‘Come in.’ Mr Slater didn’t ask for their names or any identification. He opened the door, moving aside to let them in.
‘Thank you.’ Gina stepped into the dark hallway. ‘We’re so sorry for your loss, Mr Slater. I’m DI Harte, you met DS Driscoll yesterday.’
‘Come in. I was just…’ He gasped for breath and led the way to his daughter’s bed where he sat on her strewn clothes that covered it.
‘It’s okay, just take a moment.’
He rubbed his eyes and clasped his hands as he hunched forward, revealing a tiny balding patch in the middle of his dark hair. ‘I can’t believe she’s gone. Just like that.’ He clicked his fingers, his stare meeting Gina’s. Jacob shuffled into the small room and stood beside Gina. She nodded to him. That was his cue to take a discreet look around.
As Jacob left again, Gina caught sight of the man in the full-length mirror. His brow was scrunched as he toiled over what had happened to his daughter. Gina wondered how she’d react in similar circumstances and she couldn’t envisage it. She and her daughter Hannah weren’t close but she couldn’t imagine being where Mr Slater was now. She needed to approach things gently, sure the man would crack if she didn’t and that was the last thing she wanted. ‘Mr Slater, can you tell me a little about Amber?’
He grabbed a purple jumper from the bed and held it close to his chest, then he inhaled it and hugged it. ‘She was my everything. It has just been her and me for the past ten years since her mother left us for some man she met when we holidayed in Spain. That’s where she lives now. I called her and told her. She’s not even coming back, can you believe it? Her only child has been murdered and the woman isn’t even going to help with the funeral.’
Swallowing, Gina hoped he’d go on without further prompting but he went silent instead and that silence continued. ‘So, it’s been you and your daughter for the past ten years. Did Amber call you regularly?’
He nodded. ‘I live in Tamworth, Staffordshire. She popped in whenever she wanted but her visits had lessened. I popped over to help her with DIY running up to Christmas. Her landlord is useless.’ He paused. ‘I was lucky to get a visit from her once a month but I did make the effort to call her weekly. I understand what it’s like, living away for the first time in your life, having a good time, establishing independence. I get why she didn’t call me every five minutes and I didn’t want to be that parent who smothered their grown-up child. The parent she dreaded the call from every five minutes, so I backed off.’ He paused and let out a tiny laugh. ‘I was trying to find myself too. Make sure I had things in my life to do and to enjoy now that Amber had left home, now that just feels selfish. I should have been around much more than I was.’
‘When did you last hear from her?’
He placed the jumper over his knee and stroked it like it was a cat. ‘About a fortnight ago. The last time I saw her was Boxing Day. She spent Christmas with me and her nan, and she stayed overnight, then left the next day to come back here. She said she was preparing to hit the sales with her friend Lauren. She loved clothes shopping. Everything was as normal as it could be. I drove over to visit a few times but she was never in. I thought she was having too much of a good time to see her old man.’
‘Go back to that phone call a couple of weeks ago. How did she seem?’
‘Full of life. Excited about her course and her future. She said she really wanted to be a management accountant and was looking into the CIMA qualification. That’s chartered management accountancy. Apparently her tutor had said she had a natural flair for it and should really think about doing it, when the time was right. I was so happy for her. I don’t know where she gets her brains from – got, where shegother brains from – but it’s not me or her mother. I can’t get used to saying that, referring to her in the past tense. I mean, I can still smell her in this room. There is a dent on her pillow from when she last lay on her bed. The milk in her fridge isn’t even sour.’ His hair looked like it was once a short back and sides but some bits had grown longer than others at a different rate, making him look a little scruffy. He clenched his jaw and straightened his back. ‘Someone took her from me. If I find out who, I’m going to kill them! I’m going to torture the bastard and shove him face down in a freezing cold lake to drown, then I’ll stamp on his head, crack it like a watermelon. I mean it…’ His hands began to tremble. ‘How could anyone have hurt Amber like that? I should have been there more.’
Gina could see his clenched knuckles shaking. ‘Mr Slater—’
‘Theo. Mr Slater is getting annoying. I never get called that. Sorry.’ He took a breath and composed himself. ‘I shouldn’t have shouted.’
Jacob stood in the doorway as she continued. ‘I have to ask you this. Do you know anyone who might want to hurt Amber? Anyone she’d had a disagreement with, fallen out with, anyone she was seeing?’
‘She never mentioned anything when we spoke and I think I’d have known if she had a boyfriend. I don’t know how anyone could not like her. She was kind, loved her friends and family.’
Gina knew that it wasn’t likely that Amber would have spoken to her father if she’d fallen out with someone or met someone. She’d more than likely speak to her friends, the people she was around day in, day out.
‘I told you all everything I knew yesterday, at the station. And, what I do know is nothing. Not a thing. If I knew something, I’d tell you. I want her killer found.’ He seethed at the end of his sentence, slightly spitting on the back of his hand.
Gina bit the dry skin on the edge of her lip and flinched at the thought of tearing lips trying to free themselves after being glued together. A metallic taste swirled on her tongue; they had cracked again. ‘We will need to take Amber’s laptop and any other devices that might help with the investigation. I would also like to take a look around her apartment if that’s okay.’
‘She’d hate anyone snooping around her stuff.’ He stood and walked over to the window still holding the jumper. ‘I understand though.’ He placed a key on the windowsill. ‘The rent is paid in advance until the end of February. I know because I pay it. Please be gentle with her things. They’re all I have left of her. I wished now that I’d moved closer so she could have stayed with me at home. I could have protected her.’ He walked back to the bed and placed the jumper back on it. ‘I have to get out of here for a bit, clear my head with some fresh air.’
‘Of course – and thank you. I’ll make sure everything is put back in its place.’
Gina glanced around the room. It was a stereotypical student pad. A bit shabby and scratched, old-looking mismatched furniture and a scraggy rug. Mess filled every corner. Textbooks mixed with clothes. Make-up dust covered every surface.
‘You have my number,’ he said and left the room. The door slammed a moment later.
Jacob walked over to the window and stared out. ‘Poor man.’
‘Did you find anything?’
‘Laptop on the worktop in the kitchen-cum-living room. And there’s something else. Come take a look.’
Gina hastily followed Jacob through the hall, past the bathroom and into the kitchen area. With a gloved hand, he slid the top drawer open and pulled an old phone out, one that was only capable of sending messages or making phone calls on.
‘It was already turned on. You should read these messages, guv.’
She glanced through them, hoping that the last bar of charge wouldn’t turn it off mid read. ‘Book this in now, along with her laptop. We have full permission from Theo Slater to be here so I want PC Smith to hurry over and organise a small team to search for anything that might be relevant. I don’t see any evidence that her murder was committed here but we need to stay focused. We need her phone records too. I can’t believe for one minute that this old phone is her main one.’ She glanced at another message and shivered.
