Kim had texted the info to Stacey, who had offered a thumbs up in response. She was sure the girl had been well looked after, but it was important to reunite her with Daniel as soon as possible.
Having already sent the Zoom link to Stacey, Kim poured herself a coffee while waiting for the others.
At one minute to seven, she heard footsteps approaching the squad room.
‘Cutting it fine, guys,’ she offered as a greeting.
‘Good morning to you, and if you want us earlier, change the briefing time,’ Bryant whinged.
‘Jesus, who ate your last Rolo?’ Kim asked as he threw himself into his chair.
‘I was available, you know,’ he said sourly. ‘You know where we live.’
Kim rolled her eyes. She had kept both of her colleagues updated on Ava’s progress the previous evening through the WhatsApp chat.
‘Bryant, there’s a reason Stacey was the best fit.’
‘I formed a bond with her,’ he protested. ‘I could have?—’
‘I know you’ve spent time with her, and I did consider you, but child services insisted that she’s in the presence of a police officer at all times, and unlike Stacey, you can’t do your job from home. So put your face straight before the wind changes and I’m stuck looking at that sulky mouth until you retire.’
‘Okay, got it,’ he said, taking off his jacket.
Honestly, sometimes it was like managing a group of moody teenagers. And the oldest one was often the worst.
‘Penn, hook her up,’ she said, nodding towards Stacey’s computer.
He moved around to the constable’s desk and fired up her workstation.
He loaded the Zoom meeting, and a black box appeared where Stacey’s face should have been.
‘Okay, guys, I’m sure?—’
‘Sorry I’m late,’ Stacey said as the screen flickered into life.
‘How’s Ava?’ Kim asked.
‘Still sleeping,’ Stacey answered, glancing back towards the guest bedroom door. ‘Pizza and a film and she was exhausted.’
‘Devon okay?’ Kim asked, although she was sure Stacey’s wife would have welcomed the child with open arms too.
‘Yeah, she’s sleeping too. She’s on lates, so she’ll be here until mid-afternoon.’
Kim wondered if that was Stacey’s way of asking what was likely to happen next.
‘Soon as I know anything I’ll give you a shout.’
Stacey nodded her understanding.
‘Okay, folks, so we have another victim, as you know. Same manner of death: single stab wound. On the face of it, these women have nothing in common. Stace, I want you to dig into their backgrounds and find any links between the two of them.’
‘Okay, boss.’ That was a job Stacey could easily do at home.
‘We started with no motive for Ashley, but gradually the cracks started to appear, which gave us Gemma Ross, who would love nothing more than for Ashley to be out of the picture permanently. We have Joe Butler, who is still aggravated at losing his boys, and Robbie Steele, who likes to push his grandma around. All are still on the list for Ashley. Nadine is quite different in that she helps break up marriages for a living. There may be a line around the block of people waiting to put a knife in her.’
They all nodded as she turned to Penn. ‘Chase up that warrant, and the second it comes through, I want you over at the modelling agency. First priority is getting the identity of the man she met yesterday.’
‘On it, boss.’
