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‘Unfortunately, they only have bloody CCTV inside the compound, not at the entrance, so we’re seeing if anyone else on the street has anything.’
I can see Alex gesticulating at me – the children are starting to appear.
‘Sorry, mate, I have to go. Lily just played a blinder at ballet so celebratory carbohydrates are in the offing.’
A quick laugh. ‘That’s my girl. Tell her from me she can have extra cheese on that carbonara.’
It’s Lily’s absolute favourite – she has it every time. ‘Hang on, how the hell did you know about that?’
Another laugh. ‘Godfather’s secret. In fact, I can probably guess what you’ll have too –’
‘No, no, you’re weirding me out now –’
‘Just one more thing before you go, boss. The cabbie I spoke to in Broadway said his best bet for getting rid of something on the QT would be the industrial estate in Evesham. Which just so happens to be in a direct line from the A44 on your way into town.’
‘You think Tierney’s stuff could have been dumped there?’
‘Would make sense. Asante’s going to get someone to ring the waste management company in the morning, but it’s a long shot. One thing’s for sure – it won’t be there now.’
***
By the time the team get in the following morning Quinn is already up at the whiteboard at the front. He’s put up a map of Gloucestershire and has highlighted Evesham in yellow.
‘So,’ he says, ‘thanks to the phone records we now knowthat Kate and/or Daisy has been in the US since at least June 24th.’
‘More likely both, surely?’ says Sargent.
‘That would be my guess too,’ says Quinn, ‘but we have to keep an open mind. In any case, for the time being the US end of things isn’t our problem – Interpol arrest notices have been issued for both of them but that’s down to the Yanks to manage. Whatisdown to us, however, is ascertaining if either Daisy or Kate is still in this country, because they’re both suspects in a murder and need to be arrested and questioned.’
Sargent frowns. ‘So how do we go about doing that? They could be anywhere by now, assuming they’re here at all.’
Quinn taps the board. ‘We’re going to do that by concentrating on the one thing we do know, which is that at some point on the weekend of 15th/16th June, Robin Tierney’s rental car was dropped off in Evesham. If we can find out exactly when, we have a fighting chance of tracking them thereafter. Asante’s got a team collating CCTV footage from the area round the Hertz depot, and they’re also checking local B&Bs, starting in the town centre and working outwards – getting hold of fake passports will have taken some time even if they paid over the odds, so I’m guessing they had to find somewhere in this country for at least a couple of days before they left.’
‘But phone data’s no use,’ says Gis. ‘If Kate still had her phone she didn’t use it, and we know Daisy left her burner at Hescombe. And Tierney’s mobile doesn’t get used until they’re out of the country, which was no doubt deliberate.’
‘Good luck with canvassing B&Bs in that neck of the woods,’ mutters Baxter. ‘It’s bloody Cotswold Central round there.’
‘What about the one where Gary saw Daisy?’ says Stillwell. ‘We know she had a room there.’
Ev looks up. ‘I can speak to Gary again? See if he can narrow down where it was?’
Quinn nods. ‘It’s on the list.’
‘Though it didn’t have to be Evesham, did it?’ says Sargent,slightly tentatively, clearly not wanting to look obstructive. ‘Like I said, they could have gone pretty much anywhere. Even without a car, there’s buses, trains –’
Quinn nods. ‘Exactly. And we’ve asked for CCTV from the station, always assuming they actuallyhavebloody CCTV.’
Ev smiles. ‘Oh come on, it’s hardly Yee Haw, South Dakota –’
He throws her a look. ‘Well, bloody Hertz didn’t have it, did they.’
‘I wouldn’t have got a train,’ says Baxter. ‘Not in their position. Too many sodding cameras. And not just on the platforms, on the bloody trains as well.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ says Sargent. ‘It’s not that hard to avoid being in shot if you really want to. And in any case, no one was looking for them at that stage, were they? They weren’t escaped terrorists or anything. And as soon as they’re out of the country they’d be free and clear anyway –’
A phone starts ringing and Ev goes over to answer it.
‘What I don’t understand,’ says Gis, ‘is why they left the car in Evesham in the first place. Surely you’d want to get as far away as possible before having to resort to buses and shit.’