The drive to Callander had been uneventful, Brian had been doing his best to make some small talk, Michael had not slept well again and was doing his best to appear as pleasant as possible. He had almost asked Brian to drive, he felt so drained, but decided he wanted to have an excuse not to have to talk too much.
"I think this is the turning up here, on the left!" Brian pointed, looking back down at the map across his lap. Michael turned the car slowly; it had been a while since he had driven on such narrow roads. He pulled up to the house at the end of a long drive. The house looked immaculate, 'not like a place where a violent crime could happen' Michael thought to himself as he parked just next to an old stable. Brian and Michael got out of the car, Brian grabbing his bag from the back seat. "Apparently the owners only use it as a holiday home, so it's empty most of the year!" Brian stated as he walked around to the front of the car. "Perfect spot, really!" Brian continued. "very remote!" Michael nodded looking around no other houses in sight, surrounded by fields and woodland. Brian was right, this would be the perfect spot to not be disturbed.
Michael walked up the front stairs to the house turning back. "Shall we?" Brian nodded in response. Michael opened the door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and they stepped into the house. "HELLO?" Michael bellowed as he crossed the threshold.
"I don't think the owners were in a rush to come back!" Brian stated as he followed behind Michael. They both looked around the house, some evidence markers on the floor, but no real evidence of a disturbance. Michael pointed to the door, still with police tape across it.
"basement?" Brian nodded and Michael slowly opened the door, which creaked loudly. He smiled, remembering all the times he had jumped out at Jackie at various crime scenes, how this would have been a perfect opportunity for him. He shook his head, admonishing himself for letting his mind wander. He looked to Brian, who had a concerned look on his face, Michael just shrugged and carefully walked down the stairs. The smell of damp and blood hitting him as he descended the stairs. They both reached the bottom of the steps and looked around the room, evidence tags still scattered across the room. Brian pulled out the crime scene photographs from his bag, flicking through them looking at the room.
"ok…..that's where they found him!" Brian pointed, holding up the photograph to compare. Michael walked across the room, avoiding the evidence markers, seeing the stains of blood and dried vomit. He stopped noticing the hook dangling from the roof and he shuddered seeing the bloodstained floor, various drops, smudges and the obvious footprints. Michael took a deep breath turning away from Brian, trying to remain focused, he walked forward to where Skinners' body was found. He crouched to the floor looking back to Brian, who stepped forward and handed him the photograph of Skinners dead body. "and…that's where some of the...em..some of bodily fluids where found". Brian looked to the floor to the evidence marker about a foot from where Skinner's body once lay.
"you mean that is where he...raped Jackie!" Michael stated bluntly, rubbing his hand across his mouth, handing the photograph back. He had not wanted to say the words aloud, especially in front of Stuart and Robbie, he had not wanted to acknowledge it to himself. But being in the room seeing the evidence for himself, he could no longer pretend, hide from the truth, that the Jackie he once knew may never return.
"Do you think there is any chance she is still alive?" Brian asked his tone concerned.
"I really don't know Brian!" Michael stood up facing Brian. "I hope so!"
"Me too!" Brian nodded.
Michael turned to look around the room, he noticed another hook, lower in the wall above a blanket in the corner of the room. He walked towards it, before pausing and turning back to Brian. "Do you think…" he paused, Brian nodding for him to continue. "Do you think it is a coincidence that he was killed about a foot from where he attacked her?" Michael asked.
"You think he was shot because of it?" Brian tilted his head.
"maybe, I don't know, I'm... just... thinking out loud." He shrugged.
"If she got hold of a gun, could have shot him herself?" Brian countered, shrugging, doing his best to help.
"Yeah, I mean she can clear a gun, no doubt. But I think if she did get a hold of one, there would be more dead bodies, right? After everything she has been through, I doubt she would have stopped at Skinner!" He looked to Brian.
"True. But you are right it is too coincidental and given his trousers where still open, he must have died shortly afterwards!" Michael nodded, trying not to think of the trauma Jackie had been through. He tried to not feel the happy that Skinner was killed, he knew it was wrong to feel like that, but he couldn't help but feel he deserved to die. That if Jackie had killed him, it was more than justified.
"I have no idea how that fits together, it doesn't make sense, surely they wouldn't care that he had attacked her. I mean they are torturing her!" Michael scoffed looking up at the hook in the roof, trying to not picture Jackie hanging from there, or what they could have done to her.
"but none of this makes sense!" Brian stated. They stood in an awkward silence for a moment before continuing the search of the room. "That must be a boiler room through there?" Brian pointing to a dividing wall in the opposite corner. Michael nodded in response "I'll eh check it out!"
Michael continued to walk over the opposite corner to look at the hook he had spotted, the blanket a makeshift bed, he wondered. Crouching down he moved the blanket from the corner, that is when he noticed the scratches into the floor. He swallowed the well of emotion as he ran his fingers over them, JR. He held his hand over it for a few moments closing his eyes, he exhaled loudly. He moved the blanket further and saw more scratches, he ran his finger across it, a very rough semi-circle. 'What were you trying to write, Jackie' he thought to himself. He lifted the blanket completely from the floor trying to see if there were any other scratches, there were none. He sighed.
"MIKE!" Brian exclaimed. Michael covered the scratches over with the blanket and stood up his knees cricking as he did so. He followed Brian's voice into a smaller room at the back of the basement. "This isn't in the evidence report!" Brian pointed to a small window leading onto ground level, broken glass, blood on the shards of glass stuck in the frame, bloody handprints on the box on the ground and on the wall next to the window. Michael stepped on the box and he see out of the window the disturbed and bloody gravel immediately in front of the window.
"Do you think she could fit through that?" Michael asked stepping of the box allowing Brian to step up and look.
"it would be tight but possibly!" Brian nodded. " you think she could have escaped?"
"maybe!" Michael smiled. "I mean why else would this not be in the report!" Brian nodded.
"but Mike if she escaped, why hasn't she made contact with any of us or popped up in Stuart's searches? Skinner died weeks ago!" Michael smile faded, he knew Brian was right. "maybe she tried to escape and they caught up with her?" Brian continued.
"let's see if we can see anything outside!" Michael stated, slightly deflated.
"Did you find anything?" Brian asked and Michael shook his head. They headed for the stairs Brian headed up and Michael paused noticing am old coal hatch at the wall under the stairs a blood smudge on the handle. "Mike?" Brian shouted.
"Sorry, I am coming!" He walked up the stairs to meet Brian.
"you ok?" Brian asked.
"I'm fine." Brian looked unconvinced "It's just being here, knowing how much she has endured, can't quite think straight!" Michael shrugged.
"I understand!" Brian stated touching his arm.
"listen, don't tell the others, trying to keep on top of things!" Brian smiled
"of course, you think that window is on the south side?" Michael followed him out of the back door, they passed the outside entrance to the coal bin. They found the window, the broken glass the blood, a slither of a white cloth. "so if she did come out of the window, she would have no option to head down this field, going around the house to the woods would have alerted someone?" Michael nodded. They walked away from the house as Michael mobile rang.
"it's Stuart!" Brian nodded. "the signal not great!"
"I'll have a wander see if there are any signs!" Michael nodded heading back to the house, as Brian headed down the field.
"Stuart! How did you get on at the centre?" Michael answered.
"Nothing much, Jackie did mention to the ex-officer about pursuing Skinner. She warned Jackie to be careful! She left under a great deal of pressure!" Michael nodded, he suspected as much. "but she refused to say by who! But that she did tell Jackie!" Michael continued to nod. "Did you find anything?" Stuart asked, not sure that Michael was still on the line.
"just evidence that she tried to escape. Brian walking the trail now!" Michael paused, deciding to double back to the coal shoot, the trees were only 100 yards from the hatch. He pulled the heavy door open but he couldn't see anything.
"sir?"
"sorry, was just looking around! Was there anything else!"
"yes, well it might be nothing but..."
"Go.. on!"
"Do you remember when you asked me to ask around the stations to see if anything that could be linked to Jackie?"
"yes Stuart!" Michael said, looking around the property he could just about see Brian at the bottom of the field.
"well a friend of mine left a message for me, he told me he had a weird false alarm at a farm to the south of Callander. A farmer had reported seeing a woman running through forest, but when the police arrived, he retracted his statement saying that it was suspected it was the local kids messing around for some film crew looking for a witch!"
"ok, Stuart that doesn't seem that odd. there must be false alarms all over the place!"
"Sir,..it was on the day that Skinners Body was found!" Michael paused.
"how far from here is it?"
"About 5 miles!" Michael nodded.
"It still could be nothing" Michael walked back to his car, "wasn't Skinners body found by some film crew?"
"yes sir! There's more my friend was asked to stake out the place for two days after the false report! And when I pushed him as to who gave the order, he said he couldn't discuss it over the phone!"
"You are right that is odd. We will go and check it out, can you text me the address?"
"Yes sir!" Stuart chirped.
Michael looked down the field as got to his back to his car, he could see Brian was already on his way back up. He pulled the map out of his car and looked for the address that Stuart had texted him.
"No sign of a trail down there!" Brian stated, slightly out of breath, he leaned against the car. £Stuart and Robbie get anything!"
"Nothing probative, but Stuart has a lead, but it's probably nothing!" Michael stated draping the map over the bonnet. "Apparently a farmer spotted a woman running in the woods, a false alarm, but it happened to be on the day Skinner died!" Brian looked at the map. "About here!" Michael pointed.
"that's not that far from here!" Brian said.
"I said we could check it out on our way back!" Michael stated not wanting to get his hopes up.
"you need to see anything more here?" Brian asked.
"no, lets go see this farmer, and then head back!" Michael said getting into the car.