by Carla Kovach
Tuesday, 26 January
‘Residue of superglue found on her lips? That’s just revolting.’ DS Jacob Driscoll finished the rest of his chocolate bar and put the wrapper in his pocket.
Gina stared up at the old converted house on Bulmore Drive, the place where Amber Slater’s father had agreed to meet them. It must have been a grand family home many years ago. ‘Was that your breakfast?’
He nodded. ‘Jennifer has obviously been working through all the forensics stuff most of the night. We normally have something together but she was showered, up and out before I was properly awake.’
‘That’s dedication for you. I like Jennifer.’ The chunky heel on Gina’s boot cracked through an icy puddle, sending a wave of cold water over her toes. She wrapped her scarf around her neck as they crossed the car park, weaving in and out of several badly parked old cars.
‘I do too.’ His hair had grown a little longer on top but the sides were still short and defined neatly against his face. He was definitely more Clark Kent than Action Man now. He shivered a little and zipped his coat up further.
‘You two make such a sweet couple.’
He shook his head and carried on walking. ‘Give over. Sweet. What kind of word is that?’ Pressing one of the bells, then another, he soon realised none of them worked. He finally knocked, hoping that one of the residents would hear and answer the door.
The main door opened and a grungy looking lad stood there. His checked shirt opened onto a black T-shirt. Black skinny jeans reached his ankles. ‘Yeah.’
Gina inhaled and the smell of stale sweat hit her, turning her stomach a little. She wished she’d had a little bite to eat before coming out as tummy rumbling nausea was plaguing her now. ‘DI Harte and DS Driscoll. We’re here to meet Mr Slater but we will need to speak to all who live here in turn, including yourself.’
His shoulders dropped. ‘Sorry, I thought you might be a reporter. Someone knocked earlier, trying to get a story. A guy from the Warwickshire Herald. I told the man to sling his hook.’
‘Thank you for that.’ The last thing she wanted was for the press to start coming up with a million and one theories of their own and they could not get wind of the superglue. That information was just for her department and the killer.
He pulled a hairband from his pocket and scraped his greasy curly mane into a bun on the back of his head. ‘Mr Slater is in Amber’s apartment, waiting. He had a spare key.’ He paused. ‘We can’t believe what happened to Amber. It’s a shock, you know? Losing a friend.’ A faint smell of weed wafted from the man’s clothing.
Gina nodded as he pulled the door open. ‘We’re sorry for your loss. What’s your name?’
‘Curtis.’
Jacob pulled out his notebook and passed it open on a page to Gina. It contained five names. Amber, Corrine, Tyrone, Curtis and Lauren. ‘Which flat is Amber’s?’
‘Up the stairs and left.’
‘Thank you,’ Gina replied. The entrance hall was quite roomy for the size of the building, with a staircase ahead. Her back brushed against the post boxes as she passed, all of which were overspilling with takeaway flyers and unopened letters. Jacob led the way up to the first floor and another thinner set of stairs led up to another level. As they reached the flat, Gina knocked. A shuffling noise came from behind the door. ‘It’s cold out here.’
Jacob moved from foot to foot, trying to keep warm.
She heard the catch click.
‘Come in.’ Mr Slater didn’t ask for their names or any identification. He opened the door, moving aside to let them in.
‘Thank you.’ Gina stepped into the dark hallway. ‘We’re so sorry for your loss, Mr Slater. I’m DI Harte, you met DS Driscoll yesterday.’
‘Come in. I was just…’ He gasped for breath and led the way to his daughter’s bed where he sat on her strewn clothes that covered it.
‘It’s okay, just take a moment.’
He rubbed his eyes and clasped his hands as he hunched forward, revealing a tiny balding patch in the middle of his dark hair. ‘I can’t believe she’s gone. Just like that.’ He clicked his fingers, his stare meeting Gina’s. Jacob shuffled into the small room and stood beside Gina. She nodded to him. That was his cue to take a discreet look around.
As Jacob left again, Gina caught sight of the man in the full-length mirror. His brow was scrunched as he toiled over what had happened to his daughter. Gina wondered how she’d react in similar circumstances and she couldn’t envisage it. She and her daughter Hannah weren’t close but she couldn’t imagine being where Mr Slater was now. She needed to approach things gently, sure the man would crack if she didn’t and that was the last thing she wanted. ‘Mr Slater, can you tell me a little about Amber?’
He grabbed a purple jumper from the bed and held it close to his chest, then he inhaled it and hugged it. ‘She was my everything. It has just been her and me for the past ten years since her mother left us for some man she met when we holidayed in Spain. That’s where she lives now. I called her and told her. She’s not even coming back, can you believe it? Her only child has been murdered and the woman isn’t even going to help with the funeral.’
Swallowing, Gina hoped he’d go on without further prompting but he went silent instead and that silence continued. ‘So, it’s been you and your daughter for the past ten years. Did Amber call you regularly?’
He nodded. ‘I live in Tamworth, Staffordshire. She popped in whenever she wanted but her visits had lessened. I popped over to help her with DIY running up to Christmas. Her landlord is useless.’ He paused. ‘I was lucky to get a visit from her once a month but I did make the effort to call her weekly. I understand what it’s like, living away for the first time in your life, having a good time, establishing independence. I get why she didn’t call me every five minutes and I didn’t want to be that parent who smothered their grown-up child. The parent she dreaded the call from every five minutes, so I backed off.’ He paused and let out a tiny laugh. ‘I was trying to find myself too. Make sure I had things in my life to do and to enjoy now that Amber had left home, now that just feels selfish. I should have been around much more than I was.’
‘When did you last hear from her?’
He placed the jumper over his knee and stroked it like it was a cat. ‘About a fortnight ago. The last time I saw her was Boxing Day. She spent Christmas with me and her nan, and she stayed overnight, then left the next day to come back here. She said she was preparing to hit the sales with her friend Lauren. She loved clothes shopping. Everything was as normal as it could be. I drove over to visit a few times but she was never in. I thought she was having too much of a good time to see her old man.’
‘Go back to that phone call a couple of weeks ago. How did she seem?’
‘Full of life. Excited about her course and her future. She said she really wanted to be a management accountant and was looking into the CIMA qualification. That’s chartered management accountancy. Apparently her tutor had said she had a natural flair for it and should really think about doing it, when the time was right. I was so happy for her. I don’t know where she gets her brains from – got, where she got her brains from – but it’s not me or her mother. I can’t get used to saying that, referring to her in the past tense. I mean, I can still smell her in this room. There is a dent on her pillow from when she last lay on her bed. The milk in her fridge isn’t even sour.’ His hair looked like it was once a short back and sides but some bits had grown longer than others at a different rate, making him look a little scruffy. He clenched his jaw and straightened his back. ‘Someone took her from me. If I find out who, I’m going to kill them! I’m going to torture the bastard and shove him face down in a freezing cold lake to drown, then I’ll stamp on his head, crack it like a watermelon. I mean it…’ His hands began to tremble. ‘How could anyone have hurt Amber like that? I should have been there more.’
Gina could see his clenched knuckles shaking. ‘Mr Slater—’
‘Theo. Mr Sl
ater is getting annoying. I never get called that. Sorry.’ He took a breath and composed himself. ‘I shouldn’t have shouted.’
Jacob stood in the doorway as she continued. ‘I have to ask you this. Do you know anyone who might want to hurt Amber? Anyone she’d had a disagreement with, fallen out with, anyone she was seeing?’
‘She never mentioned anything when we spoke and I think I’d have known if she had a boyfriend. I don’t know how anyone could not like her. She was kind, loved her friends and family.’
Gina knew that it wasn’t likely that Amber would have spoken to her father if she’d fallen out with someone or met someone. She’d more than likely speak to her friends, the people she was around day in, day out.
‘I told you all everything I knew yesterday, at the station. And, what I do know is nothing. Not a thing. If I knew something, I’d tell you. I want her killer found.’ He seethed at the end of his sentence, slightly spitting on the back of his hand.
Gina bit the dry skin on the edge of her lip and flinched at the thought of tearing lips trying to free themselves after being glued together. A metallic taste swirled on her tongue; they had cracked again. ‘We will need to take Amber’s laptop and any other devices that might help with the investigation. I would also like to take a look around her apartment if that’s okay.’
‘She’d hate anyone snooping around her stuff.’ He stood and walked over to the window still holding the jumper. ‘I understand though.’ He placed a key on the windowsill. ‘The rent is paid in advance until the end of February. I know because I pay it. Please be gentle with her things. They’re all I have left of her. I wished now that I’d moved closer so she could have stayed with me at home. I could have protected her.’ He walked back to the bed and placed the jumper back on it. ‘I have to get out of here for a bit, clear my head with some fresh air.’
‘Of course – and thank you. I’ll make sure everything is put back in its place.’
Gina glanced around the room. It was a stereotypical student pad. A bit shabby and scratched, old-looking mismatched furniture and a scraggy rug. Mess filled every corner. Textbooks mixed with clothes. Make-up dust covered every surface.
‘You have my number,’ he said and left the room. The door slammed a moment later.
Jacob walked over to the window and stared out. ‘Poor man.’
‘Did you find anything?’
‘Laptop on the worktop in the kitchen-cum-living room. And there’s something else. Come take a look.’
Gina hastily followed Jacob through the hall, past the bathroom and into the kitchen area. With a gloved hand, he slid the top drawer open and pulled an old phone out, one that was only capable of sending messages or making phone calls on.
‘It was already turned on. You should read these messages, guv.’
She glanced through them, hoping that the last bar of charge wouldn’t turn it off mid read. ‘Book this in now, along with her laptop. We have full permission from Theo Slater to be here so I want PC Smith to hurry over and organise a small team to search for anything that might be relevant. I don’t see any evidence that her murder was committed here but we need to stay focused. We need her phone records too. I can’t believe for one minute that this old phone is her main one.’ She glanced at another message and shivered.
16
Theo hurried back towards the car and drove as fast as he could, away from the police and his daughter’s digs. He drove into Cleevesford and along the high street until he found the pub, the one Amber worked in.
He charged through the heavy door and made his way to the bar. Maybe he should have come earlier, checked out where his daughter was working but she’d told him to stay away and he’d respected that. He glanced at the collection box and swallowed. They must have thought a lot of Amber, too.
‘What can I get you?’ The woman with bright red lips that matched her nails leaned on the bar, waiting for an answer. Her leopard print top flapped open as a button slipped from the hole. His instinct was to tell her to do it up, just like the many times he’d told Amber to change before she went out with friends. That had caused a lot of arguments between them. In any other circumstances, he might have tried to chat this woman up but right now, all he needed was a drink.
‘A pint of Wonky Elm, please?’
‘Good choice.’ As she turned to pour it, her heels clipped on the tiled floor behind the bar. Too spiky and too showy, she wasn’t his type at all. He stopped himself from thinking about when he confiscated half of Amber’s clothes and shoes for this very reason. And now, he’d finally taken a look in her wardrobe, never daring to do so before in case the clothes she was wearing were despicable. The short skirts, the tight dresses, the high-heeled thigh-length boots – and she had a vibrator in her bedroom drawer. He shook his head trying to cast all these images out of his head. His Amber. His little girl.
‘One Wonky Elm. Can I get you anything else? We have a brunch menu.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m good thanks. Thank you for what you are doing.’ He pointed to the collection tin. ‘I’m Amber’s father.’
‘I’m so sorry. We all loved her here. She was such a lovely—’
He held up his hand to end the conversation. He couldn’t talk about it, not yet. Taking the pint, he found a quiet corner in the pub and stared into the fireplace, watching as the flames licked the edges. A breeze blew through the chimney. Little flecks of black swished along the hearth until one piece hit the carpet.
Pulling the phone from his pocket, he clicked on the app one more time and stared at his daughter’s face. His beautiful girl had been ‘looking for a good time’. Holding his finger on the app, he dragged it away, deleting it forever. He no longer had to watch over her. Swigging the ale, he felt his emotions beginning to spill. He swallowed them down, closed his eyes and slowed his heart rate down with a few controlled breaths. The app was deleted and no one would know he’d ever used it.
He should never have gone there, to that place within himself that he tried so hard to bury. It was unforgivable. Some things can’t stay in a box. They escape, consuming you until you let them out and now he could never forgive himself.
17
Gina read through the messages again, sent from multiple people. This time she read all the replies to the original messages.
BigBoz
Amber, I really lurved last night. You do something 2 me that I can’t explain. Fancy a repeat performance? Just tex if u do.
No reply and no further messages to BigBoz.
NoName
I need to speak to you. Please, Amber.
Amber
What we did wasn’t right and you lied to me. Don’t message me again.
NoName
Don’t do this to me. Answer your phone. I need to talk to you.
NoName
Why aren’t you answering?
NoName
There’s someone else, isn’t there?
Amber
You’re stressing me.
NoName
Me stressing you.
Amber
I can’t stand this any more. I’m turning the phone off.
NoName
Don’t do that. You can’t ignore me.
NoName
Why won’t you pick up?
NoName
Just answer your phone.
NoName
Stuck-up bitch. There are plenty of others who’d like to have what you have.
NoName
Amber, I’m sorry about the last message. I didn’t mean it.
That was the end of the message chain for NoName.
AdamzFun
You didn’t turn up.
Amber
I turned up you shit. That wasn’t your photo. Go do one.
AdamzFun hadn’t replied again.
BearBoy
I can see U puttin it about. You don’t have to do it! You’re a nice girl.
Amber
I tell you what, you and the morality police
can FO!
The phone let out a beep and turned itself off. Gina bagged it and placed it in her pocket. ‘Bloody hell, some people just don’t take no for an answer. I’m talking about NoName. So, she had been active on the dating circuit and all these messages were sent over the course of three weeks. Why would she use this phone? I’m sure this isn’t her main phone, she would have taken that with her when she left to meet her date. Will you check the number?’
Jacob leaned against the wall in the hall and flicked through his notes. ‘Her main number is different. Her father gave it to us.’
‘It’s possible that this is the number she gives to her dates so she doesn’t have to change her main number if any of them become a nuisance.’
‘Sounds reasonable.’
Gina took a slow walk around the apartment. The fraying leather sofa was half covered in snuggle blankets and several used glasses and cups were dotted around the room. The tiny kitchen at the other end looked to be barely used, except for the toaster, which had a pile of crumbs underneath. A box of opened peppermint teabags and a jar of value hot chocolate sat next to the kettle.
She left the room, nudging past Jacob as he checked his emails. The tiny bathroom was more like the size of what a person would expect in a caravan. The tiniest wet room ever with no window and black mould seeping through the corners. She opened the mirrored cabinet. A half-used packet of antibiotics and a variety of moisturisers and hair serums filled it. She closed it and glanced around. Nothing seemed out of place.