by Carla Kovach
His hand brushes the back of her neck as he loosens the thin piece of material tied to the side of her mouth.
‘Who are you?’
‘PC Jhanvi Kapoor.’
‘You are not Jhanvi. She is dead. Do you hear me?’ A fleck of his spit hits her cheek.
A burst of perfume comes from nowhere, one that smelled of lilies.
She has an inkling of what he desires and she would give it to him. The superglue. Amber. The stab to the heart. She swallows, knowing that if her idea doesn’t work out, she’d be his next murder victim.
‘I won’t leave you and I’ll be quiet,’ she says.
She wonders who he thinks she is, if not Jhanvi Kapoor. Maybe him calling her Hailey earlier wasn’t a slip of the tongue.
‘Just go away, will you,’ he spontaneously shouts, then pauses.
Who is he speaking to? There is no one else in the room and his voice travels away from her. Maybe her only way out of this is to become Hailey.
42
Jacob held a piece of paper in the air and flicked it. ‘We have a match on the fingerprint.’
Gina almost fell into a chair at the incident room main table, her mouth dry with anticipation.
‘Who?’
‘Theo Slater.’
‘Her father?’
Jacob flicked the printout in his hand and dropped it on the table. ‘Yes. He’s on our system. Drink driving conviction three years ago.’
‘I want him in, now, and I want a search warrant for his house on the basis that we’ve found his prints on surveillance equipment in the home of our murder victim. Wyre, can you get onto that?’
Wyre nodded and headed off to one of the computers. ‘Why would he put surveillance in his own daughter’s hallway? What the hell is going on?’
Gina only wished she knew the answer to that question as she paced past the board. ‘Whatever we do, we mustn’t drop the balls that we’re juggling. I still want anything we can find on Vincent Jordan and I still want Mr and Mrs Collins. Any news on them?’
Jacob flicked through a couple of screens. ‘Nothing yet. It’s like they’ve vanished.’
‘Do we have an address for their parents? We need to look further. Their car hasn’t been flagged by an ANPR. Are there any connections between any of these people? We can connect Tyrone Heard to Amber and Madison. He lived in Amber’s block and wanted to move into Madison’s. I’m all over the place with this investigation. I also want Tyrone here, today, but first we need Theo Slater. We need to press him hard on this issue. Not only did he let himself into Amber’s apartment before we got there, it seems he may have removed evidence. He’s in big trouble and it’s enough to search his home and bring him in. Go gently to start. Anything he can give us voluntarily will be easier than him going “no comment” non-stop once a solicitor gets involved. I want any phones, computers, digital storage devices looked at as a matter of urgency. Any resistance, we’re going to have to arrest him on suspicion so that we can investigate him further.’
43
Wyre stood next to Gina with the search warrant in her hand and a team of officers ready to go in. A police officer’s life was at stake and if Theo Slater had anything to do with all this, he was going to tell before the day was out.
Gina rapped her knuckles on the door as hard as she could. The snow beneath her feet was now about an inch thick. She shook her boots as she heard Theo unlocking the door from the other side. As he opened up, a stark look spread across his face and he stared. ‘Theo Slater, we’ve met before. I’m DI Harte, this is DC Wyre, we have a warrant to search your premises.’ She took the piece of paper from Wyre and passed it to Theo. As he read through it, his shoulders slumped. ‘We’ve found your fingerprints on what looks to be surveillance equipment in your daughter, Amber Slater’s, apartment.’
He stepped back opening his mouth but no words coming out.
‘Phone.’
He pulled his phone from his pocket with shaky hands and handed it over. The wind blew and a flurry of snowflakes followed them in. Gina bagged his phone and passed it to the officer behind her. ‘We need you down the station. You have a lot of explaining to do.’
‘I was just doing some jobs at her apartment. You know, decorating, DIY. Of course my prints were there.’
‘Your prints were found behind a false cupboard made to look like a wall.’
His face reddened and Gina swore she could see him shaking. ‘This is ridiculous. I’ve just lost my daughter.’
Several officers continued forward, heading into each room to conduct the search methodically.
‘We also found remnants of a surveillance device inside an old alarm sensor and your prints were on that too. You’ll have plenty of time to explain yourself when we get to the station.’
PC Smith entered.
Gina caught his attention. ‘Can you stay with Mr Slater while I assist with the search? And please explain to him what will happen when we get to the station.’
‘Of course, guv.’ PC Smith took Theo to one side.
Tension was plastered all over Theo’s face, from his twitching face muscles to his clenched jaw. His beady eyes were flitting from side to side, trying to take in everyone’s movements and failing spectacularly.
Leaving Mr Slater behind, she glanced through the living room door and pulled a pair of latex gloves over her hands. Two officers were already making headway. Another came in from the garden. ‘The metal burning bin is still warm.’
Constant rustling and the sound of opening drawers came from above, then an electric screwdriver began to whirr. ‘Guv, come here – quick.’ Wyre’s voice boomed down from the landing.
Running up the creaky stairs, Gina could feel the weight of Theo’s stare on her back. ‘What is it?’
‘They’ve just found a surveillance device in the fire alarm in Mr Slater’s bedroom and we’ve found the same sort of wiring that was in Amber’s cupboard. And look,’ Wyre pointed along the ceiling, ‘the tiny wire had been painted to blend in and it leads to the back of the fitted wardrobe. There’s surveillance equipment inside.’
‘Bag it all up. I want to know exactly what he’s been recording.’ She shook her head as she thought of his daughter. Amber had not known her father was watching her comings and goings. She clenched her hands. They had to find the recordings and her big hope was that they’d be on his laptop or a hard drive of some description. She ran from room to room. ‘Mark any recording equipment as a priority.’ Running down the stairs, she noticed that Mr Slater was now staring at the door. He turned away slightly so that she couldn’t see his face and she wondered what expression he was trying to hide.
All the kitchen drawers were open and two officers were reaching into cupboards. Gina looked down and saw a scrape mark on the lino flooring. Bending down, she began to press it and pull the kickboard, trying to work out how to loosen it. She knocked the one end and the other side flew forward. ‘Can I borrow your torch?’ The officer passed it to her and she shone it under the cupboard and spotted a rectangular chunk of metal. Reaching through the grime and cobwebs, she grabbed it and slid it out, bagging it immediately.
Kapoor’s image kept running through her mind. What if her colleague was on this hard drive? She swallowed and bit her bottom lip, knowing she had to see exactly what Mr Slater had been up to. She hurried along the hallway, almost tripping over the runner. ‘What have you done with her?’
Theo Slater slowly turned, shrugged his shoulders and made a zipping motion with his fingers across his lips.
44
The tape had been rolling for several minutes and Gina knew that Briggs was watching from behind the interview room screen. Jacob slid the file to her. With PC Kapoor missing, they were all on the case and would stay fully on it until she was found. As Theo Slater tried to pull another one of his eyebrow hairs out, Gina took a photo from the file. The dark-suited male solicitor whispered in Theo Slater’s ear. ‘This is a photo of the hard drive found under the kickboard of
your kitchen.’ She placed another photo next to it. ‘This is the recording device found in your bedroom.’ She slid two more photos across the table. ‘The device in which it records to and finally the bits of equipment and lead we found in your daughter’s apartment. I’ve seen the footage.’
‘I didn’t hurt my daughter.’
‘You think recording her in her own home, without her knowing, wasn’t hurting her?’
‘I wanted to protect and look out for her, that’s all. She’d never lived alone before. I mean the camera was in the hallway where people come and go.’
Gina pulled out another photo. One of a woman lying next to Mr Slater in bed. ‘Did you want to protect and look out for this woman? Who is she?’
He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. ‘I don’t know.’
‘You don’t know. Your computer tells us that you uploaded a clip of you and this woman having sex to an online porn site. Did you have her permission? Did she even know you were recording her?’
‘No comment.’
Gina leaned back, the creaking plastic chair filling the pause. The heater clicked on and began to whirr.
Theo brushed a few specs of dandruff from around his ear and leaned forward.
Glancing back at her notes, Gina knew exactly what he had been doing. All the sound from their encounter had been recorded. The AppyDater app that he’d deleted was easily restorable and that woman was one of his hook-ups. ‘You met her on AppyDater. I’ve seen the messages…’
A bead of sweat formed at his hairline even though it was bitter cold.
‘The day after, you talk in your message about having a lovely date and how you came back to yours for sex; consensual sex by the sounds of it. After watching the recording in full, I see you, glancing up at the camera grinning, but she doesn’t do that once. She is totally unaware that she is being filmed. Then, the evidence on your laptop shows that you’ve edited the footage to blur out your own face and uploaded it to The Horn House, an online user community porn site that anyone can upload to. There is something else that bothers me…’
The man began to waft his jumper. The heat that his own nervous body created was getting to him.
‘The name BearBoy.’
‘I’m not saying anything. I want to leave. Can I leave?’ His glare met that of his solicitor. The man whispered to his client once again. Theo sighed and leaned back.
‘This is serious, Mr Slater. Take this as a warning. If you do this again, this as evidence will be used as a course of conduct. Going back to BearBoy. We found a phone at your daughter’s house, one that she used to message her dates and there was an interesting message from BearBoy. For the tape, I’m reading the message from the file. “I can see U puttin it about. You don’t have to do it! You’re a nice girl.” Can you explain why you sent that message to your own daughter?’
He stood, knocking his chair against the back wall.
‘Sit down, Mr Slater.’
The man glanced at his solicitor.
Jacob leaned forward and smiled warmly in Theo Slater’s direction. ‘We’ve seen the recordings on the hard drive that were taken from your daughter’s apartment. We just want to know why you sent her that message.’
Theo seemed to be less antagonised by Jacob and he sat. ‘My solicitor has prepared a statement.’
Gina slouched back. Great, not what she wanted. Just as she thought he might open up. She glanced at her watch. The clock was ticking and the thought of Kapoor being kept hostage and taunted with death was getting to be too much. The sickly feeling in her stomach was being further exacerbated by the heat blasting on her feet and the coldness above that was making her nose feel like it had frozen solid. They were getting nowhere fast.
The man pulled out a piece of paper. ‘My client wishes to express that he didn’t place the surveillance equipment in his daughter’s apartment for any reason but to ensure her safety. It was her first stint of living alone and, as her parent, he was worried. He knows he went about things wrongly and for that he’s deeply apologetic, but it was all done with the most sincere of intentions. He hoped by connecting with her on AppyDater that he would make her see that she didn’t need to be on there. He admits that he was being overprotective and by being like that, he overstepped the mark but he had no intention of hurting her.’
Gina felt her hackles rising. ‘If your daughter was here now, how would she feel knowing her own father was spying on her? You can see right through to her lounge from the hall.’
‘I’m sorry. I just needed to know she was safe and that none of the people visiting were weirdos. That’s all,’ he yelled.
‘You betrayed her trust. Did you go one step further and begin to stalk her because you couldn’t bear her starting a life without you? Maybe she didn’t call you often enough and you couldn’t bear not to know what she was up to at all times.’
‘No.’
‘Did you watch her every move, angry that she was enjoying her life without you, going out and having fun after being under the same roof as a father that stifles her?’
‘No.’
‘Mr Slater. Did you kill your daughter, Amber Slater?’
‘No! I would never hurt her. I was stupid. I watched her because I couldn’t bear to let her go. I love her and she was all that I had and I feel like there’s a big gaping hole in my life. I just wanted to protect her and keep an eye on her. I was stupid, so stupid but my intentions were good.’
‘And how about the woman in your bedroom video?’
He shook his head and gasped. ‘I recorded a woman while I had sex with her. Why? Because I’m an idiot. I sussed out the surveillance equipment and I don’t know, I got carried away. I admit it. I was wrong. I was stupid and you know something, I’ll never forgive myself for not keeping a closer eye on Amber. I wish I had stalked her now. I sent those stupid messages as BearBoy because I wanted her to be put off that stupid app and look where it got me. I tried to explain that she was too nice to be on it.’
‘You used spyware on Amber’s computer too. We found it.’ Jacob dropped another photo on the pile so that Theo Slater could see it. ‘We found it linked to your computer. You knew everything your daughter was up to. She had no privacy at all except for the burner phone we found in her apartment. Did you get angry when she gave her number to BearBoy? Upset that you couldn’t see what she was up to?’
Gina remained still even though she needed to shiver. ‘And that must have driven you crazy knowing that she’d broken away from your constant spying on her. Is that why you killed her?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘Where did you take her?’
He stood again and threw the chair at the door. ‘I. Did. Not. Kill. My. Daughter.’
It was no good. Gina had to push him harder. Kapoor’s life was at stake. ‘Where were you on Tuesday evening? Were you anywhere near Cleevesford Hospital?’
‘I was at home.’ He began to pace and seethe. ‘Get me out of here.’
‘Can anyone confirm that?’
He slammed his palms on the door. ‘Get me out. Now.’ His booming voice filled the room. ‘Bastards! You’re trying to fix me up. I want to leave. I need to get out.’
‘Where is Jhanvi Kapoor?’
‘What?’ He kicked the door over and over again.
‘My client has had enough for now. I’d advise him not to say another word and he is clearly distressed.’
Gina scooped up the photos from the table and stared at the solicitor. ‘My colleague is missing and believed to have been taken by the same person who took Amber Slater. A young woman has been killed. Another young woman was attacked on Tuesday evening and is in hospital.’
‘And my client needs a break or I report you for misconduct. That’s enough for now.’ The solicitor placed his Montblanc pen in his top pocket and went over to Theo Slater. ‘We can talk about this in a bit okay? You need to have a drink, something to eat and a break.’ As they left, Mr Slater’s yelling and swearing filled the corridor.
‘Interview suspended at sixteen fifteen on Wednesday the twenty-seventh of January.’ Jacob stopped the recording.
Briggs hurried through. ‘Damn it! You went in too quickly. Even with his solicitor’s statement, he was talking. We could have got more out of him.’
Gina’s brows furrowed. ‘He knew exactly what he was going to confess to and what he was going to hold back on. He couldn’t dispute the chain of evidence that we had but we don’t have any evidence linking him to the murder of his daughter. We don’t have any evidence linking him to Madison Randle’s attack and we have no evidence that he’s ever come into contact with PC Kapoor. We went in with nothing apart from a man who was guilty of a shameful act and we hoped that it was him and that he’d crack. It’s not him. He doesn’t have Kapoor.’
‘I’m sorry. We’re all on edge. I shouldn’t have gone off like that.’ Briggs lowered his head and shook it. She glanced up at him, feeling the tension between them. This wasn’t about the interview, it was about him being on AppyDater and her finding out.
Jacob leaned on the back wall as he gathered up the file.
Backing down, she swallowed. Now wasn’t the time. ‘I know I could have played it better. We’re desperate. Every time I think, Kapoor is in my mind. I picture her bound to a chair waiting for a painful death. I see the knife wound through Amber’s heart, driving through Kapoor’s and I—’ She slammed her fist on the table, making the recorder jump. ‘We have to find her and it’s desperate. Time is running out and we’re no further to the truth. In Mr Slater we have a despicable person who has committed a despicable crime, but murder? We are no further forward. That’s the frustrating thing.’ She knew that to Kapoor every minute would seem like forever and the not knowing what would happen, or anticipating the worst, would take its toll. ‘Right, I think we need to call a briefing, find out where we are with everything. Back to the bloody drawing board.’