The Secrets of the Shadows (The Annie Graham series - Book 2) (23 page)

He picked up his keys from the coffee table in the living room and went outside to his black truck. Once inside he drove to the car park opposite the hairdressers and parked in a space where he could see in through the huge glass window. He even took what change he had from the drinks holder and went and bought a ticket from the machine and a paper from the shop nearby. He wound the windows down, spread his paper across the steering wheel and leant back watching the woman inside the shop. He wished that he’d brought his radio home with him to listen to what was going on but that would have been a bad idea, the minute he turned it on it would show up at the control room at Penrith that he was on duty and it would have raised suspicion. But it would have been nice to have heard exactly what was going on. He wondered again how good Will actually was and if he would have him arrested before he even got chance to kill girl number three. For the first time he realised that it could come to that, he could end up handcuffed and put in the cells. Bollocks, he had been so infatuated with the thought of getting his revenge on the priest he had never really given much thought to what might happen if he got caught. They hated cops in prison. Being on his own didn’t bother him, he’d been on his own since the day he found his mum dead and he’d never really got close to anyone. Always afraid they would leave him, it was better to be alone than live with the constant fear. He supposed if faced with the choice he’d probably kill himself, maybe his mum and Sophie would be waiting for him, but then again he had killed innocent women and a man so he didn’t deserve to go to a better place. He would wait and see what today brought and there was always the mental health act, he could convince them he was insane and get put into a secure hospital, at least then it wouldn’t matter who he was.

***

When the crime scene had been thoroughly processed and they could leave it guarded by PCSOs, Will had gone back to the car to strip off. The paper suit was stuck to his back and even more difficult than normal to get out of but he finally managed it and put everything into a brown paper evidence bag. He wished that he could get rid of the smell as easily but it was still there. Lifting his shirt sleeve up he sniffed, it smelled terrible, a combination of sweat and dead body. That was one scent that was never going to be bottled and be available to buy in the shops in time for Father’s Day. He needed to go home and shower, change his clothes. It was almost six and he was knackered. Matt had arranged to do the PM first thing in the morning so at least he didn’t have to go through that tonight. Will didn’t even want to go and face Annie he smelled that bad, so he waved an officer over and told him to take him home. They got into the patrol car and the officer immediately put both front windows down full. Will put his head back and muttered, ‘Sorry.’ When he got to his front door he heard the house phone ringing and ran to answer it. ‘Hello.’

‘It’s Dad, just checking up on you. I’ve rung your mobile a couple of times.’

‘Sorry, I’ve been at a murder scene all afternoon and couldn’t answer. Is everything okay?’

‘Fine, everything’s fine, sorry son I should have realised you were busy. It’s a mess isn’t it? I’m phoning because Lily keeps pestering me to remind you about tomorrow night. Please say you can still come, she’ll kill me if you don’t.’

Will laughed, ‘I will try my best, tell her I promise.’ After tomorrow’s post mortem he wasn’t sure how he would feel about eating charcoaled animal flesh but he needed a break.

‘Good lad, you know it makes sense for the both of us if you turn up. She means well, most people are coming for six but you just get here when you can. If you’re late I’ll save you a couple of nice steaks and I’ve got you a case of your favourite lager chilling in the fridge. Why don’t you stay the night? Have a night off, turn your phone off.’

‘I think I might, it sounds like heaven. Tell Lily thanks and I’ll see you both tomorrow and can you please tell her from me that I don’t need fixing up with some rich businessman’s spinster daughter, I’m okay in that department.’

His dad laughed, ‘Yep, will do but you know Lily, she can’t help herself, she sees it as her role in life to get you settled down and married.’

Will put the phone down and went upstairs to shower, then he was going to bin the clothes he was wearing and put on his comfy jogging pants and a tee shirt. If he had to go back to work he was going relaxed for once.

Chapter 26

Annie sat with Father John whilst Stu took a statement from him and she listened to the man answer every question Stu asked, whilst looking him in the eye and never shying away once even though he was clearly distressed. Annie knew that until they knew better John would be a suspect but she didn’t believe for one minute that he had anything to do with the murders and she trusted her instinct a lot more than anyone else’s judgment. When Stu had finished asking the questions it was John’s turn.

‘I need to know who the man is inside my house because as far as I’m concerned the only people who have access to it are myself and my nephew. As I’m sitting talking to you that must mean that the body inside is Ryan, who else could it be?’

Stu looked across at Annie, ‘Can I have a word?’

Annie stood up and put her hand on John’s shoulder. ‘Give me a minute, I’ll find out exactly what’s going on.’ She walked towards the back of the church and Stu followed. ‘Look I know you can’t say much but the man has a right to know. What was he wearing or can you not get a picture of his face for him to look at. It’s not fair he’s been here for hours and he’s sick with worry. He needs putting out of his misery one way or another.’

Stu shrugged, ‘You’re right and I totally agree with you. It looks as if it is his nephew but that’s not for me to say. I’ll go and see if Debs can nip in and show him a picture of the man’s face but it’s not nice, it will be a bit of a shock for him.’

‘Thanks Stu, I’ll go and prepare him let him know it’s bad. He will be the one who is going to the hospital for the official identification anyway.’

Annie walked back towards where John was sitting and Stu went outside. ‘John we are going to get a photo of the man’s face so you can take a look and see if he is Ryan. I have to warn you though it isn’t very nice; he’s been there a couple of days so there will be some swelling and possibly some insect larvae on his face.’

‘I don’t care I need to see, I need to know if it’s Ryan and then I can figure out how to break it to my sister before it’s all over the news.’

The church door slammed shut as a gust of wind took it from Stu’s grasp; Debs was in front of him. Annie wanted to throw up as she waited for them to approach. Debs lifted her face mask up and nodded at John, she lifted the camera and after a couple of seconds of flicking through the pictures found one that was the most suitable. She held it towards John who stood up to take a look; he pulled his glasses from his shirt pocket and slipped them on. Then he took one look at the mottled green face on the screen and sat back down. He whispered, ‘Thank you dear, I’d like to confirm that is my nephew Ryan.’

Annie sat next to him and put her arm around his shoulders; she felt a lump in her throat and couldn’t speak so she just rubbed his back. He nodded at Debs. ‘I’m really sorry for your loss,’ Debs said. Then she turned to go back and finish what she had been doing.

Stu looked across to Annie, ‘I’ll let the D.I know.’ Then he turned and followed Debs out of the door.

Annie turned to John, ‘I don’t know what to say, I’m so, so sorry.’

‘I don’t know what to do, I can’t let my sister find out about this on the news but I don’t think I can manage the drive down to tell her.’

‘We can contact the local police station nearest to your sister and they will despatch a Family Liaison Officer to go and speak to her. These are highly trained officers who will be able to support her in every possible way. Would you like me to arrange it and once the officer is at your sister’s house you could phone and speak to her then.’

He nodded, ‘Could you do that? It would be most appreciated, thank you Annie.’

Chapter 27

Sean ran his hand over his head, his hair was pretty short but it gave him an excuse to go inside the hairdressers and break the ice. Make an appointment with his next angel; he might get it all shaved off, totally bald. They would probably take the piss out of him at work for weeks though if he walked in looking like a thug. He had a clear view of her through the window because her workstation was next to it, she had worked solid since he’d got there. His stomach let out a loud growl, lunchtime, and if he was hungry then she must be too. He hoped she’d need to leave the salon to go and get some lunch. He folded the paper and watched intently, ten minutes later he was rewarded as she came out of the shop wearing a pair of dark sunglasses; she had tied her long hair up into a high pony tail and looked quite stunning. He got out of the truck and followed her from a safe distance. She walked thirty seconds up Dalton Road, the main shopping street, turned left and walked into the new delicatessen. He followed her in, standing behind her in the queue. She asked for a chicken salad on a brown baguette, no butter and a little bit of light mayo. Sean wondered if she knew this could be her last meal would she have gone the whole hog and had butter and full-fat mayo. Another assistant asked him what he wanted and he repeated her order, the girl turned to look at him with a look of sympathy on her face.

‘You too? Bloody diets.’

He smiled and nodded his head. ‘I know, I seem to spend all my time dreaming about food.’ The assistant passed her change and she smiled at him before she left the shop. The girl serving him began to slice his baguette. ‘Actually I’ve changed my mind can I have chicken mayo, no salad and two sausage rolls.’ He paid for his food and then casually strolled back to his truck.

***

Annie got off the phone to the DI. She hadn’t been able to get hold of Will and suspected that he’d called it a night, he’d been working solid since Laura’s murder and the DI was fresh from his weekend away. ‘John, I know that you don’t want to leave here but there is absolutely nothing you can do here tonight. The house is a crime scene and is likely to be sealed off for a couple of days; there isn’t any way you will be allowed inside. Do you have anyone you could stay with?

He shook his head, ‘No, yes well probably but I don’t want to. I want to be on my own. I’ll stay here in the church if it’s okay with you, there’s a blanket in the vestry and a blow up bed that no-one claimed at the summer fair. I’ll be fine. I’d like to stay close by and I also have a long and meaningful conversation that I need to have with God.’

He was trying to joke but it didn’t sound as funny as it should. ‘Are you sure? Can I get you something to eat, a sandwich, or something to drink?’

‘No thank you, I don’t seem to have much of an appetite and if I have a drink it will be of the spirit kind and not orange juice. I may just raid the communion wine. There is a whole case of the stuff which was sent by mistake, it’s far too strong to give out at morning mass. I meant to send it back and didn’t get around to it, thank the good Lord for something.’

The sarcasm in his tone was biting and Annie felt terrible for him. ‘I’m going to let whoever is guarding the scene know that you’ll be in here then they don’t get scared and wonder who is wandering around in the church and then I’m going to have to go home. I should have finished work a couple of hours ago and I need a shower.’

Father John stood up and hugged her. ‘Of course, thank you Annie but you shouldn’t have hung around here to keep me company. You have a life to go home to, but I do appreciate you being here. I hope whoever the lucky man is truly appreciates how special you are.’

Annie laughed, ‘I can stay a bit longer if you want me to, it’s no bother.’

‘No, you go home I insist, I’ll be fine, just let your officers know so they don’t come and taser me in the middle of the night.’

She walked towards the door and felt her heart strings tug at the sight of the man who was now kneeling down and praying at the foot of the altar. As she opened the church door she got a whiff of the smell which had filled her house and she grimaced. She looked across to the house and street outside the church. Both were sealed off with blue and white police tape, there was no-one around except for two PCSOs who were standing either end of the street to stop people walking all over the crime scene. Annie headed towards Sally, who she used to work with. ‘Hiya, the priest is still in the church. He said he has nowhere to go and he wants to be close by. I’ve checked with the DI who said its okay as long as he doesn’t try to get into the house, so can you keep an eye on him please.’

‘It’s awful, what a shame. He was only a young lad, there is some messed up stuff going on in this town. I bet you’re glad that you don’t have to work it all.’

Annie looked down at her bright yellow stab vest and laughed. ‘How do you figure that one out? I transfer to the Lakes to get away from all of this and by my second week I’m knee-deep in another bloody murder case. What a nightmare this is turning into.’

‘Gawd Annie, what is it with you and mad axe men, you attract them like flies to shit.’

Annie bent her head towards Sally, ‘I honestly don’t know but I swear this is as involved as I get with this one. Father John is a lovely man and I’ll help him as much as I can but I’m keeping well away from anything remotely dangerous.’ She began to walk towards the panda car she’d parked up hours ago, then turned to Sally. ‘Did you smell that awful smell before? Like rotten veg or a dead animal.’

Sally shook her head. ‘Nope, nothing, were you near a sewer drain or something? It’s not coming from the house is it, apparently it’s really bad inside.’

‘No I don’t think so, the windows and doors are shut, it can’t come from in there and it was near to the church, right where I stepped out of the door.’

‘Must be an old drain, this weather does nothing to improve the smell.’

Annie smiled and continued walking up the street to the panda car. She’d forgotten all about the terrible smell in her house that kept coming and going and now she didn’t know if she wanted to go home in case it was still there. She could sense something but had no idea what it was, all she knew was that it was bad. She got into the car and started the engine, as she pulled her seat belt across she glanced in the rear view mirror and screamed. The dead kid was sitting directly behind her, the air in the car crackled it was so cold. The girl lifted a finger to her lips to shush Annie and then she whispered, ‘Please don’t make a noise, he will hear you and know I’m here. I’m not allowed to talk to you but I need you to help me. I don’t want my brother to kill anyone else, but I can’t do anything to stop him. I’m stuck here and have been since the day that I died.’