Luke Delaney - The Keeper

‘Of course,’ she lied, ‘it’s beautiful.’ Her blinking eyelashes flicked tears across her face.

Keller had learned to trust what he saw, not what people said. The smile did not return to his face. He stood to his full height and filled his lungs with air pulled through his nose and began to walk to the staircase, tugging the light cord and returning the gloom. At the foot of the stairs he turned to her once more.

‘Everything can be replaced, Sam.’ His voice was flat, devoid of emotion. ‘They taught me that, in the home they took me to, they taught me that. Everything can be replaced. Even you, Sam. Even you.’

Sean strode across the incident room, speaking to everyone he passed without stopping, asking quick-fire questions, making sure they knew he was aware of the tasks they’d been assigned and that he needed results fast. They weren’t used to trying to save a life yet to be lost and Sean was concerned they would struggle to adapt from the pace of a normal murder investigation, where the victim was beyond saving if not beyond redemption.

Through the Perspex windows of his office he could see Sally talking to Detective Superintendent Featherstone. He went in and joined them.

‘Sally’s been giving me the good news.’ Featherstone’s voice was heavy with sarcasm. ‘Are you one hundred per cent sure about this, Sean?’

‘Yes,’ Sean answered bluntly. ‘The woman I saw this morning is not Louise Russell. Sally, what you got?’

‘Karen Green,’ Sally began. ‘Reported missing yesterday by her brother, Terry Green. This is a photograph of her.’ She handed Sean a picture taken with a flash in some bar, Karen’s smile beaming at the unseen lens. ‘She’s twenty-six years old, five foot six approximately, shortish brown hair, slim-’

Sean cut in before she could finish. ‘That’s her,’ he said. ‘Karen Green’s the woman I saw this morning. OK, what do we know about her?’ He looked to Sally for answers.

‘Not much. All we have so far is a basic non-vulnerable MISPER report. It’s not exactly overflowing with information. We know she lived and worked in Bromley, and that she lived alone but had lots of friends, two sisters and three brothers including Terry who reported her missing.’

‘Have they been spoken to yet?’ Sean asked.

‘No,’ Sally told him. ‘Like I said, she was only reported missing yesterday.’

‘But when did she actually go missing? When was she last seen?’

Sally scanned the report. ‘According to Terry, he hasn’t heard from her since Wednesday.’

‘This report’s not going to tell us anything useful. Get this Terry Green to meet us at Karen’s place. I need to speak to him myself and I need to have a look around before forensics pile in.’

‘I’ll get it sorted now.’ Sally was already on her way out of the room.

‘What about going back to the media?’ Featherstone asked. ‘They’ll make a connection sooner or later.’

Sean nodded. ‘They may be a lot of things, but they’re not stupid. I suggest we tell them upfront what’s going on, but hold back enough details so we can dismiss any nutters phoning in, claiming to be the killer. Christ,’ he exclaimed, ‘once the media find out we have one dead and another living on borrowed time, they’ll go fucking mental. They’ll be all over this every second of the day.’

‘I can’t do anything about that,’ sighed Featherstone, ‘but I can probably keep them off your back, keep your name in the background as much as possible.’

‘It would be appreciated.’

‘But are you sure bringing the media in won’t panic him? We don’t want to be accused of pushing him into doing what we both know he’s going to do anyway.’

‘It won’t,’ Sean assured him. ‘He’s working to his own timeline and nothing’s going to interfere or change that.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘He didn’t just snatch Louise Russell off the street and I’m betting he didn’t just snatch Karen Green either. That means he has a plan in mind for the women he takes, even if he doesn’t consciously know it himself. He won’t let a media appeal interfere with that. Keeping them alive as long as he does is too important to him. It’s everything. If Karen Green’s timeline is anything to go by, and I believe it is, we have about three days to find Louise Russell before she ends up the same way.’

Sally appeared at the door, already pulling her coat on. ‘Terry Green will meet us outside Karen’s house as soon we can get there.’

Sean stood and began to load his pocket with items snatched from his desk.

‘One moment, Sean,’ Featherstone stopped him. ‘I need a quick word.’ He looked at Sally. ‘In private.’

‘I’ll meet you at the car,’ Sean told her. She shrugged and left. ‘What is it?’ he asked.

‘Well,’ Featherstone began, ‘first off, let me just tell you the powers that be are very happy that you’re the one heading up this investigation.’

‘But …?’

‘But they want you to work with someone on this one, especially now a body has turned up that’s not the woman we were looking for.’

‘They already know about that?’

Featherstone didn’t answer his question. ‘They want you to work with someone from outside the force — a criminal psychologist, to be exact.’

‘Please tell me you’re joking.’

‘I’m afraid not. Her name’s Anna Ravenni-Ceron. She’s very well qualified.’

‘Anna Ravenni-who?’ said Sean. ‘Look, boss, I really don’t have time to babysit some civi-scientist so she can make a name for herself and get her face on the telly.’

‘I’m sorry, Sean, but the decision’s been made — it’s out of my hands. I know it’s bullshit, but you’ll just have to put up with it.’ He lowered his voice conspiratorially: ‘Listen, my advice — give her the mushroom treatment: keep her in the dark and feed her shit as much as you can. Just don’t get caught doing it, eh?’ He winked and then added cheerily, ‘I’ll send her over in the next day or so.’

‘Fine,’ Sean reluctantly agreed, knowing he had no choice. ‘But if she gets in my way or interferes with this investigation, I’ll personally throw her out on her ear.’

‘Have you considered that she might actually be able to help you?’ Featherstone asked.

‘No,’ Sean told him bluntly. ‘That’s not something I have considered and it’s probably not something I will consider. All she needs to do is keep out of my way.’

Louise Russell lay on the filthy mattress inside her cage, the dirty light bulb hanging from the ceiling painting everything in the cellar a miserable yellow. She’d felt so alone since he took Karen away; alone and afraid. A terrible anxiety and sense of panic had gripped her, sending her heart racing and making her stomach tighten painfully. She sensed she was on the verge of totally losing control and descending into madness if she didn’t find some way of combating the dread that was engulfing her. So she tried to fill her head with thoughts of home, her comfortable house, the things inside it that suddenly meant so much to her — her pictures, her clothes, her own bathroom and real toilet, warmth and safety. Her mind drifted to her husband, strong and quiet, kind and reliable, moral and loyal, the sort of man she’d always planned on settling down with, the sort of man she wanted to have children with — a happy little suburban family.

All too soon other thoughts forced their way into her consciousness. What had he done to Karen? She was sure he hadn’t simply released her. He couldn’t risk letting her walk away to tell the world what he had done. Maybe he’d just moved her to another place, to keep them apart? She hoped so, but somehow she doubted it.