Page 21

TWENTY

Gina stood with Jacob outside the large grey Crastone Foods building. The intercom crackled and the scent of fish pie filled the air as they stood by the vent.

‘Hello,’ Gina said into the microphone. She’d already introduced herself and Jacob to three different people through the intercom, and she wasn’t sure who she was even talking to anymore.

‘Come in,’ the crackly voice said as the door buzzed open.

Gina pushed it and they both stepped into a high, white box with massive posters covering the walls. She stared at the huge silver-skinned fish that took up most of the back wall, then her gaze travelled to the carrots and onions.

Jacob walked over to the desk. ‘I wonder if anyone is on their way.’

As Gina walked over to him, a man in a ruffled shirt collar and a smart jacket came through the door. ‘Welcome to Crastone Foods, how can I help you?’

‘I’m DI?—’

‘Harte and DS Driscoll, yes, it was me you spoke to through the intercom. But how can I help you?’

Gina spotted a staff photograph behind him, and she wondered if one of them was Marie. ‘We need to speak to someone who works here, or worked here.’

‘Okay, when did the person you’re looking for work here?’

Gina did a quick recce in her head. ‘Possibly between 2006 and 2009.’

The man raised his arched brows. ‘That’s a long time ago. Very few of the current staff were here back then. I’ve only been here for three. Give me a name and I’ll see what I can do?’

‘Marie.’

‘And does Marie have a surname?’

Gina leaned on the counter and frowned. ‘Marie is all we have. Is it possible to speak to someone who worked here back then?’

He held a finger up. ‘Let me try one of the line managers. Nina used to work here then. Bear with me.’ He picked up the phone and asked for her. ‘Nina, there are two police detectives who would like to speak to you in reception.’ He nodded a couple of times and ended the call. ‘She’s on her way to the staff sitting room. Follow me.’

They followed the man along the corridor, up a flight of stairs and right to the end, where they were greeted by a room full of couches and a door leading to a terrace overlooking the rest of the factory units in the area. ‘Take a seat and help yourself to drinks from the machine. She’ll be with you in a minute.’ With that, he left.

A clonking sound got louder and louder until a short-haired stout woman wearing thick glasses entered. ‘I’m Nina, and you are?’ She took a seat opposite them and placed her water bottle in the middle of the table.

‘DI Harte and DS Driscoll. We’re sorry to interrupt your work, but we need to ask you about an employee who worked here a few years ago – Marie? Your colleague tells me you worked here back in 2006.’

‘That’s right. I wasn’t a manager then, but I was here. I remember Marie; she worked here for a couple of years and we had lunch in the canteen together sometimes. Of course, I don’t have the dates of her employment as it was such a long time ago, and as you can appreciate, those records are most definitely archived now. I can speak with HR and accounts, see if they can investigate but it would take a while.’

‘That would be really helpful, thank you,’ Gina replied. She also made a mental note for one of the team to check with HMRC, although she doubted she’d get any information from them immediately. She really hoped that Nina would be able to help her.

‘Actually, 2006 was a big year for us, as it was our twenty-five-year anniversary and we had a huge party. It stands out more than the others so you might be in luck. A photo taken at that party is still on our website, and Marie is on it.’

‘Can we see it?’

Nina pulled her phone out and came around to Gina. ‘This is the news page on our company website. You have to scroll a bit through the photos, but you can easily find it.’ She pinched her fingers and expanded the front row of faces. ‘The woman on the left is Marie. Of course, she might have changed somewhat by now. It was a fair few years ago.’

Gina nodded to Jacob and he began to search for the same photo on his phone to message the information back to the incident room. ‘Do you remember Marie having a boyfriend back then?’

‘She had a fair few but they didn’t last more than a couple of dates. I mean she was young, fun and pretty. But she did end up in a short relationship with another man who worked here as a temp. Before you ask, we don’t keep temp records. They would be with the agency we used and they are no longer in business. Anyway, his name was Colson. I remember that because she kept bleating on about him when he first started. It was all Colson this and Colson that. She fancied him like mad. I guess that’s why he in particular stuck in my mind.’

‘Can you describe Colson?’ Gina really wished she had the artist’s sketch, rather than working off a description. She hoped it would be sent to her soon.

‘From back in 2006? Er… a bit quiet, brown hair, skinny, dull. I wondered what she saw in him, but she said he was sweet.’

A couple of staff members came in and began queueing at the coffee machine. Nina checked her phone. ‘Hang on, it’s lunchtime so it’s about to get packed in here.’

‘Do you have a surname for Colson?’

‘As I said he was a temp. The agency would have had that information. He was an unreliable idiot back then. I remember Marie lying to our supervisor at the time, saying he was ill when he wasn’t. She told me she didn’t know where he was, but she didn’t want him to get laid off.’

They had a name: Colson. It was a start.

She waited for Jacob to note that information down. From the description Wally had given her about the man at that time, their suspect had facial hair and wore a red Florida cap. Colson could have just not been wearing the cap and was clean shaven when he was with Marie but Gina didn’t want to dismiss any of the other potential men who Marie had been involved with. A crowd sat at the next table and began to speak loudly and play with their phones. ‘Do you mind if we continue to talk on the terrace, where it’s quieter?’

‘No, of course not.’ Nina led the way.

As they stepped out, a breeze whipped around Gina’s legs. ‘Thank you. Can you tell me more about any of the other men she dated?’

‘There was a blond guy, built like a brick shithouse who was a boxer. And another one who worked in an office somewhere. I used to tease her and call him City Boy. I don’t really remember any others. Oh, there was one, he was another temp, and I think Colson hit him.’ She began to scratch some dry skin from the groove in the side of her nose.

‘What happened there?’

‘Don’t remember. You’d have to ask Colson.’

‘Do you have any contact details for him or Marie?’

‘Yes to him, no to Marie. Actually, I don’t have his contact details, but I see Colson hanging around outside the bookies on Cleevesford High Street a lot. Every time I pass, he’s smoking outside before going back in. You might find him there. I said hello to him a few times but he doesn’t recognise me anymore. As for Marie, she left back then and I never heard from her again. I don’t think she resigned, she just stopped coming. I think she had family problems.’

Gina frowned, wondering why Nina hadn’t mentioned this information earlier. Better late than never, she guessed.

‘Oh, I think I remember something else. Marie’s surname… was something like Blair or Blaine. It began with a B.’

‘Would anyone else here know?’

‘I doubt it. I’m one of the longest-standing members of staff here, apart from the directors, and they had zero to do with the production line, not even at the big party in 2006. They pretty much only mingle with the office staff, and Marie didn’t work in the office back then.’

‘May we speak to the directors? Maybe they’d remember the other men you mentioned.’

‘I doubt it and it’s not going to happen anytime soon as one is in Jamaica on holiday, and the other is permanently overseeing our sister site in Belgium and won’t be back for another month, and then he’ll only be here for meetings.’

Gina cleared her throat. ‘I’m going to arrange for a police officer to work with you in taking statements. It may be that we have to interview the directors online if they’re not here.’

‘Okay, it’s worth a try. Like I said, I doubt they’ll be able to help but you never know. As for the other information you need, it will take a lot longer to check out the archives and I can’t make any promises that we’ll find what you’re looking for, especially temporary staff records, but we’ll do everything we can to help.’

A pigeon landed on the metal rail. Gina stepped back a little and waited for Jacob to catch up with the notes.

‘What’s this about, if you don’t mind me asking? I liked Marie so I hope she’s okay.’

‘We’re just following up on an incident and Marie’s name came up.’

‘I heard the news, and the only thing everyone is talking about right now is the dead man found at the farm. It’s not Colson, is it?’

‘We don’t have any more information as of yet, I’m sorry.’ Gina knew the description of Colson didn’t quite fit John Doe’s but there was an accomplice to consider.

‘I get it, you can’t tell me, but I remember thinking it strange that Marie never came back to work soon after Colson left. No one knew what her family problems were. We weren’t friends, so I never checked on her. I asked HR, but they just said she’d called and said she wasn’t coming back. It was strange, that’s all. She did mention something that concerned me.’

‘What was that?’

‘She thought someone had followed her home from work one evening. Some of our lines go all night, and one shift finishes at ten in the evening. It was the same then. She told me she didn’t want to do lates or nights again after it happened. Again, I think Colson would know more about this. Check out the bookies.’