Page 74 of One Left Alive
Elaine let out a laugh. ‘Do I? Yes, I do, only it’s more like a pornographic video. I didn’t know what to do with it. Simone told me I should destroy it, but I didn’t. I just had a bad feeling about it. I guess I realised it was all going to go to shit before it actually did. Truth be told, I’ll be glad to be rid of it. I’ve kept it in the safe, not sure why I did but you are very welcome to it. If I never have to look at it again that would suit me just fine.’
She stood up and disappeared behind the bar for a second time. Morgan’s stomach was churning; she wanted to know what was on the footage and prayed to God it was enough evidence to keep Barker in custody. Elaine came back clutching a pen drive in her hand and passed it to her.
‘There you go.’
‘Thank you, I really appreciate it.’
‘You’re welcome, I hope he never darkens my door again. He’s a vile man. God knows who voted him in as mayor, because most of the people I know can’t abide him either.’
Excited to go back and see what was on the pen drive, Morgan headed back to the station to view the footage and tell Ben.
Forty-Seven
Ben was waiting for Tom to give him the all-clear to speak to Greg Barker in custody when Morgan came rushing down the stairs, breathless.
‘Boss, you need to come and look at this footage which was handed to me at The Grain.’
‘I’m about to go into interview.’
She was shaking her head. ‘No, like now.’
He followed her up to the office, where she had an image paused on her computer monitor. He perched on the desk behind her and she played the short clip for him. He watched as CCTV footage began to play of a couple walking out of a pub. Judging by the way the woman was walking in front and the distance between them, they’d fallen out. The footage was clear and Ben realised he was watching Olivia Potter; the male behind her wasn’t her husband. It was Greg Barker. Morgan paused it again, turning to look at him.
‘Bloody hell, this is good. What were they doing? Is she with any of her family?’
‘I hope not because it gets better in a terrible sort of way.’ She pressed play again and they watched as Barker jogged to catch up with her. He grabbed hold of her elbow and pulled her back towards him. She pushed him away, but he gently tugged her forwards. The next minute they were kissing, and not just a peck on the cheek: it was full-on. The car park was deserted. The only two cars there must have belonged to the pair of them. The next minute he was pushing her against the bonnet of a car, his hands running up her thighs, lifting her skirt.
‘Jesus, does he bang her there in a car park?’
Morgan nodded. ‘At least you can have him for public indecency if all else fails.’
They watched in silence as the couple on the screen had the quickest sex Ben had ever seen, in full view of the outside camera. When it was over he shook his head.
‘Blimey, my eyes are burning.’
Morgan nodded. ‘Mine too, and that’s the second time I’ve had to sit through it.’
‘Where did it come from?’
‘The landlady at a small pub, The Grain. When I spoke to the couple who own the post office she told me she’d seen Olivia and Barker together a couple of times at the pub. I thought I’d go and speak to them.’
‘Brilliant, absolutely brilliant, Morgan. This gives my little chat with Barker a whole new perspective. He has motive, he knew the Potters, well Olivia, a lot more than he’s been letting on and he knew the O’Briens very well. He’s the right age to have committed the first murders.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘Play him his debut into film-making and see what he has to say for himself. The sly old fox, just goes to prove you’re never too old to do anything when you put your mind to it. It’s not enough to charge him, though, we need forensics to tie him to one or both cases. You know what the CPS is like; they won’t take this anywhere unless we have concrete evidence.’
‘What about Jamie Stone? Do you think there’s a connection between him and Greg Barker? I don’t believe we have that many murderers running around Rydal Falls.’
‘You and Amy can focus on Jamie Stone, and his associates. If they were acquainted and how well they knew each other. As the mayor and editor of the newspaper they were bound to move in the same circles. Attend the same functions. Maybe Stone knew about the video and was going to expose Barker. He’s certainly angry enough to have the balls to kill someone. Go and interview the staff at the paper, see if there was any talk of a big exposure.’
‘Or even blackmail?’
‘Maybe, depends how much Jamie Stone knew about Barker’s affairs. If it comes back to Barker, though, then we have motive.’
He left her, smiling to himself. Things were picking up now. His main focus was the Potters’ and Stone’s murders. They were the ones he was most likely to get a conviction for; the evidence was fresh. He wasn’t discounting getting justice for the O’Briens. They’d certainly waited long enough, and he hoped that he could link Barker to both sets of murders, but he had to focus on the now. Grabbing his laptop from his office, he was looking forward to seeing Barker’s face when he played the short clip for him. He’d have two officers standing at the back of the room just in case he flipped.
He was too knackered to be fighting. He hadn’t been able to sleep last night when the taxi had dropped him off. He’d lain awake thinking about Morgan’s offer to stop at hers, trying to figure out if she genuinely meant sleep over on the sofa or had been offering more. He liked her a lot, but for now he was happy to be friends with her and he hoped she felt the same. He didn’t want to go jumping in with his size ten boots and make a fool of himself. He’d known Cindy since school; they’d been going out with each other since they were fourteen. She was all he’d known. If she’d been so unhappy with him, he would have gladly given her a divorce even though it would have broken his heart. He’d rather have let her go and find happiness somewhere else than choose dying over staying with him. All those times he’d come home late and she’d been drunk and asleep because she was lonely were too many to count. He blinked away the tears. He’d been a selfish bastard and he didn’t deserve a second chance at happiness. This was his life now, forever destined to be as lonely as he’d let Cindy be. He decided it was a wise decision not to stop at Morgan’s; she deserved more than he could give her and that made him sad. Taking a deep breath, he put it all to the back of his mind. His focus needed to be on doing what he knew he could do and that was catching killers.
