‘Where had you gone?’
‘That’s the thing, I wasn’t even too far away. We went to Bidford Green alongside the river where people go with picnics in the summer. It’s just over the main bridge and to your right. I gather my wife told you about the party.’
Gina nodded. ‘Who were you with?’
‘Some woman called Dawn. I thought she seemed fun and Sophie seemed to be chatting away to the man in the hat, so I told her I wouldn’t be long. Dawn’s partner seemed to be trying it on with everyone there. I thought we’d be way less than an hour but she kept going on and on about her partner, Stevie Boy. She ended up crying and pouring her heart out. Nothing at all happened. I sat there bored out of my tree while she went on and on about how Steven never did this, never did that, made her feel like nothing. I was well turned off by that point. She made a weird pass at me then. It was as if she didn’t want to but thought she should. It’s not the way I work. I like the woman I’m having sex with to want it as much as me. I’m not into feeling like I’m taking advantage. She then kept trying to grope me and kiss me. I told her to stop, which she did but then she cried more. Kept saying she was ugly, too fat and that I didn’t find her attractive. I just didn’t know what to say. Eventually, I said I’d drop her home which is why I was longer than I thought I’d be. I drove back to Cleevesford because I felt sorry for her. That’s when I saw the message from Sophie. I called her. She was in the ambulance at that point. I headed here and here I am now. Thank you for the pound.’
‘You’re welcome. We’ll see you when your wife is feeling a little better. We’ll need formal statements from both of you.’
‘Of course. We want to do all we can to help.’ He smiled and left in search of another coffee machine.
Gina would check his information with Dawn but, at the moment, Mr Dobbins wasn’t a suspect. Their little conversation had however given her a bit more insight into Steven and Dawn. Her ex-brother-in-law was fast becoming a suspect. She remembered what Briggs had said, she’d need irrefutable evidence before any move against him could be made.
Briggs headed towards her, shaking his wet hands. ‘I think the hand drier’s packed up.’
‘Let’s get over to Bidford and I’ll fill you in on the way.’
‘I’ve just had a call from Bernard while I was in the loo. How’s that for timing? They’ve found the spot where she was attacked and he wants to show us something.’
Forty-Six
Birds filled the air with their early morning song. Gina’s feet were already damp from the morning dew. New shoes had to be a priority when she got a moment. Briggs had headed over towards where Bernard and Wyre and Jacob were speaking about the case. ‘Morning.’
Jacob turned. ‘Oh, hi, guv. We’ve spoken to everyone living close by. There aren’t that many as you can see. This place is quite away from neighbours. Swap Fun Sarah said she finally said goodbye to everyone about one thirty in the morning and locked up for the night. She thought Sophie Dobbins had been picked up by her husband. We have a list of party attendees, which we’ll crossmatch to the last party. As we know, the only people from the previous party that attended last night were Steven Smithson and Dawn Brown.’
Gina leaned in. ‘Get this, Dawn Brown was with our victim’s husband at the time the attack took place. While I’m thinking about it, O’Connor will be in soon. Call him and ask him to contact Dawn and check the events of last night. We need to see if their story matches. If they do, where was Steven during the attack? They came by car. Maybe Sarah remembers if there was a car left on her drive at the end of the night.’
Wyre flicked a page on her notebook. ‘I asked that very question. There were no cars but her own on the drive when Mrs Dobbins left. Some of the guests came by taxi but she can’t remember who.’
‘So, Steven’s car was gone too.’ In her mind she imagined Steven parking up close by, waiting for his moment while Dawn was occupied with Sophie Dobbins’s husband. Had he sent her off to see if Mr Dobbins was game so he could at least try to orchestrate a chance of getting Sophie alone? It was a distinct possibility but all still theory for the time being. As for Rex, had he got a taxi home? This case was feeling too close to her personal life for comfort. She wanted to be in Steven’s face, pushing him, interrogating him. She wondered what he’d do to her? What if everyone at the station found out who she really was? If they knew every disgusting detail of her past life they’d never look at her in the same light again. Maybe they’d respect her more for going through what she did or maybe some of them would think she was party to what went on. Who would they believe, her or Steven? She was more credible but he shouted louder. Loud or credible? She knewloudwas just as convincing.
‘Guv, I’ve been shouting at you for ages. You need those ears syringing,’ Bernard said as he approached her in his forensics suit and beard cover, his boots covered in muck and soaked through.
‘Sorry, Bernard, I’m all ears now. We’ll continue this back at the incident room, when we’ve all had our morning coffee,’ she said to Wyre and Jacob leaving them to follow Bernard. He passed her a suit, gloves, boot covers and a hair cover. ‘Briggs said you called him and you’ve found something,’ she said as she dressed. When she was suited up, they walked towards the yellow evidence markers, squelching on the soggy ground. Bernard turned off the battery lights as morning began to shine a light on what was in front of them. In the distance, mist rolled off the river, looking as though it would spill over and contaminate the fields behind. ‘Blood. See this branch here?’ She nodded. ‘Well, just over there we found the shoe. You can see how the foliage has been parted slightly, this is the route she took when she ran and he followed. It’s either her blood or his.’
‘We need to get that off for testing. See if it matches anything left at the scene of Jade Ashmore’s murder or Diane Garraway’s house. Here’s hoping there’s a definite link there.’
‘We’ve also bagged up the shoe and taken various other samples including that of the earth. We may recover some of the perpetrator’s clothing and be able to match any dirt from that to the scene. Everywhere has its own unique make-up, just like us. Oh, we have footprints too, they’re all a bit messy, not as clear as I’d like as the earth is so soft. It did rain a bit before we arrived. It looks like our perp was also wearing boots with a thick tread as we do have a little bit of patter left behind. I’ll get the photos over to you in a short while. We haven’t got an exact size but we’re looking at about a ten.’ Gina thought back to what their victim had said. She had felt one of the boots and had also described them as steel toecaps.
‘Great job. As always, I’ll be waiting on the report. Obviously, if there’s anything else you can feed across to me as you go, call me straight away.’ As she milled around, she thought of what Sophie Dobbins would have gone through. She’d ran through the trees wearing only one shoe while being chased by someone who’d tried to crush her hand with his foot, breaking two of her fingers. But she’d hurt him, hitting him with her wedge shoe. Gina would tell the team to look out for anyone sporting an injury.
Her phone beeped. A reminder that she had an interview at nine in the morning. This one she had to attend, but not before she rushed home for a quick shower and freshen up. Time was against her, as it always was. There was also something else she needed to investigate, something on a personal level.
She waved Briggs over. ‘We really need Rex in for interview and I can’t instigate that one. He was here last night. He’s weird, I can verify that myself. He had opportunity and at the very least needs to be eliminated from our enquiries.’
He nodded. ‘Leave it with me.’
Forty-Seven
One thing Gina was sure of was that Swap Fun clearly linked Jade Ashmore’s murder and Sophie Dobbin’s attack. The culprit either attended both parties or saw both invites on the Swap Fun website which made her question whether interviewing Colin was necessary. She soon dismissed that thought. He was one of the last people to see Jade alive on the night of the fifth of May and he had opportunity and no alibi. There were also a lot of disguised profiles on Swap Fun that they still hadn’t matched to real-life identities. He could be one of those hidden profiles and therefore have known exactly when and where they were all meeting.
She checked her watch. She’d have to wrap this interview up swiftly as Briggs had booked Rex in for interview in just over an hour. She needed to be there behind that glass, observing his reactions, before starting her own personal investigation.
‘Wyre, are you ready?’
‘Sure am, guv. He’s already been seen to interview room two. It’s just unfortunate that he’s stinking the room out.’ She grabbed gloves and a swab pack. ‘Got these. You wanted a swab taken, didn’t you?’
‘Yes. Blood was found at the scene of last night’s attack and we have other samples in evidence. I want his sample crossmatched against everything.’
