Page 109 of Twisted Lies

‘I need to know who she looked after as Karen.’

Ninety-Three

Penn watched as the officers used the Enforcer to break down the door. This time, the visit was official and protocols needed to be followed. In addition, he’d posted the back-door key through the front letterbox and knew there was no other way in.

‘Clear,’ the officer shouted as the door crashed against the wall. The cat scarpered past their legs and headed straight into the garden next door.

Penn listened at the doorway for a second but there was no sound. Jacob Powell was definitely not home.

He ventured into the hallway, seeing the same things in the same place, almost.

There was something different that he couldn’t place.

He waved behind him, beckoning the officers to begin the search. Two headed straight upstairs, one into the lounge and one through to the kitchen.

He followed the officer to the kitchen and that was when he saw the key back in the lock of the door. The millimetre of milk in the cat feeding bowl confirmed it. The dishes had been empty. He had put half a tin of cat food in the bowl but hadn’t found any milk.

No call had been made to the police that his house had been entered and property taken. There had been no report received from this address of any kind.

There was no doubt that Jacob knew they were on to him, so why come back at all? What had prompted his sudden need to return?

He glanced outside and saw it.

In the middle of the grass was a small fire pit, formed of house bricks.

He stepped outside and moved closer; the acrid smell of plastic burning was still present in the air. He leaned down and took a good look at the part-burned debris, which appeared to be a mixture of all kinds of materials. He spotted the burned leather remnants of a wallet; a blackened and melted card that may have been a driving licence; pages of A4 paper that had been burned together.

He knew he couldn’t touch it and took out his phone to call Mitch. He suspected he was looking at the personal possessions of the victims removed to slow down identification; as if identifying these victims hadn’t been difficult enough.

He walked around the pit as he pressed Mitch’s name on the phone.

There was a small amount of wording visible on the top of one of the burned pieces of paper.

He leaned down and read what he could see and was able to make out the words.

‘Common mistakes… Witness protection.’

He straightened as he waited for Mitch to answer his call.

There was no doubt in his mind that the teaching assistant was their killer.

Ninety-Four

‘Cross your paws for me, Barney,’ Frost said to the dog lying at her feet.

In between calling and sending emails, she had followed Stone’s instructions to the letter.

She’d let him out around ten and then given him a carrot at eleven. And she’d done it on the dot too. Knowing Stone, she had some secret camera hidden away watching her. She suspected that a voice would have sounded from somewhere with a timely reminder had she been a minute late.

She’d probably given him more tickles than necessary, but it was kind of automatic when he nestled beside her that her hand would find its way into his thick, soft fur.

‘Your buddy will be here for you soon. Does she send you with a packed lunch, an overnight bag? No, you just go as you are, eh?’

Frost silently remonstrated with herself. She’d never been one for talking to herself, but with Barney around she couldn’t seem to help it.

She gave him another tickle, and although it hadn’t been twenty-four hours, she was going to miss him when she returned home later today.

‘Maybe she won’t notice if I take you home with me, eh?’