Vicky wiped her eyes. ‘I thought so. I just hoped—’
The neighbour came back out with a mug of something hot. Gina thanked her and passed the drink to Vicky. ‘Here you go. Try to have a few sips, it will warm you up.’ Gina nodded at the paramedics who came back over to assist. Vicky removed Jacob’s coat from her shoulders and passed it back.
‘We’ll need you to give us a formal statement. An officer will help you home in a minute. Can you do that for me?’ Gina asked.
‘I’ll do anything to help catch the bastard who killed the poor woman.’
‘Here’s my card in the meantime. If you remember anything at a later date, however insignificant it seems, call me.’
As Gina turned back towards the scene, Bernard came running around the corner. ‘We’ve found a handbag!’
Four
Jacob pulled into the cul-de-sac, where several detached houses filled the end of the road in a curve. All houses were in darkness, including the one that they needed to visit.
‘Have you noticed something?’ Gina asked as he pulled the handbrake and switched off the engine.
Jacob ran his hand over his short brown hair as he stared at the house. ‘No one is waiting up for her. The house is in darkness.’
‘Correct. Either they’re not in or they’ve gone to bed, but no one is at all worried that Jade hasn’t come home. She had a phone in her handbag, fully charged and ready to use. Not one person had called to check that she was safe. Maybe I’m overthinking all this and her husband wasn’t expecting her for whatever reason but it’s nearly four in the morning.’ Gina fanned her face and took a deep breath. ‘No one is going to do this for us. I suppose we’d best take a deep breath and go deliver the bad news.’
They walked down the block-paved drive and knocked at the door. A bedroom light flickered. They listened as the occupant’s footsteps led the way down the stairs. ‘Did you forget your keys?’ a man’s voice boomed out as he opened the door wearing nothing but a pair of tight boxer shorts. He was obviously comfortable with his body. Jacob looked away from the man’s rippled torso and glanced at the wall.
‘DI Harte and DS Driscoll. Are you Mr Ashmore?’ Gina held her identification up.
‘Yes. What’s happened?’ He ran his hands through his full head of blond hair before stroking his designer stubble.
‘I’ll explain if you could just let us come in a moment.’ Gina didn’t want to break the news on the doorstep that his wife’s body had been found.
He stepped aside and gestured for them to enter the kitchen.
Gina felt her heart begin to race as he followed them through the hallway into the large open plan kitchen. His pink cheeks began to drain of colour. ‘Would you like to sit down, Mr Ashmore?’
‘No, I don’t think I would. Just tell me what’s going on.’
‘I’m afraid we have bad news. We have found a body at the back of Gilmore Close and we believe it may be your wife, Jade Ashmore. I’m so sorry.’
The man wobbled slightly. Jacob pulled out one of the bar stools and the man fell into it. ‘It can’t be her. You’ve got it wrong.’
‘I know this is hard for you, Mr Ashmore. Is there someone you’d like us to call? Someone who can be with you.’ The house was in silence. She wondered if anyone else was upstairs. She knew they had a child.
‘Who the hell would do something like this? Are you sure it’s her?’
‘Did Jade have a tattoo?’
He gasped for air, held his head in his hands and began pacing across the kitchen tiles. ‘A small butterfly on her ankle. She hated it and was having it removed.’
‘It’s her, Mr Ashmore.’ Gina had seen Jade’s driving licence that she’d kept in her purse. The one side of her face matched the photo perfectly. A confirmation of her identity was merely a formality. ‘I’m so sorry to deliver such bad news—’
‘How did it happen? Did she have an accident?’
As Gina shook her head, her stomach began to turn. Her mind flashed back to the moment she saw Jade’s body and the damage to her head and face. ‘I really am sorry. She was attacked and didn’t pull through.’ She didn’t want to say that Jade had been brutally murdered. ‘We will need to know where she went last night. We will also need to know where you were.’
He stopped in front of the bi-fold doors, his reflection staring back at him. He kicked one of the kitchen chairs that were neatly placed around a six-seater table and let out a roar before wiping his teary eyes. ‘What am I going to tell our daughter?’ he said as he sat on the edge of the table, shaking his head. ‘How can someone have hurt her? She wouldn’t hurt a fly.’
Gina hated having to continue pushing him for answers but she needed to know where he’d been that night and she needed to get the investigation gathering momentum. They didn’t have time to wait. Her throat began to dry up. ‘Can we make you a drink?’
He shook his head.
