Within an hour of James arriving at Lorna Manning’s house the scene in and around it had been transformed. Forensic officers were starting to sweep the rooms and gardens for evidence, and a small crowd had gathered in Willow Road.
While waiting for the team to arrive, James had carried out his own checks. He’d searched the house and confirmed that there was no one else in it, noting that it hadn’t been ransacked.
The place was comfortable and well kept, with smart, modern furniture and a few framed photos of a couple with a small child. An artificial Christmas tree was set up in the living room and there were some unobtrusive decorations.
James had also noted that Lorna’s bed had been slept in and the light was on. It led him to believe that she had probably been woken up by the sound of an intruder breaking the door panel in the kitchen. She’d then gone downstairs to investigate and was stabbed to death.
James called Annie at the first opportunity, and not just to tell her what she didn’t want to hear. He needed to extract some information from her about the woman who had been her boss.
His wife could barely speak, though, and he had to wait for her to get a handle on her emotions.
‘Lorna was a lovely woman,’ she said. ‘I can’t think why anyone would want to do this to her.’
Between sobs she told him that Lorna Manning had been single and aged fifty-eight. She had one son from a marriage that ended in divorce fifteen years ago. He was living in Southend, Essex, with his wife and daughter.
‘She moved around quite a bit and came here ten years ago when she was offered the head’s job at the school,’ Annie said. ‘She put her heart and soul into it and everyone liked and respected her. But the truth is she never seemed happy or settled. I put it down to the fact that the school has been threatened with closure, but others believe it went deeper than that and was rooted in something that happened to her in the past. But she rarely talked about her personal life, even on social occasions. As I understand it, she hadn’t been in a relationship for years. Her whole focus was always on the school and the kids.’
‘We’ll be visiting the school,’ James said. ‘And we’ll have to search Lorna’s office and interview some of the staff.’
‘Will that include me?’
‘It’ll have to.’
Annie shook her head. ‘I’m just finding it so hard to believe what’s happened.’
‘I just wish I could be there with you, hon. But I can’t.’
‘I know, but look, this must mean that the threat in the Christmas card you got wasn’t a hoax,’ she said. ‘There’s a fucking serial killer in this village, so surely it’s time people were told.’
She lost it then and began to cry.
‘Look, I’ll call you later,’ James said, and was gutted that he couldn’t go straight home to comfort her.
‘I’ll be all right,’ she replied. ‘Just do what you can to find the creature who did this.’
James kept thinking about what Annie had said as he kick-started this new murder investigation.
A serial killer stalking the streets of Kirkby Abbey was no longer such a far-fetched notion. Two people had been slain within twenty-four hours of one another. They’d both been stabbed and no effort had been made to conceal the bodies. In fact, the opposite was true – the killer had clearly wanted them to be easily found.
Charlie Jenkins was left in a field where the killer would have known that someone would soon come across his body. And the front door to Lorna’s house was left open, presumably so that her body would not remain undiscovered for long.
James spelled this out to DS Stevens and two other detectives from Kendal HQ when he briefed them outside the house.
‘We need to find out if the pair were connected in any way,’ he said. ‘Apart from living in the same village is it possible they were in a relationship or had a shared interest? Hopefully the neighbours and her colleagues at the school will help provide some answers.’
He told them what Annie had said about Lorna and explained that she had been due at the school this morning for an end of term tidy up.
‘I’d like one of you to contact her son as soon as possible,’ he said. ‘Break the news and see what he can tell us about his mum and whether she had any enemies.’
They were still deep in conversation when Gordon Carver turned up. The Cumbria Gazette reporter made his presence known by calling out to James from beyond the crime scene tape that had been set up.
‘I’d better have a word with him,’ James said. He told the detectives to organise a house-to-house in Willow Road and arrange for officers to visit the school. He then signalled for the uniforms keeping the growing crowd at bay to let Carver through.
The reporter’s first question to James was, ‘Is it true that Lorna Manning has been murdered?’
‘I’m not at liberty to—’
‘Don’t bother feeding me that line, Inspector,’ Carver said. ‘I’ve already spoken to the postman who found the body. So I know she’s the victim and I know about the blood. I’ve already filed a story.’
James sighed. ‘In that case, you might as well know that I believe she was murdered by an intruder. When you update your story I’d like you to include an appeal for witnesses. It happened at some time during the night and we’d like to hear from anyone who saw someone acting suspiciously in or around Willow Road.’
‘So how was she killed?’
‘As soon as I’ve had cause of death confirmed, I’ll let you know,’ James said. ‘The pathologist is in there as we speak.’
‘Oh, come on, Inspector. You’ve been in there yourself so you must have a pretty good idea. Was she stabbed, and if so, do you believe the killer is the same person who murdered Charlie Jenkins?’
‘It’s impossible to know at this early stage if there’s a link between the two deaths,’ James answered. ‘But, of course, it’s something that warrants consideration, and we’ll be looking for similarities and connections.’
‘So what message do you want to send to the people of Kirkby Abbey?’ Carver said. ‘Should they be worried that a maniac is on the prowl and that nobody is safe?’
James shook his head. ‘That’d be irresponsible and you know it.’
‘Okay, then what advice have you got for those who will be understandably concerned after they hear that there has been another murder?’
‘The main thing is that there’s no need to panic,’ James said. ‘But at the same time, it makes sense for people to be extra vigilant until the person responsible is in custody.’
Carver was eager to ask more questions, but a uniformed officer approached them and whispered to James that the pathologist needed an urgent word with him inside the house.
James told Carver he would speak to him again later and went looking for Dr Flint. He found her in the kitchen looking down on Lorna Manning’s body.
Removing her face mask, she said, ‘First, I can confirm that the victim’s throat was slashed and she was stabbed in the stomach. There are no other wounds. The murder weapon could well be the same knife that was used to kill Charlie Jenkins. I’ll need to do more work to be sure.’
Dr Flint reached behind her and picked up an envelope from the worktop.
‘This was in her dressing gown pocket,’ she said. ‘I thought you should see it before anyone else.’
James put his latex gloves back on before taking the envelope from her. An ugly fear spread through him when he saw that his own name had been scrawled on the front with a black marker.
The envelope wasn’t stuck shut so he opened it and pulled out another of the Twelve Days of Christmas cards.
There was a short message inside, and it caused the blood to thunder through his veins.