Inspector Jasso was apparently too busy to talk to Maggie himself and instead had one of his officers call her back to take notes of what she’d gleaned from Jade’s family. It was hard to contain her temper as she relayed the details: it felt as though she was doing Clive and Mandy a disservice not to be talking to Jasso himself and she wasn’t used to being this removed in an investigation.
Yet she and the others could only pursue matters so far in any case. They couldn’t arrest any suspects themselves on foreign soil and would need to apply for a European Arrest Warrant before the Spanish police could detain any person or persons on their behalf. However, applying for an EAW would mean them admitting what they’d been doing – and the fallout would be far too great if they did.
She wasn’t a rule breaker by nature, although she definitely pushed boundaries when she felt it necessary. On a previous case as a FLO she’d gone against an explicit order from the SIO – Umpire in fact, and the first time they’d worked together – because she believed it was in the best interests of the parents of their victim, an eight-year-old girl called Megan Fowler. The child had been murdered and her killer cut off her long hair to keep as a trophy. Umpire wanted the detail withheld so it could be used as leverage, but that meant delaying Megan’s mum and dad from viewing their daughter’s body because he didn’t trust them to see her shorn hair and not tell others about it.
Maggie argued against his decision, saying it was cruel to deny the parents the opportunity to see their child and there must surely be a way around it, like shrouding Megan’s scalp to hide what was left of her hair. When Umpire rejected the suggestion, she privately told the girl’s parents why they couldn’t see her and swore them to secrecy, which they did abide by until after an arrest was made. Umpire went ballistic when he found out Maggie had disobeyed him, however, and had her suspended from family liaison duties; the four months she was sidelined was enough of a scare to ensure she acted more cautiously going forward. But the situation Walker had corralled her into now was a different league to the Megan Fowler case – she wouldn’t only lose her specialism if they were found out, she might well lose her entire career.
She knew Umpire would try to talk her into catching the next flight back to London if he found out what Walker was asking of them – so she’d made up her mind not to tell him.
After passing on her notes about Jade Reynolds, Maggie stayed at the hotel going through the case files again. She trusted that Shah knew them inside out but she wanted to read the statements again for her own satisfaction. The ‘three dates’ angle was niggling away at her. She was certain it must mean something to the killer, because it was so specific. If they were to believe Shah’s Google search and think it applied to how many times a couple should date before sleeping together, then it might suggest the killer was old-fashioned in his values, thinking it was good to wait. But then his treatment of Katy’s corpse after murdering her proved there was nothing remotely gentlemanly about him.
She called it a day just after seven, packing away the files neatly in Shah and Paulson’s room. The two of them and Walker had gone off to grab some food but she wanted to check in with the Popes first. As she walked along the front to Orquídea, she questioned how much of Jasso’s experience on the first investigation into Katy’s death was driving his handling of this one. Did he feel the same as Martos did, that mistakes were made which prevented them from catching the killer? Or was he confident they did all they could and he had nothing to prove now?
She was so deep in thought that she almost overshot the gate into Orquídea: it was only the sound of it slamming shut that alerted her to it. Turning round, she saw Philip striding in the direction of the seafront and she could tell from his expression that he wasn’t happy. She called out to him, but even though she was certain he must’ve heard her, he continued on.
The gate clanged again as George came rushing through it.
‘Have you seen my dad?’
‘Yes, he went that way.’ She pointed towards the seafront. ‘I called to him but he ignored me. Is he okay?’
George stared in the direction his father had gone, his manner tense and troubled.
‘Do you want to go after him?’ she asked. ‘Or I could?’
He was obviously thinking about it, but shook his head.
‘I think it’s best we leave him to it.’
‘Has something happened?’
George’s shoulders dropped.
‘Mum and Dad had a row, a really nasty one. Dad said . . . um, I probably shouldn’t say for Mum’s sake, but it wasn’t nice.’ He looked close to tears. ‘I don’t know how they’ll come back from it. I seriously think coming out here again has pushed them to breaking point.’
‘Where’s your mum now?’
‘Indoors. She’s very distressed. I should probably get back to her.’ He went to open the gate, then gave Maggie a puzzled look, as though he’d only just noticed she was there. ‘Were you on your way to see us?’
‘You, actually, but it can wait. Go and see to your mum.’
George was torn. ‘Is it something to do with the investigation though?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘Give me half an hour. I’ll check on Mum and then I’ll meet you next door in the restaurant.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, if it’s about the investigation then it’s important.’ He grimaced. ‘I could also do with being distracted from worrying about how my parents’ marriage is imploding.’