The Christmas Killer (5 page)

The sun had barely risen when Jake drove up to the station. He could see a group of people gathered around the entrance. Some he recognized as reporters but some were complete strangers. Chuck Ford must have broken the story. Jake wasn’t surprised, but he wasn’t happy either.

He parked his car and walked up the path. As he pushed his way through the group some tried to get in front of him.

‘Detective Austin, what can you tell us about yesterday’s murder?’

‘Will the police be issuing a statement today?’

‘Why was your suspect released so quickly?’

He tried not to make eye contact with anyone.

Ford was leaning against the wall beside the station door. He uncurled himself as Jake came up.

‘You going to be digging into Sonny’s history?’

Jake just gave him a cold look. Ford shrugged and stepped aside.

As Jake turned into the detective bureau he could feel his shoulders hunch. The scant Christmas decorations
of yesterday had been taken down – Gina (or Tina) had obviously made the call. Mills was already at his desk and a few of the other guys – what remained of the staff during the holiday season – were talking by the coffee machine. Outside the window the reporters had started up their questions again and flash bulbs strobed. Mills stood, then punched Jake on the shoulder.

‘The eagle has landed.’ He grinned.

Jake followed him to the window and looked out. Councilman Mitch Harper had arrived, and arrived with a bang. Dressed in a dark woollen coat, the councilman had planted himself on the top step of the station entrance. He stood tall, shoulders thrown back. His dark Lincoln was casually parked. Jake wondered if detectives could write parking tickets.

The reporters crowded around in a semicircle, looking up at him. Through the window Jake could hear everything.

‘A single mother should not have had to die to show up the inadequacies of our city’s social policies,’ Harper thundered.

A reporter raised a biro as if to ask a question, but Harper held up a hand.

‘Let me just say that there are two guilty parties here: the man who killed Marcia Lamb, and the system that sent her out to work when she should have been at home with her young child. We need proper affordable day care, so that women like Marcia can hold down
proper jobs, and not be forced to waitress in the shadow economy.’

‘Are you blaming—’

‘If the school system had not failed Marcia, she might have had a shot at college, a different life. And she might still be with us.’

‘What a prick,’ Mills muttered. ‘He’s milking her corpse for votes, and she’s not even cold yet.’

‘Sick,’ said Jake, remembering his thoughts about Marcia’s body temperature, cooled by the weather. He made a note to check with the coroner on the time of death, on which any attack they were to launch on Sonny’s alibi might hinge.

Just then Colonel Asher came in. ‘Mills, Austin, I need a word,’ he said. They followed him across the hall into his office. A stocky man whose muscles were beginning to turn to fat, he had a red face and a shaven skull that only emphasized his bullishness. ‘Anything I need to know before –’ he rolled his eyes ‘–
Harper
comes in here?’

‘There’s nothing yet,’ Jake said, looking to Mills for confirmation.

‘Nothing new,’ said Mills, ‘except nobody at the club remembers Sonny Malone being there, so maybe we can crack his alibi.’

‘Good.’

Was it good? Jake strongly suspected that Sonny Malone was the one case out of a hundred.

Asher sat heavily behind his desk and pulled Sonny’s file towards him. ‘You two might as well sit in when I talk to Harper.’

Jake nodded. He could hear the councilman from a mile away. He was greeting every officer as he passed them in the hall and creating as much fuss as possible. When he got to Asher’s open door he knocked twice before striding in. He walked straight to the colonel’s desk, put out his hand and smiled. ‘Colonel,’ he said. ‘Thanks for taking the time to see me.’

Asher shook his hand. ‘Of course, Councilman.’ He motioned to Jake and Mills. ‘Councilman Harper, this is Detective Austin, the lead on the investigation, and Detective Mills.’

‘I know Howard well.’ Harper smiled, shaking Mills’s hand. He turned to Jake. ‘You were at the protest at the church the other day, weren’t you?’

‘Yes, sir,’ Jake replied, taking his turn to shake the councilman’s hand.

‘And you’re new?’ he asked.

‘Transferred from Chicago a couple months ago.’

‘Glad to have you here.’ He took the spare seat. ‘Terrible business. Is it too early yet to say how the investigation is going?’ He looked at all three men. Jake and Mills didn’t react. Asher sighed.

Harper broke the silence.

‘You’ll appreciate this is a community that values law and order. Rumours are flying around about the vicious
way this woman was murdered. People have got a lot of questions and we’re not hearing any answers. What do I tell them?’

‘We have things in hand,’ said Asher with a smile.

‘I just want to be able to assure people that you are on top of this situation, Colonel.’

Asher forced a smile. ‘Of course.’ Asher motioned to Jake and Mills. ‘My detectives are making very good progress.’

Harper nodded. ‘That’s what I like to hear. We need to solve this one quickly – a murdered young mother is hardly going to do much for the Christmas spirit around here. I’ll want regular updates on how the investigation is going.’

Asher rubbed his hands together with more of a nervous tic than eagerness. ‘You’ll be glad to hear that we already have a very strong suspect.’

‘That fast?’ Harper looked startled and impressed. ‘That’s great news! Who is he?’

‘Sonny Malone,’ Asher told him, looking down at the file on his desk. ‘The victim’s boyfriend.’

Harper nodded to show that he wasn’t surprised. Figuring the political angles, Jake thought. Wondering how to play it with the public.

‘He’s done time for aggravated burglary,’ Asher read from the file. ‘Beat an old woman half to death.’

‘And our great justice system let him out early?’ sneered Harper.

‘Yes, sir. Got six years, paroled after four.’ Asher nodded.

Harper straightened in his chair. ‘It’s like I always say – if they sin, keep them in. If this fellow, Sonny what’s his name, had been punished properly, maybe we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about him. And Marcia Lamb would still be breathing today. Maybe if Sonny—’

‘Sonny didn’t do it.’

It was out before Jake could stop himself. But there was only so much electioneering he could stomach.

Harper was looking at him, startled.

Asher glared at Jake. ‘Detective …’

‘It doesn’t fit,’ Jake went on. ‘The MO is wrong for a guy like Sonny.’

Asher’s mouth fell open. Jake knew he was digging a hole for himself, that Asher would drill him for this later, but he wasn’t going to let him say that Sonny did it when he knew he didn’t.

‘The killer was too controlled,’ Jake went on. ‘It’s not the reaction of an angry boyfriend. I’m sorry to tell you, but this one is going to take time.’

Harper stood. ‘I don’t give a fuck what it takes,’ he said, the veneer of politeness gone. ‘Throw everything into it. We need to catch this killer before everything gets crazy.’

He turned and left the room. As the door swung closed behind him, they could hear his footsteps recede down the corridor.

‘Hell, Austin,’ said Asher in a low voice, ‘you couldn’t have saved that for later?’

Jake knew the colonel had a point. ‘Sir, we need to be thorough with this,’ he said. ‘If it’s not Sonny, and we spend too long running down that road, it’s going to be a long way to turn back.’

Asher sighed again. ‘All right,’ he said at last. ‘But let’s do this properly. Get Sonny back in here for a follow-up. Chip away at him. By the end of the day, I want him ruled out if he’s not to be ruled in. We’re playing by the clock on this one, you understand?’

‘Yes, sir.’ And Jake knew his reputation was on the line.

‘Ready?’ asked Mills.

‘Ready,’ said Jake.

They walked into the same interview room as before. The table was bare except for a briefcase belonging to Vincennes. The heating was back on.

Jake and Mills sat.

‘Morning, Vincennes. Morning, shit head,’ Mills began.

‘There’s no need for that,’ said Vincennes. ‘My client has returned to the police station at your request, to cooperate fully in the investigation. Like you, my client wishes only to find the man responsible for the death of his girlfriend.’

‘Your
client
,’ Mills growled, ‘beat in the skull of a young woman and left her daughter an orphan, Vincennes. I think “shit head” is just about right.’

Sonny flinched. Under the table, Jake tapped his foot against Mills’s to shut him up. Mills sat back.

‘Sorry about that, Sonny.’ Jake smiled. ‘My colleague needs to work on his anger management.’ He angled the microphone towards Sonny and turned the recorder
on. ‘Let’s start at the beginning. Where were you the night before last?’

‘I’ve told you already.’

‘We have to go over everything again,’ said Jake. ‘Procedure. To make sure we make no mistakes.’

‘Keep the fat man under control, and I’ll tell you,’ muttered Sonny.

Mills slapped his hands on the table, making to stand. Jake pulled him back down.

Jake arranged his hands in a placating gesture. ‘Let’s all be polite for a while. Just tell us where you were,’ he said.

Sonny leaned back, then looked at his lawyer. He leaned forward again.

‘I told you. I was with my girl. Penny.’

‘She’ll confirm that my client was with her all night,’ said Vincennes. ‘She lives with her aunt, who will also confirm it.’

‘I’m sure Miss Stokes will say anything Sonny has told her to say,’ Mills interrupted.

‘Her aunt—’ began Vincennes.

‘Her aunt was with them all night? She was in the bed with them? That’s some kinky shit,’ said Mills.

‘Detective …’ Vincennes’s tone warned him to toe the line.

‘Whatever,’ said Mills. ‘Just don’t mention the fucking aunt to me.’

Jake gestured to Sonny. ‘Please, go on.’

‘Like I said, I was with my woman.’

Mills smiled. ‘We know you were with your woman.’ He was speaking slowly, calmly, but his eyes were blazing. ‘We also know what you were doing with your woman. We know how you pummelled her head until it collapsed. We know how you knocked the teeth out of her mouth. You sick fuck, you pulled her eyeballs out.’

Sonny grimaced. ‘No!’ he shouted. ‘I wasn’t there.’ He looked at each man in turn, his pupils dilated and his eyes wide. ‘I loved that woman. Her kid too. Man, I bought her a computer for Christmas.’

‘ “Bought”?’ Mills sneered. ‘That might be your most ridiculous lie yet.’

Sonny shook his head and stared at the wall. ‘I don’t care what you think, fat man. Just know, I would never hurt Marcia.’

‘And you don’t think pulling her eyes out of her head hurt her?’

‘Fuck you! I didn’t do it.’

Sonny got to his feet and Mills jumped up too, but Jake grabbed his partner by the shoulders and pulled him down. Mills was laying on the bad cop act a little too thick. Vincennes dragged Sonny back to his chair.

‘All of you, calm down!’ Jake said. Sonny’s chest rose and fell as he glared at Mills, seething. Jake continued: ‘What time did you go out to meet Miss Stokes?’

‘Look,’ said Sonny. ‘I didn’t do it.’

‘Say nothing,’ snapped the lawyer.

‘I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill Marcia. Sure, I was fooling around with Penny, but Marcia, me and the kid were
tight, man. We were family. Kelly – thank Christ the sick bastard didn’t get Kelly.’

Vincennes took Sonny’s arm but Sonny brushed him away.

‘Let me tell my story, man. This time I got nothing to hide.’ He stretched forward and looked Jake in the eye. ‘She called me that night. Said I was a fucking loser. Can you believe that? The last words we spoke, she was cursing me out.’

Jake hadn’t heard this before. He made a note. ‘What time was that call?’ Jake asked.

‘I was still in the Boom Box. I think it was before midnight. No, it was after. I don’t know. The club was buzzing. I had to go outside to hear her.’

‘What did she say?’ asked Jake. For the first time in the investigation they were getting information that might help.

‘She ripped me a new asshole, man,’ said Sonny with a hurt look. ‘I think she knew. About Penny, you know?’

‘Was there anything unusual about the call?’ Jake pressed.

‘The same old same old. She was yelling, then – hang on – she ended the call quick. Said she had to go. Said she’d call me back. She never did.’ Sonny seemed surprised at the memory.

Jake looked at Mills. This was good. Useful.

‘Can we check your phone records?’ Jake asked.

‘Not without a warrant,’ said Vincennes.

‘Shut the fuck up, man,’ Sonny told his defender. He
turned to Jake and Mills. ‘You check whatever you want. Anything that will help you catch the sonofabitch that killed my girl.’

‘For the record, suspect has given us permission to access his mobile phone records,’ said Jake. Then he added, ‘Thank you.’

Sonny looked shocked.

Vincennes scowled. He stood, and Sonny got up too. Jake let them go without saying a word.

Once they’d left, Jake looked at Mills and raised an eyebrow.

Mills shook his head. ‘Sonny’s not our guy,’ he said. ‘Who’s going to tell the chief?’

Jake grinned. ‘Sorry, pal, I’m the lead detective. I have other things to be doing.’

Asher was going to be mad. But worse, the killer was still at large. And because of the way Marcia was murdered, Jake had a feeling that he was going to do it again.