The Sleepover

by Carol Wyer

  ‘Maybe Cathy knew something about him we have yet to uncover,’ suggested Lucy, who was met with nods.

  Natalie added this information to the board then placed the palms of her hands on the desk and continued. ‘I couldn’t reach Gavin or Kirk Lang last night, so I went to Extravaganza, where a member of staff informed me they’d stayed overnight in London. I rang Daisy immediately afterwards and she confirmed that. Gavin had rung her to say he was staying over and would be back today. I refuse to piss about with this pair any more. I want their whereabouts for Monday night when Habib was possibly killed, firmly established. I want to know why they were in London with their phones switched off, and if that means hauling their arses down here, then do it. I also want Ellie Cornwall and Tucker Henderson brought in for questioning. I’m not putting up with any more duplicity, lying or fucking about. These kids know more than they’ve been letting on, and we’re going to get to the bottom of this. Somebody get hold of Pinkney. He must have a good idea by now of how Habib died. Forensics are supposed to be giving our investigation priority so I’m going to see exactly what they’ve found out to date. We need to get a fucking move on. I want some answers. Have you any questions?’

  When there were none, she gave a curt nod and walked out of the office, leaving the team lost for words.

  Upstairs she swiped her pass and gained entry into the forensic lab, a clinical white room that reminded her of her school science laboratories. There were several white-coated officers working at various benches. She recognised the black-haired Darshan even while he was wearing his face mask. He was working on the other side of a glass partition and raised a hand in greeting. He said something to his companion – Mike. Mike pulled away and Natalie could see what the men had been examining. It was Habib, who was laid out on the table. Mike came through the side door, tugging at his rubber gloves.

  ‘Can I have a word in private?’ she asked.

  ‘Sure.’ He ushered her into a side office and closed the door behind them.

  ‘This is a pleasant interruption.’ He smiled and relaxed against a desk. ‘Habib was brought in about ten minutes ago. Pinkney sent through the autopsy. Did you get it?’

  ‘It hadn’t come through when I left the office.’

  After leaving the office, she’d spent five minutes standing next to the coffee machine wondering how best to handle Mike. It was none of her business if he chose to see, embrace or have sex with another woman. He was single and separated, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling of regret. She’d watched the traffic rumbling past and decided she felt low because she felt let down. Mike had admitted to having feelings for her. She’d been gradually edging herself in his direction even though she’d been trying to put her family first. If she was honest with herself, she was disappointed that he’d been charming and flirtatious on the telephone, then only a couple of hours later been intimate with one of the nightclub’s dancers.

  ‘Well then, to summarise, the internal findings confirm what we suspected. Habib was first strangled and then hanged to make it appear as if he’d committed suicide.’

  It came as no surprise to her. ‘Will you run tests for drugs in his system?’

  ‘Pinkney sent blood samples for immediate analysis and they came back clean. No alcohol or drugs in his system.’

  ‘I want to double-check he hadn’t taken any Xanax.’

  ‘He’d been buying it online so he was tested for it.’ Mike cocked his head in puzzlement but she continued.

  ‘Check him again. I want to be absolutely positive.’

  ‘The handwriting expert got back to us a few minutes ago and confirmed the handwriting on the suicide note doesn’t match Habib’s. The boy definitely didn’t write it.’

  ‘Most likely the murderer did then.’ She stood as if expecting more.

  ‘Righto. I’ll get back to you if there’s anything at all. I’ve pulled my officers from other cases and put everyone on this investigation. We’re working flat out to assist you.’ He didn’t get the thanks he expected, and his brows knitted together. ‘Nat, what’s up? Why did you really come here?’

  She looked into the distance, unable to voice what she really wanted to say.

  ‘Is Josh okay?’

  ‘I don’t know. He was weird last night.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. I’ll sort it.’

  ‘Look, if I can help…’ he began, but she shook her head to silence him.

  ‘I went looking for Gavin and Kirk Lang last night.’ The words tumbled out. He didn’t respond. ‘I saw you with someone.’

  Mike stared fixedly at her then said, ‘What do you expect from me, Natalie?’

  ‘I thought…’

  ‘Thought? You’re married to David – my best friend. You have a family you love. I haven’t asked you for anything because I know you can’t give it to me. I’m not going to behave like a monk or moon about like a lovesick teenager. I’m a grown man, Natalie. I have needs and desires. You aren’t in any position to judge or condemn me.’

  ‘I’m not.’

  ‘Then why bring this up? So what if you saw me with a woman. What do you want to hear? That she means nothing? That you’re the only woman for me?’

  ‘Shit, no!’

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘I wanted you to know I’d seen you.’

  ‘Great! Big deal. I was with another woman.’

  ‘She’s been charged with soliciting in the past… and you’re a police officer. I don’t need to spell it out.’

  ‘And it’s nobody’s business what I do in my free time – nobody’s! Even if she’s been had up in the past, it doesn’t necessarily mean I paid her for sex, does it?’

  ‘Did you?’

  ‘Whether I did or not is not your concern so butt out.’

  ‘Mike, don’t get defensive with me. I told you I saw you, that’s all. I haven’t reported you.’

  ‘Really? That’s big of you.’

  ‘Back down, Mike!’

  ‘I’m not the one with a face that looks like it sucked lemons. Want to know what I think? That you are green-eyed about it. You didn’t like seeing me with someone that wasn’t you. I can’t put up with jealousy. It’s childish and pathetic. It fucked up my marriage. I don’t react well to demanding, needy women, so if that’s all, I’ve got work to do.’ He snatched up his gloves.

  ‘Hold on just a moment! I’m not jealous and I’m not needy. Needy is the last fucking thing I am. So, before you stride out in a fit of childish pique, let me be clear about this. I’m fully aware you’re single, and you and I aren’t in any kind of relationship. As you pointed out, I’m married, and if I remember correctly, you’re the person who advised me to stand by David. The woman you were with last night is not only a prostitute but one of the two women who looked after Roxy when she ran away on Saturday. I came to give you the heads-up and to say that I haven’t mentioned what I saw to anyone else. Your private life is exactly that, but I don’t want my investigation compromised because you’re fucking one of my witnesses, understand?’

  He maintained an icy demeanour and then through gritted teeth said, ‘Understood,’ and strode out of the office.

  Twenty-Nine

  Wednesday, 4 July – Morning

  Natalie had spent an uncomfortable hour updating Aileen before reading Pinkney’s report on Habib Malik. She read the last sentence and stared again at the whiteboard. All the names up there were somehow connected. It reminded her of a dot-to-dot book she’d been given as a child. She’d drawn neat lines from number to number but it was only once she’d drawn the final lines that she’d recognised what the picture was. After completing several pictures, she’d become more adept at guessing before she’d found the final numbers. How she wished she could see the final picture on that board. It was there. She just couldn’t make it out. She pulled out all the notes she’d made on each victim. Was the key to this Roxy Curtis? It had all begun after her body had been found. The communica
tions unit burst into life. Murray sounded exasperated.

  ‘Finally got hold of Gavin and Kirk. They attended some red-carpet event at a nightclub where they used to work. They were out until the early hours and then crashed out at a friend’s house and have only just picked up their messages. They’re now on their way back.’

  ‘How very convenient,’ muttered Natalie from her desk.

  ‘Should take them a couple of hours to get to HQ. I’m on my way to the Hendersons’ flat to bring in Tucker.’

  ‘Roger that,’ said Natalie.

  Ian glanced in her direction. ‘Just got an email update from the technical team. There’s a CCTV camera along Pine Way close to the amusement arcade, where Tucker and Habib apparently hung out on Saturday night, and it hasn’t picked either of them up.’

  ‘So they might not have been there. I wonder where the fuck they were?’

  The office fell silent again. Natalie’s thoughts fell firstly to Tucker, who she needed to talk to again, and then to Crystal and Sandra. Should she interview them again too? She couldn’t think about the two women without thinking about Mike. For a split second he’d reminded her of David when he was backed into a corner. Bloody hell, the two men in her life were both letting her down at the moment. Needy! Nothing could be further from the truth. She hunted for the case file and read through the notes on Crystal and Sandra. Although they were both lap dancers, she couldn’t help but wonder if they were still working as prostitutes too; after all, not only had they been had up in the past for soliciting, vice squad had been investigating the nightclub.

  Ian interrupted her reading with a loud, ‘Fuck me!’

  Natalie stiffened in anticipation of what he’d uncovered. Another line was about to connect the dots on the board. It turned out to be a significant one.

  ‘Tucker is related to Kirk and Gavin Lang!’

  ‘Impossible! They spent their youth in foster homes. They don’t have any relatives.’

  ‘Oh yes they do. Well, sort of do. They were in foster care with another boy called William Henderson for several years. He’s Tucker’s father, or rather, he was. He was killed in a motorway pile-up in 2008. I suppose they’re Tucker’s uncles of a fashion.’

  Natalie scrambled to her feet. This was a significant breakthrough. She put Tucker’s name up on the board and studied the picture. It was beginning to take shape at last – Tucker might know the men and he hadn’t been where he’d claimed to be on Saturday night.

  ‘This changes the course of the investigation, and it gives us someone we can place at the house with Roxy.’

  Lucy couldn’t locate Ellie. She wasn’t answering her mobile. She wasn’t at home or school, and her mother, who was at work, didn’t know where she was either. A faint thrumming began in Lucy’s temples. Could she be in any danger? She was on her way out of the block of flats for the second time that morning when she spotted Boo’s mother, weighed down with shopping bags, approaching her. Boo danced merrily by her side. She broke away when she saw Lucy and skipped towards her.

  ‘Hi, Boo,’ said Lucy.

  ‘Hi. I’ve got an ear infection. I don’t have to go to school today.’

  ‘Does it hurt?’

  ‘No, but if I shake my head, I go dizzy,’ she replied.

  ‘Then I suggest you don’t shake your head.’

  ‘That’s what I told her,’ said her mother, who’d reached the door.

  Lucy held it open for her and received a strange look for the small kindness.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked before passing through it.

  ‘Looking for Ellie.’

  ‘We just saw her,’ said Boo. ‘Didn’t we, Mum?’

  Her mother shushed her.

  ‘I really have to talk to her again. Whereabouts did you see her?’

  The woman gave a soft shrug but Boo wobbled her head from side to side and sang, ‘Ellie’s in the park.’

  ‘Boo! Go upstairs… now.’

  Boo gave Lucy a cheeky grin and scampered inside.

  ‘I really need to find her. I’m worried about her,’ said Lucy. It was enough to get the woman to issue her with directions.

  ‘Walk along Pine Way until you reach the old bingo hall and it’s on your left. She was sitting on a swing. That was about five minutes ago. She might still be there.’ A nod signalled the end of the conversation and Lucy held onto the door until the woman had gone through. She caught sight of Boo waving at her before she bounded up the stairs. The kid was a ball of non-stop, fun-loving energy. Would Spud be like that? The thought made her smile to herself.

  Ellie was alone in the park on a swing hanging from rusty chains. She was smoking a cigarette that she hastily stubbed out when she saw Lucy approaching. A backpack was propped up beside the frame. She didn’t speak and lowered her gaze. Her red-rimmed eyes gave away the fact she’d been crying.

  Lucy dropped onto the swing next to her and pushed off with her heels, allowing herself to swing backwards and forwards gently. ‘Not done this for a few years,’ she said and then halted the movement. ‘I think I was quite a bit thinner than I am now. I can hardly fit onto this seat.’ She wriggled into position and tried again. She stopped the pendulous movements and brought the seat back in line with Ellie’s. The girl hadn’t upped and left.

  ‘It’s pretty hard when you lose a friend, isn’t it?’

  Ellie studied her trainers.

  ‘You can’t keep everything to yourself, Ellie. It’ll make you ill.’

  ‘You don’t understand.’

  ‘Believe me, I do understand. I know what it’s like to wish you’d said the right thing the last time you saw that person, instead of being rude to them. I know what it’s like to wish you’d been there when it had happened and that you could have done something to stop it. I know what it’s like to wake up feeling light and cheerful, looking forward to sharing your day with them, only to suddenly be hit with the realisation that they’re not there any more. I understand. It’s different for each of us but death is a huge issue and we have to deal with it in our own way. What you must never do is keep your feelings bottled up.’

  ‘What makes you think I’m doing that?’

  Lucy lifted her legs and swung backwards and forwards. ‘You’re not at school. You ought to be. You should be there remembering Roxy for the fun person she was. You and your friends should be sharing memories because doing that helps you to heal. Sitting alone does not. It messes with your mind.’

  Ellie stared at the road beyond. A huge car transporter drove past followed by a line of cars. Lucy counted twenty of them before Ellie spoke. Her voice seemed to come from far away.

  ‘Roxy and I used to come here a lot. It’s really for little kids but Roxy loved these swings. She wanted to swing all the way round the bars on them – like a circus performer. I used to video her trying to do it. Some days, we’d have a bet on who would do it first and both have a go but we couldn’t do it no matter what we did. One day, I was videoing her and she got really high… I mean, really high, like the swing was going to go right over and I started screaming, “You’re doing it!” then, suddenly, she let go and fell off and landed in a puddle of water. I thought she’d broken something, but she jumped up and pointed to the wet patch on her bum and said, “I’ve wet my knickers!” I’d videoed the whole thing, so we watched it back and couldn’t stop laughing.’ She stopped talking and swallowed. ‘It was really funny. I have lots of funny memories of her.’

  ‘Then you need to keep sharing them. She’d like to know you were talking about her.’

  ‘Yeah. She would.’

  ‘I used to talk to my friend all the time. Like they were still there, even though they weren’t. It made it feel like they weren’t really gone.’

  ‘I needed to Snapchat her this today. It hurt so badly when I knew she wouldn’t answer.’

  ‘What did you want to tell her?’

  ‘Everything. About how scared I am. How much I miss her and about Habib.’


  ‘I’m sorry about Habib. Who told you?’

  ‘I heard about it on my way to school. I was outside in the yard. They were saying he’d hanged himself.’

  ‘We’re not sure yet how he died.’

  ‘I couldn’t go into lessons. I had to get away. I came here because I wanted to be near Roxy. We used to sit here for ages just talking. I didn’t know what else to do.’ Ellie rested her hands on her lap and tears filled her eyes as she whispered, ‘I think Habib was murdered.’

  ‘Then you know how important it is that you come to the station and talk to us.’ Lucy set her swing off again.

  A silence fell between them, punctuated only by the soft groans of the rusty chains as the two swings moved backwards and forwards in tandem, until Ellie turned to face Lucy and said, ‘Yes. Okay.’

  Thirty

  Wednesday, 4 July – Late Morning

  The interview with Tucker wasn’t going well. Not only was he refusing to cooperate, his mother was proving to be a distraction.

  ‘He hasn’t done anything wrong!’ she wailed for the umpteenth time.

  ‘Mrs Henderson, could you please keep quiet? Your interruptions aren’t very helpful. Tucker, we don’t want to have to caution you but if you continue to withhold evidence, we’ll be forced to do so.’

  ‘Why? He’s only a boy!’

  Natalie spoke to the lawyer, a man in his early thirties with googly eyes, a high forehead and a receding hairline. ‘I suggest you ask your client’s mother to refrain from interrupting us further or I shall request she is removed from this interview.’

  Tucker took matters into his own hands. ‘Ma. Go outside. You’re doing my head in.’

  ‘I’m not leaving you alone. They’ll accuse you of all sorts if I’m not here to protect you.’