Beth listened as O’Dowd outlined her strategy for the interview with Suzy Keane’s brother, Peter. Beth was to take the lead and O’Dowd would butt in from time to time. Her role wasn’t quite that of ‘good cop’ to O’Dowd’s ‘bad cop’, but there was no doubt that Beth was there to be the gentle balance to O’Dowd’s stronger line of questioning. She was also aware it was another of O’Dowd’s tests; that her boss would be monitoring her as closely as she watched Peter.

They were to start off speaking to him as a witness, but should he prove obstinate, or worse, mute, then they’d arrest him and apply some real pressure.

With O’Dowd seated opposite them across Suzy’s kitchen table, Beth looked for a way to instigate the interview that wouldn’t be antagonistic.

‘Thanks for agreeing to speak to us again. We know this is a very traumatic time for you.’

‘I’ll do whatever I can to make sure justice is delivered.’

The statement from Peter was an ambiguous one. There were many examples of when criminals got cocky and talked themselves into trouble by thinking they were far cleverer than they were.

‘For Angus’s sake?’

‘Justice won’t help him now. It might give my sister some closure though. And my nieces when they are old enough to understand.’

‘So you believe in justice then?’ As the words came from her mouth Beth wondered if she’d made a mistake.

‘Of course I do. Whoever killed Angus should be punished.’ He gave a sly smile. ‘I’m not talking about an eye for an eye or anything biblical. I’m talking about someone paying for their actions. About the police sending a killer to jail. About the rule of law standing firm in the face of adversity. Wasn’t it Einstein who said that for every action there is a reaction? That’s what I mean by justice.’

O’Dowd cleared her throat with a noise similar to that of a pump running dry. ‘Actually it was Sir Isaac Newton, and the quote is, “to every action there is always opposed an equal reaction”.’

‘Same thing, isn’t it?’ Peter gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘Still means we both want Angus’s killer locked up, don’t it?’

‘We certainly do.’ Beth felt it was time to apply a little pressure as Peter was way too cocksure. ‘Though, we’re not sure you have the same thing in mind.’

‘What do you mean?’

Behind the belligerence of his tone, Beth detected a hint of fear. Perfect, she had planted doubts in his mind, now it was time to water them. There was already enough organic fertiliser in his head to make them grow.

‘We’ve taken a look at your record, haven’t we, DI O’Dowd?’

‘Indeed we have. Made for very interesting reading. At the risk of boring you with statistics, the national average of male murder victims who knew their killer is 52 per cent. I’ll admit that at 68 per cent, it’s higher for women than men, but it’s still a large enough number to make us consider the family as suspects. Now, those are national figures, so what they don’t take into account are regional variations and individual victim demographics. However, I’ve been a copper in Cumbria for the best part of thirty years, the last twenty as a detective, and I have to tell you, we don’t have the same gang-related violence that other parts of the country have to deal with. You’re a Cumbrian yourself, so I need hardly tell you that we don’t suffer any terrorist attacks. These things affect the national figures, but not the Cumbrian ones. So I’d say our realistic percentage is somewhere north of 65. So, bearing all that in mind, can you imagine my response when I found out the victim’s brother-in-law has twice been arrested for fighting, and received a suspended sentence for ABH over a third incident? Not only that, but one of my team informed me that this suspect was also furious with the victim for an alleged act of infidelity. Let me tell you, Peter, with all the evidence that’s pointing at you right now, I expect to be home in time for Antiques Roadshow.’

Cockiness returned, not just to Peter’s face, but also his posture. ‘Sorry to disappoint you. But I didn’t kill him. And those fights you mentioned, and the ABH? They happened a long time ago. I’ve grown up, matured. Mind, I’m not quite mature enough to watch Antiques Roadshow.’

Beth winced at his implied put-down of O’Dowd. Yet the explosion she was expecting from her boss never materialised. Instead there was a calm indifference. It took Beth a moment or two to realise there was no way O’Dowd would let herself rise to the bait, and that whatever insults came her way would have to be met with the same lack of anger.

‘Leopards. Revenge. Jealous.’ When Beth saw two pairs of eyes looking her way she ordered her thoughts into proper sentences. ‘Leopards don’t change their spots; you were a fighter then and we think you’re a fighter now. We think you killed Angus as an act of revenge for what he did with the other woman. We think you were jealous of him. He was taller than you, better looking, more successful.’

‘Shall I save us all a lot of time?’ Peter laid his mobile on the table. ‘If you really thought I killed him, you’d have arrested me by now. We’d be having this conversation in a formal interview room with a tape recorder. We’re not. Therefore you’re on a fishing expedition and you haven’t baited your hook.’ He pointed at his mobile, which lay on the table beside a packet of cigarettes. ‘If you check my emails, you’ll see I was staying at the Rose Villa in Cornwall for the last week. Call them and verify it. I think the receptionist was called Joan or June, something like that. I spoke to her every morning and night. You might also want to check the GPS positioning of my phone. It will also show you I was in Cornwall. As a final piece of proof, call the number for James Haskett. He’s the man I was working for. As a shopfitter. Working nights. For ten days solid.’

Peter sat back in his chair and folded his arms. The smug expression on his face was unnecessary, but he let it sit there anyway.

Beth didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of her looking to O’Dowd for advice, so she reached for his phone.

O’Dowd got there first. She thumbed the device and checked the emails. Next she got Haskett’s number from the phone and wrote it down. ‘What’s your number?’

With his number jotted under Haskett’s on her notepad O’Dowd slid the phone back to Peter.

‘I can see why you suspected me. But I have outgrown all that nonsense. I didn’t kill Angus. I’ll admit I thought he was a waste of space, but to kill him?’ Peter shook his head and gestured towards the living room. ‘No way. I didn’t like him, but my sister and her daughters loved him. Killing Angus would hurt them far more than him.’

‘We’ll see.’

O’Dowd stood and stomped her way out of the room leaving Beth to trail after her.