"Have you found him?" Mrs Brent had opened the door to Rachel and Janet looking desperate. Rachel had been very vague on the phone, but Mrs Brent had been all too happy to let them come to her home, despite it being stupid o'clock in the morning.
"Mrs Brent, may we come in?" Asked Janet calmly, and the woman gave a small nod. There were tears in her eyes and she looked a bit shaky.
Janet and Rachel followed her into the living room and sat down on a sofa they were directed to.
"Mrs Brent, you reported your son Richard missing on the Sunday 24th June. Is that correct?" Janet began
Mrs Brent gave a small nod. "Have you found my Ricky?"
"We know that your son worked for a small scrap metal firm that provided car parts for Reynolds' Scrap yard."
"Horrible company." She muttered
"Which one?" Asked Rachel curiously.
"Both" Mrs Brent whispered. "My Ricky wasn't happy working for David, he always said he wanted out, but times are hard and he couldn't get another job"
"Sorry, David Who?" Rachel asked.
"Bond" Mrs Brent was now fighting back tears as she looked up at Janet, who was sitting closest. "He was no good for my Ricky but he had no choice. His father walked out on us 9 months ago. I've got very little income and Ricky worked for the firm to pay the bills. He was a good lad but..."
"But?'" Rachel ignored a look from Janet. They were supposed to be collecting a DNA sample, not interviewing her.
"That firm was no good, and neither is that other one." Mrs Brent sounded quite fierce.
"Reynolds'?" Rachel pushed and the woman nodded again.
"He told me, on Thursday night. He said the company were doing some dodgy deals." She paused and gave a sob. "He was terrified."
Of what Mrs Brent?" Even Janet had begun to look interested now, and she had decided to let Rachel continue her questioning.
"I don't know" She was shaking her head violently now and her voice kept cracking. "He told me he wanted out. Said he wasn't going back there. He said it was corrupt. They were all bad people and he never wanted to see any of them again. I'd never seen him so upset."
"But did he say why?"
"No. He just said he couldn't work for people who could see these bad things happen. He stayed in the house on Friday. The phone kept ringing but he told me not to answer it. Then I heard him on his mobile and on Saturday morning he said he was going out to meet a friend. When he didn't come back I thought he'd stayed round somebody's house. Then, when he still wasn't there on Sunday I tried all his friends' numbers. They all said they hadn't seen him in weeks. I tried ringing his mobile, he ALWAYS answers it" She added the last bit with extra emphasis, looking straight at Rachel, who tried to put on her most sympathetic expression. "But he never answered. So I reported him missing. He would never leave without telling me where he was going. Something's happened to him hasn't it? Is that why you're here?"
As she spoke Janet's phone rang. It was Gill. "Sorry, Rach can you take this?"
Rachel took the phone from Janet, excused herself and walked to the door of the sitting room answering "hello"
"Mrs Brent" said Janet calmly, "A body was found yesterday morning at Reynolds' Scrap Yard. We have no identification for this body yet, but we have reason to believe it may be your son, due to his connection with the yard."
Mrs Brent let out a choking sound. "They've killed him. They've killed my Ricky"
Rachel was trying to hear what Gill was saying. "Rachel, I've just had a call from the lab. The DNA found on the body of the dead bloke matches the hair found on Holly Wainwright's body! Are you still at the mother's?"
"Yes" Janet heard Rachel say, "Yes I'll ask. Ok thanks, bye" She put the phone down, walked back to the sofa, and handed the phone back to Janet as she sat back down.
"Mrs Brent, did your son know a girl called Holly Wainwright?" she asked.
"Yes" Mrs Brent stammered. "He was mad about her. Nice girl. She was good for him!" She looked up at them. "Why? Has she got something to do with it?"
"Do you not read the papers Mrs Brent?" Rachel couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice.
"No. I cancelled my subscription. I'm a bit out of touch with the world"
"Mrs Brent, Holly Wainwright was killed last Thursday" Said Janet gently
"Wha... No." Mrs Brent stared at Janet in horror.
"She was found dead at Reynolds' Scrap Yard by a worker on Friday morning."
"But...How?" This was clearly news to Mrs Brent.
"She can't be? Ricky would've said something. Unless...Oh god" She looked from Janet to Rachel, her face crumpling in horror. "You don't think he had anything to do with it..do you? Is that why you're here? To accuse my Ricky!" Her voice was getting louder.
"Mrs Brent I assure you we've only just made the connection" Said Rachel, trying to keep her voice steady. She didn't like it when the victim's family went off on one. "We'd like to take a sample of your own DNA so that we can ensure that it is Ricky we are talking about. We also wondered if you had anything with your son's DNA on, like a hairbrush?"
The woman nodded. "I've probably got his razor or something"
Janet smiled. "I'm sure that'll be fine. We only need it if your DNA proves inconclusive."
"Do you want a blood sample?"
"No, we just need to swab the inside of your mouth!"
Mrs Brent nodded again then seemed to think of something. "Can I see him. Then I could tell you if its my Ricky?"
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, he sustained some rather major injuries" Janet had tried to be as tactful as possible without going into details
"H-how did he die?" She stammered
"Let's just make sure it's your son we're talking about first Mrs Brent" Janet looked at Rachel. Neither of them wanted to be the one to tell her that her son had been effectively eaten by a dinosaur.
XxXxX
"Did you drop the samples off at the lab?" asked Gill as Janet and Rachel got in. It was now nearly 5am.
"Just done it" said Janet.
Gill turned to Rachel "And did you ask her about Holly?"
"Apparently she and Ricky Brent were an item! Mrs Brent had no idea that Holly was dead, but Ricky had come home on Thursday night claiming that the company he worked for were doing dodgy deals with Reynolds. She'd never seen him so frightened. I think it would also be worth checking out the man he works for, 'David Bond'"
Gill nodded. "The plot thickens" her eyes shining. She loved it when they started to get somewhere with a case. "So are we assuming that he knew of Holly's death, and that's why he was killed?"
"Looks that way" said Rachel "Also, he apparently had a phone call on Saturday night, and went out to meet a friend on Sunday. Seems a bit of a coincidence to me"
"So we need to find out who he was meeting on the day he was killed. We need his phone!" said Gill narrowing her eyes. Rachel nodded. "Ok, we'll get a search going for that then"
"Have we missed anything?" Asked Janet
"I've just been reading last night's evening news" Gill sat down on one of the desks, and Rachel and Janet perched on the one opposite. "Apparently the head of one of Holly's old children's homes has kindly given the vultures her side of the story"
"In other words she's sold her story of a dead girl that she probably hadn't thought once about until she saw her name in the paper." Said Rachel, sounding disgusted, and Gill nodded her head. She reached behind her onto the desk and picked up a newspaper.
"Mrs Hounslow, 53, told of her shock that such a lovely young girl should be snatched so unfairly from the world" Gill read out sarcastically. "Mrs Hounslow has been a care worker at Greenwood Children's home in Chadderton for the past 20 years and remembers Holly as a polite and caring young girl who was a friend to everybody"
"Why is it..." Said Rachel "...That people who die always come out smelling of roses? Nobody ever says..." she put on a silly voice "she was an unbearable little brat who annoyed everybody she came into contact with. Everybody hated her and knowing her was the worst insult to my existence"
Gill couldn't help giving a small smile. Rachel was right of course. People always seemed to exaggerate the excellence of dead people, especially the family and friends.
The three women were distracted by the phone in Gill's office beginning to ring. She ran to answer it.
"Gill Murray?" They heard her say. "Yes. Really? Yes, thank you, thank you very much!" Rachel couldn't help thinking that this wasn't a very good Elvis impression...
"That was the lab!" said Gill as she came back out to where they were still seated. "Positive ID for Ricky Brent. DNA sample given by the mother is consistence with the DNA found with the remainders of the body. Also, results from the dog hair. We've got a match, it was definitely Gabby Reynolds' dog!"
"Yes!" exclaimed Rachel. "Surely that's enough to charge her?"
"But Gill, that dog wanders around the yard all the time" said Janet "its hair could easily be on the ground. If Holly's body was dragged along the ground inside the yard then..."
"Then it could have been transferred onto her clothing" Gill sighed.
"Oh come on" said Rachel, frustrated. "It can't be a coincidence!"
"It's circumstantial evidence, she'd wriggle off." Said Janet
"It gives us enough to warrant an arrest though! On top of the fact that she lied about where she was!" Gill had got up off the desk and looked at Janet. "Can we draft an op order by the morning?"
"Sure" the second the lads get in I'll send two of them over to pick her up!"
XxXxX
"Ma'am there's a woman here asking to speak to one of your officers." Gill heard the voice of the receptionist from downstairs on the other end of the phone. She was now feeling rather sleepy.
"Who?"
"A Miss Gabriella Reynolds Ma'am"
Gill looked up in surprise, suddenly feeling much more awake. "Janet" she shouted, leaning away from the phone as she did so. She put the phone back to her ear. "Thanks, I'll send someone down" Janet came running in.
"Boss?"
"Gabby Reynolds is downstairs"
Janet looked at Gill in surprise. "What?"
"I know." Gill shrugged. "Would you go down and talk to her; see what she wants?"
"Sure" said Janet, still a little put out. Pete, Mitch, and Lee were due in at any moment. They were going to be bringing her in for questioning. Neither Gill nor Janet had imagined she'd walk so willingly into their midst.
As Janet entered the reception area Gabby Reynolds stood up from the blue soft chair she had perched herself on. She looked dreadful. The smart clothes, and the carefully done make-up and hair from the day before had clearly been way down on her priority list that morning. She was wearing a pair of jeans. Her hair was loose and hung round her shoulders, limp and unwashed. Her eyes looked tired but there was a definite look of fear and urgency on her face.
"Miss Reynolds..." Janet began, but before she could say anything more, Gabby Reynolds had walked up to her and was standing about a foot away. Her eyes looked wild now.
"I did it."
"I'm sorry?" Janet took one step away from her, uncomfortable with the closeness and concerned about the woman's mental state.
"I..." She was shaking. "I killed her. It was me." She paused, and looked Janet right in the eyes. "I did it!" ...
