The Sholes Key (An Evans & Blackwell Mystery #1) Page 10

Sophia nodded. “Our computers are working on the code, but it’s never that easy. Numbers can represent many things: phone numbers, addresses, dates, times, credit card numbers, bloody words. It could mean anything.”

  “I doubt he’s giving us his credit card number,” Theo said. “That would be too easy. Besides, it doesn’t resemble any credit card number. I don’t think it’s an address either—too complex. What about a date?”

  “Are you asking me out on a date?” Sophia asked. She laughed at his surprised expression and quickly added, “I don’t think it’s a date. 29065014495311 doesn’t resemble any code for any date I’ve ever seen.”

  “You have the numbers memorized?”

  “Just that one, the one that repeats. I know that number from somewhere.”

  “Where?” Theo leaned forward and pulled himself off the sofa.

  “I don’t know. I searched my database and the Internet—I found nothing. But I’ve seen it somewhere. I should know it. In a way, it makes the code seem crackable. The worst is when the code means nothing. That’s why I’m glad you’re focusing efforts on normal lines of inquiry. I don’t want to be found chasing my tail. I need concretes.” Sophia watched him walk around her flat, picking up and examining her things. Had he heard her? She wasn’t sure.

  “I’m not having success in normal lines of inquiry.” He examined a misshapen vase and shrugged.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?” Sophia asked.

  Theo turned.

  “Find anything interesting?”

  “Sorry. Habit.” He put the vase down. “You don’t have any photos.”

  “No. Not displayed.”

  “Why not?”

  “What did you find at Lorna’s workplace?” Sophia laid two mugs down on the table along with milk and sugar and a packet of crisps. She was not going to discuss her personal life no matter how comfortable she felt with this man.

  “Nothing really,” Theo said, setting down the vase. He sat on the couch and ripped open the crisps. “We were given a small box of Lorna’s personal items containing a few books, pictures, and a little stuffed otter doll with the name Stevie monogrammed on its wool jumper.”

  “What sort of books?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  “They often help me understand the key to the code.”

  “I don’t know,” Theo said. “Just some silly novels from the library. Some women romances—Forbidden Love, On Top of Love—something of the sort. The books weren’t hers, so I doubt the killer used them as a clue.”

  “Perhaps not. Tell me about Lorna McCauley then. What’s your opinion of her? What was she like?”

  “She had no one that we know of except her mother and son. Her workmates don’t associate with her. Her hobbies include reading and spending time with her son. We do know that she didn’t run away. Someone was able to get close to her. Close enough to win her trust. Close enough to kill her. With whom would she talk? Who would know if she was dating? We all need someone.”

  Sophia watched him play with his wedding ring. “I keep my photos on my computer. Not that I’m much of a photographer.” She retrieved the coffee pot. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask if you drank coffee or if you’d rather have something stronger.”

  “I’d rather sometimes, but coffee will do.”

  “I never even thought or considered—”

  “What?”

  “Well, you worked all day, didn’t you?” she asked. He nodded. “I hope that your family… your wife’s not upset about you spending time here. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

  He said nothing.

  The awkward silence caused her to continue. “We’re probably looking for a man; he may be wearing a cap or a wig. I can’t see him coming in without some sort of disguise. He will be wearing gloves, holding a letter, and the biggest giveaway is when he drops something in my letterbox. Here.” She leaned in close to the screen and pointed to her box.

  Before their Thai food arrived, they watched close to a half hour of footage starting early Thursday morning. People walking in, people walking out. Many checked their letterboxes. No one went near her box.

  Just as her stomach growled audibly, the phone rang. “It must be the food,” Sophia said, pausing the video.

  It wasn’t.

  * * *

  Theo watched Sophia answer the phone and retreat into the kitchen.

  “How are you?” she said into the phone.

  Her sweetened voice told him the caller was important to her, but the fact that she paced and bit her nails made him curious.

  “No,” she said. “It’s never a bad time to call. How was your day?”

  Assuming she would be awhile and not wanting to appear nosy or interested, he resumed the video footage and continued to watch people come and go. It was the first time he’d been alone with another woman in years. And here he was, sitting on her sofa, drinking her coffee, watching telly or something like it. He caught himself looking at her face and guilt crept in. He knew he should just take the footage and watch it in his office with Dorland but couldn’t bring himself to ask. He felt powerless and vulnerable.

  “Hmm, bed? Yeah, soon. Why? Were you planning on stopping by?” Sophia’s chest lowered as she let out a silent sigh. “Oh, that’s too bad. Perhaps tomorrow we can have dinner together?” She nodded. “Speaking of dinner, can you hold on?” She held her hand over the receiver and motioned Theo toward the television’s remote.

  Theo handed her the remote and she pressed a few buttons. A picture of a man with a plastic bag appeared on the screen. Dinner had arrived. Sophia pushed three buttons on her phone and the man pulled open the door. As Theo walked toward the door to accept the food, Sophia held a finger to her lips and pushed him behind her door.

  “Sorry, Marc,” she said into the receiver. “It looks like my food has arrived. Vegetarian Thai. I have a showing this weekend but tomorrow sounds wonderful. Can I count on you to book a table?” She walked over to a vase beside the door and shook it upside down. A round wad of banknotes fell out of it. She took four tenners, re-wrapped the money and threw it back in the vase. She looked at Theo suspiciously.

  Theo raised his arms. He wasn’t going to steal it.

  When the knock came, she opened the door, handed the Asian boy the money and with a polite, “Khob khuun kah,” shut the door behind her. “Are you sure?” she said on the phone. “All right, love you. Good night.” She pushed the button to disconnect and gave a weak smile in Theo’s direction. “Work, sorry. Shall we eat?”

  She laid out the takeaway on the table and opened the lids.

  “Is this vegetarian?” Theo asked. He poked at pieces of meat with his fork.

  “No, why? Are you vegetarian?”

  “No. I just thought—”

  She interrupted him with a firm, “No,” and quickly stuffed a prawn in her mouth.

  After piling food on his plate, Theo sat back down and tasted a few portions. It was the first time he’d ever eaten Thai and found the flavors powerful and surprising. The whole evening was turning out to be powerful and surprising. He felt invigorated, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

  Sophia sat beside him, knocked him with her elbow and said, “People who don’t know they’re being taped do silly things, don’t they? Pick their nose, pull their knickers out of their bums, look in other people’s letterboxes, and most people talk to themselves.” She laughed. This was a more relaxed Sophia than he had seen a few minutes before. They ate in easy silence.

  “I haven’t seen you at all,” he replied. “I’m still waiting for you to pull the wedgie out of your arse.”

  “Sorry to disappoint. I don’t normally use that door. Most residents use the car park entrance to enter and leave the building. People who come in and out of those doors are visitors or those catching a taxi or the tube.”

  They stopped talking when a suspicious man appeared on the screen. He walked in off the street wearing a dark coat, sunglasses, and gloves. Very slo
wly he came in, turned around, and looked up at the number on the door and down at a piece of paper. Sophia slowed down the video. The time was 9:02:45, Thursday night. She wrote it down on her pad of paper.

  The man stopped just inside the door. His head remained down, out of camera view. He stood there for a few minutes, not doing anything. Sophia and Theo sat forward on the sofa, straining their eyes to see the pixels more clearly. This could be the killer. Take off your glasses, take off your glasses, Theo repeated in his head.

  Turning around twice as if to leave, the man stomped his foot on the floor and took off his glasses. Theo couldn’t believe it. We have him, he thought. He watched some more, but the more he watched, the more disappointed he became. The man walked over to the intercom and stood there, running his finger down the list of names. His finger stopped on one name. Nowhere near Sophia’s name on the list. He pushed the button next to the name and after a few minutes more, a woman came down into camera view. The woman, nicely dressed in tight trousers, shook the man’s hand. Pointing toward the door, he led her out into the night. Damn.

  “God.” Theo stood. “Bloody first dates—blind date, whatever it was.”

  Sophia looked at the clock, near on eleven. “Why don’t you go home, Theophilus?”

  “Oh, please, don’t call me that.” He raised his arms in the air and stretched. His shirt came up above his belt, revealing his belly. He quickly pulled the shirt down.

  “All right, Mr. Blackwell.”

  “Theo.”

  “Theo, I can watch some more of this tonight. We don’t know when he’ll show up or even if he’ll show. I can copy the information for you and make sure you get a copy tomorrow.”

  “Disappointing night,” he said.

  She nodded. They had written down suspect activity only five times. No one was the right person. Only the last man wore gloves. Two others wore sunglasses and a raincoat, which was not surprising since it did rain off and on that day. One man looked in some of the letterboxes then went to his own to retrieve his post.

  “I can stay,” he said. “I don’t mind. I’ve spent hours watching footage before. You shouldn’t have to go at this alone. Besides, if our nutter returns, then what are you going to do?”

  “I’m always faced with danger, Theo,” she said, laughing at him. “It’s my job lately. There’s a reason I live in a high security building. Believe me, I sleep more comfortably knowing there’s a person downstairs who gets paid to protect me.”

  “Can I stay?” Theo asked. It was the thought of going home when this evening had been so enjoyable, so out of the ordinary, that made him swallow his pride and ask the question.

  He expected her to tease him, but she just sipped her coffee as they watched more footage. Through the rest of Thursday night, they sped up the video a little more. The suspicious man with gloves, who was hesitant and unsure the first time he entered, re-entered with the woman who immediately invited him in. Lucky bastard. The traffic in and out of her building decreased dramatically in the wee hours and during the day, Friday. Those who came in had a key, and some came in with their partners.

  Hours passed by. Theo’s mobile rang. “Hello? Hello?” he asked. No one answered. “Hello? Who is this? Is this you? Are you the one? What have you done with Lorna? Hello?” he said again, sitting up with a start. It took him a second or two to realize he hadn’t answered his mobile. It took him a few seconds longer to realize he wasn’t at home. And a few more to realize Sophia stared at him wide-eyed. “Bloody hell, did I fall asleep?” he asked.

  She nodded. “For about an hour or so.”

  “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you wake me?” The screen was dark. The video file had ended. Great. “Did you finish watching it?”

  Instead of answering, Sophia got up and went over to the computer. Moving the scroll button back a minute or two in video time, the screen lit up, and she slowed the speed down two times.

  “Is it him?” Theo whispered, almost afraid the man would hear his voice and walk out of the building.

  “I think so.”

  They watched the figure. Sophia took note of the time. Friday noon. The noon sun brightened the entrance enough to whitewash his figure and mute the color of his clothing. Nevertheless, they could make out the baseball cap and the sunglasses. As expected, plain as they come.

  It wasn’t what the man wore as much as what he did that attracted their attention. He knew where he was going. Slight, quick glances at the boxes told him where to drop the envelope. Although his body blocked the actual box, the fact that he bent down to a lower one on the left side gave Theo a jolt. Almost as soon as he had come, he was gone. Sixteen seconds.

  Standing upright, Sophia took in another deep breath and asked, “What do you think?”

  “He fits. He’s exactly what we were expecting. Male, disguised, envelope, quick in and out. This is wonderful. I want a copy of this to take in.” He wanted to jump up and down in excitement.

  “Don’t get too excited. The picture is incredibly grainy, and you may not be able to get anything of value from the footage.”

  “Don’t rain on my parade just yet. I want to feel the last few hours were worth my time.”

  “I’m sorry if it wasn’t.” A mobile rang. “That’s yours,” she said. “It rang a few times while you were asleep.”

  “What time is it, Sophia?”

  “It’s four in the morning,” she replied, looking at the clock on her kitchen wall. “Who would call you now? No one knows you’re here, right?”

  Theo glanced at his display: Dorland. What now? He lifted the mobile to his ear. “Dorland? This better not be because you did three hundred press-ups.”

  “No, I promised I wouldn’t disturb you with that again,” Dorland said. “I rang because I’ve received a call—as I suspect you have if you check your phone.” Theo did and noticed five missed calls. “I have good news and bad. Which first?”

  “I don’t know, let’s go with bad. I’m feeling like shite now anyway.”

  “They found a woman, a Margaret Hill,” Dorland said. “The chief wants you and I to go to the scene, meet SOCO.”

  “Scene of Crime Officers? Why?” Theo asked. “It’s not our case. We already have a case.”

  Sophia raised her eyebrows and came over to him.

  “That brings me to the good news. Ready for it?” Dorland asked.

  “Yes, what is it?” Theo said impatiently.

  Sophia leaned closer, almost touching his head.

  She’s quite nosy, Theo thought. But he was all right with that.

  “We may have a serial killer on our hands. One thing’s for sure: Margaret’s killer is the same as Lorna’s,” Dorland said.

  “How do they know?”

  “Because etched into the victim’s back os the same code that woman spook received.”

  Theo nearly dropped the phone.

  “I’ll pick you up in a half hour. Be ready,” Dorland said.

  Theo still wore the same wrinkled clothing from the day before. “That won’t work,” he replied. “Dorland, get to the scene as soon as you can. Whose case is this?”

  “DI Shields.”

  “Oh. That man isn’t too fond of me. He may be tempted to have SOCO take important evidence away before I can see it. Take photos of everything. I’ll meet you there. What’s the address?” He looked around for paper. Sophia went to her desk and retrieved a pen and a blank sheet of paper. Theo took down the street and house number.

  Sophia grabbed the paper and said, “What the hell is this? What’s going on?”

  “Meet me there,” Theo said to Dorland and hung up. He took back the paper from Sophia. “That, my dear, is police business.” For once, he felt as if he was one step ahead of her rather than three behind. “I have to go.”

  “What happened at that address? Was someone else murdered?” She grabbed his arm tightly. Theo saw the fear in her eyes.

  “Why must you know?”

  “Theo, please tell me wha
t happened at that house.”

  “A woman was found dead.” He grabbed his hat and searched for his car keys. “It wasn’t Lorna.”

  Silence. Sophia sat down on the sofa.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m scared.” She rubbed her face and took a deep breath. “I need to come with you, but I need to dress.” She rose from the sofa and headed toward her bedroom.

  Theo followed her. “I can’t allow that.”

  “I don’t care. I’ll get permission if I have to.”

  He grabbed her arm and swung her around. “What do you know?” Three steps behind again.

  She lifted her jumper over her head and that muffled her reply. The blood rushed to his ears when, within seconds, she stood in her bra and panties before him. She was a goddess.

  “Turn around for heaven’s sake,” she said.

  He did. “What did you say?” he croaked.

  “My father and mother are going into protective custody. Damn, Liam, the bloody bastard.” She threw a hanger and it hit the full-length mirror across the room.

  “Who’s Liam?”

  Sophia came around him. She had clothes on now. “What’s the name?”

  “Of Liam?”

  “Of Liam? No, of the victim. And very soon Liam may find himself a victim. What was the name? You did find out the name, didn’t you?”

  “Margaret Hill. She was a missing person.”

  She thought for a second or two. “I don’t think I know her.”

  He shrugged. “Were you expecting to? You didn’t know Lorna.”

  “No, no I didn’t. I just thought…”

  “Sophia.”

  “Hmm.”

  He waited until she looked at him. “I understand that I’m not as smart as you, that we don’t think on the same wavelength, I understand that. But you have to tell me what’s going on. What do you know?”

  “I told you. You just don’t listen. That house, my family used to live there.”

  “What did you say?”

  She bent down for something under her chest of drawers. From a hook, she brought out a set of keys. “That was my family home. My parents put it up for sale last month after the divorce was finalized.” She held the keys in front of his face. “I’m going to take this car.”