Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
Ben’s phone was vibrating so violently it almost threw itself off the table he’d placed it on whilst it was his turn to have a long, hot soak in the shower.
Morgan stared at it, willing it to stop.
She was wiped out. She didn’t want to take any more today, wasn’t sure that she could, but as she got closer to it and saw Wendy’s name flashing across the screen, she snatched it up.
‘Hey, he’s in the shower, is everything okay?’
‘Lucky Ben, wish I was in the shower. Not with him obviously.’
Morgan laughed. ‘Where are you?’
‘Back at the office, I brought the two knives back to print before they get sent off to the forensic science laboratory for in-depth analysis.’
‘Are you not ready to call it a day too?’
‘You bet I am, there isn’t enough coffee in the world, but here’s the thing, I found a partial on the blade of the knife retrieved from Lauren’s body.
It was hard to see at first because it was smeared with dried blood.
What if it’s from the killer? The blade could have slipped, and he absent-mindedly grabbed it, cutting himself in the process.
That would mean a fingerprint and DNA from him. ’
‘Holy shit, that is incredible. Well done, Wendy, you’re amazing.’
‘I’m good, but I was only doing my job, and I could be completely fantasising here, it could just be wishful thinking, and it might be a partial print from Lauren.’
‘Ben is going to be over the moon with this.’
‘Well, like I said, don’t get your hopes up too much because we both know it’s never this easy, but just maybe for once we’ve caught a break that could identify who this person is, and we can get them off the streets for good.’
‘All we need is a name. I’m going to speak to the school the girls went to, and see if they have a record of this mystery brother. Someone has to know who he is.’
‘Yep, their time is almost up, Morgan, I can feel it in my bones, and I wanted you to know that I have your back, always. I mean I might tell you off a bit, well okay a lot, but it’s only for the sake of the forensics.’
‘Aw, Wendy, that’s the nicest thing someone has said to me in a long time, thank you and I always have yours too. I hope you’re right, Wendy, because this has been too hard. Night, get yourself home.’
‘Night.’
‘Who was that?’ Ben was standing at the kitchen door wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist.
‘We might have caught a break.’
He placed his hands in the prayer position. ‘Really, please tell me you’re not winding me up.’
She shook her head and relayed what Wendy had just told her. His smile was infectious as he grinned at her. ‘Wouldn’t that be something?’
‘Yes, it would. What are we eating?’
‘I’m too tired to cook, should we have cheese and ham toasties?’
Morgan nodded. Cooking wasn’t her thing either, but she could make a mean toasted sandwich.
Fifteen minutes later they were sitting on the sofa, blowing on their plates to cool the sandwiches down.
Ben was now wearing a pair of SpongeBob pyjamas.
He finished his sandwich and stretched out. ‘Let’s call it a night.’
Morgan wanted to, more than anything, but she couldn’t switch off just yet. Not now, especially if they might have a lead. ‘I just want to do a little digging around. I’m not ready for bed yet, I’ll only lie there tossing and turning. You go on up and warm my side of the bed up.’
‘You sure?’
She nodded.
‘Don’t be too long.’
‘I won’t, I just want to check a couple of things.’
Her phone screen lit up again and she saw a message off Amy, and she answered right away.
Hey, how are you?
Good, Cain’s here and he’s fast asleep on the sofa with Ava in her Moses basket next to him. I swear he gives off some kind of calming baby vibes. I just wanted to check something with you.
He’s a natural and yes, go ahead.
The message bubble waved on the screen for what felt like forever. Finally, her message came through.
So, Cain asked me to have a dig around in the Williams sisters’ social media accounts to see if I could find anything.
Morgan was shocked. Amy was on maternity leave, he shouldn’t be bothering her, but a tiny part of her was greatly relieved that he had because Stan had come up with nothing as far as she knew and her attempts hadn’t done much better.
Did you not mind? Can’t believe he’s got you working.
Trust me it was worth it, he cleaned up, fed me and has settled Ava like I wish I could and it’s nice to be doing something that requires my brain.
Anyway, I found a death notification posted on Lydia’s page from years ago about her uncle Jonathan’s funeral.
I get the impression they weren’t really close; I’ve screenshot it, should I send it to you?
Morgan typed back.
Yes, please.
There’s no ‘I’m so saddened to lose my uncle’ or any of the stuff people write when they die.
Okay, thanks. Is that it?
No, because I went on Jonathan’s page which was literally three pictures of his golf clubs, but I thought I’d scroll through his friends list which didn’t take very long either because he didn’t have many.
One friend he did have was Lydia’s mum and dad; there was also someone called Adam G.
This Adam is, or should I say was, mutual friends with Jonathan and Susan, who was Lydia’s mum judging by her photos of all three girls.
I then searched through friends lists of Lydia, Lynsey and Lauren and none of them were friends with this Adam G.
Morgan squeezed her eyes closed as she tried to register what Amy was telling her, running through it again inside of her mind.
So, you think that this Adam G could be their mystery brother?
I can’t say, but it’s something.
What’s he look like?
An Egyptian mummy.
Eh?
His profile picture looks as if it was taken at one of the history museums where they display Egyptian artefacts. It’s terrible quality but I think it might be Tutankhamun. Oh, and before you ask, his page is private. But there’s been no activity on there for at least four, five years.
Wow, you’re incredible, Amy.
Considering I’m sleep-deprived it’s good to see I haven’t lost my touch.
I know it’s not much help, but I’ve sent that to your email too.
At least you can start digging around tomorrow and maybe identify who it is.
I mean it’s a long shot; he could be a cousin or something and not a homicidal maniac, but you know it’s worth checking out.
Thank you, give Ava a kiss from me.
I will when she wakes up, I’m not risking waking her for love or money. I’m going to sneak off to bed and grab a couple of hours whilst Cain is still here.
Who’d have thought it, that he’d be such a pushover with babies considering he doesn’t have any of his own.
He’s a natural, it’s so lovely to watch him with her. They’re going to share such a special bond as she gets older. She’ll have him wrapped around her little finger, I would bet my life on it and it’s so sweet. Night Morgan.
Morgan smiled to herself. The women in her team were outstanding, they worked so much harder than the guys without even trying, and just look at the results they were getting.
This meant that the net was closing in even quicker.
If she could identify this Adam G tomorrow, speak to the secondary school all three Williams sisters attended, to see if they could give her any more information, then, hopefully, a name and his print matched the one on the murder weapon, that would make the evidence concrete.
They could get an arrest team together and throw his sorry arse into prison for good.
No more women or men would be at risk from the sick bastard and that was worth all the exhaustion any day of the week.