Kate faced the team with renewed enthusiasm even though the briefing was set to be a lengthy affair. Her day had consisted of a fruitless trip to the Intelligence Unit, a distressing airport pickup, a grim task at the morgue, a visit to the crime scene with a bereaved family member, then to Swift’s hotel to deliver a heartbreaking revelation. Despite all this, she no longer felt jaded. This morning the MIT had little to go on. This evening they were flying.
The amount of background information supplied by Hannah’s father about her education, the business she once owned and her personal life prior to 2009 was everything Kate had hoped for and more. Having shared it with the team, she began issuing instructions, raising actions in order of priority.
While she spoke, Carmichael entered the most salient points into her computer keyboard, including the name of Hannah’s former company, a contact at her Cambridge college and the address of her late mother’s home in France, all of which popped up on screen as she typed. By the time she’d finished, the electronic murder wall was in better shape than it had been twelve hours ago.
She stopped typing. ‘All done, boss.’
‘Great, let’s crack on then. That note you left me yesterday. How certain are you that Hannah’s landlord won’t big himself up by claiming we failed to protect one of his tenants?’
‘Very. I told him that it would be counterproductive for him to speak out should the press learn that his entire portfolio is made up of properties that are unsafe places for women to live in.’
‘Nice one.’ Kate scanned the faces of those assembled. ‘The next few days are crucial. Your efforts could save the life of a kid. It’s that simple.’ A pause underlined the seriousness of her words. ‘I’m convinced that during the period 2008 to 2009 – perhaps when Hannah was living abroad – we’ll find the link to her killer. That’s when her life changed, when she changed, according to her father. That’s when Hannah met her tormentor. I’m relying on you to find and apprehend him.’
Looking around the room, it was clear that her words had hit home. Every single face was solemn, their eyes filled with conviction. This is what they were good at. They would not let her down. ‘Before we knock off for the day, is there anything you want to raise that we’ve not yet covered?’
‘I have a question.’ Jo’s hand was in the air.
Kate was intrigued. Whatever she was about to say was important for the team to hear, otherwise she’d have discussed it at home over dinner. ‘The floor is yours.’
‘Was there a key on O’Brien’s inventory?’ she asked.
‘Only for the caravan. Why?’
‘Hannah’s note is driving me insane. She writes, quote “I’m in no doubt that you’ll find the key to what went on here” unquote. We all know that finding the key to anything is a common enough phrase but, my question to you all is, should we discount it on that basis when it could equally be a subtle hint that she left a key for us to find? I’m sorry, guys, I don’t want to keep you, but it’s been lingering in my mind all day.’
‘Don’t be daft, you’re right to query it.’ It was the first time Hank had spoken. He’d arrived a few minutes late for the briefing. With every chair taken, he was standing in the entrance to Kate’s office, his right shoulder leaning against the door jamb, feet crossed at the ankles, hands thrust into his pockets.
‘Hank’s right,’ Kate said. ‘With Aaron’s life at stake, we need to question everything . . . and I mean everything. We know the van was searched, Hannah’s possessions removed. Whoever did that was looking for something. We have no idea what it was, or if it was found. In my opinion, Hannah was too smart to leave incriminating evidence on her computer or her mobile phone for someone to steal—’
Brown cut her off. ‘Guv, if that’s true, why delay the search for her son by leaving such a cryptic note?’
‘Because if she’d written down anything specific, including where to find him, Aaron would already be dead. Hannah had the sense to realise that the likelihood of the note falling into the wrong hands was high. As we’ve already discussed, she was trying to communicate with us and may have used other ways of doing that, in the press and online. Now that Lisa has her magic keywords, she’s confident that she’ll track down her social media accounts.’
‘I’ll do my best . . .’ Carmichael turned to look at Jo, a thoughtful expression on her face. ‘Jo, please don’t think I’m rubbishing your idea, but when you were speaking it occurred to me that Hannah might already have given us a key in the metaphorical sense by pleading with us to find Aaron. Might that also be a signpost? Perhaps he’s the one in possession of the incriminating evidence we suspect the killer was trying to find.’
‘Good thinking,’ Jo said. ‘If that’s the case, we can only pray that he’s as resourceful as his mum. But I still think there might be a physical key we’ve yet to find. Surely it’s worth another look. I’m not talking about the caravan – far be it from me to suggest that crime scene investigators haven’t done their jobs properly—’
‘It’s happened before,’ someone muttered.
‘Not on O’Brien’s watch,’ Kate said in his defence.
‘I was thinking more of the surrounding area.’ Jo’s eyes landed on Kate. ‘Kate, this is not an either or situation. My theory and Lisa’s could carry equal weight. There is a physical key or Aaron is holding vital information, in which case we need to get a shift on. Collectively, we’d never forgive ourselves if anything happened to him and it turned out that we’d overlooked something that might have prevented it.’
Kate took a moment to consider all that had been said.
Jo and Lisa trusted their instincts.
Kate trusted them.