Page 31 of The Girl in the Grave
He smiled at her.
‘So, how bad was it? Judging by how long you were in there, it was pretty bad?’
He told her the gist of his conversation with the DI. ‘So, whether Jason Thompson is guilty or not, he’s going to regret his decision to run.’
‘Christ, you can say that again. What happened to all the innocent until proven guilty stuff?’
‘From what I can gather Jason Thompson isn’t the chief’s best friend.’
‘Where does that leave us? Where does it leave Annie Potts?’
He shrugged. ‘We need another lead. Let’s go back to the hotel and speak to her friend again who rang it in. Something is missing, maybe she didn’t tell us the whole truth. How did the killer know what state Annie was in; how did he know how to get access to the staff quarters?’
‘Unless he was with them that night, or works with them?’
‘Or was in the right place at the right time? He could have been out looking for his next victim and she fit the bill, too drunk to know what she was doing. He could have followed the girls home, watched Annie go into the staff entrance. Is anyone viewing the CCTV from the club?’
‘Yes, we are. It wasn’t open earlier: the staff don’t come in until late afternoon. Let’s go there now.’
Forty-Five
Josh’s phone rang, and he passed it to Sam.
‘Josh’s phone, Sam Thomas speaking as he’s currently driving.’ She put it on loudspeaker.
‘It’s Paton. I’m outside the address on the exhumation licence for Florence Wright’s relative. To be honest with you, I don’t think anyone’s home or has been for a while.’
Josh answered. ‘Where are you?’
‘Tarn Lake Caravan Park.’
‘We’re on our way. Do we need an entry team?’
‘I don’t think so, it’s a caravan and it’s all in darkness. No sign of life. I knocked on the doors of the caravans on either side, both of the occupants are elderly and neither of them have seen anyone for months. Apparently the bloke who owns it only stayed there for a short time.’
‘Wait for us, we can go in together. Do you think it’s possible the missing girl is inside?’
‘Hard to say, boss, probably not if no one has been here for ages.’
The line went dead, and Josh looked across at Sam. ‘How nice would it be just for once to catch a break, find the girl and be able to trace the killer?’
She smiled at him, and he knew she was humouring him because stuff like that happened in the movies, not in real life. At least not very often. Still, he said a silent prayer that on this occasion it would all work out.
The caravan park was unusually quiet, which was good. As Josh drove through the gates, he spotted Paton, who was wandering around. He waved at them. Parking the car, they got out and headed in his direction.
‘Have you spoken to the staff at the site office?’
‘It’s closed, but there’s a number on the door for out-of-hours enquiries, so I’ve left them a message. What do you want to do?’
Josh turned to Sam. ‘You wait by the office, keep ringing the number on the door and hopefully someone will pick up.’
She nodded. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘Paton is going to show me the caravan. I just want to check it out.’
She shook her head at him, and he smiled.
‘Hey, no funny business. You just stay here and keep trying to get us someone who can get us inside.’
