Vitor Lopes, the barman at the White Horse, wore a look of distress on his angular face as Murray marched him down the corridor and into the interview room. Lucy was waiting there for him and motioned for him to be seated. Murray took up position by the door, thick legs splayed, arms folded, face impassive, like a bouncer on a nightclub door.

‘Vitor, when I last asked you about Adam Brannon, you told me he had come into the pub at ten fifteen. Is that correct?’

‘Yes. I think so.’

‘You think so? Yesterday, you were quite adamant about the time of his arrival, pointing out the clock above the bar, as I recall.’

‘Then it was ten fifteen.’

Lucy maintained an icy gaze. ‘I have a problem, Vitor. We now know that Adam couldn’t have arrived at the White Horse at ten fifteen. If he turned up at all, it was around eleven o’clock, and I believe at eleven you were shut. Now, how can you explain this mystery?’

He flashed a nervous smile. ‘I can’t. Adam was there at ten fifteen. I saw him.’

Lucy didn’t respond. Instead she continued to stare at Vitor in silence.

Vitor glanced in Murray’s direction. ‘I can’t explain it,’ he said eventually.

Lucy eased back into her seat, spun a pen between her fingers and spoke casually. ‘I can only come up with one or two explanations. Either you didn’t see Adam at all that night and were covering for him, or you served him as you said you did, but it was after eleven. If it was the latter, then I’m afraid you were serving drinks after time and that’s against the law. I’m sure your employers wouldn’t look very kindly on that.’

Vitor’s mouth twitched and he tried to smile. ‘Maybe I was a little out with my timings.’

‘Let’s not play games, Vitor. You and I both know you didn’t see Adam Brannon on Friday night. What I want to know is why did you lie for him? Who put you up to this? Was it Adam?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Oh yes, you fucking do. We can play this one of two ways. You tell me the truth or I have Detective Sergeant Anderson here march you down to the cells.’

‘This is crazy…’ Vitor began.

‘Up to you. I’ll count to five and then I’m out of here.’

‘You don’t understand. I can’t tell you.’

‘One.’

‘He’s not somebody you mess with.’

‘Two.’

‘He’ll kill me.’

‘Three.’

Vitor chewed on his knuckle for a moment.

‘Four… and five. Goodbye, Mr Lopes.’ Lucy stood up and walked towards the door.

‘It was Lee Webster. He paid me five hundred pounds.’

Lucy turned towards him. ‘I’m listening.’

‘Lee said Adam needed an alibi. Lee came in like I told you about nine thirty on Friday night and asked me to say Adam was in the bar if anyone asked. I didn’t know I was going to be giving him an alibi for murder. I swear I didn’t know that.’

‘Why did you think he’d need an alibi then?’

‘I don’t know. I guessed he might be cheating on his wife. Lots of guys do. Figured he needed me to stick up for him. Look, I needed the money. I don’t earn a lot and it was an easy five hundred quid.’

‘Oh, please!’ Lucy’s voice was full of exasperation. ‘You expect me to believe your shit? He was hardly going to give you that amount of money to tell a few lies so Adam’s wife would be put off the scent. You reckon I’m stupid or something? I think you had a bloody good idea of why he was asking for your help.’

Vitor held up his hands. ‘On my life. Okay, maybe I thought it was because Adam was doing a job – a robbery – or smacking somebody up, like one of those little hoodlums he lets use his gym, but I never, for one moment, thought I would be protecting him from a murder rap. I didn’t think it through. When you quizzed me, I had to stick to the story. You don’t double-cross Lee. I rang him after you visited me. Told him I didn’t want the money and didn’t want anything more to do with this whole alibi thing. He told me if I said anything, he’d cut off my balls. And he probably will. You can’t let him know I told you.’ Vitor had begun snivelling, eyes wide with fear.

‘You realise you could have jeopardised a murder investigation? A woman was murdered and you think it’s okay to tell lies to protect somebody who might be responsible? Now you stay in that seat and give your statement to an officer who’ll be here in a minute. Then, you’re going to the cells until we decide what to charge you with. Got that?’

‘Please don’t say anything to Lee.’

Lucy turned smartly on her heel and walked out, leaving behind Vitor’s pleas. Murray followed her into the corridor.

‘Ouch! I’d hate to see you really angry,’ he said.

‘Oh, I’m fucking fuming,’ she replied. ‘That piece of shit has lost us time on this case and has been covering for a potential murderer. I’ll find somebody to take his statement. You coming to interview Lee?’

‘You bet I am.’

---

While Lucy was interviewing Vitor, Natalie, in the room next door, was facing Adam. He’d refused a lawyer and now avoided her gaze, preferring instead to look at a spot on the wall and remain silent.

‘You’re not making this easy for yourself, Adam. Come on. You’re not stupid and you can see how it looks to us. You weren’t at the White Horse at ten fifteen. I don’t know where you were, but you sure as hell weren’t there.’ She nodded at Ian, who pushed across the photograph taken by the ANPR camera.

‘For the recording, PC Jarvis is showing the suspect a photograph of his car, with him at the wheel, snapped at ten fifty-five on Friday the second of March. What do you have to say about this, Adam?’

Adam cricked his neck and stared ahead. ‘I haven’t got anything to say.’

‘Do you deny this is you?’

He shook his head.

‘Could you answer the question please, for the recorder?’

‘It’s me.’

‘I don’t need to spell this out, do I? Your wife was murdered. You have no alibi for the time it happened. Unless you level with me, you’re in one enormous pile of shit. If you’re as innocent as you keep saying, we need to account for your movements from the time you dropped off Inge until the moment this picture was taken. Where were you?’ She spoke the last three words deliberately slowly.

He shrugged a response.

‘Were you aware she was having an affair?’

Adam’s eyelids fluttered briefly. ‘No.’

‘She was seeing another man and was going to leave you, Adam.’

‘No. She wouldn’t have done that. That’s utter fucking shit. You’re trying to wind me up.’

‘It’s true. We’ve spoken to her lover. They’d been seeing each other for several months.’

Adam’s face darkened. ‘I’d have known if she was.’

‘Obviously not.’

‘Who is he?’

‘Didn’t she tell you? Is that what happened, Adam? Did she taunt you? Did she tell you she was going to take Alfie and leave you, and you hit her out of rage?’

His voice was quiet. ‘No. She said nothing to me. If she was seeing anybody, I didn’t know about it, but I have no reason to believe she’d ever leave me. We understood each other. We were made for each other. I didn’t hurt her. I would never, ever have harmed her no matter what she did or said. She was my universe.’

‘For crying out loud, Adam. I’m not going to be able to help you if you don’t open up. I want to believe you had nothing to do with Charlotte’s murder but you’re making it impossible. I’m at the end of my patience. This is your last chance to tell me where you were between ten and ten fifty-five.’

‘I didn’t kill her.’ His voice was quiet. ‘I swear blind I didn’t touch her.’

‘You can protest your innocence all you like, but I work on evidence, and at the moment not only are you doing yourself no favours by refusing to cooperate, you’re putting yourself in the frame. You’re leaving me with no other choice than to charge you with her murder.’

‘But it wasn’t me,’ he insisted.

‘There’s only one way to prove that. Where did you go after you dropped off Inge?’

---

Lucy was still seething when she entered the interview room further down the corridor. Lee, with one leg casually draped over the other, cackled at the look on her face. ‘You look stewed up, sweetheart.’

Lucy dumped the files on the desk with a clatter. ‘Firstly, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not called “sweetheart”. I’m Detective Sergeant Carmichael. Got it? Right. Let’s get down to business, Mr Webster. I’m going to charge you with perverting the course of justice and bribery, for starters. After that, I’ll throw in accessory to murder. Any questions before I go ahead?’

‘I think I might need a lawyer if you intend on throwing the book at me.’

‘Then get one and make it quick.’

The cocky expression disappeared. Lee looked across at Murray. ‘She’s serious, isn’t she?’

‘Deadly,’ Murray replied. ‘Vitor’s confessed, so you haven’t really got a leg to stand on.’

‘Fucking wanker. I thought he had more balls than that.’

‘It appears not. So, in light of that, would you like to make a statement?’ Lucy glared at the man.

‘No, I wouldn’t. Best get that lawyer, sweetheart.’

---

Natalie and Ian had been in with Adam for over an hour. He still refused to tell them anything. Natalie glanced at her watch. It was past twelve. She’d have to ring David and explain she wouldn’t be able to go to lunch at his father’s house.

‘This is your final chance. I’m going to give you a few minutes to mull over what I’ve said, and if you still refuse to talk to me when I return, I’m going to charge you with murder. No more pissing about, Adam. I’m sick of playing this game with you. PC Jarvis will remain here if you decide you want to talk to me.’

She marched into the corridor and thumped the opposite wall with her bunched fist. She’d backed herself into a corner. If Adam didn’t open up and she charged him, they’d be reliant on the scant evidence they had against him, which in turn meant it would be difficult to get the charges to stick. She might have just cocked up the investigation. She headed to the office to retrieve her mobile. Murray was going through paperwork.

‘Any joy?’ Natalie asked.

‘Fucker won’t talk,’ said Murray. ‘He wants a lawyer. Lucy’s gone outside for a cigarette. She’s pretty irate.’

‘I’ll speak to her. I know how she feels. Adam’s saying nothing either.’

She collected her phone and took the stairs to the top floor, an open roof terrace where staff could grab some air or a cigarette. Lucy was leaning over the low wall, staring at the traffic below. Grey smoke curled around her ears.

‘Some days I wish I hadn’t quit,’ said Natalie, nodding at the cigarette. ‘Can’t get a sodding word out of Adam other than he’s innocent. I haven’t told him Alfie isn’t his baby. I was hoping he’d say something about it, but maybe he genuinely doesn’t know. It’s my last card and I’ll have to play it soon. I’m really hoping it’ll provoke a response and we can move on or I’m screwed.’

‘That bastard Lee Webster won’t speak either.’

‘He’s got to you, hasn’t he? Let it go. He’s a nobody. We’ll break him. He’s a bit tougher than some because he knows the drill, and he also knows how to push your buttons. Don’t give him the satisfaction, Lucy. It isn’t like you to get so wound up.’

Lucy dragged on her cigarette then stared at it. ‘I promised Bethany I wouldn’t smoke around her or the baby. I was going to give up altogether. Bought one of those electronic cigarettes but it was like sucking a pen.’ She flicked the cigarette over the wall and watched it spiral to the ground. ‘Lee reminds me of one of my foster parents. He was a bastard too. I’m having trouble separating the two of them. I look at Lee and I see my foster father’s sneering, domineering face.’

‘You want to let Murray take over? It might be better for you to disassociate with him. You can come in with me and try to crack Adam.’

‘No. I’m going to break this fucker. He’s made it personal by trying to wind me up.’

‘That’s not the right approach, Lucy.’

‘It might not be but we need answers and I’m going to fucking get them.’

Natalie put a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. ‘Fair enough, but don’t let your personal life or issues interfere with this. I don’t want mistakes made because of temper tantrums. It’s about Charlotte not you, okay?’

Lucy nodded. ‘I know. I needed to blow off steam. I feel better now I’ve told you. I haven’t thought about my foster parents in a long while. Brought back some memories I’d rather forget. I had a blip. I’m back in control now. I’ll help Murray while we wait for Lee’s lawyer to arrive.’

Natalie waited for Lucy to disappear before she rang David. She could hear Josh laughing in the background.

‘Hey, you’re cutting it fine,’ David said. ‘You going to be long? Pam’s gone overboard here. There’s enough food for an entire village. Smells great. I’m already on my third gin and tonic, so you’ll probably need to drive me home.’ He laughed. The levity was false. She knew David. He was only drinking because he was nervous.

‘I’m in with a suspect. I don’t know how long I’ll be.’

‘Is that Mum?’ Natalie heard her daughter’s excited voice in the background. ‘Is she coming?’

David shushed her away and lowered his tone. ‘Natalie, I thought we agreed?’

‘I promise if I can get rid of him, I’ll come over.’

‘You won’t manage it. I know you won’t.’

‘Look, I’m really sorry.’

‘You always do this to me and the kids. It was only for half an hour.’

‘That’s totally unfair and don’t bring the kids into this. You sprung this on me this morning just as I was leaving. Don’t make out you’re so hard done by. I always try to be there for you.’

‘Well, obviously not on this occasion.’ It was difficult to ignore the hurt in his words; however, it couldn’t be helped. The murder investigation took priority and he shouldn’t need her to hold his hand.

Irritated by his sulkiness, she let rip. ‘Sometimes, David, it’s bloody impossible! Today is one of those days. It’s Sunday lunch at your father’s house not a life or death situation. Cut me some slack. I said I’d try and come over if I get through this interview.’

There was a pause before he spoke again. The petulance was still there. ‘I’ll tell Dad you can’t make it. We’ll have to get a taxi home. I’ve been drinking so I can’t get behind the wheel.’

‘I’ll try to come over and pick you up later, then. Stay there for a while longer. Get to know Pam and her son more.’

‘No. Don’t bother. I’ll sort it.’ He ended the call, leaving Natalie feeling annoyed and at the same time shitty about letting him and the kids down. She shoved the phone in her jacket pocket and stared at the cars trundling past on the road below her. A voice made her turn around. It was Murray.

‘Just had a call from a bloke called Henry Knowles. He lives near the Brannons. He’s been through the footage on his security camera and says it’s picked up two youths running past his house at eleven twenty-one on Friday night. One of them’s carrying what looks like a piece of metal pipe.’