Trent’s cheeks turned pink. “Sorry, just telling it how it is, lady.”

“Inspector!” Jack reminded Trent.

Sally smiled at her partner, thanking him for his gallant behaviour. He never let her down there. Thinking there was no point questioning the two men any longer, Sally decided to end the meeting swiftly. “Well, if nothing is coming to mind, then we’ll leave you guys in peace and get on. Here’s my card. If you think of anything, no matter how insignificant you think it might be, ring me, okay?”

“Will do. Hope you find the bastard who did it,” Trent said, showing Sally and Jack to the front door. “Can I ask how she was murdered?”

“No, you can’t. We don’t divulge details until after we’ve held a press conference. Does it matter?”

Trent shrugged. “Not really. I just hate the thought of her suffering.”

“I see. Well, that’s one thing we’ve yet to have confirmed by the pathologist. I can tell you this, though, her death wasn’t pretty, and we believe the crime might have been sexually motivated.”

“Shit! Poor Maddie. She didn’t deserve that.”

“No person does, Mr. Trent. Have a good think about the customers you saw at the pub last night and get back to me if anything crops up, okay?” Sally prompted the man for the last time before she left the house with her partner.

CHAPTER FIVE

The rest of the week turned out to be murder-free, nevertheless uber-frustrating for Sally and her enthusiastic team as they waited impatiently for the DNA results to come through from the pathology lab. They had managed to track down and question Maddie’s ex-fiancé, who seemed so genuinely traumatised by Maddie’s death that Sally had no alternative but to cross him off the suspect list. Returning to both pubs to question staff and numerous customers had been a fruitless exercise, too.

“Why don’t people take an interest in what goes on around them anymore?” Sally complained, shuffling papers in her office just before six o’clock struck.

“Too self-absorbed maybe. I don’t know. What have you got planned for the weekend? Still unpacking?” Jack asked.

“Nope, that’s all done now. Believe it or not, I’m going on the Broads with my parents. Over the last few months, Dad’s fixed up the cruiser, and this will be the first time it has been fit for use this year. Should be a relaxing weekend, I hope.”

Jack shook his head and shuddered. “Dry land for me all the way. Can’t be dealing with all that rocking on the ocean lark.”

Sally laughed. “Idiot. It’s as calm as a millpond on the Broads. The only dicey part is Braydon Water. Now that stretch of water can get really choppy if the weather is bad. You should try relaxing on the boats one day. The kids would love it.”

He stood up and placed his hands on the back of the chair. “My girls are into the three Ms.”

Sally narrowed her eyes. “Which are?”

“Music, make-up, and causing mayhem. Welcome to my world and what lies ahead of me this weekend.”

Sally chortled. Standing, she slipped on her jacket and reached for her handbag before following Jack out of the office. “And that, my dear friend, is why I don’t intend having children. My life is stressful enough during the week here without having to deal with teenage tantrums at the weekend, too.”

“Thankfully, Diane has a few years to go before she reaches thirteen. Teresa is certainly revelling in her role, though. I sometimes think life was far easier back in Afghanistan.” Jack tutted.

Sally punched the top of his arm. “Go on with you, Bullet. You don’t mean that really,” she said, playfully using the nickname his army colleagues had granted him. The Taliban had shot him on four separate occasions during his final mission.

“Seriously, give me a battle against the Taliban any day of the week, rather than thrashing it out with Teresa about some of the stupid outfits she tries to sneak out in.”

“Ah, the battle of wills. You should know by now that we girls will win every time on that one.”

“Yeah, you’d think I would’ve learned that by now, eh? And don’t even get me started on that boyfriend of hers!”

Sally laughed loudly. “I bet Donna’s parents felt the same way about you when you guys first started dating.”

He placed a hand to his chest and looked hurt. “What? I was the bloody model boyfriend right from day one.”

“Yeah, I bet you went rapidly downhill after that, though.”

Jack shook his head vehemently and grunted his disapproval of her insensitive comment. “No way. To this day, they still insist I was the best boyfriend to ever grace their front doorstep. And there were many, so I’ve been told, frequently!”

“Oh dear, not quite what you’d want to hear them say about your adoring wife, I’m sure.” Sally chuckled.

Jack held the door for Sally at the exit of the main building. “Hardly. Their intentions were good, I suppose. Have a great weekend. See you Monday.”

“I hope it doesn’t prove to be too traumatic for you, love.” Sally opened the car door and hopped in. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the overnight bag she had quickly packed the evening before was still sitting on the backseat. After placing a Rod Stewart CD in the player, she set off for her parents’ house. She sang along to the disc when We Are Sailing filled the interior.

Her mother was in the driveway of her parents’ terraced home when Sally arrived. “Hey, Mum. Are you almost ready to set off?”

“Hello, dear. Almost there. Your father is just securing the place now. You know what he’s like.”

Sally kissed her mother on the cheek. “Not erecting that roll of barbed wire along the back fence again, is he?”

Her mother laughed and ushered her daughter inside the house. “Go and see for yourself. He’s rigging up something out there, not sure what. It’s sure to be dangerous, knowing his past attempts at securing this place while we’re away.”

Nervously, Sally ventured into the small rear garden. “Dad! You can’t do that!” Dex the Labrador bounded towards her and almost knocked her off her feet. “Hello, gorgeous. Have you missed me?”

Her father, Christopher Tomlin, spun around to face her, still holding a wooden post in his hand. “Why can’t I? A man has every right to protect his property against those louts.”

Sally’s heart raced erratically. She observed his day’s work with discomfort. He’d placed ten six-foot wooden posts about a foot from the back fence, burying the rounded end in the earth, leaving the pointed end exposed. “What if someone gets impaled on one of those, Dad?” She shook her head in disbelief as a vile image filled her mind.

“That’s their problem, love, not mine. If people didn’t turn their hand to robbery, then there wouldn’t be any need for this. Have you seen the statistics of burglaries in this area over the past few months? Have you?”

“Yes, Dad. Compared to other areas in the country, this is still one of the safest areas to live in.”

“Oh, is that so? And tell me, what case are you working on at the moment, love?”

Sally sighed heavily. “You know full well what kind of case I’m involved in, Dad. Don’t try and justify your actions using that kind of information.”

“I’m not. All I’m doing is protecting my property—something the police around here seem reluctant to do since that mob moved in across the road from us. Your mother refuses to burden you, but our lives have been a living bloody hell for months now.”

Sally approached her father and rubbed his forearm. “I’m sorry, Dad. I had no idea.”

“No, because your mum wanted to keep it from you due to the stress that bastard of a husband has put you under. Well, we’ve been under a tonne of stress ourselves.”

She kissed her father on the cheek and hugged him. Tears pricked at her eyes as guilt surged through her veins. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own problems, I’ve neglected you two. I’ll make sure I have a word with the right people when I get back to work on Monday. How’s that?”