Gardener glanced at Reilly before delving into the book.
It took him nearly twenty minutes to read the thirteen-page chapter. During that time he didn’t speak, and he’d held his breath on more than one occasion.
When he’d finished, he placed the book on the desk and his head in his hands.
“Oh, Christ!”
Chapter Forty-eight
The team assembled in the incident room.
On the way back from the pathology laboratory, neither detective had said a word. The implications of what they’d read were too horrendous to even think about, let alone mention.
While he was waiting for his officers to settle, Gardener found his thoughts consumed by Raymond Allen, The Pudsey Poisoner.
One question was uppermost in his mind: had the killer been under their noses all along? Allen had obviously been watching Vincent Baines, which would have given him ample opportunity to observe the police. If Allen was responsible, did he have the missing girl?
Allen definitely knew a lot about Baines. The pair had history, from what Gardener had managed to dig up. The Pudsey Poisoner also had detailed information about the first two crimes.
But surely he only had a score to settle with Baines. Allen had been inside for quite some time. How could he possibly know Nicola Stapleton and Barry Morrison?
Gardener thought about running the name past Billy Morrison, but he decided that he’d given Billy enough grief for now. He had never been convinced of his guilt.
Gardener noticed Briggs walk into the room and close the door. He was usually last, which signalled the start of the meeting.
“Thanks for coming, everyone. I want you all to know I appreciate everything you’re doing. I might be the DI, but I’m nothing without my team, and you lot are a credit to myself and Sean.”
“Jesus,” said Reilly. “Listen here, boss man, I’m not having a whip round, so you’d better get on with it.”
Gardener laughed, as did most of the team.
He started with Colin Sharp. “What have you got for us? Anything interesting on the Morrisons?”
Sharp consulted his notes. “I’ve managed to uncover a collision that Barry Morrison was involved in. It’s interesting to say the least.”
“Go on,” said Gardener.
“The driver of the other vehicle, which happened to be a motorbike, was a courier delivery driver called Rydell.”
“Rydell?” said Paul Benson.
“Yes, Chris Rydell. Why, do you know him?”
“Not personally,” said Benson, “but that name has cropped up in my investigation.”
“Excellent,” said Gardener to Benson, “but let me come back to you.”
“Not a common name, is it?” asked Reilly. “Do we have an address for Chris Rydell?”
“Yes,” said Sharp. “Lives in Rodley.”
“That’s exactly where his father, Sean Rydell had his yard,” said Benson.
“There’s a link here,” said Gardener. “It’s worth checking so I’d like someone on it first thing.”
He addressed Sharp again. “When was the collision?”
“A couple of years back.”