Page 81 of Her Last Breath

Chapter 54

Jane’s boots and hands were wrapped in plastic. She padded through Colin Wilson’s plush flat in a new build on the outskirts of Townley Park. Pawel Kowalcyzk and his CSI team were in full white body suits, combing through the contents.

‘Tell me some good news, Pawel.’

‘There is never good news when we are in town.’

He led Jane to the lounge area, where a series of plastic bags were laid out on letter trays, on the dining table.

‘Three thousand pounds, in fifty and twenty notes.’

‘From a cash machine, do you think?’

‘They look clean, smooth, so yes, I think so.’

‘Alice was getting cash from somewhere. During questioning, Liam Harrison asserted she had someone else on the side.’

Jane thought about Alice – the devoted mother, her troubled past.

‘Wilson doesn’t fit her type, so maybe he was part of her turnaround? She decided to give the seemingly stable charity guy a chance?’

Pawel waved another plastic bag in front of her face. She didn’t need his help to see the distinctive mouldy appearance of weed in it. There was the faint hint of the stuff lacing the air around them. The next bag he showed her was of more interest.

‘Small white pills. No idea what yet. Definitely not painkillers or from a prescription.’

Jane tapped the capsules through the plastic of the bag. They knocked gently against each other, but they were unmarked, so she had no idea what they were intended for.

‘Wilson might have been using these to inveigle his way into Alice’s life?’ she suggested.

‘The oldest pimp trick in the book.’

‘You seem very knowledgeable,’ Jane teased.

Pawel blushed.

‘The other theory,’ Jane said, ‘would be that his unsuspecting victims were imbibing whatever narcotic Wilson was giving them, leaving them incapacitated and powerless to fight back when he abducted them, tortured them, toyed with them …’

There was definitely a power play here. More than that, a fascination with death. That was the thrill in this case. The victims weren’t of a type to fulfil a profile and robbery clearly wasn’t a motive.

Jane wandered around the lounge then, her eyes scouring the wall art with interest.

‘Weird,’ said Pawel. ‘Some of these look scary. I wouldn’t want them on my wall. Imagine you watch a movie, fall asleep, then wake up with this staring at you.’

‘There are probably deep spiritual meanings to some of these objects.’

Pawel shrugged, as Jane recognised masks on the walls that she had seen on Bill Hargreaves’ walls.

Jane’s phone buzzed; she picked it up, seeing it was Sameer.

‘DCI Malik, sir, what can I do for you?’

‘Where are you?’

‘At the suspect’s flat, sir.’

‘That’s probably the last place you’ll find him now.’

‘I don’t understand, sir?’