‘Mason Jones was found guilty and remanded into custody awaiting sentence,’ Ramouter replied flatly. He picked up his coat and case file. ‘Paige Jones was acquitted. The boss tried to convince her that she should request protection, but she wasn’t having it.’
‘I’m going to have another word with her,’ said Henley. ‘She doesn’t live far. I’m going to pass by her house on my way home. If Mika is nearby and she’s watching, then maybe the sight of police presence will scare her off. I’ll also get on the radio and see if any cars in the area can do a drive-by.’
‘You’re going home?’ Copeland asked with surprise.
‘Only for a shower and a change of clothes. But make sure you call me the minute you get confirmation of Mika; do you understand?’
‘Of course,’ Copeland replied.
57
Copeland stood at the window eating a slice of pizza. The rain had finally stopped, and a few stars had managed to break through the cloudy night sky. Her mind kept going back to the moment when she saw Henley and Pellacia sitting on the stairs. There was something in their body language that suggested to her that this was more than just one colleague comforting another. Her phone interrupted her thoughts.
She rubbed her hands on the front of her jeans and jogged over to her desk.
‘DC Copeland speaking.’
‘Hi, this is Jed from Whiz Cars. I’m sorry that it’s taken a while to get back to you. We had to speak to the compliance team, legal and then our systems went down.’
‘That’s fine,’ said Copeland as she dropped into her chair and reached for her pen. ‘What can you tell me?’
‘Mika Fonseka hired a Volkswagen Golf, the electric one, at 2.48 p.m.. She entered her location address as SE1 9RT, which came up as Guy’s Hospital and she picked up a car on Pocock Street at 3.07 p.m.,’ said Jed.
‘This is a stupid question but are you able to continuously track your hire cars?’
‘All of our cars have a tracker and anti-theft technology but an hour ago Mika Fonseka ended the hire of the car.’
‘Shit. Where?’
‘She left the car in Kellerton Road in SE13.’
Well, thanks for—’
‘No, that’s not all,’ said Jed, ‘She then hired another car, using the same card, on Dorville Road in SE12.’
‘What car was that?’
‘A Hyundai Ioniq. Black. And we last picked it up in Waveney Avenue at 8.22 p.m..’
‘Excuse me,’ Copeland said as she turned over the pages of the Paige Jones custody record and found her home address. ‘Did you say Waveney Avenue?’
‘That was twenty minutes ago, but I can’t tell you where the car is now because our system just crashed.’
Copeland checked the clock. Henley had told her that it would be a quick trip home, but she had not yet returned to the SCU. Copeland knew she should call Henley and tell her that Mika Fonseka was on the move and that she had Paige Jones in her sight. Copeland looked around the empty office. She was finally part of the SCU and she wanted to stay. Being the one to arrest Mika would make her temporary position permanent. She picked up the key to the pool car, and left the building. Adrenaline pumped through Copeland’s body as she got into the car and started the engine. She drove out of the car park but hit the brakes before she turned onto Greenwich High Road. She should tell Henley she was on her way to possibly apprehend Mika Fonseka, but Copeland knew that if she did, she was at risk of being told to stand down. So, instead, she called Ramouter.
Henley had made the mistake of lying on her bed after she’d showered and dressed. Warped images of Ezra, Sian Fox-Carnell and Pellacia had flooded her mind as she’d napped. The sharp ringing of her phone had woken her. She sat up and picked up her phone. It was Ramouter.
‘Are you back at the SCU?’ Ramouter asked.
‘What? No. I fell asleep, I’m going to make my way there now.’
‘We’ve got a problem. I just got a call from Copeland. She’s possibly in pursuit of Mika Fonseka.’
‘What the hell do you mean that she’s in pursuit?’
‘She got a location notification from Whiz Cars. The first was at Paige Jones’s home address. Copeland went there but there was no sign of Fonseka or Paige.’
‘Have you been in touch with Paige?’ Henley asked as she left the bedroom, ran down the stairs and searched the hallway for her trainers.
