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

her hand which she kept dabbing at her nose.

‘I think it was. He was strangled from behind. The rope was thrown over his head and around his neck. There is evidence under Jacob’s fingernails that he tried to grab the rope. There’s fibres and skin cells under his nails.’

‘His own skin?’

‘Yes.’

‘How can you tell he was strangled from behind?’

‘Because of the direction of the indentations in his neck from his own nails. He seemed to put up a struggle too as there are plenty of burn marks and abrasions around the front of his neck caused by the rope.’

‘Jacob wasn’t a short lad so are we looking for someone taller than him?’

‘Not necessarily. If you look at his clothing, the knees on his trousers were badly stained with mud and they were torn. All the killer needed to do was surprise him from behind, maybe a swift kick to the back of the knees to bring him down then go at him with the rope.’

‘But, if the killer strangled him, why not just leave him on the floor of the woods? If you’re not going to hide the body, why make it look like suicide when it was an obvious murder?’

‘To be honest, Matilda, I have no idea. You said yourself it looked staged. The first murder looked staged. This is obviously the way the killer likes to communicate – by showing off his crimes.’

Thinking aloud, Matilda said: ‘So we have a killer who doesn’t care how his victims die, it’s how they look to others. Ryan looked like he was laid out in a coffin, and Jacob looked like he was hanging from the gallows. We have a killer who is celebrating their deaths.’

FIFTY-EIGHT

‘Am I going to be in trouble?’ Aaron asked Sian.

‘I doubt it,’ she replied.

They were both sitting at their desks facing each other. Just a few days ago Aaron was all smiles at the wonderful news his wife was pregnant, now his dour expression was back firmly imprinted on his face.

‘I had no idea Rory would have started the interview on his own.’

‘Aaron, you’re not to blame. He didn’t start the interview either. He wanted to know what made Callum a killer in the first place.’

‘I’ll never forgive myself if he doesn’t pull through.’

‘Sian, sorry to interrupt, but did you manage to have a word with Matilda?’ Faith asked. She had obviously been crying as her make-up had run, and, despite trying to rectify it, she hadn’t done a good job.

‘I’m so sorry, Faith, I haven’t. Everything sort of went mad for a while there, didn’t it? Tell me what you’ve uncovered and we’ll sort something out between us.’

Faith told Sian and Aaron about the Malcolm Preston case and how everyone in Norwich seemed to know Ryan Asher was responsible, including the police, despite there being no evidence.

‘What happened to Malcolm’s parents?’

‘His mother died of breast cancer shortly afterwards. His father keeps a bedside vigil.’

‘Any brothers and sisters?’

‘No.’

‘We could really do with interviewing the father. Leave it with me, Faith. I’ll have a word with the ACC. I doubt one of us will be able to go down because we’re short-staffed as it is. However, someone from Norwich could go and have a chat with him.’

‘Thanks, Sian. Oh, Aaron, I had a note on my desk about Elly Caine. Weren’t you interviewing her?’

‘Oh fuck! I forgot all about that.’

‘Please tell me you’ve interviewed her, Aaron,’ Sian said.

‘Yes, I have. I just haven’t done anything about it. I’m sorry.’ He looked genuinely upset that his mind was no longer on the job he loved so much. Rightly so, he was putting Katrina first, but he should still be committed to his work.

‘Does she have an alibi for Monday night?’

‘Yes. She hasn’t been anywhere near Starling House since she left. It was a dark time in her life by all accounts. Her husband left her and sold the house without telling her. She was practically homeless. She asked her cousin, Richard Grover, to get her the job at Starling House as she was desperate – for work and a place to live. She’s now working as a barmaid at a pub in Derby. She works six nights a week and was there on Monday night. She hasn’t spoken to Richard Grover since she left either. He kicked off when she beat Jacob Brown up saying she’d betrayed his trust. They had a huge fight and she hasn’t seen him since.’

‘She betrayed his trust?’ Sian scoffed. ‘That’s rich coming from him. What about all this abuse that’s been uncovered. Did she know about that?’

‘Well, I didn’t know about any of that myself at the time. However, she didn’t mention anything about it. She said the staff were quiet, kept themselves to themselves. They didn’t talk much. If she hadn’t been sacked she would probably have left anyway as she didn’t like the atmosphere. It was depressive.’

‘Did she say anything about Kate?’

‘All she said was that Kate needed to take that metal rod out of her arse.’

‘Such a lovely way with words,’ Sian smiled.

Christian Brady signalled to Sian from the other side of the room. He was ready for them both to interview Richard Grover.

Richard Grover was wedged in behind the desk in interview room one. He was a large mess of a man with greasy hair, unkempt stubble, and dark beady eyes. He had a permanent sheen of sweat on his forehead.

‘Richard, you have been charged with causing a child to engage in sexual activity and aggravated assault by abusing a position of trust. Do you understand those charges?’ DI Brady began.

‘Yes,’ he replied, his voice constricted by heavy breathing.

‘You’ve waived your right to have a solicitor present too, is that correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you deny the charges?’

‘No.’

‘So you admit abusing Craig Hodge, Lee Marriott, Lewis Chapman, Mark Parker, Callum Nixon, Thomas Hartley, and Jacob Brown?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are there others?’

‘Yes.’

‘Going back how long?’

‘I started at Starling House in 2012.’

‘So you’ve been abusing boys in your care for more than four years?’

‘Yes,’ he