by M A Comley
He laughed. “Bloody gloss paint, it’s a devil to get out of the crevices sometimes.”
“I’m sure. Do you enjoy your work?” she asked, relief flooding through her.
“Mostly, it can get a little mundane; I suppose that’s true of any job, right?”
“Of course. I get bored with taking my clothes off and jutting my breasts out at the camera twelve hours a day most of the time.”
“Wow, I thought you’d love it. Don’t most models revel in all that attention from the camera?”
“It’s not as glamorous as most people think. I spend the majority of the day undressed, which is fine when we’re in the midst of a heatwave, not so good in the middle of December, I can tell you.”
“I never really thought about it. Poor you.”
“Never mind, at least the money is good. Want another?”
He downed his drink and rattled his glass on the bar to gain Tracey’s attention. “You’ve twisted my arm.”
They spent the next hour or so chatting. It was a comfortable encounter and one that made her hesitate for the slightest moment when it was time for her to leave.
“I have to go now. It was lovely meeting you. I’m afraid I have an early shoot in the morning.”
“That’s a shame. Maybe I can drop you home?”
“That would be wonderful. Hang on, how many have you had?”
“Three, maybe four. It’s fine. If you live locally, it shouldn’t take me long to drop you off.”
“Go on then. I’d like to spend more time with you. I’ve had a fun evening.”
He hopped off his stool and helped her off hers. “It’s been a fabulous evening.” He tucked her arm through his, waved at Tracey and they left the bar. He stopped at a Nissan Pathfinder and opened the passenger door.
“Why, thank you, kind sir. What a big… car you’ve got.”
He chuckled and ran around the front to jump in the driver’s side. “Where to, m’lady?”
“I’ll tell you the way.”
He drove out of the car park and followed her instructions. She led him to a bit of wasteland she knew down by the River Thames. He cut the engine and rubbed his hands together then turned in his seat to face her. His grin of expectation rankled her. She stabbed the needle into his leg and released the clear liquid before he had a chance to react. The serum rendered him incapable of either moving or saying anything.
Megan went to work. She tied his hands and his ankles, well-practiced in what knots to use for effectiveness. His eyes, wide with fear, followed her movements.
“You’re an evil bastard who deserves what’s coming to him. As if I could ever be interested in you after the way you destroyed my family. You make me sick. You and the others will be punished, all of you will perish before the week is out. You can all join up in hell and joyride to your hearts’ content with no fear of ruining others’ lives the way you’ve wrecked mine.”
His eyes widened and followed her out of the car. She opened the driver’s door and pushed a button. Then she rushed to the back of the car and removed the fuel cap. She withdrew a ten-inch piece of material she had in her pocket, lit a match, and placed the material into the tank and stood back. Then she ran to the front of the vehicle and watched the terror in his eyes until finally his body was engulfed in flames as the car exploded.
Removing her shoes, she ran towards the alley off to the left and slowly made her way back to her vehicle which was parked a few streets away.
One down, three more to meet their fate!
1
Katy woke with a start, tore out of the bed and raced along the hallway to her daughter’s bedroom. Georgie was sound asleep. She inched closer to listen to her breathing; it was steady, nothing to worry about, this time. This had been her routine several times a week since Georgie had been rushed into hospital almost three months earlier. Even though the doctors had assured her Georgie was now out of immediate danger, she could do little to push down the rising panic that emerged every so often to taunt her. The doctor had been certain that Georgie’s immediate future would be secure and said that they intended to monitor her closely in case things go awry. He’d told them that most kids with a heart defect were resilient. The odd exception to the rule would need surgery to correct the faults which showed up. Although, his final words had chilled her to the bone. There was no telling what kind of damage the meningitis had done to her heart, if any, and it might take months for them to find out.
She knelt beside her daughter and swept the fringe out of Georgie’s eyes. AJ appeared in the doorway and asked in a panicked voice, “Is she okay?”
Katy glanced his way and nodded. “I think so. It was just my vivid imagination working overtime.”
“Thank God. Come back to bed, let’s enjoy the peace and quiet while we can.”
Katy kissed Georgie’s temple and walked out of the bedroom. “I’ll go make us a coffee. I should be getting a move on soon anyway.”
AJ went back to bed. She rejoined him with toast and coffee ten minutes or so later. She’d just settled back into bed when her mobile juddered across the bedside table. She picked it up and through a mouthful of toast said, “DI Katy Foster.”
“Sorry to disturb you, ma’am. It’s Mick.”
Katy rolled her eyes at AJ and mouthed an apology. “I know it has to be important for you to be calling me directly, Mick. What’s up?”
“We’ve been dealing with a nasty one since first light that has your name written all over it.”
“My personal name? Or is that your way of saying this case is right up my street?”
“Sorry, yes, the latter.”
“Okay. You’re telling me I need to get my arse into gear and get to the scene, aren’t you?”
“Yes, actually, the pathologist just called in, wondering where you were.”
“Patti? Okay, if she’s chasing my tail, it must be a bad one.”
“It is. Shall I call her back to tell her you’ll be with her soon?”
“Hang on a sec, you haven’t told me what the location is yet.”
He sighed, and she heard him flick through a couple of pages before he gave her the address.
She quickly assessed how long it would likely take her to get dressed and drive the short distance to the scene. “Okay, tell Patti to expect me in around thirty minutes. Tell her to bear with me because I’m actually not even dressed as yet.”
“Oops, again, I apologise for disturbing you so early.”
“There’s no need. See you later.” She ended the call and ripped into her piece of toast.
“Why you? Can’t someone else attend and you pick up the slack later?”
She cocked an eyebrow at her husband and took a sip of coffee. “If only it worked like that.”
“I know, wishful thinking on my part. Anything I can do to help?”
“Nope. I’ll shove this down my neck, have a quick shower and make a dash for it. What have you got on today?”
“Several contacts I need to chase up. One party to start organising, and the rest of the day will be spent scouring the area for extra bookings. I’m not stressed about it, word of mouth is getting around and the phone never stops ringing with enquiries. I’m lucky in that respect.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “Have I told you lately how proud I am of you?”
He glanced at the clock. “Ooo… it’s been at least ten hours, but yes, carry on piling on the praise.”
“You’re amazing. To have stumbled across something that could make us a lot of money in the future.”
“Hold your horses. The business is still relatively new; saying that, I’m delighted by the amount of success we’ve had so far.”
“You’ve had. All your success is down to your sole input. Who knew kids’ parties could be so lucrative?”
“I had an inkling, otherwise I wouldn’t have entertained the business.” He chuckled. “See what I did there?”
Katy groaned. “It hadn’t gone unnoticed.
I’d better get my arse into gear.”
“What you need to do is finish your breakfast first.”
She gulped down the rest of her toast and coffee while she sorted through her wardrobe. The navy trouser suit caught her eye. She teamed it up with a white blouse and then raced into the bathroom and jumped in the shower.
Twenty minutes later, she’d kissed AJ goodbye and was on the road. She rang her partner en route. “Hi, Charlie, did you get the call?”
“Morning, boss. Yes, I’m almost there. How about you?”
“Another ten minutes, depending on traffic, it’s not been too bad so far.”
“It was all right at my end, it’s too early for normal folks to be on the road.”
“Okay. I’ll see you shortly.”
Katy ended the call and put the radio on to ease her through the rest of the journey.
Patti was retrieving some equipment from her van when she pulled up beside her vehicle. Charlie joined her. “Morning, ladies. Sorry for ringing you so early. Thought you’d want to get cracking on this one right away.”
“No need to apologise, I’m used to you disturbing my sleep.” Katy grinned.
“As long as that’s all I was disturbing.”
Katy sighed. “Yep, old married couple now. Early morning hanky-panky went out of the window years ago.”
“Shame on you, Katy Foster… it is still Foster, isn’t it?”
“Yes, at work. We thought it best to keep things as they were. Enough about me. Should we suit up?”
“Always wise. I hope you’ve got a strong stomach this morning, it ain’t pretty.”
“Are any of them?” Katy moved to the boot of her car and dug around for a couple of suits. “Umm… supplies are getting low back here, just saying.”
Patti took the hint and returned to her vehicle. She collected a couple of paper suits and handed them to Charlie. “These might be of some use to the pair of you.”
“Gee, thanks, Patti. What would we do without you?” Katy called over. “It’s okay, I have an abundance of shoe coverings.”
“So glad to hear it. Come on, get a wriggle on, ladies. I haven’t got all day.”
Once they had slipped on their protective suits, gloves and shoe coverings, Katy and Charlie followed Patti to the scene. The technical team were hard at work, collecting evidence from the burnt-out vehicle.
“I’m taking it this was intentional, bearing in mind the location being off the beaten track?” Katy surmised.
“Yep. I had my doubts for the tiniest moment, but now I’m pretty sure this was down to someone with a seriously cruel agenda.”
Katy tilted her head and moved closer to the car. “Single occupant. Any wounds that you can tell?”
“Not as such, apart from the man roasting in the car,” the pathologist replied sarcastically.
“Okay, so someone torched the car and killed him, I agree, that’s pretty cruel.”
Patti shook her head and walked over to hold up an evidence bag. “We found traces of rope inside.”
“Rope? As in he was bound?”
“Yep. Someone tied him up and then torched the vehicle.”
“Ouch! Not good news. Have we got an ID on the victim?”
“Nothing that I can give you for definite, always difficult when there’s fire involved as you can imagine. The plate is intact, so that’s a bonus.”
“Charlie, can you do the honours for me?” Katy asked.
Charlie fished out her mobile and placed the call. She waited for someone back at the station to feed her the information and then hung up. “Jason Davis. I’ve got his address for when we need it.”
“Does he live far?” Katy asked, surveying the rest of the scene before moving on to the surrounding area.
“Not too far. About five minutes by car, that’s an estimate on my part, of course.”
“Okay. What else have you got for us, Patti?”
Patti folded her arms, her paper suit rustling as she tapped her foot. “Not a lot at present. I’ll know more once we get him back to the lab and opened up.”
“In the meantime, I suppose we’d better go and see if there’s a next of kin at his address. Wait, who called it in?”
“A postie stumbled across the car at around five this morning.”
“Must’ve been a shock for them. Keep in touch, Patti, the sooner we get on with the onerous task of informing the relatives, the better.”
“Good luck. I don’t envy you in the slightest. I’ll be in touch soon, although it might take me a little longer than normal to file the report.”
“I know you’ll do your best. TTFN.”
Katy and Charlie walked back to their respective cars. Katy tapped the postcode into the satnav and told Charlie to follow her to the location.
A woman in her early forties opened the door to them. “Oh God, he’s not… dead, is he?”
“Mrs Davis? I’m DI Katy Foster and this is my partner, DS Charlie Simpkins, would it be okay if we came in to speak to you?”
She inched the door closed a little. “I’m not sure. Answer my question first.”
Katy inhaled a large breath. “If you’re talking about Jason Davis, then yes, I’m sorry, we believe he’s dead, although his true identity has yet to be confirmed.”
Mrs Davis staggered backwards and slumped against the wall in the hallway. Katy ran to assist her. “No… no, this can’t be true. It can’t be. Sammy… Sammy, come down here.”
A younger woman with long blonde hair appeared at the top of the stairs. “Get away from her. Who are you? What are you doing to my mother?”
Katy and Charlie produced their IDs, and the girl ran down the stairs to inspect them. “Oh shit! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mouth off like that.” She turned to face her mother and reached out to her. “Mum, what’s going on?”
“It’s your father. They’re saying… he’s dead.” Jane Davis sobbed.
Her daughter pushed Katy aside. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to comfort my mother. Is he? Dead, I mean?”
Katy took a further step to the left. “Why don’t we go into the lounge or somewhere more comfortable to discuss this?”
Charlie closed the front door. Sammy indicated which room to enter and they all headed that way. Sammy supported her mother whose body was limp with grief.
After the four of them were seated, Katy relayed what they knew regarding the incident.
“What if it’s not my father? Do you really think you should come here telling us that he’s dead if you haven’t identified him yet?”
“We have no reason to think it’s not him. He was found in his vehicle which is registered to this address,” Katy replied, wondering how the young woman would know such a thing.
“I’m studying criminology at university. I’m home for a break at the moment.”
That explains it! “Ah, I see. I’m sorry to add to your grief, but I need to ask a few questions about your father’s whereabouts the last few days. If that’s okay?”
Mrs Davis nodded at her daughter. “They have to do their job, love, let them get on with it, all right?”
Sammy closed her eyes and let out a large sigh. She opened them again and said, “Dad was a frequent visitor at the local. Mum and Dad had a row last night, he stormed off to the pub and never came home.”
“Was it a regular occurrence? Him staying out all night?”
“Yes, he’s been known to sleep in either his car or his van on occasions. That’s why neither of us reported him missing.”
Katy nodded. “Ah, I did wonder. Can you tell us which pub he usually used?”
“The Fallow Deer Inn, a few streets away,” Sammy told them.
“Why did he take the car and not walk, if it’s that close?” Katy enquired.
“You’d have to ask him that, oh wait, you can’t, because he’s bloody dead!” Sammy sneered. “What type of question is that?”
“I’m sorry. I just need to get more background into your father’s actio
ns, et cetera. Some of the questions I’ll be asking might seem a little idiotic, but please bear with me.”
“If we must,” Sammy grumbled.
“He always took his car. The number of times I’ve tried to dissuade him, is nobody’s business,” Mrs Davis added. “He was a law unto himself most of the time. Nothing I said could sway his decision making, so I gave up years ago.”
“Has he been under any kind of stress lately?” Katy pressed on.
“No more than usual. Work is hit and miss at present, hasn’t got back to where it was before that damned virus struck.”
“What line of business was he in?”
“He was a painter and decorator. Don’t look around, I know you can’t tell.”
“Don’t worry, we’re not here to judge. And he used the same pub all the time? It was his regular, was it?”
“Yes. He trundled down there at least four nights a week. I’ve pleaded with him to knock it on the head as money is tight, but me opening my mouth only appeared to make him more obstinate. No man likes to be told what he can and can’t do, do they?”
Katy smiled. “I suppose. To your knowledge, has he fallen out with anyone recently?”
Sammy squeezed her mother’s hand and asked, “Why? Are you saying he died in suspicious circumstances?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Both women gasped and tears slipped down Jane’s cheeks. Sammy flung an arm around her mother’s shoulders. “Stay strong, Mum. Don’t crumble now.”
“I can’t deal with this. I know I didn’t always show it, but I loved the bugger. I can’t bear the thought of him being killed. Why? Why would someone want to kill Jason? He’s never knowingly done anyone any harm, not that I’m aware of. Oh, God, what the hell is going on, Sammy? Why us? Why now?”
“You heard her, why us? Why Dad?” Sammy was quick to fire at Katy.
“It’s very early into our investigation, far too soon for us to figure out the whys and wherefores, I’m sorry. Hence my need to come here today and question you. I know the timing could be better, but the more you can tell us about Jason’s character and what he got up to, the more likely we are to find the person responsible.”