Her Final Hour: An absolutely unputdownable mystery thriller

by Carla Kovach

  Gina’s heart rate quickened. They’d researched her address. She remembered the files. Dan Timmons worked at the council. She made a note to obtain Dan’s computer records at work and flashed it in Jacob’s direction. She watched as he sent a message on his phone. The sooner they got his computer, the sooner they could cement the fact that he was very much involved in providing the information that led to her attack.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I had to hang up on you when I called. He was on his way back and I don’t know what he would’ve done to me.’ Gina thought back to the night of the call. Her key had been hanging out of the lock. Somehow he’d got into her home. Had Bruce been intent on killing her that night? Was he in her house? Had his plans been scuppered by the phone call that his wife made in the middle of the night? If she’d been the victim that night, Ellie would probably have had enough time to escape. She shivered and stepped towards the other side of the room. The reality of everything was hitting hard. She wanted to cry, to scream, to yell, to hit something, anything – but she had a witness to question. She took a deep breath.

  ‘I let her go but he came back as she was running away down the drive. He drove into her with our Craig’s car. From nowhere he pulled out a length of cord then he strangled her to death. The poor woman. I was so scared, in shock. I haven’t left the house properly in years. He was making me crazy, pretending that I’d lost things when he’d hidden them on purpose. I was so scared I’d lost my mind. I’m no longer petrified of what lies beyond though. Does that sound strange?’

  Gina shook her head.

  A fresh stream of tears meandered down the woman’s cheeks. Her bottom lip quivered as she continued to speak. ‘He made me go in the car with him and he forced me to take my sleeping pills. He left me in the car while he pulled the woman from the boot. I made myself sick but I think it was a bit late as the tablets had started working. As I staggered over the grassy bank at the park, the last thing I remember is that poor woman being set alight.’

  Gina glanced at Jacob. ‘What happened next?’

  Natalie sobbed as she spoke. ‘All I remember is being tied to the bed and then someone called Selina was watching me. I’d never met her before. She kept saying things like I wasn’t a good wife – that my wedding vows meant nothing. That I could’ve been revered rather than reviled by them all. That I could have been one of them if only I’d been loyal to my husband. They were going to kill me after they killed you.’

  ‘Me.’ Gina swallowed.

  ‘They blamed you for everything. I heard Bruce talking about Melissa’s murder. He said Darrel had his child taken from him for no reason and it was under your instruction.’

  No reason? Gina clenched her sprained wrist and almost cried out. There had been a huge reason. It appeared that Darrel had failed to mention the bruising all over his little girl’s body. He’d probably failed to mention the state of his wife’s body too. Darrel’s child had been taken from him because the bruising and scars pointed to abuse.

  ‘Ellie just got in the way but Bruce was fixated on you. I overheard him talking to Darrel on the phone, telling him that he owed him one. I had no idea how he was repaying what he owed but that was only yesterday.’

  She thought back to Bruce earlier that day, lying on the bedroom carpet, bleeding. In her mind, she was back there checking his pulse. Instead of tending to him, preserving life, she was squeezing her fingers into his open flesh as his warm blood pumped out over her hands. She’d reach in deep and tug his intestines out of the gap before punching what was left, over and over again. She snapped back as she watched Jacob scribbling away.

  Yesterday, Gina had been attacked and a driver had been waiting to take Bruce far away from the scene. ‘What time was Bruce on the phone to Darrel?’

  ‘I don’t know, morning maybe. I was tied up. He kept forcing me to take my sleeping pills. I lost all sense of time. All I know is that it was yesterday and I think it was in the morning.’ The woman wiped the tears from her damp face.

  Natalie began to yawn and a nurse entered. ‘I’m sorry but I think the patient needs to rest. Maybe you can come back after surgery.’

  Gina nodded and left a card on the bedside table. ‘When you’re feeling better, we’ll be bringing you in to make a formal statement. Here’s my number should you remember anything else. Call me anytime.’

  The woman smiled and looked at the card. For once in her life, Natalie might just have a good sleep in the knowledge that she was free.

  When Terry had died, Gina finally started to live. She had no doubts that Natalie would remember what her dreams once were and she’d start living for herself. There would be many more questions and a huge court case, but people moved on and she hoped more than anything that Natalie would be able to.

  As they left the ward and walked down the white corridor, Gina almost wanted to punch the air. The email she and Jacob were both reading on her phone had confirmed that the denim sample matched Selina’s jeans but the woman was remaining silent when questioned. Bruce’s condition had deteriorated and he was now unconscious but she knew that even in his absence from the world, his DNA matched that of the London rapist and that of her attacker. A search of Robert Dixon’s house turned up a paperweight that matched the dimensions recorded during Melissa Sanderson’s autopsy. It could have been used by either Bruce or Selina to deliver the first blow to her head, the one that rendered her unable to fight back. The paperweight had been bagged as evidence. They’d also found a stash of red material in Mrs Dixon’s sewing room and her handbag had contained a half-made mask at the Garrison’s house. Her mind flashed back to the red mask that her attacker had worn. Mrs Dixon had been making their masks.

  On first glance, the personal computers of Robert Dixon, Lee Munro, Ben Woodward, Daniel Timmons and Bruce Garrison were all being used to chat in private misogyny chat rooms. They mostly advised and discussed ways of keeping women under control and of actively fighting against the feminist movement. They’d already found such matter on Darrel Sanderson’s computer. All this hatred towards women and Selina Dixon thought they’d revered her. She had been their finest accomplishment.

  She scanned further down. Robert Dixon had ordered a batch of forensic suits and protective gloves on his tablet. The story was fast unravelling.

  ‘Wow! That email was some reading. Let’s hurry back,’ Jacob said as he shoved his phone in his pocket.

  Seventy-Two

  Gina described to Selina how each of the friends had been charged and arrested. The woman described as a Stepford Wife was now sitting in a police interview room repeatedly saying, ‘No comment.’ She’d been issued with a pair of oversized tracksuit bottoms and an old-but-clean T-shirt. Her hair was tied back with an elastic band and Gina could see the tension in her face. Underneath her smooth skin, she was clenching her teeth, trying really hard to maintain control of the situation and herself.

  ‘Why did you do it, Mrs Dixon? There’s no point remaining silent. We have forensic evidence that places you, beyond any doubt, at the scene of Melissa Sanderson’s murder.’ Gina leaned forward and looked her in the eye. Jacob remained by her side.

  ‘Can I see my husband?’ The woman tried to neaten her hair.

  ‘No. There’s no point lying any more. Why did you do it?’ Gina slammed her good fist on the desk, making Mrs Dixon flinch. Selina paused and began picking out bits of dried blood that were stuck under her beautifully manicured nails. ‘The way I see it, the truth is all you have left, Selina.’

  ‘You wouldn’t know truth if it hit you in the face. Look at you, thinking you know everything about life. It’s the children who suffer when the woman devotes all her time to work or other selfish pursuits. Did your children suffer, Detective? Do they hate you? Or maybe you didn’t have children, choosing not to fulfil your role to society. I don’t think it’s the latter as you have a photo of what appears to be your beautiful daughter on your bedside table. I can tell she’s your daughter, she has your features.’

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nbsp; Gina felt her fist clench up as she stood and leaned over the desk and muttered. ‘The key, leaning out of the lock. I would never have left it like that. Breaking and entering too!’ Jacob gave her a glance as her neck and face reddened. She wanted to lean over further, grab Mrs Dixon by the hair and give her a slap. The deranged woman before her had been in her home while she was sleeping. Selina could see the rage in her face as she shifted her chair back. Taking a deep breath, Gina sat back down. ‘Answer the question, Mrs Dixon. Why did you do it? There’s nowhere to go, Selina. We have you at the scene.’

  The woman’s hands began to shake erratically. ‘Melissa treated her husband with such contempt, having an affair, drinking all the time, swanning off in the day. I’d never do that and do you know why? I have self-respect and my husband respects me too.’ The woman’s voice quivered as she spoke. She wiped a tear away and stared straight ahead.

  ‘Maybe you were jealous. She was trying to free herself while you were stuck in your servile marriage to Robert Dixon. Good little Selina does what she’s told, even if that involves murder.’

  Selina accidentally picked one of her nails. ‘Look what you’ve made me do. It won’t work, you know. You won’t make me confess to a murder I haven’t committed. I have nothing to tell. I’ve only ever done the right thing. I’m a homemaker, a good one. I love my husband and you know what – society is wrong. Society encourages unmarried women to get pregnant because they’re so bloody promiscuous and places no value on the institution of marriage. Society leaves kids growing up in shit farms they call nurseries rather than at home with their mothers. You should be more worried about the decline of moral values than the loss of some stupid cheating alcoholic mother.’

  ‘That mother you refer to was beaten over the head until she was almost unconscious. Dragged along a hallway, tied to a chair, then strangled while her little girl cried for her. We have you at the scene. Did you pull the cord that killed Melissa Sanderson?’ The woman bit into one of her lovely nails and spat it on the floor. ‘Did you strangle Mrs Sanderson? Was she one of those immoral women that you loathe so much?’

  She removed her trembling hands from view and placed them in her lap. ‘She deserved it. She wasn’t a good wife, like me.’ The woman began to crack.

  ‘Like you?’

  The woman began to rock on her seat. ‘I’m a good wife. I take care of my husband and I stayed at home with my two when they were little. They are good people now, with good jobs and good marriages. We were young when we married and Rob worked hard. He achieved everything through his hard work. I’ve supported him and done everything right.’

  ‘Are you sure you did everything right?’ The woman didn’t look up. ‘Was Mrs Sanderson doing it wrong?’

  ‘She was so wrong. So, so wrong. She never would’ve changed.’

  ‘So you killed her?’

  ‘Yes and I should’ve killed you too,’ Selina shouted. Gina could see in Selina’s eyes that she had run out of answers. The woman hesitated, then exhaled as she slumped and burst into tears. ‘He said it was for the best. Rob always knew best. We had to do it, Bruce and me. I couldn’t have handled her alone.’

  ‘What did Bruce do?’

  ‘Bruce hit her. She was going to leave Darrel, and Rob promised me that no one would get into trouble. He said it was about doing the right thing. I’ve betrayed him.’ She broke down.

  ‘How have you betrayed him?’

  ‘You know.’ She paused. ‘I didn’t feel my jeans rip. I didn’t even see the tear.’ She sobbed and lay on the table, banging on it, over and over again, with open palms.

  ‘Why did you strangle Mrs Sanderson?’ The room was silent except for Selina’s sobs. Just say it, Gina thought. ‘Why?’

  ‘I did it for Rob. I wasn’t meant to be a suspect. I’m a good wife, a good person. I’m a good woman, not like you,’ she yelled.

  Gina felt her face redden. ‘Like me? Is that why Bruce Garrison tried to kill me in my home and Darrel Sanderson waited in the car, ready to drive him away from the scene? Was it because I was a bad woman?’

  Jacob ran his fingers through his hair and gave her a look.

  ‘You’re so bad you can’t even see it! You took Darrel’s daughter from him.’

  Gina wanted to shout and scream. She felt her fingers itching to hit something. Every pain she could feel, flashed through her body. Her joints ached; her shoulder and wrist were in agony because of what they’d done to her. ‘And is that why Darrel agreed to drive the car, to help Bruce? He owed Bruce, didn’t he? Rob would have been the middleman in organising everything. Was it time to cash in the favour? Did Darrel drive the car away from my house?’

  ‘It was his duty, Inspector. Darrel owes a lot more than that to Bruce. As for my husband, he is a good man. You’ll never understand duty, loyalty and respect like Rob does,’ the woman spat.

  Gina had worked her way up through the ranks and had fully understood duty, duty to keep the public safe; loyalty, she’d been loyal to the police, in her position and fully committed; and as for respect, the woman in front of her was spewing nothing but hatred. Full of hatred and blame aimed at other women who hadn’t chosen to live their lives the only way she saw as the proper way.

  That was all she needed. Her chair scraped on the floor and crashed onto its side as she stood. She left Jacob to finish off the interview. Briggs walked out of the viewing room. He’d watched everything that was being recorded. She almost stumbled. Her knees began to tremble and she held the wall as she steadied herself. ‘I’m okay. We have them!’ she said as she smiled. ‘I can’t believe that woman was in my house. Makes me sick!’ It was over. She was safe to return home. Briggs held his arm out for Gina to grab and he walked her to her office.

  ‘It’s all over now and I should say, good job. The press have been on to us. In fact they’re all outside the building, waiting for one of us to tell them something. I’ll go out soon, just announce that we’ve made some arrests and that more details will follow shortly. How are you feeling?’

  ‘Numb.’ She stared at the wall behind him and struggled to contain her tears. It was now her time to recover, her time to work her way through the attacks and she needed a break. ‘I know I only came back from a holiday a few days ago but I need a few days—’

  ‘Granted. Say no more. You’re in a bad way. I want you to keep your medical appointments, see the counsellor on Monday and put your feet up. Get some rest. I need you back here when you’re fully refreshed.’ As he left the room, a stream of tears fell down Gina’s cheek as she realised how close to death she’d been. It was now over.

  She wiped her face and headed towards the reception area and spotted James Phipps sitting on a plastic chair with his head in his hands. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Them,’ he pointed towards the car park at the journalists that were crowding the entrance. ‘They’re outside my flat, they’ve been to my workplace, they follow me everywhere, shouting across the street.’

  ‘They’ll be gone soon. We’re just preparing a press release.’

  ‘I’ll wait here a while. At least I’m safe. Have you got him? Was it her husband?’

  ‘I can’t say anything as yet but I can tell you, you’ll be able to go back home soon.’

  ‘Home. What is home? The home I dreamed of had Melissa in it. She was going to be mine and now she’s gone. There’s nothing for me there. That’s partly why I came back. I’m going back to London. I wanted to check in here just in case you’d all thought I’d gone on the run. I can’t stay here, not after what happened.’

  ‘You’ll be called as a witness though. Make sure we have up-to-date details on record.’

  ‘Too right I will. I want to see that bastard go down!’

  She leaned in a little closer and noticed a swelling over Phipps’s left eye. ‘What happened? You been in a fight?’

  ‘You could say that. Although he hit me too, Darrel, that is. I loved her you know. I was going to take her away, mak
e her mine. I’d almost convinced her that leaving him for me would be the best move but she wanted to stay. Just a bit longer and I’d have had her. I just needed to work on her a bit longer, you know what I mean? She was a woman who needed a lot of convincing. I know her type well.’

  Gina felt her cheeks burning up with his every word. To all the men in Melissa’s life, she was nothing more than a prize to be fought over. He hadn’t wanted to help her, he’d wanted to own her. ‘Poor Melissa had no chance, not a hope in hell.’ Before she started something she might regret, she left him sitting alone. It was too late for Melissa Sanderson now, too late for any help. Gina would have liked to have helped her but that was never to be. She pushed through the crowd of journalists, ignoring all their questions, flashes and boom poles. She was going to call a taxi, collect her cat and go home to have a hot bath.

  Epilogue

  Tuesday, 24 April 2018

  Hannah had been called into work to cover a short notice absence. Gina knew she was last on the list of people to ask but all her daughter’s friends had been unavailable and Hannah had been desperate. Gina would get to spend the morning on nanny and doggy day care duties. As she walked Rosie the spaniel over the fields at the back of her house, Gracie ran off into the meadow and pulled a daffodil from the earth.

  She thought back to all that had happened over the past week. As per her promise to Briggs, she’d been to see the counsellor the previous day. She’d discussed the attacks and how they made her feel, but she hadn’t mentioned Terry once. After confiding in Briggs about what she’d been through in the past, she felt a weight lift from within. She was finally sensing her past memories fading and she was ready to forgive herself for her involvement in his death. That was what she was working on privately, away from the counsellor’s ears.