Page 44 of Gone in the Night
‘Give me your phone.’
He shook his head. ‘Why would I do that?’
She held out her hand. ‘I said give me your phone.’
‘No.’
Morgan had to suck in a deep breath. ‘I have been told that you took photos of a crime scene without permission, so you either hand your phone over or I’m arresting you for obstruction.’
The woman looked from Fin to her. ‘What? You can’t do that.’
‘Yes, I can. Tampering with evidence and you’re putting a murder investigation at jeopardy, so you either delete those photographs now or…’
‘Or what?’
Ben was standing next to her. His voice was quiet and calm, but Morgan knew he’d realised who Fin was. ‘I will arrest you; it’s not a threat, it will be my next step, so you show me what photos you have of the crime scene and then you delete them. It’s not an option.’
Marc who had joined asked, ‘What is going on?’ The confusion in his voice apparent.
Morgan answered, ‘This is Finley Palmer, he’s a journalist who likes to write sensational stories. The guy who found the body said he took photos of inside the tent, and he will no doubt use them in one of his factually incorrect articles.’
Marc straightened up. ‘Phone now.’ He had the palm of his hand outstretched, and Fin rolled his eyes, making a protest about how ridiculous this was before unlocking his iPhone and passing it to Marc, who opened the photos app and beganscrolling through them. He shook his head. ‘Nothing on it except pictures of the fells and lakes.’
Morgan knew that wasn’t right, and she wanted to snatch the phone out of Marc’s hand.
‘Factually incorrect? I think you’ll find my facts were spot on, Morgan, and like I said I haven’t got any photos.’
Marc handed his phone back to him. ‘If I see one photograph of this crime scene in a newspaper or online, I will come and arrest you. It’s not a threat, it’s the truth.’
Fin shrugged. ‘Yeah, yeah.’
The rage inside of Morgan was at boiling point.
Ben looked at their car, then at them. ‘Give my colleague your details and statements, then you pack up your stuff and you get off this crime scene.’
‘You can’t do that, we’ve paid for another night,’ said the woman.
‘Yes, we can. You’re lucky I’m letting you pack your stuff because technically I can make you leave everything here in situ until we’ve finished processing the scene, which could take days.’
Fin reached out his hand and gently took hold of the woman’s arm. He didn’t speak, just turned away.
‘Cain, can you get their statements, please?’
Cain was grinning. ‘Yes, boss.’
Then Ben was guiding Morgan away from this corner of the campsite. He whispered in her ear, ‘He’s an arsehole.’
Morgan couldn’t agree more, but she felt the tightness in her chest begin to loosen as her anger subsided. Her friends had her back, had come to her rescue and protected her from Fin Palmer, although she dared not think what crap he was going to write about them all after this little encounter. Of all the campsites in the Lake District, why the hell did he have to be at this one?
THIRTY
Morgan finished taking Sammy’s statement.
‘What should I do now?’ he asked her, looking as miserable as she felt.
‘Does your boss not want to come down and talk to us?’
He shrugged. ‘Probably not, do you need him? He’s lazy and never moves from the office unless it’s to go get food.’
