Each Day I Wake: A gripping psychological thriller: US Edition (15 page)

It shouldn’t be like this. That was the main thing on the mind of Tim Mason as he made his way along the corridor to Evan Hamilton’s office.

He was the longest serving member of the team investigating the OAM story and yet he’d been expected to take a back seat while newcomers like Markland were given pride of place. No wonder the investigation had faltered when the full talents of the team were not being used.

It was a shame that Markland had been indisposed these last weeks. Not that much had changed. The same game was being played, making Mason appear odd, old fashioned and out of date because he was particular about what he did and said, about keeping accurate notes of his investigations and not being afraid to refer to them when needed. A professionalism that Hamilton was all too reluctant to value in this age of the instant access to information through email and social media where so much was ill conceived and the standard of grammar used pointed to the absence of organized thought. Journalism was all about truth, after all, and to be truthful you needed to be accurate. Not that any of the newcomers understood much about that. Standards were in decline and this was the reason.

Now, Markland was back in his office even though Hamilton had made a point of informing them that he would not be rejoining the team in the foreseeable future.

Mason entered Hamilton’s office without knocking. “We need to talk, Evan.”

The editor looked up from his work. “What is it now?”

“I’m unclear about where we’re going with the investigation. I need you to clarify my role.”

Hamilton asked him to sit down. “You know you’re a valued member of the team, Tim.”

Flattery. He hadn’t expected that. But that didn’t change anything. “That’s good to hear, Evan, but you’ve had me investigating the tax affairs of OAM for months now. When can I expect to get back to the real meat of the story?”

Hamilton again offered him a seat and this time he accepted. “That’s better, Tim. Let me tell you something in confidence. We have to be careful where we tread with Montague. He’s as litigious as ever. If anything, he’s been worse since his recent acquisitions have been approved and he’s been growing the company. One false move and we’ll have his lawyers on our backs again. And that’s where we need the kind of rigor you bring to the investigation. We have to be sure of every fact.”

Mason could feel his concern for his status in the team lessening. But why was Hamilton being so determined to offer so much? Why was he so content to slow the investigation when the management was putting on so much pressure for results? “So, we back pedal?”

“No, we make sure we’re getting it right. So there are no comebacks. You of all people must see the sense of that.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

“OK, Tim. You’re right. I should give you a more central role.”

“I thought that was going to Tom Markland. Don’t try to tell me he’s not back. He’s in his office right now.”

Hamilton smiled. “I meant what I said about him not returning to the team in the foreseeable future. You should know, I tried to tell him to stay away until he was fully recovered, until the issues he has are resolved. So, he came back against my express wishes. But don’t concern yourself. He won’t be here for long.”

Hamilton took him through the new tasks he was assigning him to. Front line investigation. Key interviews. A guarantee of a byline once the story was published.

“Thanks, Evan, that’s very reassuring.”

Mason felt better than when he came in. But why was Hamilton giving away so much so easily? It wasn’t that Hamilton was humoring him, was it? That would be intolerable. Unless he wanted something.

Hamilton drew a deep breath. “I have something important I’d like to say to you, Tim. Something I need to trust you with.”

Mason leaned forward. “Evan, you know you can depend on me.”

“It’s about Geoff Tunny. The information he gathered for the OAM investigation. As you can tell, we need to find this or the story is going nowhere.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Find what Geoff had. Find where he kept it. But be discreet. You knew Geoff well, didn’t you? He didn’t do things by the book. When you find what he had, I need you to bring the information to me and no one else. As far as anyone out there is concerned, this doesn’t exist.”

Mason smiled. “You can trust me, Evan.”

As he walked away, back to his desk, he congratulated himself. He’d discovered what he needed to know about Markland without having to show undue concern about him, without having to ask.

And Hamilton had placed his trust in him.

Waiting for Ives to arrive, I tried to concentrate on the email stream that loomed so large on my screen.

Reading through the messages, it became clear that I’d been carrying my full weight in the OAM investigation, despite Hamilton’s claims to the contrary. Yet it was difficult to piece together all the detail. I was hoping that the more I read of the memos the team sent to each other and the minutes of the meetings we attended, the more my real memory of events would be triggered in full detail. That the dam would break and a full working knowledge of the investigation that is all my own would return. But it was a slow process. Not so much the rush of water through a broken dam as a slow trickle with scenes, ideas, people coming back into consciousness.

Given enough time, given thorough immersion in all this material, I knew the full picture would emerge.

But I was not granted that luxury.

I tried to stay calm. “You have a good reason, Inspector?”

“I could do this by making an arrest but I’m sure you’d much rather do this here.”

He turned and looked at Hamilton who understood this was his cue to leave.

While Lesley stood near the closed door, Ives sat opposite me and referred to his notebook. “Tell me, Mr. Markland, how long you’ve been registered with Orion.”

I was taken by surprise. “I’ve never heard of them. I’ve no idea what they do.”

“It’s a dating agency. But you don’t recall any contact with them?”

“How would I know?’

“You mean you’ve conveniently forgotten or you know you’ve never been with them?”

I didn’t like the way he said
conveniently
. “That’s not it, Inspector. You should be aware of that by now. I really don’t recall. But I can honestly tell you that as far as I know I’ve had nothing to do with them.”

He made a note of that. “You’re sure, as far as you can recall?”

I nodded. “Look, Inspector, what would I want with a dating agency. I have Janet. We’re happily married. She’s all I want.”

“You sure? When I say
dating agency
, I think you should know that’s something of a euphemism as far as Orion is concerned.”

“Meaning?”

“It’s more of what you’d call a hook up site. None of the usual stuff about compatibility and common interests. It’s for people who just want to connect.”

“So, what does this have to do with me?”

He leaned forward. “You’ve heard we’ve found Cathy Newsome.”

I nodded. “Her parents must be distraught.”

“You wouldn’t want to tell us anything about that, sir?”

“Nothing that you don’t already know.”

“What if I told you that we’ve established that Cathy Newsome and the other missing girls you told us about, the ones you identified from the photos I showed you, have something in common – they’re all active on Orion. All made dates through the site.”

I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. The suspicious look he was giving me. “And that means?”

“You’d say it was more than coincidence that all four were registered with the same site?”

“I don’t know. It could be. How popular is it?”

He waved his hand between us as if to swat the question aside. “And would you say it was even more of a coincidence if I told you that someone by the name of Tom Markland is also registered with the site.” He paused. I knew there was worse to come. “And that when we checked with the site operators they told us that their records show that the same Tom Markland has viewed the profiles of all four girls.”

I said the only thing that would come to my mind. “It wasn’t me. I would never use a site like that. It must have been someone with the same name.”

“Someone using a computer with an IP address that points right here, to
The
Herald
?”

I could feel the jaws of the snare tightening with every reply I made. “I don’t know. I don’t know how that could have happened.”

Ives pressed on. “And why would you have used a photo of someone younger looking as your profile image? Just what have you been trying to hide?”

“I told you, I don’t know. All I can say is, this must have been part of the investigation I was carrying out for the paper. Why else would I have used my own name?”

Ives raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “What kind of investigation, Mr. Markland?”

I told him about what I’d discovered on my computer. “I’d been investigating missing women. Not just those four. More than fifty overall.”

“And why were you doing that?”

“I don’t know. It’s what I’ve just found.” I paused. “So, maybe I did use the Orion site to make enquiries into them. Maybe I used a younger looking photo of myself to get a response. That would be a logical enough thing to do.”

“But you just told us you didn’t use the site.”

“Not that I can recall.”

Ives stole a knowing glance at Lesley before turning back to me. “Oh, I see. It’s all down to your amnesia. Again. Tell me, Mr. Markland, who else knew you were carrying out this investigation? When we spoke to Evan Hamilton, he told us he knew nothing about any enquiry into missing women and that you were under instruction to do nothing but financial work.”

I looked down. “I guess I must have had to do it that way because of Hamilton.”

Ives echoed my words. “Because of Hamilton.” They sounded hollow.

“That’s as much sense as I can make of it.”

Ives reached in his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “I could arrest you. But I don’t have enough to charge you. Not yet. But be assured, Mr. Markland, I’m not one to be taken in any longer by this
I can’t recall
game that you’ve been playing. So, here is a warrant. It gives us permission to take in all computers, all tablets and smart phones in your possession. And when we’ve been through them, I’m sure we’ll have plenty more to talk about.”

“You’re saying I’m a suspect.”

“You could say that, Mr. Markland. There’s what you’ve just told me and the not so small matter of the narcotics the hospital found in your bloodstream. Did you know that Cathy Newsome was involved in drugs? Is that what you used to draw her towards you?”

I was shocked by what he was saying. “Then maybe I need a lawyer before I say anything more.”

“As you wish, Mr. Markland. Now, what machines do you have here?”

I tried not to look at and draw his attention to the desk drawer that contained Della’s diary as I handed over my phone. “That’s all I have.”

He placed the phone in a transparent evidence bag and handed it to DS Lesley. “OK, Mr. Markland. You need to know we’re including your office computer.”

“It’s needed for my work. And it’s property of the newspaper. Not my personal property.”

“So, there is something you need to hide?”

“I’m not saying that, just that I doubt it’s covered by the warrant, if that only relates to my personal property.”

Ives scowled at DS Lesley, as if to say
not another foul up
. “I can get another. To cover this.”

“So, go and get one.”

He stood to leave and it was clear he was annoyed. “OK, Mr. Markland. Have it your way. I’ll be back with another warrant.”

He scowled again at Lesley. “In the meantime, Mr. Markland, I advise you not to leave this office.” He paused. “And don’t try to do anything silly like deleting material from the computer hard drive. We can recover it all, you must know that.”

While Ives left to get the second warrant, DS Lesley waited outside the office, standing guard.

I felt even more like running. But I took a deep breath and logged into my computer once more.

I called up the Orion site and used my email address and my favorite password and I was straight in.

I looked over my account. It was all there. Contact details of over two dozen women who, it could have been claimed, were looking to hook up with me. Among the names were those of the four missing girls I’d told Ives about.

What had I been doing stalking all these girls?

I was beginning to feel disorientated, beginning to think that perhaps Ives was right to suspect me.

I stared at the blank office wall, trying to gather my thoughts.

Out of nowhere, the visions returned.

I’m with Cathy Newsome. We’re talking, laughing.

We’re in the room with the books that line all the walls.

We stop to listen to the sound of a train passing nearby. For the first time I realize that the train is close, so close that it shakes the room.

Then, the train is gone.

I’m holding her down. Strong hands are gripping her by the neck. Her eyes are bulging, pleading. The life is draining from her.

I’m looking for the tattoo on the left forearm. It’s not there.

These look like my arms.

I strain to concentrate on the fingers around her neck. They are the same length.

They look like my fingers.

I shake myself out of the trance.

I’m shaking and soaked with sweat.

It’s me. It must be me killing those girls.

I didn’t know what to do. If Ives returned and started questioning me, I knew I would confess.

There were noises outside.

DS Lesley pushed open the door and showed in a technician colleague dressed in black dungarees.

She waved the new warrant at me. “DI Ives sent this.”

The technician pointed at the computer. “This the one?”

I nodded. “Take it, I’m leaving.”

Lesley stood in my way. “You heard what DI Ives said.”

I reached into the desk drawer and pulled out the file containing Della’s diary and tucked it under my arm, in plain sight. “I have work to do.”

She still stood in my way. “Assaulting an officer is a cause for immediate arrest.”

The technician held up his arms in a gesture that said
this is none of my business
.

I pushed past Lesley. She attempted to hold me by the shoulders but I broke free and ran for the stairs.

As I looked back Lesley was not trying to follow and, instead, was calling for back up on the communication pod she wore on the front of her uniform jacket.

But by then I was away.

I headed back to Brogan’s apartment in Shadwell.