Trust Me - Sheryl Browne Page 0,74

needs to access them.’

‘Excellent.’ Regan nodded approvingly.

‘We’ll be checking who logged in to the computers and when,’ Morse added. ‘We’ll check out any printers as well. Hopefully, if the letters came from here, we’ll be able to establish which printer was used.’

‘Can you do that?’ Jake asked, surprised.

‘It’s possible,’ the DC confirmed. ‘Printers can leave two kinds of identifying marks: one sort that comes from imperfections resulting from unique wear in the mechanism, plus a digital fingerprint that points to a specific printer, model and unit.’

‘I’m impressed,’ Jake said, looking actually concerned. Also looking at her, Emily noticed.

‘Meanwhile,’ Regan continued, ‘we were just about to ask your husband if anyone else has access to the surgery, apart from staff and patients and the usual people who come and go obviously – delivery people, sales reps and so on. Family, possibly?’ she asked. ‘Do any of the staff bring their children in?’

Emily felt her nerves tighten all over again.

‘Just us,’ Jake provided, now looking as wary as Emily felt. ‘My daughter, Millie, sometimes comes in with me on a Saturday. She’s aiming to do a veterinary course. She finds the environment more conducive to study,’ he explained. ‘My son, Ben, has been in on the odd occasion, but only to meet up with one of us.’

‘And do they have boyfriends or girlfriends who might have come in with them?’ the woman asked.

Emily glanced at Jake. She could see his apprehension as his eyes as swivelled to hers. No doubt his mind was on Millie and the concerns Emily had raised about her boyfriend before their conversation degenerated into another argument.

‘No,’ he said adamantly. ‘Never. Ben’s not seeing anyone. And Millie is only recently in a relationship.’

‘That’s fine,’ Regan said. ‘If you could let us have the boyfriend’s address, though …’

‘Yes, right.’ Jake’s eyes flicked uncertainly again towards Emily. ‘I’ll, er, have a word with Millie.’

Regan studied him thoughtfully for a second. ‘You understand that due to the serious consequences resulting from the circulation of these letters we do have to talk to anyone who might have had access to the building?’ she asked.

‘Of course.’ Jake ran a hand over his neck. ‘Not a problem.’

Emily could see from his tense body language that his thinking was on a par with hers, about this at least. They knew nothing about Millie’s boyfriend, other than that he was older than her and that Millie was reluctant to divulge more about him. From the very nature of that fact, their daughter was bound to be questioned in detail about him.

‘Right, well, I think that’s it for now.’ DS Regan checked her watch. ‘We’re off to have another word with Dean Miller. We’ll—’

‘How is he?’ Emily asked. His life had been ripped apart. Whatever happened to him now, he would never recover from any of that.

‘As well as can be expected,’ DS Regan answered. ‘We’re still making enquiries.’

‘He claimed he wasn’t involved – when he spoke to me on the phone,’ Jake said. ‘I know you can’t give out information, but …’ Pausing, he drew in a breath. He was obviously as concerned as Emily was. Probably more so. Knowing how much he cared about his patients, she didn’t doubt that. ‘I don’t suppose it counts for much, but I believed him.’

Nodding, DS Regan looked between them, then seemed to make a judgement call. ‘There’s a neighbour who claims to have seen Zoe on the balcony after Dean left. She also thinks someone else might have called on her. As I say, we’re still investigating. It would help him if Zoe were able to tell us, of course.’ She glanced questioningly back to Jake.

‘They’re hopeful,’ he said, his expression one of obvious relief, on Dean’s behalf, Emily guessed. ‘They’ve managed to minimise the swelling.’

‘Excellent. Fingers crossed.’ DS Regan smiled. ‘We’ll be back in an hour or so to set up in the office you mentioned, if that’s okay?’

‘I’ll let the team know.’ Jake offered her a small smile as he walked them out.

Emily turned to go too. She desperately wanted to talk to Jake. The problem was, she wasn’t sure they knew how to talk any more.

‘Emily, can I have a word?’ He stopped her as she approached the door. Glancing into the corridor, he closed it behind him, and turned back to her. ‘Have you spoken to Millie? Is she back?’

Emily could see the worry in his eyes. He had so many things coming at him, he wouldn’t know which way to turn. He would