Page 70 of Her Deadly Promise

‘No.’

‘Do you know someone called BenedictCarnY?’

She scrunched up her nose. ‘No. The only Benedict I’ve heard of is Benedict Cumberbatch.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us that you lived in Redditch?’

Serena shook her head rapidly and her features tensed as if she was turning into a statue.

‘Why?’

‘Because I knew I’d be a suspect.’

‘Serena, can we search your flat, car and have your phone.’ Gina felt her heart racing in the hope that it could be that easy to either find the evidence they needed or prove Serena’s innocence.

The young woman removed her keys from her pocket, along with her phone and slid them across the table. ‘I gather you’ll just get a warrant if I say no. Those are the keys to my apartment.’

Gina took the phone.

‘What’s the passcode?’

‘Teeth32. Adults have thirty-two teeth.’ She shrugged.

Gina unlocked the phone and began scrolling through the messages of which there were a few showing that the sisters had bickered, but nothing that suggested murder.

‘I have a confession to make.’

‘Go on.’

‘I followed Nathan, and I took some photos around the back of Billie’s house. I don’t know what that makes me, but I was upset, and I wanted proof that him cheating wasn’t a one-off. I did something stupid and I’m sorry. I call it investigating; you might call it stalking. My life is ruined anyway. I’ve lost my sister; I’ve left uni and my life is a complete mess and my nephew is devastated, and my parents are going to hate me.’ Again, tears began to flow as the enormity of her confession sank in. ‘I think I caught the back of a man in a dark coat, at least I think it was a man. I thought it was just someone coming from one of the houses. As it was me who was snooping around, I was more nervous about me being caught out the back of her house, so I didn’t give him a thought.’

Gina flicked through the photos and saw a couple of Nathan leaving Billie’s house and one of Nathan in Billie’s kitchen, making a drink.

She picked up the keys hoping that O’Connor and Wyre could leave the woods and head over to Serena’s apartment. She had too much to work out and at this stage, only needed the most relevant of information that would help the case. She flicked through a few more photos.

‘That’s the one.’ Serena blew her nose.

Gina pinched to enlarge the one side of a figure by the back gate. The photo had been taken in the dark and was grainy and only showed up the slightest of outlines. ‘Did you hear this person talk, cough, anything?’

‘No, but when he’d gone, I watched Billie through her window. She was crying. I wanted so much to knock and see if she was okay, but I shouldn’t have been there and I was still angry about Nathan. A part of me was glad she was upset, although I didn’t know why. I guess now she didn’t want to sleep with guys for money. It must have been hard.’ She shook her head. ‘Everything is so messed up.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us all this to begin with?’

Serena raised her eyebrows. ‘Durr, because of this. I didn’t want any of this. Why would I want my parents to know about Nathan and Billie and to know that I’d ditched my uni course while they were still sending me money to help buy food? My mother never shuts up about how proud she is of me, telling everyone who will listen. Why would I want you to know that I’d been watching Nathan and my sister?’ Serena stared into space. ‘She’s dead and I’m never going to see her again. It’s just hit me. Billie is dead.’ She lifted her feet up onto the chair and hugged herself. ‘I have nothing more to give or tell you.’ Staring at the wall, Serena began to rock slightly.

‘Are these photos of a party?’ Gina glanced at children and adults in the garden. She recognised the Andersons’ house, the Brents, Meera, Billie’s parents and Billie. It was as if the two photos had been taken over a fence.

‘Yes, I wasn’t invited to Kayden’s birthday bash. Billie thought I’d be busy with uni work. My emotions were all over the place. I didn’t trust Nathan and I was so mad, I wanted to ruin the party. I just felt left out of everything. Yes, I was the daughter who was going to become the dentist, but Billie brought chaos with her all the time. Mum and Dad were always consumed with her and Kayden. Billie brought the drama; they were always worried about her, and she upset Mum by not getting her life together.’

‘So, you were jealous of Billie?’

‘Yes. I guess I was. Everyone loved Billie…’ She paused. ‘I wish she was here.’

There was a knock at the door and Jacob spoke to the tape to end the interview.

Gina stood and left the room. ‘Sir.’

Briggs stood there, a lovely smell of aftershave teasing her senses. She still had a pillowcase that had that smell. ‘It’s Nadia. She’s just come out of surgery and she’s stable, for now.’

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