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This time the door breezed open and in bounded DC Rory Fleming like Tigger on Ecstasy.
‘Rory, good to see you. What can I do for you?’ She tried to sound jolly but it came out rather laboured.
‘I’ve been assigned to you ma’am, for the Harkness case.’
‘Oh right. Well come on in. Have a seat, if you can find room.’
He shut the door and sat on the hard wooden seat on the opposite side of the desk. They eyed each other up in painful silence.
‘So, are you pleased to be back?’
‘Right,’ she began, slapping her hands on the desk, ‘let’s get things settled before we begin. Firstly, you don’t need to treat me like I’m made of glass. I’m not going to break. Secondly, you don’t have to be careful about what you say. There’s bound to be some mention of missing children or kidnapping at some point, and while it will bring back memories, they’re my memories and not yours, so don’t worry. Thirdly, the length of time I was off was due to personal reasons, which have no effect on my work, so you don’t need to know about them. Is that all right?’
Rory looked taken aback by the speech. He nodded as if summing it up. ‘That’s fine by me,’ he gave a pained smile.
‘Good. So, how are things with you?’
‘No offence but that’s a personal matter, which has no effect on my work, so you don’t need to know about that.’
Matilda threw her head back and gave out a natural laugh straight from the pit of her stomach. Yes, she definitely had made the right decision to return to work.
Chapter 4 (#u2c0f2d3c-643d-51d2-8892-56f73442f821)
DC Rory Fleming was a good-looking young man in his late twenties. He had the clean-cut look of a fresh-faced Premiership footballer with brawn to match. He took care of his appearance; always wore well-fitted, clean suits, which hung on him like they did on the shop dummy, and seemed to have a new tie every day. Now, trapped in an office the size of a prison cell with a mountain of paperwork to wade through and with no natural ventilation, his skin was dry, his hair ruffled from the many times he had run his fingers through it in exasperation, and his once crisp white shirt creased, with the sleeves rolled up.
He had just finished reading a section of Charlie Johnson’s ‘definitive book’ on the Harkness killings. Twenty years ago Fleming was still an infant, overly excited about the upcoming visit from Father Christmas, and stealing chocolates from the back of the Christmas tree.
DC Fleming was Sheffield born and bred. He knew of the Harkness case, having heard the story many times from various relatives, and colleagues on the job, but he wasn’t familiar with the gory details. The killings were frenzied. From the crime-scene photographs, Stefan Harkness had been killed at his desk, where he was sitting. It appeared the killer had come from behind and caught him unawares. All it took was a single stab wound in the back of his neck to render him immobile. He had been unable to fend off his attacker, and died where he sat.
The killing of his wife, however, was one of unadulterated rage. The bed was covered in blood and the sheets disturbed. From the height and direction of the blood sprays she had been knifed in the chest and tried to flee her attacker. She stumbled onto the bed and managed to get to the other side before being struck again. Once on the floor the violent attack continued with the knife raining down on her back. The wounds were deep. Whoever committed this crime had plenty of power and weight to plunge the knife so deeply and be physically able to rip it out again.
‘Where are you up to?’ Matilda asked, interrupting his reading.
‘The bit where Jonathan was found by a neighbour.’
‘What do you think?’
‘Of the book? It’s a bit…’
‘Shit?’ Matilda completed the thought for him.
‘I wasn’t going to say that. It’s a bit…I don’t know…voyeuristic. It goes into a lot of detail. How did this Charlie Johnson get all this stuff?’
‘Your guess is as good as mine.’
Extract from A Christmas Killing by Charlie Johnson
CHAPTER ONE: A DARK AND DEADLY NIGHT
Wednesday December 21, 1994
It had been dark for most of the day. A grey sky heavy with snow loomed over Sheffield and the temperature hadn’t risen above zero all day. A biting wind from the north made it feel colder and whenever a gust blew it felt like needles against bare skin. Work had to be done, and school had to be attended, but when darkness fell the best place to be was indoors, wrapped up warm and in front of a roaring fire.
Wednesday night marked the first in a series of Christmas events at St Augustine’s Church at Brocco Bank. The first night was a carol concert in which local school children would spend forty-five minutes delighting the congregation with their unique rendition of popular Christmas songs. The Harkness family was not a religious one but Stefan and Miranda were well known within the community; Stefan, a Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Sheffield and Miranda, a GP. Their attendance was expected. Stefan had recently acquired a grant to set up the Lung Cancer Clinical Trials Group. In the New Year he would begin creating synthetic cancerous cells to be injected into laboratory mice. It was a highly controversial study but the growth of the cells and their effect on the body in stimulated climates could yield a better understanding of lung cancer. If successful, further tests involving other cancers could be carried out. Miranda had recently been made a partner in the Whirlow Medical Centre. She was keen to work more in family planning and was in the early stages of setting up a clinic to provide confidential advice to sexually active teenagers. This project had received negative press and many locals saw it as glorifying teenage promiscuity. In January, Miranda, and the other partners at Whirlow, would send a letter to all patients and the neighbouring community to allay any doubts they may have in the programme. Making up the Harkness household were the two children, Matthew aged fifteen and eleven-year-old Jonathan. The brothers were chalk and cheese. They didn’t get on and rarely spent time together. The parents were not worried. They assumed their age difference played a large part in why they didn’t interact and allowed them both free rein to be their own person. Matthew, a typical surly teenager, was excused from attending the concert. Straight from school he went to best friend Philip Clayton’s house, where he stayed for dinner and played in a bedroom on the family computer. He stayed later than usual and at nine o’clock used his friend’s mountain bike to cycle the ten-minute journey home. Judith Clayton, Philip’s mother, waved him off and watched as Matthew cycled down the road and turned left. Once he was out of sight she went back indoors.
The concert started at eight o’clock, and from seven, Miranda was busy getting dressed. In the main bedroom, a half-dressed Stefan was working on a speech he was to give at a departmental Christmas dinner he was attending on December 29th. His speech was to congratulate the team on obtaining the grant which would see them continue their work for the next two years. He wanted to show them how proud he was and he needed the right words. He had already spent several sleepless nights poring over his notepad yet he was still unhappy with the tone. The youngest son, Jonathan, had been left to his own devices and was getting changed in his bedroom. However, he still wasn’t dressed with only fifteen minutes before they had to leave. His mother harshly chastised him to stop playing with his Lego and get dressed.
The Harkness family never made it to the carol concert. Their absence was noticed by many.
After the children had finished singing, a reading was given and the vicar spent ten minutes congratulating everyone involved for such a splendid evening. He then went on to read out the events due to take place over the next few days culminating in midnight Mass on Christmas Eve followed by a very special service on Christmas morning. In the hall at the back of the church, a buffet had been laid on by the Women’s Guild. Once everyone had aired their views on the angelic singing and choice of carols, the conversation turned to the absence of Stefan and Miranda Harkness.
On her way home from the concert, family friend Aoife Quinn drove to the Harkness’s house in Whirlow to see why they hadn’t attended. When she arrived the house was in darkness apart from one room at the back of the house, Jonathan’s bedroom. Ms Quinn knocked on the front door several times without any reply before going to the back of the house and knocking on the kitchen door. Again, she received no answer. She looked up at the window, seeing the light seeping through the gap in the curtains; she knew something was wrong. She tried the handle but the door was locked. She could not leave and go home without finding out what, if anything, had happened. Aoife crossed the road to neighbour Andrea Bickerstaff, and asked if she had a spare key. She did but they decided to phone the house first rather than just walk in. Andrea admitted she had not seen any member of the Harkness family leave the house since Miranda had come home earlier in the afternoon. She telephoned and waited as it rang continuously. The answering machine was not turned on; something Miranda always did when they left the house. It was obvious something was amiss. By now it was almost ten o’clock. Andrea Bickerstaff joined Aoife Quinn and together they went back across the road. Andrea only had a key to the back door. As she put the key in the lock she found there was an obstruction. She forced the key hard and a clang was heard on the other side. A key was already in the lock and Andrea had pushed it out. Andrea went in first and made her way through the ground floor of the house, first calling out for Miranda and then for Stefan. Aoife followed and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Sitting on the top step was eleven-year-old Jonathan. He was pale and cold and in a state of undress. Aoife called Andrea over and they both looked up at the boy. He was unresponsive to their calls. Aoife walked up the stairs slowly and tried to get the boy’s attention. She asked if he was all right and where his parents were, but he did not reply. Eventually, she was close enough to see the dried blood on his hands. Fearing the worst, she instructed Andrea to take Jonathan downstairs but not to touch anything or allow him to wash his hands. Tentatively, she placed a comforting arm around his bony shoulders and eased him up. She almost had to carry him down the stairs. Once they were out of sight, Aoife continued her climb. She had been in the house many times before and knew her way around. At the top of the stairs she turned left and entered the main bedroom where Stefan and Miranda slept. She was stopped in her tracks by the sight of horror which opened out before her. Stefan was slumped over his desk. He was dressed in a white shirt, black socks and black boxer shorts. His back was covered in blood. He had been stabbed once in the back of the neck. A pool of blood surrounded him on the floor. Aoife steadied herself by putting a hand on the door frame. After a moment to compose herself she walked further into the room. Her eyes were drawn to the high blood sprays on the wall and ceiling above the bed. As she made her way around the bed she saw Miranda on the floor. She was dressed in a conservative floor-length ivy-coloured dress. It was soaked in her blood and torn where the knife had cut through to slash at her body. She had been stabbed eight times in the chest and fourteen times in the back. Aoife was brought back to reality from her state of shock by Andrea calling from the bottom of the stairs. She wanted to know what was happening. Aoife quickly ran out of the room and said they needed to call the police.
A murder investigation was launched and Jonathan was taken to hospital. He had no physical injuries but he was unresponsive. He did not react to any test by doctors and did not blink when a light was shone in his eyes. He was in a catatonic state. He was placed in a private room at Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital and guarded by a police officer who stayed with him all night. A missing person investigation was simultaneously launched to seek the whereabouts of fifteen-year-old Matthew Harkness. Neighbours saw him leave the house that morning to go to school but nobody remembered him coming home. In the days that followed, police investigated the lives of the Harkness family both personal and professional. Media interest was high and the story had the whole country gripped. Stefan’s sister Clara came down from Newcastle to look after Jonathan, who, after three days, had not uttered a word. Matthew was still missing.
‘I don’t like this,’ Rory said, putting the book down.
‘What? Is it badly written?’
‘Not just this book, the whole true crime thing. I find it gruesome. It’s so detailed and graphic. And another thing, how did Charlie Johnson know all the little details, like Jonathan’s mum shouting at him for playing Lego? Who told him that?’
‘I thought the same thing. Maybe he’s just using creative licence. Have you noticed what’s missing out of all of these files?’
‘No. What?’
‘A statement from Jonathan.’
‘Well, he went mute didn’t he?’
‘Yes, but for how long? Surely he started speaking again at some point. There’s a psychiatric report on him suffering from shock but that’s it. From the file’s point of view his aunt took him back with her to Newcastle and that’s it. I’m beginning to see why this case was never solved.’
Rory went back to reading the book, his lips moving slightly over each word. ‘Do you have those photographs of Jonathan taken at the scene?’
Matilda had been reading the post-mortem reports. She lifted a folder and then another, eventually finding the pack of pictures he wanted.
Rory rifled through them. He was unfazed by the blood-stained bed, the saturated carpet, and blood-spattered ceiling. Towards the back of the pack he found the pictures of Jonathan he was looking for.
Jonathan had been dressed like his father: white shirt, underwear but no trousers. They were caught by their attacker unawares. The pictures of the eleven-year-old showed him with a blank expression on his face. His hands were red with drying blood.
‘What do you make of this?’ He held up one of the photographs and waited while Matilda marked her place in the report with a Post-it note. She took the picture from him and studied it carefully.
‘What am I looking at?’
‘His hands.’
‘OK. Go on.’
‘Why are his hands covered in blood?’
‘Put yourself in his position, Rory; he’s just found his parents dead, he’s frightened. What does any small boy want when he’s frightened? His mum. He’ll have run over to her and tried to rouse her in some way. Of course his hands are going to be covered in their blood.’
‘Yes, fair enough. It wasn’t long after Stefan was killed before Miranda was killed. If Jonathan had gone into the bedroom then surely the killer was still in there too. Why didn’t the killer murder Jonathan as well as his parents?’
Matilda frowned. ‘Maybe the killer’s gripe wasn’t with Jonathan. Maybe it was all about the parents.’
‘But Jonathan must have seen the killer if he’d gone into the room.’
‘Well, according to Jonathan’s aunt, his mother came up the stairs and saw Jonathan on the landing with blood on him. He’d obviously gone into the bedroom and come back out again.’ She thought for a moment and then continued. ‘Remember back to when you were a kid and you wanted your parents’ attention? You don’t just walk into the room and wait until you’re allowed to speak; you call for them on your way to the room don’t you?’
‘I suppose.’
‘So the killer heard him coming and hid in the en suite until he left. There’s a big difference between killing an adult and killing a child. The majority of convicted killers are appalled by crimes against children.’
‘Yes. That’s true. I suppose that’s why paedophiles are kept apart from everyone else in prison,’ he said. ‘Hang on a minute, Jonathan’s aunt said his mother came up the stairs and found Jonathan with blood on him?’
‘Yes. So?’
‘Where did you get that from?’
Once again Matilda rifled through the mess of paperwork on her desk before she found the two-page document she was looking for. ‘A statement by Clara Harkness given in May 1995.’
‘That’s what, six months after the killings? Jonathan was living in Newcastle by then. So he was obviously talking.’
‘Obviously.’
‘Yet there’s still no statement from Jonathan Harkness. Why not?’
Matilda had to admit that she had no idea why Jonathan was never interviewed. On the other hand, maybe he had given a statement and it had somehow disappeared from the archive over the years. As she looked around the room at the opened boxes of evidence, the stacks of files and packs of photographs, she wondered if she had really been given all the information the ACC had promised. Already the case was throwing up more questions than answers. She was surprised to find DC Fleming so articulate. Where had this sudden intelligence come from?
Rory coughed. Matilda looked up and saw he was studying his watch. She turned back to her post-mortem report and was interrupted by a louder cough. Rory was still staring at his watch.
‘Is something the matter?’
‘Well, it’s just that…’ he seemed nervous and unable to make eye contact with his boss. ‘The thing is…the time.’
Matilda looked at her own watch. It was just after 4.15. ‘What about the…oh. You’ve been told about my curfew?’
‘Yes, sorry.’
‘Don’t apologize; it’s not your fault. Thank you for reminding me. I’d hate to get a detention on my first day back at school.’
They both laughed, but it wasn’t genuine.
‘Shall I continue reading up on the case?’
‘No. Why should you have to stay behind and I go home? Have an early finish. Go home to that girlfriend of yours.’
‘Oh. We’re engaged now, actually,’ he said, his cheeks reddening slightly in embarrassment.
‘Really? Congratulations. When’s the big day?’
‘We’ve not decided yet. Amelia is aiming for promotion so wants to get that out of the way before having to plan a wedding.’
‘What does she do?’
‘She’s a junior solicitor. She wants to specialize in criminal law.’
Matilda was tempted to say something about the potential for a conflict of interest in any of his cases going to court in the years to come, but the sweet smile that lit up his face was full of the innocence of youth. She didn’t want to spoil it for him. She found herself relaxing in Rory’s company. Before her nine month enforced sabbatical she saw Rory as just an annoyingly loud, over-eager DC who would need a serious change of personality if he expected promotion. However, cooped up in the broom cupboard and working on a one-to-one basis she was seeing him in a different light. He was warm and approachable.
‘So what have the others in the Murder Room been up to in my time away?’ The question surprised even Matilda. She had never engaged in gossip before, and although the personal lives of her team were important for her to know in order to find out how they were going to approach particular cases, she kept the majority at arm’s length.
‘Well Sian’s been bitten by the Great British Bake Off bug. She’s been trying out her skills on us, bringing in muffins and cakes. She’s actually quite good. She’s also just inherited a boat which she’s been harping on about for months.’
‘Yes, she mentioned that this morning. It was one of the first things she said.’ Matilda smiled.
‘We think Aaron may be going through a mid-life crisis. Ever since he turned thirty-four he’s gotten all moody. I think there might be trouble at home. I know his wife wants a baby. I’m guessing he’s not playing with a full load.’
‘Blimey Rory, you’re worse than a bunch of women at a school gate.’ She didn’t tell him to stop though.
‘Oh, big news about Scott. You know we all thought he was gay? Well he went out with the blonde one from the press office for a couple of weeks but it didn’t last. Still, I won a fiver off Aaron so I wasn’t complaining.’
‘What’s the new girl like? Faith is it?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘She’s a bit of an enigma. She seems to think she’s been hand-picked to join the team, like she has something special to offer. She’s not even trying to fit in with us and she got Sian’s back up straight away by helping herself to the chocolate drawer and replacing what she took with nut bars and packets of seeds.’
‘How’s her work?’
‘She’s good at what she does; she’s just not much of a team player.’
‘Maybe she’s nervous.’ Matilda found herself sympathizing with a woman she didn’t even know. She could certainly understand what it was like entering an already established team. Even though she’d been with the Murder Investigation Team from day one, she found herself feeling like an outsider again.
She didn’t want to dwell on this for too long; her mood was beginning to sink again. ‘Look, you get off. I’ll tidy up in here. Tomorrow is the demolition of the Harkness house. We’ll meet there at nine o’clock; watch the house being torn down, then plan what we’re going to do next in the pub. OK?’
‘Fine by me. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
As soon as he had gone Matilda closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. The stale air in the room was not helping. She put the post-mortem report, a pack of crime-scene photographs, and witness statements in her bag. She may not be allowed to be in the station past four o’clock, but nobody had said anything about working from home.
Chapter 5 (#u2c0f2d3c-643d-51d2-8892-56f73442f821)
Jonathan Harkness was a timid, frail figure of a man. Standing at six foot tall and a little under ten stone, he looked almost emaciated. His icy blue eyes were sunken and his cheekbones prominent to the point of bursting out of his skin. His thin lips were red and dry. His skin was pale and lacked life, as did his unruly dull hair, which wasn’t styled, merely combed into a neat passable excuse.
He held himself rigid and constantly looked about him, as if frightened of the world he lived in. His body language was cold and unapproachable and his shoulders were permanently hunched. He never allowed himself to relax, not even for a second. He was constantly on his guard.
Jonathan hadn’t been a confident child and preferred his own company to that of his contemporaries. Twenty years ago, when he was eleven years old, his entire world was torn apart with the brutal murder of his parents in cold blood. Everything that happened to him after that night, every decision he made, was born from the fragile mind of a young man who was still unable to break free of that night in December 1994 when he had stood in the doorway of his parents’ bedroom and seen the nightmare unfold before him.
He was grateful for Aunt Clara, who took him away from Sheffield, but once the residents and local press in Newcastle realized who he was, the gossip began, the phone calls began, and they were all after his version of the events.
Eventually it died down and Jonathan could grow up in the shadows, just like he wanted. Now, with the stiff cream envelope in his post box and the logo of the company he knew all too well, his nightmare was about to return. He had been expecting this day to come and now that it had he was surprised by how sanguine he was about it all. It was only a letter after all. What damage could a letter do?
