Page 64 of Her Hidden Shadow

Gina felt heat prickling her chest and neck as her fists clenched. ‘He didn’t do it.’

‘Oh, Gina, letting emotion rule the case again. When the evidence points in a direction, we have to follow it and at the moment it’s all pointing to Mr Driscoll.’

‘DS Driscoll.’

Sullivan shook her head. ‘Mister. Right, get back to it. Collier has updated me, and you don’t want to keep Lauren waiting. I don’t know why you brought her in. We already have our perp.’ She paused. ‘Have you seen all the protesters in the car park?’

Gina nodded.

‘They need us to do the right thing. They’ll get their update when the press come back at teatime. That’s five this evening, by the way. Set your alarms, don’t want you to miss it.’ Sullivan smiled broadly, turned and left.

Gina grabbed her mug of coffee and flung it at the corner of the room.

‘I’m sorry.’ O’Connor had remained rooted to the spot the whole time the superintendent was in the small room.

‘She wants us to fall apart but that isn’t going to happen.’ Gina slammed her hand on the windowsill and closed the blinds to the world outside.

‘We have until five. There’s still time.’

She glanced at her watch. ‘What? Four hours? And we’re here, hoping that an interview with Lauren will suddenly fix everything while Jacob is rotting in a cell. I need to do more, but what?’ She tapped the side of her head as thoughts whirred around. There had to be a way and if it meant going alone, she would.

O’Connor shrugged, not knowing what to say.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘You shouldn’t have seen my display of anger.’ She took a deep breath and retied her hair in a ponytail.

‘I feel the same so don’t apologise. You’ve got this,’ O’Connor replied with a smile. ‘There has to be a way, guv.’

‘You’re right. There is and I’m going to find it.’ She left the room, feeling the weight of the pressure like never before. If Jacob was charged and later convicted, her whole team would come under scrutiny, herself included and Sullivan was waiting to throw the final punch. The end of an era was about to fall upon them all. One thing was certain though, Sullivan had underestimated her and she wasn’t going down without a fight.

Forty-Nine

Lauren was sitting opposite Collier when Gina entered. Slightly hunched forward as if hugging herself, she looked up at Gina. Her TikTok videos showed an ultra-glamorous woman who had instructed people on how to apply topliner with wings, or create that perfect complexion with only two products, all available from her counter at the beauty outlet. Right now, it looked like she was wearing her mother’s joggers and sweater, her talons were cracked and her face pale and puffy, like she’d spent the week crying.

‘I need to know when I can go back to the bungalow, and Robbie needs a funeral.’

‘We should have news for you soon.’ Gina knew that forensics were finished, and the scene release would follow but she didn’t have a date for Lauren, not yet.

‘So, I’m not here about that?’

‘Sorry.’ Gina pressed her lips together for a second. ‘We need to speak to you, regarding the case.’

‘But I don’t know anything. I came home and I found Sienna murdered in my bed.’

‘I know and I’m sorry to have to do this as I know it’s distressing for you.’

Lauren shrugged and leaned back. ‘They said this was a voluntary interview.’

Gina nodded and Collier got out his notebook in readiness. ‘We will be taping the interview. Is that okay?’

Eyebrows furrowing, Lauren tensed. ‘Why, do I need a solicitor?’

‘You’re more than welcome to have a solicitor if you want one but you’re not under arrest. You can leave at any time.’

She glanced into her hands. ‘Okay.’

Collier started the tape and made the introductions. It was now one thirty and time was slipping through their fingers. Gina knew she needed to get through her questions swiftly. ‘We need to go back to the night the neighbour saw you arguing with someone at the end of your road on either the evening of the nineteenth or twentieth of January.’

‘I’ve already told you. I bumped into a drunken idiot on the path. That was all. There was no argument.’ Lauren glanced to the left and failed to meet Gina’s eye.

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