Dave heard his name called. He opened his eyes. The light was blinding and he closed them again. His mother was speaking to him, she seemed urgent. He couldn’t make out what she was saying. His whole body ached. It felt heavy like he couldn’t move if he tried.
‘I’ve killed Shirley,’ said the voice of Richie.
Was that what his mother was saying?
‘Is Shirley OK?’ he asked.
‘The police chief rang and said he needs you urgently. He said to wake you.’
He sat up in bed.
‘I’m sorry,’ said his mother.
‘Call of duty,’ he said. ‘I’m used to it.’
‘Have a coffee before you ring. Your voice needs to wake up a bit.’
She put the kettle on while Dave got out of bed. He sat on the edge and groaned. If something happened to Shirley he’d never forgive himself.
‘She’s mine now,’ said the voice of Richie.
‘Find her – quick,’ said the voice of Stephen. ‘Before it’s too late.’
He got up, shaking his head. The voices were just voices. It might be good news. They might be ringing to say they’ve caught him. He went into the lounge area of the hotel room and sat heavily on the sofa.
His mother gave him a black coffee.
‘I’ve made it pretty strong,’ she said. ‘Do you want some cold water in it?’
‘No,’ he said.
He took a sip and burnt his lip. The coffee spilt on his trousers. At least it woke him up a bit. His mother took it off him and went to put cold water in from the water cooler.
She passed it back to him. It was too cold now. He downed it.
‘How’s my voice?’ he said.
‘Well you don’t sound so sleepy now,’ she said.
Dave wished his voice was the only one he needed to worry about. The voice of Richie was loud, screaming that he’d killed Shirley. Dave tried to drown it out with his own thoughts but it was impossible. A good night’s sleep, the doctor said.
‘How long was I asleep, Mum?’ he asked.
‘About three hours I think,’ she said.
‘Ah,’ he said.
That must be it. He hadn’t slept long enough. That’s why the voices were still here. He took his phone and called the Chief.
‘Good news or bad news?’ he asked.
‘Bad I’m afraid. Very bad. This hasn’t gone out to the media yet because I really don’t know what they’ll think about another missing police officer, but-’
‘Shirley,’ said Dave.
‘Shirley.’
‘Where? How? And missing like I was or missing dead?’
‘She was abducted from her parents’ house. Her grandmother was found murdered. She and her mother are missing.’
Dave wiped his eyes with his fingers, digging in until it hurt his eyeballs.
‘Can you come in?’ said the Chief.
‘Should I leave my mother alone?’ said Dave.
His mother looked over, concerned.
‘We don’t think he’s targeting your mother. We think he was scared off when he came. We’ll keep an officer with her just in case. There is an alarm straight to the Firearms Team.’
‘OK. I’ll be there in minutes,’ said Dave.
He rang off. He sat in silence.
‘See, I told you I had her,’ said the voice of Richie.
Dave feared for a moment. The voices could be real. He could have telepathy straight to Richie Henders’ brain. His mother clicked her fingers in front of his face.
‘Dave,’ she said. ‘Wake up.’
‘Thanks Mum, I was deep in thought again,’ he said.
‘Will you listen to me? I said will I be safe?’ she said.
‘I don’t know but I hope so,’ he said.
‘You’re not going to drive are you?’ said his mother. ‘Not with the way you’re drifting off all the time.’
‘I’ll see if there’s a taxi,’ he said.
He put on his coat and went down in the lift. He walked through the foyer and out to the taxi rank. All the way, the voices screamed.
‘Find her, find her!’ cried Stephen.
‘Too late, too late,’ cried Richie.
A horn beeped. He jumped. He looked around. A head popped out of a police car window. It was Geoff.
‘Sent by Chief as your personal chauffeur,’ he said.
‘Great,’ said Dave, and got in the car.
Geoff put on the lights and they sped their way through the traffic.
‘You OK?’ said Geoff.
‘Yeah. You?’ said Dave.
‘Not really. I liked Shirley,’ he said.
‘Yeah,’ said Dave.
He thought about Shirley. Richie’s voice came into his head again.
‘I’ve killed your woman. I’ve killed the woman you love. You’ll never see her again.’
Dave counted his breaths. He didn’t want to reply. He didn’t know if the real Richie could hear his thoughts or not.
At the station, there were a lot of worried faces. Dave walked to his desk. As he went, he was patted on the shoulder. He didn’t respond. No one knew about his love for Shirley, not even her. That was a secret that would go to his grave. Now he needed to find out if he was psychic or if his brain had a lucky guess. He needed a strategy and didn’t have one.
The Chief called them all for a meeting.
‘Here we are again,’ he said. ‘With another missing officer. The last one thankfully came back alive.’
Dave hung his head. He wished he hadn’t. He wished he had died in glory, killing this mad man.
‘So far,’ said the Chief. ‘We know a removal van went missing from two roads away with the driver murdered in the street. We also know a car was stolen from the Elephant and Castle area and the victim was found in the boot of the car, near to where the removal van was stolen from. That is two more victims. It cannot happen again. All our jobs are on the line and so are the lives of civilians. I want you all to look for this man. Now, the reason the removal van was not initially thought to be our killer was due to a different witness statement. It seems our killer now has jet black hair and a new nose. This is our e-fit.’
He pointed to the screen above. Then gave the officers work to do. Dave was given the task of going to Shirley’s parents’ house and speaking to witnesses.
Geoff drove him there.
‘It’s weird driving to Shirley’s house,’ said Geoff. ‘Where she grew up and all that.’
‘I don’t think she’d approve,’ said Dave. ‘She kept her family life separate.’
‘Keeps,’ said Geoff. ‘We thought you were dead you know. Not making that mistake again. We’re going to find her alive I know it.’
‘I really hope so,’ said Dave.
Dave’s voices seemed to veer between saying she was dead and saying she was alive. He didn’t know what to think. He hung onto the idea that they were not real.
They reached the neighbourhood. The house was cordoned off.
‘So sad that she lost her grandmother,’ said the officer outside.
‘Have you spoken to the neighbours?’ asked Dave.
‘Only the ones who were asking me what happened,’ he said.
Dave knocked on the house directly next door. There was no answer even though he knew someone was in from the radio playing inside.
‘Police!’ he called. ‘Need to ask a few questions.’
A woman answered the door.
‘Sorry, I didn’t want to answer if I didn’t know who it was. Do you have ID?’
Geoff showed his ID. Dave remembered he needed to get his. It seemed enough for the woman and she let them in.
‘Sorry about the mess,’ she said.
‘There’s more mess next door,’ said Dave.
The woman looked shocked. He remembered Shirley’s questions about his tact.
‘Were you home this afternoon?’ he asked.
‘Yes I was but I was in the back. I didn’t see anything,’ she said.
‘You didn’t at any time today see a man who looked like this?’
He showed her the picture.
‘I think I’d know if I did,’ she said.
‘And you didn’t?’
‘I didn’t leave the house. I was painting in the kitchen,’ she said.
‘Hear anything?’
‘Only the usual clatter of dishes, doors going, no voices. Oh yes, I did hear a scream. I thought it was somebody dropping a pan on their toe or some such thing. I never dreamed it might be – what actually happened?’
‘We can’t go into that yet,’ said Dave. ‘Thank you for your help.’
Dave and Geoff left the house and went to the other next door neighbours. Geoff knocked.
‘Police!’ he called.
‘Are you here to tell us what’s happening?’ said a woman.
‘We just need to ask some questions,’ said Dave.
‘Well I don’t know what that policewoman did. Why did she get taken away in handcuffs? What did she do?’
‘You saw her taken away in handcuffs?’ said Dave.
Geoff and Dave exchanged glances.
‘Yes, in some kind of police van. An unmarked one. I saw her mother go with her. Very kind of them to let her take her mother away.’
‘They? There was more than one?’
‘Oh no, only one. A dark haired man with a funny nose.’
‘Looking like this?’
Dave showed the picture.
‘Yes that’s him. I’d know that face again.’
‘Did you see the man holding a weapon of any kind?’
‘I only saw the back of them. I saw her marched out handcuffed behind her back. I saw the mother. They went in the van. He was rough with them. Then he drove off.’
‘Which way did he drive off?’
‘The right way. It’s a one way street.’
Dave thanked her and they went back out.
‘Bloody idiot neighbour,’ he said. ‘Shirley is the least corrupt cop in the world.’
‘Friendly people aren’t they,’ said Geoff.
They tried a few more addresses but no one was home. Geoff suggested they feedback to the Chief. They headed back to the station in the car.
Dave’s phone rang.
‘Hello, this is Rufus from the Police Commission. I’m phoning about the investigation. I wondered if you could give us a few details.’
Dave wondered if Shirley’s accusation about the Chief would be looked into now.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Dave, quickly. ‘I am focussing on catching the killer and closing the investigation. I’ll speak to you afterwards if that is alright with you. Shirley is my focus now. I’ll be happy to speak about the Chief later.’
He put the phone down.
‘What was that?’ asked Geoff.
‘People asking about how well the investigation is going,’ said Dave.
‘Good,’ said Geoff.
Geoff drove in silence after that and Dave’s voices became stronger.
‘I’ve killed her, you’re too late,’ said the voice of Richie.
‘No, she’s alive, you’ve got to find her,’ said the voice of Stephen.
‘Either way I’ve got to find her,’ said Dave.
He thought about the areas Richie might have gone. He would need to be on home territory to find a hideout.
‘Where are you?’ he asked.
‘In your head,’ said the voice of Richie.
Dave decided ignoring them was best. He needed to do old fashioned police work instead of relying on the slight chance he might be psychic instead of mad.
At the station he left Geoff to feedback. He went through the last addresses that Richie had been at. Then he looked through his childhood file. He was born near Vauxhall. He lived in squats with his mother until she died. He had four offences for breaking and entering. It was clear he had squatted for most of his adult life.
Dave went straight to the Chief.
‘I think he’s in an empty building. I suggest we check out all the squatted buildings in the area,’ said Dave.
‘Yes, he must have a hideout somewhere. There are hundreds of empty buildings in south London. Start the search in Camberwell and Peckham as most of the victims came from that area.’
‘And Elephant, sir,’ said Dave.
‘We’ll extend the search if we need to,’ said the Chief.
Dave coordinated the team. They got the list of empty buildings and went out in groups to search.
They found a few places with signs of entry. The majority had the squat sign outside. They raided the squats, arresting squatters for small crimes. They found no sign of Richie Henders.
‘So all we’ve got is a few hippy squatters,’ said Geoff. ‘Great idea, Dave.’
Dave remembered Stephen and how he was squatting when he died. He had always hated squatters like it was their fault Stephen died. Looking at the young anarchic vegans he’d collected over the last few hours, he began to re-think. Stephen was so young when he died.
‘I wasn’t a bad guy,’ said the voice of Stephen. ‘I never hurt anyone.’
‘You hurt us by dying,’ thought Dave.
‘Will you blame Shirley for dying?’ said the voice of Stephen.