‘Chief Inspector, was it murder?’ Frost shouted.
The camera whipped right back to Woody, who hesitated before speaking again.
‘We will update you as soon as we have more information,’ he said, before turning away and heading back into the building.
‘Bloody Frost,’ Kim said, shaking her head. This was exactly what her boss hadn’t wanted.
The only thing that would be taken away from this press conference was that one word and his refusal to deny it. Murder would be screamed from every headline.
‘I’m thinking that Jack is definitely out of the box now, boss,’ Dawson observed.
‘I think you’re right,’ Kim said, as her phone began to ring.
She recognised the number as Lloyd House. West Midlands Police headquarters in Birmingham.
*
‘Stone,’ she answered, heading back into the bowl.
‘Detective Inspector Stone, this is Chief Superintendent Briggs.’
Kim had the urge to laugh out loud. She’d heard the name, had even seen his photo, but this man wasn’t Woody’s boss. He was Woody’s boss’s boss.
‘Sir?’
‘Whatever you were doing next, please cancel it. The Winters have requested your presence at their home. They have something they’d like you to see. Immediately,’ he said before the line went dead.
She stared at the phone for a full twenty seconds as a feeling of unease stroked the hairs on the back of her neck.
She had the impression that someone was trying to put this Jack back into the box.
Twenty-Four
‘So, how’d it go, Kev?’ Stacey asked as soon as the boss and Bryant had left the room.
He shrugged. ‘You know, she confirmed what I already knew. I’m fucking awesome.’
‘So, she day mark you down at all?’ Stacey asked, knowingly.
‘Well, maybe in one or two areas…’
‘And she day mention you being tricked into going against her express instructions and doing that public appeal?’
He narrowed his gaze at her. ‘It might have come up.’
‘And she didn’t suggest that sometimes you’re—’
‘Stace, it’s supposed to be confidential,’ he snapped. ‘But I suppose you’ve scored yourself modestly?’
Stacey nodded. ‘You know, when I was a kid my mum told me never seat yourself at the head of the table, because it’s a longer walk if you’re asked to step down.’
‘Whatever, Stace,’ he said, moving around some papers on his desk.
He knew what Stacey meant but he also knew his boss liked confidence. Yeah, there were times he appeared arrogant and cocky, but the boss knew him, and she’d been pretty fair with her scoring. He would have preferred a nice tidy row of top scores, but he’d take what she’d given, and he’d been honest with her too. Yes, he wanted promotion. One day he wanted a team of his own, too, but what he really craved was her endorsement.
He realised his colleague was still looking at him.
‘So, what you up to, Kev?’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked, innocently.
‘Look, I know you hate fact-checking but you really gonna avoid spending time with me by making up a line of enquiry to follow?’
He chuckled at her playful tone.
‘Hey, who blew who off?’ he asked, good-naturedly.
He’d asked if she fancied a drink after work the night before. That Geoffrey kid had stayed on his mind and he hadn’t wanted to take it home with him. His own childhood had been thrust right back into his present and he was having trouble shaking it off.
‘Sorry, mate, but I’d made plans,’ she said, staring at her computer screen.
‘Devon, again?’ he asked.
Stacey nodded
‘Bloody hell, Stace. I make that three dates in a week. You two getting serious?’ he asked.
She raised her eyes above the screen edge.
‘Well, we have talked about making a commitment—’
‘A what?’ he gasped.
‘To a weekend away somewhere,’ she laughed at his expression.
He smiled, enjoying her excitement. From what he knew his colleague had been seeing the immigration officer for a few weeks now, and the change in her was noticeable. He sometimes saw the slow, secret smile on her face when she glanced at her phone when she thought no one was watching. He saw the way she carried herself differently, more confidently than he’d ever seen before. He saw the flash of concern when a case caused them to work late. But what he really saw was the light behind her eyes, that warm glow that came from starting to fall in love.
He wasn’t sure if she even knew it herself yet.
‘So, ain’t that commitment thing enough to get you running for the hills yet?’ he asked, playfully.
It was no secret that the drop-dead gorgeous Devon had been interested in Stacey for some time. It was only Stacey who had lacked the confidence or self-worth to give it a go.
‘You know, there’s only one thing that bothers me more,’ she said, seriously.
‘What’s that?’
‘Why you’re still sitting here when the boss has green-lighted your line of enquiry.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Now, as much as I’d like to think you’re that interested in my personal life, I suspect it’s cos you want something from me, so come on, cough.’
He smirked. Jesus, she knew him well.
‘Need some background on a couple of kids from Heathcrest. Young lad named Geoffrey Piggott and a girl named Tilly Tromans.’
‘Why?’ she asked, simply. ‘There are hundreds of kids there, why these two?
He shrugged. ‘The only two I’ve found so far who seem to have known Sadie at all.’
‘Okay, but you’ll have to get in line. Boss’s work comes first,’ she said matter-of-factly.
‘Thanks, Stace,’ he said, with a wink.
‘So, what did you find out that you didn’t share with the boss, Kev?’ she asked shrewdly.
He smiled but said nothing. Her antenna was too well tuned this morning.
He wanted to find out a little bit more about this Queen of Hearts.
Twenty-Five
‘So, what you thinking the grieving parents want to show us, guv?’ Bryant asked, as he drove through pools of water from an earlier storm.
The town of Droitwich sat on the River Salwarpe and was the only Midlands area to be in Halifax ‘Quality of Life Survey’ of 2011.
The satnav deposited them at a tarmac drive flanked by bare, gnarled trees with branches like witches’ fingers beckoning them to enter. The trees gave way to natural parkland with a dwelling a half mile in the distance.
‘Their own lake?’ Bryant observed, glancing to his right.
Kim said nothing. Whatever their material trappings and possessions they had just lost their thirteen-year-old daughter. How much of this would they be prepared to give to get Sadie back? Every bit of it, she suspected.
Although she couldn’t help the stab of disappointment at the house as they neared it. The flat white frontage of the monstrous property screamed Regency incarnation but without the age or history behind it. Any ‘original features’ inside the house would be the total opposite. Manufactured to appear authentic.
Bryant parked the car between two identical Range Rover models. One in black and one in white.
‘Nice,’ Kim observed.
‘Queen of understatement there, guv,’ Bryant said.
She shrugged. Give her a bike, any bike and she could tell you its history but fascination with cars was a bit of a mystery to her.
‘If I was a fifteen-year-old boy this is the car that would be on my wall,’ he continued, looking in the window as he passed. ‘It’s the new SVAutobiography, 5 litre V8 engine and 539 break horse power.’
Kim remained unimpressed.
‘That’s the equivalent of five Ford Fiestas, and they come in at around one hundred and fifty grand each,’ he explained.
So, if cars of that value are parked outside, exposed to the elements, what on earth is being stored in the three-car garage on the west side of the courtyard? she wondered.
‘Not guessing, Bryant, so don’t even ask me,’ Kim said as they strode across the pristine white gravel towards the pillared portico entrance.