Page 60 of Five for Silver

“There was blood in Vincent’s car. We don’tknow any of it belonged to Harriet, but equally, we don’t know itdidn’tbelong to her either. She fits the profile. She’s inthe right location, and Vincent’s crimes were sporadic, there’s notime pattern between one murder and the next.” Chad strolled overto the whiteboard. Romeo had gleefully ripped Vincent’s face fromthe suspects board two nights before, but Chad picked up the bluetac to reapply it.

“No,” Romeo said, marching over and takingVincent’s mugshot. He folded it then shoved it in his back pocket.“I still don’t think it was him.”

“I’m not saying it was, but he’s a suspect,Romeo. He needs to be up here.”

Chad waved a hand at the board. James andLucy were on the board, along with Gavin Hargreaves, Harriet’sex-boyfriend, and Leslie Grant, James’s wife at the time. Chad haddrawn a red line through to indicate they were deceased. Gavin froman overdose twenty years ago, and Leslie from cancer, seven yearsago.

They were still suspects, still had themotive. Gavin had been dumped. James’s infatuation with Harrietmust have angered his wife. The only other person on the board wasthe mystery person, a blue outline of a man with a question mark intheir head, their identity, yet to be discovered. If they existedat all.

“There’s a key bit of evidence missing,”Romeo said. “It could support my theory.”

“What is it?”

“The missing file.”

Chad blinked. “What missing file?”

“The girl that got away. The one whoescaped. Her evidence could be vital. Vincent says he murderedHarriet in the van, like he did to all of them, but he didn’t withher. She escaped hishouse.”

“The DI told me this is all he could giveme. It’s not uncommon for surviving victims’ testimony to beprotected—sealed for however many years.”

“Maybe you couldunsealit…”

“I can’t. I don’t have power to do that, noteven the police have that. Decisions like that are for the courtsto decide and they’re only unsealed under specificcircumstances.”

Romeo turned away. “Did you find anythingelse out about James?”

Chad tilted his head, watching Romeo. “As ithappens…” He sighed. “Lucy told me he is a fantasist and projectedthis love story onto Harriet. In reality, Harriet was afraid ofhim.” He walked over to the open file on the desk and tapped hisfingers on the open page. Romeo joined him and scanned through thetext.

“Harriet reported him.” Romeo mumbled.

“As did her dad. He wanted an injunctiontaken out against James to stop him from coming within two miles ofHarriet.”

Romeo ran his fingers against the text. “Theofficers said Harriet appeared frightened and cried throughout themeeting.”

Chad nodded. “When Harriet was firstreported missing, the police didn’t assumethe killerhadstruck again, they thought James was responsible and arrested himon the same day.”

“It’s him then.” Romeo pointed his finger atJames. “Now all you need to do is lure him here, we force aconfession, get him to tell us what he did with her, then I get tokill him. Case closed.”

Chad scrunched up his face. “They releasedJames. They didn’t even hold him for the full forty-eight hours,and why, if it was him and he’d gotten away with it for all theseyears, would he agree to these sessions with Vincent to findher?”

“So you’ve ruled him out?”

“No, but there is real torment in his eyes.He might well be a fantasist, but his feelings for Harriet arereal.”

“He wouldn’t be the first killer to destroythe subject of their infatuation.”

“I need to find out what happened that nightin the car, but every time I bring up himwithHarriet, heshuts me out. I need to get him to open up to me, but I don’t knowhow.”

“From James’s point of view, him and Harrietwere this inappropriate love story with everyone against them.”

“Something like that.”

“Like Romeo and Juliet.” Romeo smiled. “Ifanyone knows inappropriate love, it’s you.”

Chad narrowed his eyes.

“Lucy,” Romeo said with a chuckle. “Tell meabout Lucy.”

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