Page 44 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Forty-Three

‘What a memory,’ Bryant said as Roy parked the car on double yellow lines in front of Jasmine’s boyfriend’s house.

‘Wasn’t so long ago we were here having a chat with him. Jasmine thought he might have had something to do with the robbery I told you about.’

Bryant had to keep reminding himself that as far as Roy was concerned he’d never met Jasmine.

‘Why’s that?’ he asked.

‘One of the items taken was an Alexa or something that she’d refused to give back when they split up.’

‘And was he responsible for the burglary?’ Bryant asked, getting out of the car.

‘Dunno. We never found the culprits. He’s a bit of a loser to be honest.’

Bryant followed him to the front door of a slim mid-terrace, a couple of miles out of the town centre.

The door was opened by a man who instantly reminded him of Penn, with curly blonde hair almost to the shoulder. His open expression clouded slightly when he saw Roy.

‘I’ve told you already, it wasn’t me.’

‘It’s all right, Justin, we’re here about something else. Can we come in?’

Justin appeared surprised by Roy’s gentle tone, but not as surprised as Bryant was. He wouldn’t have thought that the sergeant had an ounce of empathy in him, for anyone.

The minute Bryant stepped into the small house, he could see why it hadn’t worked out between this man and the woman he’d met the previous day.

Jasmine Swift had her shit together as the Americans liked to say.

She had a nice home, a good job and an attractive, personable demeanour.

He had to mentally shake himself to remember that she was the same woman he’d seen dead less than an hour ago; a confident, accomplished woman reduced to an object – debased, humiliated, exposed.

He clenched his fists and fought the images away.

He wondered again what they were doing here. There was no way this guy had murdered anyone. It looked like he barely had the gumption to haul himself out of bed.

‘Justin, can you sit down a minute?’ Roy said gently.

He did so without moving the pile of clothes on the arm of the chair.

‘I’ve got some bad news for you, mate. Jasmine is dead.’

The man just stared at Roy as the sergeant took a seat beside him.

‘D…dead?’ he spluttered.

‘Afraid so. What I’m going to tell you is going to be hard to hear. She was raped and murdered sometime last night.’

Bryant was unsure why Roy had delivered so much information so soon into the conversation. The guy looked like he was going to vomit.

‘I’ll get you some water,’ Bryant said, heading for the kitchen positioned directly off the front room.

‘It’s all right, mate. I understand,’ Roy said. ‘It’s a shock. You’re going to need some time to process it.’

‘I c…can’t— I mean, are you sure it’s her?’

Roy patted his arm as Bryant came back into the room. ‘We’re sure, mate.’

Bryant handed Justin a glass of water.

He took it with trembling hands. He didn’t take a sip; he just stared at it.

‘Listen, it’s just a formality, mate, but I gotta ask where you were last night.’

His head shot around and water sloshed from the glass. ‘You can’t think I did it.’

Bryant took the water back and placed it on the coffee table.

‘Not for a minute, mate,’ Roy soothed. ‘But as her last known partner, we have to ask.’

‘I was playing pool with my mates down the Buzby club.’

‘Until what time?’ Roy pushed.

‘Ten, half past.’

‘And then?’

‘I came back here with a pizza.’

Bryant could see the box on the countertop.

‘And you didn’t go out again?’ Roy asked in the same gentle, soothing tone.

Bryant saw the panic start to rise on Justin’s face.

‘Nah, I never left, but I wouldn’t hurt— Oh God, I could never hurt Jas. I loved her, mate – you gotta believe me.’

‘It’s all right, pal, I believe you. Now just calm down, eh? You’ve had quite the shock.’

The young man took a couple of deep breaths, looking relieved that Roy believed him.

‘Told you, just a formality. Now do you mind if I use the loo before I go?’

‘Course not,’ Justin said, waving towards the kitchen. ‘Just through there.’

‘Is she really dead?’ he asked, once Roy had left the room.

‘I’m afraid so,’ Bryant said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was still struggling to understand what they were doing here before Jasmine’s next of kin had been informed.

‘That’s better,’ Roy said, coming back into the room. ‘Okay, mate, sorry to have brought you shitty news. If you need anything, give us a shout.’ He walked straight past Justin to the door. ‘Oh, and don’t go making any calls to family members until they’ve had a chance to absorb the news, okay?’

Justin nodded as Roy let himself out of the room.

Bryant had the feeling a whirlwind had just swept through this man’s life.

He wasn’t sure that either he or his boss would have been happy to leave this guy unattended so soon, but Roy’s gait indicated that they’d done what they were here to do and it was time to move on.

Nevertheless, he felt the need to offer something.

‘Deeply sorry for your loss,’ he said, squeezing the man’s shoulder as he walked past.

He closed the front door quietly behind himself.

‘You don’t think we should have called a relative to comfort him?’ Bryant asked, getting back into Roy’s car.

‘Nah, mate, not our job, and our family liaisons don’t stretch to the ex-boyfriends of the deceased. That’s best saved for the family. He’ll be all right.’

And yet the ex-boyfriend was the person they’d visited first.

‘Family next?’ Bryant asked, clipping in his seat belt.

Roy shook his head as he pulled away from the kerb. ‘Nah, someone else is taking that call. There’s somewhere else we need to be.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ Bryant said.

‘The morgue,’ Roy answered before turning his attention back to the road.

Bryant frowned. They’d seen the body less than an hour ago. Why the hell did they need to see it again? What was Roy up to?