“Can’t you just tell us?” I demanded.
Denise only shook her head. “It’s best it comes from him. Try again in a while. Shall I—”
“—pop the kettle on?” I mimicked. “No, I’ve had quite enough bloody tea, thank you.”
Rob smirked. I rubbed my hands and tried not to think of my high blood pressure. I picked up my mobile phone from the kitchen table and clicked through to my recent calls for DCI Stevenson’s number.
When he answered, I almost dropped the phone from shock. It was my fifth attempt and I’d already come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t answer.
“Emma, now isn’t a good time.”
“Denise says there’s been a development,” I said. “What’s happened?”
“We’ve made an arrest that may or may not be relevant to the investigation. Now, Emma, this is confidential, and it’s important that you don’t look too much into it at this stage. We don’t know if it’s relevant to the case or not, okay?”
“Stop patronising me and tell me,” I snapped.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. We have arrested James Graham-Lennox for possession of child pornography.”
“What?”
“An IT consultant found images on his personal computer and informed the police.”
“The Duke of Hardwick?”
“Yes.”
“Shit.” Then a disgusting thought popped into my mind. “Is… Is Aiden on—”
“We’ve not found any pictures of Aiden on his computer.”
I let out a long, deep sigh.
“This is very sensitive information. Do not repeat it to anyone outside the family. Is that clear? We need to tread carefully.”
“Of course. Shit. He’d have the money to do it. He’d have the opportunity. Oh God.”
“Emma, I need you to stay focussed. There’s no evidence linking the duke to Aiden. Not yet anyway.”
When I hung up the phone, I could tell by Rob’s expression that I’d paled to a deathly white.
“What is it?” he asked. “They’ve made an arrest?”
I could feel Denise hovering over us. I wanted to talk to Rob but I hated her listening in on every conversation. I didn’t trust her. She was police, not family. Her loyalties were with the police and that was a barrier I could not climb.
“Denise, would you mind checking on Aiden?” I asked.
“Is everything okay?” she replied with a bright smile.
“Sure.”
She hesitated for half a heartbeat before making her way out of the kitchen and through to the living room. But she did it.
“They’ve arrested someone with child pornography on their computer. But there were no pictures of Aiden.”
Rob gripped the kitchen table so hard that I could see his knuckles whitening. “And it was that duke, was it? The one who lives up in the big house lording it over us? Was it him, Emma?”
“Yes,” I confirmed.
