Perfect Stranger: A gripping psychological thriller with nail-biting suspense

by Jake Cross

  ‘You didn’t tell her to go through the park, Julia, and even if that had been the case, people walk through parks. It’s a public place. The guy who attacked her is at fault here and him alone.’

  ‘I know, I know. I just… Dad, this is so awful.’

  She was confused and scared. He wasn’t sure what he should say to her next.

  His phone beeped to alert him to another call. Rose. He knew what it was about.

  ‘Julia, love, your mother’s calling. Are you going to be okay if I take this?’ he asked.

  Julia sniffled. ‘Sure, I’ll wait. She’ll want to talk to you about the police.’

  Rose sounded as distressed as their daughter. Sure enough, she’d been with Julia when the police phoned, and had got the story. Her first question after explaining this: why hadn’t Chris called her with the news? Answer: he was waiting until he got home, until he knew more.

  ‘God, poor Simone. This is so horrible. How did you find out? Julia said you heard about her being admitted to A&E?’

  ‘That was a lie. I didn’t want her to worry even more. Simone had a sample come into the lab. She might have an STI.’

  ‘My God. We won’t tell Julia about that. Have the police arrested someone?’

  ‘I don’t know anything except she’s here. How does Julia seem to you?’

  ‘She’s being quiet. She’s not telling me much. She went to her room, but I think she’s on the phone to someone. It could be Simone’s parents, because they’ll probably want to get Julia’s side of the story.’

  ‘No, it was me. She’s worried that the police will blame her somehow.’

  ‘That’s so silly. Of course they can’t. Nobody knew this was going to happen. Didn’t she think she could talk to me about this?’

  ‘It was me and her last night, so maybe that’s why I was the one to turn to.’

  ‘I’ll talk to her. If Simone’s parents call her, I’m not sure we should let them speak to her. Not alone. I feel really bad for them and I understand they’ll want answers, but if they’re angry they might try to… blame Julia somehow. For picking the meeting place, maybe. I don’t know. But I don’t like it. What do you think?’

  ‘I think you’d have a better grasp of that than me. It’s up to you, Rose. I don’t know. But I do know I’m already concerned that they’ll want to talk to me about it.’

  Rose gave a long pause. ‘I could call them first and… no, let’s see if they call. I’ll see you at home later. I’m going to talk to Julia again.’ She hung up, and he returned to Julia with an apology for putting her on hold.

  She said, ‘So what do I tell the police? And will you come with me?’

  ‘I can’t, I’m at work. Have a chat to your mother, Julia. She’s about to knock on your door. I’ll see you back home. It’ll be okay.’

  ‘What? How do you know—’

  He heard the knock that stopped her dead, then Rose calling Julia’s name. Then he hung up.

  He understood her worry and guilt. While Julia had sat and waited for Simone, someone had been viciously attacking the girl. While Julia drank lager, Simone suffered. While Julia tried to build the courage to try karaoke, Simone bled alone in the dark.

  ‘Hey.’

  Suddenly, Simone and Julia and the police were wiped from his head. Katie was standing before him with a nervous smile on her face.

  Fourteen

  ‘I got your place of work from your Facebook profile,’ she said. ‘Hope that’s okay?’

  She stuck out a hand and he leaned across the table to shake it. The touch felt weird. Normally a pretty young woman’s skin against his had something electric about it. This didn’t, for obvious reasons. She wore the same type of outfit as she had the day before, but a different pullover this time. Her hair was again tucked into the beanie cap she’d worn the other night, which downplayed her attractiveness. For this, he was relieved. He didn’t want colleagues to see him conversing with a pretty girl, in case they started firing questions.

  ‘Have you come to see me?’ he asked, eyes darting about in search of curious onlookers. But nobody seemed to care.

  ‘Yeah. I just wondered if perhaps there might be a chance to meet up before the anniversary party on Saturday.’ She had a plastic supermarket bag in her hands, something wrapped up in it. ‘Maybe just a chat over a drink?’

  In a crowded local pub? Him and a pretty girl half his age? No way.

  ‘I… I sent you a text,’ Chris said.

  ‘To me? I didn’t get it.’

  Chris covered the uncomfortable silence that followed by checking his phone. He saw that the text was in his outbox, undelivered for some reason. ‘Sorry. It didn’t send.’

  Katie was rubbing the back of her neck. He remembered her circulation problem. Did she get that from his side of the family? His uncle had died of circulation problems, now he thought about it.

  ‘Sorry about turning up like this. I remembered that I didn’t say thank you to you for inviting me to the party on Saturday night. I’m so looking forward to it. There’s so much I want to say to the family.’

  He had to watch how much he opened his life to this girl, how close he allowed Katie to get to his family. It wouldn’t be a good idea to let her get too friendly with Rose or Julia, because in a few days they might be parting ways for ever.

  ‘Sorry for interrupting your lunch. I was just passing and thought I’d pop by. I’ll get going. Like I said, I’ll contact you about the result.’

  He realised he hadn’t responded to her offer. ‘Wait. On Friday I’m on lates, which means working from midday till eight. But other than that, I’m free. Rose has a friend’s party to go to, so if you want, if you like, we can—’

  ‘That’s perfect.’ Katie sat at the table.

  ‘Good. So after work—’

  ‘My mother’s funeral is on Friday at ten in the morning.’

  Words clogged in Chris’s throat like a motorway pile-up.

  ‘It’s perfect,’ Katie said. ‘If you don’t start work until midday, you can be back in time. It’s in Bradford. You won’t be late back. And we can still have that drink after work. Although it’ll be non-alcoholic for me. I’m not much of a drinker.’

  ‘I didn’t know your mum, Katie. I mean, not that well. I don’t know the family. I’m… not sure that’s a good idea.’

  Katie seemed unfazed. ‘You know me, so it will be fine. You can meet all the others and get to know them.’

  ‘I don’t know, Katie. They might hate me being there.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I—’ got their Eve pregnant and then ran away – ‘don’t know them. I’m not part of the family, Katie, and we have to remember that I might never be. At the minute, all we have is what your mother told you.’

  Katie looked crestfallen. ‘She wouldn’t lie.’

  ‘I’m not saying she’s lying, Katie. She could be wrong. Until then we should…’

  He went blank, unsure of how to continue, but Katie nodded, avoiding eye contact.

  ‘Be careful. We should be careful,’ Katie said. ‘Have I ruined this before it’s even started?’

  ‘No, you haven’t. I just feel…’ Chris stopped, aware that he was focussed only on self, self, self. This was difficult for them both, and he hadn’t also recently lost a mother.

  ‘I’ll come. It’s the respectful thing to do. I’ll come to the funeral.’

  Katie grinned. ‘Thank you. Look, I should leave you to your lunch break. See you Friday about eight in the morning?’

  But she didn’t make a move to leave.

  ‘Say what’s on your mind, Katie.’

  ‘It’s just… with my being older. Fathers want to bring their children up. Do all those first-time things with them. But you never even got to pick my name.’

  ‘Katie, conversations like this… Please, let’s just wait for the result first.’

  ‘I know, I know. It’s just… Well, maybe you don’t like the name Katie. I could change it.’


  Change her name? This was becoming surreal. ‘We shouldn’t be talking like this yet, Katie.’

  ‘I know, I know. But I just wanted to say it’s easy to change a name. I could, if you like. If there’s other names you prefer. But you’re right, let’s wait for the result. I’ll get going. Oh, but I wanted to show you this, first.’

  From the bag she extracted a small trophy. And slid it across the table. He lifted it. On a wooden base was a go-kart with wings, made of plastic gold. It said ‘UNDER-7s RIDER OF THE YEAR’. There was no plaque, just an oblong of stickiness where one had once been. Inked into the furry felt baize base was ‘COOPER & SONS LTD’.

  ‘I won that. I just wanted to show you. I know you like racing – Mum told me how you two met. I guess maybe it runs in the family.’

  Her big grin only heaved awkwardness over him. What was he supposed to do, reward her? ‘It’s nice. Well done. But, again, conversations like this—’

  Two men carrying gear came through the entrance at a rush, which got everyone staring. An interruption Chris was thankful for. One, suited, carried a microphone and a briefcase. The other guy was in jeans and a T-shirt because he wasn’t going to parade in front of the big video camera he lugged. Everybody stopped to watch, perhaps wondering if an episode of Casualty was going to be filmed here.

  When the two guys had gone, the woman at the nearby table said, ‘I bet they’re here for a TV interview. That girl that was brought in last night.’

  ‘You mean Meadow Moll?’ her boyfriend replied.

  ‘Would you not use that name, please,’ Chris said, glaring at them. It was the first time he’d ever jumped into a private conversation here at the Pitstop. The pair looked at him like something brought in on their shoes, then spoke quickly in a whisper, got up and left.

  Embarrassed, Chris turned back to Katie, but the young woman was walking away, trophy in hand. He wasn’t sure if she was upset with him. But he didn’t call her back.

  * * *

  Rose opened the front door before he got there, a solid and concerned frown on her face. He knew why. She stepped backwards as he came in. He back-kicked the door shut and told her there was no further news about Simone.

  ‘I went to the police station with her,’ Rose said. ‘Nobody treated her with suspicion, but they wanted to seize her phone. I kicked up a stink and they settled for a quick read through her messages. They asked about Simone’s past and her boyfriends.’

  ‘You tell them about the togmuppet?’

  ‘Yes, but for some weird reason I used the name Marc Woodley.’ She handed him a business card. For a Detective Johnson. Sans glamour and cheap.

  ‘I have to go and give a statement, too?’

  ‘Call him to arrange a time.’

  ‘But I thought Julia told them we both waited at the pub.’

  ‘She did. But they have to hear it from you, don’t they? You just have to tell them you both waited at the pub for Simone. What’s the problem?’

  He paused. ‘I was in the car at first. I waited in the car.’

  ‘Just call the man. Look, Chris, don’t talk about Simone in the house, okay? It’s sore for Julia, so wait until she brings it up.’

  He looked over her shoulder, wondering where his daughter was.

  ‘She went for a walk,’ Rose said, ever the mind-reader. ‘Just promise me you’ll keep a rein on that big mouth of yours.’

  ‘Okay. Katie came to the hospital, by the way. I was in the Pitstop. And I nearly choked on my cake. She asked me to come to her mother’s funeral on Friday morning.’

  He’d wanted a companion in shock and outrage, but her response left him yearning.

  ‘Good idea? Are you kidding?’

  ‘It’s a great idea, Chris. Bonding time with tears. It will bring you closer together.’

  ‘And if one of the tearful family asks who I am?’

  She flicked a hand. ‘Meh! Just say you’re the guy who knocked her up on holiday eighteen years ago.’

  Chris glowered at her, but it only made her laugh. ‘Calm down. Katie will have told them who you are—’

  ‘Might be, Rose. Who I might be.’

  ‘Okay, who you might be. Or maybe Eve told some of them years ago. Because they might have wondered when she suddenly had a baby. But you did know her.’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘She’s one of only a few women you’ve seen naked. It’s still a connection, if loose. You won’t feel out of place. We went to Josephine’s funeral earlier this year, didn’t we? She was only one of your colleague’s friends. Tell me that’s not a loose connection.’

  ‘Er, little bit different, that. But if I’m not her dad, I… Look, I don’t want to go.’

  ‘Okay, phone her. Tell her you’re not going. That you changed your mind.’

  He couldn’t fathom doing that.

  She rubbed a hip, obviously in pain. They headed into the living room and she dropped into her favourite armchair and rubbed some more. He was too wired to sit. ‘Chris, if the results come back early on Friday, think about how much easier the funeral will be.’

  ‘And if they don’t?’

  ‘You’ll know the kid a lot more, and that’ll make it easier to be around her. I watched you with her. You don’t look right. You don’t act right.’

  ‘She’s a little bit weird, Rose.’

  ‘No, she’s a little bit confused and knocked for six and desperate not to say the wrong thing in front of us. In front of you.’

  ‘She showed me an old go-karting trophy, Rose. Something she won as a kid. And she asked me if I liked her name. Actually, she said I could change it. If I’m acting funny, it’s because I find it all – and her – a bit weird.’

  ‘I know the reason, Chris. You feel she’s being too pushy. You feel uncomfortable. Look, if the results come back negative before the funeral, even if we’re halfway driving there, just cancel it. At that point, she won’t mind. We’ll offer her help to find her real dad, and then we’ll part ways.’

  He considered this. He didn’t like it, but it beat calling Katie right now to cancel. Or would such a last-minute cancellation hit Katie harder?

  Rose sighed at his indecision. ‘Do what you want. I’m going for a bath, and then I’m starting dinner and going to work on my book.’

  As promised, she got up and left the room. The house was silent, which he wasn’t used to, and it allowed uncomfortable thoughts to kick up a storm. He wanted to visit the Manor, but Rose would be walking about upstairs while she got ready for her bath. And supping whiskey this early was a bad sign. He put the TV on, but nothing sank in, so the storm continued. He went into the kitchen, meaning to put the whiteboard up, but that was a brainless exercise and wouldn’t calm the bad weather in his head.

  He decided to see what his colleagues and friends were up to on Facebook.

  Brand new in, a post from Lionel Parrott.

  Guess we gotta wait for the next infamous Brit slasher

  There was a link to a blog he followed. Chris ignored the narrative because the post began with reader replies that gave him all he needed.

  Weds 20 November

  * * *

  TEENAGE GIRL LEFT FOR DEAD – ARREST MADE

  * * *

  [FBIguy32] cops got someone for #meadowmoll I hear. Per law, only giving out 21 male from Manor Castle. Attempted murder, man.

  * * *

  [TheChoiceNovel] yeah its marc Woodley I know. Ex-boyfriend and #nobhead. Retweet this.

  * * *

  [gamergirl567] she dumped him like a week ago, threatened her with a #baseball bat for shagging his friend.

  * * *

  [TheChoiceNovel] yeah, marc Woodley, I already posted name all over.

  * * *

  [BabeInTheWud] I was there didn’t shag his friend she bought a short skirt and he flipped in Meadowhall thought she was cheating.

  * * *

  [gamergirl567] some of his texts said he didn’t exactly take being single with pride &
honour.

  * * *

  [TheFamilyLie] my pal works at train station and says cops been after CCTV n asking about a car.

  * * *

  [AndiJ1994] marc woodleys the name I got too. Sharing now 2000 friends.

  * * *

  [FBIguy32] she dead yet?

  * * *

  [BabeInTheWud] cops move fast already searched his flat I saw it.

  * * *

  [CryBaby645533] yeah CCTV car matches his I heard.

  * * *

  [AndiJ1994] yeah they found a hooded top like the one in that leaked CCTV footage from station.

  * * *

  [TheFamilyLie] that’s my mate that, he leaked it, works there.

  * * *

  [BabeInTheWud] I saw the bastard get arrested. Grabbed him on his way to college. Impounded his car. Slam dunk.

  * * *

  [IamBetterThanYou] I had Simone, ha ha

  No wonder Lionel seemed annoyed. His dream of another British kill spree to go in the crime annals had been thwarted, or at least postponed. Here, just a run-of-the-mill jilted/jealous-boyfriend-half-kills-ex-girlfriend story. Booooriiiiiiing.

  Under ‘MORE ON THIS’ was a link to

  TEENAGE GIRL LEFT FOR DEAD SPEAKS ABOUT HER ORDEAL

  Chris clicked it and was whisked away from the blog. Here, a video shot in darkness. Small room, window blinds shut and two figures facing each other in chairs. Both were just black forms, but one had long hair. Simone Baker and a reporter. Chris’s brain decoded dark lumps in the room as hospital equipment even before a news ticker slid into view and told him so.

  SIMONE BAKER SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY TO OUR REPORTER FROM HER HOSPITAL ROOM