‘Surname?’
‘Brown.’ She croaked the word out. Her throat was already beginning to stick.
‘Take a seat, someone will be with you in a moment.’
She sat on the seat at the end of the row, as far away from the man who stank of whiskey and kept talking to himself. She prised her bag open and spotted the miniature bottle. That man could be her one day. She glanced over and smiled. He ignored her. At least she’d tried.
So this is what it was like inside a police station. Her first foray into such a building and she was being questioned about a murder. She forced her clenched hands open. Looking too tense wouldn’t do her any favours.
Pressing her temples, she tried to massage her anxiety away. In her mind, she had huge gnarly knots all over her face and the only solution was to press them out. She glanced at her reflection in the back of the shiny computer screen. She looked fine, all normal apart from being scruffier than usual.
Tapping her feet, she felt her anticipation worsening. What would they want to know? What had Marcus said? She glanced at the last message on the phone, the one from an unknown number.
The truth has to come out, you know it does. I just need some time alone, to think, but I’m okay. Keep your phone on, I’ll be in touch soon. Don’t worry about me and don’t tell anyone I’ve contacted you.
She swallowed and held onto her bubbling stomach. What was Penny playing at, not coming home and sending crazy messages?
She was entering this interview blind, not knowing what Marcus had said or if Isaac had said anything.
Alex had thrown up more questions that hung over her head. She should never have gone to see him. Her mind whirled between Marcus and Isaac as she wondered if one of them was capable of killing him. Isaac talked the talk and Joanna would back him up in anything he said if he needed an alibi and Marcus – what about Marcus? Neither of them wanted Alex to come back, and neither did she. She gulped. The thought of being buried alive was no longer a joke. It was a message and she had to work out who was sending it. Her mind briefly flitted to someone else, but she shook her head.
‘Mrs Brown?’ The woman with the bags under her eyes and slightly creased shirt called out. ‘I’m DI Harte, thank you for coming in. Follow me.’
That was a name she recognised from the papers. That explains why the woman looked as though she hadn’t slept. She headed along the corridor, into the dingy interview room, into the unknown. As she pictured her children and Christian finding out her secret, she knew she had to lie. She knew the outcome of this case was worth skewing with all she had. That couldn’t happen. Christian, she could live without. Her children – now that hurt.
Chapter Forty-Six
‘It is twelve fifty on Monday the second of November. Mrs Brown, I’m DI Harte, this is DS Driscoll. We just need to ask you a few questions about your friends Penny Burton and Alexander Swinton. The interview is being recorded and you are here voluntarily. Once again, thank you for coming in and assisting with our enquiries. Can I confirm that you are Cherie Brown?’
The woman nodded.
‘For the tape, Mrs Brown nodded. If you could speak instead of gesturing that would really help.’
‘Sorry.’ Cherie cleared her throat and pulled the hood from her head, exposing her rat-tail hair.
‘We’ve met before, haven’t we?’ Gina recognised the woman, although her hair had looked different, maybe a different colour. She’d also been wearing glasses. She normally looked a lot cleaner and tidier but there was no mistaking the fact that Gina had seen her on at least three occasions.
The woman shrugged. ‘I don’t think we’ve met.’
‘You go to the café on Cleevesford High Street. Lucy’s Café.’
‘Oh, yes. I sit there and read sometimes. Sorry, I can’t remember seeing you. Probably engrossed in my book.’
‘That’s okay. Right, let’s carry on.’ Gina went through the rest of her personal details and now the interview could start. The shine on Cherie’s head looked damp and oily. Gina could smell her nerves oozing from her pores. Just a few moments in this room was making their person of interest sweat and itch. The woman scratched the back of her neck and her hands tangled in her hair. ‘Your friend, Penny Burton, hasn’t been seen since Friday morning. She was meant to be at your house on Saturday night. Can you tell me more about that and about your friendship? I’m just trying to get a sense of who Penny Burton is.’
The woman’s nose began to run a little. ‘Can I have a tissue?’
Gina slid a box across the table.
She took one out and wiped her nose. ‘Everyone arrived around seven thirty as planned.’
‘Everyone? Can you name them?’
She sniffed again. ‘Isaac Slater, Joanna Brent and Marcus Burton. Obviously, Penny didn’t come. Marcus said she was poorly but later told us that they’d had an argument and she’d left him.’
‘How do you know these friends?’
‘I know Isaac, Penny and Marcus from school. We all went to Cleevesford High.’
