Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Kim’s bad mood was still with her by the time her team had assembled in the squad room.
The black cloud had descended after her conversation with Woody.
It had still been hovering above her when she woke and had followed her every move since.
Even Charlie had asked if everything was okay when she’d dropped off Barney.
It wasn’t that Martha Stout was any great loss to society.
Maybe her sons might miss her for a while, but Kim doubted anyone else would.
That wasn’t the point. Despite the confession, she knew there was something fishy about the situation, not least because Martha had never voluntarily admitted to anything in her life. Why now?
The fact that she’d been prevented from trying to answer that question turned her hovering raincloud into a whole new weather system.
Every fibre of her being itched to storm on up to Woody’s office and argue her point, but she knew it would do her no good.
His voice had brooked no argument and his decision was absolute.
That probably frustrated her more than anything.
His refusal to listen to her arguments was normally borne of pressure from above; sometimes he even agreed with her but would never say.
She suspected that someone higher up was happy just to see a Stout pay for a crime, especially since she had confessed to it.
But accepting that didn’t taste good in her mouth.
‘What’s up?’ Bryant asked, entering the squad room first.
She shook her head as she approached the coffee machine. Explaining the root of her frustration would be met with his agreement with their boss, and then she’d be just as annoyed with him for siding against her.
Although her back was to the door, she heard two more sets of footsteps enter the room. As neither Penn nor Stacey offered an enthusiastic good morning, she could only assume that Bryant had signalled her mood behind her back.
‘Okay, folks, Bryant will update you on our movements yesterday.’
She was still too much in her own head and it would give her a chance to try and recalibrate.
‘Righty, kids, from our point of view, we found a few folks not that keen on Ashley Reynolds. Gemma Ross hates Ashley with more passion than is healthy for stealing Daniel from her. Gemma insists they were at it before Daniel broke up with her so Ashley is a homewrecking whore. Her words, not mine.
‘Robbie Steele is an annoying little shit who definitely steals from his grandma and has likely been physical with her, although, call me psychic, I think there’s a good chance he won’t be doing it again,’ he finished, looking pointedly her way.
She said nothing but took a sip of her coffee and waited for him to continue.
‘Ashley was right to be concerned about his behaviour, but murder… not so sure,’ Bryant went on.
‘His name stays on the board,’ Kim interjected. She wasn’t yet ready to rule him out. If their killer was also their Facebook user, it was someone who knew her but not well enough to know her exact movements.
‘Is there any likely accomplice?’ Penn asked.
Bryant shook his head. ‘Not sure how much validity we should give that idea.’
‘Oi, I said update, not take my job,’ she interrupted again. ‘But he’s right. Not sure we should focus too much on the two-person thing. Our source isn’t exactly reliable.’
Penn looked as though he wanted to disagree but said nothing.
She kept her attention on him, signalling she had taken her job back.
‘Don’t think it’s the netball player, boss. She’s everything Nicola said she was, but I don’t think she’s the murdering kind.’
‘Keep her name on the board.’
‘Guv, are we ruling out anyone?’ Bryant asked.
Kim looked at the names on the board.
Gemma Ross
Robbie Steele
Joe Butler
Daniel Reynolds
Harriet Wilkins
Warren Chance
Kim shook her head. ‘So far we’ve found nothing that Ashley did wrong except for fall in love with the wrong person. Most of these folks dislike her for the things she did right. But one of them might have hated her enough, all the same.’
‘Harriet was convinced the meeting between Ashley and her brother was hostile,’ Penn offered.
‘Knowing they had a heated exchange in the exact spot she died has placed him on the list,’ she said, having added his name already.
‘She doesn’t see him though, does she?’ Stacey asked. ‘I mean, just one short phone conversation on Christmas Day.’
Stacey was right, but the location was troubling to her, as was the fact he could have been the person on Messenger. If they weren’t close, he wouldn’t know her comings and goings, but it would be suspicious for him to ask her outright.
‘Just coincidental that a couple of weeks after he’s seen harassing her for money she turns up dead,’ Penn pushed.
Stacey frowned. ‘But if the brother is getting money from her, isn’t she worth more to him alive?’
‘For all we know, he turns up there often,’ Bryant said. ‘Harriet has only seen him once, but it might not be an isolated incident that he taps her up on her way back from practice.’
‘All valid points,’ Kim acknowledged. Ultimately, it was a lead they couldn’t ignore. ‘Penn, report back as soon as you’ve met the family. That’s your priority.’
‘Got it, boss.’
‘Stace, find out what you can about Joe Butler. He feels he’s lost his kids because of Ashley, which seems like a powerful motive to me.’
‘Will do, boss. Anything more on Martha?’ Stacey asked.
‘Shut down,’ she answered. ‘George Hubbard died, and she’s being charged with murder this morning.’
‘But the results of the—’
‘Confession trumps physical evidence apparently,’ she said, silencing Penn’s concerns.
Stacey frowned. ‘But—’
‘I know, Stace,’ Kim said, holding up her hand.
There was no love in this room for Martha Stout, but there was a great deal of passion for justice and making sure the right person answered for the crime.
Woody had been clear that they were to have no more involvement with the case.
She turned to Bryant. ‘Come on – we need to go tell Daniel Reynolds he was going to be a dad again,’ she said, determined they were going to make headway with getting justice for Ashley.
Bryant followed her out the door.
‘Ooh, hang on one sec,’ she said.
He continued walking as she ducked back into the squad room and placed a scrap of paper on Stacey’s desk.
‘Only to me, Stace, when you get it. Text it directly to me.’