Chapter 53
FIFTY-THREE
‘I don’t need a solicitor,’ Pia shouted as Gina and Jacob sat opposite her. It had taken a short while to process her arrest but now they were ready to start questioning her. ‘Let me go. This is absurd. How the hell are you arresting me for all that?’
‘Mrs Yates, please sit. You will get your chance to speak in a moment when the recorder is rolling again.’ Gina sat back down next to Jacob with one hand ready to hit the emergency panel now that she knew how hard Pia could punch when forced into a corner.
‘But I don’t get it. This is stupid. I swear, you’re all just so bloody woke. A person isn’t allowed to say anything anymore. Just because I said a few things when I was upset.’ She folded her arms in front of her chest.
Jacob introduced them all for the tape. Gina glanced at the time.
It was now almost ten thirty that evening and it had been a long day but she knew that Pia was the key to getting Lindy back.
She was also the person who reported Lindy missing but even though she had proven that she’d stopped at the garage for wine, no one could really corroborate Pia’s whereabouts.
‘Pia, where is Lindy Pickering?’
‘How would I know? It’s your job to find her. You’re the police, not me.’
‘Did you want Kain Pickering to pay in full?’
‘No, this is insane!’ She slammed her hand on the table but this time she flinched as the pain of the second hit to the same hand flared up.
‘Where is Lindy?’ Gina paused. Pia didn’t answer.
‘What do the blue and pink teddy bears mean?’
‘This is getting more absurd by the minute.’
‘Please answer the question, Mrs Yates.’
‘I don’t know what the hell you’re on about.’
‘Is your husband still at home?’
Pia shrugged. ‘He’s probably on his way over here to be with me.’
‘We’ll need your house keys as we need to search your property.’
‘You can’t do that. No way you can go through my house on some stupid hunch or whatever you have me here on.’
‘It’s more than a hunch, Mrs Yates. We have reason to believe that you were involved in some serious crimes. Why did you use the words “paid in full?”’
Pia scrunched her brows and tilted her head before allowing her jaw to slacken.
That wasn’t the reaction Gina had expected but she continued questioning. ‘Mrs Yates, where are Craig and Danny Crawford?’
‘I don’t know and I don’t care. It’s them you should be arresting, not me. Craig is a nasty man.’
Pia wasn’t helping herself. Gina sat back, feeling less threatened by the woman’s presence and Jacob’s shoulders dropped.
She couldn’t help but tap her foot on the ground.
The last thing they needed was to be held up with Pia playing games when Lindy’s life was at risk.
‘Did you murder or were you involved in the murder of Zavier Sellers and Kain Pickering?’
‘No.’
‘Did you attack or were you involved in the attack of DCI Christopher Briggs?’
‘No.’
‘You didn’t answer my earlier question about the use of the words “paid in full.” Did you want Zavier, Kain and Christopher to pay in full?’
She tilted her head and stared at Gina, then at Jacob. ‘I want a solicitor.’
Someone knocked at the door and Jacob spoke for the tape. ‘Interview concluded at ten forty-eight.’
Gina stood and opened the door to Kapoor. ‘I’ve found something, guv, and you need to hear it now. I’ve found the link to someone called Baz, Zavier, Kain and the DCI. An immediate and short briefing is about to start in the incident room.’
As Kapoor gave her a swift overview, Gina raised her brows as the person behind everything was revealed.
‘Will you organise a team to search Pia’s house.
We can’t rule her involvement out as yet.
She’s stopped speaking to us and I doubt a solicitor will arrive immediately.
I’m going to Pia’s house. I want you to dig up anything else while we’re in the briefing, potential locations, places of work, leisure, etcetera.
We’re this close to finding Lindy, I know it.
We can’t have any more murders on our hands. ’
Jacob opened the door to the interview room and Pia’s sobs filled the corridor. ‘Guv, she’s just explained why she said, “paid in full.”’
‘I already know,’ Gina replied. ‘We know who killed Kain and Zavier and we know why.’