Death Marks (The Symbolist) (12 page)

Betty, frowned as she looked over to the door. 'I'm phoning Fred. I don't like her attitude. My girl is missing, and she's treating me with such disrespect.' Flipping open her mobile, she tapped in the numbers. 'Hello Fred? Betty here ... I am at the Police Station. Our Jeannette is missing, and I am doing something about it ... get yourself down here now, they are being bloody rude ... I don't care ... our girl is far more important than your bloody job. Get down here now.'

Firmly, she put the phone back in her pocket. 'I'll show her - she can't get away treating us like that.'

Tracy crossed her arms over a buxom chest. 'Good for you. She was an arrogant bitch. D'you hear the way she spoke to us, like we were dirt - dirt.'

Within fifteen minutes, Fred arrived, the same young constable showing him in. 'Here's your good lady Sir, someone should be with you shortly.'

Fred nodded. 'Thanks mate.' Striding across to Betty, he said, 'What's up girl?'

'The policewoman was really off with us Fred. I mean this is our girl we're talking about - she's missing and I
—'

'Don't you worry now Bette. I'll sort it.' He hugged her slim shoulders, as he saw the tears well up.

At that moment, he looked up to see a tall man, with dark hair enter, his eyes a piercing blue. 'Can I help you Sir.'

'You ruddy well can. Who's the bit of skirt who's been attacking my lady then? Treating her like a piece of shit? I'll have your fucking jobs for this.'

'Hang on Sir, hang on. I'm sorry if your wife is upset. Can you tell me what happened?'

'Yeah, your police woman's got a right nasty attitude. My wife came to report our kids missing,'

'And they are?'

'Neil Bennett and Jeannette Walker. They work at the hospital labs.'

Redd tensed, he guessed it was Green. So, she'd been rude again. ‘Please sir, let me get you all a cup of tea and we can sit down and discuss this reasonably.'

'Reasonably? It was your bit of skirt as was shitty.'

'I do apologize. Believe me Mr. Walker, it won't happen again.'

He looked at Betty and Tracy, 'Mrs
. Walker – Mrs. Bennett, let me assure you we will do everything we can to locate Jeannette and Neil.'

Mollified, Fred sat down on the proffered chair. 'That's more like it; that's what I want to hear.'

Redd went to the door. 'I won't be a moment. I'll just see about the tea - biscuits?'

Fred nodded. 'That'll do nicely guvnor.'

Beaming, he patted Bette's shoulder, 'You'll be alright darlin' - we'll get them back or my name's not Fred Walker.'

Fuming, Redd walked to the bullpen, calling out to Amanda. Beckoning with his finger, he walked into his office. Once inside, he shut door, and made his way to his seat. As he did not offer a chair, she remained standing.

'Have you just interviewed some people - missing persons?'

Her face whitened, as she nodded. 'Yes Sir.'

'It appears you were very rude to them. Can you explain?'

Green blustered, 'I was doing my job Sir. They left it six days before reporting them missing. I didn't mean to be rude.'

'Well you were, so much so the woman phoned for her husband. Were you aware of that?'

'No Sir, but really I was only asking them to fill out forms. I was just about to go back, in order to check them over.'

'I heard differently. Now Green don't deny it; this is not the first time someone has complained about your attitude. For all we know; you may soon be handing the woman her daughter's head. Have you realized that? They've been missing six days, and they're a couple, just like the first vics. These sound like good kids, loyal - close families. So, why the fuck did you see fit to, in their words, to treat them like a piece of shit?’

'Sir I was doing my job. I just told them
—'

'It's the way you told them Green. Now make them some tea, you can apologi
ze personally.'

Green's chest sunk, her eyes wide. 'Yes Sir.'

As she turned to go, Redd said, 'And, another thing, you can thank your lucky stars the husband did not file a complaint. One more complaint and you'll be directing traffic again. Clear?'

'Yes Sir.'

Redd got up, and followed her out. 'I shall be conducting the rest of the interview. We've got to put these poor people's minds at rest; we have some vicious killers out there.'

Trying not to show her tears, Green walked stiffly to the kitchen. But, they were not tears of remorse; she was angry. Bloody sod, who did he think he was talking to her like that? She was a bloody good detective, far superior to most of the nitwits there. She'd show him. Yet she'd have to appear contrite when serving tea, he was a sod though, those women were as common as muck.

Returning to the interview room, he smiled at the parents, recognizing the fear in their eyes. 'Now I'd like to take some more details if I may. I know you've filled out the forms, but there are some questions I would like to put to you. Firstly, Mrs. Walker, I am so sorry to have to ask you this, but is there a reason why you waited six days.'

Betty reddened, looking at Fred. 'My husband said as we weren't to bother you - it was early days, and I fussed too much. I've been ringing the flat though.'

Fred blustered, 'They've got their own lives to lead; I mean Bette's forever interfering, asking them what they've been doing, where they're going. They ain't kids no more.'

'I see. Look, we'll do our very best to find your daughter and your son, Mrs
. Bennett.' Keeping her gaze, he said, 'Does your son give you due warning before going off?'

'Yes, as I told the lady, we're close; he wouldn't just go off you know.'

'Have you contacted any of their friends?'

'Nah they wouldn't like that. I mean, their friends would think we were being nosey. Nah, Neil wouldn't have liked me contacting his friends.'

'Has the hospital contacted you?'

'Nah, the kids have got their own flat. Their boss most probably thought they were ill or something.'

As they spoke, Green entered carrying a tray. Putting it down on the table, she stood straight, her voice firm. 'Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Bennett I would like to apologize if I have offended you in any way. It was not my intention to upset you.'

Betty looked into her eyes; saw the distance, the anger. She realized the Inspector had pulled her over the coals. In an icy voice she said, '
That's alright; apology accepted.'

Tracy catching Bette's tone remained quiet, whilst Fred sat and fumed. Bloody woman, upsetting Bette like that. But, he said nothing, the situation was serious; he realized that maybe, just maybe; their girl was in trouble.

Redd continued talking, as Green dutifully poured the tea, adding the required milk and sugar. 'Have you been to the flat?'

All three shook their heads. Bette
grimaced, 'As I said, I've been ringing. We have a key, but we thought they was leaving it, until they saw us on Sunday, but when they didn't turn up, I knew something was up.'

'I wonder if you would mind giving us the key Mrs
. Walker, we'll look over the flat.'

Betty lifted her head, 'I'd better ring first, see if they're there, you never know.'

Green left the room, her eyes lowered.

Betty clasped the phone tight to her ear, her lips trembling. After a few rings, she put it down. 'They're not there ... not there - oh dear God.' Seeing her tears, Tracy, put her arms around her and wept.

Fred sat next to them; his eyes haunted.

Giving the bereft parents some time to recover, Redd pressed the intercom button. 'Michelle - get me DS Price.'

Tapping his fingers, he watched Betty pulling at her handkerchief, whilst Tracy covered her face with her hands, her shoulders heaving. Hearing the phone bleep, he put it to his ear. 'Price? Redd here, bring in the artist's sketch of the couple seen with the first victims, Delle Woodhouse and David Baker.' He nodded his head at Fred, 'Our Office Manager is bringing over a sketch we have of a couple seen with the first victims. They were at a nightclub 'Saturdays'. It's not all that good, but it might just help.'

Within minutes, there was a light tap at the door, as a short man, in his fifties with neatly pressed trousers and a checked shirt opened at the neck entered. 'Here we are Sir.' He smiled at the group; his eyes filled with compassion. Remaining standing, legs astride, he clasped his hands together behind his back.

Redd pushed the sketch over to Bette. 'Have a look; see if they remind you of anybody.'

Bette wiping her eyes, leant over, lips pursed, 'Nah, don't know them. Have a look Fred.' He in turn shook his head.

Tracy raised her head from her arms and peered over. 'No - never seen them before.'

***

The block of flats, was mere minutes from the hospital. Labelled post boxes, gave the numbers of the flats and names of the occupants. Jeannette Walker and Neil Bennett, flat five was on the third floor; the glass panelled front door was freshly painted a gloss red embellished with a brass lion door knocker, and wrought-iron shoe scraper to one side. The entrance hall was really a passageway crammed with bicycles propped to one side. Facing Redd in the miniscule lift, their bodies almost touching, Dove became acutely aware of the breadth of his chest, the faint fragrance of his cologne. She caught her breath, God; he was a hunk, right down from the electric blue eyes, to the faint stubble on his chin, the scar making him appear slightly threatening - she liked that.

All too soon, the lift bell pinged, the doors opening to a tiny passageway with two doors on one side and one on the other; flat five was the furthest down, near to the end window with security bars painted white. Using the keys, Betty gave him, Redd unlocked the door and entered a minute entrance hall, four feet by five feet, with a mirror on one wall. Under it, flowers wilted in a crystal vase on a narrow shelf. On the right hand wall, was a carved coat rack from which hung a jacket and a couple of anoraks, at floor level, shoes and trainers, lay neatly stacked on a shoe rail. Dove immediately checked the pockets of the anoraks only to find loose change and tissues. Redd pushed the pine door open, and entered the small lounge, his eyes glancing over to a modest sized TV screen on a glass table, the sky box tucked neatly on the bottom shelf, a miniature music system perched on a shelf to the side of the TV.

A thin layer of dust covered a low-lying sideboard bedecked with numerous family photographs in modern frames. Dove recognized a smiling Bette - younger and slimmer with her arms around Fred, before he lost his hair, his face beaming, as he hugged a small dark haired girl to his chest. Dove gulped, they looked so happy, carefree. She recognized Tracy in a recent photograph, her arms linked with a man with greying hair and sparkling eyes; Neil stood behind them with his arms around them both. Other photographs showed the young couple in photographs that were more recent with their friends laughing, posing in groups. Above them on the wall were photos of both Jeannette and Neil in their mortarboards and gowns embellished with pale blue hoods, proudly holding their rolled degree certificates.

Redd murmured, '
Keep the artist's sketch in mind, take a close look at those photographs.' As Dove searched the photographs, he opened a drawer to see the contents neatly arranged, the cupboards underneath filled with china.

He turned to see the leatherette three-piece suite, old but lovingly cared for. He felt his throat tighten; these were youngsters just starting out, proud of their home. He turned to Dove now searching through paperbacks, a tablet, kindle and DVDs stacked on two wall shelves. 'These were low risk Dove - I mean; they're graduates, in full employment, no criminal records, so far I haven't found any drugs, not even a whiff of cannabis. Why in God's name would the bastards pick on these two? What was it that attracted them?'

'There's got to be a reason - but we don't really have any evidence to suggest the Druid group took them.' She stopped, as she noticed an envelope lying on the window end of the bookshelf. Frowning, she opened it to read the note inside. She hurried to Redd, 'Look Guv - read this.'

'Hmm, hospital internal mail. Bugger, it's unsigned. Says he's won a prize - two tickets to 'Two Blues.' Last Saturday night - well - another nightclub. Think we might have something to go on - however flimsy. Now why would he win two tickets? Who sent them?

Dove carried on walking towards the small kitchen. 'Everything neat and tidy here. They washed up before they went, dishes put away. Jeannette's a tidy person. You know guv, with such an orderly mind; she's not going to break habits. One of them being, she would not let her parents down over the Sunday roast, especially knowing they would prepare one for them. Let's see what the bedroom has to offer.'

She followed Redd down the narrow corridor to the main bedroom. 'Huh, the bed's made, no clothes left lying around.'

Redd called from the bathroom, 'There're some clothes in the wash basket and two white overalls - one each. Must be what they wear in the lab. See if there are more uniforms hanging up in there.'

Dove moved to the wardrobe, opening the doors to find clothes again neatly hung away; four white overall uniforms hung there, fresh and clean. 'Four more here Sir, male and female.'

Redd joined her, 'So they had five each. One for each day of the week.'

'Lab work can be messy, or maybe they have to wear a clean uniform every day.'

Redd muttered, 'These other two uniforms should be in the wash. It still looks like they didn't return Saturday night, or they didn't go to work on Monday. We have to check with the hospital.'

'I've got a bad feeling about this Sir.'

Redd nodded. 'They could have been abducted at the nightclub.'

'Six days ago. How long do the perps intend to keep them?'

Reaching for his cell phone, Redd answered, 'That's if they've been abducted. It's all guesswork, but it's not looking good.'

Dove walked through the door. 'Better go check the small bedroom.'

This turned out to be more of a storeroom. Boxes still unpacked, lay on the floor and on a single divan bed unmade up. A small built in wardrobe, held more clothes, mainly for winter, whilst the bottom of the wardrobe contained two spare duvets and covers. As she walked past the mattress, Dove noticed a rolled-up photo. Pulling it out, she realized it was a photo of a group of end of year degree graduates. She felt a sadness, young lives facing a bright future. Where were they now?