Different (21 page)

A blanket was thrown over her head and she was hurried outside.

Crowds of people were standing looking down the street in her direction, and as she was led towards a waiting police car she could hear them shouting out to her.

"They should have gone in and shot her!” A voice said, from somewhere on her left. “She's already murdered two people. That nurse had two small kids, poor little things and the policeman had a daughter according to the news.”

Murdered? That policeman, dear God it must be the one who was asleep by my bed. And a nurse! Oh, not the one who'd gone for a cigarette, but it had to her; she was the only one around
. The killer had come after her and killed them but how on earth had he succeeded in making the police believe that she was the murderer?

Jay was pushed unceremoniously into the back of a police car, although someone did have the foresight to put his hand on top of her head and guide her under the doorframe. Two other men sat either side of her as the car sped off and she could hear its klaxon. No one spoke until the car slowed at the rear of a police station and the security gates were swung open to admit them. The man, who'd identified himself as Detective Superintendent, spoke into the radio.

"We've got Mallard and I want the hospital security tapes taken to the station!"

At a discreet distance, Russell had followed the police to the vicarage, listening in on their radio messages was child's play. He sank back in his seat and watched as the police cars pulled up outside the house and two men went to the front door and another couple to the rear. The two at the front, went into the house and a few minutes later, they emerged with the girl handcuffed and wrapped in a blanket. As she was pushed into the car, the blanket slipped and he saw the paper overall she wore. He guessed then that she'd been taking a shower.

There was nothing he could do about the girl's arrest but he could help consolidate the evidence against her. He turned his car around and headed for the car park and hoped he'd get there before she told the police where she'd parked. Her car was still there and no one seemed to be paying it any attention but there was a penalty sticker attached to the driver's window. He found her keys and walking to her car, opened the boot and from his pocket, he took a small parcel it contained 25,000 in fifty pound notes and hid it inside the boot, beneath the spare wheel.
Let's hear you explain that away,
he thought.

Once inside the police station, Jay was taken to a desk where a uniformed Sergeant took down her name, address and other personal details. Then she was fingerprinted, photographed and a cotton swab rubbed inside her cheek to obtain a DNA sample. Finally, she was placed inside one of the cells. Jay was given some clothes to put on and she recognised them as her own, they'd been brought from her flat. To her surprise, she was asked if she would like anything to eat or drink.

After about a half an hour, Jay was taken into a small interview room containing an equally small table and an officer arrived with three mugs of tea and a bacon sandwich. Jay finished the sandwich and sipped at the scalding hot tea. She hadn't realised just how hungry she was. When they finished their tea and the crocks were taken away. The Chief Superintendent placed a twin spool cassette recorder in the middle of the table. There were two chairs set on either side of the table and he asked her to sit down. She sat on one side and he and an attractive looking woman, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, sat next to him and started the tape recorder.

"It's 1405 hours, Sunday, March 26, 2012Interview with Jay Be Free Mallard regarding the murders of Benjamin James Deacon, William Gareth Hurst, Spencer Raymond Schoefield, PC Thomas Carver and Charlotte Hunningford, between 0015 and 0430 hours, Sunday, March 26, 2012. Detective Inspector Rebecca Carlyle and Detective Superintendent Vincent Roberts. I will now caution Ms. Mallard."

Jay listened to the caution again and wondered whether she should wait and see a solicitor before answering any of their questions.

"Ms. Mallard, you were admitted to the Queens Medical Centre at 0045 hours this morning suffering from a gunshot wound to your scalp. We stationed a uniformed officer stationed at your bedside. At 0440, approximately four hours later the bodies of PC Thomas Carver and the ward nurse Charlotte Hunningford were found, they had been killed with a sharp knife. An hour later, we found an offensive weapon, a stiletto switchblade, in a wheely bin. The knife has now been verified as the murder weapon and we can now confirm that the fingerprints found on the weapon, were yours! How do you explain that, Ms. Mallard?” DI Carlyle asked.

So that's why they offered me some refreshments it gave them time to check my fingerprints
. “I'll tell you what happened,” she said. Neither of the detectives interrupted her until she'd finished talking and she looked at them expectantly.

"You say that you went to see the manager Mr. Schoefield at the request of your cousin Scott, and that Mr. Schoefield thought you wanted a job as a hooker?” Superintendent Roberts asked quietly.

"Yes, I couldn't believe it and I..."

"Jay!” Carlyle snapped, “We've found your car and in the boot an envelope containing twenty five thousand pounds in cash! How do you explain that?"

"I ... I can't, he must have put it there.” Jay looked desperately from one to the other but they just stared coldly back at her.

"We've looked at the video situated in the corridor outside Mr. Schoefield's office.” Roberts leaned forward and smiled grimly. “According to your story, you went into the office and after your conversation with Mr. Schoefield, left the casino and were later attacked in the car park. Is that correct?"

"Yes! That's what happened."

"And you left through the main entrance of the Club?"

"Yes.”
What is he getting at?
Jay wondered.

"According to the video, you came out of the office and walked to the other end of the corridor towards the fire exit. You went down the steps, but return a few seconds later, walked back down the corridor and back into the casino.” His voice turned hard. “Let me tell you what I think happened. You deliberately lost at the casino in order to have an excuse to go to Schoefield because the hit-man had recruited you, offered you a chance to make some money."

"No!” She cried, “No!"

"He probably told you that he was only going to rob the place so he forces the fire doors and he tells you to go and see Schoefield, and to make sure there are only two bodyguards. Then you go back and report to the killer before you leave the casino through the main doors, and then you meet up with the gunman round the back of the club and help him to distract the bodyguards. But when he kills them, you realise that it's not a robbery and that you yourself could end up being dead and you make a run for it. Yes, he catches and is about to rape you before killing you, but when the people came out of Oasis Club, to watch the fight. You broke free from the killer and ran towards them, and he only managed to crease you when he fired. I also believe that when you woke up in hospital you saw PC Carver, panicked and used the knife to kill him. The nurse came into the ward and saw you, so you chased her into the toilets and slit her throat. That's the truth isn't it Jay? You had the knife and you killed them!"

"No!” Jay shouted. “No, I didn't do it!"

"No, we don't believe that you did it either.” Carlyle said quietly. “But we had to make sure. You see there was a great deal of blood loss from the nurse and it's impossible for someone to kill her like that and without getting some of her blood onto your clothes or shoes. Your clothes show no traces of blood and we also have a video of you sneaking out of the hospital and you went nowhere near the wheely bin where the murder weapon was found. However about five minutes after you'd gone a man wearing a doctors coat comes down the fire escape walks over to the wheely-bin and drops something inside it."

"You knew that I was innocent all the time?"

"Yes, more or less, but we had to make sure. I think the killer is the same man who killed your grandfather and the others. At the time, we thought he was after Cassie, but it looks now as though it's you he wants to kill.” She leaned back in her chair and Jay felt suddenly very angry, very relieved and then she remembered.

"What about the twenty five thousand pounds you found in my car?"

"As you say, he must have put it there to consolidate the evidence against you."

"No, it's mine! I won it playing Black Jack."

"Oh, come on Jay, you'd already admitted that you'd no idea it was there!”

"That's before I knew that you already believed I was innocent, now assuming that you're going to let me go, I'd like to take my money with me."

"But we know the money isn't yours!” Superintendent Roberts said, and then he smiled, “but on the other hand, we can't prove it and as no one has reported the money missing..."

"I can use it to help pay my way until someone buys the cottage."

"I think that's fair enough, compensation for what he's put you through,” Carlyle said. “There's a problem though, Jay. You see, we know about the man who tried to kill you, he's a professional hit man known as the Death Dancer and we're afraid he might come after you again.” Carlyle said.

She's right,
Jay thought.
He'll try and get me all right because I've got away from him twice and I know what he looks like, but why am I different from everyone else?
There was no one she could confide in, no one at all.

"You're a witness and he can't afford to leave you alive, however we do have a witness protection programme but it will mean you leaving the area and taking on a new identity and finding yourself a new job. Obviously, you'll be given a monthly allowance to help you get settled and after you've bought your cheques back from the casino, you'll still have eighteen thousand pounds left."

"I'm going to America on Wednesday for my Aunt and Uncle's funeral, I should be safe enough there.” Jay said.

"Well, we'll book you into a hotel under an assumed name and we'll collect anything you need from the flat and bring them to you there.” Carlyle said.

There were five men seated in the small room above the Juniper Casino in Derby, all of whom were fidgeting nervously Janine noticed when she entered and stalked across the room. She was dressed in a designer cocktail dress made of pure silk that revealed every contour of her body, her thighs pulled at the fabric sensually emphasising their shape as she walked, but none of the men were looking at her legs, they were looking at cold fury of her eyes.

"What the fuck happened, David? How did the bastard get to murder my brother?” Janine snapped.

David, the target of her question, flinched as she glared at him and he swallowed noisily. He knew what she meant all right, why had he personally allowed it to happen? He was head of security for the entire chain of the Schroeder family's Casinos, eight of them now and still expanding. It was he who'd picked the bodyguards, two of his best men to protect Spencer Schroeder and they'd died without even drawing their weapons.

"He got to the bodyguards using the girl to distract them. They were supposed to be professionals and they knew who they were up against, you've seen the video?"

"Oh yes, I've seen the video and so have you. Now you men, listen to me, I want that girl Jay Mallard, she helped set my brother up and I'm going to deal with her personally. She'll tell us everything she knows about the bastard who shot Spencer before I let you kill her, and put her out of the pain and misery I'm going to give her..."

David interrupted, “She was arrested this morning and according to my contact in the police, she had no idea what was going on, he snatched her from a car park at gunpoint. They've released her and she's flying to America on Wednesday, to attend a funeral."

"Who's your contact?"

He hesitated only a second, “DI Carlyle, she's into us for fifteen grand."

"Knock five thousand off her account and tell her I'll pay ten thousand in cash to find out where the funeral's being held and arrange two tickets on the same flight for me. I'll be travelling as Mrs. Denker on those passports you arranged for me and I may decide to take you with me.” She turned on her heel and as she left the room she wondered how Russell would react when she told him that they were flying back to the States.

Detective Superintendent Roberts played back the cassette and listened to the conversation between Mallard and Carlyle and smiled, they'd had no reason to suspect that last night he'd planted a listening device in the hotel room where Mallard would be staying. Before he'd left Carlyle with the girl, he hid the pen, containing the bug, behind a picture as he made a pretence of straightening it. Now he had all the information he needed to earn himself a cool 10,000 tax free. Picking up the phone, he rang David Thompson at the casino.

"That's great Vincent,” David said as he repeated the information out loud, “This is really great, but there could be a problem with the money."

"What do you mean a problem with the money?” If the pratt was trying to rip him off...

"Well, we've told Janine that your DI Carlyle is my contact and as far as she's concerned that's who'll get the money."

"No way, David. Listen ... perhaps its time to tell Janine Schroeder the truth."

"You want me to say that I lied to her? Do you know what she'd do to me?"

"Look, I'll tell her that I told you to keep my name out of it because I was setting up Carlyle because she raided Spencer's club. I'll say I threatened to hassle you if you told anyone who I was."

"All right, I'll arrange a meeting. This information should put her in a better frame of mind. She's been like a cat with two heads since he was killed."

"Fine, just do what you have to, now I want to talk to you about Carlyle."

Rebecca was examining the file she'd obtained on the Death Dancer and it made interesting reading. His first victim was Raymond Hassley a 56-year-old journalist who worked for the Nottingham Evening Herald. His body had been found in the bathroom of his house in Shrewsbury on the 18th December 1986, he'd been shot once in the throat and once on the forehead and a white business card had been dropped on top of the body. Embossed on the card was the figure of a skeleton dancing on a grave and in red letters the message, “I'll dance on your grave!” Hassley's own name had been written on the grave's tombstone.