The Price You Pay by Jay Nadal

Author:Jay Nadal [Nadal, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-12-19T16:00:00+00:00

39

The conversation with Jade still played on her mind as Karen got an early start the next morning. She knew there was some inevitability in having to confront Shield. Whether doing so would help her to get the answers she needed, she wasn’t sure. Having made herself a cup of coffee, she wandered around the main floor and checked the incident board before returning to her office. A few officers were in bright and early. Most of those on the night shift had updated the system and headed home to catch up on sleep before doing it all again later today.

The feedback on the system was less than encouraging. Various entries followed the most recent press release. There seemed to be a growing concern among residents that the police were dragging their heels. This led to the Police and Crime Commissioner intervening at the highest levels, which only heaped more pressure on her team.

Several leads from anonymous callers claimed to have seen a grey BMW 3 Series matching the description on the night of Sallyanne’s murder. That didn’t surprise Karen. Based on her interview with Warnock, he’d been in the area frequently.

She turned her attention towards updates from the forensic team. A swab analysis of vaginal fluids taken from Sallyanne during the post-mortem had revealed no semen traces. They had, however, identified several unknown DNA samples from the inside of her thighs which suggested Sallyanne had had sex with several men prior to her death.

There wasn’t much good news as Karen continued to pore over the report, tutting in annoyance. An extensive analysis of Warnock’s BMW had found no blood, skin tissue, or clothing fibres belonging to Sallyanne Faulkner. Karen sat back in her chair and considered the reasons. Yes, Warnock would have been forensically aware because of his medical background. Had he cleaned his car to remove any traces, whether human or synthetic, other than his own?

Karen took a sip of her coffee and welcomed the caffeine hit. She grimaced at the thick, sour taste. Even though she’d collapsed into bed at night, sleep had been restless and fitful. She’d woken several times and had wandered around the flat hoping to silence her mind.

The teams’ efforts to trace down Roberto had proved fruitless. So far, enquiries with HMRC revealed no tax deductions. The man had no current mobile phone contract. His account with the NatWest showed no withdrawals or deposits in over six months, and he didn’t appear to be on the council tax register either. Karen concluded in all likelihood that Roberto had returned to Italy. She made a mental note to remind her team to see if they could locate him by checking with Italian authorities, UK airport and airline passenger logs.

Karen tapped her pen on the table while she thought about Sallyanne and her relationship with Roberto. Had it been based on love, lust, or something more sinister? He’d spent a considerable amount of time coming in and out of her life. Was it because they

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