The Hill - Carla’s Story (Book Two): A Paranormal Murder Mystery Thriller. (Book Two)

by Andrew M Stafford

  Judd looked around the room and saw Maria standing by the door. He smiled at her and she smiled weakly in return.

  It was clear to all that Ben had definitely once been alive and furthermore had been alive recently.

  ----------------------------------------------

  Ben was fading and he was fading fast. The light was dimming and he was finding it hard to stay focused. He knew that Judd and the others believed in him and now was his time to make his story known.

  Ben had always had a sense that his killer had never been caught and this is what had been his drive, his ambition to be heard. In life Ben hadn’t been a quitter and he wasn’t going to be one in death either.

  ---------------------------------------------

  “OK Ben, let’s find out more about you and something everyone in this room wants to know……..how did you die?”

  There was no answer.

  “Ben, can you hear me, how did you die?”

  Christopher rolled his head from side to side as his eyes began to flutter.

  “Ben, it’s Tom, I need to know how you died, where did it happened and who killed you, concentrate please…….don’t fade on me now.”

  Christopher turned his head to one side and opened his mouth to speak.

  The atmosphere was tense and everyone moved nearer to hear what Christopher was about to say.

  “Tom, sorry, I…… I …….. can’t quite find the……….”

  “Please Ben, try, please try your hardest.”

  Christopher nodded.

  “I’m trying………I was killed in……..I was killed in the ……..woods.”

  Christopher’s voice was now barely above a whisper.

  “Did you say you were killed in the woods?” asked Judd.

  Christopher nodded.

  “In the woods,” whispered Ben.

  “Which woods, can you remember the name of the woods?” asked Judd desperately.

  Christopher nodded again, but this time he hardly moved his head.

  “Badock’s…………..”

  Judd interrupted him, “Badock’s Wood, were you killed in Badock’s Wood?”

  Christopher nodded again and started rolling his head from side to side as his eyes began to open.

  “Ben, stay with me, please stay focused….just one more thing and then you can sleep.”

  Judd reached forward and held Christopher’s hand.

  “Ben, how did you die, what did the murderer do to kill you? Please Ben.”

  Christopher started to speak, but his voice was so quiet Judd couldn’t make out the words. He leant forward and put his ear to the boy’s mouth.

  “Ben, say that again, I didn’t hear you…..how were you killed?”

  Judd closed his eyes and listened to the weak and tired voice with all his powers of concentration and could just make out what Ben was trying to tell him.

  “With a rock Tom, ………he killed me with a ………rock.”

  And then Ben was gone.

  Chapter one hundred and three

  Thomas Judd’s Practice

  The Quiet Area

  2.21pm

  Saturday 26th May

  Tom brought Christopher out of hypnosis. The little boy looked around the room, rubbed his eyes, saw Maria at the back by the door and smiled at her wearily.

  “Did I do well mummy?”

  Maria nodded.

  “You did very well, you were brilliant.”

  He clambered down from the chair and ran to her, swinging his toy grey cat by its tail as he went.

  “Samreen is taking me to Thomas Land.”

  “I know darling, you’re a very lucky boy. Give me a cuddle.”

  As the two of them hugged the others looked on in silence. Tom was the only one who had heard what Ben had told him about the murder and where it took place. Christopher had whispered the crucial information and Tom could only just hear the words. But there was no mistaking what Ben had told him. ‘He killed me with a rock’.

  The others had heard Tom prompt Ben to say Badock’s Wood, which meant nothing to them, other than Esther who thought the place sounded familiar.

  Maria put Christopher down and ruffled his hair, doing her best not to show her anxieties.

  “Samreen’s got some nice things for you, why don’t you go into the other room with her and play.”

  Christopher sensed something wasn’t right. He could tell there was an atmosphere and the grownups didn’t seem very happy. He was worried that he’d done something wrong.

  Samreen picked up a carrier bag. In it was some of Christopher’s toys, and she had bought him comics, a colouring book and some crayons. She walked over to Christopher, took his hand, led him to Judd’s office and shut the door while the others remained in the Quiet Area.

  Tom swiveled the camera on the tripod, focused on the others who were congregating around the settee and let the camera continue to film.

  The shocked silence was broken by Esther.

  “So he was killed in Badock’s Wood.”

  “That’s what he told me” replied Judd.

  “I’ve never heard of it, where’s Badock’s Wood?” asked Campbell.

  “It’s between Henleaze and Southmead, it’s a lovely place,” said Judd.

  Judd was visibly shaken by what had just happened and reached for a glass of water from the pitcher on the small desk next to the settee.

  “Tom, you can’t keep us in suspense any longer, how did he die?” asked Esther.

  “With a rock, he said he was killed with a rock.”

  Judd took a sip of water and wiped his forehead.

  “The thing is ……. I remember the murder…….I remember it so well.”

  He trembled as he spoke.

  Suddenly, something dawned on Maria. Instantly she was overcome with a wave of nausea. Campbell jumped up and ran over when he saw the colour drain from her face.

  “Grab something,” he called as he held his arm around her.

  Esther picked up the throw which covered the settee and passed it to Campbell. Maria took it from him and was sick, catching the contents of her stomach in the floral throw.

  “I’m sorry,” said Maria as Campbell sat her down on the settee.

  “What is it?” asked Esther.

  “It suddenly hit me. I remember seeing the murder on the news. It was all over the papers for a couple of weeks.”

  She wiped her mouth with a tissue, reached for the water and continued speak.

  “I’d just returned home from hospital after having Christopher, I came home on the Monday, but I didn’t hear about the murder until a couple of days later. I saw the press conference on the news and worked out that the boy had been killed as I was giving birth to Christopher.”

  She wiped her mouth again and looked around the room.

  “Don’t you see what this means?”

  Nobody spoke. Maria put her head in her hands and began to cry. Campbell put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder and sobbed. Maria wiped her eyes and continued.

  “When Ben Walker died……. when he was murdered…….my son was born.”

  It was beginning to make sense. The others remained silent as they contemplated the gravitas of what Maria had just said.

  “Isn’t someone going to say something for fuck’s sake?” shouted Maria.

  Judd spoke up.

  “You mentioned the press conference.”

  Maria nodded.

  “I know the policeman in that conference. Occasionally I work with him.”

  “How would you know him? You’re not in the force.”

  “He’s Detective Chief Inspector Markland Garraway, he was the one heading up the murder case.” Judd paused as he took another sip of water to wet his dry mouth,

  “You remember I told you that I am a Forensic and Investigative hypnotist?”

  Campbell and Esther nodded while Claire and Maria watched motionless.

  “Well that’s how I know G
arraway. He’s no longer active as a detective, the Ben Walker case was the last one he was involved with.”

  “Why, what happened?” asked Esther.

  “I’m not exactly sure, I don’t know Garraway all that well, but from what I’ve been told he had a mental breakdown because of the Walker case, somehow it was all too much for him.” Judd rubbed his chin and shook his head.

  “I didn’t put two and two together, I didn’t connect the name Ben Walker to the person murdered in the woods, I mean I remember the murder, but not Ben’s name.”

  “Well, it was almost three years ago, none of us remembered it either. So how do you know the detective, what was his name, Callaway?” said Esther.

  “No, it’s Garraway, his name is Markland Garraway. As I said, he’s no longer an active detective, although I understand he still holds the rank of Detective Chief Inspector, but he’s now in charge of training.”

  “Training who?” asked Campbell.

  “He mainly trains rooky detectives, and for part of the training he gets me involved. I get up and say my piece about Forensic and Investigative hypnosis. It’s one of the many tools that detectives can use to help nail a case.”

  “So should you tell him about Christopher?” asked Esther.

  “Well, I suppose we should tell someone, but I’m not sure that Garraway is the best one to tell. You see he’s a bit of a mess these days. Not only did he suffer a breakdown, he can barely walk,………he has terrible arthritis, the poor bastard.”

  The five of them sat in bewilderment, all completely dumbstruck. Then the sceptic in Campbell spoke up, again doubting Judd’s integrity.

  “Sorry to bring this up Tom, but I didn’t hear Christopher say anything about being killed by a rock, nor did I hear him say Badock’s Wood. I heard you prompting him to say Badock’s and I heard you telling us that he said he was killed with the rock. You could have easily fabricated this whole thing.”

  “And why would I have made it up, what’s in it for me? I’m not even charging for these sessions.”

  “Play back the video,” suggested Claire helpfully.

  “I doubt whether the microphone on the camera would have picked it up. I certainly couldn’t hear it and I was only a few feet away,” said Campbell.

  “Take the film away, get it analysed, do what you want………….but I’m not making this stuff up, you need to believe me.”

  “OK, everyone take a breath,” said Esther as she tried her best to calm the situation.

  “I think we need to hear what Maria thinks about all of this,” she said looking to the frightened redhead who was perched on the edge of the settee.

  “I believe it’s all real, I think Ben is in Christopher.”

  Maria spoke in a dull quiet tone. Campbell was worried that she was about to crack up, she had the same look in her eye as she did the night he found her slumped and chanting in Christopher’s room.

  “OK Campbell,” said Esther, “you work for a computer company, surely you know someone who could do something with the sound on that film, you know get it enhanced or what not, so we can all hear what Christopher said and, assuming Judd hasn’t fixed all this, what we do next?”

  Another awkward few seconds followed and eventually Tom Judd spoke.

  “OK, I’ll speak with Garraway, I’ve got a meeting with him and his people next week, I’ll take him to one side and have a quiet word, I just hope he doesn’t freak out…………oh and Campbell, I agree with Esther, get the audio on the video enhanced, I need Garraway to hear what I heard.”

  Chapter one hundred and four

  TM.IT boardroom

  9.35am

  Monday 28th May

  Terry Mason entered the boardroom for the team briefing. Campbell was sitting at the table between George Marshall and Toni Dufy whilst Connor Judd was at the far end of the table preparing a slideshow of the team’s project.

  Mason was bothered by Campbell Broderick, he couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but something about the man made him uneasy. It all started a week ago when he had become overwhelmed with a feeling of apprehension towards Campbell, and he sensed it had something to do with Liz.

  The previous week he had asked Tracey Grimmer from Personnel to do a bit of searching on Broderick to see if she could find anything about his past that could have caused Mason to feel so uneasy about the man. It was only a gut feeling, but a very strong one, and Mason was sure there was something about the man that was trouble.

  But Tracey had turned up nothing. He had no criminal record, not even a speeding ticket. She checked his university background and there was nothing false about the PhD he said he’d been awarded by the University of Hertfordshire.

  Mason wasn’t satisfied and planned to carry out his own private investigation. He knew certain people who could do a more thorough check than young Tracey. Terry Mason was a member of the Bristol Masonic Society and there were one or two members of the society that sprung to mind, who he was certain could find something about Broderick.

  Mason sat at the table and made his usual small talk by asking what everyone had done during the weekend, and when it came to Campbell’s turn to chat, he just shrugged his shoulders and said that he’d not done much. Mason knew he was lying.

  Connor launched into his presentation and Mason soon found himself immersed in a conversation with his team about their latest project. The only one not engaging was Campbell. He couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened on Saturday afternoon at Tom Judd’s place. In his tightly clenched fist he held a little USB stick and on it was the file downloaded from Tom Judd’s camera. The file which contained the video Tom had made of the hypnosis session. He had arranged to meet with Naomi King at lunchtime to ask her whether she could enhance the sound. He knew her well and could trust her to keep the video of Christopher’s hypnosis to herself. Naomi was a computer whiz kid and had a laptop rammed with software. She was an aspiring musician who composed on her computer and had a programme which would easily pick out and enhance what Christopher had whispered on Saturday afternoon.

  As the meeting drew to a close Connor ended the presentation and shut the lid on his laptop.

  “You were very quiet this morning Mr. Broderick, not much to say?” asked Mason.

  “Sorry Terry, I had a bit of busy weekend.”

  “Well make your mind up young man, just now you told me you’d not done much.”

  Campbell smiled nervously, he felt like he was being interrogated, as if Mason knew something.

  “I didn’t do much that would have been of interest to anyone, you know, just stuff that needed to be done.”

  Connor glanced toward Campbell. He knew there’d been another session at his brother’s hypnotherapy practice at the weekend. His brother had been getting tetchy lately and it had started since he’d hypnotised Christopher.

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  At twelve fifteen Campbell was in the Printer’s Devil with Naomi King and was treating her to a ploughman’s lunch.

  Naomi was a tall girl with peroxide blonde hair, which stood up like Rod Stewart’s. The two of them got on well and at one point rumours were abound that they were an item. Even Maria had become suspicious at one point, until she’d met her and found out for herself that she was a person she could trust. Besides, Naomi was totally loved up with her musician husband and had no intention of doing anything untoward.

  As Naomi waited for her food she sipped on her diet coke. Campbell handed her the USB stick.

  “So what’s all this about?” she asked.

  “I’d rather not go into too much detail, but when you watch the video you will see something which I would prefer that you keep to yourself, don’t even tell your husband.”

  She looked at him suspiciously.

  “What are you playing at?”

  “You’ll see when you watch the clip.”

  He handed her a piece of paper with some numbers scribbled on it.

 
; “Those are the two points in the video I need enhancing.”

  Naomi looked at the numbers. Five minutes, thirteen seconds and six minutes, twenty four seconds.

  “I’d prefer it if you could fast forward to those two points and not watch the whole thing, but when you see and hear what I need enhancing, I know you’ll want to watch the entire video.”

  “I must say, I am intrigued………nothing outside the law I hope?”

  “Well, nothing outside the law as far as I’m concerned, but if you’re able to enhanced the sound enough I’m certain the police will want to know about what’s on the video.”

  “The plot thickens,” said Naomi as she slid the USB stick into her purse.

  Neither of them had noticed Terry Mason sitting at the table behind reading a copy of the Financial Times. Mason had listened to every word they’d said.

  Chapter one hundred and five

  Naomi King’s flat

  8.17pm

  Tuesday 29th May

  Naomi King had stayed up late the night before, and now she was paying for it. She’d not got to sleep before four in the morning after staying up until after midnight enhancing the sound quality on the video that Campbell had given her earlier that day. She’d clambered into bed after her husband, Josh, grumpily insisted she packed it in for the night.

  Initially she respected Campbell’s wishes and had advanced the video clip to five minutes, thirteen seconds. The video showed a tall man in his fifties leaning towards a little boy on a chair. She could clearly hear the man, but the boy’s voice wasn’t clear, it was below a whisper. She replayed the section, which only lasted a couple of seconds, several times to pinpoint the exact time the boy spoke. Campbell hadn’t said which words needed enhancing, but Naomi knew which section needed to be heard.

  The man’s voice was very clear when he said ‘which woods, can you remember the name of the woods?’

  But the boy’s answer wasn’t picking up, his whisper was much too quiet.

  After the boy had spoken she could clearly hear the man speak, ‘Badock’s Wood, were you killed in Badock’s Wood?’

  “What the ........?” she muttered as she started to enhance the sound.