Matilda sat at her desk with a forlorn expression on her face. She had hardly slept, despite the number of painkillers she’d taken for her hand, and the two glasses of wine she had been advised against drinking when she arrived home. Wide awake at seven o’clock, she’d quickly showered (with her hand wrapped in a plastic bag) and headed for South Yorkshire Police HQ. Jodie Armitage was being interviewed this morning and Matilda had plenty more questions for her to answer. What had happened to Keeley on Monday night? How had Riley died? What had caused Linda’s illness? It was far too much of a coincidence for Linda and Riley to have died so close together for it to be natural causes.
There was no doubt in Matilda’s mind that Jodie had murdered her little sister. In her warped and twisted mind, Jodie would have seen that Craig was trying to replace Jodie as his “lover” with Keeley and she would have done everything in her power to stop that from happening, even if that meant killing a defenceless child.
***
Matilda Darke sat in the observation room overlooking interview room one. Next to her was DC Finn Cotton.
‘How’s the hand?’ he asked.
‘It’s fine, thank you,’ she smiled.
‘Is there any news on DS Mills?’
‘She’s had a comfortable night, apparently; whatever that’s supposed to mean.’
The door in the interview room opened and Jodie Armitage was led in. She was wearing a grey jogging suit which was a size too big for her. Her hair was pulled back firmly in a ponytail. She walked with her head down and shoulders hunched. She was shown where to sit by a uniformed officer. An appropriate adult sat next to her. They didn’t speak to each other.
Matilda observed Jodie’s behaviour. Her eyes were red with heavy bags beneath them following a night of crying and very little sleep. She looked scared and played with her fingers on her lap.
DCs Scott Andrews and Rory Fleming entered. They started the recording of the interview and stated who was present.
‘Finn, is there any word on Craig Armitage yet?’ Matilda asked while the formalities were taking place.
‘No. Uniformed officers have been camped outside the house all night and he hasn’t returned. DI Brady’s doing the round with his family and anyone who might know where he is.’
‘Jodie, tell us about the events of last Monday evening,’ Scott asked, leaning on the table with his pen poised over a blank pad.
It was a while before Jodie answered. ‘What do you want to know?’ Her voice was quiet, hardly above a whisper.
‘What happened when you picked Keeley up after school and went to the Co-op on Oldfield Drive?’
‘I bought Keeley an ice cream as it was a hot day. She hadn’t finished it by the time we reached the Co-op, so I told her to wait for me outside. I told her not to move and not to talk to people she didn’t know.’
‘How long were you in the Co-op for?’ Scott asked.
‘I don’t know. Five, maybe ten minutes. Not long.’
‘And when you came out, she’d gone?’
Jodie nodded. ‘I thought she might have gone on home without me. I was annoyed because I’d got a lot of shopping and could have done with some help carrying it. I managed to get it home without dropping anything though.’
‘Was Keeley there when you arrived home?’
‘No. Mum said she hadn’t come home.’
‘So then what happened?’
‘I went out to look for her.’
‘Where did you look?’
‘I walked back the way I came home. I asked people I knew if they’d seen her. They said they hadn’t. I went into the park, too, but she wasn’t there.’
‘She’s lying,’ Matilda said.
‘What makes you think that?’ Finn asked.
‘She’s refusing to look Scott in the eye. Look,’ she said, pointing to the video monitor that was showing Jodie’s face. ‘Her eyes are all over the place.’
‘Do you think she’s covering for her father?’
Matilda left the question unanswered.
‘How long did you stay looking for her?’ Scott asked.
‘I don’t know.’
‘And what happened when you returned home?’
‘Mum was crying. The woman from next door was round. She said Mum had received a phone call saying Keeley had been … she’d been …’ Her words were lost to the tears and she lowered her head to her chest.
***
‘She’s lying. She’s fucking lying,’ Matilda kicked a wastepaper basket in the HMET suite which toppled over and spilt its load. ‘She lured her sister to Stows Wood and she killed her.’
The interview hadn’t lasted ten minutes without Jodie being unable to talk through her tears. The appropriate adult had requested a break.
‘We don’t know that’s what happened,’ Finn said.
‘And if it did, she’s not going to admit that, not without evidence,’ Rory said.
‘Somebody must have seen her. I want house-to-house enquiries on every route possible from the Co-op to the woods. All we need is one person to say they saw Jodie and Keeley together and we’ve got her. Finn, bring up the CCTV footage from the Co-op again.’
The lights were lowered, and the screen pulled down from the ceiling. They all stood around watching as the silent film began. It showed Jodie walking to the entrance with Keeley behind, licking her ice cream. Jodie turned and waited for her sister to catch up. She stood her by the door, squatted down to her height, and spoke to her before standing back up and entering the Co-op.
‘Rewind it,’ Matilda barked.
The video played out for a second time.
‘Stop,’ she called out. ‘Rewind and play it from when Jodie squats down in front of Keeley. There. Pause. Can you zoom in on Jodie?’
‘Yes. Hang on.’
‘There. Look.’ Matilda went over to the screen and pointed. ‘Jodie is looking directly up to the camera. She knew they’d be caught on CCTV. She wanted this to be the last point Keeley was seen alive, so it looks like she’s playing the saintly sister.’
‘Can’t we get a lip reader to have a look, see if they can find out what Jodie’s saying to her?’ Scott suggested.
‘We can try, but the quality of the footage isn’t great.’
‘She knew what she was doing from the start. What a manipulative bitch,’ Matilda said, fuming in frustration. Why didn’t you spot this before? It’s so obvious.
‘Where do we go from here?’
‘We need to keep interviewing her. There’ll be holes in her story, there has to be. Also, I want the house stripped. I want the whole place torn apart and every computer, tablet and mobile phone analysed.’
‘Forensics have been through them all.’
‘Then get them to check again. Come on, break time’s over. Get her back in that interview room and tell the appropriate adult to keep her mouth shut. I decide when she needs to rest.’ Matilda stormed out of the HMET suite but had to stop suddenly as she felt light-headed. Bloody medication.
***
‘Jodie, tell us about the relationship you have with your father,’ Scott said as the interview resumed.
Jodie took a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. She sniffled. ‘I love my daddy. He trusts me to look after Keeley and Riley, and Mum when she’s ill.’
‘That’s a lot of responsibility for someone your age.’
‘I don’t mind.’
‘Jodie.’ Scott leaned forward. ‘After Keeley was found, we ran some tests and discovered she’d been sexually abused. We’ve spoken to a lot of people who knew her, and we think your dad may have been responsible. Can you tell us anything about that?’
She nodded and wiped her eyes again. ‘Daddy used to abuse me. He did it for years. He stopped when I started with my period. I didn’t know he was abusing Keeley too. I just thought he’d stop.’
‘The lying bitch,’ Matilda seethed in the observation room.
‘Did you tell anyone about the abuse?’
‘No. Daddy said if I told anyone he’d kill me and Keeley and Riley. I didn’t want him to hurt them.’ She choked on her tears and put her head down to her chest. ‘But he did anyway, didn’t he?’ She looked up at Scott with big, tear-filled eyes.
‘Are you saying your father killed your family?’
‘He must have done. He would probably have killed me next,’ she cried and wiped her eyes again.
‘Jodie,’ Rory leaned forward. ‘How do you explain what happened at your house last night when you stabbed DS Sian Mills?’
‘Oh God. I don’t know what came over me. I’m so, so sorry. Is she going to be all right?’ Her words were barely audible over her tears.
‘We think so.’
‘Daddy kept telling me that if I told anyone what he’d done to me, he’d kill me and that I should stop anyone who questioned me about him because he’d end up in prison and Riley would be put away in a care centre because Mum wouldn’t be able to cope on her own. I was so scared DS Mills and that other one were going to take Riley away.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ Matilda uttered. ‘She should get an Oscar for this performance.’
‘What are we going to do?’ Finn asked.
Matilda remained quiet as she chewed her nails. ‘Until her father turns up, there’s not a damn thing we can do. It’s her word against mine.’