The Christmas Killer

by Alex Pine

  James shook his head. ‘I really don’t think they will. I’m sure it’s a case of Annie overreacting.’

  Stevens cocked an eyebrow. ‘For both your sakes, I hope you’re right about that, guv.’

  This time there was a white Range Rover on the driveway of Ron Curtis’s bungalow. It was only a couple of years old and looked as though it had recently been cleaned.

  The bungalow’s front door was opened before James and DS Stevens reached it. A tall man greeted them with a nod and a smile. He was wearing a grey jumper and tight black jeans.

  ‘I’m Daniel Curtis,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry you weren’t able to reach me before today. My phone packed up on me after I dropped it so I had to get a new one.’

  It irked James that the guy did not look a day over forty-five. He’d lost most of his hair but not his looks, and it was obvious that he kept himself in shape. He had a square jawline that was covered in designer stubble, and deep-set brown eyes.

  The two detectives went through the formality of showing their warrant cards before Daniel waved them inside.

  ‘My dad’s in the living room so go straight through,’ he said. ‘Is there anything I can get you? Tea or coffee, or perhaps something stronger? We have beer and wine.’

  He had a soft voice and a pleasant, polite manner, and he struck James as the kind of bloke who would find it easy to charm the ladies, especially those who were young and vulnerable.

  ‘Thank you, but we’ll pass,’ James said. ‘This is not a social call, and I’m hoping we won’t take up much of your time.’

  James felt his neck grow hot under his collar as he walked along the hallway. He had to remind himself to treat Daniel Curtis like any other interviewee. But he knew that was going to be difficult as an image of a young Annie making love to the guy rose unbidden in his mind.

  He wished now that she had never told him about that phase of her life. But she had, and so he needed to resist the urge to bring it up and tell Daniel Curtis what he thought of him.

  Ron was in the same armchair he’d sat in during James’s last visit. Stevens introduced himself and the old man grunted a response and flicked a hand towards the sofa.

  They both sat down and James opened up his notebook. Daniel lowered himself onto the other armchair and said, ‘Before you start asking your questions, you should know that I’ve been in touch with my solicitor who has advised me not to talk to you without him being present. But I agreed to because this is a nasty business and I want to be as helpful as I can. You need to be honest with me from the outset, though. Do you guys actually suspect me of killing Charlie Jenkins?’

  ‘Everyone in this village is a suspect right now, Mr Curtis,’ James said. ‘We’re going through the process of eliminating a number of individuals from our enquiries. You’re one of those people because only a matter of hours before Mr Jenkins was killed, he came here and threatened your father for spreading gossip about an extra-marital affair he had with Janet Dyer. You were naturally very angry and told your father that you would go to The White Hart to confront Mr Jenkins.’

  ‘And I had every intention of doing so,’ Daniel said. ‘But when Dad phoned me, I was in Keswick and didn’t get back until Sunday evening, by which time Charlie was dead.’

  ‘That’s how we understand it,’ James said. ‘But obviously we need confirmation of that. So I would like you to provide a detailed account of your movements on Saturday and Sunday. Where did you go and who did you come into contact with? You’ll have to be specific in respect of times, locations and names.’

  Daniel responded with a wide, smug grin that took James by surprise.

  ‘I don’t have a problem with any of that, Detective Inspector,’ he said. ‘You see, as soon as my dad told me you’d been here and had asked about me, I knew I’d be next on your list. I even anticipated the questions you were going to ask me. So I decided to have the answers ready.’

  He reached into his pocket and produced a folded sheet of paper, which he handed to James.

  ‘It’s all written down there,’ he said. ‘I live in Keswick, as you know, and that’s where I run my own business selling tyres. I had to go back unexpectedly on Saturday because one of my three staff members had an unfortunate accident when a car drove over his foot. I needed to sort things out and I was there until seven in the evening so I decided to stay overnight at my flat. On Sunday morning, I went back to the factory to check things over and stayed for most of the day. While I was there, I dropped and damaged my phone, which is why you were unable to reach me. This morning I drove into Kendal and got a replacement. I’ve written down my address, the address of my business, and the names and contact details of my employees.’

  James forced a smile onto his face. ‘That’s most helpful, Mr Curtis. But did you meet anyone else while you were in Keswick?’

  ‘No, I did not.’

  ‘When you left your business premises at seven on Saturday, where did you go?’

  ‘I went straight back to the flat and was in bed by nine.’

  ‘And were you alone?’

  Daniel’s jaw tensed. ‘Yes, I was. And for your information there are security cameras covering the entrance to the block and the car park. So you won’t have trouble verifying that.’

  There was a long pause before James spoke again.

  ‘How well did you know Mr Jenkins?’ he asked.

  Daniel shrugged. ‘Not well at all. Before I left the village, I saw him from time to time in the pub and we had short but unmemorable conversations. I haven’t seen him in ages. When I come back to see my father, I usually go to The King’s Head, though not when it’s busy, for obvious reasons.’

  ‘You mean because you know you’re not welcome here in Kirkby Abbey,’ James said.

  Daniel rolled his eyes. ‘That’s exactly right, Detective Inspector. People here hate me and Jenkins was among those who were verbally abusive to me. If it wasn’t for my father, I would never set foot in this place again.’

  ‘Do you think they’re being unfair given your history?’

  Daniel rubbed a hand across his face. ‘Look, that stuff is all behind me. I’m a different person now and very much regret what I did. But I do understand why people here can’t forgive and forget. To them, I’ll always be a pariah.’

  ‘That must make you very angry.’

  ‘Only when I see how some of them look at me or when someone has a go at my dad as though it was all his fault.’

  ‘Angry enough to make you want to hit back at them?’ DS Stevens said.

  Daniel looked at him, his eyes suddenly bright and alert.

  ‘I can see where this is going and the answer to that question is an emphatic no,’ he said. ‘I don’t hold a grudge and I’m not a bloody murderer.’

  There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead now and spittle had gathered at the corners of his mouth.

  James decided it was time to shift the focus onto the second murder.

  ‘Now, can you tell us where you were last night, Mr Curtis?’ he said.

  A frown gathered on Daniel’s face and his eyes narrowed.

  ‘Why do you want to know that?’ he said, his voice rising. ‘Is it because of Lorna Manning? Do you honestly suspect that I did her in as well?’

  ‘We’ll be asking everyone we speak to the same question,’ James said. ‘So we’d appreciate an answer.’

  ‘Well, the answer is I was here all night with my dad,’ he said. ‘We both sat up watching the box until almost midnight. Then we turned in and I didn’t get up until ten this morning.’

  James turned to Ron Curtis, who had a dark crease of worry above his eyes.

  ‘And did you have a good night’s sleep, Mr Curtis?’ he asked.

  ‘I always do, thanks to the pills I take.’

  ‘And these pills knock you out, do they? Enough that you wouldn’t necessarily have known if your son got up and left the house?’

  The old man opened his mouth to speak but Daniel beat him to it.
/>
  ‘Oh for fuck’s sake. This is getting silly,’ he snapped. ‘I did not go out and kill Lorna Manning. I’ve never spoken to the woman and I had no reason to want to hurt her.’

  ‘So why were you hanging around outside her school on Friday evening?’ James said. ‘Were you waiting for her to come out?’

  Daniel looked surprised. ‘Did Giles Keegan tell you he saw me there? Is that why you’re asking?’

  ‘As a matter of fact, it was someone else who spotted you watching the school from across the road while smoking a cigarette,’ James said. ‘But tell me about Giles Keegan.’

  ‘There’s not much to tell. He was walking past on the other side of the road when he saw me. He crossed over and demanded to know what I was doing there. I told him he wasn’t a detective any more so to bugger off and mind his own business. But he started shouting at me, so after a minute or so I walked away so as not to attract attention.’

  ‘Why was Mr Keegan so angry?’ James asked.

  ‘We knew each other years ago, when I lived here. He was one of the coppers who testified against me and got me sent down. And he doesn’t like it when I come back to the village, even though I don’t usually stay for longer than a few days at a time.’

  James made some notes, and while he was doing so Stevens asked Daniel to explain why he was waiting outside the school on Friday.

  Daniel took a long time to answer, and when he did, he switched his gaze to James.

  ‘I went there because I wanted to see your wife, Annie,’ he said. ‘I knew she was at the nativity play and I wanted to ask her a question that’s been bugging me for weeks. I didn’t dare go to your house because I couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t be there.’

  James felt a dull thud in his chest. ‘What are you talking about?’

  Daniel’s face coloured slightly. ‘I know you’re aware that she and I were in a relationship a long time ago, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come up during this interview. I certainly wouldn’t have mentioned it if you hadn’t forced me to.’

  ‘Just get to the point,’ James said. ‘What is it you want to ask her?’

  ‘I want to know if something that Janet Dyer told my father is true. I put the question to Annie’s uncle when I saw him today and he said it wasn’t, but I didn’t believe him.’

  James felt the grip of anxiety in his stomach as he struggled to grasp what he was hearing.

  ‘Tell me what it is you want to know,’ he said through gritted teeth.

  Daniel took a deep breath and said, ‘Janet Dyer claimed that Annie had an abortion soon after we split up. I want to know if it’s true that your wife killed my baby.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Before Annie left her uncle at The King’s Head, she downed two large glasses of wine. Bill polished off three pints of beer and worked his way through a plate of cod and chips but Annie had lost her appetite the moment he told her about his encounter with Daniel Curtis. She was still finding it hard to believe that Janet had broken her promise never to tell anyone about the abortion.

  It was Annie’s father who had insisted on keeping it secret back then. He said he didn’t want Daniel to know and he didn’t want to bring shame on the family.

  Annie had confided in Janet because she had needed to talk to someone, other than her mum and dad, and she had mistakenly believed that her friend could be trusted. Over the years the subject was never raised by either of them, but she was now wondering who else Janet had told.

  Knowing that Daniel had found out was like a fist clenching Annie’s heart. Bill said he had told him it wasn’t true, but he probably didn’t believe that.

  So … what next? she wondered. Would Daniel want to ask her himself? And if he did, what would she tell him?

  Of more concern was whether James would find out. She’d never mentioned it to him because she hadn’t wanted him to know that she’d got pregnant with the man she’d foolishly fallen in love with at sixteen.

  And, despite the doctors she’d consulted telling her that in most cases an abortion does not affect fertility or future pregnancies, it was always at the back of her mind that the choice she’d had to make at sixteen was the reason she wasn’t able to conceive now.

  She felt a shiver as a memory surfaced. It was of the moment she broke the news to her parents after the pregnancy test proved positive. Her mother had started to cry and her father looked at her as though she were scum.

  ‘You’ll have to get rid of it,’ he said. ‘No way am I letting you have that bastard’s child.’

  ‘It’s not up to you, Dad,’ she told him. ‘It’s my body and my baby. If I want to go through with it then you can’t stop me.’

  ‘You’re so young and you have no idea what it will do to your life,’ he said. ‘Please listen to me, Annie, and be sensible about this. I’m only thinking about what’s best for you.’

  They’d argued about it for days and during that time it was always at the back of Annie’s mind that having the baby could bring her and Daniel back together.

  Eventually, though, she succumbed to the pressure from her mum and dad, as well as her uncle.

  The only people who knew about the procedure were her parents and Bill.

  Until she went and told Janet.

  Annie had a sudden urge to confront the woman for revealing her secret. She needs to know how pissed off I am, she told herself.

  Without giving it any more thought, she headed towards Janet’s house, the wine buzzing in her ears. She was probably a little drunk, which was why she was acting on impulse for a change. Normally she shied away from confrontation, especially with people she knew. But this was an issue she wasn’t prepared to bottle up.

  When Janet opened her front door, it was immediately obvious to Annie that there was something wrong. Her normally immaculate fair hair was a mess, and it looked as though tears had washed away most of her make-up. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and there were dark circles beneath them.

  The sight of her shocked Annie and stopped her from launching into the blistering tirade that had been building in her head. Instead, she felt a sobering flush of concern for the woman and instinctively reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  ‘My God, are you all right?’ she said. ‘You look sick.’

  Janet shook her head. ‘I’m not ill, Annie. It’s just that I’ve had the day from hell and I can’t stop crying.’

  ‘Well, I’ve had a bad day too so let me come in and we can compare notes,’ Annie said.

  Janet gave a wearing sigh. ‘Okay, but you’ll have to forgive the mess I’ve made. I lost my temper and let rip.’

  Annie got another shock as she stepped into the living room. It was indeed a mess. The artificial Christmas tree was on the floor along with various decorations. And there was a large wet stain on one wall just above an area of carpet speckled with shards of glass.

  ‘It won’t take me long to clear it up,’ Janet said from behind Annie. ‘That wall could do with a fresh coat of paint anyway.’

  ‘So what happened?’ Annie asked her.

  ‘You know what I’m like,’ Janet said. ‘I have a short fuse at times and lash out. Today everything got on top of me. The last straw was when my sister called to say she wouldn’t be coming for Christmas because of the murders. And I was so looking forward to seeing her. I threw my favourite gin glass at the wall and knocked over the tree. I know it was stupid but it did make me feel a bit better for a short time.’

  ‘Come through to the kitchen. I can make you a hot drink or you can share a bottle of wine with me.

  Annie opted for the wine and they sat at the table beneath the kitchen window. On top of it was a pile of about ten envelopes with names on.

  ‘One of those is a Christmas card for you,’ Janet said. ‘I was planning to deliver them today but I never got around to it.’

  Janet took a bottle of white wine from the fridge and filled two glasses. It made Annie realise that she’d drunk twice as much alcohol in t
he last couple of days as she usually did.

  ‘It’s nice to see you,’ Janet said, placing a glass in front of Annie. ‘Did you drop by for any particular reason?’

  Annie shrugged, features impassive. ‘There is something I want to chat to you about, but first tell me why your day has been so horrid.’

  Janet swallowed some wine and pursed her lips. ‘It got off to a bad start when I heard the terrible news about Lorna. I was still trying to digest it when Sonia Jenkins turned up here to tell me that I wouldn’t be welcome at the church service for Charlie. I had intended to go, but she was very aggressive and warned me that she would make a scene if I did. Then, an hour later, my ex rang to say he won’t allow the twins to come back home until the police have caught whoever killed Charlie and Lorna. We had words and he hung up on me before I could speak to the boys. Soon after that my sis phoned and I felt like slitting my wrists.’

  ‘Were you not meant to be working today?’ Annie asked her.

  ‘I’ve scaled back on visits over Christmas. There are a few people in the village I’ll be seeing, but my usual rounds outside are being covered by someone else.’

  ‘Will Ron Curtis be among those you’ll be seeing?’ Annie asked her.

  The question surprised Janet and her body visibly stiffened.

  ‘I’m due to call in at his house on Christmas Eve,’ she said. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘Because I was wondering if you knew that Daniel is staying with him.’

  ‘As a matter of fact, I did know.’

  ‘So have you spoken to him? Daniel, I mean.’

  ‘Only briefly. He turned up when I was last there and—’ That was when she twigged and the breath caught in her throat. ‘Is that why you came here, Annie? To ask me about Daniel? Has he been round to your place?’

  ‘He wouldn’t dare,’ Annie said. ‘But he gave my Uncle Bill a lift in his car earlier today and he took the opportunity to ask him if it was true that he made me pregnant and I had an abortion after we split up. He said Ron told him that after you told Ron.’