Frozen Grave (Willis/Carter #3)(101)

‘I know that you handled it better than most people. You did it with a calculated approach. I know if someone could read your mother’s mind they’d be in a very dark place, so don’t think you should have seen any more than you did already. You need to keep sane, Ebony. You know all those years of your mother’s neglect has left you much more stable than you deserve to be. Good job you were such a bright child that you could outsmart her.’

‘I never looked on it like that. I always saw it as just managing. She’s frighteningly clever.’

He reached over and gave her a jab on her arm.

‘Guess who asked me if you had a boyfriend? Well, not directly.’ She looked across at him, waiting for the answer. ‘Scott, of course!’

‘I hope you didn’t tell him anything.’

‘What like? She’s only into men with train sets?’

‘Stop being mean about Darren. You know it’s more about the preservation of the old engines.’

‘Huh! That’s what he told all the women.’

‘Anyway, we’re not dating any more and we haven’t been for six months, which is longer than it lasted altogether, so you can stop taking the piss now.’

Willis took a call from Zoe Blackman and put her phone in the speaker dock.

‘Toffee is showing signs of coming round. His brain scan is looking positive. His eyes are fluttering in response to simple questions, but he’s not talking yet.’

‘Have someone stay with him at all the time,’ Carter said. ‘The only real lead we have to solving any of the murders is Toffee. If he gives us a name then we can hope all the cases will fall into place.’

‘I will make sure he’s not left alone.’

‘What’s happening with Simon Smith? Has he any more information for us?’

‘I’m going to look for him now. He’s here, because I saw his jacket. He may have slipped off for a coffee.’

‘He could still have a lot more to tell us. If he and Toffee are friends then he might have let something slip. Ask him if Toffee ever used his laptop, ask him if we can have it for a couple of days.’

‘I’ll ask.’ Willis ended Blackman’s call but kept the phone in her hand.

‘Shall I ring Robbo and see what’s happening up there? Feels like ages since we were there.’

‘Yeah – you and I are the same, Eb: too much green makes us feel uncomfortable. All this countryside makes me think I’ve dropped off the end of the earth.’

‘Did Mahmet turn up?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Keep officers patrolling the estate. This should bring him out. He’s got to go to his own granddad’s funeral. What happened to the dog?’

‘He even tried to bite the gun that shot him.’

‘Was he tagged in some way?’

‘You mean an identity chip?’

‘Yes.’

‘No chance.’

‘We must have Balik’s prints on file?’

‘Yes, we do, but they don’t match any prints from the crime scene. Someone was wearing gloves; guess that was probably Balik.’

‘I’ll ask Sandford if we can still get a print from that. Glove prints have been admissible before.’

‘Okay. How are you getting on with the PCs from the hostel of Faith and Light?’

‘Wading through them.’

‘Might be quicker to take Harding’s laptop and do it that way.’

‘I’ll ask again.’

‘Tell her she owes it to Lolly. It’s the only way we’re going to catch anyone for her murder.’

‘What’s the report from surveillance on Ellerman? Where is he right now?’ asked Carter.

‘He’s been at home. He’s decorating, we think. It’s noisy inside. He’s been sighted briefly in the garden, that’s about as interesting as it gets. His wife comes and goes. Yesterday, one of the team followed her when she left the house.’

‘What did they report?’

‘She was out all day. She sat in a café with WiFi and, as far as the officer could see, she was working on a website design.’

‘Did he see what it was?’

‘He said it was in Spanish.’

‘For Ellerman’s Hacienda Renovations company?’

‘I don’t know. He didn’t get a good look.’

‘What has he got her doing? Designing him a website to stop us prying into that? If so, why is she doing it outside the house?’

‘Ellerman must think the place is bugged.’

‘It is.’

‘Yeah, but we can’t see what she’s surfing in real time unless we put a Trojan on her laptop and that means getting our hands on it.’

‘We can think about that.’

‘Ellerman is playing clever with keeping the noise levels high in the house. We can’t hear their conversations.’

‘What else did she do?’

‘She met the gardener and they went for a coffee.’

‘Getting cosy with the hired help?’

‘Possibly. It looked like they just bumped into one another but it could have been arranged. They spent forty minutes talking over coffee then they went their separate ways.’