On Cold Ground (Detective Karen Hart) Read online

  Karen wrapped her arms around her middle and shivered. ‘It’s horrible to think someone was lurking outside your house. You don’t have cameras, do you?’

  Morgan shook his head.

  ‘You should get some,’ Karen said. ‘At least one. They’re not expensive.’

  ‘I wasn’t expecting the killer to deliver me a personal note, Karen.’

  ‘You and Anthony both nagged me to get a camera. Besides, no one expects crime. We’ve both been around long enough to know that.’

  ‘Hindsight’s a wonderful thing.’ His eyebrows dipped, a little dent forming between them. That always happened when he was irritated. It wasn’t the time to make a big deal out of his failure to install a camera.

  ‘What about your neighbours?’ Karen asked. ‘There are some big houses along your street. Some of them must have cameras or video doorbells, that sort of thing.’

  ‘They probably do. I’ll ask them if any cameras were triggered last night.’

  ‘Good. What are you going to do tonight?’ Karen asked.

  He looked puzzled.

  ‘I mean, you can’t stay there tonight. It’s not safe.’

  ‘I’ll be fine.’

  ‘I’m serious, Morgan. We don’t know what kind of nutcase we’re dealing with here. You can stay at mine.’

  Morgan started to say, ‘I don’t think—’

  ‘No arguments. I’ve got plenty of room.’

  ‘What if the killer delivers another note? I should be there. Might be our only chance to catch them.’

  ‘We’ll install a camera. If you insist on staying there, fine, but one of us will be with you. You won’t be alone.’

  ‘I’ll see what the superintendent says,’ Morgan said eventually, evidently realising he wasn’t going to change Karen’s mind.

  The idea that the same killer who’d strangled Lloyd Nelson in cold blood and then mutilated his face had been lurking outside Morgan’s house last night made Karen’s stomach churn. She felt sick.

  She took a deep breath and got up, planning to go back over all the background searches they’d put together, to see if they’d missed something.

  Halfway to the door, she stopped and turned. ‘What are you going to do about the letter? You’re going to have to tell the super.’

  Morgan nodded.

  ‘She’ll take you off the case,’ Karen said. ‘There’s no way she’ll let us continue working on the investigation now you’ve been named.’

  Morgan leaned back in his chair, staring at the letter.

  ‘Whoever wrote that note is threatening you,’ Karen said, pointing at the plastic bag, driving the point home.

  ‘I think you’re right,’ Morgan said eventually. ‘She’ll likely take me off the case.’

  Karen swore in frustration.

  ‘I feel the same. But I can’t avoid telling the super about this.’

  ‘I know,’ Karen said as she left his office.

  He was right, of course, she thought as she headed to the coffee machine. The super would be forced to take the team off the case. Karen didn’t need a risk assessment to tell her that.

  She reached for a mug and realised her hands were shaking. Anything could have happened last night. The killer had been right outside as Morgan slept, unaware and vulnerable.

  She tightened her grip on the mug. It didn’t matter how much Morgan protested; he was not staying there alone tonight.

  CHAPTER TEN

  At eight thirty, Morgan stopped by Karen’s desk. ‘I’ve just spoken to Pamela. The superintendent is in her office. I’m heading up there now.’

  Karen grabbed her mobile and stood up. ‘I’ll come with you.’

  Morgan raised an eyebrow. ‘To make sure I don’t volunteer to stay at home alone?’

  ‘Yes,’ Karen said, not bothering to deny it.

  ‘You think I’d use myself as bait?’

  ‘I wouldn’t put it past you.’

  She grinned, but he didn’t smile.

  ‘I have full confidence in the superintendent,’ Karen said as they entered the stairwell. ‘I’m sure she won’t let you do anything stupid, but just in case you get any crazy ideas, I’d like to be there.’

  ‘I’m not really the crazy-idea type.’

  No, he wasn’t, she thought. Morgan was the dependable, sensible, do-things-by-the-book type. She knew that, but she still couldn’t stop worrying. It was creepy. The letter writer knew where Morgan lived, and that bit about asking him if he’d like to be cleansed of sin . . . She shivered again.

  As they walked up the stairs, Karen shot a surreptitious glance at Morgan. He hadn’t smiled once this morning, and though he wasn’t as quick to smile as other members of the team, he wasn’t usually this stony-faced.

  His movements were calm and measured. Unlike Karen, there was no sign of his hands shaking, no sign of fear. But he was more worried than he was letting on. He looked tired.

  ‘You know, Sophie is going to want to stay on the Nelson case. This is her first job as family liaison officer.’

  ‘Understandable. And it’s good for the family if we maintain continuity.’

  Karen was unsure how to tell Morgan she wanted to stay on the case too. Would he see it as a betrayal? She was his detective sergeant. They worked cases together. How would she feel if she was booted off an investigation while the rest of the team stuck with it?

  She was attached to the case. She’d been first on the scene and had put hours into interviewing suspects and researching the victim’s background. It would be hard to let that go. Karen glanced at Morgan again. How should she broach the subject? She could come right out and say she wanted to stay on the Nelson case, but Morgan was hard to read. Would she be able to tell if he was offended, hurt?

  ‘Why are you looking at me like I’ve grown two heads?’ Morgan said, frowning as they reached the landing. He tugged the door open.

  ‘I’m not,’ Karen said as she walked through the open doorway. ‘I’m just concerned.’

  ‘You want to stay on the investigation too, don’t you?’

  She might have trouble reading Morgan, but apparently he had no such trouble reading her.

  ‘I do,’ Karen said slowly. ‘But if you don’t want me to, then I’ll step down as well. I’m part of your team.’

  ‘I appreciate the offer, but as I said, continuity is important. You’ve already built up a good level of information. Let’s see what the superintendent says, but I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t continue.’

  They reached the superintendent’s outer office and saw Pamela at her desk. She waved them in. ‘She’s expecting you.’

  The superintendent’s door stood open, and Morgan rapped against it before they entered.

  ‘Good morning.’ Superintendent Michelle Murray was still looking at her computer screen. ‘I won’t keep you long. Just have to send this email.’

  Karen and Morgan sat down.

  Murray’s gaze lifted from the screen to them and back again. ‘You both look very serious. I know the work is piling up. I might have good news for you on that score. Temporary funding for a new team. I’ve just authorised a request to transfer an entire team from Boston.’

  ‘We’re not here about the workload, ma’am,’ Morgan said, placing the evidence bag containing the letter on the superintendent’s desk.

  Murray picked it up and scanned it in silence.

  She looked up. ‘When did you get this?’

  ‘I found it on my doormat this morning at five twenty,’ Morgan said.

  The superintendent’s eyes were sharp. ‘This was delivered to your home address?’

  Morgan nodded.

  Murray pushed up from her desk, paced away and looked out of the large windows, towards the fields and farmland surrounding the station.

  ‘You know I’m going to have to take you off the case, DI Morgan?’

  ‘I expected as much, ma’am.’

  ‘You’re not going to argue against it?’

&
nbsp; ‘That wouldn’t be sensible.’

  The superintendent turned back to him. Her face softened. ‘No. It wouldn’t. Do you have any idea who sent it?’

  ‘I suspect the person who killed Lloyd Nelson,’ Morgan said. ‘But unfortunately I have no idea who that is yet.’

  ‘We don’t know for sure if it’s from the killer,’ Karen said. ‘It could be someone who’s learned of the murder and is using the case for some kind of notoriety.’ She hoped that was true, but she didn’t really believe it. Even as she made the suggestion, the words rang false.

  ‘We can’t take the chance,’ the superintendent said, putting her hands on her hips and walking back to her desk. ‘We’re getting a new team, as I mentioned. I’ll have to assign them to the Nelson murder.’ She glanced at Karen and gave an apologetic smile.

  ‘You know I have every confidence in you, Karen, but I need a DI to head up this case. Especially now . . .’ She gestured to the letter in the evidence bag.

  ‘I understand, ma’am, but I would like to keep working on the case if possible. I think it will help to keep Sophie as FLO, and we can work with the new team.’

  The superintendent considered Karen’s request for a moment, then turned to Morgan. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘It makes sense,’ Morgan said. ‘Karen and Sophie have spoken with the family and suspects. We’d be setting ourselves back if the whole team was taken off the investigation.’

  ‘All right. You and Sophie can stay with the Nelson case for now,’ she said to Karen, and then looked at the letter again. ‘The Cleanser. Cleansed of sin,’ she murmured. ‘It sounds more and more like a ritual killing. Have you got the post-mortem results back yet?’

  ‘Not yet, ma’am,’ Karen said. ‘I’ll phone Raj later today, to chase it up.’

  ‘And are we any closer to identifying the killer?’

  ‘Our main suspects have alibis, but I’ll talk to Nelson’s wife, Beverley, again, and ask her about the claim in the letter that he was violent.’

  ‘She didn’t mention that?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Do you think her ex found out about Lloyd hitting her?’

  ‘It’s possible,’ Karen agreed.

  The superintendent sat down and leaned her elbows on the desk. ‘Or he could have been targeted by a stranger?’

  The vast majority of murders were committed by someone known to the victim. In those cases, there were always threads between the killer and the person they’d killed, which made it easier to investigate. A stranger murder, on the other hand, meant they had little to go on. They’d need to rely on CCTV and physical evidence. In this case, the CCTV so far had not been helpful. The amount of DNA in a public place like the chapel meant getting a clean sample or a match that would stand up in court was doubtful. Fingerprints would be difficult too.

  ‘I can’t say for sure at this stage, ma’am.’

  ‘Let’s hope Beverley Nelson can give you some more information. And . . .’ The superintendent pointed at the letter. ‘I take it you’re going to speak to Lloyd Nelson’s boss again about the embezzlement.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. He didn’t mention anything about that when Sophie and I visited him yesterday.’

  The superintendent opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a file. She flipped through it. ‘The new team will be here this afternoon. I’d hoped to give them a few hours to get settled in, but it looks like they’re going to have to hit the ground running. The new SIO on the Nelson case will be DCI Churchill, and he’s got two detective sergeants in his team: DS Arnie Hodgson and DC Leo Clinton.’

  Karen and Morgan exchanged a look.

  Churchill? It had to be the same Churchill, didn’t it? Karen’s mind was reeling. The last time she’d heard that name she’d been talking to Alice Price about officers suspected of taking bribes. Alice had later retracted her claim that Churchill was corrupt, but the idea Karen would be working closely with him made her nervous.

  When Karen had discovered there were corrupt officers in the force, she’d been determined to root them out. She’d spoken to Alice Price after her old boss, DCI Anthony Shaw, suggested it, but Alice wasn’t a reliable witness. She’d had a breakdown a few years ago and had to leave Lincolnshire Police.

  The superintendent noticed the look that passed between Morgan and Karen. She looked at them both in turn. ‘Something I should know?’

  ‘No, ma’am,’ Karen said quickly. ‘I just recognised one of the names.’

  ‘Which one?’

  ‘Churchill.’

  That seemed to satisfy Murray. ‘His file looks good. Experienced officer. Have you worked with him before?’ Karen shook her head. ‘Well, when the new team get here, bring them up to speed.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ Karen said. ‘I’m going to ask Harinder about installing a camera at the front of Morgan’s property today. Just in case DI Morgan gets another night-time visit.’

  ‘Good.’ The superintendent looked at Morgan. ‘Any movement on the hit-and-run case?’

  ‘Sam Pickett,’ Morgan said. ‘We’ve not managed to trace the vehicle that hit him yet. There were no cameras in the vicinity, and lighting is pretty poor too. His parents, Will and Lisa, are understandably devastated. He was their only child.’

  ‘What about traffic cameras on routes heading towards the road?’

  ‘We’re going through the footage, but it adds up to a huge number of vehicles. A lot of work. There was paint transferred to Sam’s bike, and we’re waiting for analysis on that. If we’re lucky, and it’s from the vehicle that hit him, we could get the make and model of the car.’

  ‘Definitely a car rather than a van?’

  ‘Yes, according to the analysis.’

  ‘All right. Keep me updated on both cases.’ She nodded, dismissing them both.

  They headed back downstairs to the main office.

  ‘I doubt installing a camera at mine will be much use now,’ Morgan said. ‘The killer’s unlikely to hand-deliver another letter. They’ll know we’ll be on the lookout.’

  ‘It depends how cocky they are, I suppose,’ Karen said. ‘They were taking a big risk delivering the letter in the first place. Why not just put it in the post?’

  ‘They like the thrill. The chance they might get caught makes it exciting.’

  ‘In that case, it’s definitely worth putting a camera in. I’ll ask Harry. He’ll know the best make and model to use.’

  ‘Can’t I just use the same one as you?’

  ‘We might need one with better resolution. Especially if we need to use the recording later for a conviction. And Harry will know how to disguise the camera. We’ll need something low-profile. If they notice the camera, it might spook them and scare them off.’

  ‘So I stay up all night, watching the video feed?’

  ‘No. We can set up an alert. If the camera is triggered, it’ll make the app beep and wake us up.’

  ‘Us?’

  ‘Yes, us. I told you. You’re not staying there alone.’

  Morgan pulled a face that made Karen grin. ‘My company isn’t that bad.’

  For the first time that morning, he smiled.

  They paused by the door to the office and saw Rick and Sophie at their desks.

  ‘I’ll give Sophie the good news. She’d have been very upset at the thought she’d be taken off a possible ritual murder case.’

  Morgan cocked his head. ‘Do you ever think Sophie might be a bit too keen on all that true crime, FBI and serial killer stuff?’

  ‘Frequently. Did I tell you she’s bought tickets to a Dr Michaels talk on Thursday night at the university?’

  ‘Who’s Dr Michaels?’

  ‘One of the serial killer experts she follows. An American chap.’

  ‘Never heard of him.’

  ‘I’ll let you know what he’s like,’ Karen said, leaving Morgan at the door. ‘She’s got me a ticket too.’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Karen found Harinder in his bas
ement lab. She couldn’t remember when it started, but everyone at the station now called him Harry, in reference to his technical wizardry.

  Harry didn’t take much persuading to help Morgan get set up with a camera. He agreed to source a system and then come over to Morgan’s to install it that evening.

  ‘Cheers, Harry,’ Karen said. ‘I knew we could rely on you.’

  ‘No problem. DI Morgan must have been seriously spooked. I would have been.’

  Karen shrugged. ‘You know Morgan, he’s . . . not one for showing his feelings, but yes, I think he’s concerned.’

  Harinder was a tech genius. There was no one better when it came to this stuff, as far as Karen was concerned.

  She returned to her desk, picked up the landline and dialled the number for the pathologist. She knew Raj was busy at the moment, but she hoped he’d manage to fit in Lloyd Nelson’s post-mortem today. Who knew what secrets the body was hiding? And they needed all the help they could get with solving his murder.

  The call was answered by Raj’s assistant, Tim Fellows.

  ‘I’m sorry, Karen, but Raj is in the lab at the moment, and you know he doesn’t like to be disturbed. Unless it’s urgent?’

  ‘No, not urgent. I hoped he could give me some idea of how long we’ll have to wait for the post-mortem results.’

  ‘He’ll do his best to get to the post-mortem today. But I can’t promise anything.’

  ‘As far as you know, are we still looking at strangulation as the cause of death?’

  She heard papers shuffling and imagined Tim going through a file. ‘Yes.’ He paused, then said, ‘Since it’s you, I suppose I can tell you what else we’ve got so far. The blood tests came back negative for drugs and alcohol, so toxicology was all clear. And you know about the markings on his forehead?’

  ‘Yes. When I saw the body, the area was a bloody mess, but it looked like a cross had been carved into the victim’s skin?’

  ‘Yes,’ Tim said. ‘Quite a deep cut through the epidermis and into the fat and muscle layers beneath. I can’t tell you much more than that.’

  ‘The cut was made after death?’

  ‘From the amount of blood, probably very soon after death.’