by Sally Rigby
‘I’m not cut out to lead an investigation or be in charge of other officers. I much prefer doing the research.’
‘Are you happy being part of my team?’ she asked outright, no point in pussyfooting around.
‘Yes, but …’
Here it comes.
‘Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of leaving.’
Damn. She hadn’t meant to put her on the spot like that.
‘Not yet.’
‘When?’
‘When Dean finishes his training, he wants us to move to London.’
‘Dean?’
‘My boyfriend.’
Ellie rarely said anything about her personal life. She’d mentioned a boyfriend once, a few months ago, but Whitney had no idea it was this serious.
‘What’s so attractive about London?’
‘Great Ormond Street Hospital. He’s training to be a paediatric nurse and has his heart set on working there.’
‘When do you think you’ll be leaving?’
‘Not for a year or so. He still has another twelve months of training to go, and he might look to get some work experience locally before he applies.’
Whitney breathed a sigh of relief. Another year at least. That was good to hear.
‘Will you transfer to one of the London forces?’
‘I’m not sure. It’s too soon to think about it.’
‘Whatever you decide, you’ll have a glowing reference from me. You can count on it.’
‘Thanks so much. I’ll give you plenty of notice so you can find someone to replace me.’
‘No one will ever replace you, Ellie. Your skills are way outside the curve. I’ve always known we wouldn’t be able to hang on to you forever.’
‘There are other people who can do what I can, just not in our team. Although Brian … I mean Sergeant Chapman … is good at research.’
‘Let’s not talk about it now or I might get upset,’ Whitney said, choking back a tear.
Chapter 19
They arrived at Denby Street, and Whitney parked outside the traditional 1930s brick and pebble-dashed semi-detached house, where Tracy Osman lived.
The woman who answered the door was wearing leggings and a baggy T-shirt. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and black mascara streaks stained her cheeks.
‘Are you Tracy Osman?’ Whitney asked.
‘Yes.’
‘I’m DCI Whitney Walker and this is DC Ellie Naylor from Lenchester CID, we’d like to talk to you.’
‘Is it about David?’
At least the woman knew, and Whitney didn’t have to break the news to her. That was a relief. Considering she’d had some time to process the news and come to terms with it a little, she might be able to answer their questions.
‘Yes, it is. May we come inside?’
Tracy turned, and they followed her into an open-plan lounge/dining area where there was a child sitting on a chair, her thumb in her mouth and holding a teddy bear. She faced the telly which had cartoons blaring out at full blast.
‘How did you find out about me?’ Tracy asked, as they stood together.
‘Is there somewhere quiet we can speak?’ Whitney nodded at the child, not knowing how much she might understand of their conversation, nor what Tracy had told her.
‘We’ll go into the kitchen. This is Verity’s favourite cartoon and she’s not going to move until it’s over.’
‘How old is she?’
‘Four.’
‘She’s a cutie.’
‘Thanks. She’s well-behaved … mostly.’
‘I remember those days,’ Whitney said, smiling, wanting to put the woman at her ease.
‘I’ll leave the doors open so I can hear if she calls out for anything.’
They returned to the hall and walked into an untidy kitchen. Every surface was covered with crockery, toys, books, and other bits. In the centre was a small circular table, on which stood a pile of magazines.
Interesting that this house was so different from the Barkers’. This was as untidy as theirs was tidy. Was that one of the attractions to David? Especially if it was Gillian who was so obsessively house-proud.
‘We discovered your relationship with David after researching into his finances and finding your joint bank account. When did you discover what had happened to the family?’ Whitney asked.
‘David wasn’t answering his phone or responding to my texts, and I got worried. He’d never done that before. He was always so considerate. Then I saw the murders reported on the news. It …’ Her voice cracked.
Was she being genuine? She seemed to be. But Whitney wasn’t going to rule her out. Not yet.
‘I’m sorry for your loss and how you learnt of the news. We’d like to talk to you about your relationship with David, if you’re up to it.’
‘Yes. If it helps find who did this.’ Her hands were balled into tight fists on the table.
‘How long have you been together?’
‘We met six years ago when he spent several months at the company I was working at. He was advising on the implementation of a new IT system, and I was his liaison person.’
‘What was your position at the company?’
‘I was a development officer. We got on well, and when my parents died, he supported me. Our relationship progressed from there. I know he was married, and I shouldn’t have done it, but he told me they only stayed together for the sake of the children. He said they lived separate lives and had an understanding that once the children were older they would part and we could then be together all of the time.’
If that was true, it was the first Whitney had heard of it.
‘Did you have a specific date set for when he’d be moving in with you permanently?’
‘No. I did ask him about it recently, but he said not yet. He wanted to wait a while longer until Tyler was older. I didn’t mind.’
Whitney didn’t believe that for one moment. She wished George could’ve been there to assess the woman’s body language. She was being too accepting of the whole situation. There was no way she wouldn’t feel at least some resentment at having to play second fiddle. But why murder the whole family and not leave him? Her daughter was left without a father, and her source of income had been cut off. Unless he’d left her something in his will. They hadn’t looked at the family wills yet.
‘How would you describe your relationship?’
‘David was kind and considerate, and very good with our little girl, Verity.’
‘What was his reaction when you became pregnant?’
‘It wasn’t planned, but we were both excited.’ Tracy blushed, and her fingers grazed across the side of her nose.
Even Whitney realised that wasn’t the truth.
‘You say it wasn’t planned, but your body language is telling me otherwise. Did you deliberately get pregnant hoping to force David’s hand because you wanted him to live with you?’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘How was it?’
‘I wanted to have a baby and admit that I stopped taking the contraceptive pill. It wasn’t to persuade David to move in with me. I’d accepted that he wasn’t ready. But I didn’t want to wait because the older you get the harder it is to fall pregnant. I was telling the truth about him being excited. I told him it was an accident and he believed me. He was with me during the birth and stayed with me for the first five days before having to leave and go home.’
‘How often did you see David?’
‘He stayed here two or three nights a week, if he could. It wasn’t always possible, it depended on his workload.’
‘Did he talk about his family?’
‘Yes. Well, about his children. He rarely mentioned Gillian. I know he struggled sometimes for money. They lived in a lovely house, and he had lots of expenses. He said when we lived together full-time we’d buy somewhere bigger, but this was the house I grew up in and I’m happy here. I told him that, but I think he felt I deserved to live somewhere larger.’
‘How was David with Verity?’
‘Very good. He was a great dad. He loved her and was happy for me to stay at home taking care of her. I don’t know what I’m going to do now because there’ll be no money coming in. I’ll have to get a job. Thank goodness I own my house, or it could be dire.’
‘Do you think Gillian was aware of you and Verity?’
Tracy glanced away and didn’t answer immediately.
‘I don’t know. He told me that even though they lived separate lives, she wouldn’t have liked it, so I’d say no.’
‘Did you encourage David to tell her about the two of you, to get it out in the open, in the hope he’d leave her sooner?’
‘No. Why would I?’
‘For him to move in with you.’
‘Look, of course I wanted him here. We were in love. But I also knew that it couldn’t be. I was content to be with him a few nights a week. We’d got into a good routine.’
‘Where were you on Saturday night?’
‘Here.’
‘Can anyone vouch for you?’
‘No, I was on my own. Surely you’re not thinking that I could have done it?’ she asked, her voice rising in pitch.
‘We ask everyone their whereabouts, to eliminate them from our enquiries.’
‘That’s okay, because no way would it have been me. First of all, why? Because now I’m left with nothing. Second, how could I have gone all the way to Beech Avenue and killed them all when I have my daughter to look after?’
‘You know where they live. Have you actually been there?’
Tracy bit down on her bottom lip. ‘One time I did visit. I wanted to see his house and what the rest of the family was like.’
‘What did you do exactly?’
‘I drove down with Verity and parked across the road for a few hours.’
‘Did you see any of the family when you were there?’
‘Yes. I knew it was them because I’d seen their photos on David’s social media.’
‘How long ago was this?’
‘When Verity was a few months old. It was a time when I was feeling lonely and missing the company of my colleagues at work.’
‘Did David know what you’d done?’
‘I told him, and he got angry in case anyone had spotted me. He said that even though he was going to leave them to be with me in the future, he didn’t want his hand forced. I got it. It was a stupid thing to do and I never did it again.’
‘Has David left you and Verity anything in his will?’
‘I don’t know, we didn’t ever discuss it.’
‘You would have a claim on his estate, even if he didn’t,’ Whitney continued.
‘Well, yes … maybe … I don’t know. Why are you asking about the will? Surely you don’t think I could’ve done this to all the family to get some money. What sort of monster do you think I am?’ Her face was red, and her hands shaking.
‘I’m just asking the question, not accusing you of anything,’ Whitney said, wanting to reassure her. The last thing they needed was for her to clam up and ask for a solicitor. They didn’t have time for that.
‘Good. Because it wasn’t me.’
‘Did David stay here on the same nights each week?’ Whitney asked, anxious to move the interview on.
‘It varied, depending on his work and family commitments. It made cooking a bit tricky. Sometimes he’d turn up without telling me, and others he’d phone at the last minute to say he couldn’t make it.’
‘How did you contact him, was it on his usual phone?’
‘No, he kept a separate phone just for us. It was easier that way and prevented any mix-ups.’
That didn’t make sense, bearing in mind what Keira had seen. Surely, she would’ve known immediately if it wasn’t his regular phone by all the other messages in there.
‘Did you ever contact him on his everyday phone?’
‘No. He told me not to. I did have the number in case of emergencies, but never had to use it.’
‘Do you know where he kept this second phone?’
‘No, I don’t. But we used to speak to each other all the time, so he would have had it on him.’
‘Please write down the number for me,’ Whitney passed over her notebook and Tracy jotted it down.
‘On the news, they didn’t say what actually happened to David and the others. Can you tell me? I just want to know.’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t. We’re waiting for confirmation from the pathologist.’
‘Will you tell me then?’
‘We’ll be in touch again. While we’re here, may we have a look around to get an idea of how David lived when he was with you?’
‘Don’t you need a search warrant for that?’
She was far more on the ball than she was letting on.
‘We do, and obviously I can get one, but it’s easier if you let us take a quick look.’
‘Okay. I suppose so.’
‘You go back to Verity, we won’t be long.’
Whitney and Ellie went upstairs. There were three bedrooms, one which was clearly the child’s, a spare room filled with boxes, and then the largest, which overlooked the road and was Tracy and David’s.
‘What are you looking for?’ Ellie asked, pulling on the disposable gloves Whitney had passed to her.
‘To see what their relationship was really like. Leading a double life would have put pressure on him.’
She looked at the photos in frames of the three of them.
‘It can’t have been easy to keep it secret,’ Ellie agreed.
‘Surely someone at his workplace would have known what was happening. When he claimed expenses, would it show him often being in Coventry? It needs further investigating. And the fact she doesn’t have an alibi, too. We’ll look for CCTV footage to see if her car was in the vicinity at all.’
‘We need to find the second phone David Barker had,’ Ellie said.
‘Yes. More to the point, who was he texting if Keira found incriminating texts on his normal, everyday phone? I want you onto that as soon as we’re back at the station.’
Chapter 20
George knocked on Whitney’s office door, in case her friend was there and not in the incident room. She was glad of the distraction. Last night she’d spent hours online with Ross looking at potential properties for them to buy. It had taken her a long time to find her current house, and this search seemed to be heading in the same direction. If the property was right, the location wasn’t. And vice versa. Ross kept reminding her that it was all about compromise, but she’d found the perfect place before, so why not now?
‘Come in.’
‘Good morning,’ she said, opening the door and seeing Whitney seated behind her desk, frowning at the computer screen.
‘I’m glad you’re here. After I’ve had a run through with the team, we’re going to Birmingham to Hutt Consulting, David Barker’s workplace. I’m hoping someone there might know more about this double life of his, which my gut is telling me is at the heart of these murders.’
Whitney had texted her yesterday regarding David Barker’s other life.
‘Very scientific,’ George said, shaking her head in frustration.
‘Say what you like, it works.’ Whitney smirked in her direction as she stood up and walked around to where she was standing.
‘Show me some irrefutable evidence and I might consider it.’
George enjoyed these bantering sessions with Whitney, even though she wasn’t prepared to go along with gut instinct or jinxing or whatever else Whitney came up with. George suspected that some of the time the officer only said it to wind her up. It might have done in the past, but it didn’t now.
She followed Whitney into the incident room and over to the two whiteboards. One was electronic, which Whitney avoided using, instead choosing the ordinary board she’d brought with them when they’d moved into the new purpose-built station six months ago. According to Whitney, she liked to be able to w
rite things herself, and pin up photos. It helped her think.
‘Listen up, everyone. George and I are going to Birmingham to speak to David Barker’s colleagues. Ellie, any joy yet on finding his second phone?’
‘I’m waiting to hear back from forensics to see if they found it during their search.’
‘If the answer’s negative, which I suspect it might be or we would’ve heard by now, Doug and Meena, I want you to go over to the house and have a thorough look around. Go through everything, including pockets in clothes, under the bed, anywhere he could’ve hidden it. What about his main phone, is that coming back from Mac?’
‘It’s on the way, and once it’s here I’ll check it straight away,’ Ellie said.
‘Excellent. Brian, I want you to find out whether David and Gillian left wills, and if so, who are the beneficiaries. Tracy Osman claims to know nothing about them, but if it turns out she, or her daughter Verity, are due to inherit, it could be a motive.’
‘Yes, guv,’ Brian said.
‘By the way, how did it go with Gillian’s sister?’
‘She was very upset, obviously, but Dr Dexter was kind to her and explained everything in terms she could understand. It surprised me.’
‘Claire is a multifaceted person. We might get the rough end of her manner but she’s always very good with family. Did you question her after she viewed the bodies?’
‘A little, guv, but she wasn’t up to it. I did discover that she kept in semi-regular contact with her sister. They’d phone every few months. She couldn’t help regarding anyone who had a grudge against the family. She’s staying in Lenchester for a few days. I thought I’d speak to her again in a couple of days.’
‘Good idea. Did you ask her about the marriage and whether Gillian confided in her?’
‘I didn’t ask outright, but she volunteered that the couple had a good relationship, so either Gillian genuinely believed it was okay, or she didn’t tell Penny.’
‘Okay. It’s all adding to the picture. Frank, I want you to check CCTV footage on roads coming from Tracy Osman’s house in Coventry to the Barker house. See if her car was in the vicinity at any time recently.’
‘Okay, guv,’ Frank said. ‘By the way, Mrs Hudson’s car came back clean. Can it be returned?’