‘But we’ve checked the on-board footage of every bus in the Portswood area that night and at no point did she get on a bus,’ Ewan said.
‘Just because she was at a bus stop doesn’t mean she got on one,’ Patel corrected. ‘She wouldn’t have caught a bus to get home, because it was quicker to walk. We know her phone was switched off after she left Georgie’s house, so she couldn’t have used it to phone for a taxi, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have flagged down a passing one. I’ll keep you posted, ma’am.’
‘Let’s keep our fingers crossed then,’ Kate finished. ‘Thanks, everyone.’
The team returned to their desks, but Kate’s attention was caught by the sight of Olly Quinlan rushing past the incident room door and along the corridor.
Kate called Patel over. ‘I thought Olly was up at the campus with Vicky.’
‘He is,’ Patel nodded.
Kate left the room without a word of explanation, spotting the door to the viewing suite closing up ahead. She walked quickly, not wishing to draw unwanted attention to her movements. The blind was drawn shut, but as she pressed her ear to the door, she could just make out Olly’s voice on the other side, and he didn’t sound happy.
‘I told you not to call me again… I don’t care… oh please, do you not remember what I do for a living? Making idle threats isn’t going to—’
As Kate continued to listen to Olly’s side of the conversation, the anxiety gripping her tightened.
‘Where the hell do you think I can get that kind of money from?’
She’d known something was off about Olly, ever since he’d turned up late on Saturday morning. But had there been signs before that? She tried to remember back to before the discovery of Maria’s foot at the school. Had he been withdrawn? Lack of sleep and too many hours in the office meant the days were blurring into one.
‘Listen, you don’t have to remind me what will happen if this gets out,’ Quinlan half shouted.
Kate’s fingers brushed the door handle as her hand hovered above it. She’d already confronted him about whatever was going on outside of work and he hadn’t been willing to discuss it with her. She’d tried the soft approach and the firm approach, so would barging in on him produce a different result? Although she felt overwhelming responsibility for her team members, she was in danger of overstepping the mark. But if he was having money troubles, had he succumbed to leaking information to Zoe Denton?
‘Okay, okay,’ Quinlan continued, quieter now. ‘I’ll sort something… no I can’t afford that much… no, wait, don’t do that… please, leave it with me, I’ll sort it.’
‘Ma’am?’ Kate jumped as Patel touched her shoulder to get her attention.
Peeling herself away from the door, Kate inhaled deeply.
‘I didn’t mean to startle you,’ Patel continued. ‘What were you doing?’
Kate pressed a finger to her lips and ushered for him to move further along the corridor.
Patel eyed her suspiciously. ‘Everything okay?’
She nodded. ‘You wanted to speak to me?’
‘Laura just phoned and asked me to pass on that she’s spoken to the administrators at the school, and they confirmed Jackson still fits the image she printed off. She said she’s on her way to the courier depot now to show his picture around.’
‘Great,’ Kate said, as the door to the viewing suite flew open and Quinlan hurried down the corridor. Kate called out to him, but he was already tearing down the stairs.
‘I guess Olly wasn’t at the school, then,’ Patel concluded. ‘Is everything okay with him? He doesn’t seem right.’
With too many balls to juggle already, Kate waved away Patel’s concerns. ‘He’s just dealing with some personal issues. It’s all in hand.’
39
‘Wondered when you’d be round here,’ Georgie Barclay said, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand.
‘You won’t mind me coming in, then, will you?’ Kate said, keeping the disapproval out of her tone.
‘My mum won’t be back until six, so yeah, you can come in.’
Kate wiped her feet on the door mat as the light dusting of snow began to settle on the ground outside. Taking a final look up at the clouds, Kate could only hope the imminent blizzard would be short.
Georgie grabbed her smart phone, as she settled into the cushion of the sofa in the back room. ‘Alfie said you’re not planning to charge Daisy’s brother.’
Kate’s heart went out to her. With her legs curled under her, cheeks puffy from crying all afternoon, and undoubtedly the stress brought on by the revelation of her guilty secret, Georgie looked every part the frightened child, and not the young woman she professed to be.
‘How long have you and Alfie been seeing each other?’ Kate asked delicately.
Fresh tears filled Georgie’s eyes as she raised her head and looked straight at Kate. ‘About three months. We got together just before Christmas. Neither of us meant for it to happen, but it just kind of did. The first time we kissed, I knew it was wrong, and I told him that we’d both betrayed Daisy, but as much as we tried to fight it, the attraction was too strong.’
‘When I spoke to you on Sunday, and you said Daisy wasn’t sleeping with Alfie, was that the truth?’
A tear escaped as Georgie nodded. ‘I know she wasn’t sleeping with him, because… Oh God, I might as well tell you… I’m sleeping with him.’
‘How old are you, Georgie?’
‘I’m sixteen, and we didn’t hook up until after my birthday. Daisy was one of the youngest in our age group. So, before you start accusing Alfie of doing anything he shouldn’t have—’
Kate raised her hands defensively. ‘My intention is just to make sure you’re okay. When individuals have sex under the age of consent, our concern is only for the safety of the minor. You are old enough to give your consent, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still feel pressured into engaging in activity that you don’t want.’
‘It isn’t like that. Alfie isn’t like that! He would never pressure me into having sex. The first time we slept together it was because we both wanted to.’
Kate’s relief was genuine. ‘I’m pleased you’ve told me that, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still concerned about you, Georgie. Can you tell me how the two of you first realised you liked each other?’
‘It was after my birthday party. We’d gone bowling in Millbrook, and there must have been a dozen of us there, just hanging out, bowling, playing on the arcade games. Daisy asked if Alfie could come along too and I said that was fine, and he gave us a lift home. He dropped me first, and then went on, but messaged me to say I’d left my jacket in his car and did I want him to drop it off. I came out to meet him and thanked him for being so nice. I leaned in to kiss his cheek, but we both lingered and then kissed properly. I felt so guilty all the next day when I was with Daisy, and every time he replied to one of her messages I just wanted to tell her what a terrible friend I was. But she seemed so happy, and I didn’t think it would happen again, so I kept quiet. I didn’t see him again for a week, but the following weekend we were both at a party and we couldn’t keep our eyes off each other. Daisy wasn’t at the party as she’d gone to an aunt’s birthday meal or something. I kept looking over to see if he was still watching me dancing, and when I went to use the bathroom he followed me upstairs, and one thing led to another.’
‘Did you sleep with him that night?’
‘God, no! What do you take me for?’
Kate chose not to answer the question.
‘No, when we were in the bathroom I told him that we shouldn’t have kissed; that it was wrong and we should put it behind us. He agreed it was wrong, but said he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about me all week, and to be honest I’d been thinking a lot about him as well.’ She shrugged apologetically. ‘I don’t know what else to say. We both gave in to temptation and made out in the bathroom.’ She paused as her phone beeped. She read the message and then looked back up. ‘It’s from Alfie, asking if you’ve shown up yet. Should I reply?’
‘That’s up to you.’