by M A Comley
He continued to stagger onwards, guided by the dimmest of lights from one of the houses towards the end of the alley. Concentrating hard on keeping himself upright, he neglected to hear the person sneaking up behind him. Before Stuart had a chance to react, his assailant had wrapped something around his neck, cutting off his airway.
His ears filled with the sound of his own choking. He tried to slide his fingers under the cord eating into his flesh, but it tightened and sliced through the flesh of his fingers. Such excruciating pain. His hands were now caught, trapped under the wire, leaving him only his legs to defend himself with. He kicked out awkwardly at his attacker, but once one of his feet left the ground, he lost his balance and fell heavily against the wall.
“Get… off… me!” The words he’d intended to shout came out a long way short of a whisper.
With Stuart on his knees, the attacker’s job became much easier, and his hold over the drunken man intensified. Stuart felt his attacker pull the wire tighter by crossing his hands at the back of Stuart’s head, totally depriving him of oxygen. Stuart’s body gave up the will to fight off his aggressor, and he went limp. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard the attacker run off. Stay awake, Stu! Someone will find me soon enough if only I can stay awake.
It proved to be an impossible task, and within seconds, Stuart’s eyes fluttered shut for a final time. His life ended at the tender age of twenty-seven.
Chapter 1
Hero ran through the incident room, issued orders to his team about what he expected them to do in his absence, then bolted down the stairs to the car park.
“Good luck, Hero.” The desk sergeant’s voice followed Hero out the front door as he bounded down the steps.
“I’m going to need it, but not as much as Fay,” he mumbled as he pressed the button on his key fob to unlock the car. He had been expecting the call all morning, but nothing really prepared anyone for fatherhood. He toyed with the idea of placing the police light on the roof of his car and using his siren to make his trip to the hospital quicker. Then he decided he’d been in enough trouble over the years with his bosses, and he’d promised Fay he would mend his ways and settle down once the twins were born. Just as that time was arriving, he was already thinking of going against his word. He slid into the traffic at the junction and sat impatiently drumming his fingers while the vehicles moved as if they were part of a slow-motion movie.
“Get a bloody move on, guys! My wife’s in labour, for God’s sake.”
When he finally arrived at the hospital, he gave a tenner to the parking attendant stationed in the little hut and asked him to keep an eye on his car. In the hospital, he followed the yellow line on the hallway floor that led to the maternity unit. Hero pushed open the door and rushed up to the young nurse on duty.
“My wife’s in labour. Fay Nelson. Where do I go?”
She smiled. “If you’d like to come with me, sir.”
Hero followed the nurse down another corridor to a private room. Just as the nurse opened the door, Fay screamed out in pain.
Nervously, Hero approached the side of the bed, shrugged awkwardly at the two nurses already in the room, and gripped Fay’s hand. “I’m here, love.”
Large beads of sweat glistened on his wife’s forehead. Hero pulled out his linen handkerchief and wiped her brow.
“I’m glad you made it before the buggers come out,” Fay joked as a contraction took hold.
“We can’t christen both of them by that name. What do you want to call the other one?” His attempt to alleviate her pain with humour seemed to work for the briefest of moments before yet another contraction came.
“Okay, Mr. Nelson, we think the babies are about to make an entrance. Be prepared for your hand to have the life squeezed out of it,” the midwife said light-heartedly.
Hero nodded at the midwife and held Fay’s hand between both of his. “I love you, Fay, and our troublesome twosome.”
“It’s a good job I love you, Hero Nelson. Just to make things perfectly clear, this is never going to happen again.”
He kissed her on the lips and swept the damp hair off her forehead. “Hey, whatever you want to do is fine by me. Is Louie with your mum?”
“Yes. I said you’d call as soon as… ugh!” Fay yelled before she started pushing.
“Okay, don’t talk. I get the gist,” he replied, wishing he could take on some of his wife’s excruciating pain. He watched in awe as his beloved wife dealt with the birth, taking all the poundings the twins were intent on dishing out. He cringed and crossed his legs the whole way through and marvelled at the pain threshold women were forced to exceed during the ordeal of childbirth.
Fay heaved, and the first baby came into the world, crying. She glanced at him and smiled briefly before she pushed out the second twin.
“Have you decided on names yet?” the midwife asked as she handed him a clean baby girl wrapped in a blanket.
Hero gazed down at the fragile bundle, tears misting his eyes, rendered speechless by the lump the size of a huge boulder settling in his throat.
As the other nurse handed the second baby to her, Fay said, “Zoe and Zara.”
“That’s lovely. I hope the four of you will be healthy and happy together.” The midwife rubbed Hero’s arm and tucked the blanket away from the baby’s face. “She won’t break.”
“I know. The thing is, I’ve never held a baby before,” Hero confessed. “Fay has a son—I mean, we have a son at home already, but Fay had him with another man. What I should have said is…”
“Hero, shut up. You’re rambling. Just enjoy the moment,” Fay chided him good-naturedly.
The midwife left the room, laughing, while the other nurse cleared away the dirty towels.
Hero shrugged at his wife. “Sorry.”
She leaned over to kiss him. “You’re forgiven, under the circumstances. You better go and ring Mum and your mum and dad. The nurse will stay with me for a few more minutes, won’t you?”
Hero glanced up at the nurse, who nodded, then turned back to Fay. “Will you be all right holding both of them?”
Fay nodded, and he handed her the daughter he was holding then kissed the three of them before leaving the room.
In his state of elation, he walked through the hospital, sucking in gulps of fresh air before he telephoned his parents.
“Mum, you have two new granddaughters.”
“Oh, how wonderful. We’ll be right over. Is everything okay with Fay?”
“Yeah, they’re all fine and beautiful, Mum.”
“I’m so proud of you, son. Give our love to Fay, and we’ll see you soon.”
Next on his list to ring were Fay’s mum and Louie. “Deirdre, Zoe and Zara have made an appearance, at last.”
His announcement was greeted by a whoop of joy. “Congratulations, the pair of you. How’s Fay?”
“Exhausted, but elated. The girls are the spitting image of her.”
“Louie was the same when he was born. Come here, darling, Daddy wants to speak to you.”
Louie came on the line. “Hello, Daddy.”
“Hello, son. I’m pleased to announce that you have two new playmates.”
“Wow, how cool. Grandma and me made ice cream. We could bring some if you like. The babies might like it.”
Hero chuckled. “I think it might be a bit cold for their bellies, son. Maybe in a few months, eh?”
“All right. If it lasts that long. When can I meet them?”
“Put Grandma back on the phone, and we’ll make arrangements, okay?”
Deirdre asked, “When can we visit?”
“Anytime you want to. I’m going to be here the rest of the day—sod work for a change. Do you want me to send a taxi to fetch you?”
“That’d be great. Louie would love that. Ask the driver to pick us up in half an hour. It’ll give me time to clean him up. He got carried away in the kitchen, and the ice cream went everywhere. He’s rather grubby.”
“That sounds like Louie, all
right. I’ll contact the taxi firm now. See you soon.”
The final call Hero made was to his sister. “Cara, we’re at the hospital. Fay’s had the twins, both of them girls, as the scans predicted.”
“Aww… that’s great, Hero. How are they all?”
“Smashing. Come in later if you like. How’s the training going?” Cara had joined the Met and had been on a training course in Manchester for the last month or so.
“It’s all right. I’m eager to get out there. Getting a little bored with the paperwork side of things.”
Hero snorted. “Hey, get used to it, love. There’ll be a lot more of that when you join the force proper.”
“Yeah, that’s what the instructor told us. I’ll come in after I’ve finished here. Around sixish, okay?”
“Look forward to it, Sis. Don’t overwork those brain cells, will you?”
“Fat chance of that happening here,” Cara grumbled.
Hero had warned his sister that the training would be an endless source of frustration. They had joined the Territorial Army together, and Hero knew her skills would be invaluable and easily adaptable to the Manchester Police Force—if she could manage to get past the training without a hitch.
“Come over on Saturday. There’s no TA this weekend anyway, and we’ll discuss your training then if you like?”
“Thanks for the offer, bruv, but I think you’ll have your hands tied with the little ones. Ignore me. I’ll get past this grumpy stage, I hope. You go, get back to your family. I’ll see you later. Send my best wishes to Fay.”
“If you’re sure, hon? See you this evening.”
Hero hung up and walked, or rather, skipped back to the maternity unit, unaware of the huge grin he was sporting. Life was good, the best it had been in years. Outside the room, he watched Fay lovingly gaze down at the two bundles in her arms. Life doesn’t get better than this.
Cara was the last family member to visit. Fay looked shattered despite smiling through her exhaustion as each relative turned up at the hospital to see the new arrivals. The twins had been asleep in the cots beside the bed for hours.
At eight o’clock, Hero kissed his wife on the lips and told her good-bye. “I’ll see you tomorrow, love. Get some sleep now. You look done in.”
Fay gave him a weak smile and snuggled down in the bed. “I’ll try. I hope you get some rest, too.”
Cara accompanied Hero home that evening, and they were just about to tuck into the fish and chips they had picked up on the way back to the house when Hero’s phone rang.
“Damn, it’s work. I told them not to bother me unless it was important. I better answer this.”
Cara waved her hand as she stuffed a few chips into her mouth. “Go ahead. Don’t mind me.”
“Hello?”
Julie Shaw, Hero’s partner replied, “Sir, I thought I better ring you right away. We’ve got a dead body on our patch.”
“Shit. And you’re telling me you’re not capable of handling this in my absence?”
“I just thought you should know, sir. I’m sorry to have disturbed you.”
“It’s all right, Julie. What’s done is done. What have we got?”
“Found in an alley in Salford, the body of a man believed to be in his twenties.”
“Anything else? Any witnesses? Is it a suspicious death? Give me a clue, Shaw, for goodness’s sake?” Hero looked at Cara and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. Covering the phone, he said to his sister, “See what I have to put up with?”
Cara sniggered and dipped a chip in her curry sauce.
Julie blew out an exasperated breath. “No witnesses. The man had consumed a large amount of alcohol shortly before his death.”
“And you know that how?”
“By the fumes coming from his mouth, sir. Yes, it appears to be a suspicious death because the man was garrotted.”
“Oh, I see. You better give me the address, and I’ll take a wander out there. Are you packing up for the day?”
Shaw read out the address. “No. I’m heading over to the scene now. I’ll meet you there if you like, sir.”
Before he could respond, his partner hung up.
“I better finish this and get over there,” he told his sister. Not that he had much appetite left after learning how the victim had perished.
“Is it a murder enquiry?” Cara asked, ripping off a piece of crispy-battered cod and putting it in her mouth.
“Looks that way. The victim was garrotted.” After finishing his meal, Hero drove to the scene. He encountered an operation that was much larger than he’d expected. Holding up his warrant card, he dipped under the crime scene tape then went in search of his partner.
He located Julie leaning against a brick wall, wisely keeping out of the pathologist’s way. Gerrard was known to be a bit of a grouch when he first arrived at a scene.
“Hi, do we know anything else yet?” Hero asked Julie as he came to a standstill beside her.
She pushed her elbow against the wall to stand upright. “Not yet. I’m waiting for the pathologist to give me the all-clear to proceed.”
“Knowing Gerrard, we could be here quite a while then.”
No sooner had he said the words than the pathologist whistled and motioned with his head for them to join him alongside the body. Forgetting the usual pleasantries of shaking hands, the three of them surveyed the body as Gerrard ran through the victim’s injuries.
“My guesstimate at this early stage would be that the man was attacked from behind with some kind of wire. The marks—stroke cuts—to his fingers tell me that he tried to put up a struggle. More than likely, he raised his hands and hooked them under the wire to try to prevent it tightening around his throat. Being heavily intoxicated, I doubt he had the ability to put up much of a fight to defend himself.”
“Do you think it was a mugging? Or was the attack something more sinister?” Hero asked, tilting his head from one side to the other as he studied the corpse.
“I’d say the latter. No sign of attempted mugging. I checked his pockets and found a few coins, and there was a ten-pound note in his wallet.”
“Any ID?”
Gerrard shook his head. “Not that I could find.”
“Great. Anything else of significance, Doc?”
“Not really. Of course, I’ll know more once the examination has been carried out.”
“Okay. Julie, can you take some pictures? Maybe the doc can turn the victim over for a second or two?”
“Sure, I’ve carried out all the necessary tests and evidence bagging I need to do.” Gerrard gently eased the body over on the ground.
Julie inhaled a sharp breath.
“What’s wrong? Do you recognise him?” Hero asked.
“No. I just don’t like looking at someone once their throat is slit open like that.”
Hero held out his hand. “Camera. I’ll do it.” He fired off several shots then handed the camera back to his partner. “Let’s call it a day and start afresh tomorrow, all right?”
“I’ll carry out the post mortem tomorrow and get back to you with the results, hopefully sometime in the afternoon, Inspector,” Gerrard said before instructing his team to place the body in a bag.
Hero accompanied Julie back to where their cars were parked, bid her farewell, and drove home. Despite being on the wagon, he decided to pour himself a glass of brandy. He deserved a treat since he’d just become a proper father for the first time in his life.
Chapter 2
The next morning, after calling in at the hospital for a brief visit with his family, who were all sleeping when he got there, Hero walked into the incident room to a round of applause from his colleagues. One of the older members of the team, Lance Powell, approached him, obviously as the spokesperson for the group. He awkwardly held out a cute four-inch teddy bear to Hero. “Umm… congratulations to you and Mrs. Nelson, sir. The team had a whip round and bought you this.”
Hero stifled the smirk dying to escape and nodded
as he accepted the toy. “Thanks, Lance. I’ll make sure the twins don’t fight over it.”
Powell’s face dropped, and he glanced over his shoulder at the team standing behind him. Several of the others raised a hand to cover their sniggers of embarrassment. Powell turned to face Hero again and shrugged. “Sorry, sir.”
Hero patted Lance on the shoulder. “Never mind, Powell. It’s the thought that counts. Thanks, everyone. Now let’s get back to work. Julie, step into my office, will you?”
He heard Julie trotting behind him as he pushed open the door to his office and walked in.
After they were both seated, Julie took out her notebook, and Hero nodded for her to proceed.
“Well, I thought I’d run off the photos first thing and see if they match anyone on the database. I’ll send uniformed officers around the area where the crime was committed today to start the house-to-house enquiries, just in case someone heard anything last night.”
“Do we know the time of death?”
“The pathologist was uncertain about that, but he reckoned around seven or eight. Early enough for someone to have heard or witnessed something, I guess.”
“If that’s the case, it means the victim had probably spent the afternoon in a pub, a nearby pub, getting pissed. Either ring round or get someone to pay the pubs in the area a visit.”
“Will do, sir.” Julie rose from the table and left without saying anything further.
Before tackling his boring, mostly non-essential paperwork, Hero reflected on what they knew about the case so far. He started jotting down notes for possible motives for the attack, always the type to think of every probable angle during a case. Mugging had already been ruled out, unless the muggers had made off with a large sum of money and intentionally left the small stuff. That was a possibility. He also included “gang related” in his list. Hero had witnessed several heinous gang-turf crimes over the years. One of his most recent cases had been a prime example. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought of the notorious Krull Gang. In the end, they had attempted to bully the wrong person, and he’d made them pay as retribution for the loved ones the gang had murdered. Domestic dispute was always worth considering. Maybe his team should be considering some form of love triangle.