Mac thought it through.
‘Looks like it would be easy enough,’ Mac said.
‘Tell me how you think it went,’ Tommy asked.
‘Okay I think our man laid in wait in this area just behind the hedge. That way he wouldn’t be seen by anyone walking towards him through the tunnel. It was nine fifty so there’s still a chance that there might be someone around but I reckon that our man was patient. I’d guess that he might have waited there for quite for a few nights, just looking for that perfect opportunity. He had plenty of time after all. On the night Stella was taken it was raining so it was little wonder that there was no-one about. So as she walked past he grabbed her, pulled her off the street, then punched her and put her in the suitcase.’
Mac stopped for a moment. Tommy didn’t interrupt.
‘I’m just trying to think if such large suitcases were around back then. If not I suppose the works team would have had storage boxes on wheels for transporting technical equipment, he could have used something like that. A man wheeling something like that certainly wouldn’t have looked out of place at the back of the shops. Anyway all he needed to do then was wheel whatever he was using to the service area where he’d have parked his car or perhaps a van, which might have been easier, pop it in the back and then he’d be off. ’
‘Yes, it sounds familiar alright.’
‘From what it says here they did a forensic investigation and were especially thorough in that little area near the hedge. All they found was a button that they think might have come from her coat but they couldn’t be totally sure. She was using her umbrella that night but it was never found. They noted that it rained very hard for most of the night and the forensics examination was carried out the next morning. I suppose that might also be part of the reason why nothing else was found.’
The rest of the file revealed little of interest. The investigators had been thorough but they had nothing to go on. Mac noted that they’d talked to some of the rail contractors but none of the names detailed were those of the ninety two.
‘So what now?’ Tommy asked.
‘I’ve got a feeling we can get a bit more juice of these files. We’ll need to re-read them all but let’s have a think first about some common factors that we might note down as we go.’
‘Like what?’
‘Well we know that they’re linked by age and looks but were they also linked by their jobs, whether they were living at home or alone, hobbies, types of places they frequented and so on. It would be nice to see if there are any patterns we can spot.’
‘Perhaps something about the routes they might have taken too?’ Tommy suggested.
‘Yes that might work,’ Mac said.
In fact he thought it was a very good idea.
They took five files each and made notes as they read. Once they’d finished Mac drew a table on a free white board with the girls’ names to the right and the questions on the top. He started filling it in.
Once completed he looked down each column.
The jobs column showed that four of the girls were students otherwise all of the others were different. Mac guessed that if you were going to abduct girls of that age range the majority might tend to be students of one type or another anyway.
The ‘Abduction site’ column showed that he was fond of entryways, half of the girls had probably been taken in one, and he supposed a tunnel might be classed as a sort of entryway too.
The ‘Frequency route used’ column, as suggested by Tommy was even more interesting. While six of the girls had taken routes that they walked regularly, the routes that Rhiannon and Jackie had taken were ones that they had rarely used. On top of that, while Natasha’s route was one she used all the time, she’d used it that night at a very unusual time. Normally it would have been well after eleven when she used the shortcut and she would have had the company of her friend Julie.
‘Hobbies’ and ‘Sociability’ yielded nothing but ‘Places visited’ again gave Mac food for thought. Except for Carla Menzies they all visited local pubs and cafes.
‘Your suggestion was a really good one Tommy. Looking at the ‘Frequency route used’ column begs the question, how did our man know that Rhiannon and Jackie were going to parties on the nights they were taken? It wasn’t something they did every day so how could he know? Come to that how did he know that Natasha had gone home early?’ Mac said.
‘You’re thinking that they were being stalked, aren’t you?’ Tommy asked.
‘I do. They all went to local pubs or cafes, he must have somehow got close enough to them to hear what they were talking about.’
‘In Natasha’s case she announced it to the whole pub though,’ Tommy pointed out.
‘Which meant that he had to be in the pub in the first place to hear it.’
Mac looked at his watch. It was already twelve forty five.
‘Come on let’s get something to eat. I’m just hoping that Kelly’s on duty.’
They left Dan, Leigh and Amanda to their phones and walked the short distance to the pub. Mac was glad to get a breath of fresh air. When he opened the pub door he could see Kelly at her usual station at the end of the bar. He ordered two burgers and coffees and asked her to bring them over and sit with them for a few minutes.
He took a big bite from his burger before he asked her anything. He was hungry.
‘I know we’ve asked this before but I need to ask you again. Who else was in the pub the night that Natasha and Julie had their argument?’
She shrugged her shoulders.
‘As I said before they were mostly usuals, although there were a few in that I hadn’t seen before.’
Mac took another bite.
‘Tell me about these usuals, especially those that were drinking in the same area of the bar that Natasha and Julie were in.’
Knowing there was a good chance that their man might have stalked Natasha for days, perhaps many weeks, he felt he might well qualify as a ‘usual’.
‘Well the rugby mob were in and there was a group of lads from the supermarket down the road, they sometimes come in after work.’
‘Anyone else?’ Mac asked.
She shook her head.
‘Oh, the footballers’ wives were here but then again they always are.’
‘Who are the footballers’ wives?’ Mac asked.
‘Oh that’s just what we call them. It started out when one of the local teams had a long cup run a while back and a few of the wives were fed up being left behind. So they thought that if the husbands could go out and enjoy themselves then they could too. I think it was Big Chrissie and Trudy who started it. Anyway a group of them meet up regularly and if any single women come in they invite them to sit at the big round table. Quite a lot of them come back too.’
‘Tel me more,’ Mac asked.
‘Well they sit at that big table there and come in around five or six and they usually go not long after nine. Sometimes there’s only three or four but a lot of nights there’s quite a few more.’
‘Why do they go around nine?’
‘That’s when the music’s turned up. Before nine we get a bit of a mixed crowd in but after nine it’s mostly younger people, shooters and cocktails and that.’
‘What do you know about the rugby crowd?’
Kelly thought for a while and shrugged her shoulders.
‘Not a lot. The leader’s called Rob, he’s quite old, at least thirty five but not bad looking. Then there’s this guy who’s sometimes with them who’s an absolute giant, we call him ‘The Hulk’.’
‘Are they ever any trouble?’ Mac asked.
‘The rugby mob? No never, now the supermarket lot are totally different. Two or three pints and they’re wobbling if you know what I mean. Always arguing too.’
‘Do you know the names of any of the supermarket crowd?’
‘Yes, one of them is called Bazzer, bit of a loudmouth, then there’s Scott and Danny. Danny’s the quiet type, good looking too,’ Kelly volun
teered with a smile.
‘And the rugby crowd?’
‘Sorry I just know Rob by name but I did hear them call The Hulk by name once.’
‘What was it?’
‘Wayne, I think.’
Mac had a sudden thought.
‘Just sit there and don’t move,’ Mac ordered.
He rang Martin and asked if he could get a certain photo through social media. Martin rang a few minutes later.
‘He doesn’t have a Facebook page but I found a photo of him on a rugby team site. I’m sending it over.’
It arrived a minute later.
Mac showed it to Kelly.
‘Is this the person you call The Hulk?’ Mac asked.
‘Yes that’s him,’ she replied with certainty.
‘And you’re sure he was here when Natasha had her row with Julie?’
‘Yes, I remember that he bought a round not long before Natasha left.’
‘Did you see him go?’
‘No I didn’t. He couldn’t have hung around long though, he’s not exactly someone you’d overlook.’
Mac thanked her and made sure he had her address and mobile phone number.
On the way out of the pub Tommy could no longer contain himself.
‘Who is it? Who’s in the photo?’
Mac showed it to Tommy. It was cropped from a team photo and showed a young giant of a man. Underneath the photo it detailed his position and name.
Second row forward - Wayne Turnell.
She must have dozed off because the light woke her up. He was coming towards her. A sudden jolt of fear coursed through her causing her to gasp. She knew she was going to die soon.
He only had a dressing gown and slippers on. She could see his erect penis poking through the gap between the two sides of the gown. As before he carried the baseball bat in one hand and the scalpel in the other. She found that she couldn’t take her eyes off the scalpel.
It flashed out at her. She didn’t know she’d been cut until she felt the blood trickling down from her breasts.
‘Yes, I think it’s sharp enough. Put your hands up against the wall,’ he ordered brusquely. ‘Yes that’s it now keep your hands against the wall and take a step back.’
She did as she was ordered. She was now leaning against the wall at an angle.
‘Open your legs up,’ he shouted, tapping the inside of her legs with the bat.
She did as he ordered. She could hear the swish of his dressing gown hitting the floor.
‘Good girl.’
His fingers gripped her hair and pulled her head back. She froze as she felt the thin steel blade against her throat.
He entered her from behind and started pumping away. He was rough and hurt her which she supposed was the point. All her attention though was focussed on the thin sliver of metal that would soon end her life. She tried to make the seconds go slower but failed. From the sounds he was making he was not far from coming.
‘I’ve only been on this earth for eighteen years. Please God, please God let me live!’ she silently prayed.
‘Yes, yes!’ he shouted as he came inside her. She closed her eyes as she felt the blade move across her throat. She could feel the blood gush out and the warmth of it flow down her body. The blackness would not be long in coming now, not long.
But it didn’t come. She heard him laughing. She opened her eyes. There was no blood. She felt her throat. There was no cut.
‘Oh imagination is a wonderful thing isn’t it? It was the blunt side of the blade this time. You’re just too good to throw away so soon. The next time…perhaps.’
He walked away, his laughter echoing around her head. Then it was dark and silent again. She crawled into her corner and her body shook with the shock of the experience. She felt dirty and stained and used.
She suddenly wished that he had cut her throat.
It would have been all been over by now.
Chapter Eighteen
‘Dan we might have something,’ Mac said as he entered the incident room.
‘What?’ Dan asked, putting down the phone.
‘Wayne Turnell, he was in the pub the night Natasha had the row with Julie.’
‘Now that is news. Mr. Turnell seems to be cropping up all over the place. While you were away Martina rang from Birmingham. Apparently Sheila Matthews was a member of a local gym and guess who else was a member?’
‘Mr. Turnell I take it.’
‘It’s all a bit circumstantial so far but the evidence is definitely mounting up,’ Dan said thoughtfully.
‘Anything else come in?’
‘No, nothing earth shattering as yet.’
Martin came in eating a hamburger.
‘Found anything yet on the house search?’ Dan asked.
‘Got a few back. I’ll print off the list.’
The printer chugged away. Dan read the list and Mac could see that there was something there that excited him.
‘Look,’ Dan said handing the list to Mac.
Wayne Turnell’s name was on the list. He’d bought a house five months ago. It was an old house, a Victorian semi-detached. It had a cellar. The agent said that he’d been instructed by Mr. Turnell to only look for houses that had an extension or a cellar.
‘Well, Mac what do you think?’ Dan asked with a grim smile.
‘With this much evidence you have to do it,’ Mac replied.
‘Okay I agree. You say this Wayne Turnell is a big man?’ Dan asked.
‘A giant so I’ve been told.’
‘Okay we go but only as soon as I’ve lined up a couple of firearm officers and an entry team. We can’t take any chances. I better get on the phone.’
While Dan was on the phone Mac had a chat with Martin.
‘There’s still a chance he might not be our man so it might be best not to make too public a show of the raid. Is there any way that we could get into the house unnoticed?’
Martin had a look on Google Earth.
‘Yes, see just there,’ Martin said pointing with his finger.
Mac couldn’t quite make it out.
‘It’s an entryway,’ Tommy said. ‘Looks like it runs along the back of the whole row of houses.’
An entryway, Mac thought, now wouldn’t that be poetic justice.
Martin printed the photo and the map off.
‘The two firearm officers will be here in an hour,’ Dan said. His face clouded over. ‘I must admit that it really worries me Mac. If he isn’t our man and it becomes public knowledge that we’ve tied Natasha’s disappearance to one of the rail workers then we might be signing her death warrant.’
‘On the other hand, if Turnell is our man and we don’t raid him now, we might be doing exactly the same thing,’ Mac said. ‘Our man won’t keep her forever. Sometimes all you can do is go for the most likely suspect and hope for the best.’
Dan nodded.
‘Oh, by the way it looks like there’s a back way into Mr. Turnell’s house,’ Mac said, handing over the photo and map.
‘Even better, let’s keep this as low key as we can.’ Dan looked at his watch. It was nearly two o’clock. ‘They should be all here by three but let’s go through it all first.’
Dan, Mac, Tommy and Leigh all got around a table and looked at the map and the photographs of the area. It looked like they would need to access the entryway from a side street that ran at a right angle to the road Wayne Turnell’s house was on.
‘The only problem,’ Dan said, ‘is a van and two cars pulling up and then all of us piling down the entryway is all too likely to be noticed. I wonder if there’s some other way we could do it?’
Amanda had been hovering for a while.
‘Sorry sir but I just wanted to say something.’
‘Go ahead,’ Dan said.
‘I saw the map when Martin when printing it off. One of our sergeants lives just here,’ she said pointing to the street that ran behind and parallel to the street where Wayne Turnell’s house was situated. The se
rgeant’s house almost backed onto it.
‘Yes I see what you mean,’ Dan replied with a smile. ‘They both access the same entryway. All we need to do is to go through the sergeant’s house, through the back garden and into the entryway and a few yards up is the back door that leads into Turnell’s garden. Well spotted Amanda, bloody well spotted!’
Amanda smiled and blushed.
‘Well that certainly makes the whole operation an easier prospect,’ Mac said. ‘It also means that if Wayne isn’t our man then we should stand a better chance at keeping it quiet, so long as he doesn’t want to tell the local papers all about it afterwards that is.’
Dan frowned.
‘Yes there’s always that isn’t there? Well we can only do what we can do. Amanda as you know him can you contact this sergeant and ask him if we can be at his house in about an hour or so?’
‘Yes sir,’ she said pulling out her phone as she walked away.
‘Wish she’d lay off the ‘sir’ a bit’, Dan said. ‘It makes me feel old. Okay looks like we’ve got a plan and a better one than I could have hoped for.’
Forty minutes later and the incident room was full again. Dan briefed the four members of the entry team and the two firearm officers.
‘So there’s just the one suspect is there?’ one of the firearm officers asked.
‘As far as we know but I’ve been told he’s something of a giant so that’s why I want you along just in case,’ Dan said as he glanced down at the very efficient looking semi-automatic rifle the officer was cradling. ‘What is it you’re using nowadays?’
‘SIG 516, Swiss made, best I’ve ever used,’ the officer replied.
‘Well let’s just hope you won’t need them today,’ Dan looked at his watch. ‘Okay it’s now ten past three. Amanda is the sergeant at home yet?’
Amanda gave him the thumbs up.
‘Okay, everyone get your stab vests on and let’s get going. Best of luck everyone.’
Tommy drove with Mac in the passenger seat, Dan and Leigh sat in the back.
The door to the sergeant’s house opened as they pulled up outside. The van pulled up behind them.
The Blackness (The Mac Maguire detective mysteries Book 4) Page 17