Page 17 of Her Last Breath

‘Thirteen minutes, ma’am.’

‘So, if the van left Rose Hill at 1.44, it should have been at the river latest by 2 p.m., but actually it got there at 2.42. So where the hell did that vehicle disappear to for an hour? Was it driving towards the river or away from it?’

‘Away, ma’am.’

An icy sliver of terror ran down Jane’s spine, her mind turning.

‘Run the damage vitals through ANPR – we might get a hit. I know it’s a longshot given how many Ford Transit vans there are on the roads, but we need to make sure we don’t miss a beat on this. DS Johnson!’

DS Johnson came out of the building, carefully removing his gloves and dusting himself off. He struggled to keep up with Jane as they hurried back to the car, his eyes widening as she spoke to DC Chan.

‘Excellent work, Detective Constable. Triangulating the timings of the van between Rose Hill and Padiham gives us the potential timeframe for Alice’s last movements. I believe she was killed sometime between 1.33 p.m. and 2.42 p.m.’

‘We don’t know for sure that she was in the van,’ DC Chan cautioned, unsure of herself despite the breakthrough her meticulous application had given them.

‘There’s evidence of her approaching the factory, no footage anywhere of her leaving the area. We know she can’t drive, so it isn’t exactly a leap. Good work, DC Chan.’

Jane’s mind was whirring, thinking of the van, thinking of Liam Harrison. She wondered if the abattoir used similar vehicles to transport their meat.

‘Building the timeframe from the sightings of the van, can you recall if Harrison had an alibi for those times?’ she asked.

There was silence as DC Chan checked. Pulling wet wipes from the glove compartment of his car, DS Johnson wiped down his neck and face. He offered some to Jane, who realising her boots were crusted over with dirt, accepted one.

‘From the interview I did with him last week,’ DC Chan said, ‘Liam Harrison doesn’t have an alibi for those times, ma’am.’

Jane felt a beat of excitement as the pieces began to fall into place. Finally, they had a suspect.

Chapter 9

Liam tugged the dirty overalls and blood-stained boots from his locker, tossing them to the floor to reveal his emergency stash of notes, secreted in a small plastic box. It always paid to be prepared. He should have left work a lot earlier in truth, as soon as that bitch had called him, but that might have alerted his boss. He had to be subtle about this.

Where could he go? He had nowhere. No one. Pushing away those negative thoughts, he grabbed only a handful of vital possessions, stuffing them into a rucksack. Things he could get again. Freedom he couldn’t. Now that Alice had been found, he knew they would come for him. And no fucking way was he going back to prison.

Liam surveyed the locker room one last time, checking to see if any other lockers had been left open. Finding one ajar, he rifled through jean pockets, finding a wallet with crisp fifty-pound notes inside. These illegals, he thought with distaste, richer than him, always doing dodgy stuff.

He stuffed the money in his pocket, closing the locker door carefully.

Cautiously, he peered out of the opaque windows. They weren’t real smoked glass – someone had simply stuck a plastic sheet over the glass to give that impression. Looking through a tear in the cheap adhesive strip, Liam felt a pulse of panic. Two police cars had just pulled up outside, their blue lights strobing the building.

Turning, Liam sprinted from the dirty locker room. Confusion filled his head, panic and adrenaline coursing through him. The police had already blocked off the front entrance, so where could he go?

Making a split-second decision, he tore down the corridor, past Peel’s office and into the gloom of the slaughter area. The pigs squealed in unison as he approached, terrified he was coming for them, but he didn’t linger, pausing only to grab a gore-caked knife as he hurried past the silent stunning machine.

His boots smacked against the tiled floor as he searched for a place to hide. He had to stay hidden until the police left, or it was all over for him.

Sweat beaded his forehead as he dashed into the freezer room, where the carcasses were stored, ready to be transported to their final destinations. It was empty, the other workers called away by Peel no doubt. The icy chill hit him as he killed the lights, triggering the low blue night lights to kick in instead. The rows of dead pigs, skinned and decapitated, would provide some cover for him. Liam scrambled through the dimly lit space, squeezing between cold, fleshy torsos, trying to find a place to hide. If he could slip into a corner unseen, he could ride this out, he felt sure of it.

Suddenly he heard a loud shout from the slaughter chamber, followed by determined footsteps heading in his direction. Panicking, Liam took off once more, his lungs burning as he took ragged breaths of frozen air, his heart feeling as though it was about to burst from his ribcage. A stitch tormented him, his legs faltered as he smacked into one chilled beast after another, but he kept going, pushing deeper into the giant freezer. He was tense, desperate, but alert. He would fight to save his skin. He would kill to preserve his liberty. Nothing else mattered now.

Chapter 10

Shadowy carcasses swung back and forth, as Jane pushed into the freezer unit, the dim blue lighting and icy temperature disorientating her. Frantically she tried to find the switch to turn the lights back on, but was unable to. Having watched Liam disappear into the room moments before, she knew he was hiding out in here somewhere, but where? She paused, taking a breath, trying to get a bead on him, but she saw only a swaying sea of butchery, the stench of frozen blood all around making her gag.

There were multiple carcasses hung up, disfigured with their hides and heads gone. Jane counted at least eight rows, with a dozen slabs of meat in each. Narrow pathways separated the strung-up carcasses. Liam could be hiding in any of the rows in the giant fridge, behind any of the swinging dead pigs.

A loud noise overhead made Jane spin around, her body tensed to defend herself. But it was just the refrigeration unit kicking back into life. Gathering herself, she made her way across the dimly lit room, the bitter cold biting her face. Her eyes roved this way and that, scanning the unfamiliar environment, every sense heightened as she stalked her prey. She heard a scuffling sound just ahead of her, saw a flash of movement, and tore in that direction, barging the heavy carcasses out of her way as though they were punching bags in the gym.

Shadows danced around her as she pressed on, searching through the rows of hanging flesh. One after another, she batted the dead pigs aside, the smell of their icy flesh filling her nostrils. Would she ever find her prey in this maze of corpses, or would Liam somehow elude her? The thought chilled Jane to the bone – there was no way she could let him escape now – but she could discern no movement ahead, their prime suspect seemingly disappearing into the ether. She was now approaching the very last row of carcasses. As she tried to calm her own pounding heart, she heard the distinct sound of shuffling feet. Following the sound, she spotted movement, a slight sway to one of the shadowy carcasses … Moving smartly forward, she heaved the bulky carcass aside, in one swift movement revealing her prize. Liam Harrison was backed into a corner, glaring at her, a bloody knife clutched in his hand.