The Upper Hand

by A L Fraine

  Kate took a breath. “I’m not saying that. I’m saying we need to solve this case. We can talk about everything else another time.”

  Nathan looked at her for a long moment and then gave her a curt nod. “Alright. Fair enough.”

  “Good. I think we need to talk to both of these ladies,” Kate said, ignoring the feeling of slight unease that sprouted up around her feelings towards Nathan.

  “I’ll get Naomi called in for this afternoon,” Nathan said. “In the meantime, how about we pay Joanna a little visit?”

  CHAPTER 17

  “Let’s tread carefully, shall we?” Kate said, turning to Nathan as he pulled the handbrake on.

  With the car stopped just outside the Donaldson household, Nathan looked up at her, his expression innocent.

  Kate gave him a look, raising her eyebrows at him.

  “I will. I’ll be sensitive,” he said.

  “And don’t bring up any of this conspiracy talk either.”

  “What are you, my mum? Jeez. I’m not five years old, you know. I only told you that because, for some unknown bloody reason, I actually trust you. A bit.”

  Kate felt surprised, and her expression broadcast it clearly. “You trust me? Well, I am flattered.”

  “Don’t get any ideas.”

  Kate smirked. “And here I was thinking I’d finally get into your pants.”

  “In your dreams, young lady,” Nathan answered in mock indignation.

  “Nightmares more like,” Kate replied, her tone level.

  “You’re not wrong,” Nathan replied as he climbed out of the car.

  Kate followed suit and shut the door behind her. They were on the opposite side of the road from the house, and there were a couple of media vans parked up the street with a few reporters and photographers stood around outside the house.

  “Parasites,” Nathan stated.

  “They’re just doing their job, like us,” Kate replied. She wasn’t a fan of them either, but they had their uses.

  “Come on, let’s get through them and into the house.”

  Kate nodded as the first reporter approached them and began to ask questions.

  “Have there been any developments in the case, detectives?”

  “Are the reports on the occult nature of the killing accurate?” another asked.

  “Any new leads?” said a third.

  Kate ignored the questions, keeping pace with Nathan as they crossed the quiet street, making for the house.

  “What’s a disgraced officer like you doing on this case?” one of the reporters asked. Kate looked over to see Nathan’s hackles rise and she recognised the reporter. It was Chester Longstaff, with his usual superior expression written large across his face.

  “Does the victim’s family know about your history?”

  Kate grabbed Nathan’s arm as he slowed, sensing his rising anger, and dragged him on. He followed, moving past Chester, towards the house.

  A uniformed officer stood in the middle of the driveway and nodded as he checked their identification, letting them through.

  The reporters continued to shout questions as they walked up the driveway, but they were finally away from them.

  “You alright?” Kate asked.

  “I’m fine,” Nathan answered, his voice clipped.

  Kate slowed him down. “Don’t go in there all angry because of some idiot reporter. We need to do this right.”

  “You lead the conversation, Kate. You’re better with people than I am.”

  “You’re not that bad,” she answered, trying to comfort him.

  “Whatever. I need to cool down anyway,” Nathan explained.

  “Alright,” Kate answered, acquiescing to Nathan’s suggestion as she crossed the last few metres to the house. As they drew nearer, the door opened, revealing DC Faith Evanson stood just inside.

  “They’ve been there all through the night since yesterday,” she commented.

  “Morning, Faith,” Nathan said in greeting, and then lowered his voice to a whisper. “How is she today?”

  Faith nodded. “Alright. She’s in the kitchen at the back of the house.”

  Nathan nodded. Kate glanced back at the reporters, still making a nuisance of themselves at the end of the driveway. She felt like she’d probably keep away from the windows at the front of the house as well, if she were being harassed by the press.

  “Hi, Kate. Are you well?” Faith asked.

  “Surviving,” she replied with a wry smile and followed Nathan through the house. They found Joanna sat at the kitchen table, nursing a hot drink and looking slightly stressed.

  She greeted them dispassionately and invited them to sit. Kate sat beside Nathan on the opposite side of the table from Joanna, while Faith stood to one side, watching.

  “How are you coping?” Kate asked as she settled into the chair.

  Joanna shrugged. “As well as can be expected, I guess. Are you any closer to catching the bastard that did this?”

  Kate cringed slightly at the language, sensing the other woman’s pain and frustration. “We’re following up on our leads, Mrs Donaldson. We can’t say much more than that.”

  She nodded, looking disappointed.

  “Along those lines,” Kate continued, “we do have a few more questions for you.”

  “Sure, go ahead. I’ll help if I can.”

  “Thank you, Mrs Donaldson, and I’m sorry if these are awkward questions, but I’m sure you understand, we need to follow up everything.”

  “Yes, yes. Go on, ask what you need to,” Joanna said, sounding frustrated.

  “Mrs Donaldson, we have good evidence that Jordan was having an affair in the last few months of this life,” Kate said, watching Joanna’s face closely.

  Her eyes narrowed, and she regarded Kate and Nathan suspiciously, pressing her lips together as she tensed. “An affair?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “With who?”

  “I think you know who,” Kate answered, curious to see what she could draw out of her.

  “And what on earth makes you think that?” she asked. The tone of her voice had risen, betraying how tense she was.

  “We have emails from a personal account of Jordan’s to another woman that are quite explicit.”

  “Just emails? That’s your evidence?”

  “Part of it. We also have an eyewitness who says they saw Jordan kissing the same woman.”

  “I see…” she answered, her eyes turning glassy and wet, before looking away from them.

  “We also have CCTV showing your car outside the office on the night of Jordan’s murder,” Kate finished.

  Joanna looked up as the first tears fell. “Oh…” she muttered, the defiance in her voice fading.

  “Would you care to elaborate for us?” Nathan asked.

  “Shit,” Joanna cursed quietly, looking away. Kate raised an eyebrow and glanced at Nathan, wondering where this was going to lead. Was she the murderer?

  They waited for her, but Joanna said nothing for the best part of a minute until Kate chose to finally press her.

  “Joanna,” she said, using her first name for the first time. “What did you know?”

  Joanna closed her eyes and sighed, and the fight seemed to finally drain out of her. More tears fell as she looked up at Kate and Nathan. “I knew,” she said.

  “You knew what?”

  “I knew he was having an affair… No, that’s not right. I suspected.”

  “Why did you suspect it?” Nathan asked.

  “Look. Things haven’t been great between us since this,” she said, patting her tummy. “The pregnancy was a mistake. We didn’t mean for it to happen. Jordan was supposed to be focusing on his work, and we’d try for a baby later, but…”

  “But what?”

  She looked uncomfortable and shifted in her seat, as though there was something within her she wanted to let out and admit to, but wasn’t sure if she should. She glanced up at them and then took another deep breat
h.

  “I stopped taking the pill. I tricked him. I just wanted a baby. I couldn’t wait. I thought it would be okay. I thought he’d be fine with it, you know? He’d be a great dad. I knew he wanted one eventually, so, I figured why not now? I didn’t know it would lead to all this. I didn’t mean to drive him away.”

  “He didn’t like the fact that you got pregnant?” Kate asked.

  “The pill isn’t one hundred percent effective, so I said it must have been one of those things. You know?”

  “Did you argue?”

  Joanna nodded. “Yeah. He wanted me to get rid of it, but I wasn’t going to do that. He didn’t like that. I guess he felt betrayed,” she explained. “He wasn’t wrong.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “That’s when Naomi joined the business. She’d joined a month earlier in fact, but I didn’t find out until after I fell pregnant. I don’t go to the office much, but I couldn’t believe it when I walked in to see her there.”

  “You knew her, then?”

  “We were all at school together. Well, Naomi was at another school, a girl’s school, but in the same year. Jordan dated her for a while before we got together, so I guess seeing her rekindled that old flame.”

  “So, you knew? About the affair, I mean?” Kate asked.

  “Not at that point. I mean, I didn’t like her being there, but I didn’t know for sure that something was going on. Jordan often worked late. Had done for years, but I guess that’s where they got together.”

  “So, why were you at the office that night?”

  Joanna took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Jordan was in the shower that morning, before going to work, and I saw a text come through from Naomi saying she’d see him later that night at work. So I asked him. I asked if he was working alone that night. He said he was.”

  “You caught him in a lie,” Kate stated.

  “Like you did with me,” Joanna shrugged. “I was angry all day. Just furious. I wanted to catch them in the act. I sat outside the office, waiting, thinking of everything I’d say to them, and then Naomi pulled in, right in front of me. She didn’t see me. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t face them. I was scared of losing him, and with the baby on the way, I didn’t know what to do. So I left. Came home and cried myself to sleep.”

  “Is there any way to prove you were at home? Did you see anyone or speak to anyone?”

  “I sent a message to a girlfriend saying I needed to talk, but that’s all.”

  “That might be enough to triangulate your phone and prove your whereabouts. We’ll look into it.”

  “Okay,” she said, looking utterly defeated. All the fight had been taken out of her as the lies she’d told were laid bare. Tears continued to fall as she sat there, staring at the wall.

  Her hand lashed out and smacked the coffee mug off the table onto the floor with a crash. “Bastard,” she hissed through gritted teeth before breaking down and burying her head in her hands. Faith rushed forwards to comfort her.

  Now that the truth was out, Kate sat back and shared a look with Nathan.

  “I’m sorry,” Joanna said through her sobs. “I know I lied. To you, I mean. But I was worried about how it would look if I told you that I knew about the affair. I’d look guilty. I’m the wronged party, the one who had the biggest motive to kill him. But I couldn’t do that. I’d never…”

  “Do you know why someone might want to kill him?” Kate asked.

  Joanna shook her head. “Sorry, no. No idea. He was a lovely man. I don’t know anyone who held a grudge against him.”

  “Okay, Mrs Donaldson,” Kate said and looked over at Nathan again with a questioning look.

  “Mrs Donaldson, we’ll leave this for now. You’ve answered our questions to our satisfaction. We’ll keep you informed of the progress of our investigation, of course,” Nathan said as he pushed his chair back and stood up.

  “Thank you,” Joanna said. “For everything. I really appreciate it.”

  “We may need to speak to you again soon, at the station,” Kate warned her.

  “I understand.”

  CHAPTER 18

  “So, if Naomi and Jordan were having an affair, and Joanna knew about it, but did nothing, who did? Who killed Jordan?”

  “I think we need to talk to Naomi again and find out what she knows. She might well talk once she realises the game is up.”

  “Once she realises we know she lied, you mean. Yeah, maybe…” Kate mused as she gazed out the window at the passing countryside. “It’s more likely to be a boyfriend or former partner of hers though, isn’t it, really?”

  “I would say so.”

  “So, this Steve then, maybe. Her ex.”

  Nathan nodded. “Unless there’s anyone else that she’s not telling us about.”

  “The endless lies are a little grating. I wish people would just tell the truth.”

  “It would certainly make our investigations much easier.”

  They soon made it back to the station in the village and to the Murder Team’s office. As they approached their two desks, Kate noticed the SOCO, Sheridan sat in Nathan’s chair, waiting for them. She smiled as they approached and waved a file in the air at them.

  “Got something for you,” Sheridan said.

  “Oooh, excellent. What is it?” Nathan asked.

  “Just the report from the sweep of the office in Guildford. There are a few interesting findings you might be interested in.”

  “Excellent,” Nathan answered her, waving her out of his chair.

  Sheridan stood up, allowing Nathan to sit and handed him the report. “Looks like your investigation is going well,” she said, pointing to the big board with its various photos and post-it notes stuck to it, linked by black marker lines and scribbled words.

  “We’re making progress,” Kate said.

  “Good, and how are you finding working with this old coot?” Sheridan asked her while Nathan opened the report and began to scan it.

  “Good. It’s been a full-on first few days, that’s for sure, but I think we work well together.”

  “Mmmm, do you indeed? Did you hear that, Nathan? She likes working with you.”

  He looked up at the Scene Of Crime Officer. “They all do. They just won’t admit it, of course.”

  “Nice to see you’ve maintained your humble perspective,” Sheridan replied.

  “Quiet, peasant, I’m reading.”

  Sheridan rolled her eyes. Last time Kate had seen her, she’d been wearing one of the white forensic jumpsuits, which were not very flattering, and only showed her eyes, which had been behind protective glasses as well.

  Today, she wore the dark outfit of a Forensic Officer, and for the first time Kate saw her whole face and her blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail.

  “Please, go ahead and summarise for us anyway,” Kate said to Sheridan. “I’m listening, even if he isn’t.”

  “Alright. The only real significant finds were in his office. We found traces of blood, which we matched with Jordan’s blood, and also traces of Jordan’s semen. There were also some dark fibres there which we matched to fibres we found at the murder site, linking the two locations. We couldn’t find any matching boot prints to the ones we found at the murder site though.”

  “And, DNA?”

  “Matches for all the staff were found, as well as several others who we know had visited the office, or were in the office when we arrived. We didn’t find any traces of Mr Norman’s DNA though.”

  “Well, that helps to rule out Robyn’s boyfriend,” Kate said to Nathan.

  “It does. Thank you, Sheridan, excellent work, as always.”

  “Pleasure. I’ll catch you later. Hope to see you again soon,” she said to Kate, who smiled and nodded back.

  She sat back in her chair and considered the additional evidence. “So, now we know for sure that the killer kidnapped Jordan from the office,” Kate said.

  Nathan turned to look at her, leaving the forensic f
ile on his desk. “We also have Naomi’s car behind the office for twenty minutes that night. That doesn’t mean it’s her though. There’s another entrance to that rear loading area further along the street which we don’t have coverage of, but it’s very suspicious that she was there, out of sight for twenty minutes.”

  “Looks like there’s evidence of a struggle if there are traces of Jordan’s blood.”

  “And sexual activity,” Nathan added.

  “They probably used that office for their late-night encounters,” Kate agreed. “If Naomi was able to gain access to the office that night, she would have no trouble distracting him.”

  “So, do you think she did it?” Nathan asked.

  “If she did, I doubt she did it on her own. Maybe with this ex of hers? Steve? Any luck in finding him?”

  “Nothing so far. We have no idea where he is.”

  “Gaffer wants an update,” DI Sam Mason said, wandering over. “Anything from your visit to Joanna? Is she an alien, perhaps?” he suggested with a sneer aimed at Nathan.

  “She admitted to knowing about an affair between Naomi and her husband,” Kate said.

  “Motive,” Mason answered.

  “And she was at the office on the night of the murder, but only briefly.”

  “Opportunity,” Mason said.

  “I’m not sure I’d agree with that,” Kate challenged him. “She was there, but didn’t stay and didn’t leave her car, which is clearly visible in the footage we have. Otherwise, she was at home, and she says she was texting her friends, so we should have a record of that to give us an idea of where she was, based on the signal masts she was using.”

  “So, if it’s not her, then?”

  “We’ve invited Naomi in for a talk,” Nathan said.

  “I am aware. And speaking of which, she’s here and waiting downstairs,” Sam informed them.

  “So, maybe you could have led with that?” Nathan suggested.

  “Maybe, but where would the fun be in that?”

  “Thank you, DI Mason,” Kate said.

  Sam smiled at her. “Let me know how it goes,” he said and wandered off in the direction of his desk.

  “Such a dick,” Nathan muttered to her once Sam was out of earshot.