Page 97 of D for Dead

No choice? What the hell was he talking about?

‘Whatever it is, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. Please don’t this to me, please. No–’

She screamed as he pulled her head back by her hair, forcing the end of the funnel into her mouth.

He reached for the bottle.

‘Don’t struggle. It will be quick, I promise.’

Nadine tried to spit the funnel out, but his grip was firm and she choked as he pushed it further into her mouth.

Dear God, no. Please don’t let it end like this.

But then she felt the burning acid in her mouth and throat, and she knew it was too late.

* * *

Once she was dead he went to her library of books. It was only fitting he leave Nadine’s copy of Murder Games as the calling card. He arranged the book neatly in front of her, picked up the kitchen knife she had been holding when he attacked her and replaced it in the knife drawer, before sparing her a final glance. She hadn’t been part of the plan, but the damn woman had gotten in the way. She wouldn’t let things drop.

Shaking his head in pity for the way she’d had to die, he made his way into the living room. Marvin Gaye was still playing and he stopped by the CD player, set the track back to ‘Let’s Get It On’ and put it on loop. He liked the song and felt it was a fitting tribute to Nadine.

Behind him, a male voice coughed.

He turned to face the figure standing by the patio door he had unlocked after Nadine had lost consciousness, before he had tied her to the chair and poured acid down her throat, and smiled.

‘Good, you’re here at last.’

29

Nadine Williams was found in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Troy was the one to make the gruesome discovery, returning to the beach house around three thirty, having put in another late-night shift at Blake & Colman. He dialled 911 and the first responders found him twenty minutes later sat on the kitchen floor, weeping over his girlfriend’s body.

Joel got a call around four forty, and by six was in the beach house kitchen with Rivers, Angell and Sullivan, waiting on the pathologist to arrive.

‘He’s picked up his pace,’ Angell commented, taking in the scene. ‘Only four days between kills. The others have been around the week mark.’

She was right and the development was worrying, with only two books to go, one of their suspects dead and another an inconsolable mess on the floor.

Had Troy Cunningham killed his girlfriend or was his grief genuine? And if it was, where did that leave things? The print results had come back from the Mr X letters and revealed nothing. Whoever had sent them had been careful to avoid detection. David Gavin was still the prime suspect and the only other one they had, unless the lead from Amy’s nightmare panned out.

Gavin’s behaviour since arriving back in Juniper was suspicious, but did that make him a killer?

The only motive to link him to the murders was his broken relationship with Amy. Had he emerged so bitter he was willing to kill to get back at her?

The photographs suggested a spurned ex, as did the words BITCH and WHORE, crudely written across her windshield, but there was a big jump from taking pictures and vandalising property to committing murder.

‘That had to have hurt.’ Rivers spared a pitying glance at Nadine. He had his notepad out and was scribbling as usual, but Joel noted the lack of colour in his face and had thought he was gonna puke when they’d first arrived. This was the worst kill Rivers had seen to date and from what Joel knew of his partner, he wasn’t the type to get his hands dirty.

‘Acid would have eaten her from the inside out,’ Greg Withers told him matter-of-factly, not noticing when Rivers visibly retched. ‘Probably sulfuric; I’ll have to run some tests to be sure. Wouldn’t have been a pleasant way to go.’

Behind him, Troy sobbed loudly.

Joel nudged Rivers. ‘Get him out of here, will you?’

Rivers didn’t argue, looking glad to be asked. He took Troy by the arm. ‘Come on, Mr Cunningham. Let’s move through into the living room.’

Angell watched them go.