Snow Kills (38 page)

‘I just hope they suffer,’ Kim said, gritting her teeth as she and Dylan returned to join Matt and the others.

‘We’ll need a statement from you, but the Coroner’s Officer will explain everything and be there for you now. Once we have gathered all the information about what took place and what is happening to the two men we have in custody, I will come and see you to go through everything with you and answer all your questions. Please don’t believe everything you read in the papers. If you want to know anything at all, contact me and I will tell you the truth. I promise you. I will hold nothing back from you – but for now, I think you’ve had enough to deal with.’

Leaving them in the safe hands of Geoff, it was time to go back to the police station. It was late, and time for that debrief.

‘It’s the first time I’ve been there when the family have done an identification like that, boss. It was heart wrenching, even for me, and poor Jackie couldn’t stop crying.’

 ‘And no matter how many times you see it, it doesn’t get any easier, not one damn bit,’ Dylan said with a lump in his throat. His eyes looked glassy.

‘No, I bet it doesn’t,’ she said.

‘Go charge Norris Regan with murder, that’ll cheer you up,’ Dylan said.

‘Are you serious?’ she said wide-eyed.

‘Deadly.’ he smiled. ‘We’ve got enough evidence now. Let them know in the cells that Barrowclough won’t be interviewed again until tomorrow, will you?’

‘Will do. See you at the debrief boss,’ she said She left him sat at his desk and walked briskly to her work station in the CID office. She picked up her phone with one hand and ran her finger down the contact details on file with another. ‘Yvonne Best, please?’ Dylan heard her say with new vigour in her voice.

‘Speaking.’

‘Just for your information, I’m about to charge your client Norris Regan with murder.’

‘Thank you for letting me know. It’s not a great surprise, is it? I won’t be attending tonight, but I guess I’ll see you at Court tomorrow for his appearance?’

‘You will that,’ said Vicky before she hung up. ‘Fait accompli!’ she said under her breath.

The fatigued team gathered in the incident room. Dylan looked around him and saw more than one set of red, tired, bleary eyes. They looked like Dylan felt. ‘Get a drink, we’ll wait ’til DC Hardacre gets back before starting,’ he said from his office door.

Dylan sat back at his desk, his whole being ached. He shook his head, looked down and stared at his phone disbelievingly. Jen’s dad’s car was broken down. She would be expecting him at the station.

‘Jen?’ he shouted into the mouthpiece two minutes later. ‘Can you hear me?’ He heard the rush of a train. The phone went dead.

He sat with the phone in his hand for a while and reluctantly he eventually dialled the number. ‘Shaun, Shaun Turner?’ he said. ‘It’s Jack Dylan will you could do me a favour?’

It wasn’t long before Vicky returned. ‘That felt so good,’ she said with a satisfied sigh. ‘Believe it or not, he wanted to put his bloody wig on while I charged him.’ She smiled candidly. ‘But I wouldn’t let him,’ she said fingering the papers in her hand.

‘Vicky...,’ said Dylan.

‘Okay, okay so he’s making an official complaint about breaching his human rights but...’

‘But, nothing, you’ve got to remain professional. How else are you going to get them stripes?’

‘He said he was sorry anyway... before faking another heart attack.’

Dylan winced. ‘What?’

‘It’s okay. The Custody Sarg is Billy. He told him that he’d already pulled that stunt once on him and to go back to his cell – and guess what? He did without another word.’

Dylan smiled. ‘Good old Billy Burns. Right guys and gals, ready for the scrum down,’ he shouted from his office as he walked to the door.

‘I know you’re all knackered. First, let me say thank you all for your efforts today, they haven’t gone unnoticed and I am very grateful for your dedication and commitment. The updates that follow will hopefully bring you all up to speed with everything that has happened. We have managed to get through an awful lot of work and tomorrow will be just as intense, so I’ll get this over with as quickly as possible and we can all hit the decks for some much needed sleep,’ Dylan said, nodding in the direction of a yawning PC Jackie May. ‘The drinks will have to wait,’ he said without emotion. ‘Norris Regan, you will be pleased to know, has just been charged with the murder of Kayleigh Harwood.

‘Yes,’ came the collective cry.

Fifteen minutes later the group was disbanded. Dylan’s next job was to update the press office, to tell them that they could release the information regarding the discovery of a body which had now been formally identified as that of Kayleigh Harwood.

‘Not often we get such good news on the graveyard shift, Dylan. Is there a charge to be announced?’ said Claire.

‘You on a split shift?’

‘Yes, I had to go somewhere this afternoon, so I’ve been lucky enough to follow the day through with you.’

‘Good. Yes, one man has been charged and will appear before the Court tomorrow but we are still questioning another and he remains in custody. The investigations into him are in their infancy and continuing.’

Jen settled into the corner of her window seat. Her arm had gone dead with the weight of Maisy on it. Would this journey never end? She reached into her handbag and took out her phone, two Paracetamols and a bottle of water. It was eleven thirty. When did the train become so warm and stuffy? she thought, as she adjusted her sitting position and loosened her clothing around her neck. There was a missed call from Dylan. The consolation – she knew he was okay. She looked out of the window and sighed. The train was passing Fratton Park, the home of her dad’s beloved Pompey. At that moment she felt suspended between two worlds. The train slowed down and stopped at the station. Jen looked on longingly. She couldn’t count how many times had she disembarked here as a child, hand in hand with her dad, to walk through the mock Tudor facade building guarding the entrance to the ground, full of excitement. A warm pork pie at half time was always her treat, she remembered fondly. She looked down at Maisy. Would she have such memories of days out with her daddy when she grew up, she wondered?

It was time to go home. Dylan climbed into his car and let his head fell back against the headrest. He inhaled deeply through his nose and could feel the cold air filling his lungs. Closing his eyes, he exhaled slowly through pursed lips, until there was no more air to expel. He opened his eyes, leaned forward, turned on the ignition and the lights guided him through the back yard gates and out onto the street. Who did the other bones that they had discovered belong to? Were they human? he wondered. He needed to get Regan and Barrowclough both remanded for Kayleigh’s murder before he did anything else, then he would speak to them again when they had gathered the evidence and he had it before him.

Jen descended the steps from the creaking train. Her back ached and her head was thumping. The station was relatively quiet, but then it was very late. She walked gingerly, jostling her luggage and Maisy down the platform to the tunnel that led to the Wightlink terminal. A few slightly inebriated students were left on the platform, as aggressive drunks boarded the train for London. No doubt the compartment would be soon filled with beer, and some poor unsuspecting guard who wouldn’t have the knowledge or get paid enough to challenge them.

The best thing about landing at Portsmouth Harbour train station was that the Wightlink terminal for the passenger ferry was only a stone’s throw away. Not having to venture outside meant a lot to her – Dylan had thought her journey through. A kindly guard asked if he could help her with her case. Gratefully, she accepted, and walking down the centre of the aisle she let her hand run along the railing – perhaps to steady her, or maybe just to get the sense of something textured and cool, after sitting on the train for such a long journey. She smiled excitedly at the lady behind the desk in the ticket office. There was a little girl in her yet.
 

The guard wheeled her case to a handy spot. ‘Can you manage from here?’ he asked.

‘Maisy is heavy but the luggage...’

‘It’s light, I bet in comparison. You not staying long?’

‘An open ticket, so who knows,’ she said with a half-hearted smile. ‘Thank you.’

‘She’s been a joy to watch on the journey,’ he said, nodding towards Maisy. ‘Make your arms ache when their little and your heart when they grow up.’

‘Yeah, so I keep getting told.’

‘Enjoy her while you can, she won’t be like that for long, mark my words,’ he said.

‘I will,’ she said.

Always a pleasure when she woke, Maisy was happily kept amused by the twinkling of the lights of the boats in the harbour that could be seen from the waiting room.

Jen’s phone rang .‘Jack, at last,’ she said warmly and with relief.

‘It’s Shaun.’

Jen closed her eyes and looked up to the ceiling, tears springing to her eyes. She bit her lip. ‘Wait, Jack asked me to pick you up from Ryde Pier. I’ve been waiting,’ he said. ‘What time you in?’

‘I thought Dad was... How did you know? Oh, never mind,’ she said crossly.

‘His car’s in the garage,’ he said.

The sea was calm, and the boat was almost empty, apart from a couple of girls who giggled and sang songs from a musical they had just seen and a young couple who nibbled away at each other like rabbits, oblivious to anyone else. An older man in a beret with binoculars around his neck came to sit in a seat directly behind them. Maisy clambered over Jen’s shoulder, fascinated by the pale, ghostly green glow of the apparatus.

‘Night scope,’ he said to Jen when she turned to see what was delighting her daughter. ‘I study bats.’

‘Oh, will you be going to see the people who run the bat hospital on the Island?’

‘Yes, that’s where I’m heading, Sandown.’

‘You’ve not been to the Island before?’

‘No, but since the Island attracts fourteen of the seventeen species found in England, and some of these are very rare ones too, I was thrilled when the Streets invited me to visit. Archie,’ he said holding out his hand.

The radio bleeped.‘The captain of this vessel would like to draw your attention to the following safety announcement...’

Archie pulled a face at the startled Maisy and she grinned and hid in Jen’s shoulder, only to periodically peep out at her new-found playmate before she hid again.

‘We hope you enjoy this vessel, and thank you for travelling with Wightlink,’ the man said before turning off the tannoy. It whistled loudly and Jen covered Maisy’s ears. Jen felt the captain open the full throttle at the black mouth of the harbour and the craft forged ahead at speed.

Looking out of the window towards Ryde Pier, Jen started to distinguish the dimly-lit outlines of some Island residences rising out of the swell of the sea. Maisy settled on her knee with her dolly.

Twenty five minutes later, the captain slowed the boat down and cut the engine. He reversed it slowly and berthed it with skill.

‘Can I take your bag for you dear?’ Archie said as Jen balanced Maisy proficiently on her hip, grabbing hold of the back of her seat to stop herself from falling.

‘That’s very kind of you,’ she said.

Jen followed Archie across the ramp and up the tunnel. He placed her case on the floor at the Ryde Pier Head train station adjacent to terminal. The old red London underground train to Shanklin was waiting for the passengers of the ferry to take them on their onward journey. ‘Would you be kind enough to direct me to the taxi rank please?’ he said.

 ‘I can do better than that...,’ she said, pointing towards the man walking across the foyer of the station entrance to meet them. ‘Shaun’ll give you a lift.’

‘Are you sure it’s no trouble dear?’ said Archie.

‘None whatsoever. You don’t mind dropping Archie off at the Bat Hospital, do you?’

Shaun winked at her. ‘No not at all mate,’ he said, amicably to Archie. Jen frostily grabbed the handle of her suitcase, refusing to surrender it to Shaun.

‘He’ll be driving past the Bat Hospital after dropping me and Maisy off at my father’s, won’t you Shaun?’ Jen said. ‘Tell you what Archie, you sit in the front with Shaun. We’ll be okay in the back,’ she said throwing her luggage in the back seat of the car before getting in.

Shaun turned and looked at her. She saw the disappointment in his eyes.

Jen’s dad’s face was a picture as he embraced his daughter and his grand-daughter at his door.

‘I’ll see you then?’ said Shaun as he wheeled her suitcase to the gate.

‘I doubt it, but thank you for the lift,’ Jen said, waving at Archie who smiled and stuck out his tongue at Maisy. She laughed.

‘Dad you’re cold,’ Jen said. ‘Let’s get you inside,’ she said, with an arm around his shoulder. ‘I bet you’ve been waiting out here for us for ages, haven’t you? Go in and get warm before you get pneumonia.’

‘You know me too well,’ he said hugging them both. Tears sprang to his eyes. ‘I couldn’t come for you. I had to leave a message for Jack. My car’s in the garage,’ he said regretfully. A ham sandwich, and a tea cup with the tea bag in ready to steep, sat waiting for her on the kitchen worktop next to the kettle. Jen put Maisy on the rug among toys and she played happily in front of the roaring fire.

‘That was your safety gate, got it down from the attic,’ he said proudly. ‘And the toys, do you remember Julie?’ he said, picking an old doll whose eyelashes were missing.

‘How could I forget? You raced to town, the minute you were paid, on the eve of my first birthday to get her,’ she said, picking her up and stroking her hair fondly.

‘Yes, and can you remember your mum spending a week’s housekeeping on those red tap shoes so you wouldn’t be the only one in the class in black plimsolls?’ he laughed.

‘And I never went again... God, she never let me forget that, did she?’ said Jen.

Maisy yawned. ‘Come on little one. It’s very late and time to get you into your jim jams,’ she said, stroking her daughter’s head.