Killer Plan (29 page)

78

‘In here, ma’am!’ a
woman’s voice rang out above the background noises of footsteps and muttered exchanges.

Geraldine ran over to the cupboard under the stairs.

‘There’s a door at the back there,’ the constable said. ‘It’s locked, but it looks as though it’s recently been opened.’

The constable shone her torch onto the back wall of the under stairs cupboard. Standing side by side, they stared at a small door almost hidden behind a hoover and an ironing board resting up against it. The floor to either side of the door was dusty, but a central pathway leading to it was relatively clean, as though someone had recently made their way over to the door a few times.

‘He could have just been using the ironing board,’ the constable said.

‘Open it! No, wait, stand back. I’ll do it. We don’t want to frighten him.’

The constable moved out of her way, and Geraldine approached the door at the back of the cupboard. It was illuminated by the powerful beam of her colleague’s torch. Quickly she shifted the hoover and the ironing board, wondering if this was exactly what the killer had done. She shivered, seeming to sense his presence in the cramped space. It didn’t take her long to force the lock. Cautiously she pulled the door. It opened slowly. A musty odour of damp and faeces assailed her. As she was raising her hand to cover her nose and mouth, the door flew back on its hinges so suddenly it nearly bowled her over.

Before she could regain her balance, a small figure leapt out of the darkness. He was brandishing what looked like a club in his right hand. Reacting swiftly, Geraldine reached out and grabbed his skinny forearm. She shook it until, with a squeal of rage, he dropped his weapon and began pummelling her in the chest with his other fist. Looking down, she saw the weapon he had dropped: a metal torch. If he hadn’t been dazzled by the constable’s light, he might have caused her a serious injury.

Gradually Geraldine relaxed her hold on his arm. He was trembling so much he could barely stay on his feet. Nevertheless he continued to punch her.

‘It’s all right, Ed,’ she said softly. ‘I’m a police officer. We’ve arrested Brian. He’ll never be able to hurt you again.’

He didn’t look like his identical twin right now. Blue eyes stared balefully at her from a face dark with dirt. His blond hair was grey with grime. He squirmed and grunted in her grasp like a feral child.

‘Come on,’ she said, ‘we’re going to take you to hospital to make sure you haven’t been hurt.’ At least they could check him for physical injuries. The mental trauma would take longer to heal. ‘They’ll give you lots of nice things to eat. Whatever you want. Your mother will be waiting for you there.’ She nodded at the constable who pulled out her phone to call Caroline. ‘And after that your mother’s going to take you and your brother home.’

At the mention of his mother, Ed finally stopped wriggling and hitting. He collapsed against her chest and began sobbing noisily. Tears left pale runnels in his dark face.

‘All he left me was Coco Pops,’ he mumbled, bending double and clutching his stomach. ‘It hurts.’

Relieved at finding Ed alive, Geraldine cursed her own poor judgement in having trusted Brian. Ed had been in the house all along and she had walked away, leaving the poor child imprisoned there. She was even more relieved when the doctor who examined Ed found no evidence of sexual abuse. Ed insisted that Brian had never touched him. It seemed Brian’s worst crime was multiple murders. That was bad enough. If there was any justice in the world, he wouldn’t leave his cell until he was carried out in a box. Prison was too good for him. Geraldine hoped he would be branded a paedophile as well as a murderer. It would make his stay in prison less comfortable.

She spoke to his mother while Ed was asleep. Caroline was anxious to get back to his bedside. She kept glancing at the door, to see if a nurse had come to fetch her.

‘They said I can be there when he wakes up.’

‘I just want to ask you a few questions. It won’t take long,’ Geraldine reassured her.

That wasn’t strictly true. She had a lot of questions for Caroline. She did her best to control her curiosity and focus on the priority.

‘Tell me everything you know about Brian Stanbury.’

Caroline shook her head. ‘I don’t know anything about him, except that he’s an evil bastard. Really, I’ve only seen him a few times in the last few weeks. And before that we hadn’t seen each other since junior school.’

‘Tell me about your recent meetings.’

Distracted, Caroline gave a garbled account of her meetings with Brian in the park.

‘It was all my fault. I was an idiot. If I hadn’t let him take that bloody photo of the two of us together – he said he was going to show it to Dave to make him sit up and take more notice of me. He had his arm round me!’ Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared in outrage. ‘How was I to know what he was going to do? There was no reason to suppose he was going to do that, was there? I mean who would do that? Kill a complete stranger, and lock up a child...’ She paused. ‘And he wanted me to do it too. Kill someone, I mean. He said that was our deal, but I never said I’d kill someone. Why would I? Why would anyone?’

When a nurse came and told Caroline she could see Ed, she jumped up and ran out without a backward glance. Only then did Geraldine realise how tired she was. She wished she could just go home and sleep, but first she had to write her report. She would have to word it carefully.

79

As soon as Caroline
revealed that her proposed victim had been a police officer, Brian’s motive became clear. The whole tragic episode had been driven by his jealousy of the man his wife had loved. He had killed Dave with the sole intention of persuading Caroline to kill Nick in exchange. As long as they were both careful to leave no clues at the scene, there would be nothing to connect them to their victims. The plan was ingenious but evil. When Caroline had refused to carry out his demands, Brian had kidnapped Ed in an attempt to persuade her to kill Nick, and ensure her silence. For a time it had worked, but he had run out of patience and carried out the second murder himself. With Nick dead, there was no reason for Brian to keep Ed locked up. He refused to be drawn on what had happened between him and the boy. All Ed would say was that Brian was horrible, and had shut him up in the dark. Brian’s reaction on seeing Matthew in his hall was the only clue they had about the feelings he had developed for Ed. Suffering from paranoia, at some point he had turned against the boy and locked him in the cellar.

His reasons for killing Rob remained unclear. Ed had given a convoluted account of how they had disposed of the dead body of an enemy agent who had been spying on them. Neighbours on one side of Brian’s house confirmed that Rob had cleaned their windows on the day he had disappeared. He had never reached the property on the other side of the house. It seemed that, unlike the other two, Rob’s murder had not been planned. If Ed’s account was accurate, Brian had killed Rob in the paranoid belief that he was a spy. Brian himself refused to discuss what had happened.

‘Ed told us you dragged the body into the back of his van and drove away with it.’

‘Ed’s lying. Who’s Ed? I don’t know anyone called Ed.’

‘Ed’s the boy you locked in your cellar.’

‘There’s no one in my cellar.’

When Geraldine assured him she was telling the truth, he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. ‘You would say that, wouldn’t you? You’re in on it with them. You’re all in on it. You think I can’t see that? Do I look like a mug?’

‘From where I’m sitting I’d say you look like a calculating killer who planned two murders, and then carried out a third when you thought an innocent man had seen the kidnapped boy in your house…’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. You can’t prove any of this.’

‘Do you deny you kidnapped Ed Robinson?’

‘I don’t know anyone called Ed.’

‘I was there when you saw Matthew and mistook him for his identical twin,’ Geraldine reminded him softly. ‘I was there when you recognised him. You said you’d taken him to the seaside. We checked with him and he’s corroborated your story. You did take him to the seaside. Just to be sure, we’re checking CCTV. Once we find your car, and see where you were headed, we’ll do extensive door-to-door questioning and find out where you went. It won’t be difficult, and we’ll find out what we need to know, however long it takes. You must have stopped for food or petrol at some point. Maybe both,’ she added, catching sight of Brian’s expression. ‘There’s no point in lying any longer. You’ll only make the case against you worse. If you tell us the truth now, the court may treat you more leniently.’

Brian gave a derisive snort. Geraldine pressed on.

‘What about Nick Williams?’

She hoped her voice didn’t betray her anguish at naming her dead lover. Brian’s eyelids flickered. At her side, she heard Max stir.

‘Did you kill him too?’ she asked gruffly.

‘Someone had to do it. He deserved it. I should have done it years ago.’

‘You mean you killed DI Nick Williams?’

‘That’s what I just said. He had it coming. It was only fair.’

The rest of the interview passed in a blur. It didn’t matter. Brian had confessed to knowingly murdering a police officer. It was over.

Geraldine was sitting in her office, tidying up her documents, when Reg knocked and entered. He looked grim.

‘Eve wants to see him,’ he said.

‘What?’

‘Eve’s asking to see Brian.’

‘Is that a good idea?’

‘She says she has a right to speak to the man who murdered her husband. She wants to look him in the eye and ask him how he could do it.’ He heaved a sigh. ‘Nick was a good man.’

‘I know, but surely she can’t see him. In the interests of everyone involved we have to protect…’

‘I think we can make an exception in this case,’ Reg interrupted heavily, ‘under the circumstances. Nick meant a lot to all of us here.’

Her discomfort must have shown on her face.

‘She’s Nick’s widow, for Christ’s sake,’ Reg burst out. ‘How can I refuse her anything? Take her in there, Geraldine. That’s an order.’

Geraldine was uneasy about Reg’s decision, but he was her superior officer. Besides, guilt at her earlier suspicions of Eve made her reluctant to argue against granting her request. Ignoring her qualms, she nodded at the custody sergeant to open the door and allow Eve into the cell.

‘Just for a minute,’ Geraldine said. ‘We’ll go in with you.’

Eve insisted on going in alone.

‘I’m afraid that’s out of the question.’

‘Reg said I could have a moment alone with him.’

Geraldine wasn’t sure whether to believe that or not. As she hesitated, Eve ran in, slamming the door behind her. Geraldine wrenched it open just in time to hear a shot. Brian lay slumped on the floor, clutching his shoulder and screaming. He wasn’t dead. Eve turned, still aiming the gun at Brian. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, but her voice was steady. ‘Nobody move!’

Geraldine was only vaguely aware of alarm bells ringing as Eve raised her hand so the gun was pointing at Geraldine. The custody sergeant swore under his breath. Geraldine’s mouth felt dry. She blinked and passed her tongue over her lips. It was an effort to speak. She had no idea what she was going to say, but she had to say something. There was no way she was going to die without remonstrating.

‘Eve, what are doing? It’s not worth it. Nick’s dead. It’s over.’

‘He wasn’t worth your devotion,’ Brian gasped, his eyes sharp with pain. ‘He was at it with my wife!’

‘Eve, he was never faithful to you,’ Geraldine echoed.

‘I knew about his affairs. How could I not know what he was up to? He was my husband. But that doesn’t mean I stopped loving him. And he never stopped loving me. Never! He would never have left me. He looked after me.’ Her voice trembled. ‘How can I live without him?’ She turned back to Brian, still pointing the gun at him. ‘I was just waiting for them to find out who killed him, so I could make you suffer. Killing’s too good for you.’

She whipped the gun up to the side of her own head and a second shot rang out. Brian yelled in alarm as Eve fell, blood splashing the wall and floor.

The gun dropped from her grasp with a faint clang.

80

Geraldine felt guilty for
having suspected Eve of murder. It was a terrible conclusion to have reached without any real evidence. All she had been able to say was that it would have been possible; the same could be said of any husband or wife. It was too late to make amends now. She couldn’t help feeling she had let Eve down. Nick had let his wife down too. The whole case seemed to have lurched from one betrayal to another. She was glad it was over. Although Ed had been returned safely to his mother, there were likely to be long-term consequences to his experience. He was young. With family counselling, he might come through relatively unscathed in the long term, but the brutal murder of his father made that unlikely. One way and another, it had been a depressing investigation.

She wasn’t in the mood for going to the pub with the rest of the team, but it would be churlish to refuse. Reg came over to join her as soon as she entered the bar.

‘I told you Nick wasn’t like that,’ he said quietly.

‘Like what?’

‘Oh come on, Geraldine, don’t play dumb. I said all along he wasn’t cheating on his wife.’

‘But…’

‘You can’t deny they were loyal to each other right up to the end. Why else would she have shot Brian and killed herself?’ He looked thoughtful. ‘I don’t suppose my wife would do that for me. Anyhow, it just goes to show they were faithful to each other to the end.’

Unsure whether Reg really believed what he was telling her or not, she nodded.

‘Let’s have a last drink together,’ he went on, more cheerfully.

‘What do you mean, a last one?’

‘Allowing Eve in to Brian’s cell didn’t go down too well.’ He glanced around before leaning down towards her, lowering his voice. ‘Keep this between us for this evening – I’ve been suspended pending an investigation. We didn’t even search her. Who would have thought she’d be carrying a weapon? A woman like that, married to a DI. But that’s no excuse. I should never have allowed my emotional state over losing Nick to have affected my judgement like that. Don’t worry,’ he added, seeing Geraldine’s consternation, ‘I’m taking full responsibility. I’ll tell them you challenged me and I overruled your reservations. My career’s over anyway. I don’t want to drag anyone else down with me. If I agree to go quietly, I might get to keep my pension. No one wants any adverse publicity, least of all the chief. To be honest, I’m relieved to be getting out, and it looks like I’ll be getting off quite lightly, given the circumstances. Now,’ he went on in a louder voice, ‘let’s get you that drink, Geraldine. You deserve it.’

Watching his broad shoulders as he made his way to the bar, pausing to congratulate other members of the team on his way, she thought how badly she had misjudged the detective chief inspector. It was true she had been acting on his instructions, but he hadn’t been present when Eve had entered Brian’s cell. A less scrupulous man might have tried to salvage his own career at the expense of hers. With friends higher up, he might have succeeded in using her as a scapegoat. She had a lot to be thankful for, but all she could feel was sadness at the fragility of human happiness. Caroline’s encounter with a former school friend had destroyed so many people’s lives, the dead and the living. Reg was just one more victim of Brian’s quest for vengeance.

‘Cheer up,’ Max broke her reverie. ‘You aren’t drinking. What can I get you?’

Geraldine smiled sadly. ‘Reg is looking after me.’

In reality, no one was looking after her. Nick had offered her a fleeting glimpse of happiness. No sooner had she opened herself up to him than he had been snatched away from her. Every night she went home to an empty bed.

‘What about Geraldine?’ she heard Reg ask.

‘That’s a good point,’ Max replied. ‘Geraldine, what’s the policy on pets in your place?’

‘What?’

‘Nick and Eve had a cat,’ he explained. ‘We’re trying to find a home for it or it’ll have to be put down.’

Emotion took Geraldine by surprise. Turning, she dashed out of the bar and only just managed to reach her car before she broke down in tears. Soon she would pull herself together, dry her eyes, fix her make-up, and return to her normal routine. But she wasn’t ready to face the world yet. First she had to deal with a grief she could never share. The thought made her feel more alone than ever. As she was pulling herself together enough to drive home, her phone rang. It was a familiar number.

‘Guess what?’ Sam sounded excited.

Stifling her regret at having answered the call, Geraldine switched the engine off.

‘What is it?’

‘The doctor’s said I’m fit for work.’ Sam paused, clearly waiting for Geraldine to crack a joke. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Yes, I’m fine. That’s great news.’

‘What’s wrong? You sound terrible. It’s because of Nick, isn’t it? Where are you?’ Sam didn’t even pause for breath. ‘I’m coming round. And don’t even try to stop me. I’m setting off right now.’

‘There’s no point. I’m not at home.’

‘Well, where are you then? We can meet anywhere you like. Let’s go out and get pissed and celebrate my return to the land of the living – oh shit, sorry – my return to the world of work, I mean.’

Geraldine had missed Sam. There was an infectious excitement in her young colleague’s joy at the prospect of returning to work. Despite all the human tragedy of her recent case, Geraldine felt her mood lighten. Brian’s tormented vengeance, Caroline’s grief for her unfaithful husband, even the pain of her own loss began to fade, almost imperceptibly. Tomorrow it would feel ever so slightly less raw than today.

‘I’m not up for it tonight, Sam, but we’ll go out soon,’ she promised.

As she hung up, she realised she was smiling.