When the Evil Waits by M Lee (top fiction books of all time txt) 📕

He didn’t have his car so he couldn’t take this one home to play. He would have to enjoy him on the street. It wasn’t as satisfying as taking his time at home, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, as his mum always said.

He wasn’t a beggar and he always chose.

Then an adult swayed into the compartment from another carriage and smiled at the boy, going over to sit next to him. He listened to their chat. The man was a neighbour, just his luck.

The boy was spoilt now, though, blemished by knowing the other man.

They stayed on the tram when he stepped off at the stop for the cinema. As he exited, he looked back, catching the boy’s eyes. The innocence was there for all to see.

What a shame. He would have loved to own that innocence.

He walked to the cinema where his imaginary friends had come to him in the dark.

‘You must hunt again.’

‘Time to enjoy yourself. The prey is out there. Waiting.’

‘Time to hurt.’

They all had Northern voices, the strong accents of Yorkshire with their long, rounded vowels, encouraging him to act, to be another Sutcliffe.

He knew then, he would act soon. All he needed was the right opportunity. He never planned these things, they just happened.

Seize the day.

Seize the child.

Like the boy with the United shirt. Now, that was a bit too close to home but he couldn’t resist the opportunity.

Another one would happen soon, he was sure of it.

The voices told him it would and they were always right.

On the Fifth Day

Saturday, August 9

Chapter 52

They’d arranged to meet at a cafe close to Police HQ at eight a.m. that morning. Emily Parkinson had sent the footage to Ridpath after Reynolds had finished cleaning it up.

Ridpath watched it again and again and again.

Every time the door of the car opened, Ridpath leant forward, trying to see the interior. But it was dark and the man’s face was constantly in shadow.

Did David Carsley know the man in the car and that’s why he got in?

Was it the same man as in the park?

Or was it only a chance encounter?

From the footage, it could be any of these three things.

‘What are we going to do, Ridpath?’ asked Chrissy. She had also seen the footage.

‘Only one thing we can do,’ said Emily. ‘We need to show this to Turnbull straight away.’

Ridpath spoke for the first time. ‘Emily’s right, but there’s no point showing it to him. I need to get it to Claire Trent.’

‘But she took you off the case yesterday, she’s not going to be happy.’

‘Her happiness is the least of our concerns. I’m supposed to present my report this morning at nine a.m.’ He paused, thinking of the next steps and not looking forward to the meeting.

‘What time do they have to charge Michael Carsley?’

Ridpath answered. ‘The twenty-four hours are up at four p.m. today. If he doesn’t confess, Turnbull will probably apply for an extension. In a case like this, a superintendent, Claire Trent, can authorise another twelve hours, but if they want longer they would have to find a friendly magistrate.’

‘Not hard in the murder of a child.’

‘More time to put the screws on…’

‘Is there anything else on the ATM footage, Emily?’

‘I’ve been through it from eleven a.m. to two p.m. and this is the only useful image. I sent you the footage from the tram. A similar car was in the area where the body was deposited at 6.23 on 23 July.’

‘Can we narrow down the make and model of the car?’

‘Not at the moment. Phil Reynolds reckons it’s a Hyundai i20 or a Vauxhall Corsa.’

‘Can you go back and check the rest of the footage from the ATM? See if we can narrow it down?’

‘Will do. It means buttering up Reynolds once more, but I think he’ll do it.’

‘And Chrissy, can you get on to DVLA in Swansea and check how many Hyundai i20s and Vauxhall Corsas are registered in the Greater Manchester area?’

‘It could be a lot…’

‘It doesn’t matter. It’s the only real lead we have.’

‘One thing is still bothering me. Both Michael and Daniel Carsley said the boys left the house at one p.m. But here we have footage showing David Carsley getting into a car thirty minutes earlier. Were they both lying?’ asked Chrissy. ‘Or did they get the time wrong?’

‘Daniel Carsley remembered they left when the news was starting…’

‘It doesn’t make sense. Why lie about the time?’ asked Emily.

‘What about Daniel’s mobile phone? We could get the time from the data on the mobile towers.’

Emily Parkinson shook her head. ‘The techies are backed up on a county lines case. They don’t know when they are going to get to our phone.’

Ridpath slammed his fist on the desk, causing the waitress behind the counter to stare at him. ‘It’s not good enough, Emily, we need that information.’

‘I know but…’

‘There’s one other way of checking,’ said Christie.

They both looked at her. She had a smile across her face, as if Manchester City had just scored five against Liverpool.

‘Go on,’ encouraged Ridpath.

‘Nobody’s ever asked the other kids.’

‘What?’

‘The other kids in the park. Nobody asked them what time they played basketball.’

Ridpath and Emily stared at each other.

‘Can you get the addresses, Chrissy? I’ll go to see them this afternoon.’

‘You forgot – you’re off the case, Ridpath.’

‘Not any more.’

Emily stared at the footage on her laptop. ‘This clears Michael Carsley, doesn’t it? I mean, he doesn’t own a car. Turnbull isn’t going to be a happy bunny.’

Chapter 53

‘You’re off the Carsley case, Ridpath, I thought I made that clear yesterday. So you can leave your report and I’ll read it when I have time.’

‘You did, boss, but something’s come up and you need to see it.’

‘If this is another attempt to undermine Paul Turnbull’s investigation then I’m not interested.’

Ridpath was about to say that it was Claire Trent who had briefed him to investigate the case – if anybody was undermining the DCI’s investigation, it was her. But he didn’t, instead biting