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Je
The streets of Haven were not ready to give up the Raven, and Je
‘My girl is dead. My beautiful Felicity is dead,’ Christian cried, the words erupting into sobs.
Je
‘I know. I’m very sorry for your loss.’ Je
His slow deliberate tones could not disguise the slur in his voice. ‘Why have the police arrested my ex-wife?’ A bottle clinked against glass in the background.
‘I’m sorry, you need to speak to DC Hardwick,’ Je
Christian’s thick breathing intermingled with old reruns of the reality TV programme, The Beauty Salon, as it played in the background. She caught the unmistakable laugh of his dead fiancée as it blared through his speaker system.
‘I’ve lost everything.’ Christian cried, great big heaving sobs down the phone.
‘I’m sorry, but …’
Lost in his grief, Christian just kept talking. ‘I told you there was something dark on the horizon and you wouldn’t listen. Now Felicity’s dead.’
Je
But Christian wasn’t listening, and another sob erupted as he blurted out the words, ‘She’s dead. My beautiful girl is dead.’
Je
Christian sniffled loudly before replying. ‘A keyring? Well … yes. It was a diamond-studded D and G. I bought it for her when I gave her the car. I wish I’d never bought her that car …’
Je
‘My … mum … and the children. What if the police charge my ex-wife? You should be speaking to my cousin, not her. What if she goes to prison? What about them?’
Je
‘No … Why? You think he did it, don’t you?’
Je
Christian exhaled slowly, as if he had been deflated and was slowly coming to ground. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to have a go at you. I comfort people about life after death, but I’ve never experienced loss before. I don’t know what to do with myself.’
Je
The phone call left Je
It was time to bring her sergeant up to date with the briefing on the Raven case, and inform her about the letter found in the glove box of her car. Admitting her discovery of a dead raven outside her home could have her removed from the case for her own safety, and she had warned Will to keep that snippet of information to himself.
Claire opened the door a couple of inches before swiftly pulling Je
‘Is everything all right?’ Je
Claire gave an apologetic smile. ‘Yeah, sorry. I’ve a guest with me and I didn’t want anyone else seeing.’
‘A guest?’ Je
Claire smiled, ‘Yes. The old codger persuaded me to take him in while he sorted out his benefits. It’s the second time this week.’
‘Hasn’t anyone noticed?’
‘No, and don’t tell Will, because he’ll be mooning over him instead of getting on with his work.’
‘Hmm, pongs a bit though,’ Je
Claire shrugged. ‘Ah well, that’s dogs for you. How are you finding Zoe?’
Je
‘We’ll have to organise a works night out soon, once we get on top of our workload. You and Will have quite a double act going on at the moment. You’re like yin and yang but I like it.’
‘It works for me. I feel like we’re on the verge of something big with this Raven case, but it’s frustrating not having full control of the investigation. I’ve got some fresh evidence, and it pains me to have to hand it over to MIT.’ Je
Her sergeant sca
Je
‘Will found evidence in your car?’ Claire raised an eyebrow as she finished reading the report. ‘I’ll need to speak to the DI about this.’
The fact Claire had called him the DI and not Ethan set alarm bells ringing in Je
‘No, I just think he should be aware before you update them.’ Claire slipped off her pumps and scratched Tinker’s belly with her feet. The dog emitted a low satisfied moan, underneath her desk.