Horsey Mere (DI Tanner 5), page 11
A defiant smile flickered at the corners of the wife’s mouth.
‘It does not belong to her,’ she replied, her accent thick, the tone defiant.
‘And this?’ Tanner continued, placing another piece of A4 paper over the top, this one picturing an unremarkable gold bangle.
‘No,’ the wife replied, shaking her head.
Tanner removed the two images to place back into his file. The way they were watching him do so, he could tell that they were desperately hoping he’d finished, meaning that the girl could not have been their daughter.
Taking in a breath, Tanner brought out the final image he’d printed out to slide gently over the table towards them.
‘We found this on her as well,’ he said, unwilling to say what it was.
Both parents stared down at the image picturing the tri-circular tattoo that had been found on the upper part of the dead girl’s thigh.
There was no immediate response from either of them. They both just stared down at it, their eyes still and unblinking.
After a moment of harrowing silence, the wife lifted her hand to begin running her delicate fingers over the image, as if stroking the skin that was pictured. As she did, from the depths of her throat came a single word, spoken with such subdued reverence, Tanner was barely able to make it out.
‘Anya.’
Speaking her daughter’s name must have burst the dam that had been holding back her emotions. As her voice roared like thunder, torrents of tears began falling from her eyes to the table below, like rain from a fast-approaching storm.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
LEAVING THE PARENTS to spend a few minutes alone together, Tanner let Cooper know that they had a probable identity for the girl, and to arrange for either Vicky, Jenny or Sally to start looking into her life, with a focus on finding out where Zara Haddad lived. Their daughter may not have wanted to confide in her parents about where she was really going the night she went missing, but hopefully she would have told one of her friends.
He then headed for the kitchen, to make them a cup of tea.
‘Can you tell me what she was like?’ he asked quietly, after waiting for them to take a tentative sip from the mugs he’d presented them with.
‘She was everything you could ask for,’ the husband replied, parental pride ringing out in his voice. ‘Kind, intelligent, attentive, dutiful.’ His voice fell away as he stared vacantly down at the mug cradled in his hands.
‘You said she had a friend, Zara Haddad. Does she live nearby?
‘Just down the road.’
‘How long had they known each other?’
‘Since we first moved here. They met at school.’
‘You mentioned she had some other friends.’
‘There is another girl, but I can’t remember her name.’
Tanner deliberately paused for a moment. ‘Have you ever heard her mention the name Carter?’
‘Carter?’ the husband repeated.
‘Roy Carter?’ Tanner replied.
‘No! No boys! We told you before, Mr Tanner, she didn’t have any boyfriends.’
‘But she must have known some, from school, perhaps?’
‘Not in that way.’
‘Did she have any interests, outside of school, like cooking, or art?’
‘She liked to read.’
‘What sort of thing?’
‘Classical fiction, mainly.’
‘Romance?’
‘Her favourite authors were Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters.’
Tanner paused for a moment before deciding to change the direction of the conversation. ‘The tattoo I showed you a picture of. Do you know anything about that?’
‘It was a mistake.’
‘A mistake?’
‘One of her friends persuaded her to have it done. They told her it was only temporary; that it would wash off.’
Tanner raised a curious eyebrow, seriously questioning whether she could really have been that naive.
‘Do you know if it signifies anything?’ he continued, returning to his notes.
‘As I said, it was just a foolish mistake, nothing more.’
‘And do you know which one of her friends it was who “persuaded” her to have it done?’
‘We don’t.’
‘But you did ask her, though?’
‘We did,’ the husband answered, glancing down.
Tanner moved his attention over to the wife, where he found the same look of regret he’d seen reflected in her husband’s eyes.
It was becoming clear to Tanner that the picture they’d been endeavouring to paint, one of unified domestic bliss, where their daughter was the perfect child who’d been happy to spend her evenings at home, doting on her parents whilst her mind focussed on schoolwork and reading romantic fiction, was more likely to have been filled with the same bouts of furious arguments that tore through the fabric of most teenage family homes.
With the sense that their daughter had probably been leading an almost separate life, one which her parents probably had very little knowledge about, Tanner decided it was time to wind the interview up.
‘Mr and Mrs Chadha, I’d like to thank you for coming in to see us today. We do have one or two things we’d like to ask of you before you leave, some of which will, on the surface, seem unnecessary. Firstly, I’d like to ask if one of you would be willing to help us to formally identify the body?’
Having deliberately directed the question at the husband, Tanner waited for some sort of a response.
Seeing him nod, albeit with obvious reluctance, he continued.
‘Thank you. We’ll also need to take a statement from you both, just so we know your whereabouts during the last few days.’
With neither responding, Tanner finished by adding, ‘We’ll also need to take fingerprints and DNA samples from you, as well as to arrange a suitable time for a police forensics unit to pay a visit to your home.’
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
BACK IN THE main office, Tanner made a bee-line for the cluster of desks beneath the whiteboard, where he could see Cooper, Vicky and Sally all working quietly together.
‘How’ve you been getting on with that extension request?’ he asked Cooper, catching his eye.
‘Just finishing it off now. How’d it go with the parents?’
‘More interesting than I was expecting. I’ve asked Taylor to get a statement from them, along with the normal prints and DNA. I also want forensics to give their house the quick once over. Sally, can you organise that for me?’
‘Of course,’ replied the attractive young detective constable, batting her eyelids at him as was her custom. ‘Are they looking for anything in particular?’
‘Their daughter’s blood,’ came Tanner’s stark response.
Vicky spun her chair around to face him. ‘Do you think they may have killed her?’
‘At this stage, I’d say that it’s a distinct possibility, certainly not one I’m prepared to rule out. They were in there trying to make out like they’d spent the last few months playing Happy Families together, when I suspect the reality was anything but. If they did spend their time arguing, a fight could easily have got out of hand.’
‘But – I thought the ME said the cause of death was from being hanged by the neck?’
‘He also said she’d been hit over the head beforehand. Maybe they thought she was dead and decided to take her down to Horsey Mere, to make it look like she’d hanged herself, only to find out that she was still alive, just as they were hauling her up.’
‘Jesus!’ stated Vicky, staring up. ‘Can you imagine if they had?’
‘I’d prefer not to, but unfortunately, it’s part of the job, which reminds me. Sally, when forensics go down there, can you make sure they examine their clothes for rope fibres, and check their shoes, to see if either of them had been anywhere near where her body was found. Oh, and get them to have a look for the girl’s missing clothes, her shoes as well.’
With a click of his mouse, Cooper glanced up to announce, ‘OK, that’s Roy Carter’s extension request done. Shall I send it off?’
‘Not yet,’ Tanner replied, checking his watch. ‘I want us to get back to interviewing him first. Has anyone had a chance to start a background check on the Chadhas’ daughter, Anya?’
‘I asked Jenny to request access to her email, phone and social media accounts,’ Cooper replied.
Hearing the name of his fiancée, Tanner glanced over to the door leading out to reception to see her huddled behind her desk. ‘OK, that’s fine. I’ll ask her about it later.
‘Another job for someone,’ Tanner continued, digging out his notebook. ‘We need to get hold of a girl called Zara Haddad. She was the person Anya was supposed to be staying with, the night she went missing. Hopefully she’ll be able to tell us where she actually went to. We could also do with finding out how she really got on with her parents, and if she knows anything about our very own Roy Carter. Speaking of whom; Cooper, are you ready to head back in?’
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
HAVING AGREED THAT Tanner should take the lead, they re-entered the interview room to find Roy Carter slumped at the table with his solicitor pacing up and down, his hands clasped behind his back.
‘About time!’ he spat, coming to a halt behind his client’s chair.
‘Sorry to have kept you,’ Tanner apologised. ‘We’ve just been collecting some last-minute evidence.’
His words had the suspect raising a pair of bloodshot eyes up into Tanner’s, his freckled forehead creased with concern.
After formally re-starting the interview, Tanner kicked off the proceedings.
‘No doubt you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve found out who that girl was, the one discovered hanging by her neck at Horsey Mere, the same one you were so desperate to get a look at, who you said you definitely didn’t know, even though you were too far away to see her face.’
Carter shrugged back a response, before staring down at his scrawny white hands clenched together on the table in front of him.
‘Aren’t you curious to know who she was?’
‘Why should I be?’
‘Her name was Anya Chadha.’
Tanner watched the youth’s face for any sign that the name had registered with him, but there was none, at least not one he could see.
‘Are you sure you didn’t know her?’
‘I said so, didn’t I.’
‘I know, but you’ve said quite a lot so far, most of which hasn’t been true; like denying the fact you threw a brick through that shop window, and that the petrol in the back of your van was in case you ran out, when the vehicle runs on diesel.’
‘I never said that.’
‘No, you said it was for the lawnmower and strimmer that you sometimes borrow from your dad, before changing your mind to say that you hired them instead.’
‘If I couldn’t use my dad’s,’ Carter added.
‘Either way, none of that’s of any particular importance. What is, however, was the forensics report that came in this morning. It says that the petrol we found in the back of your van is an exact match to the petrol used to burn the shop down.’
‘Is that it?’ the youth asked, glancing up. ‘Is that the so-called “evidence” you were going on about?’
‘In part,’ Tanner replied, smiling.
‘Just cus the petrol I had in the back of my van is the same as what was used to burn down that shop, doesn’t mean shit. Loads of people must’ve bought the same stuff.’
Judging by the triumphant look in his eyes, it was clear that he’d been able to reach that conclusion at some stage since their last session, probably after his solicitor had suggested it.
‘Very true,’ Tanner agreed, ‘but it does make it that much more likely that it was you who’d thrown it, being that you’ve already admitted to having put a brick through the window of the very same shop, just the day before.’
‘But it’s not much in the way of proof, though, is it.’
‘Maybe not, but the petrol wasn’t the only thing they discovered inside your van.’
‘Let me guess, they also found my signed confession.’
‘It actually concerns the girl; Anya Chadha.’
‘I keep telling you - I don’t know anything about her.’
‘So you’ve said, but if you don’t know her, and you’ve never met, I don’t suppose you know how traces of her DNA could have ended up in the passenger seat?’
Any colour that was left in Carter’s face drained away to leave a pale pock-marked surface.
‘I – I – don’t know anything about that.’
‘You’re saying you didn’t know she’d been inside?’
‘I – I didn’t, no!’
‘Fair enough. I suppose it’s possible that she broke in one day in an attempt to steal your radio. Or maybe her intention was to take it for a joyride, but changed her mind when she found out what a disgusting state it was in.’
With Carter left searching for something to say in response, Tanner felt free to continue.
‘I know! Perhaps you saw her hitchhiking by the side of the road one night and offered her a lift. When you attempted to have your disgusting way with her, she told you where to stick it, which wasn’t inside her. So you hit her over the head, tied her up and drove her over to Horsey Mere with the intention of setting fire to her. But when you arrived, you realised you’d run out of petrol, having used it all to burn down that shop, so you decided to hang her by the neck instead. But my favourite theory is that you got so carried away with all the recent stories in the Norfolk Herald, you dragged her down to Horsey Mere to find out if she was a witch by throwing her into the water. When you realised she could swim, you came to the conclusion that she must have been, so you dragged her out, stripped her naked and then hanged her by the neck until dead, maybe with your dad lending a hand.’
‘This is stupid!’
‘We can bring him down here to ask him, if you like. I’m sure he’d appreciate that, being that he’s only just started his campaign to become Norfolk’s next MP.’
‘Stop!’
‘Stop what?’
‘I didn’t know her!’
‘I don’t believe you, and neither will a jury, not when you’ve been charged with vandalism, arson, manslaughter, and first-degree murder, all in the same day.’
‘Alright! Alright!’
‘And when your dad’s standing in the dock beside you under a charge of aiding and abetting.’
‘Will you shut up, for Christ sake!’
‘I’ll be happy to, just as soon as you tell us what Anya Chadha was doing in the passenger seat of your van?’
The room fell silent as the suspect’s eyes fell back to rest on his hands.
With still no answer forthcoming, Tanner pulled out his phone. ‘I don’t suppose anyone’s got Nick Carter’s phone number, by any chance?’
‘I – I was in love with her,’ the youth muttered, so quietly, Tanner barely heard what he’s said.
‘I’m sorry?’ he questioned, staring over at Cooper, who looked as surprised as he was.
‘You heard.’
‘You’re trying to tell me that you two were going out with each other?’
‘Did I say that?’ the youth snapped; tears stinging his eyes.
Tanner was once again taken aback by his response.
‘I thought you didn’t like foreign-types?’
‘Do you think I wanted to fall in love with her?’
‘You’re saying you didn’t?’
‘Of course I bloody didn’t. I hated the fucking bitch.’
‘But – you just said you were in love with her,’ commented Tanner, struggling to make sense of what he was saying.
‘Anya Chadera, or whatever her stupid name was; she was a witch.’
Tanner and Cooper both looked over at him. Even his solicitor was giving him a sideways glance.
Seeing the way everyone was staring, Carter laid his hands flat on the table. ‘I wouldn’t joke about som’ing like that.’
‘Er, I’m fairly sure she wasn’t a witch, at least not in traditional terms. But even if she was, I fail to see the relevance.’
‘Don’t you get it?’
‘Frankly no, I don’t.’
‘The bitch cast a spell on me.’
‘She cast a spell on you?’
‘Her and her friends.’
‘Please tell me you’re not being serious?’
‘One minute I hated her, the next I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I couldn’t sleep, I could barely eat. All I wanted to do was to be with her, doting on her every bloody word whilst she used me as some sort of free taxi service. It was as if I was possessed. That’s why I petrol bombed that shop.’
‘So, you admit it?’
‘I had no choice. They were crawling around inside my brain. I had to get them out. It was the only way to shut them up.’
‘But – that wasn’t Anya’s shop?’
‘They told me that was where they met. They called it their coven. So I set the place on fire, to burn them all to Hell.’
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
THE ROOM FELL silent as Tanner, Cooper and the attending solicitor all took a moment to take in what Carter had openly confessed to; deliberately setting fire to a shop with the intention of killing all those inside. Tanner knew that the fact the owner’s mother hadn’t survived meant such an act would come with a charge of first-degree murder, even if she hadn’t been the intended victim.
‘Would it be possible for me to have a quiet word with you outside?’ the solicitor asked, catching Tanner’s eye.
Judging by the look of anxiety etched over his face, together with the conspiratorial tone of his voice, he’d clearly reached the same conclusion, and was looking to strike some sort of an early deal.
‘By all means,’ Tanner replied, pushing his chair back to stand. He was keen to take a break anyway, to give him a chance to decide how best to proceed.
With the interview suspended, Tanner propped himself up against a wall in the corridor, waiting to hear what the solicitor had to propose.
