No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) (20 page)

“So? You’re adamant that the
murderer is connected with the family. What if he isn’t?”

“I’m going with my gut instinct
on this one, Jack. Nothing is going to sway me on that, either.
This family is full of shitty secrets. Hopefully, one of them will
make a major slip-up soon to help us out. Until that transpires,
we’ll just keep digging.”

“Well, good luck. Sounds like
you’re going to need it. I better go. Donna’s giving me the evil
eye.”

“Keep in touch. Give everyone a
hug from all of us here.”

Jack hung up.

Sally squinted to see through
her tired, sore eyes as she continued to sift through Gemma’s
e-mails. To Sally’s amazement, Gemma had never exchanged a single
e-mail with Colin. She voiced her concern to Joanna.

“Maybe they were deleted.
Either by Gemma or someone else since her death.”

Sally nodded. “You could be on
to something there. I’ve not found anything of note except about
the job proposal, so I think I’ll hand it over to forensics, see
what they can find out through the computer’s history.” She picked
up the landline and dialled the pathologist’s number. “Hello,
Simon. It’s Sally Parker. I’m glad I’ve caught you.”

“Inspector. What can I do for
you?”

“I was hoping you’d ask that. I
have in my possession Gemma Whiting’s laptop. I wondered if I
dropped it over, whether your expert would have a spare few minutes
to go through the e-mails and see if anything had been deleted
recently?”

“You’re suggesting this might
have happened after the victim’s death, as in the murderer covering
up his connection to the victim?”

“That’s exactly what I’m
suggesting. Any chance you can rush it through for me?”

Simon groaned. “If you drop it
over this evening, I’ll get one of the lads on it first thing.
How’s that?”

“You’re an absolute star. I
don’t care what others say about you.” Sally chuckled.

“Now I know you’re winding me
up. Mr. Obliging, that’s me, within reason of course.”

“Don’t ever change, Simon,
you’re a treasure for sure.”

“Yeah, that should be buried.
Go on, say it! Twist the knife—you usually do.”

“Simon! Really, you have such a
low opinion of me.”

“I’d say I have a pretty
accurate opinion of you, Inspector.”

“Seriously, I’ll drop by and
see you in an hour or so, once I’ve finished here,” Sally said
cheerily.

“See you then.”

She hung up. “Joanna, can I
have a look through the diary?” She held out her hand, and the
constable placed the closed book in her palm.

“My pleasure, boss. I don’t
think you’ll find much in there, but be my guest.”

After half an hour of trying to
decipher a few cryptic clues written by Gemma’s hand, Sally was
inclined to agree with the constable.

“Okay, let’s call it a day and
start afresh tomorrow, people. Bright and early, all right?”

Sally dropped the laptop off at
the lab then drove to her parents’ home. The first thing she did
when she arrived at the house was grab Dex’s lead and take him for
a long walk to clear her tired mind.
What am I missing? What is
someone deliberately hiding from me to deter me from picking up the
scent?
“Oh well, Dex, I’m sure all will be revealed soon
enough, boy. Here, go fetch the Frisbee.” She threw the
fluorescent-pink ring, and the excited dog barked at the toy as it
skimmed through the air then floated to the ground about fifty feet
away, along the river bank.

The frustrations of the day
were replaced by apprehensive thoughts of her impending trial
against Darryl. She hoped the photographic evidence she had
supplied of the last beating he’d dealt her would be enough to
convince the judge to come down on her side. Nevertheless, there
was always a lingering nugget of doubt, burrowing deep beneath the
surface, that was willing to remind her that he had ‘respected and
honourable’ friends in high places, whom he could rely on to give
him a stunning character witness should the need arise.

I’ll find out soon enough.
There’s no point dwelling on things now.

She returned home and spent a
fun-filled evening with her parents, playing the card game Sevens
for a low stake of a pile of pennies. Of course, her father won,
just as he always did. In reality, Sally was feeling generous
enough to let him win.

March 2016 – six months
later.

Sally tapped her partner on the
shoulder as she walked through the incident room. “Come on, my
treat. Let’s grab a coffee and a doughnut in the canteen.”

Jack was out of his chair
quicker than he would have been if a lion had zeroed in on his
scent. “Who am I to turn down such generosity?”

Once they were halfway through
their doughnuts, Sally raised the subject of Jack’s granddaughter,
Mary Rose. “You haven’t said how Mary Rose is getting on lately. Is
she doing okay?”

His eyes glistened with love.
“Yes. She’s growing stronger every day. Still under the doctor’s
care, of course, but they’re monitoring her from a distance
now.”

“That’s wonderful news, Jack.
You guys deserve a break. She’s been to hell and back—you all have
this year.”

“She’s definitely a fighter.
How are you bearing up? Any sign of that shithead lately? I bet
he’s kept his distance now you’re back home.”

“Nope, as far as I know, he’s
still doing his debt to society, picking up litter in his spare
time.” Sally looked down at her cup of coffee and pushed her
doughnut away.

“Can you believe that piece of
dog turd got one hundred hours of community service? I know I
frigging can’t. It’s bloody outrageous, if you ask me.”

“I suppose he must’ve stashed
away more of ‘our’ money than I gave him credit for because the
barrister he employed probably cost a small fortune.”

“The system is screwed up when
bastards like that get away with…”

Sally reached over and patted
his hand. “You can say it, beating the crap out of a woman.”

“Yeah, well, it’s true. Christ,
if ever there was a circumstance where vigilante justice could or
should be justified, it’s with your ex. I’d love to track him down
and string him up by the balls.”

Sally chuckled as the image
inspired by her partner’s cruelty ran through her mind. “In all
honesty, Jack, the cretin isn’t worth it.”

“I know. If ever he bothers you
again, though, tell me, won’t you? I won’t hesitate to knock some
sense into that twisted, warped brain of his. How did the move go
at the weekend? All settled back into your folks’ home now?”

“Yep, it took a while to sort
out the mortgage arrangements, but we finally got there. Everyone,
including Dex, seems far happier. Mum and Dad have even started
having a sneaky cuddle again. They used to be under so much stress,
it took a toll on their ability to show affection towards each
other.”

“That’s great to hear. Hate the
thought of couples coming up to retirement age being snowed under
with bills they can’t meet. It just ain’t right, is it? You all
right?”

Sally was distracted, leaning
sideways, listening to a conversation going on between a couple of
uniformed officers at the next table. She raised her hand and
placed a finger to her lips to silence her partner. After hearing a
certain person’s name a few more times, she finally had to say
something. “Sorry, I don’t wish to appear rude, but would you mind
telling me why you’ve just mentioned Mark Whiting’s name?”

The young female constable
shrugged. “I had to sit with him at the hospital while his wife
died.”

Sally’s brow creased sharply,
and she looked over at her partner, who appeared to be equally
confused. She turned back to the constable. “Wife? When did this
happen?”

“Last night, ma’am.”

“What? We are talking about
Mark Whiting of Chapel Grove in Easton, aren’t we?”

“That’s the one, ma’am. Do you
know him? I’m sorry if you thought I was being disrespectful
talking about the incident.”

Sally waved away the apology.
“Nonsense. So you’re telling me his wife had some kind of accident
and died of her injuries. Is that correct?”

“Yes, ma’am. At her home. He
came home and found her lying in a pool of blood yesterday about
six. An ambulance was called, and they rushed her to hospital, but
it was far too late. The blows Kathy received to her head crushed
her skull. She never stood a chance.”

“Why hasn’t this case come
through to us?” Sally asked Jack.

“No idea. This is
incomprehensible. We need to get over there ASAP.”

Sally scraped her chair back
and smiled at the constable. “Thanks for the information.”

Jack ran after her as she
blazed an infuriated trail through the station back to her office.
“We should have been informed, Jack.”

“I agree. Anything to do with
that family should be flagged.”

Sally asked Joanna to pull up
the incident report on her computer screen as Sally brought the
team up to speed on what had just transpired.

“Whoa, yep, here it is. It must
have slipped through the net, boss. The initial report has it down
as a burglary gone wrong.”

“I want the investigating
officer’s name, Joanna. Get him on the phone immediately.”

Joanna looked up the details
and dialled the number. She handed the phone over to Sally once
she’d been connected to the detective constable in charge of the
case.

“Dave Jarvis, I’m DI Sally
Parker. Do you have a minute to come and see me? Sorry, that came
out wrong. This is not a request—it’s an order. My office,
immediately!”

Five minutes later, Sally’s
irritation had grown exponentially while she waited for Constable
Jarvis to put in an appearance.

Eventually, a wide-eyed young
man barged through the door, wearing a troubled frown. “Ma’am? You
wanted to see me?”

“My office, now. Jack, join us,
will you?” Sally tried her hardest to keep her anger under control,
but she could feel it bubbling beneath the surface. She took a
couple of deep breaths and threw herself into the chair behind her
desk. “Take a seat, Jarvis.”

“Have I done something wrong,
ma’am? You seem pretty hacked off about something.”

“That’s putting it mildly. I’m
not going to take a glitch in the system out on you, Jarvis. It’s
true; I’m more than a little pissed off right now. Tell me about
the incident you attended last night.”

“The burglary, ma’am?”

“No, the fatality. See, that’s
what I’m having trouble getting my head around. Why on earth
haven’t you reported this incident to this department? Correct me
if I’m wrong, but I thought we were the Murder Investigation Team
for this station.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I was going
to do it when I came on shift. I only came on at two, came in to a
pile of stuff to attend to on my desk, and to be honest, contacting
you slipped my mind.”

“
Slipped
your mind?” she
asked incredulously.

He scratched his head and
looked suitably embarrassed by his foul-up. “You know what it’s
like, ma’am. The pressures of the job and the time restraints we’re
under to meet our targets…”

Sally raised her hand as heat
filled her cheeks. “Stop! Stop right there, Jarvis. You know damn
well as soon as your crime escalated from a ‘normal burglary’, you
should have passed it over, even if that meant you going into a few
minutes of overtime. Am I right?”

“Yes, ma’am. I apologise, but
it was my wedding anniversary yesterday, and the wife had booked a
table at a restaurant in town and…”

Sally shook her head. “I don’t
want to hear it, Jarvis. Your inability to police a case properly
has probably aided a criminal’s escape. Is that fact lost on
you?”

“No, ma’am. Again, I can only
apologise. There have been a few spates of burglaries around that
area, but we don’t have any DNA evidence pointing us in any firm
direction.”

“I’m not bothered about the
burglary aspect to this case, Jarvis. Are you not aware of a
serious crime we investigated six months ago, concerning Mr.
Whiting?”

He shook his head.

“Then let me fill you in. Mr.
Whiting’s wife, Gemma Whiting, was beaten and left to die on a
country road not far from the family home.”

“Shit! Sorry for my use of
language. Did you catch the culprit who carried out the attack,
ma’am?”

“No, unfortunately there was no
DNA found at the scene, and out of the two main suspects, we
couldn’t decide which one carried out the crime.”

“Two suspects, ma’am?”

“Yes. One was Mr. Mark Whiting,
and the other was his brother, Colin Whiting. The case is still
ongoing, and anything relating to that case—i.e., other incidents
involving the family members—
should
have been reported to
this team
pronto
. Now do you understand why I’m so
livid?”

“Totally understand. I’m
so—”

“Sorry. Yes, I know.
Apologising isn’t going to help us solve these crimes, though, is
it?”

The constable’s shoulders
slumped.

It took Sally considerable
strength not to feel sorry for him. “What’s done is done. Did Mr.
Whiting happen to mention how long he’d been married to Kathy?”

“He was too devastated to
really hold a conversation with me, ma’am. I thought it best not to
push him for answers at the time, you know, because of his
grief.”

“Because of your anniversary
dinner, you mean?”

He tried to counter her
accusation, but Sally raised another hand to suppress any lingering
objection.

“Was Whiting alone at the
hospital?”

“Yes, ma’am. When I arrived at
the house, the crime scene, he was there, obviously along with his
mother and his daughter. Both were extremely distraught by what had
taken place. I accompanied Mr. Whiting alone to the hospital.”