‘I have to see her, I have to,’ the woman repeated in a quivering voice.
Gina nodded to Wyre who took a seat.
‘I can’t believe someone hurt her like this. She’s such a gentle girl.’ Marianne paused. ‘Was. Someone has taken her from me and if I find out who they are, I swear I will kill them.’ The teary woman began to seethe, breathing rapidly as she slammed her fist into the wall. She stood back and shook her hand out.
‘Ms Long. Are you ready?’ Gina placed a hand on her shoulder and the suited woman used her pass card to open the door.
‘Have you got children?’
Gina nodded. ‘I have a grown-up daughter.’
‘You understand then.’
Gina was glad she didn’t. She couldn’t begin to understand what it would be like to lose Hannah in this way; in fact, even though they weren’t speaking again, she couldn’t imagine losing Hannah at all. She swallowed the mass that was forming in her throat as the door closed, leaving Wyre behind in the waiting room. Her colleague was exhausted. Gina was shattered too and it was setting her emotions alight. Gina looked away, unable to observe Marianne’s expressions as they took the long walk to where the bodies were stored. This was no place for her to crumble.
‘Through here.’ The suited woman opened another door. Holly had been laid out ready, a sheet brought neatly over her shoulders on a stainless steel table.
‘Thank you.’
Gina guided Ms Long through, feeling her quivering beneath her coat. The woman almost crumpled. Gina hurried beside her and helped her remain standing. The woman nudged her away and leaned over, kissing her daughter once on the forehead before standing back.
The wound to her head had been cleaned and she looked almost angelic. Long red hair neatly framed her face and her pale skin made her look completely drained of blood.
‘I don’t want to leave her. It’s cold in here. Holly hated the cold.’ A tear streamed down her cheek and the woman turned to the wall. ‘You have to get the animal who did this to her. You have to.’
Gina closed her eyes and tried to imagine different things. Gracie, her cat sleeping in her bed. Briggs – his warm hand over hers. Anything but the young woman in front of her, triggering something of her own past that she couldn’t bear to think about. Her own wedding night, the gasping and pain. A shiver started in her legs as she tried to evict her horrible memories and think of Gracie. Her granddaughter, the little girl she loved so much, even though her daughter thought she had no time for either of them.
‘Goodbye, my love. Sleep peacefully.’ Ms Long pressed the exit buzzer and hurried back into the corridor.
Grateful of the distraction, Gina followed. ‘Ms Long – Marianne – we haven’t managed to locate Holly’s phone.’
‘I always make jokes about that. She was never without it. Either that or her trusty pink tablet.’ Marianne smiled as a tear ran down her cheek. ‘I moaned at her sometimes for ignoring me while she was texting or browsing Facebook. I’d do anything to be able to moan at her again.’
‘Again, please accept our sincerest condolences. I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through.’ Gina swallowed the lump in her throat.
‘Thank you.’
‘We want to catch this person more than anything. To do that, we need to learn all we can about Holly. Would you have a key to her apartment?’
Marianne nodded. ‘I was meaning to go there. I just wanted to feel close to her.’
‘Could we please meet you there so that we can take a look too?’
She sniffed and pulled a tissue from her pocket, wiping her sodden eyes. ‘Of course.’
Gina made a note to catch up with Marianne later that day. For now, she needed to find out who Holly was arguing with at her workplace.
As Gina and Wyre left the building, Gina took a couple of deep breaths.
‘That bad?’
‘Yes. I don’t know how Marianne Long is going to get through this. I couldn’t even tell her when her daughter’s body would be released.’
Wyre yawned again.
‘I need to find out who Holly was arguing with at work and why. I’ll drop you back and take Jacob with me. You need to get some sleep.’
‘How about you, guv? You look like a walking corpse.’
‘Thanks.’
‘I meant, you look tired.’
Gina smirked. ‘I was just having you on but I agree, I do look like a walking corpse. When I’ve been to Furnace and Blower Ales, I’ll head home for a shower and rest. I’ve checked. They are open today which is good for us.’ She could send O’Connor and Jacob, or PC Smith and either detective, but she wouldn’t. She had to be there. She had to interrogate this person with her eyes as well as her questions. Going home wasn’t an option. Holly had some sort of disagreement or argument at her workplace and Gina needed to know what that was about and if it led to her murder.
Chapter Fifteen
Staring at her phone, Cass began spreading several slices of bread with peanut butter and chocolate spread. That would follow the multipack of crisps and half jar of jam, scooped straight out with a spoon. Nausea swept through her. They hadn’t been shopping and she hadn’t cared after promising herself she wasn’t going to eat today. Elvis would get a meal of some sorts at work and he wouldn’t ask if she’d eaten or not.
Her phone beeped.
Just having a break. Look, I’m sorry about this morning. I’ll make it up to you later. Elv. X
Too late. She’d seen the disgust on his face at the sight of her naked. It had happened all too often, leaving her looking desperate when he’d rejected her advances. It wasn’t like when they’d first met a year ago. He couldn’t get enough of her. They’d done it in his car, in the work van, in the cellar at the pub. His hands were all over her, all of the time. She bit into the stodgy sandwich, forcing an uncomfortable amount into her mouth, crumbs puffing out as she let out a sob, the peanut butter sticking to the roof of her mouth.
She knew exactly what he thought of her now. And Kerry, she’d only just gained an inroad to her friendship and she’d lost that too. Everything she’d done was for nothing. No one wanted her. She swallowed the bread and washed it down with a swig of fizzy orange straight out of the bottle. Again, she filled her mouth and continued until four of the slices had gone. Acid rose at the back of her gullet, a reminder of how she’d failed again. One day without food, that’s all she had to achieve to prove she could do it. Ugly, disgusting, failure. No wonder Elvis was looking elsewhere. No wonder he didn’t want her like he once did.
She prodded her stomach and slapped it hard, then again until it reddened and the skin prickled. She parted her dressing gown and pinched her thighs. Grabbing the knife she’d used to cut the bread, she traced a line across her thigh. If only she could slice her disgusting layer of flesh away, just like that. A small prickle of blood emerged, contained in its skin until it was ready to pop. She placed the knife back on the table and shoved her stubby fingers into the chocolate spread jar before placing a blob of it into her mouth as she sobbed.
She reread his message and replied, getting chocolate all over the screen.