Lost Souls by Jenny O'Brien (android e book reader txt) 📕

‘Yes. Yes, of course you will,’ Janice responded, her voice devoid of emotion.

It didn’t take long for Diane to come rushing into the room and slip into the empty chair, her chest heaving at the effort to run down from the floor above.

‘Right then, now that PC Carbone has joined us, please can you tell us your movements of yesterday and your explanation for the copious amounts of fresh blood found in your bathroom?’

Gaby didn’t have time to spare on conversational niceties and, with a woman like Janice Stevens, she knew that pussyfooting around was the wrong way to go. By the pull of her brow, she could see that she’d struck a chord. All she had to do was …

‘Can I interject?’ Ivo said, regaining some of the aplomb he was well known for.

‘It seems like you just have, Mr Morgan.’

‘How can you confirm that it is Elodie Fry’s blood? Surely it takes a lot longer for DNA testing or is there some advancement in the field of forensic science that I’m not aware of?’

‘Elodie Fry’s blood, Mr Morgan? I don’t remember labelling it in that fashion unless you know something that I don’t?’ She raised a finely arched brow, noting the sheen of moisture on his forehead with quiet satisfaction. ‘Rest assured that as soon as the results are back you will be the first one to know. Is that all or can I continue questioning my witness?’ Gaby waited a moment, her habitual bland expression hiding her dislike of the two-timing smarmy git. ‘Mrs Stevens, do you have another explanation and, if so, what is it?’

‘No.’

‘For the record Mrs Stevens is confirming that she has no knowledge as to how blood was spilled on her bathroom floor,’ Gaby said, her gaze meeting Janice’s head on as she emphasised the point before abruptly changing the subject. ‘What about your children? I believe you have three?’

‘But only Jacob and Caleb are at home. As far as I’m aware, they haven’t been into my bathroom recently – they wouldn’t need to. They have a perfectly serviceable one of their own and if they’d had a nosebleed, or injured themselves, there’s no way that they wouldn’t have told me.’

‘And what about your older son, Ronan?’

‘Detective, do we really need to go through all this? You’ve already interviewed my client. She informed you then that her son is no longer a part of her household,’ Ivo said on a long sigh, folding his arms across his chest, his diamond-studded cuff links peeking out from the sleeve of his navy pinstriped suit.

‘Are you conducting this interview or me, Mr Morgan?’ Instead of waiting for a response, she sat back and concentrated on Janice and the two bright patches of colour spotting her cheeks at her line of questioning.

‘My son left home two months ago, Detective,’ Janice said, her voice a hollow sound. ‘As far as I’m aware, he’s living rough in Llandudno. Reverend Honeybun is keeping an eye on him for me. It’s been a difficult few months for us all, but particularly for my son who was very close to his father. But all that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t believe he would have kidnapped the girl and then murdered her in my en suite. What kind of a family do you think we are?’

‘Can you tell me your movements since yesterday morning, from let’s say 6 a.m.?’

Gaby decided to change her line of questioning simply because she knew that she wasn’t getting anywhere. Part of her felt desperately sorry for Janice Stevens but sympathy wouldn’t help her find the missing girl or explain the blood in her bathroom.

‘Certainly. I was in bed until seven, which is when I normally get up to grab a quick shower. Getting up early is the only way I can have five minutes’ peace,’ she said, lifting a hand to her hair and brushing her fringe back off her forehead. ‘After waking the boys, I made breakfast and pottered with lunchboxes and what have you while I encouraged them to hurry up. If we don’t leave the house by eight at the latest, the traffic along the A470 is bumper to bumper and they’ll be late.’

‘Where were you taking them?’

‘The sports centre, near Llanrwst. They run a summer school – anything to keep them off their computers for a few hours.’

Gaby made a quick note of the name on her phone. ‘And what happened next? You dropped off the boys at …?’

‘Eight-thirtyish after which I went to work, where I stayed all day. I even ended up having a sandwich at my desk. It was one of those days.’

‘Yes. We have them here too, all the time,’ Gaby said, managing a brief smile of understanding. ‘And you can confirm all this?’

‘Absolutely. The sports centre can with regards to the drop-off and pick-up of the boys and my PA at work can too. There’ll also be computer records with regards to the hours I spent updating client files and the like.’

Gaby flicked a quick look across at Diane, who gave a little shake of her head in reply. There were no further questions to ask and no reason that she could think of to hold her any longer, not until they got the DNA back on the blood.

‘I’ll need to confirm everything you’ve told me then we should be able to release you.’

‘Surely as Mrs Stevens is a respected member of the lawyer fraternity we can waive—’

‘No, Mr Morgan. We can’t and you should know better than to ask. Might I remind you that there is still the blood in the bathroom that hasn’t been adequately explained in addition to a little girl missing, not to mention the unavailability of Ronan Stevens for questioning.’ She turned back to Janice. ‘If you could leave your full contact details with PC Carbone please – once we’ve confirmed everything with the respective parties, you’ll be free to go. This interview is terminated at