“Especially when you found Holly’s shoes at our place,” Mark said, his eyes flitting between the two detectives. “After Holly left me, I went home. Dad was there when I got in. There’s no way he could have killed her. When you found the shoes I thought everything he told me about the police must be true.”
Placing a comforting hand on his, Tamara smiled. “There’s much more to the story than just what you know, Mark. Your father is connected to events that have been going on around here but you’re right, he didn’t kill Holly. Come on, we’ll get you somewhere safe.” She passed him over to the waiting constables who led him away. Janssen knelt and retrieved the sawn-off shotgun from where he’d tossed it in his rush to their aid. “Are you okay?”
“A little bruised,” Janssen replied with a shrug.
“Your body or your ego?” she asked playfully. His face split a broad grin. “I dare say I’m annoyed with myself for not putting it together sooner. What’s the betting that we will be able to match the DNA from Holly’s baby to her father.” Janssen appeared shocked. It was the first time he’d given such an emotional reaction since they’d met.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” he admitted. “I gathered he was controlling but…”
“Stands to reason, though.” Glancing along the path she could make out flashing lights through the fog. It was beginning to clear as the breeze coming off the sea picked up. “She was popular but reclusive, dreaming of running away from her life to start over. She dressed herself as a much older woman which, to be fair, many teenagers do but she also sought out the company of older men, such as Ken Francis. Was she used to older men, feeling strangely comfortable around them because she’d been so well groomed by Colin? Let’s face it, her interest in boys her own age, like Mark, was passing at best.”
“That’s tragic, don’t you think?” Janssen replied with a shake of the head. “From the outside looking in, she had everything going for her.”
“Maddie spoke of how Holly looked out for her, protected her… I didn’t realise how significant that was. I wonder if she was planning a way she could get her out as well at some point in the future. I wouldn’t be surprised. Colin probably felt threatened as Holly was growing up and moving away from him, particularly after he searched for her that night. Maybe he didn’t find her with Mark but more likely at Ken’s house. If Callum McCall could see what they were up to then it is just as likely Colin would have too.”
“Then he confronted her after she left,” Janssen suggested.
“Whether the thought of losing her or, more likely, losing his power and control over her saw him intentionally kill her or he went too far in a fit of pique… who knows… but the upshot of it was she was dead and he had to think of something, fast. He may have seen that Holly was with Mark along that path or it’s a coincidence, I don’t know, but placing her there put Mark in the frame.”
Janssen’s brow furrowed. He was walking it through in his mind, she could tell. “There must have been something of an altercation with Ken. When she left him, Holly was barefoot and the soles of her feet were still clean when we found her body. She can’t have walked far. I imagine she met her father near to the house and he killed her shortly thereafter. A man of his size could easily carry her out here. Holly was such a slight girl it wouldn’t have been difficult for him and at that time of night he was unlikely to be discovered doing so.”
“Do you think Ken will give up exactly what went on that night for her to leave without her shoes? I mean, now their secrets are laid bare.” Janssen shrugged. No one in this case appeared able to tell the truth. The paternity of the child would remain a theory until it could be proven either way for it could just as easily be Ken’s child. “Needless to say, without Mark’s rather clumsy attempt at justice we may never have figured it out.”
Janssen nudged her in the side with his elbow as they set off along the path. “We’d have got there eventually, I’m sure. It’s going to be interesting to know what Mark said in the late-night call to get Colin out here.”
“Maybe he didn’t have to say anything much at all. Colin couldn’t know for certain what evidence was stacked against him and a man with such a desperate need to dominate needed to be sure. Finding Mark alone… he probably couldn’t resist the opportunity of tying off the loose end, even taking the chance of putting you down as well. Had he dropped the gun and pleaded a case of self-defence we would have been hard-pressed to make any kind of a case. As it is, he was far too impulsive for his own good.”
Janssen stopped walking. “Men like him always are.” It sounded like the words were spoken from experience, the tone was harsh and edged with bitterness. She chose not to press him on it. “I wonder how much his wife, Marie, knew? Maddie was afraid of revealing what she knew to you but she confided in Mark.”
“Yes. She trusted Mark. You were right about him all along. As for Marie, she’ll have questions to answer but abusers like Colin don’t just groom their victims, they groom everyone around them. At what point does Marie cease to be a victim and become an enabler?”
“I know what you mean,” Janssen replied, meeting her eye, “and maybe I’m being far too simplistic but… for me, that moment is when he enters your child’s bedroom.”
