‘I’d prefer you to come right now,’ she said in my ear. ‘Before I have to arrest you for the third time, for obstructing an investigation. I have questions for you and this time, as your lawyer so wisely suggested, it’d be helpful if you were honest with us. Save us wasting any more of your precious time.’

I turned to Lionel. ‘And Rick?’

‘It’s all in hand, my boy,’ he said, following me out. ‘It’s all in hand.’

    Ten

Him

The journey to the station was frustratingly slow, being rush hour by now. I hadn’t a clue what they were going to ask me. Christ, by now it could’ve been any number of things.

All I could think of was that I hadn’t told anyone else to check in with Felicity. Once I’d had the tape in my hand, in my mind it was sorted, but she didn’t know that. I’d wanted to call her before I left but, as usual, DI Brown had stymied my plans. It was like a full-time job to her, making my life difficult. I was tempted to be deliberately obtuse this time, just to piss her off, but I was worried about Felicity and what she’d think when I didn’t show up.

Alex had been taken in another car. Lionel arrived just after us, in his own car and, as we walked through to the now-familiar interview room, I caught sight of Rick, being divested of his personal property at the custody desk. He looked thoroughly pissed off.

As he caught sight of us, his eyes widened and he shot me a dirty look. I didn’t return it. Strangely, I didn’t feel angry with him, even after everything he’d done. It was more sadness. He’d been a valued member of my team for years, and now he was up on a murder rap for something I could’ve dealt with, if he’d come to me in the first place. In a strange way, I felt responsible. My strict moral code wasn’t for everyone, and it had proved his undoing in the end.

The questioning began almost as soon as I’d sat down.

‘Well, here we are again,’ DI Brown said, settling herself into the chair in front of me. ‘It’s almost like you’ve never been away.’

I threw her a tight smile. I had to get through this quickly, and I didn’t have time for witty ripostes.

‘Rick Palmer,’ she said. ‘How well do you know him?’

‘Quite well.’ I shrugged. ‘Not as well as I’d thought.’

‘And you think he had reason to murder Miss Fielding?’

‘I guess so.’

‘And you never thought to mention this before?’ She threw me a disbelieving look.

‘I thought he was dead.’

‘You thought…’ She trailed off and raised her eyebrow. ‘And what gave you that idea?’

‘I saw him taken under in the Thames.’ I shuddered slightly, remembering that arm reaching skyward, before disappearing into the depths. ‘He didn’t resurface. I thought the current had taken him.’

‘And you didn’t think to help him?’

‘I was in the water, too. There was nothing I could’ve done.’

‘My, my.’ She sat back in her chair. ‘What an active life you lead, Mr Fforbes. First the Thames – what’s next? The channel?’

‘It wasn’t for pleasure,’ I snapped. ‘I was chasing him.’

‘Chasing him? How quaint. And to what purpose, dare I ask?’

‘He’d…taken something of mine.’ I pursed my lips, not wanting to divulge more.

‘And had you thought of asking him nicely for it?’

I nodded.

‘Did you say please?’

‘This isn’t getting us anywhere.’ I looked at my watch. I was sure she was delaying me on purpose. ‘Can we get to the point, here?’

Giles touched my leg. ‘Easy now,’ he said. ‘Answer the nice lady’s questions.’

That seemed to ruffle her feathers far more than anything I’d said.

‘The nice lady,’ she said, acidly. ‘Will have you both here all night, if she feels like it. Now, Mr Palmer stole something from you. That is correct?’

I nodded again, trying to keep my cool.

‘And you didn’t think to report it to the proper authorities?’

‘I wanted to keep it in-house.’

‘You know,’ she paused for a moment and looked from one of us to the other. ‘That’s what I love the most about you people. Your high-handed disregard for the law. If you’d used the correct channels in the first place, maybe we wouldn’t be here today.’

I looked away from her. She could well have been right, which made it all the more galling, but it hadn’t been an option. Giles would’ve had my balls before that tape had become public knowledge. I glanced down at my pocket. The thing was in there right now, burning a hole in my chest.

‘So,’ she continued, clearly enjoying watching me squirm. ‘When your cute little game of kiss-chase ended with a man to all intents and purposes drowning in the Thames, you didn’t think to report that to the authorities?’

I shook my head. ‘It seemed pointless. In fact, it was pointless since, as I’ve just seen, he’s still very much alive.’

‘Which is the only reason I’m not charging you.’ She slammed her hand down on the table. ‘I’m fed up with your cock-and-bull stories, Mr Fforbes. Stolen artefacts…chases through the Thames… This isn’t the fucking Da Vinci Code. Give me something useful - something I can actually work with – or, I promise you, I’ll be bringing you breakfast.’

‘He was screwing around, okay?’ I said, wearily. ‘And Charlotte was blackmailing him. He was going to lose his house and, if he did, he’d have lost his family, too. His wife isn’t exactly the forgiving type. Is that clear enough?’

‘There.’ She stood up. ‘That wasn’t so difficult, now, was it? Wait there.’

She was gone for a few minutes, during which time I took the opportunity to berate Lionel and his tactics.

He listened dispassionately until I’d finished cursing him, before holding up his hands. ‘You’re still a suspect in this investigation,’ he said, unmoved. ‘My duty is to protect you, even if you don’t want to protect yourself. If it had all come out later, you’d have looked far worse.’

Again, I had no answer worth giving – he was right in everything he said, and yet it was so frustrating. I didn’t have time to worry about myself at the moment. I had to get to Felicity. She’d sounded desperate on the phone and, in my experience, desperate people committed rash acts.

When DI Brown reappeared, it was to stand at the door, looking disgruntled. ‘It seems your story checks out,’ she said, sounding none too pleased. ‘Your…colleague’s statement is pretty much the same. Of course, you could have concocted it between you, but time will tell. You’re free to go.’

I pulled myself to my feet, stretching my legs as I did so. Giles gathered up his papers, and we went to leave the room. As I was going, she stopped me. It was her usual tactic, I’d realised by now, designed to leave me unsettled, and, as usual, it worked.

‘I have to tell you, Mr Fforbes,’ she said, an unfriendly smile playing about her lips. ‘We’re going through the Jane Does from the time of Miss Maitland’s disappearance. We’re held up by her unusual family history, and the difficulty in obtaining dental records, but when we find what we’re looking for, we’ll be coming back for you. And this time, you will be charged and I’ll make damned sure it sticks.’

So that was why she had such a down on me. Giles had sorted the original assault charges, and now she was watching the murder charge fade into the sunset too. No wonder she was pissed off.

I smiled back at her. ‘I can hardly wait,’ I said, and left the interview room without looking back.

    Eleven

Him

After my escort to the police station, I’d had to take a taxi to Felicity’s. It wasn’t such a bad thing – my thoughts were all over the place, and my mind wouldn’t have been on the road.

As the taxi headed to Felicity’s, I wondered how hard they were really looking for Aimee’s body. They’d never seemed too interested at the time she’d disappeared, so why now? It was all down to DI Brown, I was sure. She seemed to have made me her pet project, as if she had some point to prove. Christ, I was beginning to hate her with a passion.