‘Ah, careful,’ she called out as Rachel’s foot caught the leg of the chair.
‘I’m only searching bank statements,’ Penn quipped.
She ignored him. Even though she couldn’t hear anything, her mind had supplied the tinny sound of metal hitting metal.
There was no question that Rachel had stumbled badly.
She rewound and watched again in slow motion. Her toe caught the the leg of the chair, which crashed into the table, and Rachel’s hand appeared on the back of the chair for support, which sent it screeching further into the table.
She continued watching the next five seconds before the offending lorry hurtled into the frame, cutting off her view and, as they now knew, Rachel’s life.
She cringed as her mind again supplied the sickening sound effect of metal against flesh. She swallowed down the nausea that came with the knowledge of what had just happened out of view.
She took a breath and watched that telling five seconds again. And again. There was no doubt in her mind that Rachel had righted herself after the stumble and had walked away perfectly fine.
She sat back in her chair, wondering which camera view to try next.
‘Hang on one second,’ she said, sitting upright.
‘Okay, do you want me to be careful or to hang on?’ Penn asked.
Stacey again ignored him. He knew full well she talked to herself.
Stonewashed jeans. She’d seen them recently.
She went to the footage from the council that was at the top of the high street. The siting of a bus shelter prevented her from having the perfect view of where the incident had taken place, but she wasn’t only looking around that area. Her gaze was searching the whole High Street.
‘Gotcha,’ she called out as she spotted a familiar figure in stonewashed jeans, a green hoodie and a denim baseball cap. There was no doubt that this was the man who had been close to the public footpath on the day of the murders, and here he was again, in the area where another member of that family had been killed.
She rubbed her hands as the figure moved towards the camera. He wasn’t walking with the same demeanour. His body was open and relaxed, and his head was up.
‘Come on – show me who you are,’ she said as he was about to disappear beneath the camera.
She paused just at the last second and let out a whoop.
This image had a face that she recognised. It was staring at her from the wipe board.
She picked up her phone.
Now it was time to call the boss.
SIXTY-FOUR
The roller shutter to the premises was half down when Bryant pulled up outside.
Kim got out of the car and had no compunction with ducking underneath it.
She could see that the last items of stock had been taken, and the reason for her visit was sweeping shavings into a pile.
Davey Burston dropped the broom and walked slowly towards her.
Bryant had followed her under the roller shutter, and she could see Leanne’s legs on the other side of the door.
‘Mr Burston, you appear to have omitted a few details from the chat we had yesterday.’
He wiped his hands on his trousers. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Roy Burston appeared from a side door that led to the office.