Street Girls by Linda Regan

Author:Linda Regan [Linda Regan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2012-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

NINE

Later Tuesday morning

‘So what do you think?’ Banham asked Georgia.

‘About the case?’

‘No, about DI Dawes. I get the impression you don’t like him very much.’

Georgia kept her eyes on the road and attempted to keep her face expressionless. ‘I think he’s blinkered,’ she said. ‘He wants to believe Stuart Reilly is responsible for every crime on the estate.’

‘He is, mostly.’

‘Mostly.’ Georgia reminded herself that Dawes and Banham were old friends. ‘But not a hundred per cent. And not necessarily this time.’ When Banham didn’t answer, she flicked a glance at him, but his face gave nothing away. ‘Let’s keep our options open, that’s all I’m saying.’

Banham bobbed his head slightly to the side, but still made no comment.

‘There’s an angry wife and a jilted lover,’ Georgia pointed out. ‘We need to find out how far they’d go.’

‘He was castrated. Do you think his wife is capable of that?’ Banham asked.

‘Hell has no fury like a woman scorned,’ she replied. Their eyes met briefly in the mirror. ‘Look, I agree it’s very much Reilly’s style to cut someone’s prick off, but maybe someone knows that and has set him up. Even Dawes has pointed out the possibility of gang retaliation. And I’m still wondering if it might be something completely different. A crime of passion, perhaps.’

‘DC Peacock ran registration checks of both Jean Eden’s and her fiancé’s vehicles through the CCTV scanner,’ Banham reminded her. ‘Neither of them drove into Brixton the night Solden was murdered. Jones was working. OK, he was on his own, but it’s unlikely he caught a bus. Even I know that if you leave a bakery for a few hours you won’t have the same amount of bread the next day, and all the bakery figures checked out.’

‘They both claim they were alone,’ Georgia said. ‘Without alibis, they’re suspects. OK, so they didn’t drive their own cars into Brixton, but it doesn’t mean they weren’t there.’

‘The killer would be covered in blood, DI Johnson.’

‘No one was around. They could have taken clothes to change into. I’ve put Peacock on to Oyster records, by the way. The buses run all night.’

‘We haven’t found any bloodstained clothing.’

‘We haven’t found the knife either.’

‘How far have you widened the search?’

‘I’ve got a small team searching around the Soldens’ neighbourhood too, now.’

‘Good,’ Banham said, rubbing a hand thoughtfully across his mouth.

At last he was taking her seriously. ‘We have statements from the Soldens’ cleaner and gardener. They both have alibis that check out on the night of Tom Solden’s murder.’ She paused. ‘But they both have said that the family were always arguing, and the daughter hated her father.’

Banham didn’t reply. After a beat he said quietly, ‘The press know how Tom Solden was murdered.’

‘What?’ Georgia took her eyes off the road and veered over the centre line. A car hooted a warning, and she swiftly tugged the wheel back to her side of the line. Banham grabbed the edge of his seat.

‘Sorry.’ She held up her hands. ‘I just . .

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