DI Sally Parker Thrillers Box Set, page 25
part #1 of DI Sally Parker Series
Sally exhaled a large breath. “It is with regret that I have to tell you that your daughter died in the early hours of this morning.”
Lord bolted upright on the sofa. “What? Is this some kind of joke?”
“No. I’m very serious about this, Mr. Lord. I also have to tell you that your daughter’s death is being treated as a murder enquiry.”
He reached for a can of lager sitting on the table and downed the contents before he spoke. “Who did it?”
“It’s our intention to find that out, Mr. Lord. Do you have any suggestions?”
“What the fuck? Why would I have a clue about that?”
He stared long and hard at Sally, and she responded with a challenging stare of her own. “Maybe you have an inclination. When was the last time you saw your daughter?”
“I don’t know.”
Sally noted that he was avoiding eye contact with her after his initial glaring session. “Try to think. It could be vital to the investigation, Mr. Lord.”
He looked up. “Why? What are you insinuating? That I killed her? You are, aren’t you?” He ran an agitated hand through his thinning, steel-grey hair.
“No. We’ll be questioning all family members and friends alike. It’s what we do during an investigation. Now please, answer the question.”
“I honestly can’t remember. I suppose it was around four to five months ago.”
“And you’ve not had any contact since? Via the phone, I mean.”
“No.”
“Can I ask why not?” Sally wanted to see if he would admit the real reason he’d fallen out with his daughter.
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” he replied sarcastically.
“It must do when you have a full-time job. What do you do for a living, Mr. Lord?”
His jaw moved from side to side as though her question made him grind his teeth for some reason.
“Why the hesitation, Mr. Lord?” Jack prompted. “Tell the inspector.”
“Nothing. I’ve tried to find a job, but no one will employ me.”
“So you spend your days here?” Sally asked.
“Yeah, is that a crime?” he bit back.
“No, of course not. In that case, you really don’t have an excuse why this place shouldn’t be kept tidy, do you?” Sally asked, surveying the filthy lounge.
“Fuck off! That’s a woman’s job, not a man’s.”
Jack took a step forward and bent down to look the offensive man in the eye. “Show the inspector some respect, all right?”
“Whatever. Tell her to stop issuing dumb statements then.”
Jack stepped back to stand beside Sally. “I apologise. I shouldn’t have questioned your abilities in that department. Are you married, Mr. Lord?”
“There you go again, asking dumb questions. Do you think this place would look like this if I was married?”
“I doubt it. We were informed that you had remarried.”
He opened another can of lager and took a long swig. “I bet I know who told you that, too. That bitch of an ex-wife of mine. Am I right?”
“We have had a conversation with your ex-wife this morning. However, it was your son-in-law who told us about an incident which occurred the last time you visited his home.”
His chin hit his chest. “I regretted that as soon as it happened. I should never have hit the child.”
“Then why did you?”
“I snapped. Gemma didn’t leave me much option to say no to baby-sitting the child. Children and their care ain’t a forte of mine. When I came home to tell Gina, the wife, she went ballistic. We rowed for days. In the end, I told her to fuck off out of my life. I never thought she would take me up on the bloody suggestion. Now, every time I try to contact her, she hangs up. Look at this place—she should be here, clearing up after me. It’s her job.”
“Really? You make the mess and expect other people to go out of their way to clear up after you?”
“Oh, fuck off, bitch. Get off your high horse and cut the crap about women having rights. A woman’s place is in the home, looking after her man.”
Sally felt the colour rise in her cheeks. She could see the man had an arrogant streak running through him not dissimilar to her ex-husband’s. She was glad to see that Gina Lord had the sense to stand up to the pitiful excuse for a human being before he’d caused her irreparable damage. “You keep telling yourself that, Mr. Lord. While you’re doing that, look around you at your home and ask yourself if it degenerated into resembling a pigsty before or after your wife left you.”
He flung an arm in the air, batting away her suggestion. “Whatever!”
“Okay, now that you’ve opened the floodgates as to how you regard women, I need to ask if your daughter has contacted you this week.”
He folded his arms and glared at Sally. “No, I’ve already told you that.”
“Then I need to ask if your daughter ever confided in you if someone was treating her poorly.”
“Treating her poorly? What’s that supposed to mean? Do you think one of the family did this? Is that what you’re getting at?”
“We don’t know yet. It’s been suggested to us that might be a genuine possibility. I need to ask if you have any witnesses as to your whereabouts last night.”
He launched himself off the chair and stormed toward Sally.
Jack stood between them and forced Lord to retreat. “Back off, buddy. Just answer the question without the aggressive stance, okay?”
Lord paced the room. “And what if I don’t have a witness or alibi for last night? Huh? What happens then?”
Sally shrugged. “Then we will ask your neighbours if they heard or saw you in the house, and if nothing comes from that, then we’ll take you in for questioning.”
“As a suspect? Are you effing mad? This is my daughter we’re talking about here, not some low-life prostitute.”
“Your estranged daughter, Mr. Lord. I’m baffled by your reference to her being a prostitute, unless you’re trying to tell us something.”
“That’s it! Twist my effing words inside out and upside down. That’ll make a change, won’t it?”
“I’m doing nothing of the sort. You raised the subject. I’m just following up on what you said.”
He threw himself onto the sofa again. “If I get my hands on the animal who did this…”
Sally could see the man was genuinely upset. Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, she tempered her off-handedness towards him. “Hopefully, we’ll find the person before you do. I need to ask you again if Gemma ever hinted at someone showing her any kind of affection that they shouldn’t have.”
“In the family?”
“Not necessarily. Anyone at all?”
Lord shook his head in defeat. “No, not that I know of, but then, I don’t suppose she’d ever confide that sort of information in me. Did you ask her mother the same question?”
“I did. She gave us a list of possible suspects to question.”
“Shit! I’m assuming that my name was at the top of that bloody list. Oh, don’t bother answering. Why else would you be here? It’s written all over your face that you think I’ve got something to hide.”
“I’m sorry if that’s how it’s coming across, Mr. Lord. All I’m doing is trying to ascertain if someone was carrying a grudge against your daughter and could have hated her enough to want to kill her. I’m sure you can understand that, yes?”
He nodded reluctantly and exhaled noisily. “I get that. But I repeat, I didn’t do it. I might not have shown her when she was alive, but believe me, in my own way, I loved my daughter and would never intentionally harm her.”
“Physically anyway, eh?” Sally corrected him after recalling how badly he’d treated Gemma over the years.
Lord glared at her for an instant then broke eye contact and nodded again. “I suppose you’re entitled to your opinion. I’ll admit to not being the best father in the world, but at least she understood me, unlike others I could mention. She knew I would always be there if ever she truly needed my help.”
“Like taking care of her daughter when she left you in charge of the infant, you mean?” Sally issued him an assassin-type smile attached to the allegation, to keep him on his toes, just in case he thought he was steering her in the direction of crossing him off her list of suspects. Sally had no intention of doing such a thing until a full background check had been carried out and she’d spoken to anyone connected with the victim.
Lord remained silent and crossed his arms.
“Okay, I think we’re done here, for now, at least. Please don’t think about leaving the area, Mr. Lord. I’d hate to issue a warrant for your arrest.”
“Can you do that? Force me to stick around here?”
“Try me,” Sally stated triumphantly and turned on her heel towards the front door with Jack hot on her tail.
“Where to now, boss?” Jack asked, slamming the door.
Sally narrowed her eyes, contemplating their next move. “I’m dying to question Mark’s brother, Colin, but something is telling me not to jump in too quickly on that front. So let’s get back to the station and see what we can dig up about the brother before we go and tackle him.”
“Makes sense,” Jack agreed and hopped in the passenger seat of the car.
CHAPTER FIVE
The second Sally and Jack stepped back into the incident room, she gathered the team to go over what they had learned so far. Standing at the whiteboard, Sally picked up the marker pen and noted down the names of interest and their relationship to the deceased.
“So far, we’ve tentatively questioned the husband, Mark. We’ll need to revisit him to question him further once he’s got used to the idea of his wife not being around. I’m not sure what to think about him, or his mother, just yet.”
“How did things go with the father, boss? Did the background check I sent over prove to be of any use?” Joanna asked.
“It did, Joanna. Apparently, his second wife has now thrown in the towel and deserted him.”
“You should have seen the state of his house. We thought about calling in the fumigators before we questioned him,” Jack added with a shudder.
Sally laughed. “He isn’t joking when he says that, either. The place was a dump. Again, in spite of his previous convictions, the jury is still out on that one for me, too. Which at the moment, leaves us with one other family member to interview and Gemma’s friends. I want to do a thorough check on Colin Whiting first before we pay him a visit. Maybe Jack and I should see Colin while someone else tracks down the friends and questions them. Any volunteers?”
Jordan and Stuart both raised their hands. Sally paused for a moment then looked at Joanna. “I’d really like Joanna to go, and maybe one of you guys could accompany her. Sort it out amongst yourselves, eh?”
Joanna nodded. “Fine by me. Which of you lovely gentlemen wants to be my chauffeur for the day?” She chuckled as the two men shook their heads.
“All right, I’ll do it,” Jordan volunteered after a moment or two.
“Thanks. Right, that’s sorted. Before you head off, I want us all to see what we can find out about the suspects we have so far. Anything and everything, even down to where they shop for their underwear—got that?”
“What about TV and press coverage, boss? Do you want me to organise that before heading off?” Joanna asked, ever the practical member of the team.
“I’d like to leave that for twenty-four hours this time. Let’s see what the pathologist has to report regarding the post-mortem first.”
Sally left Jack to supervise the team as each of them hit their computers for the next few hours while she sifted through her post and attended to the paperwork cluttering her desk. Thankfully, she’d been fortunate to stay on top of it for the past month. Sally rejoined the team midway through the afternoon, her tummy grumbling because she’d bypassed yet another lunch hour. “Right, what do we have?”
Jack approached the whiteboard as the team shuffled into position with their notebooks to hand. “First up is Colin Whiting. I went through any files we had on him and came up with a sexual assault charge.”
“Really? That’s interesting.” Sally filled the rest of the team in on what Gemma’s mother had divulged about Mark’s brother. “I got the impression that she felt Colin was intimidating Gemma. If he’s got that kind of rap sheet, then she could be onto something. Do we know any more details about that case, Jack?”
He wrote the information on the board with the marker pen as he spoke. “It was a few years back. He’d worked shifts alongside the victim for a few months at the bakery.”
“Ugh… I take it we’re talking about the graveyard shift. All kinds of freaks appear around that time of night,” Sally stated. “What was the outcome?”
“He lost his job, and the girl refused to drop the charges. He pleaded guilty and got an eighteen-month sentence.”
“I suppose that’s better than nothing. Hardly a deterrent, though, right?”
“Yep, my thoughts exactly.”
“Marital status, Jack?”
“He’s married a girl since the incident. Not sure if he knew her before or not. I’m assuming he didn’t.”
“Interesting. We’ll tread carefully there when we question him.”
“Does he work now?”
“Yes, he found a job as a baker in a small family-run bakery in Keswick.”
Sally looked up at the clock on the wall—it was coming up to four o’clock. “Maybe we should shoot over there now, see if we can catch him at home before he starts his shift, if he’s working tonight.”
“Sounds like a plan. Want me to add the other info I’ve managed to find or leave that until later?”
“Depends if you’ve found out anything significant, Jack.”
“Not really. I’m taking an authoritative call and saying the rest of this can wait. Questioning this bastard should be our priority.”
Sally nodded at her partner’s enthusiasm. “Then I’m happy to go along with that. Joanna and Jordan, why don’t you set off now, too? Let’s all meet back here at six this evening to discuss our findings.”
Everyone agreed and departed, leaving Stuart to man the phones.
“Okay, here we are. Let’s go in nice and calmly. Give him the benefit of the doubt from the start and go from there.”
“I’ll take my cue from you, as always, boss. Two cars in the drive; looks like his wife is at home, too.”
“Maybe. We’ll soon find out.” Sally locked the car and joined her partner around the passenger side of the car. Together, they walked up the gravel driveway to the semi-detached house, which had a rounded bay window.
The door was opened by a tall, slim man in his early thirties. “Yes?”
Sally flashed her warrant card and introduced herself and her partner. “We’d like a quick chat with you, if you don’t mind?”
“Concerning what, Inspector?” Colin Whiting asked, his eyebrows knitting together.
“About your sister-in-law, Gemma,” Sally replied, deliberately being evasive, trying to gauge his reaction.
Colin took a step forward, pulled the door closed behind him, and leaned in to whisper, “I don’t understand. What’s Gemma been saying about me?” He gazed nervously over his shoulder several times.
Sally had seen enough to know that this man had a few secrets where his sister-in-law was concerned, and she intended to uncover those secrets. She leaned in and whispered back at him, “Let us in, and you’ll find out. Either that, or we can carry out our interview down at the station.”
He shuffled his feet and closed his eyes. Opening them again, he shrugged. “You better come in. My wife’s at home, though.”
“That’s okay. We’ll need to question her too.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
Sally disarmed the man with a smile. “All will be revealed once we’re inside, Mr. Whiting.”
He led them through to a spacious, bright living room. A woman was sitting on a leather sofa in the bay window, stroking a puppy. Sally smiled at the woman and flashed her ID again. “I’m Detective Inspector Sally Parker, and this is my partner, DS Jack Blackman, of the Norfolk Constabulary. I take it you’re Mrs. Whiting?”
“Yes. I’m Leona.” She glanced at her husband waiting by the door. “Colin, what’s this about?”
“Why don’t we all take a seat, and we’ll fill you in. Cute dog. What is it?”
“She’s a shih tzu. Only eight weeks old. Sleeps a lot and poos even more.” Leona laughed.
Sally sat on the other sofa, alongside Jack, and looked up expectantly at Colin, waiting for him to join his wife before she began talking.
Colin took the hint and sat close to his wife and the dog, which stirred for a mere second then went back to sleep. “I’m glad you’re both at home. Can I ask if any members of your family have contacted you today, Colin?”
He frowned and nervously glanced sideways at his wife. Leona tapped his leg with the palm of her hand. “Answer the inspector, love.”
“Sorry, no. No one has rung me. They know better than to do that when I’ve worked a shift the night before. Why?”
“Okay, then unfortunately, I have some bad news for you.” Sally deliberately paused for a few seconds, waiting for Colin to react in some way, but all she saw was the man wince when Leona’s hand tightened around his thigh. “This morning, Gemma Whiting’s body was found not far from her home.”
Colin’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open while Leona gasped and covered her own gaping mouth with her hand. “What? Was she involved in an accident?” Colin asked, finally recovering his voice.
“No. We’re treating her death as suspicious… murder. Due to the injuries she sustained.”
“Murder?” Colin stood up and walked over to the bay window. Glancing out, he added, “I can’t believe it.”
“It’s true, I’m afraid. Were you close?”
He turned to look Sally in the eye and curled his lip. “She was my sister-in-law, for fuck’s sake. Of course we were close.”
“You might want to control that tongue of yours. There’s no need to swear at the inspector,” Jack warned.
