Page 35 of Her Hidden Shadow

‘Great to hear. Can you and PC Ahmed prep the team of officers together. We have a warrant and we’re going to the caravan park tonight. If Gerard Hale is in the country, we will be bringing him in. I want his car located so we need to check the surrounding roads. Officially, he’s not meant to be on the site until March, but we know he’s staying there. Did you check if he had any other cars?’ She’d come out of the interview and tasked O’Connor and Kapoor with that as soon as they arrived back.

Kapoor smiled and nodded. ‘Certainly did, guv. Hale only owns his four-by-four, but his mother owns a Mercedes Saloon, which he’s insured to drive.’

‘That makes sense as Patsy Griffin, Sienna’s landlady, mentioned that he drove a black saloon and a black four-by-four. Great work. We have two boys to interview. O’Connor can you and PC Smith interview Nathan. His father is with him and they’re waiting in the family room?’

‘Yes, guv.’ O’Connor crunched on a cheese twist, then glugged from his water bottle.

‘Wyre, you and I will speak to the other lad, Finn. Both boys are only thirteen and had been bunking off school. Treat them gently. It must have been a huge shock for them, finding a body. Are we all clear on what’s happening next?’

There was a hum of yesses before everyone left the room. Briggs entered and raised his eyebrows at Gina. She knew he had something to say to her. ‘I’ll catch up with you in a minute,’ Gina said.

‘I’ll go and prep Finlay Jones and his mother for interview. See you in five.’ Wyre left them alone in the room.

‘Is everything okay?’

‘I’m not sure. I’m a bit worried about Jacob.’ Briggs let out a deep breath.

‘What’s happened?’

He closed the doors for privacy and gently pulled her to the side. ‘I’ve been speaking to Bernard, mostly about the case.’

‘And?’

‘Jennifer has been staying in his spare room. She moved out and left Jacob.’

‘I knew it. He didn’t seem right yesterday. I could see there was more going on than a dodgy takeaway.’

‘Anyway, I’ve had an email from him, and he said he won’t be in for the foreseeable and has requested urgent leave. He’s popping by in the morning to grab some of his personal things.’

‘What?’ Gina knew a relationship breakdown wouldn’t be easy on him. He doted on Jennifer. ‘But he loves his job.’

Briggs shrugged.

‘I need him.’ Gina relied on Jacob for a lot. He was her right hand in every investigation. She needed him on the case they were working on, and she liked him, a lot.

‘I guess we’ll know more in the morning. Maybe you can speak to him?’

‘Yes, definitely. I don’t want to lose Jacob. I know he’s upset, and he must feel lost without Jennifer, but he has to know we’re more than just his colleagues. We’re his friends. We’re like family.’ She puffed out a breath and placed her hands on her hips.

Briggs checked his watch. ‘Look, we’ll talk more about this later. It’s getting on. Go and speak to the boy, hurry up at the caravan park and when you get home, I’ll have a really nice dinner on the go. I’ll head to mine in a bit, pick Jessie up and I’ll go to yours, okay?’

She nodded, glad that he was bringing his dog as his dog-sitting neighbour was away for a week. ‘Okay.’ She turned and hurried out, heading to the interview room. She hated speaking to children in such rooms, but O’Connor was already interviewing the other boy in the family room. All she could do was try her best to put him at ease. As she entered, Wyre introduced them all for the tape and Gina opened the file on the desk. ‘Ms Jones, thank you for waiting, and thank you too, Finlay. Is it okay if I call you Finlay?’ She smiled at the boy.

‘Finn. I hate Finlay.’ His round face and button-shaped nose made him look like he was around ten years old.

‘Finn it is. Can you talk me through your morning, from when you got to the field?’

He nodded and glanced up at his mother.

‘Just tell them the truth, Finn. I won’t be angry about anything.’ She placed an arm around her son.

‘I’m sorry, Mum. I know I should have been on the bus.’

The woman raised her eyebrows. ‘We’ll talk about that later.’

He looked up at Gina while picking at the thread on his jumper sleeve. ‘Me and Nath were just playing about. We kicked a can on the field and thought we’d go and hang out and sit on the pallets. We go there a lot. When we got there, I saw the rug and thought it had just been dumped. People always dump old things there as it’s close to the road. I kicked it and that’s when I saw an arm slip out. I know I shouldn’t have picked up the wallet, but I did. I picked it up before I knew someone was wrapped in that rug. Am I in trouble?’

‘No, you’re not in any trouble at all. Forensics know that you picked the wallet up.’

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