Free No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) by M A Comley Page B

announcing that he and Gemma had some sort of affair or
secretive friendship going on, that neither of them wanted to
disclose to the rest of the family. Roll on tomorrow, if only to
discount him from our enquiries. Shifty bugger all the same.”
    “There’s something about him
that didn’t sit well with me. That’s for sure,” Jack said,
nodding.
    “Let’s hope the others have
found out more from Gemma’s friends about what went on last night
than we have.”
    “Me, too. Because as it stands,
we’ve got very little to go on so far,” Jack agreed.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    There was a buzz in the
incident room atmosphere when Sally and Jack returned.
    “What’s going on, Joanna?”
Sally asked, perching her backside on the desk nearest the
detective constable.
    “Well, we questioned a few of
Gemma’s friends—not all, as one of them is away with her work.
Anyway, it would appear that Gemma acquired a new admirer at the
pub last night.”
    Sally raised an inquisitive
eyebrow and leaned forward. “Tell me more. As in someone was
pestering her?”
    “That’s not how it was coming
across to me, boss.”
    “Hmm… that’s going to certainly
be worth chasing up, all the same. How many of the women did you
get around to questioning, Joanna?”
    “Only two out of the three,
boss. One lady in particular was keen to help.”
    “Okay, make it a priority to
track down the last one tomorrow. What’s the name of the lady who
gave you the information? What did she say exactly?”
    Sally glanced up at the clock
on the wall, aware that she was asking her team to work overtime.
However, none of her colleagues appeared to notice the time and
went about their duties while Joanna filled her in. “Miss Audrey
James said that a man was standing at the bar, eyeing up Gemma. She
said she felt Gemma made up an excuse about the pub being stuffy
and that she needed to get some fresh air and went outside for a
while. She noticed the man leave the bar and follow her friend out
of the pub.”
    “I see. I don’t suppose she was
that intrigued to find out what they got up to outside. The body
language between the two, if they met up, that is?”
    “No. She was distraught when
she found out about Gemma, full of self-recriminations. She said
the conversation was far too interesting amongst the group, and she
didn’t even think to go after Gemma to see if she was okay.”
    “How long was Gemma missing?
Could she tell you that?” Sally asked, disappointed.
    “She guessed it was around ten
minutes.”
    “Okay, what was the name of the
pub again? I’ll give them a call, see if they’ve got any CCTV
cameras.”
    “The Red Lion at
Cringleford.”
    “Okay, that’s close to my
parents’ home. I could drop by instead on my way over there this
evening,” Sally replied, sitting upright and rubbing at her
chin.
    “Other than that, neither of
the friends could really tell us much. They were both shocked by
the news of Gemma’s death. I left a card and asked them to contact
us if they think of anything else concerning last night’s events,
or if they can recall any strange incidents that have taken place
in Gemma’s life recently, that she confided in them.”
    “Great job.” Sally clapped her
hands to gain the team’s attention. “Okay, we’ve all done really
well today. Let’s go home, get some rest, and start afresh in the
morning at eight. All right, everyone?”
    The team switched off their
computers. Sally watched her colleagues file out of the incident
room then dipped into her office to make a call.
    “Hi, Mum. Is it okay if I visit
this evening?”
    “You know it is, sweetheart.
You must’ve known we’d have plenty of dinner spare this evening.
How does lasagne and salad sound?”
    “Perfect. Just shove mine in
the microwave, Mum. I’ve got a quick call to make en route. I
should be with you around seven to seven thirty.”
    Her mother chuckled.
“Impossible with a salad, but I get what you mean, dear.