Free Under a Silent Moon: A Novel by Elizabeth Haynes Page B

more coming in all the time, should be a lot more by the end of today, thanks to the press conference. I’ll make sure it’s up to date before I go tonight. Do you want me in tomorrow?”
    “No,” she said. “You deserve a weekend and I need to hang on to my overtime budget.”
    “I don’t mind.”
    “Have you got nice things planned?”
    Oh, subtle, she thought to herself, feeling her cheeks warming. What the hell was she doing? Wasn’t it awkward enough with Andy Hamilton?
    “Nope. I’d rather be in here getting on with it.”
    Well, that was honest—give him credit for that.
    “Really?”
    “Sure. There’s a ton of stuff to do—I don’t really want to spend the whole of Monday catching up. I can take it as hours instead of overtime, anyway.”
    “Well, thanks. See how you get on today and I’ll leave it up to you, Jason. You know I’m really grateful for your help.” Lou slipped the lid off her coffee and emptied a sachet of sugar into it.
    “Are you having briefings over the weekend?”
    “Depends on what comes in. We’ll have one this evening when the shift changes, then maybe an informal catch-up when we need one, until Monday.”
    “Well, if you need my input you know where I am.”
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “No problem. Been a while since I worked a major incident.”
    “What do you make of the whole Fletcher-Norman connection?”
    “I’m trying not to get stuck on it. You realize that Polly is turning into quite something, don’t you?”
    “In what way?”
    “Well, if any of the gossip is to be believed, she was having or had an affair with just about everyone in the village, male and female.”
    “Really? God, the press are going to love this. Do you think it’s simply gossip? Jealous wives, that sort of thing?”
    “Might be, if there weren’t such a lot of it. We’ve heard from a couple of her ex-boyfriends—there are intelligence reports and two statements already—and both of them were unceremoniously dumped after she refused to stop sleeping with other people.”
    Lou sighed, taking a swig of coffee. “This makes the whole motive question rather interesting, at least,” she said. “I almost wish it were a simple burglary.”
    “Nothing’s ever that simple,” he answered softly. “You know that.”
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    MG11 WITNESS STATEMENT
    Section 1—Witness Details
    NAME: Simon Andrew DODDS
    DOB (if under 18; if over 18 state “Over 18”)    Over 18
    ADDRESS:      18 Oak Rise
                      Brownhills
                      Lewisham
                      LONDON SE15
    OCCUPATION: Sales Manager
    Section 2—Investigating Officer
    DATE: Friday 2 November
    OIC: DC 13512 Jane PHELPS
    Section 3—Text of Statement
    My name is Simon Dodds and I live and work in London. I heard from a friend who lives in Briarstone that Polly Leuchars had been murdered.
    Approximately two years ago I had a relationship with Polly Leuchars. She had joined the company I worked for at the time, SVA Consultants Ltd, as a receptionist. A few weeks later I asked her out and she accepted. I thought she was a fantastic girl and I enjoyed being with her a lot.
    A few months into our relationship she told me about someone else she was seeing. She said it very casually, as if it was no big thing, but I was upset. She was surprised at my reaction and explained that she was not into monogamy and I could not expect her to be faithful.
    I was very upset by the whole business, although I was in love with her and could not end the relationship. I asked her about the other person she was seeing and she admitted that she was seeing more than one person, and that one of them was a woman. I asked her to stop seeing them and she told me she could not, and that it was better if we ended our relationship.
    I tried to win her back but she was adamant, and the next day she handed in her resignation. I never saw Polly after that, although I