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Putting down the knife, she lays her hands on the top of the box and takes a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves. She needs to get a grip, not freak out over every tiny thing. If whoever is watching her is trying to distract her from the investigation, then she refuses to give them the satisfaction. She’s going to find the truth, whatever it takes.
Grabbing her cycle helmet and her bike, Jennie heads out, pulling the door firmly shut behind her.
Chapter 26
Her oversized Friends mug isn’t here. She’s checked all three shelves, the sink and dishwasher, but there’s no sign of it. Jennie curses under her breath. She’d left it on the draining board yesterday evening, and now it’s gone. Bloody people just helping themselves to other people’s stuff. It’s not on – they’re police officers for God’s sake!
‘You all right?’ asks Martin, coming into the staff kitchen and switching on the kettle.
‘Someone’s pinched my mug,’ replies Jennie. She looks around the kitchen again. It’s small and basic with budget cabinets, a stainless-steel sink and a granite-effect laminate countertop. There are a few dirty mugs in the sink but definitely no sign of her Friends mug.
‘Yeah, happened to me a couple of weeks ago but it turned up again,’ says Martin. ‘It’s probably some rookie uniform who didn’t realise it’s not part of the communal stuff.’
I doubt that’s true, thinks Jennie. The communal mugs are plain white, and hers is very clearly not. She goes back to the dishwasher, double-checking her mug isn’t hiding in the jumble of used chinaware and cutlery. It isn’t.
Martin takes two mugs out of the cupboard and spoons coffee into them. He adds milk to one, then fills both with boiling water. He hands the one without milk to Jennie. ‘Here you go.’
‘Thanks,’ says Jennie.
He waits a fraction longer than she expects before letting go of the mug. ‘Are you okay, boss?’
No, I’m wondering where the hell my mug is.
‘I’m fine, I just—’
‘It can’t have been easy last night, finding the body.’ Martin lets go of the mug and steps back, leaning against the counter. ‘They said you had to cut him down?’
Jennie meets her DS’s gaze. He looks sympathetic, like he’d be a good listener if she told him her concerns, her fears. It’s tempting, but she doesn’t. She’s the boss here; she can’t go around burdening the team with what she’s got going on, she has to stay professional. ‘We should get to the incident room: the DCI wanted a full briefing.’
Not waiting for a response, Jennie turns and strides along the corridor to the incident room. The space is already crowded. Naomi and Steven are sitting over near the whiteboard. Zuri is in her usual spot at the front, and the DCI has taken the seat Jennie would usually have. He gives her a curt nod, reinforcing the fact that she’s not been forgiven for forcing him into keeping her as lead on the case. She turns her attention to the new faces in the room. There are a few uniforms standing towards the back who Jennie recognises as the first responders last night. She smiles and says hello.
Not able to be in her usual spot, Jennie sits down beside Zuri. There’s a seat free next to her, but Martin continues towards the back of the room and takes a seat in front of the uniforms. He looks irritated and Jennie wonders if it’s because she didn’t open up to him or if it’s because she’s sitting with Zuri. Whichever it is, she has no time for games or petty squabbles today.
She gives Zuri a nod to get started. ‘What have we got?’
Zuri looks from Jennie to the DCI, seemingly mindful of the hierarchy and the tension in the room. ‘Robert Marwood’s death has been ruled a suicide. The cause of death was asphyxiation. There were no defensive or self-inflicted wounds other than those caused by hanging. Hassan called it in first thing this morning.’
‘Okay,’ says Jennie, thoughtfully. ‘What about the scene?’
‘DI Strickland and his team caught the case; they were up last night,’ says Zuri, glancing towards the DCI.
Campbell clears his throat. ‘I thought you and your team had enough on your plate with the Hannah Jennings case. There’s a lot of public interest in finding her killer. I didn’t want you to be spread too thin.’
Bloody Strickland! The last thing she needs is him poking his nose into her case and her relationship with Rob Marwood. She wonders if putting Strickland on Rob Marwood’s death is the DCI’s way of getting another DI close to the Hannah Jennings case by stealth. ‘What did they—’
‘We agree with Hassan’s conclusion,’ says Detective Inspector Strickland as he walks into the room with more than a hint of swagger. ‘There was no sign of foul play in or around the site the body was found. The only footprints were Rob Marwood’s, DI Whitmore’s and the attending paramedics. We found no signs of a struggle. It’s a tragic incident, but there was no crime.’
‘With respect, I’d like to take a look at the evidence myself,’ says Jennie, doing her best to control her irritation. ‘Robert Marwood was a witness and potential suspect in the Hannah Jennings case. He was—’
‘A mate of yours?’ asks DI Strickland, raising his eyebrows. Rather than sit on one of the chairs he perches against the table at the front beside the DCI. ‘My team have done their job, DI Whitmore. Hassan and his CSIs have done theirs. We all agree, Robert Marwood took his own life.’
Jennie bridles at DI Strickland’s condescending tone. They’ve always been rivals, ever since Jennie got promotion ahead of him to DS and then DI, and she’s never appreciated his sexist attitude towards his female colleagues. After his mishandling of the attempted abductions, she would’ve thought DI Strickland would have reflected on his practice and made some changes, but it seems he’s just as arrogant as ever. She looks at the DCI. ‘Do you agree, sir?’
‘Having reviewed the evidence, I agree with your conclusion,’ says Campbell, his expression neutral. ‘The thing yet to be decided is whether Robert Marwood was Hannah Jennings’ killer. I understand you were interested in him?’
Shit.
‘He was one of a number of people we were talking to,’ says Jennie. ‘But we hadn’t reached any definite conclusion.’
