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July 19 - August 2, 2023
In 2012, a new friend appeared on the scene, a girl called Barbora Kardosova.
Then, in late 2013, Barbora abruptly vanished without explanation, defriending Andrea.
‘There are also patches of hair missing from each temple. They look to have been pulled out at the root.’
‘Andrea’s hair was pulled out,’ said Erika, softly.
YOU’RE JUST LIKE ME, DCI FOSTER. WE’VE BOTH KILLED FIVE.
When you lose someone, not only are they gone, but everyone around you doesn’t want to talk about them. It drives me slightly crazy. It’s like he’s been deleted .
DCI Foster has forced my hand. I’m going to have to kill her.
I was so fucking close! SO CLOSE!
The tears were of rage and pain.
She didn’t see anything, she couldn’t have. I had my face covered. I had my face covered . . .
She denied me the kill.
Why had he been taken, when she was spared?
Somewhere, there was a missing link. Something that could link the man who’d tried to kill Erika to all of the other deaths.
Not only had DCI Foster survived, she’d come back from it stronger. She’s been put back on the fucking case!
‘Okay. All above board. Two grand. And the safe word is Erika.’
The figure drove off, activating the central locking, telling her this, too, was part of the game.
‘We’ve got a young girl on the line who says she’s Barbora Kardosova, Andrea’s long lost best friend,’ said Crane.
I shouldn’t have contacted you using my real name,’ she said. ‘I’m in the witness protection programme.’
‘I met you because I have to talk to you about George Mitchell . . .’ She swallowed and shook even more. ‘I should tell you his real name.’
‘Igor Kucerov,’
When I came for my next shift a few days later, he was there, waiting with a gift bag, and inside was a new iPod .
‘About a year. He did so much in that time. Helping us out. He paid for a special bathroom to be put in for my mother. He cleared my credit cards . . .’
I didn’t see him for a few days, until he showed up with a gift, and my mum was so happy to see him. I just took it and carried on as if nothing had happened.’
When I found out about Andrea, that’s when he first properly hit me.’
‘He punched me in the stomach. It was so hard I threw up, and then he locked me in the cupboard under the stairs.’
He said he’d only let me out if I promised not to mention him and Andrea again.’
He went to that cupboard under our stairs and he put her in there and he locked it.
I heard the girl screaming and crying. It went on for what seemed like hours . . . And then it went quiet.
‘I cleaned up the mess in the cupboard. There was blood and other stuff . . .’
‘He came back later, and he told me I’d done a good job. He even gave me some money . . .’
The more I knew, the more Igor kept giving me money.
‘Igor was trafficking women to London, to work as prostitutes?’
‘Was it the night of the eighth of January, in a pub called The Glue Pot?’ asked Erika.
A rope creaked and swung, and on the end of a noose hung Barbora. Her feet were still, and her body swung in the breeze.
The further they dug into this case, the more complex it became.
‘Yes. I was surprised at how hard it was to let him go,’ she said. She froze, and frowned.
‘BECAUSE HE KILLED MY CAT!’ she suddenly cried. ‘HE KILLED BOOTS! Killed Boots! No one believed me! They all thought I was making it up, but he killed my baby cat. He killed Giles’s cat too, and made it look like it was me! That fucking bastard . . .’
‘He strangled him . . . He strangled him . . . Like, like . . .’ Linda bit down on her lip so hard that a spot of blood oozed out.
‘Like those girls,’ she finished, in a tortured whisper.
Then she sensed movement and a shadow behind her. A hand closed over hers, ripping the phone from her grasp.
‘To Igor, Andrea’s fucking fuck buddy! For the girls.’
‘He gave Giles the money to pay him off! And he’s given David money to leave the country. ALL THAT
MONEY AND HE WOULDN’T BUY ME A LITTLE KITTEN!’
‘So he knew you killed Mirka, Tatiana, Karolina?’
‘She was threatening to tell Mother; she said she was going to go to the fucking press! Stupid girl. First lesson of life in the establishment: keep your mouth shut. Or someone will shut it for you, permanently.’
He then grabbed his bag, passport and money, and carried Erika downstairs over his shoulder.
