Cold Revenge (Willis/Carter #6)(37)

‘If the attacker doesn’t live at the flats, they would need to have changed, covered up, very quickly. Plus, the furniture was knocked over, and we think it took the attacker several minutes to subdue her in order to get her incapacitated on the bed. Someone has got to have heard or seen something,’ said Willis.

‘We located her phone at Lambs Farm, north-west of Watford. The farm is up for a probate sale,’ Carter told them.

Chris Maxwell held up his hand to interrupt.

‘I checked, it was one of the farms Douglas delivered feed to. I’ve been to see the farm where Rachel McKinney was taken to be killed by Douglas, and Lambs Farm has many similarities.’

‘Hector? What about her phone?’ asked Willis.

‘We can’t find out anything about where she was, location services were only activated after the phone reached Lambs Farm. She had calls to Roy, to the vicar, to the florist, she liked a takeaway or two and she used it for her Internet so her browsing history is being looked at now.’

‘We need to keep open minds about this. Yes, it could be a link to Heather Phillips, both Millie’s murder and Nicola Stone’s. It could be the same perpetrator, but we cannot be sure of anything yet. The backstory is interesting, but someone still had to come in and out of Nicola Stone’s flat and they left their DNA. This can be solved with a lot of solid police detection work, so ignore the hype, ignore the Douglas connection for a moment. We have someone taking big risks and that’s how we need to catch them.’

‘We think the killer must have changed their clothes somewhere,’ said Willis. ‘And they might be injured. There are officers searching all the hedges, bins and drains along the way. It’s back to basics with this investigation. DC Blackman?’

‘Anyone can park on the road,’ said Blackman. ‘There are no parking restrictions. People park to walk to the station. We’re leaving leaflets on cars, and talking to the people who are there every day to see if they saw anything strange. Someone may have been sitting in a car waiting for hours before she was killed.’

‘What about CCTV?’ asked Willis.

‘There are cameras outside the station,’ answered Hector, ‘and outside the Spar shop and the off-licence. We’re analysing them now. The garages on the back lane that allows access to the gardens at Cedar Court are used almost exclusively for long-term storage except for a mechanic who rents one of the garages on the end. We are following up alibis and histories of the people living at the flats. But, these flats have a multitude of different people coming and going with no security.’

‘Having said that,’ added Willis, ‘someone must have seen a person hanging about. It takes time to put together a plan like this, surveillance and planning and possible befriending of either the victim or someone close to her.’

‘Like Roy,’ said Blackman.

‘Yes, put a camera and some surveillance outside Roy’s. We might have a revenge attack on him and I want to see who comes and goes,’ said Carter. ‘Roy knows everyone in those flats. DC Blackman, I want you to liaise with the cold-case team handling the Heather Phillips disappearance. We’re going to be sharing information with them.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Hector, you talk to the protection team,’ said Carter.

‘My pleasure, I will enjoy finding out who fucked up.’

‘Go carefully, if this is an officer on the take I want him nailed,’ said Carter.

‘Understood.’

‘Chris, expand your thoughts about this farm for us. Did you get the information on the history of it?’ asked Carter.

‘Yes, at that time it would have been lived in by the previous owner, Pritchard, who died two years ago. I will be interested in seeing the results of the LiDAR, that’s the light detection and ranging equipment. We can have a look at what else he may have left in the field, besides the body.’

‘Okay, I’ll sanction that straight away.’

‘With the information I have at my disposal, right now,’ continued Maxwell, ‘I think I can best help you by reanalysing the farms that fit the same brief as this. I will take this farm, Lambs Farm, as one starting point and where Rachel McKinney’s grave was, Hill Farm, as another and work out from there. This will be a combination of both murder investigations, I presume? Plus, looking for more remains that can link to Douglas?’

‘The Heather Phillips case is not ours,’ said Carter. ‘We need to keep that in mind, but we also need to realise that she could be the motive and we will work closely with the team. We may have found her body.’

‘And this presents us with opportunities to find out what happened in July 2000,’ said Maxwell.

‘Were you even out of nappies then?’ Carter smiled.

‘Yes, I was definitely house-trained, but you’re right, I wasn’t qualified then. However, I have studied the Douglas case. What about Douglas? Are you going to interview him? It can’t be ignored that it is just months until he is due for release,’ said Maxwell.

‘And we know that Gavin, for one, was looking forward to it,’ said Carter. ‘It would be good to throw a spanner in the works.’ He grinned. ‘However, even if we find Heather here, we still need to find sufficient evidence against Douglas to try him for her murder again.’

‘And, even if we do find Heather,’ said Willis, ‘Douglas did not kill Millie Stephens or Nicola Stone.’