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FORTY-TWO

Gina yawned as she poured a strong black coffee. The briefing had brought everyone up to date. Kapoor walked in, her eyes puffy and dark underneath. She followed suit and poured herself a coffee, too. ‘How did you get on?’ Gina asked.

‘I’m just getting some caffeine down my neck and I’ll be back on it. I must be close to finding Elissa’s file. It was such a long time ago and it wasn’t put in the correct place, as per the digital reference. I don’t know who did the filing back then but…’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe they were as tired as me when they put that file away. It happens. I only wished it hadn’t happened to the file we need.’

‘We all really appreciate your patience, Jhanvi. Did you manage to get a bit of sleep?’

She huffed out a laugh and sipped her coffee. ‘I slept in an empty cell. It’s amazing how comfortable a mattress as thick as a slice of bread is when you’re seeing double because you’re so tired.’

Gina laughed. ‘We’ve all sampled those when needs must.’

‘The drunken guy in the next cell was barfing all night. Oh, the joy. Right, I’m back on it, guv. I’ll shout if I find the file, and I’ll send you all the details I have on businesses that have horses. A fair few have been checked out and eliminated from our enquiries, but it’s still a work in progress. Also, I know you wanted to know more about the couple who owned The Singing Kettle café back then – I’ll ask O’Connor where we are with that.’

Nodding, Gina checked her watch and grabbed her coffee. As she walked down the corridor, she almost bumped into Wyre. ‘Guv, Tristan Moore is here for his interview.’

‘Great, can you tell Jacob, and take Mr Moore to interview room one?’

‘Jacob has fallen asleep in the incident room. Shall I come with you instead, or shall I wake him?’

Gina blew out a breath. He had been with her during all the interviews so far. In an ideal world it would be him, but she also needed him to get some rest. ‘Have you caught up with everything about the case so far?’

‘Yes. I read your updates on all that was said between you and the Moores last night, and I’ve gone through everything you sent over from Mr Pritchard’s house.’

Nodding, Gina smiled. ‘In that case, yes, please, and thank you. Did Keeley bring him in?’

‘She did. They’re both in the family room at the moment. I’ll go and get everything set up while you finish your coffee, and I’ll meet you there in five.’

Gina headed to the incident room and saw Jacob slumped in the corner, his head leaning against the back wall and a thin trail of dribble slipping down his chin. He was dead to the world around him. She saw O’Connor leave with a pile of paperwork, obviously giving their colleague some space to nap.

Pulling a bobble from her suit jacket pocket, Gina grabbed her hair and placed it in a ponytail at the back, needing to disguise what a mess she was in, then she entered interview room one.

Wyre sat in the corner next to the recorder. Mr Moore hunched over the other side of the desk, wearing a waxed coat and a roll-neck jumper. The light from above reflected off his shiny bald head, and the fact that his bouncing knees kept hitting the underside of the table told Gina he was nervous. ‘Mr Moore, I’m DI Harte. Thank you for coming in this morning.’

He took a few sharp breaths as Wyre introduced them for the tape.

‘First, can you tell me how you know Colson Ferguson?’

As soon as Gina had mentioned Keeley Moore to Colson during his interview, he’d refused to say another word. Nothing untoward had been found in Colson’s van, which meant he’d be released soon.

‘We met in a pub.’ He clasped his hands together on the table.

‘Which pub?’

‘The Angel in Cleevesford.’

‘When?’

‘I, err, I can’t remember. It was July, but I don’t know when. My wife had gone back up north to see family and I didn’t want to go with her. I had too much to do on the house. I went out and that’s when I met him. Colson.’

‘And what happened then?’

‘We chatted and got on.’ He paused. ‘My wife doesn’t know anything about this. I love her. I don’t want us to end, and if she finds out I cheated, we’d be over. I was lonely, that was all.’ He took a deep breath and continued. ‘We haven’t been close for a long time because of this damn house, but I know it’s my fault, too. I haven’t given her much attention and…’ He placed his head in his hands. ‘Please don’t tell my son or Moira. I made an error of judgement with Colson and I cheated. I’ve been such an idiot, risking everything I have for a stupid fling.’

‘A fling?’ From what Keeley had said, Gina thought it may have just been one night, but she clocked that Tristan said he met Colson back in July. That was two months ago.

‘Moira was away for two weeks. I met up with him nearly every night during that period. It started innocently; Colson liked a flutter and I love a game of cards. We had a laugh in the pub so I asked him if he wanted to meet up the next night for a beer and a game. Somehow it ended in him asking if he could come to mine, and I thought great. Get a takeaway, grab a box of beer and a pack of cards. We got talking. He told me that he was a bit lost and I told him that I was feeling a bit lonely, too. We were drunk. I’d raided the wine cellar by now, and I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up in bed with him. I’ve never?—’

‘Mr Moore, we’re not here to judge.’

‘He came over the next night and the night after that.’ He let out a long breath. ‘I felt awakened, rejuvenated, like a teenager again, if you get what I mean?’ He shook his head and closed his eyes for a second. ‘It might sound like a cliché, but I haven’t been intimate with my wife in over a year. I know it’s not an excuse, but I had this younger guy at my house and we were having a laugh and I found him attractive. I was flattered. Keeley popped by to get something one of the kids had left at ours. She thought I’d gone with Moira up north, which is why she’d let herself in. She saw Colson wearing my dressing gown and put two and two together.’ He swallowed. ‘Do you think he had something to do with Keeley’s attempted kidnap? If only I’d known what type of man I’d let into my home, into our home…’

‘That’s what we’re investigating at the moment.’ Gina pushed a little more. ‘What happened after that?’

‘After he left, I noticed that five hundred pounds had gone. He’d asked me to lend him some money only a few hours earlier. Two thousand pounds, to be exact. But I barely knew him, and I know it looks like we have money, but it’s all tied up in the property. Moira would notice if I suddenly took two thousand pounds out of our account. I said no and knew I had to end this silly thing that I’d started with him. Anyway, once he’d left and I noticed the money was missing, I called him to ask him to bring my money back and he said no. Just like that. I said I was calling the police and he said if I did, he’d tell Moira what we did. He said he’d taken a photo of us in bed when I was asleep, and said he’d post it to all my friends and colleagues. I never thought something like this would happen to me.’ He held back a sob.

Although Gina knew he’d cheated on his wife, she felt for Tristan Moore. The threat to expose his sexuality online by leaking intimate photos was horrible. She thought about the awful images of herself online, the one using her eyes. And then there was the one of her blindfolded in the shed. ‘We have Colson’s phone, and so far we haven’t found any images of you on it.’

‘Thank you. I don’t even know if he has any photos, but I’m not happy to call his bluff. There’s a side of me no one knows, but it doesn’t matter. I love my wife. Colson was a fling, nothing more. What’s five hundred pounds to keep a lid on it?’ He paused. ‘I only did it because Moira had an affair and it broke me. I thought you should know that; why I did what I did and why our marriage was in tatters. A part of me felt entitled, like I wanted to get back at her.’ He reached over and nervously scratched the back of his head. ‘I’m going to have to tell her. I don’t think I can keep this in anymore. I want to report Colson for the theft and the threats.’

Gina nodded slowly. ‘It’s very brave of you. I’ll get a colleague to take a full statement after we’ve finished here.’

He was braver than she was, Gina thought. She swallowed, but felt a little optimistic. They were going to be rearresting Colson on new charges and that meant they’d be keeping him in.

Gina’s thoughts moved back to the case in hand and John Doe. ‘Do you know this man?’ She placed the artist’s drawing of John Doe down in front of him.

He scrutinised the drawing. ‘I don’t think so. But there is something familiar about him.’ Gina felt her heartbeat pick up as he continued to speak. ‘Actually, I think he might have helped on one of my renovations, but I can’t remember which one. It was maybe two or three years ago? He could be in the building trade – possibly a roofer or a brickie – but I couldn’t swear to it. It will have been my wife who booked him and dealt with his company, but, like I said, it was a long time ago. We might need to dig out the paperwork to get a name or a company.’

‘Is your wife at home?’

He shook his head. ‘She’s at a trade fair in Scotland. I tried to call her earlier and she didn’t answer. She can’t always get a signal though.’

‘When is she due home?’

‘Tomorrow. She flies in first thing. She should be home around seven in the morning.’

‘Can we send an officer home with you to help you look through the paperwork? We really need to identify this man. We have reason to believe he has been working with another person, and that person was involved in the attempted kidnapping of your daughter-in-law.’ Gina now had it in mind that there could be two more accomplices since Colson was in custody at the time Ruth was taken. ‘Does Keeley work with you on the renovations at all? Could she have come into any kind of contact with this man’ – she placed her index finger on the drawing of John Doe – ‘even if she doesn’t remember him?’

He nodded his head. ‘She’s always around our place with the kids, so it’s definitely a possibility. She does sometimes chat to the contractors or makes them a cuppa. I’ll go back home and find that paperwork. There’s loads and I’m a very untidy record keeper, so if someone could help me we could find the invoice faster.’

‘Do you have any other vans than those parked on your drive?’

‘No.’

‘What outbuildings do you have?’ Gina thought of the girl in the photos. It was a long shot and she had no reason to believe Tristan Moore was behind anything, but she had to ask.

‘A small barn, a wine cellar that is actually underneath the games room in the garden, the games room itself and a tree house, which is a death trap so we don’t go near it.’

‘Thank you.’ She waited for Wyre to finish noting all that down. ‘If it’s okay, a police officer will go with you now while we speak with your daughter-in-law again.’

Several minutes later, Tristan Moore had left and Keeley was now sitting in his seat. The recorder was rolling. Gina waited for Wyre to have a sip of water.

‘Have you found the man who tried to take me?’

Gina leaned in. ‘We have a lead and your father-in-law is helping us.’

Keeley linked her fingers and held her hands under her chin. ‘We know him?’

‘It’s just a lead at the moment.’

‘What do you need to know?’

Gina passed the photo of John Doe across the table. The last time they spoke, the children were shouting and calling for Keeley. ‘Can you please look at this picture again?’ Gina hoped that having the cap included in the picture would jog Keeley’s memory but Gina didn’t mention that he wasn’t wearing a cap in the last picture. ‘Do you recognise this man?’

‘You’ve already showed me a picture of him. Is it different?’

‘Only slightly. Would you please take another look? You were understandably a little distracted last time.’

She shrugged. ‘Sorry about that. The kids were really unsettled.’ She stared long and hard. ‘I don’t know… maybe he might bear a slight resemblance to someone who worked on one of the renovations but that man had a beard. I’m not sure.’ She frowned.

‘Can you look once again? Try to imagine him with a beard.’ If needed, she’d ask for another mock-up of the man with a beard after the interview.

‘I remember someone wearing a cap like this, fussing over the kids. His face looked a bit rounder, more filled out, back then. As I said, he did have a beard, quite a full one. He kept saying how cute the boys were. To think of it, he said he had a daughter and that he loved kids.’

‘Do you remember his name?’

She shook her head. ‘Why are you asking me about him?’ She folded her arms and bit her bottom lip.

‘We have reason to believe he was working with the person who tried to take you.’

‘ Was ?’

‘Have you been watching the news?’

She nodded. ‘I’ve done nothing but watch the news.’

‘You will have seen a report of a man who was found dead at a local farm. There was an appeal for witnesses.’

‘I’ve seen some updates on Facebook. Suicide apparently. How does that link to me?’

‘This was the man we found dead in the car.’

Keeley began to hyperventilate. ‘No, no way. And what did you say? You said he might have been working with others. I haven’t seen this man in over two years, that’s even if we’re both talking about the same man. Not a sniff of him. If he was watching me, he’s been like a ghost. And why? Why me? What for? I don’t even know him.’

‘Do you know his name?’

‘No, he was just another contractor.’ She began to bite her lip and furrow her brow. Gina gave a her a bit of space to think. ‘There is one detail I do remember about the man I spoke to. It was his daughter’s name. I thought it was pretty. I kept thinking, if I ever had a girl I’d like to call her Luna.’

Gina felt her heart banging away. ‘I mentioned the name Luna to you when we spoke last.’

‘You asked something about someone with a birthmark. I said I didn’t know anyone with a big birthmark on their face.’

Gina realised with the commotion going on that evening, Keeley hadn’t properly heard her. She couldn’t blame Keeley. She was a victim, a witness, and stressed out from her ordeal, and with her children calling for her, Gina’s words had been drowned out. ‘I’m sorry,’ Gina said, trying to remain calm on the exterior. ‘I should have asked you again. Did you meet Luna, or did he show you a photo?’

She shook her head. ‘No. Never.’ She paused. ‘I haven’t even thought about him since you showed me that photograph but sometimes I think about her and how he described her.’ She took a deep breath and continued. ‘He said she was about ten, I think, and that she’d been in a wheelchair since having an accident when she was younger. It was a sad story. Her agoraphobia meant she never left the house at all.’

Keeley paused and went to speak, but stopped and thought for a moment. ‘Where is she? He said that she depended on him for everything, which is why he had to keep coming and going. If she doesn’t have him, who does she have?’