‘Never heard that name.’
Gina pushed a photo of Holly across the table. ‘Do you recognise this woman?’
‘I’ve never seen her before. Look, if I tell you what I do know, will you drop the drug charges?’
Gina slowly shook her head. ‘I will make it known that you cooperated fully with our investigations.’ Phillip Brighton had been caught with the drugs and the cash and he was a known drug dealer in the area. She knew he was small fry in the big scheme of things but still, she couldn’t magic these charges away. ‘Phillip. Can I call you Phillip?’
‘Phil. I hate Phillip.’
‘Phil. A woman was murdered last night and we are interviewing everyone. Can you tell me when you arrived at Cleevesford Manor, how you got there and what you did?’
Mr Ullah whispered a few more words and Phillip nodded.
‘I wasn’t dealing, I just had some stuff on me for personal use. I heard that there was going to be a free bar and I turned up, taking my chances on getting a few drinks.’
‘Where did you hear about the free bar?’
‘The Angel Arms. I was in there having a quiet drink and someone let on that they were heading down to Cleevesford Manor.’
‘Who?’
‘I don’t know. I overheard some of the lads talking. They were joking about milking some geezer called Trevor for a few free drinks. He’s the bride’s dad, apparently. I headed over there about an hour later. That’s how long it took me to walk. I think the others caught a taxi. They said to climb over the stile on Blossom Lane. It’s a short walk through the woods and there’s a cut through at the back of the garden. I couldn’t exactly swan in through the front door, could I? I didn’t have an invite. The aim of the game was to guzzle as many drinks as possible before we got chucked out.’
Gina knew he’d gone there to sell drugs but now wasn’t the time to interrupt him.
‘Carry on.’
‘I got there about half nine or ten, I think. When I came out of the toilets, I saw that all hell was breaking loose when the father of the bride could see that we didn’t belong. Food started flying, a few shirts were ruffled and most of us were thrown out onto the terrace. I waited outside and had a smoke until things died down and then the cops arrived and I heard people saying something about a dead woman. I knew I needed to get out. I shouldn’t have been there and I knew this would happen if I stayed. I ran to the back of the garden and I got a bit lost in the woods.’
Didn’t want to get caught with all the drugs in your possession more like,Gina thought. ‘You didn’t come when you were called.’
‘I fell asleep. Like I said, those drugs are for personal use. I had a smoke and I fell asleep in the woods.’
Gina didn’t believe any of it. ‘You went from running away in a panic to falling asleep.’
‘Yes.’
Gina cleared her throat and glanced across at Wyre who raised an eyebrow. ‘Okay, what happened when you woke up?’
‘I saw someone, but as I say, I was half stoned and it was dark but I know what I saw. He was feeling himself in the bushes.’
‘Feeling himself?’
The man rolled his eyes. ‘Wanking. He started to wank and I startled him.’
Something about what he was saying and the way he was saying it told Gina that amongst his lies, this was a truth. Even Phillip Brighton wouldn’t have embellished his story with something so bizarre.
‘You’re saying you saw a man masturbating in the bushes?’
‘Yeah, well starting to. It was way after things had died down. I’d been out of it for a while. I don’t know what time it was but it was late or should I say early.’
‘What did he look like?’
He shrugged again and leaned his chin on his chest as he slouched back, his beard draping over his stained yellow jumper. ‘It was dark and I was a bit stoned. All I could see was his white shirt.’
‘Height? Build?’
‘Taller than me.’
