by Alex Pine
‘I take it you want me to confirm that?’ James said.
Carver shook his head. ‘There’s no need. I know it to be true. What I’d like is a quote about how the Kirkby Abbey killer has been sending out Christmas cards in which he flags up what he’d done and what he intends to do.’
‘That will serve only to make things much more difficult for us, Mr Carver, and you know it.’
‘I promised you I wouldn’t pitch the story about the cards for twenty-four hours and I’ve kept my word. But I can’t hold off any longer. If I don’t go with it now then someone else will. The people of this village have a right to know what I know. And they also deserve to know how the killer managed to claim a third victim even as the police were patrolling the streets.’
James spent another ten minutes trying to persuade Carver not to reveal more than the press office were putting out. But he insisted he had to go with it all.
In the end, James felt there was only one thing he could say on the record to the reporter, and that was: ‘More information will be forthcoming at the next press conference.’
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
On the way to Keith Patel’s cottage, James rang DCI Tanner to tell him about his encounter with the reporter.
‘You need to alert the press office, sir,’ he said. ‘They’re going to be asked about the Christmas cards and why we chose not to make them public.’
‘We’ll just tell the truth,’ Tanner replied. ‘We didn’t want to alarm the villagers and cause panic when there was no way of knowing if the threats in them were genuine.’
‘Are you holding another press conference today?’
‘We’ll have to, but there’ll be more to talk about than your case. Would you believe we have another murder on our hands?’
‘You’re kidding.’
‘I wish I was. And it’s right here in Kendal. So we’re being stretched even further now.’
‘What do we know?’
‘A young man yet to be identified. His body was found just over an hour ago next to the river path off Beezon Fields. He was bludgeoned to death late last night or in the early hours of this morning. Too soon to know the circumstances.’
‘That’s all we need,’ James said.
‘My sentiments exactly.’
After hanging up, James told DC Abbott about the body found in Kendal.
‘When I came to Cumbria, I thought I’d be in for a quiet life,’ he said.
Abbott grinned. ‘I’d like a pound for every copper from down south who has said that to me. But what you need to remember is that up here it’s all about peaks and troughs. Even crime. And right now we’re at the top of an almighty frigging peak.’
It was James’s third visit to Keith Patel’s house, and before they reached it he told DC Abbott to brace herself for a hostile reception.
‘The last time I was here he told me to piss off and said he wouldn’t talk to us again unless he had a lawyer with him.’
They arrived at the cottage just as Patel was about to step out. He answered the door wearing a coat, boots and a woollen hat.
‘What in God’s name do you want with me now?’ he said. ‘Surely you lot have got more important things to do than harass me.’
‘Where are you off to, Mr Patel?’ James asked him.
‘Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve run out of fags so I’m going to the store.’
‘Well, you’ll have to delay your trip because we need to come in and talk to you.’
‘What for this time?’
‘There’s been another murder, Mr Patel. And it turns out that you were one of the last people to see the victim alive.’
Patel’s jaw dropped, as if a hinge had come loose.
‘Who are you talking about?’ he said.
‘I’m talking about Daniel Curtis. He was stabbed to death last night while walking home from The King’s Head. It would have happened not long after you asked him if he’d molested any young girls lately.’
For a few moments Patel appeared too shocked to speak. As he stared at James, the tendons in his neck became so taut they looked ready to snap.
When he finally spoke, his voice was acidic. ‘This is beyond a fucking joke now. When you were here before you tried to pin those first two murders on me. Now you think I killed that pervert Curtis. Well, I didn’t.’
‘We should discuss this inside,’ James said.
‘But I made it clear last time that I won’t talk to you again without a lawyer.’
‘In that case we’ll have to take you to the station in Kendal and you can call one from there. Or we can arrange for the duty solicitor to represent you.’
The prospect of a trip to Kendal clearly did not appeal to him. He let out a loud breath through his teeth and gave a resigned nod.
‘Bugger that,’ he said. ‘I’ve got nothing to hide so come in and let’s get this over with.’
He took off his coat and hat and they followed him into the living room.
‘This is Detective Constable Abbott,’ James said when they were all seated.
Patel didn’t even look at her. Instead, he maintained eye-contact with James, and said, ‘It’s true I had a dig at Daniel Curtis when he stood next to me in the pub. I couldn’t resist it. The guy was a nonce and he wasn’t welcome in this village. It annoyed us all that he kept on coming back. But when Martha suggested I leave that’s what I did. And I came straight home.’
‘Did anyone see you?’ James said.
‘Not likely. It was late and most of my neighbours don’t do late.’
‘Did you have any run-ins with Daniel in the past?’ DC Abbott asked him.
‘I threw the occasional insult his way,’ he said. ‘But it was never more than that.’
‘And was Daniel one of the people you hold responsible for your mother’s death?’
The muscles around his eyes tightened a little. ‘Not at all. He didn’t know Mum, but she knew about his antics so she would not have let him anywhere near her house, even if he was her only option.’
The more questions they put to him the more irritable he became. His breath was coming in fast, high-pitched gasps and the tension showed in his features.
When James asked him if they could search the house, he expected Patel to start yelling for a lawyer. But he surprised them by shrugging his shoulders.
It should have been a job for a forensic team but James didn’t know how long it would take them to show up. He told Abbott to search upstairs while he checked the kitchen and living room. But it didn’t take them long to decide there was either nothing to find, or Patel had got rid of anything that would tie him to one or all three murders.
‘We’ll probably want to talk to you again, Mr Patel,’ James said. ‘And we may want to carry out a more thorough search of your property.’
‘Well, next time I won’t be so accommodating and you’ll have to go through a solicitor,’ Patel said.
Before leaving the cottage, he agreed to provide them with a DNA swab and gave them a glass covered with his fingerprints.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
Giles Keegan was home when they got to his house this time. He was clearly surprised to see them, but didn’t hesitate to invite them in.
‘I’ve heard about Daniel Curtis,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe I actually suspected him of being the perp.’
‘How did you find out about it, Giles?’ James asked him after introducing DC Abbott.
‘Gordon Carver phoned me for a comment. He knows I was part of the team that put Daniel away’
The three of them sat around the table in Keegan’s kitchen-cum-dining room. To James, Keegan looked pale and anxious, and he didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. Was that a sign of guilt, James wondered? Or just nerves?
‘So, here’s the thing, Giles,’ James said. ‘We’re here to question you as a suspect and I strongly suggest that you cooperate to save a lot of time and aggravation.’
Keegan’s eyes l
it up with a sudden fury. ‘Do your superiors know about this, Detective? Because if not I’m sure—’
‘Stop right there,’ James interjected. ‘You are not above the law just because you’re an ex-copper. You’re someone who got involved with two of the three people who’ve been murdered. And only a couple of days ago you also made it clear to me that you hated Daniel Curtis. You said he had an evil streak running through him. And that’s enough to make you a person of interest to us.’
‘I disagree, Detective. I’ve explained why I confronted Daniel Curtis outside the school on Friday and I’ve told you about my relationship with Lorna. And if that’s all you’ve got to go on then you’ve got sod all.’
‘Actually, that’s not all we’ve got, Giles. For instance, we know you had an argument with Daniel in the square yesterday. And Lorna’s son has told us that his mum was glad to get shot of you on the night she was killed.’
Keegan was suddenly on the back foot, and it was obvious to James that he knew it. His nostrils flared as he drew the back of his hand across his stubble.
‘Let’s start with your encounter with Daniel yesterday,’ James said. ‘A witness described it as a heated argument.’
‘Who was the witness?’
‘I’m not at liberty to say and you know it. I’m assuming you’re not going to deny it?’
Keegan licked his lips and a shadow settled behind his eyes.
‘I saw him while I was walking through the village so I confronted him about Lorna,’ he said. ‘I wanted to know if he’d been waiting for her outside the school.’
‘But I warned you not to approach him,’ James said.
‘I know, but I couldn’t hold myself back.’
‘What did he say when you confronted him?’
‘He told me I was crazy and that if I didn’t leave him alone, he’d call the police. I tried to get him to say more but he wouldn’t. Then he walked away and I went home. That was the last I saw of him.’
‘So that must have pissed you off.’
‘It did, but not enough to make me go out later and kill him.’
‘Then what did you do last night?’ This from Abbott.
‘I sat here thinking about Lorna and wondering why life is so fucking unfair. What else was there for me to do?’
James took a second to collect his thoughts, then told Keegan that he had spoken to Lorna’s son, who had arrived in the village yesterday.
‘He had a conversation by phone with his mum after you left her house on Sunday evening,’ James said. ‘And she made a point of telling him that you’d been getting on her nerves, which was why she asked you to go.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘Really? Then you didn’t rant on about too many criminals escaping justice and tell her that there are people in this village who should be in prison?’
Keegan shook his head. ‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this. We talked about what had happened to Charlie Jenkins and we were both shocked and angry. And yes, I did say something like that but Lorna agreed with me. And she asked me to go because she needed to do some school work, not because I was getting on her nerves. I don’t care what her son says.’
‘So, who in the village do you think should be behind bars?’ James asked.
Keegan clawed a hand through his hair. ‘I was thinking mainly of Daniel Curtis when I said it. But there are others, including the louts who vandalise the church on a regular basis and the pricks who claim benefits they’re not entitled to.’
‘And what about Lorna Manning?’ James said. ‘Do you believe that she should have been behind bars for what she did?’
Keegan’s brow knitted up. ‘I don’t understand. What is she supposed to have done?’
‘Are you saying you didn’t know she was involved in a hit-and-run accident ten years ago?’ James said. ‘She killed a young female pedestrian and drove on without reporting it.’
Keegan seemed genuinely shocked. ‘Are you sure about that?’
James nodded. ‘She left a written confession.’
‘Jesus. Well, I had no idea. Honestly. But that might be why she was so troubled. And why she refused to tell anyone what was wrong.’
He sat back in his chair and rubbed the back of his hand across his brow, which was glazed with sweat. Then he issued an audible sigh through pursed lips.
‘Look, I now appreciate why you’re here and why you had to ask those questions,’ he said. ‘But I promise you, I am not your man. When each of the murders took place, I was here, in bed. It’s unfortunate for me that there’s no one to corroborate it, but it’s the truth and trust me, you won’t be able to prove otherwise. And please don’t get the idea that I’m some embittered former police officer who has embarked on a mad mission to rid the village of a bunch of undesirables. I’m just an old bloke wanting to live out his days in relative peace and quiet.
‘Now feel free to search the house, take me in for formal questioning, or even arrange for me to have a lie detector test. Just do everyone a favour and get it done quickly. I want this killer caught as much as you do and time spent with me is valuable time wasted.’
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
While they were in Keegan’s house the weather had taken a sudden turn for the worse. The snow was thicker now, heavier, and the wind drove it into their faces as they dashed towards DC Abbott’s car.
After starting the engine, she had to flick on the wipers so they could see through the windscreen.
‘Where to now, guv?’ she said.
‘Back to the crime scene. We need to see what’s going on there and find out when the chopper is due to arrive. But drive carefully and slowly.’
She pulled away from Keegan’s house, and said, ‘So what do you think? Did he convince you that he’s not a serial killer?’
‘If he is it’s hard to see how we’ll be able to prove it. That’s why I don’t think there’s any point going through the motions with him now.’
‘He invited us to search his house, though. We could have done that.’
‘You’re forgetting that Keegan used to be one of us. He knows the ropes. There’s no way he would have left anything in there for us to find.’
‘So who was this person who witnessed him and Daniel arguing in the village square?’
‘That was Annie, my wife. His account of the encounter tallies with hers.’
‘Well it certainly threw him. And so did what Lorna’s son told us.’
‘I agree, but having spoken to both him and Patel I don’t feel that we’ve moved forward. There still aren’t any dots for us to connect.’
‘What we need are more suspects,’ Abbott said.
‘You’re right. And there are plenty of them in this village. We just have to sniff them out.’
The snow had driven the gawpers away from the crime scene, meaning they missed the flying visit of the police helicopter.
It touched down in the field opposite the garden centre minutes after the two detectives got there. On board were a couple of SOCOs and a member of staff from the mortuary. The SOCOs had been planning to examine the area around the body but the weather put paid to that.
‘We need to beat the blizzard back to base,’ one of the SOCOs said to James. ‘The pilot reckons we’ll be stuck here if we don’t go straight away. Our instructions are to treat the return of the victim as the priority.’
Daniel Curtis was put into a body bag and carried on a stretcher to the chopper. It was all done in less than ten minutes and then the helicopter took off again.
The crime scene tape was removed and four marker cones were placed on the spot where the body had lain.
James told the officers that they would return to clear the snow and search for evidence once the weather had improved.
But that did not seem likely in the immediate future. The snow was still chucking it down, frantic flurries of white swirling through the village.
The windscreen wipers on the Fiat swooshed back and forth as the detectives
made the short journey back to the village hall.
James wanted to update the team as well as check up on Bill’s whereabouts. While there, they would also grab something to eat and drink.
He was feeling more downbeat now, and was hoping that a hot cup of coffee would help him to focus. He needed his mind to be on full throttle if he was going to breach the brick wall that was hindering their progress – and frustrating the hell out of him.
At the village hall, the first thing James did was to pour himself a coffee. He sipped at it while he updated DCI Tanner over the phone.
Once again, the boss expressed his displeasure before informing James that for the time being, he would have to make do with the team he had with him in Kirkby Abbey.
‘The bad news is piling up and the weather is getting progressively worse,’ Tanner said. ‘More roads are now blocked and in addition to the murder here in Kendal, and the M6 pile-up, we now have another major case on our hands. Two twelve-year-old boys have gone missing in Ambleside. They went out to a local park early this morning and didn’t return home when they were supposed to. The parents are frantic. You’ll just have to do the best you can until we can provide more support. I suggest you arrange accommodation for the officers you’ve got with you.’
‘I’ll get onto it right away,’ James said.
‘I also think it’s time to advise villagers to stay in their homes. I’m concerned that this weather will make it much easier for the killer to move around without being spotted.’
‘It’s a sure way to scare everyone even more than they are already,’ James said. ‘But it’ll hopefully keep people off the streets.’
‘Then I’ll issue the advice at the presser this afternoon. And I suggest you spread the word there. Get the officers to go around with a megaphone. We want as many people as possible to get the message.’
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Annie almost didn’t hear the doorbell ring. The sound of it had to jostle for attention with the TV and the wind outside. And it didn’t help that her thinking had been fogged up since James had come home to tell her about Daniel Curtis.