‘You couldn’t be any colder. You need to come with us to the station. I’d like to interview you. You’ve been accused of a serious sexual assault.’
‘I haven’t done anything.’
‘That’s not what Francesca Carter is saying.’
‘What the hell. She’s making it up! I haven’t assaulted anyone. This is because of your daughter, isn’t it? It’s because you can’t bear to see lovely little Hannah hanging about with me. That’s what this is all about.’
Gina waited a few seconds before continuing. ‘This is about you, Mr Avery, and a very serious accusation against you.’
Avery’s stare lingered on Gina, a moment longer than comfortable. ‘Okay, I’ll come. But I didn’t do anything and I’m sticking to that. Do I get a lift?’ He smirked as he walked ahead.
Hannah burst out of the door, leaving it crashing to a close behind her as she hurried over to Samuel’s side. ‘What’s happening?’
Her daughter looked a little unsteady and the hair that had lain shimmering over her back earlier that day took on a tangled and slightly sweaty appearance now. ‘Hannah. Please go back to mine or to the B&B. We’ll talk later.’
She shook her head slowly. ‘Why are you trying to interfere in my life?’
‘This isn’t about you, Hannah.’
Jacob opened the back door. As Avery bent over to get into the car, he made a phone gesture to his ear as he caught Hannah’s attention. Gina inwardly smiled. Hannah would soon find out what Avery was like. He’d have to tell her why he was questioned at some point or he’d tell someone who would tell someone else. Cleevesford was a small town and word often got around quickly.
‘Mum, why are you doing this?’
Gina tugged Hannah’s sleeve and pulled her towards the wall. ‘I’ve told you, this is nothing to do with you. I don’t want to see you hurt so please go to mine or just get out of here. We’ll talk later.’
‘Why is he in the car? What are you doing to him?’
‘Hannah, you’re asking too much of me. I can’t tell you, you know that.’
‘Fine, if you want to be like that. I’m going back in there and I’m having another drink. Then I might have another and another. Just go and do whatever you’ve got to do. You can’t keep him in that long anyway.’
Gina felt her stomach turn as she saw what reminded her of teenage defiance in her adult daughter’s eyes. She also reminded herself that she hadn’t won many of their battles back then and she wasn’t about to win this one. She just hoped that in the morning, when Hannah had nursed her hangover, she’d speak to her and, maybe then, they could have a proper talk about what was going on.
‘You coming, guv?’ Jacob called out.
Gina turned away and hurried towards the car.
‘She’s a lovely girl, your Hannah. Nothing like you,’ Avery said as he caught her gaze in the rear-view mirror. Gina placed the keys in the ignition and drove through the town. As they passed Holly’s flat and the chip shop she caught sight of Samuel Avery looking out of the window in the direction of her apartment. Was he thinking back to another time, when he was there in her apartment wearing his blue shirt, or was he checking out the chip shop? Gina couldn’t tell and that made her want to scream.
A message from Wyre flashed up on Gina’s phone. She caught the words pink tablet and cracked. The tech team had managed to unlock the tablet that they’d found at Phillip Brighton’s bedsit. She passed the phone to Jacob.
Jacob smiled from the passenger seat as he read the message.
She turned her attention from the rear-view mirror and focused on the road ahead even though she could still feel the weight of Avery’s stare and she wondered if he’d cooperate during questioning. She already knew the answer to that thought.
Chapter Thirty
‘Samuel Avery’s in interview room three, guv. There’s no rush, he’s refusing to speak until his solicitor arrives.’ Wyre led the way to the incident room.
Gina gazed around, trying to take in all the changes to the board and surroundings since she’d left earlier that day. The crime scene photos were pinned next to Holly’s photo. Whether the assault on Francesca Carter had anything to do with Holly’s murder was something she was clutching at right now. She imagined a frustrated Samuel Avery taking himself up the stairs after being rejected. Had he then decided to harass Holly, knowing that she was alone in her room? Maybe she had then told him to go away after he knocked, sending him over the edge.
Gina knew they needed more than Francesca’s word and she doubted Samuel would confess. They had to at least try to find out who had passed as Francesca was being assaulted under the stairway. ‘Can you please go through every witness statement again, see if anyone mentions seeing anyone under the hotel stairs before the gatecrashers arrived. And if anyone even mentioned just being around there, I want them contacted. We have to find someone who will corroborate her story.’
‘I’ll take that one up, guv. I’ll get onto it now.’ Wyre flicked a spot of fluff from the lapel of her pristine black suit before heading to her desk.
‘Oh, would you please set up a new board for the sexual assault but keep it within this room. Both are separate crimes but we can’t rule out a link as yet and I want us to be working together on them. Smith?’
‘Yes, guv.’ The PC awaited further instruction.
‘Wyre is going through all the statements again to see if we can place anyone else at the stairs in the hotel at the time of Francesca Carter’s assault. As she passes you names, you and PC Kapoor can take them and speak to these witnesses again. I know it’s time-consuming but I don’t want that smug tosser walking if he assaulted Francesca. He’s already walked too many times. Also. O’Connor?’
‘Yes, guv.’ He stopped scrolling through the interviews.
‘As soon as Avery’s solicitor arrives, let me know. I want to be the one to speak to him.’
‘Sure thing. I have the pink tablet here.’ He placed it on the central table and a few of the others quietened down so that they could hear what was going on.
‘What have you found out?’
‘The transcripts from all the emails and messages were sent from the techies and I have the unlocked tablet in front of me. I hate to say this, guv, but it doesn’t look like this was Holly’s tablet. It’s registered to Millie Brighton and Phillip Brighton has since filled us in on who she is. It belongs to his sister. I called her to corroborate his story and she said he stole it from her a couple of days ago. Apparently, he’s always stealing her things and was probably intent on pawning it.’ O’Connor picked his pen back up and began tapping it on the edge of the desk. ‘Also, there is a lot of dirt on the tablet and none of the fingerprints on the tablet match Holly’s.’
‘Dammit! How could there ever be two pink tablets out there that have become a part of our case? So we are still no wiser? We have Brighton on drug charges only but he still had opportunity as far as I’m aware. I know we have to let him go for now and he’ll answer to the drug charges soon but I want you all to keep digging. He, like Samuel Avery and Holly’s manager, Rick Elder, are still on the suspect list. Any contact with Mr Elder’s sister in Australia? Can she confirm that she was FaceTiming with him at the time of the murder?’