Midnight Murders (19 page)

The trainee made coffee at four-thirty, and Lyn took hers into the office. She didn't bother to switch on the light. Instead she opened the blinds and stood in darkness looking out over the hospital grounds. The police were patrolling the area, shining lights, presumably watching and waiting for – what? Michael Carpenter's ghost to appear? Or someone else? Someone who still prowled free.

If Michael wasn't the killer, was the murderer here in the hospital, now, tonight? Were the police hoping that he would run the gauntlet of guards in an attempt to bury Vanessa the same way he'd buried the others?

Lyn pictured Michael, his shy diffident grin, and instinctively knew that he hadn't killed the women buried in the grounds. He had been a sly peeping tom, not a cold blooded murderer who shovelled earth on top of living, breathing beings. But if it wasn't Michael, then who?

She gazed out again at the floodlit lawns, shrubberies and high walls that hemmed in the grounds. Above the brickwork she could see the top storey of one of the halfway houses. Its curtains were open, the lights on, and the tall, dark silhouette of Spencer Jordan paced back and forth between two rooms. She wondered what was keeping him awake. Indigestion, or something more sinister?

She looked to the left, towards the old hospital. There were lights on in the administration block, and she wondered if Tony Waters was working. Was something more than pressure of work keeping him awake? A guilty conscience perhaps? Shuddering, she finished her coffee. She was being foolish. Seeing bogeymen under every bed, as she had never done even as a child. Was there anyone she didn't suspect in the hospital? Tony? Spencer? Karl? Adam Hayter? –

‘Why stand in the dark?'

The lights clicked on behind her, and she closed her eyes against the sudden brightness. Karl moved over to join her at the window.

‘I wanted peace and quiet.'

‘And I want to apologise for last night.' Hauled over the coals early that morning for not reporting Vanessa's absence as soon as Lyn had alerted him, he felt low and miserable. Particularly at Tony's threat to demote him. But then he'd remembered Lyn, how angry she'd been, and how his life, and not only his sex life, had improved since she'd been around, so he'd decided to make an effort to reinstate their relationship. ‘I'm sorry. You were right and I was wrong.' Confident his apology would be accepted as soon as it was made, he slid his arm around her waist.

The feel of Karl's warm fingers clamped against her cool flesh irked Lyn. She moved away.

‘Didn't you hear? I said I'm sorry.'

‘I heard you.'

‘Lyn, we've all been under a terrible strain for the past few days. All this upset with police, and bodies, and two patients on your ward involved… '

‘And now another one,' she said coldly.

He looked at her blankly.

‘Haven't you heard? Another corpse was found in the grounds tonight.'

‘I didn't know. How… who… ?'

‘The police won't elaborate. They only said they'd found another corpse. Apparently Trevor Joseph arrived at the scene before anyone else. He was hurt… '

‘I haven't heard any of this. I've been working on Drugs and Alcohol. Roland went wild tonight. It took four of us to get him to bed, even with a tranquilliser.'

She continued to stare out of the window, although all she could see with the lights on was their reflection in the glass.

‘I thought we had something good going between us… '

‘So did I,' she interrupted.

‘Don't let a stupid row end something as special as us. I was hoping that we… '

‘What, Karl?'

‘Move in together,' he suggested. ‘I… '

‘That “I” is the reason I'll never move in with you, Karl. There will only ever be one “I” in any relationship you're involved in.'

‘That's unfair.'

‘Is it?' Her grey eyes blazed. ‘What about yesterday? You think an apology is enough for the way you put me down?'

‘Lyn, I'm the senior nursing office. I have to make decisions. I can't let personal considerations interfere with the running of this hospital.'

‘Personal considerations? All I asked you to do was report a patient missing from my ward.'

‘And she was reported missing.'

‘Not until a fire broke out.'

‘A fire that someone deliberately set.'

‘I was on break.'

‘Very convenient… '

‘I don't have to listen to this.' She tried to pass him, but he grabbed her arm.

‘Lyn, please, let's not quarrel.'

‘Let me go!'

‘You're hysterical.'

‘I'm not.'

‘Just listen to yourself. Lyn, it's all right. I understand. You're safe with me. No one's going to hurt you.' He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she cried out. The door burst open and Dan barged in.

‘I'm sorry.' Embarrassed at breaking in on what he took to be a lover's tiff, he said, ‘I wanted to check on Trevor.'

‘I was just about to do that, Inspector Evans.' Lyn brushed past him on her way through the door.

‘This murder business is stretching everyone's nerves to breaking point,' Karl complained.

‘So I see,' Dan agreed softly.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Edith Jenkins hummed the latest coffee advert ditty to herself as she whirled the electric polisher across the vinyl floor in the corridor.

‘You're happy today, Edith.' Jean called out as she pushed the drugs trolley down the ward.

‘Got to make the effort, haven't you?' the cleaner shouted above the noise of the machine.

‘Could you give the four-bedded ward at the end of the corridor a going over and the single room as well, please,' Jean asked. ‘Both are empty.'

‘The four-bed is empty?' Edith checked in surprise.

‘We had a reshuffle; moved everyone out of there and into the other wards.' Jean didn't want to talk about what had happened to Vanessa or Michael although she didn't doubt that the cleaner knew and had hoped to coax more information out of her.

Edith pushed her polisher to the end of the corridor and entered the four-bed ward. With no patients underfoot, she finished the floor in a quarter of an hour. She changed from the coffee jingle to a few bars of a chocolate advert's background music. She was ahead of herself this morning. The corridor and one room done, and it wasn't half past eight. She wouldn't be able to press ahead with the rest of the rooms for another ten minutes until everyone was at breakfast and out of her way. But there was still that empty room at the end. She hadn't been in there for over a week and it was bound to be dusty. Wheeling the polisher in front of her, she passed Sister Marshall who was dishing out painkillers to the nice young policeman in the first room. Putting her back against the door, she depressed the handle and swung around to enter.

The smell sent her reeling back into the corridor, a rotting stink that reminded her of the time a mouse had died behind the skirting boards of her flat and her husband had to rip the place apart to find it. She scanned the floor. Whatever and wherever it was, maintenance could deal with it. Her job description was cleaner, and cleaners cleaned; they didn't look for dead animals or carry them out of rooms.

Coughing and spluttering she went to the window and opened it wide. Edith didn't look at the bed until she turned around. Then she screamed.

Andrew Murphy, who'd been told to stay with Trevor until Bill could interview him, reached the room the same time as Jean. Trevor hobbled behind them, leaning on a stick Jean had found for him.

Overpowered by the stench, Murphy caught the hysterical cleaner in his arms, and stepped back.

‘A body?' Trevor already knew the answer. One of the first things he had come to recognise after joining the force had been the smell of death.

‘A ripe one.' Murphy's reply brought on a fresh fit of hysterics from Edith.

‘It looks like – ' Jean clasped her hand over her mouth.

‘Vanessa?' Trevor suggested.

She nodded.

‘Phone HQ and tell them to get over here.' Trevor automatically assuming command, despite his battered state. ‘I'll keep everyone away until Patrick arrives.' He looked into the room from the doorway. Lead trailing, the polisher stood at the foot of the bed. The curtains and window were wide open. Careful not to step any further than Murphy had done, he leaned forward. All he could see was a section of black, bloated face beneath a mop of blonde hair. ‘Have you a tissue?' he asked Jean.

She took a pack from her pocket and handed him one. Wrapping it around his fingers, he gingerly pulled the door closed.

The cleaner began to wail again.

Jean gazed mutely at Trevor.

‘We can't do anything until the pathologist arrives.' Trevor stood in front of the door. ‘When was this room last used?'

‘I gave that room a good going over only last week,' Edith whispered as soon as she'd recovered enough to speak. ‘It's not used often.'

Jean helped the ashen-faced cleaner across the corridor and into the sluice. Edith sank on a chair. Trevor had left his bed so quickly his legs were beginning to give way beneath him. Jean looked at him and pressed a buzzer to summon help.

‘Bring a chair down here,' Jean shouted to the auxiliary who'd answered her call. ‘Quickly, before Trevor keels over.'

The young woman ran off into the day room and dragged out an unwieldy armchair. Jean pushed it in front of the door leading into the single room, and helped Trevor into it.

‘Look at those drag marks you've made on my nice clean floor,' Edith cried. ‘Just look – '

‘It doesn't matter.' Jean handed the auxiliary her keys. ‘Fetch a brandy for Edith. The bottle's in the medicine cupboard in my office.'

‘Brandy?' Edith perked up.

‘You've had a nasty shock,' Jean said wryly. She turned to Trevor. ‘Do you want a drink?'

‘It wouldn't go well with my thumping headache.'

‘The painkillers I gave you should start working soon.'

‘That's good to know.' He looked impatiently down the corridor. ‘Where the hell has Murphy got to?'

‘He's probably outside. Mobile signal is lousy in the ward.'

The auxiliary returned with the brandy. Jean left Edith in her care and went to Trevor.

Peter strode in, Andrew at his heels. ‘I presume it's Vanessa Hedley?'

‘Looks like it,' Trevor answered.

‘He's made us look a right load of Charlies this time. While we were all creeping around the grounds and searching the old hospital, he calmly walks in here to dispose of his latest victim.'

The staff canteen was full to bursting. Every chair was taken except the five ranged at a table on a dais at the far end of the room. The heat was overpowering, as was the din of conversation.

Tony Waters stood in the doorway. ‘I didn't expect to see the night-shift here. I assumed they'd come to this evening's meeting.'

‘They're scared and they're hoping to find out something that will make them less scared,' Peter pushed his way through to join Bill, Dan and the police officers at the back of the hall.

‘Safety in numbers,' Harry Goldman joined them. ‘One of their neighbours might be a murderer, but the chances are it won't be more than one.'

‘We should start,' Bill went to the table and motioned Dan, Peter, Harry and Tony forward.

‘I did tell everyone ten-thirty,' Tony reminded.

‘The room is full to bursting now.' Bill took the centre seat, Dan and Peter sat on his right, leaving Tony and Harry Goldman the other two chairs.

‘Would you like to begin?' Bill asked Tony.

Tony rose and tapped the microphone that had been set up. A hollow boom echoed around the packed room. ‘This meeting… ' he had to repeat himself three times before the noise subsided and he could make himself heard. ‘This meeting has been called to put an end to the wild rumours that are sweeping this hospital. I don't need to remind you how unsettling the present atmosphere is for our patients. It negates everything we are trying to accomplish here. There is no need for panic, but we should all take some simple precautions to ensure our personal safety and the safety of our patients; and we should also assist the police in every way we can,' he acknowledged Bill and Dan, ‘so they can resolve this unpleasant situation quickly. Inspector Evans?' He poured a glass of water from the carafe and took a sip before sitting down.

It was Bill not Dan who took the microphone.

Peter muttered ‘If he calls murder unpleasant, what would he call a massacre?'

‘Offensive,' Dan suggested.

‘The man's a total prat,' Peter continued. ‘Four dead bodies, five if you count the dog, and the man tells his staff not to panic. How many more does this idiot want?'

‘Ssh,' Dan hissed, conscious of heads turning in their direction.

Bill pulled the microphone towards him. Unlike Tony he didn't enjoy public speaking, and he elected to remain seated. ‘I will give you as many of the facts of this case as I can without jeopardising our investigation. Four women have been murdered, and the corpse of a patient was found in the grounds last night. However, it has been proved beyond doubt that she died of natural causes two days ago. Her body was removed from the mortuary here and if any of you can shed any light on this macabre theft, Mr Waters would be glad to hear from you.'

Dan left his seat and pulled a sheet of paper from a board that stood beside the table, uncovering a photograph of one of the victims. He pointed to it while Bill spoke.

‘Rosie Twyford, the first victim to be discovered buried in the grounds, but not the first to be murdered. We believe she was abducted last week. The last sighting we have of her was when she kept her last appointment at the outpatient clinic of this hospital on Monday afternoon. We think that she was kept hidden – possibly in the hospital – until Saturday night when she was murdered.'

Silence reigned thickly in the atmosphere.

‘She was buried alive,' Bill said flatly, ‘after being drugged with tranquillisers and barbiturates. After we disinterred the body of Rosie Twyford, a thorough search of the hospital grounds yielded two more victims. Inspector Evans.'

Dan revealed a second photograph.

‘This is the girl we believe to be the first murder victim. She was killed four or five months ago, again, she was an ex in and outpatient, Claire Moon.'

Everyone in the room focused on the smiling image of the pretty young girl with soft grey eyes and long dark hair.

‘Approximately two months after Claire Moon was murdered, the killer buried an Elizabeth Moore.'

A gasp tore through the assembly when Dan unveiled another photograph. Compton Castle wasn't so large that the name or face went unrecognised, even three months after Elizabeth Moore had left.

‘Claire Moon and Rosie Twyford were both patients,' Bill continued. ‘Both suffered from depression, and both had attempted suicide. Elizabeth Moore was a nurse. One of the most alarming aspects about the disappearance of all three victims is that none of them were missed immediately and no connection was made between their disappearance and this hospital. Claire Moon was the only one of the three to be reported missing, and her parents believed that she'd disappeared some time after leaving Compton Castle. Rosie Twyford's parents would undoubtedly have reported her missing in due course, but probably they, like Claire Moon's parents, would have assumed that she had disappeared after leaving the hospital. Elizabeth Moore was divorced, her friends and family believed she was in America and too busy to contact them. I believe that we are dealing with a calculating, cold-blooded killer who chooses his victims with care,' Bill said flatly. ‘An hour ago we found the body of the only witness to Rosie Twyford's burial, Vanessa Hedley.'

Everyone's attention again turned to the board as Dan uncovered Vanessa's photograph.

‘You knew she was a witness, why didn't you protect her?' a porter demanded.

‘We tried,' Bill's excuse sounded lame even to his own ears.

‘You obviously didn't try hard enough,' an angry voice shouted.

Bill ignored the interruption. ‘She disappeared from her ward during the late afternoon, when the day room was full of patients, and the ward was staffed with the half-hour overlap of shift change. I'd like every one of you to think just where she could have been held captive for the past week. If it was outside the hospital, I'd like to know exactly how she was spirited in and out of the grounds through the security barriers… '

‘Which weren't erected until twelve hours after she disappeared,' Peter glared at Tony Waters.

‘If she was held somewhere within Compton Castle I find it difficult to believe that a fully-grown woman could be concealed here without someone in this room knowing about it. I want all of you,' Bill hit the table with his fist, ‘to go over your movements during the last week. Did any of you see Vanessa, on one of the other wards? Did you pass her in a corridor? Was she being pushed on a trolley or in a wheelchair by someone you didn't recognise? Or by someone you did? Someone who knows the hospital and has free access to the wards and buildings took her, hid her, possibly killed her – we're awaiting the results of the PM – and placed her in the room where she was discovered. We are doing all we can to trace that person or persons.'

‘You think more than one person could be involved?' Tony Waters asked.

‘We're keeping an open mind,' Bill answered. ‘Any of you who has something to report, please go to one of the tables at the side of the room, where officers are waiting to take your statements. And please remember, no matter how small and insignificant you think your contribution; it might just be the vital piece of evidence we need to bring this case to a conclusion.'

‘Shouldn't we close the hospital?' one of the domestic staff asked. ‘None of us are safe with this murderer on the loose.'

‘Inspector Evans will reassure you on that point.' Taking the coward's way out, Bill handed over to Dan.

Soon Dan's slow Welsh drawl could be heard in every corner of the room. Unlike Bill and Tony he didn't use the microphone.

‘It would be pointless to close the hospital, because we'd have to find alternative accommodation for everyone here, and if the killer is a patient or member of staff, we'd only be transferring our problem, not solving it.'

‘That makes sense,' a voice drifted up from the front row.

‘You are all aware of the strong police presence in the hospital,' Dan said. ‘We have stationed officers alongside the security guards at the gates and in the car park. Please co-operate with the routine searches of all vehicles entering and leaving these premises. I apologise for any delays, and would like to thank all of you for your co-operation and patience. A few words of advice, walk to and from your wards in threes and fours if you can, not pairs. If you must drive to the hospital, arrange a car pool so you arrive in a full car. Threes are good, fours are better. If you have to drive into the car park alone, do not walk to your ward alone, no matter what the time of day. Wait until the duty police officer assigns you to a group. While working on your ward, stay in constant touch with the other staff… '