Mr Collins stood and pushed his chair under the table. ‘No, and I don’t like where this is going. Now if there’s nothing else, I have to go. My wife is waiting at home for me and we’re meant to be going out for dinner. Is that it?’
For now, it was. Gina nodded. As he left for the door Wyre’s gaze locked on Gina’s as if to ask why. Gina broke their eye contact and headed after him.
‘You know the way out, Inspector, it’s the way you came.’ Within seconds he was gone, not even his footsteps echoing in the stairwell.
As they left Wyre reached out for Gina’s arm, stopping her just outside the entrance. ‘What was that about, guv?’
‘Did you see the way he tensed up when I asked about his and Amber’s relationship?’
Wyre shook her head.
‘Well he did. I don’t know what he’s holding back but there’s something there. And he should have reported that someone was taking photos of Amber in the car park, regardless. Would it not be the responsible thing to do?’
‘I suppose he should have.’
‘Maybe he didn’t want anyone to delve further into these things for his own reasons. Maybe it suited him that Amber didn’t want to report it or maybe the conversation didn’t go exactly as he said and he convinced her not to say anything.’ Gina paused and smiled at Wyre. ‘Come on. Let’s get back to the station before I die of thirst. We can pick up this conversation in a bit.’
‘Fancy not saying yes to a coffee, guv. Unbelievable. I am now parched.’ Wyre jokingly shook her head.
As they headed to the car park, Gina nudged Wyre and pointed towards Mr Collins as he got into his car. ‘He just kicked his car door in a temper. That’s what I mean about suspicious. Without a doubt, there is more to his story and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.’
12
‘I’ll see you in the morning, Nanna.’ Madison grabbed her coat and blew a kiss to her great-grandmother as she left. She’d be okay until the following evening, though. Madison was confident that she could get around with her walking frame and there were plenty of sandwiches made up in the fridge, ready for her to eat.
‘Maddie, come here.’ Nanna’s crackly voice filled the hallway.
‘I have to get back, Nanna. I’d love to stay all night, you know I would, but I have an assignment to finish and I don’t want to be getting into trouble, do I?’ Madison gave her nan the fake stern look she always gave but then her smile formed. The cream carpet underneath her nan’s feet was stained from all the spillages over the past few weeks but it was clean; Madison had made sure she’d scrubbed it well to banish the germs.
Nanna laughed and pulled her purse from the side of her large recliner chair. ‘Here, my love, take this and buy yourself a drink.’ The elderly lady pulled out a fiver and pressed it into Madison’s hand. She did this occasionally and Madison would always try to hand it back. Nanna would always look insulted and insist that she took it.
‘Nanna, you shouldn’t be doing this. You don’t have much and I want to make sure you have enough money to look after yourself, don’t I? We can’t have you sitting here starving with the heating turned off all winter.’
‘Don’t be daft, you silly mare. I have a bit tucked away for a rainy day. You’re my great-granddaughter, the only one who bothers with me and you don’t know how much I appreciate you helping me like this. You’re just a girl. You should be out having fun with all your friends, not here helping me in and out of the bath.’ The lines around the old woman’s eyes were more pronounced as she thrust the five-pound note into Madison’s coat pocket. ‘Don’t forget to live a little. Go out, have fun, make friends, meet handsome men for wild nights. You’re only young once.’
Madison’s face reddened. Her nanna had talked so much more over recent weeks about her life, her youth, and all the things she’d got up to. Maybe Nanna was right but Madison wasn’t about to discuss any of her romantic encounters with her nan. ‘Thank you, Nanna. I love you too. As it happens, I’m heading home to study then I’m meeting friends at the pub so I best get going. When the carer comes in the morning, tell them that I’ll be back tomorrow night to help you with your evening meal, but it won’t be until after six.’ She bent over and hugged the old lady, careful with her frail, hunched-over body. The last thing they both needed was for Nanna to break another bone when the last one hadn’t even healed, but her nanna was a trooper. She’d fight for her strength and hopefully be independent again, especially as she had Madison’s care.
Nanna pinched Madison’s cheek and brushed both hands down the sides of her long black hair. ‘Go on. You don’t want to be late. Just remember that I love you. Put the key in the key safe when you’ve locked me in. I’m all fine and I promise I’ll eat my sandwich in a bit. One last thing.’ Madison smiled. ‘I’m so proud of you. Little Maddie is going to be a nurse one day. Who’d have thought?’
A slight tear formed at the corner of Madison’s eye. After caring for her mother to the end, she knew this was what she was meant to do. That had been her calling. ‘Love you, Nanna. See you tomorrow.’ As she went to leave the room, she glanced back. Her nanna was already engrossed in the start of some repeated old quiz show on an obscure Sky channel. She smiled as she left, placing the key in the key safe as instructed.
Trudging through the slush underfoot, she felt a cold wetness seeping through her cheap boots. The orange street lamp reflected in a puddle ahead, lighting up the way between the trees and the side of Nanna’s bungalow. The lane that ran parallel to the path seemed quiet. She glanced up through a cut in the trees, one where the old chopped down oak tree had left a gap that Madison used to play in as a child. She and a few of the local kids used to build dens there with old sheets and long sticks. They’d got into such trouble when they tried to light a small fire so that they could cook a piece of toast, setting the sheet alight. She let out a small laugh as the path met the lane.
Nanna’s was only a five-minute walk from her flat on Bulmore Drive. She picked up the pace a little – maybe she should have driven, especially as they’d found the body of a woman in the lake that morning. She’d heard the news. Everyone on campus had been talking about it.
She hadn’t known Amber Slater that well but they’d hung out as a part of a larger group, attended the same parties and she only lived a short walk away from Amber’s block. She remembered the time outside the Angel Arms when Tyrone had been passing a spliff around. Amber was working behind the bar and had told them to go for a walk up the lane so she wouldn’t get into trouble. Way to live… She smiled. It was all part of the student experience.
She thought of Nanna and all her stories. The handsome young men she spoke of. How she experienced the sexual revolution of the sixties, much to her parents’ disapproval. Nanna had upped and left home, travelled half the world and had a love child by the time she was twenty-two. She smiled as she thought of all the fun she was going to have. Maybe she should let her hair down a bit more, meet some handsome young men just like Nanna had. She wasn’t going to have a love child though. A slight titter escaped her lips.
She stopped, noticing that the bulbs had gone in the street lamps above her. The darkness was suffocating. She stared ahead at the next glowing light. It wasn’t too far away. Her heart began to flutter. Take a deep breath. Everything is the same at night as it is during the day, it’s just darker. Nothing to be anxious about.
A sound came from behind, from the small path that fed onto the lane. She turned to see a long shadow under the last working street lamp. There was someone standing just out of sight and not moving. She placed the long straps of her satchel over her head and across her chest in readiness to run if she had to. The shadow moved and she heard heavy footsteps sloshing on the pavement. A silhouetted figure stepped into sight and remained still, facing her. The person didn’t move. She also remained still, both of them facing each other.
Fear ripped through her chest, causing her heart to miss a beat. As she gasped, she felt a light-headedness wash through her. She had to run. She turned and scarpered uphill, not stopping until she reached the next light, the sound of his heavy footsteps slapping on the puddles. He was coming for her.
On reaching the main road, she glanced back as she puffed and panted to get her breath back. The figure was gone. She looked to the right, then the left, ahead and back. He was nowhere to be seen. Had he been chasing her or had she imagined it? Maybe the sound of feet hitting puddles had been her own. She wiggled her soggy toes as she tried to calm her breathing down. She was safe. She was back on a busy road. No one was going to hurt her.
Her phone beeped. Her friends were at the pub. She needed a drink. She reached into her pocket and gripped the five-pound note that Nanna had given her. Her studies could wait until she got home. It wouldn’t be the last time she was ploughing through her assignments at three in the morning after a couple of drinks. Glancing back into the darkness of the lane, she spotted a shadow.
