Page 80 of Making a Killing

Stillwell is looking at the screen. ‘So Daisy was travelling as her daughter. Maybe she’s been using that identity ever since.’ She turns back to Roberts. ‘I’m assuming we have a photo of Madigan in the file? Can we put that up?’

He nods, taps his keyboard for a moment, and another image appears on the screen.

It’s her teacher’s pass from Kit’s. A half-smile, green eyes, long auburn hair. It’s hard to imagine a less threatening face – or a more innocent one.

‘That’s why that hair they found in the grave was red,’ says Stillwell, staring at the screen. ‘Kate dyed Daisy’s hair to make them look like mother and daughter.’

Ev nods. ‘All the pictures we gave to the press back then showed her as blonde, so changing it would definitely have helped.’

‘You think she could have pulled that off?’ says Sargent. ‘Daisy, I mean – OK, the hair is easy, but what about the accent? Wouldn’t she just sound English?’

But Gis is shaking his head. ‘Actually, I reckon that would’ve been the easy part – the second thing everyone said about her was that she was a good mimic. The first being how sodding bright she was.’

‘OK,’ says Quinn crisply, cutting across him. ‘So the next thing we do is to check when “Sabrina Madigan” came back. Because she must have done, for her hair to be in that grave. What was the date range that CSI gave for the digging of the grave?’

‘The 10th to the 17th June,’ says Stillwell.

‘Right, so let’s check air and sea passenger manifests starting 17th June and working back from there.’

Roberts looks up. ‘Actually, I’d already thought of that.’

Quinn gives him a stare. ‘Well, go on, then.’

‘Oh, you mean,now? OK, yes, sure.’ He pushes his glasses up his nose and starts tapping the keyboard.

‘But why on earth would she do that?’ says Sargent, frowning. ‘Come back, I mean? She must have known what a risk she was taking. Someone could easily have recognized her.’

Ev shrugs. ‘But this is Daisy, remember. She starts with the premise that she’s the smartest person in the room and goes from there. And I can think of any number of reasons why a sixteen-year-old might want to come over here –’

Baxter mutters, ‘Bloody Glastonbury,’ and Sargent smiles.

‘And like Ev says, she’s not stupid,’ says Gis. ‘With a new name, a new look, and eight years older, maybe she thought no one would recognize her. She thought she’d be safe.’

‘She wasn’t, though, was she,’ says Quinn grimly. ‘Something went wrong. It must have. So maybe someonedidrecognize her. Someone with an axe to grind. Though how you get from there to our unidentified vic with a metal contraption in her face –’

‘I agree,’ says Ev. ‘But only Daisy can tell us why she came back. Or maybe Kate. And right now we haven’t got a clue where either of them are –’

‘Oh shit,’ says Stillwell suddenly.

They turn to look at her. All but Roberts, who’s intent on his computer and doesn’t seem to have heard.

‘What?’ says Ev.

Stillwell’s staring at the image of Kate’s teacher’s card. ‘Hair,’ she says. ‘You can change it in an hour – less –’

Ev frowns. ‘Yeah, so?’

Stillwell gestures at the screen. ‘So, just because Kate Madigan was a redhead then, doesn’t mean she isnow.’

‘OK,’ says Baxter, ‘so you’re saying she could have dyed it, cut it short –’

‘No, what I’m saying is that she may never have been a natural redheadat all. She could have been abrunette.’

Ev’s eyes widen. ‘Shit, you think it could beher–’

‘Right,’ says Stillwell, turning to her. ‘Exactly. I think it could be Kate Madigan they found in that grave.’

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