No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) (16 page)

Julie closed her eyes again and
squeezed them tightly. Her grip tightened around the glass of water
at the same time. “I think he growled at me. I kept my head down,
didn’t want to alienate him at all. There was no one else around.
No one would hear me if I cried out for help…”

“Take a breather. Don’t get
stressed out, Julie.”

But Julie refused to stop. Her
breath came out in short sharp bursts.

Sally glanced at the doctor,
who was watching Julie’s vital signs rise on the monitor, but he
seemed reluctant to intervene. Sally took that to mean he didn’t
feel the patient was in any immediate danger. However, she decided
to continue cautiously. “As soon as he passed, I felt his arms grip
me, constricting my movements. There was an alley close by…”

“Did he take you to the
alley?”

“I was in shock. Frozen in
fear. My throat seized up. By then, I couldn’t cry out, then his
hand covered my mouth to prevent me. He was strong, very strong. It
confused me because he didn’t look as though he’d have the strength
to drag me, but he did. It seemed a lifetime swept by before I
could react. I kicked out, tried to trip him up. I used to be
enrolled in a judo class when I was in my teens. Everything I
learned in these lessons escaped me momentarily. Slowly, the moves
came flooding back. I thrashed out, tried to throw him off me. I
must have pissed him off, because he hurled me to the ground.”

“Is that how your head got
injured, Julie?”

“I think so. Wait…” She
squeezed her eyes together, tighter than before.

“What is it? What do you
see?”

“He beat me. Kept thumping me
in the face. His hood tipped back. I can clearly see the whites of
his eyes now.” She shuddered, and teardrops seeped onto her
cheek.

“Can you see the colour of his
hair, Julie?”

“It’s black. Tightly knitted.
Oh my God, he’s black! Yes, I can see him clearly now.”

The words hit Sally as if a
boxer had struck a knockout blow. It was crystal clear in that
instant that Julie’s and Gemma’s attackers might not have been the
same person. Gemma’s family members were at the top of their
suspect list—and none of them were black. “Are you one hundred
percent certain, Julie?”

“As sure as I’m going to get,
Inspector. He was definitely black and painfully thin for a man,
with the strength of a raging bull.”

“That really helps us a lot.
What about if I sent a police artist in to see you? Do you think
you’d be able to go into further detail?”

“Things are becoming clearer
all the time. If you leave it until tomorrow, maybe I’ll be able to
give you even more details. I can’t promise anything, though.”

Sally looked in the doctor’s
direction for authorisation. He nodded his acceptance. She patted
Julie’s hand again. “That’s wonderful news. Try and get some rest
now. Thank you for pushing yourself to the limit in order to give
us vital information. I’ll send an artist in tomorrow afternoon.
How’s that?”

“Okay, hopefully, providing I
don’t have a relapse in the meantime, I should be okay to give the
artist a detailed description. I’ll try and jot things down if
anything else comes to mind during the day. I want you to catch
this man quickly. He’s a danger to other women out there,
Inspector.”

“I’m sure we will arrest him
soon, with your help. I hope your recuperation goes well. Thank you
for your assistance. I’ll be in touch shortly.”

“I’m glad I could be helpful.
Sorry I couldn’t provide you with more detail.”

“You’ve given us a great start,
Julie.”

The doctor escorted Sally and
Joanna off the ward. “Thank you, Doctor. I know you had your
reservations back there, yet you allowed the interview to continue.
I appreciate that.”

“I was keeping a watchful eye
on her vitals. I’m glad she’s supplied you with enough details to
arrest the attacker. Let the nurse know when the artist will be
coming in, okay?”

“I will. Thank you.”

Sally and Joanna began the
twisting journey through the hospital corridors back to the car.
“Interesting morning’s work, eh, Joanna? Especially as I was
originally told the incident took place on a country lane.”

“So it would appear, boss.
You’re thinking that we’re looking for two different assailants. Am
I right?”

“Spot on. There’s nothing
similar in the cases at all. However, we still need to be vigilant
and not become complacent. I need to make a call to the pathology
department before we do anything else.”

Once settled in the car, Sally
rang the lab. “Simon, it’s Sally Parker. I know it’s a bit early,
but do you have any news for me?”

“Actually, I saw something on
my desk with reference to your case when I came in. I’ve been in a
PM for the past hour. Now where did I put it? Ah… here it is…”

Sally heard the sound of papers
being shuffled, and the pathologist tutted and cursed under his
breath before he came back on the line. “I hope you’re sitting down
for this, Inspector.”

“I am. I’m in the car outside
the hospital, which I’ll tell you about later. Hit me with it.”

“It would appear that the child
Gemma was carrying belonged to Colin Whiting.”

“I had my suspicions. There’s
no possibility of mistaking his DNA with his brother’s?”

“You know better than to ask
that.”

“Yeah, I’m just covering all
the angles, Simon.”

“May I ask why you’re at the
hospital? Is it to do with the case?”

“The new case, yes. Julie Smith
has regained consciousness and given us a brief description of the
man who attacked her.”

“Interesting. And? Don’t leave
me dangling.”

“Well, she seemed to think the
man who attacked her was black, which leads me to believe that the
two cases aren’t connected.”

“None of the suspects in the
Whiting case are black?”

“That’s right. I don’t suppose
you’ve managed to find any DNA connecting the crime scenes
yet?”

“No, nothing. But then we
wouldn’t if your assumption proves to be correct. Well, I must
crack on. I’ll e-mail this report over to you so you have a copy on
file.”

Sally hung up and placed her
hands on the steering wheel. “You were expecting that result, boss.
Weren’t you?”

She turned to face Joanna. “I
was. Nonetheless, it’s still come as a bit of a shock. The question
is, what do I do about it?”

Joanna frowned. “Arrest Colin
Whiting?”

“On what charge? Getting his
brother’s wife up the duff? While it’s immoral, it’s not actually
an arrestable offence. Although we could bring him in for further
questioning in relation to the evidence, it could be deemed as a
possible motive. Sticky ground, though, considering we have no
evidence placing him, or anyone else for that matter, at the
scene.”

“I understand. Maybe it would
have been better not finding out that snippet of information.”

“It is certainly going to
hamper my line of thinking. The clue is too substantial to ignore
or to confront head on.” She slapped the steering wheel with the
palm of her hand. “What are we missing? Maybe I should question
some of her friends again. I know they’ve already been seen, but
not by me. Perhaps they can tell us how the affair started, if they
were aware of it at all. Either way, I don’t want to reveal the
truth to the family yet while they’re grieving.” She tutted. “There
again, I do think Gemma’s mother has the right to know. Bugger, I’m
damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

“Eek… I don’t envy you, boss.
Why don’t we leave it for now and see what other information comes
in during the course of the day from the TV appeal?”

Sally nodded and smiled at the
constable. “That makes a lot of sense, Joanna.”

The first task Sally adopted
when she got back to the station was to arrange for the police
artist to visit Julie Smith that afternoon. Being armed with some
form of positive description of the assailant meant they could
check the national computer for a match. Sally decided to appoint
Jordan as the lead on Julie’s case.

By lunchtime, Sally was feeling
frustrated by the lack of calls they’d received after the TV
appeal. She sent Joanna out to buy sandwiches for the team, and
together they spent the next few hours tracking down and talking to
Gemma’s friends who were with her the night of her death. Sally
looked out the window of her office. Her stomach churned when she
looked over the results. Not one of Gemma’s friends could shed any
light about an affair between Gemma and Colin.
Isn’t that the
sort of thing one confides to a best friend? Why didn’t Gemma? What
does this mean?

If Gemma’s friends weren’t
aware, then maybe her mother was. Sally rang Heather Lord and
arranged to visit her at three o’clock that afternoon. Again, Sally
took Joanna along. “Be prepared for her mother breaking down. Take
notes when necessary.”

“Yes, boss.”

Heather was waiting for them on
the doorstep of her home. The poor woman looked a mess. Her hair
was uncombed, and the dark circles around her bloodshot eyes told
Sally that the woman’s mourning had taken a toll on her ability to
sleep.

Smiling weakly, Heather
welcomed them into her home. “I was a little surprised to hear from
you so soon, Inspector. Hopefully, you’re bringing me some good
news.”

Sally sighed heavily and bit
her lip. “Maybe we should take a seat first, Heather.”

“Can I get you a drink?”

Sally and Joanna declined the
offer. “I do have some news for you. I wanted to tell you the news
in person rather than over the phone. I imagine that it’s going to
be somewhat difficult for you to hear.”

Heather gulped noisily.
“Whatever is the matter? Do you know who robbed me of my beautiful
daughter?”

“Not yet.”

“Then I don’t understand what
you’re getting at, Inspector. You’re worrying me. Please, just tell
me what you’ve discovered?”

“First of all, I need to ask
you about your daughter’s relationship with her husband.”

“As I’ve told you already, they
had their ups and downs. Is Mark the main suspect? Is that what
you’re here to tell me?”

“No. I just wanted to get
further insight into their marriage.”

“All I can tell you is that
things have been strained in that household for a few months
now—why? I have no idea. My daughter refused to tell me.”

“Why? Weren’t you close?”

“Yes, very close. Maybe she
thought I’d go round there and interfere. I’ve been known to let
rip on occasion.”

“And would you have?” Sally
asked, tilting her head.

Heather shrugged. “A mother
should always do what she can to protect her child. I’m no
different in that respect.”

“I’ve asked Gemma’s friends if
they knew about your daughter’s marriage difficulties, and I have
to say that the news came as a shock to most of them, which strikes
me as a little odd.”

“Do
you
tell your
friends every detail of your life, Inspector? Maybe Gemma confided
in Melinda more than her other friends.”

Sally winced when she thought
about the huge secret she’d kept from her own good friends
regarding Darryl’s abusive tendencies. Everyone had disbelieved her
at first when she’d told them she’d been forced to arrest her own
husband. “Maybe. I don’t think we’ve contacted Melinda. Was she out
with the group the other night?”

Heather shook her head. “No.
Sadly, she lost her battle against breast cancer a few months ago.
She was Gemma’s best friend. I pray to God that she was waiting for
Gemma to complete her journey to the other side.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope
she was there, too,” Sally replied, not really one for believing in
that kind of mumbo jumbo.

“You mentioned some news you
have for me.”

Sally looked the woman in the
eye and nodded. “The post-mortem results are back, and they have
thrown up a surprising outcome.”

“What’s that?” Heather asked,
sitting forward in her chair.

“Were you aware that Gemma was
pregnant?”

Heather’s shoulders slumped,
and her mouth dropped open. “How far gone?”

“About four weeks. You had no
idea, I take it?”

“No.” Tears poured from her
eyes; she wiped them away on the back of her hand, but a steady
stream of fresh tears replaced them. She started rocking back and
forth on the edge of her seat and stared at a swirl of pattern in
the carpet. “I never knew. I doubt she knew, either. She wouldn’t
have kept that kind of news a secret from me.”

“Do you know if Gemma and Mark
were trying for another baby?”

“I don’t think so. She would
have told me. I think Samantha was more than either of them were
able to cope with.”

Sally chewed on the inside of
her mouth for a second or two before she delivered the news she
anticipated would rock the woman’s world off its axis. “I actually
found out about the pregnancy yesterday, but the investigation has
been full-on for the last twenty-four hours, as you can imagine.
Anyway, after questioning a few suspects, I acquired DNA samples
from the men in question. I asked the pathologist to match the DNA
to the sample of the foetus as a long shot.”

“And? Who were the suspects?”
Heather sniffled.

“I can’t really tell you that.
I just want you to be aware that we do have someone on our
radar.”

“But that’s not fair. Surely as
Gemma’s mother, I have a right to know who you think the suspect
is.” She gasped. “It
is
a member of that family, isn’t it?
If not Mark, then…”

“I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.
All will be revealed soon enough. I just wanted you to be aware of
Gemma’s pregnancy more than anything.”

Heather’s face drained of all
colour. She couldn’t have looked more stunned if Sally had thrown a
bucket of cold water over her head. “That’s like only telling me
half the story, Inspector.”