With confidence, Miller strode through the pack of teenagers, towards the Reid residence. “You’ve got to project strength to these little shits, or they’ll walk all over you.”
“You know as well as I do you can’t touch them. They could put a complaint in against you now.” Hayes sounded more concerned than angry.
They reached Brandy Reid’s mum’s front door, with its red paint peeling off. “Them? Nah, they hate the police. They’d sooner spit on us than call us, and that’s why we need to nip that whole ‘pig’ attitude in the bud before they become adults.”
Hayes turned and watched their car. “Yeah? Don’t expect our car to be there by the time we leave. They’ll be off looking for a crowbar as we speak.”
She knocked on the door and moments later a woman answered, opening it a crack. “Miss Reid? We spoke earlier on the phone. I’m Detective Sergeant Rachel Miller. This is my partner, Detective Inspector Amanda Hayes. May we come in?”
“Yeah, sure.” The woman stood aside, allowing them access.
The first thing to hit Miller was the girl’s lack of emotion. Ellie Reid took them through the thin hallway, into the lounge. She offered them the settee, while she plonked herself on the armchair. All the furniture had seen better days. There was a potent smell lingering under Miller’s nose, and when she saw the cats, she knew what it was. “Oh I just love cats.” She tried not to pull a face. “How many do you have?”
“Eight now, or is it nine? I forget. They’re all around here somewhere.”
Frumpy and lazy were the two words that jumped out at Miller when she studied Ellie. Dressed in an Adidas tracksuit that she’d obviously bought several years ago. With straggly dark hair and pounds of excess fat, she thought Brandy’s daughter must have been a disappointment to the radio co-presenter. “You said your nana would be here.”
“She couldn’t make it. She’s got bingo.”
Miller wondered how could Brandy Reid live like this? It was beyond disgusting. The stench would seep into her skin. She wrinkled her nose, the smell cloying.
“I just want to say how sorry I am for your loss.” Hayes wrinkled her nose.
“Don’t be. Mum was a total bitch.”
As was expected. “Oh? Can I ask why?”
“All she cared about was that arsehole boyfriend of hers, and getting high. She didn’t care about me. Nana raised me here. I only ever saw mum when she came begging Nana for money.”
“Your mum had a drug habit? That surprises me. Colin Fisher was dead set against drugs. How did she come to get her spot presenting with him?”
“I don’t know. She hid it well? She would take whatever she could get her hands on, but her drug of choice was coke. I’m surprised her septum didn’t fall off like that EastEnders actress.”
Hayes wasn’t buying Ellie’s story. It sounded like the daughter hated her mum so much, she was making it up. “I’m sorry to hear this. Can I ask where your mum lives, Ellie? We have this address for her.”
“No, she’s shacked up with Dylan somewhere.” Ellie reached in front of her and picked up her packet of cigarettes. She offered them both one.
Miller waved her refusal. “Could you find her address?”
The girl lit her cigarette, then asked how?
“Does your nana have an address book?”
Ellie laughed. “You don’t know my nana at all, do you? She’s an alcoholic. I doubt she can even write, she’s so pissed all the time. I only ever see her sober for five minutes in the morning when she wakes up on that couch, before she pukes in the toilet and washes it down with half a bottle of vodka. Then she’s ready to get on her scooter and head to Wetherspoons. Thinking of it, you might have more luck speaking to Nana’s friends there. They know Brandy better than I do.”
“Do you know your mum’s boyfriend’s surname, Ellie?” Hayes regarded Miller, indicating that they should leave soon.
“I don’t know! I’ve only seen him parked outside in his clapped out Rover. Mum never introduced us.”
“I see. You really don’t know her well at all, do you?” She looked over at Hayes, suggesting they leave.
Standing up, Miller regarded the slovenly girl. “We might take you up on your suggestion and visit your nana’s friends in Wetherspoons. We’ll see ourselves out, Ellie. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry you didn’t know her better.”
Ellie Reid shrugged. She didn’t care. “It is what it is.”
Miller let Hayes leave first.
“Did she suffer?”
“It was over quick.” Miller lied, not wanting to burden the poor girl, who’d grown up in the worst possible conditions, apparently without any kind of maternal love. “Take care of yourself.”
Miller was keen to get out into the fresh air.
Hayes waited for her outside. “Looks like we’ve got company.”
Miller closed the door and took in a long lungful of air. She took the time to gauge their situation. Sat on the bonnet of their Peugeot were two guys, one black, one white. They attracted the attention and adulation of the kids around their car. “Which one do you want to take?” she whispered. “I’ll take the white guy, if you’re okay taking the black fella.”
“Let’s just act calm, get in our car and go, right?”
“Sure, but if there’s trouble, which one do you want?”
“I’m comfortable taking on the black guy, yeah.”
“You see? That wasn’t so difficult.” Miller walked towards their car, never taking her eyes off the tall, white guy sat on their bonnet. The teenagers made room for them as they approached, which she took as a sign of respect. “Thank you, boys.”
To her surprise, a couple of them smiled. When she reached her door, she regarded the white guy. “Off the bonnet, please, sir. This is a police vehicle.”
Both guys jumped off the bonnet and stepped towards her and Hayes. “You just seen Reid’s mum in there?”
Miller glanced at her partner, then back at them. “Nope,
