He paused for a moment. Gina imagined him stroking his ever lengthening grey beard as he scanned his notes. He was looking more like Gandalf with every week. ‘The fingernail that you sent in.’
‘Yes?’ Gina felt her heartbeat humming under her shirt.
‘It is Jade Ashmore’s nail. A little bit of skin was still attached to the nail and it is a definite match. It looks like our perpetrator trimmed it and painted it pink.’
Twenty-Six
‘Coffee and walnut slice, guv? Made by Mrs O’s fair hands.’ O’Connor entered the incident room with an old biscuit tin full of cake.
‘Smells lovely. That’s breakfast sorted. Thank her for me.’ She took a slice before he headed to his computer. Gina took a bite of the sugary sponge as she stared at the boards. ‘Right, gather round,’ Gina called as she slotted the disk into the computer. Wyre, Jacob and O’Connor headed over and filled the tiny space at the front of the room. As the computer whirred into action, Gina pressed play and the footage started. She fast forwarded to seven minutes past three in the morning. ‘I’ve already had a brief look.’ She pressed play.
They all watched as the grainy figure in a dark coat, hood up, scurried past the front of the house. As with a lot of domestic CCTV, they all knew it wasn’t going to clearly identify their person. Gina paused the footage just before the figure went out of shot. ‘We can see what I think is the outline of a white envelope. As for shape, I would say we are looking for a male. The coat is quite thick looking. He also appears to be wearing a small backpack.’ Gina pointed to the small mass on the back of the figure. ‘Keith has already examined the scene and taken samples. He also said that our perp had cleaned up well, no footprints on the toilet which was the entrance point, no fingerprints on the window or catches, again suggesting that gloves were worn. We are still waiting for results to come back on the hair sample. Initial thoughts are that this belongs to Samantha Felton. The fingernail that was delivered to Diane’s with the card had a bit of torn skin attached to it, even though our perp went through a lot of effort to clean it well. It is a positive match against Jade Ashmore. We have also confirmed that Jade’s nail was painted in Samantha’s favourite colour. Confusing, I know.’
Gina began to fast forward the footage. ‘When does our perp leave?’ Jacob asked.
‘This isn’t shown. I can only think that this person left in the other direction which matches what Diane said. Her back door was unlocked even though she locked it before going to bed. Smith and Kapoor have yet to find any further witnesses or CCTV, but I live in hope.’
Jacob took a seat at the main table and everyone else followed. Gina turned off the CCTV footage and joined them at the head of the table. ‘Given that we now have a photo of Jade and Samantha together as well as a sample of Jade’s nail turning up at Diane’s, which happens to be painted in Samantha’s favourite nail varnish colour, we are working on the premise that our intruder is responsible for Jade’s murder and Samantha’s disappearance. I want this person found. Follow up on everything, however small, and delve into all our partygoers’ lives. Wyre?’
‘Yes?’ Wyre finished writing and looked up.
‘How did you get on with researching the Swap Fun website?’
Wyre bit the end of her pen as she flicked back a few pages. ‘I’ve created a profile and I’ve been trying to strike up conversation. I’ve had three pervy messages asking if I’m basically up for a booty call, an invite to a dogging event and two dick pics. As for the partner swap forums, I’m waiting to be accepted. I’m randomly joining in with the open threads, trying to gain their trust and hoping that it won’t be long until they bite and let me in. I obviously haven’t used a photo of my face when I set the account up. This won’t seem odd as many people don’t.’
Gina slid across the floor on the wheels of her chair and opened Wyre’s Swap Fun account for all to see. The photo she’d used for her profile showed the back of her head while wearing a long blonde wig. She’d finished her creation off with a pair of sunglasses, sitting on her head. It clearly showed that her application to join the Cleevesford Swapper Forum was still pending. ‘As soon as they let you in, call me. I want to know what these people get up to. You and O’Connor carry on with that and the processing of any information that Smith gets back to you with. Jacob?’
He looked up and nodded. ‘Yes, guv?’
‘We need to pay a visit to Maggie and Richard Leason. Find out their side of it all. So, finish your cake and get ready to leave.’
He began chomping on the cake that O’Connor had given to him. ‘I’m ready when you are.’ He wiped the crumbs from the side of his mouth as he swallowed the rest of the cake.
O’Connor kept flicking his pen lid, annoying Gina. In her mind she was reaching over and snatching it from him.
‘Guv?’ Nick the desk sergeant entered with a huge bunch of pink roses. The little diamantés in the centre of some of the buds glinted in the shaft of sunlight that escaped from the dark clouds.
The room went silent and everyone turned to see him place them on the table. ‘They’re for you, guv,’ he said as he smiled and left the room.
‘Ooh, who’s the mystery man?’ O’Connor asked as he dropped his pen lid on the table.
‘There is no mystery man.’ She walked over the other side of the room and pulled the card from the bunch of flowers, opening the envelope.
‘Mystery woman?’
O’Connor was pushing it. She felt her shoulders stiffen as she opened the card. ‘For the last time, there’s no mystery anyone so button it and get to work on finding our murderer.’
He left the main table and headed back to his desk.
‘Right, to Richard and Maggie Leason’s then,’ Jacob said as he slipped his jacket on. ‘Nice flowers.’
‘There is no mystery lover,’ she said as her cheeks reddened. ‘At least there isn’t any more.’ She grabbed the flowers and placed them upside down in the waste bin. As soon as she got into the car, she was going to message Rex. How dare he humiliate her by sending her flowers at work? She didn’t work in an office or a shop, she was a senior detective, commanding respect from her team. Getting sent a bunch of pink flowers with a silly card containing only a love heart drawn in it, was nothing short of thoughtless. She had her doubts and now they had been confirmed. As she screwed the card up and threw it in the bin, Briggs walked through the door.
‘I’ve just caught up with everything. Are you off out to interview the Leasons now?’ Gina went to nod and stopped as she watched Briggs’s gaze fall on the flowers. ‘Are those flowers in the bin?’
Her neck prickled and her red face totally betrayed her cool calm voice. Briggs now knew she was dating. He also knew things weren’t going well as she’d binned a bunch of flowers. He was a senior detective too, she couldn’t fool him for a second. Her mind flashed back to the night she’d slept with Rex and her stomach turned.
‘What a waste,’ he said as he walked over to the boards and began examining all the information and photos. She could tell he was analysing the situation and didn’t want her to see that he was. With a shaking hand, she grabbed her bag. In another life, she’d have liked to place a hand on his shoulder, for him to turn around and hold her tightly in his firm arms and kiss her. But that other life didn’t exist and the situation was what it was.
