‘Hello. Is that Mr Holloway?’
‘Yes, who’s this?’ His reply was abrupt.
‘My name is DC Maggie Jamieson; I’m calling about your daughter’s case. I know you’ve already spoken to the police, but some new information has come to light and I just wondered if you could help me?’
‘New information? Have you arrested someone? I’ll do anything to end this nightmare. My wife is beside herself. Not eating. Not sleeping. We just want this whole ordeal over so we can grieve properly.’
‘I absolutely understand that and I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. We haven’t arrested anyone. I’ve spoken to a friend of Tracy’s and she mentioned that Tracy had received some letters that may have caused friction with her boyfriend. I wondered if you knew anything about that?’
‘Not this again. Her boyfriend would use any excuse to slander my daughter. We never heard of any such nonsense. For whatever reason, Tracy loved him; she’d never do anything to jeopardize that. Though we don’t know why. He showed his true colours when they fought, didn’t he!’
‘Did she have any close friends or colleagues she may have spoken to about her … erm … relationship?’
‘Well, yes. Of course, she did. I don’t know what he told you, but despite his best efforts, Tracy had many friends. Rona has been her best friend since they were toddlers. I can get you her details, if you want.’
‘We haven’t located the boyfriend yet and that would be really helpful. Thank you so much.’ Maggie wrote out the details and said goodbye. Mr Holloway was very defensive and clearly didn’t like his daughter’s boyfriend. She didn’t want to upset him further and doubted that their daughter would have shared anything about her relationship or any problems she may have had with them, given the hostility. Maybe the best friend would be more helpful.
Maggie dialled the number she had been given and her shoulders slumped at each ring. Just as she was about to hang up, the phone was answered.
‘Hello?’
The voice was barely audible.
‘Hello. Is that Rona?’
‘Yes.’
‘My name is DC Maggie Jamieson and I’m calling to clarify a few points in relation to Tracy Holloway. Are you able to talk?’
‘Sure. What can I do to help?’
‘We’ve learned that Tracy had received some … erm … notes that suggested she may have been seeing someone else? Do you know anything about that?’
Maggie heard a sniff through the earpiece.
‘She wasn’t seeing anyone else. Did that arsehole Josh tell you that?’
Rona seethed.
‘No, it was suggested that he believed that was the case and the couple argued. Had she hidden them from him and he found out?’
‘Josh is an idiot. Some weirdo had been sending her notes; it really creeped her out. She hid them because she knew how he would react. And she wasn’t wrong, was she? She didn’t tell anyone about them at first. But I noticed she was really jumpy and I had to beg her to tell me. She was going to go to the police, but then … well …’
The woman burst into tears.
‘I’m sorry to have dragged this up but that’s really helpful. Do you mind if I ask just one more question?’
‘If you think it would help, ask anything you want.’
‘Did you happen to see the notes?’ Maggie tapped her pen on her desk while she waited for a reply.
‘Yes. She showed them all to me.’
‘Can you describe them to me?’ Maggie didn’t want to lead the woman.
‘Yes. They were in black envelopes. On black paper. With gold writing. Why?’
‘No reason. Just want to make sure I have all the details. Thank you so much for your time.’ Maggie clicked the receiver to end the call and took a deep breath.
Without seeing the actual notes, she couldn’t be sure, but it looked very much like Kate’s stalker could also be their killer.