Woman in Black Read Online Free PDF Page A

to him. It’s only just filtered down to us but he spoke to the cameras before anyone took a proper statement. The news crews are outside his house now and have started phoning here but we don’t have anything to tell them because we didn’t know ourselves until twenty minutes ago. We don’t even know how long she’s been gone or if they were separated or anything.’
    ‘Where does he live?’ Jessica knew he was the MP for the Gorton constituency which covered the Longsight station where they were based but that didn’t mean he lived in the area. Even if he was their representative, it wouldn’t be their case if he resided elsewhere.
    Her hopes were instantly dashed as Cole spoke. ‘You know those giant houses on the edge of Platt Fields Park set back from the main road?’
    ‘Bollocks, so it’s ours then?’ Jessica replied.
    ‘I wouldn’t have put it quite like that but yes.’
    In the years they had worked together, Jessica had never heard the DCI swear and rarely known him to raise his voice or shout. The incident in the briefing that morning was one of a single-digit number of times he had even looked like he might lose his temper when she had been around.
    With the news about George Johnson’s missing wife, Jessica had almost forgotten why she had come upstairs in the first place. It came to her just as the chief inspector was about to start speaking. ‘Sorry, I remembered why I was here. A woman walked into reception, claiming she knows who our woman in black is. She says her son went missing a month ago and that his girlfriend has identical cloak.’
    Jessica took the photo out of her jacket pocket and slid it across the desk. Cole picked it up and looked at it then turned it around for Reynolds to see. ‘Do you think she’s genuine?’
    ‘I have no idea but the son’s girlfriend has a record for DV. It’s probably worth bringing her in to speak to and taking a sample from the mother to see if the hand really does belong to her son.’
    Cole leant back, exhaling loudly. ‘You’re probably right but Superintendent Aylesbury is obviously very keen on us at least trying to find Johnson’s wife.’ He paused, thinking through his options.
    Detective Superintendent William Aylesbury had been the DCI at the station until a year and a half ago. Jessica hadn’t always got on with him but had just begun to see how good he was at his job when he had been promoted to the higher position. It meant he was no longer based at their station, instead overseeing the whole district.
    The chief inspector leant forward in his chair. ‘Okay. Jason, can you go and deal with Mr Johnson? Take Louise with you and it will at least look like we’ve got two senior people working on things. Jessica, pick a constable or two and do what you have to. Take a sample from the woman downstairs and get it off to the labs before you do anything. Regardless of whatever’s in the girlfriend’s past, it’s pretty much irrelevant if the hand doesn’t belong to the woman’s son. After you’ve got that, go and bring the girl in. It can’t do any harm to talk to her, especially as we’ve got a missing person anyway.’
    Jessica and Reynolds nodded in agreement before leaving. ‘I’m not sure who’s got the shortest straw here,’ the inspector said as they walked down the stairs together.
    ‘Definitely you,’ Jessica replied. ‘While all the TV cameras are focused on what you’re up to I can just go about my business.’
    They separated at the bottom and Jessica went to sort out the saliva sample from Mrs Barnes. After the woman’s swab had been passed on to the labs it was going to take until the morning at least before they knew whether the hand belonged to her son. Jessica told the woman one of the other officers would take a statement because they were going to pick up her son’s girlfriend. Usually they would have spoken to the mother properly beforehand but if January did turn out to be involved in some way, the