Here's a hypothetical ...
What if the victim had contacted her drug-supplier. He was busy. She said she desperately needed some stuff - Christmas was looming, elderly rellies and parents' friends and neighbours and then a trip north after that and not wanting to buy from strangers because you never knew what you were getting, etc.
The drug supplier is reluctant. He reminds the victim she still owes from last month. It will have to be cash, he says. She giggles and says he knows she's good for it and will catch up soon -- just lots of expenses at the moment with a new flat etc. and now Christmas and the trip north, etc.
He warns her -- 'I'm not kidding. I'm not a charity. If I don't get paid, the guys behind me don't get paid and that means they take a baseball bat to my knees' sort of thing
She says, ' Great. I'll be home in ten. We've some money put aside for the rent. I'll use that, don't worry '
He ducks away from the party and gets to her flat. She's already kicked off her boots, removed her jacket and is taking a sip of cider when she hears him pull up at the kerb. Or she sees him through the front windows
She nips down to his car and puts her hand through the window. He passes the packet to her. She calls out 'See you after Christmas ' and heads back to the flat. Maybe she'd thrust some notes into his hand or dropped them on the seat of the car. He counts and there's only half payment
Angry, he gets out of the car and follows her to the flat. If he's quick, she doesn't have time to close the door. Or, maybe he knocks and, still chuckling, she opens the door
But he's angrier than she expects. Maybe he's had a few drinks and isn't as controlled or easy going as the person she thought she knew. Whatever the case, she only has minutes to live
Maybe she tries to reason with him and/or jolly him out of his rage ? But he's heard it all before and he's had enough. Stupid girl thinks it's a joke, but she's taken advantage of the friendship one time too many, he says
Maybe she tries to make a run for it. He's taller, stronger, jerks her back with his arm, around her throat. She goes limp. He lets go and she falls to the floor. He tries to clear his head. Takes her pulse, maybe. Impossible. He hadn't intended to hurt her !
Five minutes pass. Thank god her boyfriend's away. Did anyone see him come in ? How could he know ?
He grabs her, lifts her up. Maybe at that point, he intends driving flat out to the hospital. How did this happen, he's asking himself
He quietly pulls the flat door closed, carries her to the car, lays her in the rear seat maybe and takes off. At traffic lights, he turns around, puts his fingers to her throat again, seeking a pulse. He's in a cold sweat. His life and career are in ruins. Over. Family shamed, friends will shun him. The lights change and he drives off again. He calls her name over and over but not a sound comes from her
He keeps driving. Can't turn up at the hospital with a dead body. How will he explain it ? No one will believe him
Before he knows it, he's out in the country somewhere. He has to do something. If he's stopped by the police or runs into someone he knows, he's finished. At the first chance, he pulls over. Can't see any lights nearby and no cars approaching in either direction. He pulls her from the car and rolls her into bushes and takes off
Then he realises that like an idiot, he left her bag and phone at the flat. Can't get back in. Doesn't want to go anywhere near the place. Has to get back to the party and be seen. But the police will find her phone and know she contacted him. So as soon as he can, he sends a fake message to her to say he didn't get her earlier call, sorry
A week of televised appeals and frantic back and forth phone and texts from friends etc. later, he knows he has to do something. It might take months before anyone finds her body. He knows he'll break before then. So he borrows a car ? Returns and moves the body to where she'll soon be found ? And when he lowers her near the quarry entrance, he brushes her cheek with a last goodbye, or maybe a tear falls on her, or a drop of terrified sweat ?
Or maybe that all happened the night she died when he placed her near the quarry ?
Just a hypothetical, just another theory, not intended as an accusation
