Henley had walked out of the room and left the house, Rob’s voice following her as he called her a selfish bitch. Now, she was driving along the A12 on her way to Snaresbrook Crown Court where Carole Lewis’s husband worked as a security guard.
‘I know your husband can be a knob, but…’ Linh’s voice was loud over the car speakers. ‘I mean, seriously? Who the hell does he think he is to make a threat like that? And why did he even tell you about the skanky nursery mum?’
‘I can’t even… He had the audacity to accuse me of being unreasonable.’
Linh was silent for a moment. ‘I guess… Someone did dump a head at his front door. No one could blame him for wanting to be somewhere safe with Emma.’
‘You’re on his side?’ Henley was incredulous.
‘I’m not. I’m just trying to be objective. Look, Anj, you know that I’m more than happy to bitch about him over a couple of bottles of wine, but right now, you need to listen to common sense. Especially while you’re driving. As hard as it may be for you and me to believe, I am the voice of reason.’
‘That’s a first. Linh, I do understand. I’m not a monster but he wants me to give up my job and I don’t care how objective you are, that is not fair.’
‘No, it’s not fair,’ Linh said firmly. ‘What exactly does he want you to do? Go and get a nice job in the City? It’s not as if he expects you to stay at home and play Suzie homemaker. Rob just wants you away from him.’
‘Not everything is about Stephen,’ Henley muttered as she indicated left and came off the dual carriageway.
‘It’s not, but you can’t deny that sometimes he’s like an annoying fly that won’t get out of your kitchen.’
‘Linh,’ Henley snapped. ‘Is there a reason why you called?’
Linh sighed. ‘Yes. I’ve received the original autopsy report for Carole Lewis, but I need to see her for myself.’
‘What do you mean, “see her” for yourself?’
‘You’re going to have to dig her up.’
Henley hit the brakes as the traffic lights turned red. ‘What? Why?’ she asked.
‘The report mentions some markings that look like a series of scratches. If we dig her up, hopefully the body won’t be too badly decomposed, I can take a proper look, then I can be sure if it was our copycat or the husband.’
‘It wasn’t the husband.’
‘Well, that’s your area of expertise. I need to check the actual marks.’
‘And you need to exhume her body to do that?’ Henley asked. She had no problem working with the dead, but she did have a problem with disturbing someone who had already been laid to rest. ‘Can’t you just make the determination from the autopsy file?’
‘No. The first pathologist was working from the hypothesis that the husband did it. They would have examined the body differently. I’m working from the hypothesis that we have a serial killer who panicked on his first kill. I need to see her body.’