The Norfolk Beach Murders by Judi Daykin

Author:Judi Daykin [DAYKIN, JUDI]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

When they told DCI Hudson of the connection and Mead’s identification of Duncan Blake, she groaned.

‘Well, that looks like the end of any Christmas holidays,’ she said. ‘Although I don’t suppose the farming operation is likely to go anywhere over the next few days. Let Dr Taylor know about Blake. He can match the DNA from the database. What else do you want us to do, DS Mead?’

‘Given that they didn’t turn up for the Amsterdam flight, I suspect there’s still unfinished business here.’

‘You think they may still be in the area?’ asked Sara.

‘It’s possible,’ agreed Mead. ‘Or they may be heading for another route. My team are checking all airports and ferry terminals for bookings.’

‘Time is running out for them. If they don’t get out by mid-afternoon tomorrow, most of these avenues will be closed until at least the twenty-sixth.’

‘Do you think we could check for sightings of the vehicle?’ Mead asked. ‘They will probably have changed their number plates by now, but we could look for the model.’

‘The traffic cameras are concentrated on the main roads,’ said Sara. ‘It’s all too easy to avoid being caught on CCTV by using the back roads.’

DS Mead looked depressed. ‘I don’t want to lose this bloody woman again. Especially if she’s up here on business. It could be the key we’ve been looking for.’

‘What about this boat hire? Let’s see if that tells us anything.’

DC Noble had worked his way through the images on the memory stick Amy had given them at the marina. They crowded behind him, craning to get a better view. He brought up a grainy video on his computer.

‘I assume they arrive by car, but unfortunately, there’s no video from the car park.’ He pointed to a man standing at the marina reception desk. ‘This is our man. I think this is clear enough for confirmation.’

‘That’s him, all right,’ agreed Mead.

‘When Amy has done the paperwork, the boss, Bill, goes to the boat with him. Two other men are waiting by the boat.’

This image was less clear. It was dark outside, and despite the lights trained on the berths, the picture was too distant to show enough detail. The other men had pulled up the hoods on their jackets, further obscuring their faces.

‘He obviously spends time showing them how the boat works.’ Noble ran the video forward until he reached a point where the marina manager climbed off the boat. Bill waved a couple of sheets of paper and pointed to its information, clearly trying to emphasise something. Then he handed the sheets to Duncan Blake. ‘I’m guessing that’s a weather forecast. I’ll check with him tomorrow morning. He’ll have gone home by now.’

Sara glanced at the office clock. It was already half past six. ‘Ask if the car park has any CCTV coverage as well.’

Noble clicked to run the video forward a few minutes. ‘I don’t know much about boats, but I’m assuming something that size takes some time to learn to drive. You might be a bit cautious with it at first.

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