The Murder House

by Michael Wood

  ‘I didn’t find out until the following morning. I went with a team to his flat, but he hadn’t been back, and his car was still there. Although we impounded that as it wasn’t taxed.’

  ‘Who went to interview his sister?’

  ‘I spoke to her twice. She said she hasn’t seen him for weeks.’

  ‘Did you phone her or visit her?’ Matilda asked.

  ‘I phoned her.’

  ‘Don’t you think you should have visited her?’

  ‘If it had been my decision, then yes, I would have done. But we’re that short staffed and rushed off our feet that if it can be done over the phone then so be it.’

  ‘Is anybody actually looking for Keith Lumb now?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Ask DI Eckhart. It’s all about budget and numbers with him. He told me, and I’m quoting him word for word here: “he’s hardly Jack the bloody Ripper. We’ll catch him when he breaks into another house”.’

  ‘Do you know Keith Lumb?’

  ‘We all know Keith Lumb. He’s regularly brought in for questioning. Twenty-seven years old and he’s done sod all with his life apart from ruin a lot of other people’s.’

  ‘Is he capable of massacring three people?’

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ he said, scratching his bald head. ‘Who knows what people are capable of when they’ve taken a few colourful pills.’

  ‘He’s an addict?’ Christian asked.

  ‘Suspected. Have you finished? Only my shift finishes in half an hour and I’d like to leave on time for a change.’

  ‘We might need to speak to you again.’

  ‘You know where to find me.’ He drained his cup and left the canteen with his head down, dragging his feet.

  ‘Such a happy bunch of people here,’ Matilda said sarcastically.

  ‘And have you noticed all the blokes are bald?’

  ‘Maybe you should think of putting in for a transfer then.’ She smiled.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ he said, patting down his short-cropped hair. ‘I’m not thinning, am I?’

  ‘Come on. Let’s go and check out this cell door.’

  ‘Seriously, am I going bald?’ Christian asked, running after Matilda out of the door.

  Bella Slack was in her fifties. She had dyed jet-black hair which was pulled back into a loose ponytail, wore far too much make-up and whatever perfume she wore, it smelled like she’d bathed in it. Apart from her appearance, she was a warm and welcoming woman with a large smile and bright personality. She took Matilda and Christian to the cell block.

  ‘Bella,’ someone called from the end of the corridor, ‘I can’t get the touch screen to work.’

  ‘Hang on.’ She made her excuses to Matilda and Christian and left them alone. She was back within seconds. ‘Sorry about that. We’re back to using ink pads for fingerprinting. The touch screen hasn’t worked properly since it was installed.’

  ‘How was Keith Lumb processed?’

  ‘The same way. Like I said, it’s temperamental. Anyway, it’s this one here on the end. I knew one of them was broken but, well, you know what it’s like when you’re busy, things go out of your mind.’ She opened the cell door and slammed it closed. ‘Listen, it shuts fine,’ she turned the key. ‘It even clicks into place. That’s probably why I didn’t give it a second thought. But, watch this.’ She gave the bottom of the door a hard kick and it groaned open. ‘See.’

  ‘And we all know prisoners love kicking the door,’ Christian said, standing well back to avoid the smell of her fragrance.

  ‘Exactly.’ She smiled.

  ‘Were you on duty when he escaped?’

  ‘No. What we’re guessing is that he waited until no one was in here. Now, we don’t have a night shift as such anymore. If there’s a prisoner needs charging then we call upstairs to one of the night staff and they come down to process them.’

  ‘Dare I ask if there’s CCTV footage?’ Matilda asked.

  ‘There is, but only of the cells and the outside where they’re brought in. There’s nothing of this area here.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘We don’t have the capacity to run so many cameras, so we have to choose carefully where we want them to go. You can’t even plug your phone in to charge without overloading the system,’ she giggled. ‘Hang on a minute.’ She pushed past them when the door opened and a uniformed officer entered the custody suite. ‘Rita, come and sign Dawn’s card. There’s only you left. And you owe me a fiver for those flowers for Ross.’

  ‘How is this place still open?’ Christian said as an aside to Matilda.

  ‘I’ve no idea. I know budgets have been slashed right, left and centre recently. We’re having to share dog handlers with West Yorkshire, forensics aren’t going out to burglaries where nothing’s been stolen to cut down on cost, it’s ridiculous.’

  ‘Yes, but cost cutting leads to bigger things. Look at this, Keith Lumb is arrested, put into a dodgy cell then escapes. A week later he commits three murders. Three lives lost because of the price of a cell door.’

  ‘Sorry about that.’ Bella came back into the cell corridor. ‘Rita was off on holiday last week. I needed to catch her. If there’s a whip-round to be had for someone you can guarantee it’s always me who has to organize it. Trying to get money out of coppers can be a full-time job in itself.’ She smiled.

  ‘Bella, you’ll have met Keith a few times, wouldn’t you?’ Matilda asked.

  ‘You could say that. He was more like a colleague than a criminal.’ She laughed.

  ‘Would you say he was the type of person to commit a triple murder?’

  ‘Is this the Mercer family you’re talking about?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘No. Absolutely not.’

  Matilda was taken aback by such a firm answer. ‘Why so sure?’

  ‘Around this time last year Keith was arrested for drunk driving. We had to do a blood test on him. The second the doctor put the needle in, Keith looked down at his arm and passed out. He hated the sight of blood.’

  ‘So he couldn’t break into a house and butcher three people to death?’

  She fingered her collar. ‘Well, who knows what people are capable of when the balance of their mind is disturbed. Also, there was a rumour Keith had dabbled in drugs from time to time. Get started on them and that’s it; all rational behaviour goes out the window, doesn’t it?’

  Matilda smiled. Keith Lumb was looking as guilty as a man holding a smoking gun. For some reason, she was having serious doubts about him as a suspect but had no idea why.

  ‘I’ve got a headache,’ Christian said as they stepped into the fresh air of the car park.

  ‘Yes. This case is giving me one too.’

  ‘No. I meant Bella’s bloody perfume. I can smell it on me. God knows what Jennifer’s going to think when I get home.’

  ‘Answer me this question, Christian,’ Matilda began, ignoring her DI, ‘we’ve got a petty criminal with a phobia of blood who is on the run because he’s scared of going to jail for committing a few burglaries. He pops over to Sheffield, and slaughters three people in a vicious bloodbath. What’s wrong with that picture?’

  ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘Precisely.’

  ‘So, what does that mean?’

  ‘It means that either Keith Lumb had overcome his phobia and decided to become a mass murderer, or, someone is framing him.’

  There was a slight knock on DI Eckhart’s door. It opened and DS Jonson entered without being granted permission. Nigel was by the window, looking out over the grey South Yorkshire town.

  ‘I’ve heard a DCI from Sheffield has been sniffing around,’ Ross said from the doorway.

  Ross was tall and broadly built. His large brown eyes gave him a sad expression. His tie was loose around his collar, he hadn’t shaved for several days and the dark circles beneath his eyes were evidence of a lack of sleep.

  Nigel nodded without turning around.r />
  ‘I kept out of the way. Just in case,’ Ross said, closing the door behind him.

  ‘They’re just leaving now. DCI Matilda Darke. You’ve heard of her, I’m guessing.’

  ‘Who hasn’t?’

  ‘She’s good. She’s also like a dog with a fucking bone. She won’t let this drop.’ Nigel turned from the window and went behind his desk.

  ‘Did she ask about Keith Lumb?’ Ross asked. He stood at the back of the room and looked down at his feet.

  ‘Yes. They’ve found evidence of him at the scene. He’s the number one suspect.’

  ‘Do they know where he is?’

  ‘Not yet. Do you?’ he asked.

  ‘No. His mobile’s turned off. He could be anywhere.’

  Nigel opened his top drawer and pulled out a single sheet of A4 paper. ‘I received this yesterday. We’re being closed down.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The building needs far too much doing to it to bring it up to standard that they’ve decided it would be cheaper to close us down.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘They haven’t said.’

  ‘What will happen to the staff?’

  ‘Moved around or redundancies. The thing is, if we can bring Keith Lumb in and arrest him before DCI Darke does, that’ll give us some leverage when it comes to fighting to keep this place open, or at least moved to another building.’

  ‘What do you want me to do?’ Ross asked, looking DI Eckhart in the eye for the first time.

  ‘Find Keith Lumb. I don’t care what you have to do, but I want him caught.’

  ‘I’m trying. I don’t know …’

  ‘Look,’ Nigel leaned forward on the desk, ‘I’m not pissing about here, Ross. We need him under lock and key. Start with that weird sister of his. Do whatever you have to do.’

  Nigel didn’t break eye contact. He didn’t blink. This wasn’t an operational command. This was a threat.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Keith Lumb dropped a pound coin into the slot in the public phone box and dialled a number from memory. He impatiently listened to the ringing. Around him in the shopping centre, life was going on as normal as people went about their business. He watched an elderly couple in Costa chatting and laughing as they sipped their lattes. A mother and young child holding hands as they went into Waterstones to browse the children’s books. A young couple arm in arm outside a jeweller’s shop, probably choosing an engagement ring. Life looked so simple. Why was his so complicated? Or had he just made his life so complicated?

  ‘Hello?’ The call was eventually answered.

  ‘Elizabeth, thank God.’

  ‘Keith? Is that you?’ his sister asked.

  ‘Yes, it’s me. I’ve just seen in the papers about what’s happened to the Mercers. Have you heard?’

  ‘Yes. It’s all everyone’s talking about.’

  ‘Do the police know who’s done it yet?’

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so. Where are you?’

  ‘I’d rather not say.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘The least you know, the better.’

  ‘Keith, what’s going on? What have you done now?’

  ‘I haven’t done anything. Why? What have people been saying?’

  ‘Nothing. Keith, you’re not making any sense.’

  ‘Elizabeth, I think something bad’s going to happen.’

  ‘I don’t like this. You’re scaring me. Look, come home.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I just … I can’t. Look, I want you to know that I’m not a bad person.’

  ‘I know you’re not.’

  ‘Has anyone called you or asked about me?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Good. Look, I’m really sorry for everything I said to you the other day.’

  ‘There’s no need to apologize. You were right.’

  ‘No. I wasn’t. I never understood how things were between you and Ruby. I should have been there for you more. I wish there was something I could do to make up for it.’

  ‘Keith, you’re scaring me. You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?’

  He sighed. ‘Elizabeth, I have no idea what I’m going to do.’

  Elizabeth Lumb was ten years older than her brother. She lived alone in a three-bedroom semi-detached house on a quiet road not ten minutes’ walk away from where the Mercers lived in Fulwood. She stood in the neat and tidy hallway of her home with the phone to her ear. She had a confused look on her pale face.

  ‘That was Keith. He sounded very strange,’ she said loudly, aiming her voice upstairs. She walked slowly into the living room. ‘I think something’s happened. I think he might have done something. He mentioned the Mercers. I don’t know what I’m going to tell mum when I go over this afternoon.’

  She sat down on the armchair and looked ahead at the blank television screen and saw her reflection staring back at her. ‘What would you do, Ruby?’ she asked herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Christian had felt his mobile phone vibrate in his pocket several times while he and Matilda were in the police station. It was only when they were heading back to the car when he had the chance to take it out and have a look.

  ‘Oh my God,’ he said, stopping in his tracks.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Kesinka’s been assaulted by Leah Ridgeway.’

  ‘What?’ Matilda asked.

  ‘According to Sian, Ranjeet is with her now in the Hallamshire. Leah’s at the station.’

  ‘Bloody hell! You leave the building for five minutes and all hell breaks loose. Drop me at the hospital then go and interview Leah, find out what she’s playing at.’ Matilda jumped into the front passenger seat and slammed the door behind her. ‘There’s something about that family that doesn’t make sense. I don’t like that Leah and Oliver either.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I don’t know yet,’ she replied. ‘Look, just put your foot down and let’s get back to Sheffield. Once we’ve sorted this mess out we’ll go and have a word with Keith’s sister.’

  Christian slammed his foot down on the accelerator and skidded the wheels as he took a sharp right-hand turn out of the car park.

  ‘I thought today was going to be such a good day, too,’ Matilda said. I should have kept my big fat mouth shut.

  Matilda was greeted with a huge smile from Kesinka and a look of relief from Ranjeet who was sat by her bed.

  ‘Kesinka, are you all right?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘It was a bang on the head, nothing more.’

  ‘She’s got high blood pressure, too,’ Ranjeet said.

  ‘That’s got nothing to do with the fall.’

  ‘What happened?’ Matilda asked. Before Kesinka could reply, Matilda asked the woman in the next bed if she could steal a chair for a few minutes. She sat down and listened as Ranjeet held his wife’s hand firmly. Matilda looked at the array of monitors she was hooked up to. She didn’t know what any of them were for, but assumed she was out of danger as she wouldn’t be sitting up in bed talking.

  ‘So it wasn’t an assault as such?’ Matilda asked.

  ‘It was,’ Ranjeet leapt in. ‘She swung her arm back. She lashed out. She should be charged.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Ranjeet. There were extenuating circumstances. She’s just found out her whole family has been murdered. She was on edge, that’s all. I don’t want to press charges,’ she said to Matilda.

  ‘That’s not what you were saying half an hour ago,’ Ranjeet said.

  ‘Leave it,’ Kesinka said through gritted teeth.

  ‘What were you saying half an hour ago?’ Matilda asked with a frown.

  ‘She was saying that Leah was possessed. Her eyes were wide and staring. It was like she was determined to take Rachel out of the hospital and nothing was going to stop her.’

  ‘Is this true?’

  Kesinka nodded.

  ‘She also said s
he thought she was on drugs,’ Ranjeet continued.

  ‘I did not say that.’ She looked at Matilda who looked back with a raised eyebrow. ‘I said she had the look of someone who’d taken something. You know, when they get that wide-eyed stare?’

  Matilda nodded. ‘There’s something not right with that family. Oliver and Leah aren’t telling us the whole story and I don’t like being lied to.’

  ‘Do you want me to …?’

  ‘You’re not doing anything,’ Ranjeet interrupted his wife. ‘You’re not allowing her back to work, surely? This is the second time something’s happened. I will not risk losing you or the baby.’

  ‘What have the doctors said?’

  ‘I’ve got to stay in here until my blood pressure drops, but apart from that, I’m fine.’

  ‘She’s not fine at all.’

  ‘Ranjeet, I think you’re probably contributing to my high blood pressure. Will you calm down? And let go of my hand, you’re cutting off all the circulation in my fingers,’ she said, snatching her hand out of his grasp.

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘When is your maternity leave due to start?’

  ‘Not for another couple of months yet. Please don’t make me go on leave early.’

  ‘I’ll have a word with the ACC. You may be restricted to office duties.’

  ‘I don’t mind. Anything as long as I don’t have to sit at home with my mother calling round every five minutes.’

  Matilda smiled. She told Ranjeet to take the rest of the day off, returned the chair to the heavily pregnant and red-faced woman in the next bed and left the ward. Matilda had never wanted children, and often felt uncomfortable around pregnant women.

  There was one brief moment, not long after James died, where she wished they’d had children. No baby could have been a substitute, but it would have been nice to have looked into a child’s eyes and seen a reflection of her husband. As she walked down the corridor, she wondered what a child of an architect and a detective would have grown up like?

  Matilda was almost at the main entrance of Hallamshire Hospital when she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Rory trotting towards her.

  ‘Sorry, I would have shouted boss, but I’m guessing quite a few people answer to that around here.’