The Sister(174)

‘What do you want to know that for?’ Brenda asked, genuinely bemused.

‘It’s this one,’ the taller man said, dipping his head slightly as he stepped through the door.

Brenda struggled to break free, but the swarthy looking man held her easily.

‘Get off me!’ she yelled. ‘What are you doing in there – get out of my house!’

‘Stop struggling, old woman, we don’t want to hurt you.’

The tall man emerged from Vera’s old room and nodded at his accomplice. ‘I know where she is,’ he said.

On the way out the taller one stopped by the front door and held his left hand out, hovering where once the water butt had been.





Once they'd gone, a mystified Brenda Flynn walked into Vera’s old room. She never changed it at all, dusting round occasionally. Nothing seemed out of place. Except for the bed, it looked as if someone had laid on it.

Why would that be?

She notified the police.





Chapter 139



Tuesday, 10 April





Wind blew through the air with a vengeance, twisting sheets of rain into phantom forms and sweeping the car park, filled it with puddles in seconds. The sunny spirits of the past few days were dampened, replaced by pervasive gloom. Trapped by the weather in the car, Miller and Kennedy waited for the rain to ease.

‘By the way, there was a break-in at Dr Ryan’s last night. I thought you might like to know,’ Kennedy said, looking grim.

‘Well, that’s good of you, but what does it have to do with me?’

‘They broke into his filing cabinet and took several files. According to the index, one of them was yours.’

‘Mmm, you say they broke into his filing cabinet. Did they not break into his office?’

‘No, they had keys, they left them behind. We ran a couple of checks; Stella Bird still has her keys. We found the name Penny McAllister on the key holder records from a long time back. I think we can be reasonably sure they were hers.’

‘Reasonably sure – how can you be?’ Miller said, perturbed. Kennedy was one of those people he just couldn’t read at all.

‘Because when we called to talk to her, we found her dead, strangled with one of her own stockings.’

Miller whistled. ‘Jesus, is there any chance you can tell me who the other files were?’

‘Patient confidentiality, it wouldn’t be right to tell you.’ Kennedy tapped his nose. ‘Anyway, why are you so interested?’

‘I’m not sure really, just yes or no, was one of the missing files that of Vera Flynn, or The Sister or someone like that?’

‘Yes,’ Kennedy said, ‘it was. Why do you ask?’

‘Just curious. I don’t suppose you’ll tell me which others are missing?’

Kennedy cleared his throat. ‘No other files were missing.’

Miller sat in silent contemplation.

The detective continued, ‘We have intelligence from a good source that a pseudo-religious group is planning to kidnap her.’

‘Really? And why would they want to do that?’

‘I don’t know, but something’s going on. Her aunt reported a strange incident yesterday. Two men forced their way into her home; they didn’t take anything, but according to her, one of them said, after he’d been in Vera Flynn’s bedroom: I know where she is, and when you take that piece of information, along with the email correspondence found on McAllister’s computer, I think we can safely say Vera Flynn is in danger.’ Kennedy brightened. ‘Hey, look the rain’s stopping. Give it another couple of minutes, we can go inside.’

Miller looked at Kennedy and shook his head in mock dismay. ‘You’re unreal.’

‘Before I forget, I didn’t tell you about Jackie Solomons did I? She was in the cabinet at Dr Ryan’s too—’

‘Wait a minute; I met her at Ryan’s funeral—’

‘And?’ the detective said.

‘Nothing. Just seems a strange coincidence, that’s all.’

‘Where was I? Oh, yes. Do you know something, Miller? The man that tried to kill her – she said he reeked of tobacco smoke. It stuck in my mind for ages afterwards. It was such a general thing, not much of a clue, but she kept saying it to me back then as if she didn’t want to forget.’

Miller half-turned towards him in the driver’s seat, his stomach growling with hunger, he couldn’t wait for the rain to stop so they could continue the discussion over breakfast. It was such a cold case; there wasn’t any need to worry if someone eavesdropped on them.

‘And after the reek of tobacco, it was how big his hands were.’ His frown deepened as he struggled to recall the details; he was doing well without any notes. ‘No, not his actual hands, but the knuckles. They were big and scarred, like the knuckles of a boxer or bare fist fighter. She never got a look at his face; he ordered her to look down. Her friends weren’t close enough for a good look, so all we had was three things.’

‘Three things?’

‘That’s right. He’s a fighter; he smokes, and he left his semen at the scene of the crime, in a manner of speaking,’ Kennedy said, with an apologetic grin. He looked for a reaction, but Miller remained impassive. He cut a smear with the edge of his palm and peered through the condensation on the windscreen, looking skyward to see if the rain showed any signs of stopping. Miller settled back into his seat, before finally making a statement.