Chapter 19
Nineteen
Gina
O’Connor turned the engine off after parking outside the large double-fronted family home on the quiet estate.
Gina still reeled from what she’d been told about the blood on the knife and O’Connor had barely said a word while driving.
No wonder Abel had shut down on them completely after being accused of hurting Mindy with his knife.
It was smears of tomato sauce. Abel probably used it to slice pizza up. She couldn’t believe that O’Connor thought it was blood but she had to let it go. Maybe it was an error any of them could have made.
Gina took in the frost-kissed lawn and naked trees that she knew would bloom beautifully come late spring. ‘Wait, I recognise this address,’ Gina said to O’Connor as she unclipped her seat belt. ‘Where are your notes from this morning?’
‘On the back seat.’
Gina reached over and grabbed the book. She flicked through until she reached the list of Abel Holloway’s alibis. ‘Curtis Dunton, age eighteen. An alibi of our suspect, is the son of the victim’s landlord. That seems a bit of a coincidence.’
O’Connor nodded. ‘I’m with you there, guv.’
‘Maybe Holloway has an accomplice, making it easy for him to be able to get hold of the keys to Mindy’s house.’
‘I think we’d best speak to them.’
As they approached the front door, a dog began to bark and a few seconds later, a stocky man who looked to be in his early forties answered.
‘Rex, basket, now.’ He pointed and the Alsatian left the hallway.
Gina took a mental note of the roofing van parked up on the drive and she wondered if there was any truth in what Abel Holloway had said about there being a white van around when Mindy went missing.
‘I’m DI Harte and this is DC O’Connor. May we come in?’
‘Of course. Excuse the mess. I live with my son and, as you can see, we’re not the tidiest of people.
’ She entered and tried not to look in the overflowing washing basket that they had to dodge to get into the kitchen.
She glanced back, thinking it would be better to look.
What if there were some bloody clothes in sight but then again, Mr Dunton knew they were coming.
If there was any evidence around, it would probably have been destroyed by now.
‘Take a seat, if you can find one.’ He ran ahead, picking up the several coats that had been flung over the bench seat at one side of the table.
‘Can I get you both a drink? Coffee pot is on.’
Eyes still heavy from lack of sleep, Gina needed more than her morning espresso. ‘Please.’
He poured two coffees and placed them in front of her and O’Connor. No offer of milk or sugar but she didn’t care. O’Connor winced as he politely sipped it but Gina enjoyed the rich roast.
‘The PC from Cleevesford informed me that there has been some issue with my tenant. He said that you needed to speak to me about her. I know her brother deals with the tenancy but it’s Miss Carson you’re referring to?’
She nodded. ‘Yes, she went missing between six and seven yesterday evening under suspicious circumstances. Mr Carson gave us her spare key to enter the property and we found something very disturbing.’
‘What’s happened to my house? Is Miss Carson okay?’ His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, reaching the top of his navy round neck jumper.
‘Your house is okay. Can I ask if you have any surveillance cameras in the property?’
‘No, never seen any need. The woman next door is always nosing out of the windows. Who needs cameras when you have nosey neighbours?’ He began tapping his fingers on the wooden table.
‘Sorry, I shouldn’t take this lightly. I didn’t think.
My last tenant was sick of the neighbour interfering in her business so she left.
When my mum was alive, she joked about the woman next door always collaring her on the doorstep. ’
‘Several covert cameras were found in the house, some in the bedroom and bathroom.’
He raised his brows and remained silent for several seconds. ‘Seriously?’
‘Yes. Do you know how they could’ve got there?’
‘No. Could Miss Carson have put them there?’
‘It’s not looking likely that she did. How many smoke alarms do you have in the house?’
‘Two, one on the ceiling of the upstairs landing and another downstairs in the hall.’
They weren’t the smoke alarms in question. ‘So, you’ve never installed any in the bedroom?’
‘No. I can see where this is going now. There were a couple of old detectors from days gone by that I left up there. My mum had them fitted but I never took them down. I was renting the house out so I just left them. Has someone put spy cams in them?’
‘I’m afraid to tell you that covert surveillance devices were found inside those detectors and in other places. When was the last time you went to the house?’
‘On the day she moved in. I was meant to book a time for her six-monthly inspection but I didn’t get around to it and I guess she seemed nice enough and I trusted that she hadn’t wrecked the place.’
‘Do you have spare keys for the property?’
‘No. It’s not something I’d do. I know she said she was getting a key cut for her brother because she asked me if it was okay.’
Gina had no way of being sure that he didn’t keep a spare but she could hardly search his house. ‘How is Miss Carson as a tenant?’
‘Good. As I said, nice enough. I get my rent on time. Her brother seemed okay, too. I have no concerns.’
‘Do you know if she was having any issues?’
‘She’s just my tenant. I know her brother mentioned that she’d possibly escaped an abusive relationship.’
Gina let out a discreet sigh. ‘Is your son Curtis Dunton?’
‘Yes. Why do you need to know who my son is?’
‘His name has been given as an alibi. We need to speak to him, to ask if he was with our suspect?’
‘He’s not in. I’m not sure if he even came home last night. I didn’t check.’
‘Do you know where he might be?’
‘He’s eighteen. He stays with friends. Sometimes he doesn’t come back for a few days.’
‘Can you give us the names of the friends he might be staying with?’
‘Is he in trouble?’
Gina shook her head. She didn’t know if Curtis was in trouble yet. ‘We just need to know if the suspect was with him at the time of Mindy’s disappearance.’
‘He mostly hangs out with a kid called Brian. They’re best friends and he stays at his house a lot.
I don’t know Brian’s surname but I have an address because I’ve picked Curtis up from there.
’ He grabbed his phone from the table. ‘Maps app,’ he said, under his breath.
He started scrolling and reeled off the address.
‘I don’t like that kid. Curtis was always easy going until he met Brian.
Anyway, you can’t pick your kid’s friends for them, especially when they reach adulthood.
I know Curtis is a good kid so I trust him to make good choices in life.
I try not to be one of those helicopter parents. ’
An iPad on the table lit up and Gina managed to catch some of the message. ‘Is that yours?’
‘No, it’s Curtis’s. He must have popped back at some point then because he took it out with him yesterday when he went to Brian’s. I must have been in bed.’
The message from the very Brian they’d been talking about sent a shiver through Gina.
I’m taking the dark path, mate. There’s no going back. I’m doing it!