Trial by Execution

by T. M. E. Walsh

  The dog barked, snapping its jaws.

  She stopped, shushed it as she lowered her body to the dog’s eye level. She saw a bowl of food and water at the far side of the cage, along with blankets and chewed-up toys. The dog was clearly being cared for by someone.

  The dog bit at the wire cage then, making Claire jump.

  She heard the sound of something metal hitting the ground in one of the other rooms off the passageway.

  Claire felt her heartbeat quicken, and she gripped the metal pole she carried even tighter.

  She edged out of the room, her back to the brickwork, and slowly walked down towards the next opening she could see.

  She stopped at the threshold and tentatively peered around to look inside. She couldn’t hear anything. She shone the torch around and braced herself, the pole raised above her shoulder.

  She stepped into the room.

  Instantly she saw the metal gurney, shoved far to the back, dried blood still spattered over its surface. Then there were the open handcuffs around the rail on either side. There were half-melted candles on the metal shelves that ran along the walls.

  She saw the metal tray on the floor. The tray that had been knocked to the floor mere seconds before.

  Then she saw movement in the far corner, a shadow, which became a man when she shone her torch on him.

  His eyes were wide, surprised to see her staring back at him.

  Claire stood open-mouthed.

  Her eyes lowered to his hand, which clasped hold of a walking shoe.

  CHAPTER 54

  ‘It’s not what it looks like, I swear.’

  Claire’s eyes narrowed, and she made a show of swinging the pole at an angle, ready to strike if he came closer to her.

  ‘Not what it looks like?’ she said. ‘From where I’m standing, it’s exactly what it looks like.’

  He squinted under the intensity of the torchlight, but his body was set rigid like a statue.

  Adam Crowley was frozen to the spot.

  Claire’s eyes shifted to the boxes beside him. They were open, and Crowley had his other hand inside one of them. Claire saw packets of sealed suits inside, almost identical to the one she was wearing.

  ‘Drop that,’ she said, indicating to the shoe in his hand. He didn’t move. ‘Slowly and carefully,’ she said, fighting to keep her voice level and strong. ‘Take your other hand out of that box and get on your feet.’

  Crowley sighed and sucked in a deep breath as he did what she’d asked. He faced her full-on then, the walking shoe still in his hand.

  ‘I’ll ask you again – put that down.’

  ‘It’s not mine.’

  ‘Put the shoe down.’

  ‘It isn’t-’

  ‘Crowley! Drop it on the ground beside you.’

  He let it go.

  Claire paused, not knowing how to get out of the situation.

  ‘We should get out of here,’ he said.

  Her eyes shot to his.

  ‘Did you come alone?’ He saw her jerk, an involuntary movement she instantly regretted. ‘That dog in the cage,’ he said. ‘It’s been well cared for; you must have noticed. That means whoever is behind this could come back at any moment.’

  Claire swallowed hard. ‘What if that person’s already here? What if I’m staring at him right now?’

  ‘I just found this place, too, like you did,’ he said.

  ‘Bullshit!’

  ‘It’s the truth!’

  ‘What’s in the other box, Crowley?’ she said, eyes wide and unable to hide the fear in her voice.

  He glanced down beside him.

  Mobile phones. Five of them.

  He looked back at the pole in her hand. He gestured towards it. ‘You planning on using that?’

  She tightened her grip on it. ‘If you give me cause to.’

  A look of exasperation washed over his face. ‘I’m not a killer. None of this, here, is mine!’

  ‘Then what are you doing here?’

  He held his hands up, palms facing her, trying to calm her. ‘I heard about Skye Bradshaw, unconfirmed reports on the news sites. I tried to speak to that family – the Cains – the ones that found her, but they wouldn’t open their door to anyone but the police.’ He paused, gauging her reaction. He had no idea if she believed him or not.

  ‘I heard reports that Skye was found covered in blood, her mouth cut like the others. I knew she couldn’t have come far, not with her injuries. She had to have come from the quarry. I put it together.’

  ‘And you just happened to find the right bunker?’

  He stared at her, face serious. ‘Didn’t you?’

  She bit her lip. ‘I saw the tyre tracks in the dirt outside.’

  He shook his head. ‘I didn’t drive up here. My car is down on the road where Skye was found.’ He paused. ‘I grew up around here,’ he said. ‘I played in this quarry as a kid. Know it like the back of my hand, but I have nothing to do with any of… this.’ He looked around him, at the gurney. ‘You have to believe me.’

  Claire couldn’t find her voice. It was caught in her throat.

  Another noise now – the dog, restless in the cage in the other room. It barked, louder, more agitated. They heard the cage rattle.

  They locked eyes with each other.

  Claire’s heartbeat rose. Did she dare turn her back on Crowley and face whoever had disturbed the dog?

  She stepped to the side, as close to the wall of the right side of the room as she could.

  They saw a light from outside, becoming brighter.

  Both saw the shadow on the floor.

  Then Simon appeared in the doorway.

  CHAPTER 55

  23 April – 1:30 am

  An hour ago Simon had called for help from the Bedfordshire police, and additional support was brought in from Haverbridge. The quarry had been cordoned off – every bunker was to be searched, and the Council would provide the old maps and location of each bunker, but it was going to be a massive undertaking and take an unknown number of man-hours to complete.

  The bunker the killer had been using as a base was in the process of being processed by CSIs. Claire knew in the long run she’d done the right thing, but Donahue had been, and still was, angry with her.

  Claire had arrested Crowley. He had been caught almost red-handed in many ways. Hand in a box of forensic suits, next to another box with five cheap pay-as-you-go mobiles inside.

  Claire had slipped on some gloves and tried a few, but the batteries were dead, except for one. She had come out of the bunker while Simon had stayed with Crowley.

  She had accessed the contacts list on the phone – it had four numbers to try. The signal in the quarry was patchy at best, but when she did manage to try one or two of the numbers on the list they were no longer available.

  Then the signal had cut out completely.

  She had then looked at the message inbox. There was one message. It was from the unnamed contact number she’d tried to call.

  Knox in wood – make it count.

  That’s all it had said and then the battery died.

  She’d handed it in for evidence.

  Then there had been the walking shoes, one of which Crowley had been holding when she caught him.

  It looked like it was the same tread, size and make to match the prints they’d found at the crime scenes.

  Claire and Simon had brought Crowley out from the bunker and waited for more officers to arrive. Crowley had come quietly but still protested his innocence.

  He’d been taken back to Haverbridge station in a marked police car, while Claire and Simon followed behind. When they had got back to the station, Donahue called Claire to his office. He had reluctantly agreed to let Simon come, too, more out of a deep respect for him than anything else.

  This was where they both stood now, and Claire awaited the inevitable.

  ‘Crowley’s in custody, where he needs
to be right now,’ Claire said as she faced Donahue. ‘It’s safer for everyone until we figure out why he was there. I’m not going to pretend to feel bad about going behind your back.’

  ‘You’re skating on thin ice,’ Donahue snapped at her. ‘If I have to put you on non-operational duties, I will.’

  ‘You can’t do that. We are so close to the truth.’

  Donahue bristled. ‘Your problem is you think you’re indispensable.’

  ‘You need us right now, Cliff,’ she said.

  He paused and walked back to his desk, slumping down in his chair, face grim. ‘I can’t make any promises that I will be able to help you… and Simon, you know better,’ he said, sadness in his voice.

  ‘We’ve known each other a long time,’ Simon said. ‘If you must blame anybody, Cliff, blame me. I should’ve put a stop to this, but there’s no point worrying about that now, not after what we found.’

  Donahue grimaced at his words.

  ‘Did DI Fletcher know anything about this?’ he said, eyes on Claire.

  She shook her head. ‘He would’ve tried to talk me out of it.’

  Donahue gestured towards Simon when he spoke. ‘You do realise that Simon now has to give a statement? You’ve got him involved in this, something that might compromise our credibility considering he was on the original SIO on the Knox investigation.’

  ‘I got myself involved,’ Simon said. ‘I knew what I was getting myself into and I didn’t need Claire to talk me into anything. If you must blame somebody, then blame me.’

  ‘I don’t care what duties you put me on after this,’ Claire said, cutting in, gaining Donahue’s full attention. ‘All I care about now is what we do next to bring this to an end.’

  Donahue looked at her, and despite the anger she’d stirred in him, he felt himself relenting at the conviction in her voice.

  *

  ‘It’s going to take a few hours to get a duty solicitor,’ Claire said, addressing her team. ‘Until then, here’s what we know; the dog that was kept in the cage is with the RSPCA at the moment but is in good health.’

  ‘Is it chipped?’ Elias said.

  Claire shook her head. ‘No, and no collar, but that’s to be expected. It’s possible it’s a stray, but one thing I do think is likely is that this dog was used in the abductions. I called Danika, and she said it’s possible the hairs found in Tilly’s own hair are from a dog. It might also explain why Raymond Knox never fought his attacker.

  ‘The barrel I found has been used to burn things, likely evidence. Maybe the suits we found in the bunker. There were about ten other unused packets in the box. I think the killer used a different one each time then burned it, moved on to a fresh one next time. The killer is forensically aware.’

  ‘You mean, Crowley’s forensically aware?’ Elias said.

  Claire was silent, not looking at anyone in particular.

  ‘Come on,’ Elias said, when she didn’t make any attempt to agree with him. ‘You caught him in that bunker! Crowley was the last known person to see Knox alive, he’s admitted that. He’s been close to the investigation. He’s basking in his own handiwork.’ He looked around the room for support.

  A few debated his logic in their own heads.

  ‘You caught Crowley in that bunker… You telling me he knew exactly where to look? Found it by luck alone?’

  ‘I found that bunker, too,’ she pointed out.

  ‘You saw the burnt-out barrel. Simon Forrester found the pit we believe Skye had been buried in. You both knew roughly the direction Skye had come from to end up in the back garden of that family’s house.’

  Harper looked confused. ‘Why not finish Skye off like the rest? She was buried alive. Why?’

  ‘I’ve been going over this myself,’ Claire said. ‘I think Skye knew the killer, or at least understood why she was chosen.’

  Donahue came into the incident room then.

  All eyes were on him.

  ‘Skye Bradshaw’s surgery was a success. She’ll live but she’s going to remain in ICU for some time.’

  ‘Shit,’ Elias said to himself. ‘We need her. She’s the only one who knows what the killer looks like. She can tell us if it was Crowley.’

  ‘Bradshaw’s going to be bandaged up like a bloody mummy,’ Harper said to Elias. ‘She ain’t telling us shit. Not any time soon anyway.’

  ‘Skye dug her way out of a pit that was meant to be her grave,’ Stefan said. ‘That’s after her face was carved up. She’s tougher than we think.’

  ‘This is getting us nowhere,’ Donahue said. ‘You,’ he said to Claire. ‘You need to go home and get some sleep. I’ll wait here until Crowley’s solicitor turns up. Harper and Jane,’ he said, looking to both officers. ‘You’re going to be interviewing him, I understand?’

  They nodded.

  ‘I want to be here,’ Claire said.

  ‘Absolutely out of the question.’ Donahue’s voice was serious, a warning to her not to push it. ‘Go home. Rest.’ He looked at his watch. ‘You’re no good to anyone exhausted.’

  ‘Let me go and see Skye,’ she said.

  ‘Even if they did let you see her, she won’t be able to speak to you.’

  ‘I just need to see her.’

  Claire saw his face begin to redden but that didn’t perturb her.

  ‘Come on, Cliff,’ she said. ‘What harm can it do?’

  CHAPTER 56

  22 hours later – 23:00 pm

  Despite not being what Claire wanted, Donahue had managed to arrange access to Skye, late at night, with the hospital, but that had been on condition that Skye had been stable through the early hours.

  Claire had decided to stay in Haverbridge and she’d gone back to Stefan’s flat to sleep. He’d given her his bed, while he’d slept on the sofa in the living room, but she hadn’t slept much.

  Stefan had tried to distract her from the investigation as much as possible, but Claire had been too eager to get to the hospital.

  This was part of Donahue’s punishment for Claire after she’d disobeyed him. She was not to go back to the incident room for the time being. She had been warned not to get Simon involved with anything further, and when he’d gone back to Welwyn, a part of her felt empty inside. Their time together at the quarry had almost felt like old times, a brief time when they really did work well together.

  Stefan thought Claire and Simon were getting off lightly, but Claire hadn’t taken it well. Now that they were on their way to the hospital, both of them were relieved, albeit for different reasons.

  On the drive over, Claire had been on edge to say the least.

  She practically bolted from the car as soon as she’d parked up, not bothering to wait for Stefan to get out of his own vehicle.

  They were directed to another wing of the building at reception, where they found a man was waiting for them.

  ‘Detective Chief Inspector Claire Winters,’ she said, flashing her warrant card at him. ‘This is Detective Inspector Stefan Fletcher.’

  She watched the man as he gave her warrant card the once over. She lowered her gaze to his lapel, where a name badge told her his name was Mr Antony Kupa – Surgeon.

  ‘Follow me, please,’ he said, and headed off towards another corridor.

  Claire and Stefan exchanged glances, but followed after him in silence. Both knew their presence was being barely tolerated right now.

  ‘She’s been moved to this separate part of the unit as requested. It’s more private. It’s away from the main areas of the hospital.’ He paused. ‘There is a uniformed police officer – a Sergeant Swanson – outside her room. I don’t want him to alarm anyone with his presence. This private room is best for everyone.’

  Claire’s phone vibrated in her pocket as a voicemail came through. She put the phone to her ear while they followed Kupa.

  ‘It’s Crest,’ she said to Stefan. ‘He says they’ve been interviewing Crowley… they aren’t convi
nced by his explanation for why he was at the quarry, and we should head back to the station ASAP,’ she said, cutting the message off. She placed the phone back in her pocket.

  Stefan checked his watch. ‘Crowley can’t be held for much longer without more evidence, something more concrete.’

  They had come to a standstill and Kupa turned to stare at them, having been listening.

  ‘I’m not sure Skye Bradshaw can help you given her current state,’ he said. ‘She’s not long since had major reconstructive surgery.’

  He tucked the clipboard he was holding under his arm, and crossed his forearms in front of his body. ‘I know I agreed to this with your superior but I’m at a loss as to what this can achieve.’ He looked exasperated. ‘It’s not like she can answer any of your questions.’

  ‘But she is awake?’ Claire pressed.

  ‘Do you even understand what was done to her face?’ Kupa said, edging closer to her. ‘She can’t speak. She can’t even open her lips to have a drink yet.’ He paused, saw her resolve was unwavering. ‘We’ve had to hook her up to a ventilator to help her breathe. Do you understand what I’m telling you?’

  ‘We understand,’ Stefan said, wading in.

  An alarm broke out then.

  A high-pitched noise that startled them.

  A cleaner slammed their trolley through a set of double doors far ahead of them up the corridor, then quickly turned off down a corridor leading off to the right.

  Claire’s eyes narrowed and looked to Kupa for an explanation as more hospital staff began to fill the corridor with a sense of urgency.

  Kupa rolled his eyes. ‘It’s just the fire alarm. Probably a routine drill.’

  Stefan looked at Claire and felt the familiar sensation of unease creep inside him.

  ‘This late at night?’ Claire said.

  When they both saw the answer written on Kupa’s face, Stefan understood Claire’s suspicions.

  ‘You don’t think…?’

  She pushed past them both, and ran down the corridor. Skye knew too much. She’d seen the killer’s face. A killer who had intended for Skye to bleed out in that pit, never thinking she had the will, the strength, to escape.