The Man in the House

by Emmy Ellis

  “Good thinking,” Helena said. “Phil, I want you to get hold of the CCTV in the area of the flats, if there is any. Also check the camera feed from outside the building—we need to see what went on there. Suzie can’t have left via the front door because a copper was out there. I’m going now, so get hold of me if you find anything, either of you.”

  “Got it, guv,” Phil said.

  Olivia smiled then faced her screen again.

  Helena left the room and marched down the corridor. She tapped on the loo door. “Andy?”

  “Yep…”

  “Are you going to be long? Suzie’s gone missing.”

  “Oh. Jesus. Um…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Andy coughed. “I’m…err…having trouble getting off the loo.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “My legs. They’ve seized up on me.”

  She laughed, and it felt good and wicked at the same time. “You think this is bad. Wait until tomorrow, matey.”

  “Don’t say that…”

  “Grit your teeth and stand. We have to go. Get a move on.” She leant against the wall and browsed Facebook. She had a Messenger alert so switched apps and had a look. One of her old colleagues who’d left Smaltern for Sunderland had sent a joke—a dark one about death—and she couldn’t bring herself to giggle about it. Not today. She slid her phone away, and the sudden sound of the hand dryer had her jumping.

  Andy ambled out of the loo on stiff legs, a frown in place.

  “Oh, you poor thing,” she said. “Those stairs are going to hurt. Come on.”

  She drove to the flats, and Helena had to park up the road a bit. A police car and a SOCO van hogged the spaces directly outside. Helena covered her hand with her sleeve and pushed the door open, then stepped into the foyer. Clive came up to her.

  “What on earth happened?” she asked, taking blue booties and a pair of gloves out of a cardboard box beside the door.

  Clive’s expression was grim. “If I’d have been here…” He shook his head. “When I arrived, Kelvin said nothing was amiss, so I just let him go home. I went in to check on everyone…”

  Helena popped the booties on. “Louise told me. So what the fuck happened out the back?” She snapped the gloves in place.

  “Come and have a look.” Clive opened the flat door. “By the way, two uniforms are off talking to the neighbours. There are six flats in this block, then they’ll go out in the street and knock at the houses.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  Andy said, “Ouch!” under his breath a couple of times while bending down to sort his booties.

  Helena nudged him in the ribs as Clive went into the flat. “Stop griping, man.”

  They went inside.

  In the kitchen, Helena said, “That utensil drawer is open. Is there a list of what’s in these places?”

  “No idea,” Clive said. “I’ll make a call in a bit and check, but I think you’ll find it’s a knife.”

  “Shit.”

  She followed him outside, Andy waddling beside her pulling on his gloves, and Clive pointed to the knife. It was on the path, the blade and black handle clean as far as she could tell, the type used for bread with a serrated edge. A pool of blood was nearby on the path. She glanced up, and the blood on the wall had her closing her eyes for a brief moment.

  “SOCO have already taken a swab of that and bagged Suzie’s toothbrush for DNA testing,” Clive said. “Probably safe to say it’s hers, considering what happened to her sisters.”

  Helena’s heart actually hurt. This was so sodding awful. “Christ. That blood on the path…there’s so much. I’d say she, or whoever, was stabbed repeatedly.”

  Could Suzie have shanked the person who had killed her sisters, then run off, frightened about what she’d done? Helena wouldn’t blame her if she had.

  “The blood trail leads to the grass, as you can see,” Clive said.

  Helena stared at it. SOCO were on hands and knees, clearly hoping to find more blood so they could see where it went. She studied the garden. Just grass surrounded by a fence, although a couple of slats to the right were broken, and another four completely missing.

  “Did you check over there?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” Clive said. “It all went a bit Pete Tong once I realised she’d gone AWOL.”

  She guessed he meant ringing it in and making sure Robbie and the lads went in with Jacob. “Okay, then that’s the next job.”

  She picked her way over the grass, doing her best to skirt the direct line from the path to the fence. “This’ll sting your leg muscles when you climb through,” she said to Andy.

  “I’m looking forward to it.” The sarcasm was dripping.

  She smiled and stepped over a low horizontal beam the fence slats were nailed to.

  On the other side was a copse of sorts, with a bare strip made on the ground where people had obviously taken shortcuts to get through to the garden. Trees minus their leaves stood either side, their branches stretching overhead to create an arthritic-fingered canopy.

  “Christ alive,” Andy said, staggering through the hole in the fence.

  “Oh, be quiet, you baby.”

  Helena peered between the array of slender tree trunks to the left. Nothing. She turned her head at the same time that Andy said, “Fuck me…”

  “What?” she said.

  “Through there, look.”

  She faced ahead. A path snaked into the distance, slicing a field in half. Because of the trees surrounding her, only a foot was in view, the heel resting on the path, the rest of her hidden behind the shield of branches. Helena moved forward, to the edge of the tree line, and there was Suzie to the right, flat on her back. A picnic blanket was beneath her, red-and-green tartan, and a pink plastic bowl with strawberries in it sat to one side.

  What the bloody hell?

  The cowhide print on her pyjama bottoms had Helena wanting to cry. A large bloodstain covered what she thought was a smiling cow’s face on the cami top, although she couldn’t be sure. Her mouth had been sewn up with purple thread, and Helena didn’t need to guess where else it had been used.

  What will be inside her?

  “Oh, Suzie…” She wanted to tell the dead woman that if she’d just opened up and spoken to her, she’d still be alive now.

  “Oh, bugger me,” Andy said, coming to stand beside Helena. “Her neck… I’ll um…I’ll ring for Zach.”

  “Ask for more SOCOs,” she said.

  Andy walked down the path, taking his phone out, keeping his back to the body.

  Helena’s eyes stung. To stop herself from getting emotional, she scouted the area. The land on the left led to the cliff edge, so CCTV wasn’t something they could check here. The faint sound of an angry sea shushed, and she imagined the killer dragging Suzie through the fence, dumping her, then bolting along the path, entering town from the outskirts somewhere in the distance.

  She swung her attention back to Suzie. “Who did this to you, love?”

  Andy called, “Zach’s on his way.”

  Helena nodded. It seemed years ago she’d gone out for a drink with him. “We may as well go back through and speak to Robbie. Jacob, too. God, those poor little lads without their mother now.”

  Andy sighed. “I’d say watch how we go through the fence, but I didn’t see any blood on it, did you?”

  “No. Still, it might be microscopic, so best to be careful anyway.”

  She entered the tree area, mindful now of where she was walking. In the garden, she caught sight of Tom right over the other side. He was crouching, staring at the path.

  “Tom?” she called.

  He turned his head and lowered his face mask. “Morning.”

  “She’s that way,” she said, pointing to the broken slats. “Can you get a couple of others to go out there? She shouldn’t be left alone. Someone might come along walking their bloody dog.”

  Tom got up and strode to her, and she stepped onto the path. Beside her,
a blind covered a window and a curtain had been drawn across a door.

  “Do you know whether there’s easier access to those fields?” she asked. “It’s going to be tough getting a tent and whatever through the fence gap.”

  Tom peered over there. “We’ll just have to take more slats off. I’ll get that sorted in a second.”

  “Okay. We’re going in to talk to the brother and the husband, so can you direct Zach where to go once he gets here?”

  “Will do.” Tom walked off and tapped a colleague on the shoulder.

  They both climbed through the fence.

  Helena made eye contact with Andy, who was pale as anything.

  “This is fucking shit,” he said.

  “I know.” Helena grimaced. “And we’ve got to clean it up.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Outside Jacob’s flat, Helena and Andy took off their gloves and booties. She didn’t want them knowing it was this serious until they’d answered a few questions.

  Clive unlocked the door and whispered, “Dave Lund is in there with them. I thought it best they had a FLO as soon as possible. Plus, I wanted to make sure they didn’t look out of the windows at the back and see anything.”

  “Thanks,” Helena said.

  She entered, Andy behind her. After the door closed, she looked down the hallway, and Dave popped his head out of the living room.

  “Guv,” he said.

  She beckoned him with a curled finger. He walked up to her and lowered his eyebrows.

  “We’ve found her,” she whispered.

  “Alive?” Dave asked.

  Helena shook her head.

  “God…” Dave blew out a long breath.

  “How are they?” she asked quietly, shifting her eyes in the direction of the living room.

  “Panicked at first, now they’ve gone quiet.” He kept his voice low.

  Helena had to lean in to hear him properly. “Panicked—in what way?”

  “Jacob’s been doing a lot of shouting, which hasn’t helped keep the kids calm. Robbie’s just standing there staring out of the window.”

  “What about the boys?”

  “They’re at the table colouring in. They seem a bit spaced out now, to be honest.” Dave rubbed his forehead. “It’s going to be a tough one, helping them through this.”

  “It’s what you do best, though,” she said and patted his arm. “I’m going to need to speak to them individually, so I’ll use one of the bedrooms. I don’t want them having an excuse to open the curtains and look out of the kitchen window.”

  Dave nodded, and she trailed him down the hallway into the living room.

  Jacob was eating a chocolate cheesecake straight from the foil tray. Robbie gazed out into the street through the nets.

  “Have you found her?” Jacob asked, pausing with his spoon halfway to his mouth.

  How could she answer that? “I need to speak to you both.” She flashed her gaze to Robbie. “Who would like to go first?”

  Jacob placed the cheesecake on the sofa arm and stood. “Me. Robbie needs a bit more time.”

  “I’m afraid that’s something we don’t have.” Helena left the room, opening a door farther down. A bedroom, the one Jacob had been using. The blue bedding was in disarray, one pillow bearing the dent of his head.

  She held the door open, and Jacob shuffled past, his eyes red, cheeks blotchy. The civilian in her wanted to hug him, but the copper told her to keep her distance. Andy went in next, and while Jacob plopped onto the bed, she closed the door.

  She remained in front of it. Andy stood by the window, glancing out.

  “Tell me the order of events this morning from your point of view,” Helena said.

  Jacob massaged his temples in a circular motion. “I woke up early to knocking. I don’t know what time it was, because I don’t have a watch, and that copper took my phone. But it was dark, I know that. The knock sounded far away, so I didn’t think anything of it and went back to sleep right away. Next thing I know, there’s Clive at the door right there, asking me if I’ve seen Suzie. I haven’t seen her since we came here—I left her to it because I was upset and didn’t want her worrying about me. What’s going on?”

  Helena chose to ignore his question. “Is there anything else you can think of that might be relevant?”

  He shook his head, twisting his fingers in the hem of his white T-shirt. “No. Like I said, the knocking, but I zonked out again.”

  “Do you know whether a tartan blanket, a pink bowl, and strawberries has anything to do with Suzie?”

  “What the fucking hell are you on about?” He stared at her as though she’d gone mad.

  “Okay. We’ll leave it there. If you can go and ask Robbie to come in?”

  Jacob left the room, and a moment later, Robbie appeared, going to stand by Andy. Was he looking for Suzie outside, hoping she’d walk down the street? God, what an utter shame.

  “Robbie, can you tell me a bit about your family’s movements last night and this morning, please?”

  He didn’t turn to face her. “We had a takeaway. Kelvin ordered one in for us. Chinese. Then we bathed the kids, and they went to bed at eight. They were good, which is unusual. I think they’re keeping quiet because they know something’s going on.”

  Helena waited while he scrubbed a hand through his hair.

  “We watched a bit of telly,” he said. “Some documentary, and although I say watched, we didn’t really. It was on for background noise. Suzie was upset about Callie and Emma, and she had a good cry. At one point, she mumbled something like, ‘He’s not going to stop…’ I asked her what she meant by that, and she said, ‘I just want this to stop.’ It wasn’t what she’d said at all, but I didn’t push her. I thought she might tell me in her own time later down the line.”

  “Do you have any idea who ‘he’ is?” Helena asked, excitement building at possibly having a lead.

  “No bloody clue, but I got the feeling she knows something. Like, why didn’t she tell me about the nail varnish and flowers? Why would she have kept that from me? Wouldn’t that be something she would have told me?” He pinched his chin.

  Helena couldn’t help him there. “What happened then?”

  “We went to bed about ten. I stayed awake until I knew Suzie was asleep. I didn’t want to drop off and leave her awake in case she needed me to talk to. That was around eleven. My eyes were drooping about twelve, so I went to sleep. We both tossed and turned—her fidgeting woke me up, and I was worried she was going through it a bit, you know, being upset. Last time I checked my watch it was four. I slept again, then Clive came in, asking if we were all right, and I saw Suzie wasn’t in bed. Oh Christ…” He hiccoughed a sob.

  “Take your time.”

  He took a deep breath, blowing it out for what seemed ages. “We looked around the flat, but she wasn’t there. The kids woke up, what with us making a noise, and Clive told me to wait inside while he went to see Jacob. I was in the kitchen and spotted Clive out in the garden—he must have gone out there through Jacob’s—then he went back in. Next thing I know, he’s outside in the lobby. I listened at the front door, and he called it in that Suzie was missing and mentioned blood on the path. He wouldn’t tell me what it was about. What the hell am I meant to think? My head’s a fucking mess.”

  Helena swallowed. “Are you sure no one has a grudge against the sisters?”

  “No! I’m at a loss.” His bottom lip wobbled, and his red eyes watered.

  Poor bastard.

  “Does a tartan blanket, a pink bowl, and strawberries mean anything to you or Suzie?”

  “Are you having a sodding laugh?” He frowned. “Sorry. God. Listen, I’m really sorry, okay? I’m in bits here.”

  “Will you sit down, Robbie?” she asked gently, holding out her hand to indicate the bed.

  “I can’t sit. I need to watch out for Suzie coming back.”

  “She’s not coming back,” Helena said.

  “What do you mean?”
His mouth hung open.

  “I’m so very sorry to have to tell you, but we found Suzie’s body in the field out the back.”

  “What?” He blinked, over and over, tears spilling. His face crumpled, cheeks going red, then immediately white, and he staggered to the bed, lowering himself onto the edge. “I don’t…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  Andy glanced at Helena, and it seemed this was getting to him. Too much emotion. Too much to happen to one family.

  “She’s deceased, Robbie,” Helena said. “Again, I’m so sorry.”

  “Dead? What, did she wander off out there and get cold? That hypothermia thing?”

  “I’m afraid not.” She bloody hated this part. “She was murdered.”

  “Eh?” He clutched at his hair, pulling it hard. “Who? Why? I don’t…I can’t…” Robbie shook his head and shot to his feet. He paced. “I just saw her in the night. It can’t be her. Are you sure it’s Suzie? Why would she go outside when she knows someone killed her sisters?”

  “Yes, we’re sure, and I don’t know why she’d have gone out there,” Helena said. “It’s something we’ll be looking into. We have so much to piece together. None of this makes sense to us either, so I understand why you’re confused.” She paused, watching Robbie for signs of an imminent breakdown.

  “Shit. The boys…” He rushed out of the room.

  Helena and Andy went after him and entered the living room. Robbie leant over the table between his sons, his arms around them, sobbing. The poor kids appeared bewildered, and Helena turned to Jacob.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “It’s Suzie,” Robbie said.

  “Come into the kitchen, Jacob.” She berated herself for suggesting that room.

  He came in after her and Andy. It was dark, what with the blind and curtain blocking the sun, so she flicked on the light then shut the door.

  Round two.

  “I’m so sorry, Jacob, but Suzie’s body has been found.” She clasped her hands in front of her.