Thank you as ever Hollie for your reviews, honestly they make my day!
Jess was dreaming. She dreamt that she was walking down the aisle towards Callum. As she stood opposite him, he began to say his vows. But instead of words coming out his mouth, a ringing noise did, like the ringing of a phone. The ringing got louder and louder, and she could feel herself pulling into consciousness. Her eyes flickered open; the bedroom was still dark. Callum was stirring beside her, his hand groping for the phone on his side of the bed.
"'Ello?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes with a fist. "Yeah she's awake. Yeah, I'll pass you over." Callum laid down, handing the phone to Jess, "It's Stevie, she says it's urgent."
"Hello?" Jess said, stifling a yawn.
"Hi Jess it's Stevie. I'm really sorry to be ringing you this early." Stevie said apologetically. Jess glanced at the clock; it was five o'clock in the morning. "Eddie has just rung me letting me know that the results from the samples he took from Milo's house have come back." Jess was suddenly more alert.
"Did it back up Milo's story?" Jess asked.
"It did indeed. He's found some partial prints which he compared to the prints we have of Milo Wilson; they don't match. So he's got the prints with him and he's put them on the computer ready to run through the system. So it looks like Milo didn't kill her, it was as he said." Stevie said, slightly shocked herself that two men had done such awful things to Kim.
"So what do we charge him with? Grooming, abduction and rape?" Jess queried.
"Yeah, we can't charge him with the murder, not until we've checked this new lead out." Stevie replied. "I'm gonna get into work for about six-ish to try and catch the new guy. I was hoping, seeing as you've been on this case since the beginning, that you wouldn't mind coming in with me? I think it's owed to you to see it through to the end." Stevie asked.
"Yeah, I don't mind at all. I was due for seven anyway. I'll see you at the nick at six then." Jess said, running a hand through her hair.
"Ok, cheers Jess. Sorry again for waking you." Stevie said.
"It's alright, I'm just glad we're getting somewhere. Bye." Jess said with a smile, hanging up. She passed the phone back to Callum who placed it back on the cradle. He rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow.
"You got the guy?" he asked her.
"Eddie compared the partial prints to Milo's, they're not a match. That means his story is looking more and more valid as we go. Stevie has got the prints, so we're gonna go in early to run them through and hopefully get our suspect. I want to be there when we identify the bastard." Jess said firmly.
"Ok, do you want a lift in?" Callum asked, trailing a finger down her bare arm. Goosebumps rose on her arm and she shivered. "I may as well start with you then we've only got one car at the station."
"Yeah if that's what you want to do. I'll go and get the coffee started." she said, kissing him before getting out of bed.
"Meet you down there in a minute." he said sleepily, smiling at the memories of last night.
Jess stumbled through into CID just after six. She loved how quiet the station was at this hour; it was amazing how much paperwork could be done! Sometimes she came in an hour early just to clear her paperwork. She walked over to Stevie's desk where the blonde detective was sitting, her feet propped up on the desk.
"Coffee?" Jess asked, offering the blonde a cup of steaming coffee.
"Cheers, lifesaver!" Stevie said gratefully, taking a long sip of the bitter coffee, "Mmm, just what I needed."
"So, got anything yet?" Jess asked, pulling up a seat.
"It's just processing now. Eddie said we might get a few possible matches because it's only a partial print, but it's better than nothing." Stevie said, swivelling in her chair.
"I'm just glad we're finally getting somewhere. Kim needs justice, her mother and brother need justice for her death. Have they been told that Milo possibly didn't kill her?" Jess asked, only just thinking about that.
"I'm waiting to see what we find out before telling them that the man we arrested might not have actually killed her daughter." Stevie said carefully.
"Good idea." Jess said with a small smile. The computer pinged, and both women looked at the screen.
"Three matches. Now, let's see what we've got." Stevie pressed a few buttons, bringing up the rap sheets of two men and a woman. "Abigail Mann, Neville Barnes and Hugh Meyer. GBH, suspected rape and firearms offences respectively. Let's check Abigail out first." Stevie quickly scanned all the information on Abigail's information page. "From what it says here, she's still inside for GBH. Here's the number, would you be able to ring it and check if she still is locked up for me?" Stevie asked, handing Jess a piece of paper with a number on it.
"Sure." Jess said, sitting at the desk opposite Stevie and dialling the number. She spoke to one of the prison wardens who was on Abigail's wing, and he confirmed that at that present moment in time, Abigail was nice and safe in her cell, so there was no way she could have murdered someone. "Nope, she's still locked up, we can cross her off the list."
"Right, so that leaves Barnes and Meyer. It says here that Barnes was done three years ago at Spicer Street for suspected rape on a minor, but he was released on a technicality. His current address is listed as 15 Richmond Road, about a mile from Milo's address. His current employer is listed as a Mrs Jean Ferris, owner of the local pyrotechnics factory. Meyer was done for firearms offences five years ago, he's only just got out of jail. So both him and Barnes are our new suspects. His listed address is about two or three miles from Milo's house." Stevie said, leaning back in her chair, her hands folded over her stomach.
"So it's got to be one of them. But what I don't understand is how whoever murdered Kim knew she would be there. I mean, you don't randomly break into a house to discover an abducted girl who you subsequently murder. It just doesn't make sense." Jess said, her forehead burrowed.
"I was thinking about that last night. The techies who recovered Milo's laptop and found all those pictures also found some links to website forums where sickos like Milo go on to brag about their sick acts. He posted on there about the girl he had met on Facebook, Kim, and what he was going to do to her once he had taken her. I was hoping the techies could go through the respondents and see if there's any way to find if Barnes or Meyer are members and if they read through it or not. From that we should have our man." Stevie said with a nod.
Jess pulled a sickened face, "It's bad enough that there are people evil enough to do things like that; but to brag about it online as well?"
"I know. But it comes part and parcel with the job, we just have to try and make sure we get them locked up. This could lead to a much bigger case that we need to start looking at." Stevie said determinedly. Just then the doors to CID swung open and Eddie walked in, a smug grin on his face.
"Hello lovely ladies." he said in a cheerful voice.
"Have you found something else?" Jess asked, straight to the point.
"I have indeed. I found a piece of hair attached to the rope that had been hidden under the bed which was used to strangle the victim. I ran the DNA from the hair through the computer and have copied the profile. You might want to run it through." Eddie said, handing Stevie a small card to put in the computed.
"Cheers Eddie." Stevie said with a grin, and Eddie smiled in what he must have thought was a seductive face but really wasn't.
"Anything for you DS Moss." Eddie said as he walked out.
"I'd watch your back Sarge!" Jess said with a grin as Stevie pulled a face.
"Shush you!" Stevie said with a laugh. She placed the card into the correct drive and waited for it to load up. "Right, let's give it a few minutes to run through." Jess smiled and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Stevie was watching and saw the engagement ring on Jess' left hand. "Oh! I knew there was something I forgot!"
"Hmm?" Jess questioned. Stevie rummaged around in her desk until she found what she was looking for. She handed Jess a card which was addressed to her and Callum.
"Congratulations!" Stevie said with a beam.
"Oh thanks Sarge! You shouldn't have!" Jess said gratefully, placing the card in her bag so she could open it with Callum.
"It's alright. Can I have a look?" Stevie asked.
"Course you can!" Jess replied happily, holding out her left hand so Stevie could inspect the ring. Stevie's face turned to one of longing as she saw the ring close up.
"You are one lucky lady! That's beautiful." Stevie said, sitting back down at her desk.
"I couldn't have been more shocked. It was just...I mean, I had never ever seen Callum like that. I mean he's so loving, but normally he thinks that public things like that are for wusses, you know? So for him to do that for me...well, it made me realise just how much he loved me." Jess said with a glowing beam.
Stevie was about to reply when a bing made her look at her computer. She smiled grimly, "Bingo. Neville Barnes."
Stevie was perched on the desk in the CID briefing room, a team of uniformed officers sat around the table in front of her.
"Thanks for coming in, everyone. We think we have our murderer in the Kimberley Stevens case. Eddie examined some partial prints found at the murder scene and when put through the computer we came up with three names. One of the names was of a woman who is still currently doing time inside. We were left with two potential suspects, but Eddie had also found a trace of DNA on the rope used to strangle Kim. The name that came up again was of Neville Barnes, a thirty three year old. He was arrested three years ago by Spicer Street for suspected rape but released due to a technicality. Also, looking through some of the unsolved rapes, the MO seems to fit at least two more rapes. As well as this, the techies have discovered that Neville had an online account on a website which Milo was a member of.
In one post, Milo revealed his plans for Kim, and it seems that Milo and Neville exchanged messages. We've interviewed Milo again this morning in light of what we've found, and he claims that Neville said something about wanting a piece of the action but Milo refused. After that, Neville stopped talking to him, but it was too late because Neville knew where Milo lived and when he planned to take Kim." Stevie paused, looking at the team in front of her. Most of them were looking at Neville's mug shot in disgust.
"As you've probably been told, we're going to arrest Barnes at his place of work, Ferris Pyrotechnics Ltd. The owner is a Mrs Jean Ferris, who we've rung to alert her to our presence there later. She knows not to tell Neville, so if for some reason Neville is not there when we know he should be, I want her brought in for perverting the course of justice. We are not going to let Kim's murderer slip away after all the hard work that's been put in. Now, this could be potentially dangerous, considering its a factory with gunpowder, so you all need to be wary and on your guard. When we begin our search for Barnes we need to be evacuating people as we go. We'll be leaving in fifteen minutes, meeting in the yard. So go get ready, and I'll meet you down there. Any questions?" Stevie asked.
"Is he likely to be armed?" Leon asked.
"Can't be sure, but he hasn't had any previous for firearms related crimes. But armed response will be a few streets away as a precaution. Fire service are also on standby and we'll have more uniform officers nearby ready to come and assist. Anything else?" Stevie asked. When there was silence, she dismissed them, and they all filed out to get ready.
They pulled up outside the factory twenty five minutes later. Stevie turned in her seat to the team.
"Right, I'm going to split you up into pairs. You'll be going to different areas of the factory. The first pair to spot him, call in where you are and wait for the rest of us to arrive before arresting him. If you think you can get him without any fuss, then do it, but if not, wait for the rest of us. Right, Beth and Leon, you two go around the East side of the factory. Jess and Callum, you go in through the back. Will and Ben, you have the pleasure of my company, and we'll be going in through the front. Everyone else waiting around the perimeter in case you're needed or spot him trying to leg it. All know what you're doing?" Stevie checked.
"Sarge." the team affirmed back.
"Ok then, be careful, be on your guard. Let's go catch ourselves a murderer." Stevie said determinedly.
All the cops were in their positions and had begun the search for Neville. Stevie, Will and Ben made their way through the reception area and behind into the factory itself. They walked down the different aisles and sections slowly, trying to catch a glimpse of Neville. Nothing. Beth and Leon were going down the East side where all the products were boxed up ready for shipment. There were plenty of men in there, but not one of them was Neville. As the cops moved through they were asking the workers to leave quickly and quietly via the fire exits.
Jess and Callum had been let in the back of the factory by Mrs Ferris, and they were currently checking around the loading bay, checking all the lorries, but still nothing. Stevie was starting to get really annoyed when Ben suddenly called her. She hurried to his side.
"That's him isn't it?" Ben asked, pointing through the slats in the shelf to a man in the production area. Stevie looked closely.
"Yeah that's him. There's no way out for him except for here, so he'll be cornered. Do you feel comfortable taking him on our own?" Stevie asked the two men. They both nodded. "Right then. Will, radio in to the others that we've got him cornered and to make their way over." Stevie ordered. Will nodded and turned away, relaying the information to the others. "Come on then, let's get him." The three officers walked quietly into the production area, Ben going to the left, Will to the right. "Neville Barnes?" Stevie called out in question. Neville turned round and looked at Stevie suspiciously.
"Yeah, who's asking?" Neville asked, catching sight of Will and Ben. As soon as he saw them, realisation flickered in his eyes. "Oh no, no way."
Stevie nodded, a smile on her face, "Oh yes Neville. You're under arrest for the murder of Kimberly..." Stevie didn't get to finish her sentence because Neville had pulled a lighter out of his pocket, holding it out in front of him.
"If you arrest me, I will light this match and throw it on that pile of gunpowder. The whole place will explode." Neville warned, waving the lighter around. Stevie looked at the sizable pile of gunpowder and at all the other explosives in the room. She stopped, holding her hand out, signalling for Will and Ben to make their way back to her.
"Ok Neville, we're not coming any further." Stevie said in a calming voice.
"Don't use that voice on me! I'm fucking serious! I'll blow this whole place to shit if you come near me!" Neville shouted. Will and Ben returned to Stevie's side.
"Sarge, we need to get out." Will mumbled to his Sergeant.
"Yes Will I know." Stevie hissed back. She picked up her radio, "This is DS Moss to all units. We need to evacuate the building immediately, I repeat, evacuate the building immediately. Barnes is threatening to blow the whole place up, and he is deadly serious. Once everyone is out, get out, keep a safe distance away." Stevie ordered. The reply of confirmation came back to her, and she was satisfied that everyone would be out soon. "Ds Moss to control, have fire alert and on standby." Confirmation came from control. "Neville, we're leaving now. You can put the lighter away, no-one needs to be hurt." Stevie said, edging back out of the production area.
"You must think I'm fucking stupid! I don't believe you!" Neville shouted.
"We think you're serious. We're leaving." Stevie said, moving backwards out of the room and starting to exit the factory.
"Sarge, what are we going to do?" Ben asked as they jogged out the building.
"We're going to get a safe distance away and call SO19 forward. I'm not going to let him take the easy way out by blowing himself to pieces like Guy Fawkes." Stevie said in a don't-mess-with-me voice.
Jess and Callum were making their way out of the factory. They had evacuated everyone from the loading area and were doing a final check round.
"Come on Sarge, that's everyone." Jess said, her eyes scanning the area one more time.
"Ok, let's go." Callum said, following Jess out the room. They were near the exit and had just passed another packing room when Callum stopped. "Jess, wait, there's someone in there."
Jess stopped and turned round, running to where Callum was.
"Oi! Didn't you hear the alarms? The factory is being evacuated, this isn't a drill!" Callum shouted to the man. He turned around slowly, and the two officers realised that they were in the presence of Neville Barnes. The look on his face was one of complete anger.
"Didn't the blonde bitch listen to me? She didn't think I was serious...BUT I AM! I will blow this fucking place up to high heaven unless you get out now." Neville screamed at them, his face bright red.
"Sarge come on, please." Jess begged, pulling at Callum's jacket, trying to get him to move.
"We've got him cornered! I can get him." Callum said quietly over his shoulder to her. When he looked back, Neville had disappeared. Callum looked over Jess' shoulder, causing Jess to look as well. There was nothing there. When she looked back, she spotted Callum running after Neville.
"CALLUM!" she screamed, running after him. She tailed him back to the production area where Neville had hidden himself, calling it through to Stevie on the radio what was going on. Callum was stood on one side of a conveyor belt which had explosives spread out across it. Neville was on the other side, looking as if he was about to flick the lighter on.
"I warned you. I fucking warned you!" Neville growled. Jess leapt forward, grabbing Callum's arm and pulling as hard as she could towards the door, towards their chance of freedom.
"Callum move! Now! Please!" she begged, her eyes never leaving Neville's face.
"Listen to your little friend." Neville said in a mocking voice. Callum looked at Jess, and the danger they were in suddenly hit him. He had thought he could get Neville, he had thought that he could arrest him, that Neville was bluffing. But he wasn't. "Too late." Neville hissed, and lit the lighter. It burned a brilliant orange before Neville threw it onto the conveyor belt where all the explosives were.
"RUN!" Callum shouted at Jess, turning and pushing her out of the room. And that's when the factory exploded.
"Sarge, Jess and Sergeant Stone aren't out yet." Beth said, jogging over to Stevie.
"Jess just radioed to say they had seen Neville and she was getting Callum away to leave, I thought they were out by now? Aren't all those people over there from the loading bay? That's where they were." Stevie said in a confused voice. She walked over to one of the people who had come from the loading bay. "Excuse me? The two police officers who evacuated you, did they come out behind you or did they stay in the building?"
The man looked at her as he thought, then shook his head, "I didn't see them come out, they must have stayed in there."
"DS Moss to 30." Stevie said into her radio. There was no reply, "Sergeant Stone, this is DS Moss. Get out of that factory now." Stevie said. Still nothing. "DS Moss to 134." Stevie said, trying Jess this time. As with Callum, there was nothing.
"You don't think they're still in there?" Beth asked, a worried look appearing on her face.
"I don't know Beth..." Stevie said, and was cut off by a tremoring of the Earth. "What the..." The trembling was intensified by an almighty explosion. The factory seemed to implode from the centre, different explosions of different colours going off one after the other. The factory started to collapse, the entire East side crumbling to the ground. Other parts of the factory were falling all around them. The officers and evacuees all hit the ground, covering themselves from the bits of debris that were raining down all around them. The explosions finally stopped, and the stunned officers quickly picked themselves up off the ground, staring in horror at the fiery inferno in front of them.
Callum pushed Jess to the floor, shielding her with his body as the factory exploded around them. The roof started to cave in, the explosions causing holes in the roof which allowed more oxygen to flow into the burning building, stoking the fire further. The heat was immense; it was like they were being smothered with a hot, damp blanket which wouldn't come off. They could hear the screams of the murderer in the other room, but the screaming soon stopped. The smoke and heat were becoming too much, and the two officers could feel themselves drifting into unconsciousness; the factory burning on around them, not caring that it could claim the lives of two Sun Hill officers.
