Lying Beside You (Cyrus Haven #3)(63)

‘You think someone took her phone and read her licence?’

‘Yes, but how would he know Daniela was going to order a car?’

‘Perhaps he didn’t. Maybe he planned to follow her home.’

At the police station, Cyrus buys me a machine hot chocolate that tastes of sugar rather than cocoa. The sergeant in the charge room recognises me and raises an eyebrow, as if to say, ‘Back again so soon?’

Lenny is equally surprised, until Cyrus explains that I’m the witness. Before he can explain, a male voice booms down the corridor, shouting at a cleaner for leaving a mop and bucket in the middle of the floor.

Hoyle appears. Pillow marks crease his face and he’s dressed in a khaki shirt, baggy jeans and boat shoes that reveal bare ankles below the cuffs.

‘This had better be good,’ he announces.

We meet in Lenny’s office. I sit nearest the door, hoping to hide, and only look up when my name is mentioned. Hoyle turns out to be one of those loud, opinionated men, who uses swear words as adjectives and punctuation marks. Mr Joubert would be proud of that analogy. He’d be proud that I know what analogy means.

‘You don’t even know if this woman is missing,’ says Hoyle. ‘She could be shacked up with some new bloke.’

‘Daniela has never missed a shift at St Jude’s,’ says Cyrus. ‘Monday was the first time. She hasn’t answered her phone in four days. No calls. No texts.’

‘Give it to the uniforms to investigate.’

‘Daniela and Maya knew each other. They studied nursing together.’

‘Maya wasn’t a nurse.’

‘She used to be.’

Hoyle dismisses it as a coincidence.

‘Maya Kirk didn’t disappear from a bar. She was taken from home. And you have no evidence Daniela Linares was drugged.’

‘She told Evie that she’d barely had anything to drink.’

Hoyle swings his gaze to me. He takes a moment to size me up and I can feel his eyes on my skin. ‘A little birdie tells me that you approached and harassed a sexual assault victim.’

I know he’s baiting me. I bite my tongue.

‘I also hear that you stole someone’s identity and catfished women on a dating app.’

Cyrus tries to interrupt, but Hoyle isn’t finished.

‘Is it true you’re a pathological liar?’

‘Is it true you’re an arsehole?’ I reply.

Hoyle smiles.

‘Can we get back to Daniela?’ says Lenny, who has been quiet up until now. ‘Look at the timeline. Foley wasn’t arrested until Monday.’

Hoyle seems to chew over the details, reluctant to decide. ‘Contact the rideshare company. See who picked her up and where he dropped her off.’

‘What about the task force?’

‘I’m not committing resources until I’m sure that she’s missing.’

Cyrus interrupts. ‘Maya Kirk was alive for two days before she was killed. What if Daniela is in the same place?’

‘If she is, we’ll find her, but right now, you don’t have enough.’

‘You want to see her body?’

Hoyle’s top lip curls and his face reddens. He takes a deep breath. Maybe he’s silently counting down from ten, or repeating some mantra in his head. That’s what Cyrus does when he’s angry.

‘You know the problem with psychologists,’ says Hoyle. ‘They always assume they’re the smartest person in every room when they’re not even the smartest in their own family. How is your brother? Poorly, I hope.’

Hoyle gets to his feet and strides down the corridor, his loose-fitting boating shoes flapping against his heels. The silence he leaves behind is like a smell.

‘Who put a chainsaw up his arse?’ I ask, earning a look from Cyrus. ‘What? The guy is a muppet.’

Lenny tries to stop herself smiling. ‘I won’t criticise Hoyle for wanting more evidence.’

She picks up a spray bottle, aiming the nozzle at the leaves of an African violet on the window sill.

‘Tell me, Evie, what did DCI Hoyle mean when he said you approached a sexual assault victim?’

I glance at Cyrus. He holds a finger to his lips, wanting me to be quiet. He answers.

‘Do you remember a case a few years ago – the sexual assault of a nurse in Portland Road? Her neighbour was convicted – Mitchell Coates.’

Lenny pauses, bottle in hand. Her mouth opens in surprise. ‘She had her hair cut off.’

‘Same as Maya Kirk,’ says Cyrus. ‘The rope bindings, the hacked hair.’

‘Where is Coates now?’ asks Lenny.

‘He was released on parole in late October. Now he’s back in prison.’

‘When?’

‘Monday.’

‘Shit!’

‘Mitch is innocent!’ I blurt, ignoring my promise to Cyrus. ‘He’s done nothing wrong.’

Lenny ignores me. ‘You should have told Hoyle.’

‘Forensics are comparing the rope used to bind Lilah Hooper with the rope found around Maya Kirk’s wrists. That could establish a link between the two cases.’

‘And put Mitchell Coates in the frame.’

What is Cyrus doing? He’s making things worse.