Chapter 47
FORTY-SEVEN
Angela’s phone had pinged in a one-mile radius of Scotty’s house.
There were a limited number of houses in that area, what were the chances of it being another?
When Morgan had caught up to Ben, she whispered in his ear the likelihood of that happening.
‘I’m sorry, Ben, I know he’s one of us, but we can’t ignore this now.
Where is he anyway? Is he still on shift?
He picked me up earlier, but I wasn’t sure if he was finishing. ’
Morgan’s phone vibrated in her pocket. ‘Brookes.’
‘Hey, it’s Wendy. Are you on your own?’
Morgan stepped away from Ben, but Madds was striding towards them. There was a park, and fields that bordered the streets around. Morgan was glad it hadn’t pinged near to the riverside, as that area had seen its fair share of tragedy.
She walked in the opposite direction of Madds and Ben. ‘I’m not, but I’m some distance from the others. What’s up?’
‘We got a hit from the partial print finally.’
‘You did, that’s incredible, and they’re on the system?’
‘Oh, yes, they are definitely on the system but not as a suspect for anything. Morgan, it’s one of us, it’s a cop.’
Morgan felt light-headed as she realised she’d been holding her breath and expelled it in one big gasp. She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. ‘Who is it?’
‘My knees are shaking, I feel as if I’m going to puke. It came back as Scotty’s.’
Morgan quickly turned to look at Ben, the horror in her eyes expressing every fear she’d had about Scotty.
‘Shit.’
‘Yes, where are you?’
‘We’re near to Scotty’s house now because Cain’s partner’s phone pinged within a one-mile radius of it and we’re searching the area.’
‘It could have been accidental; he might have tried to pull the blade out in a panic. It doesn’t mean he’s a killer.’
Morgan’s throat was so dry she felt as if it was closing up. ‘I guess we won’t know until we question him. Thanks. Don’t mention this to anyone until I’ve talked with Ben, is that okay?’
Wendy grunted and the line went dead.
Morgan walked back to where Ben and Madds were standing, and she shared with Ben what Wendy had just revealed.
Ben asked Madds. ‘Where’s Scotty, is he around?’
Madds shrugged. ‘You tell me, is he ever around when he’s supposed to be? He’ll be skiving somewhere.’
‘Can you get hold of him for me? I wanted to ask him a favour.’
Madds stared at Ben. ‘Ask him yourself.’
‘It’s complicated.’
‘Really, like how complicated?’
Ben took him to one side, and Morgan knew he was reluctant to share this information with Madds, who was a gossip at times, but she also knew they were running out of time.
By the jaw-dropping expression on Madds’s face and the burst of laughter, he wasn’t convinced that Scotty could be involved in the murders, which didn’t help matters.
She repeated the news that Wendy had just given her in little more than a whisper.
Madds was shaking his head. ‘You’re joking me.
Scotty? The world’s laziest copper is the mastermind behind these killings, and could have abducted Cain’s partner.
Have a word with yourself, Ben, it’s not even feasible and if there’s a print on the blade that belongs to him then there is probably a good reason for that.
He might have tried to remove it then thought better of it. ’
‘Can you be discreet for once? I agree but Morgan has a hunch and we can’t discount a fingerprint.’
Madds turned to look at her and rolled his eyes. ‘You’re both as crazy as a box of frogs.’
He called out Scotty’s collar number over the airwaves, twice, before Scotty’s voice answered.
‘Yes, Sarge.’
‘What’s your current location? We need a hand with a missing persons search.’
‘I’ve just nipped home to grab some bait. Where are you? I missed it.’
Morgan stared at Ben, her eyes wide, and mouthed. ‘We need to search his house.’
Ben shook his head, and she wasn’t sure why he was having such a hard time with all of this when the facts were blatantly obvious. She took out her phone, worried for Lisa, and messaged her.
Hey, trying to find Scotty to discuss a job but he’s skiving. Are you at home by any chance? Is he there?
Three dots appeared immediately.
There’s a surprise.
Followed by a rolling eyes emoji and a laughing face.
I’m at my sisters in Barrow for a few days, she had a baby, so I brought the boys with me to help out. No idea where he is. Should I message him?
No, it’s fine. Not that important, I’ll catch hold of him later. Thanks, Lisa.
She tucked the phone back into her pocket. ‘Ben, Scotty is home alone. Lisa and the boys are out of town for a couple of days, which gives him the perfect opportunity.’
‘I can’t believe we’re going with this. If we’re wrong, it’s going to mess his life up.’
‘What if we’re right? I’d rather be wrong and look like an idiot than do nothing and Angela ends up dead.’
Morgan couldn’t say what she really thought – that it was already too late for her friend and they had severely misjudged Scotty’s character.
‘Do we need a negotiator?’ Morgan asked Ben. ‘You know, just in case.’
‘Crap, is Caz on duty? She’s excellent, or what about Stan, isn’t he one? Where is he anyway? I thought he was on his way before us.’
Bigfoot came marching towards them, his cheeks flushed red. He was angry.
‘Can someone tell me in the name of God what is happening here?’
Ben began to explain, ending with, ‘I think we need a negotiator just in case. Isn’t Stan one? Where is he?’
‘I dropped him off at home, he said his stomach is a bit off. Told him someone would pick him up in twenty minutes, give him chance to sort himself out.’
Ben looked at Morgan. ‘Go get him, please, I’ll keep trying Caz in the meantime, but chuck a couple of Imodium at him and tell him we have work to do and he might be needed.’
Ben usually wasn’t so heartless, but this was a tense situation, and she could tell he was trying his best to hold it together.
‘Yes, boss.’
Morgan jogged back to the car; her own stomach was churning wildly at the worry she was about to ruin Scotty’s life for no good reason. Her phone connected to the Bluetooth in the car, and she drove the short distance to Stan’s flat.
Caz’s name flashed across the dashboard display, and she pressed the green button.
‘Hey, what’s going on? I got a jumbled voicemail off Ben that sounds as if he’s underwater and he’s not answering now.’
‘Oh, it’s complicated. Are you busy? They think they might need a negotiator.’
‘At Lauren’s partner’s house, the Co-op funeral care have just been to visit him about making arrangements. I felt bad leaving him on his own.’
‘Oh, poor guy. Stan said you talked to him about Lauren’s long-lost brother, it’s a no go then? He doesn’t know anything about it, they never talked about it, or he didn’t meet him?’
Morgan parked the car at the end of the street and was striding down towards the flats. She banged on the communal front door and tried the handle, pleased that it opened so that she could knock directly on his door.
‘Stan said what? I haven’t spoken to him; in fact, I’m not even sure I know who he is to be fair.’
Morgan paused. ‘He was supposed to ask you to ask Joey Baker about Lauren having an adopted brother or half-brother, that kind of thing. He told Cain he’d spoken to you, the idiot.
That’s just lazy. I think it might be okay about the negotiating, I’m at Stan’s now picking him up, and he’s supposed to be trained, or do you think he lied about that on his paperwork? ’
‘I don’t know the guy; hopefully not. Listen, if Ben needs me, I can come. Message me. I’ll keep checking my phone.’
Morgan hammered on Stan’s door and heard a dog bark.
Footsteps hurried towards the door and as it opened a small brown dog escaped and ran towards the communal door.
Morgan swore under her breath and dived to grab its collar and drag it back inside.
She didn’t have time to be chasing a dog around the streets when there was so much at stake.
Stan was staring at her dragging his dog.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘That was close, he could have escaped. Why did you let him out?’
‘He pushed between my legs. I didn’t. He’s a pain in the arse.’
‘Oh, right, well, Ben needs you like now. They have a bit of a situation going on. He thinks it would be best to have a negotiator on standby.’
‘I came home to walk the dog, and I was on my way back to work. I’ll meet you there, wherever it is.’
She was shaking her head. ‘Bigfoot said he dropped you off. Ben will go insane if I turn up without you. How’s your stomach? Bigfoot said you felt a bit off, are you okay now?’
He squinted and then nodded. ‘Oh, yes. I get IBS sometimes. Do you want to wait inside then, whilst I quickly sort it out.’
‘Yeah, okay.’
She followed him inside and wrinkled her nose at the smell that lingered in the air. He’d sprayed air freshener everywhere, but the artificial smell of clean linen didn’t really cover the coppery tang that was a little too familiar to Morgan.
Stan was dragging the dog towards the bedroom, but it managed to slip its collar and come bounding towards her again with its tail wagging wildly.
She laughed as it almost took her off her feet and bent down to scratch its ears.
As she did, she felt every nerve in her body snap to attention.
The dog had a slightly distorted crescent moon-shaped patch on its chest exactly the same as Lydia’s dog Barney had.
Her radio was on the front seat of the car, and she could have kicked herself, but she had her phone.
Straightening up she smiled at Stan. ‘Cute dog.’