Rough Justice (Knight & Culverhouse Book 4)

by Adam Croft

  44

  Wendy, Steve and Debbie had got to Farnelsham in a little under ten minutes, beating the armed response unit they’d requested assist them. Wendy had asked them to hold back once they arrived and wait for further orders as she didn’t want them to spook the killer if he should be there.

  As the car pulled up, Debbie took a phone call. A few seconds later, she’d hung up and turned to Wendy.

  ‘Armed response are minutes away, apparently,’ Debbie said.

  Steve snorted. ‘I’ve heard that one before.’

  Wendy told Steve and Debbie to quietly make their way round to the other side of the lake and keep an eye out. It would take them a good few minutes to get round there, and she knew that splitting up probably wasn’t the best idea but it was better than leaving an area uncovered or waiting for back-up and risking Kyle Finney’s life.

  As she came into a clearing just before the lake, Wendy saw the white van parked up a little further round the lake between some large, thick bushes. She couldn’t make out the registration number at that distance, but she didn’t need to. She knew whoever was driving the van would’ve changed the plates again by now and she certainly didn’t believe it was a coincidence that a van identical to the one seen near the scene of the two previous murders was now parked up a hundred yards or so away from where she suspected Kyle Finney was hiding.

  She clenched her fists and muttered quietly to herself, willing the armed response unit to hurry up. She’d left her radio in her car and requested contact by text message only, not wanting to alert the killer with the sound of voices.

  The woods and the lake were almost silent, save for the sound of the occasional owl hooting in the trees or a fox or badger scurrying through the undergrowth. It was then that she saw the figure of Kyle Finney emerge from the boathouse, carrying what looked like a lilo, glinting under the moonlight.

  Her phone vibrated silently in her pocket. She pulled it out and masked the screen, stopping the light from casting any further, and read the message.

  At location. Making way to lake.

  They’d be a couple of minutes at the most, she reckoned. She looked up and saw Kyle paddling across the lake on the lilo. Fuck. He was heading to the other side of the lake. He could be ashore and gone by the time they got here.

  She quickly tapped out a text message to Steve and her finger hovered over the send button as she noticed the signal indicator blank out, to be replaced by the words No signal. Fuck. She looked up again. Kyle was almost at the shore. She squinted and tried to look further into the trees on the other side of the wood to see if she could spot Steve or Debbie, but realised they probably hadn’t made it round there yet. There was only one thing for it.

  As quickly as she could, she started to sprint around the lake in the other direction to the one Steve and Debbie had gone in. With any luck, a pincer movement might work.

  The leaves were soft underfoot, the recent rainfall meaning that her feet were almost silent on the ground — something she was immensely grateful for right now as she tried to concentrate on where her feet were landing, avoiding all manner of rocks and dips in the ground. As she came to another small clearing, she looked up in the direction of where Kyle had reached the shore. She wasn’t far away now, but she could see that someone else was closer. Someone very familiar, who was pointing what looked like a Taser at Kyle.

  45

  Wendy didn’t have time to think. Her instincts took over.

  ‘Grundy!’ she shouted, watching as the dark figure walking towards Kyle froze and slowly turned towards her. ‘Don’t do anything stupid, Robin. It’s over.’

  ‘Go away, Wendy,’ he called calmly. ‘I’m doing the world justice.’

  ‘You think that’s justice?’ she replied, hearing her voice echo off the trees and the surface of the lake. ‘It isn’t for us to decide, Robin. That’s for the courts.’

  ‘Oh, the courts do fuck all! Call it rough justice. Call it what you like. But the fact is it’s still justice. Because when it comes to scum like this,’ Robin shouted, jabbing his finger towards Kyle’s head, ‘there’s no justice other than complete extermination. You’ll never change, will you, Kyle?’

  Kyle said nothing, but stood calmly, seemingly resigned to his fate.

  ‘Put the Taser down, Robin,’ Wendy called. ‘There are firearms officers on their way. You’ll be surrounded within minutes and they won’t let you out in one piece. You know that.’

  ‘Then I’d better get a move on and get this done, hadn’t I?’ he said, stepping back and lifting his arm up in front of him, the Taser pointed back at Kyle Finney’s chest.

  Wendy calculated that Kyle would probably hit the ground within a second or so of Grundy pulling the trigger. After that, it would take only another couple of seconds for him to pull a knife and slit his throat. She was a good ten seconds’ sprint away. There was no way she could save Kyle’s life if she ran towards Grundy now.

  Grundy lifted his head and prepared to fire.

  Wendy watched helplessly as she saw what looked like a rock hurtle through the air and land with a sickening thud in the back of Grundy’s head. Barely a second later, Kyle Finney let out a blood-curdling yelp and collapsed to the floor.

  She was running towards him before she’d even realised what she was doing. As she got closer to the groaning heap that was Kyle Finney, she could see Robin Grundy laying motionless in the dirt, the blood beginning to pool around his head. Steve Wing came panting through the undergrowth, having only just caught up himself.

  ‘What the hell happened?’ Steve said, huffing and puffing as he spoke.

  The voice came unexpectedly as the figure of Jack Culverhouse stepped out from the shadows. ‘Not half as satisfying as if it had been Malcolm Pope, but it’ll do.’

  46

  Wendy had held off from asking Culverhouse the obvious questions for as long as she could, but now she was fit to burst. It had been two days since the events at Farnelsham and their relaxed chat over a drink at the Prince Albert seemed like the ideal time to bring it up and clear the air.

  ‘Guv, how did you know?’ she asked, getting straight to the point.

  ‘I didn’t,’ he replied. ‘Not for certain. But I had a pretty good idea. Kyle had those photos out when we went round to nick him a couple of years back. Later on, he told the therapists about the boat house and how him and his brother had played there when they were younger. He was obsessed with the place. It was the only place he felt safe. I guessed that was probably where he’d gone to.’

  ‘But how?’ Wendy asked.

  ‘How did I get there? Taxi. You think I was in any fucking fit state to drive? It all started to make sense after you came round and mentioned the ViSOR thing. After you left, I remembered exactly why I’d done the search that day. It was because Robin Grundy had asked me to. Once I realised what that meant, there was no fucking way I was going to let him get away with using me like that.’

  Wendy swallowed, still not quite understanding. ‘But you said you wanted to shake the hand of whoever was doing the killings. Why would you want to stop him?’

  ‘He used me, Knight. Underhand tactics. He put my fucking job on the line to further his own agenda. And we both know what I think of pricks like that.’

  Wendy knew exactly who he was referring to. ’When did you know it was Grundy?’

  Culverhouse dropped his chin towards his chest. ‘Deep down? Probably before it even happened. Subconsciously, I mean. None of it made sense until you mentioned Kyle Finney, though. I hadn’t heard that name for a few months, but then I remembered where. Grundy asked about him, like it was some old familiar case he’d worked on. But then I realised he’d been long retired by then.’

  Wendy wanted to change the subject. ‘I’m not quite sure how many times you can come back from the brink like that,’ she said. ‘You’re getting on a bit now.’

  Culverhouse raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Got to keep people on their toes.’

 
Wendy smiled. ‘Having said that, though, the scotch doesn’t seem to have affected your aim, which is always good. Not sure Robin Grundy would agree, though.’

  He chuckled. ‘How is he?’

  ‘Not happy. Bloody great lump on the back of his head for a start. Probably thinking himself lucky he’s not Kyle Finney, though. They’re still trying to get the Taser prong out of his nipple.’

  Culverhouse let out a guffaw. ‘Not a total waste of time, then.’

  Wendy waited for Culverhouse to stop chuckling. She had to ask. ‘Guv, what happened with Grundy?’

  Culverhouse clenched his jaw. ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘You know what I mean. The ViSOR details. How did Grundy get the information?’

  Culverhouse took in a long, sharp breath. ‘Like I said. He used me. I’m not going to go into details right now, Knight. Besides which, it’s rude to ask things like that of your senior officers.’

  Wendy blinked. ‘You’re back?’

  ‘Of course I’m fucking back. Hawes is on the way out, isn’t it? He didn’t have much choice. Now he’s reinstated me it’ll be a fucking arseache for them to get rid of me after he’s gone. Smart move, really.’

  Now it was Wendy’s turn to chuckle. ‘Are you seriously telling me that the only reason you’re glad to be back on the force is because it means you’ll get one over on Malcolm Pope?’

  Culverhouse smiled. ‘Another drink?’

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  Thank you for reading Rough Justice. I hope it was as much fun for you as it was for me writing it.

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  Acknowledgements

  I know some eagle-eyed readers will still be frothing at the mouth because of the chapter where Malcolm Pope appears and details the changes he plans to make to Mildenheath CID. I spent the good part of a day agonising over whether to use ‘another think coming’ or ‘another thing coming’, but ultimately decided in favour of the latter because of its evolutionary and increasingly common usage. The uninterrupted flow of reading must always be the writer’s aim. If you disagree, tough. You can fight me for it.

  I’d also like to add a small note regarding the usage of certain terms and opinions, particularly in this book, which deals with some very sensitive subjects. I tend to write chapters and scenes from the point of view of a particular character or set of characters, and the opinions and terminology tend to be theirs. Please don’t assume I agree with them!

  There are a number of people I must thank for their help in researching this book:

  As always, ensuring the accuracy and credibility of the policing side of my books is very important. Of course, poetic and artistic licence has to be accounted for — sometimes in huge doses — but it would be impossible to even know where to begin without the ongoing help of David Parry, formerly of Leicestershire CID, who has been an invaluable sounding board over the past few years. I must also thank Bedfordshire Police and PC Matt Taylor in particular for allowing me to spend the day following him around, seeing what happens in the day of a frontline police officer and asking him all sorts of daft questions.

  To Jo Clarke for her very helpful information — particularly on district nurses in this book. She’s a vital source of information on anything medical and has helped me a number of times with research questions.

  To Dave Whitelegg, one of the UK’s foremost computer security experts, and who gave me a lot of his time and expertise in helping to ensure the online and dark web aspects of the book were credible and realistic.

  To Tim Bishop and Amanda Trappes-Lomax from Bonallack & Bishop Solicitors the information on property and probate law.

  I must also thank the people who helped me to understand what the real victims in this book must’ve gone through. I spoke to a number of victims of sexual harassment and assault, many of whom had extremely harrowing experiences of sexual abuse — and much worse — at the hands of relatives, parents and family friends. Writing a book has many difficult points, but hearing at first hand what those people went through can only be described as harrowing. Their honesty and bravery, though, was truly humbling and I cannot thank them enough for the time they gave me. Some, quite understandably, didn’t want to be named in this book, but of those who did I must thank RosaKiana Rossi and Bobbi Parish for the eye-opening insights they gave me.

  Thanks go to my fantastic team of beta readers — too many to mention by name now, but all hugely valued and appreciated — and also to my wife, who’s the first person to see anything I write, and who diligently makes sure the very worst bits never see the light of day.

  Last but not least, my biggest thanks go to the Apple store in Milton Keynes who booked my laptop in for repair at the end of September, forcing me to actually get off my backside and finish the first draft of this book before then.

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  Charlie Sparks had it all. A former primetime television personality, his outdated style has seen him relegated to the scrapheap.

  When he collapses and dies during a stand-up routine at a local pub, mysterious bystander Kempston Hardwick is compelled to investigate his suspicious death.

  As Hardwick begins to unravel the mystery, he quickly comes to realise that Charlie Sparks's death throws up more peculiar questions than answers.

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  More Knight & Culverhouse Thrillers

  Have you read the other Knight & Culverhouse thrillers?

  Too Close for Comfort (Knight & Culverhouse #1)

  DS Wendy Knight is Mildenheath CID’s newest murder squad recruit. In trying to solve the murder of Ella Barrington, a known prostitute, Wendy comes to realise that she has a serial killer on her hands.

  As the murder investigation continues, Wendy begins to suspect that her new love interest, Robert Ludford, may have more than a passing interest in the murders in Mildenheath. The complete truth, however, is a little too close for comfort...

  For more information, visit my website: adamcroft.net

  Guilty as Sin (Knight & Culverhouse #2)

  When seventeen-year-old Danielle Levy goes missing one lunchtime, DS Wendy Knight and DCI Jack Culverhouse believe they have a routine case on their hands.

  When a prominent local businessman is found dead in his warehouse, however, the case takes a whole new disturbing turn as Knight and Culverhouse begin to unravel the connections between the two cases which lead to a dark and disturbing secret.

  For more information, visit my website: adamcroft.net

  Jack Be Nimble (Knight & Culverhouse #3)

  A killer is loose on the streets of Mildenheath, and his barbaric crimes seem a little too familiar...

  As the body count begins to rise, DS Wendy Knight and DCI Jack Culverhouse start to realise that the killer is emulating the gruesome, grisly murders of the world's most famous and elusive serial killer: Jack the Ripper.

  With Culverhouse struggling to come to terms with his ex-wife's dramatic return after she disappeared eight and a half years earlier and Knight trying to cope with the trauma she’s suffered following d
evastating events of two previous cases, the race is on to stop the killer before he completes his final kill and retreats back into the darkness.

  They know he's going to kill again, but they don't know where or who his next victim will be. And what's worse, they don't know who he is either...

  For more information, visit my website: adamcroft.net