The Secrets of the Shadows (The Annie Graham series - Book 2) (13 page)

Will coughed into his hands as he felt his cheeks begin to burn. ‘Nothing yet for Laura, a kid from the school found her.’

Kav spoke, ‘I have two officers inside checking the CCTV and taking first accounts from the teacher.’

Will carried on, ‘The last victim was a bit of a loner according to her work colleagues, very shy and didn’t join in with very much both inside and outside of work. She had no close friends and didn’t socialise with anyone they were aware of. She was single, no family and both parents dead. She hasn’t got a record but did phone 101 a couple of weeks ago to report that someone had been in her house. A patrol went and checked the house and rear yard, there was no sign of anyone trying to gain entry and when she was asked why she thought someone had been in her house she said it was because the Sky remote control wasn’t where she left it before she went to work. Understandably the officers didn’t really take much notice, you know how busy they are and short staffed. There was nothing to substantiate that a crime had occurred so it was left at that. The next contact was when her body was discovered in St Mary’s church by the elderly housekeeper for the priest.’

‘Jesus wept, has her house been searched from top to bottom?’

‘Yes, CSI and Task Force went through it with a fine toothcomb and didn’t find anything, she wasn’t killed there. Her house was immaculate, the day before she was discovered she had been to work and must have met her killer there or on her way home. Truthfully – we have nothing. The crime scene was relatively clean, there was a footprint on the soil near to the grave but it came back as a Magnum and you and I know it’s the boot of choice for most response staff. Debs took a cast but most of the blokes in the station wear them so we can rule that out.’

‘Anything else, blood, DNA, a bloody great fingerprint which leads us straight to the murdering bastard?’

Will shook his head. ‘No blood, death by asphyxiation, nothing under the nails so she didn’t put up a fight. We’re still waiting on the toxicology reports which Matt said he would fast track but it still takes forever. It has to be the same guy because Laura looks pretty much identical to her and relatively peaceful for a woman who has just been murdered.’

‘I don’t suppose the church will have CCTV, there won’t be much call for it, but what about the vicar, has anyone spoken to him?’

‘Boss it’s a catholic church. We hammered on the presbytery door first thing and there was no reply. Stu and Laura spoke to the priest and took a statement after he’d reported finding the body last week. He’s in his sixties and didn’t have a clue why anyone would want to leave a dead body in his church grounds.’

Kav butted in, ‘Father John is the priest for this church, my wife comes to mass a couple of times a month. He’s had to go and cover for someone at Windermere for a couple of weeks so he won’t have been here. You’ll have to get someone to go and speak to him up that end. The school does have very good CCTV which is being burnt off as we speak.’

The DI cheered up at the thought of maybe having the killer captured on camera. ‘Good, fingers crossed it will all be on tape.’

Will decided not to piss on his chips and tell him that it was highly unlikely, the cameras didn’t even look over to the church. The killer would have had to climb over the six foot high fence into the school playground carrying Laura over his back and gone through into the church by the gate they were standing close to. It would be amazing but the only person who would be that strong would be the bloody Hulk or someone who was off his head. If it was someone who was on one because they’d been up all night taking plant food or whatever, the crime scene would have been sloppy and disorganised. This was definitely the work of an organised killer. Since the last murders Will had become a bit of an expert on serial killers. His bedtime reading consisted of tales of Ted Bundy, The Yorkshire Ripper and almost every other serial killer that had ever been caught. He had promised himself should it ever happen again then he would be prepared, he just hadn’t expected that it actually would. He needed to speak to Grace Marshall and fast, he didn’t want to spoil her holiday but he would send her an email, that should be okay. He also wanted to wake up from this nightmare – right about now.

Chapter 15

Annie had no idea what she was doing but she seemed to be winging it just fine, the tourists weren’t as bad as she’d thought they would be. She hated having her picture taken but she could live with it as long as she didn’t have to look at the photos. The weather had been glorious and she couldn’t have picked a prettier place to work, it was so different from the usual drunken chavs and endless domestics she was used to attending on a daily basis. She actually had time to think, which perhaps wasn’t the best thing considering all she could think about was Will. Today she was on foot patrol and she walked down the steep hill towards the busy town of Bowness. Everybody smiled and said hello and she smiled back. Passing the shops she made her way towards the pier where the Lakeside Steamers docked, one full of kids was just coming in and they all waved at her, she waved back. She walked on towards the Marina and the boat club. She had made it her first port of call the first day she was here thinking it would be a great way to get to know some of the locals. She had spent a very pleasant hour with the club steward who had showed her around, explaining everything to her. He had even taken her onto a couple of boats. She had never been interested in them before but now she was fascinated. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were moored on the most beautiful lake in England – in her opinion. She had wondered what it would be like sailing around on one with Will, a picnic and a couple of bottles of champagne, then she kicked herself:
As if that’s ever likely to happen Graham. You’ve never been sailing in your life and Will probably won’t have and aren’t you forgetting the most important thing of all you, and Will are not together anymore
. The pain in her chest was so intense it felt as if someone had just stabbed her through the heart.

She wandered along the jetties, admiring the huge boat which was now moored up and hadn’t been there the last time she was here. An older man came out of the cabin with a half-drunk bottle of coke in his hand and grinned at her. ‘Good afternoon officer and what a fine one it is.’

‘Yes it is gorgeous, what a beautiful day to be sailing, especially on such a lovely boat.’

‘Why thank you, she is a beauty isn’t she. My wife doesn’t agree but what the heck, you only live once.’

Annie nodded in agreement, he seemed so familiar. He had a thick shock of silver hair, bright blue eyes and a cheeky grin.

‘I’m Annie, one of the local community officers, I’m very new to the area. Well I’m not new to the area as such; I come here all the time on my days off, what I mean is I’m new to policing the area.’ She shut up as her cheeks began to burn, could she make a bigger fool of herself?

He put the bottle of coke down and climbed down the ladder, as agile as any twenty year old. He turned to face her and held out his hand. ‘I’m Tom and it’s nice to meet such a lovely member of the constabulary.’ He winked at her and she laughed. ‘Would you like to take a look around my boat Annie? My wife won’t even come on it unless I’m dropping her off to go shopping. I’m dying to show it off to someone who might want to listen to me waffle on.’

She thought about it for all of ten seconds before she nodded. ‘I’d love to.’

He climbed back up the ladder and she followed him up and onto the deck, where he proceeded to show her the cabin and below deck. It was gorgeous. It had two bedrooms and a galley-cum-diner. Before she could stop herself she uttered, ‘Wow, well Tom I am very impressed. I have to say it’s nicer than my house.’

He laughed and it was his turn to blush. ‘Look at me showing off, you know I don’t normally do that I just couldn’t resist getting the prettiest officer I’ve ever met onto my boat.’

Annie felt her already warm cheeks burn even hotter.

‘My son’s a police officer, not around here though. It’s a bit boring for him here, he prefers a bit of the action.’

A woman’s voice called out for Tom and he grinned again. ‘Oops busted by the wife. Come on, she can make us something ice cold to drink and we can sit on the deck and discuss the local neighbourhood policing priorities. That way if anyone asks you have a valid excuse to be so blatantly taking a break.’ He winked and she couldn’t help laughing, she liked him. He turned to go up on deck and she followed.

Annie had to stop her mouth from falling open when she saw the woman who the voice belonged to. She had been expecting to see someone the same age as Tom, instead standing in front of her was a woman in her early thirties the same age as her and she was beautiful. She looked like she belonged on a Hollywood film set and Annie felt a wave of embarrassment standing there dressed head to foot in men’s black combat trousers, a polyester shirt which was stuck to every inch of her body, Magnum boots and her luminous yellow body armour. Her hat was tucked under her arm because it was baking her head and her black curly hair was plastered to her head. Tom hugged his wife and kissed her cheek. ‘Lily this is Annie our new community police officer. Annie this is my wife Lily.’

Lily smiled and held out her hand, ‘I hope Tom hasn’t bored you to death?’

‘Not at all, it’s very nice to meet you both.’

‘Have you offered Annie a drink, she must be spitting feathers wearing all that gear in this heat?’

‘Sorry I totally forgot. Sorry, Annie would you like a cool drink?’ He winked at her and she had to smother a laugh. ‘Only if it’s not too much trouble, it would be lovely. I am absolutely fried.’

Lily disappeared down into the galley and Tom pointed to one of the sun loungers on the deck; ‘Do you want to take that stab vest off and make yourself a bit comfier, I promise that neither of us will attack you.’

‘I better hadn’t, I don’t want to look as if I’m actually enjoying myself. Members of the public like to report us if we look too much like normal people.’

‘Ah yes I know what you mean; I think most people think you come from an assembly line in Milton Keynes.’

Lily appeared, carrying a tray with three crystal glasses which sparkled in the sunlight and a jug full of fruit juice, ice and chopped fruit. Tom jumped up to take it from her, placing it on the table. He began pouring the juice and handed one to her; she thanked him and took a long sip. It was delicious. She looked around at the calm blue lake and the boats sailing on the water, the lush green hills and mountains surrounding it and wished that Will was here, he would love this. What would it be like to enjoy life and not have to work for a living? Lily broke the moment and began chatting about the new Laura Ashley shop which had opened and Annie joined in, she talked to them both for the next half an hour without having to think about much else. And then her radio burst into life, bringing her back to reality. The control room operator told her there was a minor road traffic collision, no injuries but the road was blocked and they needed some traffic control up by the church. Annie drained the last of her juice. ‘Thank you so much, that was lovely and it was even nicer to have met you both. If you need anything at all you can contact me on this number.’ She pulled a business card from her pocket which had the constabulary crest on it and a list of telephone numbers, the police station address and her email. Tom stood up and took it from her, ‘Thank you Annie, that’s very kind of you. I never know when I may need rescuing from Lily and her shopping fetish.’ He winked and she laughed.

‘Well anything at all, if I can help give me a shout.’ She climbed down the side of the boat onto the jetty and began to briskly walk back up towards the church and the irate motorists.

Tom looked at Lily. ‘Do you think that is the lovely Annie who has my son in such a fluster? There can’t be that many policewomen called Annie. She reminds me so much of Elizabeth, similar features. It would figure that Will would fall in love with a woman who reminded him of his mum.’

Lily wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. ‘Do you think we should do some digging, find some reason to speak to your Inspector friend and get the background. I hope she is the same one, she seems so nice and down to earth. I can feel a spot of matchmaking coming on.’

Tom turned and kissed her, ‘Regardless of whether she is Will’s Annie if she isn’t we should let them meet anyway. There is something about her I really like, I just can’t put my finger on it.’

‘Well as long as we don’t interfere too much it should be okay. Maybe we should invite Will up for a barbeque and ask Annie, as well as some of our other friends. That way we can gauge their relationship, see if they know each other.’

Tom laughed, ‘Lily you are a hopeless romantic but I love you.’

Lily picked up the tray of empty glasses, ‘You can take me home now I have some planning to do and then you can sail around the lake.’

‘Your wish is my command.’

Chapter 16

Will and the DI followed the black Mondeo estate that carried Laura’s body up to the mortuary when it was finally moved from the crime scene. Will wouldn’t put any of his staff through watching their friend and colleague’s post mortem, he couldn’t do it to them. He didn’t want to do it but the feeling of guilt which had settled in his stomach told his brain it might be eased a little if he did as much for Laura as possible. Matt had said he would wait for them and do the PM straight away, Will had thanked him profusely, glad that Matt was one of the good guys. He didn’t act like a pathologist; well he didn’t act like the last two he had worked with. Matt was down to earth and didn’t think he was better than everyone else and he’d been in the pub with the rest of them last night for Stu’s birthday. Buying the drinks and having a laugh. He had been as shocked as the rest of them when he got to the crime scene. He hadn’t made them wait he had come down as soon as he’d got the call and Will would be eternally grateful to him for that. They arrived at the rear of the hospital and there standing at the metal door which led into the mortuary were a grim-faced Matt and Lisa, along with two technician and two CSIs. No-one spoke, they didn’t know what to say. They just began to do what they did all the time with no fuss or drama, just an unspoken agreement that they would do everything they could to find Laura’s killer.