Call connected at 12:32.
‘Detective Inspector Juliet Stern.’
‘Hello, hi. This is Laura James. I work at Dunlow Consultants, at reception. We’ve spoken before.’
‘I remember. What can I help you with?’
‘I saw something strange at lunch time. I thought I should call.’
‘What was it?’
‘I want to check, is this call being recorded?’
‘No.’
‘Can it be confidential? Can my name be kept out of this?’
‘It can be.’
‘Sorry. I’m worried Mr Dunlow will get rid of me if he finds out I told you anything, and I can’t afford to lose my job.’
‘I understand. We’ll call this an anonymous tip. What did you see, Laura?’
‘I was eating lunch in my car. I, um, don’t eat in the staff room. There’s a lot of people in there and I like a bit of time to myself. I was trying to find my phone in my bag when Mr Dunlow pulled in. He’d been out with a client in the morning. He parked up and went over to the industrial bins we share with the other businesses in the building, and he threw something in.’
‘What was it?’
‘I’m not sure. I waited until Mr Dunlow was gone and had a look, but the bins are big and I couldn’t see much. It could be a scarf. It’s right at the bottom of the bin though, and I would have had to climb in to see what it was.’
‘Do you know if it’s still there?’
‘It should be. Mr Dunlow hasn’t left the building since, and the rubbish was collected yesterday.’
‘Did Mr Dunlow see you?’
‘I don’t think so. I hope not. He didn’t look over, and I don’t think he knows I eat lunch out there.’
‘Okay. Thank you. We’re going to come over and take a look in the bins. After, we’ll come in to speak to Mr Dunlow, but I’ll treat you like a stranger.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Thank you for calling this in, Laura. You made the right decision.’