Gina tucked a stray clump of hair behind her ear. ‘It’s been a long day and I can’t see it ending any time soon. I just want Holly’s murderer brought in, that’s all.’ A flutter caught her throat, making her voice a little croaky. She poured the water into the cups. ‘Want one?’
‘Do I ever? Thanks, guv.’ She pulled an extra cup from the cupboard, made him a drink and passed it to him. As Jacob left, her tense body almost crumpled.
Briggs placed his warm hand over her shirtsleeve and gave her a little squeeze. ‘Come on, Harte. Let’s get our minds back on the case. There will be plenty of time to talk after.’
She knew that had been close. Jacob could already see a fondness in the way Briggs looked at her. She didn’t need him to jump to conclusions that were no longer there. Or were they? They may not be ripping each other’s clothes off every night but a thick air of sexual and emotional tension often threatened to expose them to others.
Wyre entered and hurried straight to the boiled kettle. ‘I’m glad that’s hot, I need a caffeine kick. Guv, Samuel Avery’s solicitor has arrived. I showed him to the interview room. He’s waiting for you.’
‘Thanks, Paula. Get onto those witness statements and find me someone who can back up Francesca’s version of events. I know he’ll walk if we can’t find anyone. Don’t worry about the gatecrashers with this case, it was before they arrived. That should eliminate all the people we had leaving the Angel Arms on the CCTV that Avery gave us.’
Wyre made a drink and hurried back out of the kitchen. Briggs began rubbing his temples and half closed his eyes as he caught the glint of light that bounced off the silver kettle.
‘Right, time to grill Avery.’ She smiled at Briggs and turned the light off, leaving him alone in the darkness.
Chapter Thirty-One
‘It was consensual. I was in the corridor and she called me over and dragged me towards her. We kissed and things got a little heated. She rubbed me over my trousers and I reached up her dress. That was it. We were playing about and the constant interruptions put us both off. I don’t know why she’s saying this.’
Avery began fiddling with the hem of his shirt, the same blue shirt that was taunting Gina’s thoughts. An image flashed through her mind. Avery in Holly’s flat, telling her to be quiet as Holly’s friend knocked and peered through the letterbox. Neither Holly nor her lover had banked on the mirror in the hallway giving away what they were doing. Had he gripped her around the neck, leaving the half-moon fingernail scars behind?
‘She’s fitting me up. They all do it after. They play away behind their husbands’ backs and rather than face their old man’s music, they lay the blame on a geezer like me.’
Avery glanced back with a grin at his solicitor.
‘Once again, did you grab her from behind while she was trying to compose herself under the stairs?’
‘She told me to meet her there. I stroked her and began kissing her neck and she responded. She knew it was me. What bit of “she told me to meet her there” don’t you understand?’ The solicitor whispered in Avery’s ear. ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to sound loud. It’s just an awful thing to be accused of when you’ve done nothing wrong.’
Gina knew of the solicitor – he had a reputation for getting the guilty off. There was no way Avery would be arrested if he stuck to his story. Without further evidence, she relied on him tripping himself up in an interview. She should’ve known better. Avery was a seasoned liar. ‘She says you pinned her up against the wall before kissing her against her will.’
‘I’ve told you what happened and that’s it. You’re just pig sick that your daughter likes me. That’s what it is. You think this will keep me away from her. I tell you something, you don’t know a thing, always thinking you know it all, DI Harte.’
A shiver ran along the nape of Gina’s neck, like icy fingers teasing their way around. She inhaled sharply, trying not to conjure up her past. She held her hands to her neck as if trying to release the invisible fingers while reminding herself not to lose her grip. ‘She then says you pinned her to the wall under the stairs and pushed your hands into her underwear.’
‘She had her hands on my crotch. Shall I put in a counterclaim for assault? We were kissing and touching, doing all those things that turned-on people do. Have you never felt the thrill of foreplay, Detective Inspector?’
Gina met his stare and felt her knuckles tightening as a slight grin formed on his lips.
‘My client has been over what happened more than once so if you have no evidence, I suggest you let him go. He won’t be saying any more on the matter.’ The solicitor stood and peered through his round glasses as he inserted all his paperwork into a folder.
‘Interview terminated at seventeen thirty-three.’
Gina hurried out of the room, leaving Jacob to finish up. She ran into the toilets and gave the bin a swift kick. Once again she’d failed when it came to Avery. She’d failed her daughter too as he’d be back out there with her that same evening. She grabbed her neck and massaged her nape as she tried to forget her own wedding night that followed the marital vows she’d bitterly regretted. Almost choking, she grabbed the tap and turned it on, splashing cold water over her face as she gasped in lungfuls of air until she felt light-headed.
‘Here you are, guv.’ Wyre entered and smiled.
She splashed her face again. ‘I failed with Avery. He’s walking out as we speak. I can’t face it.’
‘We’ll get him. The investigation won’t stop just because he denies doing any wrong, you know that. It was obvious he’d deny everything. Someone has to have seen something. There were too many people around. We’ll keep looking.’
She forced a smile. ‘I know we will. I can’t get all defeatist over this. I think it’s because it’s him. Anyone else, I could’ve dealt with but Avery, he really gets to me. Did you have something to share?’
‘You’re going to like this. Carrying on from the door to doors, one of the PCs has reported back that someone matching Phillip Brighton’s description was seen trying to get into Holly’s block of apartments about three weeks ago.’
‘He claimed he didn’t know Holly. If that was the case, what was he doing outside her apartment block? Can we pull the miniscule amount of CCTV we know of on the surrounding roads, going back as far as possible?’
‘Definitely.’
