The Escape (Detective Jane Sparrow Book 2) (6 page)

              “I’ll look in to it kiddo and see when we can go but no promises ok. Now settle down and eat the rest of your breakfast. We got to get you ready for when your Nan comes to pick you up for school.”

              “Oh cant you and Jane take me to school today?”

              “Not today kiddo but were sort something out for another day I promise. But I will be there to pick you up.”

              “Ok”

              “Good lad come on then champ go get dressed.”

Jane and Perry sat and ate the rest of their breakfast by the time Parker came out from getting dressed, Angie, Perry’s mum had arrived to collect him. The love and affection that flowed between the two of them was clear to see and it was lovely and obvious to see how much Angie doted on Parker. Jane and Perry cleared away the mess from breakfast once they were done and got ready to leave for the day. Jane checked in with the patrol car when they went outside. Jane wanted to make sure that everything had been clear throughout the night and to double check that they were going to be escorting her to the station. The two officers that were outside had come onto shift at six o clock that morning and at shift changeover the area had been clear and the leaving officers had no incidents to report. Everything had been fine throughout the night and they were to still escort her to the station. Jane gave them a thank you and a courteous nod as she headed of to take her seat in Perry’s car. The day was still nice and bright and warm as the day before it but it didn’t feel Jane with as much happiness as it should. They did make most of the way to the station without any incident but a few streets from the turning that they needed to take Jane, Perry and the escorting police officers were all playing close attention to a car that had been behind them for quite a while. The escorting police officers phoned through to Jane and decided it would be best to drive down a turning before the one they wanted to see if the car still followed. They directed Perry in which turning to take, as it would lead them round in almost a complete circle. The car still followed behind them as they went down the first street and pulled into the second. The police officers decided it would probably be safer to pull over and watch the car go by. Jane made a note of the registration as the car went by. So they could keep an eye to check it didn’t follow them anywhere else. They waited for near on ten minutes parked up in the same spot making sure that the car didn’t do another lap round to find them. The apprehension was almost overwhelming. Jane could feel her heart racing in her chest from adrenaline but she tried to remain calm and practical, it may be nothing to worry about at all. When they were all comfortable that the vicinity was clear they headed on the rest of the way to the station. By the time that they had made it to the car park and inside the close confines of the station house all of them had nerves that were shot. Jane still thought it was an overreaction on all of their parts. It probably was an innocent driver who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It did however seem a little strange that the car had been following them from near Perry’s house. And even into the small side roads that didn’t lead anywhere. It didn’t help either that the car windows were very heavily tinted so you couldn’t see who was driving. They were illegally tinted so if the car was spotted again they could pull it over for an actual reason rather than suspicion. The escorting police officers that were with Jane had made note of that. But they didn’t feel comfortable leaving Jane and Perry unattended just in case, as that was their duty to escort her. Perry had followed Jane through into the police station and had gone over to pour Jane a cup of coffee. Jane hadn’t realised up to that point how badly she was shaking from the adrenaline and fear. She scolded herself for letting the panic take over again for a second day in a row for what could have basically been no reason. She had always prided herself on being a strong confident woman. Jane believed a part of that might have died within her when Thaddeus had had her strapped to that bed being tortured by his band of thugs. Jane could hear the Superintendent yelling at the police officers. Jane felt rather guilty, but her supervisor seemed hell bent on admonishing them for appalling work and incompetence. He was telling them that they could thank their lucky stars that their mistakes didn’t catch up with them. The Superintendent put the order out to all mobile units to keep an eye out for the suspicious vehicle, which was a Vauxhall Insignia with the registration number MO59PNO. It can be pulled over on suspicion of having too heavily tinted windows. But that they needed and wanted all information on the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle.

              “Detective I’m sorry about that any further suspicious vehicles will not get that close to you again. Your escorting officers should of known how to deal with that situation better and for that I’m sorry. I should have made sure they were all briefed on such protocol. I’m sorry for the scare but I am sure it was probably nothing.”

“Thank you sir but there is no need to apologise. I’m sure it was probably nothing just a case of the driver being in the wrong place at the right time and a little bit of over cautiousness on our parts. But it is better to be on the safe side and we have probable cause to pull the vehicle over anyhow. Are there any updates on the search for Thaddeus?”

              “Some the CCTV security footage from the train station has arrived this morning. So PC Eric Stone and PC Jack Collins are scanning through that now. Although I expect it will probably take them a while. The phone company yielded that it was a pay phone that the call was made from. So unfortunately it does mean that we cant track calls made through phone towers that he would be pinging off of with using that app like we hoped. We have how ever got a trap and trace left open on your phone in case he does ring again. The station phone provider has also been made aware that we may need further access to our records so they have made that easier for us to do. So there shouldn’t be so much of an issue with that in the future. We have started to try and look into known associates of Thaddeus that he knew from before to see if he has been in contact with any of them again.”

“Ok shame about the phone but at least we h
ave got the time that he phoned. So a phone booth would give us a location and then we would know where he was at when he made the call.”

              “Exactly. Perry seen, as you are here you helped us before with tracking some of Thaddeus associates. Have you still got any contacts that you can safely ask?”

              “Yeah I still have a few people that I trust to ask that sort of stuff. I’ll look into who he has been in contact with and see if any one knows his where abouts. Jane you going to be ok?”

“Yeah I’m ok don’t worry. You can get going I know you have a lot to do I’ll be fine here.”

              “Ok babe I’ll ring or drop back in if I manage to find out any major information. And I will be back later to pick you up. No leaving the station.”

“Yes Sir. Go on get going I’ll be fine here.”

With that Jane, Amy, Ian and the Superintendent all set to work on their tasks. Amy and Ian to Jane’s relief seemed to be working well together like their normal happy selves. They were trying to trace the location of the phone booth the call was made from. There aren’t many left in the area so hopefully it shouldn't be too hard. Jack and Eric were still scanning through the security footage from the train station. Jane and the Superintendent were looking through some of the associate files. Ruling out some of the ones that he couldn’t of spoken to because they were registered in the system at being in custody. But again they were having to cross reference to see if any of them had been in the same prison institute as Thaddeus to see if he could have had any help like that on the inside. Hopefully Perry will be able to help cut down the list even further. He must have been in contact with someone in the area. Assuming that he has come here. Time flew by without any of them realising. The Superintendent had also set to work at setting up a press conference with the Chief warden of the prison to update the public on safety precautions. And also to get a tip line set up for any sightings of Thaddeus although they never really yielded much useful information. Jane hoped that it would be another way for Thaddeus himself to get into contact with them; Jane still remembered how much Thaddeus liked to talk. Eric and Jack had scanned their way through most of the security footage and found photographic evidence of Thaddeus entering a train at eleven fifty six with the last stop on the line he was on being Basildon. So from Fenchurch Street where Thaddeus had dumped the police van he had picked up a train, which left London, and re-entered the boundaries of Essex. So they could be pretty certain he was in the area somewhere. They were going to see if they could get hold of the security footage from the rest of the stops along that trains route to see if they could trace where he got off. Ian and Amy had also had some luck they had managed to track down the pay phone that the call had been made from and it came from one in Grays. So they told Jack and Eric to check those security tapes first. It also meant that for now they could narrow down the associates list to any one in the Thurrock area. Jane sent Perry a quick text to update him with the new information. As they were all sitting there discussing the progress they had made so far Alan Henchman the police officer that sat on the front desk came in with a package. He had just had to sign for it in receipt for Jane. It had been delivered by a parcel force delivery guy, which Jane found unusual, as it wasn’t a big box it was a hard cardboard thick envelope. As Jane set to opening the envelope the tension in the station was at an all time high, she figured nobody else had forgotten how Thaddeus had sent her letters before. As Jane slid out the contents of the envelope she had to fight to keep the contents of her stomach down as her eyes caught sight of what were photos. Jane pulled out a total number of five photographs. Each one displayed and depicted a different view of a woman being murdered. She was roughly the same age and had the same physical attributes as Jane. From the photos Jane could tell that the woman was suspended from a tree by ropes that were tied round both her arms and her neck. Thaddeus as it seemed then depicted in his photos, carved the word Jane into the ladies abdomen, while she was alive. He then subjected the poor lady to having both her eyelids cut and torn off. So she could do nothing but stare into the mad face of Thaddeus. The next photos showed him cutting the ropes from around her arms so she was left suspended from the tree by the rope at her neck. She was literally hung. Jane couldn’t believe it. Thaddeus had only been escaped from police custody a day and he had already murdered and tortured a poor woman. The next problem they had was where was the body. No body had been reported so what had he done with it. They needed the body to examine for evidence. Hopefully it would yield something to reveal his location. And the family would want it to lay the poor woman to rest. For two hours none of them could concentrate on any other work that needed doing. All they could think about was finding the body. They tried scanning the background of the photos hoping to find some distinguishable landmark or building, but to no prevail. What Jane wasn’t expecting was to receive a phone call from her neighbour John who lived two doors up. Jane had never really spoken to him much but her whole floor had her private number for emergencies. So she was highly concerned when she first saw the caller ID. He had actually phoned to ask if she wanted him to take the big parcel that was on her doorstep in to keep it safe. And because it looked quite heavy. Jane instantly had the horrifying thought as to what it was, as she hadn’t ordered anything.

“No John leave it where it is and don’t touch it. If anyone else comes along before I get back make sure they don’t either. I am on my way now.”

Jane couldn’t believe it but she was pretty sure that Thaddeus had delivered the body they were looking for right to her doorstep.

Chapter 6

Jane couldn’t believe it she was fighting the urge to be sick
. Not only were the images of the woman being murdered still playing around in her head. She now had the horrifying thought that the body of that victim was sitting on her apartments doorstep. The sick way that he had intricately carved her name into the woman’s abdomen. The way he had cut and tore of her eyelids made Jane’s insides rot and twist with guilt and apprehension. He had pretty much addressed the body and the death to her. And left it at her home. It was all a message for Jane a sick little note of Thaddeus mind. If it was a message from Thaddeus Jane didn’t understand it yet. All Jane could get from the removal of the eyelids was the fact that the lady seemed more able to stare through the camera lens. Straight through to Jane as if to say why would you let this happen to me it’s you he wants. Thaddeus knew the guilt that would manifest in Jane at that thought. He had seen it first hand when Jane had to watch Layla being tortured and there was nothing she could do about it. Jane had to remember Thaddeus was all about the mind games; he wanted to throw Jane off balance, to cause as much fear as possible. And tearing off a woman’s eyelids while she is still alive is definitely an extreme form of causing fear and pain. Thaddeus was all about the dance and the hunt between the two of them. He loved being able to show that he was in control, he loves watching the fear brew, not just in the victim that he is murdering but the people surrounding the investigation, and the general public for that matter. And so far with all the moves that he had played from whatever game he had invented he had managed it perfectly. So now Jane needed to stop throwing herself her pity party. Take back control and get moving on catching the little rat and putting him back in his cage. Her Superintendent was on the phone to Doctor Dave Berry the coroner he was telling him it would be best to meet them at Jane’s apartment, as they believed a body of a victim had been delivered there and they needed him for on site analysis and removal of the body. Amy was on the phone telling the rest of the crime scene technicians to meet them there as well. Which was good Jane did not want to be the one that was responsible for messing up a partial crime scene. Jane thought she had best ring Perry and give him an update as to what was going on plus the fact she had promised that she wouldn’t leave the station. But unfortunately that was now a promise that was not available for Jane to keep. But as always Perry was the most understanding and concerned partner he could be. He was more interested in making sure that Jane was going to be safe. He even offered to meet Jane and her team at her apartment. But Jane said there was no need, as the place would be crawling with police and crime scene investigators as well as the coroner. She would be more than safe. Jane rode in the car with Ian and Amy while their Superintendent rode in the car upfront with Eric and Jack. There were also another two escorting police officer cars that were to remain outside the building circulating the perimeter. When Jane arrived at her apartment block Ian and Eric who had been driving pulled down into the underground parking lot of Jane’s apartment building. She directed them through the downstairs entrance and made their way up to Jane’s floor. When they arrived her neighbour John was still standing outside his front door staring at the package with unique interest but apprehension at the same time.