Craig and Briggs. Those two names ran through her head over and over again.
Jacob scrunched his brow and poked a gloved finger at a bowl he’d just upturned on the draining board. ‘Guv, look.’
‘Another teddy bear. Pink. What the hell do they mean?’ She had no idea where this was going within the context of the case.‘These are the type of teddies people give to babies. Cheap little bears that are often attached to bunches of flowers or in gift hampers. Pink, blue, girl, boy. Kain wasn’t a father but his ex, Sheena, is pregnant. We don’t know much about Zavier’s family situation yet. There was one of these teddies at Justine’s. Her son is a young adult and she didn’t mention being pregnant. Lindy – again – I don’t know. I think I’m barking up the wrong tree here.’ She stared at the scene and sighed. ‘A baby boy and a baby girl.’ She shook her head and shrugged. She couldn’t help remember the strained moments of her relationship with Briggs. He had longed for a child so badly at one point that he’d taken up with someone he didn’t love, leaving her heart broken at the time; all because he lived in hope of becoming a father. She forced those thoughts out of her mind. They were still too painful to think about. Yes, she still had deep feelings for Briggs but she knew that she really had to find a way of moving on when the case was over and Briggs was out of trouble.
‘There is something. At the scenes where we found blue bears, the victims are dead. The killer is leaving us clues and I don’t know if finding the pink teddy bear at Justine’s means we need to keep in constant contact with her to make sure she’s okay. It might be that the bears are Craig’s and the dog got hold of one but we have to cover all angles. We don’t know that yet.’
Jacob nodded.
Nothing was making any sense. ‘Let’s go back to basics. Kain – he was ex police. Zavier – again, he was ex police.’ She kept her next thought in her head.Briggs – police – not ex police.She tried reframing Briggs’s potential involvement and sent a quick message to Brodie. How could they not have all thought what she was thinking? It seemed obvious.
Could DCI Briggs be a potential victim?
Of course, Brodie hadn’t confirmed or denied anything, only that Briggs was in big trouble. Her own mind had jumped to the conclusion that he was a suspect for the actual murders. Maybe he was in trouble for withholding information, but why? At the very least, she hoped that the man she’d spent so many years loving wasn’t a murderer.
She messaged Brodie again.
We need to look into the professional pasts of Kain, Zavier and DCI Briggs. Lindy seems to be an anomaly, but the past might hold the key to the present. I think we need to contact Wyre and O’Connor, see if they are able to come in early to look into this.
Keith stepped in, all hunched over in his crime scene suit. ‘I’m going to have to make a start.’
‘Sorry, we’ll get out of here now. How’s the back?’ Gina asked, knowing that Keith always appreciated her concern.
‘A bloody nightmare. I’m all dosed up on painkillers so I need to get going here before they wear off and I’m good for nothing. I’ve taken a step back on working the scenes but short-staffing and all that. Don’t think I’ll ever be able to retire.’
‘Well, thank you. Your attendance is much appreciated. I don’t know how we’d have coped without you this week, Keith. Let me know if you come across anything that might help us.’
‘Will do. I’ll call or message if I do.’
With that, Gina followed Jacob out and back alongside the path before discarding their crime scene suits into the box provided. A paramedic stepped out from the back of the ambulance.
‘Is it okay to speak to the witness yet?’ Gina asked.
‘Just give us a moment and then I think she’ll be fine.’
He stepped back into the ambulance, leaving Gina with her thoughts and Jacob annoyingly tapping his foot on the pavement. No amount of thinking was helping.
‘Shall we interview her in the car, guv?’
Gina nodded. A handful of neighbours had come out of their homes to see why the blue-lighted vehicles had turned up. She flagged down the PC as she left one of the houses. She hurried over to Gina. ‘Anything useful from the neighbours?’ Gina asked.
She shook her head. ‘Nothing. This is a really quiet neighbourhood and there is a lot of distance between each house. They were all in bed or watching TV. Three camera doorbells only caught hedges and nothing more. A couple walked their dog an hour ago but didn’t see or hear a thing. Lindy Pickering seemed to be much-liked but no one knew her that well. She’s only lived in this house for about three months.’
‘Lovely. Keep knocking on doors and if you find anything that will help us, let me know.’
The PC hurried off towards another house as a paramedic opened the back door of the ambulance.
A lithe woman stepped out with the help of the paramedic. Her glossy hair fell over her face. Gina walked up to her. ‘Ms Yates. I’m DI Harte. We’re really sorry to hear what you’ve been through tonight and we need to speak to you.’
‘Okay,’ she murmured as she looked up, her hair falling over her shoulders, revealing her face.
That’s when Gina noticed the small mole just above the woman’s lip.
THIRTY-TWO
A larger crowd had begun to form. A woman in pyjamas was talking to two men who looked older. One seemed to be messaging and another had started taking photos. Gina watched as a PC spoke to them briefly before asking them to move on. ‘Can we step into the car to speak?’ Gina asked Pia.
‘Err, yes.’ Pia visibly shook and a streak of mascara running down one cheek looked like someone had drawn a faint line on her face. Her deep-pink lipstick was smeared on her chin.
