Claire sighed and stared ahead. ‘I don’t know…’ She slammed her hand on the steering wheel. ‘None of it makes sense… just look at Rupert Knox.’
‘He committed suicide.’
‘But did he?’
Stefan’s face turned serious. ‘You don’t think… Crowley?’
She shrugged.
‘Come on, Claire. A taxi driver confirms he took Rupert to Crowley’s house at around midnight. He went there voluntarily to do what he did.’
Claire wasn’t completely convinced. ‘He’s still been close to this investigation in his own way, Fletch. We’ve seen it before, don’t forget.’
Stefan saw a fleeting moment of pain and regret register on her face, before it disappeared just as quickly.
The murdered priest investigation.
Years had passed now, but it still had the ability to affect her when least expected.
‘Maybe he’ll back off now Rupert’s dead. I mean, he already got the women to give him an exclusive. What more’s left for him?’
‘He’s ambitious, Fletch.’
‘That’s a bad thing?’
‘Don’t you be so surprised…’
CHAPTER 31
Back at the station the incident room was a hive of activity. Claire had briefed everyone on Helena Daniels and her ‘before and after’ photographs were up on the main board at the front of the room.
‘I think we can safely rule out the vigilante angle as a motive for killing Tilly and Helena,’ Claire said to the team. ‘Neither woman had any priors. Both squeaky-clean, in fact. Not even a parking fine, as far as we can tell at this point, but I think there’s a very strong possibility that both women’s paths might have crossed at some point. If not in person, then likely online for sure.’
Claire had organised members of the team to do several tasks, namely to look at Helena’s social media and internet use in general to see if she had any links to Tilly.
She’d also added more information about the main men in the lives of the original three victims of Knox’s crimes to the board. Stuart Headley, Sean Clarkson and Martin Robertson, Sophie’s father, were being looked at in more detail than previously.
‘Okay,’ she said, as everyone quietened down to listen. ‘Forensics found more shoe prints. Looks like the same tread pattern and size as the prints found at the Knox and Tilly crime scenes. Helena Daniels’ PM will take place early tomorrow morning, but the pathologist has estimated a time of death. Helena appears to have been dead since the early hours of 13th April.’
She paused and looked around the room. ‘Any more news on the shoe itself?’
‘I’ve just this minute had this back from Image Enhancement and we’ve managed to narrow it down to a make and model,’ Elias said.
He pointed to his photograph of the shoe tread marks, indicating an obscured mark barely visible among the mud from the ground.
‘It’s an OBOZ men’s Sawtooth low walking shoe. Durable and provides good traction. It’s something someone who walks for a hobby would use more than anything else, especially since it retails around one hundred to one-twenty pounds.’
He passed a photograph of the model of the shoe he’d got from the internet to Claire and she pinned it to the board.
‘Excellent work, Crest. I also want us to look at the cold case files for the rapes of young women that happened before Knox started his official crime spree in 2000. These attacks were sporadic at the time, but the age and victim profile share some similarities. DCI Forrester, after they caught and charged Knox, was looking into some unsolved rapes dating back a year or so before 2000. There may be something there that was missed. See if there are any possible connections to Tilly and Helena.’
‘I thought we were ruling out vigilantism of any kind?’ Elias said.
‘I’m not ruling it out completely, but considering Tilly and Helena have never been in trouble with the police, it’s hard to believe that that’s what connects them, why they were murdered. There’s a deeper meaning there somewhere.’
‘Related to Knox, but not?’ he said. ‘If that makes sense.’
Claire gave him a nod. ‘I get what you’re saying. They’re part of this, of Knox’s infamy, but the reason they have been targeted is not because they deserved it for what the killer sees as some kind of wrongdoing. This isn’t in the same vein as Knox.’
‘Not in the same vein as Knox, but certainly they are linked because of him.’
All eyes were on Stefan then, sitting in front of his computer. He glanced up at everyone. ‘I think I may have something. Something we’ve missed.’
Claire made her way over to him.
He pointed at two internet windows that were both open on his screen. Claire saw they were two separate Twitter profiles. ‘We’ve trawled through Tilly’s social media accounts; she was most active on Twitter and all activity stopped the evening she disappeared.’
‘Right,’ Claire said.
‘Well, Helena was most active when Knox was up for parole, and looking at her Twitter account, @MrsRayKnox, she was in regular contact with an account with the Twitter handle @Crazy4Knox. Helena’s last Tweet was to this account on the day we believe she was murdered.’
Stefan clicked to display the information.
Helena Knox-Daniels @MrsRayKnox. April 12
Can’t wait for tomorrow! #excited #Pray4Knox #Justice4Knox
Crazy 4 Knox @Crazy4Knox. April 12
@MrsRayKnox why whats going on? I had no reply when i sent msg to them #welljel
Crazy 4 Knox @Crazy4Knox. April 12
@MrsRayKnox r u still there?
Crazy 4 Knox @Crazy4Knox. April 12
@MrsRayKnox stop keepin me in suspense!
Crazy 4 Knox @Crazy4Knox. April 12
@MrsRayKnox ????????????
Claire read what was on the screen a second time. ‘We need to find out who @Crazy4Knox is and who they were talking about. What was Helena so excited about?’
Stefan clicked on the other screen to bring up their Twitter page. There were no images other than the profile picture, which was of Knox himself. ‘This account was set up a year ago, clearly in support of Knox,’ he said, scrolling through the feed. ‘There’s been no activity from this account after 17th April.’
Something clicked with the date in Claire’s head.
‘What was the last Tweet sent from that account?’
‘“Without Him, I am lost”,’ Stefan said. ‘The Tweet before that was aimed at Helena.’
Claire felt an uneasy stirring inside her stomach. ‘Matthews, there’s still an FLO with Shirley Hartley?’
‘Yep.’
‘Good. Can we get them to look again in Tilly’s room for anything hidden away: notebooks, diaries, check for another mobile, laptop or tablet?’
Matthews looked confused. ‘Okay, but we did a thorough search.’
‘17th April. That’s the day Tilly went missing and the day all activity from this account stopped,’ she said. ‘That can’t be a coincidence.’
CHAPTER 32
Janet Casey pulled the brush through her sister Evie’s hair slowly, teasing out the tangles as best she could. A flash of memory hit her then; thoughts of their childhood when they were little, growing up in Ireland. Janet and Evie, always together, creating fun, causing mischief.
Happy times. A stark contrast to how things were now.
The television was on in the background, on the twenty-four-hour news station, volume down low. Evie could hear brief snippets of the new reports. Knox, Tilly and the other body that had been found, possibly linked, were the top story.
Evie stared at her sister’s reflection in the mirror. Janet saw pale-blue eyes watching her every move, with a sadness and resignation in them that had never really gone since that night when her world had been turned upside down.
Janet avoided her sister’s gaze then, and carried on brushing her hair, easing it up into a simple bu
n.
‘You said it was over?’ Evie said.
Janet paused in what she was doing, maintained eye contact before it all became too much.
‘What’s the answer, big sis?’ she said. ‘You always have the answer.’
Janet snapped an extra hairband in Evie’s hair then walked away.
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I haven’t decided yet.’
‘Does anyone else know you’re planning to move on?’
Janet shook her head. ‘Not yet.’ She paused. ‘Truth be told, I’m not sure I want to give up my job. Besides you, Mum and Dad, it’s all I have right now.’
‘What about Devon Hemmings?’
‘What of him?’
Evie shrugged, sadness in her voice. ‘Won’t he be lost without you?’
‘Knox was the only thing we had in common. Now someone’s killed him, taken him out of the picture, what else is there?’
Their attention turned to the television again.
‘I keep thinking about these poor women,’ Evie said. ‘Knox is dead. Shouldn’t that be enough now? None of what’s happening makes any sense to me. Who could want to hurt them?’
Janet stared down at her mobile; the display showed her contact list, the number for the hostel right there, her thumb hovering over the call button.
Her blood was like ice pumping around an empty shell, no longer the person she used to be.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, placing a hand on Evie’s shoulder. ‘If I had answers, I’d give them to you, you know that.’
Evie watched her closely.
‘Promise me.’
‘What?’
‘Promise that, despite everything, you had nothing to do with Knox’s death,’ Evie said.
‘Of course not!’
‘Because if you did,’ Evie said, as if she hadn’t heard her, ‘I don’t know how I’d cope if you went away, too. I really would have no one, not now Mum and Dad are back home.’
Janet felt herself sink inside.
‘Never, baby sis,’ she said. ‘I’ll never let you down again. I promise.’
CHAPTER 33
Danny Castle turned up the volume on the television when Skye Bradshaw walked into his office at Ashton’s Interior Designs, Welwyn Garden City.
‘You seen this?’ he said, as Skye Bradshaw set down a pile of wallpaper samples on his desk. Her eyes crossed from his to the TV mounted on the wall. She listened to the reporter narrating over a live stream. She saw a white tent, and several people walking about wearing white jumpsuits.
‘Someone’s been murdered?’ she said, her attention returning back to Danny.
‘Not just murdered,’ he said, as a photograph of Raymond Knox filled the screen. ‘It’s possibly related to that guy.’ He pointed back to the screen.
Skye brushed a stray strand of ash-blonde hair from her eyes as she opened the wallpaper samples on Danny’s desk.
‘Here are the samples you ordered.’
‘Are you not listening to any of this?’
Skye returned her gaze to the screen. She shrugged. ‘They might have another victim with a cut-up face, Dan.’ She looked back at his large, brown eyes. ‘What more can I say?’
Danny ran his hand back through his messy, brown hair, eyes wide. ‘This is practically on our doorstep. First Knox, and that Tilly girl, and now this?’
Skye sat perched on the edge of his desk. ‘Am I missing something?’
‘God, you’re hard sometimes.’ He rounded the desk and flopped down in his chair. ‘Knox was one thing but innocent young women?’ he said, shaking his head and biting the end of the biro he’d been holding. ‘That just ain’t right.’
Skye smiled. ‘That’s funny, one death’s okay but not another?’
Danny looked her hard in the face. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Ah, don’t be so touchy,’ she said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. ‘I’m just winding you up.’
His face was serious. ‘Don’t do that, okay?’ He picked up the wallpaper samples, and began sifting through them. ‘Know your place.’
Skye came round to his side of the desk. She pulled the samples from his hands. He looked up at the mischievous grin on her face. ‘What you going to do about it, Danny-boy?’ She raised her leg, and jabbed the stiletto heel on her right foot into his shoulder.
He smiled, and gripped her ankle. He ran his hand up her calf over her tight jeans. Then he lightly slapped her leg down. ‘Behave yourself, you kinky bitch.’
‘Afraid Hills will see?’ she said.
Her eyes turned to gaze out of Danny’s office, at the stressed-looking PA, Hilary, sitting at her desk, telephone at her ear. Hilary’s eyes rose to meet hers. She met Skye’s smile with a frosty look, then turned away.
Danny followed her gaze and shook his head. ‘You shouldn’t wind her up, either,’ he said. ‘She’s still holding a grudge because I gave you the promotion and not her.’
Skye sniffed in contempt. ‘I’m twenty-eight. It’s time I was designing.’
‘She thinks I only gave you the promotion because we’re together.’
‘She can think what she likes.’ She began leafing through the wallpaper samples on the desk. ‘The Caspers emailed. They now want their dining room in pale green, gold and cream.’ Skye flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and pushed herself away from the desk. ‘These are the designs we have in stock…’
Skye’s mobile phone started ringing on her desk outside Danny’s office.
‘…or I can go to the wholesaler, see what they’ve got?’ she said over her shoulder as she went to retrieve her phone. She just missed the call as she picked up the iPhone from the desk. She studied the screen as she headed back into Danny’s office.
‘I quite like this one,’ he said, staring at a green-and-gold swirling leaf design. He glanced up as Skye’s phone beeped, indicating a text message. He noted her face when he glanced up at her.
‘You okay?’
Skye blinked rapidly. ‘What?’ she said, looking at him, and then avoiding his gaze when she realised what he’d said. ‘Why wouldn’t I be okay?’
Danny paused a beat. ‘You’ve gone pale.’ His eyes dropped to the phone in her hand. ‘Something wrong?’
Skye glanced at the phone and shook her head, tapping at the touch screen. ‘Just a little hitch with a back order of samples.’ She pushed the phone into her pocket, then smoothed out her hair with her hands. She smiled at him as her phone beeped again.
‘So what’s the time schedule for the Caspers’ house? Mrs Casper wants a rough idea,’ she said.
Danny saw the tightness in her face. She smiled again, her red lipstick applied expertly, her rose-tinted cheeks giving her a healthy glow. She looked calm and focused. Ready to become the hard-nosed business woman she’d always wanted to be.
Shame her eyes gave her away.
She was trying to draw attention away from the phone.
‘You going to get that?’ he said, nodding towards her pocket. ‘It might be important.’
‘Huh?’
She was feigning ignorance, he knew.
She prayed he didn’t.
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘it’s probably nothing important.’ She swiped her finger across the phone, now in her hand, her palm leaving a film of sweat on the back of the device. She scoffed. ‘Yeah, it’s just Mum.’
The phone beeped again in her hand. Her mouth twitched. ‘She wants to know if we want dinner at hers next week.’ She swallowed hard. ‘Shall I say yes?’
Danny remained silent.
Skye swore inwardly, and breathed out slowly, trying to regain her composure. She now fixed him with a cool stare. ‘Dan?’
‘If you want.’
He watched her tap the screen, fingers moving fast. Then she set the phone down on his desk. ‘So, as I was saying… shall I go out to the wholesaler?’
Danny smiled, and snap
ped the book of wallpaper samples shut. ‘Yeah, see what they have. Can you grab me lunch before you come back? I’ll be working in here all day.’
Skye nodded. ‘Sure.’
As she left his office, he heard her ask Hilary if she needed anything as she collected her handbag from under her desk.
Danny eyed the iPhone still sitting on top of his desk.
His lips parted a fraction, about to call after her as she headed out the main door, but stopped himself.
He leaned forward, fingers hovering over the phone.
He’d never gone through Skye’s phone before. Never had reason to, but he’d seen her reaction to a simple missed call and text messages.
Danny didn’t like secrets.
He picked up the phone, unlocked the screen and checked the call log.
It was empty.
Strange.
Suspicion aroused, he reluctantly checked her messages.
The last message was from her mother, but it was from two days ago and there was no mention of dinner next week.
Skye never left without the phone; it was like an extension of her body. She’d be lost without it. He half expected her to come back any second, saying she’d forgotten it.
She didn’t.
It was then that Danny knew she’d deliberately left her phone there for him. She’d wiped her call list and clearly deleted some message thread. If he confronted her she’d swing the accusations his way, accusing him of not trusting her and invading her privacy.
A feeling of the unknown crept up his spine. This, of course, was exactly what she’d intended.
Danny returned the phone to her desk. He smiled at Hilary when she met his gaze.
Clever girl, Skye. Clever girl.
*
Sitting in her car, Skye stared down at her other phone, the one that those phone calls and texts should have been going to.
No missed calls. No new text messages.
Why had he used her main mobile? He knew that the one she kept hidden, away from everyone, the one Danny didn’t know about, the one in her hand now, was the key to keeping suspicions at bay.
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