Laura bounced her heels off the carpet tiles in time with the pulsing music playing through her earbuds and stared at the satellite image on her computer screen.
After receiving a text message from Barnes at six, she’d raced into work and phoned Kyle to help coordinate the search of the woodland around the MacFarlanes’ property, and was now trying to work out how someone could have accessed the storage sheds from the nearest road.
A notification popped up at the bottom of the screen to let her know she’d received a new email, and she hit pause on the music.
The sender was Roman MacFarlane and the message was short and to the point, merely stating that the list of names and addresses that Kay wanted was attached.
‘Perfect.’
Laura whipped out her earbuds and raced across to the printer as it whirred to life, ripping the pages from it as they appeared and running her eyes down the text.
There were fourteen companies in total, and she sighed before wandering over to Debbie’s desk.
‘How many bums on seats can I have to help me go through these?’
The constable peered past her to take in the staff strewn throughout the incident room, the place crowded despite the early hour. ‘I can’t, Laura. Sorry. headquarters made the decision over the weekend to lower the threat level, and we’ve lost six already to other cases this morning. Where are Kyle and Phillip? Don’t they usually help you with this sort of thing?’
‘They’re still at the MacFarlanes’, traipsing through woodland.’
‘Lucky them.’ Debbie gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Look, tell you what – give me some of those and I’ll give you a hand until Kay gets back.’
‘You’re a superstar, thanks.’ Laura handed her a copy of the list, relayed Kay’s instructions and made her way back to her desk. She blew out her cheeks, picked up her phone, and dialled the first number.
Five minutes later, berated by a stressed-out third assistant director, she replaced the phone and crossed out the name, her ears still ringing.
Across the room, she could hear Debbie’s raised voice and wondered if all production crew were as cranky first thing in the morning.
She dialled the second number, and held her breath.
‘Sophie Grannard.’
‘Ms Grannard? I’m sorry to call so early. My name’s Detective Constable Laura Hanway. I’m with Kent Police.’
‘Hang on.’
She waited while the woman spoke in a low tone, then a child’s cry reached her before the voice returned.
‘Sorry – just trying to get the kids out the door for school.’
‘I can phone back later if now isn’t convenient?’
‘No, that’s okay. My husband’s taking them this morning.’ There was a rueful laugh. ‘We were just going through the usual routine with my youngest about why she has to go to school. Where did you say you’re from?’
‘Kent Police. We got your details from Porter MacFarlane.’
‘Porter…?’
‘He and his son run a props and armoury company down this way.’
‘Oh, Porter. I know who you mean now. Is he all right?’
‘He’s fine, Ms Grannard. We’re just making some routine enquiries with his clients from the past three months. I understand your production team rented some rifles from him in August?’
‘Yes, we were filming a couple of scenes for a drama in West Sussex – Porter’s company came highly recommended.’
‘Who arranged to view the guns you wanted to hire?’
‘Two of my production assistants. You’ll have to check with them about what was ordered though.’ Grannard gave a small laugh. ‘That’s what I pay them for. Do you want their details?’
‘It’s okay, I’ve got them here. Did you have any issues with the weapons or with Roman or Porter during filming?’
‘No.’ There was a pause at the other end. ‘Look, is everything all right? What’s going on?’
Laura plastered a smile on her face, hoping it would reach her voice. ‘Nothing to worry about, Ms Grannard. Thanks for your time.’
She ended the call as the incident room door opened and Kay and Barnes walked in, their faces grim.
‘Anything to report?’ said the detective inspector. ‘How’re you getting on with those names?’
‘Early days, guv and nothing untoward yet.’ Laura pointed to Debbie. ‘There are only two of us working on the list at the moment though, so it’s going to take a while.’
‘Give some of them to Ian, and I’ll take a couple once I’ve caught up with Sharp.’ Kay glanced at the clock above the printer. ‘I’m supposed to be giving headquarters an update in ten minutes. Kyle and Phillip are on their way too – we just saw them pull in to the car park.’
‘Thanks, guv. How’s the search at the house going?’
‘The team there haven’t found anything yet.’ Kay thanked a passing administrative assistant for the cup of coffee that was thrust into her hand and took a sip. ‘There are six officers completing the search but I don’t think they’ll find anything. God knows how much wildlife has traipsed through there. Trying to find footprints is going to be a nightmare––’
‘Especially when the MacFarlanes have no idea when the rifles were stolen,’ Barnes growled.
Laura shot Kay a look. ‘Is that right?’
‘Yes. Despite them telling us they’ve got a system to record every firearm’s whereabouts.’ Kay took another swig of coffee, then straightened her shoulders. ‘I guess I’d better get this phone call out the way.’