by Tania Carver
He smiled. Lost in his world, lost in Rani.
And eventually he heard her voice again.
Had you given up on me?
‘Never. Always. I’m here for you always…’
I’ll remind you of that sometime.
He heard her laugh, waited until it died away. Felt like his heart had stopped beating, waiting for her to speak again. Waiting for her to say the words he wanted to hear.
I’m back, lover…
He sat up. ‘A new host? When can I see you?’
Soon…
She was being playful. He should enjoy it, play along. But it just made him angry when she did that. Like she was mocking him. His love for her.
He said nothing, waited.
You’ve gone quiet. Don’t you want to see me?
‘Course I do. You know that…’ He could wait no longer. ‘So… where are you? When can I see you?’
Soon. I’ll give you the new address. Might be a bit difficult, this one. You see, I don’t live alone in this body.
He felt himself starting to shake. Someone else with Rani? He couldn’t have that… ‘I’ll see to them.’
No, she said quickly. Not yet. Wait for my signal. I’ll let you know when. Trust me.
‘OK.’ He calmed down a little at her words. Patience. That was all. No matter how much it hurt. And then there was the next question. The one he always asked. He both feared and loved the answer at the same time. ‘What… what do you look like now?’
The same as I always do. Just a bit different. Give me time to adapt. I’ll start to look like my own self soon.
And she did. Always. That was the strange thing. When he would first see her in her new body he wouldn’t recognise her. But when he’d looked at her for a while, spent time with her, she started to change, resemble the Rani he knew and loved. It was weird. He wondered how it was only him who noticed, never the people around her.
‘When can I see you?’
I’ll let you have the address. And what I look like now.
‘And your new name. Don’t forget that.’
I won’t. She sighed. I have to go. But I’ll see you soon, my love.
‘I can’t wait. I love you, Rani.’
I know.
And she was gone.
He lay back, grinning like some love-struck teenager. Happy once more.
He ran over everything she had said to him, all her words. Over and over. Memorised them. Like always.
Then he had her new address. Easy enough to find. Then he saw what she looked like. And smiled again. Beautiful. But not as beautiful as she was going to look.
The name meant nothing to him because he knew her real one. Her secret one. But this was what the husk was known by so he would have to remember it, get used to it before he could start calling her by her real one.
He said it out loud, practising. Once. Twice. Then again, loud as he dared.
‘Rose Martin,’ he said and smiled.
48
‘ I thought we might be seeing you again…’
Rose Martin forced a smile. She found the man sitting before her obese and obnoxious. His suit was stretched tight over his flabby frame, as if wearing a size smaller would make him look slimmer, and he seemed to be composed of melting lard. His face so sweaty he looked like he was leaking oil, his hair stubbornly refusing to be gelled down. He had a squint and a lecherous smile and his eyes constantly addressed her breasts.
As Head of Occupational Therapy he might be good at his job, she thought, a truly gifted man in his profession. But to Rose he was a dead ringer for BNP leader Nick Griffin. And just as charismatic.
‘Julie Miller…’ He lay back in his chair, the springs and joints groaning, and furrowed his brow. ‘I read about it in the papers. Terrible…’
‘We haven’t officially confirmed that it’s her, Mr Laverty.’
He rolled his eyes theatrically. ‘Oh come on. Why else would the whole of this wing be getting torn apart by your people?’
She frowned. ‘My people?’
He ploughed on, pleased to have the upper hand. Thrilled, even. ‘The police. The murdered woman whose body was found this morning was a SALT. Speech and language therapist. So was the woman who went missing.’
Rose Martin understood. And was immediately angry with herself. Ben had briefed both her and the new profiler separately otherwise she would have made the connection straight away.
If the police were here, then the connection had already been made.
‘So I suppose it’s all connected, then?’ Laverty said, reading her mind.
‘It’s too early to say at the moment.’ The answer trotted out automatically.
Laverty wiped his brow with the back of his hand, wiped his hand on the side of his jacket. His eyes were dancing, he was almost buzzing with excitement. Some people were like that, thought Rose. Ignoring any tragedy, horror or upset to personal relationships, just thrilled to be part of a police investigation.
‘We’ll need to see your files.’
He frowned. ‘Why?’
‘To cross-reference them against the speech and language therapists. See if any patients match up. See if we get a hit.’
A look of horror was creeping up his face. ‘Patients? Our patients’ records?’
Rose nodded.
‘Don’t you need a warrant for that kind of thing?’
‘I can get one. If I need one.’
He sighed. It took some effort. ‘Out of the question.’
Rose leaned forward. She wasn’t in the mood for this. She was behind in the investigation, and she didn’t want Brennan and his acolytes to take over. She needed to catch up quickly. ‘Mr Laverty. I will get a warrant. But that takes time. However, if you wish to cooperate and willingly allow my team access to your patient records then you won’t be officially blamed.’
He frowned. ‘For what?’
‘For the next death. Because the way things are going, there will be one. And if there is, I’ll make sure everyone knows you held us up.’
Laverty looked down at his desk. Reluctantly, he nodded.
Rose smiled. ‘Thank you. I’ll get someone on to it straight away.’
But not me, she thought. I’m going to follow some other leads.
‘Are there any of Julie Miller’s colleagues here? I just want a word.’
‘Haven’t you done all that?’ Laverty, miserable now, wanted her out of his office.
‘I have but… let’s just say I’m pursuing another line of inquiry.’
Mine, she thought.
‘Julie? Yeah. She was lovely.’
Amy Hibbert was walking through the corridor on the way to see a patient. She had asked Rose to walk with her. Small, compact, with bobbed, blonde hair, she seemed the opposite of Julie Miller.
‘You and her started the same time, is that right?’
She nodded. ‘We kind of clung together, you know? Till we got settled. Went for lunch, that kind of thing.’ She shook her head. ‘Can’t believe it…’
‘It gets people that way. Amy, did Julie mention any boyfriend to you?’
She shook her head. ‘She wasn’t seeing anyone. Between boyfriends, she said.’
‘Was there anyone who was interested? Did she mention that?’
Amy Hibbert screwed up her eyes. Rose knew what she was doing. Sometimes people just wanted to help. Even if they didn’t know anything or had nothing to contribute, they wanted to help.
‘No,’ she said eventually, looking disappointed, ‘not really.’
‘Not really? What d’you mean?’
‘Well, she said she had friends who were boys. But they weren’t anything more than that.’ A sad smile. ‘She wondered whether hanging round with them was stopping her getting a boyfriend.’
‘Do you know the names of these boys?’
Amy shook her head. ‘Not really. We were supposed to meet them one night, all go out together. Never happened. Never will now…’ She stared off into the dist
ance, lost in her own thoughts.
Rose straightened up. ‘Thanks, Amy. Do you think it would help looking through Julie’s Facebook page?’
‘Might do.’
‘If I saw anyone there you know would you help me identify them?’
‘If I know them.’
Rose smiled. ‘Thanks, Amy. You’ve been a big help.’
She touched the girl on the shoulder. Amy tried to smile.
Rose’s phone rang. She checked the display: Phil. She was considering ignoring it but decided he wouldn’t be phoning unless it was important. She picked up.
‘Where are you?’ he said, no preamble.
‘Doing what you told me to. Chasing down information on Julie Miller.’
‘Good. Need you back here by six thirty. The profiler’s done her report and wants to share it with us.’ From the tone of his voice she could tell what he thought of it.
‘That’s quick,’ she said.
‘Isn’t it.’
Rose put her phone away, thanked Amy, headed out of the hospital.
She needed to think. Find another connection.
Do it her own way.
49
Phil looked round the room. The last time he had been in the bar for a briefing during a major case like this Marina had been here too. And Clayton, his old DS. Both gone.
But one returning. Hopefully.
He pushed those thoughts aside, concentrated. It was still light outside with just a crepuscular hint creeping across the sky. The nights getting longer and warmer, summer on its way. The board was in front of the shuttered bar, the tables and chairs pulled in a loose semi-circle round it. Fenwick was standing to one side, discussing something in hushed tones with Rose Martin. Anni had sat down in the seat next to him, a pile of papers and files over on her desk that she kept glancing at as if it was pulling her back. She looked exhausted. Probably they all did.
Fiona Welch sat at the far end of the row, head down, making notes, her BlackBerry next to her, pen stuck in the corner of her mouth, fingers absently playing up and down the length of it. Beside her, Mickey Philips was trying hard not to be transfixed. Phil didn’t know whether to be amused or angry. He didn’t like the profiler. Couldn’t get on with her. And that made him wonder just how accurate her profile would be.
There were others in there too. Milhouse had managed to drag himself away from the computer screen, eyes blinking behind his thick black frames, like a miner emerging into the light. The Birdies sat behind him, together, as always, the wiry Adrian Wren contrasting with the large Jane Gosling like an old variety act. Beside them were other detectives, drafted in from other teams to help out with the case. Phil knew some of them personally, some only to nod at. It didn’t matter. They didn’t have to know each other. As long as they got their jobs done.
Fenwick turned away from Rose, gestured for her to sit down. Then he crossed the room, stood in front of the whiteboard.
‘Thanks, everyone,’ he said, looking round the room. ‘Let’s get started. Phil?’
Phil stood up, walked to the front. He hated speaking in front of people, even his own team, preferring to just get on with the job. But he knew it was necessary and he was getting better at it. No panic attacks now.
‘Right,’ he said, wasting no time. ‘This is what we’ve got so far. Julie Miller. Missing, presumed dead. Just waiting for confirmation from her PM.’
‘Nick said he’d be across soon to join us,’ said Adrian.
‘Good. Zoe Herriot. Dead. Murdered.’
‘Why do we presume it’s the same person for all of this?’ said Mickey. ‘Isn’t her death different? Don’t serial killers find a way of killing and stick with it?’
Phil saw Fiona from the corner of his eye. She tentatively raised a finger to answer but he didn’t want her to. Instead he answered for her. ‘We’re not sure this is a serial killer, Mickey. Or the work of one person. But all the other evidence would seem to point that way.’ He turned, pointed to the board. ‘Adele Harrison. Missing. Dead or alive, we don’t know. Suzanne Perry. Missing.’ He drew his finger in a line between Suzanne, Adele and Julie. ‘Note the similarities. All dark-haired, all approximately the same height, same build. Same age, or thereabouts. Dark eyes. Now look at Zoe Herriot. Blonde, blue-eyed. Not the same at all.’
‘But Suzanne Perry and Zoe Herriot were both speech therapists,’ said Anni, ‘and Julie Miller’s an occupational therapist. There’s a connection.’
‘Definitely,’ said Phil. ‘So are we getting the patient lists cross-referenced?’
‘Yep,’ said Anni.
Phil noticed Rose didn’t rush to reply. ‘Good. Rose?’
Rose Martin looked at him as if she wasn’t going to speak just to spite him. But he was in no mood for her games. He kept staring at her. ‘Rose?’
She sensed the steel in his voice. Started to speak. ‘Same as Anni. I’ve got some of my old team going over Julie Miller’s casework, checking for overlap. I’ll let you know.’
‘Thank you.’ He saw Fiona Welch moving about in her seat like she wanted to say something, tried to ignore her. But he knew he couldn’t. She had written her report – in record time, he had to admit, not sure that was a good thing – and it was time for her to deliver it.
But not just yet.
‘Mickey, how’s the van hunting coming on?’
Mickey looked up from his notepad. ‘It’s going. We’re looking for a black Citroën Nemo. There’s photos coming round to all of you and the uniforms. I’ve narrowed it down to Colchester owners and I’m going through them now.’
‘Let me know if you need any more help. Jane?’
‘Nothing so far on CCTV from the quayside,’ said Jane Gosling. ‘Cameras don’t extend to where the body was left. The door-to-door in the flats opposite hasn’t given anything up either.’
‘Thanks.’ He sighed. Felt a slight constricting of his chest. Maybe he had spoken too soon about not getting panic attacks when speaking in public. He ignored it, hoped it would go away. ‘That’s everything so far.’ He glanced over at Fiona Welch. She had her papers in front of her and was sitting up straight, like the teacher’s favourite, ready to be called to the front of the class to show them all how to unravel some impenetrable equation. He had to let her speak. It was her turn.
‘Well, if there are no questions, I’ll hand over to-’
He got no further. The door opened and Nick Lines came striding in. Everyone turned at his entrance. The normally unflappable pathologist was out of breath, his tie askew, his forehead beaded with sweat. For him that was the equivalent of huge disarray.
‘Apologies for the late running of this service,’ he said, walking straight to the front of the group, joining Phil before the whiteboard. ‘I have the results of the post-mortem. And some preliminary DNA results too.’ He paused, eyes taking in all the people watching him. He didn’t seem impressed by their reactions.
‘Do you know what that means?’ he said, loudly.
There was a general shaking of heads.
‘It means I pulled a hell of a lot of strings to get the results in record time. So you should be grateful. Very grateful.’
‘I’m, erm, sure we all are,’ said Ben Fenwick, stepping forward, giving his politician’s smile. ‘And I’m sure that… well, I think I speak for the whole team when I say that.’
Nick Lines raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m sure you think you do, Ben.’
Phil hid a smile.
Nick was soon serious again. ‘But it’s a good job I did get them.’
‘Why?’ said Phil.
Nick took his time, waited until he was sure he had everyone’s full attention.
‘Because the body we found on the quay, the one I’ve just finished the post-mortem on and received DNA samples from, is not Julie Miller.’
50
Time stood still as the whole room took in Nick Lines’ words.
Phil was the first to speak. ‘You’re sure about that? Definitely not Julie
Miller?’
‘As certain as I can be about anything,’ Nick said, dead-panning the room. ‘No matches at all.’
‘Then if it’s not Julie Miller…’ Mickey was speaking for everyone.
‘Oh God,’ said Phil. ‘I think I know…’
‘Adele Harrison?’ said Anni.
Phil nodded. ‘Looks like it. Unless there’s another one somewhere that we don’t know about.’
‘Let’s hope not,’ said Fenwick. He turned to Nick. ‘How soon can we get another DNA test done?’
Nick raised his eyebrows. ‘Won’t be cheap.’
‘This is an upgraded case. High-priority. The money’s there.’
Nick screwed his eyes up, thinking. ‘Few days at best. Sooner you want it, the more money it costs.’
‘Do it,’ said Fenwick. He turned to Phil. ‘Where does this leave us?’
‘Revising everything we had until now. If Julie Miller’s still alive we have to assume it’s not for long unless we can find her. Same goes for Suzanne Perry.’
‘Clock’s ticking…’ said Fenwick, unnecessarily.
‘Right,’ said Phil, trying not to feel annoyed at his superior’s pointless interruption. ‘Based on what we’ve seen so far, whoever’s doing this seems to be following a pattern. Abduct the girl, keep them a while, torture them, kill them.’
‘Let their bodies go,’ said Fiona. ‘Give them back.’
‘Good point, Fiona,’ said Fenwick, giving a smile he probably thought was charming but if he had used it on a woman in a bar or nightclub she’d have made her excuses and left.
Rose Martin was still looking at him, though, Phil noticed.
Fenwick continued. ‘You were about to present us with your profile. The floor’s yours.’
Nick Lines took a seat as Fiona Welch stood up from her desk, arranged her papers in a neat order and crossed over, almost skipping. to the whiteboard. She looked excited, thought Phil. An X Factor contestant whose big moment has come.
‘Right,’ she said, trying to look serious but failing to hide the excitement in her voice. ‘Apologies for the speed in putting this together but, as Ben reminded us there, the clock is ticking.’