Page 117 of Twisted Lies

‘Okay,’ she said, pulling herself back to the present. Knowing why he had wanted Leanne so badly didn’t help them find her right now. ‘We have the motive. We know JacobPowell wanted revenge for what happened to Emily, but what we need to focus on now is location. Where would Jacob have taken her?’

‘I’ve requested the data for Leanne’s phone,’ Stacey interjected. ‘I’ve explained the urgency, so I’m hopeful we’ll get something through soon.’

Forensics were currently tearing Leanne’s house apart, though Kim already knew that any DNA found would belong to Jacob Powell. There was nothing there that would help her one little bit.

‘It’s through,’ Stacey called out.

They all congregated behind Stacey’s chair.

Stacey opened the document and quickly looked at what had been sent.

‘Fantastic,’ she said as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

‘What?’ Kim asked.

The printer kicked into life, but the wall of people prevented Stacey from reaching it.

‘Err… guys,’ she said.

They all moved to the side.

Stacey offered Kim the top sheet of paper.

‘Okay, this is her activity log,’ Stacey said, looking at the screen. ‘She left here around 8.30a.m., yeah?’

‘Yep,’ Penn answered.

‘Well, she made a call before she’d even left the car park.’

‘To who?’ Bryant asked.

‘Doesn’t matter,’ Stacey said. ‘We already know she was alive and kicking at that time.’

Kim knew Stacey didn’t mean to sound dismissive. Her brain had kicked in to full-on analytical mode.

Kim watched as she scanned the call log and moved to the next sheet.

‘Her signal bounced off the mast at Romsley. An hour later she made a call which bounced off the mast at Dunstall Hill.’

‘Closer to her home in Wolverhampton,’ Penn observed.

‘Easy enough but now it gets…’ Stacey’s words trailed away as she continued to read. ‘You called her, boss?’

‘And left a message,’ Kim answered.

‘You were the last activity on her phone.’

Kim shook her head. That couldn’t be right. She knew that Wexford and his team had been trying to reach her after that.

‘Nope. You were the last. No more pings from anything. Battery could have been removed after your call to her.’

‘Where was it?’ Kim asked urgently.

‘Mobile phone mast at Wombourne.’

That was about five miles away from Leanne’s home. And if that was the last place Leanne had been with her battery in her phone, then that’s where they’d start the search.

‘Come on, Bryant,’ she said, heading for the door.