by A L Fraine
“I am arresting you on Suspicion of Murder—”
“No. No, it’s not me,” Duncan pleaded, his voice weak.
Jon frowned.
“Duncan?” The voice came from inside. Jon turned and watched in mute horror as Mrs Woods, came swanning around the corner into the hall wearing some black, lacy lingerie and heels. “What are you doing?”
She was picking something from her nails, and only looked up after a few steps.
Phoebe Woods froze as her eyes met Jon’s and a look of horror appeared on her face.
“It was her,” Duncan cried out. “She did it. She made me help her.”
For a moment, all Jon could do was stare at her as he tried to process what the hell was going on. A second later, tottering on precarious heels, she turned and fled from the corridor. Kate raced past him into the house.
Seeing her run by, Jon got a hold of himself and ran in after Kate. He rushed into the room on the right where Phoebe had disappeared. The floor was covered in a plastic sheet with smears of blood on it. In the middle of the sheet was a human shape, wrapped in black plastic.
Another victim.
Kate dashed across the room and through a door towards the rear of the house. Jon followed, and appeared in the kitchen behind Kate who’d stopped just on the other side of the door. Phoebe stood facing them, a large kitchen knife in her hands, her eyes wild.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“It’s over, Phoebe,” Jon said. He could still hear Duncan at the front of the house, shouting, saying she was the killer.
“No, it’s not over. It’s never over.”
“Put the knife down,” Kate said.
“I didn’t do it,” Phoebe stammered, as two more uniformed officers entered the kitchen from another door. Phoebe sniffed and dropped the knife before she leant against the counter and let out a sob. “I didn’t make him do anything, it was him. It was Duncan, he made me. You have to believe me.”
Something seemed to fall into place in his mind as she spoke, and Jon started to feel like he was making sense of it. “You broke your husband’s nose, didn’t you.”
“What?”
“I bet when he finds out where we found you, I think he might admit that it was you who hurt him, right?”
Phoebe locked eyes with Jon, all emotion gone as Kate stepped closer and kicked the knife away.
“I’m right, aren’t I?” Jon asked as Kate moved behind Phoebe and cuffed her.
Phoebe said nothing, but her demeanour had changed. The act of being the victim was gone, replaced by something strong, defiant, and devoid of emotion.
“Get some clothes on her,” Jon said, as Kate guided Phoebe out of the kitchen, aided by a female uniformed officer who’d just walked in to help.
As they took her off, Jon walked back outside to find Duncan cuffed, but still ranting.
“It was her, she killed them. She did it. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Mr Reid,” Jon said, stepping closer. “So, if you didn’t kill anyone, why would Helen Cooper say you were the one who sealed her up in the wall?”
Duncan sighed. “Yeah, I did that. But I didn’t kill her.”
“You nearly did.”
“She interrupted me, I had to do something. I panicked.”
“And the body inside, in the plastic bags?”
Duncan suddenly sobbed and fell to his knees. It looked like his strength had suddenly left him, as he cried out. Jon watched in confusion and surprise as Duncan’s emotions took over. After a moment, Jon crouched down before him.
“Who was it?”
“Corey,” Duncan muttered between desperate sniffs. “It was Corey.”
“Corey Grant?” Jon asked, wanting to be sure they were talking about the same man.
“Yes,” Duncan confirmed. “It was her idea. She made me contact him. She made me bring him here.”
“And she killed him?”
Duncan nodded. “She made me help her. She just gets in my head, and I have to do what she wants.”
“I understand,” Jon said, standing back up while a Uniform brought Duncan back to his feet. Turning, Jon saw Kate walk Phoebe back out of the house, fully dressed again, her expression stony, and the look in her eyes was as terrifying as it was hollow.
“I’m sorry, Phoebe. I’m so sorry. Please, you’ll forgive me, won’t you? I want to see you again.”
But Phoebe didn’t look at him or even seem to register that he was there at all. She just walked with the officers that were accompanying her, getting into the back of one of the cars.
Jon turned to another officer. “Take him too,” he said, and watched as Duncan was led away.
“So, it was Phoebe?” Kate asked as she walked over to Jon.
“My gut says it’s her, but Duncan’s involved. For sure. I just don’t know by how much.”
“And, do we know who’s in the bag, inside?”
“Duncan says it’s Corey Grant, his former tenant.”
“Shite,” Kate said. “Looks like we have our work cut out for us unravelling this one.”
“Yeah,” Jon agreed, as he looked back at Duncan’s house.
28
“Well, at least you got your woman in the end,” Detective Superintendent Ray Johnston said, sitting on the opposite side of the desk.
“Thank you. We think so, yes.”
“And yet, we had her here, on literally the first day of the case. You interviewed her downstairs.”
Jon nodded, feeling sheepish. “We did, yes.”
“We had her, and we let her go.”
“There was no reason to suspect her at the time,” Jon replied, feeling confident anyone else would have done the exact same thing.
“Perhaps, but you can imagine how this looks on the surface to the likes of the ACC and others.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?” Ray snapped.
“Sir, we saved a young girl from a grim fate, and we found the killer.”
“I know that Jon, but it doesn’t make it look any better. As far as the powers that be will care, it really doesn’t matter.”
Jon nodded.
Ray sighed. “Look, I know you’ve done a good job. You did only what anyone else would have done, but you need to do better than this. For what it’s worth though, I think you should be proud of your team for their work on this case.
“Thank you, sir.”
Ray held his gaze for a moment and took a breath. “I know why you think I’m here, Jon. I know what you think of me. I’m not stupid, and neither are you. To a degree, you’re right, the ACC did send me here, and he did ask certain things of me. But I’m not here to discredit you or destroy this unit from within. I’ve got to where I am by playing by the rules. I strive for excellence every day, and I expect all those under my command to do the same. However, by far the most important thing is that we protect lives and serve the public. That is priority number one for me, and always will be.”
“Mine too.”
“Good. But I know you can be a little reckless sometimes, Jon, and I’m here to make sure you follow the rules. I expect results, and I expect excellence. Your behaviour on this case was a little, um… on the edge of acceptable, and it was noticed. I think you need to be a little more careful. You and Kate, but mostly you. While I’m not here to find fault and shut the unit down, if you’re not careful, you will do that on your own without any help from me. Do you understand?”
“I think so, sir,” Jon replied, feeling somewhat surprised by Stingray’s little speech.
“You’ve stepped on some toes, Jon, and these people do not forget about this kind of thing. They take it personally and will be on the lookout for ways to stomp on your feet with steel-toe-capped boots. So I would suggest you don’t give them the chance.”
“I’ll do my best, sir.”
“I hope so. I really do. Good work, now go and do your job.”
“Will do, sir,” Jon said and left the office behind.
<
br /> Walking back into the SIU office, Jon spotted Kate talking to Nathan and walked over.
“How’d that go?” Kate asked.
“As well as can be expected,” Jon replied. “It felt like both a pat on the back and a rap across the knuckles.”
“Well, you’re still here, the SIU’s still here, and another killer is in custody. I’d call that a win,” Kate declared.
“Me too,” Nathan agreed.
Jon smiled. “I guess I should always look on the bright side.”
“You should,” Kate replied.
“Okay, so anything new for me?”
“Actually, yes,” Nathan said. “This has been all across the news by now, of course. And because of that and also because of our questioning of the Miller boys, we’ve had a walk-in.”
“Go on,” Jon replied.
“Well, he agreed to talk on condition of anonymity, which I agreed to. He’s a Miller, and he’s also a former lover of Corey Grant.”
“Okay,” Jon said. “So, what did he say?”
“He said that Corey had always struggled with his sexuality. Has done for years. He said Corey had a fling with Duncan that was on and off his entire tenancy of the house in Newdigate. It seems that Corey didn’t want the Miller family knowing that he liked men, as he didn’t think they’d approve. He thought it might make some of the guys nervous, or not want to work with him, and he needed the work and the money.”
“I see.”
“So anyway, this guy got in touch with Corey about a week ago. They met up and had a drink, but that was the last he saw of Corey. Apparently, Duncan had been in touch and wanted to see Corey. That was the last this walk-in saw of Corey.”
“Because Duncan killed him,” Jon said.
“Yep.”
“Okay, thank you, Nathan.”
“Jon,” Kate said, giving him a look. “Did you have something else to tell Nathan about?”
“Huh?” Jon said before the penny dropped, and he realised what she was talking about. “Oh, yeah. Have you got a moment, in my office, Nathan?”
“Um, yeah, sure guv,” Nathan replied, before Jon turned and led Nathan across the room and into his office at the far side. He shut the door and sat behind his desk.
“What’s up?” Nathan asked.
“I’ve been keeping this to myself… well, Kate and myself, but she thinks I need to tell more people, like you.”
“I’m all ears.”
“I was attacked at my home last night.” Jon launched into the same story he’d told Kate, being careful to leave anything about Ariadne out.
“I see,” Nathan replied as Jon finished the tale.
“I know I should have reported it, but I don’t want to make a fuss, and I honestly think I’ve dealt with it. But Kate wanted me to tell you, okay?”
“Well, I’m not sure you’ve really dealt with anything, and it’s not good that someone out there knows where you live.”
Jon shrugged. “Fair point.”
“I’ve got some connections at High Down Prison. Want me to see what they can find out?”
Jon nodded. “Okay, yeah, sure. Thanks.”
“No problem, and… be careful, Jon.”
29
Jon sat at the table beside Kate, and looked up into the stone-cold eyes of Phoebe Woods. She stared at him, and for Jon, it felt like he was staring into a deep, dark pit. The eyes were often called a window to the soul. They were often the place where some kind of truth lay, where you could get a feel for a person. They would often betray someone’s true motives or thoughts, giving people like Jon an insight into the person they were talking to.
But with Phoebe, Jon didn’t get that feeling at all. There was almost something missing there, and as he stared into the woman’s eyes, it was almost as if this woman didn’t have a soul.
Her eyes were empty, and emotionless as she sat opposite, staring at them, her solicitor beside her.
“We’ve spoken with both Duncan and your husband, Lenny, Mrs Woods.”
“Good,” she replied.
“Mr Woods was most surprised to hear where we found you. He was most upset, and he admitted that it was you who attacked him.”
Phoebe shrugged.
“You wanted to go out, didn’t you? You were living in a hotel room while all this was going on. He said you were agitated, that you had been for days. He said you were bad tempered and that you insisted on going out, but he wasn’t happy with you doing this and you argued. You don’t argue over much according to him but he felt that you shouldn’t be going out for hours on end while this was going on, and he put his foot down. But you didn’t like that, did you, Mrs Woods? You got upset and you broke your husband’s nose, before going out anyway.”
Again, Phoebe said nothing, she just stared back at Jon, listening, but showing no emotion or reaction at all.
“But, it’s not the first time you’ve displayed questionable behaviour, is it? You first met as teenagers, right? Mr Woods said you’ve always been a little obsessive, even back then. He said that you seemed to decide that he was going to be your man, and that was that. He said you dated for a while, but he broke it off as he wanted to see other people, only for you to stalk him, follow him, confront his friends and girlfriends until you eventually won him back.”
Again, Phoebe said nothing. It was as if she was a statue as she sat, unmoving, just listening. The whole act was incredibly unnerving.
“I was wondering where all this came from,” Jon said. “So, we looked into your family and asked Mr Woods what he knew too, and what we know is that you were the middle of three girls born to your parents. Your younger sister died of meningitis while you were young, and that led to your parents fighting until they broke up and your father left you all. Then your mother was violent towards you both, according to your sister who we’ve had a nice chat with. But she ran away, didn’t she, leaving you with your violent mother.”
“Care to elaborate on that point?” Kate asked, but she was greeted with silence.
“Okay, well, let’s extrapolate, shall we?” Jon said. “I’m guessing that at some point you killed someone. Maybe you didn’t mean to, maybe you did. But you liked it, and for whatever reason, you got away with it. But the high you got from that kill didn’t last, and you had to do it again. But you needed to be smart. You needed to be careful. You couldn’t rely on luck. I don’t know if this was before or after you met Lenny, but if I had to guess, I’d say before. Certainly, before you married, anyway. How am I doing, so far?”
Phoebe chewed on her lip, but said nothing.
“Phoebe,” Kate said. “There are people out there with missing sons and daughters. We’ve been able to give peace to some of them, the ones we’ve found, but I’m guessing there’s more. With the testimony of your husband and Duncan, I think it’s highly likely you’ll see life for this, no matter what. So, why hold out? Help us, and maybe we can give these people some peace.”
Phoebe sighed. “The first one was before I met Lenny,” she said. “You’re right, it was on a whim. It was easy. Too easy, and it made me feel good. I burnt him, and no one came. No police came to my door. No national manhunt. Nothing. So, I wanted to do it again. I met Lenny later. I needed a husband. I needed to look… normal, I guess.”
“You’re saying you’re not normal?”
“I’m saying that I recognise that I am not like other people. I don’t feel things in the same way, and most people don’t kill people. So, I needed to look normal. A husband and a family would help me do that. Lenny was perfect.”
“Were you still killing?”
“Not in the home.” Phoebe smiled, but didn’t elaborate.
“Duncan said you two met on a night out. One of your hunts for a victim, was it?”
“I was out drinking,” Phoebe said.
“This was after you were married?”
“Of course,” she replied. “Lenny does as I ask, he knows better than to say no. It was about two years after we wer
e married. A year after Gracie was born.”
“I see,” Jon replied. He remembered the daughter and felt shocked by how casually she inserted her daughter into the conversation about how she’d been killing countless people. He was also getting a clearer understanding the nature of her relationship with Lenny, and who was in charge. There was no mutual partnership here. Phoebe was in control of everything. Lenny had explained how she controlled the money, how his wages got paid into her account, and she handed out money as she saw fit, how she controlled which friends he could see and when. She’d control and confiscate his phone, and often reply as him. She controlled everything, and he just went along with it.
“Duncan said you tried to kill him, is that right?”
“He fought me off,” Phoebe replied. “But he wasn’t upset. We’d been seeing each other for a few weeks before the opportunity presented itself, but I underestimated him. But he was curious. He wanted to know if I’d done it before. He wanted to help.”
“I get the impression that he’s a little obsessed with you,” Kate said.
“He had his uses,” Phoebe replied.
“Such as for hiding bodies?”
“He helped me dispose of them,” she admitted. “He saw the hollow centre in the wall of his mother’s house when he let Corey do some renovation work, and thought it would make a good hiding place.”
“What about for finding victims?” Jon asked. “He helped with that too, right?”
“I think you know well enough that he did. I’m guessing he told you that he would help look for people. The lonely, the dispossessed, people who would not be missed. We both got quite good at finding them. Corey was supposed to be one, but Duncan resisted.”
“And then there was Mark.”
“I think so?”
“He was. Duncan explained how he seduced him, but he changed his mind when Mark’s sister called while Duncan was with him. He’d be missed, and people would come looking, so he decided not to bring him to you. That of course led to a long term relationship, though, which it seems like Duncan struggled with.”
Phoebe shrugged. “I don’t give a shit about that.”