Adam Brannon filled the chair in the interview room, his long legs barely fitting under the table. Murray handed him the coffee he’d requested, which he took, heavy lids half-closed on his eyes. Everything about him appeared lazy and calculated, yet Natalie recalled the way he’d spun to face her the night before when he’d been by the squad car. Appearances were deceiving. Adam had sharp reflexes and a quick reaction time.

He sipped the coffee. ‘You got any suspects yet?’

Natalie answered him. ‘We’re pursuing a couple of lines of enquiry.’

‘You better find the bastard before I do,’ he said.

‘I don’t suggest for one minute you go looking for the person responsible. That’s our job.’

‘You don’t seem to have any idea yet of who’s behind her murder. What do you suggest I do? Sit quietly and wait it out? My wife was murdered. I saw Charlotte. She was a mess. Some fucking bastard beat her to a pulp and you tell me to back off. I know people who can help me track this motherfucker down.’ The words were coming faster now. This wasn’t the same reaction Natalie had met with a few hours earlier. Adam was far more emotive. He clenched the mug in his wide hand so tightly Natalie expected it to shatter in his grasp.

‘Mr Brannon, last night I asked you about a baseball bat and you denied owning one. I’m going to ask you the same question now and I’d like the truth this time.’

He rested his forearms on the table and stared at her, then his eyes flicked to one side and he slumped forward, his outburst forgotten. ‘Okay. Okay.’

‘Do you own a baseball bat?’

‘Yes. I have one.’

‘Why did you deny it last night?’

‘I don’t know. It was stupid of me.’

‘You must have realised it was important to my enquiries.’

‘I didn’t think of anything. Alfie had been taken away. I was messed up big time. You were asking all sorts of questions and I couldn’t think straight. I was trying to get my head around everything: finding her dead, the writing on the wall, Alfie being there when it happened, and imagining what if the fucker had killed him too? There was so much happening and none of it felt real. I spoke to you, and all the time I could only see Charlotte’s body on the bedroom floor. I was in a living hell. Besides, the police have interviewed me before in the past and not done me any favours, if you get my drift. When you’re like me, you kind of get used to saying nothing to anybody. After my time in prison, I learnt to keep schtum if I got pulled, until I worked out what the police actually wanted from me. I get a lot of hassle from the cops. It’s no surprise because I run a place in a rough part of town where tearaways and hoodlums hang out. Whenever something kicks off in the hood, the police come straight to my club and question me.

‘Last night I couldn’t think quickly enough. You fired off a whole bunch of questions and I couldn’t answer them because I couldn’t work out what to say in case something incriminated me. I’d already admitted I didn’t find Charlotte until after Alfie started crying. That must have looked bad. I wasn’t prepared to say anything else until I’d had a chance to figure out how to handle this, and now I’ve decided I’m going to play it the only way I can – I’m going to be completely upfront with you. I didn’t kill Charlotte. I swear I didn’t. I spent all fucking night thinking about it and I know how it must look to you.’

‘And how might that be?’

‘Big bastard of a husband who’s been in the nick before and is handy with his fists, bashes up his wife cos he can’t control his temper – that’s what it looks like. But I didn’t. I didn’t kill Charlotte.’ He cricked his neck, bottom lip out defiantly, and bit back tears.

‘Why do you own a baseball bat, then?’

His dark eyes bored into hers and he snorted. ‘Why d’ya think? Insurance. If some fucker decided to break into our house, I’d be ready for him. I’m not the only one, you know? Check out the reviews for baseball bats on Amazon. Reckon you’ll find they’ve all been bought for protection.’

‘You’re admitting you bought the bat for protection?’

‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.’

‘Why not have security cameras and alarms? They’re far less dangerous.’

‘We have got alarms but if somebody decided to break in, I needed to be able to take charge of the situation. Alarms and cameras don’t protect you if some motherfucker gets in and attacks you. They’re deterrents. That’s all. I’ve done time. I’ve hung out with guys who’ve broken into houses to steal stuff to sell for drug money. They’re desperate. They don’t care about cameras or alarms, and if someone gets in their way, they won’t think twice about using the knife or the gun or whatever weapon they’re carrying. They threaten people. The bat was there in case I needed it.’

‘We found your fingerprints on it,’ said Natalie, keeping her voice smooth.

‘Yeah, and so what? They would be there, wouldn’t they?’

‘We also found Charlotte’s prints on it.’

‘Maybe she picked it up when she was cleaning.’

‘Where did you keep the bat?’

‘Under the bed. Oh, holy shit, I get it! She was hit with the fucking bat, wasn’t she?’ He smacked the palm of his hand down on the table with tremendous force, causing the table to shudder, and then pushed himself upright onto his feet. He backed away, waving a finger at Natalie. ‘No, you don’t! You do not fucking pin her death on me. I did not kill my wife. You check that bat out again and you discover some more prints on it and then you find who they belong to, cos I did not hit her with it.’

‘Mr Brannon, please sit down. We have to ask you these questions. We believe the bat you own was used as a weapon and it’s important we try to establish exactly what happened. Could anyone else other than you and Charlotte have known about it being there?’

He emitted a sound akin to a horse blowing air through its nostrils and dropped onto his seat. ‘I don’t think so. Look, I’m levelling with you. I know it looks bad but I’ve met some seriously warped blokes who get off on not just stealing your gear but cutting you or anyone in your family to get it. I don’t trust alarm systems and surveillance equipment. There are all kinds of crazy people out there who can get through all that shit and I wanted to protect my wife and son. That’s all I wanted to do. Fucking mental, isn’t it? I bring in something to look after my family and somebody uses it against Charlotte. This is a complete fuck-up.’ He stood again and turned his back to Natalie and Murray. It took a moment for him to be coaxed back onto his seat.

‘Can I ask you about the financial arrangements in your house? We understand the house was in Charlotte’s name and she had a substantial income from a trust fund.’

‘That’s right. Her folks bought the house and put it in her name.’

‘How did you feel about that?’

‘This is complete bullshit. Why are you asking me this? It doesn’t matter about the house or how much money Charlotte had. It was hers. Her parents were rich. If you think I murdered her cos she owned the house, then you’re off your fucking head.’

‘Please calm down, Mr Brannon. We’re trying to understand Charlotte and find out why she might have been killed. She was obviously wealthy.’

‘So what? I don’t give a shit about money. I never had any when I was growing up. Besides, I earn enough through boxing. I could have looked after Charlotte and Alfie without their help. We didn’t need Kevin and Sheila’s charity, but Charlotte, she was used to the nicer things in life. I couldn’t argue with that, could I?’

‘But you weren’t happy about the arrangement?’

‘Happy? To be honest, I wasn’t that bothered. I was cool about it. It didn’t matter whose name the house was in. We lived there. Together. I tell you what I really wasn’t happy about. I wasn’t happy that her parents kept muscling in on our relationship, treating her like she was still some precious teenager who’d never flown the nest, buying her expensive gifts, arranging for designers to come in and alter our home, transform it into some palace, and making out like I wasn’t good enough for her. Stuck-up sods. They had no idea. Some tournaments, I can earn big money. Charlotte knew the score. Sometimes I bring in the bucks, other times I don’t. She was quite happy about the arrangement. If I had plenty of spare cash, I’d hand it over so she could treat herself. I paid for all sorts of things and household expenses. I bought her things. She took her parents’ money but not to put me down. She took it cos she liked having money. She loved spending money. We never rowed about money. She even encouraged me to keep the lion’s share of my winnings to reinvest in the club, make it even bigger and better, and continue to do good for the community. She spent money on whatever she fancied – clothes were her big thing. She was mad about fashion and she looked great in everything she wore, so I didn’t care about that either. We were actually really good together. I didn’t kill her. I’d never hurt her,’ he said, his voice now not much more than a whisper.

‘How did you feel about becoming a father?’

‘What sort of question is that?’

‘Could you answer it?’

‘I was over the moon. Alfie is my fucking universe. He’s the cutest little dude.’

‘But you don’t change him, play with him, take him out or get involved in any way with him.’ Natalie watched his eyebrows knit together.

‘Who the fuck told you that? I do my bit.’

‘That’s not what I heard.’

‘You heard wrong. I try to help out. I offered all the time, but she pushed me away. Charlotte was overprotective of him at times and wouldn’t let me get involved.’

‘Yet she allowed a friend’s seventeen-year-old daughter to look after him while she went to the salon, or out with friends. That doesn’t sound like an overprotective mother.’ Natalie kept her voice level.

Adam’s eyes narrowed further. ‘What are you suggesting?’

‘I’m trying to understand what sort of relationship you have with your son and work out why your wife didn’t want you to be involved with him. You haven’t once asked how he is. You haven’t demanded to see him. He’s your son, yet you seem happy he’s out of the way.’

‘That’s more bullshit. Alfie’s six months old. He isn’t exactly waiting for me to play football with him or have a game on the Xbox with him when I get in after work. He spends most of the time asleep. What the fuck are you supposed to do with a sleeping baby? I haven’t asked how he is cos he’ll be fine. He’s in care, isn’t he? He doesn’t need me at the moment. He just needs somebody to feed and change him.’

‘He’s your son. He’s lost his mother. You’re his world now.’

Adam shook his head. ‘I’m not ready. I need more time. He looks too much like Charlotte. Every time I look at him, I’ll think of her on the floor…’

Natalie noted the lines on his forehead and clenched fists. For whatever reason, Adam couldn’t face his son at the moment. His reaction was strange. Natalie would have assumed he’d want to be reminded of the woman he loved, not push away his flesh and blood.

‘Would you say you and Charlotte had a happy relationship, then?’

‘Here we go with the “happy” thing again. What’s the definition of “happy”? Is anyone happy? Are you happy, detective?’

Natalie sidestepped the questions. ‘What sort of relationship did you have? Did you get along well?’

‘I loved Charlotte. I love Alfie. What more do I have to say?’

‘You didn’t argue or you didn’t ever hit her?’

He paused for a second, chin jutting forward. ‘I never laid a finger on either of them.’

‘But you argued?’

‘All couples have fall-outs or rows. It’s part of being a couple. We always made up afterwards.’

‘What did you argue about?’

He heaved a lengthy sigh. ‘Look, detective, I know what your game is. I never once hit my wife. We had the odd difference of opinions. She was quite single-minded. We’d disagree on a number of matters: the usual stuff that couples argue about. There was nothing wrong with our relationship.’

‘How did you feel about her online presence, her blog?’

‘It was what she enjoyed. She couldn’t live without all that Instagram and blogging shit. I’ve got social media accounts too. It’s quite normal to promote businesses online. She was far more into it than me.’

‘Did you ever monitor her online social media sites to see who was contacting her, or who was following her blog?’

His mouth turned downwards. ‘No. Why would I?’

‘To keep an eye on her and make sure she wasn’t flirting or having any online relationships with other men.’

He let out a deep laugh. ‘She wouldn’t do that. I told you, we were sound.’

‘You didn’t feel even a little jealous about her parading herself online in outfits that might be considered revealing?’

‘Do you think Kanye West worries about Kim Kardashian being online? She looked great in those outfits. She had the figure for them. It was her vocation. She was working her audience to become a serious online blogger and earn money from what she enjoyed doing. She wasn’t putting up pictures of herself to show off or attract male attention. You got Charlotte all wrong. And me. You got me all wrong too.’

‘Then clarify it for me.’

‘She and I were opposites. We bickered now and then but we loved each other. She wanted me to follow my dream and I wanted her to follow hers. We both loved Alfie. He wasn’t planned or expected but he completed us. She was nuts about him. Used to sing him to sleep every single night. She had a lovely voice. I tried once but I only made him cry. I can’t sing for love nor money. She sang him to sleep before we went out. Some lullaby she knew from her childhood. I could hear her as I got dressed. The last lullaby, eh?’ He shrugged and swallowed hard. ‘Yes, she was reluctant to let me muscle in, play too big a role in the little man’s life, but she didn’t exclude me. She was overcautious, that’s all. She didn’t want me dropping him, or putting his fucking nappy on upside down. I’m that boy’s father and I love him. End of.’

‘Did she talk to you about anyone who might have been stalking her online or hassling her?’

‘No. And she would have if there had been. She knew I’d have sorted out anybody that gave her grief. She’d have told me if she’d been scared or worried about some weirdo. You think that’s what happened? Somebody decided to stalk her and found out where she lived?’

‘I don’t have any answers for you at the moment, but rest assured we’ll do everything we can to bring the guilty person to justice.’

He pointed his finger at her. ‘Make sure you do, because I’m not going to let whoever did this to her get away with it.’