Dead Guilty

by Michelle Davies

  She thought about lying, but decided to front it out.

  ‘Inspector Jasso, I’m an experienced detective trained in family liaison and all my previous cases have involved dealing with the relatives of victims in major incidents. I can help you here, if you just let me talk to Jade’s parents—’

  ‘No. My officers are dealing with them.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘I said no, Officer Neville.’

  Just then, one of his uniforms came bolting along the pathway towards them, smiling jubilantly. On reaching Jasso he burst out with a torrent of Spanish that Maggie had no hope of translating. But, judging by the smile that spread across Jasso’s face, it was good news.

  ‘What’s happened?’ she interrupted. ‘Has Jade been found?’

  ‘There’s been a sighting of her in the next town, in a car,’ said the officer, clearly overjoyed to be the one delivering the news to his boss.

  ‘I have to check this out,’ Jasso said to Maggie. ‘But I meant what I said – you are not to talk to her parents.’ He walked off without waiting for her to acknowledge his order.

  The young officer beamed at the inspector’s retreating back, then turned to Maggie.

  ‘This is good news, no? The girl is safe!’

  ‘It’s great there’s been a sighting,’ said Maggie cautiously. ‘But I’ll leave my celebrating to when she’s actually found.’

  The officer shrugged at her. ‘You British, you are never happy.’

  Maggie noticed he had something in his hand.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Oh, just a kid’s shoe I picked up. It’s nothing.’

  With that, he dumped the small green Croc into the nearest bin.

  32

  What little alcohol Philip did drink was never consumed in daytime hours, but at that moment he was making an exception with the large gin and tonic Annika had served him. It was doing a good job of soothing his frayed nerves and he was also enjoying being able to drink it in peace because Patricia had, at George’s urging, gone for a lie-down. She had grown hysterical when Walker disobeyed her order to remain at the service and took Maggie and the others with him, and by the time she’d finished her outburst she was exhausted. He would never admit it to anyone, but Philip was full of admiration for the way DCI Walker stood up to her, even if he did get Maggie to do it on his behalf.

  He took another sip of his drink. George, Johnnie and Declan were on their second pints already and judging by what little was left in their glasses it looked as though a third might be imminent. Philip was concerned when George invited the other two to join them – particularly given Johnnie’s flare-up at Patricia – but it was obvious their need for a drink outweighed any mutual loathing in this instance. They were in shock at the news a woman had gone missing from the beach and it was all they could talk about.

  ‘It must be a coincidence,’ Johnnie was saying. ‘What else could it be?’

  ‘What did Maggie say when you spoke to her?’ Philip asked George. She had called him as they were ordering their second round.

  ‘What I told you – a young woman in her twenties left the beach around eleven thirty to get some snacks and didn’t come back. Her family didn’t start looking for her until almost an hour later because they thought she might’ve nipped back to their villa for something.’

  Feeling sick to his stomach, Philip gripped the table for support.

  ‘It’s exactly the same scenario,’ he rasped. ‘We were on the beach when Katy went off and she never came back.’

  ‘But this girl apparently has her phone on her, and a bit of cash, Dad,’ said George reassuringly. ‘I agree with Johnnie. I bet it’s a coincidence and there’s been a misunderstanding about where she is, like she went off shopping or something and forgot to tell her family.’

  ‘What if it’s not a coincidence?’ Declan blurted out. ‘What if it was deliberately meant to happen today?’

  The other three stared at him.

  ‘It’s exactly the same scenario. Even that police officer said it was just like when Katy disappeared.’

  ‘I think that was a knee-jerk reaction,’ said George, ‘because of where he was. If he’d been at his station and the call had come in, I doubt he would’ve even considered a possible link. I’m telling you, it’ll be a random crime, if it’s even a crime at all.’

  Philip could see his son was trying to convince himself there was no connection.

  ‘Maybe that’s the point,’ said Declan cautiously. ‘The police thought that Katy was chosen at random – well, apart from when they suspected me,’ he added huffily.

  ‘But why on earth would anyone want to copy what happened to Katy?’ asked Philip, bewildered.

  ‘Because it’s the anniversary and they want to make a point?’ suggested Declan.

  Again, Philip struggled to understand. ‘What point?’

  ‘Unless it’s not a copycat and it’s the same person who’s struck again to remind everyone they got away with it first time round,’ said George sombrely.

  He caught his father’s horrified stare.

  ‘But no one in their right mind would do that,’ he added soothingly. ‘The heightened media interest, the police over from the UK – you’d have to be crazed to attempt something so audacious.’

  ‘Isn’t that how the papers described Katy’s killer – as being crazed?’ pondered Declan. ‘He did say in the email that he was going to come back.’

  ‘What email?’ asked Johnnie sharply.

  Philip looked at George. Were they allowed to say anything? But Declan had no compunction about sharing the content of the email he’d been sent and Johnnie’s face was ashen by the time he’d finished.

  ‘Fucking hell. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’ This wasn’t to Declan, but to George.

  ‘The police are investigating it and until they find out who sent it, the fewer people who know the better.’ George gave his dad a sideways glance and Philip took it as a sign to not mention the other message sent to the woman in London. Declan still didn’t know about that one.

  ‘They can’t really think it’s the same killer who sent it,’ said Johnnie, clearly rattled. ‘It’ll be someone mucking around, an online troll.’

  ‘What if it’s not?’ said Declan. ‘The killer’s never been caught, so what’s to stop them coming back for a new victim? They could’ve been biding their time, waiting for the right moment. The tenth anniversary could be it.’

  ‘You’re talking crap,’ snapped Johnnie. ‘Katy’s murder was a one-off. The police said so.’

  ‘To be fair, that’s because they wanted it to be,’ George pointed out. ‘Better to portray it as a random attack than have tourists think a potential serial killer is at large in a popular holiday resort.’

  Philip was lost for words. This was all too much for him to process.

  ‘I’m telling you, there’s no way it’s the same person,’ said Johnnie. ‘It’ll be a coincidence. Worst-case scenario, she’s had an accident and the hospital can’t ID her, so that’s why it looks like she’s missing.’ He drained the dregs of his pint. ‘I’m having another. Anyone else want one?’

  George and Declan both raised their hands.

  ‘What about you, Philip? Another G&T?’ asked Johnnie.

  Philip hesitated for a moment; the first was already making him feel a bit woozy and a second might tip him over the edge. Then he thought, to hell with it.

  ‘Actually I would, thank you.’

  Johnnie raised his hand to beckon Annika over.

  ‘How are you gentlemen holding up?’ she asked. ‘I’m so very sorry about the service being cancelled.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said George. ‘To be honest, we’re more concerned with what’s going on with the missing woman now.’

  ‘A friend who lives down by the marina texted me to say the police are everywhere but there’s still no sign of her,’ said Annika. ‘They’re questioning everyone on the beach to see if they saw anything.’ />
  ‘Did your friend say which bit of beach she was on?’ asked Declan. Johnnie shot him a look.

  ‘I think it was the stretch to the left of the marina, by the ice-cream stand,’ said Annika. She checked her notebook. ‘So, that’s three pints of Estrella and a gin and tonic. Anything to eat with your drinks?’ They all shook their heads. ‘Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.’

  Philip could barely breathe. It was the same area of beach they had been on when Katy went missing.

  ‘Dad, it’s going to be okay,’ said George, but his eyes betrayed his own shock. Even though he hadn’t been with them that day, he was aware of the significance of the setting.

  Declan cocked his head towards Johnnie.

  ‘Your boat’s moored in the marina, isn’t it? You must’ve seen something, because you were there all morning. You didn’t turn up here until the service was due to start.’

  ‘I was sleeping. I didn’t see a thing,’ said Johnnie gruffly.

  ‘Can you prove that?’

  ‘Fuck off, Declan. We both know it’ll be you the police will be rushing to question. Your first visit to Saros in ten years and another girl goes missing – you’ll be top of their list, mate.’

  ‘I was in my hotel room,’ Declan spluttered. ‘I slept in because I was knackered from my early start yesterday.’

  ‘Can you prove that?’ asked Johnnie bullishly.

  ‘Guys, come on: stop winding each other up. We all know neither of you had anything to do with this,’ said George. ‘Today’s meant to be about remembering Katy, not accusing each other of all sorts. Let’s have a toast,’ he added, as Annika returned with a tray of fresh drinks.

  He took one of the pints and held it aloft.

  ‘To my darling sister,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘Never forgotten, forever missed. To Katy.’

  ‘To Katy,’ chimed Philip and Johnnie, raising their glasses.

  ‘To Katy,’ said Declan at the same time. ‘The girl we all loved to death.’

  33

  By the time they’d alerted the police to her disappearance, Jade’s parents and fiancé had done everything Maggie would’ve done in their shoes.

  When Jade hadn’t returned from the shop after half an hour and hadn’t answered her phone when he called it, Mason had sprinted back to the family’s villa in nearby Soller to check if she was there, worried she had been suddenly taken ill. Meanwhile, Clive and Mandy Reynolds walked the streets closest to the beach to look for their daughter, ducking into shops and bars they thought she might have gone into, but no one had seen her.

  The three of them met up again by the mini-mart another thirty minutes later and that’s when they made the decision to call the police. On seeing their distress, a waiter serving diners in one of the hotel restaurants that lined the seafront had alerted his general manager, who then graciously gave the family use of a suite overlooking the paved walkway, somewhere private where they could talk to the police and also watch the search for Jade get underway on the beach and streets below.

  The GM’s generosity had a subtext though, as Maggie was now realizing as he addressed her and Walker in the hotel foyer, their reflections staring up at them from the shiniest tiled floor she’d ever stood upon. He wanted to know everything in return.

  ‘Is this the same scenario as the British girl ten years ago?’ the manager asked. ‘Has this one been kidnapped too?’

  ‘There’s nothing to suggest it’s related,’ said Walker briskly, unwilling to countenance any discussion. ‘The circumstances are different.’

  That wasn’t a lie.

  Inspector Jasso’s officers had quickly established that Jade Reynolds had left the beach carrying both her phone and some money. Katy Pope had neither on her when she vanished. Jade had told her family exactly where she was going, but Katy had slipped away without a word – Declan was swimming in the sea at the time and both her parents were reading on their sun loungers. None of them saw her go.

  Those distinguishable details were enough to make Walker heed caution about a possible link. That suited Inspector Jasso, who was over his initial panic at the thought of a second British woman going missing in the resort and was now proclaiming that Jade had gone off somewhere of her own volition based on the witness sighting and would turn up soon. However, as the search was now in its fifth hour he’d finally agreed that Walker and Maggie should speak directly to her parents, as the language barrier between them and the Spanish officers was beginning to grate on Clive Reynolds – he was complaining that he couldn’t understand them and threatening to call the tabloids to say that not enough was being done to find her.

  Before agreeing to introduce them to the Reynolds family, Jasso had made it clear that the Operation Pivot team had no jurisdiction in the case, but he conceded it would be good for them to provide support and reassurance to the family while they were on foreign soil, alongside Lyndsey Shepherd and her Consulate colleagues.

  ‘Frankly, I’d rather you deal with him than I have to,’ Jasso had remarked sourly. ‘He’s already insulted two of my officers using the c-word.’

  The family’s borrowed suite was on the top floor of the hotel. Walker rapped on the door and a short, stocky, middle-aged man with blond hair that looked anything but natural yanked it open. His face was tomato red, the product of either too much sun or dangerously high blood pressure.

  ‘Have you found my daughter yet?’ was his opening shot.

  ‘Mr Reynolds, I’m DCI Gavin Walker and this is DC Maggie Neville. We’re officers with the Met Police. I’m afraid there’s no news yet, but we’d like to talk to you. Can we come in?’

  Clive stood aside to let them pass.

  ‘The Met? Blimey, you got here fast,’ said Mandy Reynolds, getting to her feet. She was an attractive woman in her early fifties with – compared to her husband’s – subtly bleached blonde hair that was set in waves. Her face was streaked with mascara and tears though, which she clumsily wiped away with the back of her hand. A good-looking young man, who Maggie presumed was Jade’s fiancé, Mason Embry, was sitting on the sofa in the suite’s lounge area looking wretched. He didn’t get up to greet them.

  ‘Actually, we were already in Saros, because of another case,’ Walker replied.

  Clive Reynolds’s face turned even redder.

  ‘Are you here because of that Pope girl? We’ve been reading about the anniversary, it’s all over the papers.’ To Walker’s obvious discomfort, Clive reached over and grabbed his hand, clasping it between both of his plump, sweaty ones. ‘You gotta be honest with me, Mr Walker – do you think my Jade’s been had by the same person? Because they never caught him, did they?’

  ‘The Majorcan police have told us they are treating your daughter’s disappearance as unrelated,’ said Walker. ‘I know the anniversary must be giving you cause for concern, but they believe the timing is most likely an unfortunate coincidence. Inspector Jasso and his colleagues are doing everything they can to locate your daughter.’

  Maggie noted how Walker was careful to make it clear this was Jasso’s case and not theirs.

  The DCI’s answer seemed to calm Clive, but he still didn’t let go of his hand.

  ‘Can you not look for her, then? I don’t trust them Spaniards – they got it wrong last time, that’s for sure. That poor girl was missing for a week and then it was too late. Can’t you take over?’

  ‘I’m afraid we don’t have the authority,’ said Walker. ‘But as I said, I can assure you that Inspector Jasso is doing everything by the book to find Jade. He and his team know what they’re doing.’

  ‘We are helping them, though,’ said Maggie, coming to Walker’s rescue as he tried to wrest his hand from Clive’s grip. ‘Inspector Jasso mentioned you were having some problems understanding his officers, so he’s agreed we should interview you and pass any relevant information back to him. It would be really helpful to establish Jade’s movements so far on your holiday, to see if anything’s occurred that might help I
nspector Jasso work out where she is.’

  Clive finally let go of Walker’s hand.

  ‘What do you want to know?’

  Maggie gestured to the sofa where Mason was still sitting. There were two matching easy chairs alongside it. ‘Why don’t we all sit down?’

  They all did, except Walker. Maggie looked up at him expectantly, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze as he instead addressed the family.

  ‘DC Neville here is a trained family liaison officer, or what we call FLO for short,’ he said. ‘She knows how to help families in your situation and the right questions to ask. So I’m going to leave you in her very capable hands, because I’m needed elsewhere.’

  Maggie reacted with surprise. This was the first she’d heard. Needed where, exactly?

  You can ask us anything,’ said Mandy eagerly. ‘We’ve no secrets, have we, Clive?’

  Her husband slowly shook his head.

  ‘Call me when you’re done,’ Walker said to Maggie in an aside.

  She couldn’t help herself.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  He looked at her blankly. ‘I’m joining the search, of course. What else would I be doing?’

  34

  There was an awkward pause after the DCI left the room, the family obviously noting the tension his abrupt departure had created. Maggie punctured the uncomfortable silence by asking if they minded her taking notes as they chatted.

  ‘This isn’t a formal interview,’ she said. ‘All I want to do at this stage is establish a timeline of Jade’s movements.’ She neglected to add that Jasso had refused to extend their brief beyond that; he was insistent the British police did no more than the very basics, presumably so it didn’t appear as though they were taking charge.

  ‘Like retracing her steps?’ asked Mason. His voice was reedy and hesitant and at odds with his masculinity. It was evident he put significant time and effort into maintaining his physique: his biceps were thicker than Maggie’s thighs, the veins popping along them like electrical wires snaking down a wall.