Kelly drove. Dan was quiet. The gravity of what lay ahead sat between them and both mulled over their most pressing activities. Last night she’d seen him on an animated phone call, probably to his wife: first night on the job and he doesn’t come home. The fresh blanket of snow gave the Lake District a charming, innocent facade, which belied the intentions of one man, working in secret, trying to hide the fact that he’d killed a woman and dumped her in a waste bin. The knowledge of the fact made the desire to stare out of the window, and gaze upon the beauty of mountains covered in snow, less alluring. Swabs from the wheelie bin were being processed in a lab in Carlisle, as well as the items bagged and tagged by Ted Wallis, especially the metal fragment and fibres. But it took time for these results to come through.
Overnight, the call centre had received hundreds of tips regarding the two missing women, as well as new leads on Dorinne. Going public on Lucinda Dockie, only a day after the body in the bin, had renewed the public’s interest in Dorinne. But all leads had to be processed and followed up; Highways England CCTV from the area surrounding the Heaven club was being trawled through, and the residents along the road where the contents of the bin had been discovered were still being interviewed, and Craig had followed up with David Martin, formally interviewing him at Barrow police station. Craig had assured the guy of discretion, in as far as he wasn’t about to Snapchat his wife about it. It was all the guy was worried about and Craig was happy from watching his body indicators, such as leg position, fidgeting, eye contact, open or closed stances, as well as tonal changes in his voice, that the guy liked hookers; he didn’t kill them. His DNA had been run through the system and no matches with previous crimes were found. Usually in a murder, previous was a given, and more often than not murderers nowadays were caught out by it years after their crimes, as the DNA database grew. When shown the photo of Dorinne, Mr Martin had looked nonplussed. They were also trying to track down Kian Delaney. This morning, while Kelly went home to get a shower and change clothes, it was down to DS Kate Umshaw to get the ball rolling and prepare a morning brief for her, which would commence shortly. Kate had DC Emma Hide, and a clutch of uniforms, at her disposal. The gritters had been working hard all night and most of the roads were clear, but more snow was expected this afternoon.
A call came through Bluetooth and Kelly answered it. DS Kate Umshaw’s voice filled the small space. She was chairing the first briefing of the day, with Kelly on speaker.
‘We’ve had several sightings, boss, of all three women. They vary wildly in timeline, but I’m assigning each one as we get it, and dispatching officers to take witness statements, giving priority to Dorinne Callaghan. There’s been a hit overnight on the man described by both Yus Ali and the bartender at the Scrag End pub: the man whose appearance has been logged as short, plump, in his fifties and well dressed. We’ve had a sighting of him being with Lucinda Dockie on a separate occasion. We’re working on a mixture of old and new statements, all from scratch.’
The stranger was quickly becoming a person of significant interest.
‘Go on,’ Kelly said. They were on the ring road around Keswick now, and they’d be home shortly. She’d have to drop Dan in Penrith, where he’d bought a terrace not far from where her mother, Wendy, had lived. Then she’d drive back to Pooley Bridge. Once again, Kelly would spend the day in the South Lakes, and hopefully meet up with Craig Lockwood. It was a tough decision, leaving her team for another day, but with the profile from Demi, the snooping around of Minister Qiang and the lack of transparency from the Chinese embassy, as well as the questionable business parameters of Sunshine Holidays, Kelly had come to believe that finding Lisa Lau and Lucinda Dockie was somehow the key to unlocking Dorinne’s case. She was further convinced of this fact because of the discovery of a witness statement from the October inquiry into Dorinne’s disappearance linking her to Lucinda Dockie. And the statement was from none other than Kian Delaney.
‘He worked at the same diner as Dorinne, and it turns out that Lucinda Dockie worked there too. It’s the Lakeside Bar and Grill. Delaney said, back in October, that he saw a man meeting the description matching the one given by the bartender at the Scrag End waiting for her outside, after two separate late shifts. He also stated that he’d seen him before, and described a man who looked well dressed and smart, but who was a lot older and shorter than Dorinne, and that’s why it stuck in his mind. Lucinda worked at the diner for five or so years, overlapping with Dorinne for a few months last year.’ Kate waited for her boss.
‘That is a blinding coincidence,’ Kelly said. ‘I can drive through Glenridding on my way to Ambleside. DC Hide, meet me there and you can check out the Gate Inn, as well as visit Lucinda Dockie’s house. It’s been sealed off but we haven’t had a forensics team there yet.’
‘Yes, boss.’
‘DS Houghton and I are almost back now, we’re coming around Keswick. I’ll send him down to Glenridding with you, Emma, so wait for him to get into the office. I’ll head off as soon as I can. I want Yus Ali picked up to give an artist’s impression, and we need Kian Delaney to do the same. DS Umshaw, can you try and find Mandy Williams, please. I want to know why she omitted to tell me that she was Lisa’s room-mate.’
‘Yes, boss.’ Emma and Kate spoke in unison.
‘Any news on Lorna Burns yet? Lockwood is going to take charge of the interviews in Windermere, though I think Marvin Burns has already thrown himself under a few buses overnight. He was easy to crack, by all accounts. I’m pretty sure that he had no knowledge of what was going on in that cottage, but I need someone checking all the other properties and we should have a warrant for all of them, including business records for Sunshine Holidays, very soon. They should come through today.’
Kelly and Dan heard a distraction in the office and Kate informed them that Rob Shawcross had turned up, demanding to be put on the case.
‘Paternity leave is overrated,’ Kelly heard him say.
There was a communal murmured agreement around the incident room, palpable from the interior of Kelly’s car. She felt a twinge of sadness for the colleague sat in her passenger seat after what he’d told her about having kids. She knew it’d be hard, when the time came, to tell him her own news.
‘Great to have you back on board, Rob,’ Kelly said. ‘I’ve got the perfect job for you. Kate, can you fill Rob in on Sunshine Holidays and I want you, Rob, to go through the business and find out if the figures balance. If not, why.’
She wondered if she would take her maternity leave when the time came. She was entitled to a year off with half pay, plus the government allowance. In her head, she’d already made up her mind about coming back to work as soon as she could, to allow Johnny to be a dad in his own time, and in his own way, without her meddling. She knew that disagreements on childrearing were the biggest single factor in divorces. Not that they were married, but she wanted him to be a proper home parent, not just in name. At the moment, she didn’t know what it felt like to be maternal and feel the need to spend time with a child: her child. Maybe that would change. Her mind was wandering and she forced herself back to the team discussion.
‘Magistrates hate anything to do with sex work. As soon as the warrants I authorised come through, I want raids on Sunshine Holidays properties.’
‘Yes, boss. It’s good to be back in the office.’
‘How did Mia take it?’ Kelly asked about Rob’s wife.
‘She agreed that if I spent another day at home, one or the other of us would end up leaving. She’s in a routine now. But seriously, guv, we’re good.’
‘Glad to hear it. And how is the gorgeous little man?’
It wasn’t like DI Porter to gush. At Eden House, the team shared glances. All except DS Umshaw, who knew exactly where the sentiment came from. She smiled.
‘He’s cracking. All smiles. Not sleeping through yet, but I’m used to disturbed sleep. I hear you had a holiday in Thirlmere last night?’ Rob jested with them. Kelly laughed.
‘What a treat! Mind you, the breakfast was fantastic,’ she said. ‘Right, guys. Let’s get to work. DS Umshaw, can you chase the lab, please? We should be getting the first results through today. I want to trace that wheelie bin.’
‘Yes, guv.’
Another day of graft awaited them. Legwork was the backbone of any investigation, and they’d only just got started.