42
Jacob held a piece of paper in the air and flicked it. ‘We have a match on the fingerprint.’
Gina almost fell into a chair at the incident room main table, her mouth dry with anticipation.
‘Who?’
‘Theo Slater.’
‘Her father?’
Jacob flicked the printout in his hand and dropped it on the table. ‘Yes. He’s on our system. Drink driving conviction three years ago.’
‘I want him in, now, and I want a search warrant for his house on the basis that we’ve found his prints on surveillance equipment in the home of our murder victim. Wyre, can you get onto that?’
Wyre nodded and headed off to one of the computers. ‘Why would he put surveillance in his own daughter’s hallway? What the hell is going on?’
Gina only wished she knew the answer to that question as she paced past the board. ‘Whatever we do, we mustn’t drop the balls that we’re juggling. I still want anything we can find on Vincent Jordan and I still want Mr and Mrs Collins. Any news on them?’
Jacob flicked through a couple of screens. ‘Nothing yet. It’s like they’ve vanished.’
‘Do we have an address for their parents? We need to look further. Their car hasn’t been flagged by an ANPR. Are there any connections between any of these people? We can connect Tyrone Heard to Amber and Madison. He lived in Amber’s block and wanted to move into Madison’s. I’m all over the place with this investigation. I also want Tyrone here, today, but first we need Theo Slater. We need to press him hard on this issue. Not only did he let himself into Amber’s apartment before we got there, it seems he may have removed evidence. He’s in big trouble and it’s enough to search his home and bring him in. Go gently to start. Anything he can give us voluntarily will be easier than him going “no comment” non-stop once a solicitor gets involved. I want any phones, computers, digital storage devices looked at as a matter of urgency. Any resistance, we’re going to have to arrest him on suspicion so that we can investigate him further.’
43
Wyre stood next to Gina with the search warrant in her hand and a team of officers ready to go in. A police officer’s life was at stake and if Theo Slater had anything to do with all this, he was going to tell before the day was out.
Gina rapped her knuckles on the door as hard as she could. The snow beneath her feet was now about an inch thick. She shook her boots as she heard Theo unlocking the door from the other side. As he opened up, a stark look spread across his face and he stared. ‘Theo Slater, we’ve met before. I’m DI Harte, this is DC Wyre, we have a warrant to search your premises.’ She took the piece of paper from Wyre and passed it to Theo. As he read through it, his shoulders slumped. ‘We’ve found your fingerprints on what looks to be surveillance equipment in your daughter, Amber Slater’s, apartment.’
He stepped back opening his mouth but no words coming out.
‘Phone.’
He pulled his phone from his pocket with shaky hands and handed it over. The wind blew and a flurry of snowflakes followed them in. Gina bagged his phone and passed it to the officer behind her. ‘We need you down the station. You have a lot of explaining to do.’
‘I was just doing some jobs at her apartment. You know, decorating, DIY. Of course my prints were there.’
‘Your prints were found behind a false cupboard made to look like a wall.’
His face reddened and Gina swore she could see him shaking. ‘This is ridiculous. I’ve just lost my daughter.’
Several officers continued forward, heading into each room to conduct the search methodically.
‘We also found remnants of a surveillance device inside an old alarm sensor and your prints were on that too. You’ll have plenty of time to explain yourself when we get to the station.’
PC Smith entered.
Gina caught his attention. ‘Can you stay with Mr Slater while I assist with the search? And please explain to him what will happen when we get to the station.’
‘Of course, guv.’ PC Smith took Theo to one side.
Tension was plastered all over Theo’s face, from his twitching face muscles to his clenched jaw. His beady eyes were flitting from side to side, trying to take in everyone’s movements and failing spectacularly.
Leaving Mr Slater behind, she glanced through the living room door and pulled a pair of latex gloves over her hands. Two officers were already making headway. Another came in from the garden. ‘The metal burning bin is still warm.’
Constant rustling and the sound of opening drawers came from above, then an electric screwdriver began to whirr. ‘Guv, come here – quick.’ Wyre’s voice boomed down from the landing.
Running up the creaky stairs, Gina could feel the weight of Theo’s stare on her back. ‘What is it?’
