by Sally Rigby
‘Were you instrumental in the break-up at all, Mr Hudson?’
‘No. Of course I wasn’t.’
‘He’s lying, his blink rate slowed right down.’
‘Are you sure about this?’ Whitney asked.
‘Dad?’ Corey said, turning to his father.
‘Okay. I might have been. I spoke to Keira a few weeks ago and explained how she was ruining your future. I did it for you, Corey.’
‘What did Keira say?’
‘She told me that things weren’t good between them, and she’d been thinking of ending it.’
‘That’s a lie. She said that because she’d always been scared of you. It was all your fault.’
‘I’m sorry. I did what I thought was best. But this has nothing to do with what happened to the family.’ Mr Hudson looked from his son to Whitney.
‘Go back to questioning Corey,’ George said.
‘Corey, did you take the break-up badly?’
‘It was the worst time of my life.’ He stared down at his lap.
‘Do you know Keira’s new boyfriend?’
‘Yes, he goes to my school.’
‘Did you confront him when you discovered they were dating?’
‘Maybe,’ he muttered.
‘What did you do?’
‘I said if he didn’t end it he’d be sorry, and so would she.’
‘What did you mean by that?’ Whitney asked, leaning forward slightly.
‘Nothing. It was a threat to get him to finish with her. I wasn’t going to do anything.’
‘Is it right that since Keira ended the relationship you’ve spent time hanging around where she lives watching her house?’
His cheeks flushed. ‘Yes.’
‘Were you there on Saturday?’
Corey looked at his father, who was staring back at him, his eyes wide. ‘Yes.’
‘What time were you there?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t remember.’
‘Morning, afternoon, or evening?’
‘Evening.’
‘How did you get there?’
‘I drove.’
‘You have your own car?’
‘No, I used my mum’s.’
‘Where did you park?’
‘Two streets away in Lime Grove, in case Keira or one of the family noticed the car.’
‘What time did you leave the Barkers?’
‘I don’t remember. Maybe nine. It was almost dark, and curtains had been drawn so I couldn’t see inside.’
That was before the time Claire had said they’d died. If he was telling the truth, which George couldn’t be certain of.
‘Where abouts did you stand while watching the house?’
‘In the street on the opposite side of the road, next to one of the trees.’
‘What’s your shoe size?’ Brian asked.
He turned to Brian. ‘Ten. Why?’
‘Do you smoke?’
Corey took a sideways glance at his father, and bit down on his bottom lip. ‘Sometimes.’
‘I didn’t know—’
‘Mr Hudson, this isn’t the time to discuss Corey’s smoking habits,’ Whitney interrupted.
‘Sorry,’ he muttered, continuing to stare at his son.
‘Corey, if you were watching Keira’s house from across the road, can you explain why, under a tree in the back garden, there was a size ten footprint, and several cigarette ends?’ Brian said.
‘Um …’
‘Was that you?’
He nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘How do you know it was from Saturday and not from another time?’ Mr Hudson asked.
‘Because it was raining on Friday and any footprint would’ve been washed away,’ Whitney said.
‘Why were you there?’ Brian asked.
‘I can see Keira’s bedroom from the back garden.’
‘So, I take it that wasn’t the first time you spied on her.’
‘No.’ He hung his head.
‘What if someone had seen you?’
‘I couldn’t be seen from the house.’
‘Were you able to see into the downstairs rooms?’ Whitney asked.
‘Only the kitchen.’
‘And you say you left around nine? Did you drive straight home?’
‘Yes.’
‘How long did that take?’
‘Fifteen minutes.’
‘Can you vouch for your son being home by nine-fifteen, Mr Hudson?’ The man drummed his fingers on the table, not making eye contact with Whitney. ‘Mr Hudson?’
‘The rest of the family wasn’t there. We’d gone to a party and didn’t get back until eleven. Corey was watching the television when we arrived home.’
‘Dad,’ Corey said, scowling at him.
‘Where were you at ten, Corey?’ Whitney asked.
‘Home.’
‘Are you sure you weren’t still at the house? Did you try to get inside to see Keira?’
‘No.’
‘You’d been invited to dinner that evening, hadn’t you? It was on the calendar.’
‘Yes. We had finished, so I didn’t go.’
‘Instead you watched the house. Were you waiting to see if the new boyfriend turned up?’
‘Yes. But he didn’t.’
‘Was there anyone other than family there?’
‘Not that I saw.’
‘So, it was just you. Are you sure you left at nine?’ Whitney pushed.
‘I don’t think my son should be speaking any more. Not without a solicitor present. Are you charging him?’
‘We’ll be holding him in custody and will interview him again once your solicitor arrives. In the meantime, we’ll be requesting a search warrant for your house. One of my officers will escort you to the custody suite.’
After Corey and his father were taken away, George went out into the corridor to meet Whitney and Brian.
‘There’s something Corey isn’t telling us,’ George said.
‘Yes, I thought that, too. Why did you want me to question the dad, did you suspect him of being involved?’
‘It was the proud tone when he was discussing Corey going to Oxford. I wanted to gauge his involvement. From what I witnessed, it’s unlikely to be any more than what he told you.’
‘Okay. I’ll arrange for the warrant, and then we’ll search the house.’
Chapter 11
The search warrant had come through in record time, thanks to the super, although it was most likely Dickhead who’d expedited it. Either way, Whitney was grateful they didn’t have to wait long, especially as once Hudson’s solicitor had arrived, they would need to reinterview him.
Whitney took George, Meena, and Doug to the Hudson house in Maidenwell, a pretty village ten minutes out of Lenchester. The Hudson house was a semi-detached, Georgian, red-brick double-fronted property with a separate garage to one side.
She rang the bell, and a woman in her forties with short, dark, wavy hair answered.
‘Mrs Hudson?’
‘Yes. Are you the police? My husband called to say you were coming.’
‘Yes, I’m DCI Walker and these are members of my team. We have a search warrant for your house.’ Whitney held out the document for her to see but, like most people, she only gave it a cursory glance.
‘I don’t understand why you think my son could be responsible for those dreadful murders. He’s such a gentle boy.’
‘Corey has admitted to being at the scene on the evening the deaths occurred, and we need to eliminate him from our enquiries. I understand you were away at a family gathering on the Saturday.’
‘Yes. We were at the Majestic Hotel in Milton Keynes for my sister’s silver wedding anniversary party.’
‘Please can you give me details of someone you were with, so we can confirm this?’ Whitney handed over her notebook and pen.
‘Don’t you believe that’s where we were?’
‘It’s standard procedure to ask everyone we come in contact with, to el
iminate them from our enquiries.’
Mrs Hudson took the pad, wrote down a number, and handed it back to Whitney. ‘This is for my sister. She’ll be able to vouch for us.’
‘What time did you arrive home?’
‘Around eleven I think.’
‘Why didn’t Corey go with you?’
‘He had homework to do, so we allowed him to stay here. We only took our twelve-year-old daughter, Charlotte, with us.’
‘Corey said he used your car to drive over to the Barker house. We need to examine it, and I’ve arranged for our vehicle recovery operator to remove it and take it to our premises.’
‘My car? But I need it. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. How long will you have it for?’
‘That depends on what we find. I can’t give you a definite time for when it will be returned to you. Is your car the white BMW on the drive?’
‘Yes, that’s it.’
‘Does Corey often use it?’
‘If I don’t need it, I’ll let him borrow it. We’re buying him his own car for his eighteenth birthday.’
‘We’ll need the key.’
‘It’s in my handbag. I’ll get it for you.’
Whitney followed the woman into the kitchen, where she stopped at the island. Mrs Hudson opened the large black tote bag on there, pulled out the key and handed it to Whitney.
‘Your husband told us that neither of you were happy with the relationship between Corey and Keira.’
‘That was more him, to be honest. Julian is obsessed with Corey going to Oxford, to his old college, and he thought that Keira was going to stop it from happening.’
‘Were you aware he spoke to Keira a few weeks ago, to warn her off?’
She nodded. ‘He informed me what he’d done afterwards, and I told him off for interfering.’
‘You didn’t mind so much about Corey and Keira?’
‘She was a lovely girl, always polite and considerate. But I believed they were too young to be so serious. It turned out to be a one-sided relationship. Keira wasn’t so into Corey as he was her, because she told Julian that it was almost over.’
‘How did you feel when it ended?’
‘It upset me to see how distressed Corey was by the break-up, and I wanted to take the hurt away. I’m his mother. It’s how we are with our children. I hoped that eventually, with our support, he’d get over it.’
‘When your husband phoned, did he mention that Corey had been watching Keira from the garden of her house?’
‘Yes, he told me, but I’m sure it was only because he was so upset.’ She ran her fingers through her hair. ‘He wouldn’t have done anything to harm the family. I know my son.’
‘Do you think he might have been watching Keira on a regular basis?’
‘I …’ She looked at Whitney, a helpless expression on her face. ‘I want to say no. But I’m not sure.’
Whitney couldn’t put the woman through any more.
‘I know this is hard and thank you for your honesty. Is there anywhere you can wait while my officers are here?’
‘I could go next door to Sandra’s. I saw her arrive home a little while ago and I’m sure she won’t mind me being there. How long will you be?’
‘Hopefully, no more than an hour. We’ll let you know when we’re leaving. Which bedroom belongs to Corey?’
‘His room is the second on the left.’
Whitney escorted Mrs Hudson to the front door and watched while she walked down the drive and then to the neighbour’s house. She waited until the door was answered and the woman went inside.
Whitney turned to the team, who’d been standing on the drive.
‘Right. George and I will search upstairs, and you two down,’ she said to Meena and Doug.
Whitney handed George some disposable gloves, and they headed straight for Corey’s bedroom. It was a square room with a large bay window overlooking the garden, which was full of bright flowers and shrubs.
‘This room is exceptionally tidy,’ George said. ‘Look at his bookcase. The books are all in author alphabetical order. And everything on his desk is set out neatly.’
‘I agree. It’s not what you’d expect for a teenage boy. Or girl, for that matter. I don’t believe it’s down to Mrs Hudson. The rest of the house isn’t overly neat and tidy.’
‘It’s most certainly in keeping with the murder scene.’
‘Do you now believe he did it?’
‘As I mentioned earlier, he was definitely hiding something. But what concerns me is whether he was sophisticated enough to orchestrate the crime scene. For me, it was carried out by someone more mature. But we’ve only seen him in a state of grief from the deaths.’
‘He didn’t come across as particularly mature. In which case, could he have done it with another person?’
‘That doesn’t seem likely if the daughter had been instructed to tie everyone up. Unless she was made to do it for another reason but, again, I’m not convinced.’
‘You’re right.’ Whitney walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. ‘Everything in here is regimented, too. Hang on … what’s this.’ She crouched down and retrieved a rectangular shoebox. She placed it on the bed and took off the lid.
The box was full of items relating to Keira. There were photos, letters, and concert, train, and bus tickets.
‘A memory box,’ George said, peering over Whitney’s shoulder.
‘Yes, but I think it’s more than that. Look at these photos. These are from a Polaroid camera by the looks of it.’ She held them up so George could see. ‘These are of Keira with another boy, presumably the latest boyfriend, and they’ve been taken discreetly. And look at this, there are pen slashes across the boy’s face. According to the automatic date the camera leaves on the photo, these are less than a week old.’
‘He’d been following her. It’s not surprising as we know he’d watched the house.’
‘I’d say stalking. Some of these photos are taken from behind and from the side. And look at the ones where he’s zoomed in so close to Keira that her face fills the photo. This is the work of someone who was clearly obsessed with the girl and hated the boy.’
‘I agree, he has an abnormal infatuation with Keira.’
‘As far as we’re aware the new boyfriend hasn’t been harmed. You’d have thought Corey would’ve done something to him, too, if he was responsible for the deaths.’
‘It’s a puzzle. If he is the murderer, then what’s his motive? And, as you stated, why is the new boyfriend unharmed? Assuming he is.’
‘We’ll find out soon enough. Have you seen any devices around here?’
‘There’s a laptop on the desk.’
‘We’ll take that with us.’ Whitney pulled out a large evidence bag. ‘And his box of goodies. We’ll reinterview him once we get back, providing his solicitor is there. We also need to speak to this new boyfriend of Keira’s, to find out if he’d been threatened by Corey. Let’s take a quick look around the rest of the upstairs. I suspect there won’t be anything, but we still need to check.’
They checked the daughter’s room, which was the opposite to Corey’s and a total mess, then went into the parents’ room and the spare room, which was set up as a study. Again, they found nothing of interest.
‘We now have confirmation that his room is the only tidy one,’ George said.
‘I’m changing my mind about Corey. I know you think he’s not mature enough to have orchestrated the crime, but remember he’s planning to go to Oxford, so he’s very clever. The evidence is all pointing at him.’
‘Perhaps, but we need to keep an open mind.’
When they returned downstairs, Meena and Doug were in the dining room looking through the cupboards in the sideboard.
‘Found anything?’ Whitney asked.
‘No, guv,’ Doug said.
‘We’ve taken some items from Corey’s bedroom and we’re heading back to the station to reinterview him. Finish up here and wait for Mrs Hudson’
s car to be collected. After that, go next door and let her know you’re about to leave. Fingers crossed this leads to an arrest so Dickhead won’t bother us.’
Meena giggled, and Whitney glanced at her. ‘You didn’t hear that from me.’
‘No, guv.’
They left the house and went back to George’s car.
‘You really should be careful what you say in front of the team regarding the Chief Superintendent,’ George said, once they were driving away.
‘They know what he’s like. They’ve witnessed it for themselves.’
‘Your old team know the history, but not the new members.’
George was right, but sometimes it was hard not to let her feelings be known.
‘They’re not so new now, and Meena has settled in very well. It’s like she’s always been a part of the team.’
‘Yes, but you are a Detective Chief Inspector and should know better.’
‘Will you stop having a go at me? You’re right, and I promise to try better. Okay?’
‘I’m only doing it to help. I’d hate to see you in trouble for insubordination.’
‘I know you are, and I really appreciate your concern. But for now, my mind is focused on reinterviewing Corey Hudson. How amazing would it be if we could solve this case in a day?’ She grinned at George.
‘That’s hardly likely,’ her friend said, frowning.
‘Are you jinxing it again?’
‘No, I’m not. There’s no such thing, and for someone of your intelligence to believe there is astounds me.’
‘You’re jinxing. Thank you very much.’
‘You’re ridiculous,’ George said, as they drove away from the house.
Chapter 12
‘Get this laptop sent off to Mac in forensics, please,’ Whitney said to Ellie when they arrived back in the incident room. ‘Tell him it’s urgent. Work your magic on the man. We also need the name of Keira’s latest boyfriend, and his contact details. After you’ve done that, please could you copy some of the photos in this box for me, together with some of the items. I’m particularly interested in the photos taken of Keira Barker from behind or when she was with a boy. Not Corey Hudson.’
‘Yes, guv. I’m onto it.’
Whitney turned to George. ‘Let’s grab a coffee before we reinterview Hudson. If I don’t get a caffeine fix soon, I won’t be responsible for my craziness. I could do with something to eat as well.’