She scanned the room. No one was looking at her any more. No doubt they were all wondering who had sent her flowers at work and they were probably all wondering why she’d thrown them in the bin. ‘We’re just going, sir. I’ll update you later.’ She leaned over and pulled the card back out of the bin and stuffed it into her pocket. She didn’t want Briggs to get hold of it once she’d left.
‘Right you are, Harte.’ His disapproval stung. He couldn’t even turn to look at her.
Twenty-Seven
Gina wiped a spot of rain from her nose as they stood outside Maggie and Richard’s end-of-terrace house. She glanced up at the old brickwork and the sign.1 Lavender Lane – 1959.What a totally opposite style of house to Dawn Brown’s. The period house almost seemed dark with its tiny windows and old brown curtains that were still half drawn. She knocked again.
‘They probably didn’t hear,’ Jacob said as he undid the zip on his jacket.
A sound came from the other side of the door as a curtain was swished across and the door unlocked.
‘Mrs Leason?’
The woman nodded. ‘Maggie, please.’ From her notes, Gina knew that Maggie was forty-two and Richard was forty-five.
‘Detective Inspector Harte and DS Driscoll. We spoke to you earlier.’
‘Come in, Inspector,’ she said as she looked at Jacob.
Gina grimaced as she inhaled the stale tobacco smoke filling the hallway. ‘I’m DI Harte.’ She knew she should have made it clearer. It had been a long time since someone had assumed that the senior colleague was the male she was with.
‘Oh sorry. Come through.’ The woman wrapped her navy cardigan across her body as she led them into the snug at the front of the house. Her short blonde hair, shaved to within an inch of its life, framed her bronzed skin and large brown eyes. She sniffed and wiped her nose. ‘This is Richard.’ She held her arm out.
The chubby man stood as she entered the lamp-lit room, his crew cut just a little shorter than his wife’s hair. ‘Take a seat. Can we get you anything?’
The roaring fire was almost hypnotic and far too warm for the spring day. The room was dark and the ceilings high. It was a cool house. She shook her head and Jacob copied. ‘No, thank you. We need to speak about the other night, Sunday the fifth of May and the early hours of this Monday.’
They all sat. Gina and Jacob on the couch and Richard and Maggie on an armchair either side.
‘We just went to Dawn’s party and came home. We don’t know anything apart from that.’ Maggie nervously twiddled her fingers.
Jacob pulled his pad from his pocket and waited.
‘We know about the party and we need to know exactly what happened that night. We know it wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill party. Now you know what we know, what can you tell us about that night?’
Maggie cleared her throat and glanced over at Richard. She opened her mouth to speak then stopped.
It was going to be a long interview with their two witnesses. Gina could tell that they hadn’t spoken to each other about that night, including who they went with and what they got up to. ‘DS Driscoll, if you take Mr Leason into the kitchen, I’ll speak with Maggie.’
‘Of course, guv. Lead the way, Mr Leason.’ The man caught his wife’s eye and left the room with Jacob following.
As a fire crackled, a chunky log dropped on to the rest of the debris. Maggie leaned forward and began moving her attention to a loose thread on her cardigan.
‘Maggie?’ She looked up, swallowing as she met Gina’s gaze. ‘Tell me about that night. Where did you end up?’
She pulled a cigarette out. ‘Can I smoke?’
Gina nodded. The more at ease the woman felt, the more she might tell her.
‘I’ve started vaping but struggle to stay on the wagon when I’m stressed.’ She lit the cigarette and sucked hard before exhaling a plume of smoke, creating a thick fog in the tiny room.
Gina knew her hair and clothes would stink after this visit. As soon as she finished up for the afternoon, she was heading home for a shower. ‘Right, back to that night.’
Maggie crossed her short legs and leaned her elbow on her knee as she puffed once more. ‘It may surprise you to know that I was really looking forward to that night. I get bored easily and Richard is willing, which makes it easier. I think being a little free in the bedroom is what has really kept us together all these years. We met Dawn and Steven for the first time that night. It was their first time but not ours. Anyway, we drank a bit and smoked until we’d had a chance to mingle with the other guests.’ Maggie stared into the fireplace.
Gina also doubted that it was Steven’s first time. Dawn’s maybe. ‘And then?’ Gina flipped the page of her pad and waited for the woman to carry on.
‘I was pretty blotto if I’m honest but it seemed early, not long after midnight, I’d say. When I got home, I just fell face down on to our bed, only being disturbed when Richard got in and I woke up in the morning. That’s it.’
