“Where do you think she went?” asked Mary.
“She never told me,” said Lucy.
“Perhaps it’s something she started doing before Stacey died,” said Luke.
“There was nothing to stop her if the girls were sleeping here, or at Vanessa’s place,” said Mary. “Whoever it was she was meeting. I told you; it was nobody else’s business.”
Luke told Mary that Lucy needed to stay with her because Debbie was helping them with their enquiries relating to Stacey’s death. That halted the old lady in her tracks.
“You can’t mean…” said Mary.
“Did you bring everything you needed, Lucy?” Blessing had asked.
Lucy had nodded towards the bag she had brought with her.
“Why don’t you show me your bedroom, Lucy? DS Sherman tells me you’ve got a choice of a bunk bed. I’m an only child, so I was never lucky enough to find out what it’s like.”
Blessing had gone upstairs with the young girl.
“This will be the first time I’ve slept here since Stacey died,” said Lucy. “I can’t sleep on the top bunk. It wouldn’t feel right. What’s going to happen tomorrow?”
“You’ll stay here until everything gets sorted, Lucy,” said Blessing. “Try not to worry.”
“Will I see you again?” asked Lucy, who sat on the bottom bunk.
“I can’t say,” said Blessing. “Another police officer might call on you and your grandmother. My part, in this case, is done.”
Lucy jumped up and ran into Blessing’s arms. The young detective felt the hot tears through her blouse.
“Thank you,” said Lucy. “You’ve always been nice to me.”
“Try to get to sleep,” said Blessing, feeling embarrassed. “Look after your grandmother. She’ll need you.”
Blessing left Lucy in the bedroom and returned downstairs. Luke was waiting in the hallway.
“All good?” he asked.
“If only,” said Blessing. “Let’s go home.”
Luke had told her he’d answered as many of Mary’s questions as he was able.
“Do you think Debbie and this Maidment character had been meeting on Sundays for a while?” asked Blessing.
“From what we heard from the stakeout in the nature reserve, it was drugs,” said Luke. “We had to deal with Lucy and Mary, so who knows?”
“Gus Freeman will know,” laughed Blessing. “I only hope he’ll let us in on the secret in the morning.”
Luke had driven to Worton to drop Blessing at the Ferris’s farm and then headed home to Warminster. The alarm clock had woken him and his partner, Nicky, at half-past seven this morning. Luke hoped next weekend, Gus wouldn’t find an urgent task that needed their attention. He and Nicky could benefit from a spot of free time.
Luke observed Blessing as she removed the street maps and crime scene photos. They had driven into the Old Police Station office separately this morning but arrived within seconds of one another. As they rode up in the lift, they had wondered what had happened at the nature reserve after they switched off their comms devices.
Luke completed his contribution to the Read case's digital files and glanced through what Gus and the others had added. He realised that they now had every piece of the jigsaw. The evidence the team had gathered should allow the Gablecross detective team to construct a winning case for the Crown Prosecution Service.
“I can see a frown forming, Luke,” said Gus.
“How did Debbie Read get in touch with Rod Maidment, guv?” Luke asked. “the number she gave us wasn’t valid.”
“Jake Chalmers found a number listed as RJNM Engineering in her contacts,” said Gus. “That number never got deleted whatever state of their relationship. The numbers that Debbie and Vanessa had in their phones were for old pay-as-you-go phones Maidment used. To have several burner phones at once isn’t unusual for crooks like Maidment. He had to be careful not to get them mixed up, of course.”
“How much did Vanessa know about her sister and Maidment?” asked Luke.
“Based on what Gareth Francis has learned so far, not a lot,” said Gus. “If Vanessa had known Maidment was Lucy’s father, would she have allowed herself to get picked up at that nightclub by him?”
“With what we know of the family history now, guv, I wouldn’t put it past her,” said Blessing.
“Vanessa didn’t know about her sister and Maidment,” said Gus. “I’m also convinced Debbie didn’t know that lover boy went straight to her sister when they split in October 2013. Gareth will seek to uncover the truth behind that split. Perhaps Debbie wanted a larger percentage of the profits that had come from the drug side-line they set up in December 2012.”
“Why didn’t anyone realise James Neville and Rod Maidment were the same people, guv?” asked Neil Davis.
“Let me ask you this, Neil,” said Gus. “How many people knew both men?”
“Karen Lock and her school friends knew Neville,” said Neil, “but that was years ago. Karen hadn’t seen him in person for years. His threats came through the post, or by phone. When he approached his son, Ryan, he probably introduced himself as James Neville, but Ryan wouldn’t have known how much his appearance had changed.”
“Maidment had lost weight,” said Gus, “and the full beard covered a scar by his lip that Karen mentioned. She told us he had no tattoos or piercings in 2001. They were a later addition. The hardcore sleeve was the most recent. That was a firm favourite in 2013.”
“How come you know so much about tattoos, guv,” asked Blessing.
“I don’t,” said Gus, “but after I met Kassie Trotter at London Road, I thought I’d try to understand what they meant, and why on earth anyone wanted to submit themselves to hours of torture. I’m still working on that.”
“Debbie Read never met the James Neville persona, Neil,” said Luke.
