‘How many people were on the train that day?’ she asked.
The station manager responded, ‘Probably no more than one hundred and fifty.’
‘Can’t you isolate it to them?’
‘It’s not that simple,’ Brian Gee replied. ‘We’re not looking at the trains per se. We mainly focus on the platforms, the restrooms, the main concourse. There were two trains on the platform at the time of interest. The train we are interested in, and another from the west of the country. In total that’s about five hundred people. We’re looking, could be a few hours yet, and then she could have changed her clothes. Even with all this technology, it’s still a needle in a haystack.’
Wendy could see that it was going to take a while. She determined she would wait it out. At least at the railway station she could find somewhere outside to smoke.
***
Isaac and Farhan had not spent much time in the office since the death of Sally Jenkins. Isaac decided that his best approach was to call Richard Williams to the station. There was a great unknown to be resolved. If Sally Jenkins was killed because she knew something, then how did she get that information? And if she had that information, did that place the source in danger as well?
The situation with the media was also starting to become a nuisance. The disappearance of Marjorie Frobisher had caused speculative interest from them, with their probing cameras and microphones. The death of Charles Sutherland, now officially confirmed as murder, had taken their interest level up to serious. The death of Sally Jenkins, not a celebrity but known as the personal assistant to the executive producer, created further interest.
Isaac rethought his plan to bring Williams into Challis Street as his arrival would be seen by the media. He did not want to create added speculation on the television and in the press.
Detective Superintendent Goddard, on advice from Charles Shaw, the Met Commissioner, saw that the only option was to make a formal statement. He realised he should have done this earlier, after the death of Charles Sutherland, but he had been hesitant. Angus MacTavish had been against it, even threatened his career.
It was evident the commissioner had used his contacts and had cleared the press conference.
The press conference, hastily set up for two in the afternoon, had not allowed Isaac time to meet Williams. He had phoned him, found him to be uncommonly subdued, and sorry about the death of his former personal assistant. ‘I had a lot of time for her. We had some fun together,’ he said. Isaac wasn’t sure if it was a genuine heartfelt emotion or whether it was for his benefit. He chose to believe the former.
He would force Williams to reveal his real emotions at a later date and to detail every bit of hidden information he possessed. Isaac and Farhan remained convinced that the deaths would continue. People were dying for a reason still unknown, and until they knew that reason, the case was going nowhere.
Charles Sutherland had known something, or had he? Sally Jenkins had died for a similar reason, but she’d had no way of finding out the information unless it was by eavesdropping, or someone had told her. If it wasn’t Charles Sutherland, then who, and why?’ Both Isaac and Farhan were nervous when they explained their fears to their boss, Detective Superintendent Goddard.
‘We’re stuck with this,’ he said, ‘whether we like it or not.’
Chapter 24
‘Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press. Good morning.’ The assembled audience for the hastily arranged press conference waited impatiently for their opportunity to put questions. They knew they would have to listen to the official police statement first: Detective Superintendent Richard Goddard to give the initial address, Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Cook to follow on. Neither man was excited at the prospect, although Isaac knew his parents would be proudly watching on the television.
Richard Goddard read from a prepared statement. ‘Charles Sutherland, it is confirmed, died as the result of poisoning. We are treating his death as murder. You are now aware that a subsequent death, confirmed as the murder of a young female, is possibly related. Both were involved in a television programme, one as an actor, the other as the personal assistant to the executive producer.
‘I should state that the assumption that both murders are related must remain just that, an assumption. In both cases, there appears to be no motive.
‘What I can tell you is that the disappearance of Marjorie Frobisher still causes us concern. We are anxious to ascertain her whereabouts at the earliest opportunity. It is clear that when the floor is thrown open to questions, her name will be mentioned. Let me emphasise that we believe her to be missing.
‘I will invite those present to ask questions. Please announce your name, the organisation you represent, and to whom you are directing the question. Please do not expect us to indulge in idle speculation.’
A quick flurry of hands in the air, a flashing of cameras as the individuals in the throng attempted to be first with their question.
‘Barbara Halsall, Sky News. Detective Chief Inspector Cook, is it not a fact that you are looking for Marjorie Frobisher’s body, and that the police believe her to be dead?’
Isaac’s reply, predictable. ‘Unless we receive information to the contrary, we continue to believe that she is alive and well.’
‘Is it not clear that she is dead?’ Barbara Halsall was entitled to one question; she had taken two. It was not unexpected. She had been on the television almost as long as Isaac had been alive. Few would stand in her way when she was asking questions. Richard Goddard attempted to remind her that she was only entitled to one question. She ignored him totally.
‘There is nothing to indicate that Marjorie Frobisher’s disappearance is related
