The Book of Revenge (5 page)

Two murders and an attempted murder all in little over a week was a major situation in a small town like Bidbury. The offices of the local paper were in an excited frenzy. Last week’s front page was a councilor caught with his fingers in the till, and that had been one of the better lead stories. Jeff, the editor, had thought it was a gift from the gods when one of his reporters uncovered the scandal. He couldn’t quite believe what was happening now. He knew that this was big enough to attract national interest and he was determined to make sure that the Bidbury Herald led the way. A serial killer in his back yard, a provincial editor could wait a life time and never get such a lucky break. He sipped his coffee while he waited impatiently; he clicked his pen compulsively and kept his eye on the door.

When it finally opened he jumped with excitement and spilt the coffee splattering it down his shirt. ‘What ‘ave we got?’

The man who entered was young, mid-twenties at most. Jeff liked them young. They were more eager and hungry. They took risks, dug deeper and crossed lines. They put ambition before caution and often viewed morality as a movable object, easily pushed out of the way when required.

Jeff dabbed at his shirt without looking at what he was doing. His eyes were fixed on Dan.

Dan grinned and crossed the room to the desk. ‘Two dead, third one should have been. Same killer, single shot in the head...’

Jeff wasn’t impressed. ‘Now tell me something I don’t know.’

Dan waved a piece of paper at his boss. ‘I have the name and address of the lucky bastard who survived the encounter.’

‘Fucking fantastic.’ Jeff said excitedly. He took the paper and glanced at the name, then handed it back. ‘You waiting for an invitation?’

Dan hurried to the door. Jeff called after him. ‘Do I dare ask how?’

Dan turned around and shook his head and grinned. ‘Best not to, boss.’

Jeff watched him leave. Then he switched his computer on and started to do some research of his own.

An incident room had been set up and details of the victims were decorating the boards. A small team of detectives were assembled and waiting when Matt walked in. Jen was standing at the front of the room and glanced up at the clock as he walked towards her. He felt a surge of anger but managed to contain it. She was right, he was late. Only two minutes, but still, a keen dedicated detective should be one step ahead of the team. Like her.

Matt reached the front and got straight into it. ‘James Tate is a very lucky man. This killer, until now has been ruthless and meticulous. No sign of a break in again. We need to check who has keys, past and present. Workmen, cleaners...’

‘Something links these men together.’ Jen said interrupting. ‘Check out their past. What schools they went too, what clubs they belonged too, who they dated. We need a motive. Who wants them dead and why?’

Jen glanced across at Matt. He forced himself to stay calm and in control. He nodded his agreement.

‘Send someone to talk to his ex-wife and boyfriend, check they have alibis. We had anything back from forensics on the lipstick?’ he asked.

‘Not a full report. But I made a call first thing to chase it. Don’t think we’ll get anything from that. It’s a cheap over the counter brand. But the colour is an old one, obsolete now.’ She said.

‘So who would buy or wear it?’

‘Well it’s cheap, so maybe a teenager, although the shade is not an in colour. Maybe a prostitute or someone older with a stash of unused lipsticks.’

‘I suppose you can buy job lots of old stock on eBay.’ He said, ‘check it out, there must be a trail somewhere, there always is, you just have to find the breadcrumbs.’

‘I’ll get the tech guys looking into it for me.’ Jen said.

Matt walked away, he felt like a dinosaur beside her young, excited ambition. It was an uncomfortable feeling, she was the next generation and he was facing extinction.

He headed for Blades to check out Andrew’s alibi, but it was all locked up, he’d have to return later. He looked at his watch it was just gone one, he wondered if Avril was due a lunch break. She worked at ‘Angels’ a recruitment company specialising in temporary staff and it was just around the corner from where he was standing. He decided that meeting her at work might offer more neutral territory.

Matt walked into the open plan office and looked across at the desk in the far left hand corner. A young man was sat there head down at the computer monitor. Confused, he glanced around the room at the other desks, they were all occupied but not by Avril.

‘Take a seat, I’ll be with you in a minute…’ a young smartly dressed girl said to him.

‘I’m looking for Avril Edwards.’ He replied declining her invitation to sit or to wait. The girl glanced up at him with a slightly annoyed frown that quickly changed to surprise when he flashed his warrant card at her.

‘I’m sorry but she’s not here.’

‘I can see that, when will she be back?’

Curiosity alight in her eyes she back stared at him. ‘Sorry, but she doesn’t work here anymore.’

‘Of course she does.’

‘No, she left last month.’

‘Left?’

‘Well, sacked really, she was always late and sometimes smelt of alcohol…’ she leaned closer, ‘even thought she might be stoned a couple of times…’

‘Avril Edwards?’ he couldn’t actually believe the young girl was talking about his wife. How could she have been sacked and him not know? Where was she every day?

‘What’s she done? Is she in trouble? I never liked her; she was always a bit of a bitch to me…’

Matt walked away, he paused at the door. ‘Don’t suppose you know where she’s working now?’

The girl shook her head.

Another woman from the desk beside her looked across at him. ‘I saw her in the estate agents at the bottom of the high street last week.’

‘Working there?’

‘Don’t know, she had a suit on and was chatting to someone. You know, the agents I mean? Can’t think what it’s called…’

He knew exactly which agency she meant and who it was owned by. Matt walked out of the building. He felt a bit like a rabbit caught in headlights, frozen by confusion. What he’d just heard seemed incomprehensible. He half hoped that she was working at the estate agents even though he didn’t want her to have any dealing with the owner, there was surely only one other reason that she would be in the offices. He didn’t fancy getting home one day to find it had been sold behind his back. He was thinking nonsense of course but after what he’d just been told he wasn’t sure of anything.

He considered going to the estate agents in search of answers but he no longer felt ready for the questions and confrontation that would follow, instead he returned to his car.

Matt parked outside James house, the street was empty. Until that moment he hadn’t even realised that he was hoping to see Liz, but the police and the Socos had finished with the crime scene. Matt hoped that maybe they would get lucky with this one and the killer would have left a nice juicy clue for them.

He was getting pressure from above and the press were chasing for information. His boss was making noises about getting some profiler in to help. That was the last thing Matt wanted. Luckily he knew his boss well enough to know that procrastination and budget trimming were his favourite past-times.

James was in much the same state as he had been the previous night. He hadn’t changed or shaved. Matt guessed he hadn’t washed or showered either. The man was wrecked.

‘You changed the lock?’ Matt said, as he followed James into the kitchen.

James nodded his head.

‘Good.’

‘Coffee?’

‘No, I’m OK thanks.’ Matt replied.

James switched the kettle off and pulled a bottle of whisky from a cupboard. He held it up, Matt reluctantly shook his head. James poured himself a large glass and drank it down in one go. ‘Annie’s with her mum.’ He said, even though Matt hadn’t asked.

‘I got your text.’ Matt said, ‘you wanted to see me?’

James nodded his head slowly and poured himself another drink. He looked how Matt felt. Agitated, nervous, worried. Matt just hoped he was doing a better job at hiding it.

‘I always knew this day would come.’ James said, staring at the bottle as though it held all the answers.

Matt certainly knew how that felt.

‘I mean, we had to pay in the end didn’t we?’

Matt looked at James. Was he right? Did the past always have to be paid for? Matt had spent his adult life trying to deny the past. He had the memories shut away. He worked hard to rid the streets of the bad guys – well, he used to work hard. He knew his job was his attempt to redeem himself.

James was scared, really scared, and with good reason. The man had a child to think about and protect. If James was gone the poor little girl would be stuck with her mother. Matt knew Lindsey well; he’d picked her up for soliciting once. Pretty sure James was unaware of that. The woman was a poor role model for a little girl and would have a pretty neglected life without her dad to love and support her.

Matt knew that feeding the man’s fear would serve no positive purpose. ‘You’re talking rubbish, mate.’ He said with far more confidence than he felt. ‘This is some nutter with a lipstick fetish.‘

James looked doubtful. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah, sure. We’ll soon catch the bastard.’ He paused and looked at James. ‘Talking of bastards, what were you and Andrew arguing about yesterday? I saw him push you…’

James rolled his eyes. ‘He thinks that rules don’t apply to him. He was pissed at me because his permit was out of date and I gave him a parking ticket.’

‘That’s it? Did he threaten you?’

‘No more than usual, he’s a fucking bully, always has been. Why?’

Matt looked at James and decided not to push him any further. He stood up to leave, ‘just watching him, that’s all.’

James followed Matt to the front door. ‘Had someone banging on the door earlier...’

Matt turned and looked at James.

‘From the Herald. Reporter...’

‘You didn’t?’

‘Nah, ‘course not, but he stuck a card through the door.’ James fidgeted, his eyes dropped away from Matt and he focused on his shoes.

‘What?’

‘Offered me money, lots of it for an exclusive, even more for a picture of me and Annie.’

Matt understood the temptation. You only had to look around the house to know the kind of budget James had to work with. ‘Not yet.’ He said eventually.

As he walked away he wondered how the reporter knew about James. They hadn’t given any update to the press yet. He knew Jeff, the editor at the Herald, had a bit of a reputation for getting what information he wanted. Matt didn’t like the idea that one of his team were talking.

He drove back to the station, parked up and looked around in the hope of seeing Liz. But she was so elusive he was beginning to think he’d imagined seeing her at the crime scene in uniform.

Liz changed out of her uniform and left the station. The street was busy as the shops closed and the workers headed home. Despite the early evening sun, she shivered; it had been a long day. Her head turned and her eyes stopped at the shoe shop. It was closed, the lights off, the shutters down.

Liz hurried on down the street, head down, keen to get home and totally lost in her own thoughts. Almost at her car, a hand reached out to touch her. She jumped. It was Matt.

‘Penny for them.’ He said, smiling.

He had a nice smile, Interesting. But it never quite reached his eyes. The lips curved, the cheeks dimpled, the eyes crinkled, but somewhere in the blue depths, shadows lingered.

‘Don’t think a penny would get close to paying for my thoughts.’ She said, wondering why she was talking to him. She knew she should ignore him, hurry to her car and head home without a backward glance.

‘No? You exact a high price?’

‘Always.’

They stood staring at each other, Liz watched as he fidgeted slightly awkwardly. There was something about him that made her want to stay and talk. She told herself it was curiosity. But it was more than that.

‘Are you following me?’ she said, smiling even though she really didn’t want too.

‘Yes.’ Matt replied, looking flustered, ‘or at least I was hoping I might catch you...’

‘Catch me what?’ she said teasingly.

‘Off guard maybe? Enough to agree to have dinner with me?’

Liz shook her head and started to walk to the car. What in the world was she playing at? She pressed the key fob to unlock her car.

But he was persistent. ‘Oh come on. Just dinner, what’s the harm?’

At her car door Liz paused. Could she? Dare she? ‘You’re married...’

‘I’m not offering you a night of passionate sex, just a bite to eat.’

Liz smiled, he had a certain charm that made him hard to say no to and before she could stop herself the words were out her mouth. ‘In that case how can I refuse?’

Matt looked across the table at Liz. What was he playing at? Aside from the fact that he had a killer on the loose and should be working flat out to catch him, he was also still a married man. OK, the marriage was in tatters, but was that really an excuse? Liz was a very attractive woman; he was delusional if he really believed he only wanted dinner.