'Til Death (DI Steven Marr Book 1) - UK Crime Fiction Whodunnit Thriller (23 page)

Thomas laughed.

‘It’s funny, you know. I bet money that Michelle here still doesn’t think we’re the same. To her, I’m probably some sick freak, and she’s just a woman who made a mistake.’

Michelle looked down to the floor.

‘Michelle,’ Marr began, ‘Try and stay calm.’

Thomas laughed again.

‘Calm? But you’re talking to an unquenchable fire! Didn’t you ever wonder just where Anna got that anger from, that sense of justice? It certainly wasn’t from her coward of a father. No, Anna was her mother’s daughter through and through. I tell you what, if I was twenty years older…’

‘Fuck you!’ Michelle spat at him, but Thomas only chuckled again.

‘I would, Michelle, believe me. You know, you’re still a beautiful woman. It’s amazing you’ve stuck with John all this time. You won’t be short of admirers in prison. You’ll probably be passed around as currency. Hey, we could double date.’

He laughed again, the noise higher than it had been before. Thomas was losing control.

‘Thomas, what happened on the night Anna died,’ Marr asked. ‘You knew about the affair: was it Caroline who told you?’

Thomas nodded.

‘Yes, she came to me after she’d tried getting John to do her dirty work. I guess she figured that she could bat her eyelids and I’d go running. Which, I suppose, is sort of what happened, even if it wasn’t in quite the way she planned.’

‘You killed Anna.’

Thomas looked at Michelle, waiting for her to return his gaze before replying.

‘Yes. I killed Anna.’

Michelle let out a choked sob. Marr knew the sound well enough; it was a form of closure. Marr guessed that Thomas hadn’t confirmed it before he’d arrived. Michelle might have thought that Thomas was the killer, but even being sure of it herself that wasn’t the same as having Thomas confirm it.

Not that it was much consolation.

‘Why?’ she asked. For once, Thomas looked thoughtful.

‘I don’t know, not really. I could say I never meant for it to happen, but then I was carrying a knife, wasn’t I? I was so
happy
, though. I had that stupid caveman: I had him bang to right. I mean, shagging Anna’s best friend? If that wouldn’t split them up what would?’

‘How did she react?’

Thomas’ faced creased up: he looked disgusted.

‘She
laughed
about it. She just gave this giggle, as if it was something she’d always half expected. As if to say, ‘Oh, that Greg’. I mean, he’d betrayed her, and all she did was laugh it off? A man like me would be crucified for doing that. And yet, someone like Greg just gets away with it.’

‘You were jealous.’ Marr said, almost to himself.

Thomas laughed.

‘This wasn’t even about Anna, in the end. This was about me and him; this was about everything he was just
given
. The looks, the job, the girl. I was given nothing;
nothing
. Why is that? Why does a man like that get a girl like Anna? She was the most beautiful…’

‘You killed her, Thomas. You do understand that, don’t you? You killed her.’

‘I gutted her.’ Thomas snarled. ‘I remember it. She looked down; as if she couldn’t believe I’d done it. She under-estimated me. People always, always under-estimate me. But no, I couldn’t allow it. I couldn’t allow her to let him off. He deserved to suffer, and I made.’

Then he smiled.

‘He came to see me, you know? Before he ran away; he thought he could come and scare me into confessing. But I sent him running. He thought he was better than me, but he had to run away. He burst into tears on my front porch!’

Marr said nothing, not wishing to break Thomas’s stream of thought.

‘Beneath all that manliness, beneath all that cockiness, they’re all just the same. They’re so
weak
underneath it all. A man who’s fought in gunfights in the desert scared because he couldn’t outwit me. It bruised his ego, you see? He couldn’t fight me: how would that look when a murder weapon had just turned up in his trash? I beat him; I took everything from him. His career, his wife-to-be, his dignity, even his own impression of himself. I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I didn’t tell you that it felt amazing. Just like his dead bride; under-estimating me and paying the price.’

‘I didn’t under-estimate you, Thomas.’ Marr said.

‘No, I suppose you didn’t. And neither, I suppose, did you’ he said, turning to Michelle, who remained still. The tears in her eyes had faded.

‘I should have killed
you
’ she said, and Marr knew she meant it.

And he knew what she meant by emphasising the ‘
you
’.

‘Caroline…how did you do it?’ he asked.

Michelle looked down at the ground again.

‘I…well, I made her do it. I rang her and told her I just wanted to talk, to try and find out more. I told her that I didn’t trust the police. To be honest, I don’t think she did either.’

‘John’s got a hunting pistol locked in the cellar. I took it with me, I used it to threaten her. I made her get in the bath, because I’d read that was…was how some people did it. Because it hurt less doing it that way. I wanted, well I wanted her to suffer, but I wanted it to look real.’

‘And she did it?’

Michelle nodded.

‘Eventually. She did it right, too; down the line of the wrists. It only took her five minutes to die. She was crying…I, well, I was too.’

And then, Michelle’s eyes welled up. Marr stood jaw almost open.

‘Why?’ he asked.

Michelle was still sobbing.

‘I thought…I thought she’d done it. I thought she’d killed Anna.’

‘Christ, why did you think that?’

‘The…the phonecalls. The calls she made to John; I was listening in on the other line. She sounded desperate. She sounded like she’d do anything to keep him.’

‘But what about Greg, or even Thomas?’

‘Greg wouldn’t. I was telling the truth about him. He loved Anna. And Thomas, well…’

Thomas interrupted her with another barking laugh.

‘You see, Marr? People just can’t help but look past a man like me. It’s easily done: I’m nobody. But look what happens to people like Anna, and poor completely innocent people like Caroline. I mean, sure she was shagging her friend’s boyfriend, but God did she ever not deserve to die like that. I mean, cutting her own wrists? That’s a nasty way to go. But then, no loss. She was a troubled girl, wasn’t she? She probably figured she deserved it or something.’

Tears were running down Michelle’s face. Marr could think of nothing he could say. He could only think of Anna, bleeding to death on a beach, and Caroline, fighting back tears as the metal bit into her wrists.

Both women scared, alone and dying. And unable to understand why.

‘Penny for them, inspector?’ Thomas said, ‘I never had you down as the sensitive type. Perhaps I’m guilty of under-estimating you, too? But, we all make mistakes.’

He turned the gun towards Marr, who instinctively held his hands up to protect himself. When the shot came, though, Marr felt nothing. He heard a grunting, and saw that Michelle had launched herself at Thomas, and was holding his arm upward. Dust was raining down from the hole in the ceiling.

Large as Thomas was, he wasn’t that strong, and Michelle was fit. Marr ran forwards to help, bringing his knee hard up into Thomas’s groin. Thomas gasped, but somehow managed to bring his head down sharply into Marr’s face. There was a sharp crack, and Marr’s vision went blurry. He fell to his knees, feeling like he was going to throw up. He tried to will himself back up, but it felt too painful to do anything.

‘Inspector!’ Thomas was saying, and his tone was mocking.

Marr could think of nothing, he could barely see. There was a vague silhouette against the open window, it was coming back into focus, but slowly. Too slowly…

‘Christ, that was a lucky shot, wasn’t it? I’m no fighter. But just shows you what can happen when fate’s on your side, doesn’t it? I guess I’m just lucky, unlike Michelle here.’

The picture was beginning to swim back into view. Thomas had Michelle bent over the open window, the top half of her body was hanging out over the ledge. She was screaming, and Marr could hear her screams mirrored from the ground below. The brides and grooms, all having their lovely afternoon interrupted.

Thomas looked over Michelle to the courtyard below, and laughed.

‘Christ, your police friends aren’t even here yet. You didn’t call for bloody backup, did you?’

Marr shook his head.

‘One more under-estimation. Wouldn’t worry, you’re in good company. You’ll probably regret the results, though. I suppose I’d be foolish for sticking around if your police friends haven’t arrived yet.’

‘Thomas, we’ve blocked the main roads out.’

Thomas just smiled: the smile of a man who’d already won.

‘You’re bluffing. Not that it matters much, I’ll be taking the side roads. There’s a path across the fields to the left of the property. Links up with the A12. I’ll be in London within an hour. Needless to say, I didn’t drive my own car here.’

‘Christ Thomas, listen to yourself, you’re not a fucking master criminal. So you killed one person…’

‘Two people’ Thomas interrupted, and lifted Michelle up and out of the window. There was a silence for a moment. Then, there was a crack and a single, piercing scream.

Thomas looked detached from the situation. He leant out of the window again to view his handiwork.

‘You know,’ he said ‘I’d always read that it became easier after the first time. They were right; that felt fine. I vomited after killing Anna. I had to run for a different field: the last thing I wanted was to leave any evidence.’

Marr closed his eyes, feeling about ready to give up. Thomas laughed again.

‘Christ, you’re eager. Anyone would think you were looking forward to dying. That wife of yours must be something special.’

Marr nodded.

‘She is’ he said, more to himself than anyone.

Thomas walked towards the door, keeping the gun trained on Marr’s head.

‘Well, I will say that it’s tempting to let you live. The trouble is I’ll end up getting intercepted before I get to London If I do. Well, it’s nothing personal, just so you know. Call it attention to detail. Goodbye, Inspector.’

Thomas leaned forward. Marr closed his eyes again, and thought of Lizzie, and of a cot in a room decorated with blue wallpaper.

There was a crash, and the door opened behind Thomas. Marr’s first thought was Alex, or Sam, or Becky.

It wasn’t: it was Gregor Stanic. He was on Thomas before the smaller man had a chance to react. This time, Thomas had no chance: with Michelle, he’d been lucky. There was a loud snap as Stanic bent the wrist containing the gun back. The gun fell to the floor and Thomas was screaming; screaming as Stanic pushed him to the floor, and mounted him.

There was a crunch as Stanic broke Thomas’ nose with the palm of his hand. And another crack that Marr guessed knocked out some teeth.

It was tempting to let it go on, but he couldn’t. In a half daze, Marr got up and tried to pull Stanic away.

‘Greg, let go.’ He was saying, ‘You’ve got him’.

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

Stanic stuck around after Thomas had been taken away. There was no point in him running now. He might get charged for assault, but there wasn’t a jury or judge in the world that would convict him. At most, he’d be looking at a fine.

The way Stanic was looking at the blood on his knuckles, Marr guessed that he probably considered a few hundred quid a price worth paying.

The paramedics had declared a snapped wrist, a broken nose and a cracked orbital bone. Maybe a bit of internal bleeding, almost definitely a concussion too. Thomas had been crying as he’d been taken away in the ambulance, with Sam and Alex for company.

What was left of Michelle Markham had also been moved, but the red stain on the concrete remained. It would take a long time to get clean. Becky had gone to talk to John Markham, a sign as good as any that she remained perfect for the job.

Uniformed officers had arrived and were taking statements. They’d be at it for a few hours to come. At least fifty people had been on the courtyard when Michelle hit the floor. The government would be paying for a lot of therapy in the next few months.

‘You OK?’ Stanic asked.

Marr shrugged.

‘I’ve been better.’

Stanic nodded.

‘Yeah; me too. Guess I’ll be looking at a bit of jail time for that?’

Marr smiled.

‘Privately, Greg, I can say you’ll probably be alright. You’d struggle to find any juror that wouldn’t have done the same thing. And even the ones that wouldn’t have done it would have wanted to.’