by Sally Rigby
Chapter 37
‘Have you had time to look through the footage from the neighbour’s CCTV?’ Whitney asked Ellie once they’d arrived back at the station.
‘Yes, and I’ve identified the driver.’ The officer smiled. ‘It was Jessica Marshall, driving her father’s car.’
‘She must have sneaked out without them knowing. Did you follow the car to see where it was heading?’ Whitney asked.
‘There are no other CCTV cameras on their street, but I picked her up as she headed onto the main road. She was driving in the direction of the city centre. I tracked her until she turned into Sherwood Road, where there are no cameras. It’s a side road five minutes’ walk from the snooker club. I’m about to check the time she returned to her parents’ house and the route she took.’
‘Okay, keep going.’ She called the team to attention. ‘Jessica Marshall is now our prime suspect. But when did she put the gun into Scott’s gym locker? We need to know before we question her. Let’s get it watertight. Jessica doesn’t know we suspect her as she believes Scott has been charged. We can use that to our advantage.’
‘What’s her motive?’ Doug asked.
‘We don’t know that yet, but we’ll find out soon enough. I’m going back to the gym.’
‘Do you need me? I have some errands to do,’ George said.
‘I’ll take Brian. I’d like you here when we bring her in to interview. Is that okay?’
‘Yes. Give me a call and I’ll come straight back.’
‘Brian, we’re off to the gym. Your car.’
‘No need to keep saying, guv. I know.’
Whitney laughed. He sounded just like George.
When they arrived at the gym, she went up to reception and held out her warrant card, as it was a different person on duty from the last time.
‘Is Hallie here?’
‘It’s her day off. I’ll fetch the duty manager,’ the young man said.
After a few minutes, a man in a tracksuit came over to them. ‘I’m Jon Gifford.’
‘Detective Chief Inspector Walker and this is Detective Sergeant Chapman. Do you recognise this woman?’ She held out her phone on which she had a photo of Jessica.
‘No, sorry, I don’t.’
‘We’d like to find out if she was here recently, specifically from early Sunday morning the seventh of March onwards.’
‘I wasn’t on duty last weekend, but I can ask one of the trainers, if you give me a moment.’ He walked through some double doors into the gym and after a few minutes came back with another man following. ‘This is Sam, he was working all weekend on the date you mentioned.’
‘Do you recognise this woman?’ Whitney asked, holding out her phone.
He stared at it for a couple of seconds and nodded. ‘Yes, she’s the wife of Scott Marshall.’
‘Did you see her on the weekend of the seventh?’
‘I don’t remember her coming in.’
Damn.
‘Could she have come into the gym without you noticing?’
‘Yes, I suppose so. I don’t spend all my time in reception.’
‘Thank you.’ Whitney turned to Jon. ‘Can we look at your camera footage for twenty-four hours from one in the morning on Sunday the seventh?’
If Jessica did plant the gun it would have to be soon after the murder took place to ensure that Scott was put in the frame.
‘The recordings are in the office if you’d like to come through.’ They followed him to his office and watched while he called up the footage and went through it. ‘It doesn’t look like she came in.’
‘Hang on a minute, what’s that?’ She pointed to a shadow close the wall. ‘Could it be someone keeping out of sight of the camera?’
‘Yes, it looks like it,’ Brian said.
‘Can you zoom in?’
‘A little.’ Jon enlarged it but they still couldn’t see who it was.
‘What about when this person comes back through reception towards the door.’
Jon fast-forwarded the footage and stopped when the shadow reappeared. ‘They’re back again and not sticking so close to the wall this time. I’ll zoom in again.’
Although the face and upper body was hidden, they had a much better look at the bottom half of the person. It was a woman, wearing three-quarter length leggings.
‘We’ve got her,’ Whitney said, pointing at the footage. ‘The tattoo of a dolphin on her ankle. Both Jessica and her mum have one.’
‘And that can’t be her mum because she’s not so slim,’ Brian said.
‘Exactly.’ Whitney pulled a card out of her pocket and gave it to Jon. ‘Can you email me the footage, please?’
‘Sure.’ His fingers slowly pressed the keys. ‘Done.’
They left the gym, and she turned to Brian. ‘Okay, we’ve nailed her. Now let’s bring her in for questioning. She wasn’t at her parents’ house earlier, so we’ll try her house.’
On the way she called George and arranged for her to meet them at the station.
Chapter 38
They drove straight to the house, adrenaline coursing through Whitney’s body.
‘There’s her car,’ she said, as they pulled up behind it in the drive. ‘It looks like she’s in.’
They approached the front door and rang the bell. After a short while the nanny answered.
‘Hello, Sue, we’ve come to see Mrs Marshall.’
‘You’ve just missed her.’
‘Isn’t that her car?’ Whitney nodded towards it.
‘Yes, but for some reason she took the one I usually use.’
So she wouldn’t be spotted?
‘Did she say where she was going?’
‘Can we talk inside, Leo’s on his own in the playroom and I don’t like leaving him.’
‘Of course.’
They followed as Sue hurried down the hall and into a room on the right. The little boy was placing a pile of multi-coloured bricks on top of each other.
‘I’m back, Leo,’ Sue said, going over to him and scooping him up in her arms. ‘Say hello to the inspector.’ He hid his face in her shoulder. ‘He’s shy.’
‘Mrs Marshall?’ Whitney reminded her.’
‘She’d been acting strange all morning. It’s not surprising, I suppose, with Mr Marshall arrested.’
‘Did she talk about it?’
‘After I mentioned speaking to you at the station, she—’
‘I asked you to keep it confidential.’
‘I didn’t intend to, it slipped out during breakfast. After that she went all distant and seemed preoccupied. Twenty minutes ago she said she was going to see Naomi Armstrong.’
‘Did she say why?’
‘She muttered something about unfinished business, but I might have misheard because Leo had tripped and banged his head on the floor. I was taking care of him and didn’t double-check.’
‘Did Mrs Marshall take anything with her?’
‘Her handbag. She carries a tan coloured Mulberry tote.’
Large enough for a weapon. Had she got her hands on another gun?
Whitney exchanged a look with Brian and nodded towards the door.
‘I want you to stay here, speak to no one and I’ll arrange for an officer to be with you shortly.’
‘B-but …’
‘No buts, Sue. This is important, I need you to do exactly as I’ve said.’
‘Okay,’ she nodded.
They rushed back to Brian’s car and Whitney picked up the radio. ‘DCI Walker here. I want an officer at 7 Favell Drive immediately’
‘Yes, guv.’
She then phoned the incident room.
‘DC Baines.’
‘Doug. Get Frank and Meena and meet me and Brian at the victim’s house. Jessica Marshall is there and we've no idea if she has a weapon. Naomi Armstrong could be in danger. Park a little way up the road so you’re not spotted and make sure you’re all carrying Tasers.’
‘What about DI Clifford, as he’s here
?’
Did she want him muscling in on it? An extra body may come in handy.
‘Okay bring him with you, unless he doesn’t want to.’ She ended the call. ‘Let’s get motoring.’
‘What makes you think she has a weapon?’ Brian asked.
‘Unfinished business. I take that to mean that she wants to harm Naomi. We can’t take any risks.’
The drive to Marsden House didn’t take long and Whitney impatiently strummed her fingers on her leg while waiting for the others to arrive.
‘Doug has just turned into the road, with DI Clifford following,’ Brian said after they’d been waiting almost twenty minutes.
‘About time.’ She jumped out of the car and ran to where Doug had parked. ‘What kept you?’ she asked as he rolled down the window.
‘You wanted Tasers and we had to sign them out, which took a while.’
‘Okay. This is what we’ll do,’ she said once they were all out of the car and Brian had joined them. ‘We don’t want to alarm them, in case Jessica tries anything stupid. We have no idea whether or not she's got a weapon or what she's intending to do, apart from she said she had unfinished business. It could just be a chat with Naomi and she’s going to tell her she knows about the affair, but we're not taking any risks. Doug and Seb, you come with me. Do you both have Tasers?’
‘Only me,’ Doug said.
‘The three of us will go around the back and see if we can get in that way. If we stick close to the trees we won’t be seen. Brian, I want you to take Meena and go to the front door. On my instruction, you can knock on the door. If Jessica answers she won’t recognise you. Frank, stay by the gate, so if she does try to escape you can go after her.’
‘In his condition?’ Doug said.
Whitney glared at him. ‘Come on.’
They stayed on the opposite side of the road until level with the house, and then split up. Whitney, Seb and Doug kept close to the trees and out of eye sight from the house. When they reached the end Whitney ran over to the side of the house and peered through the window. Jessica and Naomi were standing in the kitchen, their backs to her.
She beckoned for Seb and Doug to join her.
‘They’re both in the kitchen. Brian,’ she said into her radio. ‘Ring the bell.’
‘Okay, guv.’
As the bell rang, both Jessica and Naomi's heads turned towards the sound. Naomi went to walk away, and Jessica blocked her way.
‘Jessica’s stopping her from answering. Is the door open?’
‘No, it’s locked,’ Brian said.
Seb tapped her on the shoulder. ‘The conservatory door is open. We can get in that way.’
‘Did you hear that, Brian?’
‘Yes, guv.’
‘Stand by.’
‘They crept past the kitchen window, all the time keeping their eye on Jessica who stood in front of Naomi, and they ran through the conservatory, turning right and heading towards the kitchen. She gestured for Seb to let the others in through the front door and tapped Brian on the shoulder, counting down from three to one before opening the kitchen door and charging in.
‘Jessica,’ she called out, wanting to distract her.
The woman turned and, on seeing Whitney and Brian, with one hand she grabbed a knife from the block standing on the centre island and with the other made a grab for Naomi, who ducked and managed to escape.
‘Keep away,’ Jessica shouted, holding the knife to her wrist. ‘Or I’ll kill myself.’
‘Jessica, don’t do anything stupid,’ Whitney said, taking a step towards her. ‘Put the knife down. Let’s talk about this.’
‘There’s nothing to talk about. My life’s ruined thanks to this bitch.’
‘That doesn’t mean you have to end it.’
‘Yes it does. I’m not—’
The knife dropped from her hand as two wires embedded themselves in her chest. She dropped to the floor.
Whitney turned to see Brian’s Taser pointing in Jessica’s direction.
Chapter 39
After receiving medical attention, and the doctor confirming she was able to be questioned, Whitney was informed that Jessica Marshall had been taken to interview room one with her solicitor.
‘Brian, I want to show Jessica the recordings of the car and also her at the gym. Can you set that up for me?’
‘Yep, no problem.’
Whitney wandered over to Clifford who was sitting at the desk he’d been using, staring into space.
‘Brian and I are about to interview Jessica Marshall.’
‘When are you releasing Scott? I’d like to speak to him again.’
‘After we’ve charged Jessica he’s all yours.’
‘Good.’
‘Will you be going back to London?’
‘Once we’ve discovered her motive.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re now thinking that she was paid by the syndicate to murder Armstrong and frame her husband, because that’s plain ridiculous.’
‘I’m not making any assumptions one way or the other.’
‘George is going to observe. If you’d like to stand with her you’re perfectly welcome.’
‘Thank you. I will.’
The four of them headed downstairs and parted company as Whitney and Brian entered the interview room. Jessica didn’t acknowledge their presence and continued staring ahead.
‘Interview on the fifteenth of March. Those present: Detective Chief Inspector Walker, Detective Sergeant Chapman. And … please state your names for the recording.’
‘Andrew Hart, solicitor.’ There was silence, until he nudged the accused.
‘Jessica Marshall,’ she said, finally looking up and making eye contact with Whitney.
‘We’d like to speak to you about the shooting of Ryan Armstrong.’
‘Ask my husband.’
‘We have evidence indicating that he wasn’t responsible for the shooting. It was you. You sneaked out of your parents’ house, drove to the car park adjacent to the snooker club and shot Ryan with your father’s handgun. The next morning you took the gun and placed it in your husband’s locker at the gym.’
‘That’s crazy. Why would I do that?’
‘Brian, the first piece of evidence, please.’ She waited until the footage was on the screen. ‘This is you coming out of your parents’ house in the early hours of Sunday morning, the seventh of March, driving your father’s car.’
‘How do you know that’s me?’
‘We enlarged the image and were able to identify you. The CCTV cameras picked you up going in the direction of the snooker club. You parked in Sherwood Road and walked to the car park where you met Ryan Armstrong and shot him.’
‘What proof do you have? All you know is that I went out in the car.’
‘Where did you go?’
‘I couldn’t sleep so went out for a drive. I wasn’t going anywhere in particular.’
‘The next morning, you visited the gym and went to your husband’s locker. Here’s the recording.’ She nodded to Brian to put up the next piece of footage.
‘I can’t see anything.’
‘That shadow is you heading for the locker room.’
‘Rubbish. That could be anyone.’
‘Brian.’ Whitney waited until the next piece of footage came up. ‘Stop there,’ she said when they could see the legs.
‘Those legs could belong to anyone.’
‘Except they don’t. Zoom in please, Brian.’ She waited until there was a clear view of the leg. ‘That’s your tattoo.’
‘Lots of people have them, including my mother.’
‘True, although we know it’s not her as you’re smaller. We believe you planted the gun in Scott’s locker to incriminate him.’
She ran her fingers through her hair. ‘It’s not like that at all. It’s—’
‘Don’t say anything further,’ the solicitor said, interrupting. He leant in and whispered something which Whitney couldn’t make out. Did that me
an they were now going to get the no comment treatment?
‘Okay, I’ll tell you everything,’ Jessica said.
Whitney jerked her head back. She wasn’t expecting that.
‘But …’ the solicitor said.
‘I know what you said, but they need to know the truth,’ Jessica continued. ‘Scott made me go out to meet him. He’d already killed Ryan and he forced me to take the gun and put it in his locker so it couldn’t be traced.’
‘Why did you do what he asked? You could have called the police.’
‘I was scared of him. You don’t know what he’s like. He threatened to harm Leo, so I had to do as he asked. I didn’t shoot Ryan, he did. You have to believe me …’ A sob escaped her lips. ‘Please … You have to believe me.’
‘We would, except for one thing,’ Whitney said. ‘We know for certain that your husband couldn’t have committed the murder as he has an alibi.’
Jessica gasped. ‘What? That woman. Naomi. Was he with her? She would give him an alibi. They probably planned the whole thing together.’
‘She’s not the alibi.’
‘Who is then?’
‘It’s not a person. You have nanny cams in your house, yes?’
‘Yes.’
‘We’ve looked at all the footage on the iPad and the exact time when Ryan Armstrong was shot, Scott was home. Jessica Marshall, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Ryan Armstrong. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘But you don’t understand. You’d have done the same in my position.’
‘Would I? Tell me why.’ The more she told them now, the harder it would be for her barrister to get her off.
‘You don’t know what it’s like living with someone like Scott. Never faithful, always going after women he comes in contact with. He thinks I don’t know, but I do. I know about every single affair he’s had, including the one he’s been having with Naomi.’
‘But why kill Ryan?’
‘To set up Scott.’
‘Are you admitting that you did shoot him?’
