Page 44 of Gone in the Night (Detective Morgan Brookes #16)

FORTY-FOUR

Lancashire police had sent a van for Justin because the police station was literally two minutes away from the office building.

The two officers had searched his pockets before putting him in the van.

The echo of the doors slamming shut had given Morgan a deep sense of satisfaction, knowing that Justin was inside and he wasn’t going quietly.

He was thumping against the side of the van with either his fist or his head.

It didn’t matter to her; she didn’t care one little bit.

One of the officers was already in the van, the other came to talk to them.

‘Do you want him detained in our cells or are you taking him back with you? It doesn’t matter to us either way, although we’re a bit full.

It’s been like a shoplifting convention this morning.

All the usual suspects were out in force, Lush and Primark were hammered.

It’s a shame they’re so crap at it really.

I honestly don’t know why they bother when they can’t even walk in a straight line. ’

Ben smiled at her. ‘Ah, I remember those days too well. Would it be a bother to you if you escorted him to Rydal Falls for us to interview him there?’

She grinned back at him. ‘Absolutely not, I’d love a scenic drive to the Lakes. Make a change from these gridlocked streets of hell.’

Morgan was smiling. ‘The scenery is beautiful; the workload is horrendous.’

‘Ah, yes. I heard about the two murders and the suicide of one of your own. It’s been a tough few days for you all.’

‘It’s been busy.’

‘We’ll get him taken to yours then, and booked in. After that, do you need anything from us?’

‘Depending upon what comes out in interview, we might need his house searching, but we’ll liaise with your control room and see who is best to conduct that. If you can just get him booked in, we would deeply appreciate it.’

‘No problem, I’m Lisa by the way and you’re…let me guess. Morgan, I know because I’ve seen you on social media. Are you Morgan’s boss Ben?’

Ben looked mildly worried that Lisa knew who they were. Morgan laughed.

‘Infamous for all the wrong reasons, it sucks.’

‘I bet it does. We won’t hang around for you to get there, if that’s okay, once we’ve booked him in. Our sarge will be having a heart attack that we’re having to take a van out of the area.’

Ben snapped out of the daze he was in and nodded. ‘That’s amazing, we really appreciate it.’

‘Cool, nice meeting you.’

More thumping and shouting came from inside of the cage. Lisa smiled. ‘He’s going to have a headache by the time we reach Rydal Falls.’

Morgan thought that was good. It was the least he deserved. They watched the van drive away before going back to their car.

‘That turned out a bit different to what I was expecting.’ Ben was already getting into the passenger seat. ‘Can you drive? I have a headache.’

‘Are you okay? Do you need some paracetamol or to go home?’ Morgan asked.

‘What I need is a day off with you lying in my arms and not a single thought about murder investigations, and if you ask me, you need that too.’

‘Oh, I do. It sounds like heaven, coffee and toast in bed, wild hot sex and nothing to do but admire how handsome you are.’

‘Flattery will get you everywhere, and a couple of painkillers. Seriously, do you think we’ve made a mistake here?’

‘How, he was going to attack me?’ Morgan replied. ‘Why is he so angry? On the surface it looks as if he’s hiding something. It’s not going to hurt to formally interview him. Why are you doubting yourself?’

‘It’s the whole Jack thing; it really doesn’t fit.’

‘No, it doesn’t. I want to spend some time trying to see if Jack knew Lydia Williams, if that’s okay.

I think we’re missing something on their social media accounts.

I think the killer has been using them to monitor what both victims were up to.

They were both very active on there, so it makes sense that he’s been stalking them that way; and I don’t want to burst the slimeball Justin bubble, but if he’s not been on there or doesn’t follow them, I don’t hold out much hope for him as the killer.

A creep and an arsehole yes, no doubt about that.

I’ll take a look at his accounts and see if he links to either of the other victims, too. ’

Ben let out a groan. ‘I’m getting too old for this. I must have spent twenty years working shed break-ins, burglaries, domestics, and the occasional murder but they were few and far between. I wish things would go back to that slow flowing non too serious cases so we can both catch a break.’

Morgan reached out and squeezed his fingers gently. ‘I wonder how Amy is getting on? Are we still going to look into Stefan Montgomery too?’

‘We need a team of ten, maybe twelve to follow up on all these enquiries. Especially now that Cain isn’t here to help.

Right now, I think it’s important for you to look at all the victims’ social media accounts, to see if you can find anything that links them.

Are you friends with Jack on any of them? ’

‘I think so, I don’t really use it to be honest, but I accept friend requests and followers if I know them personally, so it’s likely.’

‘Good, that would make it easier for you. When we get back to the station let’s get you set up in an empty office, away from everyone so you can concentrate.’

‘What about Justin?’

‘Stan and Amber can interview him; I’ll give them a list of key questions I need answers to. We need to speak to his wife too and see if she can alibi him for the nights of the murders.’

‘Ben, I need to tell you something.’ Morgan couldn’t keep it in any longer.

He turned his head to look at her. ‘What?’ The look of concern in his eyes made her feel terrible.

‘I had a meeting with Fin Palmer earlier, well I was at The Coffee Pot and he came there.’

‘What do you mean a meeting? Did you bump into him by chance? If he’s following you…’ Ben shook his head. ‘I swear to God, I’ll strangle him with my bare hands.’

‘No, I asked him to meet me there.’

‘Why? What the hell for?’

‘I wanted him to run a story about the murders, I’m sorry.

I should have asked you, but I wanted something putting out there that there may still be a killer in the area.

I asked him to write it up, so it didn’t look as if it came from the police, and he promised he’d write it from his perspective. ’

‘And you believe that he’ll do that? Christ, Morgan, what were you thinking? The guy threw you out to the wolves once, to sell papers. Don’t you think he’s going to have a field day with this? You walked right into his open arms, how could you be so stupid?’

She’d known he was going to be mad at her, but she hadn’t realised it would hurt so much.

‘I’m not sorry, well I am for not telling you sooner.

I didn’t want you to be involved and that’s the only reason why, but I’m not sorry if he prints something that makes other female solo campers stop and take notice.

The way Marc put it, there is nothing to be concerned about, it’s like those two murders were a little glitch that he’s single-handedly put a stop to, and that in my opinion was far more irresponsible than what I’ve said. ’

Ben shook his head and turned to look out of the passenger window. He couldn’t look her in the eyes. If she’d felt queasy before, right now she wanted to pull over and vomit all over the grass verge.

‘I can’t, Morgan, please. I don’t know what to say, just leave it okay?’

The rest of the drive back to Rydal Falls was uncomfortable and now she was regretting ever thinking about speaking to Fin Palmer.

Her life as she knew it could be over if he betrayed her again.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes as she stroked the bare ring finger.

She had known Ben would be angry, so she wasn’t sure why she was feeling so bad.

It hadn’t stopped her from doing what she’d done, and she just had to hope that for once in his life Fin might do the right thing.