by Sara Dalton
“This is Emily Carter; she is a social worker for these children.” Officer Poole introduced the woman. Addison gave her a welcoming nod. “This is our Detective Sergeant Addison McCain who is working on the case,” he carried on.
“How are the children? Were they able to give you anything?” Emily squinted at Addison as a critic examining distasteful artwork.
Feeling the scrutinizing, Addison crossed her arms over her chest. She had always worn her departmental issued uniform, when on official business, but now she could wear what she pleased if it fell in line with the department’s scope of ‘dress attire.’ Had she committed some fashion blunder? She had seen plenty of businesswomen wearing pinstriped trouser suits, on the streets of London, though without a Taser hooked to the waistband. Maybe she should have listened to her friend when she compared her outfit to that of a 1920’s Chicago mob boss.
“They are very tired and need some rest. They are our only witnesses, so I may need to come back and talk to them.” Addison mentioned. She took a step to Anna’s bedside again and she glanced up at her.
“I want you to call me if you remember anything, I will be straight there.” Addison handed her work card with her number on it. Anna politely took it. She glanced down at the card taking in the name and number. She gazed up at Addison and gave her a faint smile. Addison nodded taking her leave. She started down the hallway until her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She fished it out from her pocket and answered it.
“McCain.” Her voice snipped, her eyebrows arching as Robert’s voice began dictating orders. As the one-sided conversation grew on, Addison began gritting her teeth, her nostrils flaring as she paced the hall. At one point she knocked into a cleaning cart, sending most of its contents crashing to the floor and drawing attention from the nurses’ station.
“Shit,” she hissed. Mentally blaming Robert for the mistake.
After the line went dead, Addison felt like slinging her cell phone across the ward. The only thing she recalled from the call was she was to rush back to the crime scene and update the man in person who had just crawled under her skin.
She carried on, walking down the corridor and into the blinding sunlight though it was still freezing. She had lost track of time, squinting her eyes as she walked to her car. Setting up shop in the car park was a food van which Addison eyed from her parking space. Why not, she thought as she dropped her car keys back into her pocket, I’m thirsty and that bastard can wait.
The guy in the van handed her the piping cup of coffee, its paper protector stamped with an inspirational quote. ‘Work together to achieve great things’. Great even her coffee was against her today. She slapped the money on the counter and headed back toward her car nursing the strong brew.
She placed the cup in the cup holder, next to her pink metal tumbler, which would have been cold by now. She took a quick look at her watch, before setting off back to the crime scene to pick up her new arrogant partner.
Addison finally arrived back, and she saw Robert Arrows standing by the yellow tape outside the house, tapping his foot impatiently waiting for her throwing the butt of his cigarette to the ground. She grabbed her paper cup of coffee, locked her car and made haste towards Robert.
“I hope you are going to pick that up and put it in the bin.” Addison nodded towards the fag butt on the ground. Robert glanced at it and then back at her.
“How long were you planning to make me wait?” He hissed through his teeth. His dark brown eyes bore into hers, waiting for an explanation. She tried hard not to talk back, but his next move took her a little by surprise. He glanced down at the cup in her hand, snatching it from her. She stood there with her hand still sticking out with a missing cup. She watched as he drained her cup of coffee and threw the empty rubbish into a yellow bin that was attached to a lamppost. He stepped under the yellow tape and started to put on his white Tyvek suit and a pair of latex gloves.
Mental note, always bring two cups of coffee in future. She let out a sigh.
“He can throw things in the bin,” Addison said to herself. She quickly dipped under the tape and put on a Tyvek suit and gloves, as she rushed into the house after Robert.
He was standing at a table, there was paper spread out everywhere where they went through her post. Addison glanced at the papers on the table, she noticed one, and she recognized the medical symbol.
“Was Wendy seeing a counsellor?” Addison asked.
“I believe so, I’ve got someone contacting them for me to find out who she was seeing,” Robert told her.
She started going through the papers and post one by one. School bills for Anna and Jake and letters from her counsellor, appointments.
“What will happen to those kids?” Addison asked curiously. Even though she asked, she already knew what would happen. They would either end in foster care or a member of Wendy’s family who might be able to take them in.
A familiar figure caught Addison’s eye as he moved through the threshold of the kitchen door. Dressed the same as Robert, Harry Lynch, the senior crime scene tech, approached them both; a wide-angle lens protruding from a Nikon slung about his neck. “The body is gone now.” His genteel voice was frank but made Addison feel somehow at ease. His eyes drifted from Robert to Addison as the corners of his mouth turned upwards. She felt like a school girl and turned away as she felt her face grow flush. Robert nodded as Harry walked out of the house. Robert carried on flicking through all of Wendy’s letters while Addison was looking around the kitchen. She saw the coffee machine and suddenly she wanted a cup.
“Could do with a coffee right now,” she said to Robert.
“Not my problem.”
“You stole my one.”
“And it was a good cup of coffee,” Robert smirked.
“Pig,” she said in a breath.
“What?” Robert glanced at her.
“Nothing,”
Robert was looking inside Wendy’s cupboards. Nothing seemed unusual. Addison started going through the drawers. Tea towels, black bags, and cutlery in the draws. She looked in the last one, finding money and a mobile phone.
“Robert,” she called. He came straight to her side, looking in the drawer. She moved her eyes to the side where he stood, he was close, looking over her shoulder.
“Is the mobile phone on?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Bag it,” he spoke.
“And the money?”
“How much is there?” Robert asked.
“You want me to count all of this?”
“Yes, that would be great.”
Addison let out a sigh as she started counting the notes. They were all in twenty’s and she piled them up in hundreds trying to keep track with how much is there.
“Two thousand pounds,” Addison finished.
“That’s a lot of money,” Robert acknowledged. He handed her a couple of bags, which she put the money in one and the phone in another. She handed them to one of the forensic workers.
“Why does she have this much cash in her drawer?” Addison spoke her thoughts. Robert didn’t say anything.
“We better go and talk to those neighbours and head back to the station as soon as possible.” He finally said. Addison nodded following his orders.
Chapter Three
7th April 2016
Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Addison stood behind Robert as he knocked on the door of Wendy’s neighbour. They could hear a boisterous woman as her footsteps echoed as she rushed to the door.
“What is it now?” she interrogated the two detectives through the door.
“I’m Detective Chief Inspector Robert Arrows and this is my…” He paused. He glanced at Addison and she noticed his hesitation. “This is Detective Sergeant Addison McCain,” Robert said. The woman finally opened the door.
“I’m Susan Richards. You’ve had people knocking on my door all morning.” The woman said as put her arm out guiding them through the hallway.
Addison glared at Robert as he walked through first. She turned her attention to all the photos that were hanging on the wall. She noticed the young boy she had seen at the window earlier this morning.
“Sorry for barging in on you like this,” Robert started. “We are double checking on some inquiries we have about Wendy Willis. How well did you know their family?” Robert asked. Robert and Addison walked into a large living room, the woman offered them a seat. Addison sat down as Robert stood with his hands in his pockets.
“Would you like a drink?” The woman asked.
“No thank you,” Robert replied. “But I would like you to help us understand your relationship with Wendy. Did you know her well?” Robert carried on.
“We’ve lived in this house for fifteen years, they moved in next door about five years ago. Trouble always came knocking on her door.” Susan said.
“What trouble?” Addison chimed.
“She’s always shouting, arguing, I’m sure she threw her sister out the other day,” Susan recalled.
“Where is your son Mrs. Richards?” Addison asked.
“He’s upstairs, didn’t want to go to school today because of what happened to that family. He’s been silent all morning.”
“Do you mind if I went up to try to talk to him?”
“Be my guest, it’s the first door on the left. You can’t miss it.” Susan waved her hand dismissing her. Addison got up from the sofa and headed upstairs. She heard Robert carry on with their conversation as she left the room. She headed down the hallway and stopped outside his door, with a sign which said keep out. Addison knocked on the door and waited for a response, though it didn’t come, she still entered his room anyway. When she entered the room, the boy was laying on his bed looking up at the ceiling. Addison saw a big poster of the football team West Ham. His room was blue with a few other posters on his wall. He had a shelf of football trophies. She noticed a desktop in the corner of his room, there was a screen saver of football players from West Ham.
“Are Anna and Jake… are they… I mean…” The boy swallowed hard.
“They are in the hospital, traumatized by what’s happened, but they are okay,” Addison told him. She watched him let out a sigh of relief. “May I?” She asked nodding to the seat next to his bed, the boy shrugged his shoulders, so Addison sat in the seat anyway.
“Do you know why I’m here?” She asked. Again, the boy shrugged his shoulders. She leaned forward which caught his attention. “You saw me this morning, through that window, didn’t you?” Addison asked.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“I’m Detective McCain, but you can call me Addison, my friends do.” She said. She pulled out her ID card from her pocket and showed him. She leaned forward again handing him her ID card. He took and studied it.
“This is pretty cool and heavier than I thought it would be.” He smiled.
“What’s your name?” She asked. He handed her the card back which she put back into her pocket.
“My name’s Joey and I did see you by the window.” He confessed.
“Are you friends with Anna?”
“I am, though my mother doesn’t like it.”
“Why?”
“She doesn’t like Anna’s mum because she’s always shouting. We hear them all the time.” He told her.
“Was there any shouting last night?” Addison asked but he shook his head. “Did you look out of your window at any time last night?”
Joey sat in silence, glancing towards the window. He nodded his head and got up from his bed. Addison watched as he moved towards it. She got up from her seat and stepped behind him, looking across to the house next door. She could see right through his window and into the familiar scene of Anna’s bedroom.
“Did you know Anna can do sign language?” Joey smiled. Addison realized that he liked Anna. She shook her head. He started doing a signal with his hands. “That means ‘I can see you’.” Joey showed her. Addison smiled and did a hand gesture back to him.
“You know sign language?” Joey lit up.
“I had a very good friend when I was younger who was deaf, so I took a course in sign language, so she could communicate with me better. I did it for her.” Addison confessed. “Has Anna ever told you where she learned sign language?”
“She told me it was a club after school that she was doing it from. She loved it. She has a cousin who is deaf, and she wanted to learn how to do it.” Joey told Addison. “Anna would flash her torch into my room and I would come to the window. She signed that to me every night.”
“And last night?”
“It was just after nine when she flashed her light in my room.”
“How did she seem?” Addison asked.
“She seemed fine. But once the storm started to settle later in the night, I had got up to go to the toilet last night and I peeked through the window.” Joey paused and glanced back at Addison behind him. He turned his full body to face her. “I saw someone at her window wearing a black mask.” He said.
“Did you see anything that stood out, the colour of their eyes, tall or short?” She asked.
“Well, they seemed very tall. I would assume it was a man, he took up all the window frame when I saw him standing there. I couldn’t see their eyes, it was too far and dark.” Joey told her. She patted him on the shoulder and he made his way back to his bed. He sat on the end of it while Addison sat back in her seat. “Anna is going to have a tough time through this and she will need her friends. I believe she might be going to her fathers, but you can contact her. I think she’ll need you.” Addison told him.
“Thank you, Detective,” he smiled.
“You support West Ham?” Addison asked. Joey nodded. “I support West Ham too.” She smiled.
“Really?” Joey’s face lit up.
“I was a big fan of Teddy Sheringham, do you know who that is?”
“Of course, I know him,” Joey replied.
“I have two signed shirts from him. I only need one.” Addison smiled. Joey leaped up from his bed. “Would you like it?” She asked.
“Hell yeah, I would love that. That’s amazing, you are really cool.” Joey laughed.
“No worries, I’ll get it to you as soon as I can. But if you remember anything at all from last night don’t be afraid to contact me, this is my card.” Addison handed it to him. She went to leave his room when she saw a football to the side of his door. Addison kicked the ball up with her foot and started to do kick-ups. Joey watched in amazement as she kept it up. She gently knocked the ball in Joey’s direction and he put his hands out to catch it. He smiled when she finally left. She headed back down the stairs and Robert was pacing around the living room.
“Did he say anything to you?” Susan asked.
“We talked, I think he’ll be okay. You have raised a good son, Mrs. Richards.” Addison said. Robert shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded to her.
“If you have anything you remember or can tell us that will help us with this investigation, please call us,” Robert said as he handed one of his own cards to her. Susan took it and nodded. She let them out of the house closing the door behind them.
“So, what did the kid say?” Robert asked.
“Well, he saw the killer, but he was wearing a mask. But he’s convinced it’s a man by the way he covered up the whole window frame. Or it could be a large woman. Also, Joey said that Anna knew how to do sign language.” Addison told him.
“Joey?”
“The kid,”
“Well, it’s something we can work on.” Robert nodded. “Come on, let’s get back to the station and find out who is Wendy’s next of kin.”
Chapter
Four
22nd March 1981
Brentwood, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Alan was in trouble again. No matter how bad it was, his little brother, Ian, always looked up to him. Their dad, Anthony was standing at the bottom of the staircase waiting for Alan to emerge from his bedroom
. Ian sat at the dinner table with his mum, Shirley placing the dishes and cutlery on the table, watching as Alan slowly descended the stairs. He saw Anthony tapping his foot, he knew what was coming. He didn’t know why his dad was angry at him, it’s not just one time. His dad is angry all the time. Alan braced himself for his dad’s wrath. He finally hit the bottom step and rolled his eyes when his dad stopped him.
“Alan Reed, didn’t I tell you to help Mrs. Hammerly with her garden next door after college today?” His voice was surprisingly calm. “What was so important that you didn’t turn up? You didn’t even let her know, she was upset when she came to me!”
“I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,” Alan replied.
“Well…”
“Well, what?”
“What was more important?” Anthony studied him. His dad never understood what Alan was going through, he never cared about his son. He always cared about himself.
“That’s none of your business.” Alan shrugged his shoulders and then crossed his arms over his chest.
“Excuse me?”
“Anthony, please just leave it. The dinner will get cold.” Shirley said as she sat at the dinner table. Alan glanced over at them and Ian signaled him to sit next to him.
“We will carry this on later,” Anthony said as he moved to the spot next to Ian and sat down. He glanced down at his younger son and ruffled his hair, but Ian watched Alan as he sauntered to the seat opposite his mum. Alan glanced and winked at his little brother as they started to tuck into their food. Ian beamed as he shoved his first spoonful of dinner into his mouth. There were exchanged glances but nothing else was said.
Shirley was in the kitchen washing the dishes after everyone had demolished their food. Alan locked himself in his bedroom trying to avoid his dad. There was a soft knock on the door, he was expecting it to be him, but it wasn’t. He opened the door to find Ian standing there.
“What’s wrong Ian?”