The Liar's House: An absolutely gripping thriller with a fantastic twist (Detective Gina Harte Book 4)

by Carla Kovach

  ‘We need to get that off for testing. See if it matches anything left at the scene of Jade Ashmore’s murder or Diane Garraway’s house. Here’s hoping there’s a definite link there.’

  ‘We’ve also bagged up the shoe and taken various other samples including that of the earth. We may recover some of the perpetrator’s clothing and be able to match any dirt from that to the scene. Everywhere has its own unique make-up, just like us. Oh, we have footprints too, they’re all a bit messy, not as clear as I’d like as the earth is so soft. It did rain a bit before we arrived. It looks like our perp was also wearing boots with a thick tread as we do have a little bit of patter left behind. I’ll get the photos over to you in a short while. We haven’t got an exact size but we’re looking at about a ten.’ Gina thought back to what their victim had said. She had felt one of the boots and had also described them as steel toecaps.

  ‘Great job. As always, I’ll be waiting on the report. Obviously, if there’s anything else you can feed across to me as you go, call me straight away.’ As she milled around, she thought of what Sophie Dobbins would have gone through. She’d ran through the trees wearing only one shoe while being chased by someone who’d tried to crush her hand with his foot, breaking two of her fingers. But she’d hurt him, hitting him with her wedge shoe. Gina would tell the team to look out for anyone sporting an injury.

  Her phone beeped. A reminder that she had an interview at nine in the morning. This one she had to attend, but not before she rushed home for a quick shower and freshen up. Time was against her, as it always was. There was also something else she needed to investigate, something on a personal level.

  She waved Briggs over. ‘We really need Rex in for interview and I can’t instigate that one. He was here last night. He’s weird, I can verify that myself. He had opportunity and at the very least needs to be eliminated from our enquiries.’

  He nodded. ‘Leave it with me.’

  Forty-Seven

  One thing Gina was sure of was that Swap Fun clearly linked Jade Ashmore’s murder and Sophie Dobbin’s attack. The culprit either attended both parties or saw both invites on the Swap Fun website which made her question whether interviewing Colin was necessary. She soon dismissed that thought. He was one of the last people to see Jade alive on the night of the fifth of May and he had opportunity and no alibi. There were also a lot of disguised profiles on Swap Fun that they still hadn’t matched to real-life identities. He could be one of those hidden profiles and therefore have known exactly when and where they were all meeting.

  She checked her watch. She’d have to wrap this interview up swiftly as Briggs had booked Rex in for interview in just over an hour. She needed to be there behind that glass, observing his reactions, before starting her own personal investigation.

  ‘Wyre, are you ready?’

  ‘Sure am, guv. He’s already been seen to interview room two. It’s just unfortunate that he’s stinking the room out.’ She grabbed gloves and a swab pack. ‘Got these. You wanted a swab taken, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yes. Blood was found at the scene of last night’s attack and we have other samples in evidence. I want his sample crossmatched against everything.’

  Gina took a deep breath before entering the tiny square room. Wyre was right, it smelled like the back of a bin lorry. She was grateful that he had his shoes and socks on this time as watching him pick might have sent her over the edge.

  ‘Colin Wray, thank you so much for coming in. This interview is voluntary and will be recorded. Do you need a drink before we start?’

  ‘Nah, I wouldn’t mind a puff. Is it okay to smoke?’ He pulled a roll-up from a worn looking tobacco tin.

  ‘I’m afraid not. This interview shouldn’t last too long. You’ll be able to go outside and smoke then.’ He threw the roll-up back into the tin and clicked the lid on, then took a mint from his pocket and began to roll it around his gummy mouth, making sucking noises that were already making the hairs on the back of Gina’s neck stand to attention.

  Wyre started the recording device.

  ‘Interview with Colin Wray, aged seventy years old. DI Harte and DC Wyre present. Date is Saturday the eleventh of May, 2019,’ Wyre confirmed.

  Gina continued with the taped introduction then leaned forward to question Colin. ‘Please tell me again, in your own words, what happened in the early hours of Monday the sixth of May, the bank holiday Monday.’

  ‘Not again. I already told you what I know when you came to my house. I don’t know any more.’

  ‘Please, we need it recorded formally. Jade Ashmore was murdered that night and as her neighbour, we’re sure you want to cooperate and help us find the perpetrator too.’

  He sighed and scratched his head. Bits of thin grey hair parted to reveal crepe-like skin. Gina cast her eye over his scalp and forehead. Sophie Dobbins had hit her attacker with a shoe. Surely, if Colin Wray had been her attacker, there would have been some sort of mark left behind. Colin’s hair was too thin and light to disguise injuries. Maybe her counter-attack hadn’t been as hard as she had thought, or the attack mark was below his neckline. As Colin relayed the exact same details as before, Gina half-listened and half tuned out, trying to figure out what was behind Colin’s persona. His records showed that he was a soldier in his younger years and a fitness coach later in life; that would explain why he still looked fit. He still had the strength to be considered a suspect.

  Fitness coach? Aimee was a personal trainer and he had made some comments about her that hadn’t sat well with Gina during their last conversation. Her mind ran through his previous record. One of his charges included that of sexual assault. He’d been convicted as CCTV evidence showed him rubbing against a seventeen-year-old girl on a train. He had strength and he also had a warped sense of entitlement when it came to women. But why could he possibly have wanted to kill Jade? Maybe he’d seen her with Rhys and was jealous. Gina knew jealousy to be a powerful emotion. If he’d been spying on Jade’s husband, Noah, while he was kissing their babysitter in the garden, what was to say that he hadn’t been watching Jade for a long time? He could easily have taken a bag with his chosen murder weapon and followed her as she went looking for her husband. With his military background, he’d be well versed in surveillance techniques. They needed his DNA. A test of the blood on the branch may give them all they needed to get a search warrant and make an arrest.

  Colin coughed as he smiled. ‘And there you have it. That’s me done. I’m off for a smoke now.’ His gaze landed on Wyre’s lips and Gina could see him licking his own.

  ‘Mr Wray?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We will need to eliminate you from our enquiries. To do this we will need to take a swab.’

  ‘But I ’aven’t done anything.’ He slammed both hands, palms down on the table.

  Gina remained silent and stared at him. He slumped back in the creaky chair. ‘We could be looking to make an arrest and caution you. You can see how this looks, Mr Wray. If you didn’t do anything, this test will show that.’

  His beady eyes met hers. Who would blink first, him or her? He did. She smiled. His shoulders dropped as he leaned forward and opened his mouth wide. White fur covered his tongue and a sulphuric odour escaped from his mouth. Gina took small shallow breaths.

  Wyre put on a pair of latex gloves. ‘I’m just going to pop this in your mouth and wipe it against your cheek. It won’t hurt.’ His gaze turned to Wyre as she continued. ‘All done.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Wray. You’ve been very helpful. We’ll show you out.’ Gina opened the door and the man couldn’t hurry out fast enough. ‘Get those straight to Bernard and Keith for analysis. Oh, and I want Dawn and Steven in. I know we checked Dawn’s story earlier but I want it on record. They are the common denominator at the moment.’

  ‘Will do, guv.’

  Gina left the room and caught up with Colin Wray. He shakily took the roll-up from his tin and slipped it between his lips. As she led him to reception, she passed
PC Smith in the corridor. ‘Can I speak to you in my office?’ she called.

  He nodded and continued. She smelled the sleeve of her jacket. Colin Wray’s scent was now embedded into her for the day. Going home for a quick shower before interviewing him had been a pointless exercise.

  As she approached her office door, noting that she had less than ten minutes until the interview with Rex, she spotted PC Smith waiting for her to arrive.

  Rex who? She didn’t know anything about the man she’d met up with, slept with, let into her home.

  ‘I have a call-out so I need to be out of this station in five,’ he said as he followed her in. They both sat.

  ‘That’s okay, it won’t take long.’

  ‘I’ve updated the system with everything that happened last night. I thought we might get more but we mostly got hit on – well Kapoor mostly got hit on – and I remember the victim Sophie, she kept looking my way. Just before you called us out, the man in the hat came in and said one of his old girlfriend’s had been lurking around outside spying on him. Everyone had a bit of a laugh about it and carried on. Then we left. I’ve been thinking about that all night. Who was his ex-girlfriend?’

  Gina felt her face warming up. He was referring to her. How could she throw Smith off the scent? ‘We’ve eliminated her, she isn’t a worry.’

  ‘I haven’t seen anything on the system. Haven’t you updated it yet?’

  There was no avoiding telling him. Smith wasn’t a fool and before she knew it, he’d soon be discussing it with others in the team. ‘Smith, I dated him. He saw Briggs and me together as we watched the house. I met up with him twice. I don’t know the man. Can I trust you?’

  He nodded and closed her office door. ‘Of course, guv. But I can’t hide anything from Briggs that might affect the case just like I wouldn’t hide anything from you.’

  ‘And I wouldn’t expect anything less. Briggs already knows as we’ve spoken about this but if you need to speak to him about it, go ahead. There’s something else, someone is sending me flowers and chocolates as you know and I think it might be him. I’m asking unofficially, did you see who pulled up when either were delivered?’

  ‘You say unofficially?’

  ‘I’m looking into this myself in my own time. I want to know who sent me these things. I’ve been through a lot so maybe you can appreciate that I’m worried.’

  He nodded. ‘I was there when they were delivered. I noticed that it was a local business. The flower shop on Cleevesford High Street, I remember the logo but not the name of the shop. I’ve used them a few times to send flowers to my wife.’

  ‘At least she was happy to receive the flowers, unlike me. She’s a lucky lady.’

  ‘Tell her that! Anyway, I’m running behind. Let me know when you’ve finished interviewing the people at the party. Kapoor and I will keep out of the way for now.’

  She smiled. ‘One of the attendees is due to arrive any second. I’d go out the back if I were you. Thanks, Smith.’

  Her phone beeped. Rex.

  Why am I sitting here, waiting to be interviewed? I heard about what happened to that woman, Sophie, last night. It was nothing to do with me. You’re just trying to pin this on me because I dumped you.

  So that’s how he was going to play this one. There was no way he’d get an answer from her. When would he get the message that she didn’t want to hear from him again, ever? He’d tell them all that he dumped her and now she’s harassing him. Idiot, she had the texts to prove it was the other way around but if he wanted to play that game, he was certainly going to lose.

  She almost trembled as she thought of Steven. The weight of what they both might say may be her downfall. Downfall, she was thinking like a person that had done something wrong. She hadn’t chosen to have Steven as a brother-in-law and all she’d done was go on a couple of dates with Rex. If that was all she’d done wrong, exactly how bad could it get? She checked her watch and hurried – she didn’t want to miss Rex’s interview.

  Forty-Eight

  Gina hurried along the corridor and slipped into the viewing room. The interview had already begun and Rex was speaking. Wyre and Jacob sat opposite him, Jacob leading the interview. The night before, Rex had looked so polished at the party. In the cold light of day, he seemed so ordinary. Light jumper, jeans, hair slightly kinked where he’d rolled out of bed, stubble.

  ‘I didn’t see her after eleven. I went home in a taxi and I’ve already given you the name of the firm, you can check. I’m also here voluntarily so can we hurry this up? I need to get to work.’

  ‘What is it you do?’ Wyre asked.

  ‘I work in a phone shop in Evesham. I sell phone contracts.’

  Gina blushed as Briggs looked over. She knew so little about the man behind the glass.

  ‘You have my address too. That’s where I went. I went home and I went to bed.’

  Jacob took a sip of water. ‘Is there anyone who can verify that?’

  ‘Am I under arrest or something? I live alone. The taxi dropped me off and I went home to bed.’ Gina made a note that in an hour and forty-five minutes he could have easily changed and then gone back to the party. He could have driven back, knowing that he had an opportunity to attack some poor unsuspecting partygoer.

  ‘You’re not under arrest, Mr Satterthwaite, but a serious crime was committed that night and we need to know what happened. Do you regularly attend these kind of parties?’

  He smirked as he folded his arms. ‘I love these parties and go to as many as possible. I’m a single, highly-sexed man and they allow me to attend. Some people like three in a bed and I guess I can always be someone’s number three. Why would I not go?’

  ‘Did you speak to Sophie Dobbins over the course of the evening?’

  He shrugged, holding both of his hands up. ‘Yes, and so did all the others. I thought she was a bit of all right but she didn’t seem too interested so I left her alone. I’m not the type of person that goes around harassing women.’ He stared at the mirror.

  Gina knew he wondered if he was being watched.

  He glanced at his phone and smiled before continuing. ‘But, as I said, I didn’t pull that night so I went straight home. I had to be up early for work and didn’t feel there was anyone there for me that was worth pursuing. Although I normally have a lot of luck, I am still quite choosy, believe it or not.’

  ‘What name do you go under when you use the Swap Fun forum?’ Wyre asked.

  ‘Hot Rod.’ Gina made a note to check all interactions between everyone on the site and Hot Rod.

  ‘Something bizarre did happen last night though.’

  ‘Go on.’

  Gina placed her elbow on the desk and leaned on her hand, knowing what would come next. Briggs gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. She knew she should have updated the system as soon as she’d got home last night but she hadn’t managed it. Her mind had been everywhere. ‘Oh no, I haven’t told them.’

  Briggs’s shoulders dropped. ‘Damn it, Gina. You must have known that would come out. You’re normally so hot on the updates. The fact that he recognised you wouldn’t have mattered but they should have known that before going in to this interview.’

  She’d stuffed up, she knew she had. ‘I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t expect an attack to occur last night and when it had, I was all-consumed with finding out what had gone on. I hardly slept and was then called out soon after going to bed. I’ve been up all night, been to the hospital, attended a crime scene, already conducted an interview and I haven’t even had breakfast. I’m running on nothing here.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I know we all are, but you can’t let things stop you doing your job and jeopardising the rest of us. Stay on the ball or you’re off the case, I mean it.’

  She felt a tear force its way out of her eye. He was right. She had let important information slip through the net and now Wyre and Jacob were about to find out.

  Rex leaned forward and smiled. ‘I saw one of my exes alongside the r
iver with a new man. Maybe they did it, you should look them up. She was probably jealous that I was getting on with my life. Maybe she thought I’d hooked up with this Sophie.’

  ‘Who did you see alongside the river?’

  ‘DI Gina Harte.’ He leaned back in his chair and grinned.

  ‘Interview terminated at eleven sixteen.’ Jacob pressed the button on the recorder.

  Tears fell down Gina’s cheeks.

  ‘Harte, you have to control this. You had no idea that he’d be there. He has ended up embroiled in our investigation. There was no way you could have known he was the one masquerading under the name Hot Rod on Swap Fun. I have to question your taste in men though. We’ll deal with this but you will remain at a distance from him and Steven, do you comprehend?’

  She wiped her face and nodded. ‘Totally. I best apologise to Wyre and Jacob. I owe them an explanation and I need to update the system straight away. I am so sorry.’

  Jacob entered. ‘Guv, I could’ve done with knowing that you knew him. Do you know how stupid we looked in there?’

  She knew exactly how they felt and for that she was totally ashamed. Another tear slipped down her cheek.

  ‘Steven Smithson and Dawn Brown are here now too. No time to rest on this one. Can we catch up later?’ Jacob said as he glanced at his phone.