He raised an eyebrow.
Kay sighed. ‘I stayed late and used his computer to check something on HOLMES2 about the Demiri investigation. The same night, Gavin is beaten up and his attackers are never caught.’ She rubbed at her right eye. ‘I can’t help but think that wasn’t coincidence. There’s information missing from the database, too. All to do with the case that fell apart. Someone’s been covering their tracks and making sure I don’t ruin whatever it is they’ve got planned.’
He straightened his jacket and pushed himself away from the car. ‘All right. Don’t tell anyone else. Leave this with me.’
Kay watched him stroll back towards the police station and bit her lip.
Had she made the right choice?
That night, Kay stepped from the shower in the en suite, swiped her towel from the rail next to the sink and scrubbed at her skin until it was red.
Beyond the closed door, she could hear Adam pacing the bedroom as he stripped down to his boxer shorts, threw his clothes in the laundry basket and switched on his bedside light.
As she entered the bedroom, she slipped under the duvet and switched off her light after making sure her alarm was set for the morning.
Adam rolled over and nuzzled her neck, before she felt him push up against her.
She rolled over, a smile forming, and then froze.
Her eyes locked onto the light fitting above the bed.
Were they watching?
She placed a hand on his chest. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t.’
His brow creased. ‘Everything alright?’
‘I don’t feel well, that’s all. There’s something doing the rounds at work.’
He pulled her into his arms. ‘That’s no good. You should’ve said. I wondered why you didn’t eat much tonight.’
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled into his chest.
She could hear the disappointment in his voice, but she wasn’t lying about not feeling well. Bile threatened to rise, and she held her breath, forcing the sensation away.
Sickness gathered in the pit of her stomach and she resisted the temptation to stare up at the ceiling again.
She couldn’t let them know that she’d discovered their dirty secret.
Forty-Two
‘Here it is, coming up on the left. Number seventy-two.’
Kay slowed the car to a crawl and drove past the house until she could find a parking space.
They walked back to the property at a slow pace to give them a chance to get their bearings.
‘How long has Felix Ashgrove lived here?’
‘Records show that he’s always lived in Oxford, but he moved to this house seven years ago. From the title deeds, it looks like it was his mother’s house prior to that.’
They reached a tall privet hedge with a wooden gate halfway along its length, two chrome numbers nailed to the front of it.
‘Number seventy-two. Alright, let’s see what Mr Ashgrove can tell us.’
Kay let the gate swing back into place behind them and led Carys up the path to the front door.
It opened before she could raise her hand to press the doorbell, and a middle-aged man half a head shorter than her appeared, a pair of reading glasses pushed up into his thinning black hair.
‘You’re the detectives?’
Kay smiled. ‘Are we that obvious?’
He blushed, then cleared his throat. ‘I don’t get too many visitors during the day. Come in.’
Kay stepped into the hallway and formally introduced herself and Carys.
‘You’ve come a long way,’ he said. ‘I’ll put the kettle on, shall I?’
‘That would be great, thanks.’
‘Go through to the living room. I’ll be there in a minute.’
Kay walked through the door he indicated and checked over her shoulder.
While Carys waited by the door, she carried out a quick look around the room, but found nothing untoward.
The man appeared to live alone, and the decor didn’t look like it had been updated since his mother had died. However, the room remained fresh, and she noticed at the far end that a patio door led out to a well-tended garden.
‘It’s quite a sun-trap on the right day,’ he said, entering through a second door near the back of the room with three steaming mugs. ‘But a bit too cold today.’
‘How long have you been here?’
‘I grew up here.’ He handed her and Carys a mug each. ‘I’ve moved around a bit since, but when my mother died seven years ago, I thought I’d move in rather than sell. The housing market wasn’t brilliant at the time, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to wait.’ He took a sip of his drink. ‘But you didn’t come here to talk about houses, did you?’
‘I understand from DC Miles that you spoke to her yesterday about Duncan Saddleworth.’
‘Yes, that’s right. Shall we sit?’
He gestured to the two generously stuffed sofas near the front window, and sat in one.
Kay and Carys took the other, and Carys retrieved her notebook and pen from her bag.
‘Oh. I didn’t know this was a formal interview.’
‘It doesn’t have to be,’ said Kay. ‘But we do need to have a record of what we’ve discussed. There’s a lot to recall when conducting an investigation like this. If you prefer, I can let you have your rights, and we can go from there.’
He held up his hand. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got nothing to hide.’
‘Okay, great. So, to start us off, tell me what led you to phone us.’
‘I saw the news the night before last – the teenager’s funeral. Must’ve been a slow news day in Oxfordshire.’
Kay nodded, but said nothing. It was more likely that Sharp and the media officer had requested the regional news stations within a certain radius of Maidstone broadcast the footage in case it jogged anyone’s memory. It didn’t always work, but when it did, it often offered a breakthrough or another lead to follow up that they wouldn’t have otherwise got.
‘Go on.’
‘Well, I was taken aback when I saw Duncan Saddleworth, to be honest. I thought he was still in America. I’m surprised he wasn’t keeping a low profile though.’
‘Oh? Why?’
Ashgrove leaned forward and placed his half-empty mug on the
