All the Rage (DI Adam Fawley #4) - Cara Hunter Page 0,129
the Avila case isn’t the only one Patsie’s been boning up on.’ He looks up at her. ‘Didn’t you say Fawley thought this whole thing could be a copycat?’
She nods.
He holds out the phone again. ‘Well, looking at this, I think he might be right.’
* * *
* * *
Baxter doesn’t know who he is – not at first anyway. But it doesn’t take him long to work out it must be Somer’s new squeeze. He remembers Gis making snide remarks about Saumarez when she first started seeing him, and you only need to take one look at him to see why. All that and a DI as well. Some buggers have all the luck.
He opens the car door and gets out as Somer comes up the road towards him, her bloke a step or two behind.
‘This is Giles,’ she says. ‘He’s been helping me out.’
Saumarez smiles and holds out his hand. ‘Good to meet you. Erica’s told me a lot about you. She says you’re the team computer ace.’
‘Giles is pretty good with computers, too,’ says Somer quickly. Baxter eyes her – her cheeks are flushed and he’s never seen her looking so jumpy or trying so hard. As if she’s introducing Saumarez to her dad, not just some random work colleague.
‘Oh yes?’ he says heavily, turning back to Saumarez. ‘Digital forensics, is it?’
Saumarez smiles again. A clean smile, without sarcasm. Somer has to hand it to him: he’s almost miraculously even-tempered.
‘Nah, just a common or garden copper.’
Somer looks from one to the other. ‘OK, so are we good to go?’
* * *
Adam Fawley
11 April 2018
15.15
‘You’re not going in at all today?’ says Alex, when I slide the mug of green tea on to the bedside table.
I shake my head. ‘I’ve done my bit on this one. And in the meantime, I’m going to take some of the pile of time in lieu they owe me and spoil you rotten.’
Her lip quivers and I can see she’s close to tears.
‘Hey,’ I say, sitting down on the bed next to her, ‘it’s not that dreadful a prospect, is it?’
But I can’t get her to smile.
‘I need to talk to you,’ she whispers, her voice breaking. ‘I should have done it before, I know I should. But there never seemed to be a good time.’ The tears spill over. ‘And then it all got out of hand and I didn’t think I could tell you. I thought it would just make it ten times worse.’
I take her hand. ‘It’s about the trial, isn’t it,’ I say softly. ‘The evidence you gave at the trial.’
She looks at me. ‘But how –’
‘I know. Alex, my darling, I’ve always known.’
* * *
THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT
The Old Bailey
London EC4M 7EH
BEFORE:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HEALEY
R E G I N A
v.
GAVIN FRANCIS PARRIE
* * *
MR. R. BARNES Q.C. and MISS S. GREY
appeared on behalf of the prosecution.
MRS. B. JENKINS Q.C. and MR. T. CUTHBERT
appeared on behalf of the defendant.
* * *
Tuesday, 16th November, 1999
[Day 23]
ALEXANDRA SHELDON, recalled
Examined by MRS. JENKINS
Q. Ms. Sheldon, I’d like to ask you some further questions, if I may, about the events of January 3rd this year. I apologise for having to put you through this again, but this is, as you must be aware, a crucial element of the prosecution’s case. Indeed, quite possibly the single most crucial element of all. You, as a trainee solicitor yourself, must appreciate that.
MR. BARNES: My Lord, if I may interject, the witness cannot be expected to comment on such matters.
MR. JUSTICE HEALEY: Mrs. Jenkins, perhaps you might move on.
MRS. JENKINS: My Lord. So, Ms. Sheldon, it is still your contention, is it, that you did not enter Mr. Parrie’s garage premises at any time that day?
A. That’s correct.
Q. You didn’t try the door before the police came, just to see if it was unlocked?
A. No.
Q. In fact, as we have heard, the door was indeed locked, but Mr. Parrie kept a spare key above the lintel – a key which anyone who might have been watching him that day could have seen him take down and use to open the door.
A. I told you, I didn’t go in. They’d have found my fingerprints on the handle if I had. And on the key.
Q. Not necessarily, Ms. Sheldon. Not if you were wearing gloves. And according to Met Office records it was a bright but very cold day on January 3rd – the temperature barely exceeded six degrees.