Briggs paused for a second before speaking. ‘Only that the press release went out. I also saw a report out tonight that questioned our competency. The link has been made that both victims were at the same wedding reception. They’re dubbing it “The Bridesmaid Murders”. It’s a nightmare. What are you up to?’
‘I’m just scrutinising Holly Long’s bank statements. Her spending exceeded her income by several hundred pounds per month. She had no credit at all. Had she not been receiving a regular payment of fifteen hundred pounds per month on top of her meagre salary, she’d be in major debt by now.’ Gina glanced at the dates as she bit her nails. ‘She’d been receiving this supplementary income since moving into her flat over a year ago from…’ She looked at the reference. It was a series of numbers, the length of an account number. ‘I mean, could she have had another job that we don’t know about? She received the same amount on the same date, every month. This suggests a permanent contract.’
‘That is odd. Or blackmail? Something to consider.’ Briggs paused.
‘Definitely. I’m not ruling anything out right now. We need to go full throttle on this. We need to find out whom this account number belongs to and where the account is registered.’
Gina reached across and grabbed the black coffee from the table and took a swig.
‘It was lovely spending the night at yours, I’m just sorry I went out like a light on the couch. Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ A slight smile emerged from her lips. ‘Anyway, I have about five hours sleep and then I need to be up to raid Dawkins’s flat. I’ll see you tomorrow when I get back to the station.’ There was no way she was going to tell him about her panic attack or how niggled she felt about the photo of the drink driver who seemed key to progressing with the case. She only hoped that the woman spoke some coherent words soon.
‘I’ll catch you tomorrow. Goodnight, Gina.’ He paused for a few seconds then ended the call.
She swapped the screens over and glanced back at the photo. She leaned in, studying the contours of the woman’s face, the shape of her nose, the distance of her eyes. She stopped at the chin, slightly wide, then her eyes were pulled to the nose again. It was more of an all over resemblance to someone who was familiar but it wasn’t obvious. A subtle bit here and a slight likeness there. Nothing definite was pointing her to the person this woman reminded her of. She slammed the lid down and closed her eyes with that face etched into her mind.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Lilly stood in the garden under the moon’s light enjoying every puff on her vape. She’d given up smoking when she’d found out she was pregnant with Ben. She and Brendan ceremoniously tore up their cigarettes and threw them in the bin. She hadn’t told Brendan that all through her pregnancy she’d obsessed over giving birth so that she could have a smoke. Instead, as soon as her stitches had healed enough for her to get to a shop, she’d taken up vaping and still hid the habit like the secret that it was.
She inhaled the vanilla vapour, enjoying the slight rush through her body as she puffed into the air. It floated straight past their bedroom window. If Brendan woke up, he’d not only wonder where she was, he might wonder why a thick cloud of smoke was visible through the slight gap in the curtains. She took a few steps down the garden towards the back gate and inhaled again. The security light clicked off. If he woke to that, she could always say she couldn’t sleep or she felt a bit yuck. Whatever – she’d find an excuse. As long as he didn’t see vapour, she was in the clear.
She loved the silence. It was rare. Since Ben had come along, their house had been filled with the sound of cartoons, Ben’s crying and more often, his laughter. She loved it all but still, the lure of her night-time secret puffs on the vape while enjoying the night’s silence was strong. This moment was hers and no one else’s. As she took another puff, she held the vapour in her mouth as she listened to a shuffle at the other side of the gate. Silently exhaling, she crept backwards, triggering the security light again. That was twice. She was sure she’d wake Brendan up now. For once, she really hoped she had. She’d have to tell him that she’d heard a noise and came for a look, but he’d be angry. He’d tell her she should have woken him and he’d be right. No, the shuffling had been nothing more than a figment of her imagination. The other night when they saw someone loitering, that could have been nothing more than a person passing by. Having the panic alarm fitted was overkill.
Another shuffle came from behind the gate. She checked her pocket and all she could hear was her booming heart. The panic alarm was on the kitchen worktop. She’d changed her mind. It wasn’t overkill. The gate rattled and she spotted something that sent her head in a whirl – they’d forgot to lock the gate after all that talking about security. She took another step away from it. The bar on the catch lifted. He was coming for her, the third and final bridesmaid. She didn’t want to believe it but she knew he would find her and he had.
She turned to run and stumbled on the mossy slab. Glancing back, she caught sight of the hooded figure entering her garden. Run – she had to run. She darted straight over the rest of the slabs in her slippers, treading as carefully as she could as her assailant sped up. She felt the air of his chase on her back as she reached for the door handle. It was no good. He wrenched her back by the hood of her dressing gown. As she tried to scream a hand covered her mouth. She thought of Ben and his cute little chuckles as she willed Brendan to wake up. He was normally a light sleeper but not tonight. Then she thought of the panic button on the side. How could she have been so stupid?
Chapter Fifty-Five
Knees knocking, Gina entered the red room to catch the back of a man. The hulk-like figure brought the cleaver down onto the butcher’s block. Blood splattered and Gina let out a yelp. She shouldn’t have said a word. Now he knew she was there and she was going to be next. He turned. Through the welder’s mask, she could see his beady eyes but what startled her more was the cage that his bulky frame had been masking; the cage containing Hannah as she held a single carnation. She wanted to run but she couldn’t leave her own flesh and blood. As he removed the welder’s mask, she recognised the face instantly but the face wasn’t the owner of the eyes she’d seen only a few seconds earlier. Hannah’s sobs had turned into laughter as Nanny Hetty came at her with the meat cleaver. ‘Whose eyes were they?’ she yelled as she ran from the red room, into the vacuous dark space. The figure had gone but she was alone with no answers. Whose eyes had she been staring into?
Gina tipped the glass of water into her lap as the phone’s ringing brought her out of her nightmare. She grabbed the lit-up phone. ‘Jacob. What have you got?’ She placed her hand on her chest hoping that her heart would calm down. Glancing around the dark room, the moon shone a beam against the main wall through her open curtains. There was no cleaver-wielding Hetty chasing her. She was safe, alone and in her living room. Ebony jumped onto the settee and changed her mind about nestling into Gina’s lap when she realised it was soaking wet. ‘Damn!’
‘You okay, guv?’
‘Yes. I fell asleep holding a glass of water and now I’ve poured it all over myself. What an idiot.’ She grabbed the snuggle blanket that had slipped off her knees and mopped up what she could as she balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder. ‘What you got?’
‘The panic button has just been pressed over at Lilly and Brendan Hill’s residence. Uniform are on their way over. They let us know as soon as the call came in. Did you want to head over? I can meet you there?’
She threw the blanket to the floor. ‘I’m on my way.’ She ran up the stairs for a quick wash and change, yawning as she ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced at the shower, almost gutted at not having time to soak under a flow of warm water to properly wake herself up.
Grappling with the closest pair of trousers and a light V-neck jumper, she checked her appearance once before running out of the door. An image flashed through her mind. The eyes in her dream before the mask had been lifted wouldn’t leave her alone. The slight crinkle to the corners as the assailant smiled behind the mask, and the way he – it was a he – the way his brows raised as he spoke. It couldn’t be. She knew exactly who that drunk driver in Wales reminded her of and he had a lot of explaining to do.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Shaking his arm several times, he managed to ease his battered muscles. He hadn’t banked on her grabbing him the way she had. She was definitely stronger than Frannie. Unrolling the scarf from around his mouth and nose, he dropped it to the floor. Not the best disguise but with his oversized hood, a lot was concealed. Mummy bridesmaid would keep. That was his nickname for Lilly.
He removed the hoodie and grabbed the phone off the side. It wasn’t his phone. He’d never be seen dead with a purple diamanté case and a screensaver of a dog wearing a crown. The messages on the phone had been interesting; they’d definitely brought a smile to his face. That poor desperate girl certainly was a needy one but he’d seen that in her already. As he followed her the other night from Lilly’s house, he sensed her tension, but she had interrupted his plans. The odd bang of a fence panel here, the throwing of a stone there. That’s why she’d started to run although he had to chuckle, she wasn’t good at running. He’d go as far as to say, he thought she was flat-footed and her moves reminded him of a duck trying to balance on a frozen pond.
Her pitiful life was worthless. She wasn’t his type, not like Holly or Frannie but they all looked the same when they went purple while being gripped around the jugular.
The chair below screeched across the tiled floor. The woman in the cellar had woken up.
He pressed send on the message.
