The Blissfully Dead Read Online Free Page B

the desk-perchers, fidgeting and shuffling about with nervous energy, twiddling a biro between her fingers, looking like she was dying to get stuck in.
    There was one notable and very welcome absence: DI Adrian Winkler, a man to whom Patrick had barely spoken since they came to blows, literally, on the Child Catcher case. He knew that Winkler was working on another murder at the moment, had seen him parading around the station self-importantly, flicking back his shoulder-length hair and puffing out his chest like a mating pigeon. Hearing that he wouldn’t have to work with Winkler on this one was the one good thing that had happened in the last forty-eight hours.
    ‘OK,’ Patrick began, all eyes focusing on him. ‘Welcome to the first briefing for Operation Urchin.’ This was the name the computer had generated. ‘Here’s what we know so far. Rose Sharp, fifteen years old, resident of Teddington. Rose’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mother. The father isn’t a suspect, before you wonder. He was away on business in Germany and is on his way back now.’
    He went on to describe the scene where they’d found Rose, consulting his notepad, writing down several points on the whiteboard as he spoke.
    ‘The main points to consider about the crime scene are: One – the room was supposedly vacant, no key cards had been given out, so how did Rose and her murderer get in? Two – how did they get into the hotel room without being seen? We are checking lists of guests and staff, but so far there have been no hits. There was no CCTV in the hotel corridor, so we can’t tell if she went into the room willingly or not. Three – did she know her killer? If not, what persuaded her to go to a hotel room with him? Four – Rose’s clothes were missing from the scene. Where are they, and why did the killer take them? Rose’s mum has been through her daughter’s clothes and given us a description of what she thinks Rose was wearing. This information is on your printouts.’
    Sally Sharp hadn’t seen Rose leave the house, but by checking her daughter’s wardrobe and the washing baskets she believed Rose had been wearing her new Top Shop jeans and a long-sleeved pink and white cotton top. ‘She always wears earrings too,’ Sally had said, her voice catching. ‘And a necklace that her dad gave her. It’s a locket. She keeps a photo of him inside it.’ She pointed to a poster on the wall. ‘Shawn.’
    Then Sally Sharp had paused.
    ‘She was wearing her new underwear too.’ Avoiding Patrick’s eye, she went on. ‘She came home yesterday with a bag from Primark and I had a peek inside when she was in the loo.’ Sally had described the knickers: pink with the word ‘LUCKY’ printed across the front. ‘They’re not in her room.’
    Patrick handed out jobs to the gathered officers. Wendy was instructed to help Gareth continue interviewing the guests and hotel staff. Martin was given the responsibility of checking Rose’s commu nications: social media, email and phone. Had she left any clues there?
    ‘Her phone was missing too,’ he pointed out. ‘She had a contract with O2, paid for by her mum. Martin, I need you to chase up getting the records. Preet, I want you to start talking to Ros e’s frien ds. Had she said she was going to meet someone? Any boyfriends her mum didn’t know about?’
    ‘What secrets did she have?’ Wendy asked in her Black Country accent, as if she were thinking aloud. Seeing the look Patrick gave her, she said, ‘All teenage girls have secrets. If my mum and dad had known half the things me and my mates got up to . . .’
    ‘Yes, very true. But, according to her mum, Rose was a bit of an introvert. Spent most of her life in her bedroom.’
    Wendy nodded. ‘Probably an online predator, then. Some guy pretending to be a fifteen-year-old arranges to meet her at a hotel; she freaks out when she sees he’s fat, bald and fifty; he knocks her over the head.’ She shrugged.