Maggie raced back to the station – she hoped she didn’t end up with a speeding ticket. DI Rutherford wouldn’t be too happy, even though it would be Maggie who had to pay. She ran up the stairs, two by two, to the office.
‘Bethany, have Markston sent over the items relating to Kate’s complaint yet?’ Maggie bent over, resting her hands on her knees. She needed to catch her breath.
‘Hang on. I’ll check. By the way, Luke from HQ came by and replaced your monitor while you were out. He said it was easier to replace than to try to fix the whole thing.’
‘Wow, that was fast. It usually takes ages to get someone to come out. They seem to be getting better at responding to call-outs.’ Maggie was pleased as she hated not having everything to hand. Getting used to another workstation would have been a pain.
‘He said he had a few call-outs here so brought a new monitor to save having to come back. Nice guy. Right, I’d better make that call.’ As Bethany called downstairs, Maggie headed over to her desk and turned on her computer. Signing in, she scanned over her emails to see if anything further had come in from forensics. Just then, Nathan returned and was looking a little stressed out.
‘Everything OK? You don’t look so well.’ Maggie stopped what she was doing.
‘Yeah. Though Kate didn’t take the news about your discovery too well. Can you come into my office and tell me everything about the victim’s address?’
Maggie did as instructed, and relayed what she’d found. ‘The envelopes were exactly the same, Nathan. Black with gold writing. I had a brief glance at the contents and that was similar too. Little messages as if written by someone known to her … or watching her. I’m really worried about Kate. Where is she now?’
‘Probably still arguing with DI Calleja. She was definitely spooked, especially now we can say there’s a clear connection between the murder of Tracy Holloway and Kate’s stalker. Shit.’ He shook his head. ‘We need to get a handle on this. Has anything else come in?’
‘Not yet. I’ve asked Bethany if she can find out whether the items Kate brought in to Markston have been sent up here yet. If not, I’m half tempted to go and collect them myself and have a word with Kate if she is still there.’
‘Sorry, but you can’t do that. Let’s keep the chain of evidence as clean as possible. Kate mentioned you invited her to stay with you while she was having a security system installed. Do you really think that’s a good idea?’
‘I offered as a friend. And that offer still stands. It may put off whoever is following her. They’ve clearly been watching her movements and will no doubt know from the news that I’m a police officer—’ Before Maggie could finish, there was a knock on the door.
‘Come in.’ Nathan waved.
‘Sorry to disturb you both, but we’ve had a call from the enquiry desk. Tracy Holloway’s boyfriend is downstairs and demanding to speak with someone.’
‘Thanks, Bethany. Can you check his details on our system and let the enquiry desk know that Maggie will be down in five minutes?’
‘Will do, sir.’ The door closed.
‘Go and see what the boyfriend wants.’
‘Sure. It’d be great to find out where he’s been all this time.’
‘Get any risk details from Bethany and report back to me when you’re done.’
‘OK. But just to be clear, I’m still offering Kate my spare room.’
‘I figured that was the case. We’ll pick up this conversation later. Go see what this guy wants.’
Maggie walked over to Bethany’s desk. ‘Any background on the boyfriend before I go down and see him?’
‘Joshua Hinks but goes by Josh. Thirty years old. The police were called out to Tracy Holloway’s address when neighbours heard shouting. When police arrived, there was a hole in the wall. He was charged with criminal damage and due back in court for sentencing next week.’
Maggie scratched her head. ‘Well that’s interesting, but why didn’t anything come up under her name when we searched?’
‘Looks like all the details were recorded under his name and address, and only with her first name. Someone could end up bollocked for that one.’
‘I’d hope so. Can you do me a favour and contact the DAHU? See if this guy has been flagged up on their books at all.’
‘On it.’ Bethany picked up the phone while Maggie jotted down the details on Josh and made her way downstairs.
***
She opened the door into the reception area using her ID. The boyfriend looked nervous. He was pacing around the small area. ‘Mr Hinks. Would you like to come through?’
He stomped his way to the door and followed Maggie. She could almost feel the anger burning. ‘It’s just through here.’ She opened another door and led him into an interview room. ‘Take a seat.’ She waited until he sat down across from her.
‘My name is DC Maggie Jamieson. I understand you wanted to talk to someone about Tracy Holloway.’
‘Of course, I do! How come I had to hear about this on the fucking news?’ His lip trembled.
‘I’m sorry about that, but we couldn’t locate you. We spoke to her family …’
‘Oh, well that explains it. They bloody hate me. Hated that Tracy and I were together and tried everything to keep us apart.’ His face reddened.
‘Why did they hate you?’
‘Not good enough for her, was I? We got into an argument and I punched a hole in her wall. Her parents convinced her I was no good and she ended the relationship. I got angry, and I shouldn’t have. That’s the last time I saw her.’ His shoulders shook and Maggie waited for him to gain his composure before continuing.
‘What were you arguing about?’
‘Isn’t this in the police statement? Have you even bothered to check?’
‘I came down to speak to you at your request. I don’t know the details of the outstanding matters.’ Maggie didn’t like this guy’s attitude one bit and was even more furious now about the incorrect logging of details. It was things like that which made her job more difficult.
‘She’d hidden some love letters from me; obviously, she was having an affair. She denied it though. I lost my rag. I mean, you tell me. Why would she hide the letters if some random sent them and they meant nothing?’ His hand thumped on the table repeatedly.
Maggie’s interest was piqued. He believed they were love letters. She didn’t want to agitate him further so steered the conversation in another direction to calm him down. ‘How long had you and Tracy been in a relationship?’
‘Nearly a year.’ He rubbed his eyes.
‘Why didn’t any of her friends and family know your full name?’
‘Yeah, they fucking knew! But they obviously didn’t know she was playing around on me!’ He slammed his hands on the table again.
‘Mr Hinks, you need to calm down. I’ll be asking you questions that might upset you, but we need to find out who did this and I’d appreciate your cooperation.’
‘Hang on a fucking minute. Are you saying I’m a suspect? Do I need a solicitor? I came here to speak to you and now you’re accusing me of hurting Tracy?’
‘No one has accused you of anything. I’m just trying to paint a picture of what was happening in the time leading up to Ms Holloway’s disappearance. Can you help me with that?’
‘Uh, yeah. Sorry.’ He leaned back in the chair.
‘Can you tell me about these letters you found?’
‘Letters might be stretching it. They were just notes. Things that said “Missing you” or “You looked beautiful today”, shit like that. I found them when I was looking for my gloves. They were tucked in a bag in the back of the drawer by her bed. She denied it of course. Said some weirdo was sending her things and she was advised by her friends to keep hold of them just in case she needed to report it.’
‘Were there gifts included with the notes? How do you know that it wasn’t some random?’
‘Who knows if there were gifts? I only saw the notes, but it wasn’t some random – I mean, why hide them? Why not tell me about them? I’ll tell you why, because she was cheating on me … and now she’s gone.’ His emotions were all over the place. One minute angry, the next crying. Maggie knew he wouldn’t stick out an interview much longer.
‘Can you account for your whereabouts for the last few weeks and, more specifically, where were you for the 24 hours leading up to discovering Tracy’s body?’
‘I’ve just come back from staying with family in London. I’ve been there for the last three weeks and got back last night. That’s why I came here this morning as soon as I heard.’
‘And your family can verify that? Why have you been away for three weeks and what about the initial two weeks before that?’
‘Yes, none of them left me alone for a minute while I was down there. After Tracy and I argued and I was arrested, I just couldn’t cope. Bail conditions stopped me from calling her, but she didn’t even try and call me. You know, to see how I was. I was warned not to contact her at all, so I had no idea any of this was happening. Why didn’t anyone contact me and ask me if I’d seen her? Who am I kidding? It’s not like her parents were going to tell me, is it? My parents told me to come down and stay with them for a while. Until things calmed down up here. So I did.’
‘What about your bail?’ Maggie wondered if Josh had been given conditions to sign in at the police station that they could easily verify.
‘This is the first time I’ve been in trouble. We had an argument and I overreacted. I pleaded guilty as soon as I could because I knew I was in the wrong. Fuck, this is just too much.’ He put his head in his hands. ‘Why won’t you tell me if she suffered? I can’t cope with all this … I can’t …’ His voice choked.
‘I can’t give out the details just yet as it’s an ongoing investigation. Can you give me the details of where you’re currently staying, as well as your parents’ details, so we can verify your alibi? Someone will be in touch to explain to you what’s happened and offer you some support. I know it’s a lot to take in.’ Although he’d still be considered a person of interest until his whereabouts could be checked, Maggie’s gut told her that Josh didn’t have anything to do with the murder. It was no coincidence that she’d been receiving the same notes that Kate had.
‘Yes.’ He began writing his information down and, once done, Maggie escorted him back to the reception area.
‘We’ll be in touch soon, Mr Hinks.’ She watched him leave before heading back up to her desk.
***
‘Any luck then?’ Bethany looked over as Maggie sat down.
‘I don’t think this is our guy. He messed up and took full responsibility for the argument, which landed him the court appearance. He was angry, but that’s understandable – I would be too if I found out by watching the news my partner had been murdered. I’m updating the system with the information he provided.’ She reached across and handed Bethany his parents’ details. ‘Can you see if his whereabouts checks out and I’ll go and let Nathan know.’
‘Sure. I contacted Probation and the DAHU. He has a pre-sentence interview with Lucy at Stafford Probation Office but he’s not known to them.’
‘Thanks. I’ll try and speak to Lucy after she meets with him. See what her thoughts are.’ Maggie uploaded the information onto her computer and then grabbed a coffee before going into the briefing room. Although caffeine was probably the last thing she needed, she had to make sure she had something in her system or she risked collapsing.
One question stuck in her mind though: how were Kate and Tracy Holloway connected?