Accused: (Mystery Series) (My Murder Mysteries #3) Read online

  "Stop the investigation now or you will pay the consequences."

  Chapter 5

  The following morning was an early one. Tammy could barely sleep; she was too busy debating with herself about whether or not going ahead with the investigation was the right thing to do. Ignoring the threat that she had received the night before, Tammy thought about the morals of it all. On one hand, she should go ahead with the investigation, because it solves the murder of somebody, and that is what she was paid do. On the other hand, she should not, because that would upset the relatives of his victims. It could have been argued that whoever killed Barry Scott was actually a good person, as doing a bad thing to a bad person cancels itself out, and therefore, a good person would have killed Barry Scott. However, Tammy decided to proceed a little while longer to see how things worked out.

  That morning at the station, the others were still reeling with excitement about what had happened the night before. Barry Scott was dead! Tammy had to tell the truth to herself - it was like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders, because she knew that she would never give up fighting until he was behind bars, or at least, until justice was brought to him. Then Tammy thought about something: the night before, when she received the threatening note, where did she put the note? She had forgotten where she had put it. As a matter of fact, she could not remember much about the night before - was there a chance that she had dreamed it?

  She walked in the room, and the rest of the team were sat in silence. A knife could be cut through the atmosphere in there.

  "What's the matter?" said a confused Tammy.

  "We have nothing against you", said Pam, after a few awkward seconds of silence, "but we think that it is wrong, you doing the investigation".

  "I went through this with you last night!" Tammy said passionately.

  "Just this once, let it be", Pam said, as if she were giving an order.

  "I'm sorry, but I'm not", said Tammy, "not yet, anyway".

  "You look a little shaky", Miranda said suddenly, even grinning slightly.

  "I'm fine", Tammy replied.

  Miranda decided to put pressure on her.

  "You sure about that?" she asked.

  "I'm fine!" said Tammy, "anyway, I'm more than fine! I am happy that Barry Scott is dead, if that is any consolation to any of you!"

  Tammy then sat down.

  "I remember the times he was acting really smug", said Graham Mitchell, "well, we all had the last laugh, because he paid for what he did! I don't care which of the five of them did it, but I hope they don't get caught! They've lost their relatives, for crying out loud! Why would prison help them?"

  "Alright, you've made your point!" exclaimed Tammy, feeling rather left out.

  "What kind of upbringing do you think he had?" asked Pam.

  "Probably sadistic", said Tammy, "judging from what I know about most serial killers".

  "Libby...what's her name was not abused growing up. She was crazy!"

  "Well, that's just one in a million", replied Tammy. "The vast majority of the time, serial killers have been abused, and there is a real reason as to why they kill people".

  "Now it's that age old question", said Miranda, jumping in, "is evil created or are people born evil?"

  "We'll never know", said Pam, finalizing the conversation.

  In all of a sudden, the boss rushed in.

  "Tammy, I need to speak to you!" he cried.

  "Why?" asked an extremely confused Tammy.

  "Will you just come with me now?!" said the very angry man.

  Tammy followed him down the stairs. Not a word was said. It was tense, when everyone was approaching the car. There were several police officers hanging around the area, and even forensic scientists. What Tammy saw next shocked her completely: in the boot of her car, there was a crowbar, and on that crowbar, there was blood, and lots of it!

  "What the Hell?!" she screamed. "How did that get there?!"

  "We are hoping you'll be able to answer that", said the boss.

  "It wasn't me!"

  "Look, this crowbar will be taken in for analysis, and it will be kept as evidence against you. I am not going to arrest you at this stage, but if any more evidence against you appears, I am going to arrest you for the murder of Barry Scott!"

  Chapter 6

  Tammy could not get over the shock - was somebody trying to frame her? It certainly looked that way. If so, it was a race against time to catch the killer, or else Tammy could have been framed for it! She was scared now, because Mitchell thought it was her - she knew it. She was determined to prove him wrong. Nobody could prove that she did it, not yet, anyway. Was there more 'evidence' to come?

  There was indeed more evidence to come. Unfortunately, later that day, more evidence came to light when the police examined the perfume bottle that Tammy had used for that night. The evidence from the perfume bottle suggested that Tammy had been near Barry Scott, or in direct contact with him. The clothes on Barry Scott had the same smell as Tammy's perfume bottle, and there were several policemen who confirmed that. This meant that Barry Scott had to come in extremely close contact with either the perfume or someone who was wearing it to carry the strong smell. There was no other apparent explanation as to why Barry Scott smelled like that, so it was assumed that Tammy had come into close contact with him. However, Tammy was not arrested yet as there was not enough evidence, although some of the police officers in the station did say themselves that they thought it was her.

  Tammy was devastated. As a result of this revelation, Tammy was sent home until further notice, because she was now considered a suspect. She cried all the way home, but nothing could be done.

  "Do you believe me?" Tammy asked Pam.

  "I'm sorry, I don't know what to believe", was Pam's last words to Tammy on the phone.

  Tammy knew that she would resurface from this. She was more determined than ever to solve the crime, even though the most ironic thing was that it was the murder of the person she hated most, but she knew that she had to do it. She was losing support quickly, and therefore, she knew that she needed to gain it again. Firstly, she had to think deeply about the killer, but there was not yet that much to go on, except for the evidence that was left to frame her. Somebody must have really had it in for her - she assumed that it was one of the five relatives of the victims, because it would be nobody else.

  Suddenly, Miranda came to visit.

  "Come to see how I am?" Tammy asked in a fairly bitter way.

  "Hello, Tammy", said Miranda, "I'm here to search your house to gather evidence".

  "Why?" asked Tammy.

  "You know it's procedure," Miranda replied plainly.

  "You know it's not me," Tammy protested.

  "I don't know it's not you", said Miranda, "I'm not assuming anything. That's what you always taught me in every case that we have done together - it could turn out to be the person you'd least suspect, and you have to keep that in the back of your mind".

  "You know fine well it's not me!" cried Tammy.

  Miranda stopped talking to her, and began to focus on her work. She put some latex gloves on. Tammy hated her more than ever now. After a while, she went into Tammy's back garden, and searched the flower pots.

  "What's this then?" Miranda said, pulling out a knife from one of the flower pots!

  "I don't know!" screamed Tammy. But Miranda took no notice.

  "Tammy Williams", Miranda begun, "I am arresting you for the murder of Barry Scott. You don't have to say anything..."

  At that moment, Tammy froze. This cannot be happening! Was her life about to end in tatters?

  Tammy was put into the car, and one person even took a photograph. It still hadn't sunk in yet. Tammy knew that she needed to think of ways to prove her innocence, no matter how hard that would be.

  Chapter 7

  Tammy sat in the cell in the police station - so this was what it was like. She felt so trapped. There was nothing there for her to do, except use the
toilet and lie down on the extremely thin mattress. It was dark, too, for the window was very small - if there was a fire, she would not be able to escape the building, which would count as a health and safety issue, although it was ignored by all, because nobody cared about prisoners, guilty or not.

  Eventually, a police officer came to give her some dinner.

  "This is absolutely ridiculous!" she cried, but the police officer did not listen. "It wasn't me! Nobody can prove that!"

  She knew that nobody would listen to her. After she finished her dinner, ten minutes later, the same officer came, and took her to the desk. She knew that was coming.

  "Tammy Williams", said the officer at the desk, "you are charged with the murder of Barry Scott. You are refused bail".

  "I'll prove my innocence!" exclaimed Tammy, "and I'll put a claim in for this mess!"

  She was taken back to her cell. She decided to make a start on proving her innocence by thinking about the evidence that was planted. Nobody could have got into her back garden without taking a risk. Tammy assumed that it was one of the five suspects who was doing this to her, if not all of them. How could they find out where she lived? However, nowadays, there are many websites online that help to track people down, so she assumed it was that way. Knowing that the plant pot incident would get her nowhere, Tammy decided to think about the perfume. How did her perfume get on to Barry Scott? She thought about that for a while. The final piece of evidence left to her was the crowbar found in the back car. Then, she remembered something - for five minutes, she left the table to go to the toilet, leaving the keys on the table. Other than that, her keys were in her back pocket at all times, so nobody would be able to get hold of them. That five minutes would prove crucial to her, and she knew it. She thought about where everyone was when she went to the toilet; the rest of the squad were there, and the five main suspects were also there on a nearby table, watching her every move like a hawk. That provided with them with the opportunity to do it. Could it be possible that the five of them managed to distract the rest of the squad while taking Tammy's keys, before putting the bloody crowbar into the back of her car? However, there was one major argument against this - Scott was murdered after Tammy went to the toilet, so it was impossible for a bloody crowbar to be placed into the car at that time. Was it actually Scott's blood on that crowbar? Hopefully not, then there would be evidence that Tammy was framed. However, she did not want to count on it, because the murderer was an intelligent person, and Tammy knew it.

  Seeing nowhere else to go, Tammy used her one phone call for phoning a friend from the past...

  Inspector George Coarse entered the building. He was dressed smartly, and used a walking stick, for something had happened to his leg the last time he had been seen. He was allowed to visit Tammy for five minutes.

  "Long time, no see", he said. "How've you been?"

  "I really need your help", said Tammy, cutting to the chase because she knew that help was needed.

  "I know you need to get out of here, but how can I help?"

  "I need you to find the real murderer of Barry Scott", Tammy replied firmly.

  "Aren't you supposed to be the one who can work these things out?"

  "You're a great detective, too", she said, with a hint of desperation. "I've seen you in the papers a couple of times".

  "I'll try my best, but I can't make any promises".

  "You do this for me and you won't regret it", Tammy promised, seeing Coarse as her last chance

  Chapter 8

  Coarse was not a complicated man - he was a straightforward man, who liked to get things done, and done right. He did not like to wait. He wanted to stop Tammy from suffering as he truly believed that she was innocent, although that was not yet proven. He knew that he needed to start investigating immediately. His tactic was simple: to put pressure on each of the five suspects. That way, he might get somewhere, he thought.

  The first person to be interviewed was Bethy Sanders. She said that she was in the toilet, talking to Tracy, and that was all that she had said, until now.

  "What do you want?" said Bethy.

  "I am investigating the murder of Barry Scott", said Coarse.

  "Not another one!" cried Bethy, "I'm sick of police officers! Can't you just let the dead rest in peace, and I don't mean Barry Scott!"

  "It's not as simple as that", Coarse explained. "You see, Tammy Williams has been arrested for the brutal murder of Barry Scott".

  "So it was her?" asked Bethy.

  "You see, Tammy has asked me to investigate the death".

  "You're wasting your time - it probably was her".

  "If you look at it mathematically, Miss, you will see that it was probably not her. There were six established suspects. Therefore, the chances that Tammy Williams is the killer is one in six".

  "Well, one in five to me, because I know that I did not do it, and I knew that Tracy did not do it, so it's a one in four chance to me".

  "You say that Tracy did not do it because she was with you, but what about her alibi?"

  "I don't follow".

  "Who gives you an alibi? Tracy. Who gives Tracy an alibi? You. This is a traditional conspiracy technique, although it is not a very good one. Your alibi is not the most watertight of ones. You are still a suspect in my eyes".

  "Alright, you've made your point, but you still can't prove it was me!" Bethy replied, grinning.

  Coarse knew that that was right: he could not prove it...yet. He had a very similar conversation with Tracy, and her responses were very similar to Bethy's, as if it were a scripted performance. However, Coarse continued to the brother of Bethy, William.

  William claimed that he was sat at a table with Linda. In order to prove or disprove this statement, Coarse looked at the CCTV, which was now available. Unfortunately, the results proved to be inconclusive, because as usual, on the screen, not much can be seen but a few blobs and black and white. It was like looking at a baby scan. No information could be retrieved, although Coarse thought that he had seen two people sat at the table where William said they were sat, but he could not identify them.

  "So, you claim to be here?" said Coarse.

  "I was here", William replied.

  "But you might not have been", said Coarse. "You could have actually been outside. Nobody would have noticed you. You could be the killer".

  "But you can't prove it", said William, rather smugly.

  Linda had said exactly the same thing.

  Joseph was the final one of the five to be interviewed. He did not say much, which made Coarse even more suspicious of him. His simple reply was, "you can't prove it".

  That was rather strange to Coarse - were they all in it together? It certainly appeared that way, and if only one person had planned it all, it seemed to him that there was a conspiracy of silence between the five of them - they were not about to give any information away, so Coarse was about to struggle with this.

  Chapter 9

  While Coarse was trying his best to find out the real killer of Barry Scott (and failing), Tammy sat alone in her cell, wondering what her fate would be. She had two and a half months to wait until the trial, which was a very long time. Still, she knew that she was going to get sent down anyway, unless Coarse saved her. Nobody else would listen to her, so Coarse was her only hope. She had thought about it herself, but she was too tired and focused on surviving in prison, so she could not think about it in too much depth.

  It was still her first official day of been in prison, and a guard opened the door to inform her that she was allowed out for one hour to exercise. This terrified her - having to face psychopaths, with barely anybody there to help you. She knew that she might as well have faced it sooner or later.

  Tammy left the cell, and walked over to a scruffy looking table, where nobody was. She did not want to sit near anybody, and she hoped that nobody would bother to notice her. A woman approached her, and she looked rather violent.

  "What are you in for, then?" she said, t
aking a seat.

  "Murder", Tammy quietly replied.

  "So you're a lifer then?" the woman asked in a rather friendly tone of voice.

  "I'm waiting for my trial yet", Tammy said, rather frightened.

  "Oh, right", replied the woman. "Well, it's not as bad as you think here. They're alright - we're on the nice wing, even though it's full of murderers".

  "Are they really alright?" asked Tammy.

  "Well, you are, aren't you? And I am, and I killed someone!"

  The woman then proceeded to ask Tammy about the circumstances of Scott's death, although she purposely failed to mention the fact that she was a police officer - if she did, she would probably die.

  "She was a police officer", a voice said, in the background.

  Tammy froze for a second. She had no idea who said that. Then, she looked across the room, and the penny dropped: Libby was in the same wing as her. Libby. She was a psychotic serial killer who Tammy had arrested a couple of months before.

  "She was the one who got me arrested for the murders!" screamed Libby, "if it wasn't for her, then I wouldn't be here!"

  "You what?!" screamed the seemingly nice woman who had conversed with Tammy.

  "I don't know what she's talking about", cried Tammy, desperately, "she's crazy!"

  "I'm not!" cried Libby, "I told you, Laura, about the one who had me arrested. Her name was Tammy Williams, who was a young woman!"

  "She did", replied Laura.

  Several large woman circled around Tammy. There was no hope for her. One of them jumped on her, and the rest followed. The rest was blank, but Tammy remembered been pulled out of the pile of women by one of the guards. She was then escorted to another quiet room, where she was left in there.

  Later that day, at dinner time, Tammy was allowed out again, but she was allowed to eat separately from the others, given the circumstances. She could still see the women who attacked her through the bars, though, including Libby. Then, Libby made a surprising move: she approached Tammy.