Impression (DI Gardener 4)

“Seems to suggest that Barry Morrison and Nicola Stapleton were an item,” offered Paul Benson.

“All the evidence suggests otherwise,” said Gardener. “Looks to me like he was controlling her. Her rented her a house, and he rented out her body.”

“Seems a bit odd to me,” said Rawson. “If she was in the house and he only called once a week, why didn’t she just leave?”

“That’s what we’d like to know,” said Reilly.

“Had to be something important, the hold he had over her.”

“Must be,” said Gardener. “That’s why we need to keep digging. Obviously, if he had her passport, she couldn’t leave the country.”

“Something bad must have happened at home,” said Sharp. “She stole five hundred pounds from her brother, but that was years ago. Why couldn’t she just go back home? You don’t need your passport to travel round the UK.”

“That’s another question we’re going to have to ask the parents,” said Gardener. “They deserve to know she’s died, whatever happened back home years ago.”

“I wouldn’t like to think my daughter went missing from home years ago and no one contacted me about her death,” said Reilly.

“That brings me on to Chloe Summerby, the other MFH connected to the case.”

At that moment, Briggs came back in with the CCTV footage from the shops. He sat down, waiting for Gardener to continue.

“Sean and I went to see Sally Summerby today, the child’s mother. She dealt a real bombshell.”

Gardener pointed to the photo on the ANACAPA chart. “Whoever the girl in this photo is, she is not Chloe Summerby.”

“What?”

The question came from more than one of the team. The only person who did not react was the SPOC, Sarah Gates. Gardener suspected that Goodman had already briefed her.

“We went to see if she knew either of the victims. She claims not.”

After a short silence, Briggs said, “But you think otherwise.”

“I certainly think she was telling the truth about Nicola Stapleton.”

“Yes,” said Reilly. “When she thought her daughter was with Stapleton, she was ready to rip her head off.”

“So, what happened when you mentioned Barry Morrison?”

“She brushed it away too quickly,” replied Gardener. “However small, I think there’s some connection there. So that’s another task for us. Check out the Summerbys and see if there’s something in the past that connects them with Morrison.”

“So, what about the girl in the photo. Who is she?”

“We don’t know,” said Gardener. “All we do know is that Sally Summerby emphatically denied that it was her daughter.”

“So, are we still looking for her as well?” asked Sharp.

“I think we have to keep the single point of contact at both incident rooms until we know a lot more. Technically speaking, it would be Goodman’s investigation if she turns out to be missing too, not ours… at least until we find a body.”

He let the team digest the information before moving to conclude the meeting. It had been a long, arduous day, and everyone needed a break, a meal, and a decent night’s sleep. He knew, however, that one more important bit of evidence needed probing. He glanced at Briggs.

“The tapes reveal anything?”

“Certainly do,” said Briggs, approaching the media system.

The mood in the room suddenly lightened.

Briggs slipped in the tape and fast-forwarded until the appropriate moment.