by Candy Denman
“That’s always supposing they have enough evidence by then.” Callie wasn’t sure what they could have found in the time. “Are you still in touch with anyone from the website?”
“Absolutely,” Kate confirmed. “I’m meeting someone tomorrow night.”
Callie looked worried.
“What?” Kate asked her. “Even if they have to let him go, it can’t be the fireman I’m meeting because we have been texting whilst he’s been under arrest at the nick and I can’t believe they would allow him to continue to contact potential victims in between interrogations.”
Callie knew she was right, but she couldn’t help feeling anxious for her friend.
“At least let me be wherever you have arranged to meet. Just in case.”
“I’m not a child. I’ve done this before and I do know how to look after myself.”
“I won’t interfere, I’ll sit quietly in a corner and just be there if you need me. At least if I see you suddenly acting like you’ve been drugged, I can come to the rescue.”
“What are you like? Do you not think I know how protect my own drink from someone wanting to add a date rape drug? I have done this before, you know.”
“I know, I know, but humour me, will you?”
Kate sighed. She knew that Callie would indeed worry if she didn’t let her be there. Callie’s level of anxiety about those she cared for was part of what Kate loved about her friend.
“Oh, all right.”
“Thank you.”
“But if I decide to take him home, you’re not coming with me.”
“You wouldn’t, would you? Not on a first date.” Callie was horrified.
“Depends how fit he is,” Kate said with a wicked smile and finished her cake.
Chapter 27
The papers the next morning were full of the story that the fourth victim had been identified as an unmarried bakery worker. It could mean that Callie was wrong with her theory about the deaths being punishment for adultery, or that the killer had made a mistake and murdered someone who didn’t fit his criteria. Callie knew that the police would be using that fact in their continued questioning of Chris Butterworth, telling him he had killed an innocent woman, and she hoped that the tactic worked. No one in their right mind would think it reasonable to sentence a woman to death for adultery, but the sort of man who did think that, might be shamed into an admission if he knew he had chosen his victim wrongly.
She was desperate for this to be over; for the police – for Miller – to have got his man and for the murderer to be safely off the streets, but without some concrete evidence, it was unlikely that Miller would be able to hold Butterworth and he would be bailed later in the day. Even with Kate’s breezy assurance that her date couldn’t be the killer, Callie couldn’t help but worry about Kate’s plan for the evening. Until she was quite sure the murderer had been caught, charged and was languishing in jail somewhere, she didn’t think her friend should be internet dating at all and certainly not using the SSE website. If she was honest, she had misgivings about the safety of internet dating anyway, without the added danger of a serial killer using it to find his victims.
Her hand hesitated over the phone. With Chris Butterworth in custody, it seemed likely that Miller would be frantically trying to make his case and really wouldn’t have time to speak to her. On the other hand, her friend’s safety was at stake.
She took a deep breath, picked up the receiver and dialled the number. She needed the reassurance that Miller had the right man and she just hoped he would be able to give it to her.
Unfortunately, as she had expected, she was unable to get hold of him, and Callie had to make do with the information she managed to prise out of Nigel. He told her that Chris Butterworth was in the process of being interviewed and that therefore she couldn’t speak to Miller or Jeffries, but he hadn’t been able to put her mind at rest. He would not give her any further details and certainly would not hazard an opinion about the likelihood of Butterworth being the murderer. She had, at least, persuaded Nigel to leave a note on Miller’s desk asking him to ring her as soon as he was free.
She then tried Jayne, who was busy overseeing the search of Butterworth’s home and office and had little time to update her. The match book similar to those used in the fires which had been found, was useful but not conclusive, Jayne confided. She had little doubt that Butterworth would be able to explain it away, particularly as it was from California and none of those in Mark’s collection or used so far in the murders had been from anywhere other than England.
Callie felt no further forward and she would just have to hope that either Butterworth was charged or that Miller would be able to call her back before Kate’s date that evening. She wanted to hear from him that he was sure Butterworth was the man, or she would be tempted to disrupt the date to make sure Kate was safe, even if it made her friend cross. There was no way she could let Kate put herself in danger and do nothing to stop it. What if Kate became victim number five? She would never forgive herself. If she thought there was any risk, Callie would stop the date even if it made Kate so angry about it that she never spoke to her again.
* * *
So that stupid girl had been single? Having spent an evening with her, he could understand why. The bitch! It made him angry to think that he had wasted his time with her. Her constant chatter about trivial things, soaps and so-called celebrities, in which he had no interest whatsoever, had been tedious and irritating. If he hadn’t been thinking about later, to what he had planned for her, he would have been unable to keep the boredom from his face. Not that she would have noticed, being so caught up in the intimate details of her idols as reported in the magazines she read and the programmes she watched. But that didn’t change the fact that she had deliberately used a website for cheats and whores.
Why would she do that if she wasn’t married? Did she hate married people? Had envy turned to hate when she couldn’t find a man to stay with her long enough to get married? Why would she choose to tempt and ensnare married men if not to destroy marriages? Destroy other people’s happy lives? She was as guilty as the whores who cheated on their husbands and he felt no guilt for wrongly punishing her, because she still deserved it and he was sure he was right to have done it. There couldn’t be many unattached people using the website, the first three women had all been married, so he needn’t worry too much about getting another single lady. He was sure the date he had lined up that night was married from what she had told him, but he could always check once he met her. It would be hard to walk away when he was all prepped and ready to go, but he could do if he needed to, he was sure. He just hoped he wouldn’t need to. He needed to kill again. He needed the thrill and the feeling of success, of achievement for having punished another vicious, conniving, adulterous bitch. Killing tonight would be the only way he could wipe away the feeling of having been cheated by his last victim.
Chapter 28
Callie looked round the packed bar and tried to find somewhere to sit where she could keep an eye on Kate without being too obvious. The Mojo was a well-known meeting place on the singles scene most evenings, unless it was a European football night or there was some other televised sporting event, when it got too busy.
It being a Saturday night, the singles had taken precedence over sport, the multiple televisions were muted, some had even been switched off, and music was thumping out from the sound system. The current clientele were eating their gourmet burgers off what looked like lengths of plank that seemed to be the speciality of the bar and knocking back the cocktail of the week: a vivid pink affair served in a jam jar. According to the posters stuck around the room, there would be a DJ later, to enhance their entertainment. Or not. Callie hoped that they didn’t have to stay for that part of the night.
Searching round for somewhere to sit, she could see a small table in the corner, but much as she would like to tuck herself away from the main throng, she rejected it because there was no way she could keep Kate i
n view from there. Kate was seated at the bar, sipping an incredibly expensive Mojito, having spurned all the beers on offer when they arrived. To Callie all beers tasted pretty much the same, but then, she could be very picky with her white wines, so she couldn’t really complain. Callie had decided she would not drink alcohol, partly so that she would stay alert and partly because if Kate liked her date and wanted to be left alone, Callie wanted to be able to drive herself home.
Having finally found a stool to sit on at the corner of a table where she was obviously not wanted by the current occupants, Callie sipped her lime and soda. It was far too heavy on the lime, a common mistake of bartenders in her experience, and checked her phone again, hoping for a message from Miller. There was none and there was no point trying to call him from the bar as the noise level would mean she couldn’t possibly hear anything he might have to say anyway. Instead she sent him a text message, asking if he was sure the killer was Butterworth and explaining that Kate was meeting a date from SSE at the Mojo bar and that she was going to be there just to make sure she was okay.
She had been reassured to hear from Jayne Hales – the only person she could get to answer a phone in the incident room when she had called yet again before coming out – that Miller had ordered round the clock surveillance on Butterworth. Jayne had really stuck her neck out telling her that, and had taken her mobile out into a corridor outside the incident room so that she would not be overheard. It was one thing for the boss to okay her giving more general information to Callie, but this was far more sensitive and she knew it could backfire on her if anyone found out. Callie was very grateful for the information, otherwise she would have had no choice but to march Kate home and lock her in to prevent her meeting anyone. Miller clearly still thought Butterworth was their man or he would not have authorised the watch, she reasoned. He didn’t have enough men on the squad to waste their time like that, and even if Butterworth managed to somehow slip past the surveillance team, she would recognise him as soon as he walked in the pub.
Callie looked up sharply and held her breath as she saw Kate being approached by a man, but it clearly wasn’t her date as she said something and he moved away. It was hardly surprising that Kate was attracting men in a bar like this, particularly as she was dressed in a red chiffon blouse that left little to the imagination. Callie hoped she wasn’t knocking back the Mojito at the same pace she normally drank beer, or she would be on the floor before the date showed up.
Callie checked her watch again and saw that Kate’s SSE date was late. Perhaps he would stand her up and they could spend the rest of the evening in the Stag or go for a meal somewhere nice. It would certainly be a relief after the noise in the bar, not to mention the men who occasionally tried to engage her in conversation, only to be given her best ‘leave me alone’ stare. Callie had found, to her cost on a number of occasions, that you had to be blunt in these sorts of situations, as being polite or pleasant when saying no to a drink or to a chat, was taken as acquiescence. It seemed that a couple of drinks made most men convinced that they were irresistible. And funny.
Callie looked round the room, wondering if there was CCTV anywhere in the bar, but could only see what might be a camera by the till, presumably to keep an eye on the staff rather than the clientele.
This close to the town centre there would almost certainly be cameras in the streets outside, which made her feel safer as she knew from what she had heard in the incident room, that the killer liked to meet in places where there was no CCTV around, although there must be precious few venues left without some kind of surveillance. She panicked slightly when her view of Kate was blocked by a bunch of rowdy young men trying to get served at the bar. She shifted her position slightly, ignoring the looks from the people whose space she invaded as a result, and caught Kate’s eye. Kate shrugged, and held up her hand palm out, indicating that she would give him another five minutes. Callie nodded that she understood.
At last a man came up to Kate and they started talking. He was well-dressed and incredibly good-looking. Callie wondered why he had to resort to a dating website, but then kicked herself as she remembered, of course, it was because he was already married. Kate was smiling and flirting with him and when he turned to the bar to get them both a drink, she gave Callie a theatrical wink and a thumbs up. She was clearly taken with him.
Callie was so busy concentrating on watching Kate, that when she turned back to take a sip of her drink, it took her a moment or two to realise that Adrian Lambourne had just come into the bar and appeared to be looking for someone. What on earth was he doing here? She stood up and started to walk towards him just as he looked round and saw her. A look of surprise and mild panic swept across his face and Callie wondered if it was because he wasn’t sure if she was still angry with him about Mark.
“Hi Adrian, I didn’t expect to see you in a place like this.”
“Dr Hughes. How lovely.” He had recovered quickly and managed to smile at her.
“I’m sorry, you were probably meeting someone here. Don’t think you have to stay and talk to me.” Callie saw that her table had already been taken by someone else and she started to look around to see if there were any other spaces.
“I, um, can’t see her. I think I may have been stood up. I may as well go,” he explained as he indicated towards the door. He seemed eager to leave and his embarrassment was really quite endearing, and Callie felt sorry for him.
“Oh well, we’re both in the same boat then.” Callie nodded towards Kate who was still engrossed in her date. “My friend seems to have pulled.”
“Oh, right,” Adrian looked at Kate and gave a little smile of understanding.
Callie realised that she had put him in an awkward situation as he now couldn’t leave without seeming ungallant for leaving her alone, but it would be easier from her point of view to have someone to talk to, even if it was only for a few minutes until she was sure Kate was okay.
“Let me get you a drink by way of an apology for being so sharp with you over my patient. I really do understand how hard it must be to find beds for them the way things are with the NHS right now. What will you have?”
“No, no, there’s no need–”
“I insist, Adrian, or else I will never believe you have forgiven me.” Callie turned to the bar to try and get the bartender’s attention, which wasn’t going to be easy given how crowded the place was. “Who were you meeting?” she asked casually.
“Oh, just a friend of a friend. Look, I really–”
“Friends always try to set you up with the most unsuitable people, don’t they?” Callie could think of several tortured evenings. “I’ve often wondered about using dating websites, but wrote them off as full of weirdos, not to mention murderers, but my friend seems to have found someone reasonable.” She nodded towards Kate. “In fact, he’s doesn’t look bad at all. Have you ever given them a go?” Callie had finally managed to catch the bartender’s eye, so she missed the look of fear that briefly crossed Adrian’s face and he had regained his anxious but unassuming look before she turned and asked, “What was it you said you wanted?”
“Um, slimline tonic, but really–”
“Slimline tonic and a lime and soda, please,” Callie said to the bartender.
As they waited for their drinks, Callie went back to the topic of dating websites.
“So, have you ever used internet dating?” she asked again.
“No,” he responded. “Like you, it never appealed to me.”
Something about the way he said it made her think that he was lying. Perhaps he was embarrassed about it. She realised that he had spotted her disbelief and was relieved when the barman brought the lime and soda over.
“Here,” Callie interrupted him again and handed him her drink to hold whilst she pushed slightly forward and took some money from her purse. She could see Kate was laughing at something the man with her had said. She seemed happy and the man didn’t look like a serial killer but Callie didn’t inten
d to leave the bar just yet. She’d keep an eye on her friend for a while longer. Having finally managed to get the tonic and pay, Callie took Adrian’s drink back to him and retrieved her own.
“Can you see anywhere we can sit?” She looked round but she couldn’t see anywhere free.
“It’s quieter outside,” Adrian said. “It’s a nice evening. Quite warm for the time of year.”
Callie hesitated. He was right, it was a warm evening and it would be much nicer outside but she was unsure that she wanted to let Kate out of her sight yet.
“You’ll be able to see if your friend leaves.”
Adrian seemed to understand her concerns, and Callie realised that he was right. There was only the one way in and Kate would have to walk past them if she left.
“Okay.” Callie followed him outside where a few tables had been placed on the wide pavement, mainly to allow smokers a chance to get their fix in relative comfort. There were a few people puffing at their cigarettes or vaping but several of the tables were empty. Adrian led the way to one that was a little apart from the others, but didn’t sit down. Callie looked at the seats and saw they were a little damp and also stayed standing.
“So we don’t have to breathe in any second-hand smoke,” he explained.
Callie was pleased by his thoughtfulness.
“I won’t stay much longer anyway. My friend seems to be getting on just fine.”
Callie sipped her drink, wondering if she should have had it topped up with soda because it, once again, had far too much lime in it. She shivered slightly and pulled her coat more firmly round her.
“I’m sorry. Are you cold?” Adrian asked. “It’s just a relief to get away from that terrible music.”
“I’m fine,” Callie insisted. “And it is a relief. Why they have to have it up so loud, I don’t know. Oh dear” – Callie laughed as she took another drink – “I sound like my mother.”