‘Have you managed to send a photo of our coffin to any of them yet? We obviously need to identify where it came from.’
Wyre nodded, her black fringe slightly obscuring the tops of her eyes as she bowed over to read her notes. ‘Seven funeral directors have got back to us. None of them sell this coffin. The online coffin makers come from all over the world. So far, we’ve contacted over one hundred by email and we’ve had just over twenty replies. None of them sell or make this exact coffin either.’
Gina pulled out a print from the pile of paper in front of her and pinned it to the board. ‘This email came just as we got back to the office. Keith has been going through all the items that were taken from the scene and that obviously included the coffin. We didn’t see this at the time, but on the bottom end of the coffin, inside, there is a tiny engraving. Look close, what do you see?’
The detectives all leaned in and squinted at the printed photo. ‘Is it a wolf, guv?’ O’Connor said as he tapped his fingers on the table.
‘It looks like it could be a wolf. I’m guessing this is the maker’s mark. The coffin looks to be hand-crafted. This is a highly skilled piece of work. Start adding the word “wolf” to your searches. This is as good as the artist’s signature. We just need to find the artist. O’Connor, how are things going with the door-to-doors and collection of CCTV?’
He stopped tapping his fingers and sat up from his slouch position. ‘Still nothing that will help with the case. We’re struggling to get any useful CCTV. Most cameras point at cars and drives. All I’ve seen are a few kids dotted around, knocking on doors in costume, but that’s it.’
‘Keep at it. We spoke to the vicar, Sally Stevens. She said she saw someone loitering in her graveyard wearing a long hooded black coat. On any of the CCTV, did you see anyone matching this description?’
He shook his head. ‘No. Sorry, guv. Most of the kids were dressed in shop-bought costumes. A lot were accompanied by parents who were wearing the usual garb, coats, hats and scarves. There are so many, but I didn’t see any long black coats with hoods.’
‘Great work. Keep searching. We can’t afford to miss anything.’ Gina popped another pin in the map. ‘This pin represents where Nicola Swinton claims to have seen our victim on Monday night, at six thirty. As mentioned, she drove past and saw him turn off by this row of houses.’ Gina pointed to George Street, this time a little further up. ‘Somewhere around here, she says she saw someone ducking behind a car when Mr Swinton turned. This suggests he was being followed. Mrs Swinton is also quite sure it was a woman but I think that’s a long shot, given that it was dark and it happened quickly.’
‘What’s down that cut through?’ O’Connor asked.
‘As far as I’m aware, some land where kids play football, a park and another housing estate. PC Smith, I’ll task you with researching this area a little better. We need to know where he went. Was he sleeping rough around there? Maybe he was hiding in someone’s garage or shed. It’s been wet and cold lately, he’d have definitely been seeking shelter. He smelled of smoke, look for evidence of bonfires.’
Smith smiled and jotted down a note. ‘That’ll be fun this close to bonfire night, but we can but do our best. I’ll get on to it. I just saw PC Kapoor go past. Shall I fill her in?’
‘That would be great, thank you.’ Gina glanced back at Wyre. ‘Did you find anything about the gravestone I gave you to research?’
‘I’m still looking, it was a long time ago.’
Gina pulled out a note from her wad of pages. ‘I know why Eveline was giving me such a sense of déjà vu. It was right under my nose all the time. Whether there’s a connection, that’s another matter completely.’ She smiled as she shared her thoughts, leaving Wyre with a new lead to follow as she headed along the corridor to see Logan Jones.
Chapter Thirty
‘I’m sorry. I was a prick. Can I just apologise to the woman and maybe offer to wash her car? It’ll clean up okay.’ Logan Jones laid his scream mask on the table and ran his finger through his brushed-up fringe. Gina could only imagine how much hairspray it took to have kept it that way under a mask and hat. His Dracula-style cape was tied in a neat bow that skimmed his Adam’s apple. Jacob cleared his throat as he headed up a witness sheet with all the boy’s details.
‘PC Smith will be here to discuss that offence with you after I’ve asked a few questions.’ She wasn’t letting him off the hook without so much as a ticking off and she also needed to tackle him about the incident on Monday night. ‘As you may be aware, the body of a man was found on Thursday and I’d like to ask you a few questions.’
‘What?’ The boy stood, knocking the chair into the wall behind. ‘I didn’t kill anyone. I want a solicitor.’
‘I’m not suggesting that you killed anyone. I’m hoping that you can help us with our enquiries, but it is your prerogative to have a solicitor present if you want one.’
The boy glared at her and shook his head twice, his brows furrowed before sitting back down. ‘I don’t know anything. I only know what Tilly told me.’
‘Tilly Holden?’ Gina flicked back to her note on the girls who found the body.
‘Yeah, her and her mate found the coffin. It really freaked her out.’
Gina linked her fingers on the table and leaned in a little. ‘I need you to go back to Monday, the twenty-sixth of October, around five thirty in the evening. My DCI and I saw you and several others physically assaulting a boy.’
‘We were messin’. That’s all. We all do it to each other all the time. It wasn’t how it looked. He trod on my phone and thought it was funny. I wasn’t layin’ the boot in, I was just tryin’ to scare him. That was all. We’ve made up since. You can ask him. Been best friends again since Tuesday morning.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Spencer Burrows. I don’t know his address. It’s all sorted, like I told you.’
Gina made a note with the intention of coming back to that incident after. ‘You ran away when we came over and spoke to you.’
The boy shrugged. ‘I panicked. You didn’t see the build-up and I knew you’d jus’ jump to your own answers and Spence was pissed off at the time. I didn’t need the hassle.’
‘I chased you down George Street. Where did you go after that?’
