Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
I stretched out on one of the sofas in Lucy’s living room, watching the TV but taking nothing in.
Nothing new had been discovered today, apart from Jenna had confirmed that we had a size ten footprint, likely to be from a man’s heavy soled boot, at both the Brooke and Morgan scenes, but it was a different boot – just the same size and the same sort.
I’d brought up the gender of the killer at the briefing, exploring the idea that we were being governed by gender profiling and making an assumption based on statistics, but we had no clear lead that pointed to the killer being a female, which I understood.
I’d spent the rest of the day looking at unsolved murders that had commonalities with Charlie Mason, finding anything remotely similar to be a dead end, a different blade or a set of circumstances that suggested something else.
Knife crime unfortunately wasn’t rare, so there would be another day of pursuing that line until I had to come to a stop.
So it’d been a day of stagnation. A run hadn’t cleared my head either, the weather consistent for the course of the day, low heavy clouds full of a promise that didn’t deliver.
Rather like Cavan. He’d sent me a couple of texts, sounding out about going for a drink tonight, but then he’d gone quiet for a few hours, nothing solidified. Finally, he’d responded about an hour ago, crying off doing anything.
I’d been disappointed. I could’ve done with a distraction, something to expend energy on that wasn’t trying to get into the mind of a killer, but instead I was watching a group of people redesign rooms in a hotel while Lucy made a healthy, but uninspiring dinner.
“So, has Cavan said anything else?” She handed me a bowl full of noodles, veg and tofu. “Did he say why he couldn’t make it?”
“Just something had come up with a friend.” I sat up, took the bowl, and tried to look grateful that I hadn’t had to cook.
“That happens sometimes.” She sat down on the other sofa. “We can go for a drink on Burton Road after dinner, if you want? I’m still on holiday.” She sang the last sentence.
“Maybe. I kind of feel like I don’t want to move now.” My run had been long and fast, pushing myself along the River Mersey, through the Nature Reserve, looking at the water when I needed to pause, half hoping to see another body.
“Wine, then?”
“Why not?” I’d only have one, but Lucy would tell herself I’d had more, and she hadn’t had the rest of the bottle, which was what would end up happening. “How was your date this afternoon?”
“Oh, I cancelled.” She stuffed her mouth with noodles and waved her hand.
“I thought you were looking forward to it?” I’d had an hour over the Easter weekend of her telling me all about Phil and how he was a barrister, but a hot one.
She made a big thing about eating quickly. “Yeah, I know, but I did a bit of internet stalking and I now think he’s a wanker, so I called it off. Told him a friend had a crisis.”
“Must be the excuse of the day.”
She laughed. “I don’t think Cavan was making an excuse. One of the PE teachers was having an affair with the assistant head of year eight – everyone knew about it – and his wife found out, so I bet he’s with him.”
“Fair enough, although it wouldn’t have hurt to send something a bit more detailed than ‘something’s come up.
” I knew I was grumbling, and I wasn’t sure why I was that bothered.
It wasn’t like Cavan and I were serious, and any arrangements we had tended to be on the spur of the moment and usually involved ending up in a bed somewhere.
“Spoken like a true girlfriend. How’s the case going – I thought you’d have been working longer hours.”
“We need a new lead.”
“You need another body?”
“That would potentially give us more leads, but I’d rather it didn’t happen.
Everyone’s in a bad mood and we’re all pissed off.
There are hardly any witnesses around the areas where the bodies have been found, no strong evidence and any small thing that comes up becomes a blind alley. ” Which summed up my lethargy.
“There’s a calm before every storm. Maybe this is your killer’s. I was reading an article today on the murders – they’re all about the same age. Could someone be rekilling their sister or girlfriend? What else did the women have in common?”
“They’re the same age, and that’s about it.
Went to different schools, lived in different parts of the North-West, had different jobs.
Morgan had a degree, the other two didn’t.
Chelsea had kids, the other two didn’t. They don’t look alike.
They share a few people that they follow, but not followers.
I’ve gone through their profiles and can’t find anything in common – they even shopped at different supermarkets.
” I’d rechecked what information I had at least half a dozen times.
Lucy stretched out, putting her dish down on the coffee table. “Come on, let’s go for a drink on Burton Road and find some cute boys to buy us a drink before we ditch them. Let’s pretend we’re someone else – I’ll be Cassie and you can be Gwyn.”
“Which sounds hilarious until we see someone we know, and that happens every time we go out on Burton Road.” I was standing up though, not disagreeing with the idea in principle.
“Let’s just try and score free drinks then. Go get your face on. Wear something cute. Something that doesn’t make you look like a cop. We can take a selfie and send it to Cavan.” She was getting excited now. “Forty-five minutes until lift-off.”
“I bet there’ll be two sixty year old blokes out watching the football and everyone else will be at home.”
“You’re such a pessimist. Go get ready. I’ll sort the dishes out.” She picked the bowls up and headed into the kitchen. I headed to my bedroom, checking what I had clothes-wise that didn’t scream ‘I have the power to arrest you’.
It didn’t take long; my wardrobe wasn’t that bad. Skinny jeans, a white shirt with the top couple of buttons undone and the necklace my foster parents had bought me, along with heels that I’d never be able to catch a suspect in, and I was set.
I bobbed into the cloakroom before we left, quickly checking my reflection while I washed my hands. When I dried them, I caught the scent of Cavan’s aftershave on the towel.
Which shouldn’t have made me think twice, except that towel had been fresh the night before and Cavan hadn’t been here for days.