I looked at him in surprise. “Thank you, sir.”
He sent me a look that told me that he wasn’t finished yet. “However, I want you to focus on the most pressing matters from now on, am I clear? No more disappearing down the country. Your job is to protect the citizens of York here and now, not go chasing off after cold cases from a decade ago.”
“Yes, sir.” I gave a reluctant nod and didn’t argue that I thought that not only were the two cases intricately linked, but that the original Snake Killer might be the very one attacking York’s civilians now. Gaskell hadn’t forbidden us from looking into the case further, just told us to keep an eye on the ball for the sake of the living, and I had every intention of doing my utmost to keep people safe.
Gaskell looked between us with a frown, seeming to try to work out whether we’d do as he wanted. He finally nodded, satisfied, and went back to his computer, giving us our cue to see ourselves out. Stephen released a breath as we walked away, and I made a noise of agreement.
“At least he didn’t ban us completely,” he said.
“Aye.”
“I always feel like a kid in the headmaster’s office when he gives us that disapproving look.”
I snorted. “He has that vibe.”
He dropped down into his desk chair with a dramatic huff. “That and the press conference and all that damn driving have tuckered me out.”
I sent him a sympathetic look. I had a headache building at my temples, and I wanted little more than a hot bath and a glass of wine.
“I’d like to say we’re heading home soon, but we’ve got Keira’s brother to-”
Stephen interrupted me with a groan. “Christ, I’m going to nod right off.”
“You want some coffee? Might save you from having to use the matchsticks.” When he shot me a look of confusion, I grinned. “Y’know, to prop your eyelids open?”
“That might be necessary.” He huffed a laugh. “Alright, do me one of your toxic coffees, will you? It’ll either keep me awake or give me a heart attack, and either way, I won’t be asleep.”
I rolled my eyes at his dramatics and swept up his mug to fetch us both some caffeine. God knows I needed it.
We didn’t have much of the workday left, and I barely managed to make a start on writing up our trip to Cornwall and Exeter before Stephen was prodding me to head out.
“I don’t want to be out any later than I have to, mate,” he cajoled. “It’s five. Let’s go get it done, alright?”
So we drove over to the address that Keira had emailed me and, armed with two takeaway cups full of extra strong coffee and several chocolate bars between us, we settled in to keep watch at Robbie Adams’ house.
It was a nice place; a period terrace house near Heworth with a neat front garden and a climber around the overhanging porch that hung leafless and brown now but would burst into blooms in the spring or summer. There was one light on downstairs, and the curtains hadn’t yet been pulled, so I could just about make out a living room through the small windows.
It was already dark but, despite the thick cloud cover obscuring even a glint of the moon, the pavement was well lit with the artificial orange glow of streetlights. We could easily keep an eye on the house. Once parked up, the car quickly cooled down, and I turned the heating knob up, cupping my hands around my lukewarm coffee cup. Stephen was grimacing at the taste of strong coffee.
“Remind me why I’m spending my Tuesday evening freezing my mitts off rather than snug at home?”
“Because Keira thinks her brother’s gotten himself into some kind of a dodgy mess.”
“And we have to deal with it, why?”
I sent him an unimpressed look. “Because we agreed to it. Unfortunately.”
“I should’ve brought a book.” He sighed. “How long do we have to be here for before it counts, d’you think?”
My head was turned towards the window, focused on Robbie’s house, so Stephen didn’t see me roll my eyes.
“You’re little better than a five-year-old, you know that?”
“I object to that,” Stephen said good-naturedly. “I’m the one with two kids under ten, and I’m telling you, five-year-olds are much worse.”
I made a noise of derision and didn’t respond to that. Stephen started humming quietly, in between grumbling about the too-strong coffee he’d made himself, and I ignored him. Just because I’d not really wanted to do this didn’t mean I’d do a half-arsed job now that I’d agreed to it. I didn’t expect to catch Robbie doing anything more exciting than taking the bins out, but I’d be sure to keep an eye out, just in case.
Half an hour passed, and soon enough, it was getting towards six. My legs were going numb, and my hips were sore from sitting still, and I debated whether it was worth going out in the cold for a brisk walk around.
As we’d waited, the light that’d been turned on in Robbie’s house had gone off shortly before an upstairs light turned on. The room was at the front of the house, and the curtains remained open, so Stephen and I could see that he was sitting in a cramped office, the flickering light of a computer screen playing off his face. It was hard to see from the low angle we were looking from, but Robbie looked older than Keira, his hair was paler, and his cheeks looked sallow.
To pass the time, I looked his name up online and found a better picture of him, though his face looked more filled out there, and I wondered if he’d lost weight. Perhaps that, too, had concerned Keira. I put my phone down and was on the verge of telling Stephen that I was heading out to stretch my legs when Robbie stood up from his desk.
I stiffened and watched closely, and Stephen, who’d been half-way to drifting off, noticed my attention and straightened up.
“What is it?” he said, even as he was already turning to look. He sighed. “He’s probably just off to the loo. Speaking of, I’m gonna need to answer the call of nature soon.”
I watched the dark house after Robbie turned off the office light and wondered what the man was doing. Checking my watch showed me that it was half-past six, and I wondered if the bloke was going to start his tea. That’s what I’d be doing if I was at home now, as my plaintively empty stomach agreed. But it wasn’t the kitchen light that went on, but the hallway, and Stephen and I sat in silence, watching.
After a couple of minutes, Stephen went back to his phone. I kept watching and, ten minutes later, I elbowed Stephen in the side.
“What?”
I nodded towards the house. Robbie’s front door had just opened, letting the light spill out from the lit hallway before Robbie pulled the door shut behind him. Stephen and I had parked up across the street, and the light was off in our car, so we just had to keep still to avoid being noticed. I’m not sure that Robbie would’ve noticed us even if we’d had all the car lights on and played music at full volume since he kept his head down and hurried to his car, looking much like a timid mouse dashing across an open space from one hideaway to another. Stephen made a noise in his throat that might’ve been surprise or impatience.
“Where’s he going? Evening Tesco shop?”
I turned the ignition key and got the car into gear. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Robbie sat in his car for a minute or more, and I wondered what he was doing in there; looking at his phone, setting up the SatNav or something else. The side window went down, and I saw a puff of milky vapour drift out of the gap and dissipate. Cigarette smoke was my first thought, but there was too much of it, and I caught the fruity smell of vaping even from across the road. The vapour continued to drift out in wisps and curls for another minute before the window wound up again and Robbie set off.
Stephen flicked the radio on as I pulled out and followed. I wasn’t experienced in trailing people, but I knew the basics and kept a short distance between us whilst trying to keep him well within sight. It was difficult to stay unnoticed when following in a car on a quiet street, but I did my best and hoped that Robbie was too distracted to notice the unmarked car trailing behin
d him.
Stephen sat quietly when he wasn’t humming along to the radio, and I let myself run on autopilot. Today had felt indeterminately long, and the driving had left me feeling like I’d been gently run over, stiff and sore and with a headache that pressed threateningly against my temples.
Stephen glanced at me as I pressed my fingers to the side of my head when we were caught at a set of traffic lights, and after rummaging through the glove box for a minute, he came up with a couple of ibuprofen tablets. I knocked them back with the dregs of my cold coffee.
“Thanks, mate.” The lights turned green, and I accelerated, overtaking the car in front in order to catch up with Robbie.
We’d passed several convenience stores and now drove past Vangarde shopping park, too, which had a large M&S food hall along with various restaurants.
“He’s definitely going further away than the shops.”
“Yeah, unluckily for us,” Stephen grunted.
We continued to head out of town towards Heslington and beyond, and I stayed on Robbie’s tail, keeping a car or two between us as best I could. After almost half an hour, Robbie took a turn off the main road down a side street and, hanging back for a moment, I followed him. I let him take the turn up ahead before I went slowly after him. The winding road led into a residential area, and I glanced at the SatNav map that showed where we were, grimacing at the maze of houses and small roads, many leading into cul de sacs. I couldn’t afford to hang back too much lest we lose Robbie down one of the numerous turn-offs, and so I kept as close as I dared.
It was a nice area, with large family homes, freshly painted fences, and immaculately tended front gardens. Robbie pulled up outside a particularly large house standing unattached. Rather than screech to a halt, I continued on past where he’d parked and turned the corner at the end of the road. It led to another dead end, but at least it was out of sight.
“You reckon he’s visiting the girlfriend? Family?”
“Maybe.” I’d taken out my notebook and was making a note of the road name.
“You’re taking this seriously.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “I agreed to do it. I’m not going to do a shoddy job of it just because I think it’s pointless.”
“Of course not.” Stephen raised half a smile. “I forgot what you were like for a second there.”
I shook my head at him and climbed out of the car, shuddering in the breezy chill. The clouds were still looming overhead in thick clumps, and the air smelled like snow. Stephen followed me out of the car, and we made our way back around the corner towards the big house that Robbie had parked up outside.
I was reluctant to just hang around outside, but I could admit to myself that I was curious as to what Robbie was up to. If I was cynical, I might guess that the differences in Robbie that Keira had observed, plus his weight loss, could be explained by drugs. And this house was certainly nice enough to be owned by someone who made a good salary but didn’t want to flaunt it excessively. The car out the front was flashy enough by itself, I thought, though what I knew about cars could fit on a playing card.
Stephen tucked his hands into his armpits and shivered. The house had lights on upstairs and downstairs and was lit up like a birthday cake, a fact which made me think of the electricity bill and wince.
I couldn’t see the house’s occupant nor Robbie moving around inside, but I assumed that Robbie must have gone in in the minute or so when he’d been out of our sight. His car remained parked outside, quietly clicking as it cooled down, and someone was clearly at home in the big place.
“Are we just planning to stand around here?”
I chewed my chapped lip, weighing the options. “We could go and knock, pretend to be lost.”
“That’s cliché.”
“What d’you suggest then?” I sent him an exasperated look.
“That we head off home?” He grinned sheepishly, and I turned back to the house.
“And tell Keira what? That Robbie went off to someone’s house, but no, we haven’t a clue whose house it was.”
“She’s a tech genius.” Stephen shrugged his big shoulders. “I’m sure she could figure out whose house it is.”
It wasn’t a bad point, and as I shivered, it was looking like a fair option. I gave it another five or ten minutes before I made a mental note of the house number and relented. I couldn’t see anyone moving around inside, so they must have been keeping to the back rooms, talking in an office at the rear of the house, or getting together in a bedroom, I thought, if it was that kind of evening visit.
“Alright, let’s head off.”
Stephen gave a relieved sigh. “Finally.”
We walked briskly back to the car, both of us feeling the cold and keen to get the heater on. I drove slowly past Robbie’s parked car as we went by, but there was still no movement inside the house. I was disappointed that we hadn’t managed to get any definite answers for Keira, not least because then we wouldn’t be obliged to do stake-outs anymore, but at least we had a starting point for her. As Stephen had said, I had no doubt that she’d find it all too easy to find out who lived at the house and how they were in connection with her brother.
For now, I was desperate to get home to a hot shower and my bed, no matter that it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. At this time of year, and when working a demanding case, I found myself wanting to nod off as soon as the sun went down. We could return to attacking the Snake Killer case tomorrow, but for now, even my caffeine-saturated, overactive brain wanted a breather, and I was more than happy to oblige.
Nine
It was only once we were sitting on the train to Leeds that I got the chance to text Sam. I’d woken late and rushed about the house, racing into work with half-laced trainers because I couldn’t stand the thought of driving, only to have to leave Hewford almost as soon as I arrived.
The station had gotten a last-minute update to say that the second postmortem would happen in Leeds today, which Stephen, since he was at work earlier than me, had picked up. Being the practical, useful bloke he was, he booked us both tickets on the next train and hurried me into the car to drive to York station as soon as I arrived, sweaty from my run.
So I’d changed into work clothes in the back of the car, and then we’d had to run up the steps at York station in order to get the train, only to collapse, limp-legged and panting into our seats.
I took out my phone to text Sam while I was getting my breath back and sighed to see that she’d texted last night, asking if I wanted to make dinner together, or go for a late-night gym session. I texted back my apologies and wished that I could invite her round to mine tonight, but Stephen and I were supposed to be hanging around outside Robbie Adams’ house again.
We’d promised to spend a couple of nights outside his place, and I could admit that I was curious whether he’d go to the same big house out past Heslington again. I hadn’t managed to send Keira the address her brother had gone to before I passed out in bed last night, so I sent her a quick email now with the details and rough timings of what had happened. I hoped she wouldn’t blame us for leaving whilst Robbie was still in the house, but I didn’t regret it. We hadn’t known how long he was going to be, and there was no indication that he was in danger or there against his will.
The train to Leeds didn’t take long, and we picked up a quick brunch to eat on our way to the forensic pathology unit. Leeds was an attractive city, though in an all-together different manner than York. The modern grey and black buildings tried to out-compete one another for how far above the silvery slip of the River Aire they could rise. Though it was studded with examples of elegant Victorian masonry, it was the bold, sleek highrises that caught the eye and gave the city the sense of being aggressively industrious, filled with youthful ambition and drive. Leeds gave the impression of progression and vigorous expansion, where York, with its ancient walls and staunch, weathered cathedral, was a monument to history that endured. York’s gentler grandeur satisfied my heart m
ore than Leeds did, but it was still a beautiful skyline, especially at night, and I would’ve liked to visit more than I did.
We were a few minutes early for the postmortem, so we walked slowly as we ate, admiring the sights. We talked idly about the case, going over what pieces of information we had in our possession and which were still needed.
“Do you think Gaskell really believes that Abe is the Snake Killer?” Stephen wondered aloud. “Or was he saying that because he had to?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Perhaps when Muldoon confessed a decade ago, it was a good deal more convincing than when we spoke to him. It says in the case notes that he knew about the specific mutilations which hadn’t-”
Stephen was nodding. “Been released to the press yet, yeah,” he finished for me. “There is that. How could he have known?”
“Several ways.” I hummed. “He could have known someone in the police who told him. Perhaps a journalist had done some digging and found out and told him. Perhaps he was the real killer’s accomplice or was otherwise in touch with the killer.” I shrugged. “Or maybe I’m wrong, and he is the Snake Killer.”
We’d arrived outside the forensic pathology unit by now, and I tossed my crumpled-up sandwich packet in the nearby bin and headed inside. As we were booked in at reception and shown up to the viewing gallery, I glanced over at Stephen.
“I hope this will give us some answers at least.”
“We could really do with an identity for this guy,” Stephen agreed. “Someone to compare the first victim to, see where the link between them is.”
Stephen was right. An important step on the road to finding this killer was spotting the pattern. Despite the similarity in the victims’ mutilations, the York killer had already deviated hugely from the Snake Killer’s modus operandi, what with completely changing the location and the demographic of their victims. Finding out how and why they were picking these men as their targets would be crucial in deciding how we’d proceed from here.
Snakes in the Grass (A DI Mitchell Yorkshire Crime Thriller Book 5) Page 9