‘Okey-dokey, let’s get cracking,’ Kim said, taking her usual place in the squad room. She’d said nothing to Bryant on the way in of her altercation last night with Burns and it was going to stay that way. She knew Bryant well enough to surmise that he’d go looking for Burns to give him an earful or at the very least insist she tell Woody. Neither option was acceptable to her because she just wanted to focus on solving this case. Burns was finished now, and she hoped she wouldn’t be seeing him again.
‘Stacey, you done with your missing accountant?’ she asked.
Stacey nodded. ‘His description is still being circulated, but there’s nothing more I can do at the minute.’
‘Full attention on this case then. I still want to know everything about Charles Stamoran and his guard dog Lorraine Abbott. I want to know about Celia Gardner and her sexual identity transformation. I want to know exactly what happened the night before last with Liam Sachs and…’ She paused. ‘Is anyone writing this down?’
‘Got it so far, boss,’ Penn said. ‘And just to say that Megan Shaw seems to be as clean as a whistle. Only daughter of couple who divorced when she was eleven. All her schooling was done around Tividale. Took some kind of gap year before going to Dudley College and then Loughborough University. Returned to the Black Country and set up her own practice. Financials are all in order. Not a prolific user of social media and appears to have no current partner.’ He opened his hands expressively.
‘That it?’
He nodded.
She hadn’t expected any kind of smoking gun, but for some reason she was surprised that the woman was unattached.
‘Moving on, I don’t expect the search warrant for the clinic through yet but it doesn’t hurt to chase it. The very second it lands I want—’
‘On it, boss,’ Stacey said.
‘Bryant and I will be focussing on Jerry Dwyer.’
‘Address just set to Bryant,’ Stacey said as his phone tinged.
‘So soon?’
‘There’s a Jerry Dwyer listed as living in Quatford just three miles out of Bridgnorth, so I’m guessing that stands a chance. No one else listed at the same address on the electoral roll.’
‘Thanks, Stace. It’s one thing having the view of someone that’s allegedly been mistreated, that’s one experience, but speaking to someone who works there and has seen the treatment of many people is another matter.’
‘Is he our killer though?’ Bryant asked in his subtle way of hinting that they were getting a bit off track.
‘We have three victims and two of them are linked to Change. We won’t know about the third until we get access to their files.’
‘Your gut?’ Penn asked.
‘Says that Liam Sachs was meeting someone he didn’t want his wife to know about.’
‘Which might have been either a woman or a man but, even so, that doesn’t tie him to the clinic,’ Bryant noted.
‘Agreed, which is why we’re going to shelve it until we get the search warrant for the records. In the meantime, after hearing Stephanie’s story yesterday, I want to know what this Jerry guy has to say.’
‘Even if it has nothing to do with the case?’ Bryant asked.
She considered. ‘Yep, absolutely.’ As police officers they didn’t have the luxury of ignoring one crime because they were investigating another. If rape and torture was happening under their noses, they couldn’t ignore it because they were hunting for a murderer.
‘If Jerry is to be believed, he felt strongly enough to slip an SOS letter into the bag of someone considered to be a good guy. What do we think?’ she asked, turning to the rest of the team.
‘I’d guess we’re talking a visitor,’ Stacey said.
‘Could it be a delivery guy?’ Penn asked. ‘Jerry works in the kitchen.’
‘Slipped into the bag of is quite specific,’ Kim said. ‘So I’m not sure that fits.’
‘What about a visitor to one of the patients?’ Stacey asked.
‘They don’t have them,’ Kim said. ‘No distractions while receiving treatment.’
‘How about consultants like the therapists?’ Bryant asked.