RED SKATE CHAPTER THIRTEEN

We got a phone call from Mrs Vanders the next morning.
"You fuckers didn't do your job properly!" She screamed as soon as I answered the phone. "I came into Debbie's room this morning to bring her a cup of hot chocolate, and what did I find? A bed full of blood, and an ice skate sticking out of my daughter's head!"
"It's OK," I told the sobbing Mrs Vanders. "We'll be down there immediately."
"Barker's struck again," I told Charlie, as soon as I hung up.
"Who was it this time?"
"Debbie Vanders from yesterday. Her mother found her dead in her bed this morning."
"Oh God. Ice skate sticking out of her forehead?"
"Yes, just like Julia Entwhistle and Cathy."
"It seems that he has a desired way of killing. We need to get down there right away. It might be possible he used the same motive for killing as before."
Mrs Vanders seemed reluctant to let us in at first. She seemed ready to blame us for her daughter's death.
"Mrs Vanders," Charlie reasoned. "You must let us in. We need to ask you a few questions about Debbie's death to help us catch the killer."
Finally, Mrs Vanders allowed us into her living-room.
"We believe we know who killed your daughter," said Charlie.
"We believe it may be Alex Barker," I finished off. "We believe he also killed Julia Entwhistle."
"The ice skater?"
"Yes."
"Byt why would he murder my daughter. She wasn't an ice skater."
I'd kept the nugget of information about Barker from the internet. I now held it out and gave it to Mrs Vanders to read.
"Mrs Vanders, was your daughter a virgin before she was raped by Barker?" I inquired.
She shook her head. I thought she was saying no, her daughter wasn't a virgin. But I misunderstood.
"I don't really know," Mrs Vanders groaned. "I mean, she was quite popular at school and she went to loads of parties at the weekends, but I don't know if she ever got up to anything," she looked at the piece of paper. "Are you saying this Barker character has started up this silly cult business again, and has used my daughter as his target?"
"Yes," I replied. "Julia Entwhistle was murdered in the same way as Debbie. And so was my mate Cathy Jones."
"I think Debbbie would've told me if she wasn't a virgin."
"It's okay, Mrs Vanders," Charlie said. "We have all the information we need. Thank you for your time."
I went home for lunch and stuck the TV on. The news was on, so I kept it on. I don't know why, but I was hoping that someone might've seen or glimpsed Alex Barker. Even though it was an impossibility.
I was just about to switch the TV off again, when the words 'Alex Barker' made me prick up my ears.
I looked at the TV, interested.
"It is believed that Alex Barker has robbed a bank," the newscaster was saying. "A man fitting Barker's description went into the bank down on St King's Street, wearing a mask. He held everyone at gunpoint demanding for every single dollar in the bank. Luckily, one of the bank tellars was an ex FBI agent, and he pinned and held down Barker, locking him in a broom cupboard with no means of escape. Barker is held in custody there until the police are alerted.
I switched the TV off, feeling satisfied. At last, we'd caught the scum and now we can lock him in jail and throw away the key. The phone rang.
"Did you hear?" Charle asked.
"Yes."
"We need to get to the bank as soon as possible."
I quickly finished off my sandwich, and headed back to work.
Charlie was coming out of the building as I was pulling up outside. I opened the door and invited him inside.
"Oh, good," he said, clambering in. "You're going to drive."
It took us half an hour to find the bank. When we entered, everything was normal, no sign of an attempted bank robbery. A bank teller saw us walking towards him, and left his window to join our side.
"Are you the police?" He asked. Then, without waiting for an answer: "Follow me, he's through here..."
He led through the back of the bank, and opened up a door marked 'Broom Cupboard'. A figure ran out from inside and promptly tried to run away. The bank teller grabbed him by the waist and pinned him down. I couldn't see if it was Barker or not, because he still was wearing a mask.
Charlie reached down and pulled off the mask. The figure looked up, and glared at him. I saw in an instant that it definitely was Barker.
"Yes, that's Barker," Charlie said. "You'll be coming with us, Sonny."
He grabbed hold of Barker and hoisted him up. He thanked the bank teller, who promptly left. I reached over to help Charlie, and grabbed Barker's wrist. We frogmarched him outside, somehow managing to squash his efforts to get away. I opened up the back door of the car, and shoved him in, remembering to lock the doors from the outside, so he couldn't just open the doors and jump out.
We drove off back to the station.
"You're not going to arrest me, are you?" Barker asked.
"Yes," I replied. "For the murders of Julia Entwhistle, Cathy Jones and Debbie Vanders. You do not have to say anything, but what you do say will later come up against you in court."
Barker yelled over while I was speaking: "It wasn't me! You can't prove it!"
We got to the station, and shoved Barker in a cell, then we informed that we would tell him when his court case would be.
As we left the station, Charlie said: "I can't believe we caught the scum at last! I reckon we should just forget his court case and leave him to rot in prison!"
"Now, Charlie, that isn't very professional," I said. "It may be possible that he's innocent. Even if it's very, very slim."
"Are you nuts? It's obvious he did it all."
"Why?"
"Well, that nugget of info you found out about him on the internet for one thing. And the fact that there's a possibility that Debbie Vanders may have been a virgin, for another."
I couldn't be bothered to argue. We just got in the car, and drove back to the lab.

The court case was a week later. We went to the station to find Barker's cell, and inform him his hearing was the next day. "Good, then you'll see I'm innocent!" Was all he said...

Find out what happens next in Chapter Fourteen...