On Jacob’s advice, she gulped her coffee and closed her eyes. She couldn’t let Jacob see her panic. She took a breath in through her nose, held her breath and exhaled. If the neighbour’s reports were right, she knew just how Jade would have felt.At least Jade didn’t kill her husband, like me.Willing thoughts of her abusive ex-husband, Terry, to go away, she stood and walked over to the window, staring out at the old tree in the car park, its roots pushing the concrete upwards, spilling over and creating the most charming looking trip hazards. She concentrated hard on the morning sun, the birds flying back and forth, landing on branches. She tuned in to Jacob tapping on her desk.
Terry was gone and her life had been good since.Right, back to it, Harte.
She knew the pathologist’s report wouldn’t be completed for a while but she made a mental note to ask Bernard if there were any signs of physical abuse on Jade Ashmore’s body.
Her phone beeped and she instantly felt her heart rate speed again as she saw a text from her Tinder date. That man wasn’t taking hints. She’d have to be even blunter, maybe even ruder.
‘Can I take this report with me, guv? I’ll go through it too.’
‘Of course. Task O’Connor and Wyre to chase up Rhys Keegan and Aimee Prowse again. We’ve had all units on alert for his car but nothing has come back so far. I want to know what went on in that summerhouse. I know the Ashmores’ creepy neighbour, Colin Wray, saw him there but he also saw Jade leaving a few minutes before Rhys did. It’s strange that we haven’t managed to find him since. Even stranger that Noah was with his partner, Aimee, at the same time.’
Jacob nodded. ‘Totally agree. I’ll pass all that on. Shall I tell O’Connor that the cereal bar was a bit crumby?’ He gave her a smirk.
She smiled back. ‘Don’t you dare.’
As he left, she read the text.
I know I messed up, with the wine and leaving my belt, but I really like you, Gina. When you showed an interest in me on Tinder, I was thrilled, so thrilled. I don’t exactly know where I went wrong or what I might have done to upset you, but can we start again?
She placed her head in her hands. She thought he would be like the other men she’d met. They went out, she went back to his and that’s where it ended. Gina didn’t do relationships. She’d tried with Briggs, her boss, but that had left her lost. They could never be together working at the same station and neither would ever leave. She rubbed her throbbing temples. Briggs was the one. He’d never know it, but he was. Another text came.
I’ll prove myself. One more chance? I can be a great guy, you know. I’m good at cooking, like long walks, log fires, cats…
She laughed. He certainly had done his research. Briggs had moved on, he had gone on dates, she had to move on too. Her smile turned into a frown. Rex seemed to want so much more than she thought she’d ever even contemplate giving. She’d given her heart away only twice in her life, one had been a controlling psychopath and the other had been a professional no-go. She swallowed as she put herself in Rex’s shoes. He liked her, went out with her and slept with her, all the time hoping that it would lead somewhere. Really, she’d used him just to ease her loneliness and now he was wondering where he went wrong. She typed out a message.
I need time to think. X
Her phone went, it was Jacob. ‘Looks like one of our witnesses has finally got in touch.’ She smiled as he finished talking.
Thirteen
‘Come in,’ Gina called. Wyre entered. Her crisp black suit matched her newest crisp-cut black hair, a cut that almost resembled pictures she’d seen of Egyptian goddesses. Gina brushed down her crumpled shirt and leaned back. ‘I see a smile. You’ve got something, haven’t you?’
‘We have just had a call from a lady called Diane Garraway. Seven years ago, a friend of hers went missing, a young woman called Samantha Felton. I just emailed you the missing persons file.’ Gina glanced at her inbox and true to her word, the email had already arrived. She clicked on it, then into the link and a photo appeared on her screen. Missing since the fifth of May 2012. No sightings of her since.
‘Unless she has new information, I don’t see where we can go with this one at the moment. We really have to prioritise the Jade Ashmore murder case.’
‘You haven’t heard the best of it yet, guv.’ Gina could see a glint in Wyre’s eye.
‘Spill the beans, Paula.’ Gina linked her fingers and flexed them out in front of her.
Wyre flipped open a page in her notebook. ‘It would have been Samantha’s thirty-third birthday yesterday. Diane received a card to Samantha, the letters contained in it are cut out from bits of magazine. Now, here’s the intriguing bit, if that wasn’t enough already. A small, whole fingernail was also included inside the card, the shade of pink is what Diane believes matches the one that was Samantha’s favourite. She thinks it’s a fake nail but she isn’t sure as it’s been thickly varnished.’
‘Jade Ashmore was missing a fingernail, the smallest one on her right hand. For the nail to turn up on the same day of Jade Ashmore’s murder is more than a coincidence.’
Wyre nodded. ‘That’s what I thought. Someone’s playing a game with us, I think.’
A flash of thoughts filled Gina’s head. The image of a fingernail being tugged away from skin made her wince. ‘I need to speak to her. Fancy an outing this morning?’
Nodding, Wyre flipped her pad closed. ‘Definitely.’
‘We can collect the card and send it to Bernard.’
‘That sounds like a plan. I mentioned to Diane that we would need the card. She told me she’s touched it several times and it’s even been in the bin at one point. She could have potentially ruined any evidence contained on it.’
Gina exhaled and slumped back. ‘Definitely not good from a forensics point of view. Maybe Bernard can get something from the nail, that’s if it’s not fake.’
The phone on her desk rang. ‘Bernard.’ As he spoke, Gina nodded as Wyre tried to listen to what he was saying. ‘All we have is the neighbour’s word for it then. Thank you.’ She slammed the handset down and stared at the phone.
