‘Can you make them stop?’ Larry whispered to Kalia who shook her head.
‘Just follow my advice which is to answer all questions no comment,’ she said softly.
‘If it wasn’t you driving your car then who was it?’ asked Henley.
‘No comment,’ Larry continued as he hugged himself.
‘We’ve seized your mobile phone as we believe that it contains information pertinent to our investigation,’ said Henley. She placed an exhibit bag containing a Samsung Galaxy flip phone on the table. ‘We want to examine it. Are you willing to give me your pin number?’
‘No, no,’ Larry said, turning to Kalia. ‘You can’t. They can’t go in my phone, can they?
‘Only if they serve you with a Section 49 RIPA notice and, even then, they will have to go before a judge who will decide if they can,’ Kalia replied. ‘Is that what you’re doing Inspector. Serving a Section 49?’
‘I will if Larry declines to provide his PIN,’ answered Henley.
‘No. I’m not doing it,’ said Larry. ‘No comment.’
‘I’ve got to warn you that failing to provide your PIN is a criminal offence. You can go to prison.’
‘No comment.’
‘You do understand that you’re potentially looking at two life sentences for the attempted murder of the Ashcrofts?’ Henley asked. ‘You and I both know that isn’t what your wife Sherri would have wanted for you.’
Henley could see all the emotions in Larry’s eyes as he raised his head and stared at her. Anger morphed into sadness, frustration and despair but it was the grief swimming in his eyes as he mouthedthe name Sherri that gripped at the part of her soul that she hadn’t locked away when she’d walked into the interview room.
Henley pushed aside the waves of compassion and strengthened her voice. ‘Larry, do you have any questions for me?’
Larry opened and then closed his mouth as though he’d made a decision but had changed his mind.
‘You look as though you want to say something,’ said Ramouter. ‘I just want to make sure before we stop the interview.’
‘No,’ said Larry as he pushed his hands in his pocket. ‘I don’t have anything to say. On the advice of my legal representative. No comment.’
‘Fine. Interview concluded at 10.53 a.m.,’ said Henley.
‘Is that it. Can I …Can I go now?’ Larry asked as Ramouter handed him a form to sign.
‘No. You’ll be taken back to your cell once you’ve finished your post interview consultation with Ms Ghatak,’ said Henley. She stood up from the table, her back muscles protesting as they tightened in knots.
‘Oh, I thought—’
‘I’m sure that Ms Ghatak advised you that we can keep you here for twenty-four hours,’ said Henley.
‘Even longer if we apply for an extension. Up to ninety-six hours.’ Ramouter opened the door and walked out.
Henley followed, but then she paused, turned around and stared at Larry.
‘You said that we couldn’t help you,’ Henley said. ‘But you need to think about how you can help yourself. Otherwise you’ll be spending more time in a cell than Tabitha Ashcroft ever did for killing your wife.’
36
‘This is a special edition ofFreedom Newswith your host Ben Trezeguet. Independent news is the only place to get the truth and I’m here to give it to you. Nathan Hall is dead. I was planning to reveal this information to you first, but the police released their statement shortly before I went live. Don’t forget to leave your questions in the chat. Right, the statement reads “On Tuesday morning a twenty-eight-year-old man was found dead in his home. We can formally identify the victim as Nathan Hall. His next of kin has been informed, and a post-mortem has been carried out as part of the investigation. A murder investigation has been launched, and a team of detectives are making proactive CCTV and witness enquiries. No arrests have been made.” Yeah, it’s sad that he was killed but is anyone really sorry that a rapist is dead? No. This is exclusive footage of officers from the Serial Crime Unit entering Nathan Hall’s house. You may recognise the female detective from my in-depth profile into the serial killer Peter Olivier. Dan092 asks in the chat. “Why would they hide that information?” Yeah, Dan, you’re right. Why would the Met Police not reveal the involvement of the Serial Crime Unit?’
Pellacia froze the video. ‘How has this happened?’ he asked Henley. ‘And why isn’t the little shit sitting in a cell?’
‘For the record, I had no idea there was a drone hanging around when DI Henley and I were at the Hall crime scene,’ said Ramouter.
‘The fact that you had no idea is not going to help me when I’m sitting in front of the borough commander and the assistant commissioner in an hour,’ Pellacia replied.
