was make it to her car without losing the hairs. She reached the gate, turning to wave at Natalia and Bella. Then she was inside her car. They went back inside, closing the front door behind them.

  She let out a huge sigh; she still had some hairs on her trousers. If she could get them to Catherine, she could take a look and see if she thought they were from the same cat. Leaning over to the plastic evidence bag on the passenger seat and a pair of tweezers, she didn’t realise how much her hands were shaking until she tried to pick them up.

  A loud knock on the car window made her jump, almost dropping the tweezers. She saw a man standing there; he was smiling at her. She wasn’t sure who he was. Putting her window down a couple of inches she said, ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘Are you Ellie’s mum?’

  Lucy’s throat was so dry she found it hard to answer him. ‘I am, yes. I’m sorry, I don’t know you.’

  ‘No, you don’t. Sorry, how rude of me to presume. I’m Tony, Bella’s dad. I just wanted to say hi, I’ve heard a lot about you.’

  Lucy grimaced. ‘Oh God, not from Ellie I hope. Don’t believe everything she tells you, I’m not that bad in real life, I promise.’

  He laughed. ‘Nope, it’s all good. I didn’t want you to drive away without introducing myself.’

  ‘Phew, it’s nice to meet you. I’m so sorry have to go now, I’m late for work.’

  He stepped away as she turned the key in the ignition. ‘Don’t want you being late. See you again. Say hi to Ellie for me. She’s such a nice kid.’

  She nodded, placing the tweezers on her thigh, then she waved and began to drive away, hoping the tweezers weren’t about to fall off and lose her evidence. Once she was out of the street she pulled over and, after several attempts, managed to get a couple of hairs into the bag and sealed it up. Next stop the mortuary, where hopefully, Catherine wasn’t tied up and could spare the time to take a look.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  June 1995

  He didn’t know where he was. He looked around expecting to be in a cell. He wasn’t, there were no metal bars, no steel door, no bed even. He was in a room, a padded room; he tried to stand, but his legs felt as if they weren’t strong enough to hold him up. Holding onto the wall he dragged himself up. Stumbling towards the door he launched himself at it. Hitting it with a huge thud, he bounced back. Looking down he realised he wasn’t even wearing his clothes: he had on a hospital gown and a white wristband. Opening his mouth he began to scream over and over, until someone came to the door. It was unlocked from the outside and standing there was the biggest man he’d ever seen. He was wearing a nurse’s uniform, and in his hand was a tray with a needle in it.

  ‘Either shut up screaming or I’m going to jab you and send you back to sleep. Your choice.’

  He looked at the needle; he hated them. He felt sick, how long had he been here?

  ‘Where am I?’

  ‘The General, psychiatric unit. Do you not remember coming here?’

  He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. The last thing he remembered was fighting with the two coppers at the school.

  ‘You had a bit of a breakdown. It was bring you here or the cop shop, so they decided here was the safest place.’

  He sat down, trying to process what he’d been told.

  ‘Look if you stay calm, I’ll get you some food and a drink. If you kick off, I’ll jab you and send you back to cloud cuckoo land until the doctor can come and speak to you.’

  He nodded. He needed to think, act normal. He didn’t want to be locked up in the crazy unit for ever. He had stuff to do; he was still going to kill that fucking Sharon. She’d started it all off, making him a laughing stock. The door shut and the big guy locked it again. He began to rock back and forth; there was nothing else to do.

  Half an hour later the door opened and the nurse came in with a sandwich. He passed it to him along with a plastic glass filled with water. He gulped the water down; his throat was so dry he felt as if he was choking. Emptying the glass he handed it back and ripped open the sandwich. Stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing it down.

  A woman came in wearing a white coat and smiled at him.

  ‘I’m glad to see you’re awake, I’m Doctor Pearson. I’d like to talk to you if you’re in the mood.’

  He nodded.

  ‘Good, we’ll go into the recreational room. It’s not very comfortable in here.’

  He found himself being lifted to his feet by the nurse and marched along behind the doctor. He realised that he needed to be a model patient if they were going to let him go. Despite the panic building inside his chest, he knew he could pretend. Maybe he was nuts, but he wouldn’t let them know that. He’d do what they said, take his meds and keep calm. Then when he got out of here he was going to go back and kill the fucking lot of them. The whore who his dad had used to replace his mum, the priest, the teacher and anyone else who got in the way.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Lucy drove to the hospital way faster than she normally would, unable to stop the butterflies in her stomach. She desperately needed Catherine to compare the cat hairs and say they weren’t a match because the outcome was unthinkable if
they were. Who could it be: Natalia or Tony? They seemed like such a perfect, happy couple. Everything going for them, successful business, gorgeous daughter, nice house, pretty much the happy family. But if either of them was the killer, they needed to get Bella out of there and fast; there was no knowing what would happen. She ran through the hospital foyer, clutching the clear plastic evidence bag as if her own life depended on it. Catherine’s office door was shut, and she hammered on it, hoping she was inside. It opened, and she passed her the bag.

  ‘I think I found the cat and the killer, only I’m not sure which one is the killer. Can you compare these hairs and see if you think they’re the same?’

  She took the bag from her. ‘What do you mean you’re not sure which one is the killer?’

  ‘They’re a married couple, both are really nice, successful, playing at happy families. It’s the perfect cover; I mean they could be working as a team. The wife is a volunteer at the church, she knew all three victims, and they have the cutest kid. I need something, so I can get an arrest team together and get the kid out before they know what’s going on. I can’t afford to fuck this up, there’s far too much at stake.’

  ‘I can tell you if they look similar, Lucy, but I’m not the expert on this stuff. It wouldn’t hold up in court.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter; you tell me if you think they’re similar or not. Fuck, I hope they’re not. I need a good enough reason to bring them both in. Once we get them into custody a full search team can go in and rip the house apart. We can get official samples to send off to your university friend and hopefully find the missing trophies. There’s bound to be evidence somewhere in the house or garage.’

  Catherine pulled on a pair of gloves; carefully removing the hairs from the bag, she put them on a slide, then pushing it under the microscope, bent her head to study them. Lucy didn’t know whether or not she was going to throw up, her stomach was churning so much.

  Catherine lifted her head. ‘They look similar. I’ve kept a sample. It’s in the mortuary; come on, I’ll have to compare it in there. You need to gown up because I have a body being prepared on the table.’

  Lucy would have dressed up in an astronaut costume if it meant getting the answer she needed. She followed her into the ladies changing room. Neither of them spoke as they scrubbed their hands, pulled on plastic aprons and gloves.

  Thankfully whoever was lying on the gurney hadn’t been removed from their body bag yet. Lucy was used to dead bodies, but she didn’t need any distractions. She had her fingers crossed as she stood and waited for Catherine to retrieve the sample she’d kept. There were two microscopes side by side. She put the slide under one with the sample that Lucy had brought in. Then taking the slide she had in storage from the drawer, she put that in the other one. Bending her head, she went from one to the other, scrutinising them for any differences. Finally, she lifted her head. ‘You look, see what you think.’

  Lucy did the same, going from one to the other. Stepping back, she nodded. ‘They’re the same or pretty much look the same.’

  ‘Yes, they are. But we won’t know for definite until the DNA has been extracted and compared.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter, they look identical. It’s enough for me to get an arrest warrant for now. We can work on the scientific stuff when we have them both locked up. Thank you so much, have I told you how much I bloody love you?’

  She grabbed the doctor. Pulling her close, she kissed her cheek. ‘When we go out, cocktails are on me.’

  Catherine laughed. ‘Well, there’s an offer I can’t refuse. Lucy, I know that you know this, but please be very careful. You’re dealing with someone who might be having a psychotic episode. There’s no telling what they’ll do. How were they? Did you speak to both of them?’

  ‘Nice as anything, both seemed pretty normal. They didn’t look crazy or sound crazy to me.’

  ‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’

  Lucy walked out of the mortuary, ripping off the apron and gloves. She dialled Browning’s number.

  ‘I have two suspects. I’ve managed to get a sample of cat hairs to compare, and Catherine has just confirmed they look identical. I need you to get a warrant and an arrest team together; meanwhile, I’ll go to the address and keep watch until you get there.’

  ‘Whoa, hold on there, boss. What? How have you even come up with not one, but two viable suspects when you’re on gardening leave? Supposed to be taking it easy.’

  She began to explain the last hour of her morning to him.

  ‘And you went there on your own, with no backup, are you fucking mental, Lucy? You’re lucky we’re not out looking for your body.’

  The magnitude of the danger she’d put herself in crashed over her and she felt her stomach lurch once more. ‘Look, I know it was stupid. How else would we know? I’m very doubtful it was Natalia. She’s so lovely, I’m more inclined to say it’s her husband, Tony. But it’s Natalia who has the links to the church and was in contact with all three victims. I honestly don’t know at this point who to think it is. What I do know is we need to get that gorgeous kid out of there and fast.’

  ‘Leave it with me, I’ll get everything we need together. I’ll go see the Super now. Lucy, please don’t go back to the house. It’s far too dangerous.’

  ‘I’m not going to knock on the door or anything, I’ll just park at the top of the street and keep watch.’

  ‘Yeah, well keep your engine running and if either of them gets as much as fifty feet near to the car get out of there.’

  ‘I will, thank you.’

  She ended the call, then began to run back to her car.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Natalia hoped Lucy could find a cat for Ellie’s birthday, she was such a great kid and Lucy seemed lovely too. She hadn’t slept well last night; too upset to tell him, she’d feigned sleep so she could think about poor Margaret. He would have no sympathy for her because he had such a strong dislike of the church and its parishioners. Tony had stayed at the restaurant until late. Then he’d tossed and turned all night long. She still couldn’t get over the shock of David’s death, if she was honest. The newspapers had run a front-page story with huge headlines saying there was a serial killer on the loose in Brooklyn Bay. It was unheard of and terrifying; she wasn’t going anywhere near to the church or letting Bella out of her sight. At least not until whoever it was had been caught. She wanted to pass her condolences on to Jan, but it was too dangerous. She supposed she could send a card and some flowers, but would she still be living at the vicarage? It was highly doubtful; as far as she knew it was still all cordoned off with officers still guarding the scene. She shuddered, maybe she should tell Tony to start spending a bit more time with his family instead of every spare minute he had at the restaurant. She was scared. What if whoever it was decided to come for her next?

  Taking the polish and a duster out of the cupboard under the sink, she decided to knuckle down and do some cleaning to take her mind off everything. She ran upstairs to check on Bella, who was curled up on her bed with Bluebell, watching her favourite film, Beauty and the Beast, for the hundredth time.

  ‘You okay, Bella?’

  She nodded.

  ‘I’m going to clean up, then I’ll make us some dinner.’ Walking into the room, she bent down and kissed her daughter on the top of the head. ‘I love you.’

  ‘What about Bluebell?’

  ‘I love her too.’

  ‘Give her a kiss, she’ll feel left out.’

  Natalia smiled, kissed her fingers and stroked the cat’s head.

  ‘Mamma, would you marry the beast if you were Belle?’

  ‘Yes, it’s not what people look like on the outside. It’s what’s on the inside that counts, and he’s a big softie deep down.’

  ‘He’s always angry though.’

  ‘Well that’s because he was a handsome prince who got turned into a monster. I think you’d be angry too.’

  ‘Daddy is always angry. Do you think s
omeone turned him into monster?’

  Natalia laughed. ‘Sweetie, your daddy is tired. He’s been working too hard; grown-ups get grouchy when they’re tired and overworked. He needs a few days off and then he’ll be a handsome prince again.’

  Bella stared at her. ‘I hope so, I don’t like him when he’s mad all the time.’ She turned her attention back to the television, and Natalia felt her heart sink. He had been angry and moody the last few weeks, and it made her furious that Bella had picked up on it. When he came home she was going to have it out with him and tell him he either hired a manager to run the restaurant or he stopped working so hard. Her daughter was her world, and if she was troubled by his behaviour then it was time to do something about it. As much as she hated confrontation there was no way she would have Bella living in a house where the atmosphere was always fraught with tension.

  Pushing her earphones into her ears she went into the dining room, selected her playlist and began to dance her way around, dusting. When she reached the dresser, she noticed the drawer was open. Pushing it shut, her fingers touched something sticky. She pulled them back and looked at them; they had some dark liquid on them which she thought was probably jam off Bella’s little fingers. Lifting them to her nose she recognised the coppery smell: it was blood. She knew she hadn’t cut herself, and Bella certainly hadn’t. Tony must have. Pushing the drawer back into place, it wouldn’t close. She shoved harder – it still wouldn’t move. There was something sticking up inside it. So she tugged it open, and found more drops of dried brown blood on the papers and envelopes inside. She saw the gift box that she’d thrown away ages ago was the reason it wouldn’t shut. How did that get back inside? She’d put it out in the red recycling bin. Pulling it out she noticed it was covered in reddish-brown splotches. Tony must have taken it out and cut himself on a can while retrieving it, but what did he want to keep it for?