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

by Carla Kovach

  They all watched as the grainy figure in a dark coat, hood up, scurried past the front of the house. As with a lot of domestic CCTV, they all knew it wasn’t going to clearly identify their person. Gina paused the footage just before the figure went out of shot. ‘We can see what I think is the outline of a white envelope. As for shape, I would say we are looking for a male. The coat is quite thick looking. He also appears to be wearing a small backpack.’ Gina pointed to the small mass on the back of the figure. ‘Keith has already examined the scene and taken samples. He also said that our perp had cleaned up well, no footprints on the toilet which was the entrance point, no fingerprints on the window or catches, again suggesting that gloves were worn. We are still waiting for results to come back on the hair sample. Initial thoughts are that this belongs to Samantha Felton. The fingernail that was delivered to Diane’s with the card had a bit of torn skin attached to it, even though our perp went through a lot of effort to clean it well. It is a positive match against Jade Ashmore. We have also confirmed that Jade’s nail was painted in Samantha’s favourite colour. Confusing, I know.’

  Gina began to fast forward the footage. ‘When does our perp leave?’ Jacob asked.

  ‘This isn’t shown. I can only think that this person left in the other direction which matches what Diane said. Her back door was unlocked even though she locked it before going to bed. Smith and Kapoor have yet to find any further witnesses or CCTV, but I live in hope.’

  Jacob took a seat at the main table and everyone else followed. Gina turned off the CCTV footage and joined them at the head of the table. ‘Given that we now have a photo of Jade and Samantha together as well as a sample of Jade’s nail turning up at Diane’s, which happens to be painted in Samantha’s favourite nail varnish colour, we are working on the premise that our intruder is responsible for Jade’s murder and Samantha’s disappearance. I want this person found. Follow up on everything, however small, and delve into all our partygoers’ lives. Wyre?’

  ‘Yes?’ Wyre finished writing and looked up.

  ‘How did you get on with researching the Swap Fun website?’

  Wyre bit the end of her pen as she flicked back a few pages. ‘I’ve created a profile and I’ve been trying to strike up conversation. I’ve had three pervy messages asking if I’m basically up for a booty call, an invite to a dogging event and two dick pics. As for the partner swap forums, I’m waiting to be accepted. I’m randomly joining in with the open threads, trying to gain their trust and hoping that it won’t be long until they bite and let me in. I obviously haven’t used a photo of my face when I set the account up. This won’t seem odd as many people don’t.’

  Gina slid across the floor on the wheels of her chair and opened Wyre’s Swap Fun account for all to see. The photo she’d used for her profile showed the back of her head while wearing a long blonde wig. She’d finished her creation off with a pair of sunglasses, sitting on her head. It clearly showed that her application to join the Cleevesford Swapper Forum was still pending. ‘As soon as they let you in, call me. I want to know what these people get up to. You and O’Connor carry on with that and the processing of any information that Smith gets back to you with. Jacob?’

  He looked up and nodded. ‘Yes, guv?’

  ‘We need to pay a visit to Maggie and Richard Leason. Find out their side of it all. So, finish your cake and get ready to leave.’

  He began chomping on the cake that O’Connor had given to him. ‘I’m ready when you are.’ He wiped the crumbs from the side of his mouth as he swallowed the rest of the cake.

  O’Connor kept flicking his pen lid, annoying Gina. In her mind she was reaching over and snatching it from him.

  ‘Guv?’ Nick the desk sergeant entered with a huge bunch of pink roses. The little diamantés in the centre of some of the buds glinted in the shaft of sunlight that escaped from the dark clouds.

  The room went silent and everyone turned to see him place them on the table. ‘They’re for you, guv,’ he said as he smiled and left the room.

  ‘Ooh, who’s the mystery man?’ O’Connor asked as he dropped his pen lid on the table.

  ‘There is no mystery man.’ She walked over the other side of the room and pulled the card from the bunch of flowers, opening the envelope.

  ‘Mystery woman?’

  O’Connor was pushing it. She felt her shoulders stiffen as she opened the card. ‘For the last time, there’s no mystery anyone so button it and get to work on finding our murderer.’

  He left the main table and headed back to his desk.

  ‘Right, to Richard and Maggie Leason’s then,’ Jacob said as he slipped his jacket on. ‘Nice flowers.’

  ‘There is no mystery lover,’ she said as her cheeks reddened. ‘At least there isn’t any more.’ She grabbed the flowers and placed them upside down in the waste bin. As soon as she got into the car, she was going to message Rex. How dare he humiliate her by sending her flowers at work? She didn’t work in an office or a shop, she was a senior detective, commanding respect from her team. Getting sent a bunch of pink flowers with a silly card containing only a love heart drawn in it, was nothing short of thoughtless. She had her doubts and now they had been confirmed. As she screwed the card up and threw it in the bin, Briggs walked through the door.

  ‘I’ve just caught up with everything. Are you off out to interview the Leasons now?’ Gina went to nod and stopped as she watched Briggs’s gaze fall on the flowers. ‘Are those flowers in the bin?’

  Her neck prickled and her red face totally betrayed her cool calm voice. Briggs now knew she was dating. He also knew things weren’t going well as she’d binned a bunch of flowers. He was a senior detective too, she couldn’t fool him for a second. Her mind flashed back to the night she’d slept with Rex and her stomach turned.

  ‘What a waste,’ he said as he walked over to the boards and began examining all the information and photos. She could tell he was analysing the situation and didn’t want her to see that he was. With a shaking hand, she grabbed her bag. In another life, she’d have liked to place a hand on his shoulder, for him to turn around and hold her tightly in his firm arms and kiss her. But that other life didn’t exist and the situation was what it was.

  She scanned the room. No one was looking at her any more. No doubt they were all wondering who had sent her flowers at work and they were probably all wondering why she’d thrown them in the bin. ‘We’re just going, sir. I’ll update you later.’ She leaned over and pulled the card back out of the bin and stuffed it into her pocket. She didn’t want Briggs to get hold of it once she’d left.

  ‘Right you are, Harte.’ His disapproval stung. He couldn’t even turn to look at her.

  Twenty-Seven

  Gina wiped a spot of rain from her nose as they stood outside Maggie and Richard’s end-of-terrace house. She glanced up at the old brickwork and the sign. 1 Lavender Lane – 1959. What a totally opposite style of house to Dawn Brown’s. The period house almost seemed dark with its tiny windows and old brown curtains that were still half drawn. She knocked again.

  ‘They probably didn’t hear,’ Jacob said as he undid the zip on his jacket.

  A sound came from the other side of the door as a curtain was swished across and the door unlocked.

  ‘Mrs Leason?’

  The woman nodded. ‘Maggie, please.’ From her notes, Gina knew that Maggie was forty-two and Richard was forty-five.

  ‘Detective Inspector Harte and DS Driscoll. We spoke to you earlier.’

  ‘Come in, Inspector,’ she said as she looked at Jacob.

  Gina grimaced as she inhaled the stale tobacco smoke filling the hallway. ‘I’m DI Harte.’ She knew she should have made it clearer. It had been a long time since someone had assumed that the senior colleague was the male she was with.

  ‘Oh sorry. Come through.’ The woman wrapped her navy cardigan across her body as she led them into the snug at the front of the house. Her short blonde hair, shaved to within an inch of its life, framed
her bronzed skin and large brown eyes. She sniffed and wiped her nose. ‘This is Richard.’ She held her arm out.

  The chubby man stood as she entered the lamp-lit room, his crew cut just a little shorter than his wife’s hair. ‘Take a seat. Can we get you anything?’

  The roaring fire was almost hypnotic and far too warm for the spring day. The room was dark and the ceilings high. It was a cool house. She shook her head and Jacob copied. ‘No, thank you. We need to speak about the other night, Sunday the fifth of May and the early hours of this Monday.’

  They all sat. Gina and Jacob on the couch and Richard and Maggie on an armchair either side.

  ‘We just went to Dawn’s party and came home. We don’t know anything apart from that.’ Maggie nervously twiddled her fingers.

  Jacob pulled his pad from his pocket and waited.

  ‘We know about the party and we need to know exactly what happened that night. We know it wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill party. Now you know what we know, what can you tell us about that night?’

  Maggie cleared her throat and glanced over at Richard. She opened her mouth to speak then stopped.

  It was going to be a long interview with their two witnesses. Gina could tell that they hadn’t spoken to each other about that night, including who they went with and what they got up to. ‘DS Driscoll, if you take Mr Leason into the kitchen, I’ll speak with Maggie.’

  ‘Of course, guv. Lead the way, Mr Leason.’ The man caught his wife’s eye and left the room with Jacob following.

  As a fire crackled, a chunky log dropped on to the rest of the debris. Maggie leaned forward and began moving her attention to a loose thread on her cardigan.

  ‘Maggie?’ She looked up, swallowing as she met Gina’s gaze. ‘Tell me about that night. Where did you end up?’

  She pulled a cigarette out. ‘Can I smoke?’

  Gina nodded. The more at ease the woman felt, the more she might tell her.

  ‘I’ve started vaping but struggle to stay on the wagon when I’m stressed.’ She lit the cigarette and sucked hard before exhaling a plume of smoke, creating a thick fog in the tiny room.

  Gina knew her hair and clothes would stink after this visit. As soon as she finished up for the afternoon, she was heading home for a shower. ‘Right, back to that night.’

  Maggie crossed her short legs and leaned her elbow on her knee as she puffed once more. ‘It may surprise you to know that I was really looking forward to that night. I get bored easily and Richard is willing, which makes it easier. I think being a little free in the bedroom is what has really kept us together all these years. We met Dawn and Steven for the first time that night. It was their first time but not ours. Anyway, we drank a bit and smoked until we’d had a chance to mingle with the other guests.’ Maggie stared into the fireplace.

  Gina also doubted that it was Steven’s first time. Dawn’s maybe. ‘And then?’ Gina flipped the page of her pad and waited for the woman to carry on.

  ‘I was pretty blotto if I’m honest but it seemed early, not long after midnight, I’d say. When I got home, I just fell face down on to our bed, only being disturbed when Richard got in and I woke up in the morning. That’s it.’

  Gina was hoping she’d remember something that might be of use. ‘Tell me what you do remember.’

  ‘I remember my husband checking Aimee out, they were all checking Aimee out. Her profile picture on Swap Fun doesn’t do her justice. I’ve never seen such a perfect-looking woman. I understood where they were coming from. I’m not into women but, to be fair, I’d have been happy if I’d ended up with Aimee. Anyway, Richard ended up with Dawn. We don’t discuss what we did, that’s part of the rules. All I know is he left with Dawn and I left with Steven.’

  ‘Did you and Steven stay in Dawn’s house?’

  She shook her head. ‘Dawn looks after her brother’s house. He’s apparently working abroad as a chef for the rest of the year so it was vacant. Steven had the key.’

  Another location to look into. ‘Where was this house?’

  ‘Just on the next road. Fox Close. There was no one there but the house was warm and the lamps were already switched on. Dawn must have gone earlier to prepare the house. Steven was half-cut and lit up a spliff. I shouldn’t have said that. Oh for heaven’s sake. I’m such an idiot but I don’t suppose you care about one silly little spliff. I think one was being passed around earlier that night too.’

  Gina made a note. She already knew Steven had a love of weed. He’d always stank of it in the past and she doubted he’d changed his ways. ‘You’re not an idiot, this is really helpful. This is a murder investigation and you’re doing really well.’

  ‘Okay.’ She stubbed the cigarette out in a chipped saucer. ‘We were there about an hour, I think. I’d had a drag of his weed too and I was pretty out of things which is why I’m struggling to remember. I don’t normally do weed. I’ve only tried it once when we had a weekend in Amsterdam. I don’t know why I did it but I did. I was caught up in the moment and wanted to feel good. I fancied Steven, I’ll admit that much.’ The woman pulled the thread on her cardigan and it began to unravel.

  Gina couldn’t understand how any woman could find Steven attractive.

  ‘It wasn’t good. He pushed me around a little. I don’t know if I gave the impression of wanting it rough or whether it was something I did. I mean, I was a willing partner. I thought he would’ve tried to be a bit more considerate. I tried to tell him what I needed but it fell on deaf ears. Before I knew it, he’d finished. He slapped me on the arse and threw my jeans at me. I’d really like to erase the experience from my mind.’ She shuddered.

  ‘Rough?’ Gina wondered if he’d crossed any boundaries.

  ‘He didn’t hurt me, he just grabbed me and moved me around a little abruptly. After we finished, he casually said he was thinking of Aimee while we were doing it and laughed. I remember feeling my stomach lurch. The weed and wine, and his comment, were swimming around my system and I found the whole experience a little surreal. I threw up in the sink. After I’d cleaned up a bit, I looked up and he’d gone. I grabbed my things, left out the front door and hurried straight home. I had a glass of water and fell into bed. As I said, Richard came home soon after.’

  Sweat began to form at Gina’s brow. The tiny room was now filled with smoke and heat from the fire and the woman’s cigarette. ‘What time did he return?’

  She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I was half stoned, nauseous and a bit drunk. Like I said before, I think it was a little after twelve. We were all around the local area. After the deed, it wouldn’t have taken long to get home. He got into bed, snuggled against me for a few minutes and then I remember him snoring, loudly. I did look at the radio clock around then, I think it was about twenty past twelve. Next thing I remember is morning. That’s when we heard on the radio that someone had been murdered. We didn’t know it was Jade at that point but word gets around quick. I went on Facebook and then we knew it was her.’

  ‘Is there anything else you can remember?’

  ‘No. That’s it. We really are sorry for Noah. She, Jade, didn’t say much. She looked nervous but she seemed like a nice woman. She mentioned their daughter and seemed quite gently-spoken. It was a shock, you know?’

  Gina nodded and closed her notepad. She hoped Jacob would hurry so that they could compare notes. She gazed at Maggie, wondering if there was any way she could have overpowered Jade. Their witness at the scene hadn’t described the perpetrator as short. Maggie looked to be around five feet tall.

  A few moments later, Jacob re-entered the room. She could see that he was bursting to compare notes.

  Twenty-Eight

  Thursday, 9 May 2019

  Gina swigged the rest of her takeaway coffee. After another disturbed night’s sleep, she needed all the help she could get. She’d sent that final text to Rex and heard nothing back so far. Still seething, she stared at the bin. The flowers would be long gone now. The cleaner would have dumped them in the in
dustrial bin at the back of the building. Gone forever, just like Rex. ‘Right, team, thank you for being here so bright and early. I know you’re all working your socks off but it’s important that we discuss findings to date.’ She briefly stared at the crime scene photo of Jade Ashmore. Broken nose, half of her face caved in, the sheer brutality of the attack imprinted in her mind. She swallowed and turned to face the team. She stroked her own hairline, remembering where Terry had once split her head open, just under the fringe that she’d grown.

  ‘We’ve had to release a further statement as Lyndsey Saunders of the Warwickshire Herald kept calling Annie. Corporate Communications have issued a holding statement for the time being, simply saying that we wouldn’t be answering any questions and that we’d follow up with a more detailed press conference in due course. We offered our assurance to the public that we are working solid on this. I don’t want the press getting hold of any details for the usual reasons.’ Gina sighed. ‘I don’t want anything released about the link to Samantha as yet. The fingernail, the nature of Jade’s injuries, they have to remain under wraps. All the public need to know is that we are treating her death as a murder enquiry and to be extra vigilant. We’ll keep appealing for witnesses.’

  Nodding his approval, Briggs gave her a slight smile. Maybe she’d been overthinking what he’d thought of the flowers. ‘Right, I’m taking it that you’ve all updated yourselves with the case so far. Everything on the system is up to date, the board is up to date and we all have our tasks in hand. Is that correct?’

  Jacob, Wyre and O’Connor nodded. O’Connor bit a chunk of nail from the corner of his thumb and flicked it onto the floor. A new habit of his that was starting to grate on Gina. Between the nail biting, pen flicking and chair sliding, he was fast becoming her number one annoyance. He started rolling back and forth on his chair.