by Carol Wyer
Robyn sniffed and cocked her head. ‘I see,’ she said.
The man’s hands were beginning to shake. ‘Please,’ he whispered. ‘What am I supposed to have done?’
‘You said that you returned to your mother’s house after you graduated and stayed there throughout the following months until you moved to your flat. You must have done more than just chill out, Mr Chambers. We’re looking at almost three months. I’d like to know more about your movements at that time. Did you go out at all? Meet friends? You must have done more than sit in the house.’
‘No. I didn’t go out. I wasn’t too well.’ His words tailed away and he hung his head.
‘Mr Chambers, can you tell us where you’re hiding Siobhan Connors and Florence Hallows?’
His mouth opened and shut. ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’
There was a tap at the door. It was Anna. ‘Guv, there’s a phone call for you. Urgent.’
Robyn nodded. ‘Thanks. Can you fetch Mr Chambers a drink while I’m away?’
She headed to the office. It was Ross.
‘Hey, how’s it going?’
‘We’re making progress.’
‘I know I’m not supposed to interfere with police investigations, but today I was at Uttoxeter station again, asking guards and regular commuters on the Crewe to Derby train if they’d spotted Lauren’s friend Siobhan on the thirteenth. While I was waiting for the train, I came across a local man working in the small garden next to the station. He’s one of the volunteers who help maintain it and he happened to be in that garden on the evening of the thirteenth.’
Robyn’s pulse quickened.
‘He’d been to the pub and decided to pass by to check up on some young trees he’d planted. It’d been very windy the day before and he was adjusting some post straps that had loosened when he heard raised voices. He noticed a young woman being bundled into a people carrier. He thinks it was a Vauxhall. She seemed drunk, and the man inside the car had trouble hauling her inside the vehicle. My witness said the girl shouted, “Get off, you bastard.” There was then a slight scuffle and she flopped into the man’s arms. His comment was, “You see too much of it these days, young women drinking too much. It was only coming up for seven as well.” The car drove off at speed and he thought no more about it.’
‘Could your witness describe the girl?’
‘The interior car light was quite dim but he caught a glimpse of her face. I showed him the photograph of Siobhan and he thought it looked a lot like her. I’m now going to call it in officially to the missing persons team. Thought you might find it useful information.’
‘You bet, and thank you. Are you going to continue searching for Siobhan?’
‘Are you asking me that question in an official capacity?’
‘No.’
‘Then yes I am. I promised Lauren and I’m a man of my word.’
* * *
Robyn cast her eyes over the board once more, her eyes drawn to Chambers’s name. She needed as much evidence against him as she could gather. It wasn’t going to be easy to get Chambers to talk, but she would, and she promised herself she’d find Siobhan and Florence before the night was over.
Fifty-Nine
It was almost eight and she couldn’t get anything further out of Elliot Chambers. He’d refused to talk about his movements during the months of June, July and August; had denied visiting Derby; stuck rigidly to his story about the trunk, and to his account of his whereabouts on the day Joanne Hutchinson delivered it to Rugeley and the night Amber Dalton had been spotted near Derby Road in Uttoxeter. He’d refuted any claims he’d been in his mother’s car on the thirteenth, the night Siobhan Connors disappeared, but had no concrete alibi. He’d also denied driving it on the nineteenth. Moreover, he was adamant he didn’t know the whereabouts of Florence or Siobhan.
Finally, Robyn had asked him about his sister. His face had crumpled as if it had been punched.
‘Please, I don’t want to talk about Charlotte. I can’t talk about what happened. It’s too much for me. Please don’t drag it up. I can’t go through it again.’
He’d begun to shake uncontrollably and tears flowed down his face. He’d become incoherent and Robyn had him taken to the cells to calm down.
She faced her team. ‘I can’t believe he’s that good an actor. He looks completely shell-shocked. I don’t know what to make of it.’
Mitz pulled a biscuit from a packet and passed it to Anna. ‘I agree.’
Robyn lifted her hands; a disheartened gesture. ‘We’re talking about an accomplished actor who’s acted many roles, including a convincing upper-class woman.’’
‘That part of his story’s true. A lady called Veronica from the university dramatic society confirmed Elliot ordered a trunk for a production as part of his final exam work,’ said Anna. ‘They’d tried using an ordinary trunk, but he hadn’t been able to squeeze into it.’
Robyn groaned. ‘Just because he has good reason for owning it doesn’t change the fact that he owns it.’
Anna shrugged, unconvinced.
‘This is hopeless. Let’s go through this one more time.’ Robyn held up the Post-it note that read Fox or Dog. ‘We have three girls, all of whom left cruel messages on Charlotte Chambers’s profile page. In March last year Charlotte killed herself, leaving a note that said, “I can’t bear my life any more. I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of hatred.” To my mind, that suggests she found the cyberbullying too much to bear. Any comments so far?’
There were shakes of heads. She walked to the whiteboard and erased the writing on it, starting afresh. She wrote Fox or Dog and Charlotte’s name, then wrote down the names of each of the three young women who’d interacted with Charlotte online. She drew connecting lines to them and Charlotte. Below this, she added Elliot’s name and repeated, ‘Charlotte Chambers might have committed suicide thanks to comments made by these three girls. All three appeared to have chatted to, or been in contact with, Hunter.’ She wrote ‘Hunter’ beside Elliot’s name. ‘All three disappeared without trace. We can’t find anything else that would link these girls. Charlotte is the only connection we have between them all, which leads us back to Elliot Chambers – a loving brother who found his sister dead in her bedroom.
‘Elliot has the motive. He can’t provide solid alibis for the nights that any of the girls went missing. At the time Carrie Miller disappeared he was at home “chilling”. He had ample opportunity to snatch her, imprison her and murder her during this time. He maintains he was unpacking all day on the twentieth of December, the day Carrie’s body was transported in a hire vehicle to a rented self-storage unit, but he has no witnesses to him being in the flat. He owns a chest freezer. That seems strange. A single man doesn’t need a large chest freezer. Both Carrie Miller and Amber Dalton were kept somewhere icy cold. Could that have been a chest freezer? We’ll need forensics to examine Chambers’s freezer for traces of DNA or anything that might suggest it was used to hide those girls’ bodies.’
‘On it, boss,’ said Mitz.
Robyn wrote ‘station’ below Elliot’s name and stabbed at it with her pen.
‘I can’t help but feel the station is significant. Chambers lives near Uttoxeter station. Carrie Miller was seen boarding a train that passed through there. On the third of January, Amber Dalton was spotted crossing Dovefields Retail Park from the direction of this station, headed towards Derby Road, where Chambers lives. And a member of the public witnessed a young woman who looked remarkably like Siobhan Connors being bundled into a car at the station car park – a large car that could well be a Vauxhall Zafira.’
She swung around and added ‘Vauxhall Zafira’ next to ‘station’. ‘Chambers has access to his mother’s car. He used it to transport boxes and his trunk back from university. He might have also used it in the early hours of the twentieth, in order to transport Amber Dalton’s body to Cannock Chase.’
Anna put up a hand. ‘I spoke to Mrs Chambers, asked if she h
appened to have been out in her car that evening. She said she hardly ever goes out these days because of her illness. She was even thinking of selling the car. On the nineteenth, she took some extra-strong painkillers and went to bed early because of her back. She recalled it had been very bad that day, and by the evening, she couldn’t stand it any more.’
‘Thanks, Anna. Elliot could have driven the car from her garage without her knowledge,’ said Robyn. She rubbed at her neck. The tension headache was returning. ‘I’d like another sweep along Penkridge Park Road. We couldn’t find any witnesses last time, but we might have missed somebody who only walks there now and again. Yes, I’m clutching at straws. We might not be lucky, but if anybody saw a Vauxhall Zafira in the area of Cannock Chase where Amber’s body was found, it’d tie that vehicle in with two of the girls. Matt, you up for that?’
‘It’s not far from where I live, so I’ll do that. Might catch some late-evening dog walkers if I go now.’
‘Thanks, Matt. Then go home afterwards.’
‘Cheers, boss. If Mrs Higham suggests me doing the night feed, I’ll be back here before you can say “nappy change”.’
The door closed quietly as he left and Robyn wrote down ‘trunk’.
‘We know about the trunk. Chambers bought it for a drama production. He brought it back from university in his mother’s car, and maintains it was stolen from one of the unlocked outbuildings outside her house. That’s a little too convenient for my liking. What are we left with? Anything? David?’
David reached across to Matt’s desk and lifted a list. ‘Sorry, boss. We drew a blank searching for the hired van. There were no vans hired by either a Joanne Hutchinson or an Elliot Chambers, although there is a Mr Chambers on this list,’ he said, studying it with a frown. ‘Mr Thomas Chambers.’
Robyn spun around. ‘Thomas Chambers.’
‘It isn’t Elliot, guv – this guy’s in his late forties.’
‘Show me.’ Robyn stared at the sheet, then sifted through her Post-it notes and grabbed at one. ‘Elliot’s father was called Thomas, born in 1958 and died in January 2006. He was forty-eight years old. David, can you please escort Chambers back to the interview room.’
Once David had left the room, she spoke to Mitz and Anna. ‘I have one major problem in all of this. Where does Florence fit in? She didn’t have anything to do with Charlotte Chambers. The only connection I can think of is that she is a pupil at the same school where Elliot Chambers teaches. They chatted using the app. What am I missing?’
There was silence, then Anna spoke. ‘Maybe Florence saw something, stumbled across Chambers behaving strangely, or found out he was Hunter, so he tried to prevent her from saying anything.’
Robyn nodded slowly as she assimilated this new idea. ‘Yes. That’s possible. It would certainly help explain why he’s taken her. Thank you.’
Anna pulled up the website and Florence’s profile picture. ‘She hasn’t given any boys other than Hunter a fox emoji. She’s got quite a few dog emojis under her own picture, poor kid, and there are some comments about her hair, being fat and her freckles.’
Robyn moved behind her and read the taunts. Florence hadn’t responded other than to ask them not to be bitchy, although she had left a barbed comment for one girl called LaBelle18. At least I don’t look like a pig with a moustache. LaBelle18 had replied with, Fuck you, you ginger minger.
Anna looked up, her face suddenly anxious. ‘It might seem to be petty jibes to the outsider, but these taunts could really upset a sensitive person. You don’t think Florence might have taken these insults to heart, do you, like Charlotte did?’
Robyn’s blood turned to ice. Surely not. Florence wouldn’t have tried to kill herself, would she?
Sixty
‘I haven’t the foggiest what you’re talking about.’ Elliot’s face was drawn, eyes baggy and bloodshot from crying in his cell. ‘I haven’t done anything, I swear. I don’t know any of these girls. I’ve never used the Fox or Dog app. Check my phone. Check my laptop. Do what you must, but I haven’t spoken to these girls.’
The photographs of Amber, Carrie and Siobhan were laid out in the middle of the table, facing him. Robyn added Florence’s picture and sat back to watch his reactions. Elliot let out a keening sound that filled the room as he tore at his hair. ‘I haven’t seen Florence since we had English yesterday. How many more times are you going to ask me?’
‘You are denying renting a van in your deceased father’s name?’
‘Yes… yes… yes! I’ve never rented a van in my life.’ He dropped his head into his hands.
Robyn remained composed. She scrutinised him before speaking. ‘The thirteenth of January.’
‘Not this again. I did not go out that night. I stayed inside, did some marking and watched television.’
‘Isn’t it odd for a young man in his early twenties to stay at home on a Friday night?’
‘Not in January. It was perishingly cold. Do I have to keep repeating myself over and over? Is that what you want? I didn’t go out that Friday. I can’t remember what I watched. What did I watch? Oh yes! Now I remember.’ His eyes lit up for a moment. ‘The new comedy series of Not Going Out with Lee Mack started that night at nine. I watched that. That’s proof I didn’t go out.’
‘I’m afraid that only proves you know what was on television that night.’
His head dropped again. ‘I give up. What do you want me to say?’
Robyn gave a polite smile. ‘The truth.’
His hands fell to the table with a thump. ‘I’ve been telling the truth.’
‘Were you aware your sister was signed up to Fox or Dog?’
Elliot’s face turned grey. His eyes flashed for a second and his lips flattened into a thin line. ‘I made it quite clear that I don’t wish to discuss my sister.’
‘Did Charlotte ever mention the app to you?’ Robyn kept her eyes trained on his face. He ignored her and stared at his hands, refusing to speak again.
‘Mr Chambers, did you know your sister used the Fox or Dog app?’
He would not lift up his head again. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks.
Mitz took him back to the cells and returned to the office a few minutes later. Robyn grumbled, ‘He denies everything. I won’t be able to charge him at this rate.’
‘We’ll keep tabs on him,’ said Mitz. ‘Make sure he doesn’t leave the flat, and when he does, follow him.’
Robyn shook her head. ‘Once Chambers is released, that’ll be that, unless we can come up with some other reason to bring him back in. He’ll be on his guard, and I doubt he’ll suddenly lead us to Florence or Siobhan.’
Anna looked pensive. ‘What if Chambers is telling the truth and we’ve got the wrong person?’
Having observed Chambers’s reactions to her questioning, Robyn had similar concerns. She felt trapped – if she released him, he might kill Siobhan and Florence, and if she charged him, could the real killer still be out there? … ‘I really hope we haven’t. We’ve got no other suspects.’ The phone rang and she picked up on the second ring. ‘Carter.’
‘It’s Matt. I’ve found a gentleman, Stuart Glover, who lives in Penkridge Park Road. He passed a large people carrier that was pulled over on the hard shoulder, in the early hours of Friday the twentieth. He was headed to the airport at the time. He’s been away in Germany all week and didn’t know about Amber Dalton. He couldn’t be sure of the make of the car but he remembered some of the number plate. It ended in Sierra Golf. He remembered only because they’re his initials.’
After the call she stretched, letting out a long sigh, before speaking. ‘The Vauxhall Zafira belonging to Mrs Chambers. What’s it registration, Mitz?’
Mitz flicked through his notebook and read it out.
Robyn tapped her long fingers together. ‘The evidence is stacking up against him now. A Vauxhall Zafira with a number plate ending in the same letters as Mrs Chamber’s was spotted in Penkridge Road. If I question Chambers about it,
he’ll only deny it. Give me a minute. I need to think about how best to handle this.’ She shrugged on a coat. ‘I’ll be back soon.’
Outside, the cold bit into her face, sharpening her mind. She crossed the car park and paced down the road. It had to be Chambers. Everything pointed to him. She ran through the facts, the statements, and thought about Chambers’s reaction to everything. He’d vehemently denied any of the accusations. He’d not changed his story. He’d been cagey about his movements in July and August and had no alibis for the dates the girls went missing. Yet it didn’t feel right. Anna had voiced Robyn’s concerns. She had to follow her instincts, and that was saying she had the wrong man. Why did she feel this way? The man was an actor, able to disguise himself as a female, and he owned an outfit exactly like that worn by Joanne Hutchinson. He had a chest freezer that was currently being examined for evidence of any DNA. He denied knowing any of the girls. He refused to account for his movements during the time Carrie went missing. Chambers had no alibis.
Alibis.
She stopped in her tracks. The wind whipped her hair into her face but she didn’t feel it stinging into her flesh. That was it. If Chambers was a killer who could meticulously plan to drop a trunk off in a self-storage warehouse and come up with a plausible excuse as to why he owned it, why hadn’t he also given himself elaborate alibis for the nights in question and for the months of July and August? It didn’t stack up. There was no other evidence in the flat that he was involved in abduction or murder, and where had he hidden the pieces of flesh cut from the girls’ foreheads – the trophies? They weren’t in his chest freezer or his flat. Where else might he conceal them?
Robyn marched back towards the station. The wind pushed her onwards as if to urge her back to work. If Chambers wasn’t a killer out to avenge his sister’s death, then who else might it be? The answer came so suddenly it stopped her in her tracks. It could only be one other person.