Текст книги "Jessica Daniel: Locked In / Vigilante / The Woman in Black"

Автор книги: Kerry Wilkinson

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Текущая страница: 46 (всего у книги 60 страниц)

12

Jacob Chrisp downed the rest of his pint and looked across the table at the man opposite. ‘Oi, Fred, your round, fella.’

‘Who got the last lot?’ the man asked.

‘I got the first round, Stevo got his, Legs was next and now it’s your turn. Get moving.’

Fred stood and stepped out from under the giant parasol that extended over the table they were sitting at. ‘Same again, lads?’

The three men nodded. Jacob stretched out from under the umbrella to make sure the upper half of his bare torso was in the sun. ‘Bloody lovely weather, this.’

One of the other two men rolled up the sleeves on his T-shirt to make it more like a vest, moving further into the evening sun. ‘Aye aye,’ he said, nodding his head towards the beer garden’s entrance. The pub was the closest to the office they were clearing. It wasn’t great but the beer was cheap and, with weather like they were having, the patio at the back was perfect for drinking after work.

Jacob and the third man glanced towards where their friend had nodded to see two women sitting on opposite sides of a wooden table a few yards away. One had short blonde hair and was wearing denim shorts with a small white vest top, the other had on a short skirt and bikini top.

‘Whew, that is top quality,’ Jacob said. He gave a low whistle and raised his eyebrows as the two girls looked over. ‘Evening, ladies.’ The two females ignored him, each lighting a cigarette and stretching their legs into the sun. ‘Probably lesbians,’ Jacob said, looking back to his friends. ‘They look the type.’ He coughed loudly. ‘Dykes.’

The two men around him laughed. ‘Who was the redheaded one you were with earlier?’ one of them asked.

‘Some chick from the Old Bill.’

‘What did she want?’

Jacob didn’t know what to think of the two detectives who had visited him and couldn’t figure out what they wanted. Were they saying he could be a target because of something to do with his rugby team or were they just after information? Either way, he had no intention of telling his friends about it. ‘I saw some car accident last week. They were taking a statement.’

‘What were they like close-up? They looked tidy from a distance.’

‘Oh, you definitely would. The red-head was a stunner but there was something about the other one too.’

Despite his bravado, Jacob had been a bit spooked by the officer with the dark blonde hair. Maybe it was the way she had completely dismissed him but he got the feeling there was something she wasn’t telling him. The comments about two of the players being hurt were cryptic but he hadn’t wanted to ask too many questions in case they had come back with more inquiries of their own. As far as he was concerned, the less said about the tours their rugby team had gone on, the better – and it was years ago anyway. Aside from the odd one, he hadn’t seen any of the players for ages and, as for the two detectives, he had given them the name of the freak coach but knew they wouldn’t get too much from him, even if they could find him.

Jacob’s thoughts were interrupted by Fred returning with a tray of drinks. ‘You took your time.’

‘Yeah, just some bloke being a dick and trying to cut in line at the bar. It’s heaving in there. I’ve never seen the place so busy.’

As he spoke a man walked across, standing behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder. ‘You all right, fellas? I just wanted to apologise for jumping the queue inside. I don’t want any trouble or anything. Can I get you all a drink to make up for it?’

Fred looked at the man and then glanced across to Jacob, who shrugged, thinking he had something vaguely familiar about him. ‘No worries, buddy, we’re all on lager here so a pint each and we’ll say no more about it, yeah?’

‘Sure, I’ll be right back.’

The man disappeared back into the pub as Jacob and the other two men stared at Fred. ‘What did you say to him inside?’

Fred seemed slightly confused. ‘Nothing, I just sent him packing. I guess he saw us and figured he didn’t want a scrap. Can’t blame him really.’

Jacob took his fresh drink from the tray and took a large slurp. ‘Better get these ones down if we’ve got more on the way.’

Fred nodded towards the two girls who now had their backs to the men. ‘You seen those two?’

‘Both lezzers,’ Jacob replied.

The group continued talking and a few minutes later the other man returned with a tray of four drinks. He walked around the table putting a pint down in front of each man. ‘Here you are, boys, sorry about the trouble.’

Jacob downed his pint and picked up the new one, shrugging at his friends. ‘Free beer – we’ll have to send Fred in to put the shits up people more often.’

‘Aye, it’s always the quiet ones,’ one of the other men said.

They continued to talk and joke but, after finishing the fifth drink of the evening, Fred stood. ‘Time for me to go, fellas, Suzie will be wondering where I am.’

One of the other men got to his feet. ‘I should probably be off too. I’m driving and my copper mate reckons they have those random drink-driving stops after eight. I’m not getting done again.’

‘Can I hop in with you?’ the third man asked, also standing up.

‘Yeah, but let’s get going, it’s already half seven.’

‘You’re all off?’ Jacob said accusingly, though he could hear his own words slurring.

‘Sorry, mate,’ Fred replied. ‘I’ve got to look after the kids tomorrow night too but we’ll come back the day after that.’ The other two men nodded in agreement.

Jacob wanted to protest but was feeling sluggish. The three men left via the gate at the back of the garden, rather than walking back through the pub. Jacob took his phone out of his pocket but the screen was too blurry to make out. He knew there was a taxi rank nearby but couldn’t remember exactly where it was. The man picked up his T-shirt from the table and put it back on. For some reason he couldn’t fit his head through and, as he heard nearby giggling, he realised it was because he was trying to squeeze it through an arm hole. Feeling stupid, he twisted the top around and finally managed to put it on properly. The two women from earlier were now looking at him, laughing openly.

‘What’s your problem?’ he demanded but his words garbled into one. He felt very drunk but couldn’t figure out why.

The two girls were still laughing. ‘Think you’ve had too much to drink, you stupid prick,’ one of them said.

Jacob stood quickly but stumbled on the wooden seat. He regained his balance but his head was spinning. He tried to shout some abuse at the women but his words blended into one, which just made them laugh even more. Trying to keep himself steady, he stomped past them out the back gate his friends had disappeared through minutes earlier. He knew where he was but, for some reason, his brain wasn’t giving him the information he needed about which direction to go in. Jacob stopped, trying to focus on a spot across the road in order to clear his head.

The strange thing was he was thinking clearly enough to know he hadn’t had enough alcohol to feel this drunk. He could remember the five drinks, which was only a little more than he might have on his own in an evening at home. He had only had a pie for lunch but that wasn’t unusual either. One thing he was known for in his circle of friends was being able to put the beer away.

Jacob stumbled to his right, not knowing entirely where the taxi rank was but realising he had a fifty per cent chance of being correct. Before he could get to the junction he felt a hand on his shoulder. He started to turn but felt a blow hammer into the side of his cheek. His vision was spinning anyway but started to go black from the ferocity of the attack.

Jacob fought to stay standing, throwing a punch of his own, but he couldn’t see where the blow had come from. His swing connected only with warm air as something smashed into the back of his head. He tried to stay focused and upright but a final blow was enough to make everything go dark.

13

Jessica was sitting at her desk, looking at the two constables in front of her. ‘Where’d you get the chair from, Dave?’

Rowlands shrugged. ‘Nicked it from downstairs. I figured that if we’re going to keep meeting in your office, I should at least have somewhere to sit.’ He looked accusingly at Izzy.

‘All right, kiddies,’ Jessica said, looking from one constable to the other, ‘who wants to go first?’

Izzy flicked her hair back behind her ears and started to tie it in a ponytail. ‘Me and the boy wonder have visited everyone we know that has any association with January. Everyone claims they don’t know where she is, which isn’t a surprise, I guess.’

Rowlands nodded, taking his colleague’s cue to chip in. ‘I reckon she’s hiding out with a friend somewhere. There are a few people we think might know more than they’re letting on but there’s not much we can do. Aside from sounding a bit shifty we don’t have any reason to suspect anyone specifically.’

Jessica knew he was right. ‘Next time I see the super I’ll ask him to get onto the Home Secretary about bringing in a law so we can arrest shifty-looking and -sounding people. Personally I’m all for it.’ She again looked from one constable to the other. ‘You both know about the package I was sent a couple of days ago. Because of the similarity in print on the front I didn’t even touch it and the lab boys came to take it. I got a phone call and email with the results this morning. As I thought, it contained a finger belonging to Lewis Barnes.’

‘Why do you think it was addressed directly to you?’ Izzy asked.

‘No idea really. The case has been in the papers and the details are on the website so someone could have taken it from there. Maybe it’s someone like January we’ve spoken to who knows me? There weren’t any fingerprints on the envelope so it’s a bit of a dead end. The labs couldn’t give us anything specific about printer or ink types but it was always going to be a long shot.’

‘Are you okay with things?’ Izzy asked, referring to the fact it had been Jessica specifically who had received the latest parcel.

Jessica was still having the odd flash of the first finger in her dreams and was relieved she hadn’t opened the second package. If she was honest she was a little concerned that whoever was sending the parcels apparently knew who she was but she didn’t want to show those feelings to her colleagues. Cole and Reynolds had both asked her the same question the previous day.

Jessica shrugged. ‘Not much I can do, is there? Every piece of mail I get is being screened before it gets to me now. If someone could do the same with my bills at home I’d be laughing.’ Her two colleagues exchanged a look as if to tell each other they knew she was putting a brave face on it. She pretended she hadn’t seen it and changed the subject. ‘Have either of you managed to dig up anything on Michael Wright?’

Rowlands and Diamond both shook their heads. ‘Me neither,’ said Jessica. ‘I know you guys didn’t see him but I think he’s a bit of a red herring anyway. He didn’t seem bitter to me, just sad. The poor guy loved the job and enjoyed his students’ success. He’s a little unconventional but nothing more.’ Jessica had almost used the word ‘weird’. Even though the man wasn’t present it would have felt as if she was bullying him.

‘Where does that leave us?’ Rowlands asked.

Jessica puffed her cheeks out, shrugging. ‘In a bit of a mess. The rugby players live all over the country and I’m not convinced that’s our link anyway. If they all went to the same school, there’s every chance they did other things together. I think we’ll have one more day going back over what we’ve already got and then, after that, it’s working our way through every name on that list of school-leavers. I don’t think any of us want to be doing that. Iz, take an officer and go see Vicky Barnes. You know what she’s like but keep her calm and see if she knows anything about where January could be. We know Lewis played rugby but what else was he involved with? Did he play any other sports or was he part of other clubs and so on?’

Izzy had taken her notebook out and was writing. Jessica looked to Rowlands. ‘Dave, there are two other players from the rugby team who live in this area. I spoke to the pair of them on the phone but go and do your blokey thing with them. Take another male officer and try to get them off-guard. I’m not convinced Jacob told us all he knew. It’s probably nothing but ask them about tours and celebrations and so on. See if anyone remembers Lewis and Ed being friends or find out if they’re linked in any way aside from the rugby.’

‘Anything else? Dave asked.

‘No, when you’re done talking you can both nick off but don’t take the piss and rush. I’ve got some bits to do here but then I’ve got to leave early too.’

Rowlands grinned. ‘Oh yeah . . .’

‘You can take that smug look off your face.’

‘What’s going on?’ Izzy asked.

Jessica went to speak but Rowlands cut in ahead of her. ‘Tomboy Jess has a dress-fitting for that wedding today. It sounds bloody hilarious.’

‘What’s so funny about that?’ Jessica said.

‘Just you in a big fancy dress thing. I’d pay to see that.’

‘You’d pay to see women in their underwear trying on clothes? That’s not a surprise to anyone.’

‘No, I’d pay to see your face. How long have I known you now? Four years? Five? I think I’ve only ever seen you in a dress a couple of times.’

‘What are you, my stalker?’

‘In your dreams.’

Jessica saw Izzy’s knowing look but swiftly glanced away. ‘Right, let’s get going. The quicker we get all this done, the quicker we can all get home then come back tomorrow ready to wade through a list of over a hundred school-leavers.’

After they left, Jessica took her shoes off in an effort to cool down. It was still hot in the station but the weather that day wasn’t as warm as it had been. For the first time since the case had fallen into her lap, she was beginning to feel a little stuck. They had spent a couple of weeks moving from one minor lead to the next but, aside from now knowing the identity of the victims, none of it had really advanced the case. They still didn’t know if Lewis Barnes and Ed Marks were dead or alive, although she had been working from the assumption they were deceased. They also had no idea who was leaving the hands, or why.

The prominence of the case surrounding Christine Johnson’s disappearance was both a stroke of luck and a total inconvenience. In relation to Jessica’s situation, it allowed her to get on with things without too much scrutiny from above. The command structure where she would have to pass things through DI Reynolds to DCI Cole had been completely sidelined because both men were under huge pressure from DSI Aylesbury to get results. Although that suited her and left her with two constables she actually liked to work alongside, the downside was becoming apparent. Given their difficulties in tracking down January – or any other kind of lead relating to the woman in black or a connection between the two victims – their usual course of action would have been to get the media as heavily involved as possible. Unfortunately the journalists were only interested in one case and it wasn’t hers.

With no other obvious ideas, she dialled Garry Ashford’s mobile number and waited for him to answer. ‘Hello,’ he said gloomily.

‘All right, cheer up, I could be calling to tell you someone’s handed in a hundred grand that was left on the street and it’s your name on the envelope.’

‘Have they?’

‘No, but you didn’t know that.’

‘Sorry, it’s just bloody hot,’ Garry sighed. ‘I’ve spent most of the last fortnight camped outside George Johnson’s house. It’s not as if he even comes to talk to us and your lot never have anything to say. I think I’ve got sun stroke.’

‘Why don’t you go back to the office then?’

‘Christ knows. The editor wants someone here in case anything happens. There are about half-a-dozen of us sitting around in our cars like complete prats on the off-chance his wife comes home. I don’t suppose you know anything, do you?’

‘Naff all.’

‘Can I quote you on that? “A senior police source said they knew ‘naff all’ about the case”.’

‘Take out the word “senior” and you’ve got a deal.’

‘Hardee-har. What are you after?’

‘January Forrester.’

Garry sighed again. ‘I told you last week, the editor’s not interested. You got the picture printed the day after she went missing but there’s not much more I can do.’

‘So it’s only news if someone married to somebody a bit famous goes missing, not if someone who could be a serial killer disappears?’

‘Do you think she’s a serial killer?’

‘That’s not the point. She’s a suspect who’s gone missing and we could do with help finding her.’

‘Sorry, but it’s not up to me.’

‘Look, if I feed you a whole load of quotes on the record will you write something up for me? I’ll email you the photos to go with it and you won’t have to do very much at all.’

‘What’s in it for me?’

‘My eternal gratitude?’

Garry laughed. ‘Sod off. How about a future exclusive of my choosing?’

‘Done. I thought you were going to ask for one of my kidneys or something.’

‘Not with the amount of wine you can put away.’

Jessica tried not to but found herself laughing. ‘All right, funny man. If I email you a load of information can you just take some quotes out of that for me? Fill in the gaps if you want but don’t make me sound like a dick.’

‘So you want me to make you sound literate? I thought you said there wouldn’t be much work involved?’

‘Yeah, yeah, just think of the juicy exclusive you’ll have coming your way someday. How’s Mrs Ashford anyway? A big spiky-haired birdie named Dave told me you had a girlfriend.’ It had taken Jessica a few years to get him to admit it but Rowlands and Garry Ashford were old university friends. At first they had kept it very much to themselves with the constable acting as a source for his mate. Jessica had put a stop to that but kept the nature of their relationship to herself to prevent Dave getting into any kind of trouble.

Garry sounded a little embarrassed. ‘She’s all right. I don’t know why he’s going around telling people though.’

‘I think it’s sweet. Is she blind and deaf or just blind?’

‘All right, sod off, do you want a favour or not?’

‘Yeah, I’ll get typing it now. I’ll even run a spell-check just for you.’

‘Cheers, I’ll text you later to let you know if it’s going in.’

Jessica hung up with a smile on her face. She didn’t know many journalists directly but Garry would usually do things for her, even if she did have to threaten, bully or promise him things.

With the dress-fitting in the late afternoon, Jessica skipped lunch and continued working from her desk. First she sent Garry the information he might need, then started to sort the list of college-leavers. Even with the girls taken out and the rugby players crossed off who they had already spoken to, there were still just under a hundred names. Having to contact everyone individually was the last thing she wanted to do. It would no doubt be an enormous waste of time but if the two constables came back with nothing, they would have little other option.

Feeling bored and frustrated, Jessica eventually gave up and walked to the bus stop at the end of the road the station was on. Caroline had asked her a couple of weeks ago to keep the date free and said there would be free wine at the dress shop. With that in mind, Jessica had used public transport to get to work that morning. The buses and trams around the centre of Manchester weren’t too bad in general but were always overcrowded at peak hours and, from her experience, had at least one idiot on board during others. Sometimes she would flash her identification to shut them up, others she would sit in silence with everyone else. From speaking to people she knew, most officers found it hard to reconcile their post with having a ‘normal’ life when they weren’t working. When you saw someone acting unsociably, you were supposed to step in but it wasn’t quite that easy when you were on your own. Her general rule was that she would intervene if someone was causing someone else distress, otherwise she would stay quiet.

The back of the bus had a group of kids playing music loudly through their phone but she did her best to ignore them as the vehicle moved slowly towards the city centre. Rowlands had struck something of a nerve earlier when he had spoken about her wearing dresses. He was right but it wasn’t really a conscious choice of hers in quite the way he had insinuated. The idea of the fitting was for Caroline, Jessica and the other bridesmaids to collectively make a choice about what would best match the bride’s dress. Realistically, having known Caroline for as long as she had, Jessica was aware only one person would be making that decision – and it had probably already been made.

The dress shop was staying open late specifically for them and as Jessica arrived at the store a couple of streets away from the Arndale shopping centre, she could see people hurrying to catch their buses and trains home for the evening.

She went through the front of the shop and was met by a woman in her late fifties. ‘You must be the main bridesmaid, yes? Here you go, dear.’ The woman offered Jessica a glass of wine then locked the door behind her. She then pointed to an area towards the back of the shop. ‘Everyone’s in there.’

Jessica walked through a curtain and almost gasped as she saw Caroline fully trussed up in her wedding dress. Even for someone who wasn’t a fan of the pomp, Jessica had to admit she was impressed. The gown was white satin and fitted her friend perfectly. It wasn’t too over the top in terms of frills and size but was just right.

Caroline gave a little squeal as she noticed Jessica. ‘What do you reckon?’

‘Bit scruffy,’ Jessica said with a massive grin. ‘Aren’t you getting dressed up?’

The two women laughed. Jessica gave her friend a gentle hug before being shooed away from the dress. She glanced around and, aside from the shop workers, she could only see one girl who seemed around thirteen and looked pretty grumpy, plus a much younger child of about five who was playing with some Lego on the floor. ‘Where’s everyone else?’ Jessica asked.

‘What do you mean?’

It suddenly dawned on her. Caroline had told her she was going to be one of three bridesmaids. For whatever reason, she had assumed that meant adults but instead it now looked like she was going to have to supervise these two children on the day. Jessica tried not to look too disheartened. ‘Oh, er, nothing . . . so what is it you want us to wear?’

Caroline smiled broadly. ‘I think you’re going to like them.’ One of the shop workers walked to a rail and picked off three light blue satin dresses. She handed one to Jessica and then beckoned the two children through to separate dressing rooms. The two adults were alone in the main area at the back of the shop. Jessica held her dress at arm’s length. The colour was actually quite nice but she wasn’t sure about the height of the neckline.

‘What do you reckon?’ Caroline asked.

‘Not too bad. I’ll try it on first.’ Jessica put the dress on another nearby rail and sat down to start getting undressed. ‘Who are the two other bridesmaids?’

‘Tom’s nieces. When we told his family we were getting married it was a bit of a blur and I ended up promising the youngest one she could be a bridesmaid. The oldest one’s a typical teenage pain. I don’t think she wants to do it but, because the other one is, she doesn’t want to miss out on anything.’

Jessica couldn’t disguise her thoughts any longer. ‘Kids?’

‘Sorry, I thought I’d told you.’

‘You know what I’m like with children. I’ll end up saying “fu—” . . . using the f-word in front of them or something. Do you remember when we went out to eat that time?’ Jessica glanced sideways towards the changing room and lowered her voice. ‘We were talking about . . . downstairs bits . . . and that kid’s mother asked me to mind my language? I just know something like that’s going to happen and I’ll totally ruin your day.’

‘You’ll be fine.’

‘“Fine”? Do you remember when we went to see your workmate’s new baby? I accidentally told the woman her son looked like an alien.’

Caroline laughed. ‘That was pretty bad. It’s the kind of thing you think but don’t say. You probably shouldn’t have used the word “bug-eyed” either.’

‘Exactly! This is a recipe for disaster. I thought it was a compliment but it came out wrong. The bloody kid just kept staring at me with those freaky big eyes while he dribbled. It was like that boy from “The Omen”.’

‘At least you didn’t say that.’

‘What do you even talk to kids about? I thought it was all PlayStations and violent movies nowadays. Do they still have dolls or is it just stabby things nowadays?’

Caroline threw her arms up, grinning. ‘“Stabby things”? Yes, kids still play with dolls. You could ask what they’re interested in and take it from there.’

Jessica stood and took the dress from the rack, stepping into it then pulling it up before turning around for her friend to zip it. ‘Yeah, but what if they’re into, I don’t know, horses or something? I don’t know anything about animals. I’ll probably end up going on about glue factories.’

Caroline burst out laughing as the zip reached the top. ‘Just be yourself.’

‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you, I’m an idiot especially with children.’

‘So you can interrogate any manner of criminal but two kids scare the hell out of you?’

‘Yes, now you’re catching on. What do you do if they start acting up?’

‘I don’t know. I’ll point out their parents and you can tell them. What did your parents do when you were young?’

‘They’d threaten to send me to bed. It didn’t matter what time of day it was, Mum would tell me to stop mucking about or I’d go to bed. I’d bring that back actually. If you’re performing badly at work your boss punishes you by sending you to bed for a few hours, that’d be brilliant.’

‘Yeah, I’d rather you didn’t send my bridesmaids to bed halfway through the ceremony please.’ Jessica turned to face her friend. ‘You look great,’ Caroline added.

Jessica walked to a mirror and looked herself up and down. ‘Yeah, I am pretty hot. Now we just have to sort the scrag bag bride out.’

‘Oi, get out of it. Tom’s mum cried when she saw me in this.’ Caroline’s own parents had both died years ago, which had helped draw her and Jessica closer together. It hadn’t crossed Jessica’s mind before but she suddenly realised that created a problem.

She didn’t want to sound too insensitive or obvious so made sure she had eye contact with her friend as she spoke. ‘Who’s giving you away, Caz?’

Caroline smiled but it seemed a little forced. Being without both parents and especially her father on such a big day must be hard. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask you.’

Jessica nodded and smiled. ‘What if I want to keep you for myself?’

‘Tough luck.’

One of the other shop workers had come back into the room. ‘Ooh, that’s nice,’ she said, looking at Jessica, who wondered if the woman had ever slated a bridal party in her life. She figured that, even if the bride looked like a baby hippopotamus in her dress, the shop worker would still say she looked ‘nice’. The woman started measuring around Jessica’s body and making small statements such as, ‘need taking out a bit there’, and, ‘not quite right in this bit’ which Jessica largely ignored.

‘All right, fine,’ Jessica said. ‘I’ll give you away. I don’t get trusted with rings or anything like that, do I? If you can give me as little responsibility as possible, that would be much appreciated.’

‘His brother is best man and he’ll have the rings. Don’t you know anything?’

‘Well, yeah, but it’s not often your mate gives you away, there might be some sort of special rules or something. Do I have to make a speech?’

‘No but you do have to bring someone.’

‘A man?’

‘Yes. I’ve already got you giving me away; if you bring a female, we’re going to end up looking like a trio of predatory lesbians.’ The shop worker measuring Jessica up giggled but tried to stifle it.

‘All right, I’ll find someone but I can’t promise it won’t be some bloke off the street.’

‘As long as they’ve had a shave I don’t care. Anyway, isn’t there something else happening before the wedding anyway?’

‘No.’

‘Ooh, is that a little porky? I think it’s someone’s birthday.’

‘Not me. I stopped having birthdays when I turned twenty-five.’

The shop worker stood, indicating to Jessica she could take the dress off again. ‘We’ll get you back in a few days before the ceremony to make sure it all still fits,’ she said.

Jessica started undressing again as the worker walked over to Caroline. ‘It’s time to take this one off again too, I’m afraid.’ With the aid of the helper, the bride started to remove the dress.

‘What are you doing for your birthday then?’ Caroline asked.

‘Oh, I dunno, hopefully catching this psycho who’s leaving hands everywhere. If not that then maybe I’ll go to the pub.’

‘Rolling the boat out then?’

‘Well, thirty-three’s not a big one, is it?’

‘What are you going to do when you hit forty?’

Jessica winced as she finished taking the dress off and put it on the hanger. ‘Don’t even think about that. I’m going to go out in a blaze of sex and drugs long before then.’ The shop assistant looked over, a little confused. ‘Sorry, I’m not really. I’m a police officer, I was joking.’ Jessica caught her friend’s eye as if to indicate comments like that were exactly why she shouldn’t be trusted with children.

She sat back down and started to drink a second glass of wine that had been brought through and was in the process of putting her work suit back on when her phone rang. She picked it up off the floor, listening.

After hanging up, she hurried to get dressed. ‘Sorry, Caz, I’ve got to go, work stuff.’ She walked across to her friend and kissed her on the forehead then turned to the worker. ‘Is the front door unlocked for me to get out?’

She left the shop, walking as quickly as she could to the location the person on the phone had given her. After an enjoyable time with her friend, her police brain had kicked back in. The crowds of people finishing work had thinned and the streets were relatively empty. She quickened her pace until she was almost running as she dashed past two giant department stores and the Old Wellington pub, seeing a cordoned-off area next to the cathedral with three uniformed officers standing with their backs to it.