Written In Blood

Chapter Fifty-Six

Melissa was as surprised to see DI Harrison pull up next to Oakhurst's police station as he was to see her approaching from across the road. She stopped at the steps and waited for her superior, who was moving like an arthritic old man.

"I didn't expect to see you here today, sir," she said when Harrison finally reached her. "Not after being stabbed last night."

"I could say the same of you, constable," Harrison said as he made his slow way up the steps. "You might not have been stabbed, thank god, but you did suffer quite badly at the hands of that maniac." He reached for the door with a stifled groan, annoyed to discover that the painkillers the hospital had given him were wearing off.

"Are you sure you should be here, sir?" Melissa asked, alarmed by how white Harrison had gone.

"Not really," Harrison admitted in a strained voice. "And the hospital definitely isn't happy with me being here, they were very much against releasing me. I had to insist. I've got a job to do and I'm not the sort to give up until the job's done. How are you feeling this morning?" he asked in a change of subject.

"About as well as can be expected," Melissa admitted. Her collar was undone because it irritated the bruises around her throat where she had been strangled, and a large dressing covered the sizeable knife wound on her cheek that had required five stitches to close. "I don't think I'm going to be all that quick about getting things done today, but I'm fit enough to work. I'd rather be here than at home feeling sorry for myself anyway," she said, especially since if she stayed at home she would have to put up with the fuss her gran, and her mum when she got there, would make.

"What the hell happened to the two of you?" Johnson asked from his position behind the counter when he saw the inspector and his fellow constable make their slow, obviously painful way, across towards the security door. "You both look as though you've been through hell."

"I'd say that's a pretty fair description," Melissa croaked. "It sure felt like hell." She unlocked the security door and made her way through the rear of the police station without actually answering her colleague's question; she had no interest in relating everything that she and Harrison had been through during the night, not only would it take too long, but talking was painful and she intended doing as little of it as she could.

Johnson watched Melissa and the inspector head down the passage, his curiosity far from satisfied. The phone rang before he could try again to find out what had happened during the night, though, and he quickly turned back to the counter to answer it. "Oakhurst Police Station, how can I help you?"

"Inspector, I think you should take this," he called down the passage after listening to what the caller had to say for a few moments.

"Who is it?" Harrison asked as he took two strides back towards the counter and immediately had to slow down because of the pain.

"It's Zack Wild," Johnson answered. "He says Kieran Wright tried to kill his sister, Tara, a short while ago and that he all but confessed to his sister that he's responsible for the murders."

Harrison's step stuttered for a moment as he blinked at the constable. Of all the things he might have pictured happening this morning, this wasn't on the list. When he reached the counter, he took the phone. "Mr Wild, DI Harrison, would you mind repeating what you just told Constable Johnson?" He listened intently to what Wild had to say, taking it all in despite his amazement – he was sceptical, he had never found it easy to believe it when one suspect tried to convince him that another was guilty, but there was enough about the story that rang true for him to accept what he was being told. Whether he believed it or not, he realised he couldn't afford to just ignore what he had been told, he had to check it out. "Thank you, Mr Wild, we'll be there as quickly as we can. Please keep Miss Wright there, and if you see her brother leave the farm again, call us."

Hanging up the phone Harrison turned to the two constables. His mind raced as he made plans, and he wished that he was back in town where there would be more options available to him. He considered calling his superior for support, after the way the operation at the hospital had gone it seemed appropriate, but he didn't like the thought of giving Kieran Wright, if he was the killer, time to make plans of his own or even to get away. Besides, he figured there was only one way out from the farm, so long as they were sensible and careful he wouldn't be able to get away.

"Turner, I want you to come with me, now," Harrison told Melissa. "Johnson, I want you to call everyone who works at this station and get them out to Mr Wild's as soon as possible, we'll be going on to the Wright Farm from there. Except Inspector Stevens, I want you to tell him to call the chief inspector and ask for backup to be sent out here straight away. I don't want to wait for it but I do want it on its way here ASAP in case it's needed." He sincerely hoped it wouldn't be. He was reasonably confident that the four healthy officers the station had available would be able to subdue Kieran Wright; if he was the killer then Harrison was sure he had to know the game was up and that resisting would only make his situation worse. "When you've finished with the phone calls, I want you out at Wild's as well."

"Yes, sir," Johnson said, though he was not happy with the thought of taking part in the arrest of a vicious murderer; he wasn't a coward, but he had heard what the killer – Kieran Wright apparently – had done to his victims and he didn't want to face that kind of violence, it wasn't what he had joined the police to deal with.