Chapter 72
Seventy-Two
Penn took a sip of coffee before he picked up the phone.
Stacey had called and updated him on Lucinda Butler. She’d asked him to make contact with Lucinda’s stalking victim while she and Bryant got an Uber back to the station.
The constable’s voice had been thick and croaky, and he understood that the boss had collected Ava to take her to the Chances.
He just prayed that, with co-operation from Thomas Smith, Daniel would be able to regain custody of his daughter and that she wouldn’t be subjected to those people for long.
For a moment during his conversation with Thomas, Penn had wondered if the man was going to try and hang on to something that had never existed. There had been regret and sadness in his face. He had hesitated for just a moment before agreeing to whatever was best for Ava.
He knew that every one of them had done as much as they could for the little girl. Now they had a killer to catch.
He called the number on the incident report and hoped that the man had not changed it in the years since the court case.
The phone was answered on the second ring. The first thing Penn heard was the background noise. It sounded like a building site.
‘Hello,’ he heard faintly.
‘Is that Kenny Wade?’ Penn shouted.
‘What’s that?’
‘Are you Kenny Wade?’ he repeated.
‘Hang on,’ the man said.
Penn waited as the background noise reduced.
‘Sorry, mate, getting concrete laid. Who are you?’
So it was a building site.
‘Mr Wade, I’m Detective Sergeant Penn from West Mids police. Have you got a minute?’
‘About what?’
The background noise was completely gone now, and he could hear the man clearly.
‘Lucinda But—’
‘I only need her first name. I don’t really want to—’
‘Please, just a minute,’ Penn said, although he could hear the distance that had come into Kenny’s voice, along with a little bit of fear. Almost like talking about her would take him back to that time. ‘We need to know more about her.’
‘Mate, if you’re a copper, you can find out everything she did. I made enough reports about it. Thank God it was only my tyres that got slashed before she finally stopped.’
‘I’ve got the reports. I know the hell she put you through. But what sparked it?’ Penn asked.
‘I broke up with her. I’d had enough. She was obsessive, jealous, sometimes controlling. She had to be in charge of everything. It was too much. I was suffocated.’
‘What was the last straw?’ Penn asked. Often, abusive relationships evolved over time, but he was interested to know what had broken the camel’s back.
Understanding his question, the man explained. ‘Sometimes, she’d get a bee in her bonnet and she wouldn’t let it go. One time she got a parking ticket for thirty quid. It was fair, but she fought it for months. Eventually cost her over two grand in court costs, but she just wouldn’t let it go.’
‘Was that the…?’
‘God no. I’d got used to that kind of thing.
We had a young girl start at the yard. I’m a plumber, and Jazzy was an apprentice straight out of college.
I didn’t mention it because I knew how she’d react, but she found out and accused me of sleeping with her.
It was never just one accusation, a denial and then done.
Oh no, it was an accusation on the hour, every hour until I told the truth.
I was telling the truth. I didn’t have the right equipment for Jazzy, if you know what I mean, and she was little more than a kid anyway. ’
‘What happened?’ Penn prompted.
‘She started messaging the poor girl, calling her names and telling her to stay away from me. She turned up at the yard trying to catch us up to something. Jazzy was terrified, and my boss wasn’t too chuffed either.
That’s when I realised how extreme her behaviour was and it was time for me to end it. ’
‘And she wouldn’t leave you alone?’
‘I should have known that’s how she’d react. Once she gets the bit between her teeth, there’s no reasoning with her. I’m just glad the court case finally put an end to it.’
‘May I ask you… did you ever seriously fear for your life?’
There was no hesitation in Kenny Wade’s response. ‘Yes, I can honestly say I did.’