by Jason Ayres
“In a nutshell,” replied Kent. “And I’ll be here, too. I can help you.”
“But you won’t know about any of this then, will you?” asked Kay. “It’ll be a different version of you from before the murder happened.”
“You’re right, I won’t, but I’m sure I’ll believe you if you explain it all to me. Then I will be able to help.”
“I hope so,” said Kay.
“Well, that’s settled, then,” said Kent. “You are about to become the world’s first time-travelling detective. I wish I could come with you, but I’ve used all six of my days up.”
“At least one version of you will still be involved,” said Kay. “It’s just you that won’t remember any of it. It will be just the same as when I met your other self at the summer ball.”
“All these different versions of us running about could make this quite complicated,” replied Kent. “It is a shame we can’t go back in time together. If only the angel had given us unlimited trips back in time. We could have set up our own time-travelling detective agency.”
“Partners in time,” suggested Kay.
“Brilliant,” said Kent. “Perhaps we should pitch that idea to the angel. You never know.”
Kay liked that idea. She would bear it in mind.
“I think I’m more or less ready to go, then,” she said. “I will be leaving tomorrow morning, so make sure you are free afterwards. Like you say, the sooner he is behind bars, the less chance he can kill again.”
“Agreed,” replied Kent. “Now let’s go back to the bar and see what else we can find out.”
They didn’t get much more information out of the regulars. Andy was back on his stool, having reached his usual level of drunken incoherence where it was not worth attempting to have a conversation with him about anything. Meanwhile, The Beast and Nobby were taking it in turns, seeing how many teams they could name that had played in the Premiership since it had started in 1992.
But Craig was a little more helpful. Apparently the police had been in and spoken to him. He was pretty sure that Anna had left some time after midnight and long before the pub had closed at 2am. It was a bit vague, but a useful starting point.
When Kent offered to walk Kay home, it was an offer she gratefully accepted. Deep down, she knew that she probably wouldn’t be a target for the killer. All of the girls had been young and all had been of Eastern European origin. But even if she didn’t fit the profile, there was still fear in her heart.
It wasn’t irrational. No woman in her right mind would have wanted to walk home alone after what had happened the previous night, no matter what her age or race. It simply wasn’t worth the risk.
She enjoyed being escorted home by Kent. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had bothered to walk her home unless he was expecting to get some sex out of it.
At the door she bid him goodnight with a quick peck on the cheek and decided to go straight to bed. She needed to be razor-sharp for the mission that lay ahead of her the next day.
Chapter Nineteen
December 2018
Kay was woken early by heavy raindrops lashing against the bedroom window. The gloomy weather forecast had been right.
Her thoughts were preoccupied with the day ahead. What would the angel make of what she was planning to do? As far as Kay could see, it wasn’t breaking any rules, just as her quest to get her house back hadn’t. Wanting to get started as quickly as possible, she got straight up and started to get dressed.
With bathroom functions concluded and two cups of coffee inside her, she again faced her youthful reflection in the wardrobe mirror. There was no point trying to hide her intentions: she may as well just come straight out with it.
“I only want to go back two days this time,” she began. “A young girl was murdered in this town on Christmas Eve and I want to find out who, did it. Is that OK?”
“There’s no reason why you can’t do that,” replied the angel, as Kay had hoped. “You are not the first to make such a request. However, you are going to need to be very careful.”
“How do you mean?” asked Kay.
“Remember, as soon as you arrive back there, you are starting an alternate timeline. Everything you say and everything you do could potentially change things from that moment onwards. If you really want to find out who committed this murder, you can’t risk doing anything that might change the natural course of events leading up to it.”
“I have already thought about that,” said Kay. “I am going to speak to Richard when I get back there and work out a plan.”
“That just emphasises my point,” replied the angel. “Just by talking to him, you are making a change. What if he was the murderer? He might decide to kill you instead, and then where would you be?”
Kay dismissed this suggestion without a second thought.
“There’s no way it could be him. I’ve known him most of my life and there’s no way he’s a murderer, not in this universe or any other.”
“Are you sure about that? They do say it’s the ones you least suspect,” said the angel.
“Well, I’ll take that risk,” replied Kay. “It was partly his idea that I do this anyway, I hardly think he would have suggested it if he was the killer. As for changing things by talking to him, that doesn’t worry me. He’s an old hand at this time-travelling lark by now. He knows the rules and wants to find out who the murderer is just as much as I do. He won’t do anything to jeopardise that.”
“Well, I shall be keeping a close eye on you to see how you get on,” said the angel. “Are you ready to go?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” replied Kay. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Complying with her request, the angel sent her on her way. The room dissolved as she took her short temporal trip back by 48 hours.”
“I thought I’d seen the last of this place,” she said out loud as she once again found herself looking around her gloomy little flat. She was back where she had started two days ago, on Christmas Eve. It felt like a lot longer than that. From her perspective it was, considering the extra days she had spent away time-travelling since then.
She remembered what the angel had said about not altering things, but what about things that had nothing to do with Anna’s death? She did not see any point going through the exact routine she had on Christmas Eve before. There was no need to go back to her old house to evict Alan and Lucy all over again. That was done and dusted in her original timeline, and there was no need to re-enact it.
Not following that path surely would not have any impact on what was going to happen to Anna. The events were completely independent of each other. Unless by some unlikely twist of fate Alan was the murderer, Kay didn’t see how he could be, as he would have been safely tucked up in bed with Lucy in The Oxfordshire at the time of Anna’s death.
Her thoughts turned again to the ill-fated Anna. Kay wanted so much to see the girl again one last time, but how could she look her in the eye, knowing the grisly end that awaited her? She simply couldn’t face it. Every gut instinct would want to warn her or to drop some hint to help her get home safely.
But that would defeat the whole object of coming back here, and for what? To give her a few more hours of life in a universe that was soon to be deleted? No, she had to keep her distance from Anna, at least until the time of the attack.
How else could she spend the day? She certainly had no intention of going to work. She hadn’t gone in her original timeline, risking being sacked, so she certainly wasn’t going in this universe where it didn’t matter.
The best thing she could do would be to stay out of everyone’s way until the evening. This meant either getting out of town or staying in the flat all day. The latter wasn’t exactly her idea of fun but with barely two pennies to rub together she could hardly go off enjoying herself.
The one thing she definitely did need to do as soon as possible was to have a conversation with the Kent of Universe 2.0. His experience and advice
would be invaluable.
Kay was trying to remember how much she had told Kent about her time-travelling at this stage. Keeping track of the days was getting very confusing and she was in danger of tying her brain up in knots with all the toing and froing through time. She needed to clarify in her mind what conversations had taken place and when.
She sat on the bed and thought it through. Today was December 24th so it must have been the previous night that she and Kent had had their tête-à-tête following her return from the day of the ball. That was fine, then: she could relax. They would have discussed enough by that stage for there to be no difficulty getting him to believe her.
She hadn’t seen him on the original version of Christmas Eve, so that would need to change. She knew he had been in the pub in the evening because he had enquired about her absence, but she couldn’t wait until the evening. She needed to speak to him sooner than that. Perhaps she could get his attention with a text. She pulled out her phone and began to tap on the screen.
Need to speak to you urgently. It’s a matter of life and death. I’ve travelled back in time from Boxing Day to unmask the Christmas Killer. He’s going to kill again today. Interested? Kay x x
She pressed send, wondering whether or not it had been a good idea to put the kisses on the end, but it was done now.
It was a matter of seconds before her phone rang. Kay had certainly grabbed his attention. She explained briefly what she was doing, and why, then they arranged to meet up in town.
They met in the quietest of three branches of a chain of coffee shops that were slowly taking over the town. Kay didn’t like the place at all, but it did provide a degree of anonymity, something Kent had insisted on. She preferred Josie’s, but there was no way they could go there as that was where Kent’s wife worked.
Fortunately Kent offered to pay for the coffee which was just as well, as she couldn’t afford the prices for their fancy drinks. They were twice the price of the coffee in Josie’s. Settling down over their drinks, Kay explained the situation in more detail.
“So there you have it,” she concluded. “Tonight, poor Anna’s going to get raped and butchered to death on the woody path opposite the park and I intend to be there to find out who did it.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kent. “You’re definitely making more constructive use of your days than I did.”
“I thought you would approve,” replied Kay. “You said it was a good idea in the other timeline, too. Back there, two days in the future, your other self is waiting for me and we are going to go to D.I. Benson together with the information.”
“Yes, that’s probably going to be the toughest bit,” said Kent. “Hannah doesn’t exactly rate me on my detecting skills. I’m not sure exactly how we are going to persuade her, but we can discuss that when you get back. In the meantime, we need to concentrate on making sure nothing goes wrong today.”
“OK, so let’s go over what we know,” said Kay. “We know Anna was in The Red Lion until after midnight, before walking home, presumably alone. We know where she was killed, or at least where the body was found. So all we really need to do is follow her and see what happens.”
“That’s where things start to get tricky,” said Kent. “When the killer struck, he must have taken care to ensure there was no one else around. If he sees you following her up the road, it’s going to put him off, isn’t it?”
“Good point,” replied Kay. “So how do we work around that?”
“How about if I go up to the woods and hide out there about midnight?” said Kent. “You wait in the pub, then text me when Anna leaves. That way, I’ll know when to expect her, and we shouldn’t spook the killer from carrying out his plan.”
“This sounds so wrong,” replied Kay. “It’s almost as if we are aiding and abetting him.”
“We’re not because it’s already happened and everything in this universe is going to cease to exist. I’m not feeling particularly good about that myself, to tell you the truth.”
“Why?” asked Kay.
“Think about it,” said Kent. “This version of me, the new one that’s been created by you coming back here, well, I am effectively going to die at the end of today.”
“But you’ll still be alive in the other universe,” replied Kay.
“That’s true, I will, but it won’t be the same me that is physically here right now. As soon as you arrived here this morning when the angel created this new universe, you effectively signed the death warrants of everyone in it.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way before,” said Kay. “But that’s not really going to harm any of these people, is it? None of them know it’s not the real universe. When the angel deletes it, they will just disappear. It’s not like they will die a painful death, screaming in agony, is it?”
“But I know,” replied Kent glumly. “Whatever I do today, this version of me is now effectively doomed.”
“Look at it positively,” said Kay. “You are free from consequences just as much as I am now. You can do whatever you want.”
She thought about suggesting they rekindle their romance but stopped short. Although that would be a fun way to spend the afternoon, it was the sort of thing the old Kay would have done and she was turning over a new leaf now.
“I could do whatever I wanted, but I’ve already been there and bought the T-shirt. What I really ought to do is focus on helping you unmask this killer,” replied Kent. “What do you think of my plan to wait in the woods?”
“In principle, it’s great,” replied Kay. “But I can see a flaw in that plan.”
“What’s that?” asked Kent.
“If you are up there unmasking the killer and I’m still in the pub, I won’t know who did it, will I?” reasoned Kay.
“Well, I’ll tell you afterwards,” said Kent.
“What if it’s not that easy?” asked Kay. “What if he spots you and you get into a fight? He might even kill you! Or what if I get whisked back to Boxing Day before you have time to tell me? It’s putting too much uncertainty into the mix. I think your plan is good, but we need to swap places. I need to be in the woods and you need to be in the pub.”
“You could just as easily get killed yourself,” said Kent. “Have you thought about that?”
“Would that matter?” said Kay. “None of this is real so I’ll just end up alive again on Boxing Day.”
“Are you sure about that?” asked Kent. “Your body here might not be your own, but what about your soul? If you die here, in this body, could the very essence of you not die with it?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Kay, feeling a tad uncomfortable. “Otherwise I would have asked the angel before I left. I guess I’ll just have to be extra-careful and make sure it doesn’t happen.”
“OK, good. It looks like we’ve got ourselves the making of a plan, then,” said Kent. “And now I am going to have to go. Debs wants me to pick up our turkey from the butcher’s and they are closing at lunchtime today. If I don’t come back with it, she’ll skin me alive and roast me instead, I expect. And I’ve no desire to experience that in this universe, or any other.”
“We shall meet in the pub later, then,” said Kay, still wondering what she was going to do for the rest of the day. She really needed some money if she was going to enjoy it. Would it be rude to ask him? She couldn’t see why not, under the circumstances.
“Just one thing, before you go,” she added. “Could you lend me a few quid? Well, more than a few, really. A couple of hundred would be nice. After all, it’s not like you’re going to need it after today, is it?”
“I suppose not,” said Kent gloomily, still reflecting about the mortality of his current body.
“I’m skint at the moment and since I’ve used up one of my days coming back here for a good cause it would be nice if I could enjoy a bit of it,” she added.
“What are you going to spend all that on?” asked Kent.
“Oh, just a bit of pampering,” said
Kay, remembering her impromptu trip to London on her earlier trip. “I don’t want to be stuck up in that horrible flat all day, not with the landlord threatening to cut my electricity off. And he is definitely going to do that, today, because he did it before. I’ll book myself into the Travelodge.”
It would be a far cry from her previous jaunt to the hotel in Mayfair but she couldn’t go too far, not with the evening that lay ahead. All she really wanted was a hot bath, some decent food and some warmth. Most importantly of all, she didn’t want to see that accursed flat again, or risk encountering McVie.
“Fair enough,” said Kent. “I blew a fair amount of cash on some of my trips back in time. We’ll stop off at the cashpoint on the way to the butcher’s.”
Parting company with Kent, a generous £200 in her handbag, she made first for New Look to get some clean clothes. Next she stopped at Wilko’s for some toiletries, before taking a taxi to the Travelodge where she spent a long, lazy afternoon in warmth and comfort, watching crappy Christmas movies on the TV and taking full advantage of room service.
By the time the early evening rolled around, she was fit and ready for action.
Chapter Twenty
December 2018
Kay had arranged to meet Kent in the pub at 10pm. That was much later than she usually went out but she didn’t want to get sucked into a long-drawn-out drinking session. This was difficult to avoid in The Red Lion at the best of times, but even more so on Christmas Eve when the booze would be flowing freely.
Kent was already there when she arrived, standing at the bar with Andy and the others. She went straight over to join him, and ordered a drink, sticking to just a single vodka with lot of Coke. She felt incredibly nervous knowing what was to come and could quite easily have knocked back a neat double, but was determined to keep a clear head. She needed to be professional about what she was doing tonight.
As soon as Kent saw her, he moved away from the bar, gesturing at her to move further up the pub away from the other regulars.