Their Lost Daughters (DI Jackman & DS Evans #2)(55)

‘Where does he live, sir?’

‘He lodges at a farm out in Fendyke Village. It’s owned by a potato farmer called Tanner. Micah does some seasonal work for him and I understand that he helps out around the place when he’s not at Windrush.’

‘Mr Broome, we need to ascertain your movements around the time when the young woman was abducted,’ Marie said. ‘Where were you on Friday last?’

Broome was silent for a moment. ‘In the morning I was in my office at home. I do most of my business dealings by phone and internet. And in the afternoon I took my housekeeper to the hospital for an out-patient’s appointment. I dined alone that night as far as I can remember, then I probably made some more phone calls and retired at,’ he rubbed at his clean-shaven chin, ‘around eleven, I should think. All rather vague, I realise, but in general my life is not an exciting one.’

‘And Elizabeth Sewell? Has she been with you long?’

‘She came to me a week or so after I moved in. She suffers with her nerves. She’s very delicate, but the solitary nature of the job suits her. Plus, she’s an excellent cook.’

Broome’s responses had been so mundane that, apart from his gambling, he might have been the most humdrum mortal on the planet. But there was something else there.

Jackman glanced at his watch and brought the interview to a close. ‘It is time for you to get some sleep now, sir, but there will be more questions.’

‘Of course, DI Jackman.’ He raised his hands. ‘I am entirely at your disposal.’

*

‘Emily has been identified!’ Max almost vaulted over his desk to get to them. ‘She is the Latvian girl, Aija Ozolini. The Latvian interpreter, Janis, took her uncle to the hospital, and he gave us a positive.’

‘How’s she doing?’ asked Jackman.

‘Not good, boss. Touch and go. She’s still on a ventilator.’

‘Well, at least she’s out of that goddamned hellhole.’ Jackman reminded himself to tell young Toni Clarkson about Emily’s rescue.

‘And Prof Wilkinson has been on the blower asking you to ring him on his mobile as soon as you can.’

Max returned to his desk and added, ‘This trace on Broome’s background is driving me mad. Whatever way I approach it, I get a big fat zero. You’d think he was found under a gooseberry bush. It’s like he doesn’t exist!’

‘Maybe he doesn’t.’ Marie perched on the corner of Max’s desk. ‘I’m picking up something very odd about that man, and if I were you I’d broaden out your next search.’

‘Like how?’ Max asked.

Marie shrugged and yawned. ‘I don’t know. I just can’t believe he’s the boring well-off man he professes to be.’

Jackman couldn’t help yawning too. ‘I agree. He’s just too good to be true.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Damn! It’s much too late to go see Micah Lee now. We’ll have to ring Harlan Marsh and set something up for early tomorrow. He might need to have an appropriate adult with him to safeguard his interests. After what Broome told us, I’m not too sure about that man’s mental condition. He could be disabled, and I don’t want to find any of our interviews considered inadmissible.’

‘Dead right,’ muttered Marie. ‘I’ll ring Harlan Marsh now and get it sorted.’

‘And I’ll ring Rory.’ Jackman picked up his phone and keyed in the pathologist’s number.

‘I’ll go above ground and ring you back!’ yelled Rory over a crackling line. ‘We need to talk.’

Rory sounded out of breath when he called again.

‘So what have you got for me?’

‘Well, first — and you really don’t need me to tell you this, I’m sure — the length of time between each murder shows the increasing assurance of a serial killer. It seems that his kills were quite rare ten years ago, but now he’s starting to kill more frequently.’

‘So hopefully we’ve stopped him before he goes on a spree.’

‘Possibly. But don’t forget that you’ve destroyed his precious lair. You won’t exactly be his favourite person. In fact, my friend, he’ll hate you for it, and he could lose control and kill again just to spite you.’

‘Unless I can put him away before he has the chance,’ muttered Jackman. ‘So what else have you got?’

Rory sniffed. ‘It’s a small and very annoying thing. When we documented the clothing, we found that your lone survivor had the wrong shoes. They wouldn’t fit her in a month of Sundays, and they don’t belong to any of the other victims either.’

Jackman told him they had seen exactly the same thing with Toni Clarkson.

‘Ah, my hero! That solves it. I really hate those irritating details. Now for something of much greater significance.’ Rory paused, most likely for dramatic effect. ‘One of my scene-of-crime officers remarked on the amount of equipment in the underground room, and how it would have been impossible to drag it all across the marsh and down the tunnel. I’m suspecting that the owner of Windrush will use the fact that the entrance to the underground burial chamber is on the marsh, which is common land, and hence could have been used by absolutely anyone. Am I right?’

Jackman told him the point had already been made.