‘We won’t be telling anyone, Jake. We will still need to check your calls with your brother, but that’s all. If you come to the station after work, we can go through that with you.’
‘You might wonder why I liked Amber enough to leave her a smiley.’
Gina leaned back. Amber was pretty and sounded outgoing, she had no problem understanding how she attracted people.
Jake stood and looked out of the window. ‘I thought she’d accept me. In her profile she said she didn’t mind who she dated, men or women, that she sees people as people because she liked them. I thought she’d be accepting of me. That’s how I choose the people I leave smileys for. I look for people who can love a person for who they are. I can’t and don’t want to change who I am. I want someone to like me for me. Can you understand that?’
Gina nodded. At the end of the day, all everyone in life wanted was to be loved and accepted and everyone has a past. Everyone has done things and we think we know the reasons why but sometimes those reasons are the complete opposite. ‘I can understand that, Jake.’
He wiped his face with the sleeve of his arm. ‘I finish the lunch shift at four thirty after clean up. Can I head over to the station as soon as I finish?’
‘Of course. If we can just take your brother’s details in the meantime, that would be helpful. It won’t be too painful, I promise.’
Jake pulled out his phone and handed it to Gina on the call log page. ‘That’s the call I made to my brother. As you can see, I was on the phone for nearly forty-five minutes while we were talking about Mum. He misses her too.’
Gina glanced at the time on the call log and held the phone up for Jacob to see. He was talking from six fifteen to nearly seven on the Friday evening. Jacob noted the number and name down. ‘May I see your AppyDater profile?’
‘Why not? You know everything else about me.’
She clicked on the AD icon and went straight into Jake’s account and his records. At no time had he used any of the names in Amber Slater’s phone. He had only messaged two other people, both men, and none of his messages or smileys were met with any interest. The photo was clearly of him. ‘Thank you for your cooperation.’
‘Didn’t have a choice really. I can’t have anyone thinking I’m a murderer but you know something, I still feel like I’m bad somehow. I think I need to spend some time finding myself properly.’
Gina felt herself getting slightly choked by the young man in front of her, and didn’t quite know what to say. ‘You’ve really helped us and we thank you.’ She smiled. ‘I don’t want to keep you any longer or Mr Dack won’t be too happy.’
The man took a deep breath and fanned the wetness around his eyes. ‘Lots to do.’ He opened the door and led the way out.
‘I need four duck and three pigeon, now,’ Lennie shouted as he threw his apron at Jake. ‘Sorry both. Duty calls and some of these lovely people are on a lunch break.’
‘Apologies for the disruption and thank you.’ Lennie ignored Jacob and began showing another group of people to their seats.
As they headed outside, Gina walked into the flurry of chunky snowflakes and noticed that they’d settled on their windscreens. ‘Well, that didn’t go as planned. If you can check out his alibi, I’d be grateful.’
‘I’ll meet you back at the station.’ Jacob ran across the car park and hurried into his car.
Gina watched as he reversed out leaving a trail in the thin layer of snow. Her phone rang.
‘Wyre, good to have you back.’
‘It was touch and go, guv. I ache like mad. O’Connor asked me to call as he’s now looking at the footage from the Angel Arms. He said he’s watched all the Tesco footage several times. Mr Collins definitely wasn’t with his wife at Tesco.’
‘Any news on Kapoor?’
‘It’s not good, guv. Her father just called. She’s not in her apartment. He said he’s really worried. He’s tried calling her many times and it’s off. Something’s wrong.’
‘I want Collins and his wife brought in. She lied to us and I want to know why. I’m heading back now. In the meantime, keep trying to contact Kapoor. She is our priority right now.’ She felt her fingers trembling and it wasn’t from the cold.
38
Theo had called all the relatives to break the news of his daughter, Amber’s, murder. Before long, the phone calls had got to be too much. He unplugged the home phone from the wall and turned off his mobile. He’d already called the police about the release of Amber’s body and they weren’t releasing it for the foreseeable. He couldn’t even organise the funeral properly. All these people sending cards and condolences were filling his head and he needed to shut them all out. The noise was too much.
He cranked the music up, wanting all his thoughts to disperse. He allowed himself to be carried away with the melody but thoughts of Amber crept back in. He’d betrayed her in every way possible and no one could ever know.
He ran to the garage, gathering up his secrets. The snow was falling faster now and landing like a pure white blanket, just waiting to be spoiled. Leaving a trail of footprints, he grabbed the old rusty shovel and grimaced as he tried to dig out a patch of earth. It was no good. The ground was too hard. He threw everything into the metal bin and ran back to the garage, grabbing the lighter fuel and a box of matches.
The stench of fuel rose. He stepped back and stared at the contents of the bin. Wondering if he was doing the right thing, he lit the match regardless and placed the lid on the bin. Smoke bellowed out of the hole in the top. Lifting it slightly, he could see everything shrivelling away as the flames licked the contents of the bin. The metal wouldn’t burn, he knew that. He’d try to dig what was left into the earth after. Maybe the ground would soften overnight. For now, he would leave it burning away.
He rubbed his chin and shivered as the snow landed on his long-sleeved jumper and began to seep through as it melted against his warmer body. There was still something else he needed to erase but it was all he had.
