Her Last Mistake - Detective Gina Harte Series 06 (2020)

by Kovach, Carla

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Bang! Cass flinched and threw the quilt back. She turned her lamp on and squinted as she focused on the time. Six in the morning. Maybe the police had released Elvis. She knew he hadn’t taken his door key with him. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and wedged her toes into her slippers before padding across the threadbare carpet. A loud bang filled the silence again. ‘Police, open up.’

  Cass swallowed. Something had happened, she knew it. After tossing and turning all night, she’d only been asleep for a couple of hours, kept awake by this sense of foreboding. She’d been happy when Kerry had messaged. Her happiness was always short-lived. She knew something bad had to follow. ‘I’m coming,’ she called as she removed the chain from the door and opened up.

  ‘DI Harte, Cleevesford Police. We have a warrant to search the property. May we come in?’

  The detective stood still, awaiting Cass’s response. Her brown hair was falling out of a tangled rubber band reminding Cass of her own unkempt self. While Cass had been watching Kerry’s house, the police detective in front of her had come out with Kerry and her mother. Her heart rate picked up. It was down to luck that she hadn’t been found in the bushes.

  Cass also knew that she didn’t have an option but to let the police in. She knew what a warrant meant, she’d seen police programmes on the television. The fact that DI Harte was asking was more about being polite and not trying to alarm her. She opened the door, letting them into the small hall that led to all rooms. ‘Of course. What’s happened?’

  ‘Do you have the keys to Robin Dawkins’s car and can you tell us where he keeps it?’

  ‘He doesn’t use it. The MOT ran out ages ago. It’s in the garage rotting away – number three in the block opposite the flats.’ She passed the DI the car keys that had been dangling off the key hook for months. The DI handed them to the suited male officer, then he left.

  ‘Shall we sit down?’ DI Harte led her to the kitchen and they sat at the kitchen table while the other officers carried on with their duties. She watched through the gap in the kitchen door as gloves were snapped on and hair was covered. The DI loosened her stab vest and wriggled a little until she got comfortable. ‘That’s better. These things are a little tight. I know this looks scary and I know you’re probably wondering what’s happening. We have your partner Robin Dawkins in custody at the moment, as you know. As it stands, we can’t place where he was at the time of Francesca Carter’s murder. I was hoping we could have a little chat.’

  Cass knew that police didn’t just chat. This was an interview and everything she said would be duly noted. Her mind flitted back to Elvis and how secretive he’d become. She swallowed again as she thought about the drugs she’d poured out of his boot earlier. They’d long gone. If the police found more drugs, would she be arrested? ‘I know Elvis has done time, he said something when the officers came to take him. What did he do?’

  ‘You’ll be able to speak to him yourself soon. For now, would you mind if I ask a couple of questions?’

  She shook her head. She did mind really. She didn’t want to be associated with anything as vile as the murder of Kerry’s friends and now her boyfriend was in the frame. She thought of the messages that Kerry had sent. Her friend wouldn’t want to know her if all this came out.

  The DI gave her a reassuring smile. ‘I know this is worrying for you but I will try to make it as easy as possible. Would you like some water?’

  ‘No. Am I in trouble?’

  ‘We just need to ask you a few questions, that’s all. Can you tell me if you saw Mr Dawkins on Monday the eleventh of May between six and eight in the evening, that’s this Monday just gone?’

  ‘Let me think.’ That was the night she’d visited Kerry after work. ‘I tried calling him a few times to tell him that I wouldn’t be home when he finished work but his phone kept going to voicemail so I left a message.’

  ‘Where did you go?’

  Cass straightened her back and spat out the stray hair that had made its way into her mouth. She stared at the DI, slightly open-mouthed as she realised that she was probably a suspect. Could they think that she helped Elvis to kill Fran? ‘I haven’t hurt anyone.’ Why did she feel so guilty even though she was telling the truth? Cass knew she had one of those faces that screamed guilt even though she’d done nothing wrong. Maybe Elvis had said something and was trying to push the blame onto her for something he’d done.

  ‘I’m not saying you have but we just need to establish where you were so that we can eliminate you. This is nothing more than routine questioning. We’ve been asking everyone the same questions.’ The DI smiled lightly as she placed her pen on her notebook.

  ‘Okay. I visited Kerry, that’s Kerry Powell. We’re old school friends and after what happened at her wedding, I wanted her to know that I was there for her. I thought she might need to talk.’

  ‘I’m sure she appreciated you going around. What time did you arrive?’

  Cass pulled the loose end of her thumbnail away and dropped it onto the kitchen floor. ‘She told me to get there for eight so I got there for eight.’ The DI made a few notes. ‘I don’t know where Elvis was between five and seven. I know where I was. I finished work at six, went to the Co-op on Cleevesford High Street and I bought a bottle of wine; this was about half six. I then waited at the bus stop for an hour so that I wouldn’t get to Kerry’s house too early. There were lots of people there and the man who runs the chippy waved at me. I didn’t want to go home, didn’t see the point so I just waited and played games on my phone. At about seven thirty, I got on the bus, went six stops to the edge of Cleevesford, then got off the bus and I walked along the roadside until I reached Kerry’s house.’ She paused for a moment and gasped for breath, realising that she’d reeled off her whereabouts without breathing. ‘I was a little early but that didn’t seem to matter. She let me in anyway. We had a glass of wine and she spoke about Holly and how upset she was, but she was quite drunk. I had a Sambuca with her. Then, about forty minutes later, I left and went home.’

  Her mind whirred. She’d been waffling and she looked too nervous. She pulled the top of another nail away and dropped it into her lap. The detective glanced up at her, waiting for more. Should she speak? She placed her finger in her mouth and began chewing the ragged nail. She couldn’t give Elvis an alibi. He didn’t text her back or answer her calls during the time that Fran was being murdered. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that Elvis wouldn’t stand a chance with a woman like Fran. He was a scally, poor and uneducated, not the type a sophisticated young woman would go for. But Cass had seen women when they’d had a few, playing up to him when he performed as Elvis and they’d downed too much Prosecco. He could put on a show, albeit a very average show.

  ‘What time did you hear from Mr Dawkins after you visited Kerry’s house?’

  ‘I remember Elvis messaging me when I was on the bus home but he didn’t say when he was coming back.’ She pulled her phone out and scrolled through her messages. ‘Look, he said he’d be home soon, it was nearly nine when he sent this message.’ The DI glanced over and made a note.

  ‘When did he get home?’

  Cass remembered the foul mood he’d been in, especially as she hadn’t bought him anything from the chip shop. ‘I guess he got home about half ten. I got back to Cleevesford High Street about quarter past nine, I went to the chippy and walked home.’

  ‘How did he seem?’

  Should she tell the DI that he was angry? She crossed her ankles under the table and continued picking at the same nail. She pulled and almost yelped as the sting of pulling nail from skin hit her. ‘Short-tempered.’ Her eyes watered up as she rubbed her sore finger.

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘He told me he was with friends when I asked him where he’d been. He basically told me to mind my own business and he was angry that I didn’t get him any chips.’ Their relationship problems went beyond chips but she couldn’t explain why
he was the way he was. ‘I think he was cheating on me. He would never tell me where he was going or who he was with. He had all his gadgets password protected.’ She spotted a forensics-suited officer through a gap in the door. He was bagging and tagging Elvis’s laptop. ‘He didn’t want to touch me. I could just tell. He was very secretive.’

  The detective scribbled everything down. ‘Can I ask about the night of Kerry Powell’s wedding reception? You were working at the party, not there as a guest?’

  Cass stared at the detective. What was she getting at? She was saying that Cass wasn’t a good enough friend to get an invite. They’d just been distanced over the years, that was all and now they were going to be best friends again. The DI wouldn’t understand that. ‘I wanted the best for her and I knew if I helped out with the guest ale bar, it would all go well. She was happy with me doing that. I was behind the bar all night. I didn’t even get a chance to pee.’

  ‘Were Robin Dawkins and Samuel Avery working behind the bar with you?’

  She shrugged her shoulders and began chewing on another nail. ‘They seemed to be enjoying the party. I was run off my feet, I didn’t see what they were doing all night. I’ve already given a statement.’ She did remember something that was said, something by Samuel Avery and it had upset her that Elvis thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny at all. She couldn’t tell the detective, not before speaking to Elvis first. Or could she? He’d been treating her horribly. Maybe she should tell. What they were saying definitely wasn’t funny.

  ‘Cassandra, are you okay?’

  She snapped out of her thoughts and pasted a fake smile across her face. ‘Yes. That’s all I have. I didn’t look up that night. Sorry, I was just run off my feet.’

  Boots shuffled in the hallway and Jacob entered. ‘Guv, we’ve found something in the car.’

  ‘Excuse me.’ DI Harte stood and followed the other detective out of the room. Cass stood and listened by the door, just out of sight.

  ‘There are twenty wraps of cocaine and a huge collection of multi-coloured pills – looks like ecstasy. He had to be dealing.’

  The voices hushed a little. Cass flinched as the DI was coming back. She’d disposed of the drugs she’d found in his Doc Martens in the bin outside the shops. Her heart rate ramped up. If Elvis had stashed any more drugs in their flat, her home, she’d do what? He already walked all over her. Fingers trembling, she only hoped he wouldn’t drag her down with him. The DI entered. ‘We’ve unfortunately found a large quantity of drugs in the boot of Mr Dawkins’s car. Can you tell us anything about these?’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m not allowed to go anywhere near his garage or his car.’ In her mind, she now knew exactly why he was getting calls all the time and she’d thought he was having an affair.

  ‘Did you know that Mr Dawkins was fired from his job on Monday night?’

  A tear welled up in the corner of her eye. She knew nothing about the man she’d been living with. A dangerous secretive past, a drug dealing present and on top of everything, she knew full well that he was a suspect in Holly and Fran’s murders. ‘I had no idea. I’m so stupid.’ She snivelled a little as she tried to hold back her tears.

  ‘No you’re not. We will need you to come to the station and make a formal statement. Can you do that?’

  She nodded. The DI may have been asking her a question but she knew there wasn’t an option to say no. Not now they’d found drugs in the garage.

  ‘Is the garage tenancy in your name too?’

  ‘No. It was Elvis’s garage. I’ve never actually been in it, had no reason to.’ She paused and bit the skin on the side of her mouth. The DI had kind eyes. Maybe she should tell her what Elvis and Sam had been talking about at the reception. She wouldn’t let Elvis bring her down any more. As she went to speak the male detective came back in to move them out of the kitchen, ready for more searching. Now wasn’t the time. She held her phone to her heart knowing Kerry would message again soon. Kerry would be able to help her get through all this. They’d help each other.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  ‘Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Time is passing. Who’s next?’ He stared into the eyes of cellar woman. That wasn’t her name but names weren’t needed between them, fleeting references would do the job.

  He ran his fingers through her silky hair and gazed into her eyes – he was getting into it now. A slight look of panic flashed across her face. He removed the scarf that he’d tied around her mouth and she screamed. He’d expected that. Hell, he’d banked on it, it was all part of the fun. He grinned as he kneeled down in front of her. The screaming ended and he ran his fingertips gently over her slender neck, pressing on the pulsing vein. He stopped as she coughed then placed the scarf back across her mouth, retying it tighter behind her head.

  ‘Don’t worry. I won’t trap your hair in the scarf, not like last time.’ He kissed her on the cheek. ‘Won’t be long now.’ He turned off the light and hurried up the stairs, slamming the door behind him. He didn’t stop at one flight, he headed straight to the master bedroom in the eaves of the house and moved the large picture in front of the safe. In it, the passports and tickets were exactly as he’d left them.

  He kissed the tickets and placed them in the holdall.

  Would the last one be enough? Who would live and who would die? Maybe he should toss a coin. Choosing was hard.

  Chapter Sixty

  Gina swallowed the rest of the coffee down, enjoying the slight kick it was giving her. Nothing would ease the sense of fatigue that was building up in her body after barely having any sleep for days. She glanced at Edward Powell across the table and then back at Wyre whose black hair shone on the top under the stark strip light, almost making a patch of it look white.

  ‘There’s no point in you continuing to deny it,’ Gina said as Edward Powell sighed. ‘DNA doesn’t lie and concealing the truth from us isn’t doing you any good.’

  He swallowed. ‘I didn’t kill her. I wouldn’t!’ He scraped the chair across the floor and leaned his elbows on his knees as he bent over and ran his fingers through his gelled hair. His tie dangled on his thigh. ‘I don’t want to hurt Kerry.’

  ‘Her two best friends are dead. She’s already been hurt. Kerry needs to know the truth.’

  ‘Okay.’ He paused and sat back up, staring at Gina before fixing his gaze on Wyre. ‘Have you never made a mistake?’

  Gina had heard this one before and it irked her that he was arrogantly trying to turn this back on them. ‘This isn’t about me, Mr Powell. This is about you being the father of the baby that Holly was carrying when she was murdered.’

  His cheeks twitched as he clenched his jaw. Edward Powell was used to being believed. He was used to charming his way out of situations, Gina could see that now. ‘Tell me about your relationship with Holly.’

  ‘There was no relationship. We slept together once and my being the father was purely bad luck. Why me?’

  ‘Go on.’

  He slowly shook his head from side to side. A bead of sweat formed at his hairline and began to trickle down his cheek. He wiped it away with the handkerchief from his suit pocket before removing the jacket. ‘It was at the end of January, this year. The weather was as frosty as Kerry had been that day. We’d had a bit of a tiff. It’s ironic that she was going on about having a baby. She kept bleating on and on about how cute Lilly’s kid was and that she was ready. I wasn’t. We had planned our wedding and I wanted to enjoy us being free for a couple of years. Anyway, in her words, she said I was a selfish bastard. Instead of shouting my mouth off, I walked out. That’s what I do and I know it upsets Kerry. She’d rather battle it out. I went to the newsagents, bought some cigarettes and kept walking until I arrived at the park. It was full of parents with screaming brats and my stomach was churning with anxiety at the thought of fatherhood becoming my life. I hate myself for thinking all this. When we got together—’

  ‘Is that with Kerry or Holly?’

  ‘Kerry, of course.’ He
paused and tilted his head slightly to the side. ‘I know I’d promised her everything, kids, the lot. I suppose with the wedding coming up, I was beginning to feel trapped and that argument had sent me over the edge. I arrived at the park and I sat on the bench, the same bench I was sitting on the other night. It was where I bumped into Holly, then one thing led to another and that’s it. I didn’t hurt her. It was just the once.’ He threw his head back and took a deep breath.

  ‘What happened next?’

  ‘Do we have to? Isn’t it obvious?’

  The mechanics were very obvious but Gina needed more than that, she needed to know how he felt and if there was something in his story that would lead her to believe he killed Holly and or Fran. ‘Please go on.’

  ‘She was jogging, going for it good and proper, really pushing herself. I spotted her and waved. I remember her bending over while she got her breath back and at that moment I saw an escape from all my problems. Her red hair was in a long plait down her back and she had such a warm smile. She could see I was upset so we spoke for a while, she reassured me that one day I’d be a good father and it was normal to be nervous with the wedding coming up. I felt like a shedload had been lifted off my shoulders. I then listened to her and she spilled that she was in some sort of relationship that she thought was going nowhere. She got a little upset and I don’t know what happened. Her hand brushed against mine. We were both in a bad place and we both felt something. We went straight back to hers and had the most passionate sexual encounter I’ve ever had in my life. There, is that all? Do you want the details? Positions, maybe?’