Anna drove hard until she reached the rear of the station in Gloucester. As soon as they were through security she could sense the electric anticipation filling the air. There were even more people there than she remembered from her last visit. Curious eyes followed her and Holder as they made their way purposefully through the building. Slack met them and took them to an anteroom next to the room where Cooper was being interviewed.

On a screen in front of her, Anna watched the scene.

Harris sat opposite two men across a table. Anna recognised one of them instantly. Cooper, the wiry youth, had grown into portly middle age. Under a faded orange T-shirt, his arms were flabby and his fingers thick. It looked like his cheeks had been ravaged by years of anti-epileptic drugs, bringing with them florid acne as an unwelcome guest. A row of brown and uneven teeth showed through behind his full, but parted lips.

If ever there had been an image that was easy to despise, Neville Cooper epitomised it. He sat with his head bent, eyes downcast and away from Harris’s predatory stare.

‘Who’s the other man?’ Anna asked.

‘Howard Tobias, Cooper’s solicitor,’ Slack explained.

The name rang a faint bell in Anna’s memory. Images of a triumphant, bespectacled face amid Cooper and his small group of supporters on the steps of the High Court sprang to mind. Now that same full face looked agitated and angry, staring defiantly at Harris across the table.

‘I want fifteen minutes alone with my client, please.’

‘We need to finish the interview,’ Harris said.

‘And I’m telling you that you’re already pushing your luck. Mr Cooper has already been questioned exhaustively in my absence. Now, I’d like fifteen minutes, alone.’

Harris stood and waved away the uniformed man from inside the door.

‘And I want that thing off while I have it.’ Tobias waved a hand towards the camera.

Harris put a hand up and the image faded from the screen as a technician closed down the video camera. Fifteen seconds later, Harris came in, grinning.

‘We’ve got the bastard on the ropes.’ He turned to the technician. ‘Gemmel, let’s have a look.’

The screen filled with a poorer quality view looking down at the two men in the interview room.

‘What are they saying?’ Harris asked.

The sound of Tobias’s entreating voice emerged from a speaker above them.

‘You’ve got nothing to worry about, Neville. They’re intimidating you to try to get you to say something you don’t mean.’

Holder exchanged glances with Anna, who rounded on Harris. ‘We shouldn’t be listening to this. He’s asked for the camera to be turned off.’

‘This is a security camera,’ Harris said, turning to Anna and frowning, as if registering her presence for the first time. ‘And why are you even here?’

Anna turned to Slack, who kept his eyes averted and shifted uncomfortably. Holder just shook his head.

Harris watched their reactions in turn with a defiant grin before motioning to Gemmel. ‘Turn it off. Apparently, it’s offending these officers.’

This man is a power junkie.

‘You’ve filled in Inspector Gwynne, Sergeant?’ Harris asked. He delivered ‘Inspector’ again with sardonic emphasis.

‘The basics sir, yes.’

Harris turned to Anna, his lids at half-mast. ‘Then there’s no reason for you to stay, is there?’

‘I’m still unclear on several points,’ she said.

Harris didn’t reply right away. But she could see he was pumped and confident enough to indulge her.

‘You found something at Cooper’s workplace?’

‘In his locker at the feed mill. Bloodstained tape. Blood that matches Nia Hopkins’ type,’ Harris informed her. ‘DNA will take a day, but in the meantime, it was enough for a search warrant of Cooper’s home.’

‘And?’

‘And in his dirty little garage, among the dirty little rags he cleans his dirty little bike with was a pair of women’s underwear. Bloodstained knickers.’ Harris’s enunciation was full of that irritating defiance.

‘Is that it?’

Harris snorted in disbelief. ‘Nia’s mother has confirmed that they are very likely the missing pair.’

‘Very likely?’ Anna repeated.

‘What more do you bloody want?’ Harris’s eyes bulged.

Anna ignored his belligerence. ‘How did he react when you arrested him?’

‘Did two cartwheels and a forward roll. How do you think he reacted? He almost crapped himself. He started shaking because he knew we’d got him this time. And this time there will be no mistakes. No bullshit.’

‘Like that you mean?’ Anna glanced over at the now empty screen.

Harris smiled and shook his head. ‘That was just a bit of fun. Sorry that you don’t see it that way. It’s obvious that your little investigation hasn’t produced much of a result for you. I could have told you that it was a complete waste of time. You’re looking for something that doesn’t exist.’

‘You know that for certain then, do—’

Harris cut across Anna’s protests. ‘There is only one killer and he’s next door with his liberal-minded, bleeding-heart solicitor.’ He drew himself up. ‘I don’t want you here, in case you hadn’t guessed. But I’ve been told to share intelligence, which is what I’m doing. But make no mistake, this is my case. My patch. And the sooner you get back to Bristol and sergeant status the better, as far as I’m concerned.’

‘Are you married, Inspector?’

Harris smiled again here. ‘Fifteen years. Second time around. This one’s a keeper.’

‘Cooper has been inside longer than you’ve been married. And possibly for no reason whatsoever.’

Harris smile turned into a sour sneer. ‘I’ve got no time for this. You’re welcome to watch, but then you can piss off down the M5.’ He turned and left.

Slack waited until the door closed completely before commenting. ‘You got nothing at all out of visiting the crime scene, then?’

Holder shook his head. ‘Old ground.’

‘I need more time,’ Anna said.

‘Not on DCI Harris’s agenda, that.’ Slack massaged the bridge of his nose.

‘I had noticed.’

‘In fact, the word is he’s opened a book on the time it takes.’

‘For what?’

‘For him to get a confession out of Cooper.’

‘A confession? He can’t be serious.’

‘Wait ten minutes, you’ll find out.’

‘Is he going back in there?’ Anna asked Slack.

As SIO, Harris’s job was to coordinate the investigation. Interviews were normally the role of operational officers like Slack or a DI.

Slack shook his head. ‘I don’t know anyone in this station with the bottle to tell him to stay out.’

‘But normally—’

‘Normally is a ship that sailed a long time ago in this case, ma’am,’ was all Slack could offer by way of explanation.

---

Harris recommenced exactly fifteen minutes after he’d walked out of the room.

‘Time is five thirty p.m., Gloucester police station, interview room three. Present are DCI Alan Harris, Neville Cooper and Howard Tobias. Neville, I’m going to make this as simple as I can. Now that Mr Tobias is here, are you prepared to answer my questions?’

‘Yeah. Yes, sir.’

Harris smiled. In charge. Back in the driving seat. ‘Good. So, can you tell me how it was that we found duct tape in your locker at the feed mill?’

Cooper shook his head. ‘Don’t know, sir.’

‘You’re the only one with a key, aren’t you?’

‘I think so. Yeah.’

Harris kept it light. ‘So, you have the only key and you don’t know how the duct tape got there, have I got that right?’

‘I don’t know—’

‘We found blood on that tape, Neville.’

Cooper looked up, frowning. ‘I didn’t put it there.’

Harris waited a beat, changed tack. ‘How do you get to work, Neville?’

‘I’ve got a motorbike now.’

‘I thought epileptics weren’t allowed to drive?’ Harris turned to Tobias.

‘Neville hasn’t had a fit for six years. He passed his test a month ago. First time.’

Harris turned back to Cooper. ‘Where do you keep the bike, Neville?’

‘At home, in the garage.’

‘Keep it locked up, do you? Not outside where everyone can see it?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Like working in the feed mill, too, do you?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘What sort of work do you do there?’

‘In the warehouse. Making sure the bags are stacked OK.’

Harris nodded. ‘Good job, is it?’

‘I’ve got some mates there.’

‘Ever see the boss there?’

‘Sam’s my boss.’

Harris consulted some papers. ‘Sam? He’s the foreman, isn’t he?’

‘Yeah, Sam.’

‘I don’t mean Sam. I mean the big boss, Mr Hopkins.’

‘Sometimes. I see him sometimes.’

‘Does he ever come in with his family?’

Cooper concentrated. ‘I saw him once with his kids. He had a big car, pulling a horsebox.’

‘So you saw the kids, did you?’

‘Two girls and a boy.’

‘You go out for spins on your bike, Neville?’

‘Sometimes. On weekends.’

‘Only on weekends? I would have thought you’d be itching to get out there?’

‘I would but… my mum isn’t well.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that, Neville. So on the night Nia Hopkins was abducted, you were at home looking after your mother?’

‘Yeah. Yes, sir.’

‘Didn’t go out for a ride after she’d gone to bed?’

‘No, sir.’

Harris leaned forward, elbows on the table, dropping his voice. ‘See, I’m wondering if you might have gone over to visit Mr Hopkins that night on your bike.’

‘No, sir.’

‘Nice spin. Half an hour would it be?’

‘Yeah, maybe, I’m not sure…’

‘And I’m wondering if you went up there and saw a light on in the stable.’

Tobias interrupted. ‘Chief Inspector, my client has already indicated that he was at home that night.’

‘And I’m just trying to get everything straight in my head, Mr Tobias. See, Neville, you’ve got to try to see it from my point of view. Here you are, just out of prison for murder—’

Tobias interjected. ‘I’m warning you—’

‘Just out of prison with everything going for you, and suddenly there’s another girl raped and stabbed to death.’

Cooper shook his head. ‘It wasn’t me…’

Harris persisted. ‘Another girl stabbed to death just like Emily Risman.’

Tobias said, ‘That’s quite enough, Superintendent. Mr Cooper has been acquitted…’

‘And then,’ Harris said, loudly, ‘if that’s not enough, we find Nia Hopkins’ blood in your locker. Sixteen, Neville. She was sixteen. How did that get there, Neville?’

‘No… it wasn’t me.’

‘I want this interview terminated now,’ Tobias said. ‘These constant references to Emily Risman are intolerable.’

‘The facts indicate that the two cases are linked, Mr Tobias. Am I supposed to ignore the facts?’ Harris glared at the solicitor.

‘I don’t know how,’ Cooper said.

‘We’ve heard that one, Neville. Tell us another one. Tell us the one about you finding the girls asleep in that stable. Tell us what you did to them. Tell us where you keep the knife. Tell us, because it’s the only hope you’ve got here, Neville. Think about what a jury’s going to believe if we take this to court and you keep on denying it. Cry wolf, Neville. They’re not going to give you a second chance. But if you tell us, maybe we can find you somewhere better to go to. Somewhere where they’re not going to eat up child killers for breakfast.’

Cooper looked horrified. ‘NO!’ His denial emerged with a sob.

‘No point crying like a kid, Neville,’ Harris said softly.

Tobias stood up. ‘That’s it. I want you to be quiet. This is out and out harassment.’

Harris’s tone was suddenly cold and reasonable, but his eyes were blazing. ‘You want to end it. OK, I think we all know where we stand now.’

Tobias returned the glare. ‘I don’t want you anywhere near my client unless I’m here, DCI Harris. And I’m lodging an official complaint.’

‘Lodge away.’

‘I want to accompany my client to his cell.’

On hearing the word ‘cell’, Cooper flipped. ‘Do I have to stay here? I don’t want to stay here!’

Tobias tried for calm. ‘It’ll be all right, Neville.’

‘No, it won’t. They won’t leave me alone! It’ll be just like last time!’

‘No, it won’t, Neville.’

Cooper pushed back from his chair and stood up. The door opened and two uniformed officers entered. Cooper stared at them and then at Tobias. ‘Yes, it will. It’s happening again. Why is it happening again?’

Harris said, ‘Interview terminated at five forty p.m. Time to go back to your cell, Neville.’

‘I don’t want to. You can’t let them take me.’

‘Neville, it’ll be OK. I promise it’ll be OK.’ Tobias stood and put a calming hand on Cooper’s arm.

Three policemen in the interview room, spoiling for a fight, used to restraining drunks and addicts. But Cooper surprised Anna and disappointed Harris by quietening down once Tobias spoke to him, cupping his hand around the man’s ear. She could see a smug superiority on some of the coppers’ faces; others showed a grudging admiration for this dignified exit. But there was something terrible in that quiet acceptance that shook Anna. An acceptance reflected in Tobias’s eyes. A look that showed how Cooper had learned hard and bitter lessons in prison. He knew that there came a point where you needed to take your lumps, quell the feelings that raged inside, the indignation that burned. She found herself wishing he had yelled and screamed, clawed like a cat against his captors. It would have been an affirmation of the spirit inside. Instead, the institution of the law imposed itself upon a customer of long standing. It was a pitiful thing to behold. When she could drag her eyes away from Cooper’s downcast face, she saw that Tobias’s hand was balled into a fist around a scrap of paper, the knuckles white against the dark desktop.

The solicitor gathered his papers hurriedly.

‘I don’t want you to ask him the time of day without me here, do you understand?’ He leaned in close across the desk, his face inches from Harris’s.

The chief inspector smiled beatifically and said nothing. Anna got up and left the room. She needed air.

---

‘He sobbed in his cell for half an hour.’ Holder shook his head. They were sitting in Slack’s small office, the men with their ties loose and jackets off.

‘Can Harris really do that?’ Holder asked. ‘Can he really offer a soft option to Cooper?’

Anna and Slack exchanged cynical glances. It was Slack that decided to answer. ‘There are no soft options for nonces. Cooper knows that. For a large chunk of the time he was inside, he was isolated under Rule 43 for his own protection. When they tried integration, it became very unpleasant.’

‘You mean he was attacked?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Tobias doesn’t want Harris to talk to Cooper without him being present. How likely is it that will actually happen?’

‘Nothing will stand up in court unless it’s recorded and Tobias is present.’

But there is nothing to stop Harris from visiting Cooper in his cell when he gets his food delivered.

She shook her head in disgust. One major criticism of the case against Cooper eighteen years before was the periods of time he’d been detained without proper access to a solicitor. Those days had long gone, thank God, but there were obviously still ways to coerce and browbeat. And, from what she’d seen, to say that Cooper was susceptible to such tactics was an understatement.

Harris’s pursuit of a confession, seemingly ludicrous when it had first been suggested, now seemed all too plausible in the face of the psychological war he was waging. Yet his unsubtle approach seemed fuelled by something far less healthy than pure zealousness. He seemed driven by a resentment that was deep-seated and poisonous. A desire to incriminate Cooper at any cost. A desire to have an answer to the questions from the Rismans, the press, the public. Again.

‘What is Harris trying to prove?’ Anna said.

Slack shrugged. ‘I don’t know, ma’am.’

But that wasn’t true, and Slack knew it.

‘Are they talking to the press?’

Slack nodded. ‘Officially in about an hour.’

‘But it’s been leaked, hasn’t it? There were press at the Rismans’ house today.’

Slack could only shrug.

Anna got up. ‘Tell DCI Harris I’ll catch up.’

What she really, really needed to do was to get home and, more than anything else, take a long, hot shower to rid herself of the dirt that suddenly seemed to be in every pore.