Cold as Ice (40 page)

She quickly put the tray down, opened the bedroom door and saw Steve sitting on Jackson’s bed. Jackson was sleeping soundly.

‘What are you doing, Steve?’ Tracy’s heart started racing.

Steve turned to look at her. His eyes were shining in the dark.

‘Poor little fella. He’s had a tough time of it, hasn’t he?’ He looked from Jackson to her.

‘Yes.’ Tracy stepped forward. ‘Leave him alone now, Steve. Don’t touch him. He needs his sleep. He’s just a baby.’ Her voice was beginning to rise in
pitch.

Steve didn’t move. He reached out and stroked Jackson’s head. Jackson’s face twitched in his sleep and he turned over.

‘I want you to leave him alone.’ Tracy was surprised at the tone of her own voice. It was deep now – steady, calm. ‘Get out now, Steve.’

Steve turned and looked at her as if he didn’t recognize who was speaking.

‘Tracy? What do you think? Do you honestly believe I would harm him?’

‘I don’t know you any more. You’ve been lying to me for months, maybe years. You could be capable of anything because I don’t know who you are. I went in to your work and
talked to Betty.’ Tracy felt her anger rise even though she was trying very hard to keep control of it. ‘I got the whole story how they would have liked to sack you but they
couldn’t, even though you were screwing the boss’s wife, letching after college students.’

He shook his head. He was still sitting on the bed. Jackson was beginning to wake up. ‘I wasn’t, Tracy . . . I admit I kept things from you but we’d been through such a lot and
you’ve been so strong through it all but I know there’s only so much you can take. It’s all lies, especially about the boss’s wife. I’ve been waiting to see what
they’d do about reinstating me. I will take them to a tribunal otherwise. I swear to you, Tracy, that I would not be unfaithful to you.’

Tracy started to back out of the room. ‘Leave Jackson alone then. He doesn’t know you; he’ll be frightened if he wakes up and finds you sitting on his bed.’

‘Why would he be? I’ve met him before.’ Tracy stared at him as she shook her head.

‘Danielle came around here looking for you when you were at work. I saw him then.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘We had enough things on our plate.’ She shook her head. Tracy wasn’t ready to believe what Steve was saying. ‘I admit it, Tracy; I’ve been depressed. Every day for
six months I’ve been sitting in the warehouse, waiting for you to leave for work so that I could come home. I’ve been hoping that things would work out on their own. The last thing I
thought we needed was this.’ He looked at Jackson. ‘But maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.’ Jackson opened his sleepy eyes and looked at Steve and then at Tracy, who smiled
and nodded her reassurance. Jackson looked back at Steve and gave him a big smile.

Jeanie and Carter walked back in to see Robbo behind his desk.

‘It was just bits of furniture and a collection of all kinds of junk,’ said Jeanie, taking off her coat. ‘Memories – it looks like his whole life is in there. He must
have been living there in fear of really telling Tracy what the matter was.’

Carter shook his head. ‘I think he’s had a breakdown, looking at the stuff in there. He’s collected all sorts of junk. Must have spent a fortune on it: stuffed animals even
– a weird collection. If that’s what’s in his head – he’s lost the plot.’

‘You searched all the way through it?’ asked Robbo.

‘We opened every box.’

‘Bowie thinks we should bring Christian Goddard in now,’ said Robbo. ‘He thinks it’s time to get heavy-handed.’

‘What do you think?’ asked Carter.

‘It’s got to be him. From what we know of him he will be aware of how far we’ve got because he’s fed us all the clues. If he thinks we’re getting too close to him
we run the risk that he’ll go out in a blaze of glory and take Danielle, and whoever else he might have in there, with him. I’ve been looking into his history.’ He showed them the
page of search engines he had working on Goddard. ‘There must be something on him somewhere. He needs to have had a journey to this point. You don’t start killing overnight.’
Robbo looked at his Facebook page. ‘He’s travelled a bit. I’ll run a check with Interpol again.’

‘Okay.’ Jeanie scrolled through his photos.

‘It says he’s been to Thailand, Laos, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand. He must have learnt about exotic pets in Australia; he worked in a zoo there. He was back here in 2010 –
that’s when he set up the online pet business and also registered for his first course in college. I think we should bring him in. We can’t risk another minute of him being out there if
he’s Hawk.’

Jeanie pointed to an image of a street and someone walking in a small camera.

‘Is that Ebony’s camera?’

‘Yeah. She is meeting Goddard tonight. I’ve been thinking about what you said about if there’s a possibility that he knows Ebony and I don’t think we should take the
risk.’

‘I agree. We’ll have Goddard brought in and get a search warrant for his house,’ said Carter.

‘What do you want Ebony to do?’ asked Robbo.

‘We’ll salvage the evening. Tell Ebony to arrive late at the pub, after Goddard’s been picked up, and then see if she can get any extra information on him from some of his
ex-girlfriends.’

‘Where is she going?’

‘For drinks to a pub called The Pear and Peach – it’s on Upper Street.’

Ebony stepped into a doorway to take the call from Robbo.

‘It looks likely he’s Hawk. We have to find out where he’s holding Danielle.’

‘Okay, Guv.’

‘We’re bringing him in for questioning but we don’t know where Danielle is being held yet and we need more evidence. Arrive at the pub thirty minutes late. People will still be
there and you can pick up what information you can. We are still not sure of an address for him. He doesn’t seem to be living at the one he gave. He may be using a second premises.’

Jeanie took a call from the officers outside Tracy’s house.

‘Steve Collins is back home.’

‘Okay, give Tracy a call and make sure she’s all right.’

She phoned Tracy.

‘You okay, Tracy?’

‘I’m okay. Steve is here.’

‘Yeah, I was just told. Have you spoken to him about things?’

‘He’s been living a bit of a lie.’

‘I know. We found out about his job. Carter and I went to see where he’s been holing up. It isn’t a pretty sight. He’s obviously been going through a difficult time
mentally. Is he going to stay?’

‘Jackson seems to be okay with him. He got a smile. That means a lot, I think. At least we know he’s not Daddy Pig.’

‘Yeah – you’re right.’

‘Are you any nearer to finding Danielle?’

‘We have someone we are going to bring in for questioning. He’s a man who we know she was seeing as a friend and more. We are getting closer. I’ll be over tomorrow morning but
you can phone me any time, Tracy.’

She heard Tracy sigh. ‘Thank you, Jeanie.’

Robbo was still searching Interpol when Jeanie returned to his desk.

He looked up as she approached. ‘A couple of interesting cases came though from Australia. Two women died in Perth, both in their twenties. Both left a baby. Another three women
disappeared in New Zealand, again all three left a child. There was one older woman in her forties found in 2006 in familiar circumstances to our women in a remote farm five hundred kilometres
southeast of Adelaide. She was found with a garish mask of make-up on her face; she’d been strangled. Her body was wrapped in spiders’ webs by the time they found her.’

‘She was forty?’

‘Forty-five. No small child anywhere. She was from Britain. I don’t know a lot more at this stage. I’ll keep looking and I’ll get in touch with the police out
there.’

Robbo took a call.

‘They’ve picked up Goddard outside his house and are bringing him in here to Archway Police Station; officers are in there searching the house now.’

‘Tell them we are looking for a possible second premises,’ said Carter. ‘There might be some correspondence with some other address on it – electricity bill, that kind of
thing. I’ll get ready to interview him. Robbo, you need to prepare some questions for me specifically about this history.’

Ebony took a detour on the way to Islington. She was glad that it had been decided to bring Christian in. She would do all she could that evening to find out where he could be
holding the women if the police search of his home didn’t find them. She needed to talk to some of his less forthcoming conquests just in case more information was needed. She got a text on
the way. It was from Yan.

‘
There’s been police here asking about Christian and Emily Styles, the girl he was dating. I just thought I’d warn you. I really think there’s something not right
about him. I’ve decided to invite everyone to mine instead – that is, the people from the course I was telling you about. Where are you now?
’

‘
About to get to The Pear and Peach – the pub
,’ she texted.

‘
Well, go past it, take the next left, walk down that road till the end, I’m across the street, second from the end, number 130. See you in a minute
.’

‘
Shall I bring something?
’

‘
No, don’t worry. Just bring yourself, that will be enough
.’

Ebony glanced into the pub as she passed. Selena and Julie were there. Ebony didn’t need to talk to them again. It didn’t look like there were many others unless they decided to
nearly all go to Yan’s.

Ebony walked down to the end of the road and crossed over at the end, then she stood opposite the house. It was a narrow four-storey Victorian terrace that looked in need of repair. The houses
either side looked like they’d been renovated but not this one.
Typical student accommodation
, thought Ebony. Yan had said he let rooms out. There were two windows on each floor,
overlooking the street. There were black railings at street level and steps leading down to a basement that looked like no one had used them in a long time. An ash tree had taken root in there and
was now so tall that it obscured the first-floor windows. There were lights on in the upper two floors. She walked up the steps and looked for a bell, gave up and knocked. She heard the sound of
feet approaching. She felt a trickle of excitement in her stomach. She realized she was looking forward to seeing him.

Carter sat across from Christian Goddard and his lawyer. ‘Interview commencing at seven p.m. on Saturday December 21st , December 2013. Thank you for agreeing to give a
DNA sample.’ Carter watched Goddard. He was establishing a baseline. His breathing was deep and calm. He sat still, his hands folded in his lap.

‘What’s it for?’ The pitch of his voice was low, measured. He used his hands very little when he talked.

‘Exhibit number eighty-three.’ Carter pushed a photo of two women across the table. ‘You knew Emily Styles and Danielle Foster well?’

Goddard reached out to pick up the picture and look at it closely.

‘Yes. Quite well.’

He was right-handed.

‘When was the last time you saw either of these two women?’

‘Emily? It was at the festival in Finsbury Park – the Fields festival. It was May sometime – the twenty-fifth.’

‘And Danielle?’

‘Danielle? A week or so ago. We saw one another at college.’

Carter watched Goddard answer; he was thinking about the dates. His eyes went up towards the left. He was remembering something that was real.

‘You have had a few girlfriends from the college?’

‘Yes, sure. That’s not a crime, is it?’

‘But what is a crime is they have ended up dead.’ Carter took out the photos of Emily Styles’ injuries from the autopsy.

‘Do you recognize those wounds?’

‘No.’ His voice lifted a little in pitch. His body moved forward in his seat. He looked to his right. ‘Why should I?’

‘I thought you might have because they are spider bites left untreated. You keep spiders as pets, don’t you?’

‘I do. But that’s not against the law.’ His voice was creeping up, stressed.

‘What about snakes?’

Carter watched the sweat glow on Goddard’s upper lip and forehead.

‘I haven’t owned a snake for a while.’ He stopped fidgeting. He put his hands on his lap.

‘But you like exotic pets?’

Christian shrugged. ‘Depends what you mean by that. Is a fish exotic to you? Maybe it is. Yes I own pets that might be termed exotic.’

‘Spiders?’

‘I already told you I have spiders.’

‘What kind? Venomous?’

‘A couple are, the rest just bite if they’re threatened. But I would never let a spider bite someone like that. I have anti-venom. Anyway, it just wouldn’t happen. I
wouldn’t let it.’ He turned away, unable to stomach the images in front of him. ‘I liked Emily.’

‘When was the last time you saw her?’

‘I told you, at the May Fields festival. We broke up before that – before the holidays.’

‘Were you dating? For how long?’

‘I wouldn’t call it dating. We had had a few nights together.’

‘So you felt nothing for her? What about Mary Rogers? Pauline Murphy? Do these names mean anything to you?’

‘Yes. They were friends.’

‘More than?’

He shrugged. His body remained tense. ‘I suppose so – yes.’

‘What about Danielle Foster?’

‘What is this about?’ His voice rose. ‘Where is Danielle? I don’t understand. What happened to all these women?’

‘When was the last time you saw her?’

‘Two weeks ago. We had talked about meeting up.’

‘When was the exact time you saw her?’

‘Monday the eighth. She had a babysitter. Her mum was looking after Jackson for her.’

‘So you met up?’

‘Yes.’

‘Alone?’

‘No. There were other people from the college there.’

‘Did you discuss the body in the canal?’

‘Yes. A little bit. We had no idea it was Emily. After we heard the next day, then the phone calls started and people posted stuff on Facebook. We were all completely in shock. Emily was
such a nice girl.’

‘Had you had sex with Danielle?’