The Next Girl(Detective Gina Harte #1)(54)
Gina scribbled a few notes in her pad. ‘Did you see anyone when you left?’
‘A couple of cars passed, as I told you at the time. There was a van but I can’t really remember the type. It was a small van – white, I think – but it passed quickly. I don’t remember any more and I’m not even sure about the van. There was no one on foot, just me. It was raining, I had my hood up and I couldn’t even hear much. I practically jogged home.’
‘You never mentioned a van back then.’
‘I forgot. Vans come up and down every day around here. I didn’t think it was important.’
‘What’s important is for me to decide, Mr Nelson. It may have been just a van, but it was just a van on the night that mother-of-two Deborah Jenkins disappeared. You withheld information that may have helped the case.’
‘I didn’t know and I can’t really remember. Maybe I didn’t see a van. I don’t know anymore. Can I go now?’ Callum ran his fingers through his hair again.
‘Have you ever been in the Angel Arms in Cleevesford?’
‘No. Well, only once. I got pissed there when I turned eighteen. Puked beside the bar. I was too embarrassed to ever go back. Why do you want to know?’
‘Do you know the landlord or any of the staff?’
The man stared at them. ‘No.’
‘Do you have a dog?’
‘A dog? No.’
‘Thank you, Mr Nelson. I’ll get someone at the station to contact you to make an official statement later. We need to update our information relating to your relationship with Mrs Jenkins and the van. That will be all. You can go for now.’ Callum stood and slammed the door as he left.
‘I think we touched a nerve there,’ Jacob said. ‘Do you think he knows more?’
‘He has no alibi, but we came up with nothing at the time after searching his flat and checking his phone records. Not a thing. The only thing we have is that Callum, twenty-two at the time, had a bit of a crush on Deborah. I’ll get Wyre to give him a grilling though. If he does know more, we’ll press it out of him and get him on tape.’
‘Why didn’t he mention his crush back then?’ Jacob asked.
‘That’s a question to consider.’ Gina ringed Callum’s name on her pad. She also noted down the words ‘small white van’.
Jacob turned a page in his notepad. ‘Do we really need to speak to Toby Grove, Clive Henderson or Vernon McGuire?’
‘No. I’ll instruct Wyre and O’Connor to call them in just to make sure we’ve covered all angles. They can speak to them after dealing with Nelson. We looked into their whereabouts thoroughly four years ago. They were all in the pub with the other workshop staff. But we need to know if any of them know Avery. And I suppose we should talk to Gabby Dent; she was Debbie’s closest friend at work. We may be able to delve a little deeper, see what she knows about this so-called crush that Callum Nelson had on our missing person.’
Lynne knocked and entered. ‘Are you finished here?’ she asked.
‘Almost. Can we just speak to Ms Dent and we’ll be off?’
‘I’ll send her through.’
A moment passed and there was a tap on the door. ‘Come in,’ Gina called. The tall, dark-haired woman sat in the seat that Callum had left sticking out. Her hunched posture told Gina that she wasn’t confident in wearing her height.
‘Have you got any news? Is that why you’re here?’
Gina flipped to a fresh page in her notebook. Jacob crunched down on a lozenge, breaking the silence. ‘Due to new evidence, we’re just going over statements to see if we can shed any new light on the case.’
‘I’m glad you haven’t given up on her. I’ve always said I think she’s still alive. Everyone here says she’s probably dead, killed by some psycho, but I don’t know. You guys have never found a body.’
‘You were good friends with Deborah. Did she tell you of anything in confidence that may have bothered her?’
‘What like?’
‘Relationships, good and bad, maybe,’ Gina replied.
‘She told me lots of things. We spoke every lunch break. We spoke between jobs and we occasionally spoke on the phone after work.’
‘Did she ever mention Callum Nelson?’
‘I know she thought it was funny and sweet that Callum had a crush on her. I suppose that was one of the personal things she told me. It was obvious to us all though. He looked at her with puppy dog eyes and took more than his fair share of turns to make the coffee, but he meant no harm. I know you guys ransacked his flat at the time but he hasn’t got it in him. He’s a sweet boy, he really is and he was devastated when Debbie disappeared.’
Gina made a note. It would be easy to investigate Callum again and look deeper into his affairs, but he wasn’t coming to the forefront of her mind as the person that could’ve snatched Deborah. The old case notes flashed through her mind. Maybe Nelson had lured her to his home, but why was her shoe left in the road, not far from where she worked? Would Deborah walk a further ten minutes in the rain, wearing only one shoe, to go to Callum’s flat? Callum had no transport, and she was sure Deborah had been taken in a motor vehicle. Could Avery have sourced a van for Nelson to use? She noted that question on her pad.