No response.
Don’t you dump me again! Not when I’d do anything for you.
She stared at the screen. Nothing. Kerry was now offline. ‘Dammit.’ She slammed her phone on the bedside table causing Elvis to stir. ‘Morning, sleepyhead.’
‘What time is it?’ he murmured as she wiped a trail of drool from his cheek and squinted at the ray of sunlight that had seeped through the gap in the curtains.
‘Nearly eleven.’
He fought with the sheets and tumbled onto the floor, dragging them off her. She knew he had to work and she’d let him sleep in.
‘My head hurts, bloody hell.’ He pressed his temples. ‘I didn’t even have a drink. I feel pissed.’ He stumbled to his feet and almost hit his forehead on one of the low beams by the window. Maybe she’d given him more to drink than she thought. His phone beeped. He grabbed it, taking it with him to the bathroom. It was obvious he was hiding something.
She followed him in and he placed the phone on the windowsill. ‘Why don’t you call in late?’ She pulled her nightshirt over her head and wrapped her arms around his naked torso, while inserting one hand into his jeans and caressing him. He had to want her. Whoever was messaging wasn’t important and she would show him just how unimportant they were. She began running her tongue over his shoulders, grimacing as her taste buds recoiled from the sweat and deodorant on his skin.
‘Cass.’
She undid his jeans while catching his reflection in the shaving mirror.
‘Cass? Stop it.’
She snatched her hand back and stepped away, grabbing a towel to wrap around her body. ‘What?’ She tried to swallow but a mass was forming in her throat, a familiar lump. Tears began to spill down her cheeks. ‘I thought you loved me.’
‘For heaven’s sake. Let’s not do this now. I have to go to work and I feel like utter shite. I don’t know why you’re acting so weird, but not now.’
‘What’s that?’
‘What now?’ He gelled his quiff and took a swig of mouthwash before spitting it into the sink.
‘The love bite on your shoulder. Who is she? Was it Holly?’
‘It’s a bruise, you idiot. We moved barrels and boxes all day yesterday.’
‘I know a love bite when I see one.’
‘You clearly don’t. And Holly was murdered last night. Your comment, it was in bad taste.’
He didn’t want her, she knew it. She glanced at his shoulder again. Maybe it was a bruise. She stared at it. It could be a bruise. As he stormed out of the bathroom gripping his phone, he almost pushed her over.
‘Ouch. That hurt,’ she yelled as she let out a sob. She was getting no sympathy from him. If Holly had been standing there naked with her hands in his pants, he’d have called in sick.
She gazed in the mirror tiles above the bath as the front door slammed. She was no looker – no wonder he was straying. Elvis was the karaoke king and had become a bit of a local celebrity. She saw how some of the women watched him perform. She slapped her face hard, once and then again. ‘You’re ugly, ugly—’
Crumpling to the bathroom floor tiles, she clung to the towel and wept. She hated herself and all she’d become. Maybe she wouldn’t eat today, at least try to lose a few pounds. It was all her fault. But she could change, be more like them. Be more like Kerry, especially if she stood a chance of becoming best friends with her again. Gaining her trust was one thing but she had to show herself to be worthy.
She crawled along the floor and pulled herself onto the bed, which is where she would stay. Elvis didn’t want her and Kerry hadn’t messaged back. The repulsed look in her boyfriend’s eyes would stay with her for the day. It wasn’t just a rejection; he was sickened by her. She squeezed her flesh and poked it as she yelled, wanting nothing more than to slice it away. ‘Revolting. You’re ugly, you’re disgusting. You can change things but you don’t. You’re ugly.’ She wouldn’t eat today. No food, not a morsel.
A message flashed up. Kerry was back. She wiped her face on the quilt and her heart rate sped up.
Cass. Thank you, but I’m fine. Take care, mate.
She threw the phone to the floor. You do not get to dump me again Kerry Reed, or should I say Kerry Powell now?
Chapter Thirteen
‘Guv, I’ve arranged the viewing at the morgue for midday so we haven’t got much time.’ Wyre dried her face on a paper towel. ‘I feel a bit more human after a quick wash.’
‘Thank you for being there. I know it’s been a long night. Have you called Marianne Long to let her know?’ Gina asked.
‘I have. She’ll be there.’
As they entered the incident room, Gina grabbed a Danish pastry and bit into it, enjoying the buttery pastry that oozed apricot jam.
‘I’m so sorry, guv. Mrs O and I had had a few to drink last night and I didn’t hear the phone.’ O’Connor grabbed the last pastry. ‘I’m here now.’
‘Good. Wyre, after the morgue, you can head back home and have a nap and O’Connor, you can take over. We’ve been up all night. I’ll plough on as long as I can and I want to make a dent in this case today. That means I want you all on it. Go through the interviews. O’Connor?’
He rubbed his shiny head and adjusted his tie. ‘Guv.’
‘CCTV. How have you got on?’
‘Not good. The only camera working is the one pointing over the front door. Oh, I tell a lie. Lord of the Manor himself, Nigel Harris, has one more working camera pointing at his safe in an office on the bottom floor. No one went in that room all night and nothing was stolen, so that camera tells us nothing.’
‘Damn, I was hoping to see some of the gatecrashers but they all infiltrated the party through the back terrace after sneaking in through the garden. Did we get Holly on any of the footage?’ She popped the last of the pastry in her mouth and rubbed her gritty eyes. All the coffee in the world wasn’t going to cure the heaviness that had infected her body, spreading from limb to limb. She needed sleep and she needed it soon.
‘She shows up on it twice. Once on arrival in the afternoon at thirteen thirty-six, then once again at twenty-one, zero five. I’ll show you.’ O’Connor clicked his mouse and his laptop screen came alive. He pressed play and the isolated slice of video began. ‘It’s a bit grainy but you can tell it’s definitely Holly.’
Two people finished smoking and entered the building. One of the members of staff came out and took the ashtray from the bench out the front. They all watched, waiting for the moment. Holly appeared, lifting the hem of her long dress as she stepped carefully towards the steps, alone. She glanced back and fluffed her hair up while looking at her reflection in the door, then she stopped and turned, taking a moment before going in through the main door.
‘That’s all we have.’ O’Connor pressed stop on the recording. ‘After that, a few people come out to smoke, then they go back in. No one else comes from around the side of the building like she did.’
‘Rewind that clip, back to the two smokers.’
O’Connor clicked his mouse again.