Chapter 8
Eight
‘Could the person sending the abuse be the same person as the one asking about netball?’ Kim asked once Stacey had stopped speaking.
‘Maybe. The netball user has since deleted their profile, but it could have been. Not sure Ashley even knew she was getting these awful messages.’
‘Yeah, but someone hates her enough to keep sending them and has done for a very long time,’ Kim said as Bryant pulled up outside a small estate agency in Pedmore.
‘It could be all talk?’ Stacey offered.
‘Except that she’s dead, and it’s possible that her killer approached her on Facebook to find out her movements.’
‘The woman sending the foul messages made no attempt to hide her identity,’ Stacey pointed out.
‘Sending messages is one thing; planning a murder is another. She might want to hide that a little bit better. Anything on her profile to suggest a reason for the hatred?’ Kim asked.
‘Not yet. Her Facebook page is an open book. She’s thirty-four, has her own foot spa in Cradley Heath and spends a lot of time taking photos of her car.’
‘Okay, Stace, send me the details,’ Kim instructed before ending the call.
In all honesty, she wanted to go and visit this woman immediately, but they were here to meet with one of the last people to see Ashley alive.
‘Not quite squeaky clean, eh?’ Bryant asked as they got out of the car.
‘Thank God,’ Kim said as they stepped into the premises. Victims with no enemies were the worst kind when it came to solving their murder.
They approached the front desk, showed their identification and found themselves being ushered to the manager’s office immediately. It was a small but busy estate agent’s at the end of a row of shops in Pedmore that Kim had passed hundreds of times without actually seeing it.
The woman she assumed to be Nicola Sykes stood behind the desk. She didn’t look like a natural netball player. Kim pictured anyone playing that sport as long, lean and fit. Nicola Sykes barely hit the five feet mark with a rotund shape that weighed heavily on her small frame.
‘Is it true?’ she asked as the receptionist closed the door behind them. ‘Is Ashley dead?’
Kim nodded as she took a seat, wondering at the power of the grapevine. So far, the news reports had only said the body of a woman had been found; her identity had not yet been revealed.
As Nicola Sykes sank down into her chair, the phone on the desk vibrated. It was ignored as she shook her head from side to side.
‘I just can’t believe it. It doesn’t seem real. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen here. It only happens to other people.’ Tears formed in her eyes. ‘Oh God, poor Ashley. The report said she was stabbed.’
Kim said nothing to either confirm or deny. As the degrees of separation increased, the need for detail reduced.
‘You were one of the last people to see her alive,’ Kim said by way of explaining their presence.
‘Oh God, of course. You’re wondering if we saw the mugger.’
‘She wasn’t mugged,’ Kim said, happy to share that detail.
Surprise replaced the shock on Nicola’s face.
‘This was a personal attack, Ms Sykes. It wasn’t random. Ashley was targeted.’
‘Impossible,’ she stated with finality, her expression turning determined.
Kim always marvelled at people’s ability to discount the truth of a situation because of their own opinion.
‘Ashley wouldn’t hurt a fly,’ she continued, as though that would make the victim less dead.
‘I assure you, Ms Sykes, that—’
‘Nicola, please,’ she said.
‘Well, Nicola, someone wanted your friend dead, and we have to find out who. We understand that Ashley didn’t get on too well with a couple of the other players.’
The shock returned, accompanied by a disbelieving smile. ‘You can’t possibly think—?’
‘It’s an avenue we have to explore.’
‘Please don’t tell me that’s all you have?’ Nicola said, as if she was talking to one of her staff.
Fortunately it wasn’t, due to Stacey’s efforts, but they still had to explore every lead.
‘If you could just tell us about her run-in with…’
‘Harriet,’ Bryant finished for her.
‘It was hardly a run-in. They had a few cross words is all.’
Kim waited for the details.
Nicola sighed heavily. ‘Inspector, we have fifteen members in the club. It’s a mixed bag of ladies who attend.
Some just want a night away from the kids, others loved the game at school and enjoy the opportunity to play again, others had some level of success and take it a bit more competitively.
Some, like me, appreciate the social aspect of it and the knowledge that some level of physical activity has been attempted. ’
‘Where does Harriet fall on that spectrum?’ Kim asked.
‘Harriet loves the game. She played it at school and went on to play for the county but never made the national team. She still plays as though there’s a scout watching her, even though she’s mid-forties now. She plays rough. No one wants to mark her.’
‘And her issue with Ashley?’
‘We all take it in turns to referee. A couple of weeks ago, Ashley took her turn and sent Harriet off the court when her opposite number landed on the floor for the third time. Harriet didn’t take kindly to the decision.’
Okay, Kim thought, it was starting to sound like a run-in to her.
‘It never got physical,’ Nicola continued. ‘Ashley just told her the truth about how we all felt but weren’t brave enough to say. Harriet didn’t respond well and stormed out of the building.’
‘Did she return the following week?’
Nicola nodded. ‘Yes, but she didn’t utter a word to Ashley, who couldn’t have cared less. For her, it was done and gone.’
Kim wasn’t as quick to dismiss the episode as insignificant.
Clearly, the exchange had become heated, and although it was a minor event for Ashley, it could have been more significant for Harriet.
Kim knew that motives for murder didn’t have to present as major issues.
The internet was full of stories of people who had lost their lives over little things.
One never knew what was going to matter enough to take a life.
And it sounded as though Harriet had not been able to file it away so easily, given it was still in her craw a week later.
‘Any further exchanges between the two of them?’
Nicola shook her head.
‘And Diana?’ Kim asked. ‘We heard Ashley wasn’t keen on her.’
‘None of us are keen on Diana,’ Nicola said, rolling her eyes.
Kim waited.
‘At fifty-seven, Diana is our most mature member and she’s a stickler for the rules.
Anyone would think we were playing for Britain.
She’s constantly calling on the ref to take action for minor issues; it kills the rhythm of the match.
Ultimately, we’re a group of women getting together once a week to play a sport we all love before heading to the pub for a couple of drinks. It really isn’t that serious.’
‘Any particular issues between Diana and Ashley?’
Nicola shook her head. ‘Not that I know of.’
‘May I ask how long Ashley has been in the group?’ Kim asked.
‘Oooh, let me think. I’d say three years, maybe just a little longer.’
So the person sending the abuse to Ashley was unlikely to be connected to the netball group. Those had started three years before Ashley had joined. But the recent anonymous message could still be a link.
‘Last question. Have there been any new members recently?’
‘Not since May.’
‘Okay, thanks for your time,’ Kim said, standing.
The seemingly innocent Facebook message could mean more than she’d thought. That person had taken the time to elicit detailed information about the club but had never actually joined. It could be that the person had simply changed their mind… or there was a much more sinister reason.
‘Are you speaking to her supervisor at work?’ Nicola asked as they reached the door.
It had been on the list, but Kim was curious why Nicola would ask.
‘Any reason why we should?’
‘She was having a rough couple of weeks, I think. One family in particular had given her a bit of grief over a protection order, and just last week she was removed from a case by her boss.’
‘Did she say why?’ Kim asked, feeling a stirring of interest.
Nicola nodded. ‘She was removed from the case after a complaint from a family member.’
Kim thanked her again and left with hope starting to surface.
By all accounts, the woman was a saint. She was a good friend and colleague and barely had a cross word with anyone.
Yet within an hour they’d learned that a couple of fellow netball players weren’t keen on her, that someone else was harassing her on social media and there were complaints against her at work.
Were they finally on the trail of someone who disliked Ashley Reynolds enough to want her dead?