Taste of Fury by M Comley (dark academia books to read txt) 📗

He left the room. Mrs Ody continued to cry.

“Can I get you a cup of tea, Mrs Ody?” Katy asked.

“Yes, if you wouldn’t mind. Where would we Brits be without a cup of tea to cure us, eh?”

Charlie placed a hand on Katy’s arm. “I’ll get it.”

“Thanks, Charlie. You’re a good ‘un.”

Charlie closed the door behind her. Katy smiled at the woman, who was wiping her nose and eyes on a tissue.

“Does the pain ever get any easier? My heart feels like it’s being torn out of my chest.”

“It’ll take a while to get used to not having them around. I’m so sorry to have to break such dreadful news to you, it’s never easy finding the right words.”

“I’m sure. Oh God, Vanessa is going to be distraught. Jackie was their only child, they adored her. Not saying we didn’t adore Chris… oh, ignore me, I’m not making any sense.” She stared across the room to the cabinet on top of which was a wedding photo of Chris and Jackie, and the tears started up again.

Charlie came back into the room carrying a tray with a mug of tea, a jug of milk and a sugar bowl. “I should have asked if you wanted milk and sugar.”

“Thank you, just milk, please.”

Charlie poured the milk into the mug and handed it to Mrs Ody, then she retook her seat next to Katy. “I didn’t make us one.”

Katy smiled. “It’s fine.”

They heard voices in the hallway and the door burst open. A woman and a man entered the room behind Mr Ody.

“This is… sorry, I’ve forgotten your names,” Mr Ody, said, halting his introductions.

Katy stood and extended a hand to the couple who appeared to be perplexed by the situation. “I’m DI Katy Foster and this is my partner, DS Charlie Simpkins. Thank you for joining us. Please, take a seat.” She motioned for Charlie to join her so the couple could take their places on the sofa.

“We’re Vanessa and Zac Collins. Why are you here?” Zac asked as he and his wife lowered themselves onto the sofa.

It was understandable that Mr Ody had chosen not to fill the couple in on the short trip to the house. “It’s with a very heavy heart I have to tell you that both Jackie and Christopher lost their lives today. I’m so sorry.”

Vanessa and Zac stared at each other and then faced Fiona and Donald. “Is this true?” Zac asked, his voice straining a touch.

Mr and Mrs Ody both nodded. “Yes, it’s true. Let me get you both a drink,” Fiona said.

“I don’t want a drink. I want my bloody daughter back,” Vanessa shouted.

Her husband pulled her towards him, nestled her head on his chest and stroked her hair to soothe her. “There, there, love. We’ll get through this. We’re tough enough to cope with anything, remember?”

“Not this. When I said that earlier, I wasn’t expecting to hear this. Oh, God, my poor child… gone, without us ever saying goodbye a final time.”

“Isn’t it terrible? They were murdered,” Mr Ody filled the silence that had descended.

“What? How? No, I don’t want you to go into great detail. I want to remember them as they were,” Zac replied.

Katy smiled. “I would never go into detail. All I can tell you is that Chris made a nine-nine-nine call to say they had found a body in the forest. It’s pure speculation on my part, but I believe the killer returned once she saw there were witnesses at the scene. Chris was holding Jackie in his arms when they died. The pathologist thinks that possibly Jackie was injured and Chris comforted her and then they both lost their lives.”

“Why do you think the killer is a woman?” Mr Ody probed.

“Chris told the nine-nine-nine operator. Also, we have a few ongoing cases at the moment, which we believe we can tie together that are also pointing at a female killer. We’ve yet to get clarification on this, but the original victim in the forest fits the MO of what we’re looking at with the other cases.”

“Why haven’t you found the woman yet?” Zac demanded.

“We’ve only been investigating the crimes for a few days. It takes time to gather all the evidence needed to locate a possible killer. Now we have three more victims to deal with which will probably hamper our efforts even more.” Katy winced at the harshness of her words as they left her mouth. “Sorry, I never meant it to come out like that. All I’m trying to say is that when another victim is found, the investigation process has to begin all over again. Such as tonight, coming here to tell you that your loved ones have died.”

“Sorry to have caused you any inconvenience, Inspector,” Zac replied stiffly.

“I can understand you being uptight, Zac, but I’m sure the inspector didn’t really mean it to come across as heartless as it sounded,” Mr Ody said in Katy’s defence.

Katy gasped. “I didn’t, I truly didn’t. I can’t apologise enough if that’s the way it came across. Can I start over?”

“Please do, you’ve made a pig’s ear of things so far,” Zac grumbled.

Katy could have kicked herself, her inexperience of handling this particular task showing its awkward head again. “I can only apologise. It’s not the easiest of duties, I can assure you.”

“Give the girl a break, Zac. She’s doing her best in a bad situation,” Vanessa said, slapping her husband gently on the arm. “Please, can you tell us what happens next? When can we see them?”

“Yes, yes, we must see them,” Fiona chimed in.

“Well, it’ll be down to the pathologist to get in touch. She’ll have to perform the obligatory post-mortems first.”

“Why?” Fiona asked. “Why do they have to be cut up? I can’t bear the thought of them being carved open.”

“It’s because of the nature of the crime, Mrs Ody. I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and clutched her husband’s hand. “Why them? Why did they have