by M A Comley
“Well, he better get a wriggle on. We can only hold him for twenty-four hours.”
“Umm... yes, I’m aware of that snippet of information, thanks Dave.”
He gave her a cheesy grin. “Sorry.”
She treated him to a grin of her own before she punched his arm. Kayli followed the patrol car back to the station. Upon their arrival, Young was allowed to call his solicitor, then Kayli asked the desk sergeant to place Young in a cell until his solicitor showed up. “Can you get Mr. Young’s DNA before he enters his cell and issue a change of clothes? Forensics will need to go over them thoroughly. Thanks, Sergeant.”
Dave was halfway up the stairs before she caught up with him. “Need a hand?”
“Nope. I’ll take it steady. I’ll need a cup of coffee when I make it to the top, though.”
Kayli ran on ahead, shouting over her shoulder, “Your wish is my command.”
Her adrenaline was kicking in now that there was a suspect sitting in a cell. It was up to her and her team to gather all they had on Young to ensure the charges stuck.
“He’s downstairs in a cell, guys,” she announced as she breezed into the incident room.
“Brilliant news, boss. I’m still tracking his vehicle through the city on the ANPR cameras,” Graeme told her, a large smile stretching his mouth.
“Coffee all round then, guys. Let’s do our best to get our victim the justice she deserves. I need to action a warrant for his mother’s house. Can you organise that for me, Donna?”
Donna picked up the phone and punched in a few numbers. “On it, now, boss.”
Kayli sorted through her purse for some change then inserted the coins in the machine. Dave hobbled into the incident room, his face red from his exertions, and fell into his chair as she deposited his coffee on his desk. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home? We’ve got the suspect now. There’s no point in you hanging around, matey.”
“Now you tell me? You could’ve mentioned that while we were downstairs in the damn car park,” Dave replied, his eyes narrowing.
Kayli cringed. “Sorry, I never thought.”
“It’s a good job I’m only winding you up then. I’m fine. You worry too much. I’m here for the duration—we all are. Right, team?”
Donna and Graeme both nodded. “I’m blessed to have you guys around me. I really appreciate you all going the extra mile on this one. Looks like our endeavours have paid off too.”
~ ~ ~
Less than thirty minutes later, the desk sergeant called to tell Kayli that Young’s solicitor was waiting at the front desk. She looked at her watch—it was almost ten o’clock. “Wow, that’s gotta be some kind of record. Mind you, he’ll probably screw his client and bill him for double time.” She laughed and walked towards the door.
“Hey, you’re not going to question him alone, are you?” Dave shouted.
“Damn! No, I better not do that. Donna, fancy joining me?”
“Wow, yes. That would be great. Do I need to bring anything?”
“Your notebook and pen will suffice,” Kayli replied, amused by the young constable’s enthusiasm, even if it was this deep into her shift. As they walked down the stairs together, Kayli could hear Donna’s heavy breathing. “Hey, you need to calm down a bit, Donna. You’ll be no good to me if you’re full of anxiety.”
Donna sucked in a large breath and let it out slowly. “I’m good, boss.”
They halted at the bottom of the stairs. “Okay, wait here. I’ll collect the solicitor and see what interview room is available.”
She walked into the reception area to find a tall, slim, bespectacled blonde woman holding a briefcase. “Hello, I’m DI Kayli Bright.”
The solicitor shook her hand. “Gemma Jordache, pleased to meet you.”
“Which room shall we use, Sergeant?”
“Room Two is set up for you, ma’am. I’ll get a PC to bring the suspect through in a moment.”
“Shall we?” Kayli said to the solicitor then nodded for Donna to join them.
The three of them walked down the hallway into Interview Room Two, and Gary Young joined them not long after. His red-rimmed eyes were evidence that he’d been crying in his cell. Is that guilt, or is he truly upset by Sarah’s death?
Kayli said the necessary verbiage for the tape and introduced everyone in the room. “Right, Mr. Young, or is it all right if I call you Gary?”
“Do what you like. For the tape, I’d just like to say that you’ve made a huge mistake and that I’m innocent.” He turned to Gemma Jordache. “I swear, it wasn’t me.”
“Just answer the inspector’s questions honestly for now, Gary.”
“I will. Don’t worry. I have nothing to hide.”
“You’re based in Plymouth, at the naval base. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“How often do you come home on leave?” Kayli asked.
“Quite regularly, due to Mum’s health.”
Kayli nodded. “I see. And is that why you’ve come home this weekend?”
“Yes. I’m here for an extra day as Mum has a consultant’s appointment at the hospital on Monday, and I told her that I’d go with her.”
“Was it your intention to visit Sarah Abel’s flat this evening? Or did you happen to drop by on the off-chance?”
“I didn’t see Sarah this evening. And if anyone has suggested I did, they’re lying. I can’t believe she’s dead.” He ran his hands through his hair.
“Perhaps you can explain why your car was seen within a few metres of Sarah’s flat then?”
His gaze dropped to the table, and he stared at his hands twisting together. “No, I can’t.”
“But you adamantly denied going near her flat when I questioned you at your mother’s house. Why was that?”
He shrugged.
“Can you understand why I arrested you?”
“No. I think you’re clutching at straws. Just because I was in the area, it doesn’t mean that I killed her.”
“So, why were you in the area? Did you see Sarah tonight?” she pressed, despite Young telling her he hadn’t seen the victim.
“I can’t deny I was there. I was going to tell her that Mum doesn’t have long to live, but decided against it.”
“Why? What changed your mind?”
“I just did. Perhaps I thought she might think it was me trying to get a sympathy vote from her to win her back. I don’t know. My head is all over the place because of Mum’s illness. She’s losing weight rapidly, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”
“Are you saying you pulled up outside her place only to drive off again?”
“Yes.”
Kayli tilted her head. “I find that incredibly hard to believe. Why would you come all that way with the intention of seeing her, only to turn away at the last moment?”
“I just did.”
“Why?” Kayli slammed her hand on the table.
Gary jumped. His hands twisted until the whites of his knuckles showed. “I just did. Like I said, my head is all over the place at the moment because of what Mum is going through.”
“Which could be why you’re not thinking straight and likely to do things out of character.”
He shook his head. “I’m not stupid. I can see where this is leading. I did not kill my ex-girlfriend, Inspector.”
“Perhaps you can tell me why you split up in the first place? Was it her decision or yours?”
“I believe it was a joint decision. I’m stationed in Plymouth, and the distance between us was causing friction... well, not exactly friction but...”
“You weren’t getting on as well as you had previously. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes. Only without the inference that you put in that question. Although we split up, we still remained friends—good friends.”
“Good friends? And yet you hadn’t told her about your mother’s illness? Hasn’t she been ill for some time?”
He sighed and sat back in his
chair, his gaze meeting hers. “Of course she was aware of Mum’s illness. I was going to tell her just how bad Mum had got lately. They used to be close, I thought Sarah might want to visit her.”
“So, what prevented you from doing that?”
The corner of his eye began to twitch, and he drew his bottom lip into his mouth.
“Gary?” she prompted when he didn’t respond.
“I saw her...”
Kayli shuffled forward in her chair. “But you specifically told me that you hadn’t seen her tonight.”
“I lied. I saw her, but we didn’t speak. All right, all right, I went to see her tonight. I parked outside her flat and waited for her to come home. That’s when I saw her kissing him.”
“Kissing who?”
“I don’t know. The guy in the BMW.”
“We’re aware that a colleague gave her a lift home from work this evening. Are you telling me they kissed when he dropped her off?”
“Yes. That was enough for me. I thought there was no point hanging around if she’d found someone else. So I left.”
“Did you really? Well, I think a different scenario played out. I put it to you that you went to see Sarah, maybe saw her giving her colleague a peck to say thank you for going out of his way to give her a lift home, and it riled you. Made you angry to see that she’d moved on with her life since your break-up. You then entered her house and punished her by ending her life.”
Young shook his head adamantly. “That really couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve been in touch via social media for months. If you look back on those messages, you’d see none of them were either vindictive or angry. Check my phone, for fuck’s sake, you’ll find the same on there too. I loved her. Whether she was with me or not, I only wanted the best for her.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be digging into your Facebook account and your phone records, I can assure you.”
He gave a defeated shrug. “I’ll even give you my passwords to prove I have nothing to hide. You have to believe me, Inspector. You’re seriously barking up the wrong tree by arresting me. All you’re doing is allowing the real perpetrator to get away.” His clenched fist hit the desk, making the three women jump. “You have to believe me. Why haven’t you processed my DNA yet? I gave that willingly earlier in the hope that it would exonerate me.”
“Calm down, Gary. You’re not doing yourself any favours. The DNA results should be back in a few hours, if we’re lucky. I’ve asked Forensics to rush the tests through. If, as you say, you are innocent, then you won’t mind spending a few hours in a cell until your innocence has been proven.”
He shook his head and turned to face his solicitor. “Is she for real? Is that skewed logic or what?”
“My client does have a point, Inspector,” Gemma Jordache said, one of her beautifully structured eyebrows rising into her fringe.
“Maybe. We’ll soon find out in a few hours. If I’m wrong, then I will apologise.”
“Oh, you’re wrong all right, and when it comes to light, you’re going to do more than apologise. I won’t let this drop, Inspector. You have my word on that.” Young flung his arms up in the air out of frustration.
“We’ll see. If you’re willing to help us, then you can supply us with your passwords for your phone and Facebook. That is if you’ve got nothing to hide.”
“My client has already stated that he would have no problem doing just that, Inspector. In return, I think you should let him go home so that he can tend to his sick mother.”
“I’d rather check the information out first, Miss Jordache, and suffer Mr. Young’s wrath if I’m proved wrong. I have a responsibility to the general public not to let a possible killer loose on a whim. A few more hours in a cell won’t hurt him.”
Young chewed the inside of his mouth, obviously seething. He held out his hand for Donna to pass him her notebook and pen. Kayli nodded, and Donna handed them over. They watched Young scribble down his passwords.
“Did you use any other social media to contact Sarah? What’s App, Instagram, perhaps?”
“No. Believe it or not, the navy keeps me rather busy most of the time. It’s not as if I’m unemployed, sitting on my arse, doing bugger all every day.”
“It was a simple question. Thank you for your passwords. We’ll still need to wait for the DNA results to come back. But thank you for your cooperation. One last question. Have you ever laid a hand on Sarah?”
“Yes, it happened once, and I regretted my actions immediately. You have to believe me.”
“Is that the real reason your relationship ended?”
“No.” He sighed then added reluctantly, “It might have been.”
Kayli ended the interview, then the PC escorted Young back to his cell.
“I think you’re wrong about him, Inspector,” Gemma Jordache said as soon as her client left the room.
“If I am, then so be it, Miss Jordache. I have to go with the evidence presented to me. The fact that your client initially disputed being anywhere near Sarah Abel’s flat this evening, plus that he laid a hand on her during their relationship, should raise suspicion in your mind too.”
The pretty solicitor winced. “Maybe you’re right. All I’m saying is that I’ve known Mr. Young and his family for over ten years and have never felt that he has ever lied to me.”
“Glad to hear it. But what he’s told us in this interview room has just shot that notion down in flames. Liars tend to lie to cover their tracks. We’ll continue our investigation until I get to the truth.”
Kayli walked to the door. Gemma Jordache shrugged her slim shoulders and strode past her, up the hallway, and through the reception area.
“Good news about the phone and the Facebook account, boss,” Donna pointed out as they began their ascent up the stairs.
“That reminds me... you go ahead and get started on the Facebook account, and I’ll pick up his mobile from the desk sergeant.”
Donna nodded and ran ahead with her notebook in hand. Kayli turned back to the reception area, her mind foggy with information, doubting her own actions about locking Gary Young up again. Once she’d signed out Young’s phone, she raced up the stairs as fast as her weary legs would carry her and into the incident room.
After quickly bringing Dave and Graeme up to speed on how the interview had gone, she and Donna checked through the suspect’s messages. “Nothing. It’s all general chit-chat, nothing to say how he feels about her or any form of regrets from either side. Maybe he’s telling the truth after all.”
“Bummer,” Dave said. “If that’s the case, then who killed Sarah Abel? Was it a burglary gone wrong?”
Kayli tutted and sighed heavily. “I really don’t know. There’s little more we can do now. Why don’t we call it a night? Go home, get a few hours of sleep, and attack things in the morning. We should have the DNA results back by then. I really don’t want to set him free without having those in my hand.”
“Agreed. It won’t hurt for him to be locked up in his cell for a few more hours, whether he’s innocent or guilty,” Dave agreed.
“I want to thank you all for coming back this evening. It was worth a punt, although the odds are against us on this one, I fear. We’ll have to see what tomorrow brings.”
CHAPTER SIX
It was close to eleven o’clock by the time Kayli inserted her key in the front door. She paused on the doorstep before she placed a foot over the threshold, preparing herself for the overwhelming feeling of loneliness. She knew that sleep would evade her again. No matter how tired she felt, every time she dared to close her eyes, vile images of Mark being tortured were cast across her eyelids. The only nights she’d managed to avoid that were the nights she spent on the sofa. Deciding she needed a good night’s rest, she ran upstairs to collect her pillow and duvet from her bed then made up the couch for the night.
Kayli went through to the kitchen to make a coffee. She was still full from the pizza she’d eaten hours before, so she didn’t bother
to look in the fridge. Instead, she switched on Sky news. The headline strap at the bottom of the screen read: Woman’s body found in her flat in the heart of the city.
The speculation coming from the journalist’s mouth made her laugh a few times. Her need to track down a suspect quickly had put paid to her usual routine of using the media to spread the word. However, grave doubts as to whether Young was the killer had crept into her mind, and the chances of him being set free in the morning were quite high. She would likely need to look at using the media in the near future. She sighed, not envying herself having to announce to the community that a killer was on the loose in Bristol. There had been enough murders on their streets lately, most of which had fallen into her lap to solve. She was tired of dealing with people’s anger issues. Why can’t people learn to live alongside each other harmoniously, like they used to in the olden days? But did they really? She shuddered at the BBC programme she’d seen recently, which depicted the story of Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot. Innocent people, such as priests, had been treated in such appalling, barbaric ways. She shook her head to rid her mind of the grotesque images of people being hung, drawn and quartered, and stretched on racks. The last thing she wanted was to be reminded of what deplorable conditions Mark was in or what degrading torture the Taliban were subjecting him to.
She undressed, ran upstairs to clean her teeth then snuggled down under her duvet. As her eyelids began to droop, she flicked off the TV and let sleep overcome her.
~ ~ ~
Her phone alarm went off at seven the following morning. She couldn’t believe that she’d managed to sleep nearly eight hours. Feeling refreshed, she stretched and took her bedding back upstairs before she jumped in the shower.
Kayli arrived at work just after eight o’clock to find Donna already sitting at her computer. She smiled warmly at the constable. “Morning, Donna, have you been here long?”
“About ten minutes, boss.”
“Any news on the DNA results?”
“Yes. Nothing matched Young. Looks like he’s in the clear.”