DARK HOUSES a gripping detective thriller full of suspense (11 page)

Speedy decided he’d ask the GP to do the identification.

He checked his watch. Grace would be back at the station by now. He’d go back, have something to eat and work out what they’d got.

* * *

“Where’s Greco?” Speedy asked Craig. He was back in the main office.

“Not here. I think he went off somewhere. He looked shattered.”

“What did you find out about the dead lad?” Grace came in, carrying a pile of paperwork.

“No parents, a bit of dealing, nothing much. Can you check if he has a record?” he asked George.

“We spoke to the landlady of the Crown. She admitted that her relationship with Jessie was often heated. They argued about her hours. She wanted time off to be with Frankie, and Megan wanted her at the pub. So they rowed a lot.”

“What did Frankie Farr say?”

“Not a lot, but I don’t think he’s hiding anything. He’s too cut up about it. I’d say it has only just hit him.”

* * *

Greco went home. He couldn’t face his colleagues at the station, but he didn’t feel like facing Suzy either. He had no idea what to say to her. If he asked her outright and she told him there was someone else, he’d be devastated. But if he didn’t . . . It’d drive him insane.

He’d thought they were happy. These last months, he’d felt secure in the cocoon of family life. But her lack of interest in getting remarried had set off a warning light in his head. He’d considered a lot of reasons to explain that, but not another man. He sat in an armchair, looking out over the back garden. It looked lovely in the early summer. Suzy and Matilda had planted out a wide flower border that ran along its length. They’d been busy, and the plot was well-tended. There was even a large bunch of flowers from it on the dining table. This was Suzy’s house. She’d taken out the lease on it before he moved in, and it was full of her touches. He suddenly felt like a lodger.

“You’re early for once.” She burst into the sitting room, her arms full of shopping. “You can pick up Matilda from school if you want.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “About half an hour.”

“I’ll have to go back to the station,” he lied. “I’m here taking some time out, that’s all.”

“Whatever, Stephen. Nothing changes with you, does it?” She took the groceries into the kitchen.

Was that it? Was he the problem? Was this down to his odd behaviour and the job? He had to tackle this now. If he didn’t, it would eat him up. “Suzy . . .” He followed her into the kitchen. “You’ve finished early.”

“Told you, staff development day. We’ve all had an early dart. Makes a change.” She was smiling.

“You would tell me if things weren’t right?”

She turned and stared at him. “What are you getting at? In what way
not right
?”

He looked at the floor. “I’m talking about us. Are we alright?”

“What’s brought this on? I’m busy, you’re busy. For goodness sake, Stephen, I thought we’d done with this.”

“You’re different.”

“No. I’m exactly the same.” She began putting the groceries away.

“Have you got another . . ?” He couldn’t say the words. He shook his head and turned away, terrified of her reply.

“Another what, Stephen? Spit it out or leave it be.”

“I saw you today, in the park . . .” He stopped and returned to the sitting room. Several minutes passed before she joined him.

“So you know. That’s what this is all about.” Her voice was flat.

“I saw you kissing another man. That’s what it’s
all about
.”

He watched her. She seemed to be wrestling with her conscience, looking for a gentle way to let him down.

“He makes me laugh,” she said finally. “He’s fun. But more importantly, he’s around. I don’t know if it’s going anywhere. For now I’m just enjoying the attention. But I won’t lie. I like him.”

“Who is he?”

“Who he is isn’t important.”

“And us?”

“We’re not married anymore, Stephen. I’m a free agent, and so are you.”

She was trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. It wasn’t working. He knew Suzy. He could hear the guilt in her voice. “A free agent? What does that mean, Suzy? And where does it leave Matilda?”

“I won’t shut you out. She needs you. I want us all to get on. I want you in our lives — when you’ve got the time.”

“Why won’t you tell me who he is?”

“Because you’ll do something stupid,” she said.

She wanted the best of both worlds.

“Do you want me to leave?”

“Not really. Matilda likes you being here. If you move out the upheaval will upset her. It won’t do you any good either.”

“I’ll move into the spare room,” he said. “We won’t say anything to Matilda just yet.”

“I’m happy with that,” Suzy said. “Your mobile is ringing.”

She went back to the kitchen.

The call was from Grace. “Sir, the camera at Pierce Street — we’ve got something.”

Chapter 11

“It’s very dark. Is there anything that can be done to make the images clearer?”

“We’ll try, sir. But he’s been careful. It’s as if he was expecting to be disturbed or spotted. He’s wearing the same dark overalls, the hat pulled low over his face and dark glasses. He’s trying to come across as a workman.”

“He doesn’t look at any of the cameras either,” said Greco.

“He can’t know they are there. They’re all well-hidden.”

“At least it confirms that Pierce Street is the next house. He must have got the key from the safe outside. Get forensics to take a look.”

“Are you feeling better, sir? Speedy said you weren’t feeling well.”

“Something and nothing, Grace. A bad head. I took a couple of pain killers and I’m fine now,” he lied. “What time was that?” He nodded at the images on the screen.

“About half an hour ago, sir. Want to take a look?”

Greco nodded.

Grace drove. Greco didn’t speak much. His head felt like it was full of cotton wool.

“Pity about the camera outside, sir,” Grace said as they turned into Pierce Street.

“What happened?”

“It failed. We got nothing.”

That about summed up the luck they were having on this case. “Those safes are pretty robust. To break them open would require a power tool, and that would be noisy. I reckon the whole thing was removed from the wall and taken away. I was there last night, fairly early on. So he must have taken it later, or this morning.”

“Let’s hope someone saw him this time.”

“Folk around here don’t though, do they?” Greco said.

He was right. The next-door neighbours had heard nothing. One reported that her dog had been a bit agitated at about ten the night before. He’d been whining at the door.

Forensics was going over the property. Roxy Atkins was in charge. “There’s a pretty clear footprint on the kitchen floor,” she told them. “There are some stone flags missing in the backyard. It’s been raining and there are several muddy puddles. He was wearing heavy-soled boots and he has big feet.”

“That’s something.” Grace smiled.

“It’s all we’ve got,” Greco said.

“There is the blood smear too, Inspector,” Roxy said. “The DNA profile on that should be back today.”

“Let’s hope we find a match. If we don’t, he can leave behind all the blood he wants, because we’re no closer.”

Greco stood in the empty sitting room. The killer had been here. He’d stood in this very room, planning for his next kill. Had he seen the cameras? Greco couldn’t get rid of the notion that he was taunting them.

“Sir, Craig’s been on. A man who was at the Rave has asked to see us. He knew Jenna and he took some video snippets on his mobile. He thinks some of them might be useful.”

“Where is he?”

“He works at a burger bar in the shopping centre. He’s there until six.”

He looked around at the forensics people still hard at work. “Okay, we’ll go and talk to him.”

* * *

“What are you doing, Neville?”

“Washing the blood off my knife.”

“Did you cut yourself? How many times have I told you to be careful with that damn thing?”

“I’ve done something,” he said. He turned round to look at the man. “The voices said it was okay. Promise you won’t shout.”

“Spit it out, Neville.”

“I got rid of Dan. He was being a right pain in the arse. I lost my rag with him.” Neville cowered at the sink, waiting for the shouting to start.

“You’ve been out?”
He
asked incredulously, “when I expressly told you not to?”

“I got bored.”

“So you went out and jumped that friend of yours instead?”

“He’s no friend. He called me names and he wanted me to take his pills. I’m done with all that.”

“Is he badly hurt?”

“Yeah. Think he’s dead.”

Neville watched him, trembling, as
he
ranted around the house, shouting and throwing things. Finally
he
lashed out and landed Neville one on the chin. Neville stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.

“You’re a bloody fool! They’ll be onto you.”
He
drew aside a curtain and looked up and down the street. “If the police come knocking, you’re on your own.”

“You’ll stick up for me, though? You won’t let them lock me away. It was only Dan. He was a waste of space anyway.”

“That’s not how they’ll see it — idiot!”

He
brought his face up close to Neville’s.

“They’ll haul you away. They’ll stick you in a cell and throw away the fucking key!”

“You shouldn’t have left me on my own.”

“I have to work. Who do you think puts food on the table?”

“I’ve had enough. This isn’t fun anymore. You don’t let me do anything. I don’t see what difference it makes anyway. I did the girls.”

“That was different. They won’t get you for that. They can’t. There’s no evidence. Get out of my sight. I need to think.”

Neville sloped off to his room.
He
was still pacing the floor. It’d been a pig of a day. Neville couldn’t take any more. He wanted to get out. He’d wait until
he
had gone to bed, then he’d do a runner.

* * *

They sat down in an alcove. The empty burger bar smelled of grease and onions. Greco couldn’t help looking at the tabletops. They were grimy, sticky and chipped at the edges. He could never eat in a place like this — no matter how hungry he got. Outside, the pavement was littered with food wrappers and polystyrene boxes.

“She goes there a lot. I don’t know why. It’s nothing but a meat market. I often take photos. She doesn’t seem to mind.” Dale Fuller got out his phone and showed Greco the images of Jenna Proctor posing for the camera. Greco noticed he was speaking of Jenna in the present tense. It hadn’t sunk in.

“The other night I took one or two videos of her dancing. I wanted to ask her out . . . but her friends were always hanging around and I didn’t get a chance. She was lovely. I’ve thought so ever since school. She would probably have said no anyway. Jenna was way out of my league.”

“Did you take any pictures of her outside?” Grace asked.

He fiddled with the phone for a moment or two and then showed them a short video of Jenna smoking in the doorway with another girl. It must have been cold: the girls were huddled together under a coat.

“Where were you standing when you took this?”

“I went outside with them and stood across the road. I was photographing Jenna, but I’m also doing a project for college. I’m not sure what I’ll do now, with Jenna being dead. Her folks might not want me to feature her in it.”

“Was there anyone else hanging around, watching the girls or the club?”

“I only had eyes for Jenna. My camera was always pointed her way. But there was this . . . which is why I rang you.”

He’d caught the bouncer throwing Jenna’s bag and shoes out onto the street.

“That one’s a real louse. He’s always on at the girls about taking off their shoes and stuff. He didn’t like Jenna, or her mates. Whenever they were in he’d pick on them. I was going to show this to the manager. Get him on the bouncer’s case.”

Greco and Grace could see Jenna on her knees — that would have been when she threw up. But there was a light to the left of her, the headlights of a parked car.

“It might be possible for one of the techies to clean this up, sir, and get a registration number.

“You were standing inside when you took these?”

“Yes, just behind the lout who threw her out.”

“Why didn’t you say something then? Go out to help her?”

“I wish I had now.” He hung his head. “But Jenna was always getting thrown out. She wasn’t in a good mood and the bouncer was on my case the minute he saw me taking the photos.”

“Did he threaten you?”

“No . . . but he did grab my arm and push me back inside. One of Jenna’s mates asked me where she’d gone. I told her. To be honest, I expected her to go and sort her.”

“Thanks, Dale. These could be a great help. Can you send them to me from your phone?” Greco tapped his number and email into the boy’s phone. “If anything else occurs to you, ring me.”

When they were outside, Greco brushed himself down. “I can’t understand how places like that stay in business.”

“The kids like them, that’s why,” she told him. “Fast food, meeting up. When you’re in your teens, that’s what it’s all about.”

His phone pinged. Dale had sent the photos to him. “I’m going to the station to give these to George if she’s still there.”

“I’ll go home if you don’t need me.”

“Okay, Grace. See you in the morning.”

* * *

Neither Craig nor Speedy were in the office, but George was still hard at it.

He passed her his phone. “Have a look at these. They are images and video of Jenna Proctor at the club. There is a car parked near to where she was pushed out. See what you can do.”

George transferred the images and handed the phone back to him. “Something’s happened, sir, this afternoon.”

About to head off, Greco stopped. “Important?”

“Strange — and that probably makes it important.”

“Go on then, tell me.”

“We’re being talked about on social media — Twitter mostly. These have been circulating since lunchtime, but I’ve only just seen them.”

Greco looked at the string of messages on the screen. There were dozens of them, all from someone calling himself ‘smiley mouth.’

“They’re aimed at us, sir. Some are criticising the way the investigation is going, some are goading us — betting we won’t get him. That sort of thing.”

“Anything specific about the murders?”

“No. But that name he’s using. I’m thinking about the way he cut their faces.”

She was right. “Can we find out who’s posting them?”

“I tried, but I’ve had to pass it up to the techie people. The tweets are bounced around from one IP address to another before they get to us. It’s like trying to unravel knitting wool the cat’s had hold of.”

“The letter sent to Laycock was signed the same way.”

“Hashtag ‘smiley mouth’ is trending, sir. He’s getting more followers by the minute.”