The Hill - Carla’s Story (Book Two): A Paranormal Murder Mystery Thriller. (Book Two)
Page 11
Naomi was intrigued, and wondered what the hell was going on. She spent the next hour processing the sound by balancing the EQ, reducing the background noise and then she pumped the audio as high as it would go before it started to distort.
Eventually she’d cracked it, she could just about pick out the boy’s voice, it was faint, but clear.
Next she spliced the man’s voice so it was playing back at the unenhanced levels and when the little boy spoke she dropped in the enhanced section, which lasted one and a half seconds after which the sound reverted back to the unenhanced voice of the man.
She exported the section as an MP3 file and played it back.
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Man’s voice - “Which woods, can you remember the name of the woods?”
Boy’s voice enhanced - “Badock’s…………..”
Man’s voice - “Badock’s Wood, were you killed in Badock’s Wood?”
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After the man had asked whether it was Badock’s Wood the boy clearly nodded his head to confirm that it was.
She replayed it over and over and couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
She looked at the man in the video, he looked familiar. She froze a frame which captured a particularly clear image of him.
“I know you,” she whispered.
She was intrigued and excited. She moved the virtual slider on her computer to advance the video to six minutes, twenty four seconds as instructed by Campbell, but moved the slider so it stopped a few seconds before the time he asked her to enhance. She pressed play and watched the clip.
“Ben, how did you die, what did the murderer do to kill you? Please Ben.”
Naomi saw the little boy’s mouth open, but like before, she couldn’t make out the words.
Then the man spoke again.
“Ben, say that again, I didn’t hear you…..how were you killed?”
The man was clearly concentrating on what the boy was saying but, like before, nothing was picking up on the recording.
“What the fuck is going on? This is some weird shit Campbell,” she whispered to herself.
This time it didn’t take long to enhance the boy’s voice. She had saved the settings on her computer and it was a ten minute job to reload the equalisation and improve the quality and a further fifteen minutes to splice everything back together.
She pressed play and let the short clip run.
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Man’s voice - “Ben, how did you die, what did the murderer do to kill you? Please Ben.”
Boy’s Voice enhanced – “He killed me with a rock.”
Man’s voice - “Ben, say that again, I didn’t hear you…..how were you killed?”
Boy’s voice enhanced – “With a rock Tom, ………he killed me with a ………rock.”
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She froze with fear.
“What the hell is Campbell involved with?”
She played the two clips over and over until her husband knocked on the door and told her to come to bed.
Josh saw the look on her face.
“Bloody Hell, what on earth’s wrong with you? You look ill.”
She closed the lid on her laptop.
“I’m OK, I’ve finished now, I’ll be there soon.”
Josh went back to bed while she sat on her own for another few minutes contemplating what she had just seen and heard.
She climbed into bed and lay there for over three hours unable to sleep, with the video clip going over and over in her head until she eventually dozed off.
That was last night. She’d not gone to work today as she was too damned tired. She had called in sick.
“Jeepers Naomi, you sound awful, what’s the matter?” asked Jack Allen as he took her call earlier in the day.
She had called Campbell and arranged for him to come to her place just after eight. She had made copies of the video.
Whilst she was waiting for him to arrive she played the entire video with the enhanced edits.
She saw the whole thing from start to finish.
From the little boy being hypnotised, to the change in his voice and the emergence of the mysterious Ben character. She listened to the questions about maths and the Battle of Hastings and the talk of the world cup. She watched it to the very end, right up to the section she’d enhanced.
There was a knock at the door. Naomi stopped the clip and walked to the front door. She peered through the spy hole and saw Campbell with Maria, who she’d met once before.
She let them in and took them to the lounge.
Campbell could tell by the look on her face that she’d seen the whole clip and was clearly shaken.
“What the hell have I just been watching?” asked Naomi in an irate tone.
“Did you manage to make it so Christopher’s voice can be heard?” said Campbell, choosing to ignore her question.
“Yes I did……..what the hell’s going on? I don’t like what I’ve just seen.”
“I’ll tell you after I’ve seen for it myself, a lot hinges upon the words which come out of Christopher’s mouth.”
“Christopher, he’s your son, isn’t he?”
“He’s Maria’s son, but I’m up for the job of being his dad.”
“And the man in the video, the hypnotist, that’s Connor Judd’s brother isn’t it?”
Campbell was surprised she knew who he was.
“Yes, it’s Tom Judd, how did you know?”
“I met him a couple of times, when Connor was out for drinks after work, he met up with Tom. I remembered how tall he is, he’s like a bean pole.”
Campbell nodded.
Maria hadn’t said a word, she wasn’t looking forward to watching the video and was having trouble coping with what was unfolding in her life.
“Follow me,” said Naomi as she led them to the spare bedroom which had been converted into a recording studio.
“Where’s Josh?” asked Campbell.
“He’s rehearsing with his band.”
“Has he seen the video?”
“No. Nobody has seen it other than me.”
Maria looked around the room which was strewn with guitars, keyboards and a bank of equipment which meant nothing to her.
“Welcome to our little studio.”
The three of them squeezed into the small room.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to sit on the floor, there’s only room for one chair and I need it. I’m knackered and can hardly stand up. I was working on this until gone midnight.”
Maria and Campbell huddled together on the floor as Naomi fiddled with the laptop. She angled the screen so they could see it. She had rigged the sound to come from the speakers attached to the wall.
“OK, are you ready?” asked Naomi.
Campbell and Maria nodded simultaneously. They sat on the floor, holding hands as Naomi hit play.
They nervously watched the whole thing. The clip was getting closer to the section they really needed to hear. Maria was holding Campbell’s hand so tightly her nails were digging into the palm of his hand. He didn’t even notice as he concentrated on the screen and listened intently to the words.
And then they heard it. They heard every word between Judd and Christopher.
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“Which woods, can you remember the name of the woods?”
“Badock’s…………..”
“Badock’s Wood, were you killed in Badock’s Wood?”
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Hearing Christopher’s amplified whisper brought Maria out in a cold sweat. She looked away from the screen.
They waited for the final piece of the clip to play, which was only seconds away, but it felt like an age as their anticipation grew.
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“Ben, stay with me
, please stay focused….just one more thing and then you can sleep.”
“Ben, how did you die, what did the murderer do to kill you? Please Ben.”
“He killed me with a rock.”
“Ben, say that again, I didn’t hear you…..how were you killed?”
“With a rock Tom, ………he killed me with a ………rock.”
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Naomi hit stop and swivelled in her chair to face them.
“So there you have it, now would someone care to tell me what the fuck just happened?”
Campbell filled her in. He explained the events of the last couple of years, and started with Christopher’s head banging, to the sleep talking, to the week spent in London with Dr Phelps and he brought her up to date with the hypnosis.
After Campbell had finished, Naomi sat in her chair and stared at him in disbelief.
“I’m so sorry, I had no idea. What are you going to do now?”
“We’re not entirely sure. This is why we needed to enhance the audio, we needed to know what Christopher had said, we couldn’t just take Tom Judd’s word for it, we needed to hear it for ourselves.”
“But it’s a murder, you need to report it to the police.”
Campbell sighed, “do you really think the police would use this as evidence? Anyway, no one’s been named as the killer.”
“But you need to hypnotise him again, and get Ben Walker to name his killer.”
“They wouldn’t do a thing with it, Christopher’s not even three, and he wasn’t even born when the murder happened. The police would just laugh at us.”
“That’s nonsense, they’d have to listen.”
“Well, Tom Judd knows someone in the force who may listen, and that’s another reason why I’ve asked you to improve the sound.”
Campbell took the USB and thanked Naomi for what she’d done and made her promise to tell no one, not even her husband. Maria, who’d said nothing since she’d been there, also thanked her and shook her hand.
Naomi saw them to the door and after they’d left she let out one huge sigh.
She went to the kitchen and poured a glass of wine and went back to her computer. She took a large mouthful of Shiraz and began typing.
“Ben Walker murder Badock’s Wood’
Google returned the results in seconds and at the top was the press conference. She clicked the link and waited for the video to load.
When it began to play, she listened and watched the Scottish detective appeal for anyone to come forward who could help with their enquiries. She paid little attention to the parents of Ben Walker who were sitting behind the detective or the other man and woman sitting to his right.
When the detective had finished speaking the camera jerkily panned to the right and focused on the girl’s parents. As the man stood up to speak, Naomi’s heart was beating as if she was having a panic attack.
“No!” she exclaimed as she watched in disbelief.
Terry Mason, her boss, the managing director of TM.IT was speaking at the press conference. In her confused state she paid no attention to what he was saying, she just stared at the screen. She played the video again and this time she listened to what he was saying.
With shaking hands she picked up her phone and called Campbell and waited nervously for him to pick up.
Damned voicemail, he must be driving, she thought.
After the tone she left her message.
“Campbell, it’s Naomi…….ring me as soon as you get this message.”
Chapter one hundred and six
Avon and Somerset Police
Kenneth Steele House
Meeting room seven
11.50am Wednesday 30th May
The long and drawn out meeting which had commenced at eight thirty that morning was finally drawing to a close.
Markland Garraway had been asked by Devon and Cornwall Police to provide a training package for their new detectives. Garraway had earned a reputation as an excellent trainer. His coaching of young detectives had proven to be so successful he was sought after by other constabularies around the United Kingdom.
He didn’t present the whole training package on his own. He called upon others within and outside the force to add their expertise and they were handsomely rewarded for their efforts. In fact the training he provided was a nice little earner for Avon and Somerset for which other constabularies were happy to pay. In April he’d spent three days with the Greater Manchester Police presenting a bespoke training session.
The meeting had included Kit Langley and Jack Hall from Devon and Cornwall, Forensic Pathologist Jeremy Banting, Criminal Psychologist Paula Murray and Forensic and Investigative hypnotist Tom Judd. Between them they’d spent the morning discussing a training package designed specifically for Devon and Cornwall Police.
Now the meeting was over the six of them were relieved to take a break and stretch their legs. Other than Garraway, who was happy to stay seated and wait for the others to leave. Even getting out of a chair was an effort for him these days and he preferred to do it when the others had left the room.
Garraway looked up after putting his laptop back in its case and saw that Tom Judd was still in the room.
“You’re still here Tom, don’t you fancy some fresh air? It’s a lovely day out there.”
Judd smiled nervously. He’d not been looking forward to approaching Garraway, but knew it had to be done. He’d considered speaking with Colin Matthews, Garraway’s former partner, but knew by his reputation that he wouldn’t entertain what Judd had to say. Garraway was the one he needed to speak with.
“Markland, I need to talk with you.”
Garraway saw a look in Judd’s eye that concerned him.
“What’s the problem, you look worried?”
“It’s something which concerns both of us, and quite a few others. Is there somewhere we can go, somewhere quiet where we can speak alone?”
“We could sit in my car,” replied Garraway, “but it would take me about half an hour to get there.”
Judd saw Garraway’s crutches in the corner and had fleetingly forgotten about his disability.
“This meeting room’s ours until one o’clock, we could do it here if you want. What’s it all about?”
Judd reached for the pitcher on the table in front of him and poured himself a glass of water. He was normally a confident man, but Garraway could sense his nervousness.
“I need to talk with you about the case of Ben Walker’s murder.”
Chapter one hundred and seven
TM.IT
12.01pm
Wednesday 30th May
Campbell walked across the car park and headed for the sandwich shop on the other side of the road from where he worked.
“Campbell, wait up.”
He turned around to see Naomi King running after him. The tall athletic girl didn’t take long to catch him?
“Why didn’t you return my call?”
Campbell looked puzzled.
“I left you a message, I rang as soon as you and Maria left last night.”
He looked at his phone and saw that he’d had several missed calls. Shit, I’d left the thing on mute, he thought as he put the phone back in his pocket.
“Sorry, I didn’t get your message, what’s going on.”
“This Ben Walker thing, if it’s not weird enough already, it’s just got a whole lot weirder.”
She explained what she’d discovered last night and told him all about the press conference and their boss Terry Mason.
Campbell stood rooted to the ground in the middle of the car park considering the consequences of what he’d just been told. He was brought out of his stupor by the honking of a car’s horn to get him to move out of the way.
“I’ll walk with you to the sandwich shop,” said Naomi.
“I’ve lost my appetite,” he replied in a confused and perplexed tone.
From his office window, Terry Mason saw the two of t
hem talking. He was becoming paranoid and didn’t trust Campbell or the girl. It took him a few seconds to remember her name.
“Naomi King,” he quietly said to himself.
He made a mental note to ask Tracy Grimmer to check into her background.
Paranoia and distrust were beginning to ruin him. As far as he was concerned, they were both an existential threat to his daughter.
And he wasn’t wrong.
Chapter one hundred and eight
Kenneth Steele House
Meeting room seven
12.07pm
Wednesday 30th May
“I don’t think I’m the best person to talk to about Ben Walker, I was removed from the case, you need to speak with Colin Matthews,” said Garraway.
“I’m aware of that, however, I don’t think what I am about to say will impress Matthews.”
“Why’s that?”
Judd drew in a breath and considered where to begin.
“Well Markland, it’s all very strange, and I mean very strange, so please hear me out, no matter how weird this gets”.
“If you’re talking about the Ben Walker murder case, then weird wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Oh, why’s that?”
“Never mind, just tell me what you need to say.”
Judd stood up and walked to the window of the meeting room then swung around to face Garraway.
“I’ve been speaking with Ben Walker, we last spoke on Saturday.”
Garraway looked at Judd nonchalantly.
“And just how did you manage that?”
“Remember that I said that things might get weird? Well here goes.”
Judd sat down and moved his chair close to Garraway’s.
“I’ve been helping a couple, they have a little boy who talks in his sleep, well it’s not talking, it’s more like chanting. He comes up with all sorts of strange things.”
“What kind of strange things?”
“Loads of things, but there’s a common theme running through his chanting, one of the first things he came out with was ‘please hear my voice’.”
Garraway looked at Judd.
“What did you just say?”
“I said there’s a common…..”