Page 33 of Dying Truth

‘So, who’s up first?’ Kim asked, stepping into the squad room.

‘I’ll start, boss,’ Stacey said. ‘Went through the witness statements as you asked.’ She shook her head. ‘Cor find anyone who actually saw her on the roof.’

Kim frowned. How the hell was that even possible?

‘Did you track all the statements?’ she asked.

‘Yes, boss,’ Stacey said standing up and moving over to the spare desk.

The statements had been laid out in vertical lines overlapping each other, like playing cards in the game of patience.

‘First and longest line are the people who state who actually told them either by phone or in person. The second line are the ones that heard about it from shouting in the hallway, and the third line are people who cor remember how they found out.’

‘Damn it,’ Kim said, unable to comprehend that they could not track it to the original source. She was sure that had been the work of the murderer.

‘Anything else?’ she asked.

‘Just started getting some background on the adults. Sadie’s parents are obviously well-heeled.’

‘Two girls at a private school for thirty-five grand a year. I’d have thought so,’ Dawson observed.

The detective constable slid back into her seat and tapped a few keys.

‘Laurence Winters was born into the illustrious Winters family that specialise in manufacturing medical equipment. There’s been a Winters child at Heathcrest since Laurence’s great-grandfather was sent there during the War.

‘And Hannah Winters?’

‘A bit more colourful. Hannah Winters descends from the Sheldon line, a blue blood family who can be traced back to the 1400s. Lots of titles but not a pot to piss in. Made their money from horse breeding and racing, until Hannah’s grandfather lost a coveted race and in a fit of madness shot every horse and then himself.

‘Left with crippling debts, Hannah’s father sold off every property they owned and managed to keep enough back for Hannah to go to Heathcrest with the single directive of—’

‘Finding a rich husband,’ Kim finished.

And she’d certainly done that, she thought.

‘Anything else?’ Kim asked.

‘Not yet,’ Stacey said with a look of glee. ‘But give me chance. There’s some real saucy stuff goes on behind these rich and powerful doors.’

Kim raised one eyebrow at her colleague.

She wondered idly if Stacey felt she’d been backtracked slightly. On their last major case, she’d been paired up with Dawson and both had done an outstanding job of uncovering a network of slave labour. Kim been allowed additional manpower and had seconded Austin Penn, from Travis’s team; but she knew that Woody wouldn’t sanction that again, and anyway, Kim needed someone with Stacey’s data skills on this one.

From the look on her face, Kim was reassured that Stacey wasn’t taking it too badly at all.

‘Kev, anything from Sadie’s friends?’

‘Not a lot. The girl doesn’t seem to have had many friends, to be honest. She certainly was a loner.’

‘What did you turn up from her room?’ Kim asked.

He shook his head. ‘A big fat nothing, boss. No writings, no doodles, no backpack; in fact, nothing personal at all. The drawers were pretty much emptied.’

‘Someone got there first?’ she asked.

‘I’d say so. Something there that someone didn’t want us to find.’

‘Hmm…’ Kim said thoughtfully, wondering who would want to hide Sadie’s personal effects from them.