I was pinning Melanie’s selfie on the wall when Juliet huffed into our office, a sandwich in each hand. She passed one to me.
‘We need to hustle.’ She tore open her lunch. ‘The pathologist held up the autopsy, but they’ll refuse to see us if we don’t arrive on time.’
I pulled at my sandwich’s plastic casing as I sat down. Eating didn’t hold much appeal, considering our plan for this afternoon. I bit off one corner. The bread was thinly sliced, the cheese tasteless.
‘What did you think of Evie’s assessment of the boyfriend?’ Juliet didn’t look at me, her eyes on her computer screen.
I swallowed. ‘If there are marks on Melanie’s body, we’ll have something to work with. But we only have Evie’s word that Jordan was hurting her.’
‘There might be something on Melanie’s phone.’ Juliet clicked her mouse and our printer hummed to life. ‘I’ve requested it be looked over by the IT team as soon as possible and I passed on your tip about the passcode.’ She picked up the piece of paper. ‘You didn’t ask where Ida or Evie were when Melanie was killed.’
‘I thought we agreed Ida wasn’t involved? She wasn’t about to murder her only remaining relative. And Evie was too small to have made that boot print.’
‘They could be accomplices.’ Juliet snipped at the paper.
‘You’re messing with me, right? Evie might not have liked Melanie, but I can’t see her disapproval becoming a plot to kill.’
‘Yes, I’m not serious. Although I would love to have Evie in for a formal interview. She’d be a firecracker.’ Juliet stood up and pinned pieces of paper to the wall. One was a newspaper clipping reporting the death of Melanie’s parents. ‘Try not to let your vision get clouded by how innocent anyone seems though. Those women might have loved Melanie and they might have not committed the murder themselves, but this wouldn’t be the first time someone did something stupid or reckless and got someone they loved killed.’
The already unappealing sandwich turned to paste in my mouth. ‘You think I should have pushed harder at Ida’s?’
Juliet shrugged. ‘We got good information. Don’t beat yourself up. Just don’t be afraid to ruffle some feathers. You’re a natural at kindness, which will get some people to open up and was probably the right tack earlier, but sometimes you’ll need to be harsher.’
I bit my lip. One thing that had become apparent after working two minutes together was that I was the softer touch. I had to remember Juliet wasn’t telling me to be like her, but that there were times when her more direct approach would get better results.
Juliet stepped back from the wall. She’d attached a grainy picture of a thin, white boy to the board. A cigarette dangled from his lips. ‘The boyfriend is Jordan Haines,’ she told me. ‘I’ve asked Maddy to arrange a meeting with him. Evie might be wrong about the beating and the new beau, but Jordan knew Melanie well. He might be able to tell us why she was on the estate that night.’
Juliet wound more lime green twine across the board, connecting Melanie to a growing web of names. I turned to my sandwich before her smiling face could morph into the mutilated mess I’d seen on the forest floor.