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EXTRACT FROM NOT MY VALENTINE
CHAPTER 8
Detective Constable Omar Khalid is visiting the Birmingham shoe factory where murder victim Lydia Squires worked as a secretary to managing director Mervyn Hinkley. Hinkley takes the detective to meet Vernon Bainbridge, a customer service assistant who is suspected of having been stalking Miss Squires.
Vernon Bainbridge, a man of medium
height with long, fair hair in a ponytail, had been engrossed in a phone
conversation. But seeing his boss standing behind him and noticing the visitor
by the door, he extricated himself from his call.
He
followed Hinkley out of the room.
‘This
is a detective from Heart of England Police, Vernon,’ said Hinkley. ‘He’d like
to talk to you. Now, Detective, if you don’t mind, I’ll leave you in the hands
of our employee. If you need any more help, this is my card. Call me any time
you like during office hours.’
He
handed the visitor a small white card.
‘Thank
you. You’ve been very helpful,’ said Khalid.
As
Hinkley walked away, Khalid quickly assessed Bainbridge and could see why Lydia
had become concerned by his past pursuit of her. The employee was a
solemn-faced man with a reddish, pimply face and, as he approached him, he
detected a faint whiff of body odour.
‘What’s
this all about?’ Bainbridge demanded.
‘Look,
is there somewhere we can go to have a chat?’ asked Khalid.
‘We
can go into the reception area, if you like,’ Bainbridge suggested.
He
led Khalid back along the corridor until they reached the reception desk near
the entrance. They stepped across the room to a set of beige sofas in the
corner and sat down opposite each other.
‘Now
first of all, Mr Bainbridge, could you tell me what car you drive?’ asked
Khalid, taking care to keep a clear distance from his malodorous companion.
‘Yes,
but where’s all this going?’ asked Bainbridge.
‘Sorry.
I should have said. I’m investigating the death of a work colleague of yours,
Lydia Squires.’
‘Is
she dead?’
‘Yes. I’m afraid she is.’
Bainbridge
shook his head repeatedly as he turned pale. ‘No, no, no,’ he said under his
breath. He put his hands to his face, stood up and stepped around the room in a
daze.
‘I
haven’t seen anything in the news about it,’ he said.
‘I
think her name was only being officially released to the media today.’
‘How
did she die?’
‘She
was murdered.’
‘My
God. That’s terrible. I really loved that woman. Where did she die?’
‘In
Worcester.’
‘So
she was killed at her home?’
‘I’m
not able to discuss all the details of the incident.’
Bainbridge
returned to his seat and placed his head in his hands.
‘Can
you give me a minute?’ he asked.
He
stood up and walked about the room again, staring down at the light-green
carpet. Then he resumed his seat.
‘I’m
sorry if this has come as a shock,’ said Khalid while Bainbridge began to
compose himself. ‘Listen, could you tell me what car you drive?’
‘A
grey Toyota Yaris,’ he replied.
‘Have
you recently been using a different car?’
‘No,’
he replied indignantly. ‘Why do you want to know all this?’
‘We’ve discovered you had a fascination for
this lady. You sent her letters and it’s believed you followed her to her house
on occasion.’
‘Oh,
that’s not true,’ he said.
‘Your
boss seemed to think you had some kind of crush on her,’ said Khalid. ‘He had
to give you a warning.’
‘It
was all a misunderstanding. I really liked Lydia. We chatted once or twice and
I thought she was encouraging me to take things further. As soon as I realised
she didn’t feel the same way about me, I broke off contact.’
‘Really?’
said Khalid. ‘We believe you’ve turned up several times at her house over the
past few days.’
‘That’s
total nonsense. Why would you say that? I’ve been at home or out with my
mates.’
‘How
did you know she lives in Worcester?’
‘She
must have told me.’
‘You
completely deny having use of another car?’
‘Of
course.’
Bainbridge
leaned forward and placed his head in his hands again.
‘This
is ridiculous,’ he said. ‘Someone in a car is spotted outside Lydia’s house and
immediately police think it’s me. Well, I can tell you straight. As soon as Mr
Hinkley pointed out to me that my approaches to the lady were unwelcome, I
immediately ended all communication.’
Khalid
frowned on hearing this.
‘My
sergeant’s told me you sent Lydia a Valentine’s card.’
‘No,’
Bainbridge insisted.
‘You knew exactly where she’s been living,
didn’t you? And you’ve been visiting her house.’
‘No.
‘On
Valentine’s Day, you couldn’t keep away. You went round there in the evening
and confronted her in her house.’
‘No.
Of course not.’
‘Where
were you between 10 p.m. and 10.45 p.m. on Tuesday?’
‘I
was at my father’s place,’ he said.
After
a brief pause, he glanced up at the detective.
‘For God’s sake,’ he said, ‘you think I murdered her, don’t you?’
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