Gina took a deep breath, knowing she needed Pia at the station but also knowing she had to tread carefully if she was to get her to open up. She looked Pia up and down. There was no sign of blood spatter on her coat or her white scarf.
Once they were all settled in the car, Gina and Jacob in the front and Pia in the back, Gina glanced back from the driver’s seat as Jacob took notes from the passenger side. ‘Can you confirm your full name?’
‘Pia Yates.’
‘What time did you get here?’
‘Eleven forty-five.’
‘And why were you visiting Miss Pickering so late?’
‘I had a call from Lindy. She was really upset. She’d had a drink and you know what it’s like when you’ve had a drink, everything seems good for a while and then it hits. She lost her mother not long ago and you know about Kain already, so I don’t need to tell you about him.’ Pia spoke fast with a nervous quiver to her voice. ‘She was depressed. She asked me to come over. I was in doing a bit of work at home but she’s a good friend so I quickly dressed and left my house straight away.’
‘What do you do?’
Pia scrunched her perfect high-definition brows. ‘My husband and I run a drinks company. We’re working on new flavours and product lines. I’m not an early bird so I generally work a bit later into the evening.’
‘What time was the call?’
Pia began to scroll through her phone. She showed Gina the call time and duration. ‘You can take a look.’
‘Two minutes, fifteen seconds starting at ten minutes past ten.’ Gina spoke the words for Jacob. ‘But you called the incident in at eleven fifty.’
Pia bit her plump bottom lip leaving a smear of lipstick on her front teeth, then she wiped a tear away. ‘I had work to finish and I said I’d be with her as soon as I could.’ She paused. ‘If I left as soon as she called, I might have been able to help.’
‘Or you may have been hurt.’ Gina could see that Pia was visibly upset.
‘Did she say anything else to you while on the phone?’
‘No, just that she’d been looking at old photos on her phone, of her mother and Kain. I remember her going quiet and saying she heard a noise coming from the back garden. I waited while she checked it out but she said it was nothing. I ended the call and carried on finishing my work. When I looked up again, nearly an hour had passed so I ran out the door. I stopped off at the garage thinking we might have a drink and I grabbed a bottleof wine. It’s in my car.’ She dug in her pocket and pulled a receipt out. ‘I bought the wine at…’ Gina leaned out of the car light so that Pia could look closely. ‘Eleven thirty-seven.’
They had a time. The attack on Lindy had begun after ten past ten. Gina wondered if the noise Lindy had heard was her attacker. If Pia bought a bottle of wine, like she said she did, she could have a partial alibi for the evening. Gina knew it was time to get Pia to the station before discussing her relationship with Craig. ‘We need to interview you formally in connection to the murder of Kain Pickering. We’ll also need to take your clothes and some swabs to eliminate you from the scene.’
‘What? How… I haven’t… I wouldn’t… Am I under arrest?’ Pia raised her brows and stared wide-eyed.
‘No, but we will need you to come into the station for a voluntary interview. It will be recorded and we do have something we need to ask you about.’
‘Okay. It’s late and I’ve had an awful shock. I need to go home and have a shower. I feel disgusting. Can I come in tomorrow?’
‘It can’t wait. I know you’ve been through a lot but as you can appreciate, it’s important that we eliminate you from our enquiries. I am going to ask a PC to drive you to the station if that’s okay.’
‘Has Kain’s murder got something to do with Lindy?’
‘We would really appreciate your help. We can talk more at the station, during your interview.’
‘Okay.’
Gina escorted her out and enlisted a PC with a car to take Pia to the station. They were about to find out what had gone on between her and Craig Crawford.
THIRTY-THREE
LINDY
As she started to come around, she could hear a drip, drip, dripping sound coming from somewhere above her. Hands tied behind her back; her face pressed against a cold hard wall… where was she? After prising her sticky eyes open, all she could see was pitch-darkness. Shivering, she went to call out but that was near impossible with the tape over her mouth.
Her blood pulsed through her body and her breaths quickened, making it so much harder to hear what was going on around her. There was another drip. Was it a drip? She shivered violently. It was so cold. She tried to kick out but her ankles were bound by something smooth but tight that was digging into her skin.
What happened? She had a memory blank. Her head hurt. Not just hurt, but pounded. Someone had hit her that hard, they’d rendered her unconscious. As her mind darted to thoughts of Kain, she knew that whoever took her had killed Kain. But… she didn’t owe anyone any money. Was this all about money? All she had was questions. If it was about money, it could be easily solved, she’d sell her mother’s house and pay whatever debt Kain had run up.
