Impression (DI Gardener 4)

“Did they say why she’d run away?”

“Usual stuff: family disagreements. Being a teenager, she was becoming hard to deal with.”

“What about the money?”

“They were mad at first, but as time went on, they just wanted her home.”

Gardener nodded. He’d heard the story a hundred times. “Did you tell them what had happened?”

“No,” said Sharp. “Not yet. They just sounded so hopeful, so pleased that we’d got in touch.”

“What did you say?” Reilly asked.

“Just that she was wanted for questioning, but I couldn’t go into too much detail.”

“They will have to be informed,” said Gardener.

“I’ll do it when the time comes,” offered Briggs. “Right now, I need you lot to stay on the ground and keep up the legwork.”

“Good work, Colin. At least we know who she is. Anything else?”

“SOCO are still searching the house. So far the only thing we’ve managed to find is her passport, which wasn’t in her house.”

Gardener took over, updating the team on what he and Reilly had found out from Fitz about both victims, and that interestingly enough they both may have had something called NASH.

“Are you sure you don’t mean ‘rash’?” The comment brought a few laughs.

“What the hell is NASH?” asked Bob Anderson.

Gardener briefly explained before finally adding that it could be something more serious, like full-blown hepatitis. “Which is why Sean and I are going to start a search of the clinics. It’s possible she knew she had a problem and could have been having treatment, so there may be something of a medical record somewhere.”

Gardener glanced at Sharp again. “Did you say SOCO are still searching the house but nothing has come up?”

“Not so far. If she does have anything of any use, it’s well hidden.”

Gardener thought about it. Something didn’t add up. Where was her phone? No woman in her position would be without a mobile. Come to think of it, unless SOCO had turned one up at Morrison’s flat, they hadn’t found one for him either.

“Colin, I know there isn’t much to go on, but can you try making some headway with the mobile phone companies? You have a name and an address. They should be able to give you something. She must have had a phone.”

“I can give it a go.”

“Have we come across anyone in the witness statements who saw anything? I thought places like that were supposed to be close-knit.”

“I doubt it,” said Reilly.

The general feedback to Gardener’s question was negative. Either people didn’t care what was going on anymore, or they were all up to something they shouldn’t and were too preoccupied to be watching what others were doing.

“Okay. I think we should be tramping the streets again tomorrow, armed with a photograph. Plenty of people out there will know Nicola Stapleton. It’s just a case of finding them. Have we pulled in any of her clients yet?”

“We’ve spoken very discreetly to the four names and addresses that Mrs Potts gave us,” said Paul Benson.

“Any luck?”

“None of them had used her services on that night. It took quite a while for them to admit they’d used her at all, but we brought a little pressure to bear there.”

“But no one had been with her on Saturday night?”

“No,” said Benson.