a woman arguing with Alex Swinton. I want to know if there was any way she could have been out. I also want us to look further into Cherie Brown, she’s keeping something back about the case. I want to know everything about her. Another way to look at this is she may also be in danger.’ Gina glanced back at the board and drew a ring around four names. Isaac, Penny, Marcus and Cherie. ‘They were all school friends and they knew Alex. Both Marcus and Isaac say they barely knew him, Cherie claiming to know him even less. O’Connor, Wyre?’
‘Yes.’ He placed the biscuit he was about to eat on his paperwork.
‘I want you both to investigate them closely and any other links that flag up, I want them forwarded to me straight away. Take any alibis amongst this group with a pinch of salt. The investigation of them doesn’t close because one person confirms they were with another. What aren’t they telling us? That’s where our focus should lie. Any thoughts?’
The room went silent.
‘There’s the obvious.’ Wyre scribbled a few notes and stared at them for a moment. ‘They were all in on killing Alex and now they’re sitting tight, hoping that we can’t prove a thing while they all vouch for each other’s whereabouts.’
O’Connor swallowed a bit of biscuit and continued. ‘Any number of them or any combination of them could be working together. We’ve also established that Alex’s elaborate murder could have been planned and set up by one person, even though it would have been difficult. We have no leads on the coffin or coffin makers. No useful witness accounts or CCTV evidence.’ He put the rest of the biscuit in his mouth.
Jacob leaned in. ‘Or none of them did it.’
Gina paused. ‘That would throw us back into having nothing. They’re all acting suspiciously. If none of them did it, I can guarantee that at least one of them has the information that could lead us to the killer. Whatever they’re concealing, I want it.’ Gina placed her hand in her pocket and felt the biscotti from earlier that morning. Her stomach began to rumble a little. She let go of it and grabbed a biscuit from the table, crunching as she stared at the board. ‘I know it’s early, but are Alex Swinton’s toxicology results back?’
‘No, guv.’ Wyre flicked over to another page. ‘And not likely to be back for ages.’
‘Damn – I don’t know why I asked. I suppose I just live in hope. Apply some pressure. Put a fast track on it. Do whatever it takes. What are we missing?’ She swallowed, knowing full well that any chance of getting toxicology results back so soon was little to none. It was time to address the one thing she didn’t want to speak of. ‘The letter that was sent to the papers.’ As agreed, only she and Briggs knew about the personal letter. ‘This person wants my attention and they’ve got it. Why haven’t they made contact again?’ She felt a shiver under her hairline. ‘I hate to say it but they haven’t contacted me again because they haven’t murdered again. Or have they? We still have no word about Penny Burton’s whereabouts. Talk to me about Penny’s bank and phone records.’
Wyre did her jacket button up. ‘Since the Friday she went missing, there have been no transactions on her debit or credit card. As for her phone, she hasn’t texted or called anyone. We don’t have the details of previous messages, only numbers. She did, however, have another phone and her husband, Marcus Burton, has confirmed that she had taken that phone with her when she disappeared. It’s a pay-as-you-go and not registered. I’ve applied for the content of her contract phone and that should be with us soon.’
‘As soon as you have it, please forward it to me. I want to see her messages in the run up to her disappearance. So far, we have this. She leaves on the morning of an argument with her husband. Her behaviour is classed as normal behaviour by her friends and her husband, Marcus. He was only concerned when she still hadn’t got in touch the next day. She doesn’t have any other close friends that he knows of, so where is she? She didn’t check into a hotel. It’s like she’s vanished.’ Gina walked over to the window. ‘We need to put out a press release. Give them Penny’s photo. We need