Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
It had been a long day and she had to fight the urge to pick her nails or pace. Briggs’s call had sent off an alarm in her head. What the hell had he been involved in?
She stepped up to Justine’s front door and used the heavy knocker.
A dog barked from inside. Set in a small estate that had been wedged in between two rural villages just outside Cleevesford, Justine’s large house was where Gina thought many families might only be able to dream of living.
She knew if it was daytime, she’d see rolling fields as she drove past the street, the same ones that backed onto the house.
‘Do you think they’re in?’ Jacob asked as he stepped closer to the doorstep.
She glanced up again to see if any of the lights had come on. ‘It’s dark in there.’
Jacob pulled out a slip to post, letting Justine Crawford know to contact them when she got home. As soon as he was about to post it, the dog’s barking got louder and light flooded the hallway. A teen boy answered the door.
‘Hello, I’m DI Harte and this is DS Driscoll. Is Justine Crawford in?’ She held her identification up.
He peered at it. ‘How do I know that’s real? I’ve heard of people pretending to be police then robbing things when you let them in.’ His red curls were tied up in a bun at his nape.
‘Happy to wait while you call Cleevesford Station.’ She passed him a card and he closed the door.
‘Thanks, but I’ll google the number.’ Gina was more than happy to wait, it gave her a moment to stare at her personal phone in the hope that Briggs called again. No such luck. A couple of minutes later, he opened the door again. ‘Okay, you’re the real deal. What do you want with Mum?’
Gina let out a slow breath. ‘I’m afraid we can’t discuss it with you. We really need to speak to your mum.’
‘But she’s not here.’
‘Do you know when she’ll be home?’
He shrugged. ‘Could be anytime. She’s probably out with one of her yoga friends.’
‘Do you have a number for her? The one we have is no longer in use.’
He stood silently and frowned. ‘I don’t know. She doesn’t like me giving her number out. Can you come back tomorrow and talk to her?’
‘Do you know which friend she’s with?’
‘No.’
Gina glanced at an envelope sitting on the console table and it had Kain’s name on the front. The boy clocked what she was looking at. ‘Is it about him? I know he’s always in a lot of trouble. Mum’s trying to help him.’ He placed his hand over his mouth as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have.
The dog barked and scratched from behind a door.
Justine’s card had been found in a hoodie pocket at the crime scene and the hoodie could easily be a fit for the tall, burly lad in front of her.
It could have even been worn as an oversized garment on a smaller frame.
She thought of Briggs. She’d occasionally worn his T-shirts and hoodies and they’d almost swamped her.
The business card in the pocket could be seen as nothing more than circumstantial at this point in the investigation.
She had to speak to Justine before making any decisions about interviewing the lad in front of her, or anyone else other than Justine.
Besides, what would his motive be, when it came to killing Kain?
Maybe the answer lay in the envelope. Maura’s neighbour, Joyce, had mistaken the killer for Kain because the person loading the car had been wearing Kain’s cap.
Anyone could have been wearing that cap.
‘Why are you here to see my mum?’
‘Can I ask how old you are?’
‘Why, have I done something wrong?’
‘No.’ Damn, she wanted to know if he was still a child but she guessed that wasn’t going to happen on the doorstep. ‘Can you tell your mum to call me as soon as she gets home? We’d really appreciate her help with our enquiries.’ The dog barked as it waddled along the hallway.
The lad mellowed at her polite request. ‘Err, yes, of course. I can do that.’ The snuffling bulldog started nudging its head between the boy’s calves.
‘Pixie, get back in now. It’s not walkies time.
’ The dog did as it was told. The boy looked at the envelope again.
‘Kain wasn’t a nice person. I know a lot of people weren’t happy with him but Mum is kind, she gave him the benefit of the doubt.
You should know this and I don’t think Mum would mind me saying.
Something went down with his ex-wife, Sheena, and it really upset Mum’s friend, Lindy.
I don’t know what happened but Lindy was crying when she spoke to Mum. ’
‘Thank you for telling me that.’
‘It was about four or five weeks ago, I think. You could ask Sheena. She probably knows more than me or Mum.’ His phone beeped. ‘Got to go, sorry. My mate’s on his way.’ With that, he closed the door on them.
‘Charming.’ Gina sighed as her nose almost touched the door, then she started to walk back towards the car with Jacob.
‘I think we need to speak to Justine ASAP and hopefully we’ll be able to interview him too.
We have a connection. Justine and Lindy are friends.
Let’s hope Justine calls soon, if not, I think we should come back first thing, then we need to find out what Sheena knows.
It sounded like something big went down and Lindy failed to mention that when we spoke to her. ’