by Carla Kovach
‘I’d rather hear it in your words. We have her replies too, and further emails that were sent between you both.’
The heater whirred into action, fanning the room with a fresh burst of most welcome warm air. ‘After the incident before Christmas, I began walking her to her car after lectures to make sure she was safe. She was nervous, I could tell. I just wanted to help her but we got chatting. She liked talking about anything she was watching on TV and I enjoyed listening to her. One night, early January, she kissed me. It came from nowhere. I tried to ignore her attention but then she’d send me little notes saying what she’d like to do with me and I suppose I was flattered. I mean, she was so young, confident and fun to be around and I’m thirty-seven and bogged down with life. She was showering me with attention. I suppose I got carried away, swept up in it all, but I didn’t hurt her. It all lasted about three weeks then it was over as quickly as it started.’
‘Were you and Amber Slater in a sexual relationship?’
He scrunched his brow. ‘What do you think?’
‘Please answer the question, Mr Collins.’
He began to grind his teeth. ‘I don’t see why I should have to answer that. It’s private. It was all a mistake and I love my wife. I was stupid and I messed up.’
‘Mr Collins, was your relationship with Amber Slater sexual?’
‘Yes, for God’s sake. We had sex, of course we did.’
‘When and where did this take place?’
He shrugged. ‘Really?’ After a silent void, he continued. ‘I booked a room at a hotel twice in the first two weeks of January and we did it once in my car. Believe it or not, she wanted to do it in the car. Then before I knew it, it was over. By the end of January we weren’t in contact any more.’
‘How did that affect your relationship as lecturer and student?’
‘We were fine. We were both adult about it, agreed it was fun and moved on.’
Gina glanced at her notes about Scarlett Gregory. ‘When Scarlett Gregory told you to leave her alone, she claimed that you followed her and watched her flat.’
‘As I said, the charges were dropped and that was a lie. I didn’t follow her. I didn’t stalk her and I just got on with life. That girl really thought she was special, she was nothing but a troublemaker. She asked me for drinks and kissed me, then accused me of assaulting and harassing her. She had a screw loose. I mean, Amber didn’t come to you saying I was harassing her, did she?’
Gina had no evidence to say that Clayton Collins was following or harassing Amber. The mere mention of the term ‘screw loose’ gave Gina a slight headache. ‘Mr Collins, can you account for your whereabouts from Friday the twenty-second of January at eighteen hundred hours until Monday the twenty-fifth of January at nine in the morning?’
‘I was at home with my family. You can’t tell my wife about me and Amber. It will destroy us. Things haven’t been all that good at home and after Amber, I realised how much I wanted to make my marriage work. I love my wife and I love my children.’
‘We will need an alibi.’
‘Am I a suspect?’
The chair creaked as Gina shuffled it slightly. ‘Due to your relationship with Amber Slater, you are a person of interest. The best thing we can do is eliminate you and the only way to do that would be to check your alibi.’
He placed both hands on his cheeks and exhaled. ‘What am I going to tell my wife? I have twin girls. They’re only four. They need me. This is going to ruin everything I’ve worked for.’
Gina wished she could feel sorry for him but at the moment she only felt sorry for Mrs Collins. ‘We won’t be divulging any details of the case, we just need to confirm that what you say is true. It’s routine, that’s all.’
‘But my wife will ask questions, she’ll want to know why you questioned her.’
Gina couldn’t help him. She wouldn’t help him. ‘Mr Collins, a young woman has been brutally murdered and you had been in a recent relationship with her. We will do everything in our power to bring this killer to justice. Is there anything else you can tell us?’
‘Will I be called again once my alibi is confirmed?’
There he went again, only concerned for himself and not the dead woman who was currently lying on a slab. ‘I can’t say for sure.’ In Gina’s mind, that would depend on how that went and if his wife could confirm his whereabouts.
‘Can I go now? I want to go.’
‘As I said, you are here voluntarily to help us with our enquiries. You are free to go. We have your address and phone number and we’ll be in touch if we need to speak to you again.’
The man stood, stared at both Gina and Jacob one last time before leaving. When they left the interview room, the door at the end of the corridor was already swinging shut.
‘We need to call his wife, now. Can you follow that up?’ Gina left Jacob standing and hurried to the incident room. She checked her watch. It would soon be time for the briefing. She sat in front of one of the computers and logged on, doing a search for the dating site. Within moments the site came up. Frivolous first date fun – that’s what it touted itself as. A site where dates with many people were encouraged. Several faces flashed up, those of men and women, all seeking dates. She tried to click on one but without a profile, couldn’t access the file fully.
Wyre burst through the door and dropped her bag on the table. ‘You looking for a date, guv?’
‘No, it’s just Amber was registered on this site and I wanted to take a look.’
‘Everyone’s on it. I found George on it too but that’s another story. I wonder if the killer met Amber Slater through it.’
Jacob entered with two hot drinks. ‘Paula, I didn’t know you were back. I’d have made you one.’
‘It’s okay, I’ll grab one now before the briefing.’ Wyre smiled as she left.
‘Seeking a date, guv?’ Jacob winked.
‘You’re the second person to ask me that. Do you think if I was looking for a date I’d be doing it at work, in the incident room, in front of you lot?’ She laughed. ‘When Briggs called me out of the room, he said there was an email on Amber’s laptop confirming her registration to AppyDater. I was just taking a look.’ She reduced the icon to the corner of the screen. She’d take a look later, when she was on her own.
‘I knew that really.’
‘Yeah, right. What did you make of Mr Collins?’
Jacob paused. ‘I’m trying to see the other side but then again two relationships with students, that screams inappropriate. He’s not worried about pushing boundaries. Could there be more than two?’
‘Did you try calling his wife?’
He nodded. ‘There was no answer and the call didn’t even connect. It could be that she has her phone turned off. I found the number for her workplace, she’s a teacher by the way. The school receptionist confirmed that there’s a staff meeting this evening and she will be in it for another half hour.’
Gina glanced out of the window, through the dripping condensation. Darkness had fallen and she could feel the chill in the air. ‘That’s great news. Is the school local?’
‘Cleevesford High.’
‘Bingo, we’ll head over there before the briefing. Drink up.’ Gina stared into her cup.
‘What are you thinking?’
‘I don’t trust Clayton Collins. With Scarlett Gregory’s allegations of stalking everything was dropped because it was short-lived and there was no real evidence. She went to the effort of trying to get a restraining order against him and then she withdrew because the stalking and harassment stopped. We really need firm evidence.’
‘It does appear that Mr Collins likes to be a bit of a knight in shining armour. He said that he walked Amber to her car after his lectures to make her feel safe.’ Jacob scrunched his brow.
‘Am I the only one thinking that he could have engineered that fear in her? Turning himself into her protector.’ Gina glanced at the emails. ‘It was Amber who ended what they had after only a couple of weeks. He
takes it well when you read the emails but then she received a lot of texts from a person she has called ‘NoName’ who came across as a bit of a stalker, calling her a stuck-up bitch after Amber ignored whoever it was. I checked his phone number against any that Amber had in her burner phone and it wasn’t a match… but if he was having an affair it stands to reason that he may have another phone too, one which his wife didn’t know about. Was it really over for him or was Amber’s rejection just the start? Or, was Amber going to say something to his wife and did he need to shut her up? Maybe he took her somewhere to talk and it all got out of hand. Would he have gone as far as to glue her lips together in a temper and then stab her to death as she struggled?’
23
I pace back and forth, hidden by the darkness of nightfall. With each step, I crunch through the thin layer of ice that has settled on wet pavements. Rewrapping my scarf around my neck, I gaze up. She got home later than I expected and that worried look on her face tells me something has happened. My beautiful Maddie. Seeing her appear as a local on AppyDater made my day because I’ve been watching her. It has to be fate.
She crosses her living room, walking right past the front window with her phone to her ear. I’m excited. I can’t wait to have her and I think the time is right.
Madison captivates me. My pretty student nurse at the University of Worcester. I imagine her tending to people with love and care, then I realise my teeth are clenched. She loves the old woman she visits. I wonder if she’s a relative.
I shake my head as an image of Amber creeps in. All I wanted to do was love and care for her but she couldn’t shut up and talking leads to bad things. People get to know your business and they ruin your life. Amber should have just kept her mouth shut. I urge the tension to go away, to leave me alone. I need to play my part if I’m to achieve my objective and I can’t think about Amber while I do that. This is all about Madison now. As long as she accepts her fate and shuts the hell up, all will be fine. I shake my body and tilt my head from side to side until I loosen up – that’s my warm-up complete. Transformation wasn’t complete with Amber but now I get another chance to get my perfect life back.
I stare at the window again. Madison’s long black hair is now tucked up into a cute beanie hat. The redness of her lips can be seen all the way from the back of the car park which is only minutes away from Amber’s apartment.
Another resident peers from the top window so I duck behind my car, not taking any risks that she might see me. It’s Miss Cat Café. Her stupid-looking friend.
The orangey glow from a street lamp to the left of the dilapidated old house shows up the pile of dumped rubbish at the bin store. A mattress leans up against the side of the building. My heart rate picks up as I hear a rustling noise. I peer over the bonnet of my car and wait for whatever lurks amongst the litter to show itself. A fox maybe, a hungry crow or maybe it’s a cat. No, none of the aforementioned. It’s a filthy rat. I watch as it scurries from behind the mattress and heads for one of the industrial-sized bins.
The curtains close on Madison’s room and I can no longer see into her world, but that’s okay. She’s all dressed to go out and I’m waiting.
I glance at the time. Why is it going so slowly? It must be because I’m freezing to death out here. Miss Cat Café has now closed her scraggy curtains. Standing, I begin to pace once again to keep warm. Come on, Madison, come to me.
More minutes pass. Hurry up. Hurry up. Those words keep repeating themselves in my mind. My plans keep churning away. I think back to my mother. She always said that a person had to go out there and take what they wanted. Nothing is handed to a person on a platter. I think she meant through ambition and hard work. Back then, she had something about her but that fizzled out when my father left. It was soon replaced by venom and nastiness. I wonder if she got everything she wanted.
Come on, Maddie. Show me your face.
I step onto the pavement, never allowing my gaze to leave the building in front of me, then I tread on broken glass. All my fault for smashing the street lamps. I can’t have her seeing me. It only took me four attempts with the rock in my pocket and now I have my cloak of darkness, my corner of the car park where no one will see what I’m up to.
Brr. I shiver and flex my fingers. That’s good, I can still feel each and every digit. My toes are thickly quilted in the walking socks from when I did the Three Peaks, and the walking boots are the best. Not a spec of water has seeped through them. Both the socks and the boots are keeping my feet warm. A few flakes of fresh snow begin to fall and a perfectly formed flake settles on my nose. Hopefully it will be a fleeting flurry. I almost go cross-eyed trying to get a closer look but it’s too dark to see properly. Hurry up, Madison.
Apartment block is too kind a description for what I see before me. It’s a typical house of multiple occupancy with some shared bathrooms. Each floor has a kitchenette. I know this – I’ve been in. I’ve looked at living here myself once I knew that Amber lived nearby, thinking I could spend time getting close to her but something better came up. I wished I’d taken it now. But still, I like watching them from afar. Half of the fun came from orchestrating ways to bump into Amber. I was charming, kind, and complimentary but doing everything right doesn’t always pay off. They don’t see you until you make them. My fists are balled. Why do I allow myself to get worked up?
I flinch as the main entrance door clicks and she steps out. ‘I’ll call you from the hospital,’ she shouts back to her cat café friend.
Now, I have to act. I kneel down on the floor and begin making cutesy noises at the nothing that is under my car. What will it be? A hedgehog maybe, or a cat. She’s always going on about how much she loves hedgehogs if her Instagram is anything to go by.
‘Come on little hedgehog.’ I’m good, so good even though the voice I’m using sounds pathetic. I’m wasted in life. Maybe I should have taken up acting. As she clanks past me in her awkward heels, I turn to catch her eye but she can barely see me. My hood half covers my eyes and I put on my telephone voice. ‘There’s a little hedgehog sitting under this car and it looks hurt. I think it might be a baby. It’s probably lost its mother.’ I can see her trying to focus in the dark but she can’t see me properly under the overhanging trees.
She stands for a second and glances over, trying to focus on me in the dark. ‘Poor thing.’ She pops her phone in her pocket and gets down on the ground. ‘Let me help. If we can get hold of it, I can drop it at a rescue centre. Should it be hibernating?’
‘Yes, definitely. Can’t have it dying out here in the cold. I’d never forgive myself.’
She ignores me as she shines her phone torch under the car before cooing and calling.
Freezing wetness creeps through the knees of my jeans. The light from her phone almost catches me under the car. I jerk up, just in time to miss it.
I can smell her perfume as it’s carried with the breeze. It’s rosy, flowery, but not strong. It might even be the scent from her shampoo. I stand near the boot, just behind her as she continues. ‘Hedgehogs don’t have young at this time of the year. They normally have their babies about July.’
She’s only just clicked. That was slack of me trying to lure her here to save a baby hedgehog. I grip the rock in my pocket. Now – I have to do it now, before she tries to get up to run. Smash it against her head and bundle her in my boot, that’s what I have to do. I take a step back into the darkness as the main door of the block clicks open. ‘Erm… maybe I got it wrong.’ I loosen my grip slightly as the person calls.
Cat café woman is heading towards her car. I slip away, hurrying through the cut in the bushes as Madison turns to speak to her and I watch from behind a tree. She’s shouting about going to the pub later and meeting Maddie after she’s been to the hospital. At least I know where she’s heading. I will have her tonight, that’s for sure.
Miss Cat Café continues. ‘At least she’s only at Cleevesford. Oh, send your nanna my love. I hope they let her out soon.’
‘Will do. Thanks, Alice. That man, the one who was looking for the hedgehog…’ I know without looking that Madison is wondering where I’ve gone. ‘Did you see him?’
I press my back against the tree and try not to move a muscle.
‘No.’
‘I think I’m cracking up. I’m talking to an invisible man and searching for a hedgehog that doesn’t exist. No seriously, there was someone here. We were looking for a hedgehog… Never mind. I’ll give the pub a miss.’
I’m not going to tail her to the hospital. It will be too obvious now. I wonder if she recognised me. Had it been lighter, she might have.
I’ve shown my interest on AppyDater but she’s gone off radar. It’s humiliating. I pull the rock from my pocket and feel my stare harden. My mother always said I looked like I was about to kill someone when I stared like this. Maybe she knew me better than I ever thought. I mean, hitting her with a rock. There was always a chance that I would kill her in the process. Thinking of Amber, I know I’m capable.
Glancing around, I realise that Madison has pulled away in her car and Alice has gone back in. I’m now alone except for the rat, which is on its hind legs, licking its paws after its bin feast.
Once I’m in my car, I check AppyDater again. Madison still hasn’t got back to me, which is why I can’t wait any longer. There is a void in my life and I need to fill it before I implode.
My thoughts fall on earlier. I need something, someone. I need you but all I can do is find second-rate replacements like Amber and Madison and hope that I can mould them into what I need them to be. Madison has to work out. But first, I need to break her. Break, then rebuild, or in Amber’s case, break and fail.
My phone beeps. I reach down. For the first time on this app, I have a smiley. Oh, hello. The dark-haired woman looks down in a demure way. I can’t quite see her whole face. She’s older than what I need but hey, maybe I’ve had it all wrong so far. I scan her information and I’m sure that she’s the woman from the lake. No mention of her being in the police and she’s left her hobbies blank, maybe she thinks working for the police will put people off. I click on the photo I took on my phone from afar and compare the head shape and features, nose contours. It’s definitely her, without a doubt, trying so hard to conceal her full identity. I call it being discreet. Clever woman. How can I bump into her? I ponder that thought. She was already on my radar so seeing her here is like Christmas has come early.