"Any sign of the laptop itself?"
Cassie shook her head. "We can't find anything to do with his work at all," she said, looking around the room.
Tamara glanced upwards as if trying to see through the ceiling to the upstairs.
"No, nothing up there," Cassie said. "Two bedrooms. One master and the other set up for a child. Saffy, I should imagine. There's no desk or anything up there in either room. No space for one."
Tamara blew out her cheeks. "If it's a robbery, it stands to reason the laptop would be missing."
"Doesn't look like any robbery I've ever seen before. Look at this place. It's immaculate. And I found Gage's wallet on the TV stand," Cassie said, gesturing towards the television. Tamara's gaze followed. "It has his credit cards and fifty quid in cash. If it's a burglary gone wrong, then this guy was incompetent as well as being the most courteous thief ever."
"Car?"
Cassie produced an evidence bag, holding it aloft. "Keys. I checked the DVLA database and there's a blue Audi A3 registered to Gage at this address. I was just going to have a look outside."
Tamara nodded. "Let's go."
Chapter Eight
Tamara led the way back outside. Emerging into the warm sunshine, standing as they were in a walled front garden in the lee of the building, Tamara shielded her eyes. Looking back at the house she could now see how secluded the property was from the neighbouring ones. Despite being surrounded by others, with a few windows offering a vantage point to partially overlook the property, Gage's cottage had a largely private front garden tucked behind a shoulder-high stone wall that offered a degree of shelter from prying eyes. The courtyard to one side, itself hemmed in by a substantial wall, was not overlooked at all. It seemed to be the way of things in the village. Unlikely to have been so by design, it was more the result of a historical trading quayside that'd been converted into residential accommodation over the years. It wasn't hard to imagine all of these buildings being used to store grain or other goods coming and going back when this village was a coastal port. The small windows and thick walls offered a degree of privacy that wouldn't be found in modern purpose-built housing estates where windows overlooked gardens at every turn. Most houses here didn't seem to have gardens.
Cassie lingered on the path, observing her and then slowly followed her gaze across the surrounding premises.
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
Tamara scrunched up her face. She wasn't really sure. Her fear was that although the residents were on top of one another, due to how these properties were entwined they might struggle to find a witness who saw or heard something.
"Has anyone been door to door yet?" Tamara asked.
"Not yet, no."
Tamara nodded and set off for the gate. Once through it was only a few steps into the windmill's complex. Several cars were parked there but there was no sign of Gage's. Coming to the edge of the cordon a number of locals were gathered in the car park, cameras in hand and apparently heading for a walk across the salt marsh, but none of them were looking in that direction. All of them were facing the crime scene, expectantly observing the comings and goings. Cassie and Tamara ducked under the cordon. No one said anything to them and only paid them a cursory glance. The attention was largely focussed on the CSI techs, in their white coveralls, liaising with the two men who'd arrived from the undertakers to transport the body to the morgue once given the all clear to remove it from the scene.
Adrian Gage's car was parked in an open patch of waste ground at the old quayside. There was room here for a half dozen cars. Currently there were only two vehicles there. On the other side of the cars were a number of boats, a mixture of small skiffs and casual sailing vessels moored on the River Glaven. Cassie pressed the button on the fob. The hazard lights flashed as the doors unlocked. Tamara glanced through the passenger window as Cassie opened the driver's door. The car was presented in a similar manner to the house, clean and tidy. She indicated for Cassie to examine the interior while she moved to the boot.
Popping it open, she found it full, in stark contrast to the cabin. Before touching anything, she took a few pictures with her mobile phone and then proceeded to examine the contents. She found a holdall, similar in size to a gym bag, at one side. Unzipping it, she found it was stuffed with changes of clothes. It was all casual gear, T-shirts, a jumper, a pair of jeans along with changes of underwear. It was all clean, neatly folded and packed efficiently. Next to the holdall was a rolled-up sleeping bag and on top of that was an all-weather coat similar to what hikers would wear when out braving the elements. Next to this was a dark blue polyester bag. Pulling it towards her, she realised it contained a rolled-up tent. By the size of it, it couldn't have been more than a two-man offering. Lying horizontally on the floor of the boot, flat against the rear seats, was a collapsible camping chair. A small backpack was tucked between a cardboard box and the rear wheel arch protruding into the boot space. This wasn't for hiking. It was black, unusual for a hiking bag, with a roll-top design that folded over and secured where the bag met the wearer's back. Feeling it, it was padded to protect the contents.
Opening it, she smiled as she saw the laptop inside along with a clutch of folders and several note pads. She would wait until they were back at the station before emptying the bag. For now, she loosely fingered the contents, spying a set of pocket
