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‘How well do you know Mrs Blake, sir?’ Anna asked.
‘We were colleagues, but we never got together outside work,’ Trimble said. ‘Since she left the Met our paths have crossed several times at various functions. The last time was earlier this year when I shared a table with Rebecca and her husband Theo at an awards dinner.’
‘Theo Blake’s a lawyer, isn’t he?’
‘He’s a senior partner in a firm of solicitors. I take it you know that he was Holly’s stepfather. He married Rebecca four years ago after she divorced her first husband.’
‘I wasn’t aware of that,’ Anna said. ‘There’s a lot I need to find out about everyone in Holly’s life.’
‘Well, bear in mind that as a former Assistant Commissioner in the Met, Rebecca Blake has a lot of friends on the force. She was popular among her colleagues and I’ve no doubt they’ll all want to help with the investigation.’
‘I met her myself once,’ Anna said. ‘It was shortly after my daughter was abducted. She offered to help in any way she could.’
‘She’s a very generous and caring person,’ Trimble said. ‘That’s why she’s doing so well as a politician. But this tragedy is bound to have a serious impact on her life and that includes her bid to become the Mayor of London.’
The involvement of any politician in a major investigation always created problems – from the amount of publicity they generated to the pressure they sought to apply when they felt threatened.
But Rebecca Blake wasn’t just any politician. She already had the ear of the Prime Minister and was set to be a high-flyer in political circles.
At present she held the influential post of Leader of the Conservative-controlled Westminster Council. It was a position she took up after retiring from the police. In addition she was now the Tory Party’s chosen candidate in the forthcoming election for the role of London’s Mayor.
The main thrust of her campaign had been a commitment to substantially reduce crime in the capital, something the current incumbent had failed to achieve after almost four years in office.
‘I’ll make a point of contacting Rebecca myself tomorrow,’ Trimble said. ‘It might reassure her to know that I’m taking a personal interest.’
‘Of course, sir,’ Anna said. ‘But before you go there’s something I need to mention.’
‘What is it?’
‘Well, it’s early days and so we don’t know why Holly was murdered. The motive might become evident very quickly, but if it doesn’t then I think we should explore the possibility that it was committed by someone who has a grudge against the mother. I’m sure that like the rest of us on the force Mrs Blake made enemies along the way and it could be that one of them wants to see her suffer. Or maybe the aim is to stop her becoming London’s Mayor because of her crusade against crime.’
‘It’s a plausible theory, DCI Tate,’ Trimble said. ‘And I’m sure it’s one that will fuel the inevitable media frenzy. But it’s a line of enquiry that I want us to play down unless we come across some solid evidence to support it.’
‘Understood, sir.’
‘Meanwhile I’ll expect you to provide me with regular updates via DCS Nash. And it goes without saying that you’ll have all the manpower and resources you need to crack this case. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that every move you make will be scrutinised, and not just by me. I know you were under considerable pressure during the nursery kidnap investigation, but this will be a different kind of pressure and on some levels it will be even more intense.’
‘So what’s the word from on high?’ Walker asked after Anna came off the phone to the Commissioner.
‘He warned me to tread carefully, keep him in the loop and expect a lot of pressure,’ she said.
‘Well, that was to be expected given who the victim’s mother is.’
‘Yeah, I suppose.’
‘So why do I get the impression that you’re mightily pissed off, guv?’
Anna heaved a sigh. ‘He had the bloody cheek to ask Nash if I was the right person to head up the investigation. If the boss hadn’t assured him that I was then I’d probably be on my way home now.’
Walker frowned. ‘I don’t understand. Does Trimble actually think the case is too sensitive for you to handle?’
‘It’s not that. Nash said he raised the issue of Chloe and he’s worried that I’ll take my eye off the ball because of all the new stuff. He’s read the Evening Standard piece and has been told that I’ve been approached by C4.’
‘C4?’
‘Channel Four,’ Anna said. ‘They want to do a true crime programme on me.’
‘Bloody hell, guv. That’s a huge deal. Why haven’t you mentioned it?’
‘I only found out myself just before we left the office to go to the common. I pushed it to the back of my mind for obvious reasons.’
They stopped at traffic lights and Walker turned to face her.
‘Then in all fairness, you can’t blame the Commissioner for being a teensy bit concerned,’ he said. ‘I’ve told you before that there are times when even I don’t know how the hell you manage to stay focused on the job.’
Anna gave him a sharp look, so he quickly added, ‘And before you go off on one, guv, just remember that we’ve had this conversation several times so you know that I have a point. You also know that I trust you to do a good job on every case despite the fact that you have more on your plate than anyone deserves.’
His words took the wind out of her sails, so instead of snapping at him, she said, ‘You’re the only person I know who would dare say that to me, Max. And the only person who’d get away with it.’
‘Well, I like to think that’s because we’re friends as well as colleagues,’ he said. ‘And friends say it like it is whilst remaining loyal to each other.’
Anna shook her head and smiled. ‘You do have a way with words, Max. I’ll grant you that. And I bet your wife finds it so bloody annoying.’
He laughed. ‘She sure does, but she puts up with it because she knows I’m always right.’
‘You smug bastard.’
The pair enjoyed a good working relationship, and Anna knew that Walker would always have her back. For instance, two years ago she received an anonymous tip that a man matching her ex-husband’s description had been spotted in a Paris suburb. It was during a big murder investigation and she knew her superiors would not have let her take time off to check it out. So she confided in Walker and he told her to go there and then covered for her. They stayed in touch by phone and she returned to London forty-eight hours later after it turned out the man in question wasn’t Matthew after all.
Walker was one of the few people who had encouraged her never to give up searching for her daughter. Most were of the opinion that it had become a pointless obsession and that she needed to get on with her life and accept that she would never see Chloe again.
Walker understood how she felt, mainly because he had two young daughters of his own. She couldn’t help feeling jealous of him, though, and of her other colleagues in MIT who were mothers and fathers. Whenever they talked about their kids it reinforced the extent of her loss.
Walker was more sensitive to her feelings than the rest of them. He said to her once, ‘I can feel your pain, ma’am. I really don’t know how I’d cope if I was in your position. I’m not sure I’d even have the strength to carry on.’
Anna carried on because for her giving up was not an option. However, there had been times over the past ten years when she’d almost convinced herself that she was wasting her time.
In the months after Matthew abducted Chloe it was easy to believe that they’d be found or that Matthew would accept that he was in the wrong and bring her back from wherever he’d taken her.
At that time everyone was rooting for the heartbroken mother and the story was attracting a lot of publicity. Thousands of people reacted to her social media campaigns and appeals, and there was good reason to hope that she would be reunited with Chloe before her daughter’s third birthday. But interest in the story eventually waned and the abduction became old news.
In a little while Chloe would be thirteen and still Anna had no idea where she was. All she did know for certain was that she was no longer with her father because he was murdered three years ago in a park in Southampton.
CHAPTER NINE (#ulink_4d201f97-6969-5157-b624-a5f2d0451c8f)
Rebecca Blake and her husband lived in Pimlico, a small, upscale residential area of London bordered by Westminster and Belgravia. Scores of politicians had homes there because the quiet streets were within walking distance of the Houses of Parliament. The three-storey property owned by Rebecca and Theo Blake was in a cobbled mews close to St George’s Square.
It was approaching nine p.m. when Anna and Walker arrived in the pool car and parked in front of the blue-painted garage. The lights were on inside so Anna thought it likely that the couple were at home.
As she climbed out of the car her stomach churned at the thought of what they were about to do. No matter how many times she had delivered the devastating news of a person’s death it had never got any easier. And it was made worse this time because she had met the woman whose life she was about to ruin.
It was Theo Blake who answered the door. Anna recognised him at once from the photos she’d seen on the web. He was a tall, rakishly handsome man who looked to be in his mid-fifties. Grey stubble bristled on his head and chin, and his corduroy trousers and black cardigan gave him the rumpled appearance of an academic.
Anna had already taken her ID from her pocket and she held it up for him to see.
‘Hello, Mr Blake,’ she said. ‘I’m Detective Chief Inspector Anna Tate and this is my colleague, Detective Inspector Max Walker. We need to talk to you and your wife. Is Mrs Blake in right now?’
Theo cocked his head to one side and frowned. ‘Is this about Holly? Has she turned up?’
‘It would be best if we spoke to you inside and together,’ Anna said. ‘So please may we come in?’
The man’s face clouded with confusion.
‘This sounds ominous,’ he said. ‘Can’t you just tell me what …’
‘Who is it, dear? Is there a problem?’
He snapped his head towards the voice, which belonged to his wife. She had stepped into the hallway behind him while tying up the belt of a long silk bathrobe.
When she saw them she froze, and her eyes grew wide.
‘What’s going on?’ she said.
Her husband started to speak, but Anna beat him to it.
‘We’re police officers, Mrs Blake, and we need to have a word with you and your husband. It’s about your daughter. My name is Anna Tate and I’m a DCI with the Major Investigation Team. And this is DI Walker.’
Anna didn’t wait to be invited in and she had no intention of breaking the news to them at the door. As she stepped over the threshold, she gently grasped Theo’s arm and nudged him along the hallway while Walker closed the front door behind them.
‘Can I suggest that we go into the living room,’ she said.
Rebecca’s mouth fell open and Anna could see the panic in her eyes.
‘What’s happened?’ the woman said, her lips trembling. ‘Do you know where Holly is? Please tell me she’s all right.’
‘I’ll tell you everything I know, Mrs Blake, but I really think you need to sit down first.’
Theo hurried forward and put his arm around his wife’s shoulders, easing her back into the room she had emerged from.
‘Stay calm, Becs, and don’t jump to conclusions,’ he told her.
Anna felt a wave of heat roll up her chest as she followed them into the living room, which was large and airy with stylish grey furniture and patio doors that gave access to a neat walled garden.
She waited for them to sit side by side on the leather sofa before sitting opposite them on a matching armchair. Walker stood off to one side with his hands behind his back.
It was almost ten years since Anna’s brief meeting with Scotland Yard’s former Assistant Commissioner. She’d seen her many times since then on the television promoting various causes as well as her own political career. It had always struck Anna how little the woman had seemed to age. But now, seen close up without make-up, Rebecca Blake looked all of her fifty-three years.
She was a thin woman with a small oval face and dark hair that was tied back. Her nose was pointed and delicate with slightly flared nostrils. As her teal-blue eyes shifted between the two detectives, she pressed her lips together, which etched deep lines around her mouth.
Anna cleared her throat and was still searching for the right words when Rebecca said, ‘I’ve seen you before, haven’t I? You were the lead on the nursery kidnapping case. And it was your daughter who …’ Her voice trailed off and she drew a sharp breath. ‘Oh, my God, we met once. I remember.’
‘We did indeed,’ Anna said.
Rebecca swallowed hard and took another deep breath. ‘You’ve got bad news for us, haven’t you? So what is it, detective?’
Anna leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. The look on Rebecca’s face froze the blood in her veins.
‘A young woman’s body has been found,’ she said. ‘And there’s convincing evidence to indicate that it’s Holly.’
A choking sound rushed out of Rebecca and she started to shake her head.
‘No, that’s not possible,’ she screamed. ‘It must be a mistake. It has to be.’
‘We don’t think it’s a mistake,’ Anna said. ‘The description fits Holly and the dead woman has the same tattoo in the same place on her back. We will, of course, need one or both of you to carry out a formal identification. I’m so very sorry.’
Rebecca’s whole body convulsed and she let out an anguished cry. Her husband enveloped her in his arms and scrunched up his face as he fought back his own tears.
Anna looked on helplessly, aware that there was nothing she could say or do to ease their pain and suffering. She knew from her own bitter experience that elements of the big bad world can turn up at your door when you least expect it, shattering your life and redirecting your future towards an emotional abyss.
She threw a glance over her shoulder at Walker and saw that he had picked up a framed photograph from the sideboard. It was one of several on display and they were all of Holly.
‘How sure are you that it’s our daughter?’ Theo said suddenly, his voice a hollow rasp.
Anna turned back to them. ‘I’m positive. If I wasn’t I’d be offering you a crumb of hope. But that wouldn’t be fair in the circumstances.’
She took out her phone, pulled up the photo she’d taken of the ring on the dead woman’s finger.
‘Do you recognise this?’ she said, showing it to both of them.
Rebecca flinched and nodded. ‘It’s Holly’s. I’m sure of it because I bought it for her myself on her twenty-first birthday. Oh, Jesus, when can we see her?’
‘Tomorrow morning, Mrs Blake. I’ll make the arrangements.’
‘So why can’t we see her now?’ Theo asked.
‘It’s too early, I’m afraid. The body was discovered only a few hours ago and it may still be in situ.’
‘And where is that?’
‘Barnes Common in South West London,’ Anna said.
Sobs had continued to rack his wife’s body while this exchange was taking place. Now she straightened herself, wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, and said, ‘Since you’re here, Detective Chief Inspector, I’m assuming that foul play is suspected.’
Anna nodded. ‘That’s right, Mrs Blake. We’ve launched a murder investigation.’
Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut for a couple of seconds and when she opened them again, she said, ‘I want the details and I don’t want you to hold anything back from us.’
Anna’s stomach tightened and her mouth dried up.
