As he moved, his knees cracked and crunched. He let out a little cry of pain. ‘I don’t need an ambulance. I’m okay. I just need to get out of this hellhole and walk around for a few minutes.’ He swayed a little as he tried to shuffle out of the box, grabbing onto the worktop to pull himself up. His hand slipped and he almost landed nose first into the door. ‘Woah.’ He held his head and traced the dried blood down his cheek. ‘Someone whacked me over the head and I think I was drugged.’
‘Do you know who would do this to you?’
‘No.’
‘Grant Braddock, I’m arresting you for possession with intent to supply a class B drug. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’ She looked at him; weak, thirsty and dazed. She didn’t even go for her handcuffs. He wouldn’t get bail either, after running from them.
‘What, I’m the victim here. Someone hit me, drugged me and locked me up. You should be arresting them.’ He held his head and flinched.
‘After you’ve been checked out, if you get the all clear, we’ll head back to the station where we will question you about that.’ Gina heard the sirens in the distance. Assistance was on its way. All Gina knew was that she needed him in an interview room as soon as possible. She had to know why he had bloodied tissues in the bin at the cabin that had Jennifer’s blood on them. She glanced back into the little wooden room and she recoiled at the smell of human waste. Traces of blood and dirt were everywhere.
Wyre stepped into the cabin. ‘Ambulance is here, guv.’ She let out a cough and held her nose before stepping just outside again.
Gina nodded at the steps and looked at Grant. ‘Are you capable of getting out of the boat and down the ladder or do you need help?’
He waved his hand as if dismissing her. ‘I can do it myself.’ He stumbled out, cocked his leg over the barrier and stepped onto the ladder. PC Kapoor was ready and waiting to steady him, along with a paramedic who took him aside. From what Gina could see, Grant had only suffered from superficial injuries. They’d have him cleaned up in no time. She glanced into the boat. ‘I wonder if Annabel was here. Call Bernard and the team. We need forensics to scale this place and cordon off the surrounding area, please?’
Wyre nodded. ‘On it, guv.’ She pulled her phone from her pocket and held it to her ear.
Gina stepped over the railing and onto the ladder. Once down, she headed over to where Grant was being tended to. ‘How is he?’ She pulled a few stray strands of her hair from the side of her mouth.
‘We’ll be taking him in as he’s had a blow to the head but he’s okay to speak if you want to follow.’
‘I don’t need to go to hospital.’ He pushed the paramedic’s hand out of the way as he reached for the wound on his head. ‘I’m not going to hospital. There. I’ll make it easy for you. I’m refusing treatment because I’m fine.’ He scrunched his brow and swayed a little. ‘Actually, I will get checked out but as soon as I’m done, I’m leaving. I’m not staying there. Can I see my daughter?’
Gina shook her head. ‘Not yet. She’s safe with your father-in-law.’
‘Whatever.’
Turning to PC Kapoor, she said, ‘Would you go with him in the ambulance? We’ll meet you back at the station.’
‘Yes, guv.’
Gina only hoped that Grant could tell them something that would lead them to Annabel. She glanced at the boat one more time. That’s when she spotted the rough-looking symbol, written in the muck on the bottom of the boat with a full stop at the end. The perfect fingerprint. ‘That’s the pi symbol.’ Gina pointed and Wyre ran over.
‘Yes. Takes me back to geometry at school.’
‘Annabel’s left us a sign. She’s telling us that she was here.’ Her mind flitted back to Evan’s pi fridge magnet, the one that Seth had given him. ‘Have we contacted her brother-in-law, Seth Braddock, yet?’
‘No, guv. Jacob said he didn’t answer. He was trying to contact the university.’
Gina held her head with both hands. If only they’d known about the boat earlier. Whoever did this had now moved her, leaving Grant where Annabel once was.
FORTY-EIGHT
Grant sat upright on the plastic chair, opposite Gina and Wyre in the interview room. Evening was closing in. His clothes had been bagged and sent to the lab. The wound on his head had been dressed and cleaned at the hospital before he’d been discharged and brought to the station. His bald solicitor sat bolt upright, next to his client, his liver-spotted hand placed on a notebook.
Grant sipped from the can of pop that he’d been given and belched. ‘I’ve never been so thirsty in my life but I gather that’s not what you want to talk to me about.’
Gina shook her head. The tape had been rolling for a minute now. It was time to question Grant. ‘Four thousand eight hundred pounds cash and fourteen small bags of amphetamine sulphate were found at your home. Were you supplying?’
‘We’re not having a warm-up then.’
‘Your wife is missing, Mr Braddock, and your activities could be the connection we’re looking for. We don’t have time for small talk.’
‘Touché. The drugs were for personal use.’
Gina shook her head. ‘There was far too much to be classed as personal. Did the cash come from the sale of drugs?’
