Page 35 of Her Lips Are Sealed

‘I know, but I should have known something was wrong. How do I get over that? Have you got over losing your friend so violently?’

She could smell the alcohol fumes coming off his breath and didn’t blame him one little bit, but she kept her distance. Grief and alcohol were not a good mix. She didn’t want to end up fighting him with no backup. She’d had enough of that for one day, realising how tired she was.

‘You couldn’t have, not unless you’re psychic. It took some time to get the images of Des out of my head, but I think about him all the time. I’m sorry to bother you so late, Dan, but we need someone to officially ID Rachel.’ Morgan couldn’t even go there with how she felt finding Angela clinging on to life with her throat cut, it was too raw, too painful to talk about.

‘I, I’m sorry about that. What about Rena?’

‘Rena freaked out and refused.’

‘Why am I not surprised? She’s the total opposite of Rachel. I suppose if there’s nobody else, I’ll do it. Are we going now?’

‘No, tomorrow morning. I can get someone to pick you up if that helps.’

He nodded. ‘Yeah, it would, I’m not biking it to wherever it is they’ve taken her body.’

‘We wouldn’t expect you to, someone will ring you in the morning with a time once we’ve arranged it with the pathologist. Thank you.’

‘It’s the least I can do. It’s not as if I can do anything else for her.’

‘You’re taking care of her cat; I’m sure Rachel would appreciate that a lot.’

He shook his head. ‘God, I hope so.’

‘Oh before I go, can I ask you about who owns this property?’

He arched one eyebrow at her. ‘My dad owns Windermere Luxury Lettings, well he owns this and it’s technically not one of the luxury ones, but he has a few smaller properties to fill in the gaps.’

Morgan felt her blood run cold. Ash worked for that company. ‘That’s handy for you; cheap rent?’

‘Sort of, that and his general dogsbody. If he needs someone out of hours for a job, then he calls me to go do it in exchange for the cheap rent instead of paying call-out fees.’

‘Crafty.’

‘He’s a businessman, always been shrewd like that.’

‘Does he own any properties in Brade Street, Coniston?’ She almost dared not to breathe.

‘A couple of houses along there, but I’m not sure of the numbers, you’d have to speak to the office to find out. Why?’

‘Just trying to figure some stuff out, I’m not sure myself.’ She didn’t want to give him any idea if he didn’t already know about Ash’s murder. ‘Where do I find your dad to chat to, at the office in Windermere?’

‘You’d be lucky, he’s on a sabbatical in the US for three months golfing. I can give you his number, but don’t tell him I gave it to you; he’ll go mad. To be honest you’d be better speaking to Chelsea, the manager, she knows more than he does.’

‘Thanks, that’s very helpful. Take care, Dan.’

Morgan walked out, the door closed softly behind her, and she felt as if there could be some connection with Dan, Rachel and Ash, but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, whereas Paul Graham looked like a strong suspect for both murders. She stood for a moment on the top step letting the cool evening air caress her skin. It started soothing the dull ache behind the back of her eyes so she could focus enough to get back to the car without crying for the wasted lives of both Rachel and Ash.

TWENTY-TWO

Ben drove himself and Morgan to work. Neither of them had the energy to speak much on the way in, not even chatting over breakfast like they usually would. Both conserving it for the long day ahead. Morgan wasn’t surprised to see both Amy and Cain already in the office. There were three coffee cups in a cardboard holder on her desk and three bun shapes wrapped in tin foil.

‘You didn’t?’ She looked at Cain; he pointed to Amy.

‘She did.’

‘Oh my God, Amy, you are a total queen.’

Amy chuckled. ‘You lot are anybody’s for coffee and a bacon buttie.’