HE WILL KILL YOU an absolutely gripping crime thriller with a massive twist

by Charlie Gallagher

  ‘You are aware that you are under arrest for burglary, following the recovery of stolen property taken from an address in Leonard Road, Langthorne. Did you commit that burglary?’

  ‘Are you going to lock me up?’ Toby pushed himself as far forward as he could. His eyes were fixed on Rhiannon, his stare intent.

  ‘Can you answer my question, Toby?’

  ‘If I admit to it . . . if I tell you I did it, will you lock me up?’

  ‘I feel I should remind you, Toby . . .’ the appropriate adult interjected, ‘you can have legal advice, mate, if you feel you need to. It’s not too late.’ His voice matched his appearance: weak and wafty. Rhiannon didn’t acknowledge him. She continued.

  ‘Did you break into an address and steal these items?’ Rhiannon reached into a bag she had put on the floor and pulled out the medals. They were sealed in a see-through evidence bag. The front was distorted by handwriting but you could still see them clearly.

  ‘I want to be locked up!’ Toby said.

  ‘Because you nicked the medals Toby, or because you’re scared of something?’ Maddie cut in. The eyes that twitched at the sound of her voice were wider than ever.

  ‘I nicked ’em, yeah. Okay. So now you got to lock me up. I hold my hands up: I broke into some old man’s gaff. I didn’t know they were in there but I heard about some gold coins. I sold them. I gave them away cheap really. I didn’t really know what they were. Some fella mugged me off for them.’

  ‘What fella?’ Rhiannon asked.

  ‘I ain’t telling you no more. Not until you tell me you’re locking me up. I don’t want to be going back out. Not now. There’s nothing for me out there.’

  ‘If you’re scared, we can protect you,’ Rhiannon said. ‘But you need to tell me what you’re scared of.’

  ‘I ain’t telling you nothing more. Not until you say you’re sending me to jail. I’ve had enough of it out there, okay? I don’t get to see my kid . . . I don’t get to see my missus no more, ’cause her mum is in her ear saying that I ain’t good enough. No one thinks I’m good enough. I just get used. People want something — they come to me. And I’m just the dumb fuck that goes through a window to get it. But look who’s sat here! Look who’s sat here now.’ For a moment Maddie thought his anger was going to break with tears. He held it together.

  ‘So someone put you up to it? You said you heard about the gold coins. Who told you about that?’ Rhiannon didn’t give him much time to relax, she could smell blood maybe. Maddie sensed it too.

  ‘If someone made you do this Toby, you need to tell them,’ the appropriate adult spoke again. Toby didn’t even look at him.

  ‘I ain’t saying that. I shouldn’t have said that part. I’ve said too much. This is about me. This in here is just about me, okay? I fucked up. I nicked the coins and I nicked them medals. I saw them and I took them. I wouldn’t normally. I know they can be hard to get rid of. And people, they know them when they see them. They know they belong to someone. You can’t argue with that. I got a few quid. So you have to lock me up, right? That’s what you do, ain’t it? So DO IT!’

  Maddie sighed. ‘This is a strange situation for me, Toby. I have to be honest. I mean, yeah, we’re here to lock up bad people — burglars, definitely. But you’re only seventeen. I can justify remanding you to the next court, but that might even be this afternoon and then the court will probably let you go anyway. You’ll get bail to go back, but you’ll be a free man for a while at least. Which is normally all you want. What’s different this time? If you want us to keep you safe, then you need to speak to us. It doesn’t have to be in here. I can talk to you after.’

  ‘There are others. Jobs, I mean. I went out again. Later on. Word got round what I got, what I was good at. It was a different night. My mum . . . she has a garage. It’s part of a block behind her house. It comes with the house. I keep stuff in there. From other jobs, not just this one. I did these other two. You need to lock me up — I can’t help myself!’

  ‘Where else have you committed thefts? Can you remember the addresses?’

  ‘No. I don’t know exactly.’

  ‘What do you know?’

  ‘Leonards Road, you said, yeah? That was the old man. But then I did some up in Hawkinge. Out of the town. That was on another night. I did two together up there.’

  ‘How did you get to Hawkinge? That’s a long walk, Toby, and you don’t normally go too far.’

  This was the first question Toby didn’t have a snap answer to. He hesitated. He seemed to consider his options before he replied.

  ‘What does that matter? I went there and I did the jobs. Campbell Road, near the speed camera. I did a couple places up there. One was about halfway along — white patio doors out the back. Are you writing this down? You need to be writing this down!’

  ‘It’s all on tape, Toby. You know how this works. Tell me about that job.’

  ‘Like I said! Campbell Road. I went in through the back door. I went over the fences and through the gardens trying the doors. The first one weren’t locked. Patio doors. Straight into the kitchen. They must have called you lot already? I got some phones from there and a key thing.’

  ‘A key thing?’ Maddie said. She was trying to keep up; this wasn’t what she had been expecting at all. She hadn’t even bothered opening her book to start with, but now she was taking notes.

  ‘A thing for keys. And some phones. They looked old. I don’t even reckon I could sell them on.’

  ‘So why take them?’

  ‘What does that matter? You ever done a job like that? You need to be in and out. You don’t take your time price matching — you get me? I took what I could and I got out. I had a look when I could and it was shit. But it was me, okay? I can’t be no more upfront.’

  ‘Who lives there, Toby?’

  ‘I don’t know. I didn’t see them. I was in and out. It was proper late. Everyone was asleep but me . . .’

  ‘What about the other place? You said there were two jobs up there.’

  ‘The other place . . . yeah, there was another place. You don’t need to be asking me no more. Why you asking me about that? You need to get up there. These people will tell you what happened, I’ve given you enough. You need to charge me with breaking into their gaff and taking their stuff. You need to lock me up in jail. This is all you need to do. You don’t need to be asking me no more questions.’

  ‘What other addresses did you go to? What other numbers?’

  ‘I don’t know . . . another place along there. I don’t remember numbers. I don’t always see them. I went in the back door. I told you about the garage — you should be able to work it out.’

  ‘Do you remember anything about inside? Anything distinctive?’

  ‘Distinctive? What does that even mean? No. I went into two kitchens. I weren’t looking for distinctive, yeah? I was looking for phones, laptops, jewellery, Xboxes — that sort of shit. Stuff I know I can move.’

  ‘So how did you get up there, Toby?’

  Toby threw his hands up in frustration. He looked like he stopped himself saying the first thing that came to his lips. His face twitched. He sucked in a breath. ‘I got nothing more to say. You need to be locking me up. I told you enough. Send me to court like you said, yeah? I’ll talk to them mugs. If you say they’re just gonna let me go, I’ll tell them what I done. There ain’t no point going through it with you now. I told you enough. You should be doing your job. I ain’t saying no more, in fact — this is over, yeah? I don’t wanna talk no more.’

  Maddie saw that the old Toby was back. He threw himself back into his chair, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. His bravado had returned, even if it was just temporary. Rhiannon tried a few more questions but she was wasting her time. He didn’t utter another word and the interview ended a short time later.

  Rhiannon showed the appropriate adult out, while Maddie walked Toby back to his cell. She pushed his cell door shut. She was back a minute later with a cup of tea. She pushed it thr
ough the solid hatch. He mumbled his thanks. She had to bend to see in, to make eye contact with him.

  ‘You’re a bit of a twat when you come in here normally, Toby. You always make it as difficult as you can. But I know why — we both do. This is all a game. You and me, we might have chosen different sides but we still play the same game. Am I right?’

  Toby moved to sit on his bed. He perched on the edge and put his cup on the floor between his bare feet. His right hand ran over his face and lips. ‘Yeah, cops ’n’ robbers, ain’t it? Old as time.’

  ‘I don’t mind that, not now I understand that we have parts to play. I can even see that you’re not such a twat after all. You’re just playing your part, right? So I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you. If you’re in some trouble, some drug debt with nasty people or something you don’t think you can handle, you can talk to me. Okay?’

  ‘Okay, yeah.’

  ‘I know you’re scared of something. Once you’re scared, it’s not like playing a game anymore, is it? Then it’s real life. This is real life, Toby. This is your life. Talk to me about what’s going on. Off the record, on the record, I don’t care. You might be surprised by what I can do.’

  He didn’t reply immediately. Maddie stayed silent. She wanted to force him to speak. She wasn’t letting him off lightly.

  ‘Lock me up. That’s how you help me.’

  Maddie stood back straight. She shut the hatch with a resounding clunk. She hesitated at the door, considering there might be something else she could say. There was nothing.

  She huffed and walked away.

  Chapter 7

  The noise caught Grace out and she dropped her phone. She was on the toilet upstairs. The noise was the front door. The toilet door opened right onto the top of the stairs. It didn’t lock. Craig had taken it off. He had to be back. He had started to turn up more and more. He liked to check she was home, and alone. He said it wasn’t that he didn’t trust her but that it was how he built trust in the first place.

  ‘GRACE!’ Craig’s voice boomed up the stairs. Grace jumped and then she scooped up the phone in her hand. She stared down at it. She was going through the pictures of her injuries. She did it sometimes, to organise them and to keep her strong when things got tough. She wasn’t allowed a phone. He had smashed up her last one. He had no idea about this one. The fact she had it was bad enough, but he would look through it, he would find the pictures, he would know what she was planning!

  ‘Yes. I’m just finishing up on the toilet, Craig!’ She tried to stay calm. ‘Are you home for some lunch? I can make you some lunch!’ She called back out. The toilet was sparse. There was nowhere to hide anything, let alone a large smartphone. She heard solid footfalls on the stairs; it sounded like he was taking them two at a time. Her eyes fell to a bin to her right. She stuffed her hand with the phone into it. It dropped inside, as the door was ripped open.

  ‘Craig! I’m on the toilet!’

  ‘You alone in here?’ His eyes darted round the room. They had a corner shower unit. The curtain was pulled round to drip dry. He wrenched it back.

  ‘Alone? Of course I’m alone! No one comes round here.’

  ‘No one, eh? Not even those police officers from last night?’

  ‘Police officers? Why would they come round here again? We told them it was none of their business.’

  ‘I saw, Grace. Don’t you think I didn’t! I saw how you were looking at him. I know you fancied that big lad. You’re with me, Grace. You need to remember that. It’s a respect thing. I don’t like how you looked at him.’

  Grace’s lips bumped together. She didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t expecting that and had no response. He stepped forward and loomed over her, bringing his head down so their foreheads were nearly touching. Grace felt so vulnerable. Her aching arm hung across her midriff, her knickers were pulled down and taut across the tops of her knees, her jeans were gathered around her ankles. ‘And you don’t even deny it!’ He was spitting. He always spat when he was angry. She turned her head away.

  ‘I’m s-s-sorry! I didn’t realise I was even looking at him. I was trying not to—’

  ‘You couldn’t keep your fucking eyes off him, could you? And in MY HOME!’ She felt a grab on her right shoulder. He stepped back and dragged her with him. Her skin squeaked and pinched against the toilet seat and she was thrown to the tiled floor. She could feel the coldness against her legs. She was on her side and looked up just as he threw his leg forward. She was hit with so much power that she skidded to the right and collided with the bin, which was sent sprawling towards the door, spilling its contents. The phone slid across the tiles and stopped behind the door. Craig had stepped back and was making snorting noises through his nose. He stared down at her, his eyes fixed wide and open.

  She knew it wasn’t over. She daren’t look over at the phone. It was out in the open but it should be hidden from his view behind the door. One step in and he would see it. Then he would see what was on it. He would see what she was planning and then she didn’t think he would stop, he would beat her to death right there. He couldn’t see the phone.

  She was still on her side. One of her legs was lifted in an instinctively defensive posture in case he kicked her again. He had caught her on the side. She couldn’t feel it too much yet. Often she would feel it more later when the adrenaline wore off. He looked to be calming down and took another step back.

  ‘You make me do it, Grace. You need to respect me. That’s all I want, I just want you to respect me like I respect you. That means you don’t go lusting after other men. You don’t stare at them when they’re in my FUCKING LIVING ROOM!’ He had wound himself back up and stepped towards her. She had an instant to react, to stop him coming close enough to see behind the door. She lifted her leg towards him and kicked out. She pushed herself towards him with her right arm; her left still lay across her front, limp and useless. As she moved forward she was able to scoop up the phone with her right hand and bring it firmly into her stomach. She had never lashed out before. She didn’t think he would take it well. He didn’t.

  She heard a roar. He was so angry he couldn’t form words. She was lying in the door now; her knickers were tighter, now twisted higher up her thighs. She brought her legs up into a foetal position as she heard the door scrape. She felt a blow to her lower back that knocked the wind out of her. He was using the door, slamming it on her where she lay. The second blow followed quickly. The pain broke through the adrenaline as the door’s sharp edges dug into her back. He slammed it again — and again, each blow harder than the last. He was working himself up into a frenzy. She didn’t cry out, she didn’t beg. She was getting good at being quiet.

  The blows stopped. She stayed in her foetal position. She could feel her phone, still firm in her grasp and out of sight. She heard him step away then a noise that sounded like he slapped the wall. She chanced a look — he was facing away. She pushed the phone into the sleeve of her injured arm. She heard him step back over to her, felt his breath on her ear.

  ‘You ever do that again and I won’t stop. You understand me?’

  Grace managed a jerked nod. ‘S . . . sorry . . . I’m sorry . . .’

  ‘You make me do this. I shouldn’t have to. I don’t want to.’

  She nodded again then arched her head back away from him so that he wouldn’t see an errant tear that she couldn’t hold on to. She could see the toilet. The seat was hanging off at an angle. It must have come loose when she was dragged off. She heard the top step creak. He was moving away — down the stairs. The front door opened then slammed shut hard, enough to rattle the internal doors.

  She tried to move to a sitting position but failed. Her side and her back were immediately shot with pain, enough to make her gasp. Her left arm was useless. She was still on her side. She reached down with her right. She wanted to pull her knickers up at least. They were tangled and it was difficult with one hand. She bit down on her bottom lip and grimaced as she fought the pai
n. They came up. They were still twisted but it was enough to cover her up a little. She put her head back down on the floor. She could feel the coldness of the tiles on her face. It was almost nice. She would rest here for a few minutes. She would have to try and get up again soon.

  She needed to be making a start on dinner. It couldn’t be late.

  * * *

  Maddie was aware of someone hanging beside her desk and half turned away from her. She needed to finish her phone call; it was important. Toby Routledge was still causing her work. She had sent a search team out with a hurriedly obtained warrant to search the garage he had mentioned in interview. They had found property. If it matched with what their victims had said was missing, it would make their case stronger, strong enough to charge him and put him in court for his case to be heard that afternoon. She was on the phone to a uniform patrol that could give him a lift. She turned to the figure to her left to make them aware she would only be another minute. Suddenly her call wasn’t so important.

  ‘H-Harry B-Blaker!’ she stuttered. The officer on the other end of the phone expressed her confusion and Maddie had to explain hurriedly. ‘Sorry, that wasn’t meant for you. Are we sorted then? Can you just head back in? Go to custody — I’ll make sure he’s ready.’ She spoke into the phone but she was still fixed on Harry. She missed with her first attempt to put the receiver back in its cradle. She had to break her gaze away to try again.

  ‘Harry Blaker!’

  ‘So you said.’ Her beaming smile dropped away quickly. She suddenly remembered she was upset with him. Harry’s face didn’t seem to carry much of an expression at all. Just like she remembered. She stood up and felt immediately awkward; she didn’t know what to do next. With anyone else she might have stepped in for a hug. Instead she stepped clumsily back. She didn’t know what to say or do.

  ‘If you’re gonna hug me, you need to get it over with,’ he said. That growling, stoic, emotionless tone. How she’d missed it! She stepped into him and gripped him tightly. She felt his hands press lightly on her lower back. He smelt of aftershave close up. His beard tickled her neck. She let him go but still held onto his arms.