Page 27 of Her Lips Are Sealed

Morgan followed in Ben’s direction.

‘Look, guys, I know you are doing your best but WTF is going on? It’s supposed to be my weekend off; I’d booked Friday off too and now that’s not happening.’

‘Why not? Who is covering you? They can take over. You need your rest days, Declan.’

‘Cassie Smithson.’

Ben groaned. ‘I thought she’d moved to London to work there.’

‘She did, then she decided the city wasn’t as exciting as good old Rydal Falls and has just relocated back to Preston. She’s my cover this weekend.’

Morgan looked from Ben to Declan. ‘What’s up with her?’

‘What’s right with her?’ muttered Ben.

‘You never had the pleasure of meeting her, Morgan? I took over from her, and she wasn’t the nicest of people.’

‘She was very by the book, very argumentative, very hard work.’

‘Are you being sexist?’

Ben glared at her. ‘No, it wouldn’t matter if she was a guy. With her attitude, it just means she was horrible. More of a hindrance than a help; she is nothing like Declan. So, on second thoughts, do you want to work, and I’ll make it up to you somehow?’

Declan smiled at Ben. ‘It’s not me you need to make it up to, it’s Theo. He’s going stir-crazy sitting inside and hardly going out except for church services and the necessary God stuff.’

‘Poor Theo, I’ll do something to make it up to him,’ Morgan whispered.

Declan pointed towards the open front door, then picked up his case. ‘Shall we?’

Ben followed behind him as he walked through Ash’s front door, and Morgan felt sad all over again for the woman who had been so horribly murdered.

What was this killer trying to prove?

That he could kill unsuspecting women for the fun of it or was there more to it? Did he know both women personally? Did they know each other? They needed to go back to the station and get an action plan together. One that considered the names they already had and if they were connected to both or either women one way or the other.

Failing that they needed the CCTV footage to give them something they could work with. Surely the camera was recording last night.

She supposed it all depended upon the quality of the camera and if it was good footage. Clear pictures would be incredible and not some white and grey blurry blobs moving around the screen like it most often was when they thought they had a lead and it turned out to be a waste of time because of the state of the CCTV.

She just had to keep her fingers crossed.

EIGHTEEN

Ben took a fifty pence piece out of his pocket and tossed it into the air, and catching it, he slapped it onto the back of his hand and called out, ‘Heads or tails?’

‘Tails,’ Cain replied.

Ben removed his hand from the coin and sighed. ‘How do you do that; how do you always get it right?’

Cain was grinning. ‘I am psychic. I can tell by the way it lands.’

‘Utter rubbish, you are not psychic at all,’ Amy scoffed.

‘Shut up, Amy. I saw a vision of you turning up this morning looking like something the cat dragged in.’

‘Fuck you, Cain, I did not.’

Ben gasped. ‘Cain, that’s so rude.’