said, as she crept out of the meeting and into the hallway. ‘Alan Falco worked on the serious crime squad at Palm Hill. Not the greatest cop in the world, but he was a nice old stick. He retired before Christmas.’
Kerry dashed up to John holding an open folder. John moved the phone away from his face. ‘What?’
‘It’s on here,’ Kerry said. ‘Alan Falco must have been the second cop on the scene after Michael Patel. He took this witness statement from a girl called Jane Cunningham and a couple of people who were inside the flats.’
‘Leon said he paid Falco to deal with the witness statements,’ Lauren said.
‘Maybe he had them altered,’ John said. ‘Or just removed certain ones that contained incriminating information.’
John put the telephone back to his face. ‘Thanks Millie, I’ve got to go. It looks like we’re on to something here. We’ll be in touch.’
‘Look, look,’ Kerry gasped, tapping on the folder. ‘In Jane’s statement it says a group of boys had nicked Hannah Clarke’s sandal and were throwing it around.’
‘So what?’ Lauren asked.
‘Well, where are their statements?’
Lauren leaned over Kerry’s shoulder and pointed at the next paragraph. ‘It says the boys all ran away when the body hit the ground.’
‘Yeah,’ Kerry said. ‘But they were local kids and they probably had a better view of what happened than anyone else. Wouldn’t someone have found out who they were and asked them what they’d seen?’
John nodded. ‘I think you’re spot on, Kerry. We need to find out who those boys were and what they saw.’
14:21
The elderly lady put the security chain on before opening her front door to the policewoman.
‘Mrs Cunningham?’ Millie asked, flashing her warrant card. ‘I’m looking for your granddaughter, Jane. Is she home?’
Mrs Cunningham looked pale and her hands were shaking out of control. ‘Jane’s popped out to the shops,’ she wheezed. ‘I shouldn’t think she’ll be much longer. Would you like to come in and wait?’
‘Yes,’ Millie said.
‘She’s not in trouble is she?’
Millie shook her head and smiled reassuringly as she stepped into the hallway. ‘I’d like to ask her some questions about the incident last August.’
‘The boy on the roof?’ Mrs Cunningham asked.
Millie nodded as she stepped into the living-room. The old lady settled into an armchair. There was an oxygen cylinder at her side and dozens of pill bottles on the table.
‘You’re welcome to make yourself a cup of tea, officer. I’m afraid I’m not up to much. Not in this heat.’
‘Does your granddaughter look after you by herself?’
The old lady smiled. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without her.’
Jane came home a few minutes later, looking haggard and carrying three Sainsbury’s bags. She wanted to get the food in the fridge, so Millie spoke to her in the kitchen while she unpacked the shopping.
‘This is the statement you made a year ago,’ Millie said, setting a photocopy on the dining table. ‘You mention that there was a group of boys playing football. How many do you think there were?’
Jane shrugged. ‘Seven or eight, I guess.’
‘You said that they ran off, but did you see any of them giving statements later?’
‘I think they all did,’ Jane nodded. ‘One of them – a little skinny guy – got knocked flying somehow and ended up with a bloody nose. The others were all around him for a bit. Then they gave statements to a cop, for sure.’
‘Michael Patel?’
Jane shook her head. ‘Patel stayed with my friend, Hannah. Will was her cousin and she was hysterical. How come you’re digging this all up again? It’s like a year ago.’
Millie knew how fast rumours could spread, so she didn’t tell the truth. ‘It’s a routine audit. We like to dot the Is and cross the Ts before we send our files off to be archived. I couldn’t work out why no statements had been taken from the boys. Based on what you’re saying, the statements were taken but then lost. You wouldn’t happen to know any of the boys’ names would you?’
Jane shrugged. ‘Sorry. I mean, they’re all kids who hang around this part of the estate, but I don’t actually know them.’
‘Have you got any idea where they live?
‘Oh, now you’ve said that,’ Jane nodded, breaking into a smile. ‘One of them was Kevin Milligan. He lived above our old flat in block six. He used to wind my nan up, filling balloons with water and dropping them down on to our balcony.’
14:50
‘Oh Christ,’ Kevin Milligan’s mum said as she opened her front