DS Jessica Daniel series: Think of the Children / Playing with Fire / Thicker Than Water – Books 4–6 Read Online Free PDF

weird.’
    ‘What, tidying up?’ Izzy again seemed part-puzzled, part-bemused.
    ‘Maybe, I don’t know.’
    Jessica used the time to take in the room. It wasn’t that Daisy was a suspect but she had found over the years that a lot could be learned simply by watching, or looking at family photos
of graduations or weddings. The walls of this house were completely free from decoration, except for an analogue clock hung above the flat television that was sitting on a pine cabinet.
    ‘What do you reckon?’ Jessica asked in a loud whisper. She was fairly confident of her own conclusions but wanted to know what her colleague thought.
    Diamond was as driven as anyone Jessica had met and she knew the constable wanted to be as good at her job as she could be. For now it was a guessing game but the red-haired woman played along.
‘Single?’ Jessica nodded to indicate she agreed. ‘Clean freak, obviously.’
    ‘Why, though?’
    The constable screwed up her face slightly. ‘I don’t know. Parents?’
    ‘I reckon it’s rented. No photos, no real furniture.’ Jessica pointed towards the computer desk. ‘I think she works from here too. Maybe she’s a rep or
something?’
    Izzy shrugged. ‘Does that matter?’
    ‘Maybe. We don’t know who the driver of her stolen car is – or even if he was the one who took it. If whoever it was knew the area, or lived locally themselves, they might have
noticed a single woman on her own moving into a house. The report said the car was taken from her driveway.’
    Daisy interrupted as she returned carrying three mugs, which she put on the coffee table before sitting in an armchair opposite the sofa both detectives were on. She smiled but seemed a little
nervous.
    ‘I know my car was in an accident yesterday because someone called,’ she said. ‘I saw the photos on the Internet and I’ve been talking to the insurance company.
They’re sorting me out with a courtesy car but I’m not really sure what I can help you with . . .’
    News about what they had found in the car’s boot had been kept quiet and Jessica wasn’t about to give anything away.
    ‘We’d like to go back over the details you’ve already given,’ Jessica said. ‘I know you’ve already told someone about it but we might have a few different
questions.’ Daisy cradled her mug, shrugging as if to say it wasn’t a problem so Jessica continued: ‘Can you tell us what exactly happened?’
    Daisy took a drink of her tea then put it down on the table. She looked slightly embarrassed as she started to talk. ‘I know it sounds stupid now but, at the time, I didn’t think
anything of it. Basically, I used to lose my keys all the time. They’d show up everywhere: in the fridge, under chairs, in my shoes, all over. So I got this key-rack thing and hung it in the
hallway. It meant that I couldn’t walk through the front door without seeing it. Every time I got home, I’d see the rack and hang my keys up.’
    Jessica had a similar problem with losing her keys and phone and knew exactly where the story was going as Daisy took another drink before tucking a strand of her short hair behind her ear and
continuing.
    ‘The insurance company are being arsey about it because they say they haven’t yet determined if I’m to blame. Either way, I’d hung my keys up as usual a few nights ago
after going to the supermarket. I work from home, so I’d done some stuff on the computer, watched a bit of TV, and then gone to bed. I came down the next morning and had been working but then
I had to meet a client. I went to the rack but the car keys were missing. It was after lunch and I’d not even noticed. I checked everywhere because at first I thought I’d forgotten to
hang them up. Then, after about half an hour, I looked outside and realised the bloody car was gone.’
    Daisy was speaking more and more quickly, as if she couldn’t get the words out fast enough. She had also begun to play with her hair, pulling