DS Jessica Daniel series: Locked In/Vigilante/The Woman in Black - Books 1-3 (90 page)

‘I think it’s sweet. Is she blind and deaf or just blind?’

‘All right, sod off, do you want a favour or not?’

‘Yeah, I’ll get typing it now. I’ll even run a spell-check just for you.’

‘Cheers, I’ll text you later to let you know if it’s going in.’

Jessica hung up with a smile on her face. She didn’t know many journalists directly but Garry would usually do things for her, even if she did have to threaten, bully or promise him
things.

With the dress-fitting in the late afternoon, Jessica skipped lunch and continued working from her desk. First she sent Garry the information he might need, then started to sort the list of
college-leavers. Even with the girls taken out and the rugby players crossed off who they had already spoken to, there were still just under a hundred names. Having to contact everyone individually
was the last thing she wanted to do. It would no doubt be an enormous waste of time but if the two constables came back with nothing, they would have little other option.

Feeling bored and frustrated, Jessica eventually gave up and walked to the bus stop at the end of the road the station was on. Caroline had asked her a couple of weeks ago to keep the date free
and said there would be free wine at the dress shop. With that in mind, Jessica had used public transport to get to work that morning. The buses and trams around the centre of Manchester
weren’t too bad in general but were always overcrowded at peak hours and, from her experience, had at least one idiot on board during others. Sometimes she would flash her identification to
shut them up, others she would sit in silence with everyone else. From speaking to people she knew, most officers found it hard to reconcile their post with having a ‘normal’ life when
they weren’t working. When you saw someone acting unsociably, you were supposed to step in but it wasn’t quite that easy when you were on your own. Her general rule was that she would
intervene if someone was causing someone else distress, otherwise she would stay quiet.

The back of the bus had a group of kids playing music loudly through their phone but she did her best to ignore them as the vehicle moved slowly towards the city centre. Rowlands had struck
something of a nerve earlier when he had spoken about her wearing dresses. He was right but it wasn’t really a conscious choice of hers in quite the way he had insinuated. The idea of the
fitting was for Caroline, Jessica and the other bridesmaids to collectively make a choice about what would best match the bride’s dress. Realistically, having known Caroline for as long as
she had, Jessica was aware only one person would be making that decision – and it had probably already been made.

The dress shop was staying open late specifically for them and as Jessica arrived at the store a couple of streets away from the Arndale shopping centre, she could see people hurrying to catch
their buses and trains home for the evening.

She went through the front of the shop and was met by a woman in her late fifties. ‘You must be the main bridesmaid, yes? Here you go, dear.’ The woman offered Jessica a glass of
wine then locked the door behind her. She then pointed to an area towards the back of the shop. ‘Everyone’s in there.’

Jessica walked through a curtain and almost gasped as she saw Caroline fully trussed up in her wedding dress. Even for someone who wasn’t a fan of the pomp, Jessica had to admit she was
impressed. The gown was white satin and fitted her friend perfectly. It wasn’t too over the top in terms of frills and size but was just right.

Caroline gave a little squeal as she noticed Jessica. ‘What do you reckon?’

‘Bit scruffy,’ Jessica said with a massive grin. ‘Aren’t you getting dressed up?’

The two women laughed. Jessica gave her friend a gentle hug before being shooed away from the dress. She glanced around and, aside from the shop workers, she could only see one girl who seemed
around thirteen and looked pretty grumpy, plus a much younger child of about five who was playing with some Lego on the floor. ‘Where’s everyone else?’ Jessica asked.

‘What do you mean?’

It suddenly dawned on her. Caroline had told her she was going to be one of three bridesmaids. For whatever reason, she had assumed that meant adults but instead it now looked like she was going
to have to supervise these two children on the day. Jessica tried not to look too disheartened. ‘Oh, er, nothing . . . so what is it you want us to wear?’

Caroline smiled broadly. ‘I think you’re going to like them.’ One of the shop workers walked to a rail and picked off three light blue satin dresses. She handed one to Jessica
and then beckoned the two children through to separate dressing rooms. The two adults were alone in the main area at the back of the shop. Jessica held her dress at arm’s length. The colour
was actually quite nice but she wasn’t sure about the height of the neckline.

‘What do you reckon?’ Caroline asked.

‘Not too bad. I’ll try it on first.’ Jessica put the dress on another nearby rail and sat down to start getting undressed. ‘Who are the two other bridesmaids?’

‘Tom’s nieces. When we told his family we were getting married it was a bit of a blur and I ended up promising the youngest one she could be a bridesmaid. The oldest one’s a
typical teenage pain. I don’t think she wants to do it but, because the other one is, she doesn’t want to miss out on anything.’

Jessica couldn’t disguise her thoughts any longer. ‘Kids?’

‘Sorry, I thought I’d told you.’

‘You know what I’m like with children. I’ll end up saying “fu—” . . . using the f-word in front of them or something. Do you remember when we went out to eat
that time?’ Jessica glanced sideways towards the changing room and lowered her voice. ‘We were talking about . . . downstairs bits . . . and that kid’s mother asked me to mind my
language? I just know something like that’s going to happen and I’ll totally ruin your day.’

‘You’ll be fine.’

‘“Fine”? Do you remember when we went to see your workmate’s new baby? I accidentally told the woman her son looked like an alien.’

Caroline laughed. ‘That was pretty bad. It’s the kind of thing you think but don’t say. You probably shouldn’t have used the word “bug-eyed”
either.’

‘Exactly! This is a recipe for disaster. I thought it was a compliment but it came out wrong. The bloody kid just kept staring at me with those freaky big eyes while he dribbled. It was
like that boy from “The Omen”.’

‘At least you didn’t say that.’

‘What do you even talk to kids about? I thought it was all PlayStations and violent movies nowadays. Do they still have dolls or is it just stabby things nowadays?’

Caroline threw her arms up, grinning. ‘“Stabby things”? Yes, kids still play with dolls. You could ask what they’re interested in and take it from there.’

Jessica stood and took the dress from the rack, stepping into it then pulling it up before turning around for her friend to zip it. ‘Yeah, but what if they’re into, I don’t
know, horses or something? I don’t know anything about animals. I’ll probably end up going on about glue factories.’

Caroline burst out laughing as the zip reached the top. ‘Just be yourself.’

‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you, I’m an idiot especially with children.’

‘So you can interrogate any manner of criminal but two kids scare the hell out of you?’

‘Yes, now you’re catching on. What do you do if they start acting up?’

‘I don’t know. I’ll point out their parents and you can tell them. What did your parents do when you were young?’

‘They’d threaten to send me to bed. It didn’t matter what time of day it was, Mum would tell me to stop mucking about or I’d go to bed. I’d bring that back
actually. If you’re performing badly at work your boss punishes you by sending you to bed for a few hours, that’d be brilliant.’

‘Yeah, I’d rather you didn’t send my bridesmaids to bed halfway through the ceremony please.’ Jessica turned to face her friend. ‘You look great,’ Caroline
added.

Jessica walked to a mirror and looked herself up and down. ‘Yeah, I am pretty hot. Now we just have to sort the scrag bag bride out.’

‘Oi, get out of it. Tom’s mum cried when she saw me in this.’ Caroline’s own parents had both died years ago, which had helped draw her and Jessica closer together. It
hadn’t crossed Jessica’s mind before but she suddenly realised that created a problem.

She didn’t want to sound too insensitive or obvious so made sure she had eye contact with her friend as she spoke. ‘Who’s giving you away, Caz?’

Caroline smiled but it seemed a little forced. Being without both parents and especially her father on such a big day must be hard. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask you.’

Jessica nodded and smiled. ‘What if I want to keep you for myself?’

‘Tough luck.’

One of the other shop workers had come back into the room. ‘Ooh, that’s nice,’ she said, looking at Jessica, who wondered if the woman had ever slated a bridal party in her
life. She figured that, even if the bride looked like a baby hippopotamus in her dress, the shop worker would still say she looked ‘nice’. The woman started measuring around
Jessica’s body and making small statements such as, ‘need taking out a bit there’, and, ‘not quite right in this bit’ which Jessica largely ignored.

‘All right, fine,’ Jessica said. ‘I’ll give you away. I don’t get trusted with rings or anything like that, do I? If you can give me as little responsibility as
possible, that would be much appreciated.’

‘His brother is best man and he’ll have the rings. Don’t you know anything?’

‘Well, yeah, but it’s not often your mate gives you away, there might be some sort of special rules or something. Do I have to make a speech?’

‘No but you do have to bring someone.’

‘A man?’

‘Yes. I’ve already got you giving me away; if you bring a female, we’re going to end up looking like a trio of predatory lesbians.’ The shop worker measuring Jessica up
giggled but tried to stifle it.

‘All right, I’ll find someone but I can’t promise it won’t be some bloke off the street.’

‘As long as they’ve had a shave I don’t care. Anyway, isn’t there something else happening before the wedding anyway?’

‘No.’

‘Ooh, is that a little porky? I think it’s someone’s birthday.’

‘Not me. I stopped having birthdays when I turned twenty-five.’

The shop worker stood, indicating to Jessica she could take the dress off again. ‘We’ll get you back in a few days before the ceremony to make sure it all still fits,’ she
said.

Jessica started undressing again as the worker walked over to Caroline. ‘It’s time to take this one off again too, I’m afraid.’ With the aid of the helper, the bride
started to remove the dress.

‘What are you doing for your birthday then?’ Caroline asked.

‘Oh, I dunno, hopefully catching this psycho who’s leaving hands everywhere. If not that then maybe I’ll go to the pub.’

‘Rolling the boat out then?’

‘Well, thirty-three’s not a big one, is it?’

‘What are you going to do when you hit forty?’

Jessica winced as she finished taking the dress off and put it on the hanger. ‘Don’t even think about that. I’m going to go out in a blaze of sex and drugs long before
then.’ The shop assistant looked over, a little confused. ‘Sorry, I’m not really. I’m a police officer, I was joking.’ Jessica caught her friend’s eye as if to
indicate comments like that were exactly why she shouldn’t be trusted with children.

She sat back down and started to drink a second glass of wine that had been brought through and was in the process of putting her work suit back on when her phone rang. She picked it up off the
floor, listening.

After hanging up, she hurried to get dressed. ‘Sorry, Caz, I’ve got to go, work stuff.’ She walked across to her friend and kissed her on the forehead then turned to the
worker. ‘Is the front door unlocked for me to get out?’

She left the shop, walking as quickly as she could to the location the person on the phone had given her. After an enjoyable time with her friend, her police brain had kicked back in. The crowds
of people finishing work had thinned and the streets were relatively empty. She quickened her pace until she was almost running as she dashed past two giant department stores and the Old Wellington
pub, seeing a cordoned-off area next to the cathedral with three uniformed officers standing with their backs to it.

She rushed up to the closest one who she didn’t recognise and showed her identification. ‘What’s going on?’

‘You got here quick,’ the officer said, looking surprised.

‘I was in the area. What’s happening?’

‘A member of the public phoned 999. We came down to check things then called it in. I guess that’s why you’re here. Scene of Crime are on their way but they might be a while
because there’s been a pile-up on the M60.’

Jessica skipped around the men, walking to an area on the grassy verge next to the main part of the cathedral. There was a white plastic sheet which she lifted, wincing at what was
underneath.

Not only was it another severed hand with its ring finger missing but, given the tattoo that ran the length of the person’s little finger, she knew it belonged to Jacob Chrisp.

Jessica had mixed feelings the next day. Technically, she wasn’t quite senior enough to be heading an investigation and everything was supposed to be referred up. In
practice, it might as well be her case. With anything like this, the next body or, in this case, hand, was met with dread and regret for the victim along with a twinge of selfish relief you had
something new to work with. It was those types of feelings you could never talk about with a civilian. It wasn’t that you looked forward to the next macabre find but sometimes it became the
only way to get things moving.

She hadn’t exactly warmed to Jacob Chrisp during their brief meeting but he surely didn’t deserve what had happened to him? Jessica had returned to the station the previous evening
and found a contact number and address for the man’s parents. Someone local to them in Lancaster had gone to break the news, then, if that wasn’t bad enough, they’d asked for a
mouth swab from one of the parents to confirm for sure the hand definitely belonged to him. Jessica had no doubts what the results would show. Unless someone else had the exact same swirling tattoo
along the side of their hand, she knew it would prove to be Jacob’s.