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He didn’t see the smile that tugged at her lips. ‘No, sir, probably a good idea for you to leave that one well alone.’
SIXTY-THREE
‘Just to be clear, if we were still awarding a good-job plant, it would be sitting on Penn’s desk right now,’ Kim said, entering the squad room.
A smattering of applause filled the room as she poured herself a coffee from the machine.
Penn had called her the night before to brief her on the incident prior to it hitting social media.
She appreciated his creativity and had laughed out loud ten minutes later when she’d watched the video.
He’d known there was something not right with the situation and he hadn’t stopped digging until he’d got to the bottom of it.
‘And who knew Penn could be quite so obnoxious?’ she asked.
‘Me,’ Stacey said, shooting her hand into the air.
‘How did Mrs Sharpe take the news?’ Kim asked. She knew that had been his next call after her the night before.
‘Not sure, cos she couldn’t stop crying after she’d watched the video. She’ll be meeting with her solicitor today, and I’m pretty sure her days on Hollytree are numbered.’
‘Good work,’ she said and meant it. Penn had done an incredible job, but it wasn’t the first thing she’d thought of when she’d rolled out of bed this morning. Before she’d even opened her eyes, the photos of the victims were firmly planted in her mind.
‘Right, whatever you take for optimum energy levels, take double. I want renewed effort on everything.’
She stepped over to the printer and took off two sheets of paper. Using a biro, she put a ring around one of the subjects on the first photo.
‘Stace, I want you to focus on CCTV at the theatre and keep an eye out for this woman here.’
Kim wafted the group photo under her nose before taping the page to the whiteboard.
‘This is our lovely yoga group and that’s Catherine Taylor. According to everyone else there on the night Sandy read for them, it was Catherine who really didn’t like the answers she was given.’
‘On it, boss,’ Stacey said.
‘Before you start looking for Catherine, I want you to check the footage of Tink with the suspected stooge. We all suspect he was working with Victoria, but I want proof. And then I want you to find him.’
The techies at the house had not uncovered details of any family members, so in the absence of nearest and dearest, they would have to make do with what they thought was a colleague. Perversely, for the sake of the investigation and being able to question someone about Victoria, she hoped he was on the psychic’s payroll. For the sake of Tiff’s comfort and reassurance, she hoped he wasn’t.
‘Penn, I want you working on those receipts we got from Sandy’s. I want to know who she met with on Thursday lunchtime at the Harvester.’ She paused. ‘And even though no one has asked about him, Richard isn’t in today cos he’s given the builders the day off.’
She suspected the news of Victoria Sykes had hit him hard.
She taped the second photo to the other board.
‘This is Bradley Foster and this photo was taken ten days before he was abducted. Although not directly linked to our case, we have found some inconsistencies in what happened the day Bradley disappeared.’
She retook her place. ‘Bryant and I will be taking a look while you two get cracking and give us something to work on.’ She looked to her colleague. ‘Ready?’
‘Err…boss, just one thing,’ Penn said, looking uncomfortable.
‘Yeah?’
‘The camel coat.’
‘The what now?’ Her mind was already out of the building and in the car.
‘You asked us all about a camel coat. Well, me and Jasper had kept a few of Mum’s things. Including a camel coat. I checked the pocket. There was a rip in the lining. Found the spare key I’d been looking for to give to Lynne.’
