Watching the Dead Page 5

  Eventually, God had had enough and smite the evil cities in his anger and revulsion, killing the children of the fallen and their mothers by a great flood. Only one man was spared, Noah. The Watchers were scattered to the wind and banished from the face of God and from his temples. This hardened the hearts of the Watchers and they, in turn, swore vengeance on God, and their long-suffering search for suitable women to help them fill the earth with their children once again, began.

  Chapter 16

  By late afternoon on the 31st October the Halloween celebrations were in full swing in Chichester. All the shops, restaurants and pubs in the city centre were decorated, vying with each other for the coolest, spookiest, most horrible windows. The children loved it. Running from one display to the other, oohing and aahing and screaming. Many of them were in fancy dress. Skeletons, witches, warlocks, and evil beings danced through the streets together. It was clear all the schools in the area had held fancy dress days and the children would stay in costume for the rest of the day and night, as they went trick or treating.

  It should have been a happy sight, but for Jo, walking through the streets, it seemed to be a portent for disaster. Maybe it was just the memory of the bombing in the Italian restaurant just round the corner, where so many had died, including her close friend Judith. But she didn’t think so. It was more wisps of feelings that darted around her. She tried to grab hold of them, but they always wriggled away. Taunting her. Dancing just out of reach. What was happening and where? She felt something but didn’t have the words to explain it or describe it.

  She slipped into a supermarket, intent on buying a few staples. But once there she still couldn’t get away from Halloween. The store was decorated within an inch of its life and the music blaring from the speakers were all Halloween tunes. Wherever she turned there were grinning pumpkins, skeletons, witches. She felt cold air on the back of her neck and whirled round. Nothing. No one there. Then it happened again. What the hell was going on? She turned, intent on giving the joker who was playing with her a piece of her mind, when her phone rang.

  Digging it out of her pocket, she saw it was Byrd. She pressed the button to answer the call. She wanted to tell him how she felt, that she was frightened and alone, was convinced she was being followed, being toyed with, but she didn’t have time to speak.

  ‘Jo, it’s me,’ he barked. ‘There’s been an attack on a young woman.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘A few minutes ago.’

  ‘Where?’

  Byrd gave her the address.

  ‘I’m in the town centre. I’ll meet you there.’

  Jo killed the call, dropped her shopping basket on the floor and ran.

  Chapter 17

  The sight that confronted Jo was of a young woman in a sorry state. Her face was red and swollen, her clothes torn. Dark hair that appeared to be shoulder length looked like the stuff of nightmares, each hair seemed to be charged with static and was quite literally standing on end. The small bedroom appeared to be ransacked. The room smelled damp, old and rotten, almost putrid. She looked up at the walls and ceiling of the room, expecting them to be full of mould, but no. Which meant there was only one other smell like that. The smell from the morgue when they had a particularly old, decomposing body. It was liked Stilton cheese gone off, ripe and thick, the odour lingering in the air. Whatever had been in the bedroom that night had certainly made its mark.

  Byrd was there, comforting the girl. For a moment Jo felt jealous. That was a ludicrous thought, but what could she do? His arms should be around her and not this… this… prostitute. She immediately felt awful. Even if the girl was a sex worker, it didn’t mean she deserved Jo’s derision, especially after what she appeared to have been subjected to. Jo thought it was a good job she hadn’t articulated her thoughts and swallowed down her shame at her prejudice.

  ‘Ah, Jo,’ said Byrd. ‘This is Suki. We’re just waiting for the ambulance.’

  ‘Hey, Suki,’ said Jo. Squatting down in front of the girl she said, ‘I’m DI Jo Wolfe and that rather handsome man with his arms around you is DS Eddie Byrd.’ She wanted to take one of Suki’s hands in her own, but daren’t. Firstly, they could hold vital forensic evidence and Jo couldn’t take the risk of contaminating it and secondly, she didn’t want to have a ‘reading’ in front of Byrd. So she had to make do with smiling at the poor girl.

  ‘Help is on its way,’ she said, then looked at Byrd, her eyebrows raised in a question.

  He nodded and spoke over the top of Suki’s head. ‘Uniforms are on their way to secure the scene. Bill is re-routing to here from another less urgent incident, to collect any forensic evidence. The hospital have been advised and will be ready to admit Suki as soon as she gets there.’

  ‘Excellent. Thanks, Byrd. Suki? Can you tell me what happened?’

  ‘Um, um, I’m a…’ Suki tripped over the next word.

  ‘Sex worker?’ asked Jo helping her out.

  Suki nodded. ‘Just on the side, you know. Everything was normal to start with. I’d seen him around, the customer that is, so I felt fairly safe. None of the girls had reported any problems with him. But once he started, well it was as though he turned into someone else. Something else. He started clawing at me. Hurting me. Raping me.’ Suki took a few ragged breaths. ‘He refused to wear a condom. I told him that no condom meant no sex.’ Suki sniffed. ‘He said he’d do what he wanted, then he beat me up and r…r…raped me.’

  Suki collapsed in tears. Turning her head she burrowed into Byrd’s shoulder, muffling her sobs. God knows what her actions might be doing to any forensic evidence, but the girl was so very distressed. Jo’s eyes met Byrd’s. It was clear they both felt immensely sorry for the young girl.

  The sound of heavy boots on the stairs made all three of them look up, just as a two-man paramedic crew burst through the door. Leaving Suki in their expert hands, Byrd assured her they would see her at Chichester Hospital later.

  Running down the stairs, they were met by two uniformed officers. Byrd stationed one by the door into the street and one upstairs outside the door of Suki’s flat. Then Byrd and Jo hurried to Byrd’s car.

  ‘Did you notice the pumpkin?’ Jo asked when they’d climbed in.

  ‘Not particularly, no. I saw there were Halloween decorations.’

  ‘Here,’ said Jo and passed him her mobile, open to a picture. In it a grinning pumpkin had something stuffed in its mouth. You could just about make out the writing: ‘Look to the Book of Enoch.’

  ‘What the hell?’ said Byrd.

  ‘Exactly,’ replied Jo. ‘I think our man left a message for us.’

  Chapter 18

  Jo and Byrd didn’t speak on their short walk back to the police station. The night was drawing in and the temperature plummeting. Jo had her usual trouser suit on with flat shoes, and wool coat over the top, but was still cold. Whether that was from the weather or the scene they had left, Jo wasn’t sure. Byrd was walking alongside her, arms swinging, focused and determined. She wanted to hold his hand, take his arm, anything. She was desperate for the easy familiar way they’d had between each other. But that was before. When they’d been a couple.

  Jo had so much she wanted to say, but daren’t. They’d reached some sort of impasse and she didn’t want to jeopardise that. Entering the building, they nodded to Jed on the front desk and Byrd let them into the station by keying in the security code. Once inside, Byrd went to brief Sasha and Jill, while Jo went to see Harry Sykes.

  ‘Boss?’ Jo said after she’d knocked on the DCI’s open door.

  ‘Ah, Jo, come in. Leave the door open.’

  ‘A new case has just come in.’

  ‘Yes. The assault and rape of a young woman. Control have informed me.’

  ‘Good. She’s been taken to Chichester Hospital. Do my team take this one?’

  ‘Anything urgent on at the moment?’

  ‘No, Sir.’

  Harry eyed her for a moment. ‘Very well. Take it. Report bac
k once you have more information.’

  ‘Thank you, Sir,’ Jo said as Sykes returned his attention to the papers on his desk.

  The new Boss wasn’t very chatty. Dour Yorkshire man definitely summed him up. Jo couldn’t read him at all. Perhaps things would change once they were into the meat of this case.

  Once Sykes was sure Jo had left his office, he raised his head, watching her walk down the corridor and back to Major Crimes. He wasn’t sure what to make of her. She was very self-contained. Without doubt, good at solving crimes. The trouble was she seemed to work more on instinct than on hard evidence. At least that was the word around the station. No one really had a bad word to say about her, although some described her as, ‘a bit of a cold fish’. But that was just those who resented the way new graduate officers could come straight into CID after a few years’ experience in the ‘real world’. Harry’s view on that was that it was best to live and let live. Everyone had something different to bring to the party and that’s how crimes were solved: by everyone pitching in and trying out new ideas, brainstorming motives and interpretation of the evidence. Not by individuals showboating. It was the case that was important. Less so the individuals. Unless, of course, it reflected badly on him. He’d climbed the ladder on the backs of those who had been unfortunate enough to be his subordinate and make a mistake.

  Looking at Jo’s file, Sykes realised he knew Jo’s father. They’d briefly met on an investigation years ago when Mick had been in the Met. A serial killer had been roaming the country and a large task force had been set up that they were both part of. They were young detective constables, carrying out the leg work for higher ranking detectives. He could see Mick in Jo, of course. The same determination, enthusiasm for the job, total commitment to the police force.

  Yes, he decided, his spell at Chichester was going to be very interesting indeed.

  Chapter 19

  Returning to the CID floor, Jo nodded at Byrd, to signal they’d been given the case. They grabbed their coats and made their way to the hospital.

  Suki was lying in bed in a small side ward and she was the only occupant. The nurses had cleaned her wounds, which actually made the bruises, cuts and grazes look worse than they had earlier. The covering of blood had hidden what lay underneath. Her face was swollen, eyes barely open. There were black and red splotches all over her face. Her hands, lying on the white sheet, were also cut and bruised. On one hand every fingernail was broken, where Suki had clawed at something during the attack as she tried to escape.

  ‘Hey,’ said Jo as they approached the bed. ‘How are you feeling now?’

  Suki merely shrugged.

  Jo tried again. ‘Has someone been to check you over and do some forensic tests?’ Jo meant a rape kit but was wary of using that term.

  Suki nodded.

  ‘We were wondering if you could help by telling us a little bit about yourself. You know, for background. You might have information that could help stop this happening to someone else.’

  Suki looked up at Jo from under swollen eyelids. She had been scrunching the sheet in her right hand and stopped, smoothing it straight again. But, inevitably, she’d left behind an imprint, a set of lines where the material had been creased. A reminder of the trauma.

  ‘Just you,’ Suki whispered to Jo.

  Byrd said, ‘I’ll just go and find the doctor,’ and moved out of earshot to give Suki and Jo some privacy.

  ‘I, um, I, um, I’m a student at Chichester Uni. I became a prostitute last year, because I couldn’t afford to pay the rent and eat. It was an either or, really, the student loan just didn’t cover everything. I was always broke. Never had enough food. Couldn’t go out. My life was really crappy, you know?’

  Jo nodded.

  ‘I just couldn’t find another option. Nothing else paid as well. I graduated earlier this year with a First and then decided to stay on to do a Masters.’

  ‘Well done you,’ said Jo. ‘That’s quite an achievement.’

  Suki smiled, but it was clearly painful, and she winced. ‘But it also meant I’d have to continue with, with, this…’

  Tears ran down Suki’s face and Jo’s heart broke for her. Jo herself had been shielded from the cost of university, her family could well afford to pay the fees. But if they hadn’t? Then she could have faced the same dilemma as Suki. Jo felt deeply embarrassed about her earlier judgemental attitude towards Suki when they’d first met.

  ‘I love academia and education and always have. And it will be the only way I can get out of doing sex work. It gives more opportunities for someone who doesn’t have a lot, you know?” she said.

  ‘You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Suki. I’m not here to judge you, just to help you. But you have to help me, help you. Okay?’

  Suki nodded.

  ‘You need to tell me what happened.’

  Suki’s eye widened and she pushed herself back into the pillows propping her up. She shook her head. ‘Not yet. Maybe later. I, I, can’t. I just can’t.’ The tears that had dried started up again.

  Jo took Suki’s hand and squeezed it. ‘It’s alright, I understand.’

  And in a flash Jo did understand.

  Smiles, laughter and inuendo bagged the client for Suki and together they tripped up the stairs to her small bedsit. Once the formalities were over and Suki had placed the money in her cash box, they moved to the bed. He seemed to be enjoying himself, even though Suki felt nothing. But, hey, that was the name of the game. She hadn’t realised what a good actress she could be. Let’s face it Meg Ryan in ‘When Harry Met Sally’, had nothing on Suki. His features blurred. One face looked pretty much like another in her line of work. It’s not like you gazed into a lover’s eyes or anything. Quite the opposite. Suki hardly looked at the men. She was more interested in their money than their faces or bodies.

  But then something changed. There was a definite shift in attitude. Something different. Something wrong. He roughly entered her, without a condom on.

  ‘Hey,’ she shouted, ‘You can’t do that.’

  ‘I’ll do what the hell I want.’

  Suki wondered why his voice had changed. It was deeper, angrier, rougher. She bucked her hips, trying to get him off her, but it only spurred him on.

  Before she knew it, she was flipped over and dragged to the edge of the bed, legs splayed. There was a hand on her neck and one on her back. She was penetrated again. Both hands were now around her neck. He squeezed until her vision went blurry, then grabbed her hair, pulling her head backwards. He screamed as he climaxed, howled in ecstasy, then fell on top of her, forcing the air out of her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. Began to panic.

  The rank smell of his breath near her ear made her want to throw up. It was as if every tooth in his mouth was rotting, loose in the mangled mess of his gums. ‘Now be a good girl and I’ll leave you alone,’ he rasped. ‘But tell anyone and our next encounter won’t be nearly as pleasant.’

  Jo stifled a scream of her own and pulled her hand away. It felt hot and she had pins and needles, radiating out from her palm. Kneading it with her right hand she looked at Suki. Something passed between them. A look of understanding. Suki’s eyes pleaded with Jo, who nodded in return. She’d find the bastard and try to make Suki whole again.

  ‘I promise,’ Jo whispered and went to find Byrd.

  He was by the nursing station on the phone. Jo heard him say, ‘Very well, Sir.’

  Pocketing the mobile, he saw Jo and said, ‘We’ve another one.’

  Jo raised an eyebrow.

  ‘But this time she’s dead.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘A flat near the town centre.’

  Jo nodded and they ran for the stairs.

  Once in the car, with Byrd driving, she pulled out her mobile and called Jill. Quickly bringing her up to speed she then said, ‘Work with Sasha, get as much information as you can on known sex offenders, where they live, known associates, rapists active in the area.’

  ‘
Yes, Boss,’ said Jill. ‘Where will you be?’

  ‘Body found in the Lewis Road area. Byrd and I are heading there now.’

  ‘Sasha’s just handed me a note,’ said Jill. ‘It looks like the DCI is on his way to you.’

  Great. Just what Jo needed. ‘Thanks, Jill.’

  Jo ended the conversation. Byrd looked at her, eyebrows raised.

  ‘Looks like our dour Yorkshireman is about to cut his teeth on our dead girl.’

  Chapter 20

  The property Byrd pulled up in front of, was very central - located in Lewis Road, just a few minutes’ walk from the University campus. It was in a well-lit and safe area within in easy reach of the town centre.

  Chichester’s historic heart and affluent community, plus its proximity to beautiful countryside, made it an ideal location for those wanting the best of both urban and rural living. But every city has a student quarter and Chichester’s centred around Lewis Road. It was very popular with student sharers. The houses were mostly terraced many from social housing stock that was bought by the tenants under the Right to Buy scheme. The lucky students got a nice refurbished property. However, those not so quick off the mark found there were only tired properties in need of some general updating, left. Some were owned by Landlords that couldn’t be bothered with the general upkeep of the houses. They just collected the rent and then suddenly became uncontactable when things went wrong. The good properties went first, to those students with the funds to be able to pay for them from June, even though the Autumn Term didn’t start until nearly October.