He stared into the sooty fire. ‘The woman’s a crazy.’
Gina didn’t appreciate that term and she could tell instantly that Isaac thought he was funny by the smirk in the corner of his mouth. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘She’s just a drama queen. She isn’t missing, she’s just choosing not to be found. She walks out on Marcus all the time. She’ll be back. It won’t be the first time this has happened.’
Jacob seemed to lean to one side and Gina noticed that the cushion underneath him only looked half stuffed. The room was playing with her senses, almost making her a little giddy and disorientated. With his elbow on the arm of the chair, Jacob scribbled a few notes.
‘You also know Alexander Swinton, is that correct?’
He leaned forward, his shadowy eyes looking more like a smear in the half-light. ‘What is this really about?’
‘We have one murder victim and one missing person, both are known to you. We’re just asking a few questions, that’s all. We’ll be asking your other friends the same questions. How did you know Alexander Swinton?’
He paused and picked a bit from the tip of his tongue. ‘From school. I haven’t seen him for years, so whatever tree you’re barking up has nothing to do with me. I haven’t seen Penny for probably a year.’
Gina spotted the matches on the hearth, the same brand that were in Alex Swinton’s coffin. ‘Can you tell me your whereabouts this past week, since Monday the twenty-sixth of October?’
‘Am I a suspect?’
‘We’re just trying to find out where your friend is.’ She felt her muscles tense, knowing that before long, Isaac would completely clam up and at the moment she had nothing to arrest him for.
‘I am going to talk. When I’ve finished speaking, you’re both going to leave and I know you will because I know how this works. We’ll cut the bull. I have a conviction and you’re looking into people with convictions first. Am I right? Wait, don’t answer that. The answer isn’t relevant.’
He wasn’t wrong. He didn’t know if it was his specific conviction that had made him such a feature in her mind.
‘I burned a couple of sheds down when I was a little kid.’
He was sixteen and it was five sheds. Isaac was already lying.
‘It was stupid and I regretted it. What I did then has nothing to do with now. I’ve kept a clean record since. This past week, I’ve been in every night except for the night I went to Christian and Cherie’s house for dinner. My girlfriend, Joanna Brent, will confirm that. She lives here with me, and we were in together every night. We didn’t go anywhere apart from work and home. That is all you need to know.’ He grabbed a pad from an old magazine rack and scribbled on it with a couple of Biros until the green one started writing. ‘Here’s her number. She’ll be at work now. Call away.’
He threw the page in Gina’s direction and it landed at her feet. He stood and pointed at the door. ‘Goodbye.’
Gina felt her face reddening. She wanted to interrogate him, haul him into the station, but having a box of matches next to his fireplace wouldn’t be enough to do that. If his alibi checked out, they’d have nothing. A fleeting thought passed through her mind as she ducked under the door frame, following the man back through the corridor. His girlfriend may be able to give him an alibi, but primarily they were looking for a woman and maybe two people were involved. She needed to investigate further.
‘Do you call your friend Cherie Brown, Chez?’
He rolled his eyes and exhaled. ‘I’ll give you this one for free, only Alex called her Chez and she hated it. She thought it sounded common and would always accuse him of taking the piss.’ He opened the door and gestured for them to leave before slamming it behind them.
‘That was the frostiest reception we’ve had in a while. What are your thoughts, guv?’ Jacob headed towards the gate.
‘He’s cagey, he’s definitely hiding something. He gives me the creeps. That can only mean we’re getting closer to finding the truth. Any news on Cherie Brown?’
Jacob checked his messages as he leaned against his car. ‘Yes. The station managed to get through to her while we were in the interview. She’s on her way in.’
‘At last!’
Gina glanced at her phone. A message from O’Connor came through. She opened the attachments. ‘Marcus Burton gave us the login information for Penny’s phone and bank accounts. I have the records here.’ She clicked and waited for the files to load. As she scanned the dates and records, she swallowed and shook her head. ‘This isn’t what we needed right now. I’ll meet you back at the station.’
Chapter Forty-Five
Cherie stood on the path outside the police station. Several members of the press stood beside vans next to people holding cameras and boom poles. She gulped as she edged her way through. She recognised the one reporter, Lyndsey Saunders, the one who’d been writing what seemed like all the articles for the murder case. Cherie scurried past, knowing she would be hounded like mad had they all known she was being interviewed about Alex’s murder.
She pulled her hood up and slid through, no one taking any notice of her at all. Breathing a sigh of relief, she hurried through the main door and waited at the desk. ‘I have an appointment. DC Wyre called.’
‘What’s your name?’ The desk sergeant smiled and looked down from his platform of a reception.
‘Cherie.’
