It was an ambush. The woman was lying in wait and as Helen got out of her car, she pounced.
‘Spare a couple of minutes, Inspector?’
Helen’s heart sank. It was beginning already.
‘Nice to see you, Emilia, but as you’ll appreciate I’m very busy.’
Helen moved off but an arm shot out, stopping her in her tracks. Helen glared – are you serious? – and her adversary took the hint, slowly releasing her grip. Unabashed, Emilia Garanita broke into a broad grin. She was a striking figure – youthful and svelte but also broken and disfigured. As a teenager she’d set hearts on fire, but aged only eighteen had been the victim of a savage acid attack. If you looked at her profile from the left, she was handsome and attractive. From the right, you felt only pity – her features distorted, her cosmetic eye unmoving. She was known locally as ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and was the Chief Crime Reporter for the Southampton Evening News.
‘The Amy Anderson case. We know she killed him but we don’t know why. What did he do to her?’
Helen tried to conceal her disdain – she felt sure it was Emilia who’d been shouting through the Anderson letterbox earlier, but it wasn’t a wise move to antagonize the press this early in an investigation.
‘Was it a sexual thing? Did he beat her? Are you looking for anyone else?’ she continued.
‘You know the drill, Emilia, as soon as we have anything to say media liaison will be in touch. Now if you’ll excuse m-’
‘I’m just curious because you’ve released her. She’s not even on bail. You normally make them sweat a bit longer than that, don’t you?’
‘We don’t make anyone “sweat”, Emilia. I’m a by-the-book girl – you know that. Which is why all communication with the press will be via the usual channels, ok?’
Helen flashed her best smile and continued on her way. She had won the first skirmish in what would no doubt prove to be a long campaign. Emilia had crime in her blood. The eldest of six children, she had become famous when her drug dealer dad was sentenced to eighteen years’ imprisonment for using his children as drug mules. Ever since they were tiny Emilia and her five siblings had been forced to swallow condoms of cocaine as they journeyed home to Southampton docks from one of their many Caribbean cruises. When her Portuguese father went to jail, his paymasters tried to force Emilia to resume her life as a drug mule to help recover their losses. She refused, so they punished her – two broken ankles and half a litre of sulphuric acid in the face. She’d written a book about it, which eventually took her to journalism. Despite the fact that she still walked with a limp, she was scared of no one and utterly tireless in her pursuit of a story.