Page 79 of Her Lips Are Sealed

Ben smiled back. ‘She will be, thank you.’

He stopped to speak to Mac and Scotty. ‘Full statements off them, please, how long Jaxon has worked here, how well they know him, etc.’

‘No problem, we’ll get that done right now.’

Scotty already had his handheld device out ready to go, and Ben was impressed; he’d upped his game. Maybe Morgan’s close call at thinking he was a killer and working with Mac, who was an absolute legend, was rubbing off on him.

FORTY-NINE

Morgan had refused to go to A&E and had to sign a form for the paramedic to say she was going against medical advice. At least it wasn’t Nick this time, although no doubt he’d hear about it. There was no way she was wasting hours up there when they were so close to finding the killer.

The paramedic had cleaned Morgan up and done his best to glue the wound together. Morgan was going to kick the crap out of that guy when she found him. Her poor hair was now going to be matted again for weeks. She felt okay, begged some paracetamol from the paramedic then asked someone to get her a can of Coke from The Chippy Bank to give her some energy back. Ben could say what he wanted, but she was adult enough to make up her own mind.

Helen, one of the Ulverston PCSOs, had spoken to the manager of a yoga studio located not far away and asked if they could utilise the space while they searched, and she’d said yes. So, Morgan was currently sitting on a yoga mat, sipping the icy-cold fizzy drink and trying to think. She didn’t know Ulverston well, but Helen and Paul, who both worked it, did, and they were currently directing officers where to go from the safety of the studio. Neither of them was armed and it was too dangerous for them to be out searching. Morgan thought about Tina who’d happily step in to kick the shit of out their guy if she’d been here and that made her smile to herself.

‘Why are you here?’ Ben’s voice filled the airy space, but it wasn’t angry.

‘I’m fine, just felt a little woozy for a minute. Everything’s good now.’

He walked over to her, bent down and kissed her gently on her forehead in front of everyone, and she smiled up at him. Then he straightened up and was back to business.

‘Any luck with the search?’

Helen, Paul and Lucy, who’d followed him in, shook their heads.

‘Fuck! He only had a couple of minutes advantage. What, is he a professional athlete or a time traveller? He’s got to be somewhere.’

Cain looked at the map. ‘He lives in a fancy house in Coniston so surely he’s going to try and make his way back to it. I mean he’s dressed in green scrubs; he should be standing out like a sore thumb.’

‘Not if he’s snuck up onto The Gill. If he gets onto Gill Banks Beck, he could get to Coniston on foot from there, maybe take him three or four hours depending on how fast he is. Plenty of fields and greenery up there to shield him. I can’t see him trying to go through any of the main roads or they would have spotted him by now.’

‘Right then, is there a drone out yet?’ Ben was looking at Lucy.

‘One’s on the way.’

‘What about the dog, has it picked up a scent?’

‘It’s market day, lot of scents around. Nothing up to now.’

‘Can we call in air support from Lancs? He’s not getting away a second time.’

‘Consider it requested.’ Lucy disappeared outside to speak to the Control room on her phone.

Ben sighed. ‘I think he had a vehicle close by, one that he didn’t keep at the vets but within walking distance to here. That would explain why he slipped right through our fingers. He’s clever, he’s had this thought out. He knew if we came for him at his work, he’d never be able to drive away so he’s been parking it in the public car park at the end of this alley probably. I bet he doesn’t go home either. He might have his own place.’

Amy came in looking red-faced and held up a hand. ‘I’m going to search the voter’s register now, need to sit down. I’m not cut out for foot chases anymore.’

Ben looked at her. ‘You weren’t supposed to be giving chase, Amy, you’re almost as bad as Morgan. Neither of you had protection.’

Morgan pulled her CS out of her pocket. ‘I did, I just never got close enough to use it. He’s too flighty and very quick thinking. He’s not going to come in quietly I can tell you that now. He’s going to be furious that his cover has been blown. He’ll either kill himself or kill someone else just to prove he’s in charge.’

‘Right then, we need a list of cars registered to his mum’s house and any other potential addresses. Let’s get a marker put on his passport too, so he can’t slip out and leave. At least Border Police will be alerted to him if he tries it. If his mum is in America then he might try to get over there. Mac and Scotty are currently speaking to his colleagues and one of them has said he is single, has money at his disposal, his mum is wealthy but insisted he worked so he picked veterinary nursing because he loves cats, and he has no partner that he talks about and is in her words “good-looking but weird”.’

Morgan could feel the buzz in the air. The investigation had changed and, in their favour, they had his name, workplace, home address it was all closing in, and they knew it. Jaxon Cartwright was no longer the invisible monster. He was a flesh and blood man, who could be stopped from committing any more of these heinous crimes. God, she hoped she was the one to cuff him and read him his rights because that would give her great pleasure.

FIFTY

Wendy was feeling much better. She’d managed a slice of toast and her first coffee in twenty-four hours. About to get in the shower, she stopped when she heard the cat from next door again as it yowled at her window. What the hell was wrong with it? And then she stopped and realised there might be a problem with the old lady next door. What if it was letting her know something was wrong? She’d heard of dogs doing that, maybe cats could as well.