Page 28 of Her Hidden Shadow

Lauren sat on one of the wooden chairs and shifted her mum’s pile of post out of the way. ‘What’s happened?’

Wyre remained quiet at the other end of the table.

‘I’m sorry to have to tell you this but we found a body earlier today.’ Gina had once suspected Lauren Cross, only a little, but the thought had niggled away at her. There was no way that Lauren could have killed Robbie. She had been at the club, in the taxi, or at the hospital at the time of his murder, giving her the perfect alibi.

Lauren swallowed and began playing with the ends of her clumped hair. ‘Who is it?’

‘We’ve confirmed that it’s Robbie. Please accept our deepest condolences.’

Gina watched as tears welled up in Lauren’s eyes. ‘But, how?’

‘We don’t have all the details as yet, but his death is being treated as murder.’

Shaking her head, Lauren gasped for breath and closed her eyes. ‘I don’t understand. I thought… me and Mum thought that he’d killed Sienna.’

‘As I said, we don’t have all the details and we won’t for a while, but forensics are working the scene as we speak. I know this is hard, but we need to ask you a couple of questions. It would really help us if you wouldn’t mind.’ Gina hoped Lauren was up to it. She had so much to ask, and she also had a lot to tell. She wondered if Lauren had known about Sienna having Robbie’s baby. The woman was going to be devastated.

Tears slipped down her blotchy cheeks. ‘I’ve lost everything and Robbie… I can’t believe it. We were getting married. We were going to have children and spend our lives together and it’s all gone, just like that. I just want to go back to last week.’

‘It’s a lot to process.’

Lauren walked over to her mum’s fridge and pulled out an open bottle of what looked like home-made wine. With shaking hands, she poured a large measure into a tumbler. ‘What do you need to know?’

Wyre pulled out her notebook and smiled sympathetically.

Gina exhaled. ‘Do you own a mustard-coloured rug? A large one?’

Lauren’s brows furrowed. ‘There’s one in the room we use as a study.’

Gina had searched that room and there hadn’t been a rug in it or any outline of a removed rug, which means the killer must have brushed the carpet to cover their tracks. The blood in the cupboard must have been from Robbie’s head. She pictured him being caught unaware by their attacker. Had he been bundled in there while the perp murdered Sienna? Maybe he then tried to claw at the door before banging at it with the tin of paint while he listened to her screaming for help. Had the killer then opened the door, struck him with the rock and then brought the rug close to the cupboard, ready to roll him up? They would have needed a vehicle to transport his body all the way to where they found it. Who was the woman in the pyjamas? ‘Do you own a scarf with blue flowers on it?’

‘You mean the one like Sienna’s? I saw it on my bedroom floor when I err…’ she paused and closed her eyes for a second, ‘when I found Sienna’s body in my bed.’ Her brows furrowed.

‘So that was Sienna’s scarf?’

Lauren shrugged. ‘It’s not the type of thing she normally wears. I’ve never seen her wearing that type of scarf but it’s not mine so it must have been hers. I’ve never seen her wearing it before.’

Gina glanced at Wyre. They both knew that there was a huge possibility that the scarf at the bungalow had been the one that had been used to strangle Tiffany Crawford. ‘How long have you known Tiffany Crawford?’

‘I don’t know. A year maybe, not much longer.’

‘Had you ever met her before that?’

‘No, definitely not. I know she lives on my estate, but I didn’t know her before she started work at Hoopers. You don’t think this has anything to do with Tiff? She’s scared of her own shadow.’

Gina raised her brows and sat back. ‘Definitely not. We are looking into a historical case at the moment, but I can’t say anything as yet.’

‘Something to do with Tiff?’

Gina had no intention of revealing too much so a change of subject was in order. ‘I can only apologise that we’ve had to take your phone as evidence. I’ll endeavour to get it back to you as soon as it’s been processed.’

‘I was going to ask about that. My mother virtually lives off-grid. I’m a bit cut off here.’ Lauren began twiddling her fingers. ‘Can I see Robbie’s body? I know he was cheating on me, and I should be angry, but I want to say goodbye. I need to see him.’

‘We’ll call you when that’s possible. It will probably be in a few days. Do you know anyone who might have wanted to hurt Sienna and Robbie?’

‘No, they didn’t even mix in the same circles or share friends. I can’t think of anyone at all. I’m the only person who connects them and I didn’t do it. I would never hurt anyone, not even if I was angry at them.’

Gina tilted her head and smiled sympathetically. ‘If you do think of anything or anyone after we’ve gone, please call me.’ She swallowed, dreading what was coming next. ‘There’s something delicate I need to ask you.’

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