Within the Shadows

by J. D MCG

  'Have you got an estimated time of death?'

  'From the dried blood to the decomposition of the body, I'd say the time of death would roughly be around two days.'

  'Thank you, Julia. Can you get back to me when you've got confirmation?'

  'Of course, Joe. Don't I always?' she smiled.

  Barnes just smiled and nodded before he strolled back to his team to give them an update.

  'Julia has just confirmed our victim's name is Natalie Dixon. She died of blunt force trauma to her head after attempted strangulation. Julia has a rough time of death of the 23rd which matches our time frame with Jack Roberts' blood-stained clothes and the night we arrested him,' he explained. 'Julia has also theorised what might have happened.'

  'Let's hear it then, boss,' Ally spoke up.

  'She seems to think our assailant tried to strangle Natalie, thought they succeeded until she woke up. Then they hit her hard in the head with an object to finish her off,' he informed them.

  'Problem is, there's no murder weapon,' Sarah told him.

  'Well done, Sarah,' he laughed. 'Guess whose just nominated themselves for a murder weapon search?'

  Everyone laughed, except for Sarah, who gave Barnes a sarcastic smile as she placed on latex gloves and began to lead the search of the car park. Barnes strolled over towards the security office with Jacob and Ally, to see what Ethan had found.

  'Have you got anything?' Barnes asked.

  Ethan glanced up from the monitor to see Barnes, then returned his eyes to the screen.

  'Yes, boss. Come have a look at this.'

  The three of them crowded around Ethan and the footage. Once he pressed play, Ethan saw his boss smile with glee.

  'We've got him!' he cheered as his eyes fixated on Jack Roberts, exiting the transit van. 'Ethan, burn me a copy please.'

  Ethan said nothing, just nodded, and Barnes skipped happily back to the scene. Ally and Jacob followed close behind again.

  'I just can't believe that is the same guy we met, crying on his doorstep,' Ally said.

  'I know. It goes well with the D.I.D theory,' replied Jacob.

  'And I'm starting to believe it even more after seeing that footage. I don't think he meant to kill his wife.'

  'Sometimes killers can put on the best performances, worthy of an Oscar.'

  They caught up with Barnes who was informing Brian on the footage when Sarah returned clutching an evidence bag in her hand. Inside the clear bag sat a bloodied hammer.

  'Guess what I've found,' she smiled with a cheesy grin.

  'The missing piece of the puzzle,' Barnes said. 'Brian, I need you to see if this van has been reported missing. Sarah, can you look into our victim and her past? We need to find out if she knew Jack Roberts and if this is connected or just some random killing. Jacob and Ally, I need you both to re-interview Jack and see if he can elaborate on who this woman is to him. I'll inform her parents of what's happened here.'

  All of them dispersed and went their own ways with their current tasks, leaving Barnes staring into the van, taking one last look at Natalie Dixon, laying inside unrecognisable.

  * * *

  Belle arrived home to a dark, empty apartment. Where is everyone? she wondered as she made her way through to the kitchen. She worried about Kate after seeing her storm out of the cafe to meet the guy who claimed to be her real father. What if he’s taken her? I'm sure she's fine. Horrible thoughts kept drifting through her mind.

  Belle switched the kitchen light on and placed her dinner in the oven. After her shift, she’d gone for a few drinks with Ben, trying to take her mind off Kate and their argument, before arriving home. Her ears could hear keys jingling from the door. Kate made an appearance as she arrived home and Belle stormed over to her, angry and upset from worrying.

  'I've been worried about you!' she shouted. 'Where have you been?'

  'With my dad. My real dad,' she replied with a cocky tone.

  'You can't trust this man, not yet anyway. There must be a reason why your mum never told you about him,' Belle tried to explain, but Kate just walked past her, not giving her the time of day. 'You can ignore me all you like, but I'm worried for you, Kate, and so are your brother's.'

  Kate turned back to face Belle. 'I've told you, they're not my brother's. And you're not even family, so why do you care?'

  She slammed her bedroom door shut, leaving Belle alone once again. She released a tear from her eye, thinking about what Kate had said. "You're not even family." Them words hit Belle hard. She thought she'd finally found a family, but she must have thought wrong. Feeling the need to move on, Belle searched through websites on her phone, looking for a place to rent. It's going to be a long night, she thought.

  She sat down on the sofa, flicking through her phone, when she decided she needed some background noise. So she turned the TV on, and her eyes witnessed the horror of a news story. The reporter was telling the story of a body found inside a van. The news crew had snippets of the car park and the detectives coming out. Belle caught a glimpse of Jacob and his team. She knew he wouldn't be home anytime soon and that she'd be all alone with her thoughts.

  She decided to call Ben, asking him to meet as she didn't want to stay in the apartment a minute longer. He agreed to see her and go for dinner, so she turned the oven off, grabbed her coat and headed for the door. She paused momentarily, wondering if she should talk to Kate, but the anger rose up inside of her by her comment earlier. She shut the door behind her, not giving Kate a second thought.

  * * *

  Barnes arrived at Natalie Dixon's parents home, not wanting to break the news to them. As he stepped up towards the front door, Barnes noticed it was slightly ajar. Pushing the door open slightly he poked his head through, unsure of what he'd find. Making his way through the hallway, something caught his eyes below him. A few dark spots on the carpet, he wondered if it was what he thought it was. Could it be blood?

  Barnes entered the living room, still too dark for him to get a clear image of his surroundings. His fingers found the light switch and once the light reached the room, all he could see was a man and a woman tied to chairs, decomposed.

  'I think I've found Mr and Mrs Dixon,' he said, pulling the phone from his pocket. 'Jacob, I've found her parents and they're dead. They appear to have been tortured. I need you and Ally to press pause on that interview for the moment and get down here.'

  'Yes, boss,' Jacob replied before Barnes hung up.

  Barnes called it in and arranged for another forensic team to canvas the house. A thought crossed Barnes' mind. Did he grab Natalie from her home? But why kill her parents? It's defiantly starting to look as if this was a targeted murder.

  Ally and Jacob arrived moments later, seeing Barnes sat outside of the house.

  'What happened?' Ally asked.

  'I came up to the house and saw the door was open. I entered and found them in there like that,' Barnes explained.

  'Okay, boss. Forensics should be here shortly,' Jacob informed him.

  'I don't get it. Why would Jack Roberts want them dead? Plus there are no signs of blood or lacerations on either of them. This doesn't fit Jack's M.O,' Barnes continued.

  'Maybe it wasn't,' Jacob spoke up his theory.

  'What do you mean?'

  'Don't forget, we still have a fourth suspect out there.'

  'Esther!' Ally yelled.

  Forensics and other police officers suddenly arrived on the scene. The police cordoned off the house, while the forensic team got themselves ready. Upon entry, the forensic officer swabbed the blood on the carpet before moving through to the living room while the rest of the team travelled into other rooms. Julia Higgins pulled up outside the police cordon and Barnes rose to his feet to greet her.

  'What happened here?' she asked.

  'More death and murder,' Barnes explained in one sentence.

  'Is it our victim’s parents?'


  'I presume so. We've not had confirmation yet.'

  'Right. I'll go and get myself ready,' Julia said before walking away.

  An hour passed before Julia exited the house and informed Barnes of her first analysis of the bodies.

  'They were injected with some kind of substance. I won't know what until the autopsy. There are no lacerations, no signs of torture. This doesn't fit the same profile as our last victim,' Julia explained.

  'Whose blood do you think could be in the hallway?'

  'Maybe their daughter? This might have been where she was taken.'

  'Thanks, Julia. We'll come by your office tomorrow,' Barnes informed her before she went back to her car. 'I'm gonna head home,' he announced to the team. 'We'll pick up from where we left off tomorrow.'

  Barnes strolled back to his car, sat inside and sighed loudly. He was exhausted and his eyes were sore. His thoughts drifted from the case to his ex-wife, wondering how she was as he removed his phone from his jacket, placing it to his ear.

  'Hi, Vanessa. Sorry to call you so late. I've just been wondering how you are?'

  'I'm getting there. I'm just so glad you were there,' she said. 'I don't know what might have happened if you weren't.'

  'I'm just happy you're okay and getting better.'

  'Joe, why don't you come over?'

  'I don't think that's a good idea, V,' he replied, not wanting to say no, but he didn't want to have his heartbroken for a second time. 'I'll speak to you soon.'

  Barnes ended the call and started his ignition to start his drive home. He needed a good night sleep, but the nightmares of his torture always stopped that from happening.

  * * *

  Jacob unlocked the door to his dark apartment, wondering if anyone was home. Dropping onto the sofa he flicked the television on and watched the news. The first feature was about the local canal and the graffiti artists, then they began to talk about the murder he was investigating. He'd had enough murder for one day, so he turned it off and picked himself up to go to bed.

  As he entered his room, he thought he heard movement coming from outside the bedroom. His initial thought was an intruder, but then remembered he lived with two teenage girls. Opening his bedroom door, he caught a glimpse of a drunken Belle stumbling into the apartment.

  'Belle?'

  She paused still, squinting her eyes at Jacob to catch a glimpse of him. She began to speak but the words didn't make sense from drunken slur. She stumbled to the sofa and fell on top. Jacob helped her get comfortable and grabbed a blanket to place over her. Belle was asleep within minutes, leaving Jacob to return to bed.

  Laying there, thoughts of the case whirled around his mind. Thoughts of the victims, the suspects and their alter-ego's, the horsemen were all he could think about. His eyes began to close as he drifted off into a deep sleep.

  Something spooked Jacob, making him sit up and stare into the corner of the room. Movement in the darkness caught his eye, spooking him.

  'Is someone there?' he asked.

  Nobody answered, but Jacob's eyes caught an outline of someone's body. As he squinted to get a better image, he noticed two eyes staring into his from the shadows.

  'Who are you?' Jacob shouted. 'What do you want?'

  But the figure never answered, frightening him even more. They leant forward, entering into the light, revealing their true face. Jacob's vision became blurry as the figure's face became more clear, and suddenly Jacob woke from his dream.

  The blinding light from the sun, peering between the blinds, warmed Jacob as he awoke from his nightmare. His body was covered and dripping in sweat, so he jumped out of bed and ran straight into the shower. The cold trickling water cooled his overheated body.

  Once he cleaned himself, Jacob headed to the kitchen for breakfast, where he was met by Kate. She sat quietly eating her breakfast, not wanting to speak to Jacob. She raised another spoonful of cereal as he entered.

  'Good morning, Kate,' he greeted her, but she stayed silent. 'Kate, please talk to me. We need to move past this. I'm sorry for keeping it from you, but you've got to understand why I did it.'

  Kate said nothing, just removed herself from her seat, grabbed her coat and bag and headed out the door. Jacob tried to follow her as she exited the apartment but she slammed the door in his face. Belle lifted herself off the sofa in a jumping movement as the door slammed.

  'Is everything okay?' she mumbled.

  'Just Kate,' he briefly explained, walking back to the kitchen.

  Belle followed him. 'Jacob, I've got to tell you something.'

  'Okay,' he replied, shuffling about in the fridge.

  'She's been speaking with her dad,' she announced to him.

  'Belle, she's a grown kid. She can speak to him as much as she likes.'

  'I know, but I don't think she should. There must have been a reason why her mother kept him from her.'

  'As long as she's safe and happy, so am I. I just hope she can forgive me.'

  * * *

  Barnes entered the station at 8.02 am, and locked himself away in his office, shut the blinds, keeping the world out. He was extremely tired and didn't get much sleep. Julia Higgins called just after 8.30 am, bringing him out of his daydream and back to reality.

  'Morning, Joe. I have the results on the post mortem of Natalie Dixon and her parents. My initial thoughts were correct with Natalie's death. She was strangled but that's not what killed her. It was the blunt force trauma. But her parents were killed by a poison injected into their bloodstream through a needle in their neck. They died twelve hours later as the symptoms began to take effect.'

  'Wow, that's a lot of information to take in this early in the morning,' he joked.

  'This is no time to joke, Joe,' she snapped.

  'I'm sorry, Julia.'

  'We might be looking at a major incident if you don't find their killer.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'I think whoever they are, they're planning something big. Those women who were locked away, I believe they were guinea pigs for an experiment. I think the suspect is going to advance the poison. I've contacted the specialists in the public health sector as well as...'

  Barnes cut her off, 'What's going on, Julia?'

  'I think we've got a terrorist incident on our hands,' she announced, shocking Barnes to his core.

  'Thanks, Julia,' Barnes said before putting the phone down.

  He sat in his chair momentarily, just for a few seconds before he got on the phone to his senior officer to inform them of the situation. Another half-hour passed when Jacob entered the office, with Ally tailing behind him. As they sat down at their desks, Barnes exited his darkened office and marched towards them with haste.

  'Everyone in the briefing room in an hour,' he shouted for everyone to hear. 'Contact Sarah and Brian, I want them here for this too,' he asked Ally and Jacob before heading back into his office.

  'I'll call them,' Ally said, picking the phone up off her desk.

  'What do you think that's about?' Ethan asked from the other side of Jacob's desk.

  'I have no idea,' Jacob replied. 'He might have discovered something.'

  Ally put the phone down and zoned in on their conversation.

  'Sarah said she'll call Brian. Any ideas on what Barnes is going to say?' she asked them both.

  'Not really, but it sounded important,' Jacob answered.

  It was 9.13 am when Sarah and Brian burst through the doors, rushing in as if they were late.

  'What have we missed? What's the big news?' Sarah questioned them, gasping for breath.

  'We don't know yet, the briefing’s at ten,' Ally informed her.

  'Good, I'm glad we're not late,' she sighed with relief as she turned and walked to her desk.

  Barnes called the briefing at 10 am, and everyone flooded into the room and took a seat around the table. Barnes stood at the top
of the table with the investigation boards behind him.

  'I don't really know how to start this meeting,' he started. 'This morning I had a call from Julia Higgins who worked through the night doing the post mortem on our victims. Her theory for Natalie Dixon's death is correct, but her parents were murdered by someone else. They were poisoned by an unknown substance, which killed them within a twelve-hour time scale. Julia seems to think whoever is in control of this substance is modifying it to spread at a quicker rate. This is now labelled as a major terrorist threat. From the information we've collected, we think our suspect is going by the alias Esther. She might possibly be suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder like our other suspects. I don't want anybody to tell family or friends or the public. We need to keep this under wraps for now. Please be careful out there and if anyone has any questions, please come and see me in my office.'

  The crowd dispersed, leaving the team of five sitting in their seats. Barnes remained standing at the front of the room.

  'A terrorist incident?' Ally said, unsure of what she had just heard.

  'That's what I said, DI Miller.'

  'I can't believe it, sir,' Jacob spoke up.

  'Jacob, Ally, I need you both to get as much information out of Mr Roberts as you can. Sarah and Brian, you two need to ask Felicity James if she or her alter-ego know anything more,' he barked his orders.

  'Yes, boss,' Sarah agreed, before dragging Brian out of the briefing room.

  'We need to find this woman before this situation gets any worse,' Barnes said, scared and frightened.

  Chapter 20

  'Mr Roberts, we need to know who the fourth horseman is?' Ally asked.