‘That’s okay. You got me worried and that text didn’t seem like one you’d send.’
‘I think I knocked myself a bit sick. One minute I was about to step out of the shower, the next I’d hit my head on the toilet bowl and I knew I was going to be late.’ The red lump on the top of Wyre’s head was evident.
‘Have you been checked out?’
‘I was going to but after half an hour and a cup of tea I felt okay so I thought I’d see how things go. I’m just a bit sore, that’s all.’
Gina raised her brows.
‘Okay, if I feel anything that I shouldn’t, I’ll go straight to the hospital.’ Wyre shivered and did her jacket up. ‘I can’t believe the heating’s still out. These fan heaters are rubbish. I thought it was getting fixed today.’
‘No, the company have cancelled because of the weather. I’m seriously worried about Kapoor.’ Gina glanced around the room. ‘She wouldn’t just go off radar like this. Does anyone know her outside work, maybe a little more on a personal level?’
Everyone shook their head.
Briggs turned. ‘All I know is that she’s never had a sick day.’
‘I’m calling it now. Kapoor not being at her home or contactable is a worry. Her father called again to say none of the family have heard from her.’
Briggs pointed at the board. ‘Look.’
‘I know. Amber Slater, Madison Randle and Jhanvi Kapoor – similar in features, same build. Amber and Madison are both twenty, Kapoor is in her mid-twenties. All three were on AppyDater and live locally. We’ve been grasping at the student link.’ Gina felt the weight of what they were seeing bearing down on her chest. She gasped a little before staring at the board. ‘This can’t be happening. Maybe she’s just…’
The room was silent.
‘No.’ Gina stood and paced, accidentally kicking the waste-paper bin over. ‘We need to put out a press release. Get her face out there for everyone to see. We need to see her flat, now. Where’s her car?’
‘Her father said it’s still in her parking space, behind her apartment block. Just before coming here, I asked uniform if they’d head over and cordon it off. I haven’t had any word back yet.’ Briggs sat down.
Gina glanced at the board. Their persons of interest list was still high. The Collinses, Vincent Jordan and there was another. ‘Otis Norton, the witness at the park. He’d have seen Kapoor there on the day we found Amber Slater’s body. While we’re in process with everyone else, I want him brought in. Can you do that, Jacob?’
He nodded.
‘O’Connor, Jacob, I have the login for Madison Randle’s AppyDater account. She’s given us permission to take a look at it. I’ll leave that with you both. It may throw up some leads. Cross-check any names with Amber Slater’s burner phone contacts, see if there are any patterns in the way the messages are worded – anything!’
‘Yes, guv.’
‘Wyre, are you up to heading over to Kapoor’s apartment with me?’
‘Definitely, guv.’ She rubbed her head.
‘Right, don’t let me stop any of you.’ As everyone prepared for their next tasks, Gina headed over to Briggs. She pulled her gloves from her bag. ‘Are you going to prepare the press statement? Do you need me to do anything?’
He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I’ve got it in hand. I’ll get on to that right now. I can’t believe this might be happening to one of our own. We have to find her.’ His stare met hers.
‘I know we do. I’ll keep you posted.’ She hurried out, knowing that time was of the essence. Amber Slater’s timeline was all she had to go on. Amber went missing around six thirty on the Friday night and was found dead on the Monday morning. Several hours had already passed. The clock was ticking.
The incident room phone rang and O’Connor grabbed the receiver. ‘Keith. What have you got for us?’ O’Connor stopped biting the end of his pen and gazed at everyone in the room as he listened to Keith in forensics. ‘It’s Amber Slater’s apartment. With her father’s permission the team went back and did a more thorough search. They found some very discreet wiring running from a dummy burglar sensor in Amber’s hallway that is next to the airing cupboard. Whatever was in the sensor has been snipped out with a pair of scissors. Following that lead, it led to a false cupboard that originally looked like the back of the wall and inside that was nothing but a lead and a plughole. If the dust is anything to go by, it looks like someone has recently removed some equipment from the base of this hidden cupboard. There were also several old unused sensors and all were untampered with except one.’
‘Are you saying that she could have been under surveillance and whatever was there has been removed recently? Maybe it was run through the Wi-Fi, enabling whoever was watching her to see her every move.’
‘Yes.’
Gina felt her face flushing and her heart rate pounding. ‘Someone had been watching Amber and it looks like they had easy access to her apartment as this equipment has now been removed.’ Her mind flitted between the landlord or maybe one of her neighbours. ‘We need to find out who had a key to her apartment? Vincent Jordan isn’t sitting well with me. He’d definitely have a spare key being her landlord. His father owns the block. He manages the block and he maintains it. Contact all her neighbours and her father too. I know he has a key and maybe her friend Lauren Sandiford did too. O’Connor, Jacob, contact Madison. We need to check to see if she was under any kind of surveillance.’ She checked her watch. ‘Right, I have to get to Kapoor’s apartment.’ She swallowed and took a deep breath.
40
Gina hurried up the stairs to the third floor of Kapoor’s apartment block with Wyre hot on her tail. Only one of them was breathing heavily as they reached the top. ‘I’m getting so unfit,’ Gina panted. Knocking on Kapoor’s door, they waited a few seconds and Mr Kapoor opened up.
