CRIME ON THE FENS a gripping detective thriller full of suspense (6 page)

The super straightened up. ‘Then I’ll inform top brass. And I’d appreciate it if you and Sergeant Easter went back to the campus and spoke to Dr Villiers in person. We’re going to need a pretty big team down there to talk to the students. Arrange things with him and I’ll see you all back in the meeting room in an hour.’

Nikki pulled a face. ‘Could someone else go? I really need to speak to the occupant of Interview Room 2.’

‘Kris Brown?’ The super halted mid-way through the door. ‘Is his mother here yet?’

‘On her way, sir,’ said Joseph. ‘Probably be here in about an hour. She was in Grantham when I managed to contact her.’

Nikki glared at Joseph. ‘But there’s no reason on earth to wait until she arrives before we interview Brown. He’s not a bloody kid!’

Joseph raised his hands in mock surrender. ‘That’s not what I was implying. I just answered a question, ma’am. And for what it’s worth, I’m with you.’ He looked back to the superintendent and raised his eyebrows. ‘If Brown knows where Kerry is, I don’t think we should waste a single moment.’

Nikki opened her mouth, then shut it again. She wasn’t sure if it was the man’s gentle voice and unshakable calm that was rattling her, or simply that she wasn’t used to people agreeing with her.

The superintendent gave them both a stony look. ‘And
I
say Brown waits until you’ve been to the university. He’s not going anywhere, and some time alone, not knowing exactly what we know or are planning, may just scare him into talking to us.’

Nikki gritted her teeth. And that wasted hour could mean life or death to Kerry Anderson. If she were right, time alone was normal practice for Kris. It wouldn’t worry a loner like him one iota, let alone scare him. But she was going to get nowhere by arguing, so they’d better get back to the university, and fast.

With a muttered word that could have been anything, she picked up her bag and made for the door.

CHAPTER NINE

‘Those poor parents. What it must feel like to know your child is missing.’ Niall shook his head, then suddenly started forward. ‘Hey! Vonnie! Look over there!’

Yvonne Collins looked, then swerved the police car across the oncoming traffic and into a side road that led to the Carborough Estate. ‘Little sods! Radio in for some help for that woman. She’s clearly not injured, so I’m going after the kids who mugged her!’

‘You’ll have to put your foot down, Von. Another few hundred metres and the rabbit warren opens up and we’ll never catch them!’ Niall gripped the dashboard as Yvonne accelerated forward.

‘What the dickens do you think I’m doing?’ she muttered, as she deftly missed an overturned rubbish bin. ‘Jesus! These street kids get worse! In broad daylight with a police vehicle in full view, they snatch a handbag and take off on bloody bikes.’

Niall swiftly reported their position and what had occurred, then flipped off his radio. ‘Someone’s on their way to the victim.’ He puffed out his cheeks. ‘Not that she’ll be able to give a description. They are wearing those damned masks, aren’t they?’

‘Oh yes, just look!’

Ahead of them, spinning his bike around as he entered a narrow alley way, a masked youth was staring defiantly straight at the police car, and sticking up his middle finger in customary salute.

‘Too late,’ cursed Niall. ‘We’ll never find him now.’

‘Don’t bank on it.’ Yvonne floored the accelerator and cannoned straight past the alley. ‘There’s a chance they are heading for the flats, and those connecting alleys all meet on Fisher Street. I may be wrong, but it’s worth a shot.’

‘Stick on the two tones before we kill someone!’

‘What, and let half the estate know we’re coming? Like hell.’ Yvonne flung the car expertly around a corner. ‘And I have no intention of killing anyone. Unless I get my hands on those little shits, that is.’ She straightened up and the car leapt forward.

‘If I can just get across to the recreation ground before them, we may . . .’ Yvonne broke off, and braked hard. ‘Oh hell! Take a look at that!’

Ahead of them was an open expanse of concrete, unofficially used for parking, but right now there were no cars, just youths. Two gangs, squaring up to each other like warring tribes, all ugly faces and aggressive posturing. There was little difference between them when it came to age and attitude, the only thing that separated them was that one gang were wearing masks.

Niall was already on the radio when the taunting stopped and the fists came out.

‘Tell them we need back up!’ shouted Yvonne, as she prepared to jump out of the car. ‘Meanwhile, I’ll do what I can.’

‘No!’ Niall’s voice blasted in her ear. ‘Not this time, Vonnie. I’m all for getting stuck in, but look at them! Someone’s going to get badly hurt out there, and I’d prefer it not to be us.’

‘We’ve got to try.’ Yvonne opened the car door. ‘For exactly the reason that you just said, someone’s going to get hurt, and we have to try to prevent that happening.’

‘Oh shit! Next time I volunteer us for overtime, remind me of this, will you?’ Niall swung open his door to follow her. ‘At least you’ve got a voice that could be heard the other side of the Humber Bridge.’

Together they waded in and began pulling some of the less committed thugs from the pack, and by the time two more police cars arrived, they were left with a heated core of some ten kids. Vicious kids who had the red mist in front of their eyes, and were giving up for no one.

‘Leave ‘em to the Cavalry!’ called out Niall, as he yanked a stick-thin youth from the back of another. ‘We’ve done our bit, and it looks like half the station has turned out to mop up.’

‘Yeah,’ gasped Yvonne, as she propelled another youngster towards the car. ‘You could be right!’ Cars and vans were pouring into the estate, and the teenage rioters were now running in every direction to get away. ‘Blimey! Even Old Nick and Holy Joe have made an appearance. What the devil did you say was going down here?’

Niall grinned. ‘Mm, it seems I may have over-reacted somewhat.’ He pulled the skinny youth towards him. ‘What’s this all about? Don’t tell me you’re actually fighting over those damn masks?’

‘Sod off! It ain’t nothing to do with me. Got caught up in it accidental-like.’ The boy wiped a dirty sleeve across his blood stained lip.

‘Really?’ said Niall. ‘And I thought it was
you
that jumped on that other ugly little kid over there!’ He looked across at Yvonne. ‘Well, how wrong could I be? I could have sworn that I saw this poor innocent lad smack the other one with a knuckle duster!’

‘What the knuckle duster he just slipped into his jeans?’

‘That’d be the one.’ Niall gripped the boy tightly, pulled the offending implement from his pocket, and pushed him towards the car. ‘You’re coming with us, chum.’

As the teenager stepped forward, something slid from beneath his jacket and fell onto the pavement.

Yvonne picked the mask up with distaste. ‘Yours?’

The boy struggled to get free of Niall’s iron hold, and when he failed, he threw her a baleful look. ‘Give it back, pig!’

‘Sorry, poppet. But even though it suits you far better than me, I think I’ll keep it. Now, get in the car! There’s a comfy little cell back at the nick, with your name on the door!’

* * *

‘Is everything against me right now?’ Nikki fumed. ‘Why the hell you had to come this way to get to the bloody university beats me!’

‘I’m not local,’ said Joseph reasonably. ‘It’s the only way I remember. And we couldn’t ignore an assistance call, now could we?’ With little or no effort, he frog marched two youngsters towards a waiting police van.

‘I know that!’ Nikki dodged a flying missile, then wrestled a youth twice her size to the ground and knelt on him until a uniformed constable dragged him up and cuffed him. ‘But the timing stinks!’

Joseph had just relinquished his hold on his two charges and was making his way back to her, when she heard him call out.

‘Ma’am!’ Over there!’

She spun round and saw one boy rip a mask from the face of another, then turn tail and run from the brawling group. The boy who remained, screamed and fell to the ground, blood oozing through his T-shirt. ‘Jesus! He’s been stabbed! Someone call a paramedic!’

Before she could get to the boy, two other officers were with him. ‘Help’s on the way!’ called someone, and Nikki turned to see Joseph hurtling after two youths, one who was still carrying the stolen mask.

‘Oh shit! That silly bastard’s going to get himself killed!’ She cursed under her breath, then raced after him.

The two boys fled down a narrow alley, one of their usual get-away routes, but found it blocked by a stationary delivery truck. With nowhere to go, Joseph and Nikki were on them in seconds.

‘Come here, you little turd!’ Nikki threw herself against the shorter of the two, the one who had stolen the mask, and slammed him roughly against a garage door. Air escaped from his lungs in a loud gasp, and she snapped her cuffs neatly around his wrists. Carefully she slipped her hand into his pocket and withdrew a sticky-bladed flick knife. ‘Oh, you are
so
nicked.’

Holding him firmly, she turned to see Joseph lifting the taller boy from the gutter by his jacket collar.

‘You too, sunshine,’ said the sergeant brightly.

She exhaled loudly. ‘Let’s get these two scrotes back to the van, then . . .’

Before she could finish, she heard a grunt, and as she turned, she saw Joseph flip the boy into some weird straight-armed lock position that immobilised the youth totally. Before she could even speak, she heard the sergeant whisper, ‘One more move towards your pocket, and you’ll wake up with both shoulders dislocated, and your arms ready for plaster casts, understand?’

The boy’s eyes widened to an impossible size, but all he could do was groan.

To her total surprise, Joseph moved with lightning speed and swapped his grip from one hand to the other, never for one micro-second losing his hold on the boy, or slackening the vice-like grip. The detective then slipped his free hand into the jacket pocket and withdrew it, holding a wicked looking blade.

Nikki’s jaw dropped. ‘I bet you didn’t learn that move in Bible Class!’

Joseph’s eyes snapped up, and for a moment she really didn’t like the expression that flashed across his face. Then, just as swiftly, it turned to one of reproach. ‘I thought we had an agreement?’

‘Sorry, sorry. Just an observation! That was nothing I’ve ever seen taught at Police Training School, and it’s not the kind of thing you learn when sorting out the lager louts on a Friday night either.’

Joseph remained silent, then pushing the terrified boy ahead of him, made his way back down the alley.

Nikki followed, still wondering at what she had just witnessed. She was tough. She pulled no punches, and had been close to overstepping the mark on far too many occasions, but that was in a different league altogether. It wasn’t just the unorthodox move, it was the sheer speed, not only of his actions, but of his assessment of the situation.

What you saw was most definitely
not
what you got with Detective Sergeant Joseph Easter. Nikki remembered that strange, ice-cold look he’d given her, and shivered.

CHAPTER TEN

Nikki sped through the arrangements with the dean, and hurried back to the police station. Inside, she stopped and stared at Joseph. She had given him two chances to talk to her, to and from the campus, but he had chosen to say nothing.

‘A word in private, Sergeant.’ She said, then marched up the stairs to her office.

‘Close the door.’ She flopped into her chair and pointed to one on the other side of her desk. ‘Do you have anything you’d like to share with me, Detective?’

Joseph sat down slowly, but stared at his hands, rather than at her. ‘Don’t we have a suspect to interview?’

‘Yes we do, and you’re wasting time by avoiding talking to me. As soon as you’ve told me what the hell all that was about, we go interview Mr Brown, okay?’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘And until that happens, we sit here for as long as it takes.’

The silence that followed was almost tangible, then Nikki’s patience ran out. ‘OK, so you were in the military?’

Joseph lifted his head, and she saw no anger in his face, only sadness.

‘That was another life. I’m not that man anymore.’

‘From what I saw earlier, I think maybe you are.’

‘No, I’m not!’ exclaimed Joseph. A look of intense pain suffused his face. ‘Really. I’m not. It’s just that sometimes you chance on a situation, and the old ways, the indoctrination, the reflex, whatever you like to call it, just takes over.’

‘Lucky it did, Joseph. I had no idea that little shit had a knife. He could have killed either, or maybe even both, of us. And for that I thank you.’

Joseph shook his head almost violently. ‘Forget it. It never happened.’ He looked her full in the face. ‘And if you want to thank me, just let this go. I really don’t want to talk about the past, and I’d appreciate it if the team and the other officers here
never
know about my background. You know that regular career police officers don’t like squaddies who turn copper. In fact, some of them hate us. So . . . ? Please?’

Nikki tilted her head to one side. Maybe she was getting even more bitter and twisted, but recently she had found herself quite enjoying seeing someone squirm. But this was different. Joseph Easter was different. And strangely, she felt no pleasure, just a sad sort of discomfort for him. Certainly there were a dozen questions running through her head, but now was not the time to ask them. Not with a girl missing.

She nodded, and to her surprise, found herself giving him the first smile that she could remember handing out for a very long while. ‘I think we have a suspect to interview, don’t we?’

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a blur, and by nightfall every available man and woman was out hunting for Kerry Anderson. Local media had been contacted and the superintendent had made an impassioned plea on national television.

Kris Brown had told them no more than they already knew, and his distraught mother had painted them a picture of a sensitive, highly intelligent, but slightly introverted, home-loving boy. Something more on a par with St Francis of Assisi, than a cold-blooded abductor of pretty girls.

Then at eleven thirty, Nikki received a call from one of the villagers from Barnby Eaudyke. A call that meant she would have to let him go.

‘There was a fox around, Inspector. That’s why I kept going out into the garden. I have chickens, you see.’

‘So what time did you actually see Mr Brown, Mrs Roper?’ asked Nikki with something like exasperation.

‘Well, off and on from around seven thirty, right up until two o’clock, I suppose. I saw him when I checked my hens. He has an ‘observatory,’ Inspector. Big posh shed with an opening window, if you ask me, but our Kris is something of a celebrity in the village. He’s an astronomer, you know. Nothing he don’t know about stars and stuff. Sometimes he’s out there all night.’

‘Yes, and . . . ?’ Nikki tried to keep her cool.

‘Well, I saw him going in and out, didn’t I? Moving his telescope around. Oh yes, and once, close to midnight, his dog started barking. Must have smelt the fox, I reckon. So he had to be there all evening, Inspector.’

‘And, to your knowledge, he was alone, Mrs Roper?’

‘Well, I can’t swear to it, but I never saw anyone else.’

Nikki thanked the woman for her help, then slammed down the receiver and swore out loud. ‘Fuck it! We’re going to have to let him go.’ She puffed out her cheeks in exasperation.

Joseph shrugged. ‘For what it’s worth, and I know he’s unlike any other twenty year old kid I’ve ever met, but I really don’t think he knows where Kerry is.’

‘Since when did you become the county profiler?’ enquired Nikki.

‘I know I’m no psychologist, but his body language didn’t exactly scream out ‘I’m a liar,’ did it?’ countered Joseph.

Nikki leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. ‘Oh God! I need some sleep. But how can I walk out of this station with a girl missing?’

‘We have to. Wherever Kerry is, she needs us to be one hundred per cent on the ball. And as most of the Fenland Constabulary are out there looking for her, there’s little left for us to do right now.’ Joseph yawned and examined a darkening bruise on his wrist. ‘Plus, as we’ve just spent a happy hour brawling with Carborough thugs, I think we can grab a few hours shut-eye without too many recriminations.’

‘Oh shit! The boy who got stabbed! I’d better get down to the hospital and check on him.’ Nikki could feel the shadow of a headache forming behind her eyes.

‘I rang while you on the phone, ma’am. He’s conscious and stable. He’s got two uniforms with him until he’s well enough to interview, so you can relax over him.’

‘Nevertheless, that kid got stabbed because of one of those bloody masks. I need to get those evil things off the streets before something even worse happens.’ She gave him a look full of frustration. ‘There are not enough hours in the sodding day!’

‘My digs are near the hospital, I can call in, if it helps? A couple of hours rest will charge me up again.’ He stood up. ‘If that’s all right with you, ma’am?’

Nikki nodded. ‘Would you? That injured kid may just be scared enough to tell you something about the masks. It’s worth a try, and I have no doubt you’ll be a damn sight more compassionate with him that I would be.’

‘No problem. See you later, guv.’ Joseph walked to the door.

‘And Sergeant?’ she called after him. ‘About earlier. I won’t be mentioning it again, but thank you. I still believe your actions may have saved our lives.’

Joseph Easter didn’t answer immediately, but he paused in the doorway, then threw her a small smile. ‘Anytime, ma’am.’

Nikki sat for a while. Her first day with her new detective sergeant had been quite something. And he was certainly a far cry from what she had been led to believe. She frowned. Maybe, for her own safety, she should make it her business to find out more about him. One thing was certain, he was a man who had deep dark secrets.

Nikki gave a short bark of laughter that echoed around the empty office. If anyone should know about keeping secrets, it was her.

Yeah, when it came to talking about the past, let’s hear it for Nikki Galena, the Queen of the Sealed Lips!

She yawned. Just one more thing to do, then it was a hot shower and a few hours’ sleep. She flipped open her phone. Maybe it was the horror of having a young woman missing on her patch, maybe it was tiredness, or maybe it was the flashback she kept getting of her new sergeant immobilising a thug in the time it took her to blink, but she needed to see Hannah. She flicked down to ‘H’ and pressed ‘call.’

Sure it was late, but she really needed to talk to her precious daughter, and a quick visit might do them both good.

After a just few words, Nikki grabbed her coat, and went out into the night.

* * *

The corridors were almost empty and dimly lit. Energy saving, Joseph supposed. Whatever, it gave the rambling old hospital an eerie feeling. His footsteps sounded oddly loud as he tried to locate the lifts, and several times he found himself glancing over his shoulder.

The injured boy, Callum Lodge, had had a close shave but was out of danger. Sadly he had little inclination to talk to the police, even if they had saved his life. The youth had been both scared and aggressive, but Joseph had managed to extract a few more snippets of information about the masks. And then Callum had mentioned a name. Well, a street tag. It wasn’t much, but it may help. He’d check it out first thing in the morning.

Joseph cursed softly, and decided that he must have taken a wrong turn. If it had been Fenchester Hospital, he could have done it blindfold, but this place was a maze of unfamiliar clinics and corridors. After a while, he was forced to admit to himself that his usually reliable ‘bump of direction’ had failed him. He was on a long straight passageway that he certainly did not recognise from his trip in.

He walked along it for a while, hopeful that he would find a Way Out sign, then to his relief he spotted two nurses hurrying out of a door at the end of the corridor ahead of him. He accelerated towards them, but by the time he got there, they had disappeared.

He scanned the walls for a hospital plan, a fire drill map, anything that would get him back to the foyer and the car park, but he found nothing. He’d clearly wandered into a completely different wing, and now he felt both tired and pissed off.

‘Can I help you?’

The voice was like an answered prayer.

‘I just want out.’

‘Don’t we all, man!’ laughed the male nurse. He flashed the whitest of teeth, then pointed to a set of double doors. ‘Go through there, past the High Dependency Unit and you’ll see the lifts. Down one floor, turn right, go 100 yards on, and freedom is yours!’

Thankfully Joseph made his way through the doors, then froze in his tracks.

Going towards one of the rooms some way ahead of him, was his new detective inspector.

For a moment, he queried his observational skills, but as he watched the back of the woman, he knew he had not been mistaken. It was definitely DI Galena.

For some reason, he pulled back and waited for her to go inside.

His mind raced. Why was she here? Had she decided to talk to Callum anyway, and then got as lost as he had? He doubted that very much. This was her patch. She wouldn’t get lost on her own turf. And her stride had been confident. She knew exactly where she was going. He moved slowly forward. And where exactly was that, he wondered?

Almost tiptoeing along the deserted corridor, Joseph approached the room that he had seen her enter.

The door was shut, but there was a small glass window set in it.

Keeping to one side, so as not to be noticed, Joseph glanced inside.

Nikki Galena sat holding a young woman’s hand in hers. The girl, just a teenager, lay unmoving in the bed. He could see Nikki’s mouth working as she talked animatedly, but there was no similar response from the girl. In fact, as far as Joseph could see, there was no response at all.

Joseph swallowed hard, and moved back. He had just witnessed something that was intensely private, and he truly wished he hadn’t.

Sucking in air, he put his head down, moved swiftly past the door and headed for the lifts, but not before he caught sight of the small handwritten name plate to one side of the closed door.

It simply read, Hannah Galena.