Chapter 75
Seventy-Five
It was after four when Kim returned to the office. Outside, it had grown dark, but she was heartened by the fact that Daniel and Ava were now on their way to safety.
‘Everything okay, boss?’ Stacey asked as she walked into the squad room.
She needed just a minute before explaining her meeting with Woody. She was only here now because of the active murder investigation.
‘Stace, any luck on the phone number from Karen’s book?’
‘It belongs to Vodafone, requests made but no go. Penn is working on the warrant.’
‘Requested,’ he said, pressing a button on his keyboard with fanfare.
‘Lucinda?’ she asked.
‘Still no answer. Another message left,’ Stacey answered. ‘She has a sister who lives in Surrey, but I’ve been unable to make contact yet. Penn has more.’
She looked his way.
‘Her ex seems a bit fearful of her even now. He said that once she gets focussed on something, you can’t shift her. By all accounts, she made his life a misery, and he feels she’s definitely capable of hurting someone if she’s angry enough.’
‘Good work, Penn. Anything on the DNA?’ she asked, leaning against the spare desk.
‘Called Mitch twice and he swears he’ll be running it today.’
If that’s what Mitch had said, she knew he wouldn’t leave until he’d done it.
She rarely asked him for the express service due to budget restrictions, but with victims falling like flies, it was a necessary spend. Even more so now there was a clock ticking down to her suspension.
‘Thoughts on Lucinda, folks?’ Kim asked.
‘She is linked to all three victims,’ Penn said, sitting back in his chair.
‘But what’s the motive?’ Stacey asked. ‘Yes, Ashley pissed her off, and Nadine may have been too flirty with her husband, but why would she attack Karen Felton?’
‘Okay, what are we missing?’ Kim asked.
She knew Stacey wanted to ask about Ava, but this case had to take priority.
‘You don’t think we’re missing anything?’ Kim asked when her question was met with silence.
‘Other than Lucinda, there are no links,’ Penn said. ‘Every road leads to a dead end. It’s like they’re random victims.’
Kim shook her head. ‘I don’t buy it, Penn.
Maybe if there was robbery or sexual assault, we’d be looking for an opportunist. There’s not even a pattern.
Ashley was killed at night walking home, Nadine was killed in the middle of the day in a public place and Karen was killed in her own house.
We know our killer made contact with two of the victims beforehand, so he wanted these women specifically. Why?’
No one responded, and Kim understood why. Theory after theory had proven fruitless.
‘What can we deduce from what we know?’ she pushed.
‘The murders were at different times of the day,’ Stacey said eventually. ‘Either he’s got no job or…’
‘Flexible working,’ Penn finished.
‘Possible,’ Kim said.
‘Guv, what if we had our man in the first place? What if Lucinda killed Karen to cover for Joe? There’s no better way to prove someone’s innocence than to commit another murder while the suspect is in custody,’ Bryant said.
‘Did you see how pissed off she was with him?’ Kim asked.
‘Yeah, but I also know from what Penn said that when she loves, she loves hard. She may have forgiven him very quickly.’
‘It’s possible,’ she admitted.
‘If we’re throwing everything out there, how about both of them?’ Penn asked. ‘Maybe there’s a link we haven’t found yet and they’re both involved. Irene thought there might be two of them when Ashley was killed.’
‘Go back through everything,’ Kim instructed. ‘There has to be something more.’
They all nodded their agreement.
‘In other news, I’ve got myself into hot water which will most likely lead to my suspension.’
‘What?’ Stacey and Penn asked together. Only Bryant didn’t look surprised.
‘I didn’t take Ava to social services; I took her back to her dad. He’s putting some miles between them and home.’
Stacey’s initial joy turned to concern once she began to understand the possible consequences.
‘Oh shit, boss,’ Penn said.
‘We all know it was the right thing to do. I knew what I was doing, and I don’t regret it one bit.’
Stacey shook her head, mortified. ‘I tried really hard to find a living relative. I thought I’d struck lucky with Ashley’s great-aunt Emily Grimshaw, but she died two months ago in a care home in Leeds.’
Kim felt a sudden shiver creep up her spine. She was either looking at a huge coincidence or the missing part of the puzzle.
‘Stace, how long will it be to work up a family tree for both Nadine and Karen?’
‘About an hour now I know what I’m doing,’ Stacey said, looking puzzled.
‘Get to it,’ Kim said before turning to Penn and Bryant.
‘You two take the other jobs and leave Stacey alone.’
She didn’t wait for a response as she headed into the Bowl.
She had a couple of urgent calls to make.