‘You think it’s the same?’ Stuart Jennings said.
‘It’s looks identical to me, except he wasn’t killed on site, presumably because they didn’t want to risk waking us. Danny Eccles and his team are in there now.’ Annie gestured towards the crime-scene tent that had been erected in their garden. ‘But as far as I could tell it looked to be exactly the same MO. Naked white male. Throat cut. Incisions on the chest.’
‘But this time in your garden.’
‘Tell me about it. Takes a lot to knock Sheena back, but this has done it.’ Annie wasn’t ready to admit to Jennings that she too was shaken, though he could probably guess. ‘The trouble is, we’ve always seen this place as our shelter from the world. Sheena, especially. It’s where she comes to get away from the crap of Parliament and the stuff she has to deal with in the constituency. She’d never put it that way but it’s a world away from how she grew up, and it means a lot to her. The stuff with the email and the camera was bad enough, but this…’
Andy Dwyer had been talking to one of his team and now walked over to join them, catching the tail end of the conversation. ‘She struck me as the resilient type when I spoke to her yesterday. I was surprised by how unfazed she was. But this is a whole other thing.’ He paused. ‘Apart from anything else, I don’t know if we can assume she’s safe here. The security’s tight and I know you’re looking to make it tighter still, but if this place has been targeted it might be better to get her away somewhere where she’s less conspicuous.’
Annie nodded. ‘I’ll talk to her. No idea where she’d go, though. I know Sheena. She wouldn’t want to be seen to be running away. She’ll want to stay in the area. I wondered about speaking to some of the local party members or constituency staff, but I think it would be difficult to keep under wraps. She’s a public figure, particularly round here. It won’t be easy.’
Jennings had been peering around them, as if expecting that the garden itself might give them some answers. ‘I can’t get my head around this. We’ve been working on the assumption that we had two cases, but this suggests we may only have one. It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise. Why the hell else would anyone place a body here? Apart from anything else, it’s a hell of a risk given we’re already keeping an eye on the place.’
‘Maybe not if you’re aware how limited our resources are,’ Dwyer observed. ‘But I take your point. What do these killings have to do with Ms Pearson? And how are they connected, if they are, to the attempts on her own life?’
‘Search me,’ Annie said. ‘But how do we know this is about Sheena? I was the one who interviewed Garfield. Maybe it’s some kind of warning to me.’
‘Again, it seems a hell of a coincidence,’ Dwyer said. ‘You’ve already had an intruder planting a camera in the garden, sending threats to Ms Pearson. Then you get another intruder who dumps a body as a warning to you? Either you’re the world’s unluckiest couple, or there’s something more behind this.’
Annie nodded, considering the implications of what Dwyer was saying. ‘I knew Garfield was scared. I knew he was afraid of someone from the moment Zoe and I met him. He clammed up because he was more afraid of them, whoever they are, than he was of us.’
‘Looks like his judgement was sound on that, anyway,’ Dwyer commented.
‘I shouldn’t have just left him, though. We were getting nowhere, but I thought he’d be more likely to talk if we let him stew for a few days. Turns out the poor bugger didn’t have a few days. I should have pushed him harder.’
‘You can’t blame yourself for that.’ Despite his words Annie could detect a faint note of smugness in Dwyer’s tone. If he was as ambitious as everyone said, he’d be happy to chalk this up as another instance of a potential competitor screwing up. ‘You couldn’t have predicted this.’
She wanted to tell him to bugger off, that she wasn’t interested in defending herself. ‘Who knows? If he was scared enough…’
‘Andy’s right, though,’ Jennings said. ‘He clearly had good reason to be scared. My guess is that he’d never have talked to you unless we’d somehow been able to guarantee the threat would be removed. There’s nothing else you could have done.’
‘I could have tried,’ she said.
Jennings was clearly keen to move the conversation on. ‘So we know now that two of the victims, Darren Parkin and Jonny Garfield, knew each other. That should start to close the net a little. We presumably still don’t have an identity for the second victim found at the farm.’
‘Not yet,’ Annie said. ‘This might make it easier, though, if we start from the assumption the third victim also knew Parkin or Garfield.’
‘There’s one other thing about Garfield,’ Dwyer said. ‘I was just checking with one of the team because I thought the name rang a bell. He’s one of the names who’s come up in connection with that mob outside the constituency office. We’ve managed to ID a few of them, one way or another. It was one of the calls that came in when they showed the CCTV footage on TV, so we were due to follow it up today. Bit of a different context now.’
‘You know who identified him?’
‘Not offhand. We had a lot of calls, and not everyone was prepared to give their name. I’ll check.’
‘We’ll have to break the news to Garfield’s dad, too. Maybe he’ll be a bit more forthcoming now. Had the sense he was hiding something as well.’ She turned to Jennings. ‘How do you want us to handle this, Stuart? We still don’t know for sure that the two enquiries are linked. If Garfield’s body was dumped here as a warning to me rather than Sheena, maybe the apparent links to her are nothing more than coincidental after all.’
Jennings frowned, clearly uncomfortable with being forced to make the judgement call. ‘I think for the moment we continue to treat them as two investigations. I don’t want us to jump to conclusions and start seeing conspiracies where they don’t exist. But we’ve got to keep an open mind. As Andy says, if it’s a coincidence, it’s a big one, especially if Garfield was present when the first attempt was made on Sheena’s life.’ He paused. ‘The other question, Annie, particularly if there’s a possibility that the two enquiries might be converging, is whether you’re too close to all this.’
Objectively, she knew he was right. If the two cases were linked, her relationship with Sheena should rightly preclude her involvement. At a more personal level, though, the question felt like an attack on her integrity or her capability. She took a breath before responding. ‘I take the point. But if we’re continuing to treat the enquiries as separate, I think I should continue with the murder investigation. If that seems to risk any possible conflict of interest or if the enquires do merge, we can review the situation then.’
Jennings seemed almost relieved by her response. She knew he wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with resources, and at least this way he could defer making a decision. ‘Okay, we’ll keep it under review. But just bear it in mind. For now these remain two separate cases but I want both of you to share information. If anything comes up to confirm a link I’m to be told immediately.’
‘Understood.’ She turned to Dwyer. ‘Can you find out for me if we’ve a name for the person who identified Jonny Garfield? Garfield was one of the few real leads we had. If he’s out of the picture, we’re almost back to square one. If there’s anyone out there who knows more about him or Darren Parkin, we need to find them.’
‘I’ll let you know.’
‘Thanks.’ She gestured back towards the house. ‘I’ll have a chat with Sheena about trying to get her away from here.’
‘She’s a proud woman,’ Dwyer said. ‘Maybe too proud in this case.’
Annie gazed at him for a moment, then shook her head. ‘It’s not a question of pride. It’s her job. She can’t be seen to be running away in the face of intimidation. As far as she’s concerned, she owes it to her constituents.’
‘I didn’t mean—’
‘No, I know, Andy. And I’ll do what I can. But I can’t promise anything.’
She left Dwyer talking to Jennings, and made her way back into the house, checking her phone as she went. To her surprise, it was already nearly 8:00 a.m., and she was conscious she hadn’t informed Zoe yet, and she didn’t want Zoe to think she was being sidelined after their conversation the previous day. After they’d found the body, everything had moved too quickly. Jennings had turned up unexpectedly with the rest of the crew, Dwyer in tow, and for the last couple of hours she’d found herself swept up in the activity.
Zoe had already left her a couple of voicemails. Steeling herself for a potentially awkward exchange, she dialled her number.
Zoe answered almost immediately. ‘Annie? I’ve just got into the office and heard the news. Is everything okay?’
‘As okay as it can be. Sorry, Zo, should have called you before. It all just got a bit hectic after we called it in. Then Jennings turned up…’
‘That never helps.’ Zoe sounded more cheerful than she had the previous day. ‘No worries. I was more concerned about you and Sheena.’
Annie had closed the back door of the house behind her and was standing in the kitchen. She kept her voice low, knowing Sheena was in the living room. ‘It’s really knocked Sheena back. She’s pretty tough but this feels like the last straw. I’d like to get her away from here. Problem’s finding somewhere suitably discreet for her to go. I don’t want anything that’s just going to result in a media scrum.’
There was silence for a moment at the other end of the phone. ‘This is probably a stupid idea, but she could stay with us.’
‘Oh, God, Zo, I wasn’t suggesting—’
‘I’m serious,’ Zoe said. ‘We’ve got room. Gary wouldn’t mind. We’re about as low-key as we can get. No one would think she’d be staying there. And you could trust us to be discreet.’
‘I know that. But if there’s any risk involved then I couldn’t impose that on you and Gary.’
‘There’s no risk if no one knows she’s there. And I’m a cop, after all. If there should be any problems, I’m better qualified than most to deal with them.’
‘That’s what I thought about myself,’ Annie said. ‘And I’ve not done a great job so far.’
‘Please think about it, Annie. The offer’s there. See how Sheena feels.’
‘Thanks, Zo, I will. It’s good of you.’
‘Actually,’ Zoe said, ‘I didn’t call you about any of this stuff. Not the first time, anyway. There was something else I wanted to share with you.’
‘Go on.’
Annie listened as Zoe recounted what she’d discovered about Tom Miller and his historic links to Werneth Holdings. ‘I did a bit more digging,’ she said. ‘There seems to be a whole network of companies linked to Werneth. Various permutations of the same group of directors. Some shared registered offices. Some dormant. Some active. Miller’s name occurs a couple of times as a past director, though I couldn’t see any sign he was currently involved.’
‘It’s intriguing,’ Annie said. ‘Another odd coincidence, and we seem to be finding rather too many of those at the moment. Speaking of which, Dwyer reckons that someone’s identified Garfield in that protest outside Sheena’s office. Maybe it’s just highlighting how small this community really is, but it feels as if we might be starting to join a few dots even if we’ve no idea what we’re drawing.’
‘You think it’s worth talking to Miller again?’
‘Yes. Though the first priority is to break the news to Garfield’s dad. There’s just a chance he might have more to tell us now.’
‘You think he’ll care?’
‘Who knows? They hardly seemed close, but there seemed to be some paternal spark there.’
‘So Garfield’s dad. Miller. Any other priorities?’
‘I’m conscious we haven’t seen Carl Francis yet. I suspect he’ll be a dead end from what his mum said, but he’s one of the remaining leads we’ve got on Parkin and Garfield.’
‘Impression I got was that he wouldn’t be part of their circle any more.’
‘That was my impression too, but mums don’t always know everything. If Francis had been as much under their influence as she said, maybe he was still in contact with them. Worth a shot, anyway, given we’ve contact details for him.’
‘Is that our morning sorted, then?’
‘Sounds like it. There’s not much I can do here till the CSIs have done their business, and that’ll take some time. I’ll head back in and do the morning debrief with the team, then we can get started.’
‘I’ll have a coffee waiting.’
Annie ended the call, relieved that any lingering tensions from the previous day seemed to have dissipated. That didn’t mean that the issue was resolved, of course. She had no idea of Zoe’s real state of mind, but she’d sounded more energised than she had for a while.
She walked through into the living room. Sheena was sitting on the sofa, apparently sorting through some papers, but even at first glance Annie could see that Sheena’s eyes were unfocused, her mind elsewhere.
‘How are you doing?’
‘Oh, you know. As well as can be expected after two apparent attempts on my life and finding a body dumped in the back garden. You?’ Her voice was toneless, with no trace of her usual humour or enthusiasm. Annie couldn’t recall seeing her like this before, even in the most stressful moments.
Annie smiled. ‘Yeah. Same. Look, I was thinking…’
‘That I should get away from here?’
‘You MPs have scary telepathic powers.’
‘I need them, given how some of my constituents clam up. But it’s written all over your face. You’re worried.’
‘Obviously I’m worried. But what do you think?’
‘Where would I go? I mean, to be honest, I had the same idea. I’ve no desire just to be sitting here waiting for something else bad to happen. Someone literally knows where I live, and they’re making the most of it.’
‘There’s a good possibility the body might have been a message to me rather than you.’
Sheena gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I didn’t realise it was a competition. But, no, Annie, it doesn’t make me feel any better that someone might be targeting both of us.’
‘So what about it?’
‘Like I say, where would I go? I couldn’t think of anywhere I wouldn’t be conspicuous. I was wondering about staying with someone we know, but most of the possible candidates have kids, and it wouldn’t be right to bring any kind of threat into their homes.’
‘I’ve had one offer.’
‘From who?’
‘Zoe. She reckons she and Gary would be delighted to have you.’
‘That’s a relief. For a moment, I thought you were going to say your mum.’
‘There are some limits to what I’d inflict on you. What do you think?’
‘I’ve no idea, really. Wouldn’t she feel uncomfortable?’
‘There’d be a bit of awkwardness. But you know each other quite well, and you’ve always seemed to get on.’
‘No problem in that respect. I’ve always liked her. But it’s different being under someone’s roof.’
‘We’re only talking a few days. If we don’t get this sorted by then, we’re going to have to rethink anyway.’ She paused. ‘To be honest, I get the impression that Zoe might be glad of another person there. Not that there’s any problem between her and Gary, as far as I’m aware. But there’s something going on with her at the moment that she doesn’t want to discuss. You’re good at listening and giving advice. Zoe might be more willing to talk to you than she was to me. She’d trust you not to say anything to me without her agreement. I’ve been wondering if that’s why she made the offer. For herself as much as for you.’
Annie wasn’t sure if this was true but she was desperate to keep Sheena safe. Staying discreetly with another police officer was probably the best she could hope for. And if she could stop worrying so much about Sheena, Annie could get on with her job and maybe prevent more threats.
‘You think that’s likely?’
‘There’s no knowing with Zoe. I think she needs some help and she might just see you as the ideal compromise. Not a stranger, but not too close, either. Someone she trusts. Someone who’s experienced enough to give her some advice.’
‘But you don’t know what any of this is about?’
‘I haven’t a clue. All I know is that it seems to be affecting her state of mind, and that at the moment she’s not doing the job she’s more than capable of.’
Sheena finally smiled. ‘You’re a cunning bugger, Annie Delamere.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Don’t come the innocent with me. I know you too well. You know exactly which buttons to press to get me to take up Zoe’s offer. I’d be reluctant to do it just for my own sake, but you know I can persuaded to do it for hers. And if I do, you’ll have someone inside the tent keeping one eye on Zoe. Okay, I’ll have a think about it, assuming Zoe really is serious. And I’d want to give her some kind of recompense.’
‘Treat her and Gary to a weekend away once this is all over,’ Annie said. ‘She deserves it.’
‘Too right she does, if she’s prepared to put up with you at work and me at home. Speaking of which, what about you?’
‘What about me?’
‘If I get out of here for a few days, you don’t think I’m going to leave you here? Like you say, that body might have been a message to you rather than me.’
‘I can’t come to Zoe’s. That really would be too awkward. And it wouldn’t allow her to talk to you freely, if that’s what she wants.’
‘So where will you go?’
Annie hesitated, then gave the answer that she knew she’d already resigned herself to. ‘I could always go to my mother’s, I suppose.’