by M A Comley
“Just get it over with. If you’re going to kill me, then do it now. I’m begging you. Or don’t you have the guts to finish off what you’ve started?”
He clenched a fist, then punched her several times in the face. “Don’t ever question my abilities. Others have tried, and they’ve all ended up six feet under. Do you have any idea how many women I’ve killed in my life?”
The woman sobbed and refused to answer his question.
“A dozen or more. You tend to lose count after the first five or six. All of them like you, wealthy when you have no right to be. You’ve never worked a proper day’s work in your life, have you?”
“You don’t know me. You may think you do, but you have no idea what I do during the day or what I’ve worked as over the years. I don’t have to defend myself to the likes of you.”
“See, you’re full of bullshit and your own self-importance. You probably cry when you break one of your precious nails while you’re chopping up onions. Am I right?”
“How shallow do you think I am? You’re a buffoon. A money-grabbing waste of space.”
“Ha! We’ll see who the waste of space is around here, lady.” He picked up the large pruning saw he’d used the day before to hack the lower branches off an apple tree, and approached the woman.
“Let me go, and I promise I won’t say anything to the police.”
“Ain’t going to happen, lady.”
She opened her mouth to speak, and he thrust an oily rag in it, then he placed the jagged blade against her neck and began sawing through her flesh. She screamed, but only he heard her pitiful cries for help. Soon, the shed was filled with silence as her blood seeped from the gaping neck wound. He looked down at the state of his clothes and shrugged. “Another pile of clothes to be burnt later.” He laughed and continued the task of decapitating the annoying woman.
CHAPTER NINE
Lorne stumbled into work around eleven in the morning. She hadn’t slept the previous night and was into her twenty-eighth hour of being awake. DCI Roberts was in the incident room chatting with AJ when she entered. They both looked up at her as she walked towards them. She raised a hand to prevent either of them from speaking. “Don’t start. I need to be here. I have no intention of sitting at home, twiddling my damn thumbs. Sleep won’t be coming my way anytime soon, so Tony and I agreed it would be best for me to come in to work.”
“You’re bloody hopeless, Lorne Warner.” Roberts shook his head. “How are Charlie and her boyfriend?”
Lorne collapsed into a nearby chair and relayed the events of the incident. “So, now you understand why I need to be here. We need to catch this bastard before he does this to someone else.”
“While I agree with you on that score, we really shouldn’t take our eye off the ball concerning the murder and the possible abduction case we’re dealing with, Lorne. Why don’t you hand Charlie’s case over to another team?”
“Because I wouldn’t trust anyone else to investigate this bloke as thoroughly as I would or can.”
Roberts shrugged his shoulders. “How did I know you were going to say that?”
Lorne smiled. “Because you’re a genius and you know me better than you know yourself. I am, however, prepared to compromise.”
Roberts folded his arms. “Go on, I’m listening.”
“Would you be averse to Tony investigating what happened to Charlie?”
Roberts’s mouth twisted from side to side. “I don’t see any reason to be. Do you have any clues to go on?”
“Not yet. Charlie is certain that she would be able to point this man out in a line-up if we pull him in. Once Tony has located him, we can arrest him and get Forensics to run tests on his car.”
Roberts smirked. “Sounds like you have it all worked out, Inspector.”
“I might have thought the idea through on my way into work this morning,” she said, grinning broadly.
“Now that’s sorted, where are we at on the case? Any good leads come in from the media appeal?”
“This morning, AJ and I are going to visit the man we believe could be the husband of the victim. It’s a little later than anticipated, but I’d still like to visit the man before the traffic gets too bad.”
“You think he’s behind the abduction, Lorne?”
“I have no inclination either way yet, sir. He’s definitely on our radar, especially as we were led to believe that Mrs. Brinck was a spinster.”
“I see.” He turned to walk away and threw over his shoulder, “Keep me informed.”
Lorne sighed once Roberts was out of the room. “I need to down gallons of coffee before we venture out, AJ. Give me half an hour, all right?”
“Yes, boss. I’ve whittled the two possible Brincks down to the one in the East End, a Dan Brinck. The other one was Sandy Brinck, who turned out to be a female. I’m also going through the notes the nightshift has left us. Nothing new so far, just a lot of time-wasters.”
“Damn, hard to believe a woman can just disappear like that and no one knows where she is.” She stopped at the coffee machine on the way into the office then paused at the doorway to survey the mountain of post stacked on her desk. “Bloody hell, it’s never-ending.”
~ ~ ~
Later than expected, almost forty-five minutes later, AJ and Lorne left the station and headed over to the East End address they had for Dan Brinck. Lorne knocked on the door. They waited a few tense seconds before the door opened and a grey-haired gentleman studied them quizzically. “Can I help?”
Lorne and AJ showed their IDs. “DI Warner and DS Jackson, are you Mr. Dan Brinck?”
“I am. Police you say? What’s this about?”
“Is it all right if we come in for a moment, Mr. Brinck?”
He held open the door. “Of course… it sounds serious.” He showed them through the house into the small but tidy lounge, where the furniture was worn and belonged back in the early seventies. “Please, take a seat.” He sat in an upright chair close to an old oil heater while Lorne and AJ sat on the nearby tapestry-fabric sofa. “What brings the police to my door? As far as I know, I haven’t done anything illegal, not lately anyway.” He chuckled.
Lorne nodded. “Do you not watch or listen to the local news, Mr. Brinck?”
“Sorry, every time a bloody news bulletin comes on my screen, I switch the TV over. There’s just too much anger and hatred in the world for my liking, and what is happening in Aleppo at the moment with all those poor children being murdered… well, it’s just too much to bear. I wonder if some of these reporters haven’t got some kind of fetish or something. Not sure I’d have the stomach to see some of the atrocities going on in the world first-hand like they do… sorry, going off the beaten track. You were saying?”
“Not a problem. Tell me, have you contacted your wife recently?”
His brow furrowed and his back stiffened. “Goodness me, not for bloody years. She made it perfectly clear what she thought of me the last time we met. I swore that I would refrain from ever contacting her again. Why do you ask?”
“Well, if you had watched the news bulletins last night, you would have seen that your wife has gone missing and her dog was found lying injured at the side of the road.”
He flew out of his chair and paced the floor, running an agitated hand through his thinning hair. “She what? Missing?”
“Please sit down, Mr. Brinck. We’re conducting enquiries into the whereabouts of your wife. We’re uncertain at this moment. Her dog has had its leg amputated; the vet thinks it was run over.”
“Good Lord. Are you suggesting my wife was taken off the street and whoever took her ran over the dog? Who on earth would do such a thing? I’ve had my ups and downs with the woman over the years, but I would never wish anything as dreadful as this on her.”
“That’s what our investigation is leading us to believe. It is an awful situation. Can you tell us why people in the village suspect she’s a spinster?”
He shook his head. “No idea at all
. I’m puzzled by that information, if you must know. Though she kept my name, which I could never understand, the woman detested me come the end of our relationship.”
“Sorry to be so intrusive, but can you enlighten us as to why your marriage failed?”
His gaze sank to the floral carpet beneath his feet. “I had a wandering eye when I worked. I don’t get the opportunity to be so devilish now that I’m retired.” His head rose again, and there was a glint in his eye. “Although, there are quite a few charming merry widows around these parts that I wouldn’t kick out of bed, if you know what I mean?”
“I see. Do you know if your wife has any enemies?”
“I can’t answer that. I’ve not had any contact with her for years. She took out a restraining order against me about ten years ago.”
“A restraining order?” Lorne queried.
“Yes. Hey, don’t go getting excited. It was all in her mind. She didn’t want my ‘cheating bones anywhere near her’, is how she put it. I was more than happy to oblige. To be frank with you, I fell out of love with her the day we got back from our honeymoon.”
“Can I ask how long the marriage lasted?”
“Twenty years.”
“And you cheated on your wife throughout the entire length of your marriage?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily put it that way. I entered into the odd affair or two now and again.”
Lorne shook her head in disgust. The way the man had openly divulged the information turned her stomach. Does no one take their marriage vows seriously any more? Since marrying Tony, she had never had any interest in another man’s attention. She chastised herself when she thought back to her first marriage to Tom, when she herself had a wandering eye once or twice. She pushed the memory of Jacques Arnaud to the back of her mind. Where the heck did that come from? I haven’t thought about him for years. I must be tired and emotional. “That’s a shame. If only people would face up to the truth and end a marriage first before ripping it to shreds, the world would be a much happier place.” Lorne felt AJ’s head turn her way. She cleared her throat and continued, “I don’t suppose you have a contact address for any of her relatives?”
“You found me. Surely you can find any relatives.”
“We found you only because there aren’t that many Brincks around. Do you know any of her relatives’ names?”
“No bloody idea. Her parents passed away long before I met her. None of her relatives turned up for our wedding. Her maiden name was Jones, so good luck with that. I’m sorry I can’t help, and I’m truly sorry that Kath has gone missing, but really, I don’t know what you expect from me. It’s not as if we split up last year. Hey, wait a minute… you’re not here because you think I have anything to do with her disappearance, are you?”
“It’s an avenue we have to go down, Mr. Brinck. Please don’t take it personally.”
“I think this meeting is now finished. I’ve never been so bloody insulted in all my life. I’ve been guilty of loving too many women over the years, Inspector—not once have I ever laid an angry hand on one of them.”
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean it to sound like you had. I’m only following up on a lead we were given. I didn’t mean to cause any offence.”
“Well, you have. Now please leave and take all your insults with you.”
“One last question. Why have you never divorced?”
“We never got around to it. Is there a law against that, Inspector?”
“No, just asking out of interest.”
Lorne and AJ rose from their seats and walked back up the hallway to the front door. Mr. Brinck didn’t even bid them farewell before he slammed the door shut behind them.
“Ouch, touchy man.”
“Do you think he has something to hide, boss?” AJ asked as he slipped behind the steering wheel of the car.
Lorne dropped into the passenger seat and exhaled a large breath. “I don’t think so. Was I really that bad? Or was he being overly sensitive?” Perhaps the lack of sleep was at fault.
“I think it was probably fifty-fifty, if you want the truth, boss. He’ll get over it.”
“Crap, I’ve already got one bloody complaint hanging over my head. I can do without another one landing on my doorstep anytime soon. We better get back to the station and see if the others have found out anything else. I sense this case is going to make us go round and round in circles before it leads us to the guilty party.”
CHAPTER TEN
Over the next few days, Lorne felt like she had been whisked up in a tornado, her feet never touching the ground for more than half an hour at a time. Charlie was released from hospital the day after the crash, but Brandon was still there, recovering under observation due to his internal bleeding. The doctor didn’t anticipate releasing him for at least another week. So Lorne or Tony were left to ferry Charlie back and forth to visit the poor boy every evening. The days grew longer and longer, and at the same time, the cases she was working became more and more frustrating. When Lorne arrived at work on Friday, AJ was already at his desk, talking to someone on the phone. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Lorne walk into the incident room. Perched on a nearby desk, she waited patiently for him to finish the call.
He replaced the receiver and looked up at her. “The remains of a woman have just been found in one of the fields about a mile from where we think Kath Brinck was abducted.”
“You said ‘remains’? What exactly does that mean? Has her corpse been eaten by animals?”
“No, a walker discovered a couple of black bags that had been dumped. He opened them and found body parts.”
Lorne gasped. “Bloody hell. Okay, let’s get over there and see what we can find out. Has the witness left a statement?”
“Not yet. He was in too much shock. Uniformed officers are with him at the scene.”
“I take it Forensics are out there, too, collecting evidence?”
“Yep, the pathologist is at the scene, as well.”
“Get your jacket on. Sod the post and paperwork, let’s get over there now.”
Lorne drove out to the scene to find Patti and her team already analysing the black bags. “Hello, Patti. Bit of a gruesome find for a member of the general public, eh?”
“Hi, Lorne, AJ. Terrible. No wonder the man was sick.” She pointed to a pile of vomit in the grass verge.
Lorne felt her breakfast rise up and settle in the back of her throat. “Thanks for that. Have you managed to find any clues yet?”
Patti shook her head. “It’s all pretty clean. Well… you know, except for the victim’s blood.”
Lorne searched the road for anything out of place: no tyre marks, nothing. This killer knew exactly how to cover his tracks. “I don’t suppose you can give us any indication as to how long she’s been dead yet.”
“I’ll have to piece the woman together first.” Patti shook her head in disgust. “What possesses someone to treat a fellow human being in such a way? It really is beyond me. I’ll need to verify it later of course, but my first conclusion is that she was hacked to death with a jagged blade. That’s all I can give you right now.”
“It’s a start, I suppose. I agree with you. Who in their right mind would even contemplate doing that to another person? Unless the culprit wanted to disguise something. If so, they didn’t really think their plan through, did they? Dumping the body out here in the open like this. Has she been got at by any animals?”
“No, I don’t think so. The witness said the bags were intact when he found them.”
“Do you mind if we have a quick look around?”
Patti shrugged. “Go for it. I don’t need to remind you to stay out of the way though, right?”
“I know.” Lorne and AJ walked away. “I’ll search the lane, AJ, while you speak to the witness. I’ll meet you back at the car.”
They split up, and Lorne searched every inch of the roadside several feet beyond where the body was found, but to her annoyance, nothing of use emerged.
She made her way back to Patti who was standing next to her car. “We haven’t found anything. AJ is talking to the witness, though. Can you ring me when you have something, please?”
“Of course. You look tired. Everything all right, Lorne?”
Lorne slumped against the side of Patti’s car. “It’s been a worrying few days, what with Charlie and her boyfriend having that accident.”
“Whoa, back up there. What accident? I hadn’t heard.”
“Some dickhead thought it would be a bright idea to use a battering ram on Brandon’s car. Some form of road rage because the guy couldn’t get past them on a country lane. Not far from here, actually.”
“That’s dreadful. Were Charlie and her young man all right?”
“Charlie was shaken up, but Brandon got beaten up by the thug and had to have emergency surgery on a couple of busted ribs, a punctured lung and internal bleeding.”
“Poor lad. What’s the prognosis?”
“The doc reckons he’ll make a full recovery.”
Patti heaved out a relieved breath. “At least that’s one thing. What about the culprit? Have you caught him yet?”
Lorne shook her head. “Nope. Charlie tried to identify the thug through mugshots, but there was no trace of him. The thing is, I can’t see this as the one and only time he’s carried out something of this nature. He was pure evil, according to the kids.”
“You’ll get him, love. You always do.”
“Well, Tony has taken over the case now. I’ve got too much on my plate with this case. Right, I better get on. We’re going to drop over and see the estranged husband.”
“You think he might be the one?”
“I doubt it. Have to chase it up still, if only to keep the paperwork nice and tidy. Talk later when you have some results. Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime—you know that.”
AJ re-joined them, shaking his head. “The poor bloke couldn’t tell me much other than he discovered the bags when he was out on a stroll. He saw no cars in the area, nothing.”
“Okay, let’s call it a day here. We better go back to Brinck and tell him what we’ve found. Speak soon, Patti.”