Page 47 of 36 Hours
5.25P.M.
‘Are you kidding me?’ Bryant asked, looking at the sandwich in his hand.
‘It was the best they had. And I got you crisps,’ she said, tossing him a packet of salt and vinegar.
‘You’re telling me that even Frost gets some of Luigi’s finest and I get egg mayo?’
‘Triple pack,’ she said as if that made everything better.
She opened her own chicken salad sandwich, took a bite and could see his point.
They’d been heading back to the station when she’d received a call from Fred Guest, offering to meet her at the office. But when she’d learned he only lived in Old Hill, it had made more sense to visit him at home. She was pausing in the car outside his home for more reasons than having a bite to eat though.
‘Bryant…’
‘Don’t say it, guv,’ he groaned with dread in his voice.
‘Gotta do it,’ she said, taking out her phone.
He buried his head in his hands. ‘It has nothing to do with our case.’
‘And I’m sure you’ll enjoy your moment of triumph if you’re proven right. I’ll even let you do a lap of honour round the squad room. But I can’t ignore the fact that someone potentially got raped while following one of these bloody trails.’
‘Different county, different website, different type of crime.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘You don’t see rape and torture as potentially being carried out by the same person?’
‘With our case, the torture is a side dish. The main event is the game. I really didn’t mean that how it sounded.’
‘I get what you mean, but I still think we need to know more,’ she said, pressing Stacey’s contact number.
‘Yo, boss,’ Stacey answered.
‘Stace, find out?—’
‘Hang on, boss. I’ve tried emailing and calling Ryan Douglas to ask him to block the Jester’s account on Seekers. I’m getting radio silence. Won’t respond at all. I’ve told him what we want him to do, but he’s either really busy or…’
‘He has no intention of stopping the Jester from posting,’ Kim finished for her.
She wasn’t surprised. The man was probably thrilled the Jester was using the Seekers site as a communication tool. Why should they expect him to co-operate with a police investigation when it was probably good for business?
‘Okay, Stace, can’t do any more without a warrant. I’ve got something else for you. Find out what you can about a rape just outside of Stourport around six months ago. Could be linked to a trail.’
‘You sure?’
‘Not yet. It’s all a mixture of hearsay and Mumsnet at the minute so see what you can find out. The site it was on was Little Trekkers if that helps.’
‘On it, boss,’ Stacey said before ending the call.
‘Not content to try and solve every case for West Mids police, you now wanna solve the cases of all the other forces as well,’ Bryant complained.
She ignored his jab. ‘Whether it went forward to CPS or not, evidence would still have been collected. What if they have something that helps us?’
‘Anything further that comes out of my mouth will just be a waste of breath,’ he said, opening the car door.
She followed his lead. As she got out of the car, she found herself surprised by the state of Fred’s property, having met the man himself.
The estate had been the pride of Old Hill when built in the seventies. Everyone living in council accommodation had tried to transfer to houses and flats in streets named Cherry Orchard and Blossom Grove. But many of those houses looked tired and deflated now, including the one occupied by the man they’d come to see.