“Sadly, he said the car didn’t have any plates, either front or rear.”
Katy picked up a pen and threw it at the wall. “Bugger, that’s not going to help us. What about any likely CCTV in the area?”
“Steve is looking into that now. He’s called a few pubs along that stretch of the water to see if they can help us. Nothing as yet, though a few of them have said they have CCTV, but not at the rear of the property, only overseeing the car parks and the entrances.”
“Not very helpful, but I suppose it makes sense. Okay, we need to find out more about Thatcham’s associates in that case. I’ve ordered a warrant for his business address. I think what I’ll do is order one for his home address as well. Something isn’t sitting right with me on this one. Damn, I’ve also got the name of the other victim. Do me a favour and put Tina Lascombe’s name on the whiteboard. We’ve just come from visiting her mother. Apparently, her daughter was having an affair with Thatcham.”
“Did the wife know?”
“She knows now because we told her there was a female on board at the time of her husband’s death.”
“Are you thinking she might be behind this? A hitman situation?”
Katy raised her upturned hands. “Your guess is as good as mine. Hence the need for the warrant.”
“Want me to check her bank accounts?”
“Yes, why not? Check into his as well, if you would.”
“I’ll leave you to your boring paperwork then.” Graham exited the room.
Needing a break to give her whirring mind a rest, Katy called home.
“Hi, I was just thinking about you,” AJ said cheerily. Georgina was in the background, nattering away to her dollies by the sound of things.
She smiled. “You were? What’s going on there?”
“Munchkin is having a tea party for her dolls. I made cupcakes—correction, we made cupcakes—earlier to keep her amused, and now she’s shoving them down the dolls’ necks, whether they want to eat them or not.”
“Hilarious. I don’t envy you clearing up that mess later.”
“Yeah, funny how that part slipped my mind when I came up with the idea. How’s your day going?”
Katy rubbed at her temple with her free hand. “So-so, you know how it is at the start of an investigation.”
“If you need to talk about things, I’m here for you, you know that.”
“Of course I do. It’s fine, baffling but fine. What else have you got planned today?”
He fell quiet for a few moments and then cleared his throat. “Nothing much, although, something big is running through my mind that I think we need to discuss later, if you’re not too tired to listen.”
“I’ve always got time for you. Sounds ominous, are you going to give me a hint?”
“Nope, not until I’ve slotted a few more pieces together in my mind. Then I was going to pluck up the courage to ring Mum, make arrangements to pay them a visit over the weekend. Do you think you’ll be free?”
“Crap, there’s no telling how this case is going to pan out. I’d hate for you to make the arrangements and have to back out at the last minute. Oh, what the heck! Go on, do it. It’ll be better if we get things out in the open soon, rather than keep delaying the inevitable. I hope they don’t cause trouble.”
“Hey, stop it. I won’t allow them to. Anyway, we’re as solid as granite. No one and nothing anyone is likely to say or do is going to change that either. If they kick up a fuss, we’ll leave. I’ve got all the family I’m ever going to need. Except…no, we’ll discuss it later. You’re busy now.”
“Christ, talk about leaving me on tenterhooks. Can you give me a hint?”
“Nope, that would give the game away.”
“Bloody tease. I’ll make you pay. I have ways, you know.”
“Hmm…if you’re referring to bedroom antics…bring it on, baby.”
“You can never keep a good man down, as my mother always used to say during my teenage years.”
AJ laughed. “Are we still talking about a bedroom situation here?”
“AJ! Wash your mouth out, talking like that in front of our one and only child.”
“Okay, about that…it’s okay, I’m joking, I promise. I can just imagine your mouth hanging open in shock.”
“You’re not wrong there. Right, now you’ve raised that subject again, for the millionth time, I’d better crack on with my job. Love you, see you later. Hugs and kisses to Georgie.”
“Mummy sends kisses, Georgina. What do you say, sweetie?”
“Bye, bye, Mummy! Love you.”
Tears of joy welled up. “What I wouldn’t give to be with you guys full-time, living on a remote island somewhere.”
“You’d get bored within no time at all.”
“I would not. We’ll talk later. Enjoy the rest of your day. See you around six-thirty, if nothing important crops up in the meantime.”
“Just ring me if it does.”
She ended the call and got stuck into her paperwork.
Several hours passed before she broke the back of it and left the office. She did the rounds with the team. Steve had secured some interesting CCTV footage from one of the pubs which showed the men getting on board the boat.
“Interesting. They seem like unwelcome visitors to me. Are you getting the same vibe?”
Steve nodded. “Yep. I had to switch cameras as the picture was too grainy on this one. Wait a second while I change discs.”
“Okay, you do that and let me know when you’re ready.” She moved on to see what Karen had to say about the family’s finances.
“Anything, Karen?”
“Define anything?” She chortled. “Bloody hell, this woman can shop for England. I mean, who in their right mind spends a hundred grand in one outing at a boutique?”
“Someone with too much money to their name, I should imagine. Apart from shopping expeditions, are there any other large payments we should be concerned about?”
“She must have bought a new BMW
