Page 31 of Gone in the Night
‘There’s one on her car keys, that’s where she kept it.’
‘Thanks.’ This time Morgan did give him a half smile; she wasn’t sure if he was involved or what the hell was happening, but she did know that this complex case wasn’t going to besolved before the end of her shift unless the killer walked into the station and handed themselves in.
TWENTY-ONE
Back in the car, Morgan was biting at the chipped nail varnish on her nails, and she announced, ‘Stan was right, this is a shit show of the highest degree. Do you think Jack’s telling the truth?’
Ben was watching Jack as he walked down Amy’s street with his head hung low and his shoulders stooped. ‘He’s a waste of space and the way he treated Amy was unforgivable. I don’t like him as a person, but this isn’t about that. It’s about whether Jack White has a moral compass we can trust.’
‘Do you trust him? Because I kind of don’t, not one little bit.’
Ben was still watching Jack, until he reached the corner and turned out of sight.
‘Between you and me, no, I don’t, and this puts me in a very awkward position regarding the investigation. We need to search Sharon’s house, see if there are any leads or forensics in there.’
‘Did you hear the way he said she picked him up? He’s accounting for his prints being in her car and at her home address.’
‘I noticed that. At least we have Stan who can interview him if needs be. However, I don’t think it will come down to that. PSD are going to be all over this like a rash. It’s not good publicityif an officer is involved in a high-profile murder investigation to the degree he is.’
‘I keep thinking about Sarah Everard, that was horrific beyond all measure.’
‘It was horrendous, that scumbag.’ Ben stopped. ‘I can’t even put into words how I feel about that case. This is going to be high profile when the news breaks tomorrow. I mean all the murders we deal with are equally important, but the fact that she was a, what’s the word they use for people who aren’t famous except for on social media?’
‘Influencer?’
‘Yeah, that. She has a pretty big following, her parents are wealthy, she was dating a copper, and her ex beat her up and got sent to prison. The press will have a field day with all of that.’
Morgan sighed. ‘Yeah, they love to focus on everything except what’s important.’
Ben’s phone began to vibrate, and he put it on speaker when he saw Declan’s name on the screen.
‘Ben, I thought I’d better let you know the post-mortem is scheduled for nine thirty tomorrow morning.’
‘We’ll be there, thanks, Declan. I believe it was a bit disorganised this afternoon.’
‘It was certainly something. Morgan handled it very well. You should give her a pay rise for all the crap she puts up with.’
Morgan grinned at Ben. ‘Thanks, Declan.’
‘Ah, my sweet child. Praise where it’s due, that was out of the blue and totally unexpected.’
Ben smiled back at her. ‘See you tomorrow, today is getting worse by the hour.’
‘Take care, guys.’
Declan hung up.
Morgan poked Ben in the ribs. ‘I think he’s right about the pay rise.’
‘I would give you one and a huge bonus for every killer you catch. Unfortunately HR doesn’t work that way. Come on, let’s see if we can locate a key for Sharon’s house and go have a ratch around in it. Who knows, we might get lucky and find a stack of correspondence from her killer.’
‘Forever the optimist, I love that, Ben Matthews.’
Back at the station, Ben left Morgan to go and speak to Madds about Jack. She didn’t know what she felt about Jack. How could you feel bad for someone like that? Although if he was telling the truth, his girlfriend had been brutally murdered. Morgan decided that all her time and sympathy would focus on Sharon Montgomery. She was the innocent victim in all of this. Jack was his own worst enemy, but how peculiar that he just happened to be dating their murder victim.
Cain and Stan were gossiping, a mug of something hot in their hands and a half-empty packet of biscuits on the desk between them. Morgan plucked one out of the packet. ‘No cakes left?’
‘I forgot about those, there might be. I need to go and clean up the blue room before the cleaner gets upset about the mess.’
