Definitely Dead by Kate Bendelow (howl and other poems TXT) 📕

Her mother’s intuition was screaming at her that something was wrong. Very, very wrong. She flung open cupboard doors and drawers, not knowing what she was looking for, but convinced her maternal intuition would know when she found it. She even shifted the mattress off his bed, familiar with his old habit of secreting items there, away from prying eyes.

Moving on to the lounge, she searched the television cabinet and rooted under the cushions. Nothing other than some coins and an empty condom wrapper. Frustrated, she sank down on the arm of the settee and reached for her phone so she could ring Chantelle.

‘I’m at the flat,’ she said as Chantelle answered. ‘He’s not here but his phone and bank card are. Something’s wrong. I just know it. I don’t know what to do.’

She could feel tears pricking her eyes as she listened to her daughter’s calm reassurance. ‘You know what he’s like, Mam. He’s probably got involved in some scrape and is lying low until it all blows over.’

As she listened, Wendy Johnson looked down at her feet, suddenly aware of a vague irritation. Her slippers were soaked wet through. How could that be? It had been bone-dry outside when she had walked from the car into Ryan’s flat.

She leant forward and pressed her hand against the navy-blue carpet. It was damp. She stood up and moved further across the room, before dropping to her knees and pressing her hands down in various places: the carpet was soaking. She studied her palm, dropping the phone in shock. She pulled out a tissue which she habitually kept tucked inside her bra and began blotting it against the carpet before sitting back on her heels and scrutinising it. The tissue was stained with diluted traces of blood.

‘Oh, Ryan,’ she groaned. ‘Oh, my boy, what’s happened to you?’ She disconnected the call to Chantelle without any further explanation. With shaking hands, she called the police.

40

As Maya arrived at work for her midday shift, her curiosity was piqued at the presence of more vehicles than usual in the car park. More staff suggested that there may well be an incident ongoing, although she hadn’t heard any reports on the news. She reasoned it could be a training course or meeting somewhere which had caused the extra influx of staff.

Maya was met in the corridor by Elaine and Kym who were heading towards her, clutching notebooks.

‘Great timing, we’ve got a job on and the briefing is about to start. I want you to accompany Elaine to the scene so you may as well sit in.’ Kym was her usual brusque, efficient self, while Elaine looked flushed and dishevelled in her straining uniform.

Maya hurried along to keep up with the two women as they made their way to the second-floor conference room.

‘What’s the job?’ she asked Elaine.

‘A concern for welfare that we’re treating as a murder. We’ve no body yet but a potential scene. The Major Incident Team are covering it along with input from Operation Chrysalis.’

Elaine didn’t elaborate any further as they had arrived at the conference room and followed the stream of detectives who hurriedly sat themselves at the large oval table. Some of the faces Maya recognised as being from her own CID. Others she didn’t know were clearly from the MIT and had been brought over to Beech Field to deal with the investigation.

A tall lady with brunette hair tied efficiently in a French plait that hung down her back, stood and waited as everyone in the room settled down. Her smart trouser suit commanded attention and her sheer presence caused everyone to quieten down quickly, without the usual banter that such a meeting would instigate.

‘Good morning, everyone, thanks for being here. For those of you that don’t know me I am DCI Donna Chambers from MIT syndicate three. This is DI Alison Mitton and DI Redford both based here at Beech Field. We also have DC Stevenson and DC Malone who have been investigating Operation Chrysalis. Thanks also to our SOCO colleagues for joining us.’

Kym nodded an acknowledgement as members of the MIT glanced their way.

‘Right, most of you are aware of what we’re dealing with today but I’m going to briefly summarise for those who don’t know. A nominal of Operation Chrysalis, Ryan Johnson, has been reported missing by his mother. The disappearance is out of character and our concerns are that Johnson has had recent dealings with Aiden Donnelly and Piotr Nowak. For my team who may not be aware of these two, they are the two main players involved in Op Chrysalis. You have access to their intelligence, so I suggest you take the time to familiarise yourselves with their backgrounds.’

She took a moment to peruse the room with her steely grey eyes to make sure everyone was paying attention. ‘It’s rumoured that Johnson could well have pissed off Nowak and Donnelly and, if this is true, from what we know of our suspects, this wouldn’t be good for his health. His mother has been to his flat and reported that there is no trace of Johnson having been there, seemingly for several days.’

She paused a moment to allow those who were frantically scribbling notes to finish writing before she continued. ‘His phone and bank card are in situ, and the carpet in the lounge appears to have been recently, albeit badly, washed. To quote the mother…’ she glanced at the notes in front of her, ‘“it’s pissed wet through and looks bloodstained”. In view of this we are treating Ryan Johnson’s flat as a potential murder scene. The TAU will be joining us later today to conduct a cursory search of the waterways surrounding Johnson’s flat and SOCO are going to start processing the scene.’

DCI Chambers began to relay a list of actions to the team and DI Redford gave a quick briefing on Donnelly and Nowak’s criminal history, so the MIT knew the seriousness of the people they were dealing with.