by Mel Sherratt
Eden smiled, not quite understanding until she spotted a box full of bandages, vitamin drinks and prescription medicines crammed into the space on the landing.
‘The police are here,’ Mr Booth told his wife. ‘Though I don’t know what they want with us. We never heard or saw anything, did we?’
A woman batted him away with a hand and looked up at Eden. ‘Don’t take any notice of him,’ she said. ‘He can’t see anything without his glasses.’ She pulled her dressing gown around her chest a little. ‘I can tell you what you need to know. Come, sit. Roy, make us a cuppa, would you, there’s a love.’
Before Eden could speak, Roy had shuffled out again.
Mrs Booth was in one of two single beds crammed in the room. It had been made to look as homely as possible with a television and comfy armchair.
‘I have late-stage cancer,’ she told Eden. ‘Not long to go now, but I’ll be damned if I’m going without a fight.’
Eden warmed to her instantly. ‘I admire your spirit, Mrs Booth,’ she told her.
‘Call me Elsie.’ She beckoned her over to the bed. ‘Please, sit here.’
Once Eden was sitting down, notebook poised, Elsie could hardly contain herself.
‘I’m sorry, Detective, but as much as I like Ramona, this is the most excitement I’ve had in my life for some time.’ She sighed. ‘Being confined to this room is very similar to having a prison sentence, I can tell you. I’ve been unable to make the stairs for some time now, but I can walk a little. I pace the length of the room and back again. I’m on the waiting list for a stair lift. The housing association wants us to move, but I’m not doing that again.’
‘You waved to catch our attention. Can you tell me anything about last night, Elsie?’ Eden asked, desperate to move things on.
‘Yes, I was still up when I heard a commotion. Roy must have been asleep on the sofa in the living room, as try as I might, I couldn’t get his attention. I shouted but he didn’t hear me above the sound of the television. He wasn’t even watching it, silly man.’
‘Are you talking about me again, Elsie?’ Roy came into the room with a tray, two cups and saucers and a plate of digestive biscuits.
Elsie smiled at him. ‘Yes, how did you know?’
‘Tea, Sergeant?’
‘Not for me thanks.’ Eden smiled at him too.
‘He’d shut me in here,’ said Elsie. ‘He often does that, you know.’
‘It’s only because you say that I have the TV on too loud,’ he said as he walked out of the room.
‘Fibber. I should report you to social services for cruelty.’ Elsie’s eyes twinkled.
Eden sat up straighter. ‘Go on,’ she urged.
‘Well, it might be something or nothing as I often hear shouting and screaming at night time. There are some noisy buggers in this street, I can tell you. I was sitting in my chair, knitting, when I heard a scream. It took me a while to get to the window, and when I opened it, it was all quiet again. I thought nothing more about it until I heard that poor Ramona had been attacked.’
‘Did you hear anything else?’
Elsie shook her head. ‘I did see someone running down the walkway though.’
‘What time would this be?’ Eden asked, thinking back to the footprints she’d spotted by the hedge.
‘Around half past twelve.’
Eden stood up and went to look out of the window. She had a clear view of the garages and the walkway that she’d walked along earlier.
‘It takes you back to Davy Road,’ Elsie told her.
‘Yes, I—’ Eden glanced at the old woman. ‘I don’t mean to be disrespectful, Elsie, but that road is a good twenty metres away, and it was dark.’
Elsie smiled and pointed at the window. ‘Look behind that curtain.’
Eden pulled it aside to see a pair of binoculars.
‘Don’t tell anyone, will you,’ said Elsie, ‘but I have to find something to do when I’m stuck in this room all day and night.’
‘But it was dark.’
‘Now, my dear, look across to the square again and tell me what you see.’
Eden looked but could see nothing.
‘Look up,’ Elsie encouraged.
It was then she saw what she needed to. ‘Floodlights.’
‘It’s the community centre. Everyone has been complaining about them for months because they’re so bright, and keeping them awake at night, but not me. They give me a bird’s-eye view all the time.’
‘What did you see?’ Eden turned back to her.
‘I think it was a man. He ran to the end of the entry and got into a taxi. Then he drove off.’
‘He had a taxi waiting for him?’ Eden’s brow furrowed. This could be another link if the man had used EveryDay Taxis. It was certainly a first for her where an attacker had used such a vehicle for a getaway. Then her eyes widened as she clicked. ‘Are you saying he was the driver?’
Elsie nodded.
‘Can you recall which firm it was?’
‘Warbury Cars.’
Eden knew the firm well. They were in the north side of the city and weren’t known to rip off their clients, so there were no shouts or bust-ups after someone had been dropped off and then didn’t want to pay their fare. They had a good reputation for driving lone females in safety to their destinations. Eden hadn’t had any trouble with them really. A frisson of excitement bubbled up inside of her at the realisation that they might have another lead.
‘Elsie, you’ve been most helpful.’ Eden handed her a card. ‘If you remember anything else, please don’t hesitate to call.’
Roy knocked on the door and came into the room. ‘You done yet?’ he asked. ‘Only, Elsie’s carer is due.’
‘Yes, thanks.’ Eden smiled at him.
‘I’ve been telling this nice young lady what I saw last night,’ Elsie told him.
‘I bet it wasn’t worth knowing. You see, Sergeant, Elsie loves to chat but never really says anything useful.’
Elsie looked outraged but Eden caught him winking at her and saw Elsie’s demeanour soften. Biting the inside of her lip, she stopped herself from breaking out into a smile. She loved nothing more than seeing couples who had been together for years bickering with each other but equally still so much in love with each other. She questioned if she’d ever feel like that, given her current predicament.
‘On the contrary,’ Eden decided to play along, ‘I think Elsie has given us a great lead to be going on with.’
‘Good for something then,’ Elsie said, beaming, ‘even in this sorry state.’
Once outside, Eden texted Amy to say she would be half an hour. There would a press conference soon, and she wanted to be back as soon as possible to see what that yielded, but first she was going to pay a visit to Warbury Cars.
Chapter Forty
Warbury Cars was in a new-build office block and was a much better set-up than EveryDay Taxis. Eden introduced herself at reception and was shown into a large, airy office. A young man with short, spiky hair and waxed eyebrows sat in front of her. His skin was tanned, showing sparkling white teeth when he smiled, but there didn’t seem a hint of poser about him other than the fact that he looked after himself. He didn’t seem much older than Jordan, yet Eden noticed his suit was retro sixties and his cup had all mod cons written on it. She liked him immediately.
‘I’m the owner, Matt Turner.’ He proffered a manicured hand. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘Do you have a driver working here named Scott Daniels, or Aiden Daniels?’
‘Scott Daniels.’
Eden showed him the photocopied image she’d got from EveryDay Taxis. ‘Is this him?’
Matt took the paper from her and nodded. ‘Yes, he started last night on a trial.’
‘Do you have his DBS?’
‘Yes. Why? Is something wrong?’
‘We’re looking into an incident,’ said Eden. ‘Did he come with any references?’
Matt wheeled his chair across the office
while he sat in it and opened a small metal filing cabinet. He rifled through until he found what he wanted. Another brown paper file.
‘So he was working for you last night?’ Eden asked as he looked at it in more detail.
‘Yes.’
‘Times?’
‘Four thirty until 2 a.m.’
‘And are you aware that he’s working for EveryDay Taxis too?’
Matt shook his head. ‘I wasn’t, no.’
‘Do you provide your drivers with a cab?’
Matt nodded this time. ‘We have a few pool cars. Business is taking off now so we’re looking to hire more drivers on a permanent basis. They’ll lease the vehicles from us then.’
‘Do you have a list of fares he took?’
‘I can print them off for you.’
‘And GPS? Or a taxi app? You have that too?’
‘Yes. GPS.’ He pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and a printer whirred behind them, spewing out the necessary document seconds later.
‘Can you tell me where he was between midnight and 12.45 a.m., please?’ Eden asked.
‘He was parked up in Davy Road, on the Mitchell Estate.’
The hair on Eden’s neck rose and she sat forward.
‘He was due a break at midnight, but I’m not sure why he didn’t move again for forty-five minutes. I was going to have a word with him about it today.’
Eden fumed inwardly as she took the papers from him.
‘Is there anything I should know?’ he asked. ‘I don’t want anyone to put my clients in danger.’ He paled. ‘This isn’t anything to do with the guy in the news who’s attacking women, is it?’
‘We can’t be certain but it is a possibility. The man you employed isn’t named Scott Daniels. We think he’s Aiden Daniels.’
Matt paled, seemingly shrinking in his chair. ‘So the DBS is a fake?’
‘No, it belongs to his brother, Scott. We’ve found out he’s been using his identity.’
‘Well I won’t be using him again,’ he said.
Eden left the building and went to collect Amy from doing house-to-house in Bernard Place. She was going to blow a gasket if she didn’t get back to the station soon.
Chapter Forty-One
Eden could hardly contain her temper as she drove back with Amy once she’d collected her from Bernard Place. She banged her hand on the steering wheel as she pulled up at traffic lights.
‘That bloody useless idiot,’ she seethed. ‘I gave him a simple job to do.’
‘He has been off sick, Sarge,’ Amy appeased.
‘Not an excuse in my eyes. Not when a woman has been raped.’
‘Oh, I don’t mean—’
Eden threw her an icy stare.
‘Uniform must have missed it too,’ Amy added.
‘Uniform shouldn’t have missed it either. That’s why we go out and check these things. We could just sit at our desks and email folk or ring them on the phone to tick off the boxes, but that’s why we visit. So that cock-ups like this don’t happen.’
At the station, Eden updated Sean and then asked to speak to Phil in the conference room.
The atmosphere was tense as Eden marched off, Phil close behind her. It took all of her strength not to slam the door shut after them. But she didn’t wait for Phil to sit down, nor did she invite him to.
‘The couple you interviewed last week after Christina Spencer was raped – Mr and Mrs Reynolds. They told you our suspect got into a taxi.’
‘Yes, that’s right,’ said Phil.
‘What did they tell you about him?’
‘That he was tall and small. They didn’t agree on anything, to be honest.’
‘Which door did he use?’
‘Sorry?’
‘The suspect! Which seat did they say he got into in the taxi?’
‘I don’t know.’ He shrugged. ‘I can’t see its relevance.’
‘That’s because your mind was probably on the next bloody horse race,’ Eden seethed. ‘So you never checked whether he got in the cab as a passenger or if he was the bloody driver?’
Phil flushed.
‘Well?’
‘No, I assumed he got in as a passenger.’
‘Well I suggest you get straight on to the phone to Mr and Mrs Reynolds and check. Because if it is our man, we didn’t pick him up quickly enough.’
‘I don’t see—’
‘I’ve just been to visit Warbury Cars. Aiden Daniels was doing a trial for them last night, working as Scott Daniels. His cab was stopped for forty-five minutes in Davy Road, the next street to where Ramona Wilson was raped. The times match. If you had realised it was the driver, then we could have questioned him more in relation to Christina Spencer. The CCTV footage wouldn’t have taken so much time to look at, and we could have searched his car. As it is, a number of drivers will have used it since, so any evidence will be contaminated. Why didn’t you think to ask?’ Eden stepped closer to him and stabbed a finger in his shoulder. ‘Because of you, Ramona Wilson was raped. We might have caught him before he attacked again.’ Eden couldn’t even take pleasure in watching him squirm. ‘I’ve just spoken to a witness who saw a man running away after Ramona was attacked. Now, if a member of the public can give me the information that he got into the driver’s seat, why the hell can’t you?’
‘Sorry, Sarge.’ Phil’s eyes darted around the room before landing back on hers. ‘They were always swapping and changing what they said. They told me Christina was in the back of the car and then the front.’
‘She was!’
Phil hung his head. There were wet patches beginning to form under his armpits, the sweat sinking into his white shirt.
‘Sorry doesn’t cut it, Phil,’ Eden snapped. ‘Now go and ring Mr and Mrs Reynolds. And after that, you can source the CCTV footage of the night in question and look at it again. Because you’ve missed that too, haven’t you? No one was picked up on the street, but you should have spotted the taxi.’
‘I—’
‘I gave you two jobs to do – two – and you fucked them both up.’ Eden left him in the room and went back to her desk.
Amy pointed at her screen. ‘That’s the taxi, driving away at 8.20 p.m., just after Christina Spencer was attacked. Daniels never picked anyone up. I can’t see the driver clearly enough to be certain it was him though as he’s wearing a baseball cap and keeping his face hidden. Shall I get the image enhanced?’
‘Thanks, Amy.’ She felt someone standing near her and turned to look. ‘What?’
Phil stood at her side, his chin almost touching the floor. ‘I’ve just spoken to Mr Reynolds and our suspect was the driver.’
‘You idiot,’ muttered Amy.
Eden couldn’t trust herself to say anything to him. ‘Amy, can you check in with Jordan, see what he’s found out in Manchester? See if any of the girls from there had a lift home or caught a taxi, not long before they were assaulted. Here too. And cross-reference with what was found on Market Street. Also, can you check through the CCTV footage to see where that taxi goes and mark down the times etc., please? Phil,’ she glanced at the clock on the wall, ‘time for you to finish today, don’t you think?’
‘I’ll stay over, if you don’t mind.’
Eden slammed a hand on her desk. ‘Yeah, I do mind.’
People around her stopped what they were doing. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again. The man was older than her and he was looking sheepish. No matter how angry she was, enough was enough.
‘If you want to do something useful, you can help with the details for Ramona’s attack. The press conference brought in a deluge of calls. There are logs to check from EveryDay Taxis. There’s lots of stuff that needs cross-referencing, actioning and checking over.’
‘Yes, boss.’ Phil nodded and scuttled off to his desk.
Eden returned to the CCTV footage. Now was not the time to get into another slanging match. They had work to do. She went to have a word with Sean. They needed to bri
ng Daniels in for questioning.
Twelve Years Ago
I never managed to escape Ryan’s clutches and continued to live in a relationship that was hot and cold. One minute everything would be fine – the next, chaos would rule.
I did try to leave once. He came round to my parents’ home, nice as pie, saying he was sorry. He’d been so convincing that my father wondered if I’d imagined what had been happening, that I’d somehow ramped it up for added effect.
My mum had been outraged at his suggestion and had sent him to the shops so that she could cool down and talk to me about it. No one had seen the bruises until then. Once I had shown my mum what was hidden under my clothes, she must have had a word with Dad, as he never mentioned it again but hung his head in shame when he next saw me and gave me a hug. It was hard for me to trust him, but I think he just didn’t want to believe what had been happening. He’d rather have been in denial.
It was my worst fear when I found out I was pregnant again. Chloe was six at the time and was in school during the day so Ryan felt better about leaving me in the house alone during school hours. He’d managed to get a temporary labouring job and had started to stop off at the local pub on his way home, which I didn’t mind because it meant I spent less time with him too. And when he did finally come home, Chloe would be in bed and wouldn’t see him taking out his mood on me.
When it came to the crunch, I couldn’t tell him about the pregnancy. I knew what he would say. I was sure he wouldn’t want another child after how possessive he had become over Chloe. First he’d probably shout at me, saying it was all my fault that I got caught in the first place. The truth was, I had been very careful. I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but the doctor said that my recent bout of stomach flu could have caused my contraceptive to fail. And when Ryan wanted sex, he got it, whether or not I wanted to oblige.
I wasn’t sure what he would do. Would he try and make me get rid of the baby?