Woman in Black by Kerry Wilkinson Page A

was made of dark wood and the photo showed what Jessica at first thought was a football team. Something didn’t seem quite right and she quickly realised there were too many people in the photo. Even though she had no interest in sport, she knew a football team had eleven players. She then saw an oval-shaped rugby ball resting next to a trophy at the front of the picture with one row of players kneeling and another standing behind.
    The people pictured all seemed to be in their teens but Jessica couldn’t recognise any of the faces. ‘What am I looking at?’ she asked.
    ‘Turn it over.’
    Stuck to the wood on the back was a note that had been meticulously hand-written. It had the name of the rugby team and then one by one listed all of the players’ surnames. She skimmed through the list and saw the word ‘Marks’, then turned the photo back over and looked at the young man who must have been Ed. He was crouching in the front row and, now she was looking, she could see a strong resemblance to his brother. The hair was darker but he was a similar build and had the same smile.
    Jessica flipped the frame back over and looked through the names for a second time. This time, her eyes were drawn to the name ‘Barnes’. She felt a tingle of excitement as she again turned the frame over. The young man she assumed must be Lewis Barnes was directly behind Ed, towering over him. She didn’t know rugby positions but was aware a team often mixed smaller lads with much larger ones.
    ‘How did you find this?’ she asked.
    ‘By accident really. It was in a box of other photos. I’d started looking through them just because…well, because of everything going on. There were a few of Ed and me as kids and others of Dad playing football with us and so on. I saw that one and noticed the names on the back.’
    ‘Did you play?’
    ‘No, it was never my thing. I remember him playing for a couple of seasons when he was about sixteen or seventeen. It was one of the local clubs around here. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you name without that note, mind you.’
    ‘Do you know any of the other boys in the picture?’
    Charlie shook his head. ‘No, I didn’t recognise the faces or names. The only reason I noticed anything was because of the writing on the back and you’d asked about a “Barnes”. I don’t know if that’s who you’re after but the last name matches.’
    Jessica nodded, thinking the match was unlikely to be a coincidence. There was an awkward pause as she continued to scan the photograph and names before changing the subject. ‘What’s it like being back up here?’
    Charlie smiled. ‘Different, drier for a start.’
    ‘It’s not usually.’
    ‘So I gather. I’m not sure what to do with my time to be honest. I was planning to come up and look for a job. I’ve got some savings to get me by for a while but it feels weird.’
    ‘Where did you work in London?’
    ‘The publishers were called Bennett Piper. It was a family company at some point but not by the time I got there.’
    Jessica tried to sound dismissive, as if only half-listening. ‘Can you give me a few minutes? I need to make a call.’
    ‘Sure, I’ll go downstairs. Give me a shout when you want me.’
    Charlie turned around and left the room. Jessica was going to phone Izzy at the station but didn’t want the man to be around to hear her. She still wasn’t entirely ready to discount him as being a suspect, even if he was only one in her own mind and not officially. Having now seen the extent of the house, it was clear the property was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not more. If Charlie was interested in getting his hands on the place, cutting off his brother’s hand, as well as someone else’s, and getting someone to leave them in a public place seemed a very convoluted way of doing it.
    Jessica took out her phone and dialled DC Diamond’s extension. She asked the constable if she had a pen handy and then read out the