The Smoke In The Photograph (3 page)

The little coffee shop stood in the middle of Lincoln High Street. The building itself was old, all white walls with black timber frames. From this vantage point, you could see most of the activity taking place in the city centre. It was a regular haunt for Julia and her best friend, Wendy.

'You look awful,' Julia said.

'Thanks,' Wendy said taking a little sip of her coffee. There were dark bags under her eyes, the remnants of her jet lag.

'Why did you want to meet up so early?' Julia asked. 'We could have met up later in the day.'

Wendy shook her head.

'Do you have any idea how loud a six and eight year old are when they are getting ready for school?' Wendy asked. 'It's like the coming of the apocalypse. There was no chance of catching up on my sleep with that going on.'

Wendy had been a runway model in her youth, but now at twenty-nine she had settled into a life of posing for the covers of magazines and adverts. She was still a stunning woman. Tall, and slim, her long blonde hair shone in the sun as though it were made of gold.

She had only returned to the country in the early hours of that morning after spending the last month and a half on a working holiday in the USA. A trip like that would normally have put her out of commission for days, but since her recently divorced sister had moved in with her two kids, Wendy had found it harder to relax at home. She had told Julia that it was great having someone there to watch the house while she was away; suddenly living with her sister and nephews was taking some time to adjust to.

Wendy opened her handbag and took out a packet of cigarettes. She offered it and her lighter to Julia who eagerly accepted.

'Steven would go mental if he knew you were still smoking,' Wendy said.

Julia took a long draw on the cigarette.

'What he doesn't know won't hurt him, will it?'

'Are you really not bothered about the murder?' Wendy asked.

Julia shook her head.

'No, it doesn't bother me. Steven is more worried about it than I am.'

'What's wrong?' Julia asked.

'I knew her,' Wendy said.

'Really? How?'

'She was a photographer. I worked with her a few times for Marie Claire. She did the fashion stuff for the money, but she was really an artist, you know.'

Julia nodded. She knew exactly what Wendy meant. There was a big difference between a talented fashion photographer and a true artist.

'He's killed nine women. The Ripper they call him. He slashes their throats.'

For a reason she couldn't explain, Julia felt her own hand go to her throat, as if trying to protect it from an attack.

'Actually, it's ten women now,' Wendy said. 'I heard on the radio that they found another one this morning.'

'It's terrible,' Julia said, her hand still stroking her throat.

'From what I've heard, the throat cutting isn't the worst of it. They're keeping the grislier details out of the press.'

'How do you know?' Julia asked.

'You remember that guy I went out with last year for a while, Tom?'

Julia nodded.

'He was a copper,' Wendy continued. 'He told me that the Ripper cuts off their breasts, and takes their insides out.'

Julia was shocked. It all sounded so horrific.

'And you're going to live there?' Wendy asked.

'So?' Julia said. 'I hardly think he will want to come back to the same house, do you? It's probably the safest place to be.'

'But, that terrible thing happening there. How can you just put it to the back of your mind? You know how delicate you are.'

'I'm fine,'

'I could always ask Madam Helga to check the place out for you?'

'Who?' Julia asked.

'The psychic I see.'

Julia rolled her eyes.

'Scoff all you want,' Wendy said. 'But that woman has a real gift. She would definitely be able to check the house for you.'

'Check it for what?' Julia said. 'Ghosts? No, thank you, Wendy. I'm sure I can take care of myself, and I'll have Steven to protect me.'

'The older girls are fine,' Doctor Claremont said to Sam as they sat in the psychiatrist’s cozy office.

'That's Mary, and Alice, right?' Sam asked, writing in his notebook.

'Yes,' Claremont confirmed. 'They didn't actually see the body. It was their younger sister, Victoria, who found it.'

Victoria Reynolds, twelve years old, and the younger sibling of twins Mary and Alice Reynolds. They had been walking from their home, on the Washingborough side of the city, to the Priory Academy on Cross O'Cliffe Hill. The girls, along with many other kids from the school, made the trip across the common every day of the week.

That morning though, Alice had thrown her sister’s backpack into the undergrowth to tease her. Victoria had run off to fetch it, only to trip and fall on the corpse of the Ripper's latest victim.

She had run screaming to her sisters, one of whom had called the police whilst the other comforted the younger girl.

It was horrendous to think about it. The poor kid was going to be scarred forever. Sam felt a knot of anger in his stomach. Yet another innocent life ruined by that bastard.

'What sort of state is she in now?' Sam asked Claremont.

The doctor shrugged.

'It's hard to say,' he admitted. 'We've sedated her, but I think it's going to take a lot of time and counseling for her to move on from the shock. I would expect there will be plenty of nightmares in her near future. Maybe some regression as well. She's going to become more dependent on her family, like a much younger child.'

Sam shook his head in disgust.

'I have to talk to her,' he said. 'See if there was anything she noticed that could help the investigation. Believe me when I say I hate the fact that I have to put her through that, but I have no choice.'

Claremont nodded.

'I don't know how much help she will be,' he said. 'The shock will have jumbled her memories. Her mind will be shutting things off so that she can't remember them. It's a defense mechanism.'

Sam wondered if that was for the best, if the girl could forget the whole ordeal. He was aware, though, that the mind didn't work like that. Sooner or later the memories would come back to her, and they would need to be dealt with.

'I appreciate that, Doctor Claremont, if there was another way I would take that option. However, I'm all out of options on this case. Ten women have been butchered by this maniac now. I have to stop him.'

Claremont eventually agreed to let Sam speak to the girl. He was led to a cheerful room on the psychiatric ward, used solely for dealing with children.

A woman, Sam assumed the girl’s mother, sat in a chair by the window. She nodded and offered a half smile when she saw Claremont.

Victoria was sitting up in bed. She was twelve years old, but the combination of the shock, the room, and the sheer size of the hospital bed made her look much younger, and smaller.

Claremont entered alone first, and Sam stayed back in the doorway. When Claremont had said they had sedated her, he had expected her to be asleep. Instead though she was just sitting, staring out of the window.

'How are you feeling, Victoria?' Doctor Claremont asked.

At first, the girl didn't seem to respond to his presence, let alone his question. She just kept on looking out of the window. Sam wondered if the doctor would ask again, but then the girl slowly turned her head towards Claremont.

'Much better now,'  Everything about the girl seemed to be slowed down, her reactions, her movement, even her speech. It was almost as if someone had put her in slow motion.

'That's wonderful,' Claremont said. 'I have someone who would like to see you.'

The girl’s mother glanced towards the door. Her eyes met Sam; there was a look of concern. Sam held up his warrant card.

'I'm not sure that's a good idea,' the woman said.

'Mrs Reynolds, could we please talk to you outside?'

The woman got up and patted the motionless girl on her shoulder.

'I'll be back in a minute,' she said.

The girl did not respond.

Claremont led the woman out of the room, where Sam was waiting.

'Mrs Reynolds,' Sam said. 'I'm D.I. Fluting.'

The woman looked straight at him, her eyes cold and hard.

'I know who you are,' she said. 'I watch the local news. You're the one who can't catch this monster.'

During the case, Sam had tried to ignore comments, letting them wash off his back. He understood why he was the hate figure. It was really the Ripper that people hated, but he was a faceless monster. Sam was a visible figure for people to aim the anger and fear towards. He knew that he had done all he could possibly do, that any other detective could have done.

Yet the words of this woman got through his shield, and cut him. This was because he could not blame her. If the Ripper had been apprehended by now, then her daughter would not be in this situation.

'Inspector Fluting is doing everything he can to put this animal behind bars,' Claremont said in his defense.

Sam nodded his appreciation to the doctor for the vote of confidence.

Mrs Reynolds's face softened slightly.

'I'm sorry, it's just I can't believe this has happened to my little girl.'

'I understand,' Sam said. 'I don't want to upset her anymore, but she may have seen something that will help us to catch him.'

'Of course,' Mrs Reynolds said. 'Will you need to speak to my other girls too?'

'At some point, probably,' Sam said. 'Not yet though.'

'Good, because my husband had taken them home.'

'Like I say, that can be arranged later,' Sam said. 'It's most important that I speak to Victoria.'

Mrs Reynolds nodded. She motioned for Sam to enter the room. Which he did. Claremont and Mrs Reynolds followed, but they stayed near the door as Sam crossed the room. He sat down in the chair next to the bed, where the young girl was still sitting, gazing out of the window. She did not even notice him.

'Hello, Victoria,' he said in a soft tone. 'My name is Sam. I'm a policeman, and I just need to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?'

Again there was no response from the girl for a little while. Then she slowly looked towards him. Her glazed eyes regarded him with suspicion.

'If you're a policeman, then where's your uniform and hat?' she said with that same, drawn out monotonous tone.

Sam laughed a little.

'I'm a special kind of policeman, I don't wear a uniform, and I only work on important cases like this.'

She still looked suspicious.

'Plus,' he added. 'I always looked silly in my hat.'

The girl laughed a little.

Sam followed suit.

'Doctor Claremont said that you were very scared of what you saw on the common,' Sam said.

The girl’s smile faded and she turned away to the window.

'It was horrible,' she said without looking at him.

Sam nodded.

'I know,' he said. 'I saw it as well. Very scary. I think I'm going to have bad dreams tonight.'

Victoria looked back at him with a puzzled look.

'But you're a grown up?'

'That's true,' Sam said, nodding. 'But it doesn't stop something like that from giving me nightmares.'

'But you must see that all the time?'

'More than I would like to,' he agreed. 'It never stops scaring me though. The only thing that does stop it from scaring me is knowing that the bad man who did it is in prison and can't hurt anyone else.'

Victoria looked at him.

'That's why you catch them?' To stop being scared?'

'And to stop anyone else being scared.'

Victoria looked back to the window.

'Do you think I could catch people like that one day?' she asked

Sam got up and stood in front of her. He looked at her with his head cocked to the left, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed, as if he was checking if she had what it took. After a few moments he nodded.

'Definitely. You would make a great detective.'

Victoria gave him a beautiful smile that stretched from ear to ear.

'You can start now, by helping me,' he said. 'I want you to think about when you tripped over and fell on that poor lady.'

Victoria closed her eyes, as if trying to visualise the scene. She screwed up her face and shook her head.

'I can't, I don't want to think about it.'

Sam knelt in front of her.

'That's okay,' he said. 'Think about when you stood up and started screaming. Before you ran to your sister.'

The girl nodded and closed her eyes.

'Do you see anything unusual? Something you might have forgotten to tell anyone about?'

The girl looked absorbed in concentration. She began to shake her head. She stopped with a start and opened her eyes.

'Yes!' she almost shouted. 'I remember. There was someone at the top of the hill looking at me.'

Sam sat on the bed next to her.

'Really?' he said. 'You're sure?'

She nodded emphatically.

'Yes, they were just standing there. Watching me. As soon as I started screaming, they ran off.'

'That's brilliant, Victoria,' he said. 'Can you remember what this person looked like?'

She shook her head.

'No, the sun was behind them and I could only just see them.'

'That's okay,' Sam said. 'What's important is that you remembered they were there at all.'

'Did I help?' she asked.

Sam got to his feet and stood over her. He ruffled her head.

'You sure did, Detective Reynolds,'