CAPTIVE ON THE FENS a gripping crime thriller full of twists

by Joy Ellis

  ‘Nor does holding her for all that time. It’s not what kidnappers do.’

  Woodhall shrugged. ‘Oh well, keep digging, Nikki, and put some pressure on forensics for that geographical location.’ He sat back. ‘I think that’s all for now, I’m sure you want to get on.’

  Nikki looked at her watch. ‘Mmm, I see it’s time to take the morning meeting, not that I’m expecting much to have come in since last night. I’ll get Sheila to make sure this photograph is circulated to the press.’

  Nikki left the superintendent sorting through his rubbish heap of a desk and hurried downstairs to find Sheila Robins, her office manager. She handed over the photograph for distribution and made her way to the murder room, where she was met with eager smiles.

  ‘Don’t tell me we have made some headway?’

  ‘Not absolutely sure, ma’am, but a definite maybe.’ Cat sifted through some sheets of paper. ‘We had a call from the Derbyshire Constabulary. They haven’t got anything directly linked to Lilli, but they had a very similar case last year.’

  ‘How similar?’

  ‘Woman found dead. She was in a terrible condition, the post-mortem showed that she had been held for over six months. She also had the ring finger missing and an index finger too. It looks like she managed to ligature herself in the end, poor kid.’

  Nikki looked up, alert. ‘And where exactly did they find her?’

  ‘Dumped in a disused quarry in the Dark Peak. I was wondering, ma’am, if I might drive over there to speak to the detective in charge of the case.’

  ‘Good idea, Cat, and the sooner the better. Did they identify her?’

  ‘No, and she was found nearly a year ago. The case is still ongoing, of course, but they have scaled it right down.’

  Nikki nodded slowly. ‘I see. And anything from our own enquiry?’

  ‘The Missing Persons Register can’t match Lilli, ma’am.’ Jessie looked at her hopefully. ‘Have we got anything more from forensics yet? Without more evidence, I’m a bit stuck on which way to go.’

  Nikki passed her one of Rory’s computer-generated likenesses. ‘This is as close as they can get, but he thinks it’s a fair representation of Lilli. And as we now know that it’s not a local killing, it is going to be released to the media today.’

  ‘And once we get some idea of where she was held, we can move the search into that particular area,’ added Joseph.

  ‘Ma’am, I’ve got another email in from Derbyshire. It’s from the detective who was running the case.’ Cat stared at her screen. ‘He said that as both girls were tied up for long periods of time, we should know that their girl had a very distinctive kind of restraint, a kind of electrical flex.’ She read from his report, “An old variety of electrical flex was used, in which the wires were encased by a rubber sleeve, then wrapped around with strands of coloured fibre (the kind used on electrical appliances such as irons, in the fifties). This particular flex left particles embedded in the skin and was identified as that used by a company called Sunbeam.”

  Nikki flicked quickly through the forensic report, then let out a small exclamation. ‘Lilli has the same! Well, it’s old-style flex, although we haven’t got details of the exact type yet. Colour of thread is identical, so it looks as if the two cases are connected.’ She looked excitedly at Cat. ‘What do we know about the detective who was on this case?’

  ‘His name is Ben Radley, ma’am, and it’s been his obsession ever since. He’s still digging around whenever he gets an opportunity. He thinks her kidnapping was related to drugs in some way.’

  ‘For God’s sake! What crime isn’t? Not exactly a revelation, is it?’

  ‘Whatever, he’s happy to give us everything he has on the dead girl. Oh, he calls her Fern, by the way, because of where she was found — in a bed of bracken. I guess it might help us to make comparisons when the pathologist’s report comes in.’

  Nikki nodded. ‘Dead right. You really do need to talk to this Ben Radley. It’s only around two hours from here, are you up for it?’

  ‘You bet, ma’am.’ Cat grabbed her jacket.

  Nikki looked at Joseph. ‘Considering what we now know, I suggest we put a hold on looking for Lilli until Cat has got us more info from Derbyshire. Perhaps you and Jessie could give Dave a hand and concentrate on looking for Freddie Carver?’

  ‘Good idea, definitely the best use of our time.’

  Nikki watched him go. She thought she saw distinct relief in his face. She almost called him back, and then thought better of it. If something was really troubling him he would come to her, she knew he would. That was what they did. And yet. With a little shrug of uncertainty, she hurried off to see how Sheila was doing with the press releases.

  * * *

  The superintendent had managed to get a slot on the lunchtime news, and he asked the public to ring a designated number if they recognised Lilli from the photograph.

  Jessie raised an eyebrow at Dave. ‘The Strawbs are going to be busy this afternoon.’

  He smiled. The Strawbs were the civilian staff who manned the phones. Strawberry Mivvies to rhyme with civvies. ‘Always the same with something like this, how to sift the wheat from the chaff.’ Dave had been on the other end of some weird calls in his time and knew that few people actually came forward with honest concerns and solid information, but the nutters and the time-wasters would be queuing up to bend some poor sod’s ear.

  ‘Rather them than me,’ said Jessie. ‘Now, what can I do to help?’

  ‘Find Carver?’

  ‘Of course, and after lunch?’

  ‘Find Flight 19?’

  ‘What?’ Jessie looked puzzled.

  Dave grinned. ‘Five torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle in 1945.’

  ‘Right, we’ll just pop over to the States, shall we? We can barely afford petrol for the vehicles.’

  ‘Then you better get to work on Carver, hadn’t you?’ He handed her a printout, ‘This is from Spain. Ever since he bought a property there, the Spanish police have been keeping a close eye on him. This is a list of known associates with shady backgrounds. Check them out and see if there’s anyone known to us in the Fenlands.’

  Jessie took the paper and scanned the names. ‘Okay, no one I actually know, but I’ll do a search on them.’

  Dave watched her as she walked to her desk. She always seemed to be on top of things, but he wondered what she was like when she went home, to an empty house inhabited by the ghost of Graham Hildred. Dave had worked with Graham for years, and his disappearance had hit him harder than he would ever have expected. It hadn’t made the headlines, but it hurt like hell. Graham was a good copper, and he had loved Jessie. He and Dave had had many a heart-to-heart while stuck in a car on all night stakeouts. Dave was afraid that he would never see his old mucker again. He was pretty sure Graham had upset someone badly enough to warrant his permanent removal from the force, and he feared that the man Jessie waited for lay buried under a building site. He doubted PC Graham Hildred would ever be found. It was deeply sad, he had deserved better from his colleagues. And Jessie needed answers so that she could draw a line and move on.

  Dave sighed. If they couldn’t find their friend, it would be good for Jess to meet someone new. But she probably wouldn’t even notice another man, even if he were right in front of her, offering diamonds and champagne. He sighed again, and turned back to his computer.

  A uniformed officer called around the door, ‘Is someone free to talk to some bloke about the Lilli case?’

  ‘Some bloke? Doesn’t he have a name, Constable?’ Joseph was coming out of his office.

  ‘Sorry, Sarge, yes, it’s a Dominic Jarvis. He is a regular. Usually talks to DI Mercer, but she’s out.’

  ‘Regular?’ Joseph pulled a face. ‘As in . . . ?’

  Jessie looked up. ‘Dominic Jarvis’s sister went missing a couple of years ago, remember? He haunts DI Mercer.’ She hunted through the paperwork on her desk. ‘Look, this is his sister Di
na. She is one of the three Mispers I wanted to double check.’

  Joseph nodded to the constable. ‘I’ll come down. Give me a couple of minutes.’

  Dave rubbed his chin. ‘I’m not surprised it doesn’t mean anything to you, Sarge. We never had dealings with that one. We were up to our necks with the Flaxton Mere killings, and to be honest, DI Mercer never saw it as abduction. She believed the girl had simply had enough and done a runner.’

  ‘Okay. Still, I’d better see what he has to say. Want to come with me, Jessie?’

  Jessie pushed back her chair and stood up. ‘Sure.’

  * * *

  The young man was too thin. He had the haunted look of the obsessed. Immediately Joseph wished he had let someone else handle it. But here he was, so he’d better get it over with. ‘Good afternoon, sir. I’m DS Easter and this is DC Nightingale, how can we help?’

  Dominic Jarvis gave him a long, slightly disturbing stare. ‘I saw the news earlier.’ He folded his hands in his lap and looked into Joseph’s eyes. ‘You are asking for help to find the killer of that dead girl.’

  ‘Yes, sir. Do you know anything about her?’

  ‘Why didn’t you put my sister’s photograph on a news flash? Why didn’t you fill the papers with her name? Why did you do nothing to help me find her?’

  The man’s eyes were bright, glinting with flashes of pure anger.

  ‘Forgive me, Mr Jarvis, it wasn’t a case I was involved in. I am working on the present investigation and you asked to see us because of that.’

  ‘You were never working on my sister’s case, as you laughingly called it, because it never was a case. You never took me seriously and you did nothing!’

  ‘I’m truly sorry about your sister, Mr Jarvis. But from the little I do know she was not deemed to be at risk. She was not under age, she was not sick in mind or body and there were no suspicious circumstances about her leaving to warrant an investigation.’ Joseph tried to keep his voice soft and even. He was very aware that Dominic Jarvis was either on something, or slightly deranged. Maybe both.

  ‘I know my sister, Detective. She would never have left without talking to me first. No matter what happened, we always talked.’ He clenched his fists into a tight knot. ‘When we were teenagers our parents split up. They went their separate ways, neither wanted us, so we stayed at home together. Do you understand? We supported each other through everything. She would never, never just leave me.’

  For a moment Joseph wondered if there might be a grain of truth there. ‘So what do you think happened to her?’

  His voice cracked with emotion. ‘She met a man. He took her, he lured her away with empty promises. He got her drunk then abducted her. I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t the same man who took that Lilli.’ His eyes narrowed to little more than slits.

  Joseph exhaled, his sympathy for the man evaporating by the second. This was a waste of time. The man was clutching at straws and using Lilli as an excuse to rekindle the matter of his sister’s disappearance. He was sure Dominic Jarvis was right. Dina had met a man, fallen in love and run away with him. End of. If her brother was this intense in his everyday life, then no wonder she had done a bunk.

  ‘I’m really sorry, sir, but unless you have any proof . . .’ He let the words fade out.

  ‘If it were one of your own, you’d damn well find them! Well, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you pull out all the stops and not give up until the bitter end?’

  Joseph felt Jessie tense beside him and he threw her a concerned glance. Sadly this was not missed by Dominic Jarvis.

  ‘Ah, of course! I remember now! You lot can’t even find a missing copper, can you? In which case my sister stands no chance at all.’

  ‘DC Nightingale, could you please go and inform the desk sergeant that we are finished here, and perhaps he would be kind enough to have an officer escort Mr Jarvis from the station.’ Joseph stood up and bundled a seething Jess out of the room.

  ‘Touched a nerve, did I, Sergeant?’

  By now Joseph was wishing he were a 1950s copper. No one then would have batted an eyelid at the bruises this man might wear when he left the station.

  Jarvis stood up. ‘Okay, I’m going. But two things you should know, Detective Sergeant Easter. The first is that my sister did not run away. I would know because she’s my twin. And second, I think I’ve seen Dina with that girl in the picture. It was years ago, and the girl was younger and much prettier, but I’m certain my sister knew her.’

  ‘Why the hell didn’t you say this before?’

  ‘Why should I help you? You’ve done sod all for me.’ Dominic shoved his chair under the table and pushed past Joseph. ‘If you want to talk to me in future, you come to me, okay?’ He walked out and slammed the door.

  Before Joseph could find Jessie to see how she was, he saw Nikki almost running down the corridor to meet him.

  ‘Joseph! We’ve just had a call from Derbyshire. They’ve picked up a girl wandering on the main A52 near Ashbourne. She’s been badly beaten and her right index finger has been severed.’

  ‘Jesus! When was this?’

  ‘A couple of hours ago, thanks to that detective who has been fixated with the investigation. The moment he heard about it, he rang us. She’s been taken to the Derby Royal Infirmary. He reckons she’s too traumatised to talk yet, but she probably holds the key to what happened to both Lilli and her predecessor, Fern.’

  ‘Then we should be around when she is fit to talk, shouldn’t we? I know Cat is probably halfway there by now, but this could be the breakthrough we need, so we should go too.’ Joseph tried to sound enthusiastic, but the last thing he wanted was to sit with a young woman who had been tortured and probably imprisoned and abused.

  Nikki gave him an odd look, and said, ‘Actually, I’d rather you stay here and steer the ship, or possibly man the lifeboats, if Freddie Carver turns up. It doesn’t take two of us to check this out when we already have Cat on scene.’ She turned and started back towards the foyer. ‘What was that Derbyshire detective’s name?’

  Joseph thought for a moment. ‘DC Ben Radley, ma’am. Cat reckons he’s a bit of an old terrier. He got really pissed off when they scaled down the Fern case. He can’t let it go, even works on it in his own time.’

  ‘Then I really need to talk to him, he’ll know more than anyone. Okay, I’ll grab my bag and hit the road. I’ll keep you updated all the way, and Joseph, you do the same, won’t you?’

  Joseph touched her arm. She was leaving him behind for a reason, he knew, and he wondered why he had agreed to stay. Normally he would have insisted on going with her. ‘Of course, and you drive carefully.’

  Nikki threw him a withering look. ‘Honestly, Joseph. I’ll ring you when I get there.’ Too impatient to wait for the lift, she ran up the stairs. ‘Can you contact Cat and tell her what has happened? If she doesn’t know already, that is, and I’ll meet her at the hospital.’

  Joseph watched her retreating figure, still wondering why he felt so relieved to be staying in Greenborough.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The girl was in a private room, a little way from the main ward.

  ‘The poor kid, she’s in deep shock. She can’t even tell us her name, Inspector Galena.’ The detective held out his hand to her. ‘I’m DC Ben Radley, ma’am.’

  Cat had called Ben Radley a terrier, but Nikki thought pit bull would have been more accurate. The man was as broad as he was high, and seemed to possess no neck at all. His prematurely receding hair had been sensibly cropped, and his skin was weathered and creased.

  With a smile she shook his hand, thinking that he would be a pretty terrifying adversary if he didn’t have such soft, sympathetic eyes. At present he seemed almost distraught at the victim’s condition.

  Together they looked through the glass partition.

  The young woman who lay in the bed was thin and pale — apart from the areas that had been kicked or beaten. Her hair was matted with dried blood, and a deep cut on her
arm still oozed blood from between the sutures, even though the wound had been cleaned and treated. Her right hand was heavily bandaged and suspended above her head in a sling-like device. She lay perfectly still, nothing moving except her eyes. They darted around the room like those of a wounded animal.

  ‘It may be some time until she talks, ma’am. You could be in for a long wait.’

  ‘I have to get back to the Fens tonight. So, after we’ve had a talk, I’ll be leaving Detective Constable Cullen, who you’ve already met. I assume you won’t be going too far from this young lady’s bedside?’

  Ben’s face said it all. ‘No, you’re right. I’ll be here for the duration. He sighed. ‘If I’d found the bastards who killed Fern, this child wouldn’t be lying here. And your Lilli wouldn’t be laid out on a mortuary slab either.’

  ‘Not your fault, Detective.’ She looked at him shrewdly. ‘Now, are you certain she’s a victim of the same people who held the other women? Is there any chance she just got caught up in some bizarre accident?’

  ‘The finger was deliberately amputated, ma’am. The doctors think maybe by heavy-duty wire cutters, or something similar. Fern’s finger was severed by a hacksaw, that’s the only difference.’ Ben’s face contorted into a wrinkled, leathery mass of hatred. ‘I wish I’d got my hands on them the first time around, I’d . . .’ He smashed a balled up fist against the wall.

  Nikki’s piercing blue eyes narrowed. ‘That’s not helping, Ben. We are not responsible for the evil these people do. We just have to do the best we can to sort out the shit that they leave behind, and nail the bastards whenever possible. Now I suggest you start thinking in a more positive way if you really want to prevent this from happening again.’ Nikki looked back through the glass. ‘At least you now have something solid to work with.’

  Ben stared at the floor. ‘Sorry, ma’am. I just get so angry.’ He looked up and matched her cool gaze with his. Nikki saw that he was sizing her up, trying to get a handle on what she was all about. Then he seemed to come to some sort of a decision and with an almost imperceptible nod said, ‘I had a daughter once, took her abroad for the holiday of a lifetime, and she picked up some godawful bug. She was only twelve.’ He swallowed loudly. ‘There was nothing anyone could do to save her, even the doctor told me how helpless, how powerless he felt.’ He looked away. ‘I couldn’t help my own child, now I feel I’m letting these girls down too. I feel as helpless as that doctor did.’