Woman in Black (40 page)

‘I don’t know.’

Something in Jessica’s tone must have not sounded quite right because Izzy followed it up, more quietly the second time around. ‘Are you ever coming back?’

Jessica looked up from the table to meet her colleague’s eyes, feeling vulnerable. She looked away before replying. ‘I don’t know.’

The constable sighed almost involuntarily. ‘Oh God, Jess. I'm so sorry. I know we should have come in quicker. What happened?’

Jessica spoke firmly. ‘Nothing.’

Izzy didn’t look as if she believed her, tilting her head sideways, her long red hair hanging around her shoulders.

The mood was interrupted by Rowlands returning with their drinks. He was using both hands to push all three glasses into one another so they didn’t drop and slowly manoeuvred them onto the table. He must have sensed a slight tension. ‘Everyone okay?’

‘Fine,’ Jessica said before Izzy could speak.

The constable nodded. ‘Good, good. So, we make a pretty good team all in all then.’

Jessica put her arm around Diamond’s shoulder. ‘Well,
we
do. I don’t know where you come into it.’

‘Hey, I was the one who arrested Edward Marks,’ Dave protested.

Izzy nodded. ‘Only because I’d taken him by surprise.’

‘Exactly. That’s what I mean by teamwork.’

Jessica wanted to change the subject away from what had happened. ‘Fine,
we
make a good team. So tell me, what’s going on with everyone’s favourite MP?’ The two constables exchanged glances. ‘Come on,’ Jessica added. ‘I know you’re not supposed to know but I’m not going to tell.’

Rowlands lowered his voice. ‘The DCI and DI are keeping it all pretty quiet but, from what everyone says, they’ve got nothing on him except hearsay. The garage owner reckons he took cash to kidnap Christine Johnson but none of it can be matched back to the MP. The phone calls and texts the mechanic has records of are only to an unregistered pre-pay mobile number they’ve not been able to tie to Johnson either. There are all sorts of circumstantial bits and pieces but people are saying the only one going down for it is the bloke who owned the garage. It looks like he did it, of course, but everyone thinks it was Johnson who paid him.’

‘Have they got any sort of motive?’ Jessica asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Dave said. ‘George Johnson’s rich enough anyway and there’s no life insurance, so it’s not that. Apparently he was having an affair, even if he denies it, but he knows we’ve got nothing on him and so does his solicitor. Jason is furious but what can you do? Someone leaked it to the media saying we’d taken him in for questioning. People are saying it was the DCI himself who leaked. I think they’re hoping someone else comes forward with information but no one’s holding their breath.’ The constable paused to have a sip from his glass before continuing. ‘The garage owner should be convicted, which is a result because he’s basically confessed to the actual crime. He’s not the one they’re after though.’

Jessica nodded, thinking it sounded about right. She took a large slurp of her drink before Rowlands continued. ‘I take it you know what’s going on with Edward even though you’ve not been in?’

There was a short pause. Jessica had listened to a few voicemails and gone through some emails via her phone. She had also given a statement about everything Edward had told her. ‘I’ve heard bits,’ she said.

‘Do you know they found the remains of the five men in the foundations of the pool area?’

‘Yes.’

Izzy shuffled nervously but Dave seemed oblivious to either her or Jessica’s discomfort and carried on. ‘They discovered the storage unit too. It was in his dad’s name which is why we hadn’t found it before. Forensics have been in but we don’t know if they have found anything yet. Iz went down to London and went over mug shots with Charlie’s former colleagues. They insist our “Charlie” isn’t their “Charlie” and we’re getting a formal identification sorted. By the time it gets to trial the bleach will have grown out of his hair and he’ll be back to dark-haired Edward.’

Jessica already knew most of it but it was good to hear they had evidence building against the man. One of the messages Cole had left her was about giving a more formal statement but she hadn’t felt ready.

Izzy leant in and picked up the conversation. ‘The biggest issue has been the CPS, although you can’t blame them. They’ve been dithering all week because they don’t know what name he should be put in front of court under. “Edward Marks” was classed as missing so it’s a bit of a mess at the moment. There was something else though.’

‘What?’ Jessica asked.

‘You asked me to look into unsolved sexual assaults where no DNA had been left. We found one where the victim identified Jacob Chrisp as her attacker. He can’t be convicted obviously but at least it’s some closure for the victim.’

‘Good.’

‘How did you figure it out?’ Izzy asked.

Jessica sighed, sipping her drink. She didn’t want to talk about it but figured she owed her colleagues some explanation. ‘A few things,’ she began. ‘When I did that careers day thing at the school one of the kids asked me about how to get away with a crime. It was just one of those silly things but it had me thinking that the best way wasn’t to leave no clues at all, it was to leave signals that pointed to someone else. If you leave nothing, people like us delve further into your background. Edward obviously didn’t want that.’

She went on to explain about the left-right-hand connection from the wedding and pointed out it had all fallen into place. ‘It was just a guess more than anything,’ she concluded.

‘Are you going to contact Sam Kellett?’ Rowlands asked. ‘None of us have but someone probably should before it gets to court.’

Jessica nodded but said nothing, not wanting to commit to any course of action. She remembered promising Garry Ashford an exclusive too and thought he would be pleased after the court case when he got all the juicy details.

She took two more large mouthfuls of her drink. ‘I think I’m going to go on holiday,’ she said, placing her glass back on the table.

It was a statement out of the blue and the two constables glanced at each other before turning back to her. Rowlands made the obvious response. ‘Sorry?’

‘I’m going to go on holiday. I’m owed loads of time off anyway and I’ve not been away properly in years.’

Jessica saw the two constables exchange another look, this time with more worried expressions, then Izzy spoke. ‘Are you okay, Jess?’

‘I just need a break.’

Dave put a hand on her shoulder. ‘I know we arse about but seriously, are you all right?’

Jessica had rarely seen him show genuine concern for her, although she knew most of their mutual teasing was for show. She nodded. ‘I’m good.’

Dave removed his hand, seemingly satisfied. ‘Are you going on your own?’ he asked mischievously.

‘Yeah, why?’

‘I hear you’ve been getting a little, ahem, friendly with a certain someone recently.’

Jessica knew exactly what he was talking about. With Caroline on honeymoon, the only person she had kept in any kind of regular contact with over the past week had been Hugo. They had exchanged text messages and he had come to her flat and cooked her tea, showing off yet another hidden talent. As she struggled to bury the feeling of helplessness from when she had been drugged, Hugo’s weirdness had helped keep her smiling.

Jessica said nothing but Dave carried on his teasing. ‘Don’t forget it was me who introduced you.’

Izzy leant in to the table. ‘Oooh. Tell me more.’

Before Jessica could speak, Dave cut in. ‘Jess has been getting friendly with our mutual friend Hugo. I hear you had a fun time together at your mate’s wedding?’

Jessica realised Rowlands didn’t know about the contact she’d had with Hugo since then. ‘So what? We only went as mates,’ she replied, trying not to sound too defensive.

‘All right, I believe you,’ Dave said, although it sounded strongly as if he didn’t. ‘You’d make a great couple anyway. He’d be the intelligent multi-talented one, while you walk around bollocking people into submission.’

‘Sod off.’

‘Detective Sergeant Jessica Patch, it’s got a nice ring to it,’ Dave said airily.

‘His last name is “Patch”?’ Jessica asked, struggling to hide the surprise in her voice.

Rowlands raised his eyebrows. ‘Didn’t you even know that?’

‘I guess not.’

‘Some girlfriend you are.’

Jessica couldn’t be bothered to argue. She took a long drink from her glass before returning it empty to the table. ‘Your round,’ she said, looking at Rowlands.

NOTES & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The biggest “thank you” I can make here is to the readers who have got this far. It is likely you have now read the three Jessica Daniel novels, which come to almost a third of a million words. It sounds quite a lot when you put it like that.

I wrote Locked In from my sofa almost as a challenge to myself to see if I could. It’s not a perfect book but was the best I could manage at the time. I genuinely believe the tales have improved through the series and really hope you do too. Since then, Locked In became the number one book on the whole of Amazon UK, while Vigilante was the number two crime book, beaten only by Locked In.

It has all been quite overwhelming but the emails and good reviews I have had make it all worthwhile.

I am always happy to receive feedback from people – you can contact me at
[email protected]
. Please be kind! I do try to respond to everything I receive.

KINDLE BONUS:
THE ORIGINS OF LOCKED IN

If you are reading this chapter, it is most-likely because you have bought The Woman In Black for your Kindle. As a way of thanking you for helping the Jessica Daniel series become so popular – and sending Locked In to the number one position through your wonderful word-of-mouth support – I wanted to write something as an exclusive just for you. As such, these next few passages will never appear in the iTunes or Waterstones version of the book, nor will it be reprinted in the paperback or posted on my website.

I am guessing that most people who have got to this part have read the earlier books in the series, so I thought it would be an opportunity to tell you how Locked In fell into my head one morning. Largely because telling this story gives away the plot of the first book, I have never written about this before or mentioned it in any interviews. Needless to say, if you have not read Locked In and don’t want the story spoiled, now would be a good time to stop reading...

My wife and I, in a very non-rock ’n’ roll way, went away for a weekend to Scarborough in North Yorkshire to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. We walked up the giant hill (not as exhausting as it looks), we played crazy golf (I won), we ate Mexican food (yum), we drove to Robin Hood’s Bay (which is gorgeous) and we went to see the turtles at the Sea Life Centre (I like turtles). It was grey and dull for much of the time, which was in complete contrast to our actual wedding day where we had snow and blazing sunshine within half-an-hour of each other.

On our meander to the Sea Life Centre, we were walking out of the town centre along the road where the cricket ground is. As the shops began to thin in favour of the more residential setting, I noticed a small key-cutting shop on our left. It was the type of thing you see on pretty much every high street in the country but, for whatever reason, the thought popped into my head, “What if someone who worked there was a bad guy?”

Essentially, with an end to the story but not much else, I came up with the rest of the plot backwards over the course of the next few weeks and months. That included the motives, the setting, the characters, the subplots and, of course, Jessica herself. In the course of that huge brainstorm, I ended up plotting Vigilante and The Woman In Black almost by accident.

Everything that has happened since; the 300,000+ words, the number one and two crime books, the Spectator magazine interviews, your wonderful emails – all of it – came from that one spark of an idea.

It’s pretty strange how life can work itself out.

As for Jessica, I am very much aware that she has transcended me, with people genuinely wanting to know what happens next. I hope I can keep her in safe hands for you all.

Thank you for reading,

Kerry Wilkinson, 16 November 2011

PS: If someone who works at that key-cutting shop IS a bad guy then, er, apologies for blowing your cover.

OUT NOW:
AS IF BY MAGIC

A Jessica Daniel Interlude

After finding an abandoned package at Manchester’s Piccadilly Station, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel has two choices. One option leads to the entire north west transport network grinding to a halt – and more importantly Jessica missing her train – while the other involves her opening the box.

For Jessica, the choice is clear – but what’s in the box, who left it, and how will it affect her weekend away?

This 50,000-word "half-book" is being released to celebrate the one-year anniversary of UK no.1 bestselling novel Locked In being released.

It can be read standalone, or as part of the rest of the Jessica Daniel series.

This story occurs between Vigilante and The Woman In Black

COMING FEBRUARY 2013:
THINK OF THE CHILDREN

Jessica Daniel Book 4

Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is first on the scene as a stolen car crashes on a misty, wet Manchester morning. The driver is dead, but the biggest shock awaits her when she discovers the body of a child wrapped in plastic in the boot of the car.

As Jessica struggles to discover the identity of the driver, a thin trail leads her first to a set of clothes buried in the woods and then to a list of children’s names abandoned in an allotment shed.

With the winter chill setting in and parents looking for answers, Jessica must find out who has been spying on local children, and how this connects to a case that has been unsolved for 14 years.