Little Boy Blue

95

Angelique lay on the bed, her eyes glued to the television. The news was on, leading with the latest developments in the Jake Elder case and the early-evening audience were being treated to grabbed images of Michael Parker – ‘Samantha’ – scurrying back to his flat while being harried by local journalists.

Despite her height, Samantha looked so diminished, so pathetic, that it was a wonder the police ever had her in the frame. She was clearly a nasty piece of work, but did they really believe she had the organizational skills to pull off such an intricate double murder? Details of Paine’s death had seeped out online, triggering a wave of reaction on social media. Some commentators were sickened, others strangely impressed by the elaborate nature of the crime. But nobody had publicly pointed the finger at Samantha, despite the common practice these days of trial by innuendo. That should have told the police something – sometimes it pays to listen to the word on the street.

As it was, they had accused two innocent people with predictable results. What would Samantha do now? She had always been wound tight – how would she react now to the shit storm that was coming her way? Huddling up inside her stale little flat with nobody to comfort her but her dollies? It wouldn’t be at all surprising if she went the same way as Paul Jackson, though something told Angelique that Samantha might be rather more effective at finishing the job.

What were Grace and her team doing now? Now that they were back to square one? Did they still have faith in their leader? Would they trust her to get a result? Not knowing was tantalizing, but there was nothing to be done about it. The next few days would reveal everything and in the meantime there was nothing for Angelique to do but watch and wait.