Big North Project Investments stood a little back from the main road and was located just on the way out of Cleevesford. Not a weed littered the block paving and the hanging baskets looked as though they were competing in the annual Cleevesford in Bloom competition. The simple detached modern office building looked tiny against the backdrop of meadows it was set within. Sheep grazed in the distance and a bird’s nest topped a dried-out tree. The Norths had money; that was clear. A purpose-built business property set in all this land wouldn’t be cheap. Gina had checked their records. They constantly invested in property projects, new-build estates, they had made huge sums from everything they’d been involved in and they had working office blocks throughout the country.

Gina pressed the buzzer as Jacob tried to look through the tinted windows.

‘Big North, who’s calling?’ the voice asked though the intercom.

‘DI Harte and DS Driscoll. We’re here to see Mr and Mrs North.’

‘Please wait in reception, I’ll be down in a moment.’ The door released and Gina led the way into a plush waiting area. Two grey couches faced each other, divided by a long, high-gloss coffee table. The mid-shade grey and mustard yellow colour scheme worked well with their logos and designs. A large and complicated looking coffee machine adorned one end of the room. Jacob took a few steps forward on the stone floor, each step echoing through the room.

‘Hello, let me show you up.’ The woman who she’d heard on the other end of the intercom and who looked to be in her mid-twenties with shoulder-length brown hair beckoned them over. They followed her up the stairs until they reached another wide corridor with several doors leading off. She opened one of them and did a slight bow to the Norths. ‘Mr and Mrs North will see you now,’ she said as she closed the door.

‘What an unfortunate thing to happen. You know how much this is going to cost us?’ Elizabeth North asked.

‘It’s already cost someone dearly. The bones we found on your land were that of a girl in her teens,’ Gina snapped.

Mrs North cleared her throat and looked at the pad in front of her. Gina made a mental note that the work culture seemed a bit odd. She could see that Stan and Elizabeth North were firm bosses. There were professional photos of both of them adorning the walls. On each photo, Mrs North had a different hairstyle of varying colours. One collection of photos held Gina’s attention for longer than the others. The Norths standing in front of a block of flats, then a housing estate, followed by a development in Canary Wharf. Not one of the pictures showed them with their team, their builders, and all the other people that did the ground work. Mrs North sat at the head of the table with Mr North to her left. Gina walked along the wall and took the seat beside Mrs North. Jacob slumped in the seat beside her.

‘We’re sorry to hear that, really we are, but we have work to get on with. Do you know how long you lot will be and can you try not to make too much of a mess?’ Mrs North asked. She tapped her plum-coloured nails, which matched her perfectly applied lipstick, on the conference table. As the woman awaited her answer, she turned to the window, checking her reflection. She smoothed her blonde bob down.

‘Mrs North, we are potentially investigating a murder. It will take as long as it takes. As soon as we have all we need from your land, we will let you know straight away. Right, when did you first go and see the property?’

Elizabeth North sighed as she placed her hands flat on the table and stared directly at Gina. She was asserting dominance. She sensed that Mrs North always got her own way. ‘We drove by early April, just before the auction. Never been before.’

‘I see from our records that you had access from the property after the auction on the twentieth of April. You’re telling me you never went to the property before April.’

‘That is what I said. Did you not hear me the first time?’

Gina watched as Mr North rolled his eyes and looked to the side. ‘Elizabeth, not now. Sorry, detectives. My wife and I are upset by what has happened. I’m sure you can appreciate that.’

Gina was certain Mrs North was upset but only about potential profits lost. ‘Mrs North. We have contacted the auction house in which the property was listed and sold by. Graham Danks, the person in charge of your property at the time, stated that he first took you both to the property on Wednesday the seventh of March so I’ll ask again. Can you tell me when you first went to see the property?’

‘Are we under caution?’ Mrs North asked.

‘No. We are just trying to establish what happened at your property. You are not under arrest or under caution. We just thought you might be able to give us information that will help with our investigation. We appreciate anything you can tell us. We would appreciate your cooperation or we may have to do this down at the station.’

Mr North dragged his chair closer to the table. ‘Can we start again? My wife is very protective of our interests. This will hurt our investment, that is all. We don’t mean to hamper your investigation.’ He took his glasses off and placed them on the table. Mrs North folded her arms and leaned back. ‘Let me check my diary.’ Mr North selected his diary on the tablet in front of him and scrolled back to March. Gina could just about see the entry from her side of the table. ‘Graham occasionally gives us a good tip on what’s hot to go for. On this particular day, March the seventh, he gave us a call and we went to visit Foxglove Cottage. He didn’t have the keys at that point so we just looked through the windows. I was able to make a rough assessment from the outside of how much it would cost us and what margins we needed to achieve. I’m sorry that this information escaped our minds but it was a while ago. You can see from the diary and how much we have booked in, this would be easy to do.’ He held his tablet up. His diary was bursting with appointments.

‘Thank you for confirming that for us,’ Jacob said.

‘Did you go back between seeing the property that day and purchasing the property?’

Mr North scanned all his diary entries. ‘No, we didn’t. I went into this investment with Bryn Tilly though. He may have gone back for a look.’

‘May I ask? Why did you invest with Bryn Tilly when you clearly have enough capital to handle this property by yourself?’

‘I lived near Bryn, growing up. He was a decent kid back then, worked hard after school on building sites. He came to me, begging for a chance in property development and showed me a portfolio of his past work and said he had a bit of money to invest. What can I say, I like the guy. He was prepared to do all of the day-to-day running of the project and most of the work. He was a bargain, really. I know him well, he wouldn’t harm a fly. As for going to the property before we bought it, he probably did. He’d need to see the extent of work needed for himself.’

Gina nodded at Jacob. She only had one question left to ask. ‘Do you know this girl?’

The couple looked at the photo for a moment. ‘Never seen her,’ Mrs North said.

Mr North put his glasses back on. Gina wished she had a better photo but Simone’s mugshot was all they had on file. ‘Is this the girl on our land?’

‘It’s just another enquiry we’re following up on.’ Gina hadn’t even contacted Simone’s family as yet but she needed to know. One of the team back at the station would be making the call right now.

‘I don’t recognise her at all,’ Mr North said. His gaze lingered on the photo a little longer and he placed his hands in his lap, under the table. ‘No, never seen her.’ He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

‘Are you sure?’

He swallowed and took a swig from a glass of water. ‘I’d know if I’d seen this girl and I’d tell you.’

‘Is that all, detectives, as we have work to do?’ Mrs North slammed her notebook shut and stood.

---

‘I’m sure he recognised her,’ Gina said as they headed towards the car and whacked the bonnet.

‘Me too but hitting your car won’t help,’ replied Jacob as he opened the car door and slumped in the seat.

He was right. She took a deep breath and got into the car. She’d soon find out what he knew, somehow.