The Phantom Ritual (DCI Morgan Chester: Case One)

Chapter Eight

Jane could hear him in the shower. Frustration boiled inside her like the water in the kettle. Her fingers curled tightly around the handle until her knuckles turned white. The pictures on the fridge burned holes into her as if they were watching, judging her. Happy memories are now tainted with insecurity and deceit. She stood in her kitchen staring into the garden from the large bay window.

Footsteps pounded on the floor of the room above the kitchen. Mentally, Jane started to go over her list for today: do food shopping, pay the rent, coffee with her friend, do the laundry, take out the rubbish, cook dinner, and finally sleep, only to do it all again tomorrow.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of the half-empty bin next to her. It did not need to go out just yet, but she wanted to get rid of it today. She was cursed with her mother's OCD.

"Morning, love." her husband, Aaron, chirped with his hair damp from the shower.

She smiled at him half-heartedly as he leaned in to kiss her. She allowed his lips to land on hers.

"Coffee?" was all she could bring to say to him.

Aaron was about to answer when his phone rang. It was a brief call, but his face hardened.

"I am sorry, love, I have been called into work."

"I thought you were not due until this afternoon?" she questioned.

Lie to me; I dare you.

"Someone has been admitted to my department. A young woman was attacked this morning, and it's pretty serious." He innocently shrugged as he grabbed his dark leather satchel from the dining room table.

Jane nodded softly, and he swiftly ran out the door.

The impact from where she slammed the cup onto the kitchen counter had caused it to crack, and scalding tea spilt on the floor. He has lied in the past, and she knows he is lying now.

She smelt the perfume on him as he snuck in around one or two this morning. Times had been tough on them both. Jane had previously caught him watching porn when he thought she could not hear; she heard it loud and clear. Now he sneaks into their bed, reeking of cheap perfume. He said he was working late. Jane did not believe him.

Not to mention the affair that rocked their marriage almost two years ago. He promised he would never do it again.

Was she that awful as a wife that it has resulted in him being unfaithful to her?

Jane's mind drifted back to the time where they first started dating. They met when they were teenagers. He fought hard to get her attention, and after a while, she gave in, and they became closer with every interaction. They started to plan their life together when they left school.

Then, Aaron moved away to university to become a doctor, and Jane's life suddenly came to a halt to look after her unwell mother. The spark started to fade in their long-distance relationship, and eventually, they broke up.

They met again at their school reunion and married two years later. But the cracks started to show after their final attempt at having children, even with the help of IVF. Various hospital appointments and tests later, the devastating news that Jane would not be able to carry a pregnancy to full term shot them like a bullet.

She threw away the remains of the broken cup in the bin, pulled the bag out and tightened it. The bin collectors would be around shortly to take it away. After the task was done, she took a long hot bath. Her reflection did not phase her; she knew she had stopped making an effort. Aaron reckoned she was depressed, which she argued that she was not.

Today would be different, she told herself. She would stop feeling sorry for herself and got dressed in a pair of skinny denim jeans and a casual pull-on shirt decorated with grey birds. She styled her blonde hair in a high bun that complimented her heart-shaped face. Makeup was minimal as she used a powder foundation, a tinted lipstick and a thin layer of mascara.

First on her list was to pay the rent. She grabbed the iPad from Aaron's side of the bed and unlocked it with the code. As she was scrolling through the apps to find the internet, she noticed the messaging app had a notification.

She clicked on the app, and it showed a new message from a contact called DCI Chester.

The police? she thought. Could it be something to do with the girl he mentioned earlier?

Jane should ignore it. But curiosity killed the cat.

I wish you didn't have to leave. Could have joined me in the shower ;). The message appeared before Jane. It was in reply to Aaron thanking her for last night. Jane scrolled her finger further up the conversation, and her heart plummeted.

There were hundreds of messages between her husband and this DCI Chester. Some innocent, but others very flirtatious and crude. There were even photographs of the beautiful blonde either naked or dressed in lingerie.

Jane closed the iPad and placed it on the coffee table. Tears burned her eyes, but she held them back. She grabbed her beige shopper bag and oyster card on the way out the door.

She met her friend at the EL&N Cafe in Knightsbridge. They casually sipped their coffee and admired the group of beautiful young women taking photographs by the famous flower wall. Anxiety brewed in her stomach as she remembered the messages and pictures she saw earlier.

They divided the bill and walked towards Harrods, where they spent some time wandering around the shops. While her friend marched around the food hall picking up various items of food, Jane looked up DCI Chester on the internet. There on her screen was the same beautiful blonde from the raunchy photographs but now dressed in her official police uniform.

DCI Morgan Chester - Serious Crime Unit.

She bid her friend goodbye with a kiss on each cheek, walked towards the tube station, and vanished into the crowd.