‘My girl is dead. My beautiful Felicity is dead,’ Christian cried, the words erupting into sobs.
Jennifer cradled the phone against her ear, cursing herself for failing to recognise his number. She wondered if he felt more comfortable with her than his shallow showbiz friends.
‘I know. I’m very sorry for your loss.’ Jennifer bit her tongue. She hated those words, having heard them over and over at her mother’s funeral when she was just ten years old. Sorry for your loss, sorry for your loss, accompanied by firm handshakes from smartly dressed police officers conveying their sympathies. Wearing full dress uniform, with shiny buttons and squeaky polished boots, they extended their hands in sympathy. She had grasped each one until her fingers ached, while her father’s shoulders shook, tears running in rivulets down his unshaven face. She could smell the alcohol on his breath even then. The office door slammed, and Jennifer snapped out of her memory, returning her attention to Christian.
His slow deliberate tones could not disguise the slur in his voice. ‘Why have the police arrested my ex-wife?’ A bottle clinked against glass in the background.
‘I’m sorry, you need to speak to DC Hardwick,’ Jennifer said. Her knowledge of the arrest was that Christian’s ex-wife had denied all offences and been bailed for further enquiries while they checked out her alibi. Her reluctance to provide one was because she had been with another man, something she had wanted to keep to herself.
Christian’s thick breathing intermingled with old reruns of the reality TV programme, The Beauty Salon, as it played in the background. She caught the unmistakable laugh of his dead fiancée as it blared through his speaker system.
‘I’ve lost everything.’ Christian cried, great big heaving sobs down the phone.
‘I’m sorry, but …’
Lost in his grief, Christian just kept talking. ‘I told you there was something dark on the horizon and you wouldn’t listen. Now Felicity’s dead.’
Jennifer’s jaw clenched as his words hit close to the mark. She had forgotten all about his warning, but there was little point discussing it when Christian was off his face. ‘I’m at work now, but how about we meet for a coffee? I’ll text you when I’ve worked something out, how about that?’
But Christian wasn’t listening, and another sob erupted as he blurted out the words, ‘She’s dead. My beautiful girl is dead.’
Jennifer took a deep breath. She had been meaning to ask the question and now was as good a time as any. ‘Did Felicity have a keyring on her car keys?’
Christian sniffled loudly before replying. ‘A keyring? Well … yes. It was a diamond-studded D and G. I bought it for her when I gave her the car. I wish I’d never bought her that car …’
Jennifer sighed. At least she had clarification of the owner of the keyring. MIT would surely listen to her now. It had already been booked into the property system, a request on its way for forensics to check for fingerprints. She would also need a statement from Christian outlining what he had just said. But now was not the time. ‘You sound worn out. Is anyone staying with you?’
‘My … mum … and the children. What if the police charge my ex-wife? You should be speaking to my cousin, not her. What if she goes to prison? What about them?’
Jennifer extricated her fingers from the tightly wound phone cord as she prepared to end the call. ‘She may just be helping them with their questioning. Have you heard from your cousin at all?’
‘No … Why? You think he did it, don’t you?’
Jennifer paused, choosing her words carefully. ‘There are often several persons of interest in investigations. But if you hear from him, you must contact us immediately. I’ve put a flag on your address and phone line, so any calls will be treated as a priority. Now why don’t you get some rest, it sounds like you need it.’
Christian exhaled slowly, as if he had been deflated and was slowly coming to ground. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to have a go at you. I comfort people about life after death, but I’ve never experienced loss before. I don’t know what to do with myself.’
Jennifer’s voice softened. ‘You’ve had a lot to endure. Get some rest, you need to stay strong for your children.’
The phone call left Jennifer feeling emotionally drained. It wasn’t the right time to go into details of his cousin’s involvement. It was all so horrendous.
It was time to bring her sergeant up to date with the briefing on the Raven case, and inform her about the letter found in the glove box of her car. Admitting her discovery of a dead raven outside her home could have her removed from the case for her own safety, and she had warned Will to keep that snippet of information to himself.
Claire opened the door a couple of inches before swiftly pulling Jennifer inside.
‘Is everything all right?’ Jennifer said, wondering why the sudden need for secrecy.
Claire gave an apologetic smile. ‘Yeah, sorry. I’ve a guest with me and I didn’t want anyone else seeing.’
‘A guest?’ Jennifer looked around the empty room, and then heard a drumming noise under Claire’s desk. She bent down to see a small wiry dog lying on his back with his tail pounding a beat against the carpeted floor. ‘Hello boy,’ Jennifer said, his back leg twitching as she reached down and scratched his stomach. ‘Is that George’s dog?’
Claire smiled, ‘Yes. The old codger persuaded me to take him in while he sorted out his benefits. It’s the second time this week.’
‘Hasn’t anyone noticed?’
‘No, and don’t tell Will, because he’ll be mooning over him instead of getting on with his work.’
‘Hmm, pongs a bit though,’ Jennifer said, sniffing her hands.
Claire shrugged. ‘Ah well, that’s dogs for you. How are you finding Zoe?’
Jennifer peered out the window to see her new colleague chatting to Will, toying with her stationery, as she sat in her chair. ‘She’s a nice girl, although she didn’t need much babysitting from me, she seems happier working alone.’
‘We’ll have to organise a works night out soon, once we get on top of our workload. You and Will have quite a double act going on at the moment. You’re like yin and yang but I like it.’
‘It works for me. I feel like we’re on the verge of something big with this Raven case, but it’s frustrating not having full control of the investigation. I’ve got some fresh evidence, and it pains me to have to hand it over to MIT.’ Jennifer passed her report to Claire, which was typed up and ready to pass over.
Her sergeant scanned the pages, making ‘mmm’ sounds as she absorbed herself in the updates.
Jennifer glanced through the window again to see Will tidying her desk, straightening the pens and stationery that Zoe had inadvertently moved. A warm glow spread through her, and seconds passed before her sergeant cleared her throat.
‘Will found evidence in your car?’ Claire raised an eyebrow as she finished reading the report. ‘I’ll need to speak to the DI about this.’
The fact Claire had called him the DI and not Ethan set alarm bells ringing in Jennifer’s head. She hadn’t considered the option that she herself could become a person of interest in the Felicity Baron case. ‘Should I be worried?’
‘No, I just think he should be aware before you update them.’ Claire slipped off her pumps and scratched Tinker’s belly with her feet. The dog emitted a low satisfied moan, underneath her desk.
Jennifer gave a short-lived smile at her sergeant’s quirkiness. ‘Perhaps I am responsible for all this. Sometimes I feel like I’m attracting bad energies and the people of Haven are paying for it.’