The Secrets of the Shadows (The Annie Graham series - Book 2) Read online

  The officer spoke in a hushed voice. ‘Sarge, the Detective Inspector said he would be here very shortly. CSI are ready, they are waiting for the go ahead from you. They have just gone back to get a scene tent. That photographer from the paper showed up before with a kid in tow holding a half-dead bunch of flowers, the crafty bastard tried to keep Kav talking while the kid sneaked around the back with one of those little flip camera things that video.’

  Will felt his knuckles bunch into tight, white fists. That man caused the same reaction in him every single time. ‘Did you stop him?’

  ‘Kav did, arrested the photographer and the kid for section five. The kid started blubbing like a baby; he dragged them both into the back of that van over there.’

  Will felt a wave of relief because he knew if he saw that smug face he would knock him out. ‘Thanks Smithy.’

  Will couldn’t wait for the DI to arrive he had to take a look now; just in case they all had it wrong. Dressing himself in the clothes he walked over to the gate that was the main entrance to the church and everyone on the perimeter turned to watch him. Claire, one of the PCSOs, was standing with the scene log and he nodded at her, the sadness in her eyes said it all. He felt as if time had stood still, the only sound in the area which was full of people was that of a small bird chirping and the crunch of the gravel underneath his feet. The sun was breaking through the clouds, and he had to force himself to look up from the ground and in front of him instead. He could see her body a short distance away and felt his breath catch in the back of his throat, from where he was standing she looked like she was asleep. Whoever had done this had covered her body with twigs and leaves just like the woman last week; she was posed in a similar position. He forced himself to step closer; trying to stop his mind from associating the pretty blonde woman he worked with with the cold, dead body in front of him, on display for the world to look at. There was no colour in her face and her lips were tinged with blue. Will knew that the minute they moved her the skin underneath would be mottled red where the blood had pooled causing liver mortis. He reached the grave and pulled on the pair of latex gloves that he had been clutching, then bent down. He could hear the sound of his heart thudding inside his head it was so loud. Her hands looked clean; it didn’t look as if she had put up a fight against her killer. The perfectly manicured nails didn’t have a chip on them. He took hold of one and gently turned it, from what he could see there was nothing underneath the nails but his friend Matt who was the local the pathologist would scrape them to make sure. He couldn’t see any blood or marks on her skin. He’d have to wait for Matt to do a post mortem to determine the cause of death but at least Laura looked peaceful, as if she’d fallen asleep. Will knew that he would have struggled if there had been a lot of blood and the signs of a violent attack because it was hard enough looking at her now. He prayed that however she died she hadn’t suffered. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What happened Laura? You are supposed to be in work nursing a hangover and going on the dinner run for greasy bacon butties. Not lying here dead.

  He turned to see the Detective Inspector, Dave Martin, walking along the path. ‘Jesus Will, what’s going on? I’m supposed to be going on annual leave today, it’s my daughter’s wedding down in Northampton tomorrow.’

  Will waited for it to register with him who it was that was lying dead in front of them and give the man his due it only took him twenty seconds before the shock registered on his face. ‘No – tell me that’s not Laura, our Laura? What the hell.’

  Will knew that his boss wouldn’t have listened to the phone call properly, he would have been expecting to see Laura here, working the scene not lying dead and being the scene. Will often wondered how the man had got this far, he was a great guy and very clever but he didn’t really listen to what anyone had to say, his mind would wander or switch off totally.

  ‘I wish I knew boss. She was with the rest of us until half ten last night in the Black Dog when she left with some bodybuilder guy. She was drunk but happy to go with him and nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary.’

  The DI, whose face was now the same colour as Laura’s, unzipped his paper suit and loosened his collar and tie underneath.

  ‘I can’t believe it’s Laura.’ He shook his head, ‘Right, everything by the book, not that we don’t but she’s one of us and I want the bastard caught now, not three weeks later. Is this exactly the same modus operandi as the woman last week?’

  ‘Yes it looks like it, I’m not thinking straight. That’s two women in just over a week, both murdered and left on show on top of old graves.’

  ‘Then we have a serious problem Will. Is Laura married? Oh God does she have kids?’

  ‘No boss, she’s single and her mum is elderly and has Alzheimer’s and lives in a home on Abbey Road.’

  The DI sighed, ‘Good. I don’t mean good that she hasn’t got much family, I just mean that its better she doesn’t have a doting husband and three young kids who are waiting for her to come home.’

  Will thought that maybe if she had she would still be alive. Debs, who was duty CSI, walked down the path followed by the new boy who was carrying a white scene tent. Will had no idea what he was called but he looked about fourteen. He left them to it and turned to walk back out the way they had walked in, time to let the experts do their part. Will knew that Laura was in excellent hands, Debs wouldn’t leave until she’d checked every square inch for evidence. Matt appeared at the gate, carrying his heavy briefcase over to where the new boy was struggling with the tent. He nodded at Will who was walking towards Kav. ‘It’s a sad day to see one of our own like this Will. Why would anyone want to hurt Laura, let alone kill her?’

  Will shook his head but wondered briefly how many relationships she’d messed up. Less than two hours ago he’d thought about killing her himself – hypothetically of course. He wasn’t a violent man unless it was defending himself or anyone he cared about. The only exception would be the man who had wanted to kill Annie last year; given the chance Will would very much like to be left alone in a locked room with him for five minutes. ‘I’m not sure but we have a major problem, this is the second murder in just over a week and as far as I know Laura had no connection to the first victim Tracy Hale because she worked that crime scene with me. She would have said something if she’d known her.’

  The DI began making his way towards them and his colour hadn’t improved any. Fresh from his secondment at headquarters in Penrith he was obviously figuring out the world of shit that was about to come crashing down on his shoulders. ‘Will what have we got so far, anything that’s concrete, witnesses, CCTV, anything?’

  Will coughed into his hands as he felt his cheeks begin to burn. ‘Nothing yet for Laura, a kid from the school found her.’

  Kav spoke, ‘I have two officers inside checking the CCTV and taking first accounts from the teacher.’

  Will carried on, ‘The last victim was a bit of a loner according to her work colleagues, very shy and didn’t join in with very much both inside and outside of work. She had no close friends and didn’t socialise with anyone they were aware of. She was single, no family and both parents dead. She hasn’t got a record but did phone 101 a couple of weeks ago to report that someone had been in her house. A patrol went and checked the house and rear yard, there was no sign of anyone trying to gain entry and when she was asked why she thought someone had been in her house she said it was because the Sky remote control wasn’t where she left it before she went to work. Understandably the officers didn’t really take much notice, you know how busy they are and short staffed. There was nothing to substantiate that a crime had occurred so it was left at that. The next contact was when her body was discovered in St Mary’s church by the elderly housekeeper for the priest.’

  ‘Jesus wept, has her house been searched from top to bottom?’

  ‘Yes, CSI and Task Force went through it with a fine toothcomb and didn’t find anything, she wasn’t killed there. Her house was immaculate, the day before she
was discovered she had been to work and must have met her killer there or on her way home. Truthfully – we have nothing. The crime scene was relatively clean, there was a footprint on the soil near to the grave but it came back as a Magnum and you and I know it’s the boot of choice for most response staff. Debs took a cast but most of the blokes in the station wear them so we can rule that out.’

  ‘Anything else, blood, DNA, a bloody great fingerprint which leads us straight to the murdering bastard?’

  Will shook his head. ‘No blood, death by asphyxiation, nothing under the nails so she didn’t put up a fight. We’re still waiting on the toxicology reports which Matt said he would fast track but it still takes forever. It has to be the same guy because Laura looks pretty much identical to her and relatively peaceful for a woman who has just been murdered.’

  ‘I don’t suppose the church will have CCTV, there won’t be much call for it, but what about the vicar, has anyone spoken to him?’

  ‘Boss it’s a catholic church. We hammered on the presbytery door first thing and there was no reply. Stu and Laura spoke to the priest and took a statement after he’d reported finding the body last week. He’s in his sixties and didn’t have a clue why anyone would want to leave a dead body in his church grounds.’

  Kav butted in, ‘Father John is the priest for this church, my wife comes to mass a couple of times a month. He’s had to go and cover for someone at Windermere for a couple of weeks so he won’t have been here. You’ll have to get someone to go and speak to him up that end. The school does have very good CCTV which is being burnt off as we speak.’

  The DI cheered up at the thought of maybe having the killer captured on camera. ‘Good, fingers crossed it will all be on tape.’

  Will decided not to piss on his chips and tell him that it was highly unlikely, the cameras didn’t even look over to the church. The killer would have had to climb over the six foot high fence into the school playground carrying Laura over his back and gone through into the church by the gate they were standing close to. It would be amazing but the only person who would be that strong would be the bloody Hulk or someone who was off his head. If it was someone who was on one because they’d been up all night taking plant food or whatever, the crime scene would have been sloppy and disorganised. This was definitely the work of an organised killer. Since the last murders Will had become a bit of an expert on serial killers. His bedtime reading consisted of tales of Ted Bundy, The Yorkshire Ripper and almost every other serial killer that had ever been caught. He had promised himself should it ever happen again then he would be prepared, he just hadn’t expected that it actually would. He needed to speak to Grace Marshall and fast, he didn’t want to spoil her holiday but he would send her an email, that should be okay. He also wanted to wake up from this nightmare – right about now.

  Chapter 15

  Annie had no idea what she was doing but she seemed to be winging it just fine, the tourists weren’t as bad as she’d thought they would be. She hated having her picture taken but she could live with it as long as she didn’t have to look at the photos. The weather had been glorious and she couldn’t have picked a prettier place to work, it was so different from the usual drunken chavs and endless domestics she was used to attending on a daily basis. She actually had time to think, which perhaps wasn’t the best thing considering all she could think about was Will. Today she was on foot patrol and she walked down the steep hill towards the busy town of Bowness. Everybody smiled and said hello and she smiled back. Passing the shops she made her way towards the pier where the Lakeside Steamers docked, one full of kids was just coming in and they all waved at her, she waved back. She walked on towards the Marina and the boat club. She had made it her first port of call the first day she was here thinking it would be a great way to get to know some of the locals. She had spent a very pleasant hour with the club steward who had showed her around, explaining everything to her. He had even taken her onto a couple of boats. She had never been interested in them before but now she was fascinated. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were moored on the most beautiful lake in England – in her opinion. She had wondered what it would be like sailing around on one with Will, a picnic and a couple of bottles of champagne, then she kicked herself: As if that’s ever likely to happen Graham. You’ve never been sailing in your life and Will probably won’t have and aren’t you forgetting the most important thing of all you, and Will are not together anymore. The pain in her chest was so intense it felt as if someone had just stabbed her through the heart.

  She wandered along the jetties, admiring the huge boat which was now moored up and hadn’t been there the last time she was here. An older man came out of the cabin with a half-drunk bottle of coke in his hand and grinned at her. ‘Good afternoon officer and what a fine one it is.’

  ‘Yes it is gorgeous, what a beautiful day to be sailing, especially on such a lovely boat.’

  ‘Why thank you, she is a beauty isn’t she. My wife doesn’t agree but what the heck, you only live once.’

  Annie nodded in agreement, he seemed so familiar. He had a thick shock of silver hair, bright blue eyes and a cheeky grin.

  ‘I’m Annie, one of the local community officers, I’m very new to the area. Well I’m not new to the area as such; I come here all the time on my days off, what I mean is I’m new to policing the area.’ She shut up as her cheeks began to burn, could she make a bigger fool of herself?

  He put the bottle of coke down and climbed down the ladder, as agile as any twenty year old. He turned to face her and held out his hand. ‘I’m Tom and it’s nice to meet such a lovely member of the constabulary.’ He winked at her and she laughed. ‘Would you like to take a look around my boat Annie? My wife won’t even come on it unless I’m dropping her off to go shopping. I’m dying to show it off to someone who might want to listen to me waffle on.’

  She thought about it for all of ten seconds before she nodded. ‘I’d love to.’

  He climbed back up the ladder and she followed him up and onto the deck, where he proceeded to show her the cabin and below deck. It was gorgeous. It had two bedrooms and a galley-cum-diner. Before she could stop herself she uttered, ‘Wow, well Tom I am very impressed. I have to say it’s nicer than my house.’

  He laughed and it was his turn to blush. ‘Look at me showing off, you know I don’t normally do that I just couldn’t resist getting the prettiest officer I’ve ever met onto my boat.’

  Annie felt her already warm cheeks burn even hotter.

  ‘My son’s a police officer, not around here though. It’s a bit boring for him here, he prefers a bit of the action.’

  A woman’s voice called out for Tom and he grinned again. ‘Oops busted by the wife. Come on, she can make us something ice cold to drink and we can sit on the deck and discuss the local neighbourhood policing priorities. That way if anyone asks you have a valid excuse to be so blatantly taking a break.’ He winked and she couldn’t help laughing, she liked him. He turned to go up on deck and she followed.

  Annie had to stop her mouth from falling open when she saw the woman who the voice belonged to. She had been expecting to see someone the same age as Tom, instead standing in front of her was a woman in her early thirties the same age as her and she was beautiful. She looked like she belonged on a Hollywood film set and Annie felt a wave of embarrassment standing there dressed head to foot in men’s black combat trousers, a polyester shirt which was stuck to every inch of her body, Magnum boots and her luminous yellow body armour. Her hat was tucked under her arm because it was baking her head and her black curly hair was plastered to her head. Tom hugged his wife and kissed her cheek. ‘Lily this is Annie our new community police officer. Annie this is my wife Lily.’

  Lily smiled and held out her hand, ‘I hope Tom hasn’t bored you to death?’

  ‘Not at all, it’s very nice to meet you both.’

  ‘Have you offered Annie a drink, she must be spitting feathers wearing all that gear in t
his heat?’

  ‘Sorry I totally forgot. Sorry, Annie would you like a cool drink?’ He winked at her and she had to smother a laugh. ‘Only if it’s not too much trouble, it would be lovely. I am absolutely fried.’

  Lily disappeared down into the galley and Tom pointed to one of the sun loungers on the deck; ‘Do you want to take that stab vest off and make yourself a bit comfier, I promise that neither of us will attack you.’

  ‘I better hadn’t, I don’t want to look as if I’m actually enjoying myself. Members of the public like to report us if we look too much like normal people.’

  ‘Ah yes I know what you mean; I think most people think you come from an assembly line in Milton Keynes.’

  Lily appeared, carrying a tray with three crystal glasses which sparkled in the sunlight and a jug full of fruit juice, ice and chopped fruit. Tom jumped up to take it from her, placing it on the table. He began pouring the juice and handed one to her; she thanked him and took a long sip. It was delicious. She looked around at the calm blue lake and the boats sailing on the water, the lush green hills and mountains surrounding it and wished that Will was here, he would love this. What would it be like to enjoy life and not have to work for a living? Lily broke the moment and began chatting about the new Laura Ashley shop which had opened and Annie joined in, she talked to them both for the next half an hour without having to think about much else. And then her radio burst into life, bringing her back to reality. The control room operator told her there was a minor road traffic collision, no injuries but the road was blocked and they needed some traffic control up by the church. Annie drained the last of her juice. ‘Thank you so much, that was lovely and it was even nicer to have met you both. If you need anything at all you can contact me on this number.’ She pulled a business card from her pocket which had the constabulary crest on it and a list of telephone numbers, the police station address and her email. Tom stood up and took it from her, ‘Thank you Annie, that’s very kind of you. I never know when I may need rescuing from Lily and her shopping fetish.’ He winked and she laughed.