Afraid (31 page)

‘Not as far as I’m aware,’ Fitch reassured him. ‘But I’m not sure we’re in the best place to discuss this, so maybe we should accompany the officers back to the station where they can explain in more detail.’

Jeff nodded his agreement and walked over to the squad car without another word, desperate to find out what had happened to make them all act so cagey.

Shirley was on her way home from work that evening when her mobile phone started ringing. She never answered calls when she was driving, but she’d sent a text before she set off and the phone was still on the passenger seat, so she flicked a quick glance at it – and was shocked to see Jeff’s name on the screen. Quickly pulling over, because he was the very last person she had expected a call from, she snatched the phone up.

‘Hello, Jeff? Is that you?’

‘Yeah, it’s me, love,’ he answered wearily. ‘I’ve been let out.’

‘Really?’ Shirley gasped. ‘Why? What’s happened?’

‘I don’t really want to explain on the phone. Can we meet up for a coffee?’

‘Where are you? I’ll come and get you.’

Jeff went very quiet for several moments, and Shirley drew the phone away from her ear to check if the call had been disconnected. When she saw that it hadn’t, she said, ‘Jeff? Is everything all right? Talk to me. You’re worrying me now.’

‘I’m okay,’ he replied at last. ‘Just feel like my head’s about to explode.’

‘Where are you?’ Shirley asked again. ‘I’m coming for you.’

After cutting the call, Jeff walked over to the bus stop on the opposite side of the road so that Shirley wouldn’t have to turn her car around when she saw him. He sat down on the thin bench beneath the shelter and pulled his tobacco out of his pocket to make himself a smoke while he was waiting.

His hands were shaking as he rolled his cigarette, and he felt self-conscious when he noticed a woman who was standing outside the shelter casting hooded glances at him. He guessed that she’d either recognised him and was wondering what a man who had supposedly murdered his own child was doing out on the streets, or she’d taken one look at his gaunt face and trembling hands and had pegged him as a junkie.

Either way, she was wrong. But Jeff supposed he’d have to get used to this kind of reaction because this was how everyone would probably look at him from now on. The ‘no smoke without fire’ mentality was alive and kicking around these parts, and the fact that the charges had been dropped would do nothing to turn that tide of opinion. If anything, it would probably make people feel even more anger towards him. Rather than accept that he might actually be innocent – which meant that everything they had been saying about him since his arrest was wrong and their theories completely out of whack – they would be more inclined to take the line that he had somehow got away with it.

Jeff was on his third roll-up by the time Shirley’s car came into view some fifteen minutes later. The suspicious-eyed woman had long since gone about her business, but she’d left him with a bad taste in his mouth, so when Shirley pulled up he didn’t immediately climb into the car when she leaned over and pushed open the passenger-side door.

‘Aren’t you getting in?’ Shirley asked, gazing expectantly out at him.

‘I’m not sure I should,’ he said, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. ‘I don’t want to drag you back into my mess. That’s why I suggested going somewhere for a coffee – so we can talk without you worrying about your neighbours seeing us together.’

Shirley’s gaze hardened at the mention of her neighbours, few of whom were speaking to her still; although, thankfully, no further threats had been made.

‘Do you really think I give a damn what those small-minded idiots think?’ she said scathingly. ‘They can all rot in hell as far as I’m concerned.’

‘Has something happened?’ Jeff asked, unaware of the incident with the brick shortly after his arrest.

‘Nothing I can’t handle,’ Shirley assured him. ‘Anyway, get in. There’s a bus coming, so I need to move.’

Jeff climbed in reluctantly and buckled his seat belt as she pulled away from the stop. ‘Sorry about this,’ he murmured. ‘I probably shouldn’t have called you, but my head’s in a mess, and I just needed to talk to someone who’s not connected with the law.’

Shirley flashed him a sideways glance and said, ‘Let’s just get home and put the kettle on, then we can put our feet up and you can tell me everything. Okay?’

Jeff nodded and settled back in his seat. Her plan sounded good, but he had no idea where he would go from there. Malcolm Fitch had given him the numbers for some hostels, but he had no credit on his phone to call them and no money to buy any. Right back where he’d started after getting evicted, it looked like he was going to spend the night looking for a bridge to sleep under.

Shocked by his gaunt appearance, Shirley chattered about the traffic, the weather, and any other trivial thing she could think of on the journey home. Once there, she held her head high and walked alongside him to the front door, even though she could see nets twitching at several windows in the block.

‘Tea or coffee?’ she asked, going straight into the kitchen after dropping her handbag, kicking off her shoes and hanging her jacket behind the door.

‘Coffee, please.’ His own jacket still zipped up to the throat, his hands shoved deep into the pockets, Jeff stood awkwardly in the doorway as she filled the kettle.

‘Why don’t you go and put the telly and the lamps on,’ Shirley ordered, sensing that he was still shell-shocked about having been released. ‘Oh, and, take this.’ She pulled a takeaway menu out of the drawer and pushed it into his hand. ‘I was going to cook, but I can’t be bothered now so we’ll order something in.’

‘Don’t,’ Jeff said, giving her a pained look as he tried to hand the menu back. ‘You did enough when I was staying here, I can’t let you start subbing me again.’

‘Suit yourself.’ Shirley shrugged. ‘But don’t blame me if your mouth starts watering when I’m stuffing myself with pepperoni pizza and garlic bread.’

Jeff smiled and wandered into the living room. His already heavy heart slumped a little lower as he switched the lamps on and gazed around. It was a small flat, but Shirley’s personality was stamped all over it and everything about it was feminine and homely. He had enjoyed the time he’d spent here before his arrest, but that was over now and he couldn’t afford to let himself get too comfortable again.

‘So,’ Shirley said, sitting beside him on the couch when she’d brought their coffees in a few minutes later. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’

Jeff sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t even know where to start.’

‘Well, I’m assuming something must have changed with the case, or they wouldn’t have let you out,’ Shirley prompted. ‘Why don’t you start there?’

‘They dropped the charges.’

‘Really?’ Shirley smiled widely. ‘That’s great. Is that because they’ve found Skye?’

‘Kind of.’

Concerned when Jeff lowered his head and started chewing on his lip, as if struggling to control his emotions, Shirley said, softly, ‘What do you mean, Jeff? Don’t tell me she’s …?’

‘No. God, no.’ Jeff shook his head. ‘At least, they don’t think so,’ he added grimly. ‘But they won’t know for sure until they trace whoever’s uploading the videos.’

‘Videos?’

‘They’re on some paedophile website the police have been investigating,’ Jeff told her, feeling sick to his stomach just saying the words. ‘Apparently there’s some kind of special department that deals with these sites, and they’ve been trialling some program that compares images from the videos against pictures they’ve got stored on a central database and they got a positive hit on Skye’s picture. They realised it couldn’t have been me doing it, because they were filmed and uploaded while I was inside. And she was alive in them, so they had to drop the murder charge.’

Shirley didn’t know what to say. It was wonderful that he’d been exonerated, but absolutely dreadful that it had taken something like this to prove his innocence.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she murmured, reaching for his hand. ‘I can’t even begin to imagine how you must be feeling. But they’ll have her back in no time now that they’ve got a lead – you’ll see.’

‘It’s not that easy,’ Jeff told her. ‘They reckon this bloke – or bloke
s
, ’cos they’re not sure if it’s just one, or a whole gang of them – must be some kind of tech-head, ’cos he’s blocking them from getting any solid information.’

‘They’ll get him,’ Shirley said with certainty.

‘I hope so,’ Jeff said plaintively. ‘I just want her back, Shirl.’

‘I know, love,’ Shirley murmured. ‘But you need to stay strong because Skye’s going to need you more than ever when she’s found, and you’ll be no use to her if you make yourself ill.’ She paused at this, and peered deep into his eyes before suggesting, ‘Why don’t you stay here?’

‘No, I can’t.’ Jeff shook his head. ‘I shouldn’t have stayed last time; look at all the trouble it caused.’

‘I don’t care what anyone thinks,’ Shirley said firmly. ‘Your stuff’s still here, and no one else needs the bed so there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t use it. Anyway, what kind of friend would I be if I left you to face something like this on your own?’

Jeff felt the sting of tears at the back of his eyes. After everything he’d put her through already, she
still
wanted to support him.

‘You are one truly special lady,’ he said quietly. ‘And God only knows why you’re still single. All I can think is that your last boyfriend must have been some kind of idiot not to have put a ring on your finger when he had the chance.’

‘He tried, but I said no,’ Shirley told him, smiling shyly.

‘Lucky me.’ Jeff’s eyes were dark and piercing as he stared into hers.

Suddenly acutely aware of their entwined fingers and her heart pounding fiercely in her chest, Shirley gasped when Jeff leaned over and kissed her.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, pulling away quickly after a moment. ‘I shouldn’t have done that; it was totally out of order. I’d best go.’

‘Wait!’ Shirley jumped to her feet when he stood up and, blushing, admitted, ‘I’ve wanted to do that again ever since the first time, but I never dreamed you’d ever feel the same way about me as I do about you. I know you’re probably feeling guilty about Andrea, but please don’t, because it was more my fault tha—’

Jeff pulled her into his arms and kissed her again before she could finish the sentence – and this time he didn’t stop.

23

The dog’s head was buried in the grass a couple of hundred yards away, his tail sticking up in the air. He was foraging, and Bob hoped he wasn’t worrying a rabbit or some other small creature. He knew it was nature, but he hated seeing animals in distress, and he really didn’t have the time to rescue it
or
put it out of its misery.

‘Leave it,’ he ordered as he approached. ‘Let’s go.’

The dog wagged his tail at the sound of his master’s voice but carried on digging and whining. Bob pushed the long grass aside and saw an ancient sewage-outlet pipe, the mouth of which was stacked with debris that had gathered there over the years. Guessing that Oscar had probably chased a rat into the pipe and was trying to go after it, Bob gripped the dog’s collar and tried to tug him away. But, just as he was about to clip the lead on, something caught his eye that caused him to freeze for a second.

Sure that he had imagined what he’d glimpsed, Bob reached into his inside pocket for his key-ring torch. He leaned forward and directed the faint beam at the heap of tin cans and bottles that were snagged behind a mangled bicycle wheel. As his vision sharpened, a sickly taste flooded his mouth. He tried to tell himself that it was an animal that had crawled into the pipe and died, but no animal he’d ever seen had long blonde hair like that.

‘Oh dear lord!’ Legs almost giving way with shock, Bob staggered back onto the path. ‘Oscar!’ he barked when the dog seized the opportunity to go back to his digging. ‘
Stop that!
’

The dog obeyed and Bob quickly clipped its lead on. Then, hands shaking wildly, he fumbled his mobile phone out of his pocket.

‘Police!’ he blurted out when his call was answered. ‘I’ve found a body. I th-think it’s a young girl.’

‘What’s your name, sir?’

‘Bob. Bob Wilks.’

‘And where are you, sir?’

Bob gave his location, and then asked, ‘Will somebody be here soon? Only I should really be getting home to my wife. She has Alzheimer’s, and she’ll be confused if I’m not there when she wakes up.’

‘A unit is on its way,’ the operator assured him. ‘Could you go back up to the road so they can see you, please?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Bob agreed, tugging on Oscar’s lead. ‘I do hope I haven’t called you out on a wild-goose chase,’ he said then, doubt beginning to creep in as he scrambled back up the bank. ‘It
looked
like a body, but I didn’t get too close, so I could have made a mistake.’

‘You were right to call us,’ said the operator. ‘And don’t worry, nobody will mind if it turns out to be a false alarm.’

The road that separated the canal from the woodland was usually rammed with traffic by 8.30 a.m. as commuters from the outlying villages headed to their jobs in the city. But there was an eerie silence along the road this morning, because the area had been cordoned off. Squad cars blocked the road to prevent vehicles other than emergency ones from entering the search zone, while police tape had been strung across both ends of the towpath to prevent unwitting ramblers from tainting potential evidence.

After the markers had been set in place, and numerous crime-scene photographs taken, the corpse had been extracted from the outlet pipe where the dog had discovered it and was now laid out on the towpath so that the attending pathologist could do a quick examination.

Thanks to the high summertime temperatures, and the shallow layer of stagnant water in the base of the pipe, the body was in an accelerated state of decomposition; its bloated, green-tinged flesh was already beginning to split. The pathologist had handled many such cases, but rarely were the victims quite as young as this one. He wouldn’t know her exact age until he was able to conduct a thorough examination, but he assessed her to be within the 14–16 age range. And she was naked, which implied that the motive for the attack had been most probably sexual.