‘Unprompted, she told me her boss might be a shit human being, but he isn’t a murderer.’ Juliet finished telling me about her conversation with Dunlow’s receptionist as we walked up the stairs to Ida’s flat.
‘Interesting she would jump to the conclusion he’s a suspect.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ Juliet said. ‘Could be that, unconsciously, she actually does think he’s capable. Or, he’s such a dickhead that she’s gotten used to people thinking he’s worse than he is, and she doesn’t want our judgement clouded.’
We reached Ida’s floor and walked over to the blue door. From the outside, there was no way of telling the inhabitant’s life had monumentally changed. I knocked and unbuttoned my coat. Seconds later, the door half-opened.
‘Hello, Ida. I hope this is a good time?’
She stared at me with bloodshot eyes, but pulled the door wide and led us through to the living room. The smell of cigarettes was much stronger. Several bent butts rested in the ash tray. Candles flickered on top of the electric heater, surrounded by pictures of the same smiling young woman.
I sat strategically on the edge of the sofa so that I didn’t sink. Juliet crossed one leg over the other, her face set in a calm smile. People who met her at times like this might think she was kind and sympathetic. The illusion lasted as long as she didn’t open her mouth.
Ida sported the dazed look of the recently bereaved. Despite their physical differences, Ida’s blank expression reminded me of my mum. For months of my childhood, she’d retreated into an invisible shell, her eyes unfocused even when she spoke to me.
I swallowed. I didn’t need to think about that now, or ever. I pulled my notepad out of my pocket and set it on my knee.
‘We would like to talk about the incident on the Dunlow Estate that we believe involved Melanie and ask you a few more questions,’ I said. ‘If there’s anything you don’t understand or don’t want to answer right now, just let me know.’
Ida stared impassively at me. I gulped, my throat dry. I would have liked a glass of water, but I couldn’t ask. Ida’s negligence was of a different nature to Dunlow’s, but no less impenetrable.
‘Firstly, I want to apologise. The autopsy of the body found on the Dunlow Estate has been pushed back to this afternoon, so we have been unable to make a formal identification. However, we are reasonably sure it’s Melanie.’
‘Do you need me to come look at her?’ Ida’s voice was a hollow croak.
‘That’s not necessary.’ We wouldn’t put her through that unless we had no other option. ‘We found Melanie’s purse in the victim’s pocket, and the coroner will check her dental records.’
‘I would like to see her.’ Deep creases formed around Ida’s eyes.
I faltered. If she insisted, we couldn’t stop her.
‘Ida?’ Juliet clasped her hands together on her knee. ‘The victim was shot, but an animal was also involved. Identifying Melanie would be incredibly unpleasant.’
‘She would want you to remember her as she was,’ I added. ‘Rather than what was done to her.’
A tear tracked down Ida’s face. She seemed to barely register the new information about her granddaughter’s death. ‘Whatever you think is best.’
Juliet’s stark stating of facts had been effective at both sparing Ida pain and moving the interview along. I could learn something from that.
‘Yesterday, you told me that Melanie’s parents had passed away.’ I waited for Ida to refocus on me. Her gaze had strayed over to the pictures on the heater. ‘Could you tell me about that?’
‘It happened four years ago,’ Ida said in a dull monotone. ‘Her father was a drinker, always drank and drove even though Suzanna, my daughter, begged him not to. They weren’t married, and I thought one day she would grow tired of his mess and leave him. I came to this country with my husband because it offered opportunities we couldn’t dream of in Nigeria. I wanted Suzanna to take advantage of them too, but then she got mixed up with him.
‘That evening, he won big at cards. He was drinking into the night. Suzanna wanted to get a taxi home, their friends heard them arguing about it before they left the pub, but she was a soft girl, too soft, and she always did what he said. He managed two roads before he crashed into a lamppost. He was killed instantly. Suzanna died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said.
‘Melanie was alone at home, waiting for them. She heard the sirens. She said she knew, but I wonder if every time her father was out drinking, she was waiting for bad news. After that, she came to live with me.’
‘What was her life here like? Did she have many friends?’ I flipped a page in my notebook, happy to move away from her parents’ deaths.
‘Melanie was a quiet girl, head in her books most of the time.’ Ida frowned. ‘She had a boyfriend. Jordan.’
‘Do you know his last name?’ I asked.
‘Something like Hines, Himes.’ Ida’s bloodshot eyes narrowed. ‘He didn’t come here. I didn’t approve of a boyfriend at her age.’
‘I see.’ I noted the possible surnames. A boyfriend was more likely to know the intimate details of a teenager’s life than a grandmother. ‘Ida, can you think of any reason Melanie would have been on the Dunlow Estate two nights ago?’
Ida shook her head, burying her hands in her skirt. ‘She told me she was out with friends, that she was going to stay the night.’
Ida obviously loved her granddaughter but had little idea of what she was up to.
‘I’m sorry to ask you this, but can you think of anyone who would have wanted to harm Melanie?’ I asked.
Ida’s eyes filled with tears. ‘No one. I don’t know who could have done this to my sweet girl.’
The front door clicked open. Evie appeared in the living room doorway, her wizened face falling into a scowl when she spotted Juliet and me. Her hair was bound into a tangled bun and her dungarees were a sombre black.
‘Could we take a look at Melanie’s bedroom?’ I asked. We needed to gather evidence, but it would give the women a chance to comfort one another in peace.
‘It’s the second door on the left,’ Evie said. ‘Would you like a drink?’
Juliet stood. ‘Water would be lovely.’
‘Tea, please. Milk, no sugar.’ My thighs complained as I rose. ‘We won’t be long.’
‘Have you moved anything in Melanie’s room?’ Juliet asked.
Ida closed her eyes in a long blink. ‘I haven’t been in there at all.’
‘Good.’ Juliet swept out of the room.
I offered Ida a smile but her face was turned to the hastily erected shrine. Evie’s narrowed eyes tracked me out of the room.
The smell of cigarettes receded as I walked into Melanie’s bedroom, replaced by cheap body spray and fresh linen. I closed the door behind me.
Juliet had already pulled on a pair of plastic gloves and was picking through the bookshelves surrounding a narrow window. The bed had been made in a hurry, the purple duvet pulled over a rumpled sheet. A pile of folded laundry sat on a wooden chair beside a desk covered in an assortment of books and make-up. Above the bed, notes and pictures were tacked to the wall. Odd song lyrics preached unfailing love and quotes from celebrities demanded I did my best.
I pulled a selfie from the wall and slipped it into my notepad. Melanie’s hair hid under a knitted hat, her eyes shining with uncontained glee. It was clearly a picture she’d liked. If we were going to pin a photo to our evidence wall, it might as well be one she’d preferred.
‘Nothing here.’ Juliet flicked through the last book and replaced it on the bottom shelf. She walked over to examine the desk.
I turned to the chest of drawers beside the bed. A mirror rested against the wall, pony figurines lined up across the top. Their manes were coated in dust. I examined the undersides and found nothing but stickers proclaiming their country of origin. I replaced them and opened the top drawer. Nose wrinkled, I picked through Melanie’s bright underwear. My fingers met nothing but soft fabric. I patted through the clothes in the next drawer, tops and vests folded into neat piles.
The third drawer stuck. When I reached behind colourful jumpers and leggings, I found a box. I slipped it straight into an evidence bag. No wonder it was hidden. Ida, who didn’t even want her seventeen-year-old granddaughter dating, would not have approved of her stashing condoms in her bedroom.
Juliet placed a couple of bags beside mine. She hadn’t found much; a condom wrapper pulled from the bin and a packet of cigarettes. I labelled them carefully, my pen smudging on the uneven surface.
Leaving them on the duvet, I got down on my hands and knees while Juliet rifled inside the wardrobe. I worked through boxes of old school books and dusty jeans shoved under the bed.
I replaced the last box and sat back on my heels. ‘Nothing.’
‘It would have been handy if there was a secret diary, detailing exactly who she planned to meet.’ Juliet shut the wardrobe doors.
‘That would have been incredibly helpful.’
My legs protested again as I stood. Round two with Ollie this morning had been unexpected yet pleasant, but I needed to conserve my energy on work days.
I slid the evidence bags into my coat pocket and followed Juliet through to the living room. Evie bustled in with drinks as we sat on the sinking sofa. She poured each of us a cup of tea from a pot patterned with yellow flowers. Juliet took hers without a word. She knew better than to refuse anything from a family member, even a drink she claimed tasted like warmed pond water.
Ida set her cup on the table beside her chair. The ashtray had been tidied away and a window cracked open. Yellowing net curtains moved in the breeze. ‘Evie wanted to talk to you.’
Ida’s friend sat in another armchair, her misshapen hands cupped around her drink.
I placed my cup on the floor and pulled out my notepad. ‘What did you want to tell us?’
‘Ida told me Melanie was shot.’ Evie’s dark brown eyes flicked over to Ida, and her face hardened. ‘I think Jordan did it.’
Ida gasped, and a trickle of tea escaped her cup. She didn’t seem to notice it shoring up against her fingers.
Evie did. ‘Ida, you’ve scalded yourself.’ She jumped up and took the drink. ‘Come on, let’s run your hand under cold water.’
While Evie hurried Ida out of the room, Juliet and I exchanged a glance. I didn’t think it likely Evie would have any great insight into Melanie’s life, but she might have picked up on something. Older people had a tendency to go unnoticed. Evie bustled back into the room, the sound of water flowing cut off as she shut the door to the kitchen.
I sat forward. ‘Why do you think Jordan did it?’
‘He used to hit Melanie.’ Evie perched on the edge of the armchair. ‘She was scared of him. She didn’t want to be his girlfriend anymore.’
‘How do you know he hit Melanie?’ I asked.
‘She showed me the bruises on her legs one day when Ida was down at the shops. Made me promise not to tell. Like I would. Knowing her granddaughter was involved with the same kind of scum that killed her daughter would have broken Ida’s heart.’
‘What makes you think that Jordan killed Melanie?’ I asked.
‘She was trying to get rid of him. I told her, he was no good for her. Anyway, she liked someone else. I think Jordan found out and killed her.’
I scribbled notes. ‘Do you know who she’d developed feelings for?’
‘No.’ Evie’s nostrils flared. ‘She was being secretive. I noticed her texting one time, and she told me to mind my own business. She called him “My Lion”.’
‘Lion?’ I looked at Juliet. It didn’t take a genius to crack that code. She took a sip of her tea and grimaced.
‘Do you have any idea why Melanie would have been on the Dunlow Estate?’ I asked Evie.
‘No. None of us know anyone over that way.’ She chewed her bottom lip. ‘I reckon Jordan lured her there and killed her where he thought no one would find the body.’
That edged close to Karl’s theory. Jordan might not have known the woods were well patrolled. There were stretches of land we’d passed as we drove over to the Dunlow Estate that looked untouched.
The kitchen door opened and Ida shuffled into the room. She sank into her seat and Evie refilled her cup.
‘Thank you for talking to us, and for letting us look at Melanie’s room.’ I took a gulp of tea and stood up.
Juliet rose and passed her cup to me. I didn’t know if it was advisable to leave her, but I walked through to the kitchen. The sides were clear except for a microwave meal for one defrosting on a plate.
‘We hope to have access to the analysis of Melanie’s phone soon,’ Juliet explained. I drank my tea while pouring hers into the sink. ‘She was carrying it when she died. Do you have any idea what her passcode is?’
‘I wouldn’t know anything like that,’ Ida said.
‘That’s okay,’ I said as I walked back into the room. ‘Thank you, Ida. We’ll be in touch, but if anything else occurs to you, give us a call.’
‘I’ll show you out,’ Evie said.
I smiled at Ida once more, but she had looked away. Flickering candlelight briefly caught on the damp patches beneath her eyes.
We followed Evie to the front door. She marched right out into the hall.
‘There’s something else you need to know.’ She reached past me to pull the door shut. ‘Ida sees what she wants when it comes to that girl. She doesn’t see the truth.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
‘What I mean is; maybe she was a little too like her mother and hung around with the wrong sort of person. Maybe she did something they didn’t like and brought this on herself.’
Evie grabbed the doorhandle and let herself back into Ida’s flat. The letterbox rattled as she slammed the door.
Juliet raised one elegant eyebrow, a grin rising to her lips.
‘Not here,’ I said, turning towards the stairs.
Evie might trust that conversations wouldn’t be overheard in a communal hallway, but the last thing we needed was a complaint about how one of the detectives on a murder case was bad mouthing a victim’s friends and family.
I couldn’t help voicing one theory. ‘Do you think “lion” could be the passcode for Melanie’s phone?’