‘It’s Jackie from the Milton Keynes Forensics team. We’ve spoken a couple of times.’
‘Hi Jackie.’ Paton’s heart quickened as he gripped his phone tighter and got in his car to shut out the noise of the road. ‘Any news?’
‘As you know, any new DNA samples submitted by the police to the National DNA database are automatically searched against unsolved crimes for any matches.’
Of course he knew that. Come on, what have you got? ‘Has a match been identified?’
‘We’ve been advised of a familial DNA match with your Loch Tay killer. There are twenty-three markers and the variable number tandem repeats in the profiles show fifty percent commonality. This person is, most probably, the Loch Tay killer’s sister. Her name’s Lucy Winterbourne.’
‘Eureka!’ Paton was so excited he jumped out of the car again and began to pace around the car park. This news was too big to take sitting down. He knew that when a forensics officer said, ‘most probably’ she meant she’d stake her pension on it. He could hear the officer chuckling at his reaction. ‘Is this sister in custody?’ he asked.
‘No. She was in a car accident and suspected of dangerous driving, a reportable offence, so we were able to take a DNA sample.’
‘Where is she now? Is she okay? Has anyone interviewed her yet?’
‘We’ve only just received the result but I believe she’s recuperating at home. I rang you straight away as I know you’ve been calling us weekly for updates. It seems like your tenacity has paid off.’
‘I need to call the chief inspector. I want to be there when she’s interviewed. Can you give me her details? We can check the electoral register to find out how many adults live at this address.’
‘We’ve already done that. We’ve looked at her current and previous addresses.’
‘And?’
‘Fiona Winterbourne is most likely her mother, given her age. According to the records there’s also a younger female, Jenna Winterbourne, at the earlier address. It’s highly likely she’s your Loch Tay killer.’
Paton ended the call and got back into his car. He needed to return to the office immediately. Jenna Winterbourne. At last. After seven months of searching, I’m coming to get you.
Chapter 69
Two Days Later | Jenna
Ellis has kindly dropped Lucy around as she’s still unable to drive. We’re playing Scrabble at a little table next to Mum’s bedside. She hasn’t got the strength to sit up and join in, but she likes listening to us and suggesting the occasional word.
Lucy’s looking more like her old self now that it’s been a week since her accident. The bruises on her face have faded and her recurring headaches are less intense. We’ve spoken at length about Grace, and both agree she must be behind the attempts on my life. We want to go to the police but we can’t let Mum end her days with the trauma of knowing her newly-found daughter is a would-be killer. We’ve agreed that I need to be extra vigilant until Mum is beyond knowing what’s going on. It’s unlikely to be long now as she’s barely eating or drinking anything.
Lucy and I have become much closer this past week and we can’t bear to be apart.
‘It doesn’t matter that we’re not blood relatives, Jenna,’ she’d said. ‘We’re sisters in every other way that matters and I’ll always love you.’ She reached for my hand. ‘We will stick together, won’t we? We need to look after each other.’
We both worry that Grace might still try to harm me and Lucy’s been like my bodyguard, not that she could do much with a broken ankle. There’s been no sign of Grace although I did open the front door yesterday to discover a huge bunch of flowers. There was only a simple card with them that said:
To Mum,
Always in my thoughts.
Your loving daughter
I looked about the garden in alarm. I knew the flowers weren’t from Lucy because she’d have signed her name. I’d had to fight with my conscience not to dump the flowers straight in the dustbin. I stare at them now – delicate cream roses, pink alstroemeria and blue lisianthus – and still have to stop myself from ripping them out of the vase and stamping on them. Mum loves them and she cried when she read the card. She’d assumed they were from Lucy or me, but when we denied it she cried even harder.
‘Can’t you do more to find Grace? I really need to see her again,’ she’d asked.
‘We have no idea where she lives or who with,’ we told her. ‘The cleaning company only has her old address and she moved out of there months ago.’
‘Your turn,’ Lucy says now. I bring my thoughts back to the game but we’re interrupted by a loud rapping on the door.
‘I’ll go,’ I say.
Lucy gives me a warning look that I interpret to mean ‘don’t take any chances,’ and I nod to confirm that I won’t. I head downstairs and ensure the security chain is in place before I open the front door a fraction. I’m surprised to see two men standing there. One is a uniformed police officer and the other is a middle-aged man with thinning hair in black trousers and a grey jacket. He shows me his ID badge and introduces himself as DI Paton.
‘Jenna Winterbourne?’ he asks.
‘Yes.’ I’m puzzled that he knows my name.
‘May we come in?’
I unlatch the chain, open the door wider and show them through to the lounge. Is this about Grace?
The DI clears his throat then says, ‘Jenna Winterbourne, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murdering Robert Nash on February 16th 2019 in Loch Tay.’
What? I take a step backwards, my head reeling in confusion and shock. ‘I don’t know anyone called Robert Nash,’ I say, ‘and I’ve never been to Loch… wherever it was.’
‘Loch Tay.’
I look wildly from one policeman to the other, my voice rising with barely concealed hysteria. ‘Where even is that?’
The policemen exchange glances and the one in uniform
