Now, however, a length of blue wiring could be seen in the torchlight.
Kay held her breath and moved closer, careful not to lean on the insulation for fear of falling through the ceiling.
A black object sat above the light fitting, the end of the blue wire disappearing into the back of it, beneath which a green LED light flickered.
Kay sat back on her heels and swallowed.
She raised herself on shaking legs and squeezed past some old packing boxes until she reached the area above the room she used as a home office.
Once again, a blue wire had been added to the familiar red cabling.
Kay rose from the floor and hurried back to the hatch, climbed down the ladder and sank onto the carpet, her heart racing and an urge to be sick twisting her gut.
She’d worked in a support role on a number of observation postings and knew exactly what she’d discovered. It was why the thought had first crept into her mind.
Her thoughts spun as she tried to recall the conversations she and her colleagues had had in her house, the intimacy she’d shared with Adam, and the images the cameras had no doubt recorded.
Bile rose in her throat and, shaking, she staggered to the bathroom and vomited.
Flushing the toilet, she moved to the basin and turned on the tap, scooping cold water past her lips before she turned and sat on the edge of the bath, her head in her hands.
Her house had been fitted with miniature spy cameras and listening devices.
But, by whom?
And, why?
Thirty-Nine
Kay jumped in her seat at a tap on the car window, and then lowered it.
‘Are you coming, or what?’
‘Yeah, sorry – daydreaming.’
‘They’ll be here in a minute.’
She raised the window, ripped the keys from the ignition and then joined Barnes beside the vehicle. Her hands shook as she shoved the keys into her bag, and she turned slightly, so he wouldn’t see.
The occasion brought back too many painful memories that hadn’t yet had a chance to soften over time; a short ceremony, and then a small casket that disappeared behind a curtain while only she, Adam, and the nondenominational minister looked on.
‘Sarge?’
She blinked, and tried to concentrate.
‘You okay?’
‘I’m fine. Let’s go.’
The police rarely encroached upon a family’s grief to the extent of attending a funeral, but with a murderer still unpunished and a pressing need to serve justice, Larch had insisted that Sharp send his dwindling team there. Almost a week had passed since Sophie’s body had been released to her mother and father, and in that time, the investigation had slowed to a crawl. Administrative staff had been reassigned to other, more pressing matters, and the remaining team had been spending their days revisiting witness statements, trawling through Sophie’s history, while all the time fighting off a growing sense of desperation.
Sharp had made it clear to them behind closed doors that Larch saw the funeral as a way to assure the public that the police wouldn’t give up on the case. Sharp himself had other ideas. ‘Watch the congregation closely,’ he’d said at the morning briefing once the detective chief inspector had left the room. ‘Everyone is still a suspect. Someone at that funeral must know something.’
Kay followed Barnes across the road and through a narrow lych-gate, and tried to ignore the moss-covered gravestones that littered the long grass either side of the path.
Once, she had enjoyed exploring graveyards, seeking out the oldest dates, the most interesting histories, despite her lack of faith.
All that was in the past, and she couldn’t imagine ever returning to such a place by choice.
She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of other vehicles approaching the church, and saw the elongated sleek black outline of a hearse, followed by a dark-coloured courtesy vehicle.
Matthew Whittaker climbed from the back seat a few moments after it drew to a standstill, and held open the door. Diane emerged, her face pale, eyes hidden behind sunglasses despite the overcast sky.
Neither of them noticed Kay and Barnes under the shaded canopy of trees.
‘Come on.’
‘No, wait.’
Kay put her hand on his arm and frowned as Matthew slammed the car door shut and Diane’s voice carried on the breeze.
Kay couldn’t hear what was being said, but the woman’s tone was laced with acid as she stood on the pavement and berated her husband.
The undertaker and his assistants kept a respectful distance, until Matthew held up his hands to Diane, managed to pacify her, and then nodded to them.
He led Diane across the car park towards the church door, and Kay watched with interest as Diane shrugged off her husband’s arm from her shoulders and stormed through the open door ahead of him.
‘Okay, let’s go.’
‘What was all that about?’
‘No idea. Listen, I’m going to try to grab a seat at the back. See if you can find somewhere to sit halfway down.’
‘You want to make a run for it afterwards?’
Her lips thinned. ‘As much as I would like to, no. I want to be able to watch everybody from there, and not make it obvious by twisting around in my seat all the time.’
‘Okay.’
They hurried up the path, and Kay waited a moment upon entering the cool building to allow her eyesight to adjust to the gloom, and then made her way over to the middle pew in the back row. It was empty, save for her, and the next four pews were empty as well. Most of the congregation had bunched together towards the altar end of the church, and she ran her gaze over the gathering of people.
Some girls that looked to be the same age as Sophie took up two pews on the left hand side, and appeared to have been allowed out of school early to attend, evidenced by their school uniforms. Eva Shepparton was amongst them, and her eyes opened wide when she saw Barnes and Piper.
Barnes kept walking until he reached a half-full pew on the right-hand side, which placed him two thirds of the way back from the busier middle section and able
