Page 58 of The Other Side

“And now you’re wandering around asking questions you have no right to be asking. You’re a PCSO. It’s not your job. Except you seem to think it is your job, that you should be involved. You’re acting as if you have the right to be involved. You want to catch the killer all by yourself? Make us look stupid?”

Drum said nothing. Anything he risked saying would come back to bite him. Purbeck didn’t like him, didn’t like that Drum had freaked him out a few minutes ago. He wondered if Purbeck knew his background.

“Well, we’ll let you catch him, shall we? Stand on the doorstop and wait for him or her to come back. Some killers like to return to the scene of the crime. Maybe this is one of them. Go on. Get out there.”

Drum walked away, wishing he had the guts to tell him what he thought. He stood on the path. Purbeck didn’t spend much longer inside. When he emerged, Drum saw him lock the house, then he moved up the path to stand in front of him, much too close but Drum forced himself not to step back.

“Report any suspicious activity. Make a note of everyone who walks past or stops to talk to you, and take the number plates of vehicles. Maintain the integrity of the crime scene. Got it?”

“What about the job I’m supposed to be doing, sir?”

“You involved yourself so I’m making use of you. You’re under my command if I say you are.”

“Yes, sir.”

The moment Purbeck had driven off, Drum sagged. What an arsehole. So much for trying to help. Not that Drum had any idea who’d killed Sonita. He hadn’t come across anyone he thought could have done it. Reasons for murder were straightforward. Financial gain—though Lily said Sonita had nothing worth stealing and what Drum had seen had confirmed that. Even so, she could have won the lottery. If a pile of money was sitting in her bank account, then her family would come under scrutiny.

She could have been killed to silence her, except what could she have known to warrant being killed? Was this revenge? It was unlikely to be a crime of passion. He didn’t think she’d been sexually assaulted or Purbeck would have told him. Maybe a race crime. Sonita was of Indian heritage, but she wasn’t the only person of colour in the community.

Or was it just random? Bad luck? A guy had knocked on her door—Drum thought the killer was most likely to be a guy—and Sonita had said something or the murderer had and… There’d be a reason she was dead, but likely one only known to the killer.

Drum knew that luck had a lot to do with crime. People walked into the wrong pub, wandered into a dangerous area by accident, smiled at the wrong woman, scowled at the wrong man. Almost everyone was scared of boys with knives, lunatics with acid, men with guns when really what they needed to worry about was being unlucky. Had Sonita just been unlucky?

He wished he could stand where he couldn’t easily be seen but there was nowhere to hide. Dogwalkers passed, along with sniggering kids. He asked for their names, but no way was he writing Loki and Venom in his notebook. Drum was thirsty, but worried if he went to get a bottle of water from his car, someone would report him. It was only fifty yards, but… Then again, what was he supposed to do if he needed to pee? He had no access to the house. How private was the garden? Probably private enough.

Don’t think about peeing!

Eventually, he called Osian.

“Hi, defender of the community.”

Just hearing him speak cheered up Drum. “Well, I did repel Loki and Venom this afternoon.”

“Who are they?”

Drum groaned. A joke wasted. “Never mind. How’s it going? Discovered any invisible gates?”

“Not so far. What are you up to?”

“I’m in Calver. Maybe not far from you.”

“Whereabouts in Calver?”

“The scene of the crime. I’ve been told to guard it. I’ve been standing outside Sonita’s house for the last three hours in case the killer comes back.”

“Why would they come back?”

“I doubt they would, but I’m following orders.”

“For how long?”

“Until I can think of a way to escape.”

Osian chuckled. “Can you?”

“Well… If there was an anonymous call made to High Burton Police Station saying there was a suspicious person somewhere around where you’re standing? That might work.”

“How do I make an anonymous call?”