Urge to Kill (1) (20 page)

‘Oh several I think.’

‘How did he pay?’

‘The whole sale was cash and carry only.’

There seemed nothing left to do but thank Mr Mellor for his invaluable help and give him the usual spiel about getting in touch if he remembered anything else. They wished him good luck with the play, refusing the offer of free tickets, and turned back along the corridor. Neither of them was surprised when Trev appeared as if from nowhere to lead them off the premises.

As they headed back up the motorway, Fluff went over the information they had obtained.

‘He sounds local and we know he’s used the same disguise at least twice to obtain his props.’

‘Well, he can’t be that clever then, as he just seems to have drawn attention to himself.’

‘At least we can circulate an artist’s impression to other forces. Not that it will do much good if he has already stocked up on what he needs.’

Both were silent, remembering that if this was their killer, then he had at least two dolls left and had bought several costumes. He could have already murdered again. Matt broke the silence as the motorway services loomed into sight.

‘Time for that hamburger?’

Fluff nodded and Matt swung out of the fast line slowing his speed ready to move over to the slip road.

The food was expensive and barely adequate but both were too tired to care and, together with a strong cup of coffee, it gave Matt the energy to continue on up the motorway.

The closer he got to home, the more Matt thought of Eppie. He knew he didn’t want to face her tonight. Telling himself there was too much going on with the case, he decided to stay in the office, on McRay’s couch. Once he had had some sleep, things would look better in the morning.

At the sight of McRay’s couch, a sudden heaviness came over him. He needed to rest. Even the cold leather seemed to invite, and he was just happy to stretch out. He kicked off his shoes and loosened his tie and was about to lie down when Fluff came in with a mug of hot chocolate. Under her arm she had a blanket and a pillow.

She put the steamy mug down on the coffee table and moved closer to place the pillow at one end of the couch. Matt felt her hair flick across his face and put out a hand to brush it away, irritated at the memories it aroused of their brief affair, when she would tease him with that silky long hair, and he would reach up to run his fingers through it before pulling her down to him.

Fluff paused above him, and Matt wondered if this was what she wanted. It would be so easy to accept the comfort after such a long, gruelling day. Too easy.

CHAPTER 27

E
ppie wondered if Matt would be home early. She hadn’t seen him since their row last night, and he had left for work before she was awake. Part of her was longing to see him, as long as he wasn’t in that icy, controlled mood. Some of that coldness remained trapped inside her, bleeding like a tiny icicle. It would be far better if he were angry; then, at least, they could have an honest interchange, with the chance of making up afterwards. Eppie kicked herself for resorting to tears and locking herself away.

As she began preparing dinner, she thought about their marriage. From the first moment they had met, she had loved him. But they had never sat down and discussed any of the practical details of their life together. Eppie needed to explain to Matt that he couldn’t treat her as a small child to be protected and cosseted.

No one had looked after her in that way for so long, and her Dad, although the most loving and caring father was, in reality, more of a child than she. She couldn’t change into a kept woman, given money for the housekeeping and resorting to watching daytime TV. And she definitely refused to be treated as some sort of liability.

However, neither did she want to entrench herself into an unmovable position. Matt was under enormous pressure right now, and she could only try to imagine what he had to face each day. It was touching, if old fashioned, that he wanted to protect her. Matt certainly had the physical strength, and she smiled at the thought of his strong, toned body. She felt a softening towards him for loving her so much and vowed to try to be more understanding.

Since it was getting late, Eppie had decided that she would eat without Matt and had just settled herself on the sofa with a tray when the phone rang. She reached for it while precariously balancing the tray on the edge of the bookcase, hopeful it would be Matt.

‘Hello.’ She was disappointed when a female voice answered.

‘Mrs Turrell?’

‘Yes.’

‘This is DC Meadows.’

For a moment, she had difficulty visualizing DC Meadows until she remembered it must be the young woman with the long fair hair. The one Matt always referred to as Fluff.

‘The Inspector has asked me to call. Just to say he will be very late due to on-going investigations.’

Eppie tried to keep her voice from faltering. ‘Right. Thank you for letting me know.’ It felt as if she had been shut out completely, but she wasn’t going to let this woman hear how dismayed she was.

They were there together, doing something important. While she was here alone in this dismal flat.

Why hadn’t Matt made the call himself? Just who was this DC Meadow’s who did her husband’s bidding? And why was she called Fluff? A bit of Fluff—an object of sexual desire?

Her food had become unappetizing, and Eppie opted for her favourite ice cream. Finishing her second dish, this time with chocolate grated on the top, she realised that she was letting her mind travel down a dangerous path. She had never envisioned herself as a suspicious, jealous wife unable to trust. It brought up images of her mother ranting at her father before she walked out.

She was so horrified that she might become anything like that screeching mother who had gone rapidly from marriage to marriage. She didn’t want that.

Jumping up, she thought it best to keep herself busy. Before she could decide what to do, the doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Maybe it was a friend of Matt’s.

Even before she opened the door, the smell of baking drifted in. In the hallway was a neat, elderly lady holding a plate, on which sat a fruitcake.

‘I hope I’m not disturbing you. But I wanted to welcome you. I am sure you and Matt will be very happy, my dear.’ She held out the plate to Eppie.

‘Oh. Thank you.’

‘Careful it’s hot from the oven. Dear, dear, look at me forgetting to tell you who I am. Mrs Davis from number twenty five.’

Eppie took the cake and held it up to let the aroma drift up her nose. ‘That smells delicious. Please, come in.’

‘Well, I will for just a minute. No doubt Matt will be home shortly.’

‘No.’

‘Oh. I hope I haven’t said the wrong thing. John is always telling me to think before I speak.’

‘Matt’s working late on a case.’

Eppie led the way into the living room, pausing only to put the cake on the kitchen counter. Mrs Davis stood and looked at the new scatter cushions.

‘Now that looks brighter already. I said to John that you would liven this place up. All those dark colours. They would still be living in caves without us, wouldn’t they?’

Eppie laughed and agreed before offering Mrs Davis a cup of tea.

‘No. No I don’t want to hold you up. There was something else though. I was putting the rubbish out last night. John should do it but he was watching his football, and there was this young man. I asked if I could help him and he said he was looking for you. Said he wanted to send you a card to congratulate you. I said why didn’t he come up, but he didn’t want to disturb you, just send a card.’

‘He wanted me, not Matt?’

‘Yes. He definitely said Mrs Turrell.’

‘I can’t think who that would be. What did he look like?

‘Well, he was tall. But then he would be to me. I’m only a smidgen, like you. I hadn’t got my glasses on, so I can’t tell you anything else.’

After Mrs Davis had left, Eppie still couldn’t think of who the man might be. But it was probably nothing to worry about. Still she wished she could run it by Matt.

CHAPTER 28

M
att woke, slowly realising that he wasn’t in his own bed. The space was too small for him, and as he began to stretch out his limbs felt cramped. In his dreams, he had been in a cave searching for Eppie down the many different passages but only catching glimpses of her every now and again. He was glad to be awake, although he still felt tired and wrung out.

Fully awake he sat up remembering that he was in McRay’s office. Memories of last night and Fluff flooded back. He realised with a shock that he was glad it happened.

As he had flicked Fluff’s hair from his eyes she had paused. He hadn’t responded and Fluff had moved to place the blanket at the other end of the couch. Matt touched her arm.

‘I’m sorry.’

Fluff sat down next to the blanket. ‘For what?’

Matt felt awkward. ‘I couldn’t…Eppie.’

‘Don’t worry. It wasn’t on offer.’

Matt tried to gauge her voice to determine if she was angry or hurt but couldn’t detect anything. He realised he was a little disappointed. ‘Oh, my mistake, I thought—’

‘That’s well in the past.’ Fluff looked at her watch. ‘And someone will be wondering where I am.’ Fluff rose and made her way to the door turning only to say, ‘Drink your cocoa while it’s hot.’

Matt did as he was told before lying down on the couch. Fluff always played her cards close to her chest, and he wondered who she was seeing. If it had been just an act then it had been pretty convincing.

Matt wondered how Eppie would be this morning and if she would speak to him after last night. Most wives would be a bit miffed, and he wished now he had called her himself. Berating himself for being a coward, he reached for his mobile, suddenly needing to hear her voice and to make sure everything was right between them.

No one answered and, looking at the time, Matt guessed she could be in the shower. Disappointed, he left a brief message that didn’t relay any of the things he really wanted to say.

Although McRay wouldn’t be in this early, he needed to move himself and any evidence that he had been sleeping here. Matt scooped up his shoes, the mug, pillow and blanket, rescued and restored the two mini cushions to their rightful place at each end of the couch, and with a final satisfied look around, he closed the door. McRay would never know he had been there.

As he showered in the locker room, Matt thought again of Fluff. He had surprised himself in not wanting her. He realised with some satisfaction that he had said no, that he didn’t want anyone but Eppie. But he couldn’t help wondering if, at that moment when their heads were so close, had he drawn her mouth down to his, would she have responded?

He still wasn’t sure about her story of someone waiting, and as he shaved, he ran through all her possible suitors within the CID team. He couldn’t think of any single men, except Sam or Grant. Sam wasn’t Fluff’s type and she, like everyone else, certainly didn’t get on with Grant. Of course, it could be a married man, but that sort of thing couldn’t be kept quiet for long. Matt suddenly realised with a shock that he was a little jealous. Laughing at the irony of it, he told himself sternly that it was, after all, none of his business.

Refreshed by the shower, he decided to get an early start and catch up before the rest of the team arrived, but as he entered CID, he found Wendy already busy at her computer. She seemed so engrossed, he merely nodded a good morning and went straight to his office. Then, just as he was settling himself at his desk, Fluff breezed in.

‘Thought you might be hungry, Guv.’

Matt studied her as she placed the bacon bap on the desk in front of him. There was nothing he could detect that said she was the least bit upset about his rejection last night. Surmising that she was telling the truth about someone waiting for her, he gave in to the pangs of hunger that surfaced as the smell of bacon wafted upwards.

‘Thanks.’ Showing his appreciation, Matt took a huge bite out of the bap, delighted as the sharpness of the brown sauce hit his tongue. Fluff certainly knew his likes and dislikes. He quickly polished off this unexpected breakfast as Fluff went to update the incident board.

The next job would be to get hold of the police artist. He was sure McRay would okay the funding. A picture of how the man appeared when buying his props could then be sent out to all forces, so that it could be shown at the local markets.

The team straggled slowly in. By the time most of them had arrived, Matt felt like he had already done a full day. Sam came in with a long face.

‘Told Pete that we’re not likely to make the practice tonight and even less likely to make the match tomorrow.’

‘I can imagine what he said.’

‘Not repeatable. Never heard some of those words before.’

‘Pete could write a dictionary of swear words.’ Secretly, Matt was relieved. If he did get any time away from the case he wanted to make things right with Eppie.

To take Sam’s mind off it, Matt asked him about the model soldier. Sam cheered up immediately.

‘I couldn’t believe it, Guv. There’s a shop in London where all they sell are model soldiers, well, and all the bits and pieces, like the guns and stuff. The man there was helpful. Apparently, all sorts of people buy these things, even Lords and past Prime ministers. In fact, I couldn’t shut him up.’

Matt thought that must have been difficult once Sam was on a roll but said nothing as he continued.

‘He even invited me down there to have a look around.’

Something in Matt’s look told Sam he was losing his audience, and he got down to the facts.

‘They do keep lists of customers going way back. Most are not computerised, but we are welcome to have a gander, if we get a warrant.’ Sam consulted his notebook. ‘He also gave me the details of two locals clubs. They meet regularly. To enact battles I suppose. Thought I might take a look?’ Sam said, ending on a question.

‘That could be worthwhile. Good work, Sam. Now, let’s get on with the briefing.’ Matt rose and led the way to the outer office.

Calling the team together, he let Sam outline what was happening with the model soldier before Fluff took over to give details of their London visit, ending with the fact that the possible murderer had bought three dolls.