RED SKATE CHAPTER FOURTEEN

On the day of Barker's hearing, all the jury confirmed he was guilty, and sentenced him to life in prison. Charlie and I were the ones who had to take him away. We shoved him in the jail cell, and locked the door. He stood there, glaring at us while we locked the door.
"Let me out!" He yelled. "I am totally innocent!"
"Yeah right," scoffed Charlie. "Why did the jury claim you was guilty then?"
"Only on the grounds that I was a member of a cult which has been extinct for years! Plus the last victim was a virgin! But that's not enough evidence to confirm I'm guilty!"
"Yes, it is," I said, as Charlie and I left.
"Do you really think he's guilty?" I asked Charlie.
"Yes. Why? Do you think he's innocent?"
"I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't really know. But there's something in his voice which says he must be."
"Yeah, well, he must be a good actor. Because those things that the jury decided must make him guilty, it is enough grounds. And plus, there was Cathy who got killed. Didn't you tell me she was the last intended victim, but they never got her?"
"Well, yeah, but that might be a red herring."
"A what?"
I sighed. "On CSI, there are usually a couple of red herrings in each episode. They throw you off track and diverts you from who the real killer is."
"Look, Sally, this ain't no TV programme, this is real life. And I say that the evidence wasn't red herrings, but is actually proof that that Barker scum is guilty!"
"I'm sorry, Charlie. I'm only thinking like a pathologist should."
"No, I'm sorry, Sally. I shouldn't have had a go at you just then. It's just that I really think Barker is guilty. If you think he's innocent, who do you think the killer might be?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't really know. We've had quite a number of suspects. First there was my ex, Jack Sabre, because he had blood on his jacket, and he seemed to know a lot about Julia Entwhistle's death. And then there was Emily Macks, because she was skating alongside Julia the night she died. Emily even disappeared just seconds before the murder happened. And now there's Barker."
"Did you or do you have any other suspects lined up?"
"No."
We walked on in silence. We got to the car park where our cars were parked side by side. We said our goodbyes, and went our seperate ways.

That night, I had a strange dream. I was walking through the woods, when I heard a voice.
"Hi, Sally."
I turned. Cathy was standing behind me, looking as if she'd never been punctured with an ice skate.
"Cathy? What are you doing here? You're dead!"
Cathy smiled. A sad, mournful smile. "I know," she said. "I need to tell you who really killed me. You've convicted an innocent man."
"No, Cathy, we haven't. Barker was the scum who killed you. He's inside for life now. Soon, he'll be in Hell, where he belongs."
"No, Sally, you're wrong, I know who killed me, because I saw her."
"Who, Cathy? Who killed you?"
Cathy smiled again. "You killed me."
I woke up with a sweat. No, I hadn't killed Cathy, it was just a dream, the result of too much stress. I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't.
I tried counting sheep, that didn't work. Then I tried to think of famous animals. There was Garfield, Gromit, Shaun, that didn't seem to work either. I spent the rest of the night, tossing and turning.

The next morning, I got up early for work. I headed to the kitchen, and made myself a bowl of cornflakes. I was just tucking into the first spoonful when the phone rang.
"Hello?" I asked, when I'd picked it up.
I couldn't hear anything on the other side at first, and then I was aware of deep, raspy breathing.
"Hello?" I said again.
The voice on the other end spoke: "Hello, Sally," it said. It was deep and raspy like the breathing. "I'm coming to get you." Then the phone went dead.
At work, I told Charlie about my dream and the strange phone call.
"I shouldn't worry about it," he said. "The dream was just a dream. As for the phone call, it's probably just kids playing silly buggers."
"But he seemed to know my name!"
"Well, they probably knew who you were, recognised your voice."
"Or maybe it wasn't kids playing silly buggers," I said. "Maybe it was the real killer."
"What? Are you insane? We've got the real killer banged up."
"That's what we were talking about yesterday, Charlie. Maybe Barker isn't the real killer after all. Remember the red herrings?"
"Oh, Sally, that's preposterous."
"Is it really, Charlie? Is it?"
Before Charlie could answer, a young man in a brown suit came hurtling towards us.
"Miss! Sir! You've got too come with me quick!"
"Why? What's wrong?" Charlie wanted to know.
"It's Barker. He's hanged himself."

Finds out what happens next in Chapter Fifteen...