The Rules of Murder

by The Rules of Murder (epub)

  ‘It’s the same for the Deville murder, for Feathers in Edgbaston, for Rugeley, even for your street.’

  Dani winced at that comment. ‘So he’s well planned,’ Dani said, not really sure if she was missing something. ‘I think we knew that already.’

  ‘Yes, but I’ve done my best to trace his movements back, like you said, to figure where he’s coming from and going to.’

  ‘And?’

  Constable pulled up an image of a map of the West Midlands, onto which several hundred red and blue dots and lines were superimposed.

  ‘I’ve tried to separate direction of travel by red and blue. So red precedes blue on any particular day or trip. You can see it’s not an exact science, but if you follow the colours, and the direction of the arrows, you can see patterns starting to emerge as to his most usual routes. The biggest cluster we have seems to be originating around here, south of the city.’

  Constable used his finger on the screen to circle the area. It was probably a couple of miles wide, at least, around Northfield and King’s Norton.

  ‘That’s a pretty big area,’ Dani said, and Constable shrank a little in his seat as though his bubble had been burst.

  ‘I know. I’m narrowing it down as best I can, but—’

  ‘No, it’s good. It’s really good. Keep going… Wait a second. The arrows on there.’

  Dani pointed to the cluster of dots and arrows right in the centre of the city.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Show me that data on the spreadsheet.’

  Constable nodded and pulled up the spreadsheet which in a couple of clicks he’d transferred to a pivot table. He played with the data for a few seconds until he was showing all the entries around Birmingham city centre. Dani stared at the information, but she couldn’t quite figure what she was trying to see.

  ‘Can you email it to me?’ she asked. ‘I need to have a think about this.’

  ‘Sure.’

  Dani went back to her own seat and was soon delving into the data from Constable as her thoughts continued to take worrying shape. With links to the CCTV files all included in Constable’s spreadsheet, it was a minefield of data and Dani’s mind was soon flooded with information overload.

  She frowned.

  ‘Easton,’ she called over, ‘where did we get to with Curtis’s movements yesterday?’

  ‘It looks like he followed Caroline’s car all the way from near Drifford House, so he must have been spying on her from there, waiting for the moment.’

  Had he known Caroline was heading to see Johansson or was that just some sort of bonus? No, that wasn’t what Dani was thinking about here. She shook her head to get back to the earlier thought.

  ‘But after the attack? The van was still there, right? He abandoned it?’

  ‘Van was there,’ Easton said, ‘on the street right outside the office block. Full sweep done by forensics before it was towed. Nothing much of interest found.’

  ‘And we lost him where?’

  ‘We have him on camera as he moved on foot towards Colmore Row, then nothing.’

  ‘But that area has cameras everywhere.’

  ‘It does. But this was basically rush hour, the busiest period of the day in the busiest part of the city with office workers everywhere. He could have got on a bus or headed to New Street or Snowhill station quite easily, and we’ve no idea if he somehow changed appearance. Slipped a jacket on or something. We have to assume he knows the cameras are there given the way he moves, so…’

  Dani agreed on the last point, but she was heading in a different direction altogether on the rest of it. She went back and focussed on the series of CCTV captures around Northfield and King’s Norton, where Constable had said he thought Curtis originated from.

  ‘I’ve only got the clips here,’ Dani said to Constable as she clicked into the links in unison. ‘How do I see what came before and after these moments?’

  Constable got up and came over and took control of the mouse.

  ‘We’ve already been through the full files on each of these days; you won’t find anything more of Curtis.’

  ‘It’s not Curtis I’m looking for.’

  Constable looked at Dani curiously, but said nothing more and Dani was soon scrolling through the feed for a CCTV tower on Ryland Avenue in King’s Norton. She went through a whole day in a matter of minutes, but saw nothing that took her eye. But then on the next file…

  ‘Shit,’ Dani said. Everyone in the room turned to look at her, but she barely noticed as she continued to scroll.

  Sure enough, later that same day, she saw it again. Then again the next day. The same car each time. She knew exactly whose it was.

  ‘It’s not his starting point,’ Dani said, loud enough for everyone to hear. She got up from her chair.

  ‘What’s not?’ Constable asked.

  ‘The area you circled for me. It’s not his starting point; it’s not where he’s staying.’

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘Easton, you’re coming with me.’

  She turned and strode for the door without waiting for his response.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  The lift took an age to arrive. More than once Dani had to hold back the urge to race down the stairs instead.

  Finally she and Easton were both inside, heading down.

  ‘Are you going to explain?’ Easton said, looking more than a little anxious.

  ‘Curtis’s routes into the city centre,’ Dani said, trying to find the words to explain it succinctly, but her brain was still firing at warp speed. ‘He took two different routes in. Sometimes coming up Newhall Street from near St Paul’s Square, but other times he’d loop around Snowhill and come along Colmore Row.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And why would he do that? If you’re coming into the city from the same direction each time, to the same spot, why would you go two different ways?’

  ‘Traffic?’

  ‘No. It’s because he was going to two different places. Two locations, for different purposes. Two locations, right around the corner from each other, but on different parts of the one-way system.’

  The lift doors opened, and Dani had to hold herself back from sprinting out. As she strode for the exit, her mind once again flashed back to the day of the attack in her home. How she’d been gunning the car across the city to Harborne, Easton in the passenger seat telling her to be calm, telling her everything would be fine.

  Everything hadn’t been fine. If they’d arrived a minute earlier that day, would it have made a difference? What about thirty seconds earlier?

  ‘Dr Collins’s office is right off Colmore Row,’ Dani said as she finally burst into a jog once they were outside, heading away from HQ towards nearby Snowhill station. Their destination was all of two hundred yards further away.

  ‘Shit,’ Easton said.

  ‘She lied to us. Collins… she’s been lying this whole time,’ Dani said, her heavy breathing already making it difficult to talk. And she hadn’t realised how tired and sluggish her body was today until now. ‘On the CCTV… the cluster around Northfield… That’s near where she lives. I even saw her car on the same cameras that picked up Curtis. She’s been seeing him all this time. Perhaps even helping him to hide.’

  ‘And last night…’ Easton trailed off.

  ‘Last night… maybe Curtis never even left the city centre,’ Dani said, finishing what she thought he’d been about to say. ‘After killing Caroline and Amanda… what if he went straight to Collins’s office? He may have been there the whole time.’

  ‘We need back-up for this,’ Easton said.

  And this time Dani wasn’t going to say no to that. ‘Call it in,’ she said.

  Easton already had his phone in his hand.

  Bystanders, late arrivals to work, early shoppers, those out for morning coffee meetings, all stared over curiously as Dani and Easton ran along the street. Easton talked hurriedly and out of breath into his phone. By the time he was finished, th
e entrance to Collins’s office building was almost in touching distance.

  Strangely, the scene outside was serene and calm – except for the two red-cheeked coppers approaching.

  And there was Oxley’s car, right outside. No one inside.

  ‘Where is he?’ Dani shouted, the phone already to her ear.

  ‘You did tell him not to let her out of your sight!’

  Oxley didn’t answer the phone.

  ‘They’re already inside,’ Dani said.

  Was Oxley already dead?

  Or had Dani made a big mistake and Curtis wasn’t even here at all?

  Dani raced up to the intercom, trying to clear her head as she pressed on the buzzer.

  ‘We don’t have time for this,’ Easton said.

  He reached forwards and slammed his palm against every button. A second later a raspy voice came through the speaker from someone inside one of the other units.

  ‘West Midlands Police. Let us in, now,’ Easton said. The force of his demand was sufficient. A second later the door buzzed open.

  Dani glanced to her right as she rushed inside. A couple of hundred yards away, blue lights were visible amongst the city centre taxis and buses. Help would be with them soon enough, but Dani wouldn’t wait.

  She took the stairs two at a time, Easton right behind her. When they arrived at the top of the stairs, Dani was sweaty and puffing heavily. The door to Collins’s office was locked shut. Easton and Dani shared a questioning look, before Dani moved over and pressed the intercom buzzer and then knocked on the door. Through the frosted glass, Dani could make out little of the waiting area beyond. Though it looked empty in there, didn’t it? She pushed her ear close to the glass. After barely two seconds of waiting, she’d had enough.

  ‘Easton.’

  He understood the request. She stepped to the side as Easton moved forwards. He lifted his knee and launched his heel to the door. The thumping contact echoed through the enclosed space. Easton hit the wood again and the force was sufficient to break the magnetic contact and the door swung open.

  Dani raced in first.

  ‘Oxley, you there?’

  The words had barely passed Dani’s lips when she saw the pool of blood on the floor, at the head of the corridor that led to Collins’s office. As she traced the circle of red she found the thick-soled shoe of a downed figure, poking out.

  Oxley.

  Dani faltered in her step.

  ‘Back-up will be here any second,’ Easton said from behind her.

  Then there was a bang and a scream from further down the corridor. Collins?

  No, they didn’t have time to wait for back-up, even if they were only thirty seconds away.

  Dani reached over and grabbed a book from the reception desk. That was all. A big, hard-backed book. Better than nothing. She rushed for the corridor. There was another scream from through the open office door, though Dani couldn’t yet see who or what lay beyond the threshold.

  ‘Damian! This is the police,’ Dani shouted out.

  She slowed when she was three yards away. Easton was still right behind her.

  ‘Dr Collins, are you in there?’ Dani called.

  ‘Help! Pl—’

  Her cry became muffled. But Dani also thought she could pinpoint where in the nearby room the sound had come from.

  Putting paid to better judgement, she rushed into the room.

  It was like the scene from a horror movie. Blood spatters everywhere. Collins was on the floor by her desk. Her grey skirt and white blouse were both drenched in thick, dark blood. The gashes on her arms, her torso, were stark and gruesome, and Dani lost her breath as she stared.

  Damian Curtis was standing over Collins, axe in his hand, held above his head. He turned to Dani, a snarl on his face.

  Their eyes met.

  A second later Easton lurched forward, swinging wildly with a glass weight he’d picked up from somewhere. Curtis jumped towards him and the men collided and went down in a heap.

  Easton was dazed, and Curtis was soon back on his feet and with a battle cry of pure rage he raced towards Dani. Easton shot back up and he grabbed Curtis’s shoulder. He tried to hit him again with the weight, but he was set all wrong and Curtis tugged him forwards. Easton swung and missed, and Curtis spun and slashed the axe across. The blade glanced Easton’s belly and he shouted in pain as he went down.

  Curtis lifted the axe above his head once more. Dani was in pure survival mode now. There was nothing else for it. Fight back or die.

  She lifted an arm to protect herself as the axe came down. She bent at the knees… then sprang up like a jack-in-the-box.

  Her raised arm blocked Curtis’s axe swing at his wrist. With her other hand she launched the book up, spine first, power and momentum coming from her body’s upward movement.

  The thick spine of the book crashed into Curtis’s chin. His head snapped back. The axe clattered away. Perhaps Curtis would have fallen down from that perfectly planted blow, but the next moment, Easton jumped onto his back, and wrapped his arms around Curtis’s neck.

  Dani rushed forwards and barged into them both and all three of them crashed to the ground. Easton took the brunt of the fall as the bodies piled up on him. But he didn’t let go. He wrapped his legs around Curtis as he tightened the grip around his neck.

  Curtis coughed and spluttered. His cheeks were deep red, his eyes bulged.

  ‘Get him on his side!’ Dani shouted.

  Easton managed to swivel. Dani tried to grab Curtis’s wrists. But he was having none of it.

  He lashed out and caught Dani in the eye. Then the next second he reached to his side and there was a blade in his hand.

  Dani threw herself back just as the knife whooshed through the air, narrowly avoiding her neck. Curtis swung at her again, and again. He couldn’t reach her. But unless she got closer, she couldn’t cuff him either.

  Then Curtis changed tactic. He twisted the knife around and sank the blade into Easton’s side.

  Easton grimaced and groaned, his strength seemed to waiver slightly. But Curtis’s strike had at least given Dani an opportunity…

  She flung herself forwards and grabbed Curtis’s arm. She twisted it around as he withdrew the knife from Easton’s flesh, blood dripping from the blade. As he fought against her, Dani forced Curtis’s wrist back, almost to breaking point. The knife came free.

  ‘Come on!’ Easton said, the desperation in his voice clear. The power in his chokehold was quickly waning.

  Dani clasped a cuff around Curtis’s wrist, wrestled for his other hand and managed to squeeze it into place.

  ‘He’s done!’ Dani shouted.

  She immediately pulled back as Easton let go and shoved Curtis over so he was face first. Easton dug his knee into Curtis’s back, and forced his face into the carpet with his hand.

  ‘Damian Curtis…’ Easton said before pausing, out of breath and gritting his teeth in pain, ‘I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder…’

  Dani stared from Curtis, to Collins, to Easton as her colleague read the madman his rights. Easton was out of breath. Blood was seeping through his clothes, both from the knife wound and the blow from the axe. He looked like he was about to pass out.

  Dani heard the rush of footsteps from out in the corridor. One, two, three, uniformed officers burst into view.

  ‘It’s fine!’ Dani shouted, dazed and out of breath. She looked to Collins. ‘But get an ambulance. Now!’

  Dani pulled herself over to Collins and knelt down beside her. Her eyes were wide but glassy. She was gurgling for breath. Dani really didn’t know if there was anything anyone could do to save her, even if the paramedics arrived that second.

  ‘Look what you’ve done,’ Dani said. Collins’s weary gaze met hers. ‘You made him do this.’

  Dani didn’t know why, but despite her less than sympathetic words, she found herself reaching for Collins’s hand. She grasped it and felt the faintest of squeezes back.

  ‘Is… he�
� dead?’ Collins said.

  ‘No,’ Dani said. She looked over to Curtis who was gibbering away as two burly policemen dragged him up onto his feet. Easton was hunched over, clutching his stomach in agony.

  Dani looked back to Collins whose eyes appeared even more pained now.

  ‘I’m… so… sorry,’ Collins said.

  ‘Just tell me why?’

  ‘N-No.’ Collins managed the slightest shake of her head. ‘It… wasn’t me. I… swear. Only… tried to help… him.’

  They were the last words Dr Collins said before she went completely still.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Dani hadn’t wanted to make any more trips to Drifford House, but this one was worth it, even if Easton couldn’t be there with her; he was still recuperating in hospital the day after the fight at Dr Collins’s office. She’d tell him all about today soon enough.

  She didn’t bother to go inside the manor house though. The uniforms could do that. She only wanted to see his face.

  Dani was hanging on her open car door when Henry Redfearne stepped out into the rain, flanked by two policemen, his wrists cuffed behind his back. Dani didn’t move. She had nothing to say to him.

  The policemen escorted him over to their car. Henry’s gaze and his sullen pout was fixed on Dani the whole time, right until one of the coppers pushed his head down to ease him into the back seat. Dani waited until the police car was heading away down the drive before she moved. She was about to sit back in her car when Pamela appeared in the open doorway to the house.

  Dani thought for a moment. Then walked over.

  ‘Did you know?’ Dani said.

  ‘Know what?’

  ‘About what Oscar did that night? The crash? The cover-up?’

  Pamela said nothing. Dani would have to weigh up whether it was even worth pursuing now, given all the chaos and misery that had already flowed.

  ‘I’ll be in touch,’ Dani said, before she turned and walked back to her car.

  * * *

  ‘I thought you might have come alone,’ Ben said, when Dani walked into the prison interview room with Constable in tow.