No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) (11 page)

“Not far. I suppose ten miles
away. The intriguing part is that it appears to be the same kind of
attack. Anyway, we’ll head out to the hospital and see for
ourselves. Give me five minutes, okay?”

“Sure. Do you have the name of
the victim? I’ll do a quick search before we head off.”

“Julie Smith. That’d be a help,
thanks.”

Sally quickly signed a few
forms and put the sheets of paper in her out tray to deal with upon
her return. Then she slipped on the jacket to her trouser suit and
left the office. Jack followed her down to the car, filling her in
on what information he’d managed to gather.

“Looks like she’s single and
lives not far from where the incident occurred, just like Gemma
Whiting.”

“Interesting. Especially after
we found out that Taylor Hew didn’t return home last night. Maybe
we should put out an alert for him before we leave.”

“Sticky ground for yanking him
in.”

“Yeah, I know. We could get
uniform to keep an eye open for him and keep him under observation
until we can get to him.”

“Why uniform? Why not put
either Jordan or Stuart on the task?”

By then, they had reached
Sally’s car. “Okay, you organise that for me, Jack, while I
drive.”

At the hospital, Sally showed
the parking attendant her ID, and he told her to park at the rear.
She and Jack rushed into the reception area and asked the
receptionist what ward they could find Julie Smith in. It took a
few minutes for the woman to find the patient in the system.
Eventually, she told them that Julie had been placed in the
Intensive Care Unit, and issued them with instructions on how to
locate the ward. When they exited the lift, they found a doctor and
nurse going through a patient’s care at the desk outside the ICU
ward.

“Hello, I’m DI Sally Parker,
and this is DS Jack Blackman. We’re here concerning the attack on
Julie Smith. Can you tell us how she is?”

“I’m Dr. Carter. She’s in a
very sorry state, I’m afraid. Fractured skull and cheek. Broken
arm, and we believe there is some internal bleeding.”

“Ouch! I don’t suppose she’s
conscious, is she?”

“No, and she’s not likely to be
for a few days at least, taking into consideration the injuries
she’s suffered.”

“How awful. What are the
chances of her pulling through, Doc?”

“Speaking realistically, I’d
say about sixty percent, Inspector. It’s the fractured skull I’m
more concerned about right now. If a bleed appears, then that could
be very dangerous indeed. She’s under regular surveillance, and her
vital signs are being monitored every thirty minutes without
fail.”

“So there’s no point in us
hanging around, hoping she’ll regain consciousness?”

“I wouldn’t waste your time,
Inspector. I’d be out there, looking for the culprit instead.”

“Okay. Can I leave you my card?
Any news whatsoever, good or bad, would you contact me
immediately?”

The doctor took the card from
Sally and gave it to the nurse. “Of course. I hope you find the
vile person who did this, Inspector, and quickly.”

“So do I, Doctor.”

Outside, in the car park, Jack
complained, “Well, that was a waste of a morning.”

“All right, Jack, no need to
state the obvious. Let’s get back to the station, see if Stuart has
got any news for us. I’m also going to chase up the pathologist. He
should have carried out the post on Gemma by now. I’ll need to
inform him of the connection to this case, too.”

Sally blew out a long breath
when they arrived in the incident room, and the rest of the team
looked at her expectantly. “She’s unconscious and in a very bad
way. Which only makes me more determined to catch the bastard
responsible. No word from Stuart yet?”

Joanna shook her head. “No,
boss. I took a call from the pathologist about twenty minutes ago.
Can you call him back?”

“It was on my to-do list
anyway. Thanks, Joanna. Jack, can you chase up a next-of-kin for
Julie Smith for me? That should be our next job. I’ll be back
soon.”

Sally removed her jacket,
placed it on the back of her chair, took a few deep breaths, then
dialled the pathology department. “Hello, Simon. It’s DI Parker.
You rang me?”

“I did. Sorry about the delay.
I would’ve had the results back from the post-mortem sooner, but a
major incident took place last night, and it slipped my mind.”

“Never mind. What do you
have?”

“One very interesting fact for
you: Gemma Whiting was around four weeks pregnant.”

Sally fell back in her chair.
“Shit! Four weeks, you say? Would she have known about the
pregnancy, do you think?”

“She might have suspected, but
I doubt she knew for sure. Maybe you should be asking her husband
that question, Inspector.”

“Oh, I intend to, don’t worry.
Do me a favour and make sure you get DNA evidence from the
foetus.”

“It’s done already.”

“I don’t think this case will
be tied up with a pretty bow come the end of the investigation,”
Sally said.

“That sounds ominous.”

“Anything else, Simon?”

“No, nothing of significance
other than what we covered at the scene. If you’re contacting the
family, would you mind passing on that I’ve been in touch with the
funeral home?”

“Of course. I’ll let them know.
I’m sure it’ll be a relief for them to hear. Thanks for letting me
know. Oh, by the way, I’ve just come back from the hospital.
There’s a young lady there in ICU who was attacked in similar
circumstances. I just wanted you to be aware. There’s every chance
she might not make it, so she could possibly end up as one of your
‘patients’ anyway.”

“That’s a shame. If we have a
monster in our midst attacking women on country roads at night,
maybe it would be wise for you to warn the general public via the
media,” Simon suggested.

“Thanks, Simon. The matter is
in hand.”

“Glad to hear it. Speak
soon.”

Sally hung up just as Jack
appeared in the doorway. “Everything all right, boss?”

“I think the case just got
interesting. Gemma Whiting was pregnant. By the way her husband
reacted, I don’t think he knew. Do you?”

Jack inclined his head. “What
are you getting at, boss?”

“I’m not sure just yet. It’s
all going round in my mind at the moment. Let’s see what Colin
Whiting has to say when he visits later. Something tells me he
might have an inkling about the pregnancy.”

“Whoa, you think the
brother-in-law knows but not the husband? That whiffs of them
having an affair then.”

“Let’s not jump to any wayward
conclusions just yet. I need to get in touch with the media. Is
Stuart back yet?”

“Nope. Want me to chase him
up?” Jack walked into the office and placed a sheet of paper on the
desk in front of her. “The next of kin details for Julie Smith you
wanted.”

“Thanks. The tasks are mounting
up already, aren’t they? Okay, get in touch with Stuart. Maybe try
and find a few properties that are owned by Hew and see if we can
track him down that way. Does he work from an office? I’m not sure
property developers do that even. Try and track one down if you
can.”

“Yes, boss.”

Jack left the office, and Sally
immediately picked up the phone to call her contact at the TV
station. “Hi, Georgia. It’s DI Sally Parker. Any chance I can ask a
favour?”

“Sure, Inspector. What do you
need?”

“A slot on today’s news would
be good.” Sally crossed her fingers tightly and waited for the
woman’s response.

“Let me take a look at today’s
schedule, see what I can do. What’s the case?”

“There are two actually. One
murder and one violent assault, which has left the victim in an
unconscious state in hospital. That’s why it’s urgent to inform the
public. It needn’t be a conference.”

“Okay, well, that alters
things. I can send a reporter over this afternoon, or you could
just give me the details, and I’ll go from there. You know I’ll
treat each case sympathetically.”

Sally nodded. “That’s why I
only tend to deal with you, Georgia.” She gave the woman the
details of both cases, emphasising the need to issue a warning to
the other womenfolk in the immediate area about the dangers of
going out at night alone.

“That’s fantastic. I’ll run it
tonight on the evening news. What about the newspapers? Are you
going down that route, too?”

“Yep, I’m just about to contact
a journalist I know now. Thanks for your help, Georgia. I
appreciate it.” Sally hung up and flicked through the pages of the
contacts notebook she kept tucked safely in her desk drawer and
prodded her finger at the name Phil Edmunds. She dialled his mobile
and tapped her pen while she waited for him to answer the call.

“Yep.”

“Phil? It’s DI Sally Parker. Do
you have a minute?”

“For you, darling,
anytime.”

“Still practicing your
charm-school chat-up lines, I see.” Sally laughed.

“I take it I’ve screwed up
again. Seriously, what’s up, Sally?”

“Keep trying. One of these days
I might bow to your pressure and let you buy me dinner.”

“Wow, really? Cool.”

“Back to business. I’ve got two
cases that I need you to treat as high priority. Can you do that
for me?”

“Of course. Let me grab a pen,
and I’ll take down the details. I can probably get it in my column
either today or tomorrow. Will that suit you?”

“That would be ace, Phil.
You’re a star.” She ran through the details of both cases then
ended the call with a satisfied smile.

“I take it that went well,”
Jack asked from the doorway.

“I love it when things slot
into place as intended. If only that could be said about solving
Gemma’s murder and Julie’s attack. We should go and see Julie’s
parents next. Any news of tracking down an office for Hew?”

“Not yet. As far as we know, he
works from home. I chased up Stuart, no good there.”

“What about a contact number
for Hew?”

“I’ll get on to Companies
House, see what information I can get out of them.”

“Okay. The media are running
the story—or should I say stories—over the next few days. Prepare
the team for that, will you?”

“On it now.”

Jack left the office and
returned a few minutes later, looking smug and waving a sheet of
paper. “Got his phone number. Want me to give him a ring?”

Sally winked at him and held
out her hand for the sheet. “I think this needs a woman’s
touch.”

Jack left the room,
chortling.

Sally cleared her throat and
thrust back her shoulders, ready for action. Using the landline,
she dialled Hew’s number. “Hello, is that Taylor Hew?”

“It is, and you are?”

“Sally Parker. I was talking to
a friend about going into property development, and someone
overheard me in the pub, and they mentioned your name.”

“I see. Yes, it’s my line of
business. I’m always happy to share my experience with folks. What
is it you’d like to know?”

“Any chance we can meet over a
coffee? My treat.”

“Sure, I have some spare time
around two this afternoon.”

“Wonderful. I live near
Attleborough. What about the coffee shop in the high street? I’ll
even stretch to a sticky bun.”

Hew laughed. “Deal. I’ll be
there at two.”

Sally punched the air as she
hung up. “Jack, in here a minute.”

“Yes, boss.”

“I have a coffee appointment at
two with Taylor Hew.”

“Whoa, he agreed to meet you?”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you tell him you’re a copper?”

Sally placed a finger to her
lips. “Oh gosh, I knew I should have mentioned something.”

“Let’s hope the chief doesn’t
find out about this.”

Sally pushed back her chair.
“He won’t. Now that’s sorted, we should head out to see Julie’s
next of kin, see what we can find out there before I meet up with
Hew.”

“You just caught me. I’m on my
way to the hospital to see my daughter.”

“We’ll only take five minutes
of your time, Mrs. Smith. We’re truly sorry about what has happened
to Julie. Can I ask where she was last night?”

The woman sat down on the black
suede sofa, her hands visibly shaking in her lap as she chewed on
her lip. “Julie went into town with her friend Roger. There’s
nothing going on between them; they’re just friends. I rang him
earlier to tell him that Julie is in hospital, and he’s beside
himself. I asked him why he’d left her. He told me that he’d run
into an old friend and that Julie insisted he should leave her and
go to a nightclub with his friend. I told him off for leaving her
alone. I know I shouldn’t have done that, but he should have stayed
with Julie, not deserted her.”

“We’ll need to get a statement
from Roger, Mrs. Smith. Would you mind giving us his full name and
address?”

She crossed the room and picked
up the address book sitting beside the telephone. Jack jotted down
the friend’s details, and Mrs. Smith returned to her seat.

“I don’t suppose Roger
mentioned if Julie had a conversation with someone else during the
course of the evening? Or whether someone was watching her?” Sally
asked.

“I did ask him if anything
strange had happened, but he said no. They had a good time and
parted quite early.”

“Has Julie got a
boyfriend?”

“No. Not since she dumped that
German fella, Hans.”

“Hans? Does he live
nearby?”

“No. He was on a
foreign-exchange scheme at her work. As soon as she found out he
had a regular girlfriend back in Germany, she dumped him. He left
England not long after, probably because of the shame.” She ran a
hand over her face. “Why would anyone hurt my sweet daughter? She
goes out of her way to help people. Never falls out with friends
and rarely says anything bad about anyone. She’s a good girl; she
doesn’t deserve this. I’m sorry, I need to go now. I want to be
there when she wakes up—
if
she wakes up,” she added
sadly.