Page 8 of Her Lips Are Sealed

‘Does he know about her sister?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. Do you have her address or contact number? I’ll go there next to speak to her. Does she come to see Rachel often?’

He let out a long, drawn-out sigh. ‘No, she’s called Rena and I think she lives in Kendal. I’ve only met her a couple of times. She’s a bit standoffish, not at all like Rachel; in fact she’s the opposite. This sounds awful, but I really hope it’s Rena and not Rachel. I don’t know what I’ll do without chatting to her and our true crime fan club meetings.’

His eyes were brimming with tears, and he swiped at them with his sleeve. Morgan finished taking notes, then looked up at him. Dan looked distraught, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t check with the Belsfield to see if he was in work last night, because he could be a very good actor too. Maybe his relationship with Rachel wasn’t as rosy as he was making it out to be.

Ben was going to be relieved. She already had three names for their suspect list and a possible witness. Once they spoke to the parking attendant, at this speed the case would be closed before the end of the day and how refreshing that would be.

FIVE

Rydal Falls police station was like a ghost ship, as almost every available officer on shift had been sent to the crime scene. Detective Inspector Marcell Howard, Marc to his colleagues, had been late to work because of an argument with his eldest teenage daughter, Tiffany, who’d been full of anger at him yet again for missing her birthday. Well, he’d remembered to send a card and money. He’d just not made it back to Manchester to see her in person. Brenda at the front desk had informed him everyone was at a murder scene, and he was about to rush out to it when she’d shouted him back.

‘Marc, are you free for a minute?’

He looked at her and shook his head. ‘Not really, Brenda, I need to get to the scene.’

‘I know, but there’s a lady in reception who has been here over an hour. She wants to speak to someone in CID.’

‘Tell her to come back.’

Brenda, who had worked behind the front desk for over twenty years, folded her arms across her chest. ‘No, she is worried and nervous about something. The call for the crime scene came in almost two hours ago and you’ve only just turned up to work, so I think you can spare five minutes.’

She smiled at him, but it wasn’t a kind one, it was an I-dare-you-not-to kind of smile. He shrugged, not wanting to argue with her because she would wipe the floor with him and not pause for thought while doing it. ‘Okay, what’s her name?’

‘She wouldn’t say.’

‘What do I call her then?’

‘She’s the only person out there, boss.’

He really tried not to roll his eyes in Brenda’s direction. He swiped his card to get into an empty interview room that had a door which opened into the reception area. The woman was in her late twenties, with a peacock blue ponytail. She was staring at him. He smiled at her and waved her in. She stood up and scurried across towards him.

‘Hi, I’m Detective Inspector Marc Howard. Brenda said you needed to talk to one of the team. How can I help?’

‘Thank you, I know this is stupid and I should have called it in.’ She paused.

‘But?’

‘But I didn’t want some baby-faced copper turning up at my door and fobbing me off because they can’t be bothered listening to what I have to say.’

‘Okay and what is it you have to say? I didn’t get your name.’

‘Lisa Palmer. There’s been some creep hanging around the block of flats I live in, there all hours of the day and night.’

‘Why did you not phone the police to report him while he’s there?’

‘Because he’s not really doing anything.’

Marc tried to keep his cool, he didn’t have time for this when there was a murder scene to supervise. ‘If he’s not doing anything what’s your problem?’

‘I’m very intuitive, I can sense things and I get a bad feeling from him. He has bad intentions.’

The sigh that escaped Marc’s lips was loud. ‘I don’t know if that’s enough for us to go on, Lisa, you having a bad feeling. I get a bad feeling about most people, but I can’t lock them all up because of it. If he’s being abusive or trying to get into people’s flats that’s a different matter, but right now if he hasn’t done anything other than be in the area, I’m not sure what you want me to do.’

‘Speak to him, ask him why he’s hanging around all the time.’

‘What’s his name?’