Strange Blood (16 page)

*   *   *

Mariel Raven drew the thick green velvet curtains in her living room. She could see no reporters or photographers outside, but she wasn't taking any chances. It had been hard, running their gauntlet every time she left the house. But at lunchtime they'd streaked off like sharks scenting blood. She'd seen the news later and breathed a sigh of relief. What she couldn't understand was why those bastards were still holding Sean.

She heard the sound of her son's bicycle on the gravel path. He would have to eat quickly and get himself ready. The others would be here soon. She took candles, wine, a silver goblet and a knife from the kitchen cupboard. ‘Justin!' she called. ‘In here!'

An hour later, Mariel, her son and eleven others stood in a circle in the living room. The candlelight flickered on translucent white robes, beneath which each one was naked.

‘I call on the spirits of the air,' Mariel cried out, sweeping the point of the knife above one of the candles. Working her way round the circle, she invoked spirits of the earth, fire and water, cutting the air in a succession of intricate patterns.

‘Now choose your high priestess,' she whispered to her son. Justin stood in the centre of the circle. Tall and slim-hipped, he had his mother's jet black hair and high cheekbones. Mariel watched his eyes as they travelled over the bodies of the six young women she'd selected. By candlelight they were all beautiful. He was gazing at the large, pendulous breasts of the girl nearest to the altar. In a sudden movement he crouched at her feet, the folds of the robe hiding his swelling penis.

He sank to his knees and bent his head. His mother wondered what was going through his mind. He knew how to perform the five-fold kiss. He had watched Sean do it many times. Mariel saw the girl's legs quiver as his lips moved up her body. She was enjoying this as much as he was. And soon they would be left alone.

Twenty minutes later Mariel and the others filed back in from the kitchen. The girl was lying on the floor by the altar. Taking up the knife, Mariel plunged it into the goblet of red wine. ‘The Great Rite is finished,' she hissed. ‘Raise the cone!' The others sank to the floor. Mariel took Justin's hand and held it high above the circle. She could smell the girl on his body.

‘We raise a cone of power for our brother, Sean,' she chanted, ‘We call on the spirits of earth, air, fire and water! By the power of the Goddess! Free him!'

‘Free him!' the others echoed.

Mariel breathed deeply and slowly, soothed by the scent of the jasmine oil burning on the altar. The spell would work. She
knew
it would work.

When she opened her eyes she saw that Justin's robe was smeared with blood.

Chapter 11

Dave Todd picked up the phone and punched out a number. ‘Al, it's Dave. Can you get Raven up from the cells?' He caught Megan's eye as he replaced the receiver. His expression was one of resignation and she got the impression he was as unhappy as she was about the direction the investigation was taking.

Steve Foy was rifling through plastic evidence bags piled on a table in the far corner of the room. He picked one out and waved it under Megan's nose. She peered at the dark brown scrap of fabric inside and then at the label. It was Tessa Ledbury's bloodstained bra.

‘Might come in handy!' Foy sniffed and cocked his head at the door. ‘You coming?'

‘You don't really need me for this, do you Steve?' Megan tried to keep her voice steady, but her anger and frustration were mounting.

He looked surprised. ‘Well, I suppose it's not
vital.
But I thought you'd want…'

‘I think my time might be better spent at the crime scene,' she cut in. ‘There's a lot more I want to know. Okay by you?' She looked him in the eyes, daring him to challenge her.

‘Okay,' he shrugged. ‘Whatever turns you on.'

‘Shall I take Dr Rhys, Guv?' Dave Todd piped up.

Megan wondered why he was so eager to escape. Perhaps he was thinking along the same lines as she was.

‘Might as well,' Foy grunted. ‘Don't forget to check out those receipts, now.' There was an edge of sarcasm in his voice.
Bastard,
Megan thought. The man had total self-belief. It was an unpleasant trait in any human being, but in a policeman it was positively dangerous.

‘We're picking up Vicky Tomlins on the way,' Dave Todd said as they got into the black Mondeo. We need her to tell us if anything's been nicked from the house.'

‘Good,' Megan replied. ‘I want to talk to her as well, if that's okay.'

‘Get in the back when we stop at her house, then,' Dave said. ‘You can talk on the way to Joanna's. There won't be anywhere private once we get there ‘cos the SOCOs'll be all over the shop.'

Megan gave him a sideways glance. ‘Were you there when the body was found?'

He nodded. ‘Not a pretty sight. I've come across all kinds since I started this job, but that was definitely one of the worst.'

‘I didn't get a proper look at the crime scene photographs,' Megan said. ‘She was clothed, though, wasn't she? What was she wearing?'

‘A red vest top and red trousers.' A line appeared above the bridge of Todd's glasses as he frowned in concentration. ‘Black bra and knickers. A gold beaded hair band. Nothing on her feet.'

‘Oh?' Megan said. ‘No shoes?'

‘No socks or tights either. She must have been barefoot when he broke in.'

‘Like Tessa Ledbury, then?'

‘Yes.' Todd shot her sideways glance. ‘Does that tell you something?'

Megan pursed her lips. ‘Not sure. It could be down to the warm weather, of course. But it could also tell us something about the killer's
modus operandi.
'

‘Do you think he took their shoes? Like a trophy or something?'

‘It's possible.' She looked at him. ‘Presumably Richard Ledbury was asked about that? Whether any of his wife's things were missing?'

‘Yes, he was. I was there when Kate was going through it with him.'

Megan's eyebrows flicked up at the mention of the policewoman's name. ‘The thing is,' she said, thinking aloud, ‘Would a man necessarily know if a pair of his wife's shoes were missing?'

*   *   *

The bloodstained bra shot across the table, coming to rest against Sean Raven's left hand. At first he couldn't work out what it was. It looked like a dirty brown rag.

‘Recognise it?' Foy barked.

Raven looked up, confused.

‘Go on! Pick it up!'

Gingerly he lifted the fabric with his finger and thumb. ‘Jesus!' He dropped it as if it had burnt his fingers, his other hand shooting to his mouth as he retched. ‘Oh Jesus!'

‘Not a very appropriate expletive for a Black Magician, is it?' Foy sneered. ‘Was Joanna another of your sacrifices to Satan?'

‘I … I don't know what you're talking about.' Sean Raven's voice was a hoarse whisper. ‘I've never seen that … that
thing
before in my life.'

‘Don't give me that bollocks!' Foy was shouting now. ‘You took it off Tessa's body after you'd killed her, didn't you? Was that before or after you left your sicko sign on her head?'

Sean Raven stared at the coffee-stained table, not moving.

‘Let me guess,' Foy went on, ‘You got bored of dancing naked round bonfires. You wanted to see how far you could go. How far you could push the poor slappers who fell for your witchcraft bullshit. You murdered Tessa and Joanna, didn't you?' For a moment there was no sound but the ticking of the clock on the wall. ‘Didn't you?' he roared.

Raven jumped as Foy's fist came down on the table. ‘You can't do this,' he croaked, cradling his head in his hands. ‘Where's my brief?'

*   *   *

Vicky Tomlins looked much younger than her twenty-five years. Her short, wispy blonde hair framed a chubby face with red-rimmed eyes. Talking to her was like waiting for an icicle to drop from a roof. The way she held her head, the constant clenching and unclenching of her hands, spoke of a soul in torment. After a few minutes Megan became convinced she was holding something back. She wondered if Dave Todd's presence in the driver's seat was the problem.

‘Would you mind pulling in at this garage?' Megan leaned forward, catching his eye in the rear view mirror. ‘I've got a thumping head. Could do with some paracetamol or something.'

‘No problem.' He nodded and she knew he'd taken the hint. ‘I'll pop in and get it,' he said, swinging the car off the road. ‘Could do with some petrol, anyway.'

As his door slammed shut Megan glanced after him. Without looking at Vicky she said: ‘It's odd, you know. The police say they can't trace anyone who was close to Joanna. Apart from her ex in Australia, I mean.' She paused, still avoiding Vicky's eyes. ‘I'd have thought she'd have had other people in her life.'

‘You know, that's what makes me feel so terrible.' The voice was a whisper.

Megan said nothing, but turned to look at the girl, trying to keep her face as expressionless as possible.

‘She asked me to move in with her,' Vicky went on. ‘And if I hadn't turned her down, she'd still be alive now!'

Megan sat in silence as Vicky dug in her pocket for a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.

‘I'm sorry,' she sniffed, ‘it's just that I … I…' The rest of the sentence dissolved in a stream of tears.

‘It's alright,' Megan said gently. ‘Take your time. You say she asked you to move in with her?'

‘Yes.' Another sniff and a deep breath. ‘You see Joanna was … well…' She paused, looking down at the screwed up hanky in her hand. She took another deep breath, as if mustering her courage and looked straight at Megan. ‘She was gay.'

‘Oh, I see,' Megan replied evenly, trying not to let the surprise register on her face.

‘I know it sounds strange, with her having been married and everything.' Vicky blinked at Megan, obviously taken aback by the lack of reaction to what she had just divulged. ‘But that was why her marriage broke up,' she went on. ‘She had a fling with a girl in Australia but it didn't work out. She was really cut up about it and that's why she decided to move back here.'

‘How long ago was it that she asked you to move in?' Megan asked, avoiding the obvious question about Vicky's own sexual orientation.

‘The last time I saw her,' Vicky said, her eyes filling with fresh tears. ‘Up until then I didn't know. I didn't know anything.' She blew her nose loudly. ‘She'd never explained exactly why her marriage had failed. I had no idea she was a…' She faltered, struggling with the word. ‘You know, a
lesbian.
'

‘So what happened? When she told you, I mean?'

‘It all came out in a rush. We were sitting there in the middle of Beatties restaurant and she started telling me all this stuff about the girl in Australia. She started crying and told me how lonely she'd been since she moved here. She knew I wanted to move out of my parents' house and in the next breath she was asking if I'd go and live with her.'

‘What did you say?'

‘Well, I was so shocked I didn't know what to say at first. She started backtracking very quickly, saying she didn't mean anything by it. She said she just wanted us to live together as friends.'

‘As friends?' Megan echoed.

‘Well that's what she said.' Vicky bit her lip. ‘But by that time I was so confused I didn't know what to say or do.' She looked away. ‘It's a while since I've been in a relationship, but I've been quite happy to be single for the past year or so. Joanna knew that. I couldn't work out if she thought
I
might be interested in a gay relationship and whether that was the real reason she was asking me to move in.' She sighed. ‘To be honest, the whole thing really freaked me out.'

‘So what did you do?'

‘I said I'd have to think about it. But that was just an excuse, really. I wanted to get up and run from the table, I felt so embarrassed. We arranged to meet again after her trip to Paris but my brain was in a whirl. I didn't even know if I was going to turn up myself.'

‘But you did.'

‘Yes. I thought about it a lot over the next few days. I decided I'd tell her I couldn't move in because it might spoil our friendship. And that was the truth, you know? I really liked Joanna. We've known each other since primary school…' She tailed off, blinking in a vain attempt to stop her eyes overflowing again. ‘If it hadn't been for her telling me she was gay I probably would have gone ahead with it. But I couldn't get it out of my mind that sooner or later she might make a pass at me. And I couldn't have coped with that.' She sniffed and then blew her nose again. ‘When she didn't turn up yesterday I thought it was because I'd offended her by not saying yes straight away. I wanted to put things right between us. When I couldn't get through on her mobile I thought it was because she was still angry. That's why I ended up going round to the house.'

The steady trickle of tears now gave way to a rush of sobbing. ‘I … I don't think I can do it again,' Vicky stammered. ‘I … can't face going to that house!'

Megan saw Dave coming out of the forecourt shop. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. ‘I'm so sorry you're being put through this,' she whispered. ‘But we have to know everything we can about Joanna. Anything you can tell us, no matter how embarrassing or insignificant it might seem, might help us find out who killed her.' Megan paused, hoping she hadn't blown things for the SOCOs. ‘Will you do that? For her sake?'

*   *   *

Patrick sat on the hard, narrow bed he'd lain awake in for most of the previous night. He was rehearsing what to say to Megan. This time tomorrow he would be doing it for real.