‘Did he hit you?’
She hesitated and then shook her head.
‘He grabbed my arms when he pushed me to the ground.’
‘Then what?’ he asked.
She frowned. ‘He told me how to lie. He wanted me to bend my arms and legs at strange angles. He kicked at my knee when I couldn’t do what he wanted.’
‘And then what did he do?’
She swallowed.
‘He told me to close my eyes.’
Dawson nodded for her to continue.
‘And when I opened them he was gone.’
He glanced towards Bryant with a triumphant expression. He’d been right. They’d learned nothing new at all but perhaps Bryant would now accept this had nothing to do with their current caseload.
He made a move to stand.
‘But I did see the scar,’ Aisha said, quietly.
‘A scar?’ he clarified. ‘Where?’
Aisha indicated a spot on her cheekbone.
The mention of a scar sparked some distant memory that his brain couldn’t quite catch. Something he knew he should remember but it wouldn’t quite come.
Dawson was convinced there was no way this random act of stupidity could be linked to the murder of Bubba Jones or the assault of Henryk Kowalski. This was probably just some kind of prank. A dare.
Although his gut was no longer as sure.
FIFTY-ONE
‘Do not keep telling me to calm down,’ Kim said, as she jumped on the brakes in the centre of Smethwick. ‘Give me one time that telling someone to calm down has actually inspired them to calm the fuck down.’
There were approximately eight miles between her and finding out exactly what the Cowley family had been up to.
‘Then stop gambling with our lives at every set of traffic lights,’ he snapped.
‘Oh Tom, either grow a pair or shut your eyes,’ she said. Even Bryant wasn’t this bad.
‘You don’t even know their involvement. So, we know our guy worked there. There were probably many more that worked…’
‘And we have two more bodies to identify,’ Kim said, testily.
One of the first things they’d be wanting from the Cowleys was a full list of ex-employees.
‘So, who exactly are you going to arrest?’ he asked, mockingly.
‘The first person to piss me off,’ she answered. It was a pity right now that Travis wasn’t an option.
‘So, that’ll probably be Fiona,’ he said. ‘Even though she’s way too young to have been involved.’
‘Details, Travis, you’re always caught up in the details.’ She took a brief look at his closed expression. ‘But, can you tell me that she doesn’t know something about something. She’s been lying since we first met her at the hospital.’
‘Not a crime.’
‘Unless it’s about a bloody crime,’ she said, gripping the steering wheel, hard. ‘And Travis, are you trying to piss me off even more with these stupid questions?’
‘Probably,’ he admitted.
‘Why? Are you trying for suicide by cop driving erratically?’
Bryant would have just left her alone.
She took a left, sharply, and then straightened quickly.
The irritation that crossed his face was reward enough. Childish, yes. Worth it, absolutely.
‘Thank the lord for that,’ he said, as she pulled on to the Cowley’s farm.
An earlier storm had reduced the area at the front of the house to a mudbath. Kim parked her Golf next to Fiona’s Jaguar.
The door was opened by Jeff Cowley before they had reached it.
They’d had a call to confirm that the last tech vehicle and Travis’s guy, Johnson, had left half an hour ago.
‘May we come in, Mr Cowley?’ Kim asked, stepping past him.
‘Miss Cowley,’ Kim said, striding past the kitchen. ‘Would you mind joining us in the lounge?’
Normally she resented the woman’s presence and interference, but today she welcomed it. This time they’d had no time to practise. Fiona’s need to control the situation and her father’s propensity to panic could be very interesting.
‘Mr Cowley, Miss Cowley, does the name Jacob James mean anything to you?’
‘Never heard of him,’ Fiona said.
‘Yes, he worked here,’ Jeff said.
Kim folded her arms.
‘Well, one of you is lying. Shall we try that one again.’
She turned to Jeff Cowley.
‘I prefer your answer, Mr Cowley, so shall we start with you?’
‘He’s confused,’ Fiona said, stepping forward.
‘He doesn’t seem very confused to me, Miss Cowley. It would appear that you are confused, and if you’d give your father a chance to speak for himself I’d like to hear what he has to say.’
Kim knew her voice had risen, and the colour had fallen from Jeff Cowley’s face.
‘Mr Cowley?…’
‘Can’t this wait?’ Fiona asked. ‘We were about to go and visit my brother in hospital.’
‘Please feel free to leave us, Miss Cowley. We can drop your father off once we’re finished.’
It was an empty offer on Kim’s part. She knew there was no way Fiona was going anywhere.
She took a seat on the sofa and Kim instantly sat beside her, leaving Jeff Cowley nowhere to sit but the single chair. On his own and away from his daughter.
‘You were saying, Mr Cowley?’ Kim pressed.
Mr Cowley ran his hand back and forth over his bald head.
‘Jacob James did some casual work on the farm, more than twenty years ago. The kids were very young, they wouldn’t remember him,’ he said, trying to excuse his daughter’s premature denial.
‘My father’s health was beginning to fail, and I couldn’t do all the work myself. We were busy then, successful,’ he said. ‘Jacob worked with us for just a couple of months.’
Kim waited for the rest of the story.
Fiona stood. ‘There you are,’ she said. ‘You have your answer, now…’
‘Please sit down, Miss Cowley,’ Travis said, with authority.
She sat.
‘Is there anything else?’ Kim pushed.
‘No, I think…’
‘Why did he leave?’ Kim asked, losing patience.
‘He fell down. He couldn’t work.’
‘You mean he fell down a faulty pair of ladders you supplied for him to work on top of the barn.’
‘Dad, don’t—’
‘Was that you or your father?’
‘My father gave—’
‘Your father gave an employee faulty equipment to use?’
‘Dad—’
‘Well… he didn’t know…’
‘And the ladders broke, didn’t they?’ Kim asked. She didn’t particularly like this method of questioning but if she waited for too long Fiona would find some way to intervene.
‘Yes,’ he answered.
‘And Jacob James shattered his knee in the fall?’
‘He was hurt, yes.’
‘He couldn’t work, could he?’ she pushed.
‘Well, I don’t know…’
‘Dad…’ Fiona warned.
‘And he instructed a solicitor to act on his behalf.’
‘I don’t recall—’
‘Jacob was suing your family, wasn’t he?’ Kim asked.
‘I’m sorry but—’
‘Tell me, Mr Cowley, who was it that met with Mr James and tried to buy him off?’