Chapter 66
Sixty-Six
Bryant was half a mile from the target address when he spoke.
‘So, let me get this straight. Karen had five appointments yesterday. We’re not interested in the morning ones due to the time of death, so our killer had to have been either her two o’clock or three o’clock appointment, both of whom we have names for?’
‘Correct,’ Kim said, putting her phone away.
‘Her two o’clock was a man named Anthony Pugh, and her three o’clock was the man we’re heading towards now.’
She had tried to contact Anthony Pugh, but the call had gone to voicemail. She’d left a message, but they were now heading to see Karen’s last appointment of the day.
‘He’s hardly going to tell us he stabbed her to death, is he?’
‘If I’m right about that crystal being used as a weapon, there’ll be evidence right in front of us.’
‘Fair point,’ he said, parking outside a small greengrocer’s shop in Old Hill.
They headed into a tiny space, overflowing with baskets and boxes of fresh produce. The earthy smell hit her immediately.
‘You don’t get this round the supermarket,’ Bryant said, viewing the stock as though he’d never seen a fresh vegetable before.
‘Mr Whittaker?’ Kim asked, approaching the counter at the back of the shop.
She guessed the proprietor to be mid-forties, his generous girth covered by green overalls. His complexion was ruddy, as though he’d been out picking the veg himself since sunrise. There were no obvious marks on the parts of his body she could see, but a baseball cap covered his head.
‘You had a reiki appointment yesterday?’ she asked, working hard to keep the doubt out of her voice. He looked like the least likely person to be having sessions.
‘I did, yeah,’ he said, somewhat defensively.
‘And your appointment was at three?’
He nodded. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘How long have you been seeing Karen?’
‘About a month.’
So, this man wasn’t the new customer they’d been told about.
‘Does it help?’ Bryant asked.
He shrugged. ‘I always feel better afterwards. When you’ve got chronic pain, you’ll try anything.’
Kim had suspected the minute she walked through the door that this man wasn’t their killer, but he might have seen them. Maybe she’d been killed right after their session.
‘Did you notice anything strange yesterday?’
‘I didn’t go. I couldn’t. My part-time girl didn’t turn up, and I can’t afford to shut up shop for an hour.’
Damn, Kim thought. Not only was there no chance he’d seen anything, but the whole hour they’d thought was occupied was now free and clear. The killer could have come after the two o’clock appointment had left, meaning they’d also have nothing to do with it.
Kim had a thought. ‘Did you let her know?’
‘Of course.’
‘What time did you call?’
He took out his phone.
‘One minute past three.’
The time that she should have been treating him.
‘Did she answer?’
‘No, I left her a message.’
‘Okay, thanks,’ Kim said, heading out the shop.
Once outside, she called the number of the two o’clock appointment once more. It went straight to voicemail again.
‘I think we’re on to something here,’ Kim said, ringing another number.
‘Hey, Donnie, it’s Inspector Stone. I need to ask you something about Miss Felton’s booking system.’
‘Okay, sure.’
‘Did she have any way of checking new customers, to make sure they weren’t messing her about?’
‘I don’t think she took any payment until they’d had their first session.’
Damn.
‘Hang on though. I think she used to call them to make sure they were genuine.’
‘So, however they made contact, she’d get a phone number and speak with an actual person before booking a session?’
‘Yeah, I think so.’
‘And you’re sure she had a new client yesterday afternoon?’
‘It’s what she said.’
‘Okay, Donnie, thanks,’ she said, ending the call.
‘We have his number,’ Kim said as Bryant started the engine. ‘It’s a false name, but we have a phone number, and that’s a start.’ She felt the excitement grow in her stomach. ‘If we can identify the provider, we—’
She stopped speaking as her phone rang.
‘Go ahead, Penn,’ she answered, surprised to see his number. He’d told her he was going to start looking for Ava’s biological dad. She hadn’t expected to hear from him again. He rarely called for no good reason.
‘Boss, I dropped the diary.’
She glanced at Bryant and waited.
‘Well, I didn’t so much drop it as knock it off the edge of my desk when I went to fill the—’
‘Penn?’ she interrupted.
‘Sorry, I digress. Karen’s diary ended up on the floor. It fell open on a date ten days ago.’
‘And?’ she snapped.
‘On that day, Karen was visited by someone we know very well.’