Her Last Mistake - Detective Gina Harte Series 06 (2020) Read online

  ‘I can do that,’ the girl replied. ‘I haven’t been working here too long but I do know most of the customers by name. A crowd of them did leave here together on the Saturday night.’

  Gina nodded. ‘That’s good. Can you tell me what time that was?’

  ‘Probably around eight or nine. I don’t have an exact time.’

  ‘Do you know what instigated them all to leave? Did something happen?’

  The girl looked puzzled as she thought back. An orange glow from the bar lighting caught her hair. ‘Yes. It was Phil, someone called Phil, always wears a denim jacket. He said the call had arrived. They whispered for a while. I jokingly asked them what was going on but they didn’t answer. They finished their drinks and left.’

  It all made sense. Just as Gina had suspected, a tip-off had come in from someone at the party, telling them all to head over to the manor for free drinks. ‘Did this seem unusual?’

  ‘Oh definitely. They were hardened drinkers. We normally have to prise them off their seats at the end of the night. Did one of them hurt Holly?’

  ‘We’re just trying to establish where everyone was at the time. Thank you for that. Is there anything else you can tell us?’

  The girl leaned over and whispered in Gina’s ear. ‘I know Phil deals drugs. He offered to sell me some coke once. Please don’t say I said anything as I don’t want to lose my job. He’s one of our bigger spenders. I overheard him mentioning that he was going to offload some gear that night.’

  Gina noted what she had said on Jacob’s pad and he gave her an understanding nod. He wrote ‘CCTV’ underneath her note. He was right. The Angel Arms’s CCTV would show those who left the premises and at what time. She also knew of Phillip Brighton’s arrest for drug possession and dealing. His property would have been searched by the arresting team and she would catch up with them soon.

  ‘Could he have hurt Holly? I mean he gives me the creeps, the way he looks at me.’ The girl checked over her shoulder, making sure no one would hear.

  ‘We are looking into all possibilities at the moment. Has he said or done anything to you that you’d like to mention?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. I just feel like he’s always watching. He has these beady eyes and he stares a lot. He just gives me the creeps, that’s all.’

  ‘If you’re ever worried, please do call us. Here’s my card. If you hear, see or remember anything that you think will help us with the case, please call me.’

  A man cleared his throat loudly and tapped his fingers on the bar. ‘Anyone serving?’

  ‘I best go back to work.’ As she left her stool and served the man, Samuel Avery headed towards Gina.

  ‘You still here?’

  ‘I’ll need your CCTV for Saturday night.’

  His shoulders dropped. ‘How did I know you were going to ask that? Any sign of trouble in this town, you always want my CCTV. Of course, Detective Inspector. You can have whatever you like, but we best make it quick. My date has arrived.’

  Hannah flicked her long blonde hair and took a seat at the bar. Her casual dress was nipped in at the waist by a chunky belt. ‘Mum? It’s you again. I wish you’d just leave me alone.’

  ‘It’s not all about you, Hannah,’ she said as she stepped outside, Jacob following.

  ‘What was that about?’

  Gina took a deep breath and rubbed her tired eyes. ‘There appears to be something going on between Avery and my daughter. That’s my daughter, Hannah. You remember her, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I do. Sorry, guv. Wish I hadn’t asked. Tell you what, I’ll go in, get the CCTV and meet you back at the car.’

  Her phone rang. ‘O’Connor. What have you got?’ Gina asked as she gazed at her daughter through the pub’s leaded bay window. Hannah sat on a bar stool and flicked her hair as she smiled.

  ‘The blood results from Phillip Brighton’s top have come back but that’s nothing, the blood was his. But there’s more.’

  ‘Okay, give it to me.’

  O’Connor paused for a second. ‘During the search of his bedsit, the officers not only found all the usual stuff to convict him of dealing – scales, little bags, drugs, money. They found a password-protected pink tablet. It’s the same make and size as the one Holly owned.’

  ‘Holly’s missing tablet? I want him ready and waiting for my return.’ Gina took one last look at Hannah and hurried to the car to wait for Jacob. Hannah would have to wait.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Cass stared at her phone, then back at the cake. Don’t eat it, don’t you dare. If you want friends like Kerry, you have to look good. Be the part. She snatched the cake from next to the filing pile and flung it in the tin bin by her feet. It wasn’t just Kerry, it was Elvis. Whoever he was texting would soon be history. His hands would be all over her once again. She began pretending to sort the papers in alphabetical order by client name. Pretending was fine. It’s all she had to do that day at work, that and answer a phone that rarely rang. Shut off in her own world, she could imagine what Elvis was up to and how Kerry was spending her day. Would Kerry be back at work considering what had happened to her best friend at her wedding reception?

  Kerry worked for Daddy’s company. There would be no back-to-work interrogation by an uncaring manager. Even Ed worked for the company – handsome Ed or Fox Mulder as Cass liked to call him in her thoughts. She’d watched reruns of all The X-Files episodes many times and, in her mind, Ed was Fox. That family had everything; health, wealth and happiness in abundance. Cass had enjoyed some of that as a child when she’d been Kerry’s best friend, especially the wealth, before Holly took her place. But Holly was as dead as yesterday’s reception flowers that stood upturned in her bin. The best friend place in Kerry’s life was vacant and Cass had to take it back.

  ‘There’s a few spare slices of cake left. Want some more? I bet you do.’ Melody tottered past in her heels, holding a box.

  ‘No, thank you.’ Why would she want more cake? They were all in it, trying to encourage her to eat more so they ate less. It wouldn’t work. She knew them too well. They could keep their cake. She wasn’t going to eat today. ‘Hey, Melody?’

  The woman turned back, just before the double doors.

  ‘I’m going on lunch break in half an hour. I have to go somewhere. Could you man reception for me, please?’

  ‘Of course. I’ll take this cake around, grab a drink, then I’ll head back. You going anywhere nice for lunch? Got a date with Elvis?’

  Cass knew they all gossiped about her, made her the brunt of all their jokes. She’d caught a couple of nasties in marketing imitating her and Elvis, replacing the words to some of the real Elvis’s most famous songs with jokes about how they saw her relationship. ‘No.’ The woman waited for more. Cass wasn’t going to give her any more ammunition to pass on. No was all she was getting. ‘Half an hour then?’

  Melody nodded and hurried off. Pulling several old tissues from her bag, Cass covered the cake in the bin and dragged some of the dead flowers over it. If Melody saw that, it would be another thing to gossip about. She’d heard them talking about her hefty weight, citing it as funny as they never saw her actually eat. Soon things would change. She would get her friend back, tidy herself up, get her relationship back on track and they would all see her differently. For now, she had a truth to find and one way or another she was going to get it. She leaned over and slipped her shoes back on, not her low-heeled Mary-Jane’s, but the flat pair she kept for frosty days that had long passed. It was time to take action. Sitting around sending poxy messages just wouldn’t cut it.

  She moved the flowers aside and lifted the tissues in the bin and stared at the cake. Just a few morsels. She poked her finger in the creamed centre, scooped it out and licked it. It was just a taste and the bin was clean. Her stomach grumbled hard. After her evening binge when Elvis hadn’t come home straight after work, she promised herself no food today but every pore of her body screamed for sugar and salt. She poked her fing
er into the cake again and scooped out some more cream.

  ‘Cassie? What are you doing? You should have just said if you wanted more cake. Why is yours in the bin?’ Melody stared, red lips in a slight o shape as she awaited an answer.

  Cass grabbed a piece of paper from her notepad and wiped her finger. ‘It wasn’t what it looked like.’ Who was she trying to convince.

  ‘Is everything okay?’

  Cass nodded, keeping a calm exterior, the one she’d practised long and hard when what was inside felt like it was shooting in all directions. ‘I best go.’ She grabbed her zip-up jacket from the back of her chair and hurried out. ‘See you later.’

  Dammit! Melody saw everything. She hurried to her car, holding her fuzzy curls in place as a gust of wind caught them. Everything was going wrong. She kicked the bushes at the back of the car park, wanting to yell and scream. She had to make things right, make her own destiny. I’m on my way.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  ‘Phillip Brighton. Here we are again. Our murder victim, Holly Long was missing a pink tablet and we found one matching the same description during our search of your bedsit. What can you tell me about this?’ Gina held up the exhibit photo of the pink tablet.

  He shrugged his shoulders and said nothing on the advice of Mr Ullah, his solicitor, who was whispering away in his ear.

  ‘Does this tablet belong to Holly Long?’

  The suspect ignored every question, simply shuffling in his grey tracksuit bottoms.

  Gina had to go through the motions for the tape, asking question after question she knew he wouldn’t answer. As she came to an end, she sighed, asking the final two. ‘Can you give us the password to the tablet?’ Gina paused. ‘How long have you had it?’

  She exchanged a glance with Jacob.

  ‘Interview ended at twelve fifty-four.’

  Gina grabbed all her paperwork and left the interview room.

  ‘Are we charging him, guv?’

  She exhaled slowly. ‘He had opportunity, no one can confirm that he was in the toilet where he claimed to be and he didn’t see anyone. We have his DNA on file and looking at some of the reports that came back, I don’t think Phillip Brighton’s have been flagged up as being found in Holly’s room but they are still working through everything. That’s not to say it won’t come up. It would make our case tighter when we put it to the CPS.’ The Crown Prosecution Service would decide if the evidence was good enough to charge him with. ‘If we arrest him, we can keep him in again while we conduct further enquiries. Holly is missing a pink tablet and one of the same make just happened to be in his bedsit. That’s too much of a coincidence and he’s not talking. We can’t let him walk out on bail today; that might risk him tampering with any potential evidence.’ Gina turned away and marched back into the interview room.

  ‘My client would like some lunch.’ Mr Ullah stood.

  ‘Your client will have to wait. Phillip Brighton, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Holly Long on the evening of Saturday the ninth of May. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

  She left the room, giving both Phillip Brighton and his solicitor time to talk.

  ‘We need that tablet cracked now,’ Jacob said. ‘Why would he want to hurt Holly Long?’

  ‘I wish I knew. Where is the tablet?’

  Jacob followed her along the corridor. ‘It’s with the tech team. It shouldn’t take too long to get into.’

  ‘And we’ll be either charging him or letting him go.’

  Jacob nodded. As Gina turned towards her office, Wyre’s hair shook from side to side as she jogged towards them both. ‘Guv, Francesca Carter is in the waiting room. She’s asking to speak with you about the night Holly was murdered.’

  ‘Thanks, Paula. Let’s hope this is the break we need. Have the forensics come back on Francesca Carter’s clothing yet?’

  ‘Let me just check.’ Wyre pulled out her phone and checked through their emails. ‘Yes, only this morning. O’Connor has marked this one done so it must have been added to the system. Nothing alarming found on her, only her own secretions. Her hair was found at the scene, this could have been when they all had their hair and make-up done or it could have been left there on the evening of the murder. There was also a smear of blood on her hand that was swabbed and it is Holly’s.’

  ‘She did go into the room and touch both the lamp and Holly. Thanks for the update. I’ve read the notes from her interview so I’ll bear all that in mind when I speak with her.’

  Gina hurried towards the waiting room and smiled at the desk sergeant, Nick, then turned to see the young woman sitting on a plastic seat, hugging her knees with her oversized bag filling her lap.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  What are you doing in there, Frannie? The slow walk into town had led you to the police station. Why? I need to find out what you know, and I will.

  He walked past the wall and headed to the public car park on the grounds just opposite the station and he leaned against the fence, checking his phone. Far enough away to avoid detection from either Francesca or the police but close enough to spot her burnt orange knee-length trench coat that covered her perfect figure.

  Your coffee was terrible yesterday, Frannie. I’m not sure if you made it that badly on purpose to hurry me out, and you don’t trust me – that much I know. I can see I have work to do when it comes to you. When I stood next to you in the kitchen, you moved and it wasn’t subtle or polite. You didn’t spare my feelings at all. Trust needs to be earned. I’m good at that. Whether I have the time to waste, that’s another question entirely.

  He closed his eyes and imagined stroking his fingers through her hair. It was up today, a loose bun, which reminded him of Holly. He’d prefer that Francesca leave her hair flowing down her back, ready for him to wrap it around her neck. He stretched his twitching fingers, already desperate to act out his thoughts, then he curled them into a fist.

  ‘You alright, mate?’ asked the man in the paint-splattered tracksuit as he got into his white Transit van.

  He loosened his clenched fists, the moment ruined. He’d just been at the part when her lips would begin to turn blue. ‘Yes, mind your own business.’

  ‘Stuff you. Was only askin’.’

  He walked away towards the other side of the car park, watching the man stick two fingers up at him as he pulled out onto the main road. Was that image in his mind enough? He inhaled and imagined breathing in the scent of lemon, the smell he’d forever associate with Frannie from now onwards.

  Back to the moment.

  He’s wrapping her mane around her neck and watching her stark stare plead with him to unleash her but she’s enjoying it too so he carries on.

  Is the thought of it enough?

  Her voice is nothing more than a croak and she gasps air as he releases her from her own hair.

  No, it wasn’t enough. He needed to feel it fully. He needed to feel the end.

  He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt letting the light breeze cool his reddening face.

  He turned his attention back to the station knowing that she could be ages. When she came out, he’d be waiting. A quiver ran through his body. Maybe Holly had said something to Fran and maybe she was telling the police. If that was the case, the police would come for him within the next couple of hours, he knew that much. He’d have a lot of explaining to do. Two hours, three hours, maybe four. When would he be in the clear? No more risks and no loose ends. If he were to get a second chance, he was going to tie them up, good and proper.

  Come on, Frannie. Show me your hand. I’m waiting for you.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  ‘Have a seat. Can we get you a drink?’ Jacob asked as he indicated for her to sit.

  Francesca Carter shook her head and removed her orange raincoat. ‘I just want to get this over with.’


  Gina sat next to Jacob in the little room and gave Francesca a slight smile. ‘What can we do for you?’

  Jacob began to scrawl the date and a few details at the top of the page.

  ‘This is off the record so you can stop making notes.’ She put her bag by her feet and leaned forward, her long pale pink talons resting on the desk between them.

  ‘Okay, but bear in mind that someone murdered your friend on Saturday night and if you have information that could help us catch the killer, we would need to record it properly.’

  She looked away and ran a hand across her eyes. ‘What I am going to say may well have nothing to do with Holly but I had to say something. Do you know what I mean?’

  Gina nodded.

  ‘There’s no denying I was drunk, so drunk at times I struggled to stand, but I soon sobered up when I saw Holly’s lifeless body. I don’t think I’ve ever come around so fast.’ She paused and scraped her chair closer to the table.

  Jacob closed his notepad and leaned back.

  ‘Go on, in your own time,’ Gina said.

  ‘I spent all night awake, not knowing whether to say something, blaming myself, but you know what, he took advantage and I need to get this out of my system.’ She took a couple of deep breaths. Her nails tapped on the table as she trembled. ‘I left the function room just as the disco had started and went to the toilet. I came out feeling a little light-headed so I thought I’d hang out under the stairs to the first floor, just for five minutes until I felt a bit better. The light seemed so bright so I faced the wall with my head on my arms, blocking the light out, thinking, regaining my composure – whatever you want to call it. That’s when I felt a pair of hands snaking around my waist. At first, I thought it was Charlie—’ Francesca stared at the wall.