Night Work: Blue Moon Investigations Book 12 Page 10

  I hadn’t thought about that. In my head I was just going to use a picture of me as James, but Jan only knew me as Jane. Rather than explain I just said, ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

  ‘I can’t do it either, I’m afraid. The chief inspector would never endorse it.’ I nodded mutely and tried to rethink how to approach the issue. I would just upload my fake profile as intended and see if I could get a date. It was a simple enough thing to do; I would largely copy the profiles of the two murdered men in the hope there was something generic about them that attracted the killer. ‘Jane, how was it you managed to find out about their Meet Market profiles? Isn’t all that stuff encrypted?’

  ‘Sorry, someone at the door, got to go.’ I quickly ended the call. I had basically told him I was hacking people’s social media accounts because I am dumb and forgot he is a cop.

  Thinking it unlikely I had heard the last of that conversation, I called my gran, a task I put off earlier because I knew she would have hobbled to church this morning and would not get home until almost noon. My stomach growled at me while I waited for the call to connect. There was no fresh produce in Tempest’s house, not even fruit and I hadn’t bothered to raid his cupboards though I was sure I would have found something had I done so. Getting higher on my list of things to do was get something to eat.

  ‘Hello,’ gran’s wobbly voice came on the line.

  ‘Hi, gran. It’s James.’ I used my real name because I was wearing boy clothes and that felt right.

  I got a tut in response. ‘You really should pick one name and stick with it. I get so confused working out what to call you.’

  ‘Okay, gran,’ I replied, trying to move the conversation along. ‘You said yesterday that you missed having me around and I could move back in if I wanted to…’ I left that hanging to let it sink in.

  After a pause, she said, ‘No. No, I don’t remember saying that.’

  ‘Oh. Well you did.’ This was difficult. Where was I going to stay if I couldn’t move back in with gran. More importantly perhaps was the concern that my gran couldn’t remember our conversation from yesterday; she was eighty-four, but was this dementia showing itself?’

  ‘Only joking,’ she laughed. ‘Everyone expects me to be losing my marbles just because I’m getting on a bit. I did the crossword in twelve minutes yesterday. When should I expect you?’

  Breathing a sigh of relief both for myself and for her, I performed a quick mental calculation. ‘In a couple of hours? I need to collect my things, but I will arrive mid-afternoon I suppose. Is that okay?’

  ‘Will you want dinner? Only, I took out a dinner for myself and have nothing for you.’

  ‘That’s okay, gran. I’ll feed myself.’ If all I had to worry about was what to feed myself, I had nothing to worry about at all. I would grab a burger and fries somewhere.

  I thanked her and disconnected. Right, now that I had a place to stay, I needed to put my brave pants on and face Simon. It would be painful and awkward, but it would be over soon. Karen still hadn’t responded to my text, so with nothing else I could use as an excuse to put it off, I gathered my things, made sure Tempest’s house was left tidy, and went to the door.

  Then, as I opened the door and looked outside, I remembered that my car was destroyed, and I had to drive the Porsche instead.

  Let’s just say I got to Simon’s faster than expected.

  Break ups. Sunday, December 4th 1303hrs

  Claiming I got to Simon’s place fast was a little misleading because I took my time and stopped for burgers on the way there. The bits when I was driving though, well, at those points I was moving fast. Faster than I should have been probably and the Porsche was so low to the road that it felt even faster.

  Taking the corner into his place in West Farleigh, I was still going too fast and the gravel driveway offered very little traction for the car’s fat wheels. A slew of gravel sprayed out as the wheels span, pebbles striking Simon’s Audi and setting off the alarm.

  Unperturbed, and wearing a forced smile, I swung out of the car just as Simon burst from his front door to see what was happening outside.

  ‘Jane? I mean James?’ he said, taking in that I was actually dressed in boy clothes for once.

  ‘Yes. You wanted me to collect my things so here I am.’ A face appeared behind Simon, one of his friends who I had always suspected was interested in being a little more than a friend. Well, good luck to them I told myself.

  ‘But, but, whose car is that?’ Simon stuttered.

  ‘Are my things in the garage?’ I demanded. I had no intention of answering his questions.

  He looked taken aback, but his friend was nudging him to act or say something. As I strode toward them, looking ridiculous in my oversize hoody and ill-matching sportswear, Simon blinked a couple of times and found his voice. ‘Um, no. I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.’

  I didn’t break stride as I reached the house either, walking straight by both of them as I let myself in. ‘Not to worry, I’ll do it myself.’

  ‘Tell him he can’t come in, Simon,’ protested his friend. I was already in though, heading to the bedroom where most of my clothing was located. I didn’t have much to collect; a few books, some CDs, a small television and a stack of IT gear. Everything else was clothing. It would be a squeeze to get it all in the Porsche but I wasn’t doing two trips.

  In the bedroom, my feet stopped moving as I took in the two coffee mugs, one on each bedside table. I was pretty sure it meant someone had made coffee and brought it back to bed for the pair of them. I had been sleeping in that bed until yesterday.

  Angry that he had replaced me so quickly and easily, I started moving again and had to curb my natural urge to rip my clothes from their hangers. Taking a few deep breaths, I took the hangers as well. Then, as I grabbed the first armful, I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I looked a state. Even as James, who is far less attractive than Jane, I still looked awful. I hadn’t slept well and had bags under my eyes, but it was the outfit that bothered me more than anything.

  I put my armful of clothes down on the bed, thought about what I wanted to wear and started changing. My night-out wig came out of its hiding place. It cost a small fortune so only got rare use and I kept it on a dummy head at the back of the wardrobe with a protective cover over it. The hair on it was platinum blonde with fine pink highlights. It was overkill for today but my wig from last night needed to be professionally cleaned to get rid of the smoke smell and my transformation into Jane required the hair more than anything else.

  Twenty minute later, the fastest I have ever done it, and with Simon’s friend getting audibly impatient outside, I gave myself one final check in the dressing table mirror and stood up. Now I was ready to pack my things and leave.

  Simon remained silent throughout, standing in the open plan kitchen area watching me as I took bits out to the car and came back in again. When all the clothes and shoes and bags and accessories and makeup and paraphernalia were out of the bedroom, I knelt on the carpet by the CD collection and started pulling out those that were mine. I only had a few because the world had gone digital and everything was on my phone now. They held some nostalgic value though, so I took them and standing back up, I glanced around, checking mentally to see if there was anything else I could reasonably claim was mine. When I couldn’t come up with anything significant, I walked wordlessly out of the house, slid into the car and made sure I gunned the engine to send a fresh spray of gravel.

  As I pulled into the street, the alarm on his car was going off once more and he appeared in my rearview, running across to inspect for damage.

  It had been my first properly gay relationship and Simon could be labelled perhaps as my first love. Somehow, even though I was now tearing up, I had held my head high and maintained my composure as I moved myself out of his life.

  I didn’t want to focus my efforts or thoughts on what had been. I had a life ahead of me; there would be other boys, but right now I had two cases on t
he go and that had to be exciting, right?

  If only I knew how wrong I had everything.

  Fresh Evidence. Sunday December 4th 1512hrs

  On my way to gran’s house, with my head filled with conflicting thoughts, my phone rang. It didn’t connect to the in-car system though because it wasn’t my car. Keeping one eye on the road, sort of, I fumbled in my bag with my left hand, fishing around until I found my phone and could glance at the screen.

  PC Jan Van Dorn was calling me. I thumbed the button to answer the call, then looked back up and saw I was leaving my lane because the country road was going around a bend and I was not. I swore loudly and only just about had enough presence of mind to do so in Jane’s voice.

  ‘Um, hi?’ said Jan. ‘Everything okay that end?’

  ‘Sorry,’ I blushed. ‘What can I do for you? Has there been a development?’

  ‘With the Biddenden Lake case? Yes. Can you come to the station?’

  ‘Right now?’

  ‘Now would be good. Chief Inspector Quinn is here. I can’t say much over the phone, but it would be in your best interest to drop whatever you are doing and get here if you can.’

  ‘Um.’ I was in a car with almost everything I owned. I could go anywhere and do anything. The route back from West Farleigh to gran’s house in Aylesford took me through Maidstone so it would be easy to go straight there. ‘I can probably be there in ten minutes. Can someone be informed I am coming or be waiting for me at the front desk? I got messed around a bit last time.’

  ‘Really? Who messed you around?’ he asked, his voice filled with surprise.

  ‘The desk sergeant,’ I admitted in a quiet voice, my bold confidence eroded by acknowledging I had no power in his environment.

  Jan made a disgruntled noise and asked, ‘Do you remember his name?’

  If I had I wouldn’t have told Jan; I didn’t need him to fight my battles, nice though that might be. As it was, I couldn’t dredge the name from my memory so I didn’t have to lie about it. Jan said he would meet me at the front desk though, so we disconnected and I drove the rest of the distance wondering what the new development in the case might be and how this would change my involvement.

  Maidstone Police Station. Sunday, December 4th 1530hrs

  Jan met me as promised but the unpleasant desk sergeant from Friday wasn’t there anyway. The female police officer from Friday was though and I got a curt nod from her as Jan led me through the door and into the station. As he walked with me, he said, ‘I like your hair. Did you get it done this morning?’

  ‘Oh, um, yeah. Sort of.’

  ‘Well, it suits you. Very, um… pink.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Jan smiled down at me with the curious grin he often wore and looking up at him with a smile of my own I walked into a wastepaper bin. I landed flat on my face like a clutz.

  ‘Wow. Are you okay?’ He asked, kneeling to offer me a hand up.

  ‘Yeah,’ I lied, rubbing my chin, ‘just peachy.’ Back on my feet, I asked about the Sandman case and if he had found any similar murders or reported incidents.

  ‘Sorry,’ he looked disappointed. ‘The chief is riding all of us pretty hard. I can’t talk about the case, but I haven’t had time to divert any attention to the other issue. The chief is giving a briefing about it in about sixty seconds so I must hurry.’ He apologized again and abandoned me at a desk to wait for his return. Alone in a busy police station, I looked around self-consciously, though no-one paid me any attention.

  Ten minutes ticked by and then another ten. I checked my phone yet again and drummed my fingers on the desk. I wanted to leave just to prove I didn’t have to dance to the chief inspector’s tune like everyone else around him, but I had no idea why I had been summoned so I stuck it out a little longer.

  Just when my impatience was turning to anger, he appeared, coming through a door to my left with a gaggle of police officers around him. Jan was among them and managed to direct the chief inspector’s attention my way. He changed direction to approach me. ‘Ah, Miss Butterworth. Your firm’s assistance will no longer be needed. Thank you.’ And then he was moving again, forgetting me instantly.

  I flapped my lips in surprise a couple of times but surprised myself when I stood up and shouted for him to stop.

  His party all ground to a halt at once, several of his entourage sucking air between their teeth as if I had just kicked a sleeping dog. The chief inspector slowly wheeled around to face me. ‘Could you repeat that please?’ he said politely, placing the clipboard he carried behind his back so he presented a dignified and unthreatening pose.

  I wasn’t fooled though. This was his pond and he liked being the big fish in it. I was going to lose this exchange, but with Jan watching I intended to lose well. ‘I asked who you thought you were, chief inspector.’

  He chuckled in response, confident enough that he didn’t bother to look at any of his subordinates for their mutual mirth. ‘You ask me who I am and name me in the same sentence. Are you a buffoon? Please don’t bother me any further. You will be paid for your time thus far. Good day, Miss Butterworth.’

  ‘Who will you call next time, chief inspector?’ he had been turning away again but stopped so he could look at me. ‘This is far from the first time the Blue Moon Agency has provided the solution to a case that perplexed you. Shall I name the recent cases, or will you concede the point?’ I didn’t wait for an answer though. ‘You asked for our assistance because you needed it, hiring our resource as specialists, but now you wish to dismiss me and do so rudely without providing any explanation as to why.’

  Chief Inspector Quinn waited for me to finish, never showing any inclination to interrupt. It was a trait Tempest would most likely applaud because it was gentlemanly, but I knew he was using the time to craft his response. ‘Miss Butterworth,’ he started, hitting the Miss extra hard so I knew he was threatening to use my genderfluidity against me if he had to. ‘The case has changed. It is a police investigation and I have no requirement to tell you anything. You were given an opportunity to investigate the case and a complete copy of the casefile. As I understand it, you have been able to add no value whatsoever.’

  ‘It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours yet,’ I protested, but I sensed I was somehow now on the back foot.

  ‘I thought you were specialists,’ he scoffed. ‘Were you not, in fact, pursuing an entirely different case last night?’ He had me. If I admitted that I was he would claim I wasn’t committed, if I denied it had any impact on my ability to pursue the Biddenden Lake case, he would call me a liar or an incompetent. Seeing he had won, he nodded his head at me. ‘Good day, Miss Butterworth.’

  Dammit. I gritted my teeth knowing anything I said now would just make things worse and slumped into the chair again when he disappeared through a door on the far side of the room. I watched Jan go with him, hoping he would spare me a sympathetic glance. He didn’t though and I was left sitting by myself in an alien environment, stewing in my own thoughts and wondering just what had happened in the case that resulted in Quinn dismissing us.

  Thirty seconds ticked by and no one spoke to me or paid me any attention. No one was looking after me or telling me whether I was expected to wait for Jan to return so I could be escorted out. So, I put my phone back into my handbag and stood up.

  No one even looked my way.

  I crossed the open plan office to the briefing room the chief inspector had been in.

  No one paid me any attention.

  Shrugging at their indifference, I pushed open the door to the briefing room and went inside. The room was empty but the briefing CI Quinn had just given was still on the screen. With a glance at the door in case a SWAT team were about to come in and clobber me, I clicked the mouse to bring it to life and took the presentation notes back to the start.

  There had been a third murder.

  I skim read the information as quickly as I could but it was very quickly clear that a third police officer from Kent had gone missing and had bee
n subsequently found dead at Biddenden Lake. Another drowning, another set of weird bite marks and very few clues. The police had finally made the connection with the dating site though. I knew Meet Market from previous research and knew they had a specialist uniform section where girls or guys that wanted to date someone in uniform could focus their efforts on finding just that. I guess it made it popular though I imagined they were about to have some kind of court injunction thrown at them so the police could see who each of the three dead men had interacted with.

  Well, stuff waiting for the courts to catch up. I was going to hack them tonight. Incensed by Quinn’s dismissal and put down, I was more determined than ever to solve this case. My rising excitement died though when I remembered I had no clue why the cops were being targeted, how they were being killed and who might be behind it.

  ‘Come on, Jane,’ I said to myself. ‘You have to be better than that.’ I knew that neither Tempest nor Amanda had instant answers when they started a case. They always worked it out though. What was it Tempest always said? “Start by asking who benefits.” I could hear his voice in my head.

  ‘Are you supposed to be in here?’ asked a man’s voice.

  I turned to see the unpleasant desk sergeant from Friday. ‘Probably not,’ I said with a sweet smile. I had all I needed, or at least, I appeared to know as much as the police did, so feeling like a real gumshoe, I ducked under his sneer as he held the door open for me and followed his insistent instructions to find the exit and leave.

  Getting back into Tempest’s Porsche and feeling the vibration of the meaty engine, I thought about my weekend. It was dark out and it was Sunday night so, like everyone else, I would be going to work in just a few hours when Monday morning rolled around. I hadn’t had any time off yet though but had been dumped by my boyfriend, chased by a man with an erection, beaten up Karen’s poor neighbour, and then had to flee from a house fire plus my car was now a burnt-out mess.