Page 3 of Her Lips Are Sealed

‘Yes, I’m with Theo.’

‘Oh, give him my best. Can you come back to work for a little while until I can find Cain or Amy?’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t want to discuss it now, but it’s serious and I wouldn’t ask when I know you need a break.’

She sighed. ‘On my way.’ Then she ended the call, not angry with Ben – he was doing his best – but annoyed that this job never seemed to let go and give either of them a chance to live a relatively normal life. She stood up. ‘I’m sorry, Theo, this was the quickest visit ever.’

He laughed. ‘I had you for approximately twelve minutes, all to myself, and that is priceless, Morgan. Please take care, I worry about you and Ben working so hard.’

She leaned down and pecked his cheek. ‘I will, tell Declan I am inviting you both for supper on Saturday night. No excuses, be at ours for seven.’

‘I will, thank you for calling.’

She waved a hand at him and, laughing, she took her latte with her, wondering what the hell was so important that Ben couldn’t tell her over the phone.

Once she was back inside her car she phoned him.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Are you alone?’

‘Yes. I’m in the car.’

‘I’m at an address in Bowness, 13A Church Street. It’s literally opposite the church, ground floor flat.’ He paused.

‘And?’

‘Cleaner found the body of the woman who rents it an hour ago, rang it in. Patrol’s arrived and called us out. Only there is no us. I have no idea what the hell Cain and Amy are up to, Marc is AWOL as per usual, and you are supposed to be having a relaxing afternoon off. Morgan I really am sorry to do this to you. I’ve asked Adele if she’s free and she’s in training at HQ.’

‘Suspicious?’

‘It’s a murder, there’s no doubt about it, but I’d rather let you see for yourself. Wendy has just arrived with Joe. It’s such a small flat there’s no room to move inside it with more than one person. Declan is on the way.’

Morgan didn’t think twice. ‘I’ll literally be ten minutes depending on traffic. Oh, Cain and Amy are at careers day at the sixth form college. You said months ago that you would break Amy in gently on her return to work and put her in company with Cain for a couple of weeks until she was okay and back at full speed. You were the one that put them down for that.’

‘Oh crap, so I did. I totally forgot about it. Oh well, at least they’re being useful, and this would be a bit much on her second day back.’

‘See you soon.’

Morgan ended the call, took a large sip of her coffee, and could not ignore the fizzing inside of her stomach. Nerves for what she was about to see when she arrived at the crime scene, but also the thrill of the chase. She hoped that despite the horrors she was about to witness first hand, she would still be able to give the victim her all, to find the person who thought they had the right to take her life away from her without a second thought.

THREE

Church Street was sealed off with blue-and-white police tape. There were officers on scene guard at either end. Scotty, who had likely managed to blag a free coffee, lifted the tape with one hand for her to drive under, right outside of the busy Costa Coffee. She smiled at him. He gave her a thumbs-up, then took a sip of his drink. She shook her head in disbelief, he couldn’t have been on scene guard that long. There were a few public parking spaces and because of the road closure she was able to park with ease outside of the church and walk the short distance to number 13A. It was a quaint, limestone cottage which had been split into two flats. The downstairs flat had a mint green door, a rose arch around it and pots of flowers either side. It was pretty and a stark contrast to what she knew was waiting for her inside. Ben was talking to Wendy who was already suited and booted. He lifted his hand and waved at Morgan. Wendy smiled at her.

‘Ben said you took a couple of hours off this afternoon; do you remember the last time we both did that? This must be your fault, Morgan, you have to work twenty-four seven, no time off.’

Morgan smiled at her. ‘Unfortunately, I do remember, and I don’t think they’ll let us back in that spa ever again. These things happen even when I am in work, so totally not my fault.’

‘Can Morgan go in and assess the scene, Wendy, on her own, and she won’t touch anything?’ Ben interrupted them.

Wendy rolled her eyes. ‘I suppose so. I’ve filmed it and taken photos, waiting on Declan anyway.’

‘Thanks,’ Morgan said.

‘There’s stuff in the van.’