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O’Brien drags his phone out of his back pocket and checks it. ‘It was the EasyJet one.’ He scrolls a bit. ‘Right, here it is, the one that gets in at 15.45. EZY33.’
‘So, you pick her up and then what? Where were you going? Not here, I’m assuming.’
‘I’d booked an Airbnb in Broadway.’ He shrugs. ‘It’s not really my sort of thing but she said she’d like to go –’
‘She specifically chose Broadway?’
He blinks. ‘Right, like I just said –’
‘And you had a row in the car on the way?’
‘Right.’ He looks down at his shoes.
‘So, what then? Did you go to the Airbnb?’
He shakes his head, flushing again. ‘No, well, leastways I didn’t. I dropped her off there. It was already paid for so it seemed a shame to waste it.’
Asante takes a deep breath. ‘So Kate had two nights already paid for in Broadway.’
And of all the tourist towns in all the country, she happened to choose one that’s barely three miles from Hescombe. No police officer believes in that sort of coincidence.
‘Have you heard from her since?’ asks Bradley.
O’Brien shakes his head. ‘Like I said, we’re on a break.’
Asante shuts his notebook. ‘Could I see your phone?’
O’Brien’s eyes widen. ‘Why? Don’t you believe me?’
Asante eyes him, not unkindly. ‘It’s not a case of not believing you. I just need to verify what you’ve told us, that’s all. So, do I have your permission to look at your phone?’
O’Brien hesitates then holds out his mobile.
‘Thank you.’
Asante sweeps quickly through the messages and recent call logs, then puts it down on a pile of magazines and takes photosof some of the WhatsApp exchanges. Then he straightens up and hands the phone back.
‘I think that’s it for now, Mr O’Brien.’
He looks alarmed. ‘What do you mean, “for now”? Do you think I did something to her? Because I would neverever –’
Asante holds up a calming hand. ‘No one’s accusing you of anything. I’m just saying that we have no idea where she is, and until we do, we don’t know what we don’t know.’
***
Importance: URGENT
Date:Mon 29/07/2024,16.06
From:[email protected]
To:[email protected]
CC:[email protected],[email protected]
Subject: Case no LBS734/14G – Forensic search DNA
We put a rush on the blood found at Tichborne Farm. It’s Robin Tierney. And the mirror frame is an exact match for her head wound.