by Carla Kovach
Gina glanced at the email containing some of Amber’s information that O’Connor had sent to her. ‘So, she was a year two student and you lecture in management accounting. How often did you see her every week?’
‘About three times.’
Gina listened as she took in his features. His dark hair was glossy but messy and his pinstripe shirt tucked into black jeans, topped with a smart jacket, made him look the part of a lecturer. He pushed his round glasses further up his nose. Jaw: chiselled and slightly stubbly. He was handsome in a slight, ‘I’m not trying’ kind of way. Gina guessed he was around thirty-five years old. ‘Would you have a list of people she socialised with during lectures and breaks? We really need to speak to her friends.’
‘I knew you’d want to know that. I’ve printed off some of their details. These were her close group of friends from the course. I don’t know who she would hang around with outside the course though.’ He placed the printouts on the table in front of Gina.
A list of four names, complete with addresses filled the page. Gina glanced at the names, none of which she recognised. ‘Thank you.’ She passed it to Wyre. ‘You mentioned to my colleague that you and Amber had spoken in a confidential setting. Can you tell me what this was about?’
He swallowed. ‘She came across as confident most of the time but I saw another side to her. A few weeks ago, I don’t remember exactly when. It was before Christmas and I was just leaving for the night. She was standing outside, back against the wall by my car. It had been raining and she was soaking wet. She looked shaken. I asked her what was wrong and wondered if she needed any help.’ He paused and stared out of the window at the falling snow.
‘And…’
‘She was freezing. I took her to the café that you saw on the way up. No one was there. I bought her a machine coffee and sat her at the table. After a couple of minutes she’d warmed up a little. She told me that when she’d reached her car, someone had been hiding around the side of the building, looking at her and taking photos on his phone. In her words, she said they freaked her out. She said she’d been alone and it was dark except for the flash from the phone. She told me that she called out to them, asking who they were and what they wanted, but there was no answer so she ran. I checked with security for CCTV but our cameras on the car park were out of action so there was nothing we could do. Anyway, I walked her to her car and she left the campus safely. After that, she reported no more incidents so I assumed everything was okay.’
Gina leaned back in the plastic chair. ‘Did no one report this?’
‘I did ask Amber if I could call the police but she seemed to want to get home after she’d calmed down and she said it was nothing and that she wanted to leave it. I reassured her that I was always here to talk if she needed someone.’ He scratched his stubble and placed his elbows on the table.
‘Is this something you do with all your students? Offer to talk, I mean.’ Gina knew she sounded abrupt in her questioning but it was too late to take it back.
The muscles on his face tightened. ‘Of course. If they have problems, their study suffers. I can point them in the right direction if they need counselling or help. Do you have a problem with me caring for my students?’
Gina looked down at the table. ‘It’s just routine, Mr Collins.’ She cleared her dry throat. ‘How did she seem after that night?’
The little twitch on his temples subsided. He was no longer grinding his teeth. ‘Pretty much back to normal. She thanked me for helping her that night after a lecture. She said that maybe she’d exaggerated what she saw and not to worry about her. She seemed happy and was with her friends so I didn’t worry about it, not until I found out what had happened. Is it definitely her?’
Gina thought back to the body they found in the lake and the photo that Lauren Sandiford had sent to her, it was without a doubt, Amber Slater, although formal identification hadn’t taken place. Unless Amber had a twin, it was Amber. ‘It’s looking like it is Miss Slater although we haven’t had definite confirmation of that.’
The man’s eyes reddened after he rubbed them. ‘She will be sadly missed. Is there anything else I can help you with?’
‘Have you ever had any kind of relationship with Amber Slater that goes beyond professional?’
Mr Collins stood and pushed his chair under the table. ‘No, and I don’t like where this is going. Now if there’s nothing else, I have to go. My wife is waiting at home for me and we’re meant to be going out for dinner. Is that it?’
For now, it was. Gina nodded. As he left for the door Wyre’s gaze locked on Gina’s as if to ask why. Gina broke their eye contact and headed after him.
‘You know the way out, Inspector, it’s the way you came.’ Within seconds he was gone, not even his footsteps echoing in the stairwell.
As they left Wyre reached out for Gina’s arm, stopping her just outside the entrance. ‘What was that about, guv?’
‘Did you see the way he tensed up when I asked about his and Amber’s relationship?’
Wyre shook her head.
‘Well he did. I don’t know what he’s holding back but there’s something there. And he should have reported that someone was taking photos of Amber in the car park, regardless. Would it not be the responsible thing to do?’
‘I suppose he should have.’
‘Maybe he didn’t want anyone to delve further into these things for his own reasons. Maybe it suited him that Amber didn’t want to report it or maybe the conversation didn’t go exactly as he said and he convinced her not to say anything.’ Gina paused and smiled at Wyre. ‘Come on. Let’s get back to the station before I die of thirst. We can pick up this conversation in a bit.’
‘Fancy not saying yes to a coffee, guv. Unbelievable. I am now parched.’ Wyre jokingly shook her head.
As they headed to the car park, Gina nudged Wyre and pointed towards Mr Collins as he got into his car. ‘He just kicked his car door in a temper. That’s what I mean about suspicious. Without a doubt, there is more to his story and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.’
12
‘I’ll see you in the morning, Nanna.’ Madison grabbed her coat and blew a kiss to her great-grandmother as she left. She’d be okay until the following evening, though. Madison was confident that she could get around with her walking frame and there were plenty of sandwiches made up in the fridge, ready for her to eat.
‘Maddie, come here.’ Nanna’s crackly voice filled the hallway.
‘I have to get back, Nanna. I’d love to stay all night, you know I would, but I have an assignment to finish and I don’t want to be getting into trouble, do I?’ Madison gave her nan the fake stern look she always gave but then her smile formed. The cream carpet underneath her nan’s feet was stained from all the spillages over the past few weeks but it was clean; Madison had made sure she’d scrubbed it well to banish the germs.
Nanna laughed and pulled her purse from the side of her large recliner chair. ‘Here, my love, take this and buy yourself a drink.’ The elderly lady pulled out a fiver and pressed it into Madison’s hand. She did this occasionally and Madison would always try to hand it back. Nanna would always look insulted and insist that she took it.
‘Nanna, you shouldn’t be doing this. You don’t have much and I want to make sure you have enough money to look after yourself, don’t I? We can’t have you sitting here starving with the heating turned off all winter.’
‘Don’t be daft, you silly mare. I have a bit tucked away for a rainy day. You’re my great-granddaughter, the only one who bothers with me and you don’t know how much I appreciate you helping me like this. You’re just a girl. You should be out having fun with all your friends, not here helping me in and out of the bath.’ The lines around the old woman’s eyes were more pronounced as she thrust the five-pound note into Madison’s coat pocket. ‘Don’t forget to live a little. Go out, have fun, make friends, meet handsome men for wild nights. You’re only young once.’
Ma
dison’s face reddened. Her nanna had talked so much more over recent weeks about her life, her youth, and all the things she’d got up to. Maybe Nanna was right but Madison wasn’t about to discuss any of her romantic encounters with her nan. ‘Thank you, Nanna. I love you too. As it happens, I’m heading home to study then I’m meeting friends at the pub so I best get going. When the carer comes in the morning, tell them that I’ll be back tomorrow night to help you with your evening meal, but it won’t be until after six.’ She bent over and hugged the old lady, careful with her frail, hunched-over body. The last thing they both needed was for Nanna to break another bone when the last one hadn’t even healed, but her nanna was a trooper. She’d fight for her strength and hopefully be independent again, especially as she had Madison’s care.
Nanna pinched Madison’s cheek and brushed both hands down the sides of her long black hair. ‘Go on. You don’t want to be late. Just remember that I love you. Put the key in the key safe when you’ve locked me in. I’m all fine and I promise I’ll eat my sandwich in a bit. One last thing.’ Madison smiled. ‘I’m so proud of you. Little Maddie is going to be a nurse one day. Who’d have thought?’
A slight tear formed at the corner of Madison’s eye. After caring for her mother to the end, she knew this was what she was meant to do. That had been her calling. ‘Love you, Nanna. See you tomorrow.’ As she went to leave the room, she glanced back. Her nanna was already engrossed in the start of some repeated old quiz show on an obscure Sky channel. She smiled as she left, placing the key in the key safe as instructed.
Trudging through the slush underfoot, she felt a cold wetness seeping through her cheap boots. The orange street lamp reflected in a puddle ahead, lighting up the way between the trees and the side of Nanna’s bungalow. The lane that ran parallel to the path seemed quiet. She glanced up through a cut in the trees, one where the old chopped down oak tree had left a gap that Madison used to play in as a child. She and a few of the local kids used to build dens there with old sheets and long sticks. They’d got into such trouble when they tried to light a small fire so that they could cook a piece of toast, setting the sheet alight. She let out a small laugh as the path met the lane.
Nanna’s was only a five-minute walk from her flat on Bulmore Drive. She picked up the pace a little – maybe she should have driven, especially as they’d found the body of a woman in the lake that morning. She’d heard the news. Everyone on campus had been talking about it.
She hadn’t known Amber Slater that well but they’d hung out as a part of a larger group, attended the same parties and she only lived a short walk away from Amber’s block. She remembered the time outside the Angel Arms when Tyrone had been passing a spliff around. Amber was working behind the bar and had told them to go for a walk up the lane so she wouldn’t get into trouble. Way to live… She smiled. It was all part of the student experience.
She thought of Nanna and all her stories. The handsome young men she spoke of. How she experienced the sexual revolution of the sixties, much to her parents’ disapproval. Nanna had upped and left home, travelled half the world and had a love child by the time she was twenty-two. She smiled as she thought of all the fun she was going to have. Maybe she should let her hair down a bit more, meet some handsome young men just like Nanna had. She wasn’t going to have a love child though. A slight titter escaped her lips.
She stopped, noticing that the bulbs had gone in the street lamps above her. The darkness was suffocating. She stared ahead at the next glowing light. It wasn’t too far away. Her heart began to flutter. Take a deep breath. Everything is the same at night as it is during the day, it’s just darker. Nothing to be anxious about.
A sound came from behind, from the small path that fed onto the lane. She turned to see a long shadow under the last working street lamp. There was someone standing just out of sight and not moving. She placed the long straps of her satchel over her head and across her chest in readiness to run if she had to. The shadow moved and she heard heavy footsteps sloshing on the pavement. A silhouetted figure stepped into sight and remained still, facing her. The person didn’t move. She also remained still, both of them facing each other.
Fear ripped through her chest, causing her heart to miss a beat. As she gasped, she felt a light-headedness wash through her. She had to run. She turned and scarpered uphill, not stopping until she reached the next light, the sound of his heavy footsteps slapping on the puddles. He was coming for her.
On reaching the main road, she glanced back as she puffed and panted to get her breath back. The figure was gone. She looked to the right, then the left, ahead and back. He was nowhere to be seen. Had he been chasing her or had she imagined it? Maybe the sound of feet hitting puddles had been her own. She wiggled her soggy toes as she tried to calm her breathing down. She was safe. She was back on a busy road. No one was going to hurt her.
Her phone beeped. Her friends were at the pub. She needed a drink. She reached into her pocket and gripped the five-pound note that Nanna had given her. Her studies could wait until she got home. It wouldn’t be the last time she was ploughing through her assignments at three in the morning after a couple of drinks. Glancing back into the darkness of the lane, she spotted a shadow.
Maybe it was a tree, maybe it was him. She shook her head. Was she being silly? Maybe it was nothing at all and the person standing on the lane had a good reason. Or, maybe it was some sicko that got off on scaring women who were walking alone in the dark. She thought back to the news, to Amber, and wondered if she had been stalked by her killer. No specific information surrounding the murder had been released. The only thing the media had concentrated on was a call for witnesses to get in touch.
Amber could have been killed by someone she knew, a boyfriend or a relative. One murder didn’t mean there was a stalking killer prowling the streets. She was letting her imagination run away with her and it had to stop otherwise she’d send herself into a panic. She shivered and carried on towards the pub, searching for any sign of life or safe looking human activity.
Time to let her hair down and live a little, maybe even take some risks. Like Nanna said, you’re not young forever and she was only going to be twenty for another month.
13
Gina smiled as she grabbed the steaming hot mug of coffee that DCI Chris Briggs had left for her in the kitchen. He’d started doing that a bit more often. He’d make her a drink when he made himself one and send her a message to say it was in the kitchen. She hurried to the incident room and watched Briggs quietly from the entrance.
He faced the board that had been covered with writing and photos of their victim, Amber Slater. Her long dark hair splayed out, bobbing on the water. A slimy film covering the sides of her face and her shoulders, which jutted out of the shallow lake water. His broad figure covered the rest up. If they weren’t at the station, she would have loved to give his arm a reassuring squeeze. He reached across with his bulky hand and pinned another photo to the board. ‘Gina.’
How did he know she was there?
‘I could smell your body spray.’ It was as if he’d sensed what she was thinking. Like they were in tune. The thought of him recognising her smell made her heart jump slightly. She’d used the same perfumed deodorant for years. ‘It smells good.’
‘I’m surprised I don’t smell like a cesspit after the day I’ve had. It’s been a here, there and everywhere day, sir.’
‘You always smell lovely.’ She glanced back, checking that they were alone. He continued. ‘Your first thoughts?’
She hated it when he asked this question. It was early in the investigation and she always had so many threads running through her mind at this stage. She swallowed and paused for a moment as she got her thoughts in order. ‘Amber Slater was placed in that spot to be found. Her body was almost on the bank where the lake water meets the earth. Looking at where our killer could have parked, it would have taken a lot of effort to get her there but there was no further effort to weigh the body down in the
water. We don’t know how she got there yet but I’m hoping the crime scene crew have found some drag marks or footprints. The weather hasn’t helped though. We’ve had frost, ice and a thaw. It’s been wet, windy and the lake was still busy with joggers and dog walkers regardless of this.’
‘You’ve spoken to a lot of people so far. What are your initial thoughts on them?’ He slid a chair out at the head of the table and sat. His lilac tie was loosened at his neck.
‘Okay, the first person Wyre and I interviewed was Otis Norton. He called in after discovering the body. He said he was out walking, but he seemed to be dressed in his best clothes while taking a break from looking after his ill wife. It seems odd for him to be there, dressed like that for no reason. I mean, maybe I’m wrong and that’s just what he does but it didn’t feel right. Something was off and at the moment I can’t think what.’
Briggs smiled. ‘Suspect everyone until we’ve eliminated them, that’s what we do.’ He leaned back and began to play with a Biro, twiddling it between his chunky index finger and thumb. ‘Who else?’ As he leaned forward a little, the light from above the table caught the grey flecks in his dark hair.
‘The chef at the Fish and Anchor, a Jake Goodman. He’s a young man, not much older looking than Amber. When I showed him the photo of Amber, I knew he recognised her but he said he didn’t. We need to check him out further.’ She could feel the warmth coming from his body and she wanted more. It had been so cold in the station but Briggs was rarely cold. She moved to sit at the opposite end of the large table and the strip light flickered. The fan heater clicked off and the room was plunged into silence.
‘Anyone else?’
Gina pressed her lips together as she thought back to the university visit. ‘Mr Collins, the management accountancy lecturer. He took some of Amber’s classes and he told us that Amber had become scared after she thought someone was taking photos of her in the student car park, but he failed to report it. He seemed to get the hump when I probed about how well they knew each other. Again, we need to keep him on our radar for now.’ Gina glanced up at the photos again. ‘Bernard said that it looked like the killer had glued her lips together.’