‘Yes, we’ve got a train in an hour or so.’

‘Good, because you’re not going to believe what they’ve found in Donald McKenna’s cell.’

28

‘What?’ Jessica said.

‘They’ve pulled a mobile phone out of the pipe that connects his sink to the wall. It was wrapped in a plastic bag to stop it getting wet.’

Jessica remembered wobbling that exact pipe when she had been in his cell, not knowing she was millimetres away from something that could have given them a break weeks ago. ‘How did they find it?’

‘Some routine cell check. It sounds like they surprised him and he didn’t have time to put the tubing together again properly. A guard noticed it was a little out of place and they found the phone.’

‘What’s happening now?’

‘The phone is being examined by the labs to see if they can get anything from it. There’s a basic call history we’ve already got but it’s just numbers at the moment. Farraday’s been going crazy.’

Jessica wondered if the DCI was frantic because he was worried his number was on the list. ‘Do we have matches for any of the numbers?’ It was almost as if someone was playing a trick as the reception on her phone crackled at that point and she couldn’t make out what Cole was saying.

‘Sorry? I can’t hear you.’ Jessica moved quickly around the car park to see if she could find a better spot and his voice reappeared mid-sentence. ‘Can you say that again?’ she asked.

‘Can you hear me now? I said there are no matches yet. We don’t need a warrant to check numbers to names but there were only two people McKenna had called and as far as we can tell they’re both unregistered pre-pay numbers.’

It was a long shot and she doubted the DCI was careless enough to let the prisoner have his main number but they finally had a lead. ‘What’s happening now?’

‘McKenna’s in isolation at least overnight. He’s been charged with unauthorised possession of a wireless communication device.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘For us directly? Not much – he’ll probably get a few months tagged onto his sentence but he’s already in for life. I’m guessing he won’t have a cell to himself any longer. I’ve booked us in to go see him tomorrow afternoon. If he’s actually been in contact with someone on the outside it gives us a whole new set of questions to ask.’

Jessica was feeling positive about the case for the first time in a while and said she would see him in the morning. If she could just connect one of those pre-pay phone numbers to the chief inspector that would be enough.

She dashed back into the hall and told Rowlands they had to go. They said their goodbyes to Carrie’s mother and Jessica promised to call if they had any major breaks.

In the taxi back to the station and on the train journey home, they talked about the development. Both of them were excited, passing theories back and forth. Jessica kept her thoughts about the DCI to herself but found it nice to chat like friends again.

‘Do you think he got the phone from that warden?’ Rowlands asked.

‘It’s hard to tell, but probably. I know we didn’t find any hidden bundles of cash but there was definitely something not right about Morgan’s bank records. If McKenna was starting to be linked with crimes happening outside of the prison it’s no wonder the warden was getting twitchy if he had smuggled a phone in. If he’d said something to the prisoner about it, maybe that was the trigger – McKenna just phoned whoever he knew on the outside and gave the word for the prison officer to be killed.’

‘You know how they get phones in, don’t you?’

‘I don’t really want to think about it.’

‘I read this article about some guy who was in court for sentencing and knew he was going to get sent down. He bought this phone from the newsagents and got a SIM card off one of his mates. He put it in one of those plastic sandwich bags, then lubed it up and shoved it up his arse.’

‘Eew.’

‘I know. He only got caught as he’d given the number to the guy who’d given him the SIM card and his mate phoned to ask how he’d got on in court. He hadn’t put it on silent and, because his case had been delayed, he was stood in the dock and the bloody thing started ringing.’

‘No way . . .’

‘Seriously. The judge didn’t realise what was going on at first and was telling whoever the phone belonged to they were in contempt, then one of the security guys realised it was the defendant. They checked his pockets and couldn’t find it then he told them where it was.’

‘Trust you to remember something like that.’

‘I’ve not even told you the best part yet. The ringtone was “The Birdie Song”. Stupid bastard was in court with the tune sounding out.’ Jessica laughed and, for the first time since Carrie had died, wasn’t even faking it.

When she arrived home, there was still a little tickle in the back of her mind telling her she should be watching DCI Farraday’s house just in case but, for the first time in days, she ignored it. With McKenna safely in isolation, there was no way any further crimes could be pinned on him and Jessica was confident the chief inspector wouldn’t risk anything.

She went into her bedroom planning to take a towel to the bathroom for a shower but her bed suddenly seemed incredibly appealing. Jessica reached under the covers to look for her nightwear but the sheets and duvet itself had an almost hypnotic hold as she breathed in their smell and finally allowed herself to succumb to the tiredness.

Jessica was feeling clear-headed and determined the next day, eager for the afternoon trip to the prison. She had slept through the entire night in her clothes from the day before. An alarm was permanently set on her phone but she hadn’t needed it recently. It was her saviour in the morning though, waking her up when she could have dozed through the day.

At the senior officer briefing, Jessica could see something had changed in Farraday’s attitude. The week before he had been combative and happy to throw his weight around but now he seemed downbeat. She still followed her earlier pledge to not openly defy him or push issues such as Carrie’s phone records but there was something in his demeanour that almost seemed resigned to whatever was going to happen.

She had half-expected him to announce he was going to interview Donald McKenna himself but that would have been hard for him to justify as he hadn’t had much to do with things – plus, if the prisoner was looking to admit to anything, it wouldn’t have helped the chief inspector’s cause to be present.

At the prison, Jessica and Cole were greeted in the reception area by Dennis but she was relieved to see they weren’t the only visitors at that time. After they had been scanned, they were left to talk among themselves as the man continued registering the afternoon’s other visitors. Instead of the governor meeting them, it was someone Jessica didn’t recognise. They introduced themselves as one of the senior wardens and led the officers along the familiar path up to the interview room.

Cole checked the recording equipment and asked Jessica if she wanted to lead the questioning.

‘Just try to stop me.’

McKenna was brought in handcuffed alongside his usual solicitor but he was looking far more dishevelled than the previous time they had met. There was a five o’clock shadow on his chin and his dark hair had started to grow out. He was beginning to look his age too, his wrinkles far more defined, but it was his eyes that surprised Jessica the most. The cool confidence he had displayed before had been replaced by the same look of defiance and resignation most prisoners had when you looked them in the eyes.

‘How was the isolation cell?’ Jessica asked when they were all sitting. The prisoner said nothing and wouldn’t look at her directly. ‘I’ve seen those rooms,’ she continued. ‘Not very nice, are they? One big stone slab on the floor to sleep on, all that noise of the other prisoners screaming through the night. What was the smell like? That’s where all the dirty protestors end up, isn’t it? Bit of a difference from having a cosy double cell to yourself, I reckon.’