On A Dark Sea (The DCI Dani Bevan Detective Novels Book 2) (17 page)

Chapter Thirty Five

J
oy Hutchison was taking a fine art course at Falkirk College. The lessons were every Wednesday evening. Tonight, the group would be studying the use of perspective. Joy hoped it would give her some tips on how to proceed with the landscape drawing that she had come to love so much.

              Bill was busy upstairs in the spare room when she departed. Sam Sharpe had gone out ten minutes earlier, so she left through the front door without any fanfare. Joy thought she’d probably be back before her husband even noticed his wife had gone.
He
was more interested in their son’s old trainset than the grandchildren were. 

              The lamp in the spare room where Bill kept his model railway was fitted with a low wattage bulb. A couple of the trains had little headlamps attached to them and he enjoyed watching them whiz around the track in the semi-darkness. Bill had joined a local owner’s club and a week ago he managed to get hold of a moulded hillside which fitted over the rails and allowed the trains to fly through a short tunnel system. He was sure his grandsons would particularly like this new addition to the set.

              He found pottering around with these pieces very therapeutic. Seeing the set all together again made him think about his son. Joy and Bill had lost Neil when he was only ten years old, in a hill walking accident. It had taken a long time for them to get over the tragedy. Bill had reacted particularly badly to Neil’s death and suffered a nervous breakdown not long afterwards. Only very recently had the couple learnt to put their pain aside and concentrate more on their daughter and her two boys. The new friendship he had forged with DCI Bevan had also been useful in his recovery. They seemed to view the world in a similar way, or Bill had thought so until recently. In the last few weeks he’d found the detective distant and lacking her usual sympathy for the plight of others. Perhaps it was simply this new case she was working on. The disappearance of a child was a harrowing thing to have to investigate.

              Bill was leaning across to adjust a set of points when he heard a noise downstairs. He wondered if it was Joy, getting ready for her evening class in town. Then he spotted his Flying Scotsman. He picked it up and examined the glossy blue paintwork with pride, remembering Neil’s excited face when he’d opened up the box on Christmas morning and held it in his small hands, all those years ago.

              The old man allowed himself to drift off into this pleasant memory, feeling the satisfying weight of the engine in his palm. Suddenly, he sensed a movement behind him. Something compelled him to shift to one side. As he did so, a large, dark form lunged forward, gripping at his arm and upsetting the table upon which the railway was delicately placed. The model engines and track fell to the floor with a clatter, which seemed to distract Bill’s attacker for a split second.

              In this second, Bill had time to turn. He saw a man, dressed entirely in black, his face obscured by some kind of mask, looming over him with a long hunting blade. Bill found he still had the heavy engine in his hand and automatically held it up to defend himself against the knife, which he could see was being swiped downwards towards his throat. Bill sent up an arm, immediately feeling the stinging pain of the sharp blade on his skin.

              He knew there was no chance of rebuffing another attack, but he held up his arms defensively nonetheless, bracing himself for the worst. Then the man stumbled. Bill could tell he’d been struck from behind, because the dark figure collapsed forwards and Bill had to duck out of the way so as not to be crushed by his falling body.

*

An eerie silence followed, which seemed to last for some time, although in reality it must have been less than a moment or two. Sam Sharpe was trying to manoeuvre Bill out of the room. He looked downwards and saw blood everywhere, streaked down his trousers and leaving a trail on the floor. The American led his friend into a bedroom where he pulled the sheet off the bed. He ripped it into a long strip and proceeded to wind it tightly around Bill’s upper arm. He tied it up and fumbled for his mobile phone, demanding the police and an ambulance in a tone that Bill thought was barely controlled. Once Sam had ended the call, they heard Joy coming back in through the front door.

Chapter Thirty Six

I
t was in the early hours of the morning that Dani received the call. She took a quick shower and got dressed. The DCI rested her weight on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Dieter’s shoulder, gently shaking him awake. He gazed at her with sleepy eyes.

              ‘Something’s happened. I’m not going to be able to come with you to the airport.’

              Dieter shifted up, putting his arms around her. ‘Is everything okay? You look pale.’

              ‘A friend of mine is in hospital, he’s been attacked. I wouldn’t leave you otherwise.’

              He pulled Dani closer, kissing her passionately and cupping her face in his hands. ‘I’ll call you as soon as I’ve landed.’

              The Detective sensed a lump forming in her throat. She couldn’t trust herself to speak so she simply nodded, rising up and leaving the hot, musty room, pulling the door shut behind her, knowing it was important that she keep moving forward and not look back.

Bill Hutchison had a bed in the general ward of Falkirk Hospital. Joy was sitting in the chair next to him, reading a paperback novel, whilst Bill dozed peacefully. Dani had managed to get hold of a bunch of flowers on her way over, but as she laid them on the plain covers, they looked a little shabby.

              Joy put down her book and rose to greet her friend, placing a kiss on her cheek. ‘DCI Bevan! What a relief to see you, thanks for coming.’

              Dani kept hold of the lady’s hands, glancing at Bill’s sleeping form. ‘Tell me what happened.’

              ‘He came for Bill - Richard Erskine, I mean. The man must have been watching the house and knew I’d gone out for my evening class. He broke in through the back door and crept up the stairs to where Bill was working on the train set. He had a knife, Dani.’ Joy had a horrified expression on her face.

              ‘How on earth did Bill manage to fight him off?’ Dani knew that Erskine moved swiftly and without mercy, attacking his victims from behind and taking them unawares.

              ‘He heard a movement in the doorway and shifted to the side. This put Erskine off balance when he went to strike. The table became upturned in the commotion and the train set fell to the floor. Bill was able to put up his arms to defend himself. That was when he sustained the wounds. He’s had twelve stitches in his right arm and they needed to give him a blood transfusion, that’s why he’s so weak.’

              Dani still didn’t understand how Bill survived, but she allowed Joy to show her a beautifully crafted little engine that was sitting on the bedside table. ‘Bill had this is his hand when he fought off Erskine’s blows.’

              The detective looked at it closely, observing the deep score that had been etched into the otherwise glossy paintwork.

              ‘It had been Neil’s favourite.’

              Dani wondered if this was supposed to be the explanation for Bill’s miraculous escape from death. But then her questions were answered when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

              ‘Hello Dani.’

She turned slowly, taking in the strangely welcome sight of Sam Sharpe, looking as if he’d been up all night and needed a wash and a shave. ‘Hi Sam.’

‘Can we talk?’ He asked cautiously. ‘There’s a café on the floor below.’

They left Joy by her husband’s bedside and took the lift down to the cafeteria, neither of them saying much during the short journey. Sam bought the coffees and Dani bagged them a table in the corner.

‘I should really explain,’ the American said awkwardly.

‘Go ahead.’

‘Bill called me in the States a few days ago. He needed my help. You were wrapped up in your missing girl case and when he suggested that Erskine might be involved in his investigations I knew I had to come over.’

The penny suddenly dropped. ‘Did you help Bill to uncover the prostitution racket and get the girl out of that place?’

He nodded. ‘I only provided back-up. Bill was the one who led the operation.’

‘You make it sound like something legitimate.’ Dani sipped the coffee, which was actually quite good.

‘I wasn’t keen on the idea, but Bill had evidence from Sinclair’s wife that underage girls were being sexually exploited in the building. Bill felt that you and DI Lyons weren’t giving him a fair hearing, so he decided to go it alone.’

‘What happened last night?’

‘I’d popped into town to get a bottle of wine to replenish the Hutchisons’ drinks cabinet. When I came back into the house, about forty minutes later, I saw the glass in the back door had been broken. An almighty crash came from upstairs. I bolted up there, just as this guy in a black mask was lunging at Bill with a huge knife. I grabbed for the lamp on the table and struck him hard on the back of the head with the ceramic base. The attacker fell forwards and that’s when I saw the blood. Bill had been slashed on the arm and it was bleeding badly. My first instinct was to get him out of there and stem the flow. We went into the guest room and I used my sheet as a tourniquet. I called the cops and then Joy came back.’

‘What about Erskine?’ Dani sat on the edge of her seat, holding her breath.

Sam looked uncomfortable. ‘I was busy getting Bill patched up and then calming Joy down. I fixed the couple a brandy in the sitting room and quickly jogged back up to the study. When I got there, he was gone.’ 

‘How could he be gone?’

‘I suppose he must have been dazed by the blow to his head and when he came to, realised there were more people in the house and made a run for it. The police think he might have gone out of the study window and onto the garage roof. They’re still processing the forensics on it. He’d left the knife behind. It was dripping with blood, but it would all have been Bill’s. The man wore gloves, so I don’t expect for a second there were any prints on it.’ Sam looked down at his cup. ‘I’m sorry he got away.’

‘Without you, Bill would be dead. I would be visiting one of Erskine’s blood-chilling crime scenes and it would be
Bill
positioned there with his throat cut.’ Dani thought for a moment. ‘Why did Erskine target him in the first place?’

‘I reckon Erskine’s been casing this Fisherman’s Bar for weeks, the landlady said there’d been some new faces hanging around and asking questions. That’s how he found out about Sinclair’s involvement. Erskine must have thought that Bill was mixed up in it too. He’d been talking to the landlady a lot and then, the other night, Erskine must have been there. He must have seen Bill going up those stairs and assumed he was a customer, or even one of the ring-leaders.’

‘So that was why Erskine was watching the Hutchisons’ property. He’d seen Bill hanging around with Sinclair’s associates at the Fisherman’s Bar and ear-marked him as a target.’

‘At least DI Lyons is now on side. He’s prepared to see Richard Erskine as their prime suspect.’

Dani briefly outlined for Sam the details of Clive Anton’s murder in Glasgow. ‘I’ll need to call DI Jilly Reid and tell her to liaise with Lyons, so they can tie the two investigations together.’

Sam leant forward and brushed his fingers against Dani’s cheek. ‘This time Erskine’s made a mistake, he’s never done that before. The guy’s got a head injury, he lost consciousness for a little while at least. He must be covered in Bill’s blood and he didn’t have the opportunity to change his clothes at the scene, like he usually does. Maybe they’ll be able to do a trace on the knife. There’s going to be evidence with this one. The cops are bound to catch him.’

‘I sincerely hope you’re right.’

Sam smiled. ‘Are you okay? You look really well.’

Dani cleared her throat. ‘Why didn’t you call me and say you were in the country?’

‘We hadn’t arranged anything and I knew you were in the middle of a biggie. I didn’t want to put pressure on you. I did leave some messages.’

‘I got them. I’ve just been busy, that’s all.’ Dani did her best to avoid eye contact.

Sam took her hand and she felt herself squirm with embarrassment and shame. ‘Tell me Dani, would you have wanted me to call you as soon as I arrived, and let you know that I was here?’

She kept her gazed fixed on the table top, slowly shaking her head from side to side. ‘No, I wouldn’t have.’

Sam snatched his hand back. ‘That’s all I needed to know.’

Chapter Thirty Seven

T
he doctors reassured Dani that Bill was perfectly stable, so she returned to Glasgow later that afternoon. The DCI went straight to the office, not wishing to see her flat just yet; where she would be reminded of Dieter’s absence.

Fortunately, Andy was not at his desk. Bevan wasn’t sure what to say to him. She needed some space to think first. As soon as she’d closed the door, Dani reached for the package which contained the letters from Kenna Adams. In order to try and second guess Maisie’s actions, the detective decided to get inside the girl’s head. She placed her take-out cup of coffee within reach and began to read.

The teenager’s musings about her step-mother seemed to teeter between fantasy and reality. Kristin was depicted in these letters like an ice-queen in a child’s fairy story. She had bewitched her new husband and manipulated his thoughts and actions. Kenna described how Kristin gathered intimate details about the family and then reported them back to the faceless, wicked organisation for which she worked.

Dani imagined that Maisie had discovered how her step-mother originally joined Barents Oil in order to sabotage their work. She must have assumed that Kristin took this role to the extreme by marrying her father and giving him a new child. If Maisie already resented the woman, this fact must have fuelled her hatred. Then, over the last few months, Maisie found out her mother was sleeping with Phil. Dani could picture how confused and let-down the adolescent must have felt.

Maisie had been singing in various clubs and hoarding the money she made from this. She also had the savings that her Dad deposited for her in the building society. This would give her the funds she needed to take action. But what was Maisie planning to do? Dani took a sip of her cappuccino. Perhaps she met someone in one of these clubs who promised to get her over to Scandinavia. They may have offered to produce false travel documents, all of which would require cash.

The DCI felt certain that Maisie was headed to Norway. She was spotted on the docks at Newcastle on the Thursday night after she disappeared. There’d been no further sightings of her in the UK since. Dani was convinced she found passage to the continent.

So what was the girl planning? Bevan had a suspicion that Maisie was intent on unmasking Kristin Riddell and proving to her father that he’d married the wrong person. How she was intending to do this, Dani didn’t know. She suddenly longed to talk it through with Andy, who understood the case just as well as she did.

To progress with the investigation, the DCI knew she had to return to Norway. The answer to Maisie’s disappearance lay there, she was certain. Of course she wanted to see Dieter again, but was sure that this desire wasn’t affecting her judgement in any way. Bevan would just need to speak with the DCS and try to persuade him that it was a good idea.

*

A lady taking her dog for a walk let Dani in through the communal entrance door. She climbed the wide, carpeted stairway to the first floor, breathed in deeply and gave a gentle knock.

It was Carol who answered, looking surprised. ‘DCI Bevan, please come in.’

‘Call me Dani.’ She stepped over the threshold. ‘Sorry to bother you in the evening. I needed to have a word with Andy.’

Carol turned down the heat under a pot on the stove and left Dani in the small but modern kitchen. A couple of minutes later, Andy came through the door, dressed in a T-shirt and jogging pants.

‘Ma’am? Has something come up?’

‘Take a seat. I wanted to have a chat.’

The DC did as he was told, but his expression remained impassive. He was obviously going to let her do the talking.

‘I didn’t want to leave things as they were yesterday. We need to work together for the sake of the case.’

‘Of course. The investigation is my priority.’

Dani knew he was implying that it might not be hers, but she decided to let this go, in the interests of détente. ‘I’ve been reading through those letters you gave me. I’m convinced that Maisie had devised some kind of plan to prove what Kristin was up to. I want to go back to Stavanger in order to find out more. Andy, I need you to come with me. I can’t solve this thing without you.’ She placed her hands palm up on the table, in a gesture of openness.

He narrowed his eyes. ‘If this scheme is all about providing you with an opportunity to see your boyfriend again, I’m not willing to leave Carol and Amy on that basis.’

‘It isn’t.’ Dani was determined not to rise to the bait. ‘But if you were to wear one of your festive jumpers, that would be an added bonus.’

Andy finally cracked a smile. ‘Fine. Is the DCS okay with us flying out there for a second time?’

‘The discovery that Kristin Riddell was embroiled with this environmentalist group gives us the justification to question the family again. Nicholson couldn’t argue with that. If you can pack a bag tonight, I’ll book us a flight for the morning.’