by M A Comley
CHAPTER FOUR
Contented, Sally stretched and stroked her hand over Simon’s back. He turned to face her and pulled her close. She felt his erection stirring. “Hey, you, we’ve both got work today.”
“We could pull a sickie,” he said with a wink.
Sally kissed him then shot out of bed. “I’ve never done that in my life, and I don’t intend starting now. Is it all right if I hop in the shower?”
His eyes roamed her naked body before he answered, “I could always join you.”
“Nice try, Mr. Pathologist. We’d never make it into work.”
“It was worth a shot.” He rolled over again.
Sally felt a twinge of guilt and was almost tempted to dive back into bed beside him, but one look at the clock swiftly dismissed that notion. She had twenty minutes to shower, get dressed, and leave the house.
When she opened the bathroom door, Simon was leaning against the doorframe, wearing a soppy grin on his face. “Last night was great. We could always make it a permanent thing.”
Sally felt the colour rise in her cheeks. It wasn’t often she was lost for words.
He closed the gap between them, a look of concern replacing his smile. “If it’s too soon... I didn’t mean to...”
She touched his face, her hand trembling. “It’s not that... well, maybe it is... it’s just that I don’t want to spoil what we have.”
“All right. Hey, forget I said anything.”
“Oh no, now I’ve upset you.”
He kissed her gently on the lips. “You’ve done nothing of the sort. Think it over and get back to me.”
“Ugh... that sounds so damn business-like.” She laughed, aware that what he’d said had probably come out wrong.
“Sorry, guess I’m not very good at this kind of thing. It’s not every day I ask a beautiful young woman to share my house—or my bed, come to that.”
“I know it isn’t, sweetheart. You know my situation with my parents, though. I’d feel a right shit if I upped and left after only living there a year. There’s the mortgage to consider, too.”
“You could still continue to pay the mortgage on that place. I wouldn’t ask you to contribute here.”
“Whoa... what do you take me for? Some kind of gold digger?”
Simon’s chin wobbled, and his eyes misted up, which totally threw her.
She had only been joking, but her words had apparently hit him hard. “Hey, Simon, I was joking. Damn, I haven’t got time for this. Everything is coming out wrong. Can we have a proper discussion some other time?”
“Of course. You go. I won’t be long behind you.” He pecked her on the cheek then softly closed the door to the bathroom, his shoulders slumped.
As she dressed, she could hear the shower running. The water was still running five minutes later, when it was time for her to leave. “I’m off now. I’ll ring you later,” she called out, but he didn’t respond.
Sally made her way down the stairs, her legs heavy, and sought out her handbag and keys. She left the house and drove to Wymondham Police Station in a daze, mentally kicking herself for reacting the way she had to Simon’s astounding offer. That’s it! I’ve probably ruined our relationship before it’s actually had a chance to get off the ground.
When she pulled into the car park, Jack was leaning against his car, waiting for her. “Everything all right, boss?”
“Yes, I think so. A personal issue I need to sort out later, that’s all.”
His eyes narrowed. “I hope that Darryl hasn’t been up to his old tricks of causing trouble again.”
Sally patted his arm. “No, nothing like that. How are things at home?”
“Same old thing. Didn’t get much sleep last night because of the little ’un, but what’s new there?”
“Does Teresa get up during the night to tend to the child?”
“Yeah, I can’t fault her there. She’s definitely doing her bit. Donna and I are getting too old for this shit. We thought we were doing the right thing letting Teresa and her fella move in, but damn, I forgot what it was like having a baby in the house.”
“You probably don’t want to hear this, but have you thought about asking them to move out?”
“Yeah, Donna and I have pondered doing just that. The thing is, where would they go? The lad is on minimum wage at a factory, and you know the price of renting a flat is through the roof nowadays. What hope is there for them?”
“I hear you. How long are you going to have to put up with sleepless nights, Jack? I know I couldn’t do without getting my eight hours sleep a night.”
They walked through the station’s entrance and up the stairs. “We’ll see how we go. Maybe the missus and I just need to get away on holiday for a bit.”
“That’s not a bad idea. Maybe after we’ve solved this cold case, you can book some time off.”
“Maybe. It’s probably not that bad at home really. Just the lack of sleep talking. Where are we going to start today?”
“Let’s get a coffee down our necks first, eh?” Sally pushed open the incident room door to find the rest of the team were already at their desks, beavering away. She was lucky to be surrounded by such a conscientious group of officers. “Morning, all. Let me see what dross is filling my desk, and I’ll be right with you.”
She walked into her office, surveyed the small pile of brown envelopes vying for her attention, and left again. The post could wait, but the cold case couldn’t. “Quickest admin slog ever. Where’s my coffee, Bullet?” she asked, using the nickname Jack had brought with him from his army days.
He groaned as he stood up and marched across the room to collect a drink from the vending machine. He deposited the cup on the desk beside her and trudged back to his seat.
“Okay, this is what I think we should cover today. We continue to try and trace Aisha’s neighbours and friends, plus Jack and I will be going over to see Aisha’s parents this morning. I’m not going to ring them. I’ll just turn up.”
“What about Patrick’s partner? Are we going to see what she has to say today, too?” Jack asked.
“Yep, thanks for the reminder. We’ll check her shift on the way out with the desk sergeant and call her in for questioning when we return later.”
“What about Aisha’s place of work, boss? Oh, by the way, Patrick dropped off a list of Aisha’s friends. Not many, I’m afraid,” Joanna said.
“Can you and Stuart cover the workplace and the friend list, Joanna? Jordan, I’d like you to remain here, searching through the original investigation files, see if anything shows up that we, or the other investigating officer, might have missed.”
Sally finished her drink and slipped her coat back on. “Ready, Jack, let’s get this over with.” He followed her downstairs, where she stopped to speak to the desk sergeant. “Can you tell me if PC Caroline Hawk is on duty today?”
He studied the rota on the wall behind him and nodded. “She’s on the day shift, ma’am.”
“We’re going out to interview the victim’s parents now, but I’d like to have a discreet chat with her—preferably without her partner knowing about it—sometime this afternoon.”
“About two, ma’am?”
“Sounds perfect to me. Thanks, Sergeant.”
Sally and Jack continued out to Sally’s car. “We’ll go in mine today. I’ll leave you to deal with the sat nav.”
Jack fell into the passenger seat and punched in the address. “Fifteen minutes.”
~ ~ ~
Sally halted the car outside a modest terraced house in a tree-lined street in Snetterton. It seemed a pleasant enough neighbourhood. The houses all seemed as if people took pride in their surroundings, and that was becoming a rarity these days. “Here we go. Not sure what type of reception we’ll get, but keep calm, Jack.”
He placed a hand over his chest. “Me? I never fly off the handle.”
Sally raised her eyebrows and shook her head at the ex-soldier. “If you say so.”
She
locked the car. Then seconds later, she rang the doorbell to the pebble-dashed house.
A woman wearing a long dress over trousers, with a hijab covering her head, all in monochrome black, opened the door. “Hello, can I help you?”
“Mrs. Maqsood? I’m DI Sally Parker, and this is my partner, DS Jack Blackman. Would it be possible for us to come in and speak with you for a moment or two?”
“In connection with what?” the woman asked, shuffling behind the door.
“We’d rather discuss that inside than on the doorstep,” Sally insisted.
The woman left her hiding place and opened the inner door to the house. “Come through to the kitchen. Please remove your shoes first,” she called over her shoulder.
Sally and Jack slipped off their shoes then followed the woman through the narrow hallway and past the lounge, which was cluttered with an array of chairs in different sizes and colours. In the dated kitchen at the rear, the woman said, “I have to continue preparing flat breads. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Please do. Is your husband at home?”
“No. Why do you need to know that? Please tell me what this is about?”
Sally and Jack sat down at the small kitchen table. Jack withdrew his notebook as Sally began to ask the questions. “Mrs. Maqsood, this visit concerns your daughter’s death.”
The woman looked up at them. “What? I don’t understand. My beautiful daughter died over ten years ago. Why are you making enquiries about that now?”
“Because new evidence has come into our hands, and we can’t just ignore it.”
Mrs. Maqsood’s eyes closed and tears dripped onto her cheeks. She shook her head and stopped pulling the dough apart. “What new evidence?” she finally asked after a few quiet seconds.
“Before I tell you that, I’d like to ask you to go over the events surrounding your daughter’s death. I appreciate how difficult that may be for you, but it’s something we need to hear from you.”
“My husband should be here... I can’t go through this without him being here.”
“If you need your husband with you, then we’ll have to ask you both to come down to the station to be questioned separately.”
“I don’t understand—why? Are you saying you aren’t going to believe me?”
“No, it’s how we have to obtain a statement. So that your husband cannot influence what you’re going to tell us.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “You think I would lie about something so precious? About how my daughter perished?”
Damn, this isn’t going to plan. “No, it’s procedure. I’m sorry if that has offended you. It’s more a case of piecing things together. If we obtain statements from people separately, then it might lead us to something that one person has overlooked. Please don’t look at it as though we’re trying to trip you up.”
“How do you expect either of us to remember every single detail that happened ten years ago? Surely you have our original statements. Can you not read through those?”
“We have, and we could do that. However, as the leading investigator on the case, I’ve made the call to start afresh, just in case the other leading investigator missed something vital.”
“Then am I to believe that you have very little trust for this other investigator?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that the investigation took a route that this new evidence has now put a degree of doubt to.”
“Can you tell me what the new evidence is, or is that a secret?”
Noting the sarcastic tone in the woman’s voice, Sally smiled. “I’d rather not say at this point. Can you tell me how you learned of your daughter’s death?”
“Patrick called us after the ambulance removed my daughter’s body from their home. He should have called me sooner.”
“Did you get on with your son-in-law?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still see Patrick?”
“No.”
“May I ask why not?”
“It’s personal.”
Sally sighed. “It would help us form a picture if you could explain why.”
“He should have saved her.”
“But he was on duty, wasn’t he?”
“What does that matter? The house should have been made secure. There was no alarm on the property. We have an alarm.”
“Does the alarm make you feel safe in your own home?”
“Yes.”
“And when was the alarm fitted?”
“After my daughter’s death.”
“Up until that time, you felt safe in your home. Is that right?”
“Yes. I didn’t want what happened to Aisha to happen to me.”
“That’s understandable. What I can’t fathom is why you would think that was intentional on his part. Can you enlighten me? Was their marriage in trouble?”
Mrs. Maqsood fell silent. “I don’t think so. I believe they loved each other very much. It is a husband’s duty to look after his wife, to ensure her safety at all times.”
Sally smiled tightly. “I partially agree. As I said before, Patrick was on duty at the time. He can’t be held responsible if an intruder got into the house. Even an alarm wouldn’t have helped in that instance.” Mrs. Maqsood bowed her head as if she was ashamed of voicing the accusation. “Can you tell me if anyone had any grievances against your daughter, possibly at work perhaps?”
“I don’t think so. Not that she confided in me, anyway. Would a work colleague really set out to kill my daughter? I find that impossible to believe. Excuse my ignorance, but in cases such as this, don’t you always look at the person closest to the deceased?”
“Again, you’re inferring that we should be looking in Patrick’s direction.”
“Yes, why are you not? Because he’s a copper, one of your lot?”
“We have questioned him already and will continue to monitor his behaviour in the coming days, but I have to say that I’ve been an inspector for six years now, and I didn’t pick up anything negative in his reaction to the questions he was confronted with. If anything, I believe your son-in-law is still grieving his wife’s passing. Maybe if you’d remained in contact with him over the years, you would have seen that for yourself.” Sally bit down on her tongue for snapping at the woman. She noticed Jack turn her way.
Mrs. Maqsood looked aghast at Sally’s outburst. “I think you should leave my house now. I will tell my husband of your visit and leave it up to him whether he contacts you or not. I fear the latter after the way you’ve just spoken to me. Goodbye.”
The woman dried her floured hands on a tea towel and marched back up the hallway. Both downcast, Sally and Jack followed her to the front door, where they hurriedly slipped back into their shoes and stepped out of the house. Sally turned, intending to apologise, but Mrs. Maqsood slammed the door in her face.
“Oops... looks like you upset her, boss,” Jack said as they walked back to the car.
“You know the one thing I really hate about working with you, Jack?”
He winced and shook his head.
“The fact that you always state the bloody obvious. Get in the car.” Sally drove off before Jack had even closed his door.
“No need to have a go at me.”
“I wasn’t. Do you think she’s right?”
“About what? The husband?”
“No, whether she was using the right flat bread recipe—of course what she said about the husband!”
“I don’t know. He seemed a decent enough chap to me. It’s not like he’s jumped into bed with anyone else since his wife’s death.”
“How do we know? We’ve only got his word on that.”
“Maybe questioning his partner this afternoon will help shed some light on that. Partners tend to share their intimate details when they’re on duty.”
Sally turned to look at him and then swiftly back at the road as the lights up ahead turned to red. “Are you for real? I don’t tell you my intimate details.”
“All rig
ht, maybe that came out wrong. Not intimate details in that way, but at least I know what’s going on in your life. I know you live with your mum and dad and Dex the dog, and I know you’re banging the pathologist, Simon.”
Sally’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she found her voice again. “I’m not banging anyone, as you so eloquently put it. Simon and I are dating. There’s no law against that as far as I know.”
Jack shrugged. “Now don’t go getting all defensive on me. I was just stating that I know about your personal life because we chat about these kinds of things.”
“Maybe I’ll reconsider that in the future. Hey, I hope you haven’t spread that around the station? About me and Simon. It’s early days.”
“Nope, your secret is safe with me, boss. Don’t try and pull the wool over my eyes and tell me there’s nothing going on, though, especially when you come to work dressed in the same clothes you had on the day before.” He pointed ahead of him. “The lights have changed.”
Sally seethed. “Too smart for your own good sometimes. Why don’t you direct that astuteness to solving the case rather than dissecting my private life?”
Jack burst out laughing as she pulled away from the lights. “You really are in a foul mood today. What’s wrong? The doc keep you awake talking about his latest PM, or was he too busy prodding you with his instrument?”
“Jack Blackman! How dare you!” she spluttered, fighting the urge to slap him around the face in case he hit her with an assault charge.
“I dare all right. Only because I know I’m safe while you have your hands on the steering wheel.”
“Back to business. It’ll be interesting to see what we gather from Hawk this afternoon. As you’ve adroitly said, it’s surprising what partners pick up about each other’s personal life.” She could feel his smugness but couldn’t think what else to say to slap him down. She hated not being able to fire back a smart retort when it was called for.
They stopped off at the local bakers on the way back to the station, and Sally bought sandwiches and cakes for the team to see them through the long afternoon. She hesitated when she ordered Jack’s ham and cheese roll, considered asking the assistant to put an extra sprinkling of pepper on it to pay him back for winding her up, but decided against it.