A ringing mobile. Kate glanced at the screen. Bright was the caller. She wasn’t even tempted to answer. Cassel had more to tell and she was keen to hear it. She muted the sound but her guv’nor was persistent. The screen lit up as he tried again. Opening her desk drawer, Kate threw in the device, hearing only the muffled sound of it vibrating as it rang a third time. Bright was almost as impatient as Cassel. He was checking his watch.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘When did you and Hannah last meet?’
‘Two, three weeks ago—’
‘Well, which was it. Two or three?’
‘Two. I sent her a pre-determined code—’
‘Bit cloak and dagger, isn’t it?’ Kate suspected this had come from him. She watched his colour rise. He remained silent, his expression doing the talking for him. She’d hit a nerve. ‘Where did you meet?’
A beat of time turned into a sidestep. ‘Our usual rendezvous point.’
Without taking her eyes off him, Kate pushed a pad across her desk. ‘I want the code and the RV.’
Cassel wrote them down and slid the pad towards her. He looked embarrassed. A glance at what was written there gave Kate the reason why: STSP. For Kate’s benefit, he’d written the place name too: Waren Mill.
‘Really?’ She stifled a grin. ‘Same Time, Same Place was your pre-determined code?’
‘She’s . . . she was an amateur.’
She wasn’t the only one. No self-respecting intelligence officer would use social media shorthand. On the other hand, Cassel had filled in a blank for Kate. Warenford was in the system already, which wasn’t far from Waren Mill. Hannah’s vehicle had been spotted by ANPR on the A1 north of the village last Friday. Kate had suspected that she was meeting Aaron. Carmichael had suggested that she drove there to call her son on one of her many disposable numbers. Now it made sense. She was in fact meeting Cassel, possibly doing both at the same time.
‘You sure your RV wasn’t more recent?’
‘Positive.’
She didn’t challenge him. ‘Did you meet at the mill?’
‘No, in the long lay-by on the B1340 Links Road overlooking the bay and nature reserve. It was a waste of time. For the hundredth time, I begged her to part with what she had. She said the guy she’d been living with was so devious that only a person on the inside would be able to mount this kind of operation.’
‘And you believed her?’
‘I did, yes. Kate, I ask informants to take risks every day. You know that.’
‘Sounds like she was playing you, Jean. Picking your brains would be like asking me how to commit the perfect murder and avoid detection.’
‘When you put it like that—’
‘How else would I put it? From where I’m sitting, she sucked you dry and spat you out.’
‘Do you want this intel or not?’ Cassel bit again, staring at her across the desk. ‘Look, if she’d killed him, she’d have got off with voluntary manslaughter, no question. That wasn’t enough though. She wanted to see him suffer the humiliation of losing everything, including his status.’
‘Wasn’t she afraid?’
‘Of him? Sure. She’d tried leaving before. Called the domestic abuse hotline several times, begging for help. They found her a refuge in Middlesbrough. A couple of months later, he found her. Some heavies went over there, mob-handed. Broke down the door, attacked the refuge manager and hauled her out. Police were called. The mob wore balaclavas. Staff were unable to ID them. You can guess the rest.’
‘She wouldn’t grass on him when spoken to?’
‘No, even though she suspected her days were numbered.’
His words hung in the air, the silence underlining them. Kate asked, ‘How did you find out about her murder?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘It’s a simple enough question.’
‘I read about it.’
‘And what, put two and two together?’
‘I’ve kept my eye on Northumbria murder stats. That’s how I knew you were the SIO.’ Cassel checked his watch. ‘Look, I’m sorry, I’m going to have to run.’ He stood up, looking down on her. ‘I hope some of what I’ve said helps you understand Hannah and her state of mind. When you put it all together, just remember she came to me, not the other way around. I warned her that her plan was fraught with danger.’
‘You can say that again.’
‘What could I do? Wherever that piece of shit is hiding, good luck finding him. Hannah saw finishing him as the only way she’d ever reunite with her son.’ Cassel moved toward the door, turning as he reached it. ‘By the way, where is Aaron?’