The Next Girl(Detective Gina Harte #1)(7)
‘Do you really?’
‘Kids, go and get your things.’
‘I’m going to stamp on your dinosaur if I get up the stairs first,’ Heidi shouted.
‘No,’ Max yelled, racing his big sister back up the stairs.
‘Joe, can you give Mummy a minute to talk to Luke?’ She kissed his little finger and then stood up. ‘There, all better.’ The little boy wiped his face and nodded as he left the room.
Luke kissed Brooke on the head and held her in his arms. ‘Thank you for a lovely evening. I think I’ve had a couple too many anyway, so I’ll head home. I really enjoyed tonight though – really.’
‘Really?’ She began twisting her hair in her fingers once again as she bit her bottom lip, allowing the slightest of smiles to escape.
‘Really.’ He forced a smile as he headed towards the door, meeting Max and Heidi with their coats.
‘I’ll call you tomorrow about picking the kids up together from Jake’s birthday party,’ she said as she returned his smile. He waved as he closed the back gate and began the short walk home with the children.
‘I’m tired, Daddy,’ Max said.
As they walked past a row of houses and neared their road, he thought back to happier times. A tear slid down his cheek as he thought of his wife and all she had been. But she was gone. Brooke was in his life now and he liked her, a lot. Move on, Luke. She’s not coming back.
Four
Gina tapped the light switch and the strip lights flickered in her office until they settled. The dank air still smelled of the takeaway burger she’d eaten earlier that afternoon. She shivered as she pushed the window open to allow the odour to escape. Her in tray was precariously balanced on the edge of her desk, and she slid it back into place, perfectly angled in the corner. She stared at it, then shook her head and shoved it askew again.
‘Whoa. It’s rank in here,’ DS Driscoll said as he wafted his hand in front of his nose.
‘About which I make no apologies,’ Gina replied. ‘Tell me what we have.’
‘We have a few things, guv. DCs O’Connor and Wyre will be assisting with anything we need on the case. They’re just pulling up some seats in the main office. We can update everyone at the same time. DCI Briggs called and he’s at home, awaiting the press report.’
‘I’ll be there in a moment,’ Gina replied as she slid her damp coat off and hung it on the back of the chair. Jacob smiled and left.
She turned to face the window and stared into the darkness of the station car park. The guttering above spilled over and flooded into a pool below. Budgets and cuts were the cause, she knew it. The guttering was nothing more than a growbag for moss, a gatherer of dried twigs from the tree that grew alongside the wall.
She grabbed a grey suit jacket from the back of the door and pulled it on before entering the bustle of the station.
Detective Constable Harry O’Connor passed around a packet of chocolate biscuits. ‘Just maintaining my energy for my big bike ride,’ he said as he patted his belly.
Gina grabbed one and bit into it. ‘Bike ride?’
‘It’s a charity thing. I’ll message you the details. Maybe you can sponsor me?’
Four machine-made coffees sat on a tray in the middle of a paperwork-covered desk. ‘O’Connor, the biscuits are lovely but I have to insist that you keep the case files in order,’ Gina said. She couldn’t understand how he managed to work in such chaos. Some of the reports had even fallen to the floor and cruddy plates and cups covered the surface. She knew her office could get messy but O’Connor’s desk was in a state. Even his mini Christmas tree was threatening to throw itself to its death from the edge of the desk.
O’Connor fumbled for the reports with his chubby fingers and placed them in a folder, his shiny head reflecting the strip light above. ‘All sorted, ma’am,’ he said, as he grabbed a coffee before sitting on the edge of his desk, knocking the mini tree flying.
Gina cleared her throat and began. ‘Right. I’ll give you what I know so far. A baby girl was found by a Mr Albert Thomas after he left the Angel pub at approximately seven thirty this evening. He stopped by Cleevesford Library and spotted the bundle. Thinking it was litter, he went to pick it up to place it in the bin, whereupon he discovered it was a baby. In an attempt to get some help, he banged on a couple of doors before Mrs Craneford opened her door and let him in. We were called and the baby was taken to the Cleevesford General Hospital by paramedics. DS Driscoll smelled diesel on the towel the baby was wrapped in. The towel has gone to the lab for testing so hopefully we’ll get that confirmed.’ Gina bit into another biscuit and grabbed a coffee.
‘Alan Cummings, council security, confirmed that the CCTV on the library hasn’t been active for way over a year,’ said Jacob. ‘PC Smith had a walk around and couldn’t see any further CCTV cameras amongst the residential roads. There appears, at first enquiry, to be no witnesses either, but we are hoping for callbacks and we will continue to canvass the area.’
Gina wiped a crumb from the side of her mouth before taking a swig of coffee. ‘So we don’t really have a lot to go on as yet. Did you follow up at the hospital?’ she asked, looking at Wyre.
‘I did. I spoke to the consultant in charge, ma’am, a Dr Nowak,’ replied DC Paula Wyre in her usual soft tone. The petite woman cleared her throat and took a step forward, brushing her straight black hair off her shoulders. O’Connor held the packet of biscuits under her nose. ‘No, thank you,’ she replied before clearing her throat once again. ‘The five-pound female baby has mild hypothermia. Their initial assessment tells them she’s premature. She’d been fed within a couple of hours as she brought up a lot of milk on the way to the hospital. She is currently being hydrated and nourished through a nasal tube. They estimate her to be no more than a day old. The cord had been clumsily cut, definitely not by anyone who knew what they were doing.’ Wyre took a step back and nodded.