Page 112 of Making a Killing

If you ask me the whole thing was an inside job. Someone the kid knew. So that’s where I’m going next. I bet the oddball brother knew more than he was telling too. I land in the UK Friday so he’ll be first on the list. Def need to see him before my meet with Kelsie, that’s for sure.

Rob

***

‘OK,’ says Triona Bradley, looking across at Asante, ‘I’ve only read two of these emails so far and I already have a question.’

He smiles. ‘I have two. What’s yours?’

‘Who the hell is Kelsie Smith?’

‘Ah, that’s my number one, as well. I’ve checked the case files and the name doesn’t come up anywhere. And if you google it, most of what you get is a particularly nasty rape and murder in Kansas from about fifteen years ago, only that one’s Kelsey with an “ey”. But let’s face it, with a name like Smith, there could be thousands of them out there. And like Tierney said on the email, we don’t even know if it’s her real name.’

Bradley considers. ‘But the only way “Kelsie” could be a hundred per cent sure Daisy was still alive was if she’d found out about Kate Madigan, right? Andshe’sspent the last eight years moving heaven and earth to keep her and Daisy under the radar. That must narrow the possible candidates to single figures, tops. I mean is thereanyoneKate would have trusted enough to confess what she did?’

Asante is looking thoughtful. ‘No one we know of yet, that’s for sure. And certainly not under that name.’

‘Maybe whoever it is just wanted to keep anonymous until they sussed out the lie of the land?’

He nods. ‘Which means it could actually be a man –’

‘Actually, Kelsey can be a man’s name too. With an “ey”, anyway.’ She smiles. ‘All right, you got me – I was a bigFrasierfan in my misspent youth.’

‘OK,’ says Asante, reaching for his keyboard. ‘I’m going to message Quinn to see if they’ve checked “Kelsie Smith” with the teacher Kate worked with in Belfast. She’s the nearest thing to a friend anyone’s come across so far.’

‘There’s an email address for “Kelsie” as well,’ says Bradley, flicking back through the material. ‘From when this Tarek Osman chap first passes the job over to Robin. Has anyone tried that?’

He smiles. ‘First thing I did when we got the stuff. Bounced straight back. I’ll try the provider for more details but it’s easy enough to set up a fake email account if you’re really that determined, so it may not tell us much.’

Bradley sits back. ‘You said you had two questions – what was the other one?’

‘If Robin really did manage to meet with Gary, why the hell didn’t he tell us about it?’

***

Date:Mon 10/06/2024 19:10

From:[email protected]

To:Tarek Osman

Subject: Re: Re: Daisy Mason case

So … News.

I got an address for the brother. I won’t trouble you with exactly how (deniability, right?) but it turns out he was fostered and now goes by his original name – i.e. Gary. The family he’s with has a place just outside Oxford, not exactly rust-belt but close (pic in the photos folder if you’re interested). I didn’t tell them I was coming – thought I’d be more likely to get a response if I just showed up.

Have a listen to the audio – I think I was spot on before: this kidmos defknows more than he’s saying. Even accounting for the surprise factor,no one’sthat wary for no reason.

Rob

Computer-generated transcript

From voice recorder app on mobile phone belonging to Robin Tierney

Recorded 9.06.202415:52:08 BST

Voice 1:Who are you?

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