‘Yes, for God’s sake. We had sex, of course we did.’
‘When and where did this take place?’
He shrugged. ‘Really?’ After a silent void, he continued. ‘I booked a room at a hotel twice in the first two weeks of January and we did it once in my car. Believe it or not, she wanted to do it in the car. Then before I knew it, it was over. By the end of January we weren’t in contact any more.’
‘How did that affect your relationship as lecturer and student?’
‘We were fine. We were both adult about it, agreed it was fun and moved on.’
Gina glanced at her notes about Scarlett Gregory. ‘When Scarlett Gregory told you to leave her alone, she claimed that you followed her and watched her flat.’
‘As I said, the charges were dropped and that was a lie. I didn’t follow her. I didn’t stalk her and I just got on with life. That girl really thought she was special, she was nothing but a troublemaker. She asked me for drinks and kissed me, then accused me of assaulting and harassing her. She had a screw loose. I mean, Amber didn’t come to you saying I was harassing her, did she?’
Gina had no evidence to say that Clayton Collins was following or harassing Amber. The mere mention of the term ‘screw loose’ gave Gina a slight headache. ‘Mr Collins, can you account for your whereabouts from Friday the twenty-second of January at eighteen hundred hours until Monday the twenty-fifth of January at nine in the morning?’
‘I was at home with my family. You can’t tell my wife about me and Amber. It will destroy us. Things haven’t been all that good at home and after Amber, I realised how much I wanted to make my marriage work. I love my wife and I love my children.’
‘We will need an alibi.’
‘Am I a suspect?’
The chair creaked as Gina shuffled it slightly. ‘Due to your relationship with Amber Slater, you are a person of interest. The best thing we can do is eliminate you and the only way to do that would be to check your alibi.’
He placed both hands on his cheeks and exhaled. ‘What am I going to tell my wife? I have twin girls. They’re only four. They need me. This is going to ruin everything I’ve worked for.’
Gina wished she could feel sorry for him but at the moment she only felt sorry for Mrs Collins. ‘We won’t be divulging any details of the case, we just need to confirm that what you say is true. It’s routine, that’s all.’
‘But my wife will ask questions, she’ll want to know why you questioned her.’
Gina couldn’t help him. She wouldn’t help him. ‘Mr Collins, a young woman has been brutally murdered and you had been in a recent relationship with her. We will do everything in our power to bring this killer to justice. Is there anything else you can tell us?’
‘Will I be called again once my alibi is confirmed?’
There he went again, only concerned for himself and not the dead woman who was currently lying on a slab. ‘I can’t say for sure.’ In Gina’s mind, that would depend on how that went and if his wife could confirm his whereabouts.
‘Can I go now? I want to go.’
‘As I said, you are here voluntarily to help us with our enquiries. You are free to go. We have your address and phone number and we’ll be in touch if we need to speak to you again.’
The man stood, stared at both Gina and Jacob one last time before leaving. When they left the interview room, the door at the end of the corridor was already swinging shut.
‘We need to call his wife, now. Can you follow that up?’ Gina left Jacob standing and hurried to the incident room. She checked her watch. It would soon be time for the briefing. She sat in front of one of the computers and logged on, doing a search for the dating site. Within moments the site came up. Frivolous first date fun – that’s what it touted itself as. A site where dates with many people were encouraged. Several faces flashed up, those of men and women, all seeking dates. She tried to click on one but without a profile, couldn’t access the file fully.
Wyre burst through the door and dropped her bag on the table. ‘You looking for a date, guv?’
‘No, it’s just Amber was registered on this site and I wanted to take a look.’
‘Everyone’s on it. I found George on it too but that’s another story. I wonder if the killer met Amber Slater through it.’
Jacob entered with two hot drinks. ‘Paula, I didn’t know you were back. I’d have made you one.’
‘It’s okay, I’ll grab one now before the briefing.’ Wyre smiled as she left.
‘Seeking a date, guv?’ Jacob winked.
‘You’re the second person to ask me that. Do you think if I was looking for a date I’d be doing it at work, in the incident room, in front of you lot?’ She laughed. ‘When Briggs called me out of the room, he said there was an email on Amber’s laptop confirming her registration to AppyDater. I was just taking a look.’ She reduced the icon to the corner of the screen. She’d take a look later, when she was on her own.
‘I knew that really.’
