A male cleaner, wearing khaki overalls and a pair of ear protectors, pushed an industrial cleaning machine down the corridor, its drone barely audible through the triple glazing of Natalie’s office. She watched the man pass by before continuing with her questions.

‘What else do we have on Samantha Kirkdale?’

Lucy read from her notes. ‘She has a close network of friends, mostly other young mums. She’s lived in the Samford area all her life. Her parents are divorced and both have been given the news of her death. Social media profiles reveal nothing untoward. Heavy emphasis was on her son, Oscar, and noting the progress he was making. There are lots of photos of him. She set her status on Facebook from married to single two months ago, about the time she moved into rented accommodation. There’s no mention of a boyfriend.’

‘And do we know if she and Charlotte were friends?’

‘There’s nothing to indicate they were. They’re not friends online and Charlotte’s number wasn’t in her telephone contact list.’

‘What about her relationship with Lee Webster?’ Natalie directed her question at Ian, who’d just come back from the technical lab.

‘The techies discovered several text messages between them that go back to January this year before she left her husband. I’ve printed them off. Nothing suspicious in them: arrangements to meet up, chats about what they’re doing, watching on television – all normal stuff.’

‘Nothing to suggest he was angry with her?’

‘Quite the opposite. I think he was keen on her.’

‘It might have been part of his plan: be Mr Nice Guy, then attack her,’ suggested Lucy.

Ian gave a small nod of agreement. ‘Except I can’t think what motive he would have. He seems to like her.’

‘We haven’t yet explored the possibility Lee and Charlotte were having an affair. Charlotte has been described as wild and has had relations with other men. It wouldn’t be out of the question to assume she and Lee had something going on. One of her friends claimed she liked bad boys. I think he might fit that description.’ Natalie made a quick note on her file to ask him that very question before speaking again. ‘And where are we on that white van our witness saw outside Lee’s house?’

‘Still working on that,’ said Murray. ‘I’ll go back upstairs and assist in a minute. We’ve pulled all camera footage around the area and are going through it. We’re gathering lists of all reported break-ins for that night too.’

‘I don’t need to stress how urgent that is. I can’t leave him waiting too much longer or his lawyer will come up with some excuse to leave. We really don’t have a lot of time. I don’t want to release Adam yet either. I’m convinced he’s holding back on us. We can’t ignore the possibility Finn and Hassan might be behind or involved with both murders. Information on the pair has gone out to all units and the IT team are running a facial recognition programme, so if they pass any surveillance cameras, we’ll be able to identify them and hopefully locate them. Ian, if we get a hit, let me know immediately.’

She put interlinked hands behind her neck and stretched into them before glancing at Lucy. ‘Time to face Lee.’

---

Lee, in a sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, gave Lucy a smile when she entered the interview room with Natalie.

‘We really should stop meeting like this,’ he said.

‘Don’t think we’ve brought you in because we find you attractive,’ Natalie replied, pulling back her chair with one free hand and nodding at the lawyer.

Lee grinned a reply.

Once the recording device was in action and she and Lucy were settled, she began by asking a question. ‘Mr Webster, we’d like to know where you were this afternoon. I notice from your work schedule, you were not on duty today.’

‘I was at home. Played on the Xbox.’

‘You stayed at home all afternoon, playing a game?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Did you attempt to contact Samantha Kirkdale today?’

A flash of concern swept across his face. ‘No.’

‘You and Samantha have been involved in a relationship since January. Is that true?’

‘What if we have? There’s no law against it. We’re two consenting adults and she’s a free agent.’

‘I’m sorry to inform you Samantha was murdered this afternoon at her home.’

‘Fuck! Oh fuck, no!’ His face crumpled up at the news and he looked away sharply.

‘So, I’ll ask you again, where were you this morning, and is there anybody who can corroborate your alibi?’

‘At home. I was at home.’ He shook his head and swiped at a rogue tear that had escaped. He turned to his lawyer. ‘This is total bullshit. I didn’t see Samantha today. I want that noted. I didn’t go to her house or stay over last night. God, I wish had. This might not have happened if I had.’

‘Did you also have a relationship with Charlotte Brannon?’

He turned to his lawyer. ‘I don’t have to answer this crap, do I?’

Natalie spoke directly to the lawyer. ‘It might compromise your client if he doesn’t answer the questions honestly.’

The man in the suit indicated Lee should continue. Lee’s shoulders slumped and he nodded. ‘She and I, we had a one-nighter, ages ago.’

‘You were seen in the White Horse pub in January, arguing.’

‘You’ve been talking to that wanker, Vitor, haven’t you? Bastard! He’s stitching me up here. It was something and nothing. Not like my relationship with Samantha.’

‘Can you explain what happened between you and Charlotte on that occasion? Because at the moment you appear to know two women, both of whom have been brutally murdered.’

‘Charlotte was in a devil-may-care mood. She got like that sometimes. She’d turn up at the club when Adam wasn’t around and flirt with me. Then one afternoon when Adam was at a tournament, we had sex. That was the end of it. I told her it wasn’t a good idea to do it again. That night in the pub, she was in the mood again to be adventurous and have some fun, but I was getting it on with Samantha. I told her I didn’t want to and she got the hump. That was all.’

‘You admit to sleeping with both women?’

‘Only once with Charlotte. I shouldn’t have. Samantha was a different matter. I liked her a lot. What happened to her?’ He sniffed back tears.

‘I can’t give out details. You know that.’

‘What’s happened to Oscar? Is he alive?’

‘He’s with Daniel. He’s okay.’

He flexed his fingers and pressed the point between his eyes. ‘Fuck me, this is awful. Bloody terrible.’

‘I’d like to go back to the night of Charlotte’s murder. Where were you that night?’

‘I already told you. I was at the White Horse, then I went back to my flat with Adam.’

‘That’s where we have a problem. It’s come to light that you weren’t at the pub.’

‘If that Vitor told you otherwise, he’s a lying bastard or you’ve deliberately leant on him.’

A light rapping on the door halted proceedings and Natalie excused herself. In the corridor, Murray held out a printout and a list of crime numbers, one of which was circled in red.

‘Warehouse on Dunfold Street got done over sometime between eleven and twelve that night. Somebody got away with fifty grand’s worth of kit. This van was captured on camera at two points en route from Lee’s house and was picked up by a security camera attached to a building near the warehouse. This one clearly shows Lee at the wheel. The date and time stamps prove he was at the warehouse at eleven p.m. This other photograph captured on CCTV shows the van headed towards the Ashmore Estate.’

‘Shit. That proves he couldn’t have been at the Brannons’ house at the time Charlotte was murdered.’

‘It seems not.’

Natalie rubbed her temples. ‘I thought we had him. I really thought we had him.’ She righted her shoulders. ‘Keep searching for Hassan and Finn. We have to hope they saw something or are involved in some way. I’m out of options.’

Murray disappeared down the corridor, leaving Natalie standing outside the interview room. Which way could she turn now? The only person without a solid alibi for the night in question, or for this morning, when Samantha was killed, was Adam and he was resolute he was innocent. She was going to have to try and crack him again.

---

‘We’ve spoken to Lee and he’s admitted to being elsewhere on Friday night. You can no longer claim you were with him. Looks like you’re out of alibis and you know what that means.’ Natalie folded her arms and stared at Adam coldly. He lifted his hands in a submissive gesture.

‘Okay. I wasn’t with him.’

‘Care to elaborate or do I charge you now?’

‘I went to the boxing club. I needed some time alone,’ said Adam in his easy, lazy drawl.

‘Why didn’t you say that from the outset instead of all these bullshit lies?’

‘Why do you think? To start with, I couldn’t prove I was at the boxing club. It’s not like there are any CCTV cameras there or anyone saw me. I went there straight after I left Inge’s. After the meal with her folks, Charlotte and I had a pretty major row. She’d put away a fair amount of booze that night and she could be a right bitch when she was drunk – a complete nightmare, in fact – and I wasn’t in the mood to take any more crap from her. I couldn’t stay longer at Inge’s cos her mum was due home so I figured I’d hang around the club for a bit, and by the time I got home, she’d have cleared off to bed and be asleep. I just messed about on my phone, playing games until I decided to return. Would you have believed me if I’d told you that from the off? Like hell you would. Lee’s suggestion to say I was with him seemed the best option. You were dead keen to pin Charlotte’s murder on me so I had to buy myself some time. I assumed you’d have found out who had killed her by now and I could come clean. Looks like I was way off with that.’

Natalie jumped up and leant right into his face until her nose was almost touching his. ‘Have you any idea how many man-hours we’ve completely wasted on account of you and your mate, Lee? You’ve had us chasing our tails instead of actually getting somewhere and finding whoever murdered your wife. You could well have screwed it up completely for us. Ever think of that?’ Natalie’s nostrils flared in anger. Adam’s attitude was getting under her skin. ‘You…’ She bit her tongue. Abusing the man wasn’t going to help matters. She drew back and, turning from the table, directed her words to Lucy. ‘Take him away. Get him out of my sight.’