Written In Blood

Chapter Sixteen

Zack was showering when the doorbell rang. He cursed briefly, and hoped that whoever was at the door would go away. A second chime from the doorbell told him the person on his doorstep was not going to leave so easily, and it was then that he remembered his neighbour telling him about the police looking for him.

Stepping out of the shower, he crossed to the window so he could poke his head out.

"I'll be right there," he called out, before returning to the shower long enough to rinse himself off.

He towelled himself off vigorously as he made his way along the passage and down the stairs. He wrapped the towel around his waist when he reached the foot of the stairs. Answering the door wearing just a towel was not something he would do usually, he didn't consider it decent, but on that occasion, he thought it better to let the police in and then get dressed.

"Forgive my appearance," he said once he had greeted the two officers on his doorstep. "You caught me in the shower. If you'll wait in the living room, I'll get dressed and be right down."

Melissa took a seat on the sofa, while Mitchell stood near the fireplace so he could see the whole room and get some idea of what sort of person Zack Wild was, and whether he could be the killer he suspected he was.

Zack was back in under five minutes, having swapped the towel for a pair of well-worn blue jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. "Can I get either of you anything to drink?" he asked from the doorway.

"No, thank you," Mitchell said before Melissa had a chance to say anything.

"Okay, in that case, I guess we should get down to your reason for being here." Zack left the doorway and took the armchair. "I assume this visit has something to do with the body I found this morning."

Mitchell nodded. "Yes. We have some more questions we need to ask you about Georgina Ryder, and about another matter that has come up. Do you have the time to talk?" he asked. He was ready to arrest the writer if he answered in the negative, but he didn't want to do that without good cause; he suspected it would cause problems.

"Sure, I haven't got anything else I need to do today."

"Okay, well, first off, you said earlier that you normally follow the road through the village and head out towards town when on one of your runs; have you ever gone down by the river before today?"

"I've been that way before, only the once, though. I've explored most of the village, and the countryside around it – not in any great depth, but well enough to get around."

"When was it you explored the riverbank along from the pub?"

A shrug was Zack's immediate response. "Not sure exactly, it was a while ago, back around the time I first moved here."

"So you haven't been that way in the past week or so? You wouldn't know if there had been anyone hanging around the area where you found Georgina Ryder?"

"No, 'fraid not."

Mitchell showed no sign of being bothered by that answer, though he did react when he was posed a question in return.

"Do I take it you've been able to identify the girl I found?" Zack asked.

"Yes. Did you know her?" Mitchell wished he was better at reading body language.

"I've heard the name around the village," Zack admitted. "As I understand it, she was missing for about a week, but I don't think I ever met her – in passing maybe, but not properly."

Mitchell responded to that by taking out the photograph of Georgina Ryder that had been provided by her mother when she was reported missing. "This is Georgina," he said. "Do you remember meeting her now?"