Gina nodded to Wyre to make a note although she knew Briggs was behind the glass. He’d already have someone checking that out as they spoke. ‘We will. Moving on to the night of Taylor’s murder. Where were you between eight and nine on Monday night?’
‘I was already in a taxi, heading to Bidford. Just check out the taxi. There has to be CCTV on the high street. I was around that area on and off for most of the evening. Taylor did call me. She said she was going to my house to see if I was there. She was fed up of hiding out with her friend. She even had the nerve to accuse me of being guilty of the hit-and-run. I told her to stop being stupid and leave me alone to think, then I hung up. I should have met up with her, then all this wouldn’t have happened.’ He scratched his chin and began nervously tapping the side of his head, then he shivered. ‘I swear on my little girl’s life, I had no idea she had been murdered until you told me.’
‘Would Taylor have had access to your other car and the keys?’
‘She had keys and access to the whole house. She was our childminder, so, yes.’
‘Could she have given them to someone else?’ Gina knew Taylor hadn’t driven the car on the night of Annabel’s hit-and-run.
‘I know she had the occasional friend over while looking after Cally. We never minded her doing that. None that I know offhand. My father-in-law had access to the whole house and he hates me. Have you wondered if he’s setting me up? Maybe he and Annabel are having one big laugh at all of us right now as they frame me for her kidnapping.’
‘What size shoes do you wear?’
‘Eleven.’
‘Do you recognise this?’ Gina scrolled to the photo of the raspberry keyring that Briggs had forwarded to her.
‘Nah.’ He barely gave it a proper look.
Gina sighed. The whole line of questioning was getting bizarre with talks of Annabel setting him up. ‘Do you recognise the name Thomas Whittle?’
Grant’s face went white. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’ He stood up and ran out the door.
‘My client is clearly not up to answering any more questions. He’s told you he has a drug problem and I’m requesting that he gets to speak to a doctor.’
‘But we haven’t finished.’ Gina ran her hands through her tangled hair and leaned back. ‘Interview terminated at nineteen fourteen.’
Wyre stood. ‘I’ll go and see how he is.’
As the solicitor followed Wyre to find Grant, Briggs entered. ‘We’ve checked with the taxi firm. They have cameras in their vehicles. When I sent them his description, they were able to confirm that he was indeed in a taxi when he said he was.’
‘He didn’t kill Taylor and he didn’t drive his car to the boatyard on that night. We need whoever is wearing those size tens. He was locked in that boat from the outside. He couldn’t have locked himself in. He could have caused his own injuries. He could have left his car there but the container in the boat was locked from the outside. He’s telling the truth about being placed there. Just to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, we need to find out which shed he’s been hiding in on Langley Road.’
Briggs leaned against the door. ‘Any news on Tom Whittle?’
Gina shook her head. ‘No, and he’s just become our number one suspect. He hasn’t been back to his house. He hasn’t used his cash cards or car. It’s like he too has disappeared.’ She flicked through the notes. ‘After searching his house, we can also conclude that he wears size ten shoes.’
‘We should get his face out there. I’ll prepare a press release.’
‘Maybe he was using Grant’s other car. It’s possible that he could have got the keys off Annabel. Maybe he visited their house at one point and swiped a spare set. We really need to put a rush on forensics. We need to do background checks on Annabel’s father, the neighbour, and the rest of their families too. Everyone who had access to the Braddocks’s house is a suspect, including Omar Abidar. He’s been watching their home. If he hasn’t taken Annabel there’s a good chance he’s seen something. We need him found. How hard can it be to find a kid? He’s driving around in a stolen car, for heaven’s sake.’
‘Guv.’ O’Connor burst through the door. ‘We’ve found Nina Abidar’s car. It’s been badly parked, half-blocking delivery access to one of the businesses on the industrial estate.’
‘That news couldn’t have come at a better time. Let’s hope that the lad isn’t too far away from the car.’
FIFTY-ONE
Pulling up in the dark, Gina spotted Nina Abidar’s silver Corsa parked badly, outside an electroplating company. PC Smith was parked on the opposite side of the road and Wyre had followed in her own car. Apart from the police team, it looked like all the workers had gone home as the road was empty.
‘Guv.’ Wyre tapped on the window and smiled.
Gina stepped out and straightened up her jacket. ‘So this is where Omar left the vehicle. It’s only a short walk away to Annabel’s house.’ She peered through the driver’s window, the inside of the car fully lit up by the street light. The front was clean and tidy. She glanced into the back and saw two black shoes on the floor and a scrunched up uniform on the back seat. ‘Looks like he changed out of his school clothes in the car.’ She squinted to see the size on the bottom of one of the shoes but there was no size marked on it.
Wyre leaned in for a look.
‘Hey, Smith,’ Gina called.
The uniformed officer smiled. ‘Guv?’
