Page 53 of Her Deadly Promise

‘Great. I’ll form a team and speak to the husband and the friend first.’

He tucked a bit of stray beard into his beard cover. ‘Just keep the team small. Not too many people traipsing around. The attack was contained here but it may be that the attacker went into other rooms first. Stick to the stepping plates and keep to the edge of the stairs if you go up.’

She tilted her head and smiled under her face covering. ‘No problem.’ She glanced one last time at the wall and that horrible word. Her brows furrowed as her line of sight reached the hole in the wall. ‘What’s that?’ She pointed. ‘The hole?’

‘We don’t know. It looks like the plaster came away. There are chunks of it on the floor and speckles of plaster dust.’

‘I wonder if she found something in there, or maybe she was hiding something. It’s possible that the attacker was after it.’

‘I’m just here doing the science but that might be a possibility.’

‘Have you found anything around that seems out of place?’

‘Oh yes, one thing. There was a small piece of paper on the floor with the words “Got you” on it, along with a laughing emoji.’ He reached into an evidence box and passed the bagged item to Gina. She glanced through the plastic and saw that it had been typed up on A4 printer paper that had been folded up.

‘Any prints on it?’

‘A partial. It’s latent so you can’t see it with the naked eye. We’ll get it back to the lab and follow up with a clear copy so that it can be run against the database.’

‘Thank you.’

Jacob peered around the corner. ‘Guv, Mr Anderson is kicking up a bit of a stink and Mrs Brent is asking when she can leave.’

She thanked Bernard and his team before heading out of the garage. She tried to picture Nadia in her mind. After a potential tussle that caused the catalogues and boxes to fall over, she was struck. She fell on her front, leaving a few drops of blood on the floor. The smear on the wall suggests that she may have reached out and tried to use it to steady herself. Had she almost given up by this point? Maybe her attacker struck her again and rolled her onto her back before dragging her towards the garage door and bundling her into a car. Was there a bloody car out there somewhere, or had the attack been more calculated? If her assailant premeditated the attack, had they lined the car with polythene and since disposed of everything, or was Mrs Anderson still in the car, cooking alive in this heat? She pictured the terrified woman fighting for her life, thinking of her son and wondering after Billie’s murder, if she was next. She needed to speak to Edward Anderson now. She wanted his work phone and no more lies. Time was against them.

As she passed the snug, her attention was on the tiniest of smears on the snug wall. She bent over and peered at it. ‘Bernard. Blood on the wall here.’

He hurried through the house. ‘No one else is to go near the snug.’

She backed away, leaving him to secure what she’d spotted. If Nadia was alive, the clock was ticking.

THIRTY-EIGHT

‘I want to go in my house.’ Mr Anderson hurried over to Gina just as she left the house.

‘Mr Anderson, the team are still working the scene.’ She removed her forensics gear at the doorstep.

‘How long are they going to be and why aren’t you out there looking for my wife? Instead, you’re here, keeping me out of my house. My son needs some things and so do I.’

‘If you speak to one of the officers after we’ve spoken, I’m sure they’ll be able to get everything you need for now. I need to ask you a few questions.’ She walked away from the front door and beckoned him over onto the grassy front garden.

‘Hey,’ the woman with the red hair called out. ‘My daughter is getting scared. Will I have to wait here long?’ Candice Brent pulled her little girl close and swallowed. All the waiting was a lot for such a young child. Gina could appreciate that but she needed the woman to stay put.

‘Mrs Brent, please bear with me a little longer. I’ll come over to you in a moment.’

‘Okay, sorry to interrupt you. I’ll be by my car.’ The woman grabbed her daughter’s hand and headed back towards her car. At least the sun was going down so the heat wasn’t as intense as earlier. Gina watched on as an officer gave the woman and child a bottle of water each.

Mr Anderson folded his arms and stood in the shade. ‘What am I meant to do? I need to pick my son up and he’ll want to come home.’

‘We’re trying to make this as quick as possible. Mr Anderson, where were you this afternoon?’

‘At the Cleevesford office.’

‘Was anyone with you?’

‘No, everyone else was on site or out quoting for jobs.’

‘Do you have CCTV at the office?’

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