Suffer the Torment, page 6
“There was one, last year. Outside the school, of course. We learnt of it from the police.”
“And what about inside school? Any record of drug-taking?”
Mr Ridpath shook his head emphatically. “Absolutely not. We would never tolerate that behaviour inside the school. Yes, I know some children smoke by the bike shed, but that’s about it.”
“Who got arrested last year?” Roy asked. Mr Ridpath swivelled his attention to him.
“I can’t remember the name now. I can look it up. The names you have mentioned so far don’t ring a bell.”
“Please leave the relevant student’s names with my colleagues here.” Roy hooked a thumb behind him at Melanie and Rizwan. “They will stay on while we see Natalie, Emma’s mother.”
Sarah said, “By the way, do you have a student called Gloria?”
Mr Ridpath’s handsome face creased into a frown. “I will have to check. May I ask why?”
Sarah looked at Roy, who nodded. She said, “That name was found on Emma’s body. Carved into her forearm, with a knife.”
Colour drained from Mr Ridpath’s face, and his mouth opened in shock. His eyes flickered, and for a few seconds, Roy wondered if he was going to faint. He was definitely going green around the lips. His mouth moved without any sound, like a fish out of water. He seemed to get his bearings and took out a tissue from his pocket and wiped his mouth, the dabbed his forehead.
“Did this … this really happen?”
Sarah nodded. “Yes, Mr Ridpath. I would ask you to treat this with total confidentiality. Now, can you please tell us if there is a student called Gloria?”
“Let me search, please.” He clicked on the keyboard. His eyes had withdrawn further into his sockets as he stared at the screen. His face had an empty, hollowed-out look. After a few moments, he shook his head.
“This sounds strange, but I’ve done a search against all students, from Year 7 to Year 13. Everyone. We don’t have a single Gloria, across almost four-hundred students.”
“Thanks for checking.” Sarah glanced at Roy, and they stood.
Roy handed the headmaster his card. “Please call us if you think of anything else, about Emma or her friends. My colleagues here will stay to speak to as many students as they can today, I hope that’s ok.” It was a statement, not a question. Mr Ridpath nodded. His cheeks were still blanched white, and he had a terrified, rabbit in the headlight look in his eyes. His earlier composure and charisma had vanished.
“Inspector Roy, you must understand I take responsibility for what happens to the children while they are in school. We need some reassurance that the children are safe, and you’re doing everything you can.” Mr Ridpath’s eyes turned to Sarah as well.
“Of course,” Roy said. “There will be a patrol car parked outside the school, and we will do surveillance during school hours in the surrounding area. Don’t worry.”
Mr Ridpath looked a little relieved. “The parents will have many questions, as you can imagine. This kind of news spreads like wildfire.”
Roy said, “I would advise you to send an email to all parents telling them Emma has passed away, and that we are involved but not give them any other details. Reassure them that their children are safe but tell them to keep a much closer eyes on them over the next few days, and weeks. We will set up a phone number for the parents to call if they’re concerned.”
Roy looked at Sarah who confirmed his words. “Chances are,” she said, “That phone line will become very busy over the next few days, so we will provide an email as well.” She looked behind her, and Rizwan stood up.
“I will discuss all of that before we leave,” Rizwan said. “And you will have all the details by end of today, so you can send the email out tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Mr Ridpath still looked haggard, but spots of colour appeared on his cheeks. “I hope you find who did this ASAP. We’ll do anything to help.”
CHAPTER 13
There was a squad car parked outside the row of council houses where Natalie Purkiss lived. As a street of council owned properties went, the place wasn’t too shabby. No burnt-out cars, no graffiti on the walls, and the street was clean of rubbish. A group of hoodied men stood in the street corner, and they looked closely at Roy and Sarah as they drove in. Sarah parked in the space in front of the squad car, and they got out.
The men at the corner turned away as Roy stared at them. Sarah was speaking to the uniformed constable who came out of the car. Roy looked at the windows of the block of flats opposite. It was the typical brownstone and concrete council block that was pretty much universal in England. The entire building was four storeys high, each flat opening out directly on the balcony that wrapped around each floor. He saw a curtain twitch on the ground floor window. Another block of flats stood next to it, occupying almost the entire street.
Natalie Purkiss lived in a row of joined-up tenement houses that had white, green, and pastel wooden fronts which were a pathetic attempt to make them look cheerful. The paint was now flaking from most of the houses, the wood was worn-out and chipped, and they needed more than a splash of colour. The councils would say they had no money, and if they were anything like the councils in London, they could still afford three layers of management who did nothing but push forms across a desk.
Roy joined Sarah as she went up to the door and knocked on it. After a short delay, a worried looking woman opened the door. She was in her forties, with bags under her red rimmed eyes. Her straggly brown hair fell to her shoulders. Her face had that empty, vacant look, like someone just punched her in the gut with a sledgehammer. Her blue eyes searched Roy and Sarah’s faces.
She wore a bathing robe and held a cigarette in her right hand. Sarah and Roy showed their warrant cards. The woman lifted the cigarette.
“Come in. I need to go out the back to put this out.” She sniffed loudly, and panic suddenly gripped her face. “Do you know? Do you know what happened to my Emma?” She crumpled then, a heart-rending sob escaping her throat as she sagged against the door.
A woman appeared behind her, it was the FLO, or family liaison officer. She helped take Natalie inside. Sarah stepped in behind Roy. This never got easier. For him, it was the worst part of the job, worse even than seeing the victim. Natalie would now ask him questions, and he would feel helpless, flounder, and yet try to look professional and competent.
They went inside the small reception area. A rickety flight of stairs with threadbare carpet was to their left. The FLO took Natalie into the living room on their right. At the top of the stairs, a little figure appeared. It was a boy, aged nine or ten, Roy thought. He stared at them seriously, and Roy gave him a smile. The boy kept staring.
The closed air inside reeked of smoke. Hopefully this wasn’t a regular occurrence. Following Sarah, Roy stepped inside the small room. It was the TV room, with a flatscreen on the wall, and photos on the mantelpiece. Roy’s head almost touched the ceiling, and his bulk filled the doorway. He shut the door firmly behind him, making sure the boy wasn’t anywhere near to eavesdrop. Sarah was sitting on the brown sofa, and Roy joined her, knocking his knees against the coffee table.
Natalie Purkiss’s feet were moving, fists clenched and knuckles white on her lap. Her spine was erect, head thrust forward. She stared at Roy with wild eyes, like she’d just seen a ghost.
“What happened? How did she die? No one’s telling my anything. All I’ve heard is she was found dead.” Her forehead contracted, and the tip of her nose started to quiver. “In that bloody warehouse. Why?”
“We don’t know as yet, Miss Purkiss. We’re very sorry—”
“Just fuckin’ tell me!” Natalie screamed, a wave of scarlet smearing across her neck. Teardrops bloomed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She brushed them with the back of her hand. Her feet resumed the tapping, and her hands moved in rhythm.
“Emma was found with her throat slit, on the warehouse floor. We have to classify it as a murder, and it happened roughly between midnight and two in the morning. We don’t know who did it, but I can promise you we will do our utmost to find that person.”
He spoke slowly, in a measure voice to make sure Natalie heard every word. She hung on to each syllable it seemed. When Roy finished speaking, her lips moved without sound.
“We don’t know, Natalie,” Roy said, using her first name. “We don’t know why she went to that warehouse, who she met there, or if she was followed. These are all things we need to find out but find out we will.”
Natalie still stared at Roy like she was frozen, struck by lightning. Then her eyes flickered down to the floor, and her chest heaved once like a raging ocean wave. She broke then, her spine seemed to collapse. She leaned forward and would’ve fallen if the FLO didn’t catch her. Sarah helped, and between them, they put Natalie back on the couch.
Roy had seen this before. Extreme shock did strange things, and they didn’t come any worse than this. The only thing he could do right now was give Natalie some time to recover. The FLO went to get a glass of water. Natalie slumped on the sofa, partly against the wall, and stared at nothing.
The FLO came back, and Natalie took a sip of the water after the FLO held the glass to her lips.
“I know this is hard for you,” Roy said. “But anything you can tell us now helps. Was Emma in bed last night when you turned the lights out?”
Natalie wiped the corner of her lips, then nodded. “Yes. She had dinner at home, she normally does that anyway. Sometimes she stays out with her mates from school, but she’s home on time.”
“I also checked on her at night. Thought I heard a noise. She was in her bed, and so was David. That’s her ten-year-old brother.”
“What about their father?”
“They have different dads anyway, and neither of them live with us.” She coughed once. “Well, it would only be David’s dad, but I haven’t seen him for a while.”
“Ok. Carry on. What time did you think you heard a noise?”
Natalie frowned. “I thought of that missen, like.” Roy knew enough of the slang to now know ‘missen’ was the Yorkshire way of saying ‘myself’. “It wouldn’t be late; I think around eleven. It was a school night so we’re normally in bed by eleven, the kids even earlier, especially David.”
“Where did you think the sound came from?” Rob asked, scribbling in his well-worn red leather notebook. Sarah, he noticed, was tapping away on her phone.
“I thought from the kitchen, but I couldn’t be sure. Sounded like a knock on the window, or door. But it didn’t come from the front.”
Roy stopped scribbling. “A knock, did you say?”
“Yes. I thought so, anyway. I wondered who it was that time of the night.”
“Where are the bedrooms?”
“David’s is next to me, and Emma’s next to the kitchen. That’s why I went to her room first. She was asleep.”
“Did you check on her? Or try to wake her?”
“I touched her shoulder, like. She was sleeping.”
Not for long, Roy thought. Natalie carried on, explaining how she went back to bed, and then woke up in the morning to find Emma’s bed empty. Her window, which looked out into the communal garden, was shut but not locked. The handle could only be turned from the inside.
“So, you think she left through the window?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t know now, do I? I thought she’d gone to school early. But Emma’s not a girl who wakes up early, unless she’s got to wash her hair and that, like. If she went out the front door, she was real quiet.”
“Does she have house keys?” Roy asked. “Could she have locked the front door after leaving?”
Natalie frowned. “Hang on, no. I don’t give her keys. So, she couldn’t have. The front door was locked in the morning.” She lowered her head into her palms. “I’m not thinking right.” Her voice was muffled, and she remained like that, holding her head.
“Had she taken any of her clothes or packed a bag?”
“I looked in her wardrobe. Everything’s in there, still. She took her schoolbag, but that was it.”
Sarah glanced at Roy, and he read the question in her eyes. The schoolbag was missing in that case. Uniforms were still searching, but nothing had been found in the vicinity. If Emma had taken her schoolbag, she intended to attend school later.
“Did you see her phone in her room?” Sarah asked Natalie.
“I looked but didn’t find it. She took it with her. She doesn’t wear a school uniform anymore, so that’s still here.”
“Over the last few days and weeks, how has Emma been?” Sarah asked. “Any changes?”
“She’s been herself, like. She can be moody, she’s at that age.”
Roy sighed. “Natalie, I need to ask you this. We found evidence of self-harm. Emma cut her wrists. Nothing too deep, but enough to leave scars. Did you know that?”
Natalie’s nose tip turned red and trembled again. She started sobbing. The FLO rubbed her back.
“Yes, I knew. I caught her in the loo once. She’d forgotten to lock the door. She used a nail filer, not a knife. I took her to the doctors, and they referred her to CAMHS.”
“Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service,” Roy intoned. “Did Emma see a psychiatrist, or was it a counsellor?” Disturbing memories unfurled in his mind. After Robin’s disappearance, he too had got into fights at school, and also after, in the pub. He had needed counselling, and the old demon reared its head occasionally. Like now. Roy clenched his teeth, pushing the bastard down into the dungeons. He focused on Natalie.
“A psychiatrist, and she was on antidepressants for a while. She stopped as she didn’t like how they made her feel. That was last year. Then she was happy …” Natalie’s words trailed off as she stared vacantly at the floor.
“What made her happy?”
“Not sure. Think she had a boyfriend, but she wouldn’t tell me who it was. Anyway, she broke up with him, and went downhill again. The last few weeks she’d not been good.”
“Was this boyfriend called Luke Riley?” Sarah asked, looking at her notes.
“No, Luke was last year. She wouldn’t tell me who this new lad was. I knew she had one though. She’d talk to him all the time with her door closed.”
Sarah angled her head to look at Roy. “We need to know who this boyfriend was, or is,” Roy said, aware of Sarah’s attention, which he acknowledged with a flick of his eyes.
“And we also need all of Emma’s friends details you have. Did she have friends who came here?”
“There was one girl. Marla Doyle. She’s been her bestie over the last couple of years. I don’t have her number, but I know her mother, Susan. Got her number, here.” Natalie wiped her nose, then dug into her pocket and retrieved a phone. Sarah took the number down.
“Can we please look at Emma’s room?” Roy asked.
CHAPTER 14
The layout of the house was strange, as two bedrooms were on the ground floor. Sarah walked into the bedroom next to the kitchen and stared at it. It was clearly a girl’s room with posters of a couple of boy bands on the wall, and a male actor with his shirt off. The room was small, with barely enough space for a desk and chair next to the single bed. The curtains were separated, and the window looked out over the garden. Sarah put her gloves on.
The bed was a mess of clothes. It seemed like Emma had dumped a suitcase on the bed, and then shuffled through it. Sarah picked out a couple of short dresses, jeans, and tops. A couple of school uniforms were scattered to one side. She looked under the bed and found the suitcase. She dragged it out, then looked under the bed with her flashlight. It was empty. She knocked on the floorboards, as the room didn’t have any carpet. They emitted a hollow sound. She tried to lift some of the boards, but they were all nailed down tight.
She stood and startled at the little shape standing in the doorway. It was a boy, studying her with a concentrated look in his eyes.
“Hello, you must be David?”
The boy said nothing. Sarah crouched in front of him. “I work for the police. We’re looking for your sister, Emma. Did you see her this morning?”
The boy shook his head in silence. “Where’s Emma?”
Sarah sighed, a stab of pain crashing into her chest. She had a little boy too. “She’s gone … somewhere.” It was a lie, but Sarah didn’t know what else to say. Detectives were trained in breaking bad news, but telling a child was all the more difficult.
“You know but you won’t tell me,” David said plainly. Sarah stared at him, never ceasing to be amazed at how children got to the heart of the matter so quickly.
She went to speak, but David turned and ran off. Sarah got to her feet. She looked at the bookshelf, then the surprisingly well-kept desk. She searched through the drawers, but didn’t find a laptop, tablet, or phone. The drawers had homework exercise books, cheap, imitation jewellery, and a couple of diaries. She flicked through the diaries. Emma wrote about how she felt, and although the entries were few and far between, some names were mentioned. Luke and Lucy were in there, so was Dean. Sarah put the diaries in evidence bags.
She depressed the window handle, and it opened. She could squeeze through it herself if she tried. The drop to the grass was less than six feet. No problem for a tall teenager like Emma. Sarah pulled out her phone and called Dobson, the chief of scene of crime, and gave him the property details.
She heard voices outside and went into the narrow corridor. Roy was standing at the bathroom door with the FLO. Natalie spoke from inside.
“No, her toothbrush isn’t here. Neither are her tampons. Sorry, I should’ve looked for them.”
“Was she meant to go for a sleepover, or staying at a friend’s house?” Roy asked.
“She’d tell me if she was. She knew I’d be worried.” Natalie emerged from the bathroom. The small hallway was a squeeze with all of them in it. Roy held out an evidence bag, and Natalie put a couple of nail clippers in there, explaining they belonged to Emma.
