Leigh Russell, page 25
Stunned, she watched a trickle of blood flow from a wound in her upper arm. With a snort of irritation, Carol propelled her into the sitting room and on to a chair. Daisy sat there, feeling dazed from shock or loss of blood. Possibly both. Clutching her injured arm, she fell back on the chair in a state of near collapse. Mesmerised, she watched bright blood ooze between her fingers and drip on to her trousers where a wet patch glistened darkly. The pain was intolerable.
‘I’m bleeding,’ she blurted out, struggling to believe what was happening. But there could be no doubt about the pain which was so sharp she found it difficult to breathe. ‘You stabbed me.’
‘Stop fussing. It’s only a scratch. Now shut up. I need to think.’ Carol stood over her, scowling and waving the knife in Daisy’s face. ‘Give me your passport.’
‘What?’
‘Your passport. I need your passport and your money.’
The room began to spin and Daisy thought she might pass out. ‘I need help,’ she murmured. ‘You have to get me to a doctor.’
‘Not everything is about you,’ Carol snapped. ‘Where’s your passport?’
‘It’s in my bedroom, in one of the drawers.’
Carol hesitated. ‘Go and get it. Now!’
Daisy clambered to her feet and staggered from the room with Carol following her.
‘I’ll be right behind you,’ Carol said, pointing the knife at Daisy. ‘Don’t try to slip away, or you know what will happen.’ She waved her weapon in front of Daisy’s face. ‘Come on, I haven’t got all day.’
Praying that she would somehow survive this, Daisy began to haul herself along the corridor to her bedroom. If she could only reach her phone and touch the emergency key, she might be saved, but Carol was right at her heels.
56
By early Monday morning, it was beginning to look as though someone must be hiding Carol. Many man hours had been dedicated to studying CCTV on buses and trains in and around the city, searching for a sighting, and taxi companies had been questioned, but without any result. The monitoring continued, but there was no sign of her. Frustrated by the failure of the search, Geraldine went to question Nigel again, hoping he might have at least an inkling about where his wife might be. He wasn’t at home, so she drove to the head office of Reed Construction, which Martin had founded and developed into a thriving company. It would now belong to Nigel and Daisy, following Serena’s brief term of ownership. The head office was located in a modern block of brick and glass, situated on the outskirts of York, just north of Huntington. A large car park served Reed Construction and several other office buildings which surrounded it on three sides, and Geraldine had no trouble finding a space.
The interior of the building looked well maintained and a smartly turned-out receptionist greeted Geraldine as she stepped through the shiny glass and chrome doors. As soon as she learned who Geraldine was, the young woman ushered her into an inner office, where Nigel was slumped behind a desk. Staring dully at a computer screen, he barely glanced up when she entered the room. Not until Geraldine addressed him did he raise bloodshot eyes. Smiling thinly, he invited her to take a seat. At first sight his office was a curious mixture of order and clutter. A bank of filing cabinets stood along one side of the room, each drawer neatly labelled, while box files were lined up in a perfectly even row on shelves on another wall. Yet in front of a large window, the desk was littered with papers and files, an oasis of chaos in an otherwise tidy environment.
Fleetingly animated by her arrival, Nigel asked whether Carol had been found. On hearing Geraldine’s reply, his shoulders drooped and he lowered his head with a sigh.
‘Nigel, where do you think Carol might be?’
‘I told you,’ he muttered, ‘I don’t know. You can ask me as many times as you like, for as long as you like, but I’ve no idea where she is. Believe me, I’m more eager to find her than you are.’
‘Think carefully, Nigel. Are you absolutely certain you don’t know where she might be?’
Once again, he insisted in a flat voice that he had no idea where his wife could be. His pale face was even more ashen than usual, and he was studiously giving nothing away, but he avoided meeting her eye and once again Geraldine was convinced he knew more than he was admitting.
‘She’s an adult,’ he said, staring at his computer screen. ‘She’ll turn up. If she hadn’t forgotten to take her phone with her, she would have been in touch before now. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. She just went away for the weekend, that’s all. She’ll come back when she’s ready. I just have to wait.’ He seemed to be talking to himself.
Geraldine didn’t suggest that Carol might have left her phone at home to ensure she couldn’t be traced.
‘You’re saying you think there’s nothing to worry about, but you reported her missing,’ Geraldine reminded him.
Nigel fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair but he persisted in saying that he had no idea where Carol was and repeated that he was sure she would return soon.
‘It’s in your wife’s interests that we find her,’ Geraldine said. ‘Before anyone else can,’ she added pointedly.
Nigel flinched and shook his head, but he refused to speak again. There was nothing Geraldine could say to persuade him to admit what he knew, or suspected, so she questioned him again about his movements on the night Serena was murdered.
‘I told you, I was at home with my wife,’ he said, but this time he didn’t sound sure.
‘Is it absolutely impossible she could have left the house?’
Nigel cleared his throat nervously before admitting that he had been sleeping so soundly, he wouldn’t have known if she had gone out.
‘So you’re saying your wife could have gone out that night?’
He shrugged and was silent, his face a mask of indecision.
‘Nigel, if there’s anything you’re not telling me, now’s the time to come clean. Your wife’s life might depend on you admitting whatever you know.’
But Nigel merely shook his head and repeated that, as far as he knew, his wife had been at home with him all night when Serena was killed, and he had no idea where she could be. Frustrated, Geraldine left, more convinced than ever he was keeping something from her.
Back at the police station, she discussed what he had said with Ariadne.
‘Carol’s running-off suggests she’s guilty of something,’ Geraldine concluded thoughtfully. ‘And now there’s a question mark over her alibi on the nights both murders were committed. Nigel said he’s been sleeping well, and we know Carol was prescribed sleeping pills by her doctor. Possibly she drugged Nigel without his knowledge.’
‘What for? Surely you don’t think she killed Serena?’
‘Why else would she go into hiding?’
‘She could be scared the killer might attack her next?’
Geraldine shrugged. ‘Whatever the reason for her disappearance, we need to find her. Don’t forget that with Serena’s death Martin’s fortune reverts to Nigel and Daisy, so Carol had a strong motive for getting rid of her.’
‘True. We were busy looking into Nigel and Daisy, but Carol’s going to benefit from Serena’s death as well.’
A young constable interrupted their discussion. ‘We received an emergency call without any message.’
‘Probably a mistake,’ Ariadne said, dismissing the constable.
‘We’re busy right now,’ Geraldine added, frowning. ‘Can’t the switchboard trace the caller and deal with it?’
‘They couldn’t trace it, the caller rang off too quickly. But not before she muttered a name, Daisy Reed.’
Geraldine was instantly alert. ‘Where is she? What did she want?’
‘She just phoned but left no message, apart from the name.’
‘Where was the call made?’
‘We couldn’t track it. The caller rang off almost immediately.’
‘Rang off or was interrupted?’ Geraldine said.
Taking Ariadne and the young constable Sam Cullen with her, Geraldine drove straight to Daisy’s home off the Holgate Road and rang both bells. No one came to the door. Remembering that the woman living downstairs was deaf, before trying the bell again, Geraldine hurried around the house to set up a watch on the back door. The wooden side gate was locked, but with Sam’s help she kicked it, hard. After a few attempts, the wood splintered around the lock and the gate swung open. If Daisy had thought better of telling the police what she knew, they would make sure she didn’t leave the house without speaking to them. There was no response from inside the house when they banged on the back door. Leaving Sam guarding the door, Geraldine returned to the front of the property. As she made her way quietly along the side of the house, she noticed one of the upstairs windows wasn’t properly shut and decided to mention it to Ariadne. Perhaps between the two of them, with Sam’s help, they could enter the house unseen and confront Daisy.
But when she reached the front entrance, there was no sign of Ariadne.
Geraldine tried her colleague’s phone, but Ariadne didn’t respond. Struggling to control her alarm, Geraldine rang the bell again and this time a voice shouted at her from the other side of the door.
‘Go away! You need to go away, now! Go!’
Geraldine didn’t recognise the voice. There was the sound of scuffling and then Ariadne called out. ‘Do what she says. She’s got a—’ Her words were cut off abruptly.
‘Ariadne! Are you all right?’ There was no answer. ‘Ariadne?’
A second voice shrieked out suddenly. It could have been Daisy. ‘Go away! Do what she says! She’s used—’ Once again, the speaker was abruptly silenced.
‘She’s got a knife!’ Ariadne shouted and was again cut off.
Geraldine drew in a breath and sprinted to the street, already on the phone summoning urgent back-up, with an armed response team. Whatever else happened, she had to focus all her energy on rescuing Ariadne, if it wasn’t already too late. She tried not to think that she had brought Ariadne to the house and was responsible for whatever happened to her.
57
Waiting for the armed response team, Geraldine ran silently round to the back door to inform Sam of the latest developments. Despite his training, his face fell when he heard that Ariadne was trapped in the house with a woman who was armed with a knife.
‘What can we do?’ he asked, poised to run.
‘We wait.’
‘We can’t just stand here and do nothing,’ he protested, raising his voice in dismay.
‘There’s nothing we can do until back-up arrives,’ she replied in a whisper. ‘I’ve put in an urgent request for an armed response team and a negotiator. Don’t worry, we’ll get Ariadne out of there.’ She wished she was feeling as confident as she sounded. ‘You wait here, and no heroics if Carol tries to escape this way. Remember, she has a weapon and may have killed before.’
Sam nodded uncertainly.
‘That’s an order, Sam,’ she said sharply, trying to ignore the accusation in his eyes. ‘Don’t even think of disobeying.’
With that, she ran back to the front of the house. Inside, all was silent. Knowing Ariadne was in there, the waiting was unbearable. Suddenly, she could bear it no longer and hurried to the window she had noticed earlier. It was quite high off the ground but she thought it was large enough for her to wriggle through. She asked Sam to help her and he nodded, eager to assist.
‘I can reach it,’ he said.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘I sent Ariadne in there, it’s on me to help her. You wait for the armed response team. They’ll be here soon. I just want to check out who’s in there,’ she added, not quite truthfully. ‘And you might not fit through it,’ she added, truthfully this time. ‘Give me a leg up. That’s an order.’
Sam hesitated before making a stirrup of his hands, so she could climb up to the window.
‘I should be going in there,’ he muttered. ‘I could overpower her easily.’
‘No one’s going to try and overpower a knife-wielding killer,’ Geraldine said. ‘I intend to see what’s happening in there so I can report the details back to the armed response team.’ She stared up at the window, judging its height. ‘You stay here so you can help me down again.’
‘Wouldn’t it be better to wait for the armed response team?’ Sam asked.
Geraldine frowned at him. ‘When I need your advice, I’ll ask for it,’ she replied, more abruptly than she had intended, partly because she suspected he was right and she was being foolhardy. ‘I’m only going to sneak inside, take a quick look at who’s there and where they’re positioned, and then leave before anyone spots me. It may sound like a rash strategy, but I’m not going to take any risks. I’ll make sure no one sees me.’
Before Sam could challenge her about taking risks, she stepped carefully on to his interlaced hands and hoisted herself swiftly up to the bottom of the window frame until she could peer over the edge. She couldn’t see anyone inside. With a huge effort, she heaved herself silently up and over the sill. Clutching both sides of the frame, she manoeuvred one leg over the window sill and dropped gently into the room. It was nearly dark inside, but she could see enough to know that the room was empty. So far she was safe. She was in what looked like a small dining room. Silently she moved towards the door. As she stood perfectly still, scarcely daring to breathe, she thought she heard voices. Quickly she stole across the room towards the door. Reaching it, she peered out into a narrow hallway. There were three doors leading off it and she heard a woman talking. The sound seemed to be coming from the door that was nearest to her. Holding her breath, she crept into the hall and made her way closer to the door.
‘You know you’ll never get away with killing a police officer,’ Ariadne was saying.
Geraldine nearly cried out on hearing that her friend was still alive.
‘Shut up,’ Carol barked. ‘One more word out of you and she dies.’
It must have been Daisy who let out a cry of fear. There was a retort that sounded like a slap. Geraldine started and pressed her hand to her lips. Having discovered where Carol was keeping Ariadne captive, it was time for her to withdraw but as she turned away, someone screamed. Geraldine ran to the door and flung it open.
‘Ariadne!’ she yelled and froze at the sight of the tableau in front of her.
Carol was standing with her back to the door, waving a large knife. Ariadne was seated on the other side of the room, with Daisy on the floor beside her, apparently unconscious. Startled, Carol spun round. The instant she turned towards the door, Ariadne leapt at her and grabbed her arm just as she lunged forwards to thrust the knife at Geraldine. The blade missed her by a few centimetres. Before Carol had time to recover her balance, Geraldine punched her in the face, knocking her to the floor, and sending the knife skittering across the carpet. It came to rest beside Daisy’s inert figure.
‘Get the knife,’ Geraldine panted as she snapped handcuffs on Carol.
‘If it was a gun, you’d be dead,’ Carol hissed.
Ariadne seized the knife, and Geraldine darted over to Daisy to check whether she was still alive.
‘Geraldine, what are you doing here?’ Ariadne asked, her voice shaking so much she could scarcely force the words out.
Before Geraldine could respond, a loud voice reached them from the street.
‘We have the house surrounded,’ it announced calmly. ‘Come out with your hands in the air.’
‘She’s still alive,’ Geraldine said and pulled out her phone. Having identified herself, she reported that the situation was under control. ‘We have a civilian here who requires urgent medical attention. I repeat, a civilian has been stabbed and needs urgent attention.’
She ran to open the front door and within a minute paramedics and armed officers charged into the house. They had arrived more quickly than Geraldine would have thought possible. She moved aside as Daisy was carried out on a stretcher, seriously injured but alive.
‘When can we question her?’ she asked one of the medical team as they passed her.
‘Not now,’ the paramedic replied and turned away.
58
Carol’s eyes glittered coldly at Geraldine across the table in the interview room.
Geraldine met her gaze steadily. ‘You stabbed Daisy,’ she began.
‘What are you talking about? You can’t say that. Is this being recorded?’ Carol spluttered, gazing around the room. ‘That’s a lie. It’s an outright lie.’ She tapped her fingers nervously on the table as she spoke, the convulsive movements at odds with her decisive words. ‘Did you see me stab anyone?’ Her usually neat hair was a mess and without make-up her features looked stronger.
Geraldine spoke softly. ‘You know perfectly well I’m telling the truth. You can’t pretend otherwise.’
‘You can accuse me all you like, but you won’t get me to confess to something I didn’t do.’
Geraldine raised her eyebrows sceptically. ‘There’s no point in denying it. My colleague was in the room with you when you assaulted Daisy. I’m referring to my colleague who you took hostage and threatened with that same knife, the one you tried to stab me with.’ She gestured towards Ariadne. ‘There’s no point in pretending none of it happened.’
