The Body That Vanished, page 10
11
As I followed Nadia through the double doors, I realised we had entered a small hallway which had several doors on both sides. We walked past the doors, and I realised they were all rooms for residents. I planned on talking to some of the residents, but first, I wanted to look around some of the main areas of Ravenwood Home and see if I could find anything that either confirmed or denied my suspicions about this place. I scanned the rooms along the hallway as we stepped deeper into the home. Once we approached the end of the hall, I noticed some large double doors to my right, which caught my interest. A quick glance into the open room told me this must have been one of the main communal areas for the residents. There were several tables and chairs, a surprisingly small television, a clear cabinet filled with board games, and some shelves that were filled with books.
I noticed a few residents were relaxing in chairs—I was relieved to see my father wasn’t among them—but my attention was drawn to two men in the room who looked to be workers. The first man I spotted was the cleaner Harrold spoke to last night, Aiden, and I noticed he was cleaning surfaces briskly in his bright yellow marigolds. Even from a distance, the man absolutely stunk of bleach. The scent was pungent and assaulted my nostrils horrifically. When I’d seen him last night, I was more interested in the words Harrold said to him. Now, for the first time, I properly took in his appearance. He had short, curly black hair that complemented his long face. His ears were on the large side and stuck out noticeably, and his brown eyes were so dark they were almost black—an almost identical shade to Rebecca’s. His face looked chiselled, and he could have been attractive if he took better care of his skin. Possibly, it was from all the strong products he was around on a daily basis, but his skin was full of blemishes and looked as though he’d had a recent breakout of spots. I would have said he looked to be in his early to mid-twenties, but with his complexion, it was hard to tell if it simply made him appear more youthful than his years. He had thin, weedy-looking arms and legs, which I was surprised a career of cleaning hadn’t strengthened—either he hadn’t had the job for long, or he usually put in minimal effort. My gut leaned more toward the latter.
Close to Aiden was the other man who, unlike Aiden, didn’t appear to be in any hurry to work. He was casually sipping from a steaming mug, and although his stature gave off the look of ease, I could see from the way his grey eyes darted about that he was nervous. He looked even more nervous than the two women I’d just seen scrambling past the main entrance. His focus was mostly on Aiden, and every now and again, I heard him scolding Aiden for not cleaning fast enough.
As I looked at both men, I quickly realised how opposite the two men looked. While Aiden was dark-haired, this man had cropped blond hair; where Aiden’s skin was pale and oily, his skin was sun-kissed and in good condition. His light eyebrows were neatly shaped, and though he was nowhere near as muscular as Harrold, I could tell this guy took care of his appearance and regularly worked out. The only real similarity between him and Aiden was the fact I’d have said they were of a similar age. The blond man caught Nadia and me walking toward him and stood up straighter.
“Mornin’,” I said to the two men with a curt nod.
“Good morning, sir,” Aiden said respectfully.
The other man looked me up and down and gave a nod as quick as my own.
I could tell neither man had any intention of speaking more, so I continued.
“I’m DCI Sean Ellis, and my colleague here is DS Nadia Begum,” I said confidently. “I’m sure your boss has made you both aware we’d be coming today.”
As I spoke, my eyes brushed over Aiden, who was still vigorously cleaning as though his life depended on it. He quickly dropped the wet cloth and looked at me red-faced.
“We were told you’d be coming, but we weren’t told why,” the man said unhappily.
“What’s your name?” I asked bluntly.
“I’m Gareth Oakes,” he replied, his eyes firm on mine.
I kept my eyes on Gareth’s grey ones for a moment before I looked toward Aiden.
“And you?” I asked.
I knew he was called Aiden from overhearing him talk to Harrold, but I didn’t want anyone here to know that.
“Aiden, sir,” Aiden said anxiously. “Aiden Richards.”
“What do you two do here?” Nadia asked gently.
“I’m one of the carers,” Gareth replied in a bored drawl. “Aiden’s just a cleaner.”
I saw Aiden deflate at Gareth’s words, and his disrespectful tone put my back up a bit.
“Aye, I’ve noticed you take your cleaning job seriously, lad,” I said to Aiden, glancing over his extensive cleaning equipment.
Aiden opened his mouth to reply, but Gareth spoke over him. “Yes, we take cleanliness very seriously here. You can’t be too careful around the elderly and vulnerable, now can you?”
“That’s true,” I said with a casual nod. “Though I do wonder how often you clean the place so extensively?”
“Very often,” Gareth replied without missing a beat.
I clicked my tongue and had another glance around the room. None of the residents in here were paying us any attention, so I looked back toward the two men.
“How long have you both worked here?”
“Five years,” Aiden replied.
“Three years,” Gareth said unenthusiastically.
“And are you both aware of the situation that happened last night?” I asked.
“Situation?” Aiden asked nervously.
Gareth put his hand in front of Aiden’s face to silence him. “Yes, we were both here last night, so we know.” He shot Gareth a glare before he continued. “George is a good man, but he’s just got himself confused. Bless him.”
I felt a vein pulsing in my neck at the patronising way Gareth spoke about George.
“Is it like George to tell a lie or get confused over such serious matters?” Nadia asked bluntly.
“The guy’s old and forgetful. You do the maths,” Gareth said with a smirk. “So that’s why you’re here then. You’ve been brought in on one of the old man’s crazy stories?”
I gritted my teeth angrily at Gareth’s lack of respect. It took a great deal of self-restraint not to throttle him, though I also couldn’t help but notice what looked like a flash of relief in his eyes at the idea we were here because of George. If he hadn’t naturally assumed we were here about George, what else was there?
“What do you mean by one of George’s stories?” Nadia asked suspiciously.
“The guy likes to spin a yarn. That’s all I’m saying,” Gareth said with a shrug.
I didn’t believe him and, from the look in Nadia’s eyes, nor did she.
“Why else would we be here, Gareth?” I asked sharply.
Gareth turned to me and scratched behind his ear. “As I said, I didn’t know why.”
“You weren’t worried we were here for another reason, were you?” I asked, my eyes stuck to his like glue.
“Like what?” Gareth asked fiercely.
Aiden either had no idea what was going on or had the sense to keep quiet and out of it.
“I don’t know, Gareth,” I said slowly. “You seem a bit jumpy, is all.”
Gareth scoffed. “I’ve got nothing to hide, me.”
“Time will soon tell, won’t it?” I asked venomously. “As will a close inspection of this place.” I gestured to Nadia, and she got Aiden to step away from the cleaning products. “While we are doing our investigation, there will be no more cleaning. We wouldn’t want to potentially get rid of any valuable evidence, now would we?”
Aiden shook his head vigorously. “Definitely not, sir.”
Gareth glanced at Aiden with revulsion. It was clear the man thought very little of his colleague.
“Feel free to leave if you wish, but don’t go too far,” I said with a warning. “You may find we have more questions for you later.”
Aiden almost sprinted out of the room with relief, but Gareth looked between me and Nadia with a frustrated tut.
“You’ll soon see you’re both wasting your time,” Gareth said unhappily before he skulked out of the room.
I waited until I was certain they’d both gone before I turned to Nadia.
“What an unpleasant man,” Nadia said unhappily.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I replied. “Think there’s a reason why they seemed just as nervous as everyone else?”
Nadia gave a small shrug. “I don’t know, but it’s obvious no one is happy we are snooping around.” She chewed her lip and then looked at me seriously. “Are you starting to think there’s much more to this place than meets the eye?”
I snorted. “Nadia, I’ve been convinced of that since I stepped foot in here last night.”
Nadia looked toward some of the residents, and I could tell her heart was breaking as she surveyed them. “I just really hope it isn’t something to do with the residents, Sean. You hear horror stories all the time about residents being abused and taken advantage of in homes by staff, and I’d find it hard to remain impartial if I find out anyone here has been manipulated in some way due to their vulnerability.”
My thoughts jumped to my father, but I quickly shook them away. I had to focus on George, the missing woman, and the potential dodgy dealings of this place, something which would be impossible if my mind was clouded by fears over his wellbeing.
“I seriously hope not, Nadia,” I said gently. “Maybe before we look around, we should speak to George? I wanted to look around first, but if the residents here are being abused, maybe he will be able to tell us.”
Nadia nodded. “Good idea, Sean. Plus, we can make sure he’s okay, too.”
“Aye,” I said softly. “Come on then, let’s go find room four.”
I gestured politely for Nadia to take the lead and started to follow her out of the room. The thought of seeing George again made me feel happy, and I was keen to ensure his safety.
George had behaved bravely last night by coming to the police, but I had a feeling he had inadvertently brought us into a case much bigger and more varied than he realised. Did someone from the home have something to do with the girl going missing? Or was there something going on in this care home?
I glanced around the walls and couldn’t help but think that we were about to uncover that this place was far from innocent. Time would soon tell, but I was convinced this care home was carrying some dark secrets that were soon about to be unravelled.
12
George Robinson.
Of all the people who could have seen him, of course, it was someone he knew. Someone he saw almost every day at Ravenwood Home. He got to work last night and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw George being escorted in by the police.
Not just any police officers. A DCI and a DI, for that matter. He may have known little about the ranks of the police. What he knew was mostly from the random crime shows his mother enjoyed, but even he knew they were about as high as it got. That meant they must have felt they had a valid reason to be escorting George home. And what reason could be more valid than protecting a murder witness?
He saw George disappear and, instead of doing the sensible thing and trying to find him, he just let him go. Go right into the hands of the police. Charging after him would have meant leaving his girlfriend’s body on the park’s floor, where anyone could have stumbled across it. Besides, say he had chased down George, what the hell would he have done once he caught him? Killed again?
No. That would have been far too risky, and his nerves wouldn’t have been able to hold out if he had to strangle an innocent man while his girlfriend’s body was just feet away, all on the slim chance he’d been seen. But he had been seen, and now this nightmare was just going to continue, and continue, and continue until he cracked.
After he throttled his girlfriend, he knew someone had watched him, knew someone had seen him, and yet he tried convincing himself the guy was just an innocent dog walker.
A stupid, risky mistake.
If it was a normal dog being walked, it would have been fine, but Colby was a damned menace. He seemed way too smart for a dog, way too intuitive. Colby never left George’s side, either. Colby was basically George’s bodyguard, and he knew the dog could easily cause him a few issues if he had seen him last night.
He had been around George and Colby since then, but George hadn’t reacted or said anything. Colby always looked at him suspiciously, which, right now, was putting him more on edge, but at least Colby, unlike George, wouldn’t be able to do him in. Was it at all possible George truly hadn’t seen him? Or was he maybe having a forgetful day and would soon look at him with recognition and fear?
He was feeling scared and confused and really didn’t know what to do. There was always the chance that George had seen the altercation and went to report it without actually realising that a man he saw on a regular basis was the assailant. He was standing basically at the other end of the park, after all, and it was dark. Plus, at his older age, his eyesight would have been poorer. It wasn’t that likely the man could have identified him from such a distance. The question was, could he gamble that chance? Could he try hard to keep cool, calm, and collected, hope George had no idea that he had been the attacker, and wait for everything to die down?
He was shocked and ashamed of himself for what he did to his girlfriend. She had done wrong by cheating on him, and he was right to confront her, but she didn’t deserve to be murdered. They’d been together for four years; he’d loved her for even longer than that, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone forever. All because he lost himself to his rage for a few minutes. What a waste of life. She’d barely lived, and he’d viciously taken everything away from her. He’d taken the most important thing in his life away from himself, too.
He rubbed his face tiredly as he thought about the massive mess he was in. All it took was losing himself to his anger for a moment, and he now had all of this crap to contend with. The worst part was that he would never see the woman he loved ever again.
Not alive, at least. Her body was still in the boot of his car, so he would have to see her again at some point.
The thought of it made him feel like he could vomit. He hated leaving her crumpled up there like she was nothing but a bag of old clothes ready to be transported to a charity shop, but he still had no idea what to do with her. The right thing to do would be to come forward, confess to his crimes, admit it was just an accident that went too far, and hope the police would be lenient toward him.
That would be the right thing. Yes. But that was something he couldn’t do, and since he’d left it so long, he knew it was far too late as well.
He wouldn’t be able to cope with prison. He tried to put up the front to show that he was strong and not afraid of anything, but in reality, most things in life scared him. The thought of a life behind bars, surrounded by men who had raped, murdered, scammed, and cheated their way through life... made him shudder.
He killed his girlfriend, but it was an accident! He was nothing like the people in prison, so he had to do everything within his power to stop the police from figuring out what he’d done. He’d already been questioned a bit by the police when they arrived at Ravenwood, but nothing too serious. When he spoke to the two officers, it was more casual, though he knew it was their way of subtly trying to gain information.
They were sneaky, the police, and they knew how to act friendly in order to manipulate answers from you. Luckily, he was too smart to fall for any of that crap. He could deal with their casual questions, but the thought of them pulling him into an interrogation room, the officers looming over him with a bright light, screaming at him for answers... it scared the shit out of him. He had to avoid that at all costs if he wanted to avoid breaking down and telling the truth.
He knew the best way to keep the police away from him was to put their focus elsewhere, and an evil smile crept on his lips when he realised that would be all too easy to achieve. The scary truth was that there was a lot going on at Ravenwood Home. Things that would horrify the police, things that would make many people unable to sleep ever again, and he just hoped as the police snooped around, they would stumble upon the horrific truths of this place. While he personally cared about the residents that resided here, the majority of the other staff were as corrupt as it got, and while he’d hate to lose his job, he’d much rather throw the others under the bus if it meant protecting himself.
He'd happily see them locked away if it kept the police’s gaze away from himself.
Then there was the matter of George. He would just have to be patient and try to gauge if George did seem to remember him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt George, but—and the thought scared the crap out of him—he knew, if it came to it, he wouldn’t hesitate to silence him. If it was a choice between his freedom and George’s life, he knew he’d choose his freedom every day of the week.
He just had to hope the police would stumble upon the darkness of this place before he had to resort to yet another murder.
13
As Nadia and I walked to George’s room, my thoughts were filled with suspicion about Ravenwood Home. The staff were nervous wrecks at our arrival, the cleaner was running around as though expecting an imminent visit from the health inspector, and while the management tried to give off the air of being calm and unbothered by my looming presence, it was clear they were anything but that.
But why? Why was the staff behaving so bizarrely? Something had to be going on in this place.
I was happy Nadia at least seemed to have the same concerns and misgivings as I did. Before she even verbalised to me that her thoughts matched my own, I’d picked up on her body language. It had shifted the moment we stepped foot in this place. She’d seemed more alert than usual, she bristled when in close proximity to Harrold, and she had stared around with evident, strong discomfort. I could tell she was also feeling concern for the welfare of George and the other residents. We had to speak to George and get to the truth of all of this.
