Annie Delamere woke suddenly, with the sense that her sleep had been interrupted by some external factor. A loud noise, or some similar kind of disturbance.
She was generally a sound sleeper but she’d had this kind of experience occasionally before. A couple of times, she’d been briefly certain on waking that she’d been roused by a loud hammering at the front door of the house. She generally had these kinds of experience when she’d been under abnormal stress, usually due to some work-related issue. After everything that had happened over the last few days, she was under even more stress than usual. Even so, this did feel different.
This time she had no distinct recollection, even in the moments when she’d first woken, of what might have disturbed her. Now, lying in the darkness, it felt almost as if the echoes of whatever it had been were still dying away. As if she could almost still hear it.
At first, the only sound she definitely could hear was that of Sheena’s soft breathing beside her. Then, as she lay motionless, holding her own breath, straining her ears, she thought she heard it.
A movement in the garden below their bedroom window.
She slipped silently out of bed, dragged on her dressing gown and made her way over to the window. She pulled back the edge of the curtain and peered out into the night.
The sky had remained clear, and an almost full moon was shining down into the garden, creating a shifting vista of black and silver. There was a stiff breeze blowing, and the trees at the rear of the house were swaying rhythmically. Was that all she had heard?
It seemed unlikely that that sound alone would have woken her. The rush of the wind in the trees had become part of the familiar nocturnal soundscape. There had to be something else.
She peered through the narrow gap between the curtain and the wall, trying to discern anything in the shifting half-light. Then she saw it, or she thought she did.
It was scarcely anything. Just a glimpse of movement in the very corner of her eye. Something that, for reasons she couldn’t have explained, was different in quality from the steady shifting of the trees and bushes. The movement of someone hurriedly leaving the scene.
She left the bedroom and crossed the landing to the guest bedroom. The room offered a view of the front driveway, the trees in which they’d found the camera yesterday and the open moorland beyond.
She stood at the uncurtained window and peered out. It took her a moment, but then she spotted two figures near the gates, little more than black shapes scurrying out into the road. A moment later, there was the sound of an engine starting and then, through the trees, she saw the dark shape of an unlit vehicle heading away.
‘What is it?’
Sheena’s voice in the darkness behind Annie almost stopped her heart. ‘Jeez, Sheena,’ she said, turning to face her, ‘you made me jump.’
‘What is it, though?’ Sheena asked again. She was generally a light sleeper, and Annie was unsurprised she’d been disturbed.
‘There was someone in the garden. A couple of them, I think.’ Annie returned to the main bedroom, turned on the light, found her phone and dialled 999. Within a few moments, she’d received a commitment that a car was on its way. There was no point in trying to trace the intruders’ vehicle. It had been parked out of range of their own security cameras and she had no description. That would be a question for tomorrow, when they might be able to identify possible suspects on the CCTV and other cameras in the surrounding area.
She ended the call and turned to see Sheena standing in the doorway.
‘They were actually in the garden?’
‘The rear garden,’ Annie confirmed. ‘Somehow it woke me. Christ knows why. I can usually sleep through a thunderstorm, but this must have been some sixth sense.’
‘What were they doing?’
‘I’ve no idea. Planting another camera. Setting up something to scare us. God knows.’ She could already see the pulse of a blue light through the landing window behind Sheena’s head. ‘Looks like support’s already here. You’re obviously privileged.’
‘Neurotic MP who calls out the police on a nightly basis?’
‘Cautious MP who’s already experienced two attempts on her life. Let’s get some clothes on and head down.’
Annie was relieved to see the familiar faces of Paul Burbage and Ian Wharton on the other side of the front door. At least she wouldn’t have to go through another round of explanation.
‘We’ll have to stop meeting like this,’ Burbage said.
‘You’ve drawn the short straw again, then,’ Annie said. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be. It’s just a fluke really. You got us at the start of the shift last time. Tonight’s been a quiet one, so we were kicking our heels a bit.’
‘Relatively speaking, you understand,’ Wharton added with a grin. ‘Don’t want you to think we were slacking.’
‘Thought never crossed my mind. Just glad you were able to get here so quickly.’
‘You’ve had an intruder this time?’
‘In the garden. Two of them, I think, though I only glimpsed them as they were leaving the front gate. They had some kind of vehicle parked on the road outside.’ She shook her head. ‘And before you ask, sorry, I can’t give you any description of the vehicle. It was behind the trees and gone before I could do anything. Best bet would be to see if there are any cameras in the vicinity that might have caught anything. I’ll take that up with Andy Dwyer in the morning.’
‘You want us to check the garden?’
‘I think we should. They were here for a reason. I don’t think they could have been aware that I’d spotted them – it was only luck that I woke up and I didn’t turn on any lights – so they must have finished whatever they came here to do.’
‘And you’ve no idea what that might have been?’
‘Not a clue. We’ve had no more email contact since we found the camera. No threats. Or at least none that appear to be connected with the last incident. Andy Dwyer had the garden thoroughly searched today after he saw Sheena, but they found nothing.’
‘We’d better go and see then,’ Burbage said.
‘I’ll grab my coat and come with you,’ Annie said. ‘I already feel as if I’m not pulling my weight here.’
‘You’re not on duty,’ Burbage pointed out. ‘But I’m guessing I can’t stop you, given that you outrank me.’
‘I wouldn’t even try if I were you.’ Annie grabbed her waterproof from where it was hanging beside the front door. She turned to Sheena, who was watching from the doorway of the living room. ‘We’ll just be a few minutes.’
‘Take care.’ Sheena spoke in a small voice, a long way from her usual assertive tone. Annie hated seeing her that way.
‘Trust me, I will.’
Annie turned back to the two officers. ‘They were at the rear of the house when I first glimpsed them. We might as well start there.’
She led them through the house into the kitchen and opened the back door. Outside, the wind had risen and the swaying trees were noisier than ever. She stepped outside and stood back while Burbage shone his flashlight around the garden.
At first, they could see nothing but a dark tangle of rocking branches in the trees and shrubbery surrounding the narrow lawn. The rear garden was not large and in the summer provided a cosy suntrap. On a night like this, in circumstances like these, it felt threatening, as if the trees themselves were closing in on them.
‘There’s something,’ Annie said. ‘In the trees over there.’ She pointed towards a corner of the garden to their left. ‘If they came down the side of the house, that’s the nearest point.’
Burbage took a few steps forward, directing the torch beam at the point Annie had indicated. ‘Jesus.’
‘What is it?’
Burbage hesitated. ‘I was going to tell you not to look, but I’m guessing you’ve seen it all before.’
Annie moved to stand beside Burbage, Wharton close behind her. As they saw the object caught in Burbage’s torchlight, she heard Wharton utter an expletive behind her.
‘I’ve definitely seen it all before,’ Annie said to Burbage, keeping her voice steady. ‘But I’ve seen this all too recently.’
It was another body.
The same type of victim, a young white male left naked among the trees. The same slitting of the throat. The same neat incisions made across the skinny chest. Another offering, she thought. This time, though, she knew very well who the victim was. She’d seen and spoken to him just the previous day.
Jonny Garfield.