Читать книгу The Victim - G.D. Sanders - Страница 26

When they’d left Dover and were on the A2 back to Canterbury, Ed asked Jenny what she’d managed to get from the dead woman’s parents.

‘Very little. The husband, Tony Jenkins, did most of the talking. I didn’t push Pat, the mother; she was very upset. Actually, Tony’s the stepfather.’

‘And the daughter …?’

‘Kayleigh Robson, 23, an only child. They’re not from around here; they come from Strood.’

‘Where’s that?’

‘Part of the Medway Towns – it’s across the river from Rochester.’

‘So, what was Kayleigh doing in Dover?’

‘She moved out of the family home when her mother remarried. According to the stepfather, they hadn’t seen Kayleigh for three or four years.’

Ed waited while Jenny negotiated a roundabout.

‘If they’d lost touch with the daughter, what were they doing at her flat in Dover?’

‘They had an arrangement. Ever since Kayleigh left home, her mother has paid for a mobile contract. In return, Kayleigh promised she would always call between 5 and 6 p.m. on the 21st of every month. When she hadn’t called by 6.30 today, the mother tried to call her, but she couldn’t get through to Kayleigh’s phone. This had never happened before. She got increasingly worried and finally insisted Tony drive with her to Dover. They had a key to the flat, let themselves in and found Kayleigh dead.’

‘Poor woman – to find your child like that must be an unimaginable experience,’ said Ed.

The two detectives drove in silence, each with their own thoughts, until Ed added, ‘We’ll know more when we get the post-mortem report and hear from forensics.’