Chapter 10

I was ready, well as ready as I would ever be. I was also early because my early morning waking was getting to me. I was a sound sleeper, everyone knew that. Was that an assumption that someone had made? Had I had a night time visitor on two separate nights? But why? In the past when I started to get too close to catching someone, they would turn the tables on me. Was that what was happening here? Was someone keeping an eye on me, keeping track of what I was doing and what I'd found out? Had someone read my report while I was sleeping?

I must have looked at my watch a million times waiting for someone to arrive when the sound of the elevators caught my attention. At last, maybe now we could get down to business. I'd placed a copy of my report at each of the seats so didn't say a word as the three men sat down. Oscar winked at me before he began to read, which had Jex and Jonas doing the same. Every so often either Jonas or Jex would look up at me before continuing to read. It was Jonas who sat back in his chair with a sigh.

"I'm impressed Annie. I knew when I took you on that you worked in a unique way. Ignored the obvious, which in this case were the findings of the FBI. Jex. Was there a report on Lisa's phone?"

Jex shook his head which meant that either the FBI hadn't provided us with one or they hadn't followed up on it.

"I'll get onto that right away"

I smiled at Jex because that was the result that I was hoping for, though knowing my luck the FBI had probably looked at the calls and the last number that she called probably didn't exist anymore. The contents of those journals, now they might be important, yet I had no idea how far Kiera had got looking through them.

"How's Kiera doing with the journals?"

Hoping the whole fiasco at the night club was now forgotten about.

"She hadn't mentioned finding anything of importance. She's visiting her mother, my sister, for a few days"

I have to admit that surprised me. Not that she was visiting her mother, but that her mother was local to here. I'd just assumed her family was somewhere close to Los Angeles where she attended university.

"So she's from around here?"

I was almost regretting blurting that question out, especially as Jonas didn't look too keen on answering me.

"Yes. Kiera doesn't always see eye to eye with her parents. I think that she chose Los Angeles to get as far away from them as possible"

I wasn't too sure what to think of that. Okay, I didn't know Kiera that well and who was I to pass judgement on a mother and daughter relationship. It had just taken me a lot longer to realize that living close to my mother wasn't good for my mental health.

"Annie, maybe it would be prudent to take a closer look at the other women who have gone missing"

I nodded my head in agreement because I felt that now I might have a better chance of seeing some commonalities to Lisa's disappearance. First though I wanted to see the hologram that had been produced.

It was strange, like stepping into that room at the house. There was a familiarity to it, yet it didn't quite match up to how I remembered it looking. Maybe it was the colors or how it tended to flicker slightly, like looking at an old movie. I wasn't sure what I'd imagined, yes, I did. I thought that I'd walk into a hologram. Instead, Oscar handed me a virtual reality headset, like the ones that kids used to play games. I could walk up to an object and several times tried to touch something. Yeah, like that worked. I did walk into the walls of the room that I was in, making me feel a bit stupid, but at least I couldn't damage anything except myself. Did I discover anything? Not really. It was obviously a room that Banning's mother had used as her own.

According to what the FBI had told Jonas there was nothing in there that tied to any of the missing women. That evidence was all outside. The barn was where the makeshift graves had been dug out. I didn't want to know all of the gruesome details of how those women might have been tortured and killed. Yep, denial was definitely the better option.

Finding Oscar I was interested in what he had been up to over the last few days so I after replacing the headset I was soon sat down beside him asking about what he'd managed to uncover.

"I did some work on some of the more recent disappearances. Talked to shopkeepers, people who lived locally and tried to get a feel for where they'd disappeared from. I couldn't find anything that they had in common. They lived in different neighborhoods, associated with different people. Disappeared at different times of the day. What I didn't do was to talk with any close friends, so maybe that's something that you'd be better suited to doing"

I also knew that there was no pattern between the times of their disappearance, only that in the last five years there seemed to be an increase.

"Okay, so how about we start with Claris Whiteman. She disappeared 6 months ago, two months before Lisa"

Hoping memories would still be fresh in the minds of the people who knew her well.

"I checked on her first. She was living with her boyfriend, not someone that her parents approved of. He isn't at the address any longer, so we'll need to track him down first"

Like Josie, maybe the memories were too raw for him to stay where he'd lived with Claris.

"The address where Claris lived was in her name and when she hadn't been to see her parents for a few weeks they went there, well the father did. Seems the boyfriend had a new woman there so let's just say that the two of them came to blows. The father called the police so William, the boyfriend was a prime suspect. Seems he had an alibi for the day Claris went missing. He was at the track getting drunk"

Oh. Not the loving boyfriend then. Carisa worked at a beauty spa which probably accounted for her perfect looks. She took care of herself.

"Okay, you run a background search on him, and I'll check on his financials and police record"

Seemed a sensible thing to suggest. At least it shared the workload. William Denby didn't have any regular income or out goings which to me suggested that he didn't work much or pay any of the bills. There was a lot more money came out than went in and he'd managed to max out two credit cards. Money going out tended to be for cash, so I reckoned that he was into gambling. I gave out a low whistle when I read through his police report. He was a bad boy with a capital B. Petty theft, assault and disorderly conduct seemed to be the theme with a smattering of possession. Why had Claris hooked up with a man like that? Okay, I could see why. The man was definitely a looker and I just bet that he was a charmer as well.

"No address for him. A few A & E visits that were at the same hospital. I'd say that he's probably in the same area"

Somewhere familiar.

"Okay, maybe I should visit some of the gambling places in the neighborhood"

I had a recent photo of the guy so was all set to go collect my car and head out. This was what I was used to doing when I was looking for an FTA. That Oscar also got up at the same time as me, had me frowning at him.

"Not on your own"

Was all he said as he started to walk toward the elevator. Was I surprised or even slightly annoyed? I wasn't incapable of asking around about someone and I'd been really good at keeping out of trouble. Okay, there was the incident with the summer house, and I suppose the nightclub, but come on, for me those were tame. Begrudgingly I followed Oscar from the office. I had a feeling that he wasn't going to just let me go on my own. Sheesh, it felt like it did when I'd have a Merry Man on Bomber duty. Did Oscar know who I was, was that why he wanted to stay close to me in case I ended up in trouble? Nah, he was just being cautious.

I went via my apartment to change into jeans and a T-shirt telling Oscar to do the same. We needed to blend into where we were going and wearing all black wasn't going to endear anyone into talking to us, well me. Seeing as we were meeting up at my apartment, we ended up taking my car. It was probably less noticeable than Oscar's big truck, well that was the argument that I used on him.

Carisa's address was on Tennis Road but from driving around the streets it seemed that Blue Hill Avenue was where we were more likely to find some answers. After parking on a side street, we walked up onto Blue Road, looking for likely places where William would hang out. As we walked down one side of the street, I was amazed at the number of beauty shops. A girl could get herself totally set up for a night out. Hair stylists, massage parlors and manicurists, Lula would certainly enjoys visiting here.

"Across the street"

Interrupted my window shopping as Oscar tapped me on the shoulder. Looking over the street were the double windows of a betting shop, Express Gamble. It looked, well modern and clean. What did I know. I was thinking more of the back room joints that were found in places like Stark Street. Letting Oscar take the lead I followed as he crossed the street but waited outside as he went in. Why did I do that? Well to me it didn't feel like a place that William Denby would use. Right on the main street with folk going in and out, I didn't think so.

With my foot and back against the wall I watched people. Women going into the grocery store, young kids going into the shop that sold specialty candy. Then there were the older kids whose hangout was obviously a diner. I was more interested in the men, both young and old who frequented the shop that sold tobacco and anything else that could be smoked. For people who were buying anything they sure as hell were taking their time. Moving to the edge of the building I looked around the corner down the alley seeing a man coming out of a side door. I knew that I wouldn't find out what was going in that building by walking in through the shop, so checking that no one was in sight I walked quickly to that side door. Of course I opened the door and walked into the dark, small entry. There were only two doors leading from it, so I opted for the one where all of the noise was coming from.

I was met with silence, with some men turning away from me. A moment later the talking resumed, more quietly this time, and a couple of men decided to walk past me.

"Missy, you here for someone?"

An older man approached me, the smell of alcohol almost knocking me out. I wasn't sure if he had anything to do with the place, but he was someone to start asking.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Will Denby. Has he been in today?"

"Denby?"

I nodded my head as I looked down at my hands and then up into his face.

"Yeah, idiot thought ol' Greg there would give him some slack on a bet. No one round here will touch him"

"Do you know where I could find him?"

That had the man look me up and down before a smirk came to his face.

"His gal, Trisha, won't appreciate you smelling round after him"

Okay I had the name of the woman who Denby was probably shacked up with, but I really needed an address. I didn't particularly like the idea of being seen as a potential girlfriend for Dendy, besides that wouldn't help me in finding where he was living.

"Oh no. It's not like that. Will told me his girlfriend could help me for my big date tonight. A girl's got to look her best, you know. The problem is that Will forgot to tell me where to find her"

My God, even I believed the bullshit that I was telling the man. He seemed to think about what I'd said but his attention was drawn to a ruckus of shouting from behind him. There was a group stood in front of a screen that was showing a horse race from somewhere so no doubt the shouts were of joy from the winners and groans from the losers. As the crowd quietened down a few more men and one woman wandered over towards us.

"Katy, where does that girl Trisha, work?"

The woman came closer, close enough to see that her face was plastered with makeup surrounded by bleached blonde hair. Definitely a sheep dressed as a lamb, as the saying goes.

"Down the street at that hair salon, Curl up and Dye. Damned expensive if you ask me"

I may not have an address for where she lived but I could work with the information that I had. Now it was time to get out of here.

"That's great, thanks for that"

Now usually I'd add something else, like, how I'd best go and see Trisha to get an appointment. I didn't because a face appeared beyond the crowd in the doorway from the shop and a man, who didn't look very pleased with me.

"Better go and see if she can fit me in"

With that I quickly turned and made for the door that I'd come in through. Oscar was just as fast because as I walked up the alley toward the street he was already there, leant against the wall.

"Do you always have to be so sneaky?"

Was that referring to how I'd gone off on my own or how I'd managed to get hold of information. Pfft, I didn't care what he thought. I had what we needed.

"Denby's girlfriend works at a hair salon, Curl up and Dye. So if we run a search on the place then we'll be able to find out her address and where Denby is"

All I got was Oscar shaking his head at me as though he couldn't quite believe what I'd managed to find out. He never left my side as we returned to my car and once there, he was soon busy on his Ipad.

"Okay, Curl up and Dye, Blue Hill Avenue. What's the woman's name?"

"Trisha"

Gees, I hoped there was only one woman called by that name who worked there.

"Okay, got it. I hope you're right about this"

I was never always sure when I followed a lead, but this felt right. Oscar input the address into the sat nav showing us that the address where we needed to be, wasn't too far away. It was a red brick building on the corner of Hazleton Street and Blue Hill Avenue. Parking, I was looking up at a four story building that to be honest looked a weird shape. The side wasn't at ninety degrees, it followed the direction of the street so almost came to a point.

"Top floor, Curly"

As I turned off the engine Oscar got a glare from me. No way was he going to call me that. I'd gone through hell at school with the names that some of the other kids had called me, especially dear Joyce Barnhart.

"Okay, okay. I was just trying it out. Annie it is"

I ignored him as I opened the door and got out of the car, instead I was looking up at the top floor. Okay, I got this, I'd done this hundreds of times. At least I didn't embarrass myself by being out of breath, even if Oscar did seem to run up the stairs. Show off. Trisha's apartment was at the end of the corridor, but I let Oscar take point at the door. After he knocked a couple of times, that was when I heard it.

"He's going out of the window. You head down and cut him off"

Yeah, I knew the sound of a window being slid up and how someone would make a run from me. What concerned me was that we were on the top floor. Using my shoulder I rammed the door, pleased that it gave way so easily. Ahead of me I could see the drapes blowing away from a window but stopped to look around first. Yeah, I'd been caught out a time or two before with an open window and the FTA still hiding out in the room. The room was a mess with clothes dropped on the floor, takeout boxes scattered on what I assume was the kitchen worktop. No Denby though, so I headed for the widow and realized that there was a fire escape. Great. Just hold tight and hope that it was well secured to the wall.

I could see Denby further down, going very slowly as though he was either scared of heights of unsure of the metal steps. Well here goes nothing because one way or another we needed to talk to that man. I stepped through the window onto the platform, surprise at how solid it felt, and proceeded to step down. Yeah, I kept my hand on the rail but compared to some fire escapes this was a breeze. Looking down I could see that Denby was almost at the bottom so speeded up. Having had a few incidents with fire escapes before I was more than a little nervous as I made my way down. Where the hell was Oscar?

Speeded up, huh, that was an understatement. As Denby stepped from the last step he looked up and saw me and then grabbed hold of the rail and pulled. I felt the jolting through my feet just before I lost a grip on the rail. Denby was laughing as I lost my balance and like a voyeur he just stood there and watched. Not good for him because as I toppled sideways with only fresh air between me and the ground, he became my landing mat.

I sure as hell was winded so Denby should have been. Didn't stop him from trying to push me off him. We were chest to chest, not where I wanted to be, so I was happy to sit back onto my knees, with him still underneath me.

"You fucking bitch, you could have killed me. I told old man Greg that I'd get him his money"

Did he just call me a bitch, did he think I was after him to call in his debts? As he pushed me again and tried to roll me off him, I lost my temper and screamed at him.

"All I want to do is to ask you about Carisa"

Maybe he didn't hear me or maybe he thought that I had something to do with the police and had decided that he was responsible for Carisa going missing, who knows. The fist to the side of my face was the final move from him and instinctively I brought my knee forward as hard as I could. Oh, he screamed, a high pitched howling noise. I almost reacted when hands under my arms lifted me to my feet but fortunately Oscar spoke to me the whole time.

"Annie, it's okay. He aint going anywhere"

Denby was now rolled into a ball on his side clutching himself, but at least the noise he was making had subsided into a moan.

"Are you okay? You took one hell of a fall"

Even as he said that his hand reached out and touched my cheek. I was close to tears, not because of his concern, but because of how this day had ended. Looking back at Denby he seemed more relaxed and quieter and that just had the anger flooding through me. I grabbed his head by his hair and pulled him up until he had to look at me.

"Now you listen to me Denby. We are having a conversation whether you like it not. Carisa. The day that she disappeared"

"I don't know anything. I wasn't with her that day. I already told the cops that"

Geez, was this man thick or what?

"Run me through what she said that morning, what she said that she was going to be doing"

At least his frowning gave me the impression that he was trying to remember.

"She had the day off work, okay. Wanted me to take her shopping but I said no, that I was busy"

Shopping, I had no idea where that would be or how she might expect to get there.

"Where would she go?"

To be honest I wasn't surprised that he'd refused to go with her. Most men that I knew hated the idea of going in and out of shops.

"I don't know, maybe downtown. She sometimes met with her mother, so no way was I going with her"

Okay, I knew her parents opinion of Denby, so he'd probably made the right choice.

"How did she get there?"

It was if I'd asked a stupid question by the look that he gave me so what if my hand tightened in his hair. I wanted him to give me an answer.

"The bus or the train, how else?"

I added to try and prompt him. A shrug of his shoulders wasn't what I wanted to see so I added my next question in the hope that maybe he'd remember how Carisa usually travelled when she was on her own.

"How about by taxi?"

He was quick to open his mouth but then closed it again as a frown came over his face.

"That bastard. I knew he was hitting on her"

I was aware as Oscar bent down next to me because he was as aware as I was that we'd just managed to uncover something important.

"Explain it to me William, who are you talking about?"

I let go of his hair and knelt down beside him because now was the time for him to feel that I wasn't a threat and wanted to know his story.

"We'd been to this club a couple of times. Hell, Cari, she thought I was made of money. Anyway, the second time we went this geezer starts to chat her up but when I approached him, he disappeared. Cari laughed it off, said that he was a cab driver touting for business"

"Which club William?"

Because now there was a second link between the women if I was right with what his answer was going to be.

"Cat's Whiskers. Real swanky place and real expensive"

"Did you use that driver to get home?"

"No way. Cari told me that she had his card, but I wasn't stupid. I saw the way that he looked at her"

So we had the club as somewhere where both missing women had been and them using a taxi driver. I wondered if Lisa had been given a card when her and Josie were there together, but that Josie was unaware of that.

"Could you identify the man?"

Came from Oscar who so far had been patiently listening.

"Not really. He had his back to me and scarpered when I made a bee line for Cari"

"One last question William. Did you ever see or hear of a man who drove a red truck and collected empty bottles or cans?"

I wasn't sure what his answer would be so waited patiently once again.

"Err, maybe. I think I saw it once outside of Greg's when I came out. Not too sure because I'd had a few"

Another link that took us back to Banning. How the hell did a taxi driver, Cat's Whiskers and Banning fit together? Unless of course his accomplice was a taxi driver and hung around the night club, but then what role did Banning play? He'd confessed to murdering women and there were bodies found at the homestead where he lived and at his mother's house. Okay, at least we had a couple more leads to follow up on. I got back onto my feet feeling a little guilty as Denby flinched away from me.

"That's all we wanted to talk to you about William, though maybe you need to settle your debts. That fire escape won't be any good if Greg does send someone after you"

I looked over to the fire escape as I said that surprised that the lower section was away from the wall at a precarious angle. Oscar offered his hand to Denby and then pulled him to his feet. He didn't seem any worse for wear after me landing on him and he wasn't bending over consoling his balls. Okay, maybe he grimaced a bit.

"This way"

Came from Oscar as he saw me looking around for how to get out of the back yard that we were in. At least we'd had a soft landing in the overgrown grass and weeds.

"Sorry that I took so long finding you. This area actually looks to belong to the neighboring building"

I could understand how he would be confused as he led me through a rickety gate onto another back lane. To get back to the street where the car was parked, we had to walk down the lane then cut up between two houses to come out onto the street. It was only when we were both sat in the car that Oscar broke the silence between us.

"Another phone for Jex to look at but I bet it's a different number and that it's out of commission. We can run a search on the club though"

I agreed with what he was saying and hoped by not answering and only nodding my head that he'd see that I agreed with him. I hit home on the sat nav after starting the engine before pulling out into traffic.

Home, I was calling the place home and yet I'd only been here for just over five weeks. Well six I suppose.