A Knot of Sparrows

by Cheryl Rees-Price

  ‘No, the bindings and gag means it was planned,’ Meadows said as he moved to the desk.

  ‘Yeah I guess, but the boyfriend could have planned it if he was that angry about her cheating, then again it’s not a strong motive for killing her. More likely someone random?’

  ‘I think someone who knew her and the area. You wouldn’t just hide out on a public footpath and wait for an opportunity.’ Meadows picked up a book and flicked through it.

  ‘Maybe someone who was obsessed with her. What about those two odd characters that Anthony mentioned?’

  ‘It’s worth looking into, although just because they don’t fit some people’s norms doesn’t make them a suspect. Let’s see what we can find out about Stacey’s life first. If one of them showed an interest in Stacey then I’m sure she would have mentioned it to her friends or the boyfriend.’ Meadows put the books back on the desk. ‘Nothing in these. Just notes from classes. We’ll get the laptop looked at, maybe we’ll find something there.’ He opened the desk drawer and plucked out a bag of weed. ‘No wonder she didn’t want her mother cleaning her room.’

  They checked the rest of the bedroom, but it didn’t yield anything of interest, so they went back to the kitchen. Anthony and Cloe were sat at the kitchen table. Cloe had her arms around her body and silent tears ran down her face. Anthony sat staring into his mug of tea.

  ‘We’ve finished upstairs for the moment,’ Meadows said. ‘A family liaison officer is on the way. Her name is Brianna. She will keep you updated and answer any questions you may have. In the meantime we will need to have a formal identification. We can do this by dental records or a photograph if–’

  ‘No, I want to see her,’ Anthony cut in.

  ‘Brianna will make the arrangements. Once again, I’m very sorry for your loss.’

  Outside in the yard they found Becca stood by the car.

  ‘Is there something you wanted to talk to us about?’ Edris asked.

  ‘Stacey did have a boyfriend. Jack Hopkins.’

  ‘Is Jack the same age as Stacey?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘A year older, he’s in the upper sixth form. Mum and Dad didn’t know about him. She never brought boyfriends home. They always went down the Cwm to drink and smoke.’

  ‘The Cwm?’ Edris asked.

  ‘The footpath, that’s what we call it.’

  ‘So that’s where Stacey and Jack met up?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Yeah, but they split up.’

  ‘Do you know why?’

  ‘They argued about something. Jack was pissed off.’

  Meadows had the feeling that Becca knew more about the argument, but he didn’t want to push her.

  ‘Thank you for telling us,’ he said.

  ‘She could be a real bitch sometimes, but–’ Becca’s voice broke.

  ‘She was your sister,’ Meadows said. ‘Why don’t you go back inside? You don’t want to stay out here alone.’

  Becca nodded and walked away.

  ‘So the boyfriend was angry. No doubt about the STD,’ Edris said.

  ‘Or maybe she dumped him because he cheated and that’s why he’s pissed off. Let’s wait for the formal identification then we’ll go and have a chat with Jack.’

  Chapter Four

  Jack Hopkins was still dressed in his school uniform. His tie had been discarded and his shirt hung over his black trousers. Meadows could tell that he had been crying by his puffy eyes and blotchy face. He sat on the sofa next to his mother.

  ‘I can’t believe she’s dead,’ Jack said. ‘People are saying she was murdered. It’s all over Facebook. Becca put up a post.’

  Meadows studied Jack as he talked. He was around five ten, slim built with brown hair cut in at the side and teased into a quiff on the top. Could he be strong enough to attack Stacey? Wrestle her to the ground? He glanced at Jack’s hands and back to his face. No sign he’s been in a struggle, but maybe she was taken by surprise, Meadows thought.

  ‘When was the last time you saw Stacey?’ Edris asked.

  ‘On the school bus, yesterday.’

  ‘Did you talk to her?’

  ‘No, she was sat at the back with Shannon.’

  ‘We understand that Stacey was your girlfriend,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Was, we split up a couple of weeks ago.’

  ‘Why was that?’

  ‘She was fucking someone else,’ Jack said.

  Meadows noticed that Jack’s mother didn’t flinch at his use of bad language. ‘Who was the other guy?’

  ‘Dunno,’ Jack shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘She had a bit of a reputation,’ Jack’s mother said.

  ‘Did she tell you she was seeing someone else?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘No, I saw it on Facebook.’

  ‘She posted pictures on Facebook?’ Edris asked.

  ‘No, there was a video of her and some guy down the Cwm.’

  ‘Having sex?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Yeah, but you couldn’t see his face.’

  ‘Who posted the video?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Dunno, it was a fake account. Stacey reported it and it got taken down, but it got posted again. Everyone saw it.’

  ‘Do you have any suspicions about who the other guy was or who posted the video?’ Edris asked.

  ‘No, she wouldn’t say, and I don’t really care. Probably someone on Tinder.’

  ‘You must have been angry,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Yeah, I was.’

  ‘You argued with Stacey?’

  ‘Yeah, told her to fuck off. She wasn’t even sorry.’

  ‘I’m going to have to ask you where you were last night.’

  ‘You don’t think I had anything to do with it.’ A look of horror crossed Jack’s face. ‘That was a couple of weeks ago. It’s not like I was in love with her. I’m going out with Lauren now.’

  ‘We still need to know.’

  ‘I was here. Played a few games in my bedroom. My mates were online, you can ask them.’

  ‘He didn’t go out,’ Jack’s mother said.

  ‘Okay, we may need to take your game console to check.’

  ‘Fine,’ Jack said.

  ‘Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Stacey?’

  Jack shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Okay, we’ll leave it there for now,’ Meadows stood.

  ‘If you do think of anything, let us know.’ Edris closed his notebook and they left.

  When they were back in the car, Edris said, ‘What do you think?’

  ‘The video was posted two weeks ago. I think if he was going to kill her in a jealous rage he would have done so sooner. We need to take a look at the video, see who she was with and find out who was lurking around filming.’ Meadows looked at his watch. ‘Let’s go to the hospital and see if Daisy has anything from the post-mortem.’

  * * *

  The smell of formaldehyde tickled Meadows nostrils as they entered the mortuary. The smell always reminded him of biology lessons in school.

  ‘I hope Daisy has finished,’ Edris said. ‘I don’t want to go in there unless everything has been put away.’

  ‘Pussy,’ Meadows said with a laugh. ‘Haven’t you ever attended a post-mortem?’

  ‘No, have you?’

  ‘Yes, to be honest I don’t blame you for not wanting to see one. Don’t worry, we’re only here for the results.’ He pushed open the door and saw Daisy sitting by her desk.

  ‘Hello, you two,’ she said.

  ‘Hi.’ Meadows felt a warmth spread through his body. ‘How are you?’

  ‘I’m good, thanks.’

  ‘Has your father recovered?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘He’s on the mend. I think the shock of what happened with my sister was too much for him. He’s home from hospital now, so I have a little more time to myself.’

  ‘That’s good to hear.’ Meadows smiled.

  ‘So you better hurry up and solve this case and take me on that date you promised.’

 
; Meadows was thrilled that she was still interested. Between work and family commitments he thought he had lost his chance. ‘I haven’t forgotten.’

  Edris cleared his throat. ‘Right, so are you going to tell us what you’ve found?’

  ‘I’ve only just finished. You’ll have to wait for the official report.’ Daisy stood.

  ‘That’s okay,’ Meadows said. ‘Anything you can tell us will be helpful.’

  ‘I’ll take you in and talk you through.’ Daisy led them into the post-mortem room.

  Meadows’ attention was drawn to the gurney in the centre of the room where Stacey lay covered in a sheet up to her chest, with her arms resting at the sides. Her blonde hair was sleeked back, and her eyes were now closed. With the absence of make-up she looked small and childlike. Meadows felt a heavy weight in his stomach, a lead ball of pity and sorrow. He found it difficult to turn off his emotions; he sometimes wished he’d become desensitised to seeing violent death, but it was emotion and the cruelty of life that drove him to find the guilty and to somehow redress the balance.

  Daisy moved to the edge of the gurney and lifted the sheet to reveal Stacey’s legs. ‘As you saw at the scene, she was bound tightly by twine. If you look at the marks and bruising, they indicate a downward pull. It’s the same on her wrists. It appears that after her ankles and wrists were bound they were then secured together behind her back. From the wear on the twine I would say the longer end of the binding on the wrists was hooked under the one on her ankles and pulled tightly and knotted.’

  ‘Anything special about the twine?’ Edris asked.

  ‘No, looks like standard twine used to bale hay. Easy to come by around here.’

  ‘So it looks like she managed to loosen some of the binding,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Or it was removed. I’ll come to that in a moment,’ Daisy said. ‘The marks and scratches on her legs are consistent with being dragged. There is bruising to her thighs and clear signs of sexual assault. Swabs have been taken but there was no seminal fluid, traces of lubricant were found indicating the use of a condom.’ Daisy replaced the sheet and moved up the gurney. She gently picked up Stacey’s hand.

  ‘You can see that two of her fingernails are broken.’

  ‘So it looks like she put up a fight, maybe scratched her attacker,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Yes, scrapings have been taken from under her fingernails.’ Daisy returned Stacey’s hand to the resting position. ‘When we removed the gag we found a ball of material stuffed inside her mouth. Both look like they’ve been torn from a standard bed sheet. Cause of death: asphyxiation, manual strangulation. See the marks on her neck?’ Daisy pointed to them. ‘She would have been facing her attacker.’

  ‘So she was killed lying on her back then turned over?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So, someone killed her then loosened the bindings and positioned her on her stomach,’ Edris commented.

  ‘Maybe the killer was ashamed of what he had done,’ Meadows said. ‘Didn’t want to look at her face after he had killed her.’

  ‘I’ve left the most puzzling aspect until last,’ Daisy said. She pulled down the sheet to reveal a Y incision, made during the autopsy, that had been sewn, and the letters and numbers REV17 written in black on her stomach.

  ‘Whoa, what’s that about?’ Edris asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s written in permanent marker. I took pictures before the post-mortem.’

  The writing looked too neat to have been done when Stacey had been alive and probably struggling, Meadows thought. It now appeared ominous under the harsh lights. Black against pale skin. A coldness crept over him, the killer was making a statement.

  Chapter Five

  He stood on the humpback bridge watching the steady flow of the river. Occasionally twigs and leaves brought down by the winds swirled and danced in the water before disappearing. Sometimes young children would stand on the bridge, throw in sticks, and run to the other side to watch them emerge. One child would always be delighted that their stick won the race. There was no one on the bridge today.

  He found the river mesmerising, it put him in a trance and chased away the demons. The cool air on his face eased his headache and he felt peaceful. He had spent the whole day in bed yesterday and most of this morning. He had to force himself to get up. The business with Stacey had left him both emotionally and physically drained. It hadn’t been so hard with Ryan and Jean Phillips. One flick of the lighter was all it took. He would have liked to have stayed and watched until the house was raised to the ground but there were innocent people next door. He’d made sure he’d alerted them in time.

  He tore his eyes away from the river and made his way into the village. There was still a police presence. They had been knocking on doors asking questions, all along the main road. He was certain no one saw anything. He’d been so careful, had stayed hidden in the shadows of darkness. Still, the police would be talking to everyone and it was only a matter of time before they came to him. It was this thought that was making him feel so ill. Lies didn’t come easily.

  All he wanted to do was walk down the Cwm and up to the cairns by the old fort on the mountain side, away from the village and people, but the Cwm was still cordoned off. He imagined the police picking at the ground looking for any clues. Nothing to find, he thought.

  He was approaching the village shop where a group was stood outside gossiping. A young mother with a child wrapped up in a pram, an old man and two middle-aged women. They’re like a bunch of vipers with their fork tongues fizzling behind their teeth, he thought. He forced a smile as he passed them. He was lucky none of them wanted to talk to him today. He walked past the entrance to the Cwm where a policeman stood. A few cars passed him as he continued his walk but other than that, it was quiet.

  Another policeman was stood at the exit of the Cwm talking to a man walking his dog. I wonder if they’ve seen the writing on Stacey yet, he thought. He guessed they would have by now, but would they know the meaning? Probably not and maybe that was a good thing. Then again, the point was to let everyone know what she was.

  He had been so deep in thought that he walked past the entrance to the mountain footpath and found himself at the bottom of the track leading to the Evanses’ farm. Now he would have to call in to see Stacey’s mother. It would look odd if he didn’t. You never knew who could be watching. He walked up the track, through the gate and knocked the door. His stomach felt like it was full of maggots, squirming and moving upwards filling his chest and throat.

  Cloe Evans opened the door; she looked broken, the pain circling her eyes. He guessed she hadn’t slept, probably hadn’t eaten.

  ‘Come in,’ she said.

  He didn’t want to go inside. ‘I only called around to say…’ What did he want to say? His mind went blank. ‘I’m so very sorry.’

  ‘Please come in. It helps to have someone to talk to, a distraction.’

  He followed Cloe into the kitchen. Covered plates lined the worktops and bouquets of flowers were heaped by the sink. A woman stood trimming flower stems and arranging them into a vase.

  Cloe introduced him to the policewoman – the family liaison officer who, she said, had been so helpful. He knew why she was there. She would be watching the family and anyone who visited the house.

  ‘Everyone has been so kind,’ Cloe said. ‘Bringing food and flowers.’

  He let her talk. It just spilt out of her mouth. All he had to do was nod his head, drink tea, and eat a slice of cake. He felt sorry for her, she thought her daughter was a sweet girl, an angel she called her. He finished his tea and stood up to leave. He’d done it, managed to keep it together. Now as long as the doctor stayed hidden there would be no problems.

  Chapter Six

  Meadows checked the evidence log then gathered the team around the incident board which now displayed a picture of Stacey and the crime scene.

  ‘Are you joining us, Blackwell?’ Meadows called across
the office.

  Blackwell huffed and came to join the team, seating himself next to Valentine and leaning back.

  ‘How is it going with the arson case?’ Meadows asked.

  ‘Waiting on forensics but I don’t think they’ll get much. The house is a shell. Accelerant was poured in through the front door letter box and a rag lit. The glass was already broken in the back door. Someone had thrown a brick through it the night before. I’m guessing to make it easier to pour the accelerant through. Whoever started the fire meant for both Ryan and Jean to die. Both exits were blocked and the fire spread rapidly.’

  ‘Got any suspects?’ Paskin asked.

  Blackwell shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s more a case of who wouldn’t have done it. I’ve interviewed the neighbours, they were pretty shaken. All four had to be hospitalised with smoke inhalation. They were lucky to get out alive. The father says they were woken by someone hammering the door but there was no one there when he got up. He saw the fire and called for help. He then went in to get the family out by which time the fire was pouring smoke into the house.’

  ‘Sounds like the arsonist didn’t want the death of the neighbours on their hands, so probably knew them,’ Meadows said.

  ‘Yeah, well if they had any suspicions of who started the fire they are not saying. With all the graffiti on the wall you’d think that they would have seen something over the last few weeks,’ Blackwell said.

  ‘It was the same with everyone I spoke to,’ Valentine said. ‘No one in the area seemed particularly bothered by the death of Ryan and Jean.’

  ‘Unless we get some physical evidence or a witness, it’s going to be difficult to find the arsonist. Meanwhile it’s just a case of speaking to everyone that had it in for Ryan and checking out alibis,’ Blackwell said.

  ‘Okay, keep DCI Lester updated.’

  Blackwell nodded.

  Meadows turned to the incident board. ‘Stacey Evans, seventeen years old, found on the footpath in Gaer Fawr. She’d been sexually assaulted and strangled. She left work at the local shop at eight thirty on Tuesday evening and was killed sometime between nine and ten o’clock. If you look at the picture here’ – Meadows pointed to the board – ‘you’ll see that the attacker drew the letters and numbers REV17 across Stacey’s stomach. Edris?’