Jacob’s pen scrawled across his pad as he caught up. Gina rearranged the cushion behind her so that she could lean back a little. ‘What was said and how did she take it?’
A slight redness flushed across Rick’s face. ‘I didn’t enjoy our chat. She was defensive, saying that she was being picked on but she loved the work. She wasn’t happy with me.’
‘With you personally?’
He nodded.
‘Had something more than work gone on between you both?’
‘Okay, I slept with her but it was three years ago. She thought she’d be okay working for me when I interviewed her but it seems she found us working together uncomfortable. I think that’s what her funny moods were about.’
Gina wondered if that could be the case but she remembered how Lilly had mentioned Holly’s depression. Could Holly have been going through a bad patch and brought it to work? Maybe Rick had made his way to the party last night through the same route the gatecrashers took.
‘You say three years ago?’
He nodded and finished his coffee. ‘I met her in a nightclub in Redditch. We’d both had a few and went back to my flat. We woke up with a hangover in the morning. She got dressed, said she’d call me and that was it. I really hoped she would call for ages. One-night stands weren’t something I really did but I was out with friends and I really liked Holly. When she came for the interview, I was thrilled. A part of me hoped she might want to go out on a date but being her manager, I could never ask. She would have had to be the one who’d asked me. Workplace dating isn’t frowned upon here like some places but I didn’t want to complicate things unnecessarily.’
‘Did your relationship rekindle in any way?’
He shook his head and bit the inside of his mouth. ‘No. When we shared that night together, we were both a little merry from the drink and music. I realised I had no idea who Holly really was, I just built an image of a person who didn’t really exist. This Holly, the one working here, wasn’t anything like the creation in my head. She looked angry all the time, then sad. I offered to listen if she needed to talk. No strings attached – obviously. I’m here for all my staff. Happy workplace is a productive workplace, and all that. I was prepared to let her mistakes last week go. I felt she had potential. We all have bad weeks, it’s just that Holly had a few more than the rest.’
‘Thank you for being so candid about your relationship. Can you tell me where you were last night between the hours of nine and ten?’
His stance stiffened as he sat on the edge of the opposite couch. ‘Really? Am I a suspect? She just works here. I slept with her once three years ago and I’ve been nothing but totally honest about everything. Others in the office will back me up.’
‘We just need to eliminate you, Mr Elder.’
‘I was at home alone but I was FaceTiming my sister.’
‘Can we see your message history, between you and your sister?’
His brows furrowed. ‘I don’t have my tablet with me and I don’t use Messenger on my phone as I find it too distracting, so no. I’ll write my sister’s details down if you really want to check.’
Jacob passed the man a sheet of his notebook and a pen.
He snatched it off the table and scribbled a name, address and a phone number down. ‘She lives in Australia. I was trying to catch her before she went to work.’
Gina would get his alibi checked as soon as she got back to the station. ‘Did Holly socialise with anyone from work?’
‘Nah. We, all the staff, often met at the pub after work but Holly never joined in. I know she lived alone and, before you ask, I didn’t go stalking or anything. She told us she lived alone. It just surprised me that she didn’t want to come out. There’s a core of us ranging from early twenties to mid-forties and we do all sorts. Bowling, cinema nights. She wasn’t interested. She seemed too preoccupied.’
‘In what way?’
‘Like I said, she was always staring at her phone like she was waiting for a call or a text. I’d catch her looking out of the window, biting her nails when there were piles of work to do.’
‘Was she like this all the time at work?’
He shook his head. ‘No, only the past few weeks, maybe a month. That’s when she started messing up small things at work. I’d say she had something on her mind.’
‘Thank you, we’ll be in touch.’
‘I should have been more understanding rather than reprimand her over her errors. Maybe I could have done more.’
Gina closed her pad and passed Rick Elder a card. ‘If you think of anything else, call me.’
He placed it in the slit in his phone case. ‘There is one more thing. Elissa is on holiday but a couple of weeks ago she came to speak to me in confidence. She heard Holly crying while in a toilet cubicle. She asked Holly what was wrong and Holly told her to go away.’
‘When will she be back?’ Jacob asked.
‘Two weeks yesterday.’
‘Thank you,’ Gina said as they made their way back to the main door.
‘What did you make of all that? He’s a little weird.’ Gina pressed the central locking button on the car key and the lights flashed once as the doors opened.
‘I don’t know. He answered everything we asked but he didn’t seem at all upset by what had happened. If I had just been told that you’d been murdered—’
‘Thanks, Jacob.’ Gina let out a snort of laughter.
‘You know what I mean. We’re colleagues. If that happened to you, I’d be gutted and we haven’t even had a one-night stand.’
Gina got into the car. ‘It’s nice to know someone would be upset.’
He laughed and looked away.
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Just say it, Jacob.’
He burst into laughter. ‘Briggs would be upset. Have you seen the way he looks at you?’
‘No, no and no. Don’t you dare go there, Driscoll.’
‘I’m just pulling your leg, guv. Of course we’d all miss you and we’d all be sad if you were unfortunately murdered. I don’t feel his reactions were genuine. There was just something about him.’
‘I agree. He was a bit odd. Maybe it’s just the way he is, as he explained, or maybe there’s more to it. We’ll check his alibi for starters. I need to work out what time it is in Australia.’
She got into the car feeling her face flushing. If Jacob could see through Briggs’s feelings for her, could everyone else? She had to talk to him and it had to be soon.
As Gina pulled off a few drops of rain hit the windscreen. ‘Best get on with it. We’ve got to get to Holly’s flat in a short while. Marianne Long called earlier to say she’d meet us there. While I drive, give the team a call and update them with all that we know.’ She glanced back at the brewery as she turned the car in the car park and spotted Rick Elder at the window. He ran his shaky fingers through his hair, turned and walked back towards the offices.
Jacob’s phone beeped at the same time as Gina’s.
‘Email,’ he said as he checked.
‘What is it, Jacob?’
‘The post-mortem is scheduled for first thing.’ He paused to read. ‘We have some results back. The blood smeared on the drawers in Holly’s hotel room does belong to her, as does the blood on the wall. Her blood showed no alcohol or drugs at all in her system but get this.’