Hi:) hope you enjoy, unbetaed so all mistakes are mine:P

N xxx


Blue Room

Blue. All around them. Up. Down. Left. Right. All blue. Even the single bulb dangling from the ceiling was shining blue. There was no escape.


Janet Scott kisses goodbye to her kids before heading out for another day's hard work. She shouts up to her mother, reminding her of the girls' drama lessons after school. It is almost 3 months since her break up with Adrian, and she had never been happier! She could see whoever she wanted, when he wanted. Watch what she liked, not bother cleaning up after him, it was great! She could go for a drink with Rachel after work without worrying about the definite argument when she got home, she could sneak off with Andy for a quickie without feeling guilty. All that mattered to her now was the happiness of her and her girls.

Tonight she planned to surprise her girls with a cheesy movie and a takeaway. She had done little things like that with them more often since Ade left. While he was there it was impossible to watch anything girly as he would either moan all the way through or refuse to have the channel changed from Sky Sports. Janet felt the bond between her and her daughters was growing stronger, which eased the stress on her as she constantly worried about drugs and gangs and suicide and pregnancy and eating disorders and abusive relationships because she saw these awful things every day in her job and before now she hadn't been 100% sure that if anything was happening, her girls would be able to tell her about it.

She pushes down on her car's horn as she pulls up outside her best friend's house. After 30 seconds Rachel Bailey appears at her front door, looking rushed and disorganised as usual. Janet smiles. Rachel's car is in the repair shop so she's getting a lift with Janet.

"Morning," Rachel says, climbing in and changing to radio station to Capital FM.

"Morning," Janet replies, frowning at the noisy pop music blasting from the radio speakers. She waits for Rachel to put her seatbelt on then drives away. As she watches her apply the rest of the makeup out of the corner of her eye, a strange feeling stirs in the pit of Janet's stomach. She takes a deep breath and puts her foot down, not wanting to think about it.

They arrive in MIT and already everyone is crowded around Gill as she explains the latest case. "Janet, Rachel, perfect timing. You two need to follow up a lead. Gerard Bilson. Small time scumbag, he knows both victims." Janet looks up at the photos pinned to the investigation board. There are two women, both of similar age. Both are painfully thin and have a single slash down the left side of their necks, presumably cutting the carotid artery.

"He kidnaps his victims, starves and probably tortures them for a few months, kills them, rapes them and dumps them," Gill says. "Andy, you go talk to the families. Kevin, Harry Stayn. The rest of you find out more about both victims and see if you find any more possible suspects. And I of course have to deal with the wonderful fucking press. Again. Why can't they just leave us to do our bloody jobs?" Gill rants on as she packs up her papers and makes her way down to the press room.

Rachel chuckles. "She's sane as ever," she says sarcastically. "We'd better go see Gerard Bilson then."

Janet scans the papers on the table. "We've got a warrant, must be serious," she says, reading the case files. "Do you think we need backup, he sounds nasty. It could be dangerous."

"Nah, she'd have said if we needed it," Rachel replies. "Come on."


"I'm having a takeaway tonight with the girls," says Janet, knocking on the door of 6 Bertie Street. "If you want to join you're very welcome. You can help me choose a film; I've run out of ideas."

"Yeah, ok," Rachel smiles. "That'd be nice." Their eyes meet and Janet smiles back, her insides twisting and turning to jelly.

"Hello," a harsh voice comes from the door. Janet turns around.

"Mr Bilson?" She asks and he nods. "I'm Detective Constable Janet Scott, and this is my colleague Detective Constable Rachel Bailey. We're here to ask you a few questions about the murders of Leanne Bathurst and Trixie McLeanard. Can we come in? We have a warrant to look around."

He opens the door to let them past, saying nothing. They go through to the living room and sit down on the grimy looking sofa. "Right, first of all, can you tell me, Mr Bilson, where you were between 16:00 and 23:00 last Thursday night?" Janet says.

"I was here," he replies calmly.

"Can anyone confirm that?"

"No."

"Ok. What was the nature of your relationship with Leanne Bathurst?"

"She was an acquaintance, I painted her front room."

"What about Trixie McLeanard?"

"Tiled her bathroom."

Janet writes down her notes, shuffling uncomfortably. The sofa was damp and saggy, and the room smelt vile. "Do you mind if we take a look around?" She asks.

"No," he replies.

They stand up and begin to look around the rooms downstairs. They are mostly filled with tools and paint tins. Janet follows Rachel up the stairs. There is a bedroom, a bathroom and three empty rooms. They turn out of the third one when Rachel stops.

"What's that?" She turns around, walking towards the corner of the room. Janet follows and squats down next to her.

"Blood," she says softly. "And look, hair too." She takes a photo of Trixie out of her pocket. "Same colour as Trixie's."

Suddenly Janet is aware of the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. Before she can turn around, a damp rag is pressed to her mouth and her vision fades to black.


Blue. All around them. Up. Down. Left. Right. All blue. Even the single bulb dangling from the ceiling was shining blue. There was no escape.