Chapter 6
SIX
Al was watching from the door as she walked slowly towards Lauren’s body.
Morgan couldn’t tear her eyes away from the knife that was sticking out of her chest. When she crouched down to check her pockets she whispered, ‘I’m so sorry, Lauren, please forgive me, I think I let a killer walk free and you have paid for that mistake with your life.
I will never get over this.’ Morgan had to blink rapidly to clear away the tears that were pooling in the corners of her eyes.
To say she was horrified was the understatement of the year.
Lydia Williams had been found with almost identical injuries and a knife protruding from her chest.
The woman’s eyes were glazed, staring towards the doorway, forever frozen in horror.
Morgan couldn’t help but notice how blue they were.
She had such pretty eyes that were never going to crinkle with laughter ever again.
The body was cooling now, and when Morgan reached out her gloved fingers to feel inside of a pocket for the keys, she flinched at how stiff Lydia’s hips were.
She was wearing tactical pants with lots of pockets, similar to what Morgan used to wear when she was a response officer.
Morgan began to pat the pockets; much to her relief she felt them jingle in the large pocket on the side of Lydia’s leg.
Ripping the Velcro open, she reached inside and tugged the metal key ring out and waved them at Al.
‘Bingo,’ he replied.
She stood up and noticed the door that wasn’t quite shut. Handing the keys to Al she walked towards it. She had assumed it was the bathroom door. Gripping the wood and not touching the handle, she tugged it open.
‘She ran to hide in here, but I bet she didn’t know about this adjoining door.
’ She spoke aloud. ‘I bet the killer came in this way.’ She looked down at Lauren.
‘Because her body is so near to that door and the position it’s in, she would have tried to move away from it if he came through that one.
Surely, she would have run, but if he crept up on her…
’ This time it was a full body shiver that rushed through her, a coldness inside of her at the absolute horror that Lauren must have felt when she realised her killer was standing behind her.
Morgan had to stifle the sob that rose like a trapped air bubble needing to escape her lungs so she could breathe again.
‘Horrific, poor woman.’ Al’s voice was much quieter than his usual boisterous happy one. ‘Do you want to go wait downstairs, Morgan, whilst we search?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s okay, I’ll hang on here. Declan should be coming soon.’
Marc had got distracted and hadn’t even made it upstairs, and he finally appeared at the door and sucked in his breath. ‘Oh, wow. That’s awful. The position of the knife is familiar.’
‘Yes, it is. Both Sharon Montgomery and Lydia Williams were found with knives protruding from their chests just like that.’
He was nodding. ‘Is it common?’
Morgan tried not to snap at him, she really did. ‘Is what common? Women getting killed by knife-wielding psychopaths? Or the fact that we now have three murders all with the same MO?’
‘Steady on, it’s just a simple question.’
‘Boss, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I wasn’t more than a little bit concerned that we either have a copycat or…’
‘Or?’
‘Or Beth Montgomery had an accomplice. Maybe even her husband, Stefan. We need to find out where he is and what he’s been doing.’
Marc nodded. ‘Good point. Christ. Leave it with me, I’ll take Amber now and go see if he’s home.’
Morgan thought, well at least that’s got rid of those two for a bit.
There was a chair in the corner of the room, a little dusty and it hadn’t been used for a long time, but Morgan dragged it as close to Lauren as she could and sat next to her.
If the killer was still inside this building, she wasn’t leaving her on her own to face him again.