A Room Full of Killers, Michael Wood [best books for students to read txt] 📗

fact, have you seen today’s papers? I do not want South Yorkshire Police in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons again. Let DI Brady interview Grover. You find out who killed Asher and Brown. Understand?’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ Matilda said, walking away.

‘Oh, and Matilda? I want you to call me every hour with a progress report. I don’t want you slacking off and looking into the Hartley case. Do you understand me?’

Matilda took a deep breath and bit down hard on the inside of her mouth. ‘Loud and clear.’

Valerie was about to add another warning, her finger came up to point at the DCI, but an alarm sounded that caused everyone to stop dead in their tracks.

‘Interview room two,’ shouted a sergeant behind the custody desk looking down at his monitor.

Matilda and Valerie led the way with uniform backing them up. Matilda pulled open the door to the corridor and saw the red bulb flashing above the second interview room. Without thinking of what mayhem she could be walking into, she depressed the handle and threw the door open with her shoulder.

Rory Fleming was on the floor with Callum straddling him raining down blow after blow with each fist. He was relentless.

With all her energy, Matilda grabbed Callum by the shoulders and lifted him off the DC, throwing him to the other side of the room. She crouched down and looked at the unconscious detective. There was so much blood, so much damage. It was difficult to make out his features.

In the corner of the room, Callum sat perfectly still, licking the blood from his knuckles. ‘You might want to get him to hospital a bit sharpish – I’m HIV positive,’ he smiled.

FIFTY-SEVEN

‘Why was he on his own in a room with a double murderer?’

‘I’ve no idea, ma’am.’

An ambulance crew arrived quickly, tested Rory’s vital signs and made sure his breathing was regular before they dared to move him. He was unconscious and unresponsive by the time he was loaded into the ambulance. As Valerie questioned one of the paramedics before he left, he told her they would perform an MRI to check for damage to his brain. There were no signs of life when they flashed a light in his eyes but his breathing was stable.

Valerie was in her office pacing back and forth behind her desk. Matilda was sitting down. She had accepted Valerie’s offer of a coffee but it tasted foul. It wasn’t the caffeine; it was the image she had of her young DC. Rory was a good detective. He was hard-working, popular, funny, and good-looking.

He’s not dead.

‘Not yet,’ Matilda said to herself.

‘Sorry?’

‘Nothing. Just thinking aloud. Look, I will find out why he was left on his own. I will sort this.’

‘Is there any truth in what that little bastard said about him being HIV positive?’

‘I don’t know. Sian is on the phone to Starling House now to get his medical records.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Valerie said, scratching her head. ‘Rory’s tall, he’s fit, how could he let a teenager overpower him?’

Matilda shook her head. ‘Callum Nixon is a very volatile young man. Maybe Rory struck a nerve.’

‘I want these killers out of my station, Matilda.’

Matilda put down her coffee and quietly left the office. She felt sick. Valerie had offered to call Rory’s family and Matilda accepted. It wasn’t a conversation she relished.

On her way back to CID, Matilda was asked by almost everyone she met how Rory was doing. She didn’t reply to any of them.

‘Are you all right?’ Sian asked from the doorway of Matilda’s office.

‘No.’ She was sitting in her chair, head in hands, praying and hoping to anyone who would listen that Rory would be all right. ‘What did they say at Starling House?’

‘Callum is not HIV positive. He was playing with us.’

‘Bastard. It’s horrible to say this about a teenager but I could happily smash his face in and not think I’d done anything wrong,’ Matilda said, struggling to keep her emotions in check.

‘You can’t blame yourself for bringing them all here. They needed to be formally interviewed.’

‘Why was he on his own, Sian? That’s what I want to know.’

‘Ah,’ she said, looking out of the window. ‘Just before the interview was due to begin, Aaron received a phone call from Katrina. Rory told him to go and they’d start the interview afterwards. Fortunately, the cameras were switched on and we’ve caught what happened in the interview room on video. Rory was asking him about his crimes when he killed those teachers. It sounds like he wanted to understand why he became a killer.’

‘What about the attack?’

‘Callum snapped the second Rory mentioned his family. He was like a man possessed. Rory didn’t stand a chance.’

‘Oh God, Rory. He wouldn’t let it drop, would he?’

‘He was desperate to find out how a child can kill. He saw his opportunity to interview Callum on his own and went for it. Everyone is asking if there’s any news.’

‘Not at the moment. Scott’s at the hospital. He texted saying that Rory’s in theatre. He’s got internal bleeding on the brain. It doesn’t look good, Sian,’ Matilda said, biting back the tears.

‘Have you called his family?’

‘Valerie’s doing that.’

‘What do you want us to do?’

Matilda looked past Sian and out into CID. Everything was muted. Hardly anyone was working as solemn faces looked down at untidy desks.

‘Crucifying Callum Nixon would be a great start.’

‘He’s been charged. He’s locked up.’

Matilda turned her chair to look out of the window. The dark clouds had gone and were replaced by wispy white ones. The sky wasn’t a brilliant blue but it was pale and the low sun was shining. She hoped it was an omen of better things to come, though she doubted it.

‘I want Richard Grover interviewed. I want to know the full extent of his abuse over the years. I don’t think he killed Ryan or Jacob but we need to know. Also, I want Fred Percival interviewed too. Again, I don’t think he’s the killer but he