Ugly Duckling (11 page)

'Back! Are you going back to Bournemouth John? I thought we were going to make a night of it' Jenni looked angered by the news.

'Sorry Jenni, We've got some stuff here we need to get back and I really need to be there first thing in the morning to speak with the team and Liz'

Jenni let out a sulky sigh 'Liz! You're either always talking about her or she turns up at your place, I'm surprised you don't carry a picture of her around along with the one of your dead wife!'

John considered Jenni and the comments she had just made but very slowly and calmly he said ‘I think that was a bit uncalled for. This is my job Jenni and Liz is a very important part of my team as well as a long standing friend, So I'm sorry if it seems we're together too much or I'm always talking about her, I'll try not to mention her when I'm with you, that is if you still want to be with me.'

Jenni softened, she could tell John was serious 'No, its me that should be sorry, I've got a bit jealous over Liz, and I was looking forward to jumping your bones again tonight, but I know you have a job to do, but when its over I'm going to make your dick red raw' she smiled that same sweet smile John had seen when they first met.

'So, Erm, did you want that drink?'

'Sorry Ian, yes please, just a coke then. I may as well drive back to Bournemouth tonight as well. Did you want a lift back with me John?'

'Thanks Jenni, but no. We still have a load of stuff we need to discuss on the way back. Tell you what though, How about I meet you tomorrow night in the pig, couple of drinks and back to your place? That way neither of us have to drive'

'That sounds good to me; I'll have my best bed sheets on.' Liz stood leant over so that John got an eyeful of her breasts and kissed him sweetly and softly. This time John raised to the occasion, as Jenni pulled away she looked at the bulge in his trousers 'Hold that thought till tomorrow.' as she left she glanced back at John and blew him a kiss.

Ian had returned carrying a coke and two half's of beer. 'She didn't want this drink after all then?'

The following day both John and Ian were early into the briefing room, they had some information from Brighton but, almost more importantly, they had new ideas they wanted to share with the rest of the team.

'So J.D had any more thoughts?'

'Not really, I just think we need to have another really close look at Jeremy Green, We're missing something on that one I'm certain of it. I also want somebody looking through the name's from Brighton, whether they were suspects or not, anybody that we could now place in this area, and we need to be out on the streets again asking for any witnesses that were in the areas of the attacks and lets not forget or neglect the dog, whatever they saw or didn't see, if they were anywhere near the areas concerned we need to talk to them. We really need to crank this up Ian because if we're right he will kill again and I'd rather stop that than have to stare at another body. I'll get an appeal put out in the press, but I want everybody we can get on this.'

'OK J.D I'll get everyone we can on it'

'There's something important I need you to do first though Ian'

Ian knew what John was going to say

'Don't worry bacon sarnies on their way.'

John Smiled 'that's good but it’s not what I was going to say. I need you to sort a bloody car out for me, mine will be in the repair shop for weeks, see if you can source a decent pool car for me would you? You get on better with those guys than I do, if I went I'd end up with a fucking Mini or something. In the meantime I need to speak to Liz to see if she's noticed anything about the Brighton cases and get Leon to come in and have a look over the files, he might be able to give us a bit more.

Ian could sense a new feeling of urgency about John. It was almost as if he'd woken up from his dream and really now wanted to get things moving, it was good to see, he knew it meant a busy day and in addition he needed to ask around about Jenni, he still had an uneasy feeling about her.

The morning briefing had gone well, Ian had been the perfect support for John, Whipping the team into a more determined and focused unit, they all felt they now had a better sense of direction and purpose, there was no delay after the meeting in the team leaving the room, some to get out on the streets asking for witnesses, some back to their desks scrolling through and comparing lists of names from Brighton, tracking them down and trying to trace their movements. Others collecting and examining any CCTV they could get their hands on, looking for clues. It was almost as if they had rewound to the first day of the investigation again. The whole place seemed to be buzzing.

John had already called Leon's office and asked him to come in. 'Come on! Answer the bloody phone will you!' he had been continually dialling Liz's number for 15 minutes now with no luck. Ian knocked and entered John's office

'J.D everyone's out doing their stuff at full pelt, so I thought I'd go and give a hand, ask around a bit, people around the common and pier that sort of stuff, unless there's anything else you needed at the moment'

'That's fine Ian, no problem; I'll call if I need anything. Did you get a car sorted out'

'They said they'd bring the keys up once it’s been checked over, about mid afternoon they said.'

Liz appeared in the doorway 'Hello, thought I'd come over to see you. Make sure you're ok. You didn't get much of a tan, wasn't the weather very good in Brighton?'

'Liz! Come in, I've been trying to get you all morning. There was no time for bloody sunbathing; you should've seen the thickness of those files.'

Ian left the office keen to get on, wanting to find the break they needed, and wanting to investigate a certain other individual.

'So how are you after all of your adventures?' Liz was referring to the car crash as much as the Brighton trip and was genuine in her concern for John, something he noticed and was very flattered by.

'I'm fine thanks Liz; it was just a bit of a bump. Sorry Liz but I don't have time for a chat. Have you had a chance to look through the stuff I sent?' John was keen to get on with the business in hand and although Liz wanted to chat more personally with John she appreciated he had a job to do, in fact it was nice to see him having some urgency about his job again.

'I've only had a quick scan through; I needed to know what you want me to look for.'

'Anything really Liz, Any errors in the processing. Can you say, in your professional opinion, what the odds are that this is the same killer? Any observations that you think might be useful. My gut feeling is that it is the same killer, but there are peculiarities. These ones occurred in the victims homes, our ones outside, these ones were all Gay, our ones not, at least as far as we know. So there are similarities but also differences we need to figure out why the difference. I'll be speaking to Leon later to see what he can offer, but I need your input as well if we're going to crack this.'

Liz looked at John, He was back. Back to the John she knew, admired and loved, she felt a buzz run through her body seeing him like this. She decided she wasn't going to give up her chances to some jumped up overly demonstrative nymphomaniac without a fight. 'OK John I'll get back and have a really good look for you, if I get anything I'll let you know straight away. I'm glad you're ok.' She left the office still feeling a buzz, 'God he's so sexy when he's like that' she thought.

John settled down to study the case files once again paying particular attention to their first one, Jeremy Green. This was the one he felt held the answers; it was different, the age, blunt knife, heart attack. What was it about this one, the American Connection, was there something else about that, the Americans were going to re-examine the case, did they have suspicions about it? If so what were they? If the third victim wasn't the son, who was it? And were there more connections with Jeremy? And if it wasn't the son who died, what happened to him? He was sure this one held the answers, find them and he'll find his killer.

It was a lovely day and the sun was shining brightly on Bournemouth, people were out strolling around the promenade and pier as well as the town centre, which Ian was pleased to see, it meant there were plenty of people looking at the posters they had erected appealing for help. And the chances of people remembering something, or mentioning it to someone else who would remember something, where increased, it all added to the new sense of urgency that had been installed into the investigation. Ian had visited several of the sites where the posters were located with a uniformed officer, but as yet nothing had materialised. Standing at the bottom of Horseshoe common he spotted Phil passing and called him over.

'Hello Ian, Been demoted back to the beat?

Ian laughed 'No just fancied getting out of the office, lend a hand with the enquiries at ground level. On a slightly different note, I wanted to ask you about Jenni'

'Who?' Phil asked

'Jenni, the one J.D’s taken a shine too. What do you know about her?'

'Nothing much Ian, I remember seeing her before the re-fit, with that bloke that got murdered. I think she's a journalist or something, always has her camera bag and laptop with her, but other than that I don't know her that well. It's not that I haven't tried though' He winked 'know what I mean?'

'Yeh I know what you mean, have you ever seen her with any other men?'

'Apart from John and the dead bloke? I don't think so. Why are you asking is she a suspect?'

Ian Laughed 'God no! I'm only trying to look after J.D He seems really taken with her, I just don't want him to get hurt, especially as she's the first one since Sonia'

'She always seemed OK to me, but if you like I'll ask around the regulars, perhaps someone might know a bit more about her than I do'

'I'd appreciate that Phil, but don't mention it to John will you'

'Mum's the word Ian' Phil held a finger to his lips 'perhaps see you later?'

Ian was about to answer when suddenly and out of the blue an elderly woman came rushing up to him

'Are you a policeman?' she asked

'Yes Madam, I'm D.S Cripp is there some information you have for us?'

'What?' the lady looked confused 'No. I was just wondering if you could tell me the way to the winter gardens.' Ian forced himself to smile at the sweet little old lady stood in front of him,

'I'm sure this constable will be able to help you madam.' ushering the uniformed officer in front of him he turned and started walking back to the station. Choosing to cross the common he stopping at the flyover, looking back towards the uniform he had just left still trying to explain to the old lady directions to the winter gardens, he stood and observed the scene for a while, arms flaying in all directions a map almost blowing away in the wind, all the while the good old British bobby keeping his cool, politely trying to help the great British public 'I'm so glad I'm not still in fucking uniform' he thought to himself.

Back at the station John was in deep conversation with Leon, both holding files from the Brighton cases, they had been studying the files for some time now and the frustration was beginning to get to John.

'Come on Leon, Give me something I can fucking work with. What do you think, same killer or not.'

'I've already told you John, in my opinion yes it is the same killer, you're just not listening, you've got something in your head that doesn’t match what I'm telling you so you've shut off to what I'm saying!'

'Don't be ridiculous. I called you in to help Leon, but you're just not telling me'

'Telling you what? Leon interrupted 'Telling you what you want to hear is that what you were going to say? John if you want my help you should a least listen to my opinion'

Ian came into the office, feeling the tension in the air and hearing the raised voices from 10 yards away. 'Hello Camper's, Hi-Di-Hi' he said cheerfully

'Shut the fuck up Ian, if you've got nothing better to say!' John didn't even look up

Ian sat at the desk 'What's the problem with you two then?'

'John invited me here to give my opinion but he doesn't like it' protested Leon

Ian looked at John,’ what don't you like J.D?'

'Fucking any of it. Leon seems to think we can’t ignore the Gay connection, He says we are looking for a Gay serial killer'

Ian smiled knowing that it wasn't what Leon had said that was the problem; it was that John would have to admit that Ian was right. 'Really? Blimey I didn't actually think we were looking for a Gay killer, I thought it was more likely to be hate crime from the anti gay brigade.'

'Don't be stupid Ian,' John grumped 'I knew and D.I Wills told you it wasn't hate crime, look at the scenes, there's no evidence to support that theory, no forced entry and no real struggle.'

'Well I wouldn't have guessed a Gay killer, Sorry J.D I guess that's why you're an Inspector and I'm just a sergeant.' Ian was trying to sound as humble as he could.

John sat back in his chair took a couple of deep breaths and looked at Ian and Leon sat opposite him, eventually he spoke 'Don't think I don't know what you two are up too, fucking psychological clap trap. But, of course I realise there is a chance that our killer is gay, three gay men murdered in their own apartments, but what about our two?'

'Is it possible they were still in the closet?' Leon Asked

'There's no evidence of that, is there J.D?' Ian was choosing his words very carefully, very deliberately. 'But we haven't really dug that deep on that side of things, have we?'

'Well why haven't you?' as expected John was shifting the blame to Ian while he convinced himself that he had come up with the Gay murderer idea 'Ian you really should use you're initiative from time to time. I need you to get on to it and start digging, ask around all known associates, that sort of stuff.'

'Good Idea J.D glad you thought of it'

John smiled, and then started laughing 'OK you pair of bastards you might be right and I could have been wrong, but I'm in charge because I listen to other people’s advice and opinions.' at that both Leon and Ian burst out laughing 'that’s it!' John said laughing himself now 'I'm going to get you both a coffee from the bloody rotten coffee machine just to show how I feel about you both'

'NO! Please not that' Ian begged 'lets go out for one I'll pay!'

John smiled feeling clever for getting Ian to yet again pay for coffee, not realising that all the coffee and bacon sandwiches Ian paid for came out of expenses. 'Give Liz a ring as well, see if she can join us.'

***

'Thanks for inviting me, I was just about to call you' Liz had joined the other three in the coffee shop and was clutching a folder of photographs, as she sat she handed the folder to John. 'have a look at these' she took three photo's of the Brighton killings from the folder and handed them to John 'it may be nothing but in everyone of them somewhere, on a table or bedside cabinet, there is a single red rose, they all look fresh.'

John examined the pictures 'Yes I see them. You think the killer left them?'

'I don't know John but it’s a possibility, apart from the dead bodies it’s the only thing I can see that's the same in all of them.'

Leon took a look at the pictures 'If we assume our killer is gay, and he gave the flowers, it would indicate that he's comfortable with his sexuality, not trying to hide it. The victims in Bournemouth may turn out to be in the closet, but our killer certainly isn't.'

John took another look at the photos and frowned. 'I don't feel comfortable with this' he said 'are we sure we're looking for the same person? We don't know if our victims had gay tendencies or not and we didn't find any flowers here.'

'I can tell you that from my point of view it’s almost certainly the same person, the height, the type of wounds, the amount of pressure exerted. They all match, with the exception of Jeremy Green, but even on that one I'm 85% sure its the same person' Liz took another sip of her coffee, allowing her comments to sink in.

'From a profiler’s point of view' Leon started 'it all fits with what I told you before, the build up from the stabbing to disembowelling etc. I can only add that having perused the Brighton cases and discussed it with you John, I now believe our killer to be gay, openly and completely in touch with their feminine side, so not a butch gay. The flowers, they way the bodies have all been laid out, the closing of the eyes even the way the guts have been placed, not thrown, next to the bodies. I'm convinced they are all by the same person.'

'What about you Ian?'

Ian had been sat quietly listening to everything the others had been saying, processing all the information, trying to get inside the killers mind. 'I think I need to go and speak to Mrs Broom again, perhaps there's something she's not telling us about her husband.'

'OK Ian, but go carefully, we've already bought her in once and were wrong'

'You did you mean!' Ian retorted. As he was leaving the coffee shop John picked up a half eaten scone and threw it towards Ian's head, missing him by a fraction but hitting the back of an electric wheelchair that was parked in the corner. Horrified Liz leapt to her feet to retrieve the scone and apologise to the wheelchair owner.

'That's OK my dear, don't mention it' came the reply.