‘An extra-large Scotch,’ he replied. ‘Thanks, officer.’
‘Don’t mention it.’ Gina replied, turning her attention to Avery. ‘Can you get me your staff rota for last Friday night? Oh, and I’ll send someone to verify the orders that were made that night. I assume we have your full cooperation.’ Avery stared at her then stomped out of the room. A moment later, he shoved a scuffed piece of paper into her hand.
‘Take it with you. Always happy to help the pigs. I mean, the police.’
‘Thank you Mr Avery.’
She passed him without looking back and they left the building, noting that he hadn’t put up any form of resistance. As they headed for the car, Gina glanced at the rota and searched for the evening in question. Charlene was on bar and Jeff was down as being on a shift from four in the afternoon to close. They got in the car and headed back to the station, ready to compare findings. Gina looked down at her phone, which had been on silent. There were no messages from Hannah.
She called the station and O’Connor answered. ‘Could you organise the collection of a copy of an order made for lager at the Angel Arms last Friday? You can speak to Samuel Avery. I want a copy filed under the Baby Jenkins case. Verify the time the order was made.’ O’Connor acknowledged her request and she ended the call. As Jacob drove, she tapped in the number on the beer mat and waited for an answer. Time to start working on verifying Avery’s whereabouts. There was something about him she just didn’t trust.
Twenty-Nine
Gina kicked off her shoes and switched her laptop on. Briggs had told her to leave a bit earlier as she’d been doing so much overtime. But they both knew she was bringing her work home, as was Jacob. And she was sure Briggs had spent all day looking at the station’s finances, worrying about overspending. With all that was going on, there wasn’t time to sit around, watch soaps and take long candlelit baths. Every time she settled down to bathe, the phone would go.
She looked out the window into the rural darkness. Living on the outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon had given her the peace she’d never had as a Birmingham city dweller. As her struggling laptop finally powered up, she pulled the files out of her bag and placed them on the floor. She sat next to them with her legs spread out and opened her email, but she’d received no new messages since she’d left the station. She’d confirmed that Avery had been in London at his sister’s on Friday, and O’Connor had come back to her with a copy of the lager order, which had been made at five forty that evening. Her mind came back to Avery. The thought of him near any woman made her skin crawl, but he’d covered himself well on two occasions. She’d considered that he could be working with someone else, but who?
An email pinged up on her screen. It was a sponsorship request for O’Connor’s bike ride that coming weekend. She doubted whether O’Connor would live through a fifteen-mile bike ride. He’d laughed in her face when she’d suggested that he should train for it. She clicked on the link, which explained that any money raised would go to the local hospital. She tapped in her details and sent him twenty pounds.
A call lit up her phone and it vibrated across the coffee table. She grabbed it, hoping that it was Hannah calling back, but it was Jacob. ‘Hello.’
She waited a moment while he coughed down the phone. ‘Sorry about that. Right, I managed to catch up with Wyre and O’Connor just after you left.’
‘Great. Did they come up with anything? I got the news back about the lager order. What else is there?’
‘They’re making out their reports right now, so they should be available to view in an hour or two. But I have spoken to them and I can give you a summary.’
Gina took some photos out of the folder and laid them out in front of her. Smarmy Samuel stared back at her. ‘Great. Go ahead.’
She winced as she listened to Jacob coughing loudly before continuing. ‘Deborah’s pool team friends Barbara Pace, Steph Steel and Juliet Derby had nothing really to add since last time. As we know, they all have alibis for the night she disappeared, and no motive. Zoe Ellis is working away for the next week but her husband seemed to think she’d have nothing to add. Wyre and O’Connor asked for her to call the station when she got back. Charlotte Livingston was in. She told them that Samuel Avery had been bothering Deborah for sex and that had been going on for weeks. Deborah had rejected him several times but he had been a sleaze about it. When asked why she didn’t mention this back then, all she said was that he was in the airport at the time, so it couldn’t have been him.’
‘Interesting. I’ve been wondering if he’s working with someone else. There’s something about him. It’s a possibility.’
‘I suppose. Get this though. Charlotte also said that Samuel had tried to grope Deborah outside the toilets two weeks before her disappearance. By groping, I mean he grabbed her in the groin area and tried to kiss her, pushing her against the wall. She got upset about it in the taxi on the way home. She even said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to play for the team anymore. She said Deborah didn’t want to report the incident. She didn’t want her husband to find out and she wanted to forget it. Obviously, we only have Charlotte’s word for this, but given Samuel’s previous, I’m inclined to believe her. Anyway, that’s all. Abigail’s coming over to nurse me in half an hour so I’m going to love you and leave you.’
‘Great. Tomorrow we’ll head to Deborah’s workplace, see if anything new has come to light. I’ve checked with O’Connor and he’s confirmed that we can use their boardroom and both Gabby and Callum will be in, so we’ll be able to speak to them. I’ve read the files to date. Have a look over them so that you’re up to date too and then get a good night’s sleep. It’s going to be a long one tomorrow.’
‘When is it not?’ he replied as he blew his nose.
Another call came through on Gina’s phone. ‘Have a good one. Got to go, bye.’ She saw Hannah’s name flash up and accepted the call. ‘Hello.’
‘Mum, I’m sorry I went off on one the other night. I thought I’d let you know that everything is sorted for Saturday. It would be nice if you could come along, I need you there. I’ll text you the details.’
Gina opened her mouth to speak and then changed her mind. A ceremony was the last thing she could deal with. ‘I might be working—’
‘Whatever. I’m giving you the chance to do the right thing here. It won’t look good if you don’t turn up.’
She swallowed. She’d have to face his mum, Hetty, and his awful brother, Steven, and the rest of his close family. She’d have to paste on her mourning face all over again for the man who had raped and beat her. ‘Hannah, you know I love you and Gracie with all my heart—’
‘Do I?’
‘You’re being silly now.’