by Mel Sherratt
‘Do you know something?’ Andrea looked at Cayden too.
‘No! I swear,’ he cried. ‘I was going to meet her when someone attacked me. That’s the truth.’
‘So you had come straight from your house, on your way to Jess’s?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you didn’t go anywhere else?’
There was a slight pause that didn’t go unnoticed.
‘Cayden?’ Eden pressed.
‘No, I didn’t go anywhere else.’
‘You’re sure about that? It could take a while but CCTV footage might show us your whereabouts if necessary. Where you were going to and where you were coming from. Plus text messages can give us lots of clues. . .’
‘He’s just told you all he knows.’ Andrea’s tone was sharp. ‘He was seriously injured last night. You don’t have to question him so vigorously, Sergeant.’
‘Do you know what? I will have that cup of tea.’
Eden smiled at Andrea until she left the room. As soon as they were alone, she moved to stand above Cayden. She bent down to within inches of his face.
‘I found over five hundred pounds in Jess’s bedroom. Any idea what it’s for?’
Cayden’s eyes widened and he winced in pain. Eden stared at him, but he wouldn’t look at her.
‘Is it your money?’ she asked.
‘No.’
‘So she’s not keeping it for you?’
‘No.’
‘Do you know where it came from?’
‘No.’
‘Do you know if she is keeping it for anyone else?’
‘No!’
Mindful of his injuries, Eden grabbed him by the chin. ‘I know you’re hiding something. And I know that our Jess must be involved in something to get that kind of money, whether it’s hers or she’s keeping it for someone. So if I find out this money has anything to do with you, you little shit, and that my niece has been hurt because of it, then I’m coming back for you. Do you understand?’
Cayden gave a quick nod.
Eden stood upright again, took out a card with her details on it and handed it to him. ‘In case your conscience gets the better of you,’ she said.
Andrea came back into the room.
‘Sorry, I’ve been called back to the station.’ Eden pointed to her radio. ‘Could you show me out please?’
‘Is there anything we can do – to help find Jess?’ Andrea asked as she opened the front door.
Eden was about to speak when she spotted a photo on the wall behind her. It was of Cayden and another boy, a younger brother she assumed, sitting side by side in school uniform. Both boys were smiling. It spoke of family.
This was a member of her family who was at risk.
‘You can ask Cayden what Jess is doing with over five hundred pounds in her possession that can’t be accounted for right now,’ she replied.
Andrea’s mouth dropped open.
‘Has Cayden been bringing in things lately, things you know he can’t afford, maybe he’s passing designer gear as knock-off?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Have there been any visits to the house by people you don’t know?’
‘No! What are you suggesting?’
‘I’m just doing my job.’ Eden moved closer to her. ‘My niece is missing, and I will do everything it takes to find her.’
‘But this has nothing to do with Cayden!’
‘No?’ Eden huffed. ‘Your son knows more than he’s letting on, and I suggest you try and get him to talk. It will be much better if he admits to knowing something before I find anything out.’
Eden walked back towards her car. As she got to it, she took a glance at the house, wondering if anyone would be watching her from a window. But there was no one. Even so, she hoped that Cayden wasn’t involved in some sick joke that had gone wrong. If he was, he would have her to answer to.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Maxine picked up her magazine and flicked through the pages aimlessly. It was no good. She couldn’t concentrate on anything. It seemed the nearer she got to the trial, the more anxious she was becoming.
She got up to make a cup of tea. In the kitchen, she squeezed the bridge of her nose. What must her girl be going through now? Katie had never been a glass-half-full type of girl, who would count down the days until the trial and hope that she would be free. She was a glass-half-empty type of girl, who would work herself up more and more the nearer the trial came. This weekend was going to be so hard for her. She would be going over and over everything again, hoping that she wouldn’t slip up.
Maxine recalled the moment when she had first heard about Katie’s involvement in Deanna Barker’s murder. Phil had taken Matty with him to the shops. The bell had rung and she’d found four people there when she opened the door. A tall broad man and her friend’s sister, Eden, a detective sergeant, were both wearing dark suits. Behind them were two male uniformed officers. In front of their house, she could see three police cars parked in a line. It had been a shock, to say the least. And a little worrying as she wondered if anyone in her family had been hurt.
‘Mrs Trent?’ The man nearest to her held up a warrant card. ‘I’m DI Whittaker and this is DS Berrisford. Is your daughter, Katie, in?’
‘She’s in her room.’ Maxine frowned. ‘What’s this about?’
‘A member of the public was fatally stabbed last night. We have reason to believe your daughter was involved.’
Maxine paled. ‘But she was in her room for half past nine. I heard her come in.’
‘We need her to come to the station,’ said DI Whittaker.
‘What? I don’t understand.’
‘Mum?’
Maxine looked upstairs to see Katie was already on the landing. She was shaking violently, hair bedraggled, eyes raw from crying.
‘I didn’t do anything,’ she sobbed. ‘I was just there! She died in my arms.’
‘Katie, you need to come downstairs,’ said Eden.
When Katie hadn’t moved, Maxine beckoned her down. As Katie hit the bottom step, she watched Eden step forward and take her arm.
‘Katie Trent, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Deanna Barker on 17 April 2015. You do not have to say anything—’
‘Wait!’ Maxine interrupted.
‘But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something that you later rely on in court,’ Eden continued. ‘Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?’
‘I haven’t done anything wrong,’ Katie said, stepping away from them.
‘Please, you’re making a mistake,’ Maxine insisted. ‘My daughter wouldn’t have anything to do with a murder!’
‘If she comes quietly, I won’t need to use the handcuffs.’ Eden looked at her for support.
‘Tell them, Mum!’
Maxine reached out to touch her daughter’s arm. ‘Just do as they say until we can sort this mess out,’ she said. ‘I’ll be with you.’
‘I didn’t do anything!’ Katie said as they led her out of the house.
As she walked down the path behind her, Maxine saw several of the neighbours coming out to see what was going on. Katie was placed in the back seat of the first police car. Tears poured down her face.
‘We’ll have you home in no time,’ Maxine told her, trying to contain hers. ‘I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding. You haven’t done anything wrong. . . have you?’
Katie shook her head.
‘May I remind you that you are under arrest, Katie,’ Eden turned to her. ‘Anything you say may be given in evidence, including in this car.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake, Eden!’ Maxine cried. ‘She hasn’t done anything wrong!’
‘They must have seen us on camera,’ said Katie.
‘What?’
‘CCTV – they must have—’
Maxine had put a finger to her lips, urging Katie to be quiet. Although she stopped talking, she’d wanted to ask Katie what she mean
t by that. If there was CCTV footage, then surely they would have seen who had stabbed Deanna Barker and they wouldn’t be questioning her daughter?
The kettle flicked off and Maxine thought about the week ahead. She had bought Katie some new shoes to go with the clothes she’d chosen for her. A navy skirt suit that was fashionable but smart and a pale pink blouse to go underneath the jacket. When Katie had tried them on during her last visit, Maxine had looked at her with a mixture of pride and hurt. Pride because her daughter was growing up into a beautiful young woman. Hurt because she no longer had the world at her feet.
Matty rushed into the room, wearing his Manchester United strip and socks, boots in hand, gangly legs below his shorts. His hair stuck up in tufts, and she wondered as she did most mornings if he had brushed his teeth or not.
‘Mum, can I go and play across the park? Sam and Aaron are there already and they want me in goal.’
‘Not today, Matty,’ said Maxine, remembering her confrontation with Travis the night before. ‘I’d like you to stay close to home. It’s cold out there too.’
‘But everyone else is across the park.’ He huffed loudly and folded his arms in protest.
‘I know, but I’d rather have you here.’
‘It’s not my fault Katie is locked up and I have to be careful. I didn’t do anything.’
‘I know that too.’ Maxine sighed. How could she explain to him that she’d prefer to have him near to home this weekend? Besides, look what had happened when Katie had gone to the park. One wrong move that night six months ago and a lot of people’s lives had changed for ever.
‘You can play in the garden.’ She pointed to the window. ‘It’s hardly fit to play football anyway. The weather is atrocious still.’
‘I don’t care. I’m not scared of the rain.’
Maxine tried not to shake her head. Why couldn’t he do as he was told just this once? Her phone rang and she picked it up.
‘Oh, hi again, Laura. What? Oh no, when did this happen?’
As Laura filled her in with details of Jess, she turned around and saw that Matty had gone. She sighed loudly. Little bugger.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Eden went straight across the traffic lights at the end of the road. A quick right followed by two left turns and she was outside Claire Mornington’s home. It was in a row of terraced houses with small walled forecourts. Most had large bay windows upstairs and downstairs and the front gardens and walls removed. This one had a block-paved driveway and housed a car and a van advertising Mornington’s DIY.
A woman about her age came to the door. She was short, with dark, curly hair, kind eyes and a welcoming smile, until she seemed to realise who Eden was. Eden vaguely recognised her too. She was sure she had seen her at a SWAPs meeting or a parents’ evening, rather than arresting her for something in the past, as sometimes was the case.
‘Mrs Mornington – it’s Rachel, isn’t it? I’m sorry to hear about Claire’s attack. I know we need to see her to take a statement about what happened, but could I just have a quick word with her please?’
Eden was shown through into a large open-plan living room while Rachel shouted Claire downstairs. She appeared a few seconds later and sat at the edge of the settee, her hands inside the sleeves of an oversized red jumper.
Rachel switched off the television.
‘I’m Detective Sergeant Berrisford. How are you feeling today?’ Eden asked.
Claire shrugged. ‘I’m okay.’
‘Could you run me through what happened last night?’
Eden took down notes as Claire told her.
‘And you have no idea who it was?’ she asked once Claire had finished talking.
‘No.’
It was said too quickly and sharply for Eden. When the girl’s eyes brimmed with tears, Eden reached out to her, touching her gently on the forearm.
‘I don’t know what’s been going on, but I do need your help. I know that you’re scared. Your friends Stacey and Ruby are too. But Cayden Blackwell was beaten up. He ended up in A&E. He says he doesn’t know who it was who attacked him.’
Claire looked at her mum, fear in her eyes. ‘Mum, I don’t feel very well,’ she said.
‘Are you scared of something?’ Eden persisted. ‘Because if you are, please try not to be. Any information that you have might help me too. Do you remember that I’m Jess Mountford’s auntie?’
Claire nodded, her eyes going to the floor. Her knee began to jiggle up and down.
‘What has this got to do with Jess?’ Rachel asked.
‘Jess is missing.’ Eden looked at them both. ‘She sent her mum a message last night to say she was staying at Stacey’s house.’
‘But Stacey was attacked too!’ Claire shouted out. ‘Jess didn’t go to Stacey’s house!’ She stood up and tried to run out of the room. Eden grabbed hold of her arm.
‘Please, Claire, tell me what’s been going on. We can’t reach Jess on her phone. I’ve searched her bedroom for clues of where she might be. Nothing seems to be missing, so we can assume she hasn’t run away for any reason. But there was a lot of money found.’
Claire seemed to shrink a few inches.
‘Money?’ Rachel looked at her daughter. ‘Claire?’
Claire sat down with a thump. ‘They’ll kill me if they find out I’ve said anything.’
‘Who will?’ asked Eden.
Claire remained quiet for a moment before looking up at Eden again. ‘It was Damien Barker and his brother, Travis, who attacked me. We’ve been stealing mobile phones for them, and he doesn’t want anyone to find out.’
‘What?’ Rachel stared at her daughter. ‘But how?’
‘From people’s bags and on tables mostly, on a Saturday afternoon in the shopping centre. Outside we ride past on bikes while someone is texting on them and swipe them.’
Eden sat down again and took out her notebook.
‘What have you been doing with the phones?’ asked Rachel, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Claire wouldn’t look at her mum now. She stared at the floor as she spoke. ‘We get twenty pounds every time we take one to Damien.’
‘How long has this been going on?’ asked Eden.
‘A few months.’
Rachel gasped.
‘Exactly how many months?’ Eden needed her to be more precise.
‘Since the beginning of the year.’
‘You’ll need to make a statement.’ Eden stood up. ‘Seeing as you’ve been attacked, I’ll get an officer to you if I can. I wouldn’t normally, but these are serious allegations you’re making and time is of the essence.’
‘No!’ Claire looked up at her. ‘You can’t tell anyone! I’ll be in trouble.’
‘You’re already in trouble,’ said Rachel. ‘And you’ll be in even more when your dad gets home. He’s going to go ballistic.’
‘Please don’t tell him.’ Claire broke down again. ‘I’m sorry. I got dragged into it. I didn’t want to do it, but they made me. They said I couldn’t be part of their gang if I didn’t join in.’
‘Who did?’ Eden wanted to know.
‘Stacey and Ruby and—’ She stopped short.
‘Jess?’ she questioned.
Claire nodded.
Eden had heard all she needed. Driving back to the station, she tried to work things out. The attack on Cayden Blackwell could very well be connected with Deanna Barker’s murder trial the following week, but this threw up a whole new line of enquiry. It could have been one of the Barker brothers warning Cayden to keep his mouth shut about his part in the phone robberies. Which also meant that the money she had found in Jess’s room more than likely belonged to her niece. She could be stealing phones to sell on too. How was she going to break that to Laura?
As well as Claire, they’d need to interview Stacey and Ruby and Cayden for statements. She’d have to get uniform to do that.
More importantly, they needed to speak to the Barker brothers. There were lots of questions to be
asked of Damien and Travis. They could be holding Jess somewhere. Or they could have attacked her just like the other girls, and something had gone wrong.
Chapter Forty
Eden arrived back at the station and swiped herself into the building. She threw her car keys on her desk, sat forward and ran her hands through her hair while she waited for her nerves to settle. Sean’s car was in the car park, so she knew he’d be out to see her soon.
She logged back on to her computer and pulled up the information on the girls who had been attacked last night, wondering again what the hell was going on. She knew Cayden Blackwell was lying about something, and she was determined to find out what.
‘Eden.’
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Sean. Seeing someone she had known since she’d started the job brought tears to her eyes. She wiped one away as it fell and tried not to cry again as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.
She filled him in about Jess, and Cayden, just as Amy arrived back. Behind her was Jordan.
‘Look who I picked up on my travels, Sarge,’ said Amy.
‘You owe me one.’ Jordan pointed at Eden with a grin. ‘This one here just dragged me out of bed.’
‘Not literally.’ Amy swiped him as he went to sit at his desk. ‘I rang him and he offered to help.’
Eden smiled her thanks, choked by their concern.
They made their way into the small meeting room along the corridor. There was only room for one table that seated six people so it was mostly used for one-to-one supervisory meetings or staff appraisals.
‘What did you learn from the girls?’ Sean asked Amy once they were all sitting down. ‘Let’s see if it tallies with what we know now about the mobile phones.’
‘Stacey Goodwin,’ said Amy. ‘Number twenty-nine Hardman Road. She was pulled into bushes off a pathway at the side of Theodore House. A tin of paint was poured over her head. It’s made her skin come out in a rash where she’s had to scrub it away. She looks a right mess.’
‘I picked her up on my way home last night,’ said Eden. ‘I saw her running down the high street and couldn’t leave her in the state she was in. She was so traumatised that she wouldn’t say anything. I just thought it was a one-off prank until this morning, so I sent Amy to interview her while I spoke to Claire Mornington.’