Gina opened her notebook and titled up the page as she continued to speak. ‘Were you still up or had you gone to bed and woken up? How did you come to be in the garden?’
Lilly shrugged and sat back a little. ‘I don’t want Brendan to know.’ She stood and closed the kitchen door and continued speaking in a hushed tone. ‘I couldn’t sleep. With what happened to Fran and Holly, I kept having weird dreams and waking up. At one point I was shaking and I just had to get out of bed. Brendan doesn’t know, but I vape. I didn’t want the smell to fill the house. Sometimes I do it in the garden when he’s asleep. That’s what I was doing. While I was out there, I heard a shuffle outside the gate. I guess this was about one twenty-five. It all happened so fast really.’ She pulled the sleeve of her dressing gown over her hand and wiped her cheek and sniffed. ‘I saw the latch on the gate move. The bar, it lifted. I knew someone was coming in so I ran back to the house. I was so scared, especially when I slid on the slab. I thought that was it. I thought he’d get me but I kept going and reached the door.’ The woman traced the wood grain on the table with her finger.
Lilly had slipped, not the intruder. Gina made a note so that she could pass that information onto forensics. ‘Can you tell me anything else? You say the intruder was wearing a hoodie and gloves.’
She bit her bottom lip. ‘I can’t think.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I think he was wearing boots, dark boots. Yes, I’m sure I saw boots and laces. I can’t remember anything else. The hood hung over his eyes, oh, and he seemed to have a scarf wrapped around his mouth – a black or dark coloured scarf. The figure looked masculine. He was white. I caught a glimpse of his cheeks.’
‘Did you by any chance see or hear in which direction your attacker ran away?’
Lilly clasped her lips together. ‘No. I was so upset and I slammed the door as quick as I could and locked it. I don’t know which way he went.’
‘Thank you. If something else comes to mind after we’ve spoken, call me at any time. Sometimes after the initial shock has worn off, further details may come to mind.’ Gina knew that most of what she’d get from Lilly was right here and now, but she still hoped that something else would come to light. ‘Forensics will be here soon. They will want to have a look at your back garden and they’ll look for evidence outside your gate and along the path. They’ll also need your dressing gown. PCs Smith and Kapoor have already started door-to-door enquiries. It’s possible that one of your neighbours may have seen something.’
Another tear slid down Lilly’s cheek. ‘Why is this happening to us? Holly and Fran were both harmless. I don’t think they had an enemy between them and now someone’s after me. I was so scared when he grabbed me. I really thought my time was up and now I feel guilty. I shook him off but the others were killed. I keep thinking, if I hadn’t have fought back and screamed, I’d be dead, like them. My baby boy wouldn’t have a mummy and Brendan would be on his own and I can’t bear those thoughts.’ She grabbed a green stuffed rabbit from the chair beside her and hugged it.
A loud cry pierced the air. ‘Mummy.’
‘I best go to him.’
As Lilly left there was a knock at the door. Jacob almost bumped into Gina in the hallway as they both went to open the door at the same time. Gina stepped aside and thanked Keith, the crime scene manager, for coming as they led him into the kitchen.
‘What a week it’s been.’ Keith struggled past with a bag and his sample box.
‘Do you want a hand?’
Gina took the bag from him and he gave out a slight yelp as he placed the box on the kitchen table. ‘My back is getting worse.’ He ran his hand through his grey comb-over and exhaled. ‘Right, the intruder was in the back garden. Is that right?’
‘Yes. He chased Lilly Hill over the slabs to her back door. He grabbed her from behind but she managed to fight him off while screaming. He ran away after that. In which direction, we don’t know. That streak of mossy slime on the slab was caused by Lilly. She said she slipped. She did say that the attacker was wearing boots. Boot covers weren’t mentioned. If you can find another imprint in the garden or outside, that might just prove that our assailant was the same person who was at Cleevesford Manor and Francesca Carter’s house.’
‘I’ll get my creaky old back out there now. One of the assistants should be here in a moment but I’ll make a start for now. As soon as I have anything, I’ll call you. It’s a big enough garden and then there’s the path outside. Could be a while.’
‘Thanks, Keith.’
He unlocked the door leaving Gina and Jacob alone in the kitchen.
‘Can we speak outside?’
Jacob followed her through the front door and over towards her car. ‘What is it?’ He suddenly looked more awake than he had a few moments ago as he waited for her to speak.
‘That drunk driver that they arrested in Cardiff, I see a resemblance to someone we’ve interviewed recently and I wanted to run it by you to see if you could see it too.’
‘Who?’ He leaned against her car.
As she went to speak, her phone rang. ‘It’s a Cardiff number. Before I answer this call: I see Edward Powell in her.’ As she listened to the officer with the Welsh accent reel off the name of the woman, she smiled before relaying the information for Jacob’s benefit. ‘So just to confirm, the woman’s name is Sally Powell. Thank you so much. That’s really helped us. If you could send all information you have on her, that would be fantastic.’ She ended the call. ‘There are a couple more checks we can do just to confirm my suspicions but DNA doesn’t lie and the surname matches too. I want Edward Powell brought in as soon as possible. He is without a doubt the person who got Holly pregnant and he’s yet to provide an alibi as to where he was on the night of Fran’s murder. As far as I’m aware, no owner of a Red Setter dog has come forward since the appeals have been put out. He’s well in the frame.’ She paused. ‘Maybe Holly was blackmailing him or maybe he was helping her out with money. She had regular payments going into her account. We need to concentrate our efforts into nailing who owns that account number and sort code. Where exactly is the money coming from? It’s possible Holly was about to tell Kerry of their relationship. Did that push him to murder her? Why would he kill Francesca? Did she know about Holly and Edward? He has a cushy life with Kerry. A gorgeous home, plenty of money and a job that came with the package. He’d lose it all if everything came out in the open. Bring him in.’
‘Where does all this leave Robin Dawkins?’ Jacob rubbed his eyes and yawned.
Gina stared at the pavement for a moment as she processed all that had happened. They had until five in the afternoon to prove he had something to do with Holly and Francesca’s murders. ‘He was in custody when Lilly was attacked but until we know more, he is still a suspect. I can’t eliminate the possibility that there might be more than one person involved and he won’t tell us where he was at the time of Francesca’s murder. Let’s hope the search of his apartment sheds some light on the case. I also want to speak to his girlfriend. Let the search commence.’
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Bang! Cass flinched and threw the quilt back. She turned her lamp on and squinted as she focused on the time. Six in the morning. Maybe the police had released Elvis. She knew he hadn’t taken his door key with him. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and wedged her toes into her slippers before padding across the threadbare carpet. A loud bang filled the silence again. ‘Police, open up.’
Cass swallowed. Something had happened, she knew it. After tossing and turning all night, she’d only been asleep for a couple of hours, kept awake by this sense of foreboding. She’d been happy when Kerry had messaged. Her happiness was always short-lived. She knew something bad had to follow. ‘I’m coming,’ she called as she removed the chain from the door and opened up.
‘DI Harte, Cleevesford Police. We have a warrant to search the property. May we come in?’
The detective stood still, awaiting Cass’s response. Her brown hair was falling out of a tangled rubber band reminding Cass of her own unkempt self. While Cass had been watching Kerry’s house, the police detective in front of her had come out with Kerry and her mother. Her heart rate picked up. It was down to luck that she hadn’t been found in the bushes.
