by M J Lee
‘Commander here. What is it, Trev?’
‘We have eyes on the perp, ma’am. Over.’
‘We can also see him on a monitor.’
‘He seems to be holding up a mobile device in his left hand and a pistol in his right. Over.’
‘We agree—’
‘Just a minute, ma’am. Over.’ There was a muffled conversation, before the Airwave squawked again. ‘Position number three has a shot, ma’am. Over. Repeat. Position number three has a shot. Over.’
Claire Trent thought quickly. Tony Seagram was moving again, walking up and down in front of the jury box, before once again stopping and raising his left arm.
‘Permission to take the shot, ma’am. Over. Requesting permission to take the shot.’
Chapter 106
Tony Seagram pointed the pistol directly at them. ‘This was foreseen in the plan. Looks like none of us is going to escape after all.’
On his right, John Gorman went a deathly white and clutched his chest. He let out a loud gasp and slumped to his right across Jenny Oldfield.
Ridpath jumped up to help him, but found his left hand still attached by the handcuffs to the rail of the jury box. ‘He’s having a heart attack, he needs help.’
Tony Seagram stared across at John Gorman, and, for the first time, looked worried, before quickly regaining his composure. ‘Sit down,’ he gestured with the gun.
Ridpath stayed where he was.
This time the pistol was levelled directly at Sophia. ‘Sit down, now, or she will be the first to die.’
Ridpath glanced across at John Gorman. The man’s lips were turning blue.
The pistol in Tony Seagram’s hand fired once, the loud bang echoing around the courtroom. A bullet buried itself in the plaster of the wall behind Sophia’s head, showering fragments down on to all the prisoners sitting in the jury box.
Jenny and the solicitor screamed.
Mrs Challinor shouted, ‘No!’
Instinctively, Ridpath ducked.
Only Sophia remained where she was, staring at Tony Seagram.
‘Sit down. The next shot will go into Sophia’s face, destroying those pretty features.’
Ridpath raised his hand and sat down. ‘Why don’t you let the women go and get help for John Gorman? They’ve done nothing wrong.’
‘Neither have they done anything right. As for Gorman, I wanted to kill him at the same time as we killed his dogs, but James said to wait. We had to build up to his death, destroy his life first.’ He stared at the ex-detective superintendent lying slumped over, his head resting in Jenny’s arms. ‘Looks like the man’s heart has finally given up on him. It gave up on James and Alice twelve years ago.’
‘Let them go,’ pleaded Ridpath.
‘I’ll release you all, soon, don’t worry.’
He held up the mobile phone with his left hand, the finger hovering over the send button.
‘Wait,’ shouted Ridpath, ‘what did I do wrong? You’ve spoken about everybody else, but what about me? I was the one who helped to convict Harold Lardner, released James Dalbey and finally found where Alice had been kept hidden all those years.’
Tony Seagram smiled. ‘Yes, you did all that, Ridpath. But you were the worst of all. Because for you, justice was all about punishing the guilty, but what about the victims? What about my dad? Or my mum? What about James? What about the other women who were killed? Did you charge him for their murders? What about their relatives?’
‘We didn’t have enough evidence.’
‘But were they not victims too? You see, your justice is all about discovering guilt not finding retribution or atonement. It’s not justice at all.’
Ridpath noticed for the first time, Tony Seagram had lost the nervous cough at the beginning of all his sentences.
‘Enough talk, it’s time to end all this.’
He raised the mobile phone, his finger poised to press the send button, moving closer to the backpack and the jury box.
‘I’m going to count to five. After that, I’m afraid, it will all be over. One…’
‘Stop, don’t do it, Tony.’
‘Two.’
‘Killing us won’t change anything.’
‘No, it won’t, but it will make me feel better. Three.’
‘Why should you kill us, just because you don’t want to live any more?’
Tony Seagram laughed. ‘Because I can. It’s my justice. Four.’
The finger hovered over the send button.
Chapter 107
‘We’ve lost the shot, ma’am. The target has moved. Repeat we have lost the shot. Over.’ Sergeant Hall’s voice crackled through the Airwave.
Claire Trent stared at the black and white monitor, not daring to breathe. Tony Seagram had now moved closer to the jury box, holding the mobile phone above his head and talking all the time.
‘Can’t we get any sound?’ she said irritably.
Harry Makepeace leant forward and pressed two buttons at random.
The picture went blank.
‘Get the picture back, Harry, what the hell did you do?’
‘I don’t know, boss,’ replied Makepeace, pushing every button in the row.
Sergeant Hall’s voice came over the Airwave again. ‘Position two has a shot. I confirm position two has a shot. Over.’
Claire Trent took a deep breath. The screen was still blank. Harry Makepeace and the other constables were staring at her.
‘Sergeant Hall, you are authorised under Section 3 of the 1967 Criminal Law Act to take the shot. I repeat critical shot authorised. Over.’
There was no response from the Airwave.
Chapter 108
‘Four,’ repeated Tony Seagram with a beatific smile on his face, teasing his audience in the jury box, his finger resting lightly on the send button.
Ridpath leant forward trying to grab Tony Seagram but the handcuffs hooked around the jury box rail held him back, making a rattling sound. ‘Don’t do it,’ he pleaded.
Seagram jumped back staying just out of reach. ‘I’d like to say it’s been fun knowing all of you, but that wouldn’t be true. I’ve hated every second of my life on earth. And I’ve hated you lot even more.’
Jenny screamed.
Mrs Challinor shouted.
Sophia just stared at Tony Seagram as he laughed.
‘Five,’ he said quietly.
The shot, when it came, made hardly any sound.
A soft thud as the metal of the bullet struck flesh.
A look of surprise, almost disappointment, crossed Tony Seagram’s face and he collapsed on his knees to the ground, blood spurting from a hole in the right side of his neck. He dropped the gun, clamping his hand over the wound. The blood seeping through his fingers.
He fell to one side, with the mobile phone still in his hand. For a second he lay there unmoving. Then his head slowly rose and he looked directly at the phone, the blood still pouring from the wound in his neck.
Ridpath saw the finger twitch on the send button. He jumped over the jury rail and reaching out as far as the handcuffs let him, kicked the mobile from Seagram’s hand, sending it scudding across the oak floor.
Seconds later, the door to the court crashed open and armed officers poured in, shouting, ‘Police. Police. Stay where you are.’
Ridpath raised his arms and looked down at the body of Tony Seagram.
The man’s finger still twitched as he tried to press the send button of the mobile phone no longer in his hand.
Four Days Later…
Chapter 109
Ridpath was sat on the couch. On his left, Eve was propped in by four pillows and covered in her favourite blanket. Next to him, Polly was leaning on his shoulder.
On the TV, Zombies 2 was playing again. It was another movie night. Ridpath had asked for a different film but Eve had insisted on this one. Addison’s white hair was so rad, apparently.
On screen, the girl who thought she was a werewolf but wasn’t, was falling in lo
ve with a zombie who wished he wasn’t but was. They all seemed to be dancing and singing about it at a ‘Prawn’, which was a sort of strange, monster prom.
Eve was entranced. ‘Mum, can I dye my hair white?’
‘No,’ answered Polly from her position on Ridpath’s shoulder.
‘But you told me you’re going to dye yours red.’
‘That’s different.’
‘You’re going to dye it red?’ said Ridpath, looking down on his wife’s head. When they’d first met it was a bright Irish green.
‘Yeah, half-term’s coming and I feel like a change.’
‘Ok,’ answered Ridpath, before returning to stare at the screen. He’d lost the plot of what was happening, not that he had been following it closely anyway. Memories of the events at the court kept intruding.
Polly lifted her head off his shoulder and stared at him. ‘What’s up? You have a face like yesterday’s washing.’
‘I keep wondering if I could have done more. Worked out Tony Seagram was behind it earlier. I should have known.’
‘How could you know?’ She paused for a moment as if remembering something. ‘How is John Gorman?’
‘Still in hospital. The stroke paralysed his left side. Even if he lives, he’s going to be unable to walk any more.’
‘Sad. I always liked him and Charlie.’
‘You never admitted that before.’
‘Yeah? Well, I did, more than I like Claire Trent.’
‘She’s a bit of a hero now. Lauded by the press for taking decisive action.’
‘The killing of Tony Seagram?’
A loud hush came from Eve’s direction, followed by, ‘This is the important bit. The zombies and the werewolves discover they have something in common.’
‘That they are the world’s worst actors?’ suggested Ridpath.
‘Daaaddd…’
‘What about James Dalbey?’ asked Polly.
‘Last time I checked, he was still in a coma in MMI. When he comes round, they are going to perform surgery on the tumour immediately. It’s 50/50 whether he will survive. Even if he doesn’t, Paul Turnbull has made it his life’s mission to find enough evidence to charge Dalbey with conspiracy to commit murder.’
‘I wouldn’t like Turnbull chasing after me.’
‘He’s also looking at other possible conspirators; the consultant who put Dalbey in the coma, Harold Lardner and even the doctor at Ashworth. Nobody knows at the moment how many people were actually involved.’
‘Daaaddd, you’re missing the best bit. This is where Addison discovers she’s not a werewolf.’
Ridpath took a deep breath. ‘Can you pause it for a second, Eve.’
‘Do I have to?’
‘Only a second.’
The film stopped in mid-werewolf dance move.
‘I’ve made a decision.’ He paused taking a deep breath. ‘I’m not moving back to MIT yet. I’m staying with the coroner and liaising with MIT.’
Polly sat up and gave him a big hug. ‘That’s great news. But why? I thought you wanted to go back? You love being a copper.’
‘I still do and I’m not ruling it out in the future, but I’ve thought about it and I don’t know if I’m ready yet. Mrs Challinor still hasn’t found a replacement, and frankly, I can do far more good working with her than being another cog in the MIT machine.’
‘Would Paul Turnbull have anything to do with this decision?’
‘I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t part of it, but I’ve handled bad bosses before and he would be no different. But it’s a much more positive decision than that. I can simply do more working with Mrs Challinor. I have much more freedom. And besides, it means I can spend more time with you two.’
Polly hugged him again. ‘That’s great news, Ridpath. I’m so happy you’ve decided what you’re going to do. Have you told anybody yet?’
‘No. I thought you should know first.’
‘I’m sure Mrs Challinor will be glad, but how will Claire Trent take it?’
Ridpath shrugged his shoulders. ‘Dunno, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. But she’s got her head so far in the clouds, I’m sure I’m the least of her concerns at the moment.’
Polly was silent for a few seconds. ‘I have news too,’ she finally said. ‘The ex-deputy head of the school rang me yesterday. She has a place at her new primary school teaching Year 4 and asked if I would be interested. Only slightly more money, but what’s great is the primary is in Altrincham so I can drive Eve to her new school in the morning and pick her up at night to take her home.’
Eve perked up at this news. ‘So I won’t have to take the tram?’
‘Some days you will if I have to work late, but most days I can bring you home.’
Eve did a little dance on the chair. ‘Yay.’
‘It means I’ll have to wake up even earlier to cook breakfast for you both. No more rushing out at the last minute.’
‘True, Ridpath, but you like doing it anyway. Gives meaning to an otherwise rather meaningless morning, doesn’t it?’ She smiled, licking her lips. ‘Talking about food, I couldn’t half murder some dim sum now.’
‘You want me to cook them?’ said Ridpath.
‘I thought you’d never ask.’
‘What about the movie, Dad? You’re going to miss the best bit.’
‘I’ll get over the disappointment.’
He stood up and walked out into the kitchen. Polly’s mother had bought some frozen har gau and siu mai from Wing Wah supermarket that week. All Ridpath had to do was steam them.
He put a large pan of water on to boil, and searched for the bamboo steaming baskets in the cupboard. He emptied the frozen pork balls and the prawn parcels into separate baskets and placed them over the water in the steamer.
He was about to get the chili sauce from the fridge when the door bell rang twice.
‘I’ll get it,’ he heard Polly shout from the living room.
I wonder who that could be? They weren’t expecting any visitors that evening. He leant over the steaming dim sum to look out of the window.
Mrs Seagram was standing at the door.
What does she want?
He heard Polly’s footsteps in the hall and the latch turning on the door.
And then it hit him.
‘Polly, don’t open…’ he shouted, running out from the kitchen.
Before he could finish the sentence, he heard two shots ring out, one after the other.
He rushed out into the hallway. Polly was lying on the floor, a small strawberry-red stain spreading slowly across her white blouse.
She tried to lift her head to look at her chest.
Ridpath knelt down next to her. ‘Stay still, Poll, stay still.’
As he looked up, he saw the barrel of a Webley revolver staring at his head, a thin trail of smoke wisping up from the barrel.
Mrs Seagram’s face was contorted in fury. ‘You know how it feels now, Ridpath,’ she snarled.
He watched as she cocked the hammer again and raised the gun to point directly at his head. Her arm continued moving upwards and she placed the barrel in her mouth and pulled the trigger.
Behind him, Eve appeared in the doorway, staring down at her mother.
‘Eve, ring 999, quickly,’ shouted Ridpath.
Eve just stood there.
‘Ring 999, now!’
The door closed and Eve ran to find her mobile phone.
Ridpath grabbed a coat and bundled it up, pressing it down on Polly’s chest to try to staunch the flow of blood.
As he did, she lifted her head and whispered something, the red blood bubbling between her lips.
‘It’ll be ok, Polly, lie still, the ambulance is coming, lie still…’
Eve appeared at the doorway again. ‘The ambulance and police are on their way Dad.’ A long pause. ‘Is Mum going to be ok?’
‘Eve get a blanket. We need to keep your mum warm.’
Eve ran upstairs, past her mother’s body l
ying on the floor in the hallway.
Polly raised her head and whispered something again.
‘Stay still, Poll, the ambulance is coming.’
Ridpath lowered his face to hers.
She lifted her head again and whispered. ‘Kiss me.’
He pressed his lips against hers, feeling how cold they were.
In the distance, he could hear the sirens calling to each other.
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