Spiritwalker (7 page)

“Ahh....  Do you know what time she will be returning?”

“Sometime this evening I think.” Eva responded.  “And while we're on the subject, this has to have something to do with Jane's disappearance.  Someone out there is targeting my family and I want him stopped.”

“We don't know that yet. “ The Inspector replied.  “We are looking at all angles, I can assure you.”

“That's what you keep saying and I'm sick of it.  Do you need to find a body before you take it seriously?”  She said anger beginning to rise in her as she realised how poignant her words were.

“I can assure you Mrs Westhall that we take the abduction of a minor very seriously and we will catch him.  As for your sister we haven't stopped looking for her.”

“Oh my god... you don't think she's dead do you?  That this psychopath was looking for another victim.”

“Eva.” her husband said sharply, looking pointedly from his wife to his daughter who was beginning to look terrified as the meaning of her mother’s words took root.

“I'm sorry darling.” Eva said going over to her and hugging her tightly to her.  “Everything’s going to be okay”

DI Morley put his notebook and pen away and stood up to leave.  He bade the Westhall's goodbye and wished Sassy a full recovery.  As he headed out the door he said.

“Please have Miss Cotter call me when she returns” he handed Andrew his business card.  “There are some points I need her to clarify.”

Andrew Westhall followed him out and caught him by the elbow and said sternly.  “My sister-in-law is missing, possibly dead.  My daughter was abducted right outside her home and Miss Cotter’s car was broken into....  I don't think you are doing your job properly.   I want you to know I'll be making a complaint to the Commissioner.  I want results.  I wasn't for my wife hiring a private detective, but I'm very glad we weren't relying on your lot last night.” 

“Believe me Mr Westhall I know how you feel.  I give you my personal assurance that this man will be caught.  I will keep you informed of our progress.”

He got into his car, he had driven about ten miles when he got a phone call that an elderly man had been found dead in suspicious circumstances.

“Can't you find someone else? I'm investigating last night's abduction.” 

“Sorry sir” the Super wants you on it, they think it might be tied in with your case.”

“Why do they think that?”

“It’s only about a mile cross country from where the suspect last night was seen leaving the scene on foot.  We also have an eye witness who saw a man matching his description heading towards the deceased’s house”

“Very well, give me the location, I'll be there soon.  I was headed in that direction.” and he hung up wondering what next.  He had a bad feeling things were only going to get worse.

Chapter ten

                        Jane was terrified.  She had been held captive now for ten days now.  It seemed like an eternity, she never realised how long a day could drag.  Each day he came in brought her food and drinks, tried to be nice to her. Sickeningly nice.  He didn't let his guard down for a moment. Told her he loved her and only wanted what was best for her.  She had tried going on hunger strike but he had tied her to the bed and forced her to eat.  She had almost choked once, as he forced food into her mouth.  She had tried to coax him to let her go but he was adamant that she would come to love him and they were destined to be together always.  She had tried goading him, telling him he couldn't get a woman to stay with him willingly, that he probably couldn't get it up, but he only smiled at her.  Then yesterday he had come into her room and was all excited, his eyes shining and his cheeks pink.  He was raving at her about Sassy.  He told her that tonight was the night.  He was going to get Sassy.  To bring her here so that they could all be one happy family.  It was the one thing she had dreaded hearing again.  When she had first arrived he had threatened to bring her niece here, to kidnap her.  He hadn't mentioned it since and she had thought it was just talk.  Now she knew he meant it.  She had begged and pleaded with him not to do it, to leave Sassy alone.  She had promised to do anything he wanted, told him she loved him that they didn't need anybody else. But it was as though he wasn't listening, he just kept harping on and on about happy families. 

When he left, she paced the room in a frenzy.  She tried to burst through the door running at it time and time again, but it was solid wood.  She only ended up hurting her shoulder.  She had spent ages shouting and cursing until her throat hurt and she just ended up in a heap on the floor, crying her eyes out wondering what the hell she was going to do.  She lay down on the bed and curled into a ball. Defeated. She knew she had to think of something.  If only there was a way to warn her sister.  She knew there wasn't, she didn't have a phone and nobody came when she yelled...only him.  Think she ordered herself.  Don't let that bastard win.  She began to form a plan.  Next time he came in she would be ready for him.  She had a knife hidden under her mattress. She had hidden it without him realising.  She would wait until he opened the door and then she would strike.  She would stab him.  Kill the bastard.  Planning made her feel better, less like a victim, less sorry for herself.  She planned different ways of jumping him in her head.  Each one ended the same way.  Him dead and her free.  If he harmed Sassy in any way God help him.  She would make him pay.

            Unfortunately it didn't quite work out as she had planned.  It was almost morning when he returned.  Jane had dozed off and she woke with a start to the sound of crashing and banging coming from the other side of the door.  She huddled up under the duvet hugging it closer to her for comfort.  She knew something was wrong, terribly wrong.  There was complete silence, then she heard his footsteps approaching her door.  She heard the key being inserted and with the little illumination from the light coming through the window, she saw the knob turn.  He barged into the room.  Jane tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, trying to melt into the background. 

“That fucking Irish bitch, it’s all her fault.  She made me kill someone tonight.  She tried to drive us off the road.”  He ranted advancing towards the bed.

Jane was rigid with fear.  She couldn't grasp what he was talking about.  Who had he killed?  What Irishwoman had tried to run him off the road?  Had he finally flipped?  Oh god she thought, what if it’s Sassy he's killed. 

“I had to leave her behind, our little girl, our Sassy.”  He had the palms of his hands pressed up against his forehead.  It looked like he was trying to squeeze the bad memories out.  He sat on the bed and reached out to Jane, he was crying.  She could see actual tears rolling down his cheeks.

Jane saw red.  How fucking dare he come in here crying, expecting me to feel sorry for him?  The bastard has murdered my niece and he wants my pity.  She reached under the pillow where she had hidden the knife earlier and felt the cold hard metal and wrapped her fingers around it. She grabbed it and with all her might she pounced, lifting the knife high over her head she brought it down hard.  It sank into his flesh, close to his shoulder.  He screamed out as white hot pain surged through his body. The knife still embedded in his flesh. He leapt up from the bed trying to steady himself.  Jane tried to attack again but this time she had no weapon and as she went for him her feet got tangled in the duvet and she landed in a heap on the floor.  He pulled the knife out of his shoulder and flung it across the room.  He caught Jane and lifted her up off the floor by her hair.  She struggled to get away but the fight had gone out of her, she knew she was beaten.  He put his hands around her throat and started pressing.  She tried to fight back, tried to hit him in the wounded shoulder but he didn't seem to notice the pain.  Her eyes felt like they would pop out of their sockets as he pressed even harder.  She was gasping for breath.  He was saying something over and over to her but she couldn't make it out.  Just as she was about to lose consciousness he stopped.  He caught her by the shoulders and flung her back onto the bed, hard.  She landed, her head slamming against the wall and she passed out.  When she came to he was sitting on the end of the bed watching her.

            She tried to sit up and couldn't.  Her head wouldn't allow her to move too quickly without sending stabbing needles of pain behind her eyes.  She reached for the water that was on the locker beside the bed. Took a sip it helped ease her sore throat. 

“Why did you kill Sassy?”  She croaked at him tears filling her eyes

He looked at her bewildered.  “I didn't kill Sassy, I could never kill her.”

Jane looked at him.  “You said you killed someone tonight and that you had to leave her.” she accused him.  “Who did you kill?”

“Not Sassy, never Sassy.  They made me do it.”  He tried to explain.  “I was driving home here to you.  Sassy was in the back asleep when that crazy woman drove up behind us like a bat of hell and ran us off the road.  I had to leave Sassy behind.  I didn't have time to get her.”

“Sassy's not dead? You don't have her?” Jane asked, trying to make sense of what he was saying.  Her relief was palpable “So who did you kill?” fearful of the answer in case it might be Eva or Andrew.

“Just some old man, I needed his car.”  His response was so blasé it made her shudder.  “Couldn't let him tell them about me.  They would try to separate us, take you away from me. I don't want to talk about it anymore” He rose to leave.

            Jane wasn’t having any of it she had to know what was going on.  “What man did you kill?  Was it Andrew?”  She dreaded the answer but not knowing would be worse.

“No. just some old guy.  He was nearly dead anyway.  He smelled of piss and whiskey, disgusting.”

She could tell he was starting to get worked up again, she could read him like a book.   She wanted to know who he meant by the crazy Irishwoman, so she asked.  “Who was the woman who ran you off the road?”

“That bitch.... She's staying with your sister.  A private detective, a fucking busybody, I'll kill her yet and that's a promise.” 

Jane could see he was getting agitated again, dangerously so.    She stopped asking questions.  He left and this time she didn't try to stop him. She heard the key being turned in the lock.  She was alone again and she relaxed a little.  She took comfort from the knowledge that her sister hadn't given up on her.  This woman must be good, she had foiled his plans and really got under his skin. Jane prayed would find her soon she was beginning to lose hope.

Chapter eleven

                        DI Morley arrived at the crime scene within fifteen minutes.  The PC on duty waved him through.  He parked the car and noticed that the forensics team were already there taking photographs and dusting for prints.  The pathologist had yet to arrive.  He walked around to the back-door and a tired DS Waters greeted him. 

“There you are Guv.  I told them to call you.  It looks like it might be connected to our abduction last night.”

“What happened?”  Morley asked.

“It looks like the deceased was answering the door when he was attacked.  It looks like he was strangled and his head smashed in.  He didn't stand a chance. Poor bloke.”  Morley went into the kitchen and lowered the sheet covering the corpse.  The man was lying on his back, eyes open staring vacantly ahead.  Dried blood was congealed on the floor under his head and dark marks were clearly visible around his neck.”

“Any idea how long he's been dead?”

“Sometime yesterday evening at the earliest.  His neighbour dropped him off home at about ten.  They had been out playing darts in the local. He didn't see anything unusual. His sister called this morning she usually took him grocery shopping on Sundays into Canterbury. Apparently he was banned from driving due to poor eyesight.  When she got here she rang the front door-bell, got no answer, she went around the back and this is what greeted her.”

“So it might not have been our man from last night?  He was on the loose later.”

“Well Guv, we have an eye witness who swears that he saw a man fitting our suspect’s description running this way around the same time as the other incident.”

“Is the witness reliable?  Is he sure of the time?”

“He seems adamant.”

Okay, will you get his details I'll talk to him later, and for god’s sake go home to bed, you're beginning to look like something out of the
Walking Dead
.  Oh and I'm changing your rota, I want you on this case with me.  I'll square it with the Super.  Be in at seven in the morning.”

            Morley went in search of the deceased’s sister.  She was sitting in the living room drinking tea and being comforted by a female PC.  He recognised the woman as PC Gregory, a stout middle-aged woman with a matronly appearance.  She's in good hands there at least he thought to himself as he entered the room. 

“Guv” Gregory greeted him as he entered.  “This is Mrs Bucks, the deceased’s sister.”

Mrs Bucks was a frail looking elderly woman, her eyes were red and puffy from crying.  She looked to be still in shock from the discovery of her brother's body.”

“Mrs Bucks, I'm DI Morley.  I'm very sorry for your loss.”  He said sitting on the sofa beside the elderly woman.  “Do you feel like telling me what happened here?”  He asked her gently.

“I just found him like that, lying there, covered in blood.”  She sobbed looking him in the eye.  “I knew something was up before I came this morning.  You see he usually rings me first thing to make sure I've not forgotten, I'm a bit of a scatter-brain and I forget the time.  It always annoys him when I'm late.  He was in the army you see... Never could abide tardiness, everything had to be on time.  Never married, don't think any woman could live with him.  My George is very easy-going as long as he gets fed he don't care about time.”  She was rambling on barely stopping to take a breath.

“Mrs Bucks,” The Inspector interrupted her.  “Did your brother have any enemies, anyone who had a grudge against him?”