House of the Dead, page 9
“I don’t know,” Matt said.
“No, you don’t. And neither do I. But the fact is, he broke his pattern for David. The Thompsons, the Goddards, the man in the water tank. All dead. He made sure of that. He might pay lip service to giving us a way of saving them, but that’s all bollocks, and he knows it. He made sure they died. But he made sure David lived. He’s revealed a part of himself to us, perhaps unwittingly. It’s important.”
“All right, Doc, I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner,” Matt said.
Tony turned to Toombs. “Can you get me a transcript of that video?”
The technician nodded. “Of course.”
“Anybody else have anything to offer?” Battle asked.
“What about the fact that he’s communicating with us at all?” Dani said. “Surely that means something. Why is he doing it?”
“Attention, most likely,” Matt said.
“It’s not only that,” Tony said. “Sure, he likes attention. That’s why he’s broadcasting all of this on the Net. But there’s something more to it than that. Something personal.”
“It felt personal when he rang me,” Dani said. She was still creeped out by the fact that the GameMaster knew her personal number. He was a whiz with computers, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he could find out anyone’s number he wanted, but why hers?
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that,” Tony said. “The GameMaster might be someone you and Greg put away when you worked together.”
“That’s a lot of people,” she said.
“If you think back to that time, does anyone stick out as being particularly aggressive or anti-police?”
She cast her mind back to when she and Greg worked together but it was a long time ago and nothing stuck out to her. “It was over a decade ago,” she told Tony. “I can’t think of anyone who would hold a grudge all these years and then do this.”
“It’s an angle worth investigating,” Battle said. “We’ll get someone in the support team to go through your old case files.”
Dani nodded. She didn’t envy anyone that task. Case files were hardly exciting reading material.
“I’d like to have another word with Helen Hughes,” she said. “Get more details about what was going on around the time Greg went missing.”
“Good idea,” the DCI said. “Something might have been overlooked at the time that makes more sense now we know about the GameMaster.” He paused and said, “That name doesn’t go beyond these four walls, got that? We don’t need the press sensationalising this any more than they have already.”
Everyone nodded. Dani—who’d had to deal with the media sensationalising the Snow Killer while she was hunting him—reckoned there’d be a lurid name in the papers soon, anyway, even if it was just something made up by a journalist with an overactive imagination. The press loved giving killers fancy names that sold papers and attracted social media clicks.
“I want everyone here bright and early tomorrow,” said Battle. “This so-called GameMaster might think we’re playing his game and don’t have a hope in hell of catching him, but he’s forgetting one thing: good, solid police work. That’s how we’re going to beat him.”
He dismissed them and began talking to Toombs about analysing the flash drive.
Dani and Tony left the office together.
“Want to speak to Helen Hughes with me tomorrow?” she asked him.
“Of course. She makes a nice cup of tea.”
Dani smiled. The psychologist might trivialise things sometimes, but he had a way with people that she herself had never mastered. It wasn’t that he knew the right questions to ask, but rather that he knew how to ask them to get people to open up. She wasn’t sure if he even knew if he was doing it, or if it just came naturally to him.
During the drive home, she went over old cases in her head, the ones she’d worked on with Greg. There were no particular incidents that stuck out, no spectacular event that would have spawned someone like the GameMaster.
The dogs were excited to see her as always and circled her relentlessly as she entered the cottage and made her way to the kitchen.
She fed them and opened the fridge to select a ready meal for herself. It was a choice between lasagna or tikka masala.
She chose the curry and placed it into the microwave. Deciding to exercise at least some cooking skill, she put a nan bread under the grill.
The meal was nothing to write home about, but when she’d eaten it, she felt full and that was all that mattered.
Barney and Jack were sitting by the front door, their intention clear.
Dani grabbed the leads and led them across the road to the moors. As she released the dogs and they bounded off over the heather, her phone rang.
She checked the screen.
Charlotte
“Charlie,” she said, holding the phone close to her ear because it was windy on the moors.
“Hi, Mum. Where are you? It sounds like you’re in a wind tunnel.
“I’m walking the dogs.”
“Aww, give them a hug from me.”
“I will when I get close enough. At the moment, they’re haring over the moors like mad things. How’s uni?”
“Fine. Nothing exciting. I’m glad it’s my final year, to be honest.”
“I thought you liked it there.”
“Yeah, it’s okay, but I’m ready to get a job. I’ve been working part time at MedCraft Pharmaceuticals, and they said they’ll take me on full time when I graduate.”
“Is that the field you want to pursue? Pharmaceuticals?”
“It’s a good area for a chemist to get into. And MedCraft have a lab in Cornwall, so I could even end up moving down there.”
Even further away, Dani thought. Since her daughter had gone to Birmingham University two years ago, she’d gradually become used to her not being at home anymore. But the thought of Charlie moving to the other end of the country hit hard, for some reason.
“Very nice,” she said.
“You don’t sound too pleased about it.”
“I am. Cornwall’s lovely.” She knew her daughter had her own life to lead. She was no longer a child who needed nurturing and protecting; she was a grown woman with a bright future ahead of her.
Where had the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday that she and Shaun had brought baby Charlotte home from the hospital.
“It might not happen,” Charlie said. “Not for a while, anyway.”
“I’m pleased for you. How’s Elliot?” Dani asked, steering the direction of the conversation to Charlie’s favourite subject.
“He’s fine. We’re going to his parents’ house this weekend. It’s their wedding anniversary and they’re having a big party.”
“That’ll be nice. If you two ever want to come up here, you know you’re welcome. I’d love to see you.”
“We’ll come and see you soon, Mum. I just thought you’d be busy. There’s been some stuff on the news.”
“Yes, I’m busy, but I’m never too busy for you, Charlie. You know that.”
“I know.” She didn’t sound convinced.
“Well, the offer’s there,” Dani said.
“Thanks. I’ve got to go, Mum. I’m going out for a pizza with friends.”
“Okay. Enjoy yourself. Love you.”
“Love you. Bye.”
Dani put the phone into her coat pocket and sighed. Her life hadn’t meant to be this way. She was supposed to grow old with Shaun. It had been hard since his death, and Charlotte moving away had made things even harder. She felt like she’d lost her daughter as well as her husband.
Barney and Jack came running back to her, tails wagging and tongues lolling. They circled her once and then ran off again, inviting her to join in their game of chase.
While it might be a good way to burn off the tikka masala, Dani was in no mood to go running today. She felt tired. She planned to get back home, watch something on telly that required no brain power, and go to bed early.
There was a Regency Romance novel on her bedside table that she’d meant to start reading for the past couple of months. Now was as good a time as any.
“Come on, boys,” she called to the dogs as she turned around and headed back towards the cottage.
They scampered past her, barking at each other as they wheeled and darted over the heather and grass.
As they got closer to home, Dani saw a car parked on the road outside her cottage. She didn’t recognise it and from this distance, she couldn’t make out any details regarding the make or model, or who was inside. She could barely see anything other than the headlights.
The vehicle sat there, outside her cottage, for a couple of minutes, and then—as Dani and the dogs got closer—drove away.
When she reached the road, she looked in the direction the car had gone. No sign of it now. Just the dark, empty road cutting through the moors.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Tony picked up his and Alina’s tea from a Chinese takeaway on the way home.
When he entered the establishment—where half a dozen people sat on white plastic chairs along the walls, waiting for their orders—he was greeted with a cheery, “Tony, good to see you,” from Delun Li, a teenager who worked behind the counter and knew Tony well.
“Hi, Delun.” Tony perused the menu on the counter for a couple of seconds, but he knew what he was going to order. It was what he always ordered: sweet and sour tofu balls for Alina and a chicken curry for himself, along with spring rolls and fried rice.
He told Delun what he wanted, and the teenager wrote it on a slip of paper, which he passed through to the kitchen, where his parents cooked the food.
“I saw you on the TV today,” Delun said. “You’re a hero, Tony!”
“What? No, I’m not. What do you mean?”
Delun pointed at an old TV set behind the counter that was currently tuned to the BBC. The six o’ clock news was on, and a politician was in the studio, debating something with Sophie Raworth.
“You were on just a minute ago. You saved that boy. There was a video of you pulling him out of the ground.”
“Oh, that. It wasn’t just me. There was a team of us there.”
“All I know is you are a hero, Tony, and you eat free tonight.”
“Really, Delun, that’s not necessary.”
“I insist.”
Tony found an empty seat and sat down, amid curious stares from the other customers. Ten minutes later, when Delun appeared from the kitchen and called Tony’s name, some of the customers who’d been there before him changed their expressions from curiosity to animosity. It was obvious to everyone that Tony’s order had been pushed to the front of the queue. Delun also tossed in a free bag of prawn crackers.
When he got back to his Mini, Tony turned the radio on and heard his name coming from the speakers.
”…saved by Tony Sheridan. The moment that he saved the boy was witnessed by thousands on the Internet. Dr Sheridan is the man who caught the Lake Erie Ripper in Canada and—“
Tony switch to a music station. He drove home listening to eighties pop hits.
When he opened the door of his flat, he found Alina sitting on the sofa in front of the telly. She was watching the news; specifically, the footage of Tony pulling David Goddard out of the sunken room.
“Tony, you are all over the news,” she said. “You saved that boy. You must feel proud.”
“It wasn’t just me,” he said, placing the takeaway bag on the kitchen table. “What you can’t see on that video is Matt Flowers helping David from below.”
“But you worked out where he was,” she said, getting up and coming over to him. She kissed his cheek. “I am proud of you, even if you are so modest. You know about the cabins, right?”
“The cabins? What about them?”
“They were wired with explosives. If you had chosen any of them, people would have been killed. You not only saved the boy’s life, but you also saved the lives of police personnel.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“There was a press conference. The superintendent mentioned you many times.”
He went to the cupboard and got some plates. Alina watched him closely as he set them on the table.
“You do not like being a celebrity, do you?”
“Not really. This has happened before. I didn’t like it then, either.”
“In Canada?”
He nodded.
“Tony, you help a lot of people. When that involves sending killers to jail, or saving innocent children, it is bound to draw attention to you.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s welcome attention.”
“I know. You would rather that it did not happen, but I’m afraid it is something you will have to live with. At least until it blows over and the media focusses on someone else.”
He took the hot, foil trays out of the bags and placed them on the table. “The Chinese takeaway gave me this for free.”
“Well, that is nice of them. It is a gesture of appreciation.”
She got the cutlery out of the drawer and brought it over to the table. “You are a good man fighting against evil. That is a struggle that interests everyone. Would you rather be a dentist? Or a plumber?”
“No, I like helping people.”
“Then you just have to view this unwanted attention as an occupational hazard. There is nothing you can do about it, and the positives of your job outweigh the negatives.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I can live with it.”
She smiled. “Good. Now, what do we have here?” She indicated the foil trays.
“Sweet and sour tofu balls.”
“My favourite.”
They ate and talked. Tony told her about his day and Alina said she was going to pop into work tomorrow to see how everyone there had been getting on without her.
In the background, the news continued and at one point, Tony heard one of the presenters say, “Solomon Gantz, better known as the Lake Erie Ripper, is in prison thanks to Tony Sheridan. Many women owe their lives to the forensic psychologist, including two young women he personally saved from the Ripper’s house.”
He mentally tuned the presenter’s voice out and concentrated on the woman sitting in front of him. Tomorrow was Alina’s last day here before she returned to the Viking dig in Sussex. He was going to miss her.
“Do you know how much longer the dig will take?” he asked.
“No more than a few weeks,” she said. “Maybe a month. It depends what else we find down there.”
He nodded and went back to eating his curry.
“It won’t be long, Tony. I can come and visit again in the meantime, or you could take a few days and come to Sussex. I’ve told everyone on the team about you and they’re dying to meet you.”
“I’d like that,” he said. “When this case is over, of course.”
“Yes, of course.” She reached across the table and took his hand in hers. “Don’t worry, it will be over at some point. You’ll catch this man. I am sure of it.”
He wished he could share her faith. So far, the GameMaster was holding all the cards and Murder Force had an empty hand.
After they finished the takeaway, Alina put the kettle on, and they drank tea while watching a comedy with Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson. For a while, Tony forgot all about the GameMaster and the website that broadcast live videos of murders and enjoyed being with Alina and watching her laugh.
Later, when a nightmare woke him in the middle of the night, he heard her sleeping soundly next to him and relaxed into his pillow.
In the nightmare, he’d been walking along a dimly lit corridor to a steel door that had the word GameMaster spray painted on it in red.
Tony had opened the door to reveal a hooded figure sitting behind a desk. A chess board sat on the desk and there were only four pieces left on the board: a white knight, a white queen, a black bishop, and a black king. Even though he was dreaming, he knew the configuration on the board couldn’t be right, because once one side loses its king, that side has lost.
The hooded figure raised its head to look at Tony. He couldn’t see the face, only dark shadows.
The figure raised its hands and pushed back the hood, grinning at Tony.
That was the point at which Tony had woken up with a start.
The face grinning at him from over chessboard had been the face of Solomon Gantz.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
“How was your evening?” Dani asked Tony as they drove to Helen Hughes’ house. Tony had been sitting quietly in the passenger seat for the entire journey, first gazing out of the window, and then reading his notebook.
He looked up. “Hmm? Oh, fine. Just fine. You?”
“Fine,” she said. She didn’t mention the car that had been sitting outside her cottage, or the uneasy feeling she’d had for the rest of the night, going to the window to check for the vehicle every few hours.
The car hadn’t returned.
“We had Chinese,” Tony said, closing the notebook.
“Nice. I had curry and nan.”
“You must be a keen cook. Curry last night, lasagna the night before.”
She laughed. “They were ready meals. I can cook, but I don’t really…have the time.” She was going to say she didn’t really see the point but changed her mind mid-sentence when she thought that made her sound too woe-is-me.
“Ah,” Tony said. “Nothing wrong with a microwave special.”
“Anything interesting in there?” Dani asked. Usually, Tony was brimming with theories about the unknown person who was the subject of their investigation—or the unsub as Tony sometimes said, using the FBI term—but lately, he’d been uncharacteristically quiet.
“I have to say, I’m drawing a blank at the moment,” he said. “There are too many variables. He’s killed families, individuals, and kidnapped a child. His actions are all over the place. It’s hard to see a pattern.”
“Maybe he’s just acting randomly.”
