Jenna quirked a smile as she studied the neat row of baked beans. Enough to feed an army. ‘I see.’ But she didn’t.
‘I thought I was losing my marbles because there was a tin of them missing. So, I checked, and I found there was a tin of ravioli astray too and a packet of biscuits and some chocolate.’
Everything inside of Jenna stilled.
‘Now, there could have been some Uncle Ben’s rice gone too, I’m not sure because sometimes the grandkids help themselves.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Although they know the rules, they occasionally slip.’ Her face wreathed with a big smile, obviously delighted with her great-grandchildren in reality. Ethel carried on, with no one willing to stop her. Mason and Ryan’s stunned expressions reflected Jenna’s sentiments to perfection. ‘We do our shop on a Friday morning.’ Jenna nodded and let the old lady run with it. ‘Everything was there.’
Ryan was the first to break. ‘Are you saying someone took food out of your cupboard?’
Ethel flipped the door shut and turned to face them, crossing her arms over her chest. ‘I’m saying precisely that.’
44
Tuesday 21 April 1520 hours
‘DI Taylor.’
‘Sergeant Morgan. How are things progressing?’
Bloody awful she wanted to say as she caught the flicker of Mason’s eyebrow and smiled.
She paced away down the cracked and worn path and stood at the rusted green wrought-iron gate at the Crawfords’ farm. ‘Not so well, sir. We’ve checked the area where Poppy’s mobile phone registered as last used, but it literally is an empty brick building.’
‘Anything there to be marked up for evidence?’
‘No, sir. When I say empty, I do mean literally. Square brick building, brick floor. Used to house their goats, according to Mrs Crawford. The sons came last year, cleared it out, painted some sort of sealant over the floor and it hasn’t been used since.’ She glanced back at Mr and Mrs Crawford watching from their kitchen window. ‘Sir, Mrs Crawford believes someone has been in the house and taken food out of the cupboard. It may be whoever has this phone is still in the vicinity. There are quite a number of outbuildings and barns to cover. Can I request Air One to come to seek a heat source, and is the dog handler available?’
‘I’ll check that for you, Sergeant, and get back to you. In the meanwhile, I’ll deploy anyone in the vicinity that’s not committed. You’ll need a few extra pairs of eyes by the sound of things.’
‘Yes, sir.’ She scanned the farm. ‘We certainly will.’ She pressed her thumb to the off button.
As she turned, Ethel came down the path towards her, astute gaze pinning her. ‘You don’t have enough bodies.’
Jenna kept her expression as neutral as possible, but it was hard not to let the surprise show.
‘You don’t think that nasty Gordon Lawrence has murdered his wife and children and is hiding out in our barns, do you?’
‘No, Ethel.’ The thought hadn’t even occurred to her. Why would Gordon Lawrence still be on the scene? If he’d murdered his family, surely he would have moved on. He’d never have stayed in the area, let alone in such close proximity.
Unless he was injured and couldn’t. ‘There’s no reason for you to think that. It’s Poppy’s phone we’re looking for.’
Ethel harrumphed as she placed her hands on her hips. ‘Well, I hope for all our sakes, we’re not under any threat. I’d hate to think Mr Crawford could get hurt.’
Jenna reached out to smooth a hand down Ethel’s arm. ‘Ethel, you couldn’t be safer. You have us here and you’re about to be surrounded by officers any minute now.’
‘But that man had guns.’ Jenna’s heart pinched as Ethel’s face crumpled with concern. She reached out and stroked the old lady’s arm.
‘Oh, Ethel, there’s nothing for you to worry about. Gordon Lawrence most likely died in the fire. If it was him, he wouldn’t have filched a few tins of food.’ He’d more likely have been in the farmhouse gun in hand. ‘It’s more likely someone stole Poppy’s phone. Possibly a kid, a homeless person.’ She squeezed Ethel’s arm and started to walk back towards the house, doubting her own reassuring words. Shit, she needed to get on and look. ‘Come on inside now, there’s nothing for you to concern yourself about. We’ll do everything in our power to look after you and Mr Crawford.’
She released Ethel’s arm as they reached the door and turned at the sound of vehicles approaching. Two police-issue cars kicked up dirt as they rattled along the track towards the farmhouse.
Mason stepped up beside her. ‘They were bloody quick.’
Jenna clipped her phone onto her utility belt and rested her fists on her hips. ‘They must have been at Kimble Hall.’
‘Yeah.’ Mason chuckled in her ear. ‘I bet there was a race on to get away from scene guard duty.’
‘Yep.’ Ryan nudged her shoulder as he stepped in close. ‘Most boring job on the planet.’
Airwaves hissed to life. ‘Sergeant Morgan.’
‘DI Taylor, sir.’
‘I have an update for you. The dog handler has just finished up and will be with you within the hour. Same with the Air Unit. It’s down for refuelling and will also be with you within the hour.’
Impatient to make progress, Jenna stared past the oncoming vehicles. ‘Sir, I’m going to initiate a ground search. Could you please make Air Unit aware so they let us know when they start their heat search?’
‘I can do that, Jenna.’
The radio buzzed for a second before going silent.
‘What do you want from us, Sarge?’
Jenna glanced at Ryan. ‘There aren’t many of us yet, but I think we need to make a start. I’m not sure I can take any more of Ethel’s tea.’
‘I’m beginning to slosh.’
She laughed. ‘We’ll split up. I’ll start with the little shack on the right. Ryan, you take the asbestos shed; Mason, you take the tin barn. We’ll get uniform to conduct a ground search from here outwards and then if we all converge on that big black barn in the middle, we can do that one together. Hopefully both the Air Unit and the dog handler will be here by then.’
She flexed her shoulders keen to make a start and looked around as the car doors slammed.
Her heart sank as Lee Gardner stepped from the driver’s side of the second vehicle. If she could have got away with dropping her head into her hands she would have, instead she settled for the pained groan that refused to be restrained. She bloody well knew he’d be in her path again.
He jerked his head to crick his neck as his steely, arrogant gaze met hers.
45
Tuesday 21 April 1550 hours
White-hot pokers seared her skin as Poppy touched icy fingertips to the vivid red, pulsing hot flesh on her side, knowing for certain she had an infection.
She tugged the sweatshirt back into place, little whimpers coming from her lips. She grappled with the phone. Unable to grasp it properly, it slipped from her fingers and down onto the barn floor.