Page 40 of Her Lips Are Sealed

Dan pressed his hands against the glass, then his face. ‘What’s up with her lips?’

‘It’s lipstick or some kind of lip stain maybe,’ whispered Morgan.

‘Well, that’s awful, I never saw her wearing that colour in all the time that I’ve known her.’

‘Is it Rachel?’

‘Yes, it is but…’

‘But what?’

‘She looks so awful, I mean I know she’s dead, but her skin’s a funny colour and I swear to God that lipstick makes it look a hundred times worse. It’s wrong.’

Morgan nodded at Susie to close the blinds. ‘Thanks, Dan, I’m sorry you had to do this.’

‘Why are her lips so red though, she didn’t like red lipstick. Have you checked her bathroom or make-up bag? You won’t find a single red lipstick inside of it. I could bet you a thousand pounds.’

Morgan watched his face. Why was he so sure about that? How did he not know that she hadn’t been gifted a red lipstick or had bought one on impulse? According to him they were friends, but not that close. How often did he look through her make-up bag or decide what lipstick colours she wore?

‘Thanks, I’ll check that out when we get back. Why do you think she’s wearing it?’

‘I don’t fucking know. Did that creep make her wear it before he killed her? If I get my hands on him, he’ll wish he’d broken his neck.’

‘We don’t know it was him yet, Dan. I need you to promise me you’ll let us do the investigating and don’t do anything to get yourself in any trouble.’

He’d resumed his pacing, but he paused and looked at her. ‘I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.’

Morgan didn’t know if he was a violent man or just too upset, but she realised that maybe hidden underneath his friendly persona there could be a lot more to Dan Webb than she’d originally assumed and that could be a deadly mistake.

TWENTY-FOUR

Morgan realised that she was going to have to drive Dan all the way home then return to meet Ben for the post-mortems, and she was so annoyed they hadn’t planned this out better, but she had seen a side to Dan that had surprised her, and she was going to check Rachel’s flat to make sure she didn’t have a hidden tube of deep red lipstick hiding away in there some place that could be covered in fingerprints off the killer.

Dan didn’t speak on the drive home and she realised he was probably in shock at seeing his friend like that.

‘Is there anyone I can call for you to come and sit with you?’

‘Yeah, call Rena and tell her she’s a bitch for not going to ID her own sister and making me do it. I’m never going to get that image of Rachel out of my head, and I don’t want to remember her that way. I want to remember her laughing and arguing over whose turn it was to feed the cat. I’m so pissed off with Rena. How is she getting away with not doing this? I should have said no when you asked me. How am I supposed to switch that off when I’m lying in bed tonight?’

She thought he had a point. Rena had copped out and although she couldn’t blame her it had been unfair to dump this responsibility on Dan.

‘I mean, did you check Rena, is she okay? Is she a suspect at all because she could be for all we know.’

Morgan couldn’t answer him truthfully, so she shook her head. They had taken what she’d told them at face value. What had she said exactly – that she couldn’t have done it because she’d have to have got a bus there and back. It was doable though. Morgan had no idea what time the last bus left Bowness for Kendal, but there would be one, so she’d need to check that out, and she supposed she better ask them for the CCTV footage of any passengers that got on from Bowness. She was an idiot. Why hadn’t they done this anyway? She messaged Ben to tell him she was going to look into the bus and train stations to see about CCTV footage of the night of the murders. Just because Rena had come across as a little unhinged, she could be an absolute psychopath, and she had a big stack of true crime books piled up in her flat. Not that it made her a killer because so did Morgan, but she would have read about all the different types of murderers, and maybe she had been inspired by one of them. Those notes left at both crime scenes were unhinged. There was a chance Rena also owned a red lipstick. She could understand the anger and resentment towards her sister but what about Ash, why her?

She let Dan out on the corner. ‘Is this okay? I need to get back to the hospital for the post-mortem.’

He stared at her and shook his head. ‘I’d say thanks, but I don’t think putting me through that deserves any praise.’

The door was slammed shut, making her flinch a little, and she watched him walk back towards his flat leaving her feeling crap about the way this had all worked out, and none of it had even been her fault. Everything was box ticking, step by step, but sometimes it sucked big time, and this was one of them.

Ben, Declan, Susie, Joe and Claire were already in the mortuary by the time she arrived. She walked in just as Declan was making the Y incision on Rachel’s chest cavity. For a moment she wished she’d taken the longest way back here possible, she was in no mood to watch two post-mortems back to back.

Ben nodded at her. Declan glanced in her direction and frowned. He had noticed her bruised eye no doubt and would give her a lecture afterwards.

‘Good of you to join us, Morgan, I thought that you’d blown us off for a minute.’

Declan didn’t even make eye contact with her, not that he could through the protective screen over his face to catch any blood splatter. She was hot, so hot she wished she could lean forward and press her forehead against the cool tiles on the wall.