The Liar's House: An absolutely gripping thriller with a fantastic twist (Detective Gina Harte Book 4)

by Carla Kovach

  She knocked twice and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

  ‘Coming.’ They waited as the woman with the slightly croaky voice struggled to unlock the door. Finally winning the battle with her keys, she eventually opened the creaky entrance as she swore under her breath. The May sun shone through the woman’s long thin grey hair. She looked to be in her seventies but Gina knew she was only in her fifties. Sallow skin clung to her pale face, making her look malnourished. Wrapped in two thick cardigans, Gina wondered if she was stifling hot underneath all that wool. ‘Come in,’ Diane Garraway said as she beckoned them through with a shaky hand, the bones of her fingers swollen and gnarly, reminding Gina of a weather damaged tree stump. ‘I’d offer you a drink but my hands are too cold,’ Diane said, leading them to the lounge.

  ‘I can make a drink. Would you like one, Ms Garraway?’ Wyre asked. Gina smiled at her. They could both see that Diane Garraway needed more help than she was receiving.

  ‘No, I’m fine. I have one on the go. Take a seat and call me Diane.’

  Gina pushed the old cushions aside and sank into one of the armchairs, Wyre sat on the other. The heater clicked and began whirring into action. It was warm outside and the heater was on. Gina shivered. Despite all that, the house was cold. She now knew why Diane was wearing all those cardigans.

  Wyre removed the lid from her pen and turned to a fresh page in her notebook.

  ‘You called us because of a card you received that may be linked to your missing friend, Samantha Felton.’

  Diane trembled as she reached for the card on the arm of the settee. The picture on the front was of a flower. A butterfly had landed on one of its petals and the words happy birthday filled the header section. Gina pulled a pair of blue gloves from her bag. ‘May I take a look?’

  The woman nodded and handed the card to Gina. ‘The nail is inside so be careful that it doesn’t fall out. I didn’t know what else to do with it.’

  Gina opened the card. The Dear Samantha was made up of letters cut from a magazine. Flecks of bin juice littered all sides of the card which wasn’t ideal. The generic message that the card company had printed continued. Have a wonderful birthday and may all your dreams come true. The three words cut out of a magazine that followed made her shiver – Ha Ha Ha! Someone out there thought it was funny to send a card to a missing woman and then post it to of one of her best friends. It was definitely a sinister gesture. She stared at the fingernail, so clean and pink. Nail varnish wouldn’t stay on for years, Gina knew that. After a few days it often peeled and chipped away. Whoever sent the nail and card had to have painted the nail recently.

  ‘That was her favourite colour. I bought the same nail varnish for her and gave it to her as a birthday present on the day she disappeared. Rose Petal Pink. I have some here.’ She reached into a small box and pulled out a dried up bottle of nail varnish and handed it to Gina. Gina used her phone to photograph the front and the inside of the card, after which, she placed it in an evidence bag. She then did the same with the nail before giving the bags to Wyre for logging and sealing, ready to send to the lab. ‘I keep my reminders of her in this box.’

  ‘May I take a look?’ Gina asked. The woman handed the box over. Gina began flicking through the photos and cards. ‘Can I please take some of these photos? I’ll get them back to you. It would be nice to get a clearer picture of who Samantha was.’

  Diane nodded. Gina passed a batch of photos and cards to Wyre.

  ‘How did you receive the card, Diane?’ Gina could see that the woman was struggling as she watched Wyre logging the card as evidence. Her reddened eyes told Gina that she’d been crying before they arrived.

  ‘I went shopping yesterday, just the food bank and the supermarket on the High Street and I came home through the back door, like I always do. I put my bags in the kitchen and spotted a pink envelope on the hall floor. It had been posted through the front door. Our postman had already been round earlier that day so I knew it wasn’t post. I assumed it was a card. What else could it be in a pink envelope?’

  ‘Do you have the envelope still?’

  The woman’s brow furrowed as she tried to recall what she did with it. ‘I opened it in the kitchen somewhere, I think. Maybe it’s on the side, or even the table.’

  ‘May I go and have a look for it?’

  Diane nodded then took a sip of her drink.

  Gina headed towards the kitchen, entering a tiny, cluttered room, full of mismatched cupboards, doors not quite aligned to the carcases, one even hanging off. A collection of old dead plants adorned the windowsill and the worktop was covered in packets of tablets. Gina recognised them to be anti-inflammatories, paracetamol and antidepressants. She shivered as she searched for the pink envelope. Bending down, she spotted it under the half-opened drop-leaf table. She reached down with her gloved hand. ‘Here we go, found it,’ she said as she went back into the warm sitting room and handed it to Wyre.

  ‘Did you see anyone around, either on your way back from the shops or hanging around the front of the house?’ Gina sat back down.

  Diane shook her head and used her index finger to wipe the end of her nose. ‘No one suspicious. I passed people when I came back from the shops but no one memorable. No one looked out of place and I didn’t really look out the front window when I picked up the envelope. I’d say no.’

  ‘Have you heard anything from Samantha since she was reported missing or have you received anything like this before?’

  A tear slid down the woman’s face. ‘No. If I had, I’d have called you.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I can see this is difficult for you.’ Gina swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. She could see how difficult this was for Diane. ‘Maybe you can tell me a little bit about your relationship with Samantha.’

  She pulled a tissue from one of her sleeves and wiped her eyes. ‘Samantha lived close by and I’d seen her while out shopping a few times. I’ve lived alone all of my adult life and I struggle to make friends. I worked in a shop until my arthritis made it impossible. I’ve had it years now, wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I didn’t want to go out much, I mean look at me. I can barely dress myself, let alone make an effort.’ She paused and stared at the floor. ‘I suppose I’ve always been a bit of a loner. I was lonely too and found myself smiling at people while out, hoping that one of them would talk to me and no one really did, apart from Samantha. Whenever I saw her, she’d do all the talking, about places she had been, was going, her university work and her boyfriend. This was just when I bumped into her. We then started going to the café if we bumped into each other, just for a chat and a piece of cake. We really got on. I’d listen to her talk about her relationship and she filled a gap in my life. Soon, she was at my house every other night, sometimes I’d make an effort to prepare some food, sometimes when she could see I was struggling, she’d bring food. We’d watch telly together and if she stayed late, she’d sleep in my spare room. She became like a daughter to me. We were that close. I had this dream back then, that one day she would finish her course, get a good job and meet someone decent. I thought maybe she’d have children and that maybe they’d call me Nanny. She called me her Mumsy and would always kiss me goodbye—’ Tears began to flood from Diane’s eyes.

  ‘I know this is hard but you’re doing really well, Diane. We have on record that she was seeing someone called Derek.’

  ‘Ahh, the married man. I did tell her that he’d never leave his wife. I should know, I’ve been there in my twenties. I wasted several of my best years on a married man so I was in the best position to advise her. Derek was just spinning her a yarn. He was never going to leave his wife and kids. She’d go out partying and meeting other men, all to make him jealous, but he never cared.’

  Wyre scribbled a few notes. Gina knew they already had this information on Samantha’s missing persons file. From what she’d read, Derek had an alibi on the night Samantha was last seen, but that alibi was his wife.

  ‘Do you know anything ab
out the other men?’

  Diane blew her nose. ‘No. I know she used to go to Cleevesford Social Club. They had the occasional live band night and regular discos. She used to go there, said she’d met some guys while out for the night. She often made me laugh with her stories. She’d dance with them, flirt with them but then she’d send them packing. She was all about the fun on the night. People had her all wrong. I overheard people talking, angry that their husbands and boyfriends had shown too much of an interest in her. She had an infectious presence. People noticed when she entered a room. Her long golden-coloured hair was always beautifully styled. Her flawless skin and slim figure made her look so youthful. She was also so good-natured, always spoke to anyone. She was such a trusting young woman, too trusting. I told her that people weren’t as nice as they seemed, that they pretended, but she just told me I was too cynical.’

  Gina looked down at her feet. Too many people let their guard down in life, she had been guilty of that too. In her teens and early twenties, she’d have trusted anyone, she still worried that she too often saw the good in people. Her mind wandered to Rex. Should she trust him? Did she want to trust him? She didn’t even know if she really liked him in that way. She squinted and pinched the top of her nose, trying to snap out of her thoughts. ‘She’s lucky to have had you in her life.’ Gina wished she still had her own mother to talk too. She could do with a Diane in her life. She couldn’t think about her mother now. After an aggressive form of cancer took her, she’d never allowed herself to overthink what she’d lost, simply enjoying the good memories she carried around.

  ‘I was lucky to have her in mine. I don’t think I’d be here now if it wasn’t for her. She came into my life just when I needed a friend.’

  Diane looked away and wiped her eyes again. Wyre had finished filling out the details on the evidence envelopes, ready to take them to Bernard. After all these years, someone had come out of the shadows to remind them that Samantha was still missing. Had they done that on the night of Jade’s murder? In Gina’s mind, there had to be a connection between Jade and Samantha. They would have been about a similar age and may have even gone to school together. Maybe they socialised together. She shivered, Jade was dead. Their witness saw a man dragging Jade’s body towards the road, then he abandoned the body when he was disturbed and drove away. She snapped out of her thoughts. He was trying to take Jade Ashmore’s body away from the scene. Had he done the same with Samantha?

  ‘There is something else,’ Diane said.

  Gina leaned forward in her seat.

  ‘It’s probably nothing and I don’t think I mentioned this before. I know Samantha dated a couple of other men to make Derek jealous. After meeting with one of them, both times she came to see me after, she stank of cigarettes. I know she wasn’t a smoker, so it must have been him. She didn’t even drink a lot when she went out. Do you think she’s still alive?’

  ‘I can’t answer that. I wish I could. We only have her down as a missing person. A body has never been found but no one has reported seeing her since.’ Gina could only hope that her instincts about Samantha were wrong.

  The fingernail link was a strong one. He killed Jade but what had he done with Samantha? Gina felt a shiver shoot through her body as she typed out a quick message to Jacob and pressed send.

  Get everyone in the incident room, we’re on our way back. Emergency briefing.

  Fifteen

  ‘Thanks for getting here at such short notice.’ Gina walked straight into the incident room, dropped her jacket over one of the desks and headed to the boards at the front of the table. Jacob and O’Connor looked like they were racing to finish their sandwiches. Gina inhaled and her nostrils quickly filled with the smell of egg, tuna and strawberry milkshake. ‘Right, Wyre and I have just come from Diane Garraway’s house. I know Wyre sent you a brief update as we were heading back, didn’t you?’

  ‘I did, guv.’ Wyre rolled the sleeves of her pristine blouse up and dropped her notepad on the desk.

  ‘So you all know about the card and the fingernail. These have just been catalogued and sent off to the lab. I want to consider the theory that the Jade Ashmore murder may be linked to Samantha Felton’s disappearance. There are too many coincidences for my liking. As we know, Jade Ashmore was missing a fingernail and then, what seems to be the fingernail of a missing woman turns up on the same day. Whether it’s a real nail is yet to be confirmed but as soon as I have the results back, you’ll all be informed immediately. During the press release, it wasn’t mentioned that our victim had her fingernail removed so this isn’t common knowledge.’

  O’Connor held up his hand.

  ‘Yes,’ Gina said.

  ‘Are we thinking that the same thing happened to… err,’ he glanced down at his notes, ‘Samantha Felton, seven years ago?’

  Gina took a deep breath. ‘Samantha is registered as a missing person. A body has never been found. We know Jade’s killer was attempting to drag her away towards his car. If he follows a pattern, this may suggest that he kills them, takes them away in his car and disposes of the body later. Where he takes them, I can’t begin to guess. Quite often, the public come across bodies in cases like this, while out with their dogs, walking in the countryside, fishing, jogging, etcetera. If a victim has been buried in a shallow grave, it’s not long before animals dig them up. Samantha could even still be alive. Maybe Jade’s killer didn’t mean to actually kill her. It’s too early to decipher his intentions yet. Jacob, you were going to delve into her file, what did you find out about the original report?’

  Jacob sucked on a straw as he finished off the small bottle of milkshake then wiped his mouth with a tissue. ‘As you know, she was reported missing by Diane Garraway when she didn’t visit the day after her twenty-sixth birthday. This was on the sixth of May 2012. Diane had prepared a small birthday lunch for around noon and Samantha hadn’t turned up. After trying to call several times, she walked the two streets to Samantha’s flat and there was no answer. Her curtains were still drawn and Diane worried that she was sick so she let herself in with a spare key that Samantha had given to her. When she didn’t find her friend there, she was worried and called the police. Nothing was found out of place in her home. A few days later an appeal was put out on local news and although there had been vague calls, they all came back with nothing. Samantha had essentially vanished and she’s never been seen since, she’s not used her credit cards or bank cards either.’

  Gina walked in front of the boards, scratching her head as she thought. ‘What do we know about Samantha?’

  ‘She was a first year mature student at Birmingham University, studying law. She had a wide social circle as you’d expect any single person to have.’

  Gina paced as she mulled over what Jacob was saying. Single did not mean outgoing but she knew in this case he was right. In Gina’s own case, it meant occasionally desperate for company but happy being a recluse the rest of the time. ‘Elaborate on that a little.’

  ‘She was a member of the Cleevesford Social Club. She went to the Angel Arms pub on the High Street regularly and often met with the other students in Birmingham. In the report, Diane says she was always out and she had a boyfriend.’

  Gina nodded. ‘Married man, Derek Alton. Back then he was in his late forties and married with two children. The neighbours regularly heard her shouting at him, giving him ultimatums. That wasn’t all. Diane said she’d been dating other men, which in her view was mostly to make Derek jealous in the hope that he’d leave his wife. Diane also said that Samantha was seeing someone else just before she went missing. She often smelled of smoke after meeting him. She maintains that Samantha wasn’t a smoker but thought that maybe the person she’d been with was.’

  Gina flinched as Briggs entered, piercing the silence as he cleared his throat. ‘Anything back from forensics?’ As he strode past her, he did the two buttons up on his suit jacket and took a seat at the end of the table.

  ‘I spoke to Bernard before we w
ent to see Diane. He has confirmed what we thought we knew about the murder weapon. It was made with something flat that resembles a mallet, like the ones that are used for knocking tent pegs into the ground.’

  Briggs rubbed the light stubble on his chin. ‘Do we have Noah’s statement on file?’

  O’Connor nodded. ‘He came in and gave us a formal statement. It’s on the system. He has also been calling, asking what we’ve been doing to find his wife’s murderer.’

  ‘Thanks, O’Connor.’ Briggs rubbed his eyes and smiled.

  Gina wondered for a second if her ex-lover was looking after himself or his lack of grooming was due to him having too much of a good time and burning the candle at both ends. Her stomach flipped a little. She almost wanted to slap herself for still thinking about him in that manner. His gaze caught hers and within a second it shot to the board. Gina checked her watch. ‘We have to get to Aimee Prowse’s house. I don’t want to miss her and I want the opportunity to see the home where Rhys Keegan lives. At the moment he is one of our prime suspects being the last person to see Jade alive. There has been no sign of him since the night of her murder. Any news on his whereabouts?’

  Everyone shook their head. ‘Not a thing, not on him or his car. It’s like he’s just vanished,’ O’Connor said, his shiny bald head reflecting the orangey strip light above.

  ‘O’Connor, I want you to delve further into Dawn Brown, the party host. I need to be prepared before I visit her. I want to know who she’s in relations with, what she does for a living, anything you can find out. Wyre, give Bernard another call and see if there are any further updates. I know they’re fire-fighting the workload but this case needs to jump the queue. I need the post-mortem to be done as soon as possible.’

  PC Smith passed the door of the incident room as he headed to the kitchen.

  ‘Smith,’ she called.

  ‘Huh.’

  ‘If there are any sightings of Rhys Keegan, I want you to contact me immediately. Anytime of the day or night.’