‘Ooh, angry, are we?’ Silence filled the room. Steven sighed. ‘I just walked home and went to bed.’
Wyre glanced at the file in front of her. ‘Did you go through Gilmore Close?’
‘Why would I go that way?’ He began leaning back on the chair, front legs repetitively lifting off the carpet tiles, a sickly grin across his face.
‘Fresh air to sober up, looking for someone, meeting someone? You tell me.’
He shook his head as he laughed. ‘You ain’t pinning that on me. No, I didn’t go that way.’
‘You knew where all the locations were, didn’t you?’
‘Me and the rest of ’em. We told everyone about all the different locations during the course of the evening. They weren’t a secret.’
Gina slammed her fist on the desk as she wondered why none of the witnesses had mentioned that fact. That blew her theory out. If they all knew the locations, they’d all know where Jade could have been. Given that all the locations were as close by as all their addresses, she’d be easy to find in a relatively short period of time.
‘Calm it, Harte!’ Briggs said as he offered her a mint.
Reluctantly, she took one, unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth.
Wyre continued for a few minutes as Gina sucked on the mint, watching intently. Steven tapped his slightly stubbly chin with his index finger as he grinned before rubbing it in exactly the same way that Terry used to. The similarities were uncanny. She shivered and took a deep breath. Briggs placed a friendly hand over her shoulder and squeezed before removing it. A slight crossing of boundaries but one they were both comfortable with.
‘Mr Smithson, you say you can’t remember when you got home. Can anyone else confirm when you returned?’
He nodded then stared into space as he tried to recall that night. ‘My nosey neighbour, Frank. The bastard never sleeps and is always looking through that spyhole of his. I think he finds me attractive.’ Steven sniggered. ‘Apart from that, I went back, took my kit off and had a shower.’
Wyre tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Did you speak to anyone else after that?’
He tutted. ‘What do you think?’
‘Did you speak to anyone else after that? Answer the question.’
For a moment, Gina thought he might demand a solicitor or refuse to speak. He was at present only a suspect and they had no direct evidence linking him to the murder.
‘Mr Smithson, it’s important that you tell us all you can.’Well played, Wyre – a slightly softer approach could get them what they needed.
‘Dawn kept trying to call me. Stupid woman doesn’t know when to give up. I ended a few of her calls. When I woke up in the morning, I had a further several missed calls. At one point I told her to leave it out and hung up. Stupid woman was sobbing down the phone.’
Gina made a note to see if Dawn would give them access to her phone records. She needed to know what time that would have been and exactly what was said. Briggs glanced at her notes and nodded. The interview finally came to an end.
Steven stood and zipped up his jacket as he headed towards the door Wyre held open.
Gina slammed the chair into the wall behind her. Briggs grabbed her arm, pulling her back. ‘Give it a minute until he’s gone.’
She wanted to throw the chair and break the table. She’d like nothing more than to kick it to death. Instead, she’d breathe it out and wait. Steven knew full well she’d be involved in the case and that she worked at Cleevesford. The lights went off in the interview room as Jacob left and closed the door behind him.
‘Gina?’ She turned.
‘Huh?’
‘Do you fancy a drink on the way home? We can have a catch up, talk about the case.’
He brought his hand slowly towards her arm and she stepped out of the way. ‘No, I have things to do tonight and I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘I was just going to open the door and if you don’t want a drink, that’s fine.’
He grabbed the door handle. He was nowhere near her and she’d flinched out of his way like an idiot, thoughts of Steven and Terry swimming through her mind and clouding her judgement.
He left first, leaving her alone inhaling the musty air.
