Free Good Girls Don't Die by Isabelle Grey Page B

socialise?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘So what do you mean, then, when you say he’s a player?’
    ‘He hits on the newbies, before they wise up. He’s a bit lame, that’s all.’
    ‘Bad enough for anyone to complain to the faculty?’
    Caitlin merely shrugged, so Grace moved on. ‘Can you think of anyone Rachel might have felt threatened by?’ she asked. ‘Anyone hassling her or giving her unwanted attention? A rejected boyfriend, or someone from home?’
    Caitlin looked to Amber, who dragged her gaze away from Grace only to shake her head.
    ‘Rachel’s really straight, you know?’ Grace had to strain to hear Amber’s quiet voice. ‘Easy. Kind. Her life is just friends, family, boyfriend, work.
Was
,’ Amber corrected herself, reaching for Caitlin’s hand. ‘
Was
kind and easy. This can’t be happening! She had such a good job lined up and everything. She can’t be dead! It’s not fair!’
    ‘I’m really sorry.’ Grace spoke as calmly as she could. ‘Just a couple more questions, then we’ll leave you in peace. Firstly, did Rachel have a red jacket, cut like a bomber jacket, with button-down breast pockets?’
    Caitlin nodded miserably.
    ‘Was vodka a drink she liked?’
    ‘I don’t know. Not particularly.’
    Grace knew that the officers upstairs had already checked for any vodka bottles in the house, and that the rubbish had been bagged up and would be taken away for examination. She gave Lance a slight nod, indicating he should take over the questions.
    ‘Do you see much of your landlord?’
    ‘He was here yesterday, to mend the shower,’ said Caitlin.
    Lance looked triumphantly at Grace. ‘What time was that?’
    ‘About six. He came over specially, because we wanted showers before we went out.’
    ‘And Rachel was here then?’
    ‘Yes.’ Caitlin’s eyes filled once more with tears.
    ‘How long was he here?’
    ‘Not long. It just needed a new fixing in the wall.’
    ‘How do you get on with him?’ Lance asked.
    ‘Fine. Pawel’s a good landlord. Makes a real effort.’
    Grace noticed that Amber, staring at her hands in her lap, was picking at her nails. ‘Would you say the same, Amber?’ she asked gently.
    Amber looked as though she’d been caught out at something. ‘Oh, yeah, he’s fine,’ she said dismissively, hiding her hands.
    ‘All his tenants are women,’ Grace observed, as if the thought had only just stuck her. ‘No issues there?’
    ‘No,’ Amber answered, with the kind of moody shrug a teenager might give. Grace wondered what she wasn’t saying, and why. She looked at Lance, but he appeared not to have noticed anything amiss.
    ‘OK, thanks,’ Grace said. ‘We may have further questions, and we must ask you not to touch any of Rachel’s belongings.’
    ‘You’ll probably get the press banging on your door,’ Lance warned them. ‘Or trying to make contact with you through your social media. We can’t tell you what to do,but we’d very much prefer you not to talk to them or engage with them in any way as it can complicate the enquiry. They can be very persistent, so let us know if it gets too much.’
    ‘You may be better going to stay with friends tonight.’
    ‘I just want to go home,’ said Caitlin. ‘Is that all right?’
    Grace nodded. ‘You’ve got our cards. Just send us your contact details.’
    She and Lance let themselves out and walked back to the car.
    The midsummer solstice was approaching and it wouldn’t be dark for several hours yet, but as Lance drove, Grace watched the trees already casting flickering shadows across the road. The way out of Wivenhoe led past small post-war council estates and then a ribbon of bungalows. She could see stretches of woodland beyond and it was not long before they reached agricultural land. Where was Polly, she asked herself. What vital lead were they missing?
    She summoned to mind the image of Rachel’s body early this morning lying on the sharp-edged broken bricks, roof tiles and lumps of plaster of the