Damaged

by Martina Cole

  One thing that he loved about spending time with Kate Burrows and Patrick Kelly – it was never predictable.

  Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

  Kate and Annie pressed the button for the gate that would give them access to the Carters’ house. As they pulled on to the drive, Kate looked around her and was impressed. It wasn’t anything like her home with Patrick, it was too new for that. But it was still a stunning property. The brickwork was perfect, and they had spared no expense when it came to the picture windows and landscaping the gardens. It was a really well-thought-out and well-executed home. Kate knew, from all the years with Patrick, about property and what it was worth and could tell that this place was worth a small fortune.

  She saw a woman at the door smiling as she welcomed them into her home, and she looked at Annie and sighed sadly. They both got out of the car, smiling in a friendly fashion, and they followed the woman into her beautiful home, fearing that the chances were that their presence would be the worst thing that could ever have happened to her. It was just gone nine in the evening, and the sun was setting, as they walked into the large, well-equipped and ultra-modern kitchen. Kate had waited until she had what she felt she needed from Margaret Dole before she came to the Carters’ property.

  Kate saw an older woman sitting in the kitchen, and she assumed that this was Wanda – the famous grandmother that she had heard about. As they were introduced, she smiled at the older woman and shook her hand firmly.

  They were all sitting in the kitchen and waiting for the coffee to brew when Kate broke the silence, saying, ‘This is a beautiful property, Mrs Carter. How much land do you have here? We have nearly three acres at mine and I love that we have that privacy.’

  Sylvie Carter laughed, saying, ‘I know who you are, and I know that you have that wonderful house. My husband never fails to remark on it when we drive by.’

  Kate grinned. ‘Where is your husband tonight?’

  Sylvie Carter looked at her for long moments before saying uneasily, ‘He is at his yard – he puts in a lot of hours.’

  Kate smiled once again. ‘I can imagine. He has a big company, and an even bigger workforce to look after.’

  Sylvie Carter shrugged nonchalantly as she poured the drinks. ‘He won’t be long now – he’s due home any minute.’

  Annie sipped her coffee before she said carefully, ‘We are here to talk to Stephen, as I’m sure you must have guessed. Is he around?’

  Sylvie Carter looked at them once more. ‘He’s doing his homework. Why do you need to talk to him again?’

  Kate sat at the big expensive glass table that looked like something from a science fiction film, and she said gently, ‘Well, we need to talk to him because his friend Todd Richards was found murdered last night, as I am sure you’ve heard. From what I gather, they were good friends. We wondered if Stephen might be able to help us with our investigation.’

  Sylvie Carter was not happy, and it showed. She was frowning, and she looked at Annie Carr as she said in bewilderment, ‘I don’t understand what my Stephen could tell you that is so important. He was here last night – he’s here most nights. Todd was a lovely boy – and we’re devastated by the news – but we haven’t seen him for a few days, have we, Wanda?’

  The older woman didn’t say anything, she just shrugged.

  Kate smiled once again and then, looking at Sylvie Carter, she said honestly, ‘Stephen has known all the children who have died in some way. He is what we call a common denominator.’ She smiled once more. ‘That’s why we need to talk to him again, Mrs Carter. We need to ask your son if he could help us with our enquiries.’

  Sylvie Carter looked at Kate and Annie as if they were from another planet. ‘He is doing his homework, like I told you. He rarely goes out of an evening. He is a good lad, he sticks close to home.’

  Kate smiled once more and, taking Sylvie Carter’s hand, she said smoothly, ‘Where does he do his homework? Is he upstairs? Could you call him down for us?’

  Sylvie Carter pulled her hand from Kate’s, as if she had been burned. ‘He goes for a walk sometimes, to think. There is a lot of land here. I really think you should wait for my husband to come home.’

  Annie Carr and Kate exchanged glances.

  ‘Do you actually know where your son is, Mrs Carter?’ Kate asked.

  Sylvie Carter didn’t answer the question, she just sat there looking at the two policewomen. Kate saw her bite her bottom lip in consternation, and she knew everything that she needed to.

  ‘He isn’t in the house, is he, Mrs Carter?’

  Wanda Carter banged her fists on to the table heavily, and she looked at her daughter-in-law as she cried loudly, ‘For fuck’s sake, Sylvie, you know as well as I do that he is not all the fucking ticket! Never has been, from when he was a little child. He is my flesh and blood, but I can’t fucking stand him. I know as well as you do that he has something missing up top. You can’t protect him any more, Sylvie – it’s all gone too far. Tell them you saw him arguing with Todd the night he disappeared.’

  Wanda looked at Kate, and it seemed as if her whole body had collapsed in on her. ‘I knew that he had something to do with all this, but I couldn’t prove it. I didn’t want to believe it but I know that he is capable of real evil. Todd must have finally seen it too. Stephen is not right in the head. And it doesn’t matter how much these two try and buy him out of trouble, they can’t make him better. There are some things that you can’t fucking repair, and that boy is one of them.’

  She slumped back into her chair, and she was nearly in tears as she said, ‘His baby brother, for a start – that wasn’t a cot death. He hated that child from the day he was born. I know my son knew the score as well as I did. Stephen is wrong in the head, and that is the truth of it. He is out there in one of his underground passages, and this pair pretend that it is all fucking normal. He can spend two days out there and this pair still act like that is completely normal behaviour.’

  Kate and Annie Carr sat and listened to the woman, and they both knew that she was finally unburdening herself.

  ‘He killed my dog, and they both knew that, and they acted like it wasn’t that big a deal. He always walks away from everything that he does, because this pair seem to think that he can do no wrong! That he can be helped by psychiatrists, but he can’t.’ Wanda was on the verge of weeping.

  Kate turned to Sylvie Carter and, motioning for her to get up from her chair, she said quietly, ‘I think it’s time for you to show us where he is.’

  Sylvie Carter shook her head slowly and she refused to get out of her chair. ‘You are all wrong. My Stephen is a good boy. He knows that he has done wrong, but he is making up for all that.’

  Kate and Annie walked from the kitchen and made their way through the gardens – the beautiful landscaped gardens that were lit up like Battersea Power Station – and they followed the paths to where the uniforms were waiting for them patiently. Kate was impressed with how hidden these tunnels were; if you didn’t know about them, you would walk right by them without a thought. Margaret Dole had really come up trumps when she had unearthed the plans of the original buildings, there was no denying that.

  Kate took the lead, pushing through the thick undergrowth and carefully making her way down the ancient steps. The doorway was smaller than she had expected and she was amazed to find that it wasn’t locked from the inside. But why would it be? Stephen Carter didn’t think that anyone would find it.

  She walked inside slowly and the smell of bleach was overpowering. There was a large room that had been carved out of the earth so many years ago. The ceiling was like a work of art; the wood that was shoring it up had been carved beautifully by a real craftsman. She walked into the room and she looked about her in wonderment. There was a lot of light from candles, and she knew that Stephen was here somewhere. She saw another small doorway and she approached it slowly.

  When she got to the doorway she said loudly, ‘Stephen? My name is Kate and I would
like to talk to you, if you wouldn’t mind.’

  She pushed the door open gently and she looked into a tiny room that was dark and dank and covered in blood. There was only one candle burning, and that didn’t give out much light. She shone her torch around and then she saw the young boy they were all looking for, and she closed her eyes tightly.

  She heard DC Karim asking her quietly, ‘Is there anything there, ma’am?’

  Kate turned around quickly, saying, ‘Bring Megan down, for fuck’s sake! The little fucker has hung himself!’

  Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen

  Patrick Kelly knew that Kate was not thrilled at the way everything had turned out. But, if retribution was not to be had, he personally believed that it was a perfect solution; he just wished that more fucking nutters topped themselves. The piece of shit had killed other kids! What the fuck was that all about? Kate was, once again, the woman of the hour, though she wasn’t taking any credit. He wasn’t going to piss all over her firework by giving his personal opinion; he knew better, these days. But he was sorry that she didn’t see that, whatever the outcome, she had been the one to find that mad bastard. That should be something that she was proud of. He knew that he would be, if he was her. But he wasn’t her, as Kate would point out forcibly should he try and give his opinion.

  He was waiting patiently for her to join him so they could go to the dinner being held in her honour. He was already suited and booted and drinking a rather good Scotch when Kate came down the stairs.

  She smiled at the two children who were already a big part of the household. She was genuinely developing a great fondness for Patrick’s grandchildren, and she was also pleased that they both returned her affection. She was becoming closer to them both, and Joseph was settling into his new life as a restaurateur. He was happy helping Christine recover and seeing his children daily, even though they were still living with Patrick and Kate. They couldn’t fault his devotion to his lover – that was one thing in his favour. Like Patrick, Kate wasn’t sure she wanted the children to leave now, because they were nice kids and after everything that had gone on they gave them both something to concentrate on.

  Kate smiled at Patrick, and he looked at her in her expensive outfit and he raised his eyebrows and made a leering face. ‘Cor, girl, you still ring my fucking bells!’

  Kate put her head back and laughed. ‘And you still ring mine, Kelly.’

  He went to her and kissed her gently on the lips. ‘Enjoy tonight, Kate. You deserve it, darling.’

  Kate shrugged but she smiled at him. ‘I love you, Patrick Kelly, and don’t you ever forget that.’

  He smiled that crooked smile of his back at her. ‘Come on, girl, get your arse in gear. We have a dinner to attend in your honour.’

  Kate grinned. ‘You will never change, will you, Kelly?’

  ‘No, Kate, I won’t. And neither will you.’

  Kate kissed him on his lips. ‘Then let’s get this fucking show on the road!’

  Epilogue

  Of all animals, the boy is the most unmanageable

  Plato (c.428–c.348 BC)

  How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child

  William Shakespeare (1564–1616), King Lear

  ‘Oh Kate, what would we have done without you? Fuck me, I knew you were in the right!’

  Annie Carr was sitting by the pool with Kate. She was drinking a very expensive wine and offering her apologies.

  Kate laughed sadly. ‘Look, Annie, I love you dearly, and you know that. But you have to start listening to the people around you. That is the secret of our job, darling. We feed off other people – not just the ones we are trying to catch, but also the people that we are working with. You were not in a good place, I don’t think. You weren’t seeing the big picture, were you? You know that as well as I do, but I am not going to labour that point. You need to get your act together.’

  Annie sighed heavily. ‘I know that, Kate. If I am honest, I was too fucking close to it all. I should have listened to Ali. He had alerted me to something being off with Stephen Carter in the beginning, and I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to see it. I was convinced that we were looking for a grown man. Honestly, Kate, it never even occurred to me that it might be a young boy.’

  Kate laughed again, a deep and soulful laugh. ‘Look, Annie, we are all guilty of it. Until you experience a case like that, no one wants to believe that these kinds of things are even possible. That there are actually people in this world who are capable of such evil. Once you realise that there are, it changes your whole perspective. I know what I am talking about, believe me.’

  Annie Carr sipped her drink and then she lit a cigarette. ‘Well, I have learned a lesson. And thank you so much, Kate, for what you did for me. I know I didn’t deserve it.’

  Kate snatched her cigarette from her friend’s hand and drew on it deeply. ‘Oh, Annie, will you fuck off! You were there with me, and so was DC Karim. I gave you both a big shout, especially Ali – he has the makings of a fucking good detective, as you know. But believe me, Annie, it can only really come from experience. Though I think young Ali has a good shit detector – make sure you listen to him in the future.’

  They laughed together, and Kate knew that they were back on track. But Kate also was under no illusions that she would be looking over Annie’s cases until Annie finally learned to trust her own judgement. Not that Kate minded. If she was to be totally honest, she was looking forward to it. Kate changed the subject, and they were soon laughing and joking, as usual.

  Annie Carr knew that she was lucky to have Kate on her side, and she valued her and her experience. She also knew that Kate would happily give her all the help she needed, and she would do that without a second thought.

  Wanda Carter knew exactly what she was going to do. She had planned it all perfectly. She had driven herself to the rubbish tip, and she had made her way over the tons of rubbish until she had reached what she felt was a good place. She stopped for a few seconds to catch her breath; it wasn’t just the walk across such a difficult terrain, it was also the stench of the place. It was disgusting, but that was exactly what she wanted.

  She opened the container that held her grandson’s ashes and she scattered them all over the filthy nappies and the maggot-ridden meat that was lying everywhere. She watched as the ashes settled and then, satisfied, she threw away the container and made her way slowly back to where she had parked the car. She was happy knowing that her grandson was exactly where he deserved to be. She was smiling for the first time in months.

  She hadn’t told anyone that she had helped her grandson on his way. She honestly hadn’t felt that she needed to unburden herself when her confession wouldn’t have helped anyone. The pathologist had found the drugs in Stephen’s system and the coroner assumed that he had intentionally taken them before he had hung himself. ‘Sweeten the pot’ was how her husband would have described it. She had known that that fucker had to go, and sooner rather than later. She wondered how she could have done what she did so easily and without any guilt whatsoever. But that was something she would never understand, she supposed – at least not until she passed herself. And then, of course, everything would be made clear. What she did truly think, though, was that she had done the right thing.

  Her daughter-in-law would never have believed what Stephen was capable of. The boy would have been in her son’s life like a cancer, and like a tumour Stephen needed to be cut out, because if he wasn’t he would have infected the rest of their lives. She couldn’t let that happen. She refused to let that happen.

  She was happy now that she had done everything that was needed to ensure that Stephen couldn’t damage anyone’s life ever again.

  Even his ashes were gone now. He was where she knew he was meant to be.